Against the Winds
Deuteronomy 4:32-33, 35
“For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of fire, as you have heard, and still live? … To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.”
This caravan of wilderness wanderers is making its way to the edge of the Jordan, readying to cross over into battles and adventures and dangers the likes of which many of the young among them have never encountered, and we can be sure that the devil is sending headwinds of furious words against them as they march. Words like, “Who do you think you are?! What makes you worthy to barge into these cities full of impressive fortifications and thriving economies and unparalleled artistries and time-tested institutions built by the greatest minds of their generation? You’re nobody here—just like your fathers were nobodies back in Egypt! You’re just grasshoppers in a land of giants and you’re about to get squashed!”
There are men in this caravan like Joshua and Caleb who are stalwart in their faith, but even brave men grow tired and weary in headwinds like these. Even courageous leaders are susceptible to feeling the sting of enemy lies. After all, they’ve still got two eyes. They can see the outlines of impressive fortresses and towers and industries up ahead, juxtaposed against their meager tents and temporary shelters, and I bet they reckon themselves small and inadequate and wholly inferior to the peoples around them.
But Moses speaks the perfect word over their trepidation here. He doesn’t contrast God’s tabernacle with Canaanite temples nor make the case that shepherding is more divine than industrialism, but he reminds them of the one thing they’ve got that makes them giants in these hills: that they’ve heard the voice of God and lived! And that voice called them out of the darkness of slavery and into the marvelous light of this present and perpetual inheritance.
You, Christian, are part of the greatest gospel the world has ever heard! So don’t let the devil convince you otherwise today.