Bible Calendar
  • Home
  • Calendar 2021
  • Start today!
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Español
  • Contact us

Deuteronomy 32:48 - 34:12

3/8/2012

0 Comments

 
         Today we read Moses’blessing to Israel before his death.  It follows Jacob’s
example in Genesis 49 and even repeats some of the blessings, especially in the blessing to Joseph. But it does not include the reproofs (unless Simeon’s absence here constitutes a reproof).  Moses’ blessings concentrate on prosperity in the land and most of all, victory in war.
         Reuben’s blessing (Deuteronomy 33:6) is very short considering he was the firstborn, but we remember why he lost the firstborn’s inheritance (Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4; Leviticus 18:8; Deuteronomy 27:20; 1 Chronicles 5:1).  His blessing is that he survive and multiply.
         Judah’s blessing (Deuteronomy 33:7) recognizes his place on Israel’s front lines as they march into battle (Numbers 2:1-4, 9), the place of greatest exposure to danger and death.  Therefore, “Hear, O LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him in to his people” (Deuteronomy 33:7); that is, may he return to his people alive after battle (Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, New International Commentary on the Old Testament, Eerdmans, 1976: pg. 394-95).  “With your hands contend for him, and be a help against his adversaries” (Deuteronomy 33:7).
         One of the longest blessings is reserved for Levi in recognition of his priestly responsibilities for the people.  The disowning of his parents and brothers refers to their zeal for Yahweh’s holiness in the incident of the golden calf (Exodus 32:25-29).  Above all, Moses requests Yahweh’s blessing as they discern His direction for the people (Deuteronomy 33:8), as they teach the law and as they present the offerings for all Yahweh’s people (Deuteronomy 33:10).
         Benjamin’s blessing concentrates on rest in Yahweh’s love (Deuteronomy 33:12).
         Joseph’s blessing echoes the one he receives in Genesis 49:22-26 and even the blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob in Genesis 27:28.  It recognizes the precedence of Ephraim over his older brother, Manasseh (Genesis 48:12-20; Deuteronomy 33:17).
         Zebulon’s and Issachar’s blessings focus on the enjoyment of peace in the land (Deuteronomy 33:18-19).
         Gad’s blessing recognizes his request of the good land to the east of the Jordan River, not in the Promised Land, and his commitment to fight valiantly so his brothers can receive their inheritance in the conquest of Canaan (Deuteronomy 33:20-21).
         Dan’s blessing refers to war; Naphtali’s, to peace (Deuteronomy 33:22-23).
         Asher’s blessing emphasizes peace and security (Deuteronomy 33:24-25).
         Then the blessings end as they began, with praise to Yahweh (Deuteronomy 33:2-5, 26-29).  He is presented as Israel’s king (King in Jeshurun); therefore, the Israelites are the troops who fight His battles, His beloved princes who enjoy the blessings of His peace.  As we consider all of these blessings together, we have a portrait of Israel governed by their King, living in concert with His just dominion,
imposing His righteous and just order on creation and benefitting from His peace.  And this observation ties Deuteronomy with the entire purpose of the Bible shown since Genesis 1.
         We can’t close the book of Deuteronomy or the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) without noting the influence and death of Moses. We have read the Bible for almost ten weeks up to this point; for seven and a half of those weeks, we have read of the events and laws during the life of Moses.  We have read more about the leadership of Moses than of the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob together.  But the Bible itself gives the best summary: “And there has not arisen a
prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).
         Probably for this reason we do not know the exact place of his burial (Deuteronomy 34:6), so it would not become a center of illicit worship in competition with the tabernacle.  Even the life of a great man cannot compare with the God who by grace gave it to him, the God who is the subject of all our Bible readings from the first day through today and on through the rest of the year.  All of Moses’ honor and fame is simply a weak reflection of Yahweh’s eternal glory.
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 31:14 - 32:47

