"Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared...My name is in him... My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land..."
Mixed in with the giving of the law are God's promises for the land. Concerning the law, He says, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach... No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it," (Deuteronomy 30:11, 14). Concerning the land, God says, "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared...My name is in him... My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land..." God has never asked us to do anything but that He puts everything into it we need to make it happen. He doesn't tantalize us with offers He knows are impossible. He doesn't taunt us with promises He knows are undeliverable. He doesn't tease us with blessings He knows are improbable. Nor does He torment us with commands He knows are unreasonable. The way of the LORD, in His heart, can become the work of the LORD in our heart, if we'll give ourselves to the will of the LORD with all our heart. If it doesn't happen, it won't be because He couldn't, but because we wouldn't. This is what God was wanting the Children of Israel to learn both about His law for them, and about His land for them, which, as we noted, were always mixed together, for it was to be the law of the land. In God's mind and heart, both were possible because He gave them. In the same way, for our New Testament mind, both His words and our walk are to come together in our lives. He is not so mean as to hold His words out there, like a carrot at the end of the stick, telling us to do something that is impossible. Yet we have treated portions of the New Testament this way, laying some "aside" in our daily life because, as some have come to believe, "God knows we can never live that." This is sad. How have we come to this low level of thinking? Especially, as Peter noted, "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness... For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature..." (II Peter 1:3-4). Take the land my friend! Take the land! All of God is behind it: "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared...My name is in him... My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land..."
Mixed in with the giving of the law are God's promises for the land. Concerning the law, He says, "Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach... No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it," (Deuteronomy 30:11, 14). Concerning the land, God says, "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared...My name is in him... My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land..." God has never asked us to do anything but that He puts everything into it we need to make it happen. He doesn't tantalize us with offers He knows are impossible. He doesn't taunt us with promises He knows are undeliverable. He doesn't tease us with blessings He knows are improbable. Nor does He torment us with commands He knows are unreasonable. The way of the LORD, in His heart, can become the work of the LORD in our heart, if we'll give ourselves to the will of the LORD with all our heart. If it doesn't happen, it won't be because He couldn't, but because we wouldn't. This is what God was wanting the Children of Israel to learn both about His law for them, and about His land for them, which, as we noted, were always mixed together, for it was to be the law of the land. In God's mind and heart, both were possible because He gave them. In the same way, for our New Testament mind, both His words and our walk are to come together in our lives. He is not so mean as to hold His words out there, like a carrot at the end of the stick, telling us to do something that is impossible. Yet we have treated portions of the New Testament this way, laying some "aside" in our daily life because, as some have come to believe, "God knows we can never live that." This is sad. How have we come to this low level of thinking? Especially, as Peter noted, "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness... For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature..." (II Peter 1:3-4). Take the land my friend! Take the land! All of God is behind it: "Behold, I am going to send an angel before you to guard you along the way, and to bring you into the place which I have prepared...My name is in him... My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land..."
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