In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses gives the people a resume of their parent’s movements since first arriving at the borders of the new land God was giving them. He reminded them of their stubbornness and subsequent consequences. Now he is encouraging them once more to go forward and gives them final instructions before he passes on…..
Deuteronomy One…. God’s Good Land.
Verses 1-25….
Moses’ time left on earth was short and he had much to say to the people. He started off by reminding them how God had led them to the very borders of the land forty years earlier and told them then to go into it and possess it…..
God had given them the land freely, but they now had to move into it and take it for themselves. In the same way, God has given believers all His wonderful and precious promises, but they must be taken and believed and then acted upon before we can enjoy them. Salvation too, is the same… it is there waiting for every human being to accept and believe. We are told in the New Testament how to enjoy God’s promises…by cleansing our selves in confession from all that is wrong in our lives (2 Corinthians 7:1).
God’s promises are called “great and precious” (2 Peter 1:3-4), and how can we enjoy them if we don’t know what they are? We have to read His Word to begin to understand what He is promising to give us! (Hebrews 6:12) How can we give thanks to God for even the physical blessings He gives us, if we don’t acknowledge Him as the Giver?
The first time Israel reached the borders of the new land they could see the blessings and how good it was, but they hesitated to move in and as a result they had another forty years of wilderness living, and in fact not one of them actually did go in. they died in the wilderness…don’t let’s be like them!
God’s promises are there for us to take, Let’s read them for a joyous life to make,
But if perchance we do not see, Like Israel then we’ll wander dolefully.
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Deuteronomy One…. All to Gain.
Verses 26-35….
Israel had sent the ten spies into the land and came back with discouraging reports of the strength of the inhabitants. This made the people afraid and reluctant to go any further….they were completely forgetting that they had God on their side….
So it is with people today …they look at the Christian life (as they perceive it) and they say it is too hard and restrictive, they would have no more fun and they would never be able to do it! So they turn away from it and even discourage others who might have been thinking along these lines.
Just as Israel wandered in the desert for the next forty years missing out on all God’s blessings waiting for them in the new land, and eventually dying without them, so they live their lives without God and eventually die without Him. What a waste!
But God never gives up…what one person turns down, another will take up, and now there was a new generation who were prepared to enter the land with God’s help. Just remember if you are considering these things, that it IS possible to live a joyful Christian and there is no loss in doing so, only immeasurable gain!
Seek to enter God’s good land, Where blessings are on every hand,
To be too fearful to enter in, Will be to stay in the grip of sin.
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Deuteronomy One…. Right Way versus Wrong Way.
Verses 36-46….
So many people feel dissatisfied with their lives and keep trying to turn over new leaves only to keep failing dismally. If we stop to think of how many New Year Resolutions we have made and been unable to keep, we will see the truth of this…
Here we see Israel, after having refused God’s command to go and take the laned, now change their minds and decide to go. Moses told them plainly that God wasn’t with them and that they would fail, but they went just the same and were soundly beaten.
This is like people who refuse God’s offer of salvation through Jesus Christ and decide they can get to heaven some other way….usually by being “good”. They sail through life pleasing themselves and then at the very last they discover to their horror that God is not with them and it is too late to ask Him (usually because of their own pride), and they end up in a lost eternity.
We see the word “presumptuously” in verse 43…this shows the pride of man’s heart and pride is one thing that God can do nothing with. So they missed out then and had to take the consequences, and in the same way people miss out today with disastrous results.
To refuse God’s Word is to cut one’s throat, Going this way is to miss the boat,
God’s Word is clear and plain to see, In Christ alone is joy eternally.
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Deuteronomy Two…. Moving On!
Verses 1-37….
Moses continued with his story of the saga of Israel’s travels and how the people had come to a virtual standstill at Mt. Seir until God stirred them up and told them to get going again….
Sometimes we get to plateaus and our spiritual growth seems to come to a standstill. This is when God nudges us to get going again…maybe in spending more time in His Word or trying a new method of studying it or attending another service that may be more stimulating. It may even be to try some new sort of ministry for Him, even just visiting some shut-in people who can’t get out as they used to and encouraging them in the things of the Lord.
