The Lord’s Challenge

“He who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son” (1 John 5:10).

Consider all the ugly sins listed against Israel in the wilderness — murmuring, complaining, idolatry, ungratefulness, rebellion, sensuality. Yet not one of these provoked God’s wrath like their unbelief. “Then the Lord said to Moses: ‘How long will these people reject Me? And how long will they not believe Me, with all the signs which I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11).

God was saying, “These people make a lie out of everything I’ve done for them. I have performed miracle after miracle and delivered them time after time. When will they ever just trust and rest in me?”

Stop for a moment and think about all the things God has done for you: He has kept you, answered prayers, met you in one crisis after another. He has brought you through trials, done things for you that are nothing short of miraculous.

For thirty-eight long years Israel forgot God’s Word and dismissed his miracles. And because they fell back so often into murmuring and unbelief, God said, “I will strike them with the pestilence and disinherit them” (14:12). He said to Moses, “I am very displeased with my people because they will never come to the place where they trust me.”

When Israel was on the victorious side of Jordan, Moses made a solemn declaration, “Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you so go up and possess it. Don’t be afraid, for the Lord goes before you and he will fight for you!” (see Deuteronomy 1:21, 29-30).

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Launch out in full faith on the written Word of God. Take up the Lord’s challenge to live and die by his Word.