GET UP & MOVE ON

“The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8)

You have been in a trial that has lasted longer than you wanted. It has made you discouraged, angry at times and sometimes you may feel like giving up. God is telling you, “Stay the course, get up and move on!” This is what He told the Israelites as they camped at Mount Sinai.

Their journey from Egypt to the promised land was to be an eleven-day journey and it took forty years! How long will it take you? “It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them.” (Deuteronomy 1:2-3)

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies; we get stubborn and refuse to see the blessing that is right in front of us. They were given a blessing of seeing God part the Red Sea, they were given the Ten Commandments at this mountain. They were giving Divine Truth and Goodness at this mountain, God Himself. They did not see it.

They came to this mountain the first day of the third month. “On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt--on that very day--they came to the Desert of Sinai.” (Exodus 19:1) They did not leave until the twentieth day of the second month in the second year! “Now in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, the cloud was lifted from over the tabernacle of the testimony; and the sons of Israel set out on their journeys from the wilderness of Sinai.” (Numbers 10:11-12)

Sinai and Horeb are the same mountain; Sinai means thorn and comes from the root word, senah, meaning thorn bush. It is the thorn bush that God showed Himself to Moses and gave him orders to deliver the Israelites from the Egyptians. Sinai is the place in which God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, the Law, truth. This is who God is: Truth, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No One comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) Horeb means moon and sun. God is our light who guides us continually just as the moon lights up the night and the sun during the day. “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

God is Divine Truth and He wanted to reveal Himself to them. He wanted to show them His true nature, so He brought them to the Mount Sinai. They could not wait to receive the Ten Commandments, and proceeded in their impatience to make a false god and one that was one of the gods of Egypt; a golden calf. How many times do we get impatient and want to go back to our false gods that God delivered us from?

Mountain is to me majestic; a symbol of strength and security. That is God; and in Him we are strong and secure and can have confidence in Him. He is faithful and will not fail us. “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (Deuteronomy 7:9)

God brought them to the mountain to reveal Divine truth and Goodness; Himself and instead they made a false god because they could not see His truth.

What truth is He trying to show you? How long will you stay at the place you were meant to possess and conquer? How long will it take to see the goodness of God He wanted you to see at the mountain you are at and instead you are seeing negative, complaining and are running back to your false gods?

He showed them mercy by telling them it is time to move on. He is telling you the same thing. Repent for unbelief and get up and move on. He forgives and remembers no more and moves you on to the purpose He has for you.

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” (Isaiah 46:10)