Aching truth, from a beautiful flame lost too soon…

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A Future Wilderness Realized – God Help Us

AND ALL the congregation cried out with a loud voice, and [they] wept that night. Pardon, I pray You, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your mercy and loving-kindness, just as You have forgiven [them] from Egypt until now. And the Lord said, I have pardoned according to your word….(but) all those men who have seen My glory and My [miraculous] signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have tested and proved Me these ten times and have not heeded My voice, Tell them, As I live, says the Lord, what you have said in My hearing I will do to you: Your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness–of all who were numbered of you, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me, [Heb. 3:17-19.] I the Lord have spoken; surely this will I do to all this evil congregation who is gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, plagues], and here they shall die. [I Cor. 10:10, 11.]

Numbers 14:1‭, ‬19‭-‬20‭, ‬22‭, ‬28‭-‬29‭, ‬35 AMPC

Yes,

…now, (we) pray You, let the power of my Lord be great, as You have promised, saying, The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; (and yet) He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, upon the third and fourth generation. [Exod. 34:6, 7.]

Numbers 14:17‭-‬18 AMPC

So, let us remember Emmanuel, as we hear the approaching thunder.

Now after John (the Baptist) was arrested and put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God, And saying, The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled (completed), and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent (have a change of mind which issues in regret for past sins and in change of conduct for the better) and believe (trust in, rely on, and adhere to) the good news (the Gospel). And Jesus said to them, Come after Me and be My disciples, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And He cured many who were afflicted with various diseases; and He drove out many demons, but would not allow the demons to talk because they knew Him [intuitively].

Mark 1:14‭-‬15‭, ‬17‭, ‬34 AMPC

He knows our steps and orders them before us, in the midst of a wilderness.

WE turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea, as the Lord directed me; and for many days we journeyed around Mount Seir. And the Lord spoke to me [Moses], saying, You have roamed around this mountain country long enough; turn northward. Do not provoke or stir them up, for I will not give you of their land, no, not enough for the sole of your foot to tread on, for I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. You shall buy food from them for money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink. For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. So we passed on from our brethren the sons of Esau, who dwelt in Seir, away from the Arabah (wilderness), and from Elath and from Ezion-geber. We turned and went by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

Deuteronomy 2:1‭-‬3‭, ‬5‭-‬8 AMPC

So, we rejoice to know he said,

I knew (recognized, understood, and had regard for) you in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.

Hosea 13:5 AMPC

And thereby, knowing there is purpose.

…you shall [earnestly] remember all the way which the Lord your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and to prove you, to know what was in your [mind and] heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. And He humbled you and allowed you to hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you recognize and personally know that man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 8:2‭-‬3 AMPC

And,

NOW [in spite of past judgments for Israel’s sins], thus says the Lord, He Who created you, O Jacob, and He Who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you [ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives]; I have called you by your name; you are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned or scorched, nor will the flame kindle upon you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt [to the Babylonians] for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba [a province of Ethiopia] in exchange [for your release]. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east [where they are dispersed] and gather you from the west. [Acts 18:10.] I will say to the north, Give up! and to the south, Keep not back. Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth– Even everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made. Bring forth the blind people who have eyes and the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together and let the peoples be assembled. Who among [the idolaters] could predict this [that Cyrus would be the deliverer of Israel] and show us the former things? Let them bring their witnesses, that they may be justified, or let them hear and acknowledge, It is the truth. [Ps. 123:3, 4.] You are My witnesses, says the Lord, and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know Me, believe Me and remain steadfast to Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I have declared [the future] and have saved [the nation in times of danger], and I have shown [that I am God]–when there was no strange and alien god among you; therefore you are My witnesses, says the Lord, that I am God.

Isaiah 43:1‭-‬3‭, ‬5‭-‬10‭, ‬12 AMPC