Archive for the ‘Deuteronomy’ Category
Day 81 Deut 32-34
Comments (1)- Song to Moses
- Moses Blesses the Tribes
- The Death of Moses
I know it is Sunday and many of you spend time with family and friends. May I encourage you to go outside and read this today. Some Quiet time with God. In His Creation. These chapters are a Praise to the Lord, as well as some tough prophecy. And finally Moses Death. The amount of possible cross refernces is amazing here, From Genesis to Revelations and everything in-between. Look some up if God draws your eye to any of them.
Side Note: Jeshurun means the upright one, that is Israel.
This song was relevant then and it is still as relevant today. Here are my favorite verses:
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,
and all his ways are just.
A faithful God who does no wrong,
upright and just is he.
I know most of you must have had a weird feeling when reading this chapter. It is a song of Disobedience. A song to teach their children as they go forward into the Promise land. God has taught them and warned them, and His foreknowledge knows that as they enter the Promise land and live among others, that they will pick up their pagan rituals.
he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Moses Death. For me, until this read through, I always kind of thought of Moses as the “Burning Bush” “Parting of the Red Sea” guy. Those were just 2 days in his 120 journey with the Lord. Moses arrived in a basket and spent 40 years in the Palace of Pharaoh, 40 years as a refugee in Midiann, and 40 years the leader of Israel. So Moses dies, and the Lord so lovingly buries Him. Returns Him to the ground we were formed from. And to this day no one knows where.
God knows what idol worshipping people we are. He also knows that we would put anything, even a grave, on display for money. But for me the deal is, we cannot have such prrof as bones, or and Ark, or a boat. To hold such thinkgs up to say “See, God does exist!” It iby Faith that we must believe:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. (Hebrew 11:1)
So Joshua is now filled with the Lord’s Spirit of Wisdom. Which I find an ironic ending since when we stated this read through, that was the topic we started with; Wisdom.
The End.
Day 80 Deur 30-31
Chapter 30 This is one of those reads where I have so much I want to write yet none of it needs to be written. Deuteronomy 30 is an amazing Chapter. There is no doubt by the end of the day I will have looked up each cross reference. Each verse could be a blog post. Here were some of my favorites:
30:6 The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.
Think about that. A circumcision is cutting off what is not necessary, unhealthy, and not needed. (Think of a Pedicure, cut off all the dried up ugly useless stuff) When we give our hearts to the Lord He changes our hearts. This is a big reminder to me that when someone becomes a Christian we really need to get to know them all over again. (And like a pedicure, are much more aware and senative to “rough” stuff in life, sin)
Verses 11-19. God knows how we will think so He puts scripture in our Bible to counter our thoughts. He talks about what He commands us, is not up in heaven or not across the sea….it is RIGHT here. God reminds us that He is not sitting up in Heaven looking down just watching us mess up, and then one day will get to Heaven, or the “gate” of it and ask to be let in, too state our case. To show our Trophy bag…right?.
Vs 14 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
Romans 10:8- But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
I truly could have picked ANY verse out of 30 and just dwelled on it for hours. Such amazing key words “and live”, “again”, “turn to the Lord”, “now choose life”, “listen to His voice”…
Chapter 31: I know I have always wrestled with the fact that Moses was never allowed to enter the Land. I see now 2 points that I never considered. (other than the ones we already talked about)
1. The people were following Moses. The Lord, 40 years later, is still a fire by night and a pillar by day. Moses could not lead them into the Promise Land. Joshua received the task because of his faith, but the people were going to need to trust the Lord on this one. At this point who was Joshua, but a servant.
2. Moses got a chance to look the at the Land from the top of the Mountain. As we read here, all that Moses just instructed them will unfortunately not be obeyed and alot is about to happen. I believe God took Moses to Heaven when He did for alot of reasons. An act of discipline, a test of the people, but also to spare Moses of what was to come. I think how often God must change my plans, and I don’t see the big picture.
But both of them can not be overshadowed by the real reason: Lack of Faith and disobedience.
Day 79 Deut 28-29
Many of us know non-believers in our life. One reason many don’t believe in God (trust me, been there) is because they look around in this world or turn on the evening News and say “If there was a God why would all of this be going on? Murder, cancer, floods, famine, terror….”
God did not cause the world to be as it is today, we have. Think about it, are we living Holy? We just read 3 books of the bible that tell us how to live a Holy life. It can be summed up in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as:
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deut 6:4)
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37)
So both sections of Chapter 28 start with the word IF. The first part, Obedience, is a speech from God through Moses, that has 6 blessings for obedience. “If you obey…” peace, prosperity, fruitful land, children, victory in war, and the land promised to them. HOWEVER, the curses for disobedience are the opposite of the blessings: disease, famine, defeat, subservience, exile, and loss of land.
Well, I’m no Sherlock Homes, but I guess we can assume from this foreshadow which way His people go. (If your one of those people that pick up on things slowly, go turn on Fox news and tell me what you think)
The third address starts here Chapter 29. First, we had a reminder of where we had been, then we had the reminder for how to live a Holy life, and now we are hearing from the Lord (notice He is talking in first person) and He is asking us for a commitment. This book speaks to us today in the same way God intended for the Israelites. They, at the time, were His chosen people, scripture reveals that the Gentiles are now also His chosen. So when you read this, know that He is talking to us on this very day asking us for a commitment, or a re-dedication of your life to living according to the Lord.
