EMBOLDENED

In Deuteronomy 11 we find Israel at the Jordan River about to cross over into the Promised Land.

Before God’s people went into Canaan, Moses called them together for a special message from the Lord. Remember, this wasn’t the generation that was doomed to die in the wilderness for their acts of disobedience. Rather, this was the generation that followed those faithless ones. When their fathers crossed the Red Sea, these people were still young, ranging in age from infancy to twenty years old. Now many of them were over fifty, and their own children comprised the third generation.

LISTEN TO ME

Moses began his exhortation to this “middle generation” with the following words:

“Know ye this day: for I speak not with your children which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm” (Deuteronomy 11:2).

Moses made it clear: “The message I am about to speak to you is not directed to your children. It is not meant for those who haven’t seen the miracles you’ve seen. It is not for those who haven’t known the discipline of the Lord. And it is not for the untested, those who haven’t experienced God’s awesome might in the midst of their trials.”

A CLEAR MANDATE

God was telling this middle generation, in so many words: “Here is your full-time calling as My servants. You are to be steadfast always, never wavering in your trust in Me. In this way, your children will see My mighty hand at work in your life. They will be emboldened by the peace you have in the midst of your afflictions.”