June 8, 2010 (Deuteronomy 30-34, Psalm 91)

Today and every day, we all have a choice. Moses was reminding the people of this in Chapter 30:

¹⁹ “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! ²⁰You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Moses was talking to the people who had seen the miracles of God - the parting of the Red Sea, the provision of manna, etc. etc. He realized how important it was for them to tell these stories to their children:

¹² Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. ¹³ Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”

And then these verses from chapter 33. I've personalized one of them.

²⁶ “There is no one like the God of Israel.
He rides across the heavens to help you,
across the skies in majestic splendor.
²⁷ The eternal God is your refuge,
and his everlasting arms are under you.

²⁹ How blessed you are, Sandy!
Who else is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
He is your protecting shield
and your triumphant sword!

June 7, 2010 (Deuteronomy 21-29)

Moses once again reiterated the laws of God to the people. And once again he told them of the promised blessings from obedience and the curses from disobedience. As I read these chapters today it made me think again of my devotion to Him - and how easy it is to 'live according to the ways of the world' instead of as a person totally devoted to Him and His ways. I once again asked for His forgiveness and to make a person of utmost devotion to Him. Here are some very 'scary' verses:

^28:58 “If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, ⁵⁹ then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. ⁶⁰ He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. ⁶¹ The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. ⁶² Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.

⁶³ “Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy.

^29:19 “Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! ²⁰ The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven.

We are accountable for what we have been shown:

²⁹ “The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.

June 6, 2010 (Deuteronomy 14-20)

I found the following verse interesting:

^14:23 ...The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to fear the Lord your God.

^15:10 Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

This following section was given in regards to the king. Words of wisdom for us as well:

^17:19 He must always keep that copy (the laws of God) 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.

And then words of encouragement for us as we go "out to battle" every day:

^20:3 ...! Do not be afraid as you go out to fight your enemies today! Do not lose heart or panic or tremble before them. ⁴ For the Lord your God is going with you! He will fight for you against your enemies, and he will give you victory!’

June 5, 2010 (Deuteronomy 8-13)

When we are being "led through the wilderness" we can never forget verse 2. I was just going to include that, but there is so much good in this whole section, I had to include it all. I've cut a few verses here and there to shorten it:

^8:2 Remember how the Lord your God led you through the wilderness for these forty years, humbling you and testing you to prove your character, and to find out whether or not you would obey his commands. ³ Yes, he humbled you by letting you go hungry and then feeding you with manna, a food previously unknown to you and your ancestors. He did it to teach you that people do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. ⁴ For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell. ⁵ Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.

⁶ “So obey the commands of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and fearing him. ⁷ For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land..... ¹⁰ When you have eaten your fill, be sure to praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

¹¹ “But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today. ¹² For when you have become full and prosperous .... be careful! ¹⁴ Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. ¹⁵ Do not forget that he led you ..... He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. ¹⁷ He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ ¹⁸ Remember the Lord your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.

¹⁹ “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, worshiping and bowing down to them, you will certainly be destroyed. ²⁰ Just as the Lord has destroyed other nations in your path, you also will be destroyed if you refuse to obey the Lord your God.

^10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. ¹³ And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.

¹⁴ “Look, the highest heavens and the earth and everything in it all belong to the Lord your God. ¹⁵ Yet the Lord chose your ancestors as the objects of his love. And he chose you, their descendants, above all other nations, as is evident today. ¹⁶ Therefore, change your hearts and stop being stubborn.

And then further exhortations in Chapter 11:

¹³ “If you carefully obey all the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve him with all your heart and soul, ¹⁴ then he will send the rains in their proper seasons.....

¹⁶ “But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain....

¹⁸ “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine.

²² “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.

²⁶ “Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! ²⁷ You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lordyour God that I am giving you today. ²⁸ But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

June 4, 2010 (Deuteronomy 1-7)

In these beginning chapters, Moses recounts the 'history' of the people's exodus from Egypt. The book opens with this second verse of the first chapter giving us a very clear picture of what sin does to us.

² Normally it takes only eleven days to travel from Mount Sinai^{b]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">} to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir. ³ But forty years after the Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month,^{c]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">} Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything the Lord had commanded him to say.

And even though they rebelled those forty years, God was with them every step of the way:

^2:7 For the Lord your God has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.”’

And then I realized I am responsible for my own actions, regardless of anyone else's sin and how they 'provoke' me:

^3:21 “At that time I gave Joshua this charge: ‘You have seen for yourself everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings. He will do the same to all the kingdoms on the west side of the Jordan. ²² Do not be afraid of the nations there, for the Lord your God will fight for you.’

²³ “At that time I pleaded with the Lord and said, ²⁴ ‘O Sovereign Lord, you have only begun to show your greatness and the strength of your hand to me, your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you do? ²⁵Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’

²⁶ “But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and he would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ he declared. ‘Speak of it no more.

And then Moses reminds them of all the wonderful promises of God if only they will obey:

Deuteronomy 4

Moses Urges Israel to Obey

“And now, Israel, listen carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to teach you. Obey them so that you may live, so you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. ² Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.

³ “You saw for yourself what the Lord did to you at Baal-peor. There the Lord your God destroyed everyone who had worshiped Baal, the god of Peor. ⁴ But all of you who were faithful to the Lord your God are still alive today—every one of you.

⁵ “Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. ⁶ Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ ⁷For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? ⁸ And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?

⁹ “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren. ¹⁰ Never forget the day when you stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai,^{m]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">} where he told me, ‘Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct them. Then they will learn to fear me as long as they live, and they will teach their children to fear me also.’

²⁸ There, in a foreign land, you will worship idols made from wood and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. ²⁹ But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.

³⁰ “In the distant future, when you are suffering all these things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen to what he tells you.

³⁵ “He showed you these things so you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other.

³⁹ “So remember this and keep it firmly in mind: The Lord is God both in heaven and on earth, and there is no other. ⁴⁰ If you obey all the decrees and commands I am giving you today, all will be well with you and your children. I am giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”

June 2, 2010 (Numbers 33-36)

I found this verse interesting - perhaps this is where 'journaling' came from:

^33:2 At the Lord’s direction, Moses kept a written record of their progress. These are the stages of their march, identified by the different places where they stopped along the way.

I think it's good to make a "written record of our progress". Of seeing God's faithfulness demonstrated to us, so that in those dark times we have something to refer back to.

Again we see that forming alliances with the people of the land will do nothing but cause trouble:

^33:55 But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. ⁵⁶ And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”

And then, the need for capital punishment:

^35:30 “All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. ³¹ Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death. ³² And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest. ³³ This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder. ³⁴ You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”

June 1, 2010 (Numbers 25-32)

How in the world did I do this again? It can't be the 4th already! Aughhh! Oh well, now to try to go back and remember what I read from the highlighting I did. Catching up will be short and sweet.

The first thing that caught my eye was the story in Numbers 25 that tells about God starting to destroy the Israelites because some of the men starting sleeping around with the Moabite women and then worshipping their gods. One Israelite was bold enough to bring one of those women right into camp and into his tent. When Phinehas saw him do this he took his spear, rushed into the tent and ran his spear through both the man and the woman, killing them both. Here is how God responded:

¹⁰ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by displaying passionate zeal among them on my behalf. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. ¹² Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. ¹³ In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.”

Displaying passionate zeal for God - that is what I would like to do.

Here are a couple more highlighted verses:

¹¹ ‘Of all those I rescued from Egypt, no one who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they have not obeyed me wholeheartedly. ¹² The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.’