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Standing on the edge of the promised land, the Israelites were anxious about the future. Across the river, they faced giants and uncertainty. And so Moses reminded them that God had made them a covenant. Specifically, God had promised to protect his people, which he had proved by supernaturally sustaining them in the wilderness. Our God always keeps his word. And we'll see it in today's study of Deuteronomy 29. Have you ever been inches or moments away from having something that you always wanted? Have you ever stood on the cusp of what we'll call the Promised land? Well, in the Book of Numbers, the Israelites had stood quite literally at the cusp of the promised land. You see, centuries before the time of Moses and the books of Deuteronomy and numbers and the like, God had made a promise to a guy named Abraham. Now, why did he make a promise to Abraham? Was Abraham just so awesome that God had to. He had to reward Abraham for his awesomeness and say, I'm going to give you so much, you can't believe it? Well, no, When Abraham's introduced, he's not introduced with any backstory as to why God chose him. God said, abraham, you're mine and I'm going to make a promise, a covenant to you and to your seed and to the generations after you. Which was a laugh to Abraham. Why? Because he was old and his wife was beyond the age of traditional pregnancy. Nevertheless, God says, abraham, I'm going to make a great nation out of you. You are going to have more descendants. And all the stars of the sky and all the sand on the beach, you're going to have more descendants than you can count, which had to be startling enough. But beyond that, God also said, God says, abraham, not only am I going to give you a seed, an ancestry, a lineage, a heritage, but I'm also going to give them a place to live. I'm going to give you a people, and I'm going to give you a land. Let's call it the Promised Land. God made a promise. I'm going to give you a place. And this place is going to be so much better than any place you've ever seen. This place is going to be flowing with what the Bible calls milk and honey, which sounds pretty good. I really don't know quite what that's like, but it sounds appealing. Milk and honey. So God makes this promise with Abraham that that's what's going to happen. And then for century after century, the people, as they grew in number initially, remember, God, give Abraham a son. He gives him Isaac. And then there's children from that, and then more children, more children and the like. So all the promise of people became manifest throughout the book of Exodus. And thereon we see that God did multiply the people, and yet at this point, they did not yet have the land. Well, by the time we get to the story of Moses, who helped deliver the people from Egypt and from Pharaoh and took them to Sinai, we see that the next destination was where? The next destination was the promised land. And at a certain point in numbers, chapter 13, the people were there. The promises that God had made to Abraham has finally come true. We can look at that which our forefathers could only apprehend through faith. We can apprehend through sight. That's the land. That's the place. That's where we're going. And yet, when they got to that place, pragmatism kicked in. And what did they do? They said, well, well, all right, there's the land, but, you know, there's bound to be people there, right? We've heard stories of some of these people. Let's send them the spies. They can check it out and tell us, you know, what we're going to face when we get over there. So they send the spies. They send the spies and 12 spies that go out and check things out. And lo and behold, they come back. And a minority of them said, you know, it is great. It is great. Joshua and Caleb, they came back and they said, you know what? This is wonderful. This is great. It's every bit as great as God had told us that it would be. It is flowing with milk and honey. This is awesome. Can't wait to be there. The balance of the spies saw the same things that Joshua and Caleb did. But they not only saw that, they also saw, through a lens of faith, fear. The opposition. They saw cities like Jericho, which, if you remember anything about Jericho, had high walls. They're living in the wilderness. You know, they don't have a whole lot. Jericho's got walls up to here. How are they going to conquer this? Well, they don't know. And the spies come back and they say, not only are the walls big, the walls are the least of our problems. They said, you should see the people. The people, they're like giants. We're like grasshoppers in their eyes, they're so big. If we go over. If we go over that river, which is going to be challenging enough, the Jordan river is not the simplest thing in the world for this many people to cross. But if we go over there, and as unprovisioned as we are and ill equipped to conquer a city like Jericho, you know, we have no battering rams or siege catapults and things like that. If we try this, we're doomed. We're doomed. So that was the narrative that was distributed. Nevertheless, the fact remained that God had made a covenant. That God made a promise. He said, that's yours. Don't you believe it. Look at the recent past. I mean, when you were in Egypt, that was a rough time, right? You were in Egypt and there was Pharaoh, and there was chains and oppression and all these different things. I got you out of that mess, didn't I? Plague after plague after plague. I sent to demonstrate two things. Number one, I'm in charge, and I'm powerful, and I can deal with your adversaries, no matter how mighty they may be. Number two. Number two, remember this. I keep my promises and I will provide for you. And it does not matter how big the opposition is. It doesn't matter how scary tomorrow is. If I am with you, there's nothing on this globe that can stand against you. Do you believe it? They were the crossroads of a decision. There in the wilderness, they could see that which God had promised them. It was right there. And yet, out of the anxiety and the concern, which was understandable to a degree, they had seen the giants, they had seen Jericho. They'd seen these things. But the things they had seen dominated the scope of their vision. And that which