Purposeful Pathways
Deut. 8:2-18[1]
1-16-05
Intro
When was the last time you sat down with your family and just reflected upon your journey together up to this point in time? When was the last time you dug out the old photo albums and relived birthdays, vacations, graduations, etc. This May Jeanie and I will have been married 30 years. We have shared a lot of experiences together since that fateful evening on May 31, 1975 when we stood before the preacher and said, “I do”. There were little babies born along the way. Those babies grew up and went to school. One of them just got back from Africa. The other two have married and have babies of their own. So today one of my most prized titles is “Paw Paw”. And Jeanie is “Nana”. As I was preparing this message I was thinking how pleasant it would be to sit down with her and reflect upon our journey thus far. Most of us don’t get near enough reflection time. We are so busy keeping up with the demands of our hectic schedules that we don’t slow down long enough to draw the full meaning out of our experiences.
In our text this morning Moses is doing that with the people of Israel. For 40 years they have been on a spiritual journey together. They have learned some valuable lessons that should not be forgotten. Their journey up to this point is not just about yesterday; it is preparation for today and tomorrow. Moses is about to go home to be with the Lord. The nation of Israel is about to cross over the Jordan River into the Promise Land.
So here in Deut. 8:2 Moses invites Israel to take a stroll with him down memory lane. It’s not just a sentimental journey. It’s instructive. It’s a reminder of what was learned during those 40 years. Listen to Moses speaking to Israel in verse 2 of our text, “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years...”
The power to remember is a wonderful gift from God. The power to consider what our experiences mean is a wonderful gift from God. “Remember” says Moses.
Remember first that the Lord led you. Your experiences these past 40 years have not been mere chance and happenstance. The eye of the Lord was watching over you. He was overseeing the journey. “The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord.” God was doing something important for you during those years. There was a divine purpose behind it all. David understood the Lord’s leading when he wrote the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord is my Shepherd...He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness...”NKJV Jeremiah acknowledged it when he prayed, "O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” ( Jerm. 10:23 NKJV). Moses wants these people to recognize God’s leading in their lives.
But the central issue is:
I. How God led them. “Remember how the Lord your God led you...”
The Way God led these people is very instructive for us. It was a strange mixture of difficulty and divine intervention—both hunger and provision. verse 3 tells us that on the one hand, God allowed these people to suffer hunger. He led them in a wilderness—not a tropical paradise, not a land filled with mild and honey but a dry, dusty dessert. There’s not an abundance of food in the dessert. You can’t just go over and pick a few bananas off a tree or kill a deer or eat a coconut when you’re in the dessert. It’s even hard to find water to drink
Moses describes that place this way in verse 15, “He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions.”
Now I am convinced that the same God who parted the Red Sea could have with one stroke wiped out every snake and every scorpion in that dessert. But He didn’t do that.
Instead he allowed His people to contend with snakes and scorpions and hunger and thirst. Why doesn’t God just remove all the difficulties you and I encounter in life? Why doesn’t He just kill the devil and be done with it? Why does He lead us in this particular way? God has some objectives in mind for you and me.
We know about some of the struggles these people experienced while in the wilderness. There were times when they thought they were going to die of thirst. At Meribah (Ex 17) these people panicked and were ready to stone Moses. They thought they were going to die of thirst right then and there. But what happened? God intervened and supplied water from the rock. The rest of verse 15 and the first of verse 16 says, “...He brought you water out of the hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the dessert, something your fathers had never known...” They don’t have a closet full of designer clothes. But verse 4 says, “Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.” (Another miracle that God worked in their behalf)
So we have this very interesting combination of experiences. On the one hand, God allows them to encounter hunger and thirst. But one the other hand, he miraculously provides manna for them to eat. He miraculously supplies water.
This same combination is all through the Bible. God provides Abraham and heir—but it takes a whole lot longer than Abraham was expecting. Joseph’s dreams come to pass but only after years of slavery and prison. Moses does become the great deliverer he was destined to be. But it happens after some humbling experiences and 40 years in the wilderness as a nobody. We could talk about David’s journey to the throne and even his struggles as king. We could talk about Jeremiah. We could talk about all the apostles. There Apostle Paul had abundant visions and revelations. Through him God healed the sick, raised people from the dead, turned multitudes from the power of Satan to a rich life in God. On the island of Malta, people tried to proclaim him and Barnabas as gods. But on another occasion, his friends had to lower him from a window in a basket so that he could run for his life.[2] (Moments of great victory and exaltation tempered with humbling experiences when he was painfully aware of his weakness and humanity)
That’s why he could say in Phil 4:12 “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
Now I ask you “Haven’t you found the same kind of patterns in your own life?” On the one hand, problems arise that seem insurmountable, you are painfully aware of your own insufficiency and personal need and weaknesses.[3] But on the other hand, there are wonderful answers to prayer--answers that leave no doubt about God’s loving care and goodness. I am amazed at the answers to specific prayers Jeanie and I have experienced in recent months—the Lord has done great things whereof we are glad.