And if you want to commit your life to Him, but in the back of your head you say “But I don’t understand all this…..” free yourself up. None of us understand all of this. The last verse in this chapter is there on purpose.
The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.
Day 78 Deut 24-27
Chapter 24 starts right out with Divorce. The point of the once you divorce your wife you cannot remarry her is because God takes marriage very seriously! Vows are to the Lord. (Uhh why get married in a church?) So what the Lord is saying here is BEFORE YOU GET DIVORCED think about it very carefully, because once you do it, you can’t take it back.
As you read these examples of sins and their consequence the point is to apply these to today. Fast Forward the consequence of the sin in your head. If you do this…how does this affect the LORD (there is a new thought). And what is the consequence?
Chapter 25:Again, why do we read about this? The authority of Jesus will always be tested around us. We need to know His bible so we can defend Him in our walk. The Sadducee’s did this very thing, and these are the scriptures they used to “test” him. In both Matthew and Luke these scriptures are mentioned. Some of these might bring back memories of Judah and Tamar from Genesis 38 and these rules will later be used when we read Ruth.
Chapter 26: Go back and read in this chapter versus 16-19. Cross off the word “you” and put your name, or me, or mine, or I in the place. What a great way to start the day if you just don’t know what to read sometimes.
The LORD your God commands you this day to follow these decrees and laws; carefully observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.
Chapter 27. So what does this mean today? Can we live a life of Christ by following rules? By living by the commandments? SO many people when asked “how do you get to Heaven” think by being a good person, always trying to do right….etc. “Well, I didn’t murder anyone…” If this is the case, then you might as well say Jesus did not need to die on the cross!!
I know it’s Thursday and YA’LL are tired form the week but take a minute to read Galatians Chapter 3. No doubt will it be a daily bread.
Read Psalm 91
Click here for the Psalm It is actually on the schedule for Sunday but I am bending the rules. (Momma Ro will have trouble going out of order…trust me) But some time between now and the end of the weekend, Read Psalm 91. God is our Protector.
Day 77 Deut 21-23
Well, I am not going to say this was the most exciting read YET. Next year it will be a GREAT read. See, a lot of these rules are explanations are for other actions in the Bible. For example, 21:6 might seem boring, but let’s see the OT/NT correlation
Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for. (Deut 21:6-8)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Pilate and Jesus.
“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
(Is this where the phrase I was my hands of that comes from?)
Again, I want to just reiterate that we read many scriptures where the penalty is to stone them to death. Sin is very serious to the Lord. And when God said to put these consequences in place SO THAT people would be afraid and not stray. We have the same consequences to our sin today. Let’s wake up.
Marriage Violation: Did this story ring a bell for anyone? We use tag lines from it all the time: “Don’t throw stones”. “People shouldn’t throw stones” but if wanted to get the line correct it would be “”If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Click here for Chapter 8 in John for the story.
Chapter 23: Just a small note, I write in my Bible as often as I can because you can bet I won’t remember half the stuff the next time I get here. So like on a verse like this: (7) Do not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. I will make a reference to the Israelites are the line of Jacob, and the Edomites are the line of Esau…so that is why it is written “brother” (Because Jacob and Esau were brothers)
Its funny I didn’t even absorb most of that until Powell texted me last night about the Assembly of the Lord, which is the congregation. I had to read it a few times but what I took from it is that it is Exclusive and Inclusive at the same time. It requires Holiness and Purity, but abhor means not to make abominable to your brother. I think that was interesting to consider.
Anyway, Happy Wednesday, I am getting sad that we are almost done with all 5 books of Law from Moses :(
Day 76 Deut 17-20
- I noticed that God hates idolatry. Strong word. (16:22) Idolatry means anything we worship or put in front of the Lord. Let me help you for a minute grasp this, finish the sentence “I could not live without_______” fill in the blank. Idolatry does not mean we don’t believe in the existence of God, it is just what we worship in life.
(I often laugh when we have a power failure at our reaction to what we “miss”, it is a good test of our children’s (and our) reliability isn’t it.
- 2 or 3 witness makes a fair trial before someone is put to death. Hmmm that’s weird?? I don’t remember witnesses for Jesus Trial. Of course not, he was INNOCENT!
- The King! God knows they are going to demand a king (and we know there are books of the Bible called Kings, so I am just making an educated guess at this one)…And He will give them what they need to show them what they DON”T need. And we will know that none of them are THE King (not Elvis, Jesus…stay focused people) because God says the King will do all 4 of these things. Only one King does that.
Right in the middle of Chapter 18 Moses goes from Occult Practices to Prophets. How we are to detest the one and believe the other. One will be sorcery, one will be miracle. So how do we know he difference?? look at 18:21
You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
When God says it will happen in His name…it will happen!
