God’s Eternal Truth

The title of this teaching may seem a little muddled to you seeing how Moses lived roughly 1,500 years before Jesus came to Earth.

However, it is important to remember that Moses had the privilege of meeting the great I AM up close and personal on several occasions (beginning in Exodus Chapter 3) and was the recipient of His many communications.

And when God communicated with Moses, He did so with eternal messages – truths that were to span the entirety of humanity’s time on Earth and straight into the eternal state. In other words, many of the messages God gave Moses to share with the Israelites were also intended for God’s people of all ages.

As such, 21st century Christians can read the Pentateuch – the first 5 books of the Old Testament – and apply much of it for ourselves. And this certainly applies to a marvelous and soaring truth Moses shared with the Israelites.

Though communicating this truth approximately 3,500 years ago, it stands today as a dynamic summing up of the Christian life.

The Pre-Game Speech

The 5th book of the Pentateuch – Deuteronomy – is a chronical of God’s final words to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land.

The Hebrews had been wandering in the Sinai Wilderness for 40 years following their exodus from Egypt, and now – at the beginning of year 41 – it was just about time to enter in. But before crossing the border into the Promised Land – Canaan – God had something to tell them.

Think in terms of a football coach addressing his team just before a big game. The team has spent the preceding week preparing rigorously for this moment, and the coach wants to review what they had practiced while also cautioning them as to what they could expect when they get on to the field.

In this scenario, the week of intensive practice represents the 40 years of wilderness wandering, and the coach’s pep talk is God’s final words of reminder, caution, and motivation just before the Israelites were to at last claim what God had promised them.

Now on the threshold of Canaan, the Hebrews needed encouragement – a promise from God that would emotionally and spiritually carry them through the ordeal that lay ahead. In the doing, God, through Moses, delivered an encouragement so powerfully uplifting and reassuring that every believer in the Lord Jesus today can take hold of it and claim it as his or her own.

The Encouragement

What Moses told them was this:

“The LORD your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. And you saw in the wilderness how the LORD your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reached this place” (Deuteronomy 1:30-31).

What the great I AM had just given the Israelites was a glorious promise to cling to as they inched closer to their destiny. God reminded the Hebrews of how He cared for them during their 430 years of bondage, and the great diligence with which He watched over them during the past 4 decades. He protected and delivered His people every step of the way, until they at last arrived at their destination.

But beyond ancient Israel, Moses’ words continue to resonate as an ideal summing up of the Christian life.

The Christian Sojourn

“The Lord your God who goes before you …”

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ traveling through the wilderness of life, you never do so alone. Your Lord is with you at all times – through the difficult and the mundane. Amid medical emergencies, financial woes, job firings, and family disharmony, God is not only with you in the trial, He is indeed going before you.

He is always there directing you in the way you should go, steering you away from wrong and desperate decisions, and onto the path of hope and renewal.

“The Lord … will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt …”

What is your “Egypt”? For me it was 28-plus years of not knowing the Lord Jesus. I went through periods of rebellion and atheism, but all along God was using all of it to bring me to faith in His Son – the Forgiver of my sins and Redeemer of my soul.

If you were saved at a very young age, perhaps your “Egypt” were those times of doubt, straying from His Word, forsaking holiness, and living life independent of God. Yet through it all, God was there; you may have left Him, but He never left you. He has a plan for you, and has every intention of bringing it to completion.

“And you saw in the wilderness how the LORD your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled …”

Most of you reading this have known the Lord Jesus for several decades and have experienced both the highs and lows of life. Looking back, you well remember how God “carried you” when you could barely get out of bed. When the pain – be it physical, emotional, or spiritual – was too much for you to endure, God was the one who carried you in His arms through your wilderness suffering.

“… until you reached this place.”

In the text, “this place” is Canaan – the Promised Land. For the believer, the Promised Land is eternity with the Lord Jesus. All that God has done for you throughout your life was for the purpose of bringing you home to Him, reside with Him for eternity, and enjoying Him for all time.

So yes, Moses was giving the Israelites their marching orders in preparation for entry into the Promised Land, but so much more than that, his words are an enthralling summation of the Christian life. Therefore, they are well worth reading again, but this time through the lens of your walk with the Lord Jesus:

“The LORD your God who goes before you will fight for you, just as you saw Him do for you in Egypt. And you saw in the wilderness how the LORD your God carried you as a man carries his son all along the way you traveled until you reach this place” (Deuteronomy 1:30-31).

God is with you in the fight and will take you to His Promised Land when your earthly sojourn ends. Yes, Moses spoke these words long, long ago, but in actuality, he is speaking to you this same truth at this very moment – and for every moment that is come!

David Ettinger was born and raised in a Jewish family in New York. After moving to New Mexico as an adult, he suffered through many trials. The nudge of the Holy Spirit caused him to examine his heart and in 1986 he surrendered his life to Jesus and has walked with Him ever since.David holds a BA, and MA, in English from New Mexico State University. He began his journalism career writing for The Roundup, the university paper. After graduation he became the sportswriter for the El Paso Times. He has held many other positions as both writer and editor with major publications. David is active in providing his skills with Zion’s Hope, Inc., in Winter Garden, Florida. His publications include Lifeway publications, Single Parent magazine (Focus on the Family), Zion’s Fire magazine, and Real Life magazine. In addition, he served as managing editor for Zion’s Fire and Real Life. David’s book, Overcomers: 30 Stories of Triumph from the Bible, is available online. David is proud of his son and grandson. Please read his testimony here, on his website. 

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