Breaking Faith and Not Treating God as Holy has its Just Deserts -- Deuteronomy 32:44-52

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After the Song of Moses, God Delivers Moses' Fate -- Deuteronomy 32:44-52

So Moses spoke the whole song to the people of Israel, with Joshua present. Matthew Henry makes an interesting comment about this exact moment:

"Moses who was laying down the government, and Joshua who was taking it up, they would see they were both in the same mind, and that, though they changed their commander, there was no change in the divine command; Joshua, as well as Moses, would be a witness against them if ever they forsook God."

Once he finished, he told the Israelites to take to heart all that was in the song, with this warning:

"It is not an idle word -- it's your life. By it, you can prolong your days in the [promised] land you are about to enter."

So many people take God's Word as an idle thing, and his warnings as idle threats. Moses and God warn us against doing that very thing here. Unfortunately, like 'know-it-all' children, many will not listen and they will bring destruction upon themselves. They better be ready for the consequences.

This whole thing reminds me of the big issue right now about taking the covid vaccine.  Whether you are for it or against it right now is not our concern here.  The point I want to make is that if you take it, you have to be prepared to accept the risks of taking it.  If you don't take it, you have to be able to accept the risks of not taking it. The choice is clearly yours (and mine).  Similarly, our ultimate state of affairs depends on the decision we make about God and His Word and our obedience to it. We have to be able to withstand the consequences of that decision. But know this, it is a lie of the devil that it is a futile thing to serve God and obey His Word.  It is not. There are rewards and there are great consequences in not doing so.

Then God speaks to Moses that very day and says,

"Climb Mt. Nebo and view the Promised land from afar. Then die on that mountain and join your people, as Aaron did, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel." [emphasis mine]

This is Moses' last act of his 120 year old life. But once again Robert Jamieson reminds us thus about Moses:

"Notwithstanding so severe a disappointment, not a murmur of complaint escapes his lips. He is not only resigned but acquiescing; and in the near prospect of his death, he pours forth the feelings of his devout heart in sublime strains and eloquent blessings."

Matthew Henry says this:

"The remembrance of his sin might make death terrible, but the sight God gave him of Canaan took off the terror of it, as it was a token of God's being reconciled to him, and a plain indication to him that though his sin shut him out of the earthly Canaan, yet it should not deprive him of that better country which in this world can only be seen, and that with an eye of faith. Note, Those may die with comfort and ease whenever God calls for them (notwithstanding the sins they remember against themselves) who have a believing prospect and a well-grounded hope of eternal life beyond death."

Here's what we need to ask ourselves.

1. Are we "breaking faith" with God? Are we disobeying Him? That is a sin that will count against us here and now as it did for Moses, although it will not ultimately cause us to lose our salvation.

2. Are we somehow "not treating God as Holy"? Are we not trusting His Word and obeying it? Are we doubting Him? 

3. Finally, are we doing these things in the presence of others? Are we bad role models for our families, our friends, our Christian brothers and sisters? God says He doesn't appreciate that.

These are crucial questions we must ask ourselves. And if we don't like the answers, we must do something about them. My prayer for you and for me, if we realize our sin and repent and stay the course like Moses, is that God would treat us as well as He did Moses. May it be so.

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Priests Had To Remain Put or Die during their Ordination

Leviticus 8:31-36

³¹ Then Moses said to Aaron and to his sons, “Boil the flesh at the doorway of the tent of meeting, and eat it there together with the bread which is in the basket of the ordination offering, just as I commanded, saying, ‘Aaron and his sons shall eat it.’ ³² The remainder of the flesh and of the bread you shall burn in the fire. ³³ You shall not go outside the doorway of the tent of meeting for seven days, until the day that the period of your ordination is fulfilled; for he will ordain you through seven days. ³⁴ The Lord has commanded to do as has been done this day, to make atonement on your behalf. ³⁵ At the doorway of the tent of meeting, moreover, you shall remain day and night for seven days and keep the charge of the Lord, so that you will not die, for so I have been commanded.” ³⁶ Thus Aaron and his sons did all the things which the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Thoughts on the Passage

Once the various consecration steps had been carried out as God commanded Moses to undertake with respect to the ordination of the priests of the tabernacle, they had to stay inside the tent (tabernacle) for seven days. Only then was the ordination complete. Failure to do so meant death for the priests.

Robert Jamieson calls this a “probationary” period. Stay put and do the same thing over and over again.  Jamieson writes:

“During the whole of that period the same sacrificial rites were observed as on the first day, and they were expressly admonished that the smallest breach of any of the appointed observances would lead to the certain forfeiture of their lives [ Lev 8:35 ].”

And here’s Matthew Henry’s take on the passage:

“Gospel ministers are compared to those who served at the altar, for they minister about holy things (1 Co. 9:13), they are God's mouth to the people and the people's to God, the pastors and teachers Christ has appointed to continue in the church to the end of the world: they seem to be meant in that promise which points at gospel times (Isa. 66:21), I will take of them for priests and for Levites. No man may take this honour to himself, but he who upon trial is found to be clothed and anointed by the Spirit of God with gifts and graces to qualify him for it, and who with purpose of heart devotes himself entirely to the service, and is then by the word and prayer (for so every thing is sanctified), and the imposition of the hands of those that give themselves to the word and prayer, set apart to the office, and recommended to Christ as a servant and to the church as a steward and guide. And those that are thus solemnly dedicated to God ought not to depart from his service, but faithfully to abide in it all their days; and those that do so, and continue laboring in the word and doctrine, are to be accounted worthy of double honor, double to that of the Old-Testament priests.”

Our job is to make sure that no matter what our role is in Christian service, we approach it with the same dedication and commitment and “stick-to-it-ness” that God expected of His priests who served the Israelites.  How are we doing?

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.