“22 Then you helped our ancestors conquer kingdoms and nations, and you placed your people in every corner of the land. They took over the land of King Sihon of Heshbon and the land of King Og of Bashan. 23 You made their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and brought them into the land you had promised to their ancestors.

24 “They went in and took possession of the land. You subdued whole nations before them. Even the Canaanites, who inhabited the land, were powerless! Your people could deal with these nations and their kings as they pleased. 25 Our ancestors captured fortified cities and fertile land. They took over houses full of good things, with cisterns already dug and vineyards and olive groves and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate until they were full and grew fat and enjoyed themselves in all your blessings.”

Nehemiah 9:22-25 (NLT)

‬‬Conquer Canaan

One main reason God put up with the Israelites in the wilderness was so He could fulfill His promise to them to bring them into the Promised Land. And He did. He provided for them and was with them as He miraculously delivered king after king, army after army, nation after nation, city after city to them. They even conquered nations not originally part of the promised land. In addition to King Sihon and Og, remember Joshua and the battle of Jericho in Joshua 5:13-6:27, of David & Goliath and the Philistines in 1 Samuel 17:1-53, or Gideon and the Midianites in Judges 6-8. You’ll be blessed as you read these.

The Promised Land 

It was indeed a promised land and the Israelites were blessed in every way. What must it have been like to move into a place that was not just “fully furnished”, like an apartment, but a house with everything in it – including food, tools, a car, maybe animals – all you need to live! 

And God fulfilled His promise to Abraham to make his offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky. (Genesis 15, esp v5)

Botched blessing

We see an ominous phrase at the end of this list of blessing and provision – “they were full and grew fat”. The blessing became a curse. Of course God didn’t mess up the blessing. The Israelites became complacent, maybe they took on an entitlement attitude which we see blossoming in western countries. They took the blessing for granted which led to the trouble we’ll see tomorrow.