they believed had shrunk when it shouldn't have, because God had showed them impressive things about his willingness and his ability to look after them. With that said, they determined as a group, as a people, that they would stay in the wilderness rather than trust God, that they would stay in the wilderness, which is called the wilderness, for a reason. You don't really want to live in the wilderness, no matter where it is. But they would rather stay in the wilderness rather than step across the threshold into that which God had promised and that which he had demonstrated. He had the willingness and the ability to help them to take. They would rather stay there. And so God let them. God let them do exactly what they wanted. Sometimes the judgment of God is this. He gives you over to that which you want. In this particular case, he says, all right, all right. If you have chosen the wilderness, then you will stay in the wilderness. And so they stayed. And they stayed for how long? For 40 years. Moses is getting pretty old at this point. Stayed for 40 years. And during the time in the wilderness, the bulk of that generation of course, dies out. But then we come to today's text in Deuteronomy 29, and guess what? Guess what? They're right back at the same crossroads again. They're right back at the cusp of the promised land. 40 years have passed. The generation that preceded them has died out, except for a very small minority. And right again. Once again, they're at the threshold looking into the promised land. They're at the crossroads of the same decision that they failed at before. And now they have the opportunity to do things right. And Moses is going to encourage them. He's going to say, hey, it's not that we've got this, but that God has this. He has us in the hands and we can make it across the Jordan. Let's look at verses 1 through 4. In verses 1 through 4, Moses is going to share the covenant and give them some encouragement. Verse 1. Now, these are the words of the covenant which the Lord God has commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant that he made with them in Horeb. Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai. So he's referring back 40 some odd years. Verse 2. Now, Moses called all Israel and said to them, you have seen. You have seen all the Lord did with your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants, to all his land. The great trials that you have seen, the signs, these great wonders. And yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear, even to this very day. All right, so way back we start this passage, today's passage, starts with a reminder of the past. So often God does that. When God wants to explain something you should do in the future, a lot of times he looks back in the past. He says, here's a thing in your future that's going to be scary to you, but as it's scary for you, remember where we came from and what has occurred in the past to get us this far. And as you remember the past, you gain courage for the future. So that's what Moses is doing. He says, let's remember the covenant. Forty years ago, God made a covenant. His voice spoke. His divine finger etched in stone the commandments I brought down. It wasn't that I scrawled him his divine finger. He made a covenant. He made a promise with us these 40 years. And across these 40 years, we have seen his hand, we've seen his provision, we've seen the man in the wilderness, we've seen all of these different things. So in verses two through four, if anyone had any question whether God had watched out for them even after they had rejected him, remember, they had already failed the first test. They'd already gotten up to the edge of the promised land and then turned around and said, no, thanks, right? So God, in some sense could have been righteous to wipe his hands and say, all right, phooey on you. I'll go choose someone else. Except that he had made them a promise. He made them a promise that they would be his people and that he would not cast them aside even when they messed up, which is an encouragement to us as well. So he had made them a promise. 40 years pass, they're right back at the same edge. And in verses two through four, one of the things that Moses does to encourage them to cross over, one of the things he encourages them to do is to look back again at the things that God had done in the past that they might recall this. Now, let me ask you a question. If you had seen the 12 plagues, if you had passed through the Red Sea looking at walls of water on either side, if you had heard the voice of God from the mountaintop booming down the lightning and the thunder and all that, if you had seen manna fresh every morning just showing up for you to eat, if you had looked up every day of this journey and seen the pillar of fire and the pillar of smoke, if you had seen all that, do you think you would have had confidence to do what God asked you to do next? You don't know how to answer that, do you? We all like to think on some level, these fools. Oh, these fools. How could they failed so badly? Look, they really messed up, right? We could be jaded about what they did and the failings that they had. With that said, in all likelihood, the same would be true of us. At least the doubts and the anxieties would still be present. Because we tend to have an attitude with God. That is, what have you done for me lately? I know what you did a long time ago. And maybe I know what you did a long time ago to other people besides me. We see that in the Bible all the time. But what have you done for me? This past week's been terrible. Why should I trust that tomorrow the next week's going to be going to be different? Well, the people had to ask themselves these sort of questions. And yet Moses says, the proof is there. Just look around. In your own life, the same is true. The proof is there. Just look around. All right, let's look at verses 5 and 6, verse 5. Now, I have led you 40 years in the wilderness and your clothes, interestingly, your clothes have not worn out on you and your sandals have not worn out upon your feet. You've not eaten bread, nor you drink wine or similar drink like the other nations. And you know, people did rather you've had this manna that you may know that I am the Lord your God. You know, even spiritual