DAY 186- BIG PICTURE IN A YEAR - THE WILDERNESS

Remember this and never forget how you provoked the Lord your God to anger in the desert. From the day you left Egypt until the day you arrived here, you have been rebellious against the Lord.

Deuteronomy 9:7

Reading: Deuteronomy 9:1-29, 1 Corinthians 10:6-11

Where did you spend your BC days? The people we are sojourning with in the Wilderness spent theirs in Egypt. Abraham’s descendants had moved down to Egypt to escape a drought, and ended up staying for centuries. Because it was so nice.

Things went reasonably well until a new Pharaonic dynasty arose. Foreigners and immigrants were not treated well under this dynasty and the Israelites ended up being commandeered into a massive public works programme where they were slaves – or, if they received any pay at all, it was very little.

Having spent 400 years in Egypt, the people had virtually forgotten who their God was. They had lost track of the God who had saved them by sending their ancestor, Joseph, to Egypt ahead of them. Even when Moses met God, as a shepherd in the back side of the desert, he had to ask God’s name.

Not only were they suffering from a kind of national and spiritual amnesia, but the generations had also been affected by years of harsh treatment, abuse, and poor working conditions.

As we read Numbers and Deuteronomy, we also discover that there were strongholds of sin that had settled in the lives of the people who belonged to Yahweh - four sins, in particular, that He was determined to uproot.

These are the same sins that can ensnare us and hold us in slavery today. In the book of 1 Corinthians, Paul lists these sins as idolatry, sexual immorality, testing the Lord and grumbling.

We will examine each one in detail over the new few days.

Prayer

Lord thank You for the record of Your dealings with Your people. I love to learn Your ways and be a witness of Your goodness. I am willing to come under Your hand and trust You with my life and future.

For the family

Watch this video together. Discuss how certain experiences can leave their mark on us and change us for the future. Ask the children to share any experiences like that that they have had. Pray with them.