If you travel to the Sinai Peninsula today, you find that from Kadesh Barnea to the Brook of Zered is only 50 miles, but it took them 38 years to travel that distance. It wasn\u2019t that they were lost; Moses knew how to get there. Rather it was their disobedience and the fact that they would not believe or trust the Lord, even though He was showing His power and faithfulness to them daily, that they wandered all those years. God allowed an entire generation of Israelites to die because they would not follow Him to the place where He wanted to bless them. They wasted their lives going in circles and letting the sin of the surrounding peoples rub off on them and their children. Today many believers still get stuck somewhere between Kedesh Barnea and Zered in their Christian life. Through disobedience and lack of faith, we can wander round and round in circles, never arriving at the place God wants for us.<\/p>\n
In the first half of Deuteronomy 2, God told His people not to meddle with certain people groups that they passed. He was warning them not to get entangled in the affairs of the world. And that\u2019s true for us as well; if we ignore the warning of God and get too mixed up in the value system of this unbelieving world, we will find ourselves again going around and around the same mountain. We wander in circles when we ignore God\u2019s will for our lives and attempt to do things our own way. We believe this is what Paul the Apostle was thinking of when he wrote:<\/p>\n
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13\u201314).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sometimes God\u2019s people content themselves with lesser things because they get tired of the journey. Each day we need to press on Pilgrim<\/em>; by His grace, choosing obedience and faith, as we seek His best for that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cLORD, we don\u2019t want to go around the same mountain over and over again. Don\u2019t just get us out of the rut, but teach us the truths we need to learn so that we don\u2019t need to come back this way ever again.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n
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Deuteronomy 2 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1<\/sup>\u00a0Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake unto me, saying,\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And command thou the people, saying, Ye\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>a possession.\u00a0\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0For the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God\u00a0hath been\u00a0<\/em>with thee; thou hast lacked nothing. 8<\/sup>\u00a0And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Ezion-gaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>a possession.\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims;\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave unto them.\u00a0\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0Now rise up,\u00a0said I\u00a0<\/em>, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered,\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sware unto them.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0For indeed the hand of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed. 16<\/sup> So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0That the\u00a0LORD\u00a0spake unto me, saying,\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day: 19<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0when\u00a0<\/em>thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>a possession.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0(That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;\u00a0\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the\u00a0LORD\u00a0destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead:\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.) 24<\/sup> Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, and contend with him in battle.\u00a0\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations\u00a0that are\u00a0<\/em>under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. 26<\/sup>\u00a0And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet;\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0(As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0our God giveth us.\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth\u00a0<\/em>this day.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.\u00a032<\/sup>\u00a0Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.\u00a034<\/sup>\u00a0And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain:\u00a0\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took.\u00a036<\/sup>\u00a0From Aroer, which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>by the brink of the river of Arnon, and\u00a0from\u00a0<\/em>the city that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the\u00a0LORD\u00a0our God delivered all unto us:\u00a037<\/sup>\u00a0Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not,\u00a0nor\u00a0<\/em>unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the\u00a0LORD\u00a0our God forbad us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you travel to the Sinai Peninsula today, you find that from Kadesh Barnea to the Brook of Zered is only 50 miles, but it took them 38 years to travel that distance. It wasn\u2019t that they were lost; Moses knew how to get there. Rather it was their disobedience and the fact that they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5823"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16000,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5823\/revisions\/16000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}