Sometimes we must be humbled to be blessed
It all begins with an idea.
Deuteronomy Chapter 8
“ He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deuteronomy 8:3
Moses is speaking to the Israelites in chapter 8. He is still preparing them to enter the promised land. Why did it take Moses so long to prepare the Israelites to enter the promise they had been walking to for 40 years? Were they not prepared enough? If 40 years hadn’t prepared them, what else could? Maybe it was this message from chapter 8 that, even though I have heard a form of this message taught all my life, it took reading Moses’s words in this chapter to really take hold of. Maybe this was the message the Israelites, really should have taken hold of before entering into their promised land.
Moses tells the people in the first few verses of the chapter that God had humbled them by allowing them to wander in the wilderness for forty years. Some of the ways Moses says they were humbled was by being fed Manna when they hungered, a food no one had none before, or being watered from rocks in the wilderness. In verse 5 Moses tells the Israelites that God was disciplining them like a father would discipline his son.
Why? Why would God have been humbling and disciplining the people of Israel before they entered their promise? In verse 7 Moses begins to tell the Israelites that God is about to take them into the land filled with wheat, honey, barley, fruits, a land “where you will lack nothing” ( 8:9). In verse 10 Moses tells the people that “When you eat and are full, you will bless the Lord your God for the good land he had given you.”
Then in verses 11-14 Moses tells us why the people had been humbled before being blessed. Moses tells the Israelites, “Be careful that you don’t forget the Lord your God by failing to keep his commands, ordinances, an statues that I am giving you today. When you eat and are full, and build beautiful houses to liven in, and your herds and flocks grow large, and your silver and gold multiply, and everything else you have increases, be careful that your heart doesn’t become proud and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery.” Moses continues to remind the people of all the Lord had brought them through to bring them to the land they were now about to enter full of rich blessings. A land where they were about to lack nothing. Moses didn’t want the Israelites to enter the land full of blessings and get so consumed by all that they had that they forgot who delivered them and provided all the blessings.
Have you ever heard the God of the Valley is the God of the Mountain- the saying that aims to remind us that the same God we sought out when we walked through our valleys is the same God that delivered us to our mountain. That same God that provided for us is the same God when we are on our mountain lacking nothing.
It is easy to seek out God when we are going through trials and struggles in life, when we have needs we feel are not met, when we need help getting through something, when we are being humbled or disciplined. But it can be easy to forget to give God that same attention and faithfulness when life is great and we are walking in blessings. When we lack nothing.
God humbled the Israelites during their 40 years wandering through the wilderness. God was leading them to the rich blessings of the promised land, but the people needed humbled so that once they entered into the land flowing with milk and honey, they would not forget how they got there and would not fail to continue to seek and praise God.
Let’s not skip over the fact that while they were being humble and disciplined, God was still providing for them. They were fed Manna from God when they were hungry, their clothes did not wear out for forty years (I don’t know about you, but I can barely keep clothes looking good 40 days if I wear them regularly. I can’t fathom 40 years) and their feet did not swell. Again, 40 minutes of straight walking and my dogs are barking, as my papaw use to say. 40 years of walking and no swelling. . . God was present with them, providing for them, for a purpose!
So, if you find yourself being humbled or disciplined don’t be discouraged! Draw closer to God, and remember He might just be preparing you for blessings to come. He is walking with you in your wilderness and providing for you on your journey. He is feeding you, clothing you, any carrying you to the rich blessing he has prepared for you. Don’t be discouraged by times of humbling.
If you are walking in your blessings, don’t forget to praise God for what He has blessed you with. If you are at a place in your life where you lack nothing, make sure you are still giving God the praise He deserves for delivering you to that place.
Moses said in verses 16-18 “He fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your ancestors had not known in order to humble and test you, so that in the end he might cause you to prosper. You may say to yourself, My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me, but remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth.”
Sometimes we are humbled by the Lord before our blessings, so that our pride does not take credit for all that the Lord has blessed us with. We would have nothing, we would be nothing, we would accomplish nothing if it wasn’t for the Power of our God! Walk with Him in your times of humility and praise Him in your time of blessings!
The didn’t have eyes to see, ears to hear, or a heart to understand
It all begins with an idea.
The Bible. . . The living word of God. If you allow it to be alive for you, then it will never cease to amaze you.
It wasn’t too long ago I studied on the parable of the Sower in Mathew 13. Much of the time when we study on this chapter we look at the soil and how we accept God’s Word. We look at how we are allowing His Word to move in our life and what we are doing with it.