As we go through life, there are often other “lands” we see and pass by….things or activities that are good in themselves but they are not for us to spend time in. Just as Israel was told to pass by the lands of Edom. Moab and Ammon, so we are to pass by other interests as they tend to take our time and thoughts away from the things of God.
As long as Israel obeyed and depended on God, the other nations were afraid of them as they were different….in the same way people of the world should be able to see that we are different…our language is different and our attitudes not the same.
As God commands, so we should do, If we would please and serve Him too,
Moving on in life’s great sphere, Keeping in His ways while here.
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Deuteronomy Three…. God’s Leading.
Verses 1-29….
God intended to destroy the people of both Og King of Bashan, and Sihon king of the Amorites….both these kings refused to let Israel pass by their territory….
In the same way, anything that hinders our walk for the Lord as believers must be deatl with swiftly and done away with. All hindrances can be conquered with God’s help and must not be tolerated; any club or interest that conflicts with Sunday worship time or other Christian gatherings are not for believers. We should make all other activities move around our time for the Lord, not the other way around!
It is the same with any bad habit or addiction that we might have, whether it be smoking or too much TV or computer games etc. No matter how big this “giant” is our lives, God can give us the victory over it. However, we must make the effort to begin with, God will not just drop it down from the sky…He will help us when He sees that we mean business.
Moses ended up by saying that he himself would not be permitted to go into the land, but that Joshua would be the new leader to take them in. Sometimes we can have a vision of some great work for the Lord and we may even put the beginnings in motion, but the Lord does not permit us to carry on. We must remember that this is the Lord’s work, not ours, and others will pick it up take it to fruition.
God watches o’er His people for good, Guiding them into ways they should,
But they must do their part and best, And leave for God to do the rest.
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Deuteronomy Four…. Good Advice.
Verses 1-4….
Moses now gave the people some warnings and good advice which we would do well to take heed to too…..
- LISTEN, GO IN, and POSSESS the land . Too often we are too lazy to listen to God’s Word or to go where we can hear it. We don’t take the time to go into it for ourselves and do an in-depth study on any of it. Consequently we don’t get to possess the truths of it or to have the peace and joy that it can give.
We wonder why we feel discouraged in our Christian life and feel that the church services are boring or dead….this is why, we haven’t taken possession of what God has for us. We haven’t listened to, gone into or possessed His Word.
- You are not to ADD to it, or TAKE AWAY from it….you are to KEEP it! Look around and see what happens to others who don’t follow the Lord as they should. God dealt severely with those who dabbled in idolatry and they died, while those who followed the Lord lived. Christians who are half hearted are not happy in the Lord and their testimony is often nil…people don’t even know they belong to the Lord!
Listen to God’s Word each day, Do its commands along life’s way,
Possess its truths, make them your own, Then in its joy you will have grown.
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Deuteronomy Four…. What is Wisdom?
Verses 5-14….
People place much emphasis on qualifications today (knowledge) but what is wisdom? Until a person acknowledges God and obeys what He says, they haven’t even begun on the road to wisdom! (Proverbs 9:10)
God says that those who ignore Him may think they are wise, but in actual fact they are nothing but fools! (Romans 1:21-22) Here we see Moses telling the people that if they keep God’s Word, they would prosper and be a great and wise nation, so much so that all other nations would recognise this.
This is God’s aim for all His people, but where does it start? Verse 9 tells us it starts with each individual…we have to take heed to ourselves and keep our soul diligently. This is where we can miss out when we don’t even start to do this. We can be too busy seeing other’s faults and criticising their shortcomings.
Not only are we to be concerned with our own soul’s welfare, but we are to teach them to our families, children and grandchildren. Moses reminded the people how they stood at Mt. Sinai and heard God’s voice, and how they received the ten commands.