3/7/2012

0 Comments

 
         The possibility of repentance that we read about yesterday is going to be very important to assimilate today’s reading.
         To begin, in only three verses, Yahweh tells Moses that all of his teaching in the book of Deuteronomy will not have its desired impact on Israel: “This people will rise and @#!*% after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them” (Deuteronomy 31:16).  But Moses’ efforts to preach to them will not be in vain; his words will serve as a testimony against Israel: “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel.  Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:19, 21).
         The Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 contrasts Yahweh’s mercy with Israel’s rebellion: “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of
faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.  They have dealt corruptly with him; they are no longer his children because they are blemished; they are a crooked and twisted generation” (Deuteronomy 32:4-5). It makes Israel’s sin stand out by contrasting it with the grace through which Yahweh has given them His innumerable and exclusive benefits: “Do you thus repay the LORD, you foolish and senseless people?  Is he not your father, who created you, who made you and established you?” (Deuteronomy 32:6)
         Israel’s sin blooms during the material prosperity that distracts their spiritual focus on Yahweh: “But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked; you grew fat, stout, and sleek; then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the Rock of his salvation.  They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger” (Deuteronomy 32:15-16).  Therefore, Yahweh will punish them in measure with their sins: “They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols.  So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation” (Deuteronomy 32:21).  He also will take away the prosperity that blinded them (Deuteronomy 32:22).
         Even so, He will hold back His punishment because of the pride of the nations that will attack His people: “I would have said, ‘I will cut them to pieces; I will wipe them from human memory,’ had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should misunderstand, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is triumphant, it is not the LORD who did all this’” (Deuteronomy 32:27).  Therefore He will punish His people, but not to the limit that they deserve: “For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free” (Deuteronomy 32:36).  Through this whole process, Yahweh will demonstrate that He is exalted and unique, that He is righteous and will execute vengeance on His enemies, whether they are among Israel or among the pagan nations that reside nearby (Deuteronomy 32:39-43).
         As the Israelites must repeat this song to recall and assimilate its lessons, so we must pay it special attention, too.  First, the themes described in this song will repeat themselves throughout the Bible, often in the historical books of the Old Testament but above all in the prophets.  We will read repeatedly of Israel’s sin for following false gods in their prosperity, of the just retribution that Yahweh exacts from them for their sin, their loss of prosperity, land and life to the invasion of foreign troops, and the end of their punishment when the foreigners exalt themselves in pride.  And this entire process will underline that Yahweh is exalted and One-of-a-kind, that He is righteous; He is the All-powerful One and the only One who saves.
         Second, together with this message of Yahweh’s just judgment, we want to remember yesterday’s lesson on repentance.  Today we read that
Yahweh’s judgment is coming quickly: “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the
time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and
their doom comes swiftly” (Deuteronomy 32:35).  Yesterday we read that even in the most severe punishment there is opportunity to repent: “And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in
all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you” (Deuteronomy 30:1-3).  We will see this dynamic throughout the historical books and the prophets: coming judgment is announced to awaken repentance in a remnant of Yahweh’s people.  Yahweh’s judgment is coming quickly, and this news urges some to take the narrow road of repentance before it closes completely.  As the prophet Zephaniah says, “Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the LORD” (Zephaniah 2:3).
         Therefore, how should we react to the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32 today?  Just as the Israelites should have reacted in the generations in which they sang this song: by immediate repentance, before the arrival of the certain and deserved judgment that it announces.
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 29 - 31:13 and Psalm 90

3/5/2012

0 Comments

 
         The curses about which we read yesterday do not have to be Yahweh’s final word to His people.  There is one more option, possible even in the desperation that we read about yesterday: that option is repentance.
         Repentance is the abandonment of the path of sin for the path of obedience to Yahweh.  It is not guided by an emotion (although it can awaken very strong
emotions); it is guided by something much more concrete and secure: it is guided
by Yahweh’s word: “And return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and
obey his voice in all that I command you today” (Deuteronomy 30:2).  Yahweh’s word impacts the listener in such a way that he directs himself toward Yahweh from his innermost being: “With all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 30:2).  Yahweh works so that his heart has a new sensibility that it did not have before: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6).  Since this happens within, it is not limited by distance or by inaccessibility to the tabernacle: “If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you” (Deuteronomy 30:4).  And because Yahweh is great in mercy and lovingkindness, He removes the curse and blesses once again: “Then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you…  And the LORD your God will put all these curses on your foes and enemies who persecuted you” (Deuteronomy 30:3, 7).
         Repentance is not just an event; it is a lifestyle, a life transformed toward continuous obedience: “And you shall again obey the voice of the LORD and keep all his commandments that I command you today” (Deuteronomy 30:8).  And although it may be very painful, repentance directs us to the genuine blessing and joy of a restored relationship with Yahweh: “The LORD your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground.  For the LORD will again take delight in
prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers” (Deuteronomy 30:9).
         No other reaction to our sin is acceptable before God other than repentance.  And nowhere else is there grace like that of Yahweh who receives the repentant sinner and delights in him again for blessing.
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 27 - 28 and Psalm 1

