Day 15 - Deut1:19-25 & Ex 1:17

Do Not Fear

Deuteronomy 1:19-25 - ¹⁹ “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. ²⁰ And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹ See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ ²² Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ ²³ The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. ²⁴ And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. ²⁵ And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

This is an instant reply of sorts of the account that took place in Numbers where the Israelite sent out 12 people to spy on the land and 10 came back with a report of fear and 2 came back with a report of courage. Moses is now speaking to them reminding them of their sin of unbelief It is easy to notice a few things: one, it was clear to Moses and to everyone else, before they went to spy on the land that they were supposed to go up and take the land that was given to them. But, instead of moving forward and trusting God, they asked Moses to send out twelve people to spy the land. The idea, it seemed good to Moses, but he never paused for a moment to ask if it seemed good to God. I wonder in retrospect if he would have stopped long enough, if God would have commanded him not to. But, Moses didn't, and the rest is an unfortunate history of wandering and death and discouragement. When confronted with possibilities and problems, we always must go to God first, to seek his wisdom and counsel and strength so that when the time comes, we can live confidently, without fear, as we move forward in faith.

Fear God

Exodus 1:17 -But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but let the male children live.

It is interesting as we progress canonically through the Bible how these verse relate in such unique ways. If the midwives did not fear God, Moses would never have been born. And the verse above shows Moses not fearing God, but fearing the people which ends up in turmoil. Fear of God must override our fear of men. Period. When our fear of men overcomes our fear of God we wander and waste our lives. Praise God for those courageous midwives.