It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea (Deuteronomy 1:2).

Eleven days! That's all it took to go from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, the southern entrance to the Promised Land of Canaan. Forty days! That's what it took to check out the vast and fruitful land of Canaan, which God was giving to Israel. Forty years! That's how long it took before Israel finally received the Promised Land because they refused to trust God and take the land at Kadesh Barnea. Eleven days became forty years.

As I think about Israel and their forty years of wandering, I am reminded of another Scripture:

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain (Psalm 127:1).

Friends, when will we understand that the LORD is in charge of our lives, of both the good and the bad. If we understand this, we will also understand that all our anxieties are vain. If we truly grasp this, we would not be desperate or hasty, nor listless or lazy. Instead we would live day by day simply trusting and obeying Him, the author and perfecter of our faith, who sees the end from the beginning, who has numbered our days, and who has forever recorded our names in the Lamb's Book of Life. When we understand this, then we can always have joy. We can always experience His peace. We can always love unconditionally. These things are not automatic for everyone, but it is for the child of God, whose inheritance is secure, whose house the LORD has built, whose salvation is guarded by Him. 

So I spoke to you, but you would not listen. Instead you rebelled against the command of the Lord, and acted presumptuously and went up into the hill country (Deuteronomy 1:43).

The people of Israel first disobeyed God by not going up into the Promised Land to take it. They were afraid of the giants and the fortified cities in the land. But then, when God expressed His great displeasure and decreed a punishment of wandering and death in the desert, they changed their minds and chose to fight. Though God told them not to go, they went anyway. And they were "crushed" by the Amorites. 

The way Israel determined what they should do or not do was not on the basis of God's Word but based on their own imagination. So, the Bible says that they "acted presumptuously." 

Today, when churches partner with ministries, which have teachings and practices that our outside the boundaries of God's Word, they are acting presumptuously. When individuals participate in these very same ministries, because they think "it makes them feel nearer to God," they are acting presumptuously. God has not commanded it in His Word. But He has warned against false teaching and participating in practices that have their origins in pagan rituals. 

This is why I warn my fellow believers not to having anything to do with IHOP (International House of Prayer) and the ministry of Mike Bickle and the neo-charismatic movement. Without knowing anything about their aberrant teachings and practices, many people, even church leaders, are making regular pilgrimmages to this place.   I recently learned that the evangelical churches in Korea have even declared IHOP to be 이단 (i.e., a cult). A good place to start in finding out about this group is reading a recently published book by a pastor out of Kansas City, Keith Gibson, called Wandering Stars (see amazon.com book). Some of the practices in this movement and their association with pagan rituals (esp. Hindu Kundalini) are only recently getting documented.

Friends, I have a number of people upset with me because they think I am "quenching the Spirit," (yes, I hope I quench this false spirit), that I have no right to comment on something without "experiencing" it myself. It is like a drug addict telling a sober man, "Don't knock it till you try it." Do I have to become an addict to recognize something is wrong? This is just like the pastor that told me that I have no right to comment on "speaking in tongues" without experiencing it myself. No wonder Christians are sometimes labeled "anti-intellectual." Yet, none of them has to date responded to any of the documentary evidences and analysis of Bickle's aberrant theology and approach to Scripture that I sent to them. But I beseech you, brothers, don't be like this. Take the time to read, examine the teachings and practices by the Scriptures, and then come to a discerning opinion of the group and movement.

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But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today (Deuteornomy 2:30).

Did you catch this? God hardened Sihon's spirit and made his heart obstinate so that he refused Israel passage through their land. Why? God did this very thing so that He might give them over to the people of Israel. This is not much different from God hardening Pharoah's heart, so that He might display His powerful wonders before finally destroying them.

So much effort is given by certian theologians to "justify" God by arguing that God only hardened Pharoah's heart after he first hardened his own heart. But what does it matter whether Pharoah first hardened it or not? Perhaps it makes the instigator more culpable, as Jesus said of the Pharisees, but it does not take away responsibility (cf. John 19:11). But is God unjust for hardening Pharoah's heart or for hardening Sihon's spirit? It is only unjust to those that see God as being under the same laws as He gives to people. And if he were under those same laws, how is it not murder to command the killing not only of men and women but even children in Heshbon. 

So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor (Deuteronomy 2:34).

