Dearly loved by God in Christ Jesus,
Prof. Wendland is leading us to a correct worldview. In a very real sense, that was what Moses was doing with the Israelites as they stood on the verge of the Jordan poised to cross into the Promised Land. We know that both Moses and Prof. Wendland are but the voices of the Holy Spirit who opens our eyes to the truth of our topic: More than Humdrum-Seeing Life as a Holy Calling.
To put it another way, the Lord God takes his people From Dreadful Desert to Promised Prosperity. First, the Lord humbles and tests with a purpose. Second, God gives the ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant.
What an easy thing, to fall into the habit of looking at life as humdrum. Not that life always is exiting, always diverse, always edgy. Life can be and often is boring, lacking variety, and dull. It was no different for the Israelites on their 40-year journey through the dreadful desert between Egypt and the Promised Land.
We might argue that things were worse for them. Humdrum? It took them 40 years to travel about 300 miles. They ate the same food every day. They wore the same clothes and shoes that did not wear out. They followed the same leaders day in and day out. Maybe they had to look at the back of the same person in front of them all the time. The same brown, arid and rough land was their only scenery. Talk about humdrum. Moses summed it up here, “He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions.”
Moses reminded them, yes, but they had food, “manna to eat in the desert.” They had clean and fresh water “out of hard rock.” Even the humdrum daily bread comes from the LORD’s hand. Sure, the LORD humbled them and tested them but all with this purpose, “that in the end it may go well with you.”
The more they relied on the LORD, the more things would go well with them. Like forging steel in fire, the humbling and the testing were to strengthen them in their reliance on God and on his Word. They needed strength. They were nomads living among strangers. They were on a long and arduous trek. They dug grave after grave for an entire generation of people who rebelled against the LORD.
The LORD had called them from among all the nations of the earth. He had called them out of Egypt and slavery. He called them to take them to a land he had promised to their fathers; Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Now they travelled through a dreadful desert. Nevertheless, it was a journey with purpose and a goal. It was a journey filled with good things from the LORD both enjoyable and painful. They were to view life as their holy calling from the LORD God for the sake of the promised Messiah.
Sound familiar, maybe personal? The LORD who loved them and brought them out of Egypt and out of slavery loved us and sent Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, death and hell. The Lord our God called us out of the world to be his own. He called us out of slavery to our sinful flesh with its evil fruits as Paul wrote to the Galatians. He disciplines for our good. Our lives like theirs are more than humdrum but a holy calling from the Lord our God for the sake of Jesus Christ.
The purpose of the journey was promised prosperity in the new land. Moses jogged their memory, however, that such promised prosperity would not be their doing. God gives the ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant.
Moses spoke in terms of “when” not “if”. “When you eaten and are satisfied…when you build fine houses and settle down…when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase…” All those blessings would come about. The people were not to think they had achieved them. They were not to lift up their hearts in pride and “forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees.” On the contrary, they were to lift up their hearts to the LORD in praise. He gives the ability to produce wealth and so confirms his covenant.
We spoke about this at some length a couple weeks ago in the sermon on Ecclesiastes 1and 2 and are continuing that in our Sunday Bible study. Everything I do apart from seeing the Lord’s hand behind it is a vapor. To forget the Lord is to ignore his commands and laws just as to keep the Lord in mind is to obey his laws and commands as fruits of faith in Christ.
When Israel crossed the Jordan, defeated their enemies and took possession of the land, it would all be as God’s promised prosperity. They would possess a land flowing with milk and honey. This does not mean a land filled with lavish excess. It would be a land abundant in the people’s daily needs. The LORD God would give the ability to work and to prosper in that work. Israel would prosper according to the covenant God had made with Abraham. That covenant revolved around the hub of the promise of the Savior.
This is not, of course, today’s prosperity gospel that if or when I am faithful, God will be generous. Rather, it is God’s promise to be generous for Jesus’ sake that moves me to be faithful. God keeps his covenant of promised prosperity according to his will and Word. That faithfulness compels me to praise him and not forget him by ignoring his will. It all revolves around Jesus’ cross and empty tomb.
This is life as a holy calling. I eat, drink, work, and am satisfied. I say “grace” at meals because I know it is God’s grace in Christ that provides my daily bread. This is far from humdrum. It is the daily assurance that as the Lord God takes me through this dreadful desert, though we don’t want to overdo the metaphor, he is leading me to riches; not only material blessings now but the eternal promised prosperity of life with him in heaven. Amen. <SDG>