Tag: hivites

51.p. Wilderness – 15.v. “You shall save alive nothing that breathes”

 

Deu 20:16-18  But in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes, but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the LORD your God has commanded, that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the LORD your God.

To them no offer of peaceful submission was to be made, and when the city was taken, all the inhabitants without reserve were to be destroyed. This was in accordance with God’s command to Israel and as a precaution against the risk of the people being seduced into idolatry by the heathen should they be allowed to remain in the land. (Unkown)

The horrors of war must fill the feeling heart with anguish upon every recollection; and are proofs of the wickedness of man, the power of Satan, and the just vengeance of God, who thus scourges a guilty world. But how dreadful their case who are engaged in unequal conflict with their Maker, who will not submit to render him the easy tribute of worship and praise! Certain ruin awaits them. (Henry)

But of the cities of those people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance,…. The cities of the seven nations, six of which are mentioned by name in the next verse: thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth; the reason of this severity was because of their wickedness, the capital crimes and gross abominations they were guilty of, and for which they deserved to die; and on account whereof they were reserved to this destruction, when the measure of their iniquities was full. (Gill)

The previous commands regarding warfare did not apply to the upcoming conquest of Canaan. There, not only was Israel not to offer peace to the cities, but they were also to destroy everything, not only the adult males. This was a unique war of judgment, more than a war of conquest or defense. This explains why such a complete destruction was commanded. The culture of the Canaanites was so corrupt – socially, morally, and spiritually – that God considered it irredeemable, and ripe for judgment. In this unique war, the armies of Israel were to bring that judgment upon the Canaanites. (Guzik)

There were other times of God’s judgment upon mankind when God judged them irredeemable. In the time of Noah God judged all of mankind and destroyed every living thing but those on the Ark. Noah proclaimed God’s judgment for 120 years while he built the Ark. What did the people do? They mocked, ridiculed, and laughed at him and the thought of pending judgment coming. 

Sodom and Gomorrah were judged and destroyed. The Assyrian army lost over 100,000 men in one evening. Jericho was judged and destroyed. There are other examples of God’s judgment and destruction that occurred on this side of eternity. The things that were an abomination to God for which these peoples were destroyed are not much different from what we see being declared. No reverence for God. Love of self. Self-reliance. Self-worthiness. Arrogance. Lusts of the flesh. Covetousness. Strife. Doing evil. Calling that which is good, bad. Calling that which is godly and holy, foolishness. Worshipping things other than God. Rejecting and denying God. Rejecting and denying Jesus Christ. Living in sin without a thought of God’s judgment. However, there is coming a time when everyone will stand before God and be judged.   

Denying that judgment is coming allows a person to live according to whatever seems right in their own eyes. In this denial, everything seems permissible. No one ever born will be excluded from judgment. Everyone will stand before God to give account. 

When people should be asking what can we do to be saved, they are proclaiming their sins, making excuses for their sinful ways, and encouraging others to do the same. Judgment is coming and those found in Jesus Christ will pass into eternal life, and those who chose to reject and deny Jesus Christ will be cast into the lake of fire and be tormented forever. 

50.c. Wilderness – 14.i. “To deliver you and to give up your enemies before you”

 

Deu 7:1  “When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than you, and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly. But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.

Joshua 6:17   And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the LORD for destruction.

 Joshua 10:30   And the LORD gave it also and its king into the hand of Israel. And he struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it; he left none remaining in it. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of Jericho.

 Joshua 10:42    And Joshua captured all these kings and their land at one time, because the LORD God of Israel fought for Israel.

 Joshua 21:44    And the LORD gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the LORD had given all their enemies into their hands.

Deuteronomy 23:14   Because the LORD your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and to give up your enemies before you, therefore your camp must be holy, so that he may not see anything indecent among you and turn away from you.

Israel wasn’t in the land yet, but Moses still instructed them as if it were a certainty. This was based on the faithful promise of God, but it was also according to His principle of preparation. “Sure,” Moses said, “the Canaanite nations are greater and mightier than you. But they are not greater and mightier than God.” God brought Israel to face a challenge that was impossible in their own strength – but entirely possible in Him. God could be counted on. Yet, God would not do it all for them. The extent of the work would depend on their faithful response to what God would do. 