Wisdom or knowledge, which is it to be? This determines our eternity;
The rule for wisdom that God gives today, Is to heed and obey His Word all the way.
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Deuteronomy Four…. Faith, not Sight.
Verses 15-24….
God has very good reasons for what He does, and He knows the frailties of the human psyche. Moses badly wanted to see God (Exodus 33:18-20) but He said that no man could see him and remain alive . God had two very good reasons for saying this….
The first one was that our physical eyes are not capable of taking the blinding light that surrounds God and people would become blind just as Paul did when the Lord met him on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:8-9) . The other reason is given in our passage here…it was so that people would not be tempted to make a painting or an image that they would pray to rather than to God Himself.
We have an example of this when Israel went into battle and suffered defeat at the hand of their enemies. They then took the Ark of the Lord along with them so that IT could save them….they put their trust in the THING rather than in God Himself, and it didn’t work then . We have to be very careful that we don’t take our eyes off the Lord when praying….so many people seem to think that when things go wrong that the more people they can get to pray for them the quicker it will be resolved….it almost seems that they are putting their faith in the fact of prayer rather than in the God they are praying to!
Let us remember that God hears ONE prayer and cry for help from a hurting and contrite heart, more than a hundred prayers from those who are not directly affected!
Moses went on to remind them once again to never forget God’s covenant and to not be tempted to go into worship of idols or other things. God is a Jealous God, and He is jealous of other things that take our time and affection from Him. He made us for Himself and wants our love and obedience above anything else….He gave His all for us when He sent His son into the world, and why should we not respond equally? (Exodus 20:5; 34:14)
To see or not to see, that is the thing, Which shall to God greatest glory bring?
To walk by faith and not by sight, Is to walk in Heaven’s glorious light!
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Deuteronomy Four…. Privileges of Being God’s People.
Verses 25-49….
Moses knew only too well what the heart of the people was like and he knew that they would not follow the Lord for long once they were in the land. He knew they would be scattered because of their idolatry, but He also knew that if and when they turned back to the Lord in repentance that God would restore them….
He then reminded the people how privileged they were…no other nation had ever heard God’s voice or seen Him at work in delivering them. No other nation had ever been led as a group to move from one country to another as they had. No-one else had seen the fire and light of God’s glory as they did. It was because of God’s great love for them that they had had these experiences.
In the same way each believer can look back over their life and see how God has led them, spoken to them and dealt with them over the years. This too, is only because of God’s great love in sending His Son as the Saviour of the world. It is up to each one of us to follow the Lord to the best of our ability and to teach our families to do the same.
What a privileged people we are, To be loved by God and know His care,
To be guided and by Him daily led, To walk in His light so freely shed.
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Deuteronomy Five…. God’s Plea to Man.
Verses 1-33….
Moses once more reminded the people of how he went up to the top of Mt. Sinai and was given the ten commandments by God. The first four commands were towards God Himself, and the rest were towards each other….
Yet in spite of In fact, our Lord said when He was here, that if the first two were kept properly, then all the rest would fall into place automatically (Matthew 22:36-40). Try to imagine living in a world where everyone practiced loving God with all their hearts and their neighbour as themselves!
God wants each person’s WHOLE heart for Himself….He cannot share a heart which is given to idolatry. Moses reminded the people how they had promised to follow and obey the Lord at that time and how God had heard their promise to do this, knowing full well that they wouldn’t keep it. We see the yearning of God’s heart in verse 29 and this is the still the same today…..”Turn to Me and live” is His plea (Ezekiel 18:23, 32). The simplest thing in the world is to walk in God’s ways, but the human spirit is inerrantly sinful, rebellious and proud, and most people refuse to do this.
“Turn to Me and live” is God’s loving cry,” Why stay in your sin and ultimately die?”
But man’s pride gets right in the way, And he allows Satan to have his sway.
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Deuteronomy Six…. Remember.
Verses 1-25….
We might wonder why Moses is seeming to repeat himself as he once more tells the people that they were to love the Lord with all their heart, soul and mind….
