Moses is speaking the words of the Lord. It was needful for God’s people at that time to hear this. They were preparing to cross the Jordon River. What was good for them is still instruction for us today.
Deuteronomy 11: 1Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway. 2 And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, 3 And his miracles, and his acts, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land; 4 And what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day; 5 And what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place; 6 And what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben: how the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel: 7 But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did. 8 Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it.
Visualize the nation of Israel. It had grown from 70 people who went into Egypt, a family from the 12 sons of Jacob, to millions in number. They had wandered 40 years in the wilderness and were ready to enter the Promised Land. It didn’t look too promising to them. The pagan tribes and their armies were just across the river. They knew the land was promised to God’s people, yet they were still willing and ready to fight to keep it. Israel saw their opposition.
We stand at the brink of our Jordon Rivers today and see opposition against the gospel, the church, Christianity in general and just about anything to do with what is right and truth. Those who hold to this kind of life are considered the adversaries by today’s society. It can be discouraging. We forget what God has done. Regardless of the adversaries beyond the brink of our rivers, God is still the same.
Moses’ instruction was for the people to stop a minute. He would not be going over the river with them, but he had a message for them. He wanted to talk to the older generation and remind them not to forget the God they served. That had seen for themselves what God had done in the past. If he was able to do it then, he could do it now. They saw a raging river and the land across it. Sure it flowed with milk and honey, but it also had enemies. Guess what. The devil will always be there between us and the promise. Moses reminded the people that God had parted the Red Sea for them many years ago, and this raging river was nothing. The Pharaoh may have considered himself a God; the people may have thought of him that way. God delivered them from the dark forces of Egypt; it was a little thing to deliver them now.
You may think it’s harder to live for the Lord now than it used to be. The devil still works just as he always has. He can only come at us so much because he is limited. Our God in unlimited! He will send a Moses to lead us through. The time between now and heaven may be bad, but yesterday was bad. Last year was bad. Ten years ago was bad. God is still with us and as we trust him, we can face our Jordon Rivers. Your eyes have seen what he’s done. Everything God does is big. It’s good for us.
The devil is not that way. His ways are not sweet and satisfying. He never has done anything good for us and never will. Expect trouble in this life, but there is a guide to our path. God’s hand is still on Israel today and it is upon everyone who has trusted Jesus as Savior. We may go through flames in this world, but God will lead us through. The devil is no worse than he’s ever been. He’s always done his best to keep people out of heaven. He’ll never be good to us. On the other hand, God has never and will never let us down. The God who was still is and forever will be. We tend to forget this. What you feel about God or what the devil tries to make you think does not matter. God is still God!
You can still confess sins and get mercy. You can still trust his Word. You can still be changed and become a child of God. Instead of loving sin and wrong, you can love the Lord. How? Because of who God is and what he has done AND who He’ll be tomorrow—still God! What we enjoy today is the promise of yesterday. We don’t know what time we have left. It could be the same for all us if the trumpet sounds. I’m not perfect, but I’m following a perfect Savior. My eyes and your eyes have seen what HE has done. There is no way we should doubt that he’ll continue doing for us. God will always take care of us. There is a heaven; we have a home there. He went away to prepare it for us. Lots of things can stand in your way, but nothing needs to keep us from it. Why can I say this? Why can you? Because our eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord which he did.
Verse 2 states for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm. His greatness scares me, but it also gives me assurance. His hand is mighty enough to crush but gentle enough to hold his people. He’s big enough to take care of us. We’ve seen his outstretched arm. We must take the chastisement when it’s necessary, but there is healing and help in his arm.
I’ve spent the last half hour reminding us that our eyes have seen the great acts of the Lord. You’ve experienced him today. Let’s all trust him. Let’s return to that child-like faith that has kept us and brought us to the brink of our promised land. Our future may look like the land of Canaan; it may have some scary things in it. Be assured that God is still the same. He will get us safely across the river to our home.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 