Exhortation – Learning From Israel

In the first few chapters of Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the people of Israel of how they had come to be on the threshold of the promised land.

Thirty Eight Years Reviewed

Except for Caleb and Joshua, the oldest ones present would have been teenagers at Sinai. Most had not been born. Moses reminded them of the double folly that followed the spying out the land. First, there was fear that wilted their faith when they heard about the giants. Their immediate reaction was to return to Egypt. Then, after being condemned to die in the wilderness, they committed their second folly, rebellion, and took upon themselves to enter the land. They were routed and slaughtered.

Both of these disasters resulted from failing to believe how great God is. How could they fail so greatly in the face of the demonstrations of His power they had witnessed?

Are We Any Better?

We often assume we would have acted differently. But why do we think we are stronger in character than they? We are nothing more than the very same flesh that entrapped them. The experiences of Israel show how stubborn the flesh is, how vast its ability to refuse to obey. We are made of the same stuff. To demonstrate it, let’s look at some of their failures in the wilderness:

  1. They longed for the leeks and garlic’s and fleshpots of Egypt, and grumbled at not having them.
    By comparison, we have leeks and garlic’s and fleshpots, and much more, and still grumble.
  1. They mutinied after going without water a few days.
    It’s unlikely that any of us has ever gone without water for even one day, so it is difficult for us to compare. The real problem, however, was that they said, “We would have been better off to stay in Egypt.” Have we ever secretly thought, “What if I weren’t in the Truth? I could go ahead and do this…I could pursue that.. .I could really enjoy myself.” Most of us will have to admit to occasional feelings along these lines. How much difference is there, then, between us and Israel?
  1. They loathed God’s gift of manna. This seems incredible, since this daily miracle not only proved God’s presence, but kept them alive.
    We have been told, “Whom the Lord loves, He chastens.” And, “Rejoice in your sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” So how do we react to adversity? Just about like Israel reacted to manna, or worse. Our trials and troubles, like the manna, prove God’s presence and are designed to keep us alive — not just for a day, but for eternity.
  1. Israel doubted the Lord’s ability to give them the land, because of the Anakims (giants).
    How often have we said or thought that we just don’t know if we’ll “be worthy enough” to get into the Kingdom — as if anyone could be by their own effort! Our Anakim are our sins. They are too big for us to conquer. They would indeed keep us out of the land, except that the Lord is mighty, mightier even than our sins. He is able to make us worthy, to conquer our foes, to give us His pleasant land. If we doubt this, we are just like the faithless Israelites, and we will perish in the wilderness like them.
  1. In the wilderness, Israel repeatedly took things into their own hands. They belatedly decided to try to enter the land, they appointed leaders to take them back to Egypt, 250 presumed to offer incense. It was a regular pattern of their behavior.
    While wishing it to be the last thing we would do, taking matters into our own hands is often our greatest failing. No, we don’t deliberately decide to make an idol or forsake the quest for the land or make ourselves priests. But we do take things into our own hands. When money is tight, our first thought is that someone in the family should take a second job, even if it causes the family’s spiritual life to suffer. Do we ever conclude that maybe the Lord thinks we would be better off with less? When trouble comes, do we generally fret and worry rather than trying to see the divine purpose in our calamities? In attempting to resolve our problems, let it be His way, not ours, that we follow.

Every failing of natural Israel in the wilderness has a parallel in our lives of probation. The apostle Paul, in 1 Cor. 10, makes it abundantly clear that we are intended to see it this way. This ought to encourage us to exercise caution in condemning others who fail. And, if we are instructed by the divine record, we may perhaps learn to avoid some of their pitfalls.

They Remembered, We Remember

“Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?”

Do we ever find ourselves wishing God would again do something like the Sinai appearance so we could see it? Well, if so, we have really proven that we are no better than the Israelites, because He has done better!

“For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more… But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (Hebrews 12:18-24).

At the Lord’s table, every week we consider things more amazing, more awe inspiring, and of greater practical effectiveness than Israel ever experienced:

  1. Mount Zion: approach is invited to Zion, but was forbidden to Sinai. The covenant of Sinai yielded death, the new covenant brings life.
  2. The city of the living God: the life and (especially) the resurrection of our Lord prove that our God is living. Life out of death is a wonder that eclipses any miracle seen by Israel.
  3. Angels in festal gathering (RSV): the angels rejoice over every individ­ual who repents and relies on the Lord’s conquest of sin. In the commemoration of his victory, we come into the company of rejoicing angels. By contrast, the angel of the Lord’s presence at Sinai was something to fear (Ex 23:20-21).
  4. The assembly of the firstborn, enrolled in heaven: this is ourselves! What a privilege to be here, not only with each other but with all that “cloud of witnesses” (verse 1) which surrounds us.
  5. The God who is Judge of all: we come before the veil, and now that it has been torn open (chapter 10:19­20), we look into the Most Holy itself. We stand in the presence of our God. Israel was not permitted to see or to touch; they could not approach.
  6. The spirits of just men made perfect: all the faithful ones we read about were not perfect, but they were justified by their faith. None have had their bodies made perfect yet, but their spirits were remade by faith. We have come into their company.
  7. Jesus: alive! He is a living Lord who welcomes our approach.
  8. The mediator: so that we are not consumed. This is what enables us to come near when Israel could not.
  9. The new covenant: a covenant that promises life, not one that could only make sin “exceedingly sinful”; that could only condemn.
  10. Blood that speaks graciously: Abel’s blood spoke of a faithful man, wrongly killed. Christ’s blood goes much further and speaks of life for all.

More Advantages Than Israel

Is it not clearly true that we have received more than Israel did in the wilderness? We look at what they witnessed and wonder how they could fail so. I wonder if they would not look at all we have and marvel how we could fail so!

“See that ye refuse not him that speaketh,” the writer goes on to say in verse 25. For if he did not spare those in the wilderness, he will certainly not spare us who have received so much more (to paraphrase the next few verses).

“Let us go forth therefore unto him (Jesus) without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (13:14-15)