They were to teach their children these things, and indeed incorporate them into the very fibre of their being, thinking of them constantly day and night. There was no way they were to even entertain the idea of following other gods, and they were not to test God’s patience by being disobedient.
Even though the people later did forsake God, they never totally lost the stories of their deliverance from Egypt as we see many hundreds of years later when Stephen recited this history in his last speech (Acts 7:1-47). David too was able to speak of the way God had delivered the people from Egypt as he thought of these things many times day and night ( Psalm 106:7-45).
God knows how much His people need to be told of His goodness to them and we need to remind ourselves constantly as Peter said more than once (2 Peter 1:11-12; 3:1-2). We cannot think too often of the things of God…we need to fill our hearts and minds with them!
To think constantly of God’s Word is a must, To think of all that is good and just,
To remember all God’s goodness and love, In giving His son to come from above.
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Deuteronomy Seven…. Evil Stamped Out.
Verses 1-2….
Moses tells the people categorically that they are to stamp out the seven heathen nations that are in the land. In the same way believers are to completely wipe out the evil tendencies and habits that plague them….
We are given two lists in the New Testament of things that a believer is to put out of his/her life….one of immoral deeds and one of bad attitudes, six enemies in each list (Colossians 3:5-9). Until Israel destroyed these enemies, they could not possess the land, and until a believer puts these ways out of his life and thinking, he can never posses God’s peace and joy, the land that God wants His people to live in while here on earth (Colossians 3:10-17).
There were many blessings that the people would enjoy once they had dealt with these evil and wicked nations, and they would be blessed above all other nations. They were not to be afraid of them or to allow them to overcome them, and God’s people today are to work on these things continually in their lives. It doesn’t happen all at once, but little but little they will disappear as we call on God for help. Actions may be easier to deal with than attitudes, but even these can change as we fill our minds with God’s Word. It’s all up to us!
To deal with evil and stamp it out, Deeds, bad thoughts, we all must rout,
Them from our lives if we’d possess, God’s land for us, peace and righteousness.
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Deuteronomy Eight…. Why Do We have Tests?
Verses 1-20….
We tend to wonder why disappointments and bad things come our way, but we must remember that these things will strengthen us if we take them the right way….ALL things work together for good to those who love God and follow His ways (Romans 8:28)….
These are all tests along the way, not that God needs to know what is in our hearts as He knows everything anyway, but that others may see our faith and stedfastness, and that we may find extra strength from Him for ourselves too. A person who humble trusts the Lord, is one who the Lord can work with. The people of Israel were often tested as they wandered off the track, and in the same way God tests us. He is proving us to see if we will continue to walk in His ways when bad times come.
It is actually in these times that WE prove God’s faithfulness to us and get to know His strength in our lives. We find that we do not live by bread alone (our strength) but by every Word that comes from God (His Word, the Bible). We do not obey God’s laws to GAIN blessings, but we obey them because we love Him and want to please Him, and we are blessed inwardly by doing this. The danger is not in the test itself, it is what we trust in during the test. If we are rich in this world’s things, we tend to trust in them to get us out of trouble
Tis not in the test that danger lies, But in God’s blessings if pride should arise,
So God in His wisdom will prove and chasten, That through these tests our refining will hasten.
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Deuteronomy Nine…. God’s Mercy at Work.
Verses 1-29….
We see here the reason that God was giving the new land to Israel….it wasn’t because they were “good” but it was because of the wickedness of the existing inhabitants of it…their “cup” of wickedness was now full as God had told Abraham years before (Genesis 15:16)….
Moses was making sure that the people knew that they weren’t being given this land because they deserved it, and we too, do not deserve the blessings that God gives to us. It is all only because of His great love and mercy that He bestows these blessings on us. As history shows us, Israel was only able to enjoy this land as long as they followed the Lord, and when the time came that they had sinned in turning to idolatry, God took them away from this good land by allowing an enemy king to capture them until they turned back to Him.
