“In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God” (Deut 1)

Deuteronomy 1:1-46
Key verse 1:32-33

The book of Deuteronomy was written by Moses just before the Israelites were about to enter the land of promise. It was the fortieth year since they had left Egypt. The Israelites stayed at the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan. At that time the first generation, except Moses, Joshua and Caleb, all died in the wilderness because of their sins. So it was necessary for God to renew the covenant with the next generation before they entered the Promised Land. This book is about the covenant he made with them. The meaning of Deuteronomy in Greek is “repetition of the law.” But the name of the book in Hebrew is “These are the words” or “words,” which comes from the first word of the book. In the book, Moses expounds the law. In chapters 1-3, he reviews the events of their journey from Horeb to the plains of Moab. Their journey is divided into two phases – from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea and then from Kadesh Barnea to the plains of Moab. Chapter 1 covers their journey from Horeb and Kadesh Barnea, which mainly deals with their failure. Today, we will study what they failed and why.  

6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

It was about 39 years before at Mount Horeb. God commanded them to go to the land of Canaan and take possession of the land, which he swore to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their descendants (Gen 15:5; 15:18-21; 26:4; 28:13; 35:12; Ex 6:8). God’s direction was clear. It was to go to the land he had promised. His vision and promise for them were to make them the kingdom of priests and the holy nation. (Ex 19:6) He gave them the law, including the Ten Commandments, so that they could become his holy people.

In verses 9-18, Moses reminded them of how he took care of their problems and disputes among them. While Israel was in Egypt, God blessed them and multiplied them a thousand times. The total number of the men of Israel when they left Egypt was about 600 thousands (Ex 12:37). But it was too much for Moses to bear all their problems by himself. So Moses appointed some wise, understanding and respected men from each tribe to set over the Israelites so that they could share Moses’ burden. Moses gave the leaders authority as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and tribal officials. They were to fairly judge among the people, including foreigners, and to bring to Moses cases too hard for them. This way, Israel was organized as a nation. This took place before they arrived at Horeb from Egypt. (Ex 18:13-27) 

19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea.

Israel stayed at Horeb about one year. Then as God commanded, they left for the hill country of Amorites, passing through wilderness, which Moses said was vast and dreadful. It took eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea. (2) It might have taken them more than eleven days considering the large number of the people. Anyway, they arrived at Kadesh Barnea where God wanted Israel to enter the Promised Land.

20 Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

At Kadesh Barnea, Moses commanded them to go up and take possession of the land God had promised, saying, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” It was a daunting task. They must fight to take possession of the land. So they suggested Moses to send men ahead to spy out the land. It seemed good so Moses selected twelve leaders, one from each tribe. And they explored the land and came back with some of the fruit of the land. They reported, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”

But the Israelites were unwilling to go up and take possession of the land because the spies also said that the people in the land were strong and tall and their cities were well fortified. They said they even saw the Anakites, giant people. This report made the hearts of the Israelites melt in fear. They were not experienced with war but their enemies were experienced and humongous. It was unlikely that they would defeat their enemies. In fear, they were unwilling to go into the land and grumbled and even said, “We can’t defeat them. Why did the Lord bring us here to perish? He hates us.” Numbers 14:1 reads that all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud that night. They felt there was no place to go. They could not advance further because of strong enemies in the land. They could not go back to Egypt either.

I wonder what would happen if they did not send spies. What if they went up to the land, not knowing who lived there but just obeying God’s command? When I came to America 24 years ago, I had no idea about this nation. What I knew was I couldn’t eat Korean food anymore. If I had known all details of American life, I could have not come to America. I just came here by faith. Anyway, the result of their spying was that they were gripped by fear of death and rebelled against the command of the Lord.

