We are preparing this week for a trip to see our son in another part of the country. We haven’t flown in a while, so we are reading and remembering what not to do from previous experiences with all the information about who to do in today’s travel. There are a lot of “do not’s” in the list of baggage items we can carry on board the plane. We are trying to travel light and avoid checked bags. There are many rules to follow as we travel on public transportation. We understand that the rules were designed to protect all who travel. We also understand that if we do not obey; we will pay the consequences that might delay our travel and the travel of others. So, it is wise to obey.
In Deuteronomy, Moses recaps the last forty years of the journey in the wilderness—all of it. He wants them to remember their failed trust issues with God by recalling their past behaviors of disobedience. When God gave direction to go, they stalled. When spies surveyed the promised land, most turned down the offer of the gifted land of promise. Fear that God would lead them to danger ruled their hearts and minds. Trust in God who rescued them from the bondage of slavery to the Egyptians waned as grumbling rebellion rose against Moses who spoke God’s commands. But by rebelling against Moses, they were rebelling against God. They did not trust God to carry them through the challenges of possessing the Promised Land. A generation turned down the gift given to them as an inheritance from generations past, first to Abraham and now to them. So, God in His mercy, equipped the next generation to go and take possession.
How foolish, we think. But how many times have we faltered in our faith, wasted time in the wilderness of fear, or worse yet, turned down God’s gift of His perfect will for us and gone our own way?
The last book of The Law, Deuteronomy, was written by God through Moses to teach His people what to carry with them on their journey into the Promised Land and what to leave behind. Moses begins by reminding the Israelites of the futility of fear that caused forty years of wandering in the desert. He then encourages the people of God’s command to go, take and possess the land He first promised Abraham! Moses also reminds them of the fulfilled promise to Abrahm that God would increase their numbers “as numerous as the stars in the sky”! (Genesis 17)
It’s time to board the caravan to the promised land. Leave behind all dangerous substances such as fear, lack of trust, rebellion, lack of holy awe or love for anything but God who leads.
Deuteronomy 1
The Command to Leave Horeb
These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.)
3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, and at Edrei had defeated Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth.
5 East of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Moses began to expound this law, saying:
6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”
The Appointment of Leaders
9 At that time I said to you, “You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone. 10 The Lord your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky. 11 May the Lord, the God of your ancestors, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised! 12 But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? 13 Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.”
14 You answered me, “What you propose to do is good.”
15 So I took the leading men of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over you—as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, “Hear the disputes between your people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among you. 17 Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of anyone, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it.” 18 And at that time I told you everything you were to do.
Spies Sent Out
19 Then, as the Lord our God commanded us, we set out from Horeb and went toward the hill country of the Amorites through all that vast and dreadful wilderness that you have seen, and so we reached Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
22 Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”
23 The idea seemed good to me; so I selected twelve of you, one man from each tribe. 24 They left and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshkol and explored it. 25 Taking with them some of the fruit of the land, they brought it down to us and reported, “It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.”
Rebellion Against the Lord
26 But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 You grumbled in your tents and said, “The Lord hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. 28 Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’”
29 Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the wilderness. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place.”
32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.
34 When the Lord heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: 35 “No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.”
37 Because of you the Lord became angry with me also and said, “You shall not enter it, either. 38 But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it. 39 And the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad—they will enter the land. I will give it to them and they will take possession of it. 40 But as for you, turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”
41 Then you replied, “We have sinned against the Lord. We will go up and fight, as the Lord our God commanded us.” So every one of you put on his weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country.
42 But the Lord said to me, “Tell them, ‘Do not go up and fight, because I will not be with you. You will be defeated by your enemies.’”
43 So I told you, but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord’s command and in your arrogance you marched up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites who lived in those hills came out against you; they chased you like a swarm of bees and beat you down from Seir all the way to Hormah. 45 You came back and wept before the Lord, but he paid no attention to your weeping and turned a deaf ear to you. 46 And so you stayed in Kadesh many days—all the time you spent there.
WHAT TO DO LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
We wake up each day if God’s wills it. What is our first thought? Is our agenda for the day the first thing that begins to form? Or have we formed a discipline to greet our Lord with expectant hope, knowing He will lead us by the hand to all that will be for our good and declare His glory? The later takes discipline but is well worth the diligence! Trust is the meat of this discipline.
GOD’S MODEL OF TEACHING TO INTERALIZE TRUTH
God has been teaching His children of Israel who to trust no matter the circumstances. He has given them commands to teach them who He is, how to love Him back with how to treat each other with His love in them. Israel’s failures are now considered valuable lessons learned as they journey into the land God promised to them.
But in their going; they must remember. God the Father tells them to remember. Remember who loves you. Remember what matters. Remember what is right and what is wrong.
Deuteronomy tells God’s children to remember because—
Israel is about to make a transition. For forty years they have wandered. Now they are about to settle down in a new land. It’s a time of transition. From Moses to Joshua. From the wilderness to the promised land. From nomads to farmers. From people with no land to people of the land.
God wants them to stay faithful. Stay distinctive. For forty days Moses teaches the words you are about to read.
God repeats what he has already taught. “Deutero” means “second.” “Nomos” means “law.” Deuteronomy is a second hearing of the law. God didn’t want them to forget.
It is the passages in Deuteronomy that Jesus most often quoted when teaching the throngs of people who followed him out of curiosity, for those in need, and for those seeking truth. He also quoted these passages as tools to equip His disciples who gave all they had to learn from Him for three years.
We all need to pause, pray, and remember the gold nuggets of truth we must take on our daily journey that are expressed in this book of remembering.
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
The Gospel expressed in Deuteronomy—
When asked, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered by including a quote from Deuteronomy 6:4–5: “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’” (Mark 12:30). Jesus taught that we love God because of who he is, “the Lord our God.”
We love God by keeping his commandments because he is our God; he is not our God because we love him by keeping his commandments. That is grace and it is gospel of Jesus who is Truth.
Because we have received this grace, we keep the second greatest commandment, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31). We love because he loved (1 John 4:19). We extend grace because he extended grace.
May we remember Jesus’ words as we read Deuteronomy and respond with thanksgiving and praise for the One and Only who gave us Life!
Lord,
Thank you for Your Word that teaches Truth. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for leading us to all that is true. Thank you, dear Jesus, for saving us and giving us life eternal. Thank you, Father, for your perfect plan to rescue us with a plan to proper us, not to harm us, and give us hope for eternity with You.
In Jesus Name, for Your Glory and our good, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 