Moses reminded the people how stubborn and rebellious they had been over the years….how quickly they had turned from God to a golden calf at Sinai and of God’s great anger and displeasure with them. Of how he had pled with God for forty days and nights to spare them from total destruction, and also prayed for Aaron’s life (Exodus 32:1-14, 31-36). Then there was the second time of their rebellion at the border of the land when Moses once again prayed for them for forty days Numbers 14:10-20). What an example of intercession he is to us! (James 5:16-18)
God’s great mercy extends to all, to those who stumble and those who fall,
None deserve His blessings great, Tis all HIS love that seals our fate.
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Deuteronomy Ten…. Chosen, Called and Saved.
Verses 1-22….
Moses remembered how he went back up Mt. Sinai to get the ten commandments the second time. Gain, he was there for forty days and nights and when he came down he put the two stone tablets into the ark (box) made of shittim (acacia) wood. It was at this time that the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to serve in the tabernacle….
They were singled out from the rest of the people and would have no actual land inheritance when they settled the new land so they would be free to serve the Lord in this way. In the same way, God calls certain people to minister to Him and they are supported by the others in this work.
Moses once more reminded the people what God expected of them…to follow, love and serve Him with their whole hearts and to keep His commands. God had chosen them to do this….they were to recognise their blessings and cut off all that hindered (symbolised in the rite of circumcision). In the same way God calls on all people today to do good and to humble themselves to walk with Him. Those He has chosen, He has called and saved. What a blessed people we are!
Chosen in Christ, oh what a joy, To realise this and His things enjoy!
To humbly walk in only His way, Will bring great blessings every day.
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Deuteronomy Eleven…. Choice, Not Chance.
Verses 1-32….
Moses re-iterates the Lord’s dealings with them since they left Egypt….he kept reminding them all through these chapters of what great things the Lord had done for them….
How we need to be reminded constantly of what our Lord Jesus has done for us! Our memories are so short and we become complacent so easily. They (and we) were reminded to keep God’s commandments if they wanted to possess the land. A believer cannot know the joy of the Lord if they are not walking in His way.
Israel was then told to think of God’s laws constantly and to teach them to their children. The best way to teach children anything is by example rather than just by telling them. Moses finished up this time by giving the people a choice….to follow the Lord and receive His blessings or to disobey Him and receive a curse.
We too, have choices to make in this matter…to follow the Lord and rejoice in His things or to neglect Him and not be overcomers in the trials of life!
To enter God’s land of blessing and praise, Is to follow His Word and walk in His ways;
A choice we are given, a blessing or curse, It all depends upon us, for better or worse.
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Deuteronomy Twelve…. Obey and be Blessed.
Verses 1-32….
If we read this whole chapter through at once, we will see that several things come through….
- The people were to destroy all the places of heathen worship in the land….nothing was to remain. It was no good just putting them out of sight, they had to be totally destroyed. So the believer is to destroy and take away completely everything that will hinder spiritual growth….even just wearing symbols of the world (Colossians 3:8-10).
- They were to go to a specific place to make their offerings….this speaks of regular gathering together (Hebrews 10:25).
- Fellowship meals were in order….all together for one purpose in unity to the glory of God, not just for their own pleasure (Acts 2:46).
- There were very strict rules concerning not eating blood or blood products, and this still holds for the believer today (Acts 15:20, 29).
- Family life and spiritual life go hand in hand…households were to eat and worship together…it is sad to see the break-down in families today (Ephesians 6:1-4).
- Those doing the Lord’s service were to be provided for, and this still holds good today (1 Corinthians 9:13-14).
The people had the choice….to follow God and be blessed OR to leave Him out and perish, and this still holds good today.
The chapter ends up the same way that it begins….don’t meddle in idol worship or have anything to do with it, even out of curiosity…it is dangerous!
God’s rules were made to benefit all, Naught was done to make man fall,
The choice is ours today as then, To follow God and be His men!
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Deuteronomy Thirteen…. Idolatry not Tolerated.
Verses 1-18….