people need to work through practical things all the time, like 100, a thousand things a day. Even the most spiritual people, Moses still had to put on his sandals. He had to still had to get dressed this morning even to come in and do the spiritual things we're doing this morning in church and to sing and praise and all that. You had to do a lot of very practical things just to get this far. You had to fill up the car with gas. You know, you had to set your alarm. You have to do practical things in order just to be here, let alone to engage in that which is overtly spiritual. That said, there's nothing wrong with practical things. And somewhere, somehow in the wilderness, after they realized they were going to be here for a while, somewhere, somehow, someone probably raised their hand and said, but sir, you see my clothes. You know, there's no tailors out here in this wilderness that we're going to hang out in. What about the sandals and the like? You know, the food, okay, we got the food. God's going to give the manna. I've got that much. But what about all the other needs I have? You know, we do that a lot with God. We say, you give me this, but what about that? Are you going to be there when I need that? Well, someone somewhere must ask those sort of practical questions. But God reminds us that he's not only in charge of the overtly spiritual, but also in charge of just the basics. I made sure that your sandals didn't wore out. I made sure that your clothes are wear. I made sure to fix, feed you. I did all this sort of stuff. Is there a miraculous component to that? Yes, absolutely. How did it work? I don't know. My sandals seems like they run out about every year. I have to go get replacements. I don't know exactly how this worked, but that's the point. Neither did they. They just knew this much, that their clothes and their sandals did not wear out of them. And that was the point. God says, I provided for you in ways that are miraculous right down the most mundane. On the one hand, the overtly super spiritual Pillars of fire in the sky. Sky. I've given you that. But look at your sandals. Even the thing you don't give, you know, too much thought to. I took that into account as well. I take care of the macro and I take care of the micro. There's nothing wrong with being practical, because the truth is, God's practical too. And he knows we need things, and so he provides them. With that said, we sometimes can get so focused on the practical that we forget the spiritual. You know, when we raise up our children. When we raise up our children, we train them to look before they leap, right? We train them to make calculated, responsible decisions. Nothing wrong with that. But at the same time, we also tell them to have faith. And as they grow, and perhaps as we've grown, how do these things fit in the decision I have to make this week? How does it fit to be practical and responsible and all these things that I'm called to be and simultaneously have faith when I can't see how we're going to get from here there, Right? How exactly does that work? Well, I tell you this much. God often seemingly even relishes taking his people and putting them at the crossroads of that very decision. You know, the minute they were up against the Red Sea, what was the people's reaction? Oh, no, we're doomed. It was the same reaction they would have time and time again. Oh, no, we're doomed. But then God does what? He parts the Red Sea. Now, as they were walking through that, that was not the outcome that they expected. Expected. They didn't even think God could or would do such a thing. There was nothing practical about marching into the Red Sea and expecting to survive. There was nothing practical about putting blood on your doorpost except expecting a dirty doorpost as a result. You know, there's nothing practical about selling what you have and giving to the poor. There's nothing practical about following a Jewish carpenter when you're a fisherman out in Galilee. There's nothing practical about many of the decisions that were made, and yet they were the right thing to do. Why? Because God also says, have faith. I make you promises. My promises and my covenant have explicit components, but also implicit components. Explicitly, I tell you that I am your God and you're my people, and I call you to obey my commands. And here are the commands explicitly laid out for you. So God makes covenant with explicit components, but there are also implicit things there, too. God says, I'll be your God and you will be my people. He'd never talked about the sandals in the Covenant, it's not on the Ten Commandments. And yet implicitly he says, if I got you, if you're my people and I'm your God, and I promise to watch out, we're going to protect for you and provide for you, then that includes the sandals, that includes the man. That includes the things that we worry about. So many of the things you and I are worrying about this week, this month, next year, God has them, he has always had them. And he doesn't mind putting at the cusp, putting up the cusp so we can see the promised land, but then asking us, do you have the faith to take the step? And I know that's difficult because again, pragmatism and just being responsible oftentimes causes us to say, hey, hold the phone here. And yet God will sometimes walk us to the edge and say, the next step will not be reasoned out by your knowledge or your human wisdom. The next step only occur to you having faith in the explicit and the implicit components of my word. All right, let's look at our last verses to see how he tends to wrap this up in this portion of Deuteronomy. Let's look at verses seven through nine. Now, when you come to this place, remember, Moses is still encouraging the people. He's about to die. His end is near. So he's encouraging them about what is yet to come. And he says this. When you came to this place, Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, came out against us in battle, and yet we conquered them, we took their land. We give it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, to the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh. Therefore. The therefore is a sign that what he said before is a predicate to what he's saying now. Therefore, keep the words of the covenant, keep the words