King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Saturday, March 11, 2023
Chapters: DEUTERONOMY 1-2
Study: Go In And Possess The Land
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
As I was reading the chapters for today, I thought about my own journey with Jesus. I have walked up the hills of glory and down into the valleys of pain. I have seen His hand upon my life not only in His protections and provisions, but also in His judgments as well. I even spent some time in the wilderness when God had to set me straight in my attempts to try to walk this journey my way. I tell you what, God, has been with me through thick and thin, and He is not done with me yet. I can relate to Paul when he said,
[Romans 7:14-18,24-25 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.]
The Book of Deuteronomy contains thirty-four chapters, the author is Moses and it was written to the Israelite’s, the timeline is about 1451BC. The purpose of the book was to remind Israel of God’s promise, and to reinstate the Law to the new generation that was given forty years ago on Mt. Sinai. What we are to learn from the book is that there is only One Law for all, and it is God’s, [Deuteronomy 10:17-18 For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: 18 He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.]
As we begin the reading of Deuteronomy, forty years have passed since the Israelite’s were forbidden by God to cross over the Jordan and into the land that He promised them. They spent one year for each day that ten of the twelve spies gave their evil report and discouraged Israel from possessing it. Their judgment was over, the only ones alive from the first generation was Moses, Caleb, and Joshua. God, gave the okay that it was now time to go in and possess the land, with the reminder that this was the land that He promised to Abraham.
[Deuteronomy 1:3-6,8 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; 4 After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: 5 On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.]
[go in and possess the land] There comes a time when God says, “You have suffered enough, it is time to go in and get what I promised you.” I do not care what it is, land, a house, a spouse, even our salvation, God, has set it before us, but we must go in and possess it if we want it, [Revelation 3:20-21 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.]
Now, if we are just going to stand there and wait for God to make the first move, then we can forget about it because God does not go where He is not invited. And if we do not make the first move because we are afraid, then we can forget about it because God only moves by faith. Moses, goes on to describe what took place forty years ago when he sent the twelve spies over into Canaan and they refused to possess the land out of fear.
[Deuteronomy 1:21-23,26-27 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. 22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. 23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:26 Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: 27 And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.]
[Notwithstanding ye would not go up,] Let me tell you, lukewarm faith is worse than none at all, you either trust God and make that first move or you do not and suffer in your own sin, you do not have faith one minute and no faith the next, otherwise you do risk God turning His back on you, [Revelation 3:15-16 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.]
Lukewarm faith is just about the worst thing that we can have, we are basically telling God that we are only trusting Him when things are going well, but when things get difficult we turn to something else. Well, believe it or not, fear is actually the source of lukewarm faith. Think about it, are we really turning to what seems like the answer to our problems based on faith or fear. I know when I have made the unwise decision to date the guy before my beloved came into my life, it was when I was losing everything, I could not even teach Sunday school anymore. My unwise decision led me to three years of suffering, but I did have one thing going for me that got me through it, I knew that God would bring me out of it because He was actually with me the whole time. In fact, Moses, goes on to remind Israel that there was nothing to fear because God was with them.
[Deuteronomy 1:29-33 Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 31 And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. 32 Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, 33 Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day.]
[to search you out a place to pitch your tents in,] God, never sends us anywhere that He has not already gone before us and searched it out. And Moses was not speaking to them directly, they were the kids who’s parents rebelled against Him in disbelief, and goes on to remind them that not one of them, except for him, Caleb, and Joshua, that are alive today. However, he did have to mention that he was not allowed to go into the promised land because of what he did when they angered him.
[Deuteronomy 1:35-39 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, 36 Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. 37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. 38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.]
[not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land,] Do you see why we suffer sometimes for things that we have not done? Here is the thing, the second that we accept Christ as our Saviour, we actually become prey. We are not only prey for the wolves of the world, but the wolves in sheep’s clothing as well, [Matthew 10:16-20 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. 17 But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; 18 And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. 19 But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. 20 For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.]
[he shall go in thither: encourage him:] God, had already appointed Joshua to succeed Moses, the people needed to not only respect that, but also encourage him as well. Let me tell you, our biggest obstacle in taking what God is willing to give us is the fear of being all alone, and not having anyone to back us up. It does not matter how strong our faith in God is, we need to be encouraged and when we are not, that actually deters us from doing our best, [Galatians 5:7-10 Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? 8 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you. 9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. 10 I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.]
There is absolutely nothing that we can do if God’s will is not attached to it, I mean, we can try, but watch us fail miserably, and I do not care how many times we try, if God is not in it then we are not getting in. Moses, goes on to remind the new generation of how their father’s attempted to go into the promised land without God.
[Deuteronomy 1:42-45 And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. 43 So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. 44 And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. 45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you.]
[but the LORD would not hearken to your voice,] Do you know why God would hear their cries? There was no repentance. Oh, they tried to say, “God, I sinned against you, please forgive me.” but there was no repentance involved, which is the key to our salvation in the first place. Repentance, meaning that we have turned our thinking away from the fact that we cannot get into the promised land on our own and also on the fact that we need Christ to get in, [John 10:11-14 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. 12 But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. 13 The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.]
Let me tell you, we may do things in our own will at times, and suffer through some affliction as a result, but everything and everyone on this earth is used for God’s purpose, and He will use those who do not believe in Him to reach those who do believe. Moses, goes on to explain this through the examples of their journey and how God had given their enemies land to possess, including their own kin, Esau.
[Deuteronomy 2:1-5 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. 2 And the LORD spake unto me, saying, 3 Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. 4 And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: 5 Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.]
[Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land,] Esau, is Jacob’s brother, also of Isaac and Abraham, even though God did not promise land to them as He did Israel, He did give them land, likewise to Moab and Ammon, who are descendants of Lot. These were not people or nations that had no clue who God is, they were well aware of Him, and they also knew that God was with the Israelites. So, why does God bless the ones who want nothing to do with Him? To separate them from His people. Jesus explains this through a parable,
[Matthew 13:24-25,27-30 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.]
You see, there would actually be some people within these nations who would turn from their false gods and to God, Ruth being one of them, who was a Moabite, and ended up becoming David’s great grandmother. God, wanted all these nations to know that Israel was only passing through and on their way to the land that He promised them, which is why some of them refused to let the Israelites pass through.
[Deuteronomy 2:7-9,25 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. 8 And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. 25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.]
[This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations] This is why the world hates us, we are untouchable. Oh, God, may send His judgments when we try to do things our way, but that is where it ends, [Luke 21:16-19,34-36 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. 18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 19 In your patience possess ye your souls. 34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for Your mercies and grace, for loving me, and not giving up on me. You had a path for me from my mothers womb, and while I know I do my own thing from time to time, You are faithful and just to get me back on the path, after I spent some time in the wilderness to remind myself that I belong to You. Now, the path You have given me may keep me sitting on a mountain top, dwelling in a valley, or walking through a windy, crooked road, at times, but I have never lacked as You led where I was supposed to be. I praise You for that, and ask that whatever path You lead me on, remove from me impatience, doubt, and fear, only Godly fear, and trust that You alone will see me through every step that I take. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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