Moses continues to warn the people against following any-one who tries to get them to follow other gods. We often hear of people who pray about certain matters that are clearly laid down in the Scriptures ….we are not called on to pray about these things, we are called upon to OBEY them!
We might ask why God allows the temptation of idolatry to attack His people, but it is to prove whether we love God enough to obey Him. Our obedience is proof of our love. The only way to be free of these temptations is to put them away….in Moses’ time they were to be put to death. This shows how seriously God views it.
Perhaps these people can perform signs and wonders….this is not enough proof because even Satan can cause signs as well (2 Thessalonians 2:9). Anyone who comes into a gathering of God’s people claiming to be able to do these things must be dealt with immediately as they can do so much damage with those who are not strong in the faith (2 Peter 2:1-3). It is the same in our own life….anything different that crosses our path must be lined up with the Scriptures to see if it is valid and thrown out if it is not (2 Timothy 3:13; 4:3-4).
Moses told the people that any sign of idolatry among Israel when they were in the new land must be dealt with smartly before it spread like cancer.
To follow the Lord with one’s heart and soul, Is to love and obey Him with mind all whole,
For signs and wonders prove not a thing, Unless to Him our all we bring.
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Deuteronomy Eighteen…. Black Magic versus God’s Light.
Verses 1-22….
The intervening chapters deal with various matters such as what to eat and how to treat servants and those less fortunate than themselves. Also about keeping the Passover and giving right judgment concerning disagreements….
In this chapter we come again to warnings against anyone who practices black magic or holds séances or presumes to tell the future . God absolutely detests and abhors these practices and they must never be dabbled in by believers. In fact, many of these people cannot practice their arts in the presence of a believer….this is because the Spirit of God in them is stronger than the spirit that is in them (1 John 4:3-6).
Moses continues his talk and them tells them of the Great Prophet who God would raise up and who would speak the word of God ( John 12:49-50) and only what God would have Him say (and who was indeed the WORD of God Himself…John 1:1-2). Anyone else who predicted something that never came to pass was only a sham and was to be ignored.
Things of darkness are to be ignored, Such things in our lives we can’t afford,
God’s prophets will His Word only speak, With holy lives and manner meek.
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Deuteronomy Twenty-six…. God’s Special People.
Verses 1-19….
The intervening chapters are rules concerning behaviour and daily living … accidental death versus murder, rape versus adultery, those who could never become part of the covenant as well as hygiene and cleanliness….
Human nature hasn’t change one bit and if a careful study is made of the New Testament letters we will see a great amount of them deals with believers’ attitudes and behaviour.
Here we see what the people were to do when they were settled in the new land….they were to bring the first fruits of their crops as a thanksgiving offering to the Lord. In doing this they were to remember where they had come from and be thankful and joyful in their new life. So believers are to give freely and joyfully what they can afford of what God has blessed them with (2 Corinthians 9:6-9).
God on His part, had made Israel to be His own special people and to lift them high above all nations on the condition of them keeping his commands. In the same way, believers are God’s own special people with a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9).
God’s special people, what blessings therein, Saved from death and the curse of sin,
Brought to a land where peace reigns supreme, With joy and praises our life is redeemed.
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Deuteronomy Thirty…. The Choice.
Verses 1-20….
The next few chapters are about the blessings that would come on the people if they obeyed God’s Word, and the curses that would fall on them if they disobeyed…..
As we go through life there are periods when we might trip u[p in our Christian walk, but we never need despair….there is always a way back to God through confession if we will only humble ourselves to do this. We may not receive physical blessings, but the spiritual blessings will certainly be poured out upon us.
Israel is told they will be restored to the land and their hearts and minds will be circumcised by God. This is the sort of circumcision that God looks for in all His people at all times…to cut off all that is unnecessary in our lives and minds and to live for Him.
Moses went on to say that God’s Word for them was not something that was far away, it was in fact close to them, as close as their minds. Today, we are without excuse with Bibles of all sorts surrounding us….the choice is ours. To follow the Lord and rejoice in Him (flourishing), or turn away and live in darkness and bitterness with an uneasy conscience (with a shrivelled spirit).
