Resources/Articles
How Will We Enter the Land?
As the Israelites camped on the threshold of the Jordan, ready to take the land God had promised them, Moses gave his final instructions and admonitions. In the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses gave Israel the keys to keeping the land God was about to give them. These words were vitally important to the present generation and any succeeding generations.
OBEDIENCE
In Deuteronomy 6.1-3, Moses points to the need for fearing God and keeping HIs commandments and statutes. Keeping these commandments would be for their good always, and blessings associated with this obedience included prolonged days (vv. 2,24). What a lesson for us!! The God who made us knows what is best for us. His will is to do us good, not harm. Although most carnally minded people think God’s way is burdensome, those who are spiritually focused will perceive God’s ways to be much higher and nobler than their own (Isaiah 55.6-9). Every Christian who obeys the voice of Jehovah should hold with confidence the blessings promised under the New Covenant.
TEACHING
In vv. 4-9, Moses spoke of the need to teach God’s instructions to their children. The word must first be loved by the parent before it will do any good in the heart of a child (v. 6). It must be a matter of conviction within us. It needs to be heard in our voices (v. 7). The words must dwell within our minds and be remembered as part of our daily guide to life, wherever we go and whatever we do (vv. 8-9).
WATCHING
Verses 10-19 warn God’s people to be on guard. He wants them not to be so overwhelmed with the fighting nor the physical blessings the will receive in the promised land that they forget who it was that brought about their release from bondage. Doing so would cause them to create another god or cause them to follow the gods of the people whose land they were about to invade. Such dismissal of God in their hearts would cause God to forfeit His standing among the people - “in the midst of thee“ (vv. 14-15). If we are concerned about God’s favor, we will be aware that the same could happen in our lives.
REMEMBERING
In vv. 20-25, Israel is called upon to remember: (1) their slavery (v. 21); (2) their deliverance (vv. 21-23); (3) their blessings (v. 23); (4) their responsibility (v. 24); and (5) their prospect for the future (v. 25). Remembering all God had done for them would have helped Israel stay closer to God and not be led astray by the deceptive ways of the gods of the land.
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When Israel failed to obey, teach, watch, and remember, they soon received the curses of God rather than His blessings. May the God above help us write a different history by observing these guiding principles in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation.
