Slices
Prepare
‘The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge…’ (Psalm 18:2). Pray: ‘Lord God, thank you that you are always surrounding me with your strength and protection. Amen.’
Bible passage
God’s angel to prepare the way
20 ‘See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. 23 My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. 24 Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. 25 Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away disease from among you, 26 and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
27 ‘I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. 28 I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. 29 But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. 30 Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.
31 ‘I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, and from the desert to the Euphrates River. I will give into your hands the people who live in the land, and you will drive them out before you. 32 Do not make a covenant with them or with their gods. 33 Do not let them live in your land or they will cause you to sin against me, because the worship of their gods will certainly be a snare to you.’
Explore
We come out of the laws now and back into the stream of what these people can expect in their future. Once again it will be a bit of a roller coaster.
How wonderful to know that God means business. He is showing his power by sending his angel to prepare the way, to guard them (v 20) and turn back their enemies (v 27). He wants his people to take hold of that. They must listen to him carefully, so they know exactly how to cope (v 22). They must destroy all traces of other gods, so they are not distracted back into their old beliefs (v 24).
Are we good at listening carefully to God, especially when times are difficult? We too must make sure we have no redundant sacred stones in our lives.
All the laws we have read about have been leading to equipping God’s people to be good and just and ready to become the nation he desires.
Respond
The children of Israel were encouraged to ‘listen carefully’ to what the angel said. How might we give some time to listening to God today? What does God want you to focus on? Where might you need to obey his Word?
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 1 Samuel 23,24; Mark 16
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Jane Webber, Schools Worker at Mission Partner Schools Worker Project in Oswestry, as she shares the gospel in 17 schools. Pray for the young people attending the Christian Unions, that their faith would be deepened by the discussions that take place.
