"Israel Reduced to One"
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from
God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Israel
wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.
Throughout their wanderings in the barren places on their way to the
Promised Land, they were faced with temptations to sin and again and again they failed miserably.
They grumbled
against Moses and the Lord for their lack of provisions. In Exodus 16 Israel grumbles, “Would that we had died by the hand of the
Lord in the Land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the
full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole
assembly with hunger.” So, the Lord
rains upon them manna from heaven.
They grumble
amongst themselves to the point of worshipping falsely. Aaron stirs up the people at Sinai, “Up, make us gods who shall go before
us. As for this Moses, the man who
brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of
him…Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons,
and your daughters, and bring them to me.”
And they construct a golden calf.
Israel puts the
Lord to the test, when in the barren wilderness, they have no water. In Exodus 17, Israel quarreled with Moses, “ ’Give us water to drink.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel
with me? Why do you test the Lord?”
Israel’s
sojourning in the wilderness wasn’t exactly God pleasing. They grumbled because they thought the Lord
had forgotten them when they had no bread.
They worshipped falsely when they constructed the golden calf. They put the Lord to the test when they had
no water. Israel’s 40-year journey from
Egypt through the wilderness to the Promised Land was fraught with temptation,
which they fell headlong into time and time again. Yet, after their appointed time in the
wilderness, they cross the Jordan and enter the land that God had promised to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
As Israel had
their time of wandering through the desert, we must journey through the
wilderness of this world with the devil on raging against us, tempting us to
sin. And like Israel, we give into his temptations
time and time again.
We have a cupboard
full of food and yet, we grumble that there is nothing to eat. We have a God who loves and cares for us,
even giving His own Son into death for us, yet we chase after other gods:
ourselves, money, and possessions and we place our trust in them. We put God to the test when we’re ill, have
sickness and pains, or watch as a loved one endures suffering and we say under
our breath, “If you really are a God of love, put an end to this.”
Israel crossed the
Jordan River into the Promised Land, but for us the Jordan comes before the
wilderness. We cross through the waters
of baptism and are led out into the wilderness to be sifted like sand by the
devil. He tempts and we fall into his
temptations. He utters his lies and we
believe them. He offers us a seemingly
better, carefree life that will make us happy but delivers, instead,
damnation.
Who shall save us
from the devil and from ourselves?
Christ. He knows the temptations
that Israel faced and that you face. He,
too, is immediately led from His baptism in the Jordan into the wilderness to
be tempted. He, like Israel and you,
wandered in the wilderness. Christ is
led out to be tempted by the devil for 40 days.
But where we are so often faithless to God’s Law, Christ is faithful for
you. Israel was many people in their faithlessness, but Christ is the true,
faithful Israel reduced to one. He’s what
Israel should be.
Israel sinned when their stomachs began to
grumble. We sin when we don’t receive
our daily bread with thanksgiving. But Jesus
having not eaten for those 40 days , “the
devil said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become
bread.’ ” And Jesus said, ‘It is
written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
Israel chased
after other gods. We’re all too eager to
places our trust in things other than the living God, who cares for all our
needs of body and soul. But the true,
faithful Israel, Jesus, would not let His trust divert.
“ ‘To you I will give all this authority
and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I
will. If you then, will worship me, it
will all be yours.’ And Jesus answered
him, ‘It is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall
you serve.’ “
Israel, like us,
was constantly putting God to the test, complaining about this or that. But Jesus is faithful to His Father’s
Law. “[The devil] took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the pinnacle of the
temple and said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God throw yourself down from
here, for it is written “He will command His angels concerning you, to guard
you,” and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot
against a stone.’ “ And Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “you shall not put the
Lord your God to the test.’ “
We have been
disobedient to God’s Law and fall into temptation time and time again. We deserve death and hell, but Christ has
kept the Law for you. Where we are
faithless, Christ is faithful for you. Where
we fall all too easily into the temptations of the devil, Christ has overcome
the devil’s temptation for you. He lived
the sinless life that we could not and He takes that obedience to His Father’s
will to the cross.
Luke records, “And when the devil had ended every
temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.” The devil did all he could to divert
Jesus from the cross. In the Garden of
Gethsemane Jesus is in agony over what He must to in order to win for you
salvation, but He does the Father’s will.
He overcomes temptation, remains perfectly obedient, and is the perfect
sacrifice for you on the altar of the cross.
The Lord Jesus has
overcome the assaults of the devil for you.
He has been obedient in your place.
Where you have sinned, you’re forgiven, righteous, and holy. Like Israel, we walk through the wilderness
of this world as weak people. Yet,
Christ has walked through the same world and remained obedient for you and His
perfection is given to you. When the
Father looks at you, He sees you through the blood of His Son. And when He looks through the blood of His Son,
He sees perfection. Amen.
The peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus
unto life everlasting. Amen.