This principle of battle until absolute victory is the key to victory as we take the Promised Land of blessing and peace God has for us in Jesus. We show no mercy to our enemies in the land, but we destroy them utterly. Many of us, truth be told, simply do not want to completely destroy the sins which keep us from God’s Promised Land of blessing and peace – we want to weaken them, and have some control over them, but we do not want to utterly destroy them. (Guzik)

Here is a strict caution against all friendship and fellowship with idols and idolaters. Those who are in communion with God, must have no communication with the unfruitful works of darkness. Limiting the orders to destroy, to the nations here mentioned, plainly shows that after ages were not to draw this into a precedent. A proper understanding of the evil of sin, and of the mystery of a crucified Saviour, will enable us to perceive the justice of God in all his punishments, temporal and eternal. We must deal decidedly with our lusts that war against our souls; let us not show them any mercy, but mortify, and crucify, and utterly destroy them. (Henry)

49.k. Wilderness – 13.q. So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

 

Deu 2:30  But Sihon the king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for the LORD your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day.

 Isaiah 48:4    Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass,

 Numbers 21:23    But Sihon would not allow Israel to pass through his territory. He gathered all his people together and went out against Israel to the wilderness and came to Jahaz and fought against Israel.

 Joshua 11:19-20    There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle.  For it was the LORD’s doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle, in order that they should be devoted to destruction and should receive no mercy but be destroyed, just as the LORD commanded Moses.

 Romans 9:17-23   For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”  So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Hardened hearts equate to walking around with both our eyes and ears closed. This calloused condition can keep a person from believing in Christ. That’s huge because eternity in heaven rests on that belief. God speaks to all of us, but how we respond depends on the condition of our heart. Upon hearing the Lord’s voice, some believers are motivated to pursue a deeper and more obedient relationship with their Father. Others, however, resist or refuse Him because their heart has become less responsive.

A change in receptiveness may be difficult to recognize because it happens slowly and is often rationalized or excused. How do you respond when the Holy Spirit speaks to you through Scripture or some other means? Carefully consider the following characteristics of a developing callousness:

  • Insensitivity to what God says
  • Resistance to His authority
  • Disobedience to what the Lord is instructing you to do
  • Justification of sinful conduct
  • Rejection of reproof by others
  • Preoccupation with worldly things
  • Little interest in spiritual matters
  • Absence of private devotion (Bible reading and prayer)
  • Avoidance of gathering to worship with other believers

A hardened heart can dull a person’s ability to perceive and understand. Anyone’s heart can harden, even faithful Christians’. Sin causes hearts to grow hard, especially continual and unrepentant sin. Pride will also cause our hearts to harden. The “pride of your heart has deceived you . . . you who say to yourself, ‘who can bring me down to the ground’ . . . I will bring you down declares the LORD” (Obadiah verses 3-4). Also, the root of Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness was his pride and arrogance. Even in the face of tremendous proofs and witnessing God’s powerful hand at work, Pharaoh’s hardened heart caused him to deny the sovereignty of the one, true God. And when King Nebuchadnezzar’s “heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory . . . until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and sets over them anyone He wishes” (Daniel 5:20–21). Accordingly, when we’re inclined to do it our way, thinking we can “go it on our own,” it would be wise to recall what King Solomon taught us in Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”

So, what then is the antidote for a heart condition such as this? First and foremost, we have to recognize the effect that this spiritual disease has on us. And God will help us to see our heart’s condition when we ask Him: “Search me O God, and know my heart…see if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23–24). God can heal any heart once we recognize our disobedience and repent of our sins. But true repentance is more than simply a resolute feeling of steadfast determination. Repentance manifests itself in a changed life. 

Hearts can also become hardened when we suffer setbacks and disappointments in life. No one is immune to trials here on earth. Yet, just as steel is forged by a blacksmith’s hammer, so, too, can our faith be strengthened by the trials we encounter in the valleys of life.

A hardened heart begins is a manifestation of the mind. It is here where thoughts become rooted and how our lives are lived out. Certainly pride and disappointment can plant seeds but these seeds are cultivated in our own minds. When the Word of God and things of God are neglected and things of this world become more consuming there will be watering of seeds that harden the heart, and dull the eyes and ears. 

It is important to continually be transformed in our minds by growing in our understanding and knowledge of God, God’s Word, and things of God. Without desire for this continual growth our minds are consumed with what the world has to offer and its offer of satisfaction. 

Start your day with God’s Word and commitment to living in such a way that honors and glorifies Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions.

45.f. “Wilderness” – 9.l. “Observe what I command you this day”

 

Exodus 34:11-16.  “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

 Deuteronomy 28:1    “And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.

 Matthew 28:20    teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

 John 14:21    Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

We cannot expect the benefit of the promises unless we make conscience of the precepts. (Benson)

To recall the duties of the covenant once more to the minds of the people, the Lord repeats from among the rights of Israel, upon the basis of which the covenant had been established (ch. 21-23), two of the leading points which determined the attitude of the nation towards Him, and which constituted, as it were, the main pillars that were to support the covenant about to be renewed. These were, first, the warning against every kind of league with the Canaanites, who were to be driven out before the Israelites (Exodus 34:11-16); and, secondly, the instructions concerning the true worship of Jehovah (Exodus 34:17-26). The warning against friendship with the idolatrous Canaanites (Exodus 34:11-16) is more fully developed and more strongly enforced than in Exodus 23:23. The Israelites, when received into the covenant with Jehovah, were not only to beware of forming any covenant with the inhabitants of Canaan (cf. Exodus 23:32-33), but were to destroy all the signs of their idolatrous worship. (Keil)

 As previously stated in Exodus 23:24, showing that the culture of the Canaanites was so corrupt that it was beyond redemption. God did not want Israel to assume any of the sinful practices found in the culture of the Canaanites. (Guzik)

“Observe what I command you”, “Behold, I will”, “Take care”, “lest it becomes a snare”, “You shall tear down”, “lest you “, “you are invited, you eat, you take, make your sons whore after their gods”.  God is clear. Observe His commands, watch what He will do, and be very careful to not forget these commands, for the temptations of the land they are about to go into will be great if their eyes are not on God with a desire to honor and glorify His commands.

Scripture tells us that the Word of God is limitless in wisdom and understanding. It has depth, height, and width within it so great that a lifetime of reading and studying it will continue to feed a hungering soul and searching mind. Word upon word, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little there a little, God’s Word will give direction, correction, conviction, warning, blessing, hope, faith, joy, peace, refuge, and light and food to the soul. 

Neglect and complacency with His Word will have an adverse effect on the lives of those so inclined to do so. Likewise, His Word will have a beneficial effect on the lives of those so inclined to daily dig, study, and cherish His Word.

44.x. “Wilderness” – 9.c. “‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you.”

 

Exodus 33:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; but I will not go up among you, lest I consume you on the way, for you are a stiff-necked people.” When the people heard this disastrous word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, that I may know what to do with you.’” Therefore the people of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward.

Numbers 14:12   I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them, and I will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”

 Ezekiel 3:19   But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.

 Deuteronomy 9:6-13    “Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people.  Remember and do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.

Psalms 78:8   and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.

 Acts 7:51    “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Luke 17:26-30  And just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the time of [the second coming of] the Son of Man: the people were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, [they were indifferent to God] until the day that Noah went into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as it was in the days of Lot. People were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building [carrying on business as usual, without regard for their sins]; but on the [very] day that Lot left Sodom it rained fire and brimstone (burning sulfur) from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.

This was a challenge to Moses and the nation as a whole. God told them they could have the Promised Land, but He would not remain with them in a close, personal way. “It is clear that the people felt that the promise of an angel to be sent before them was the lowering of a privilege.” If they were satisfied with that arrangement, it would prove they only loved God’s blessings and not God Himself. If they challenged God – pleading with Him for His presence, not only His blessings – it would show a genuine heart for God Himself. This was the first step towards spiritual restoration and revival in Israel. “To be given every other blessing is of no value if God is not with you. What is the value of Canaan? What is the value of milk and honey? What is the value of having possessions, if God was not with them? They saw that the realization of the presence of God, having this fellowship and company, was infinitely more important than everything else.” (Guzik)

Those whom God pardons, must be made to know what their sin deserved. Let them go forward as they are; this was very expressive of God’s displeasure. Though he promises to make good his covenant with Abraham, in giving them Canaan, yet he denies them the tokens of his presence they had been blessed with. The people mourned for their sin. Of all the bitter fruits and consequences of sin, true penitents most lament, and dread most, God’s departure from them. (Henry)

At length there was an end of ambiguity – God’s purpose was made plain – the people had shown themselves unfit for his near presence, and he would withdraw himself. So it would be best even for them; since, if they were about to show- themselves as perverse in the future as they had in the past, his near presence could only lead to their entire destruction. Some day they would so provoke him, that he would consume them in the way.  (Unknown)

What would our lives be like if we would understand that the indwelling Holy Spirit is “God With Us” and “God In Us”? Do we go about our lives as if His presence is not there? Do we join in social and cultural worldly paths, pleasures, and non-God-honoring ways? Do we put on worldly ornaments of pleasure and act as if somehow we are honoring God? Do we act like those in the times of Lot and Noah who went about life without giving God and things of God a second thought? Are we neglectful and complacent? Can we expect the presence of God to bless our lives while we live for things of this world? 

