“So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
We leave Deuteronomy with purpose. The book was not only a pause between the wilderness and the promised land, but a commencement address urging the graduates to implement their desert lessons.
Looking back was important. Together the Israelites remembered God’s provisions, His loving care in the wilderness of their unbelief. They remembered God’s power in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and all through the desert. Those were the memories God’s people needed to carry to the promised land. However, grumbling, unbelief, and rebellion needed to be buried forever in the wilderness. The promised land would never be conquered if they carried the root of unbelief with them.
Looking back is necessary before moving ahead. This remembering stop marked the end of GOD doing the miracles FOR the people and the beginning of God doing miracles THROUGH the people! Indeed, GOD would once again part the waters, but THEY would take THEIR promised land with HIS power! After forty years of witnessing what GOD could DO… it was their turn now! If they believed, THEY would DO, because GOD would neither fail, nor abandon them.
As you prepare to leave your wilderness, look back at the lessons God taught you in that desert so YOU can be strong and courageous. Because soon it will be YOUR turn to slay giants with GOD’s power!
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