2:1 Moses continues to recount the events of the journey out of Egypt and through the wilderness (desert). This opening speech, given by Moses, is essential instruction for the children of Israel and for us. Entrenched in our daily lives, we often miss the patterns as well as the broader scope. The children of Israel have arrived at the promised land; it is almost theirs. In the midst of the present, they forget the events of the past. The children of Israel are always only concerned about the present, pressing circumstance. They do not learn from their mistakes or God's triumphs on their behalf. How often are we guilty of the same crime?
God hopes for and encourages us to look to Him and love Him as children do, Matthew 18:3: in fascination, in obedience, as a child learning from a parent. He implores us not to ever worry, Deuteronomy 31:6. Moses reminds the children of Israel of the specifics of their journey so that they might notice and note a pattern: when they trust God, they persevere. When they distrust God, they wither.
God is about to enable and provide the land and materials and opportunities for the children of Israel to create a nation. Only diligent faith is going to uphold a nation. If they are not able to establish themselves in God, they will never establish themselves anywhere. Similarly, we will remain wanderers in deserts if we do not establish ourselves in God.
2:2-6 God instructs the children of Israel to pass peaceably through Mount Seir because that land is not theirs. Mount Seir has been given to the descendants of Esau (Jacob's twin brother). God promised Abraham that He would take care of his descendants -- not some of his descendants, all of them. The Bible very much follows the story of the children of Israel, the 12 tribes of Jacob, but we see here that God has also provided for the rest of Abraham's family.
The children of Israel carry an imperative mission: establishing the will and word of God on the earth. The children of Israel were born out of a faithful lineage of people; much is given to them and therefore, much is expected Luke 12:48.
2:7 Moses' words in this verse: "For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing."
This verse is breathtaking; God is breathing new life into this verse and is speaking directly to you. For the LORD our God is indeed blessing all of the work of our hands. In all of the ways we are living with active and impactful faith, He is blessing the works that we do. He is ensuring that we produce the fruit He has called us to bear, Matthew 7:17. He knows our trudging through this life, this great wilderness of learning and circumstance. He is in every step. Certainly all of the years of our lives He is with us; and when we have been with Him, we have lacked nothing. Our God provides:
- Psalm 107:8-9 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
- For God, filling your belly is elementary. He's going to fill even the deeper hungers of your soul. All of the ways you want more of Him, to be more for Him... He's going to provide that sustenance. If there isn't a way to find, He will make a way. You never lack anything if He is your source for all things. He is abundant, generous, wise. He will specifically tailor your blessings to what your body needs to be alive... alive in Him, in faith, in love.
2:8-9 The children of Israel are instructed to leave Moab alone because that land has been given as a possession to the descendants of Lot. God's promise to Abraham, Genesis 22:17, is so comprehensive! God's promises to you are the same. He sees every detail.
- Symbolically, we ask God: Will you take care of my beach? Before He even responds, God is taking care of every component of our beach: each grain of sand, each seagull, each ocean wave, each wind gust, each palm tree, each leave and root, the surrounding sunshine... He's protecting the shores and the forests. In our lives, God is taking care of even the aspects we forget about. He knows what we need better than we do, Romans 8:26. God is powering blessings into our lives with a force we cannot even fully comprehend. He is always working for us diligently, passionately, and enthusiastically. At the very least, He deserves for us to match His work ethic.
2:10-12 Some of the history is given of Esau's descendants who overtook the land of the Horites (Emim) who are described to be a very tall population of people.
2:11-15 God thwarted all of His opposition and disabled them from inheriting the promise land (after they rejected it).
2:16-19 God tells the children of Israel to leave the people of Ammon alone as their land was given to them by God (Lot's descendants).
2:20-23 Interestingly, these verses speak of giants. However, no matter their stature, they are overtaken by God because of corruption.
2:24-25 God gives the children of Israel (and us) permission to go forth in our lives and to conquer in the name of truth and justice. God's intention is to completely weed out evil and when we align ourselves with Him, we become participants (and proponents) of that intention.
2:26-30 The world and people who exist outside of us are always given a peaceably way and opportunity to host us, or to allow us to pass through. When they choose to reject us or oppress us, they become a barrier God shatters. Because no man or nation or force can go against the will of God.
2:31 Look out for these intimate talks God has with each of us, for the moments when He says: "See, I have begun to give..." because you and God are a team. Your participation in bringing about His will, which includes all your blessings, is an essential and beautiful opportunity.
2:32-37 God sends us out, but He remains. We our never orphaned because He is our home who moves with us. As long as we, like the children of Israel, follow His directives (which are only given to accomplish our blessings) we achieve our hopes, our dreams, our destinations. No matter who or what is against us. And life can be, should be, (is) a process of building that kind of trust. Learning to trust God when we says stay straight, do not turn left, do not turn right, even when right or left looks like a better option. We must remember that His view is more knowledgeable, more wise, comprehensive, perceptive.
God says to go straight and we buck against, in rejection, His command because we think taking a right looks better. More fun. Easier. Sometimes when God tells us to go straight we freeze and tell God, but there's an ocean! But there's a mountain! And if we will smother our worry and fear with faith, we will be able to hear God emphatically whisper in our ear, in our heart, "Yes, but, I'm going to teach you to swim, right on through that ocean... I'm going to teach you to fly right on over that mountain." Don't you know that? Don't you trust that? Your immediate response to all things should be: God will make me able.
2:31 Look out for these intimate talks God has with each of us, for the moments when He says: "See, I have begun to give..." because you and God are a team. Your participation in bringing about His will, which includes all your blessings, is an essential and beautiful opportunity.
2:32-37 God sends us out, but He remains. We our never orphaned because He is our home who moves with us. As long as we, like the children of Israel, follow His directives (which are only given to accomplish our blessings) we achieve our hopes, our dreams, our destinations. No matter who or what is against us. And life can be, should be, (is) a process of building that kind of trust. Learning to trust God when we says stay straight, do not turn left, do not turn right, even when right or left looks like a better option. We must remember that His view is more knowledgeable, more wise, comprehensive, perceptive.
God says to go straight and we buck against, in rejection, His command because we think taking a right looks better. More fun. Easier. Sometimes when God tells us to go straight we freeze and tell God, but there's an ocean! But there's a mountain! And if we will smother our worry and fear with faith, we will be able to hear God emphatically whisper in our ear, in our heart, "Yes, but, I'm going to teach you to swim, right on through that ocean... I'm going to teach you to fly right on over that mountain." Don't you know that? Don't you trust that? Your immediate response to all things should be: God will make me able.