and do them that you may prosper in all that you do. He says, dear heavens, do you remember? Do you remember back In Deuteronomy, chapter three, he says this, of course, in Deuteronomy, chapter 29. But he says, do you remember way back when, when we dealt with that evil, wicked Sihon and that even more evil, wicked Og, the King of Bash, right? He introduces these villains from the past. Now, what do we know about these guys? Before we go any Further, Deuteronomy, chapter 3, King OG, let's focus on him. King Og sounds like Lord of the Rings, sort of, you know, goblin King or something. King Og, King Og of Bashan. What do we know about him? Well, he's introduced as a giant. Specifically, back In Deuteronomy chapter 3, it says that this guy, King OG, it says that he slept in an iron bed and it was 13 and a half feet long. Very interesting introduction to this man. And the only takeaway you can take away from that, that a guy sleeps in a 13 foot iron bed, is that this is a formidable individual, King Og of Baasha. This was a terrifying king who led a terrifying people. And In Deuteronomy chapter 3, this terrifying king and his terrifying people came against God's people. People came against the Israelites. Now, militarily, OG's forces were a lot stronger than the Israelites. They had like 60 fortified cities to deal with. Fortified cities. Not just scrubs in the wilderness. 60 fortified cities. They had all the means. They had tall guys, big guys, wide guys, large guys. They had the tools. They had the cities. They had everything that they needed. And they came against the Israelites. And Moses says, do you remember that when that happened, that God stood in force and we conquered them? Not only them, but also Sihon? We conquered multiple enemies, and then we took everything that they had, and then we gave it to these various tribes. Moses introduces that. Because the idea is that if God took out Og, what's going to keep him from taking out Jericho or any things we're going to face in the land of the Canaanites? And the answer is nothing. We got this. We got this. Or more importantly, he's got us. That's the message that we see here now in terms of kind of framing this. When you think of what A responsible general, General MacArthur, Patton, what would they have done in that setting with King Og and the like, facing such individuals? Well, I thought about that and then another name came to mind. Have you ever heard the name Sun Tzu? What did he write? The ancient art of. What ancient art of war. Sun Tzu. Right. Famous general, has all this pithy wisdom about how to conduct war and the like. Well, Sun Tzu said this much. He says, look, if you come across an enemy that is greater than you, who is superior in strength and numbers, evade him. Evade him. Now, he gave a lot of other ideas of how you can try to overcome enemies. And yet, if the enemy is stronger than you, the idea was to evade. But that's not what God told his people. The wisdom of God is greater than the wisdom of men. Back in Deuteronomy 3, God said this. He says, do not fear OG, for I have delivered him and all his people into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwell at Heshbon. Now, again, why is Moses bringing that event up 26 chapters later? He brings it up because he wants them to remember. Your future is not predicated on your strength. You will be inclined to think that it is. Your future is not predicated upon your strength to attain it or your grasp to reach it. You and I think that everything we've gotten is largely based on our efforts to attain it, to succeed in the life. But we see consistently, regularly, it is God who intervenes on behalf of people for the benefits that they have received. So our future is not predicated on our strength, but upon God's strength. And when his people cross the Jordan, Moses wanted them to remember that. As we wrap up this morning, let me just observe this in your own life. I don't suspect you're going to face a King Og. I hope not. Something's gone terribly wrong. If that happens, you will not cross the Red Sea. You will not face Goliath. This is not likely to happen. You. And yet I will bet you that in your own life, maybe even right now, there's something big and scary. There is a danger. There is a threat, perhaps. Maybe it's an existential threat. Maybe it's a relationship concern. Maybe it's financial concern. Maybe it's a health concern. Whatever it is, it stands in front of you. And on some level, you're wondering how to deal with that this week. What choices do I need to make? They'll enable me to contend with this obstacle that's before me that threatens me, my safety, my security, maybe even my life. Well, the answer for us is the same as the answer in this text. Moses words to you would be the same as Moses words to his people. When you stand at the cusp of the promised land and you're looking at all that God has promised you, it does not matter if there's a Jordan river between you and it. It does not matter if King OG stands between you and it. It does not matter if there's any manner of threats before you. If God's will is to give you xyz, he will give you X, Y, Z, you can take to the bank. It may not be the route you expect. It may not be through the means you desire. There may be other obstacles that jump up you can't even see right now. And yet that which God has promised his people, either covenantly, corporately, as a church, or to you as an individual, that which God has promised you that he will provide for you. If he says you can have this, if he says that you will have this, then he will provide the means for you to attain this. And if he says you will overcome something in the days yet to come, you will overcome it not because of your strength, but because of his. That's the message of an old Moses. That's the message of Moses, 120 years old, looking at his people and knowing that in some degree they're every bit as stubborn as they always have been. He says, I can't redress the stubbornness, but I can do this. I can remind you of the promise. I can encourage you with all that's in my heart to believe in it. God is faithful. You can take it to the bank. Let's pray. To search through an archive of Dr. Holt's previous sermons, please visit us@fpcgolfport.org or you can look us up at sermonaudio. Com.