Archive for the ‘Deuteronomy-BibleTrekToday’ Category

Scripture reading for March 2nd: Deuteronomy 31-34

God knows that His people like music, so He gave Moses a song to conclude his ministry with.  God knew that a song would get into the hearts of the people and help them remember His word.  He knew that a song would be sung over and over and could easily be learned by the younger generation.  Music has always held a place in the word of God and much of Scripture is written in poetic form that could be memorized easily or sung.

This last song began with a proclamation of God’s goodness and grace towards Israel.  God’s word had fallen like rain on their thirsty hearts!  (Deuteronomy 32:1-2)  The teachable people soaked up the word of God and grew like plants in a well watered garden.  This song told of God as Israel’s “Rock”.  He was perfect in all His ways and His justice was widely seen and recognized.  He was faithful, upright and incapable of doing wrong.  (Deuteronomy 32:3-4)  Their Rock had faithfully led them through the wilderness.  He had justly punished those who were unfaithful and  He rewarded those who humbly followed. Their Rock was also their Father and Creator.  (Deuteronomy 32:6)  He had made them and formed them as His own people.  It seems that the understanding of God was an important concept that Moses was to teach the people through this song.  Faith’s foundational teaching concerns God as Father and creator of all things.  (Genesis 1:1) (Hebrews 11:3) (Matthew 6:9)  This is an area of attack in our culture.  Evolution denies God as Creator and Father! God their Rock was also the avenger of His people’s enemies. (Deuteronomy 32:35-36)   Their Rock would put thousands to flight. He would save His people when their strength was gone.  He would avenge the blood of His servants and His land.  (Deuteronomy 32:43)   This was and is comforting news to God’s children!  This thought is repeated in the New Testament as well! (Romans 12:17-19) Israel was a blessed people because of their Blessed Lord who would save them!  (Deuteronomy 33:28-29)  He would be their shield and helper and glorious sword!  This sounds like the armor of God described in Ephesians 6 that talks of Jesus Christ!  We are a blessed people, too!  We can sing songs and hymns and spiritual songs by the Holy Spirit who teaches us about our “Rock” Jesus Christ and our glorious future!

Scripture reading for March 1st: Deuteronomy 27-30

Moses is almost finished preaching to God’s people.  Sometimes people look at the preacher as just someone who likes to talk.  But now with 3500 years of history to test these words, we can see how God spoke through Moses.   This amazing man who was so human and yet loved and followed God had a final altar call and prophetic word.

Moses had set before the people the covenant blessings.  If God’s people would willingly obey God and serve Him, then the blessings would come on them and overtake them.  (Deuteronomy 28:1-2)  They would enjoy being set on high above all nations and see abundance in their flocks and herds as well as in their own offspring.  Their enemies would be defeated and flee from them.  Everything that they set their hand to would be blessed because God lavishes blessing on obedient children.

Moses also set before the people the curses that would come on them if they were stubborn and disobedient.  These curses would overtake them and they could not run fast enough to get away from them.  (Deuteronomy 28: 15)  They would be cursed in their baskets and their crops and flocks.  They would be defeated by their enemies and confused and fearful.   The curses included plagues and severe illnesses.  They would be uprooted from their good land and scattered to the nations.  They would be under siege so severe that they would even eat their own offspring!  (Deuteronomy 28:56-57)  They would be full of fear and end up going back to Egypt, which God warned them never to do. (Deuteronomy 28:68)

Looking back through their history, we find that when they obeyed God and returned to Him, He was always merciful and blessed them.  When the Israelites disobeyed and departed from God, they experienced these consequences.  God’s promises are true, whether you choose blessing or curse!

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord you God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.  For the Lord is your life. . “ (Deuteronomy 31:19-20)  Take time today to reflect on your own life.  Are you making wise choices?  This 3500 year old message has timeless advice for you and your children!

Dear Friends,

Greetings and blessings in the Name of Jesus Christ!  He is our peace and the One who brings us blessings!  He bore the curse of the broken law of God on our behalf and we now are in a place to receive blessing.

As Moses repeated the history of the last 40 years, he continually brought to their memory the need for these younger survivors to carefully listen to and obey God.  Moses defines this obedience as loving God.  (Deuteronomy 11:22)  Love always brings blessing!  When you love someone, you desire their best and do what you can to see that they have the best.  God initiated this love relationship because He alone is love.