No, dear friends, God is the Lawgiver, and the laws were given for men, not God. God is the only One that is truly above the Law. In fact, the righteousness of laws find their basis in God's declared will. As the Psalmist writes, "Nearness to God is my good" (Psalm 73:28 NASB). Augustine, the great early theologian, argued against the notion that evil is an entity, declaring that evil is simply a departure from the good, which is God. So the more removed something or someone is from God and His will, the less good that person or thing becomes. So God has the freedom to suspend, change, and even command men to break the very laws He gave to them (e.g. He commanded Abraham to perform a human sacrifice). Israel did not follow God because of the Law; they followed the Law because of God. If we understand this about God, we will never question His justice in anything He does, even when He chooses to afflict righteous Job or have His completely righteous Son bear our sins on the cross! It is sufficient for us to know and to praise Him for being completely true to Himself and in keeping His promises.

Deuteronomy 1:1 The Pentateuch was written by Moses. The introduction stuck out to me, whether intentional written like this or simply received by a ‘foreigner’ (non-BC Gentile, me) but Moses starts off with “These are the words of Moses spoken to the Israelites BEYOND the Jordan. “ The first couple times reading this phrase I had to keep reminding myself that ‘beyond’ does not look at the river from the outside but from the inside! Moses never crossed the river, so when he writes it is as if he is writing for the people that have crossed the river. “Moses wrote this book, when he was beyond the river,” neat to for me to see; again whether intentionally written like that or not I don’t know, but it seems like he was preparing everything knowing God’s people would be over there reading their history.

SECOND COMMENT

Judge not less you be judged… We should not Judge, but we should judge. For when we do this correct we are not determining anything, but simply speaking what has been determined. We must be bold in doing this, the Glory of God demands it and faith compels us.  Deuteronomy 1:17, “You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God's.”

We should be like God in this manner. We should not be partial, if it is wrong it is wrong, but the purpose of reproaching is not to destroy, that is God’s role, the purpose to reproach is to redeem the matter. Mosaic Law called for redemption of an evil, plus a punishment; then that is the end of the matter. Love seeks the good for others; there is no other good than being in God. Redeem all things to him, not for the sake of destroying evil, or a transgressor, but to redeem them – the difference in destroying evil or the transgressor and redeeming them to God is whether you do it for God or if you do it to Judge.

What is your motive to argue with someone that does not have faith, or is not behaving in faith, to show they are wrong and to destroy them, or to show they are wrong and redeem them? One plows through them, the other stops when what has been determined by God has been declared.

As the book of Deuteronomy is a review of the Mosaic Law the first two chapters focus on the exile and the forty years approach to the Promised Land.  Forty years is about half a lifetime to you and me.  Even so, building a relationship with God is easily a lifetime of effort.  I wonder if it is because we are all sinners and lack the ability to be perfect?  I think it would be interesting if we could objectively compare ourselves from the days leading up to our acceptance of Christ to the day that we meet our maker.  I would venture to say there would be a difference.  I hope each of our relationships with God would be significantly better and closer.  The caviat is we don't know when we are going to stand before him in judgment.  Will it be fifty years from now or tomorrow?  In light of this I find living to be with a sense of urgency that puts me in a position to fulfill God's will in my life.  If I continue to turn away from him then I postpone the inevitable - like Jonah and even Moses - and possibly invoke his wrath.  However, if I put the effort into seeking him even though it may go against every prideful, self-centered, sinful fiber in my body, I can rest assured that this change in my life is more likely to glorify God than anything else I can do.  Changing to seek him first is a life effort that bears all the fruit of eternity.

Yujin commented... Amen, brother Matt! I always pray that I will end better than I have begun, but sometimes I wonder. Even for Moses it seemed like his humility, his trust, and his leadership were declining in the latter years of his life. It may have been an act of grace that God took him when he did. May we ever be vigilant about our spiritual progress lest we experience the natural slide toward spiritual regression.

I hope that this doesn't upset you guys, but when I first read the stories of Moses and the Israelites, I got upset with God.  But I got older, I began to understand that God isn't a fair God but a just God.
 
I couldn't understand how God could put such a burden on a mere human when He as God couldn't control His own anger against them.  When they upset Him, he destroyed them or turned a deaf ear to them.  Yet, when they upset Moses a mere human, Moses struck a rock and lost the right to enter the Promised Land.  In myself I thought that God ain't fair.  Deuteronomy let me understand why He couldn't be a fair God, but a just God.
 
