(REFLECTIONS ON Deuteronomy 1:19-46)

As Moses retold the story of Israel as they left Mount Sinai towards the Promised Land, we are reminded that the Israelites could have avoided their 40-year journey by trusting in the Lord and going directly into the Promised Land as the Lord commanded. Physical distance wasn’t the issue, for it wasn’t a 40-year distance between Mount Sinai and Canaan, but it was a lack of trust in the Lord, a distance of the heart.

At the request of the people, Moses sent 12 spies to check out the land, but rather than coming back with confidence in the Lord, they came back bringing fear and rebellion against God. Yes, the land was indeed flowing with milk and honey, but the inhabitants of the land caused much fear.

26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”

Moses then reminded the Israelites that they had succumbed to the fear of the report coming back from the spies sent ahead of them. What the people lost sight of, however, was that it was the Lord that went ahead of them, and it was the Lord that they should trust in, not the report of the spies. He is already there.

32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

Brothers and sisters, do we not also know that it is the Lord that goes ahead of us on our journey? Many times what holds us back from moving forward in life and faith is our fear. We fear the unknown, fear uncertainty, fear the report of what others tell us.

However, we are reminded today that the future isn’t unknown,
because it is known by the Lord. He is already there.

Whatever is holding us back from moving in faith today, may we believe that the future is not just an empty and unknown hole waiting to be filled when we arrive, but rather may we believe and know that the Lord is there, even now, preparing our journey ahead.

May we learn to take a leap of faith in life, which is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see (Ref. Hebrews 11:1). We don’t jump blindly, but we believe and trust that the Lord is already there in our landing spot, waiting for us, preparing the future for us.

It is only when we trust in the Lord, remember that He is already there, that we will be able to break free of the fear that prevents us from moving forward in our faith, and to experience the freedom and joy in walking faithfully with our God.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: Deuteronomy 1