Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Most of the time, things are pretty positive on New Year’s Eve. We think of all the good things that happened through the year, and we look forward and hope for the year to come. But maybe there’s someone out there this New Year’s Eve that’s looking back at the year, reflecting on the things that have happened, and not feeling so positive. Maybe there’s someone out there looking forward to another year with dread and not whole lot of hope.
Maybe right now things don’t seem to be going well. Please consider that now is not all that matters. It’s not that now doesn’t matter. It does. But perhaps what also matter or what matters more is the latter end. Rest assured that God is not just concerned with now but very much concerned about the latter end.
Preacher Allen would always say, “It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.” (I’m sure he was quoting someone too, I just don’t remember who) Right now, we’ve been going through the Israelites journey through the wilderness. No. They didn’t start too good. And they didn’t go too good either. They didn’t believe God. The murmured and complained. They rebelled. They rose up against Moses. The built a golden god. They went after the gods of Moab. There was plague, fire, serpents, and alot of death. It was not exactly a pleasure trip.
Does that sound like your year? Or does the next year look like it’s gonna turn out like that? Let me say this: Children are never cast into battle. Soldiers are sent into battle. Soldiers are grown men, trained, armed, supplied, and battle-hardened. What are you getting at preacher? It was eleven days from Mount Horeb to Kadesh Barnea. You might think that there was a possibility that they could have waltzed into the Promised Land eleven days after Mount Horeb.
I don’t think so. They had already tempted God ten times. They weren’t ready. Being born again is a real thing. Being born again is truly a spiritual birth. That which is born of flesh is flesh. No child can walk physically right after they are born. That which is born of Spirit is spirit. No child can walk spiritually right after they are born.
Deuteronomy 8:2,3 And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
God has a purpose in what He allows you to go through. Please don’t think that God expected you after you were born again to take off running. That’s not how it works. John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb, is not the rule. Even Jesus did not begin his ministry until he was 30 something years old, and not before he was filled with the Holy Ghost and tried in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 8:5 Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee.
I used to have hard time relating to the topic of chastening because I thought chastening was simply punishing. But it’s not. Punishing is what the law does to the law-breaker. Punishment is for your detriment. Chastening is for your betterment. Chastening is what a father does to a son. Chastening is refinement. Chastening is moulding and making and forging. Chastening is pruning, purging, and purifiying. Chastening has the latter end in mind.
Hebrews 12:8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
This is what the Israelites had to go through. This is what every child of God must go through. Why? Because God has set his love upon you. Because you received Him and He gave you power to become sons of God. Maybe this New Year’s Eve as you look back at the year or look forward at the things to come, and things don’t look so bright. Consider the latter end; the end that God is planning for you. Praise His holy name that he’s been leading you all this way. What a glorious thing to take a few steps with God, even in chastisement; because every step you take brings you closer and closer to thy latter end.
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