There comes a point where Moses is about to go home to be with the Lord and the nation of Israel is about to cross over the Jordan River into the Promise Land.
In this chapter Moses was basically impressing upon the people of Israel to reflect upon their journey through the desert route for 40 years.
This journey was not to be forgotten but to remember the lessons it taught.
What is that Moses wanted the People of Israel to remember?
I. LEADING OF THE LORD
They had to remember that all their experiences of past 40 years were not mere chances and happenings because the Lord was watching over them and overseeing their journey intimately.
The most important thing to remember was that how God led them.
A. The ways of the Lord
The Lord’s ways were a strange mixture of hunger and provision; danger and deliverance.
Their desert journey was “through the vast and dreadful desert, thirst and waterless
land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions.”
He allowed His people to go through such struggles and dangers.
Our Lord also puts us through such situations with pain, suffering, sickness and dangers in our life.
Verse 15 & 16 explains that God was watching over them as He provided manna from heaven and water from the rock.
Verse 4 says that “their cloths never wore out nor their feet swore.
B. The ‘whys’ of the Lord
Only in the desert journey one can recognize the dangers, hunger and thirst.
The utter dependency on the Lord is the only way one can survive the journey.
When we go through the desert journey, God wants to know what is in our heart.
Trials are designed to show what kind of person one can be.
We also find a whole lot more about ourselves when trials come.
God leads us through experiences so that we can realize how dependent we are on Him.
We learn to pray when we know that God is the only answer.
These Israelites learned things in that wilderness they would have never learned in a tropical paradise.
2. GOD IS PREPARING US FOR GLORY.
End of verse 16. He does all this “so that in the end it might go well with you.”
It was never God’s intention to leave HIS people in the wilderness.
It is always God’s intention to bless His people.
He is preparing us for a glorious eternity with Him.
But He is preparing us for good things in this life as well.
In verse 18 Moses commands them to remember that it is God gives you everything in ife.
Whether we acknowledge or not, our Lord provides everything we have and enables us to do our best in our careers, in our profession, in our education, and all our success in life.
We depend upon HIM not only in perils but also in pleasures.