29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”

Moses was very disappointed and flustered. But he encouraged them not to be terrified by the people in the land because God was going before them and would fight for them. Moses reminded them of what God had done for them. When they were slaves in Egypt, Pharaoh was unwilling to let them go. Israel had no power to get out of Egypt. But God struck down Egypt and Pharaoh with ten plagues. He struck down all the firstborn Egyptians. He departed the Red Sea and made a way for Israel to cross it. But he buried under the Red Sea the Egyptians who chased Israel. Israel saw all this with their very eyes. In the same way, God would fight for them against the people in the land. Though the people were stronger and taller than Israel, God would go ahead of them and destroy them.

What happened in the wilderness? As Moses said, the wilderness was vast and dreadful. It was very difficult to survive in the wilderness – no water and no food. But the Lord God carried them as a father carries his son. He provided them with water and food. When the Amalekites attacked them, Israel could defeat them because God fought for them. They saw all this with their own eyes.

What nation saw this kind of grace and favor from God? No one but Israel! Moses encouraged the Israelites to remember what God had done for them and convinced them that God would do the same. He would fight for them as he did in Egypt and in the wilderness according to the covenant he made with them. He never breaks or forgets his promises. He never takes back his word. Once he says something, it is done. When we are troubled, we should also remember his promises and what he has done. That’s how we can grow spiritually and be blessed more.

32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

In spite of Moses’ encouragement, they did not obey God. It looked like they refused to obey God’s command because of fear. However, Moses said that it was basically because they did not trust in the Lord their God. God went ahead of them on their journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for them to camp and to show them the way to go. He faithfully showed his care and love and power to Israel. But they still did not trust in their God. They forgot what God had done for them. They forgot God’s promises. But they saw only their reality and challenges and they were overwhelmed. Their fear is the result of their distrust in God. It was not about their tough reality but about their relationship with God. Whether trust in God or not, that is the key.  

34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: 35 “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.”

God really became angry and solemnly swore that no one from the generation would see the Promised Land. The moment they finally were going to enter the Promised Land they had longed to see for hundreds of years, they dropped the ball. As a result, they would not see the land again and had to turn around into the wilderness. The first generation wandered in the wilderness for forty years and all died. As such, their distrust in God brought them irreversible painful results. But only two people – Caleb and Joshua were exempted from the punishment. Caleb followed the Lord wholeheartedly. He was one of the twelve leaders who spied out the land. Ten out of them brought a bad report about the land and so led the whole Israelites to rebellion against God. But Caleb along with Joshua encouraged the Israelites that they could take possession of the land by faith. Caleb and his descendants would inherit the land.

37 Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either. 38 But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it. 39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. 40 But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”

Surprisingly, Moses would not enter the land either. It was because he failed to uphold God’s holiness at Meribah. (Num 20:2-13; Deut 32:51) Instead of Moses, Joshua would lead Israel into the land. By the way, what feared the Israelites the most was that their children would be taken as captive. (Num 14:3) But God said that their children they worried about would enter the land and inherit it.

41 Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.

Hearing that, the Israelites regretted, saying, “We have sinned against the Lord.” They were even willing to go up and fight. Though they said they would do so as God commanded them, it did not mean that they trusted in the Lord. They thought they could do by themselves. They were even arrogant.

42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’

God told them not to go up and fight because he would not be with them. If they would go up without God, it was obvious that they would be defeated by their enemies. But they did not listen. Again they rebelled against the Lord’s command and marched up into the hill in their arrogance. But they were totally defeated by the Amorites. Their arrogance made their situation much worse. The Israelites wept before the Lord but he paid no attention to their weeping and turned a deaf ear to them. This meant that God would not change his mind and the Israelites must suffer in their sins for sure. Please don’t go that far. Nothing is more fearful than when God does not listen to you. The Israelites wandered in the wilderness almost 39 years until the first generation all died.

In today’s passage, Moses reminded the Israelites of their failure in the wilderness and the death of the first generation. What was their fundamental problem? As Moses said in verse 32, they did not trust in the Lord though he rescued them, protected them, provided for them, and led them each day. Though they saw all this, they still did not trust in the Lord. They repeatedly complained in fear. They did not trust in God because of their fear. Rather, they had fear because they did not trust in God. And God is most displeased and even angry with our distrust in him.

