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A specter has been haunting the early parts of the book of Deuteronomy, the specter of Kadesh Barnea. This unfortunate story, as we have seen, set the immediate background for the book of Deuteronomy, and it’s worth taking a closer look at it.

Read Numbers 14:1-45. How did the people react to the report of the spies, and what were the results of their reaction? (See also Deuteronomy 1:20-46)

We can derive many important lessons from this story, but one important lesson, which will appear again in the book, can be found in Numbers 14, as well.

Read Numbers 14:11-20. Though we see Moses again in the role of intercessor, what is significant about his line of reasoning with the Lord regarding why the Lord should not destroy them?

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Think about what Moses was saying to God. If You do this, look at how You will appear in the eyes of the Egyptians and the other nations in the area. This point is important because, ultimately, everything that God had wanted to do with Israel wasn’t just for the sake of Israel; it was also for humanity as a whole. The nation of Israel was to be a light to the world, a witness to the ancients about the love and power and salvation found in the true God and not in the worthless idols that these people had worshiped.

However, as Moses said, if you wipe this people out, then what? The nations will say: “Because the LORD was not able to bring this people to the land which He swore to give them, therefore He killed them in the wilderness” (Numbers 14:16).

In other words, what we see here is a theme found all through the Bible: the idea that God is to be glorified in His people — that the glory and goodness and love and power of God are to be revealed in His church, through what He does through His people. Of course, His people don’t always make it easy for Him to do this, but ultimately God will be glorified through His actions on earth.

<–Tuesday Thursday–>

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After the long trek in the wilderness, Moses, speaking for the Lord (he was a prophet, though, indeed, more than a prophet), said: “See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — to give to them and their descendants after them” (Deuteronomy 1:8).

Notice, however, what comes next.

Read Deuteronomy 1:9-11. What is the significance of these words, especially in light of the fact that, in a real sense, they were being punished by God for the rebellion at Kadesh Barnea?

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Here we see another example of the graciousness of God. Even amid the wilderness wanderings, they were blessed: “Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell” (Nehemiah 9:21).

And Moses, again showing his love for his people, asked God to multiply them a thousand more times than God already had done!

Read Deuteronomy 1:12-17. As a direct result of God’s blessing upon them, what happened, and what steps did Moses take to deal with the situation?

Thus, even when the Lord was so powerfully present among them, there was the need for organization, for structure, for a system of accountability. Israel was a qahal, an organized assembly (see Deuteronomy 31:30), a precursor to the New Testament ekklesia, Greek for “church” (see Matthew 16:18). And though working in a different context, Paul was never far from his Jewish roots, and in 1 Corinthians 12 we see him clearly delineating the need for qualified people to assume various roles for the proper functioning of the body, just as we see here in Deuteronomy and the qahal in the wilderness. The church today, as the qahal back then, needs to be a unified body with people fulfilling various roles according to their gifts.

Though we sometimes hear people rail against “organized” religion (what would they prefer, “disorganized” religion instead?), the Word of God, especially the New Testament, acknowledges no other kind but an organized one.

<–Monday Wednesday–>

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Despite some of the error that modern science tries to promulgate as truth (such that our universe by itself arose from “absolutely nothing” or that all life on earth arose by chance from simple chemicals), science has nonetheless given us some astonishing insights into God’s creative power. The harmony, the balance, the precision of many aspects of the natural world, even in its fallen state, continue to astound those who study them.

And if God can be so precise with physical things, He certainly would be precise with spiritual things, as well. Hence, in the opening verses of Deuteronomy, we can see more of God’s incredible precision.

Read Deuteronomy 1:1-6. What is the prophetic significance of the fact that Deuteronomy 1:3 talks about the “fortieth year”?

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After the fiasco, when Moses sent spies from Kadesh Barnea to check out the land, and the people rejected the call to take the land — what happened? They were told that they would not enter into the Promised Land as they had hoped. And for how long would they wait before entering? “According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection” (Numbers 14:34).

Hence, Deuteronomy takes up the story of God’s people in the fortieth year, exactly as God had told them. In other words, God’s prophetic Word is as trustworthy as God Himself, and what we see here in the opening verses of Deuteronomy is more evidence of that trustworthiness; that is, God will do what He says and will do it when He says that He will do it.

Of course, this isn’t the only prophetic time period that was fulfilled as God had said. Looking back from our vantage point today, we can find in Daniel 9:24-27, for instance, the time period for Jesus, fulfilled just as the Lord had said. We can see that the “time and times and half a time” (Daniel 7:25; see also Revelation 12:6, Revelation 12:14; Revelation 13:5) has been fulfilled in history, as well as the 2,300 days of Daniel 8:14.

And besides the precise time elements, the prophecies of Daniel 2, 7, 8, which so precisely and accurately predicted world history, have given us overwhelming evidence of God’s foreknowledge, control, and trustworthiness.

<–Sunday Tuesday–>

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Key Thought: Just as Israel was to enter the promised land, Moses gave them a history lesson, remember what the Lord has done for you in the past. This should also mean something to us as we prepare to enter the promised land.
October 9, 2021

1. Have a volunteer read Exodus 32:29-32.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What does this show about the character of Moses and why God was able to use him?
3. Personal Application: Most people want to be leaders in concern for themselves, while God picked a leader who was concerned for others above himself. Do you see this kind of leadership in your church? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why would Moses risk his own eternal life for the Israelites who had rebelled against him, accused him, didn’t listen to him, and constantly complained about his leadership?” How would you respond to your friend?

2. Have a volunteer read Deuteronomy 1:9-11.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. What is significant about the fact that this is mentioned as the fortieth year?
3. Personal Application: Why would Moses want Israel to multiply so much when he just said that they were too much for him to handle? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states: “How can you be so sure of the prophecies you mention that are supposed to happen in the future?.“ How would you respond to your relative?

3. Have a volunteer read Numbers 14:11-20.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What reasoning did Moses use in interceding for the people with God?
3. Personal Application: How are we to bring about the manifold wisdom of God to the world? Share your thoughts
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Why did God put up with the Israelites in the wilderness? Why didn’t He just destroy them all and start over like He did at the flood?” How would you respond to your friend?

4. Have a volunteer read Genesis 15:1-16.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
2. How do we understand God’ purpose in destroying whole cities including men, women, and children in Israel’s march across the area?
3. Personal Application: How do you respond to someone who says that God is love and He doesn’t destroy anyone?” Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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