Have you wondered at times why God didn’t make your journey easier? But haven’t you also found the Lord faithful when you called upon Him in times of need?
II. Why does God bring this combination of difficulty and provision in our lives? Why was it so for these people? We are clearly told the reason in our text.
Look again with me at verse 2, “Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the dessert these forty years, to humble you and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commandments.” Their experiences were tailor made by God to do a deep work of grace in their hearts. The trials were designed not to show God what was in their hearts but to show them. When the pressure really got on, that’s when they found out where they were spiritually. Any of us can look pretty good when things are going our way and living is easy. But we find a whole lot more about ourselves when trials come. Has anyone here ever seen a tire blow out on the display rack at the store? All those tires look good sitting there on the rack. It’s when you’re going down the road 70 miles and hour with a full load and you hit a rock or something—that’s when you really find out what that tire is made of. If it’s going to blow out that’s when it will happen.
God leads us through experiences so that we can realize how dependent upon Him we really are—so that we no longer have confidence in the flesh but in His Spirit—so that instead of pulling away from Him in foolish pride and independence we draw near to Him in sincere humility and dependence. You don’t learn to pray when there are no problems. You learn to pray when you know that God is the only answer. I was thinking the other day about a humorous discussion on how to pray. It is a good illustration what we’re talking about here. The discussion went something like this:
“The Proper way for men to Pray,
Said Deacon Samuel Keys
(At least the best for me,
Is down upon the knees.)
Oh, I should say the way to Pray,
Said Rev. Dr. Wise,
Is standing straight with arms outstretched
And rapt’ and upturned eyes.
Oh, no, no, no –said Elder Slow
That posture is too proud
A man should pray with eyes fast closed
And head serenely bowed.
Seems to me his hands should be
Serenely clasped in front
Both thumbs pointed toward the ground,
Said Rev. Dr. Blunt
I fell in Hitchkin’s well the other day,
(Head first) said Willy Brown,
Both my feet was a stickin’ up
And my head was a stickin’ down,
I prayed a prayer right then and there
(The best prayer I ever prayed)
The prayingest prayer I ever prayed
I was a standin’ on my head.[4]
It’s amazing the spiritual truths you can learn when both feet are a stickin’ in the air, and your head is a stickin’ down. It’s amazing how you can get to know God in those kinds of situations. These Israelites learned things in that wilderness they would have never learned in a tropical paradise.
Deut 8:5 “Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.” This life is a training ground for eternity. God is conforming you to the image of His Son.[5] God is preparing you for glory. The experiences He brings us through today are preparation for the blessing He has for us tomorrow.
Look at His stated purpose at the end of verse 16. He does all this “so that in the end it might go well with you.” It was never God’s intention to leave these people in the wilderness. It is always God’s intention to bless His people. Deut 8:7-9
“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.” He is preparing us for a glorious eternity with Him. I can not overstate the importance of that. But He is preparing us for good things in this life as well.
The greatest obstacle to blessing in our lives is not the Devil. It is our own propensity toward pride. Only through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is pride dealt with adequately for us to handle God’s blessings. The warning God gave to these people was the danger of pride and self-sufficiency once they were experiencing His blessing. Deut 8:10-14 “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
None of us think we would ever do that. But God knows our hearts better than we do. God knows the dangers and pitfalls of success better than we do. That’s why He prepares us for it rather than just throwing it upon us. Deut 8:17-18 “You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”
One of the best ways I know to keep a proper perspective on life is thanksgiving. “Give thanks unto the Lord. For He is good and His mercy endures forever” (Psalms 136). Are you thankful this morning? Are you seeing the wisdom of His leadership in your life? The time we invest as we come together and praise the Lord during our worship service is time well spent. It is a time to remember and acknowledge the Source of all the blessings in our lives. It is a time to adjust our focus and maintain the right perspective on life.
This morning I am going to share with you a brief video clip from the testimony of Craig DeMartino. While mountain climbing he plummeted 100 feet off a sheer rock cliff onto jagged rocks below. Usually a fall of thirty feet or more is fatal. But he amazingly survived the fall and out of the experience learned some powerful lessons about life. Perhaps his testimony will help all of us keep a wholesome perspective on life.
After the Fall (Ch 5:00:19 to end of chapter & Ch 12) CLIP[6]
Note: Concluded with Communion focusing on thanksgiving.
TEXT: Deut 8:2-18
Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land--a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. 10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." 18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. (from New International Version)
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] Text which was read at the beginning of the service is provided at the end of this manuscript for easy reference. All quotes are from the New International Version unless otherwise indicated.
[2] 2Corinthians 11:33; Acts 9:25
[3] 2Corinthians 4:7-10
[4] Heard this told by Jack Taylor in about 1993.
[5] Romans 8:29
[6] Available at www.grouppublishing.com/afterthefall or 1-800-747-6060.
