Deuteronomy Review

First in Deuteronomy, we see that the people of Israel had wandered in the wilderness for forty years.  This was because of their unwillingness to put their faith in God when they first arrived at the Promised Land.  If we encounter Jesus Christ today when we are lost, we are on the edge of the Promised Land, but if we refuse to put our faith in Him, we will wander in the wilderness of sin until or unless we do.  A whole generation of the people of Israel were denied access to the Promised Land because of their lack of faith, but we cannot afford to lose a whole generation today because they refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, because the gospel of Christ is passed from one generation of Christians to the next.  Now, it was time for the people of Israel, that next generation, to go in and claim the Promised Land under the power and authority of God.  We will not go into our Promised Land, Heaven, in this lifetime, but we must claim our place now by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and living under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.  They were to appoint wise rulers under the leadership of God.  God had led them by Moses and Aaron, but they were not to be with them in the Promised Land, but God still would.  We today as Christians must appoint wise leaders in the church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and we need to acknowledge that when one leader dies or moves on that God will appoint another and we must then follow him.  The first time the people of Israel were at the edge of the Promised Land, they lacked the faith to go in, and Moses called on them to not do so again.  This generation for the most part had not witnessed the miracles that God did to gain their release from Egypt, but Moses called on them to put their faith in Him still.  We did not see Jesus as He walked and talked on the earth and was crucified for our sins, but we must put our faith in Him if we are going to get to go into Heaven one day.  Though they had refused to put their faith in God and go into the Promised Land, God did not desert them, but guided them throughout their wilderness wanderings.  God does not give up on people easily, but continues to call them to Him even if they first refuse to accept Him.  Still, lack of faith caused one generation, those who should have been the first generation in the Promised Land, to never enter.  Lack of faith in Jesus Christ will cause us to never be allowed to enter into Heaven and claim what would have been our place.