And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.
You know after going through the journey of the Israelites through the wilderness, and the end of that journey in the plains of Moab, and even into the book of Joshua into Jericho and Ai, I am still stunned at the extraordinary amount of death that surrounds these chapters. Thousands and thousands of people die. Cities are destroyed; man, woman, child, oxen, ass, and dogs. And if that’s not enough death, how about the actual law; the burnt offerings and the sin offerings? It was every day, every week, every month, every year a sacrifice; the shedding of blood. Blood ran through those chapters like no other place in the Bible. There was death after death after death, and in the midst of all this pain and suffering you read these words, “And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing…”
So beside all the death that was delivered to the people of Israel, what other things did they receive while they where in the wilderness? Well, there was bread. That was the manna. And there was water. That was from the rock. What else? Crickets… Bread and water. I’m not being facetious. I’m trying to draw out the irony or the difficulty in this matter. It’s easy to sit back and criticize the Israelites. They were murmurers. They were complainers. They had little faith. They were unfaithful. They were this. They were that.
You can easily do that and forget these things were written for our admonition. These Israelites blazed the trail, so to speak. They were first ones to mess things up! All the troubles and trials that plagued the Israelites are truly pictures of what’s inside of us. We’re no better than them. We might have some better things. The letter to the Hebrews is known as the book of better things. Praise the Lord! But we are no better than they. And our situation may not be much better than theirs.
Look, I’ll just be plain. Sometimes, it seems like all the Israelites had was their deliverance from Egypt, bread, water, and a hope for the promised land. And sometimes, it may seem that’s all that we have. Our salvation, bread, water, and hope for a better day. But can I say this? There is much to rejoice about in only those few things. The journey through the wilderness was a time of purification and sanctification. That certainly wouldn’t do us any harm. Besides that, it’s a very necessary thing in the life of a Christian.
I came across this verse in my studies, “For it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.” What does it take to come to the realization that God is everything? For to have God is have everything. I’ll always remember this advice from Brother Rufus Edmisten, “God doesn’t owe you anything, therefore you ought to thank him for everything!”
You may be waiting on God; waiting for that big blessing; that long awaited answered prayer? In the mean time, praise God in the little things. Magnify the Lord! Magnify means to make something bigger than what it normally appears to be. Rejoice in every good thing. Go ahead! Have yourself a jubilee over that _____________! (You fill in the blank)