Deuteronomy 32:7-8 "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. (8) When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel."
Verse six spoke of the fact that God had made Israel and established them. He
made them from one man, Abraham. He had established them as a nation and He was
about to establish them in the land that had been promised to them. There
seems to be a process to that which God performs in our lives. There certainly
was a process for His making and establishing Israel. He promised Abram
that "in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." (Genesis
12:3) At that time, he and Sarai had no children. He later would
take Abram out and said, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if
thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be."
(Genesis 15:5) Then He told Abraham (God had changed his name), "I
will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their
generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed
after thee." (Genesis 17:7) After telling him this, God then called
Isaac by name and said through him would this covenant be established.
Isaac had not been born at that time. God had also told Abraham, "Know of
a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and
shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years."
(Genesis 15:13) They were in bondage to Egypt for ... four hundred years.
Now God was bringing them out, "in process of time" and taking them
"in process of time" to the land wherein He had promised. He
made them. He established them. He was still establishing them to enter into
the joy of the covenant.
God had "set the bounds of the people ACCORDING TO the number of the
children of Israel." To me, that says God preserved this land called
Canaan through all that time because He had a people that were going to inhabit
it. That people became known as Israel. Surely the Lord is good and
His mercy endures forever. Bear with me with what I am about to
say. Canaan land was prepared and secured for the people of Israel. God
has an eternal kingdom that is prepared and secured for His people to inhabit
for all eternity. In that land, there will be no struggles, no pain, no
heartache, no sickness, no frailties of life. There will be no battles to fight
whether they be internal or external. All will be glorious peace and joy.
But we are on this earth and may I say God has prepared a kingdom (Kingdom of
Heaven, or Kingdom of God) for us to enjoy as we go through this life.
But living in this earthly kingdom does not prevent us from having struggles,
pains, heartaches, sickness, and death. Experiencing the joys of this
earthly kingdom come as we place our trust and confidence in the KING of kings
and LORD of lords. By trusting Him in this life, we can experience peace of
heart and mind even in conflict. We can experience the joy of our salvation
even in sickness. We can endure the struggles because the righteous King has
promised to always be with us. Canaan represents the earthly kingdom that
requires our obedience and our confidence being placed in Christ Jesus, not
man. Israel had all those things that I have spoken... They had struggles
and conflicts. They had pain. They had heartaches. They had to contend
with their own sinful tendencies, just as you and I do today. But they had the
Lord God Jehovah to guide them through. We have our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. May we trust Him and obey Him that we can enter that promised land,
called the kingdom of heaven, of peace and joy as we go through this life.