This morning I am stuck on something, that while it has always stood out to me, took on a whole new meaning today.
The Book of Mathew holds many speeches Jesus gave to his Disciples along with other people who gathered to listen. Much of the teachings refers back to the Torah or the first five books of the Bible considered the Law. We know most of those books are devoted to Moses and him leading the people of Israel from Egypt. The Law given to the people was the commands God asked them to follow.
In Deuteronomy 29 Moses is summarizing the covenant and commands as he continues to prepare the people to enter the promise land. He is pleading with them, in a sense, to follow God’s commands and not turn from His ways. Moses tells the people in verse 2 that they have seen what God did to Egypt and to Pharaoh. It’s almost like a warning. Moses is saying you seen what God has done to others for you with plagues and devastation. Don’t think for a minute God won’t follow through with all He is saying He will do to you if you don’t follow His commands. Then in verse 3 Moses goes on to say, “ Yet, to this day the Lord has not given you a mind to understand, eyes to see, or ears to hear.” He goes on to remind them that for forty years as they wandered their clothes did not wear out, their feet did not swell, and they did not go hungry. I can’t help but think he reminds them of this, again, because while they wandered in their wilderness they did not see and recognize the beauty of God and His deliverance.
I think that last statement is a blessing in and of its self. I have read it and read it and read it as I have studied through the last few books of the Bible. It is not accident Moses continues to remind the people just how cared for and provided for they were by God. If you read and follow along the devotions you know, I have mentioned it in devotions recently, but it came up again in this, so I mention it again. Remember, God provides!!
Back to where my heart has gone this morning though. The phrase about minds that don’t understand, ears that don’t hear, eyes that don’t see got me. Is this why no matter what God did for Israel they just didn’t seem to get it. They continued to question or lack faith. They tried to make golden images in the wilderness when Moses was in the mountain talking to God? Is this why it is so frustrating that we can see all that God was doing for them, but they just apparently didn’t see so they continued to break the commands or question God?
Jesus, however, in Mathew 13 tells the people they are blessed because they have eyes that do see and ears that do hear, and hearts to understand. He tells the disciples that He is speaking to them in parables because the secrets of the kingdom of heaven are for them but not for those who have hardened their hearts to God. Jesus says that many righteous people and prophets have longed to see and hear things but didn’t have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
Jesus then goes on in Chapter 13 to explain the parable to the disciples. He says the one sown on good ground is the one who sees and understands and produces fruit.
An interesting note to make here is the word Jesus uses for blessed. Now disclaimer, I have not dug into this particular use of the word blessed, however I have been following along on a study about the Beatitudes and the sermon on the mount recently that discussed the word Jesus uses for the word blessed. Typically we read the word blessed in Mathew chapter 5 and we fill in our meaning of blessed. However, the Hebrew and Greek translation for this term Jesus is using actually translates into our terms today as the one who is living the fortunate life. If Jesus is still using the same root word here in Mathew 13 for Blessed, what He is saying is, you are living a fortunate life because you have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand all the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.
We today are able to see, hear, and understand God’s Word. We are blessed by this. We too are living a fortunate life.
The people of Israel were God’s chosen people, delivered from Egypt, and given the promise land but they still were not given eyes to see, ears to hear, or minds to understand. Sometimes we get frustrated with the lost world around us and think “why can you just not see and get it?!?” At least I know that I do. I just want people to see and hear and feel what I am so fortunate to get to experience in my relationship with God. I want others to have this too! So how do we help others see, hear and understand if they do not have this fortune?
Jesus tells the disciples that those who hear, see, and understand produce fruit. We are fortunate because we live a life where we get to produce fruit for Christ, and in that hopefully lead others to the One who gives the gift of seeing, hearing, and understanding. See, I don’t think we will ever be the cause of someone else hearing, seeing, or understanding. I think we try and try and sometimes that is where we get frustrated when trying to tell the lost about what we have or why we have faith. I believe that seeing, hearing, and understanding is a gift given to believers by God, when they surrender to Him. I do believe, though, that the fruit we bear is what plants the seeds for other’s beliefs. Through our own understanding we live a life that produces fruit that leads others to be curious of God, a life that leads others to want to seek God, and through that surrendering then God can deliver them this gift with the gift of salvation.
God’s living word is truly amazing to me!! When you can read in the Old and see it come to light in the New!! Maybe this was as awesome to someone reading this as it was to me.
I am thankful to serve such an almighty, all powerful and present God. Who was and is and is to come!!
Remember, it is by His Grace we continue to Rise! Praise God for this day!
