THE WORK OF GOD (Part 3)
The works of the lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein (Psa. 111:2).
Today, in our discussions, we often talk about the promises of God and feel comforted that He is with us to protect and save us. The following study is about some of the promises He fulfilled in the Old Testament. How beautiful those fulfillments were! Notice that the promises were contingent on the covenant between God and the Israelite nation as they journeyed to the Promised Land.
Exodus 23:20-33
20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place, which I have prepared.
21 Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name (authority) is in him.
22 But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.
24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images.
25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.
26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.
27 I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
28 And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.
29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee.
30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
31 And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee.
32 Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.
Deuteronomy 7:20—Moreover the Lord thy God will send the hornet among them, until they that are left, and hide themselves from thee, be destroyed.
- What promises did the Heavenly Father make to Israel for their good? Make a list and see just how many things he planned to do for them.
- What did He expect the children of Israel to do as their part of the covenant? Make a list of these things too.
- Was God active?
- What did the people see? Did they see a miracle or what appeared to be natural events?
- Was that different from what the reader understands?
- Were those events miracles according to the scriptural definition of a miracle, or were they the ordinary work of God?
As the Lord spoke with Caleb and Joshua and admonished him to continue to take the land and conquer the five nations, he reminded them that he had fulfilled his promises.
Joshua 24:12—And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.
GOD was active! God was faithful to his word. God cared for the Israel.
–Beth Johnson