Moses saw that look in their eyes. He saw that glimmer of hope on their faces. For when those words dripped like honey from his mouth, the people of God dreamed about what it was going to be like. At first glance, they really do not seem to be very exciting words, but for those who had been toiling in the wilderness, these words were like living water to a parched soul: “When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it ...” (v. 1).

When those words tickled their eardrums, all kinds of thoughts blossomed in their minds: thoughts of a land of their own with crops as far as the eye could see, thoughts of luscious food that would nourish their bodies, and thoughts of living life without fear or famine. The…