“Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!” (Deuteronomy 1:21, NLT)
“Look, God, your God, has placed this land as a gift before you. Go ahead and take it now. God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised it to you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose heart.” (Deuteronomy 1:21, The Message)
This is part 2 to Confronting The Enemy. I shared part 1 a few days ago which was, Don’t Be Intimidated.
Let’s look at the background of the passage above. You really need to read the entire chapter to get the picture but let me give you a quick picture of what is going on in this passage.
Moses was trying to lead this group of people to the promised land. It wasn’t easy for Moses to lead this nation because he frequently had to solve new problems and listen to new complaints. The people were accustomed to the comfort of their camp at Sinai. They resented the hardships of their journey to the Promised Land. They forgot the hardships of their years of slavery in Egypt and even wanted to turn around and go back. They got accustomed to the manna that God sent them from heaven each morning and soon took it for granted. They longed for the meat and vegetables they had enjoyed eating in Egypt. It’s not a wonder Moses got discouraged and cried out to the Lord. He wanted to quit, and he even asked God to take his life.
You will see that God’s answer to Moses’ prayer was to give him seventy elders to assist him in managing the affairs of the camp. As great a leader as Moses was, he could only do so much. So, he created a chain of command to handle the issues so that he didn’t have to get involved in every minor dispute. He could devote himself to talking with the Lord and focus on the big picture.
So, Moses is trying to get their eyes back on the promise. “Look! He has placed the land in front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you. Don’t be afraid! Don’t be discouraged!” Sometimes the job of a leader is to coach others to keep their eyes on the promise. A good coach will never cause their team to focus on defeat, no matter what the score is, no matter how far behind the team is they focus on the fact that there is still time on the clock and anything can happen.
Now, let me bring this back around to today’s terms and the subject of confronting the enemy. Have you ever found yourself in a place that you want to come out, but you’ve become accustomed to the comfort of your camp at Sinai? Let me give you a picture. It was at Mount Sinai God gave the Ten Commandments and 3,000 people died. On the day of Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus, God gave the Holy Spirit at Mount Zion, and 3,000 people were saved! This is a perfect picture that the law kills, but the Spirit brings life. The law condemns, but grace saves. Some of you may need to pick up your tent from Mount Sinai and move on over to Mount Zion!
Do you resent the hardships you have faced on your way to your promised land, your destiny? Have you forgotten about the hardships of your slavery in “Egypt” and want to turn around and go back to your “Egypt” because it seems easier than pushing through where you’re at right now? Have you found yourself growing accustomed to the provisions (manna) that God sends and have taken it for granted? To the point of where the provision isn’t good enough?
Don’t allow yourself to fall into this. You may, but the key is don’t allow yourself to stay there. The Word of the Lord to you is: “Look, God, your God, has placed this land as a gift before you. Go ahead and take it now. God, the God-of-Your-Fathers, promised it to you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t lose heart.”
Confront the enemy, go occupy your Promised Land!