Follow the Lord and hear His Voice, Read His Word and in it rejoice,
Turn away and in darkness you’ll be, Unable to enjoy His Word so free.
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Deuteronomy Thirty-one…. God’s Presence.
Verses 1-30….
It was time for Moses to wind up his speech and he told the people again that Joshua would be taking over from him….he told them to be strong and of good courage….
They were to remember that God never fails or forsakes His people. This is something for all of us to remember…what God said then, still stands today…”I will never leave you nor forsake you”. There is a saying that goes…”if God feels far away, guess who moved”! It wasn’t God! Moses called Joshua to stand beside him in front of all the people and told him the same thing.
Moses wrote everything down and told the people it was to be read out every time they came together in the year of Jubilee (seventh year). As Moses and Joshua stood together in the front of the Tabernacle, God’s presence came down in the form of the Cloud and hovered over the tent. God told Moses that the people would not always follow Him but they would wander away and He would have to deal with them. Moses wrote a song which he taught to the people so it would remind them of the things of God.
We are no different today, and need constant reminding of the things of God and His goodness to keep us going.
To be reminded of all God’s ways, Is something we need all of our days,
His faithfulness, love and constant care, Is something to know and with others share.
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Deuteronomy Thirty-two…. Moses’ Song.
Verses 1-43….
This is the song of Moses, and it is surprising how much of it comes through into the book of Psalms that David wrote…just look at some of them…. Psalm
Verse 1 Give ear O ye heavens call to the heavens 50:4
Verse 3 Ascribe greatness to God greatness of Your power 66:3
Verse 4 He is the Rock the Lord is my Rock 18:2 Verse 4 He is the God of truth O Lord God of Truth 31:5
Verse 5 a crooked generation stubborn and rebellious 78:8
Verse 6 has He not made you? It is He who made us 100:3
Verse 7 Ask your father our fathers have told us 44:1
Verse 10 Kept him as the apple of eye keep me…as the apple of the eye 17:8
Verse 11 An eagle spreads its wings under His wings we trust 91:4
Verse 13 Honey out of the Rock honey out of the rock, satisfy… 81:16
Verse 15 Rock of my Salvation My God, Rock of my salvation 89:26
Verse 16 They provoked Him to jealousy moved Him to jealousy 78:58
Verse 36 Lord, the Judge of His people the Lord will judge His people 135:14
Verse 41 whet my sword He will whet His sword 7:12
Verse 43 will render vengeance execute vengeance 149:7
Verse 43 be merciful to His people the Lord is merciful 103:8
So Moses’ song was not lost in the mists of time….it is recorded here for us to read and ponder on today.
Moses’ song is here today, For God is merciful all the way,
Our Rock and Honey, He protects and feeds, And spread His wings for all our needs.
*** *** ***
Deuteronomy Thirty-two…. The People Learn Moses’ Song.
Verses 44-52….
Moses and Joshua taught the people this song….we can’t imagine how they did it with no modern loud-speaker aids, but they did and the words stuck….
It was written down at God’s command and this is what has preserved it even until today. Moses told the people once again to observe (learn and do) God’s law and to obey it, because it would be their very life.
We too, have to heed God’s Word if we want eternal life….indeed, Jesus Christ said that His words ARE life, He Himself is the Word of God (John 1:1-2). He always spoke that which pleased His Father God (John 8:29). It is amazing that we still have access to these words…the things that God wants people to know (John 6:63).
But Moses’ time on earth was done…God would allow him to view the new land from the mountain top, but he was not to go into it because he disobeyed God in striking the rock the second time. In doing this he broke the symbol of Christ being struck only once to bring the water of life to humanity (Hebrews 10:10).
Moses’ time on earth was done, He’d fought his fight, his race was done,
He’d seen the land from mountain top, But that was then his last earth’s stop.
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Deuteronomy Thirty-three…. Moses’ Final Words.
