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THE OCCUPATION OF THE LAND IS SUSPENDED
THURSDAY, JULY 8
Deuteronomy 1:19-29

Acts 17:26-28

 

“For in him we live, and move,

and have our being…”

 

THE OCCUPATION OF THE LAND IS SUSPENDED
 
The occupation of the land was suspended because of the people’s rejection of God’s directive. They said that the Lord had brought them out of Egypt to deliver them to the Amorites to destroy them. They developed a rebellious attitude and did not trust the Lord. They also did not listen to Moses.
 
These are the words that the ten who went to spy the land used to discourage the people: “Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there” (Deut 1:28). Israel had to wander in the wilderness for forty years and the rebellious generation died in the wilderness.
 
They wandered in that terrible wilderness all those years yet they lacked nothing. They had the Lord’s protection from the nations around them and those whose lands they had to pass through. In the events that followed the rebellion, Moses was also prevented from entering Canaan. At the end of the book there is a record of his death. The Lord had told him that he would die at Mt Nebo; and Joshua was to be anointed to take his place and lead Israel into Canaan. The Lord always has the final say.
 
The suspension of the occupation of the Promised Land was a punishment for that generation. An old pastor once challenged the upcoming young pastors to take a leaf out of Joshua and Caleb’s book. He added that God never uses a coward. Thus those who are harbouring fear should quit and know that they are not called of God. Real soldiers will fight their battles to the end and win. God who has given the promises will never fail.
 
THOUGHT: God determines the bounds of my habitation.
PRAYER: Father, keep me trusting in Thee, even in unpromising circumstances.

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