New Horizons

Joshua 3:4 - ‘for you have not passed this way before’

Israel are about to pass through the river Jordan, to enter and possess the land God had promised them. Moses their leader for the past forty years is dead, Joshua is his successor. The Ark of the Presence of God has been set in order and will lead the people into Canaan. Israel will follow at a set distance, so they can easily see and follow the Ark. Israel are about to embark on the greatest venture of all time, for any nation, any people. Neither they, nor anyone else for that matter, had been this way before.

A New Year lies before us, so in a very real sense we can say we have not been this way before. Sure some of us have celebrated many previous New Years, but none have repeated exactly the preceding year. It is new territory for us as it was for Israel under their new leader Joshua. So how should we move forward? Can the Bible offer any help? Perhaps we can learn something from Israel’s preparation to enter Canaan.

The key lies in the way Moses prepared Israel for her momentous moment in history. We must step back a little in time. First we note that Israel was encamped on the border of Canaan. They had in fact been there nearly forty years earlier, but because of unbelief God caused them to wander in the wilderness, but now once more they stand at the threshold of Canaan. It is here Moses rehearses their history of the last forty years in their hearing, commands the public reading of the law every seventh year, and teaches them a song to remind them of the greatness of their God and of their unique relationship to God.
He encouraged obedience to the word of God as the means of blessing both temporal and spiritual. In the closing words of the song the concept of God providing ‘atonement’ is introduced. A blessing that would extend far beyond Israel’s borders.

John Gill summarises ‘thus ends this most excellent and wonderful song, which is of such a large extent and compass, as to reach from the beginning of the Jewish nation, and before it, to the conversion of the Jews in the latter day; an history of more than four thousand years already; and how long more is yet to come before all in it is fulfilled no man call say.

Moses reminded them of their failure to enter into Canaan the first time was because of their rebellion against God, (Deuteronomy 1), followed by the wasted years, wandering in the wilderness, (Deuteronomy 2&3).
Moses commands obedience to the Law of God reiterating The Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy ch.5). Perhaps they expected some great oration, some new directive or standard, but Moses took them back to the Word of God - and reminded them of their responsibility before God as His people.
Then followed the great commandment ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your might’ (Deuteronomy 6:5). Jesus would later underline the importance of this commandment when challenged by the Pharisees (Matthew 22:37). Saying that on this commandment (and the second) hang the law and prophets. He reminded them of their standing with God ‘You are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.’ (Deuteronomy 7:6) and that they were loved by God.

Then he reminded them of their proneness to sin, to rebel, against God, (Deuteronomy 9). The next 18 chapters are a distillation of nearly forty years of Moses teaching on the Law of God. Blessing on obedience and cursing / judgement on disobedience, chaps. 28-30. Finally He commanded that the Law of God be read, in public, every seventh year (Deuteronomy 31).

So having instructed them on the importance of the Law of God, and their responsibility towards God as His special people, Moses gave them a song to sing (Deuteronomy 32) which would remind them of these great truths, as they sang about the greatness of God (vv 1-4). Acknowledged their sinfulness. (vv 5-6). Sang of God’s mercy (vv 7-14). Their sin in scorning the God of their salvation vv 15-18. How mournful that song was at times when God hid His face from them (vv 19-35). However The Lord is compassionate (vv 36-43), and will ultimately provide atonement (v43).

Clearly Israel had much to be thankful for, much to sing about, and much to encourage her as she faced the unknown. We, too, have much to praise God for, both individually and collectively. We who once were bound in sin have been gloriously set free. We have been made partakers in the atonement promised to Israel, thus knowing personal salvation. We have been adopted into the family of God - thus we are chosen in a very real and special sense.

We are assured of God’s love for us - in that He gave His Son, the incarnate Word, to die for us, and that Jesus is coming back to take us to be with Him. So whatever the future holds for us - we have confidence in Him. Knowing that ‘He will never leave us nor forsake us.’ The God who has led us thus far will not suddenly abandon us, leaving us to the mercy of the enemy of our soul.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes.
That soul though all hell should endeavour to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

We have noted how Moses prepared Israel for her future by anchoring it to total obedience to Law of God. So without equivocation we say with Moses - obedience to the Word of God is the key to our future in the New Year ahead, both individually and collectively. That is the Word of God in its entirety, even the bits we do not like.

We must set our hearts upon the Word, the Word must be the motivation for seeking, serving, and loving the Lord. We must apply our minds, our thinking, our knowledge to knowing and obeying the Word of God. We must be resolved, determined, ever inclining towards the practice of the word. We must ensure our children are taught not just the word, but obedience to the word.

Now in the eyes of the world such things are futile, but for the true child of God, they are vital to life (eternal) which is his inheritance and possession in Christ. As John reminds us, ‘Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city’ (Revelation 22:14).
Thus the final blessing of obedience to the Word of God is full atonement realised in life eternal, and entrance into heaven itself.