The people of Israel had been at Mount Sinai for some time. It had been a place of wonderful revelation (the ten commandments had been given there) but also a place of devastating failure (the fiasco of the golden calf.) Our successes and our failures can both be part of what makes us stay too long in one place. But I guess that "breaking camp" also represents moving out of our comfort zone and being willing to venture beyond what has become familiar to us. So I find it interesting to look at the list of places the Israelites were urged to move on to:
The hill country - more challenging ground, where enemies like the Amorites lay ahead. Sometimes we don't break camp because we think the hills ahead will be too difficult for us.
The Jordan valley - sometimes we hesitate to head into the valleys and low places, fearing that they will be too discouraging for us. But the Jordan valley was also a place of being watered and becoming fertile.
The Negev - the dry, desert areas where pioneering something new is slow to bear fruit, and where all our patience and perseverance are tested.
The western foothills - perhaps these are like the place of preparation for new mountains to b conquered.
The coastal plane - a place of broad vistas, new horizons and uncharted waters; a place to receive new vision for launching forth.
All the neighbouring regions - all the other nearby places that God has for us. In missions terms, we might call these the "omega zones" of our world.
And all the way to the great river - just as the River Euphrates formed a natural boundary to the territory God was giving the Israelites, this speaks to me of persevering all the way to the boundaries that God has set in place for us; going as far as He is calling and allowing us to go, without allowing internal or external obstacles to make us set our own boundaries and limitations.
For me, stepping out and teaching a seminar in Spanish this year was one way of breaking camp, moving beyond what was safe and familiar to me, and starting to take some new hill country. Every time I plan an overseas ministry trip, it's part of going "all the way to the river" and not allowing my physical/health challenges to dictate what I can or can't do for God. What are the foothills, deserts, valleys or hill country that God is prompting you to move on to?
After listing the ground to be taken, God places the Israelites before two complementary verbs: giving and occupying. The Lord says, in verse 8, "Look, I am giving this land to you; go in and occupy it." God does His part, but the land will never be ours unless we do our part too. It's like when someone gives me a pair of shoes or slippers as a gift. Even when the giving has already happened, I'll never feel the benefit of those slippers unless I step into them; unless I put my feet into them and "occupy" them. Spiritually speaking, it's the same with the territory that God wants to give us.
So these few verses at the beginning of Deuteronomy once again caused me to pause and reflect on my lifelong journey with the Lord. Are there places where I need to break camp and move on to further things that God has for me?