Chapter 20. When you march up to attack someone…OFFER PEACE! If they refuse then it is a different story. Also, many of you might have left off on that reading with a weird thought. Violence! Why all the violence. The Lord knows us and after reading the Gold Calf we should know how easily persuaded and tempted we are. Sin needs to be cut and and killed in our lives. If there are fruitless things or people in our lives cut them out, just like the Israelites are instructed to.
Day 75 Deut 14-16
So you are reading this and the Clean and Unclean animal part no longer applies to us today and then the next paragraph is about giving 10% of all your stuff to the Lord. So tempting to say, well if the animal thing does not apply then maybe this doesn’t apply to us either.
We are at a HUGE crossroads. Maybe you personally feel like that. Deuteronomy is basically about CHOICE to obey the Lord. You personally can choose to live in Egypt or Exodus in “slavery”, you can stay in Numbers “with all the knowledge” or you can choose to step into Deuteronomy and have Faith, and Trust and Obey. This is it. Pick your book.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and OBEY his commands. So how do we know what applies? Well, what are you reading? So use your index or your cross reference to find our what applies to you and what does not. Choose.
Clean and Unclean: Go to Mark 7
Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, “Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. Nothing outside a man can make him ‘unclean’ by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him ‘unclean.’ (Not Apply, but thank the Lord for the freedom the Cross gives us)
Tithes Go to 2 Cor 8
And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. (Apply)
Canceling Debts Go to 1 John 3:17
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. (Apply)
Freeing Servants go to Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Apply)
Blood
This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (So Apply!)
Feasts. When you read them did you finally feel like you knew the 5 W’s on them? 3 Times a year the Israelites were required to appear before the Lord.
- Passover wand the Feast of Unleavened bread. The was a remembrance of their deliverance in the Exodus. Lasted 7 days. (Exodus 12)
- Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) “Harvest” or “First Fruits”. Was celebrated 50 days after Passover. Lasted 1 day.
- Feast of Tabernacle (today Rosh Hashanah. If you ever read in the Bible it is the first day of the 7th month, this is the Feast. It is their New Year (month 7)
16:17 Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you (Apply)
Day 74 Deut 11-13
Love and Obey the Lord. Moses keeps repeating it and repeating it…it needs to be! It is the greatest commandment. I think if Jesus wants us to get one thing…it is this. Above all other commandments, this is what God wants from us. Chapter 11 reads with contingency. For example, If you…then you. The outcome is determined by the actions and choices.
Verse 26 says See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse- the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
If you are too curios to know more about this, skip Chapters 27 and 28.
Chapter 12: Two scriptures popped out at me. In verse 10 Moses talks about our Inheritance, in Hebrew it is nachal:to get as a possession, acquire, inherit, possess . When you get an inheritance it is a gift, free, undeserved, extra, you posses it, it is yours.
For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:3,4)
Did it shock you in Chapter 13 how strong God is about false religion, idols, even just telling people about different beliefs? I have been mulling over this a little. Should we be that serious about it today? Here is the deal: God is going to send his one and only son to have all the same feelings as you and I. HE is going to be ridiculed, spit on, beat with whips that have barbs on them so that when they pull the whip across his skin it actually tear the skin. They will make him carry his own cross up hill while thorns are gauging into his head and face. And when he gets there he is going to allow them to drive huge wooden nails through the center of his hands and feet. All this probably naked in front of his mother. The weight will cause His ligaments to tear and in order to catch his breath he will have to push off on the nails in his feet for each breath. This will take hours. He will do all this so that YOU personally can choose to accept this and have an eternity in Heaven instead of an eternity of probably what he just went through.
So to sit here and think that anything else should be debated, considered, heard, or researched must break the heart of the one that did it all. Nothing but God should be worshiped, otherwise Jesus never needed to suffer. So yes, it should be taken that seriously.
Day 73 Deut 8-10
Why did God have the people in the desert for 40 years? Why does God put us today in wandering in our own life?
Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. (Deut 8:2-4) ( I beg you to read that twice)
Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mt 4:4)
How do we get out of our wandering? How do we get to the promise land in our life? By being in the Bible, the words from God’s mouth and then obeying his commands that we learn. We are always in a test, we are to be humbled to change our hearts. In Deuteronomy, they are hearing God through Moses. We right now are hearing God through the Bible. Moses was a vessel for God to use. Our Bible is that vessel. These words are very much for us.
”It is NOT because of your righteousness: was said 3 times in first paragraph! He wants us to get that. Then to remind us that we don’t deserve the promise land, we can’t earn it, we cannot do anything WITHOUT the Lord to get there…he retells the story of the Golden Calf. We ALL have a golden Calf in our lives! But this time you may have picked up on how long Moses Prayed! Lord my prayer life is weak compared! AFTER fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, he then has to trek down the mountain because the people are acting unholy and THEN chooses to pray for them for another 40 days and 40 nights while fasting. IF you did not read this story in Exodus…it is a MUST READ! Exodus 32.
What does the Lord ask of us??Listen, I LOVE Lifeway books but….right here in 10 verses sums up most of those books. What does the Lord ask of us?? If you ever wake up and ask yourself that or what am I here for? What is my purpose? Keep this bookmarked in your Bible: Chapter 10:12-22