3/5/2012

0 Comments

 
         Deuteronomy 27 gives the instructions for a renovation of the covenant in Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.  Remember that the covenant was received on Mount Sinai in the desert: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules.  And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do’” (Exodus 24:3). The rest of Exodus
24 tells us of the covenant ceremony.
         Forty years later in Deuteronomy 11:26-32, Yahweh commanded the Israelites to reconfirm the covenant on two nearby mountains, Mount Ebal (rocky, with little vegetation, representing the curse) and Mount Gerizim (with much more vegetation, representing blessing).  The two have a natural amphitheater on their slopes where the Israelites could hear each other shouting across the distance.  This place had not only geographical advantages for the ceremony but a historical one also.  Between the two mountains lies the town of Shechem and the oak of Moreh
where for the first time: “The LORD appeared to Abram and said, ‘To your offspring I will give this land.’  So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him” (Genesis 12:7).
         That is, the renovation of the covenant in this place demonstrates Yahweh’s faithfulness.  He promised the blessing of the land to Abraham and now, many generations later, He will lead his numerous descendants to the same geographic point where He made the promise so that they can receive it.
         Deuteronomy 27 describes this future ceremony in more detail (it will be fulfilled in Joshua 8:30-35) and now He emphasizes another aspect of the covenant: the obedience of the Israelites in thankfulness for having this privileged relationship.  While they stand on the mountains of blessings and curses, while they
proclaim the curses for disobedience in a loud voice, the Israelites should feel the strong tie between Yahweh’s faithfulness to His past promises, their obligation to obey Him and the future blessings or curses that await them according to their obedience.
         And this leads us to Deuteronomy 28, a chapter that personally I find to be one of the most difficult in the entire Bible.  It is not difficult to understand its meaning – basically it is a list of blessings and curses – but it is difficult to contemplate the horror of the punishment for disobedience.  I cannot read it without trembling inside.  It is not just that disobeying Yahweh makes someone miss or lose some blessings; the punishment for disobedience undoes all blessings and transforms them into horrible curses.  Instability, shame, powerlessness and abject fear assail the disobedient until they return to the point from which they began: “And the LORD will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again; and there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer” (Deuteronomy 28:68).
         We are inclined to give excuses quickly for our disobedience… but
as we read how Yahweh views our disobedience in His holy righteousness in
Deuteronomy 28, it would be better to learn how to repent of it quickly, crying
out for His mercy and forgiveness.
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 23 - 26

3/3/2012

0 Comments

 
         As he underlines the obligation of the Israelites to obey the law, Moses reminds them of the unique relationship that they have with Yahweh through the covenant: “And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised” (Deuteronomy 26:18-19).
         These verses bring to mind other declarations of the unique relationship between Yahweh and His people: “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless…  I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:1, 7).  “Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel” (Exodus 19:5-6).
         Notice that this privileged relationship of the covenant demands a worthy response, a wholehearted obedience to the Law.  Obedience is not something that tries to gain privilege from Yahweh; it is a recognition that a unique and privileged relationship already exists.
         Notice too, that the repetition of this theme in the covenant with Abraham in Genesis 17, in the introduction of the Mosaic Covenant in Exodus 19 and now in closing the Law in Deuteronomy 26, all underline Yahweh’s faithfulness.  Despite Pharaoh’s oppression of Israel, despite the centuries that have passed between Abraham and Moses, even despite the rebellions of His people, Yahweh is faithful to His promises: “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:9).
         And as we have seen previously, if we genuinely recognize the glory of Yahweh’s attributes, we will praise Him.  May we praise Him today with our lips and most of all, through obeying His word.
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 20 - 22

3/2/2012

0 Comments

 
         Among the laws in today’s reading we find: “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.  You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:22-23).
         Who would have imagined that this is not only a law but messianic verses as well?  Because the apostle Paul tells us, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of
the law by becoming a curse for us – for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who
is hanged on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13).
         And how glorious is this news!  Paul tells us in the next verse,“So that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:14).  When Jesus Christ suffered the curse of the law on the cross for us, He redeemed us, united us Gentiles to the blessing of Abraham and gave us the Spirit by faith. Who would have imagined that a curse could be transformed into so much blessing?
         Secondly, this is great news for many Christians who are worried about the curses of the law.  They are alarmed when they read verses like, “I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third
and fourth generation of those who hate me” (Exodus 20:5).  If our fathers or grandfathers were idolaters, that means we are under a curse.  And that is exactly right… unless we have trusted in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
our sins; in this case, Jesus Christ has redeemed us from the generational curse of the law as well.
         That’s great news!  We don’t have to pray special prayers, do a thorough personal inventory of all the possible curses we may be under due to the sins of previous generations, nor engage in strange spiritual therapies to break them: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law when He died on the cross for our
sins.  We are saved from the curse of the law by faith alone in Him.
         Who would have thought that the Old Testament laws on the burial of an executed criminal could contain such great news?
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 18 - 19 and Psalm 64

