Moses' last words to Israel were, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms" (Deut 33:27). He spoke these words at a time of great uncertainty for the people. For over forty years Israel leaned on Moses to lead them through the wilderness and now he was about to die and the people were to cross the Jordan River without him. There they would face mighty and powerful enemies. The people were living in uncertain times.

While Israel's circumstances were unique, the reality is that we all live in a world in which we face many uncertainties. History reveals the great pain and misery that mankind has faced through the ages. People faced uncertainties, endured hardships, and experienced horrible plagues and devastating wars.

Modern challenges⤒🔗

Today we live in a modern world and we like to think that this world is a better place. While there may be great optimism in our society that we can make a better world, this week I was reminded of the great challenges and uncertainties many still face in this world as I met with a couple of families seeking refugee status in this country. They have come to this land to flee problems in their own countries. You can hear the pain in their voices and see the scars in their lives from the weight of misery they are experiencing. It is difficult for many of us to imagine living in a world where you have no place you can call home.

Even when we have a secure place in this world, as we do in this nation, the reality is that we all face insecurities. The neat and orderly life we enjoy today can be set upside down tomorrow. Today the news is all about Hurricane Harvey striking the coast of Texas. Yesterday people were living in their beautiful homes but today many of those homes have been torn apart and destroyed. In a moment,

God sends a horrible storm that destroys the hopes and dreams of many.

A cry for help←⤒🔗

God's people cannot expect to be spared from the troubles of this life. The book of Psalms is one of the most beloved books of the Bible. The Psalmists tell us about their troubles in a way that we can relate to with our own lives. They faced death, they lost loved ones, they dealt with serious health issues, they endured famines and plagues and they faced injustice and persecution. So often God's children cried out to the Lord in heaven, "Come, help us." Today, we live in the most affluent time in the history of the world. The population generally are doing well materially, we have some of the best health care in the world that can alleviate many of our illnesses and we enjoy security and justice in this land. Yet not all is well in North America as hatred and intolerance grows and seems to threaten to tear society apart with violence.

Discouragement in the face of trouble←⤒🔗

At the end of his life, Moses understood the future challenges for Israel. He saw how easily the people became discouraged in the wilderness and turned against the Lord. When hardships arose, they reacted in anger. When there was no food or water they accused Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to die. When they did not have the luxury they enjoyed in Egypt, they demanded that Moses lead them back to Egypt. Moses understood there would be even greater challenges when Israel crossed the Jordan River. There they would face great enemies and if history was any guide, they would become discouraged and rebel against the Lord. The reality is that when we are faced with discouragement and troubles, we quickly respond with anger or bitter­ness or we become despondent and fall into depression.

A necessary reminder←⤒🔗

Moses in his wisdom leaves Israel with this reminder, "The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms." In his last instructions, he impresses upon Israel that the Lord their God is the God in heaven above and on the earth below (4:39). He is the living God who has revealed his great power to Israel. While the great issues in our society is that it does not recognize the reality of the living God, a greater danger for us is that we no longer recognize the greatness of the God whom we worship. We speak about God, but how does that knowledge resonant in your heart? How real is God to you? We say that God is watching over us but do I also live in a way that this is a reality? We say that God can do all things, and yet I am anxious and I worry. Do we live in that assured reality that his everlasting arms are un­derneath us?

Moses sought to impress the reality of God's greatness upon the people of Israel. He asked them in Deuteronomy 4:34, "Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation ... by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds," like God did for you in Egypt? God's outstretched arms are everlasting arms. In faith Israel is to go and conquer the land, fully assured that they will succeed by the power of God's arm. Jeremiah speaks about the extent of God's arm, "Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you."

