BROADCASTS.com

The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything (Deuteronomy 2:7).

Here is portrait of the mercy and grace of God. On the internet mercy is defined this way: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. That is exactly what this passage illustrates.

Here is how.

Recall, Israel is on the verge of entering the Promised Land. Forty years prior they had been in the same position. However, at that time Israel insulted God by not trusting him. After everything he had done for them in delivering them from Egypt and providing for their original journey the wilderness and defeating their enemies, they gave in to fear and said, \u201cGod, you can\u2019t do it. We don\u2019t believe you can give us this land. Its current occupants are too strong. We\u2018re going back to Egypt.\u201d

One can imagine God saying, \u2018Fine, go back, see how you manage.\u2019 Many of us would have washed our hands of the matter and found somebody else. How ungrateful can one be?

But our text tells us that God had a very different reaction. Yes, he did punish them for their unbelief. That whole generation died in the wilderness. They were unable to enter that land flowing with milk and honey.

As Moses recounts the story of their most recent travels, he mentions that they needed to go through the territory belonging to Esau\u2019s descendants. Esau was Jacob\u2019s twin brother. And Jacob was renamed Israel. God instructed them to pay for everything they ate and drank in Esau\u2019s territory (2:6).

Now hold on for a moment. After a 40-year journey, they have money left over? They were slaves in Egypt. Yes, the Egyptians loaded them up with goods as they left, but that is all they had. After 40 years they have money left to pay for food and drink. End of a 40-year journey and they are flush with cash? How can that be?

The people who had insulted God by not trusting him have been blessed by him so that they can pay their way through Esau\u2019s territory. They want for nothing! The Lord gave them food, clothing, and protection.

The words from the hymn, \u201cHow Firm a Foundation\u201d, seem appropriate in this setting: \u201cFear not, I am with Thee; O be not dismayed, For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid; I\u2019ll strengthen thee, help thee; and cause thee to stand, Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.\u201d

But even that hymn does not do justice to this story. The people in our text just do not deserve anything, certainly not a financial windfall. Yet, that is essentially what happens. The people didn\u2019t believe God can do it, so what did God do? He provided for their needs and then some.

This is the God of the Bible, full of love and mercy and grace. He does not give us what we deserve. Instead, he showers us with grace. Remember what Jesus said, \u201cIt is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners\u201d (Mark 2:17). God is calling!