The Story

The children of Israel could see the hills of the promised land across the meadows and the Jordan, rosy in the morning light and purple in the evening shadow. Moses talked to them very earnestly. He reminded them of the hardships of the journey through which the Lord had helped them. What were some of these, as you follow the line of the journey on the map and look over the pictures that you have put into your scrapbooks? The crossing of the Red Sea, the bitter water, Elim, the quails and manna, water from the rock, defeat of the Amalekites; and after leaving Mount Sinai, quails a second time, another gift of water, fiery serpents, and so to the Jordan where they were camping. Moses speaks of the forty years, of the manna, of water from the rock, of fiery serpents and scorpions (spider-like creatures with a poisonous sting). These trials and the Lord's loving care should have made the people humble and obedient to the Lord. The Lord had let the hard things come to teach them this lesson.

And now they might look forward to the beautiful land. It was a land different from the wilderness in which they had been living, and different from Egypt from which they had come. Read Deut. 11:10-12. In Egypt there was almost no rain, and water was from the river Nile; but in the land of Canaan, between November and April, there are rains. It "drinketh water of the rain of heaven." It has splendid great springs where large streams come at once from the rocks. There are several such springs near Mount Hermon in the north, some near the Sea of Galilee, and the beautiful Gideon's fountain at the foot of Mount Gilboa. And the rains and springs and streams with the good soil make the land fruitful. Have you seen wheat growing, and barley? Do you know fig trees and pomegranates and olives? And honey; bees make the honey, but for honey there must be flowers. It was a beautiful land, and it would be a happy home if - if what? If they would not forget the Lord but would remember Him and trust Him and obey Him.

How long do you think the children of Israel were camping by the Jordan before they went into the promised land? Not long, possibly about forty days. They were there when Balaam saw and blessed them. The other important events of those days were Moses' earnest appeals to the people and the death of Moses. The 6th chapter of Deuteronomy has very earnest words of Moses, urging the children of Israel to be obedient. The 8th chapter is another, and the 11th chapter another of the same kind. Chapter 8, which we read today, looks back to the experiences of the wilderness and looks forward to the promised land. Let us, as we read the chapter, note first the events of the journey and the wilderness which are mentioned; then we will note what is said about the promised land.

Have you made your list of the journey and the wilderness? Forty years twice mentioned, manna twice mentioned, water from the rock, serpents and scorpions. Did we learn of all these in the story? All but one. What is the reason for remembering the trials? Why not forget them now that they are passed?

And the list of things said about the promised land: brooks and springs, hills and valleys. Do you remember some of the streams, and can you show them on the map? And do you know some of the beautiful great springs? I have suggested a few of them to the little children. And the fruits and the honey. What metals are mentioned which could be mined from the hills? Iron and copper (here called "brass") are both found in the land, especially in the mountains at the north. Job 28:1-11 gives a vivid description of mining (better in the Revised Version). What fears has Moses for the people when they come into the land and enjoy all its good things? It is so easy when we are anxious and in trouble to remember the Lord, but when all goes well it is so easy to forget Him. Then even the good things are no longer blessings.

1. What kind of country had the people been in for forty years? Who had cared for them and given them food and drink?

2. What kind of land were they about to enter?

3. What excellences of the land are especially mentioned?

4. Would they need to remember the Lord any more?

5. Do we need the Lord's help when things go well? Shall we need it in heaven?

Spiritual Study

The language of verse 1 reminds us of the commandment "that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." Remember also Deut. 11:21, "As the days of heaven upon earth." Why are these blessings, even the blessings of heaven, made conditional on keeping the Lord's commandments?

Why was it a wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan? Read carefully verses 1-6 and 14-16; also Deut. 5:15 and 24:17-22. What was the reason in the Lord's providence for permitting these trials? What lessons were they intended to teach the people? Trials that come to us must be intended to teach the same lessons. (1) One lesson was humility and dependence on the Lord, which should prevent the feeling that they were strong without the Lord's help. (2) Another lesson was not to set their hearts on things of the world, but to turn them to things of heavenly and eternal value, verse 3. (3) Memory of their trials should teach them to have sympathy with others who were poor and in trouble. (A. 10155)

Read verse 5. We can understand many things about the Lord's providence with us by comparing our relation with children. We often must refuse the children what they want because we know that it would be bad for them and make them unhappy. There must sometimes be punishments to check ways of doing that are harmful to themselves and others. At such times we may seem to the children to be unkind, but our feelings may be only kindness. Our wish is to save the children from unhappiness and to lead them into good and happy ways. If we have such motives in relation to the children, how much more the Lord! (Matt. 7:11) Read Rev. 3:19. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten," which refers to the temptations which are inevitable in getting rid of evil and finding the blessings of a heavenly life. (R. 215; E. 246)

Read verses 7-9. Can we recognize the spiritual blessings which are represented by these good things of the land of Canaan? We shall know that the streams and springs of Canaan represent the abundant truth from the Lord, more internal and more external, relating to more spiritual and more natural states. The fruits named represent the satisfactions of heavenly uses, more internal and more external. And what is represented by the honey? (E. 374) The iron and brass we recognize as types of fundamental principles relating to truth and goodness, the rightness and kindness of the heavenly life. These are the blessings for which the trials previously considered should prepare us. The Lord help us to be steadfast lest by a return to pride and selfishness we lose the blessings!

to next Lesson