The everlasting arms←⤒🔗

How great is the power of God? Remember, God challenged Abraham to count the stars if he could. Our galaxy is estimated to contain over one hundred billion stars and some estimate there are some twenty-nine trillion galaxies. How awesome. If you take a microscope and examine the complexity of our bodies and you discover smaller systems within smaller ones, that baffles the mind. It is all humanly incomprehensible to our finite minds and yet the arms of God are completely around it all. We cannot even begin to understand the extent of God's everlasting arms.

And yet, too often our eyes are closed to God's greatness. Perhaps we are blind to his greatness because we think of ourselves too highly. Great scientists, who see the immen­sity of the universe are often blind to the greatness of God, because they think of their own achievements too highly. We can be like the little boy who jumps up in the air three inches and shouts, "Look at me!" full of pride at how high he can jump. So we boast about own achievements when they are so tiny in comparison to the greatness of God. The more we understand the awesome power of God the more we see our own limitations.

Moses leaves Israel with the wonderful assurance that as they move forward into the promised land, they will be supported by the everlasting arms that are underneath. One of the important refrains in the book of Deuteronomy is the command to remember and do not forget the Lord your God. Remember, he says, how the Lord delivered you from Egypt and led you through the wilderness and spoke to you from the blazing fire at Mt. Sinai. Remember how his everlasting arms were ever underneath you.

The everlasting arms of Christ←⤒🔗

Many generations later, the people of Israel were taken into exile because they had forgotten the Lord their God. The people in exile turned back to the Lord when they remembered the Lord their God and recalled the days of old. They ask in Isaiah 63:11, "Where is (the Lord) who brought (Israel) through the sea, with the shepherd (Moses) of his flock? Where is he ... who sent his glorious arm of power to be at Moses' right hand, who divided the waters (of the sea) before them?" Here God's people are again looking for God to send a shepherd like Moses who will come with God's glorious arm of power, to deliver them. Israel's cry for the great shepherd to come and again deliver them was fulfilled with the coming of the great shepherd, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was not like Moses. The arms of Moses failed him when he had to keep his staff in the air as Israel battled the enemy in the wilderness. When his arms were in the air, Israel was defeating the enemy but when his arms became too weary to hold them up, the people began to lose the battle. Aaron and Hur had to help Moses by holding up his arms, but the arms of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, never fail.

Jesus says in John 10 that he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. He reveals that his arms are everlasting arms, there is no end to his power. He has the power to lay down his life for the sheep and to take it up again in the resurrection. And so, when the people brought their children to the Lord Jesus, we have that tender picture of the Lord gathering the children into his arms and blessing them. There his arms are under them and in his arms, he will carry them. That is a wonderful reality! Christ's arms are not too short, his arms are not too weak to carry you, but he comes in mercy and promises as your Saviour to lift you from the pit of your sins and misery and raise you up to life. The one who has power to lay down his life and take it up again has everlasting arms. There is nothing too great or difficult for him and therefore our eternal security rests in the arms of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Thankful for the arms underneath←⤒🔗

Our reason for thankfulness rests in the everlasting arms that are underneath. What really matters for our life are the arms that are underneath us. Moses says to Israel, when you enter the Promised Land and drive out your enemies, what is underneath matters. God will drive out your enemies and destroy him. And once Israel is in the land, they will be safe and live secure in a land of grain and new wine. Our security in this world, whether it is God's people in Israel or God's people in the New Testament church, rests in the arms that are underneath. If the everlasting arms of Christ are underneath, then we have the full confidence that our life is eternally secure.

The greatest reason for thanksgiving is the assurance that our lives rest in the arms of our Lord. That is a reality Moses sought to impress on the people and it is the reality that must resonate in our heart today. In this world, we face many challenges. We enjoy prosperity in this land and yet so many struggle with despair and hopelessness. Our wealth and riches do not give us the stability and joy we seek but we find it only in the everlasting arms that are underneath. Even if our world is set upside down, you cannot fall further than the arms that are underneath, for they will catch you and raise you back up. We praise you, Oh God, and give you thanks for your everlasting arms. In you we are eternally secure.