Moses set up the case for obedience and loving God as a choice between something good and something evil.  To obey was the choice for blessing and to disobey was a choice for a curse. (Deuteronomy 11:26-28)  If they chose to disobey, that would mean that they followed other gods and were unloving and unfaithful.

Man has an impossible task in perfect obedience in himself because of the sin nature.  (Galatians 3:10-11)  We are prone to disobey and go our own way.  We end up following other gods and under the curse.  The curse is God’s decreed reaping for disobedience.  When we know His law, we are responsible to keep it.  We fail in our own strength because of sin and rebellion.  Who will deliver us from this terrible curse?

Thanks be to God, He has Himself!  Jesus Christ was made a curse for us.  All the curses written against us were nailed to His cross and taken out of the way!  (Galatians 3:13-14)  He redeemed us so that the blessings of Abraham might come on us!  Instead of obedience to the law, we inherit the promise of the Holy Spirit received by faith!  The Holy Spirit is our down-payment of the blessings to come!  (Ephesians 1:13-14)  Blessings that are beyond what eye can see and ear can hear are awaiting those who love God and know Him through Jesus Christ!  What a day of rest we can enjoy today and in eternity!  In His Love, Pastor John

Scripture reading for February 27th: Deuteronomy 21-26

Everyone needs encouragement and God offers that to His children.  In the New Testament, He is known as a God of hope and encouragement!  (Romans 15:5-6)  His word also gives hope and encouragement to His people and as Moses ends this second message, he speaks a wonderful word of encouragement.

“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 has promised.” (Deuteronomy 26:17-19)

This conclusion sums up the covenant promises and conditions that each party verbally agreed to do.  God’s people promised to walk in God’s ways and keep His laws and fully obey Him.  They willingly offered their pledge of faithfulness.  God, Himself, adopted the Israelites as His very own people.   In fact, they were his treasured possession.  God kept them as a man would keep a very special treasure.  He would guard them and watch over them with great care.

God further promised to set His people above the other nations and give them praise and fame and honor.  This praise and fame and honor would come from their “holiness”.  They would be whole because obedience to God’s law brings perfect love and healing into our life.  Those who fully followed and obeyed the Lord would enjoy exaltation by the Lord Himself!

It is interesting to note that God’s people failed to fully keep the law.  Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God who came from this set-apart nation would be able to do this.  Because He did, He was set on high above all and given a name above every name.  (Philippians 2:8-11)  When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we become God’s treasured possession too!  “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” (1st Peter 2:9)

Scripture reading for February 26th: Deuteronomy 17-20

“When you lay siege to a city for a long time, fighting against it to capture it, do not destroy its trees by putting an ax to them, because you can eat their fruit.  Do not cut them down.  Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?  However, you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees and use them to build siege works until the city at war with you falls.”  (Deuteronomy 20:19-20)

This unusual title and Scripture passage probably has you wondering if I have gone “green”!  No, I’m not a “tree hugger”! In this passage of Scripture, God was laying down rules for making war and how the Israelites were to  fight under His direction.  God was going to be with them and fight for them and give them victory over their enemies.  They did not have to do it all themselves!

God wanted His people to have victory and after the battle to enjoy the fruit of living in the land.  A tree takes a long time to grow and produce fruit.  Cutting it down can be done in a very short time.  In war, most pagans destroyed everything in the land and did not hesitate to use even the fruit trees to destroy a city.  God was with His people and they were to be compassionate and think about the future needs of those who would reside there.  God’s compassion and love are evident here!

Fruitful trees are like fruitful people!  The righteous man is likened to a tree planted by streams of water that yields fruit even in a dry year.  (Psalm 1:3)  He meditates on God’s law and draws life-giving water from God’s river of life.  Another Psalm likens the righteous to a palm tree planted in God’s house, bearing fruit in old age.  (Psalm 92:12-15)  Fruit bearing trees are blessed by God!  However, trees that should bear fruit but don’t, are under a curse.  Jesus cursed a fig tree because it had no early fruit and it dried up immediately! (Mark 11:12-14, 20-21)

I am not sure these passages are necessarily related.  God has used trees as examples of both righteousness and wickedness in the Bible.  He cares for creation!  He cares for His people!  Give Him praise today for His care of you and do your part to care for His creation!

Scripture reading for February 25th: Deuteronomy 12-16

Everyone loves to be blessed!  Blessings are good things or special favor that come to a person who puts himself in a position to receive them.  God is generous and He loves to bless His children who are obedient.  In His desire to help them be ready to receive, He laid down instructions for receiving the blessings.  Faith is required because some of the instructions go against our feelings and we struggle to see how blessing can come from giving away what we already have.