Oh that we would cherish the presence of God in such a way that every day we desire to know Him more and more so that we might honor and glorify Him more and more.

44. “Wilderness” – 8.g. “When my angel goes before you”

 

Exodus 23:23  “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces. You shall serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will take sickness away from among you. None shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. I will send my terror before you and will throw into confusion all the people against whom you shall come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites from before you. I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you. Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.  And I will set your border from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates, for I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”

How rich are the particulars of this promise! The comfort of their food, the continuance of their health, the increase of their wealth, the prolonging their lives to old age. Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is. It is promised that they should subdue their enemies. Hosts of hornets made way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can God use for chastising his people’s enemies. In real kindness to the church, its enemies are subdued by little and little; thus we are kept on our guard, and in continual dependence on God. Corruptions are driven out of the hearts of God’s people, not all at once, but little by little. The precept with this promise is, that they should not make friendship with idolaters. Those that would keep from bad courses, must keep from bad company. It is dangerous to live in a bad neighbourhood; others’ sins will be our snares. Our greatest danger is from those who would make us sin against God. (Henry)

These promises secured to the people not only the protection and help of God during their journey through the desert, and in the conquest of Canaan, but also preservation and prosperity when they had taken possession of the land. (Keil)

The promises of God are great and awesome and reveal His mighty power over His creation in heaven and earth. Is anything too hard for God? No! Can He do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine? Yes! We do not have the knowledge and understanding or wisdom to begin to know the power of God and the fullness of His grace, mercy, and love. We do have glimpses of these though through His Word and by the indwelling Holy Spirit in all who believe. He has given us great promises so that we have a reason for belief, faith, and hope for today, tomorrow, and forever. It is in these promises that we find peace and rest for our souls in the midst of the confusion going on around us. It is in these promises we find a reason to live in such a way of obedience for the single purpose to honor and glory to Him in all we think, say, and do. Though a mountain is before us, God is with us. Though a great divide is in front of us, God is with us. Though darkness is all around us, God is with us. Though our trials and troubles seem unbearable, God is with us. Though I do not know Him fully, He knows me fully. Though I do not know what tomorrow brings, God knows. God created all there is. He placed every star in every galaxy. He parted the Red Sea, brought water out of a rock, fed His people in the wilderness, sent messengers, prophets, and priests to guide and warn, He sent His Son for the redemption of all who would believe, He healed the sick, raised people from the dead, He is coming again, and has promised eternal life to those He has called.

42.f. “Let My People Go” – 10.c. Remembrance

 

Exodus 13:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. Today, in the month of Abib, you are going out.  And when the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, you shall keep this service in this month. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD.  Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen with you, and no leaven shall be seen with you in all your territory. You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt. You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year. “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s.  Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.  And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery.For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

“Israel had been saved through the destruction of Egypt’s first-born, and now they were required to dedicate their own first-born as a constant memorial of their deliverance.” (Thomas)

 In remembrance of the destruction of the first-born of Egypt, both of man and of beast, and the deliverance of the Israelites out of bondage, the first-born males of the Israelites were set apart to the Lord. By this was set before them, that their lives were preserved through the ransom of the atonement, which in due time was to be made for sin. They were also to consider their lives, thus ransomed from death, as now to be consecrated to the service of God. (Henry)

In connection with the deliverance from death of the Israelite first-born by the blood of the lamb, and still further to fix the remembrance of the historical facts in the mind of the nation, Moses was commissioned to declare all the firstborn of Israel for all future time, and all the firstborn of their domesticated animals “holy to the Lord.” There was, perhaps, already in the minds of men a feeling that peculiar dignity attached to the first-born in each family; and this feeling was now strengthened by the assignment to them of a sacred character. God claimed them, and also the first-born of beasts, as His own. The clean beasts became his by sacrifice; but the unclean ones could not he similarly treated, and therefore had to be “redeemed” (verse 13) by the sacrifice of clean animals in their place. The first-born of men became at the first institution of the new ordinance God’s ministers; but as this system was not intended to continue, it was announced that they too would have to be “redeemed” (verses 13, 15). The exact mode of redeeming them was left to be settled afterwards, and will be found in Numbers 3:40-51; Numbers 18:16 (Unknown)

Remembrance of what God has done is good for the soul. It is good for the mind of man to remember what God has done by His own mighty hand. It is good to remember God’s mercy, grace, and love. A heart and mind that is ever remembering God’s strength, power, love, mercy, refuge, wisdom, holiness, and promises, will act differently than the world, will see things of God, will be continually thanking God, will serve God, will honor and glorify God, and will display humbleness, gentleness, kindness, peace, hope, faith, and love.  It is when we are consumed with things of this world and the busyness of life that we allow ourselves to be neglectful and complacent in remembering, following, repenting, obeying, and relying on God. Remembering God’s love, grace, and mercy is not a burden and yet should not be taken lightly. It is not an obligation, and yet, it pours out of the redeemed soul like a floodgate opened and never-ending. Without it the heart and mind will wander away from God on paths that neither honor nor glorify Him.  

