Deu 1:6 | KingComments | STEP | Before the conquest of the land begins, Moses undertakes to expound God’s law. He does not present the people with an artfully devised war plan. The only sure method of taking possession of and keeping the land is obedience to God’s commandments. That also applies to us. If we want to know the blessings that are our part in Christ, it is not by incorporating them into our minds. We will only get to know them if we submit our lives totally in obedience to God’s Word. The start of the journey is at Horeb. The people have spent about a year there. Moses cites God’s command to leave Horeb and go to Canaan. He also explains the reason: they have now been there long enough to be prepared for the upcoming journey. If God declares a length of time sufficient, it is because He has achieved His goal. He then lets His own move on to the next experience with Him. In Numbers 10 we read about the command to set out: “So they moved out for the first time according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses” ( ). Now they are told where to go. Before there is talk of actual setting out in , Moses recalls two events at Horeb. The first is what God has said about the land. He presents it in its vastness. Now the enemies still live there, but He has given it to His people. Moses joins God in swearing to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He will give them and their descendants the land ( ). The ‘land’ is mentioned about 160 times in this book. Now they stand just before the fulfilment of the promise. The land was not chosen by them, but for them. God has chosen this land for them and He has chosen them to live there. God’s heart is full of the land. If their hearts were filled with the love of God, they would be just as full of His land as He is. But their hearts are filled with other things. That is the second thing Moses talks about, which we hear mentioned between the lines when he talks about appointing judges.

‏ Deuteronomy 1:6

Command to Enter the Land

Before the conquest of the land begins, Moses undertakes to expound God’s law. He does not present the people with an artfully devised war plan. The only sure method of taking possession of and keeping the land is obedience to God’s commandments. That also applies to us. If we want to know the blessings that are our part in Christ, it is not by incorporating them into our minds. We will only get to know them if we submit our lives totally in obedience to God’s Word.

The start of the journey is at Horeb. The people have spent about a year there. Moses cites God’s command to leave Horeb and go to Canaan. He also explains the reason: they have now been there long enough to be prepared for the upcoming journey. If God declares a length of time sufficient, it is because He has achieved His goal. He then lets His own move on to the next experience with Him. In Numbers 10 we read about the command to set out: “So they moved out for the first time according to the commandment of the LORD through Moses” (Num 10:13). Now they are told where to go.

Before there is talk of actual setting out in Deu 1:19, Moses recalls two events at Horeb. The first is what God has said about the land. He presents it in its vastness. Now the enemies still live there, but He has given it to His people. Moses joins God in swearing to the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He will give them and their descendants the land (Gen 15:18-21 ; Gen 22:16-17 ; Gen 26:3-5 ; Gen 35:12). The ‘land’ is mentioned about 160 times in this book. Now they stand just before the fulfilment of the promise.

The land was not chosen by them, but for them. God has chosen this land for them and He has chosen them to live there. God’s heart is full of the land. If their hearts were filled with the love of God, they would be just as full of His land as He is. But their hearts are filled with other things. That is the second thing Moses talks about, which we hear mentioned between the lines when he talks about appointing judges.