In the reading today, God instructs His people to only worship Him at the place He chose for them.  (Deuteronomy 12:4-7)  They were not to use the pagan places of worship used by the Canaanites, nor were they to just worship wherever they chose.  God had a specific place where His presence would dwell in their midst.  It was His presence that brought blessing, not just the act of sacrifice or worship.

The Israelites were to set aside a tenth (tithe) of all their produce and eat some of this in the presence of the Lord.  There in God’s presence, they could rejoice and find rest and acceptance.  They were to bring their tithes and offerings to help care for the Levites, who had no inheritance.  (Deuteronomy 14:22-27)  Their tithes in the third year would also be used to feed the aliens, the fatherless and the widows in their towns so they would not go hungry.  God promises blessing for giving this away to help the Levites and the hurting.

After 7 years, all debts were to be canceled.  God did not want His people becoming poor and slaves to another.  He designed a year to release debts to help those who had had trouble managing their money.  If the Israelites would do this as an act of obedience to God and love for their brothers, God would bless them!

If there was a poor person, God’s people were to be generous.  (Deuteronomy 15:7-11)  They were to give without a grudging heart and God promised blessing.  He who gives to the poor, lends to the Lord and He will repay. (Proverbs 19:17)

To the natural mind, it looks like God’s people were always giving away to God or to those in need.  This was God’s plan for blessing.   God’s presence is near when we obey and He is the ultimate giver!

Scripture reading for February 24th: Deuteronomy 8-11

God’s ways are that of a father.  He cares deeply for the welfare of His children and because He loves them, He disciplines them.  Moses, in his second message, continued to encourage this younger generation to remember, listen, and learn to obey God completely so that they would enjoy and prosper in the new land God was giving them.  In fact, Moses had prophetic insight about a major problem that they would soon face and sought to warn them about a danger he saw lurking in this wonderful new land.

This land was a good land and full of wonderful things that would supply needs of the children of Israel.  There were valleys and hills, vineyards and groves of fig trees, land to grow wheat and barley, and an abundance of pasture for flocks.  There were deposits of precious minerals in the land and the ability to have wealth.  Moses warned them to be careful when they enjoyed this wealth.  They could easily forget God!  (Deuteronomy 8:10-11) When that happened they would surely find trouble.

Prosperity is something we all would like to have and God also wants us to prosper.  (3 John2)  Our thinking often goes something like this: ” if only we had a nice home on some land, then we will be happy and satisfied.”   We scrimp and save to finally get the nice home but find our friend got a nicer home!  We are soon dissatisfied and begin the process all over again, losing sight of the joy of a relationship with God and  with our family because we placed our focus on getting something.

Real prosperity is loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  (Deuteronomy 6:4) It is contentment with what God provides and enjoyment of His presence with us on our journey.  We need to remember that He is the source of everything.  (Deuteronomy 8:17)  God took His children through the wilderness to demonstrate that He would take care of them.  They had manna to eat every day, but were dissatisfied with that supernatural food.  He wanted them to learn that our true food is the word of God coming from His mouth to us.  (Deuteronomy 8:3-4)  Jesus reiterated these words from Deuteronomy when He was tempted of the devil to turn stones into bread in the wilderness.  (Matthew 4:2-4)  Jesus went on to live this out for us and shows us the way to ultimate prosperity!

Scripture reading for February 23th: Deuteronomy 5-7

Moses preached a second message to the children of Israel in the year before he died.  This message began in Deuteronomy 5 and goes through chapter 26.  You might say that Moses was a long-winded preacher, but he had learned much about God through his experience of leading the people and falling face-down before the Lord.  He wanted to impress the basics on these who would go in to possess the promised land so that they would be prosperous and successful in their walk with God.

