December 13, 2009 (Deuteronomy 14-17)

Moses continues to give the people the laws from God. These caught my eye:

^{Deuteronomy 17:16} “The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, ‘You must never return to Egypt.’ ¹⁷The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself."


I'm curious about the first one. I'll try to remember that one as I continue reading. I'll bet you that I discover that a king does exactly that. That the horses in Egypt were better, etc., and that he sends people there to get some for him. I know the second command was broken. Solomon took many wives, and they did exactly that...turned his heart away from the Lord. Those darn women. And I would imagine the third one was broken as well, perhaps even by David. I'll watch for that as well.

And now, for the one that was probably broken that caused all the others to be broken:

^{Deuteronomy 17:18} “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. ¹⁹ He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. ²⁰ This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel.

Another exhortation and reminder to daily be reading God's word. I don't think there's any way to live in obedience to Him without it. Even with daily reading, we are so quickly led astray. We need to continue to renew our minds and allow Him to change the way we think.