The land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. [Deuteronomy 11:11-12 (ESV)]
The Israelites were camped on the east side of the Jordan River, in view of Canaan, when Moses addressed them. After spending the last forty years as nomads in the wilderness of the Sinai Peninsula, can you imagine their excitement at the thought of finally having a place to call their own and their eagerness for a new beginning in a new land? There must have been some apprehension, as well. They weren’t naïve; they knew there would be conflict, battles, and even loss before Canaan was conquered.
Moses was not addressing the original generation of adults he brought out of Egypt—they died in the wilderness because of their disobedience the first time Israel approached Canaan. This was the second generation of adults—the ones who had been under twenty when their parents refused to enter the Promised Land. This generation were eye-witnesses to God’s power and provision. As children, they witnessed the plagues God visited on Egypt. They were there when the waters of the Red Sea parted and watched Pharaoh’s soldiers drown. They experienced Israel’s defeat of the Amalekites at Rephidim, enjoyed God’s provision of quail, and observed water pouring out of a rock more than once. They beheld the glory of the Lord fill the Tabernacle and knew that God faithfully provided them with manna for forty years.
At the same time, this generation also knew the consequences of disobedience. They survived the plague God sent because Israel worshiped the golden calf, saw the earth split open and swallow the men (and their families) who rebelled against Moses, and spent most of their lives as nomads because of their parent’s defiance. They had first-hand knowledge of God’s discipline as well as His faithfulness, provision, compassion, and mercy.
As Canaan was for the Israelites, so a new year is for us. Like a new land, the new year means a fresh start but, like the Israelites, we wonder what trouble the year may bring. Will there be more dark valleys than sunny hilltops? Will our journey be challenging or easy, rocky or smooth, crooked or straight? Will obstacles or detours cause us to lose our way? Will we encounter times of plenty or famine, profit or loss? Will there be storms or sunshine, floods or drought, abundance or scarcity? Rather than being attacked by Amorites, Hittites, or Jebusites, will cancer, divorce, or job loss strike? Just as those Israelites knew that both challenges and blessings lay ahead in Canaan, we know that the new year will bring its share of both grief and joy, chaos and calm, hardship and ease, loss and gain.
Moses told the people not to fear the inhabitants of Canaan because God was with Israel. They didn’t go into new territory alone and neither do we. God was with them and He is with us. While we haven’t gathered manna in the morning, seen bitter water become sweet, experienced God’s victory over Midian, or followed a pillar of cloud or fire through the Sinai wilderness, we know God did all that and more for Israel. Moreover, we have firsthand experience of the many ways He has been faithful to us. In previous years, He transformed discord into harmony, heartbreak into joy, chaos into order, defeat into victory, unhappiness into contentment, and scarcity into enough! God’s faithfulness and power in the past tells us there is nothing to fear in the days ahead!
While we don’t know what 2024 holds, we do know the One who holds the new year in His hands. Let us stride confidently into the challenges of the future knowing that, “The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”
New Year’s Day is a good time to fix one’s eyes on the only One who knows what the year is to hold. [Elisabeth Elliot]
Devotions of the Heart 