I also understand now that Christ had to fulfill the Law and die for our sins and blot out the handwritings and ordinances against us.  For what the Law could not do, Christ's death did.  So even now, we may think it not fair for some to get redemption, but we are now justified by Faith through Christ and so we have peace with God.  A just God requires order and obedience which allows me to know that he cares about righteousness and when we stand for righteousness, sometimes things just aren't fair.
 
You follow me?

Yujin responds... Excellent observations, brother Anthony! You are in good company. Remember David? He got upset with God when He struck down Uzzah for trying to stabilize the ark on the oxcart (2 Samuel 6:6-8). It was David or at the least the priests that "should" have been struck down because they did not proscribe the proper way to carry the ark. Yet, part of God's holiness is His sovereignty. He could have judged David, but He chose to judge Uzzah instead. Again, when David sinned with Bathsheba, He chose to kill David's firstborn with Bathsheba rather than taking David or Bathsheba's life (2 Samuel 12:14). You are absolutely right that God's ways are completely just.
 
What we have to understand is that God's justice is not on the same playing field as the justice that we show toward one another (Isaiah 55:8-9). The reason is that He is the Creator, the Judge, the all-sovereign One. God can kill a whole nation, men, women, children and animals, and do it justly, but it would be murderous and immoral for us to do the same - of course, unless God commands it, as He did regarding the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:3) and the Canaanites (cf. Deut 20:16-18).
 
You are right that God is not fair as people normally think of fairness. This reminds me of the parable of the workers who were hired at different times (Matthew 20:1-16). Remember, the boss chose to pay everyone the same, whether they worked all day or just one hour. Those who worked all day thought they would receive more, but they received the same, and they thought this was unfair. But was it? Jesus shows a different way to look at it. Those who worked all day had already agreed to work all day for a certain amount. This was fair and just. If they did not know what those who worked for just one hour got, they would be very happy to receive their wage. However, Jesus shows their selfishness, envy and greed because they looked at what those who worked just one hour got. If they saw things properly, they would have been impressed by the boss's fairness toward them and generosity toward the others. Here's what Jesus taught,

"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?'" (Matthew 20:13-15)

And for us too, the Bible clearly says, "It is by grace you have been saved..." (Ephesians 2:5). The Israelites were told that it was not because of their righteousness that God was giving them the Promised Land and victory over their enemies. It was because of God's sovereign choice to love them, His nature to keep His promises, and the wickedness of the Canaanites that He was doing it (cf. Deut.  7:7-9; 9:4-6). Strangely, all of these reasons are outside of Israel. If God dealt with Israel as they deserved, He would certainly have wiped them out, because they were a stubborn and disobedient people (cf. Deut 9:13-14). And if God were to deal with us as we deserve, we too would be dead, as we already were before the Spirit gave us new birth (cf. Ephes 2:1-3 ; John 3:18). And when newborn by the Spirit (cf. John 3:5-8), it is not by nature, it is not by collective decision, nor is it by personal choice, but it is by God's sovereign choice to love us in spite of ourselves (cf. John 1:12-13). Here's how Young's Literal Translation reads:

But as many as did receive him to them he gave authority to become sons of God -- to those believing in his name, who -- not of blood nor of a will of flesh, nor of a will of man but -- of God were begotten.

The priority of tense is important here. Just as John 3:5 precedes John 3;16, regeneration (i.e. "new birth") precedes faith. Therefore, the new birth enables and ensures faith. Apart from God's grace through the Holy Spirit, we would all perish. In fact, Jesus even says that our being alive now is because of God's grace. That others die (e.g. the 150,000 in Haiti) is not what should surprise us. We should be surprised that we too are not dead (cf. Luke 13:1-5). Praise God for His grace toward us!
 

Sherry shared... Israel is ready to enter the Promised Land.  They spent 40 years on a journey that should take about 11 days.  I spent some time meditating on how much time I waste when I do not listen and obey.

Yujin responded... Amen, Sherry! I am reminded of Jonah, who thought he could defy God's purposes going in the opposite direction of where God wanted him to go. There is no substitute for obedience. And usually we seek a substitute because there is often suffering that comes with obedience, but let us remember that even our Lord learned obedience by that which He suffered (cf. Hebrews 5:8), and we are called to follow in His steps (cf. 1 Peter 2:21). Suffering is part of the package of glory (cf. Romans 8:17). No one appreciates it, but the wise understand that there is no alternative if that is the lot God has given us. It is best to understand that if we practice the discipline of obedience through the suffering, we will come forth as gold, more righteous than we were before (cf. 1 Peter 1:6-7; Hebrews 12:11).