3/2/2012

0 Comments

 
         Among the laws of Deuteronomy 18 – 19, notice the characteristics of a prophet.  The Israelites should not pay attention to the pagan Canaanites that will present them with their supposed spiritual credentials (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).  Instead, Yahweh promises, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15).
         The main purpose of the prophet will be the communication of Yahweh’s word: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers.  And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him” (Deuteronomy 18:18).  The acknowledgement of and obedience to the word of this prophet will be the same as obeying the word of Yahweh Himself: “And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him” (Deuteronomy 18:19).
         Yesterday we saw that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the characteristics of the king of Israel; today we will see that He also fulfills the characteristics of the prophet.   He said, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16).  Later He specifies, “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment – what to say and what to speak.  And I know that his commandment is eternal life.  What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50).  He fulfills the communication of the Father’s word perfectly, and therefore, there are severe consequences if His listeners do not receive them: “If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:47-48).
         And these words of Jesus Christ were vindicated in His resurrection; His resurrection from among the dead demonstrated that His words were truly from the Father.  The apostle Peter points out, “Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers.  You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.  And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people’” (Acts 3:22-23).  And this prophet is Jesus Christ: “God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness” (Acts 3:26).
         Have you accepted the words of Jesus Christ as being the very words of God?  Have you accepted the testimony of the Prophet of whom Moses prophesied?
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 15 - 17

3/1/2012

0 Comments

 
         Among the laws that we read today, notice the laws about the king.  Up to this point the Israelites do not have a king (and they will not have one for a long time yet), but Yahweh already sets the stage for his appearance.
         He will not be like the kings of the surrounding nations.  First of all, he must be chosen by Yahweh (Deuteronomy 17:15).  His authority comes from Yahweh Himself, in a certain sense like the authority of Adam and Eve was given by the One who has all dominion and power (Genesis 1:28).  Second, he must be an Israelite (Deuteronomy 17:15).  The covenant blessings would go out from Abraham to the nations (Genesis 12:3), so it would not make sense for Israel to be governed by someone from among the gentiles.
         Third, he must observe certain special laws: “That his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or the left” (Deuteronomy 17:20).  Just like the prophets, the kings must be characterized by humility and obedience to Yahweh.  “He must not acquire many horses for himself” (Deuteronomy 17:16), so that he does not trust in his military power without Yahweh, nor should he grow proud as he marches around with large parades of soldiers and cavalry to impress the people with his might.  He should not make his people return to Egypt in order to get more horses (Deuteronomy 17:16); Israel will not submit to a nation that is stronger militarily or economically in order to support its own wealth and power.  “And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” (Deuteronomy 17:17), for the reasons that he would not neglect government in the pursuit of carnal pleasures and so he would not turn to idolatry, a temptation that would come with foreign wives as we saw in the example of Baal-peor in Numbers 25.
         “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests” (Deuteronomy 17:18); this shows the submission of the king to the priests in matters concerning the word of Yahweh.  And above all: “It shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God” (Deuteronomy 17:19).  Once again, obedience will bring future blessings: “So that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:20).
         It is impressive to see that our Lord Jesus Christ also was chosen to reign: “‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’  I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.  Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession’” (Psalm 2:6-8).  “He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him’” (Matthew 17:5).  “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations’” (Matthew 28:18-19).
         Our Lord Jesus Christ never tried to impress through parades of soldiers and cavalry although He said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53)  Instead, He entered Jerusalem in fulfillment of the prophecies of Isaiah 62:11 and Zechariah 9:9: “Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’” (Matthew 21:5).  And this King not only read the law and quoted the book of Deuteronomy more than any other Old Testament book: He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17).
         Therefore, we see Deuteronomy 17:14-20 not only as instructions for Israel’s kings but a prophecy to prepare the nation for the glory of Jesus Christ: it prophecies to us so that we can join with all creation and say, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13)
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 12 - 14 and Psalm 135