Verses 1-29….
This chapter is Moses’ final blessing on the people of Israel. He started with the tribe of Reuben as he was the eldest of the patriarchs and worked his way through them all….
There are certain phrases we will look at that contain great truths.
Verse two…He came with ten thousand of saints…..we have this expression ascribed to Enoch who prophesied that the Lord would come with ten thousands (note the “s”) of His saints to execute judgment (Jude 1:4), and we are also told that those who have died in Christ down the ages will come back with Him at His return….these will be part of the “ten thousands”.
Moses followed with Judah’s and Levi’s blessings; when he came to Benjamin, he pointed out God’s protecting hand over them, and we are reminded that God still protects His people from spiritual evils. The other tribes are mentioned in greater or lesser detail and then we have another special promise in verse 27….The eternal God is your Refuge and underneath are the Everlasting Arms. This promise here is in relation to Israel, but in the New Testament we a much wider promise that those who follow the Lord can never be plucked out of His Hand nor out of His Father’s Hand (John 10:28-29).
God’s arms are there to bear His own, His hands enclose, we’re not alone,
What safety in this promise divine, That girds us through the years of time.
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Deuteronomy Thirty-four…. End of an Era.
Verses 1-12….
Moses had come to an end of his long speech….there was no more to say. Now it was up to the people to listen to Joshua….
Moses went to the top of the nearby mountain and God showed him all the promised land in the distance…..this was the culmination of Moses’ last forty years. He had spent forty years in Egypt learning their ways and being educated in the King’s court, then forty years learning the ways of the desert survival and existence. These last forty years had been spent leading the people of Israel, a complaining, stubborn lot, towards this land.
He had come to know God in a way that no-one else had, being able to speak to Him face to face as it were, and reflecting God’s glory in his face. He had spent much time in supplication for the lives of these people and yet at times they had been ready to stone him.
Now it was time for him to leave this scene….he was 120 years old and was just as fit and upright in stance as anyone else. Moses died before the Lord in the top of the mountain and God buried him. The people mourned for him for a whole month. God had told Moses that He would raise up another Prophet like him and we are told in New Testament that this was fulfilled in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ (chapter 18:15,18; Hebrews 3:1-6)
Moses’ life was not in vain, Through him Israel had much to gain,
Now his time had come to go, To be with Him Who loved him so.
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Deuteronomy Overview Summary.
Hebrews 3:1-19; 4:1-16
We have in these two chapters of Hebrews, a summary and likeness of Israel travelling to the promised land as a parallel to the Christian life….
We see that just as Moses was a faithful servant of God, Jesus Christ was faithful in His mission on earth, doing His Father’s will in perfect obedience and pleasing Him in all things. We know that Moses had a couple of slip-ups in his life thus breaking the symbolism…Jesus Christ was perfect and sinless in all His ways.
We as believers are part of Christ’s eternal house IF we remain steadfast and firm in our belief. If we ever slip away and never come back to the Lord in this life, then we have never been truly His in the first place….He never lets His own go.
Israel drifted in and out of sin….we are not to be like that. Those who flagrantly disobeyed God through unbelief, never reached the land…unbelief is separation from God. We are [partakers of Christ’s blessings while we follow Him…we CANNOT enjoy the things of God while we are in a disobedient state.
God’s plan was as good as completed as soon as it was conceived, long before anything was created. It is beyond our comprehension how God, knowing everything that would happen through Satan’s opposition, and what it would cost Him personally, would even bother to continue with His plan of gathering a people for Himself who of their own free will would come to Him!
God’s seventh day of rest is a picture of the eternal rest of heaven when all the church, His people, is complete and gathered to Himself. The warning is to be on guard, so we can enjoy a foretaste on earth of that eternal rest in Heaven. How do we do this? By saturating ourselves in the Word of God, and realising that it is between ME and God…no-one else can do it for me!!
God’s Word it is that leads us here, We read and from it learn to fear,
Sin’s grip and tests that come our way, Trust instead in Him each day.
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