40.v. “A land flowing with milk and honey”

 

 

Exodus 3:8  I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”

Deuteronomy 8:7-9    For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,  a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,  a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

 Nehemiah 9:24  You multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, and you brought them into the land that you had told their fathers to enter and possess.

 Jeremiah 2:7   And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my heritage an abomination.

 Jeremiah 32:22   And you gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.

 Ezekiel 20:6   On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.

A good land and a large.—The land promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:18) well deserves this description. Besides Philistia, and Palestine on both sides of the Jordan, it included almost the whole of Syria from Galilee on the south, to Amanus, Taurus, and the Euphrates on the north and north-east. This tract of country is 450 miles long, and from sixty to a hundred and twenty miles broad. Its area is not much less than 50,000 square miles. Although some parts are unproductive, it is, on the whole, a region of great fertility. (Ellicott)

And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians,…. Which must be understood consistent with the omnipresence of God, who is everywhere, and strictly speaking cannot be said to remove from place to place, or to descend; but such a way of speaking is used, when he gives some eminent display of his power or goodness, as here in a wonderful manner he appeared in a burning bush, and manifested himself in a way of grace and kindness to his people, signifying that he would shortly save them: so Christ in our nature came down from heaven to earth, to save his spiritual Israel out of the hands of all their enemies and to bring them out of that land; the land of Egypt, where they were in bondage, and greatly oppressed. (Gill)

The purposes, plans, and will of God are at best a mystery which He exposes to whom He and when He chooses. He knows the beginning from the end. Everything in the future is known to Him.  Nothing is hidden. Nothing is new. Nothing is beyond His knowing. He orchestrates His creation for His pleasure which is clothed in righteousness, holiness, justice, grace, mercy, and love. Paul, trying to explain this says; “we are the clay and He is the potter, who are we to question what He chooses to do with the creation of His hands” 

His promises for His chosen people are clear. The timing of fulfilling these promises is not. However, the fact that God gave the promises means with no uncertain terms, they are already fulfilled if not seen by man.  Eternal life is promised to those who believe. Eternal hell and torment are promised to those who do not.  Though they are not yet realized, they are in fact already executed by the Promises given. Denying or rejecting promises does not make them void. They are sure to come because God has given them. You can know the promises of God but not believe them, just as you can know the commands of God and not follow or obey them. Belief and faith in God’s promises are essential for a person to come to repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever would believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” Belief and faith in this promise change a person. they are born again, a new creation, for the honor and glory of Jesus Christ in all they think, say, and do. Belief and faith in the promises of God change a person from a destination of eternal hell and torment to eternal life.

The promise of a land flowing with milk and honey in this life is but a small glimpse of what awaits us in heaven within the presence of the Holiness of God.

37.b. “Behold, I send an angel before you”

 

 

Genesis 24:5  The servant said to him, “Perhaps the woman may not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I then take your son back to the land from which you came?” Abraham said to him, “See to it that you do not take my son back there. The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and from the land of my kindred, and who spoke to me and swore to me, To your offspring I will give this land,’ he will send his angel before you, and you shall take a wife for my son from there. But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this oath of mine; only you must not take my son back there.”

 Exodus 23:20-23     “Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.  Pay careful attention to him and obey his voice; do not rebel against him, for he will not pardon your transgression, for my name is in him.  “But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out,

 Psalms 32:8   I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

 Psalms 34:7     The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

 Proverbs 3:5-6   Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Abraham seeks to honor God by providing his son with a wife that will not lead him down paths away from God and God’s promises. Abraham’s faith in God’s ability to supply a wife, guide his servant, and fulfill this desire for his son’s wife is easily understood from; “He will send an angel before you”.  How this would work out and the details along the way Abraham did not give thought.  He trusted that God would supply, period. There is a strong relationship between belief, obedience, faith, and hope. 

There is a way that may seem too hard or impossible for you to accomplish. Do not allow this to weaken you but to encourage you and your faith in the power and might of God. He certainly is able to do that which we cannot and much more that we cannot even imagine.