Moses began his message by calling for Israel to “hear”.  Faith comes by hearing the word of God. (Romans 10:17)  They first needed to “hear” that what happened in the past at Mt. Sinai was not just for their dead ancestors, but for them!  (Deuteronomy 5:1-4)  When we read or hear the word of God, our hearts need to be open to “hear” with the idea that God is speaking to us as well.  We are descendants of  Israel by faith in Jesus Christ! (Romans 11:17-18)

Moses then restated the ten commandments.  The only major change from 40 years earlier was his commentary on the fourth commandment, Sabbath keeping.  Here he emphasized keeping the Sabbath to remember their deliverance from Egypt.  (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)  In the Exodus account, Moses had emphasized creation’s pattern where God worked six days and then rested on the seventh. (Exodus 20:8-11)

After restating the Law, Moses gave them further insight.  “Hear O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is One.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  These commandments today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

The law of God is all about love because God is love.  If we love God, we will obey Him from our heart!  (1st John 4:16)  Jesus Christ repeated this in summarizing the greatest commandment: “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.” (Matthew 22:37-38)

Scripture reading for February 22nd: Deuteronomy 1-4

Deuteronomy has a literal meaning of “second law” because Moses was recounting for them their past experiences with God.  This last book of Moses is a series of sermons that Moses gave in his last year with the Israelites, before he was taken to be with the Lord.  The congregation consisted of all those younger ones who were 20 years old or less when the exodus occurred, except for Joshua and Caleb.

“What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?  And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? (Deuteronomy 4:7-8)

God’s presence for guidance and prayer is so special.  God’s people were blessed to have a living God who cares for them and answers prayer.  Moses reminded these people of God’s provision and how He met their needs when they cried to Him.  He also gave them laws that made them a great nation.  These laws made them “righteous” if they would obey them and contrasted them with the pagan nations of Canaan.

“Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live.  Teach them to your children and to their children after them.  Remember . . .”  (Deuteronomy 4:9-10a)

A key word in Deuteronomy is “remember”! As a pastor, Moses is concerned that this younger generation will let their valuable lessons learned from forty years in the wilderness slip from memory.  He is concerned about the children that have been born and will be born into God’s family.  They must be taught by the parents and these lessons passed down so that the failures are not repeated and the successes are emphasized!   If we don’t learn from history, it will be repeated!

These pastoral concerns are as real today as they were 3500 years ago.  We are a people who must remember the Lord and teach our children.  Discipleship is needed with each generation if faith is to be passed down.  Take time today to remember all that the Lord has taken you through.  Thank Him for His grace and goodness  and remember your children!

Scripture reading for March 2: Deuteronomy 31-34

I have often told the Lord that I would like to leave this world like Moses, strong and vigorous to the last!  I am a person who likes action and wants to be busy doing what God has for me.  When my time comes to leave earth, I want to take one last look, and be gone!   I want to have a successor who will carry on the work.  I want to fight one last battle, give one last prophetic word, bless my church and family, and check out!  That’s how Moses, the man of God ends his time on earth!

In Deuteronomy 31, we have the transfer of power and anointing from Moses to Joshua.  Joshua had been faithful as a helper to Moses.  He was by his side continuously.  He went up on the mountain with Moses, at least part way.  He was in charge of the Tent of Meeting.  He was one of the twelve spies and had a “good report” as a man of faith in God’s Word.  Joshua was picked by the Lord to succeed Moses. (Deuteronomy 31:14)  Joshua was commissioned by the Lord to lead the people and promised God’s presence. (Deuteronomy 31:23)

In Deuteronomy 32, we have a song Moses composed at God’s direction that would be a witness against the people.  God revealed to Moses that the people would rebel and suffer God’s punishment.  This song commends the greatness of God, as the Rock of Israel.  (Deuteronomy 32:3-4) It spells out again the curses that will come from their disobedience to the covenant. (Deuteronomy 32:20-26)  The song promises compassion and healing on those who return to the Lord and those who remain faithful. Deuteronomy 32:36-43)  Music has a way of getting into hearts.  God’s Word sung by the people would stick with them.  We still have it written down for us today!

Deuteronomy 33 records the prophetic blessings on Israel and the tribes by Moses right before he left them.  These blessing tell of God’s love for His people. (Deuteronomy 33:3-5)  He ruled over them with love and wanted their blessing and provision.  The blessings in this chapter are filled with imagery from the recent wanderings.  One again stands out to me today that I regularly claim.  “Most blessed of sons is Asher:  let him bathe his feet in oil.  The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.” (Deuteronomy 33:24-25)  May that be true of you and me!

Moses ends his journey by climbing Mt. Nebo in Moab and getting a bird’s eye view of the promised land.  God took him through a panoramic tour, and then took him home.  God buried him!  (Deuteronomy 34:1-7)  He was strong and vigorous and full of life to the last and he ever lives in God’s presence!  In Scripture, he is last seen here on earth talking to Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration!  (Matthew 17:1-3) What a man of God!  I can’t wait to meet him someday!