In the desert we are tempted to believe that God doesn’t care, isn’t present with us, and doesn’t love us….In the land of plenty we’re tempted to believe that we’ve earned all that we have.
Perhaps we’re most accustomed to thinking that we’re in danger of forgetting God during times of barrenness instead of times of blessing. But the Bible teaches that we’re just as prone to wander from worshiping God when things are going well for us as we are when things aren’t. In Deuteronomy 8 we learn that the wilderness was filled with barrenness, but Canaan would be filled with blessing. The wilderness was a great and terrifying place, but Canaan was a good land. The wilderness was dry and flat, but Canaan was filled with sources of water, valleys and hills. The Lord had to provide food from heaven for His people in the wilderness, but Canaan was filled with luscious fruits and bountiful grains. However, Canaan would prove to be just as tempting a place for Israel to forsake the Lord as the wilderness was.
In the midst of the blessings, God’s people were in danger of forgetting the Giver. With satisfied stomachs, luxurious houses, healthy livestock, and abounding treasure, their hearts would be proud. They would believe they had earned the blessings instead of glorifying the One who had given it to them. They would be prone to forget that the Lord had delivered them from Egypt and brought them through the wilderness. They would boast in their accomplishments, instead of boasting in the Lord their God. Tragically, they would worship and serve other gods, and would perish for their disobedience.
Sadly, because God’s people indulged in idolatry and immorality they experienced the curse of exile. Even so, on every page of the Old Testament the gospel of grace is progressively revealed until Jesus Christ comes as the the second Adam, the true Israel, the final king, the suffering servant and the Savior of the world. Jesus didn’t come to save perfect people, but penitent ones. He obeyed God’s law perfectly on our behalf, so that we now stand before the Father robed in His righteousness. He died a cursed death to satisfy God’s justice, so that we can live for all eternity with Him.