In what respect, the Israelites failed to trust in the Lord? Why was he so angry with them and punish them so harshly? We should understand this in view of their covenant with God, which was made at Mount Horeb. The covenant was a legal and personal agreement. It was like a marriage vow. The Israelites agreed that they would obey God wholeheartedly and God promised that he would make them his holy people and give them the land of Canaan as he swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God protected and provided for them according to the covenant. But the Israelites broke the covenant by disobeying him and disbelieving God’s faithfulness and power. It is like a husband or a wife does not trust his wife or her spouse anymore. By not trusting in God, they dishonored God and broke his heart.

Why then did Moses remind the Israelites of their failure just before they entered the Promised Land? The Israelites Moses spoke to were the second generation of Israel. They would enter the land but they would face the same kinds of problems their fathers did. So Moses reminded them of their failure so that they would not do the same failure again in the land of promise.

What does this event mean to us then? Paul said in 1 Cor 10:11, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come.” We, believers, are God’s people who make the new covenant with him through Jesus’s blood. (Jer 31:31-33; Luke 22:20) We have made an agreement with God that we will be faithful to him. According to this covenant, God has committed himself to his promises. He leads his people faithfully without fail.

But we are not faithful. We often complain about challenges and problems ahead of us. We are often overwhelmed by our reality and do not trust in him although he has given us all. We complain when things do not work as we hope. We even doubt God’s existence though we experienced his amazing love and grace. If we still do not believe and trust in him, what will become of us? Paul warned in Heb 3:7-10,

Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, 9 where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. 10 That is why I was angry with that generation…”

Today, God is telling us that we must trust in him even if we are going through difficulties and troubles. We must trust in him even more after we experience his grace and love. Do not forget what your God has done for you. Do not be foolish and do something by yourselves. It is your arrogance, which God hates the most. Put your trust in him and give him thanks. Then he will guide you faithfully and lead you to this kingdom as the good shepherd leads his sheep.

In 1859, Charles Blondin became the first man who walked on a 1,100 foot long rope and crossed Niagara Falls. After that, he completed eight more crossings, once on a bicycle, once in the dark, and once blindfolded. One time he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet in the middle of the rope. In 1860, he completed another crossing. The crowd cheered and shouted. Seeing them, Blondin asked them, “Do you believe I can cross back over the falls again?” They replied, “Yes, Yes, you can! We believe.” He asked again, “Do you believe I could cross back over carrying a man on my back?” They roared back in reply, “Yes! Yes, we believe!” Then, Blondin asked, “Okay, who will volunteer to go with me?” Then the crowd became silent. Blondin asked, “Is there anyone who will trust me?” No one answered. Then Blondin asked his friend, “Harry, do you believe I can carry you across?” He replied, “Yes, Charles, I believe you can.” Then he climbed onto Blondin’s back. Blondin said, “Sit still and don’t move. Just let me walk, I got you and I won’t let you fall.” And he successfully carried Harry on his back. (https://dklevick.wordpress.com/2016/02/06/i-believe-therefore-i-have-faith-hmmm/)

Many Christians say that they trust in God. But like the crowd they do not dare to trust in him when they face troubles and challenges. Putting your trust in God means to stay still and let God carry you like Harry trusted his friend Blondin on a rope 160 feet above the waters. God has guaranteed us his kingdom but does not promise that our way to his kingdom is easy. As Paul said in Acts 14:22, we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. God does not promise that he will always provide us with easy ways. But he has promised that he will be with us in the midst of trouble and eventually give us victory. Do you trust in your God? Putting trust in him means to make your full commitment to him and be faithful to him whether you are blessed or troubled. Of course, we can fail or lose. But do not fail to trust the Lord your God. He is faithful to his covenant so we can trust him. He never breaks his promises. So we fear not. When we put our trust in our God, he is pleased the most. That is the way we humans can honor him and glorify him. by David Yun