The generation that waited on the plains of Moab to begin the invasion of Canaan was not unmindful of the events of the wilderness. God commanded them to remember His doings with them, especially the ways He had tested and tried their trust in and love for Him. These trials and tests were of two sorts.

First are the pure tests. Israel would come upon a situation in which some obstacle or difficulty was in the way – lack of food and water, for example. Nothing in their conduct had provoked this test; God simply allowed them to come to this point so that He and they would be able to discern the true nature of their love for Him. Would they grumble, complain, and head back to Egypt? Or would they wait on the Lord to supply their needs? Israel’s responses to such “unprovoked” tests were usually mixed; however, as they looked to the Lord, through Moses, to meet their needs, He blessed them and moved them through this test to the next stage of their walk with Him.

Other tests and trials came because of something in the people’s conduct. Israel had begun to do something wrong – worship a calf, challenge the leadership of Moses, add to the Word of God – and God moved decisively to correct their errant ways. These trials were often accompanied by judgment of a temporal and physical sort – disease, infestation, death. In extreme situations God used these judgments to remove recalcitrant individuals so that they could no longer mislead the people. In most instances, however, His design was to bring the nation to repentance and renewal of their covenant relationship with the Lord.

Israel’s experience in the wilderness provided a template for how they could expect God to relate to them in the land of promise. He would continue to test them, in order to grow them through trials and difficulties into a closer and more powerful walk with Him. And He would continue to chasten them for wandering off the path of His Law, until, through repentance and renewal, the people turned back to Him once again.

For a more complete exposition of the promises of God, order a copy of T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store. In his article, “Ready for Discipline?”, T. M. reminds us of why it is so important to seek the Lord.