2/29/2012

0 Comments

 
         In this section of Deuteronomy, extending from chapter 12 through chapter 26, Moses presents laws to govern all aspects of daily life in the Promised Land.  He hasn’t completely left behind the narrative of Israelite history that dominated the first 11 chapters; he occasionally will make a historical reference to encourage obedience.  But now a more thorough explanation of the Ten Commandments will predominate.
         At first glance, chapters 12 – 26 appear chaotic, but if we examine them closely, we will see general connections with all of the Ten Commandments in order.  Even though it is not a perfect fit, we can divide the chapters this way (adapted from Victor Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, Baker Academic, 2005, pg. 404):
         Deuteronomy 12 – The first and second commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me / you shall not make for yourself a carved image” (Deuteronomy 5:6-10).
         Deuteronomy 13 – 14 – The third commandment: “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain” (Deuteronomy 5:11).
         Deuteronomy 15 – 16:17 – The fourth commandment: “Observe the Sabbath day” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15).
         Deuteronomy 16:18 – 18 – The fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother” (Deuteronomy 5:16).
         Deuteronomy 19 – 21 – The sixth commandment: “You shall not murder” (Deuteronomy 5:17).
         Deuteronomy 22 – 23:18 – The seventh commandment: “You shall not commit adultery” (Deuteronomy 5:18).
         Deuteronomy 23:19 – 24:7 – The eighth commandment: “You shall not steal” (Deuteronomy 5:19).
         Deuteronomy 24:8 – 25:3 – The ninth commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Deuteronomy 5:20).
         Deuteronomy 25:4-19 – The tenth commandment: “You shall not covet” (Deuteronomy 5:21).
         Once again, this is not a perfect order; for example, where will we put the laws on not returning a runaway servant, especially when the following laws appear to have a link with the seventh commandment against adultery (Deuteronomy 23:15-18)?  But at least there are general characteristics that unite almost all of these laws with the Ten Commandments in order.
         Therefore, in today’s reading, we see an emphasis on the first three commandments.  As the priests and Levites will focus on the sacrifices and all of the responsibilities associated with the tabernacle, the other Israelites will focus on the destruction of everything associated with idolatry and false prophets, in eating according to the laws of ritual purity and in managing their tithes for thanksgiving to Yahweh and blessing to the Levites and the poor.  In these ways they will demonstrate their devotion to Yahweh even though they live far from the tabernacle.
0 Comments

Deuteronomy 9 - 11

2/27/2012

0 Comments

 
         Deuteronomy 9 – 11 forms the last part of Moses’ historical narrative.  Once again he narrates the past to motivate a passionate obedience in the present to receive future blessings.  And this time the lesson will be based on Israel’s rebellions.
         The future blessing is the military defeat of the Canaanites: “Hear, O Israel: you are to cross over the Jordan today, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves, cities great and fortified up to heaven” (Deuteronomy 9:1).  But the danger is that they will grow prideful over their military victories: “Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust them out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you” (Deuteronomy 9:4).  The memory of their rebellions will serve a double function, then: 1) it will remind them that they do not deserve the victories; they only received them by Yahweh’s grace, and 2) it will teach them that if they continue in rebellion, they will end up like the Canaanites that they forced out of the land.
         Note too, that Moses not only speaks of their rebellions but also describes his intercession for Israel in great detail.  This emphasis is not because he wants to show off in front of the Israelites; remember that Moses was very meek, more than all of the people who were on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3).  Part of his reason for describing his intercession is so that the Israelites will learn to distinguish Yahweh’s true prophet from a false one: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers – it is to him you shall listen” (Deuteronomy 18:15).  Besides looking for the characteristics that he will identify for the Israelites in the following chapters, they should look for an intolerance of idolatry, constant intercession for Israel, a love for the covenant and exhortations preached to the people just as Moses himself exemplifies in Deuteronomy 9 y 10.
         And besides their rebellions, the Israelites must remember that Yahweh multiplied them from a group small in number and redeemed them all with a powerful hand and extended arm (Deuteronomy 10:22 – 11:4); He also punished their disobedience (Deuteronomy 11:5-6).  They have seen the historical examples of blessing and condemnation, and therefore: “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known” (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).  The Israelites will enjoy the future blessings only if they keep the lessons of their history; if they neglect those lessons, if they look for new spiritual paths, they will suffer the condemnation that Yahweh exercised against His enemies.
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Author

    Ken Kytle serves as pastor of Iglesia bautista La fe en Cristo near Atlanta, Georgia.

    Archives

    June 2014
    March 2013
    January 2013
    November 2012
    July 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinthians
    1 Chronicles
    1 Kings
    1 Samuel
    20 Units
    2 Chronicles
    2 Kings
    2 Samuel
    Deuteronomy
    Esther
    Exodus
    Ezra
    General
    Genesis
    Job
    Joshua
    Judges
    Leviticus
    Nehemiah
    Numbers
    Psalms
    Ruth

    RSS Feed

All Bible quotations from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV)
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, IL
Imagen
All Bible explanations are under copyright, may be shared freely, but not sold
© 2011-23 www.comoleerlabiblia.org
Contact us at
admin@biblecalendar.org or
923 Heritage Ridge Court

Monroe, GA  30655