Deuteronomy 9:1-3 – Victory comes with relying on God

The children of Israel were about to cross over the Jordan into the promised land. They were at the place where their fathers were many years back. They now have the same opportunity as their fathers to cross into the promised land and possess it. The previous generation forfeited the opportunity not because God was not able to take them in. But because they chose to trust the negative report given by ten of the spies, whom they had sent to survey the land. They were told that the land had many great fortified cities suggesting that they were impenetrable. And that the inhabitants of the land, the Anakim, were great and tall people suggesting that they were impossible to be overcome. Choosing to believe the negative report, they were thus discouraged from taking a bold step to enter the land God had promised to them.

Moses wanted to impress upon this new generation of Israelites, so that they would not make the same mistake as their fathers did. The problem that the previous generation faced was in their wrong focus. Their attention was on the great fortified cities in the land and the giants instead of the Lord who had so mightily delivered them. In so doing they failed to realize that their ability to take the land would not rest in their ability but in their God who would go before them. This time around Moses wanted this generation to be rightly focused. To him, nothing had changed. The promised land remained full of fortified cities. The inhabitants, the Anakim, remained a threatening people. The difference, however, was that they have God, who like a devouring fire, would go before them. With Him going before them, the Anakim would feel the effect. They would be so subdued that the children of Israel would have no problem destroying them and possess their land.

The lesson for us: to overcome our insurmountable odds in life does not rest in our ability but in our reliance on God. Our victory in life rests in our dependence on the Lord and not in the skills or strength that we possess. Make sure to have John 15:5 indelibly written on our hearts and deeply etched in our minds. The words of Jesus in this verse for us are: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” And again remember to live out Proverbs 3:5-6

And again remember to live out Proverbs 3:5-6: Trust in the Lord with all our heart And do not lean on our own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make our paths straight.