Rabbi Schneider — It's Necessary
God bless you and Shalom, beloved ones. My name's Messianic Rabbi K.A. Schneider. Welcome today to this very important edition of Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I'm in the middle of a series Don't Waste Your Wilderness. I want you to hear me very carefully.
In order for you to enter into the fullness that go through the wilderness. We first see this illustrated, beloved ones, in the life of God's people, Israel. Before possession of the Promised Land, they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years.
Now often times when we think of Israel wandering in the wilderness, we only consider the fact that it's because the spies, when they sent the 12 spies into the Promised Land to survey it, remember, and 10 of the 12 spies came back and huge.
They're gonna destroy us if we go in there. And because they were in fear and didn't operate in faith, they ended wandering, ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. And that's absolutely true. But I want you to also understand this; that it was part of Father God's divine plan for them to wander in the wilderness for 40 years because there were lessons Israel that they could only learn in the wilderness.
When I began this series last week, chapter 8. And in Deuteronomy, chapter 8, we read that Father God led his people in the wilderness, get this now, in order to humble them and test them. I'm gonna read it once again just to set the stage for the ministry today. Hear the Word of God.
The Lord said this: All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, listen now, there's a reason, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart.
I want to continue on with this concept specifically tells us here that he led Israel, beloved ones, in the wilderness to humble them. Now what does it mean to humble? How do you, how does one get humbled? One gets humbled when they go through difficulty.
Because when we go through difficulty, we become dependent because we don't have the resources within ourself to go through desperation we posture our heart in an attitude of humility to receive from God that which we need to get through the difficulty because we realize that we don't have the capabilities ourself to here for humble is Anav. And it means to go through difficulty, to go through trial.
We see this same principle shared in the New Testament. For example, we read about Paul's thorn in the flesh; how Paul was in a wilderness. He said, Father God, there, there's a messenger of Satan that's oppressing me, and it's But Father God said to him, Paul, my power is gonna be perfected in your weakness. My grace will be sufficient for you. Paul then responded, I'm gonna therefore rather boast in my weakness rather than weakness his power is perfected in me. It's the same concept.
Father God tells us here in Deuteronomy, chapter 8, that he was bringing Israel through the wilderness, get this now, to humble them, there was a purpose, to make them dependent so that they could receive from him what they needed, beloved, in order to enter into the fullness of what God had.
Listen to what James tells us in the Book of James, chapter number 1, beloved ones, verses number 1-4, the same thing. My message today to you is, listen, don't waste your wilderness. If you're in a difficult time in our life today, beloved child of God, don't waste it. You're here for a reason. Father God is gonna minister to you and impart to you something that he can't impart to you if you're going through an easy your wilderness.
Thank God that you're at where you're at. He causes all things to faith and believe that he's doing something in your life right now. He causes all things to work together for good; that he's gonna bring you out of this wilderness. And when he brings you out, you're gonna carry with you from this wilderness something that he imparted to you while you were in it. And that thing that you receive now in your blessing to you and others that you have influence with for the rest of your life.
Listen to what James said in 1-4: James, a bond-servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes who are dispersed abroad. So notice that James' primary audience here, these are the twelve tribes of Israel. Listen again: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter, hear me now, various trials. What are we talking about? Wilderness. Consider it a joy.
What did I just say to you? Don't waste your wilderness. James said, if you're in a difficult time right now, if you're in a trial, consider it a joy. Don't waste it. Don't complain. Don't get bitter. Don't turn on God. Don't fall rather rejoice because God's doing something powerful in what he says: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete.