The Day God Asked For A Song -- Deuteronomy 31:14-21

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What On Earth (or In Heaven) Would Cause God to Ask for a Song? -- Deuteronomy 31:14-21

In the course of life, a good number of people attend a concert or a small gathering where someone very talented is singing and they get a chance to "ask for a song" they would like to hear. A much smaller number of individuals may find themselves in an intimate relationship with either a singer or a songwriter and have a song written about them. Still fewer have the status or the economic means to have a song commissioned about them. Some of us fall into the very first, broad category.

But never until I studied this passage this time, did I realize that God, given Who He was, actually asked someone -- namely Moses -- to write a song at His request. While we don't get to the song until the next chapter of Deuteronomy (number 32 to be exact), we do get the 'back story' to the request. And if you are anything like I am, it may well sadden you. It did me, even more so than the average Country and Western song which if you could play backwards, they say, on a record-player, "you'd get your dog back, you'd get your truck back, and you'd get your wife back". 

The song God wanted written had a specific purpose. You just might get your life back. Let's take a look.

In verse 14, God tells Moses he is about to die, so He wants Moses to present Joshua to Him at the Tent of Meeting so that God could commission Joshua. And the two went there for that purpose as requested. 

In verse 15, God shows up in a pillar of cloud over the doorway of the tent.

In verse 16, Moses is told that the day when he will be buried as his ancestors were is very close at hand, something that was natural and to be expected. But the next thing God said would have been less welcomed by Moses. God told him the day would come after he died that the Israelites would "play the harlot with the strange gods in the land they inherited, and they would forsake God and break the covenant He had made with them."

I am in my seventies. I have children and grandchildren. If I live long enough, I may even see great-grandchildren. I don't have to be 120 years old as Moses was (chapter 31, verse 2) to be told that the day of my life's end is nearby. (After all, elsewhere in Scripture we read that the lifespan of man given by God is 'threescore years and ten and by virtue of good health, another ten years may be lived' (Psalms 90:10).  I'm living in my 'another ten'.  So I can handle that news.

But if God were to tell me that my children, or my grandchildren, or great-grandchildren would actually forsake God and live their lives not only without Him, but against Him as they pursued idolatry, I would be something much worse than heart-broken. Let me just say we can be thankful that God is not so direct with us as He was with Moses. Best not to know.

In verse 17, God tells Moses what the Israelites will do will make Him so angry that He won't want to see them. He will forsake His people and hide His face from them to the point where they will be destroyed after having to deal with many evils and troubles. And those that remain will say at that time, "Where is our God?"

In verse 18, God says I will not be found because of the evil they will do and the fact that they will turn to other gods.

So, God goes on in verse 19, "Moses write this song for yourselves." Clearly this wasn't to be a song that Moses was to make up, but rather, like the commandments God had given him to give to the people, this song was going to come from God Himself, or be inspired by God. It was to be taught to the sons of Israel, the leaders, the heads of homes, etc., in a way that they would have it memorized. And by so having it on their lips, God says, it would "be a witness for Me against them."

Wow, now you know the "rest of the story" as the newscaster Paul Harvey used to say at the end of each night's broadcast. What a heartbreak for God to even think of this happening in the days that lay ahead.

Verse 20 drove that home for me. Here was God saying He would bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, allow them to eat and be satisfied, and become prosperous as a people, and then they go and "turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant." Man, that has to hurt. I can't even begin to imagine how that felt. Perhaps the closest some of us humans may have come is being spurned by a lover, or worse still, a spouse. But God being spurned, and knowing that He would be, in advance, by the Israelites leaves me speechless. Yet it points out His incredible love for them as we will see when indeed we learn the "rest of the story".

The short passage ends with verse 21 where God says to Moses this song he is being asked to write will come to their minds because it will be on their lips (the Israelites will not forget -- God will see to that). And they'll realize what they have done. And hopefully repent.

Chuck Smith says, "The song will be a reminder to them of the reason why the calamities have befallen them is because they have forsaken God."

David Guzik writes, "Yet this was a strange national anthem, because the purpose of this anthem was to testify against them as a witness. God knew that words are more memorable when set to music, so He told Moses to compose the sermon in a song found in the following chapter."

Now someone may ask 'why on earth would God do this?' Why would He use a song in this way? Look at the last part of verse 21. It says, "for I know their intent which they are developing today, (even) before I have brought them into the land which I swore." So, 'why on earth would God do this?' Let me ask you, 'what would you or I have done?'

Matthew Henry wrote these words for this passage: "God knew very well that there were in their hearts such gross conceits of the deity, and such inclinations of idolatry, that they would be tinder to the sparks of that temptation; and therefore in this song he gives them warning of their danger that way. Note, The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of men's hearts, and meets with them strangely by its reproofs and corrections, Heb. 4:12."

Before we leave this passage, let us not lose sight of the fact that God can get very angry at what those whom He loves so much, to the point where His Son died for us, do sometimes. When we forsake Him and go after the 'harlots' and the 'idols' of our own lives, God's anger rages to the point where He may well want to hide His presence from us. Perhaps in reflection we can think about what that does to God.

Yet God provides us the 'medicine with which we might be cured of our disease' even in advance. This song also had a purpose as Henry continues: "If this song did not prevent their apostasy, yet it might help to bring them to repentance, and to recover them from their apostasy. When their troubles come upon them, this song shall not be forgotten, but may serve as a glass to show them their own faces, that they may humble themselves, and return to him from whom they have revolted. Note, Those for whom God has mercy in store he may leave to fall, yet he will provide means for their recovery."

May it be so with us.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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True Leadership Can Handle Reality, Lead Through Heartache, and Pass the Baton Well -- Deuteronomy 31:1-13

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Moses Passes the Baton to Joshua -- Deuteronomy 31:1-13

Passing the baton on to the next generation seems to always be a bittersweet event for me. On the one hand, if the leader has been a good one, there is some sadness in knowing that he/she is no longer to be in charge. On the other hand, there is usually positive excitement about the new and usually younger leader that is to fill the shoes of the one retiring one way or another. Such was the case here as Moses continues his address to the people of Israel. Here are the main facts:

Verse 2 -- He was 120 years old. The text says "today". Was this the equivalent of what the Israelites knew as a birthday? Perhaps.  Second, He knew his physical limitations.

Accepting the fact that one is really aging is a difficult process for most of us. For me, it began in earnest when I realized that even if I live to be 100, I may well not be able to see great-grandchildren from my youngest grandchildren. An end is indeed coming. And then recognizing that the body of a senior person, no matter how much walking one does each day, does not always manage to accomplish everything that it did 50 years earlier. Most of us who are old enough can well identify with Moses on these two things. But thankfully, most of us do not have to deal with the third reality that Moses had to deal with. That is, God had told him he would not be entering the Promised Land. What a heartache that must have caused him since he had heard this from God. [We covered all the reasons for that in our earlier studies.] Yet Moses continued to be the leader and the man and the servant of God that he was. What a role model for all of us.

David Guzik argues that Moses' reference to his not be able to come and go perhaps was a reference to his physical limitations, but we need to note that soon after this he is ordered by God to climb Mount Nebo (chapter 32:48ff.) No, Guzik maintains the limitations were not physically caused, they were placed on him by God. Matthew Henry agrees with Guzik.

On this verse, Chuck Smith says Moses was basically saying, "I have brought you as far as I can. I can't take you any further." And then he adds these words:

"It is interesting to me that Moses who is representing the law could only bring them to the Promised Land. He could not take them in. The law cannot take you into the full blessings of God. Grace must do that. So the law could only bring them to the border of the land. Now it's up to Joshua to take them in. And so, it's typical of our lives: the law cannot bring you into that glorious rich life in the Spirit. It can only bring you to it, but by grace and faith we must enter in."

There is a time for all leaders to recognize they have come to either a stage in their physical limitations whereby they must resign and pass on the baton, or they are under 'divine orders' to do so, as Moses was. We cause much damage to the people we love or the organization we love, if we fail to act appropriately at one of those two times.

Verse 3 -- He tells them that God will go ahead of them to destroy their enemies and that Joshua would then lead them into the Promised Land as he had been chosen by God Himself. There was nothing about Moses in all that -- it was once again all about God and all about the new 'man' God had appointed.

Verses 5-6 -- He told then they had to deal with their enemies as God had instructed them to. He told them to be strong and courageous, without fear, and that the Lord would not fail them.

Verses 7-8 -- He tells Joshua, in front of all Israel, to be strong and courageous, to lead the Israelites, and to know that God would go 'before' him, and yet will be 'with' him, and not fail him. Moses can speak this with assurance because first, God promised it, and second, because he experienced it himself during his term of leadership.

Verse 9 -- This is a verse that seems to give the reader (you and I even today) an understanding of how all these things were recorded. It simply says, "Moses wrote it and gave it to the priests who carried the ark of the covenant, and to the elders of Israel." If our current versions of the Torah are any indication, we can believe this was a large work and a laborious task. Imagine how those 'writings' in whatever physical form they took, were treasured and passed on from Levite generation to Levite generation.

Verses 10-13 -- Moses leaves his last set of commands for the leaders in Israel. He told them that every seven years (when they exercise a remission of debts and celebrate the Feast of Booths), all Israel is to appear before God where He chooses, and read this whole Law for all (men, women, children, and the alien among them) to hear the Law and to learn from it and to fear the Lord their God, and to be careful to obey it. In verse 13, he places great emphasis on the importance of this for their children. Later on in the Old Testament we read about the Israelites doing just this, and standing all the time throughout the process, at the time of Ezra, the prophet.

As I concluded reflecting on this passage, I asked myself whether those reading it today should be focusing mostly on Moses, Joshua, the Israelites, or God. I will leave that up to you, but here's what I decided for myself:

As I think about Moses, even with his lapses of disobedience, I ask myself if I will be able to maintain my trust and faith in God's leadership right to my dying day?

As I think about Joshua, I ask myself, have I done, or am I doing all I can, to make sure there are men (or women) like Joshua around to take over from the different Moses' we now have in our churches and in our ministries? Have I mentored and helped to train and prepare such men or encouraged others to do so?

As I think about the Israelites, I wonder if I have done my part to see to it that the local church of Jesus Christ I attend, as well as the Christian Body as a whole, maintains the commandments that God has given us?

And last, but not least, I come back to a statement I made some time ago in these studies -- the one and only real character to focus on is God Himself. In this passage, He remains the same. His Lordship, protection, love, and power are displayed for all to see now and forever. We must not miss that as our study in Deuteronomy soon will come to an end. The God of the Israelites before they cross the Jordan river is the same God you and I worship today. He has done great things; He is doing great things; and He will do great things. Don't be fooled by what the world (like the enemies of the Israelites) might be saying to you. They too, like the enemies of the Chosen People, will be dealt with by the Almighty. Let us rejoice today and stay the course.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

 

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

Faith & Fiction, Past & Present, Fear & Future -- A Most Captivating Account

 

Penury City: Light of Gabriel -- Volume I

 

Author: Thomas E.

Publisher: Wounded Crow Publishing, Rochester, N.Y., 2016

It has been a while since I read a book that caused me to stop and reflect every few pages as this one did. I think it was the timing more than anything else. Written in 2016, it so descriptive of what is actually going on in America in 2021 that it makes you think that either Thomas E. had a crystal ball, or he is lying about when he wrote it. I very much doubt the latter.

Thomas gives us an account that weaves together so much of life. How much we can identify with is dependent on our personal experiences. For example, to those that have stayed away from major media networks in the last five years, what you read concerning what has happened to America may come as a shock. To those who have limited experience with faith in a divine Being will be surprised at the people of no faith, some faith, and total faith in the story. Those that don't know their history will be wakened to the fact that evil has been with us for over 2,000 years no matter how hard some try to hide it.

But the author's writing does more than that. Those that are so busy enjoying their present state of affairs will not be able to say "no one told me" after reading Penury City.

Personally, I was captivated by Thomas E's perceptiveness. Much of what he described in 2016 has already taken place and as he moves us beyond today, we have little opportunity to disagree with what may well be ahead, given what we have seen in real life, what many are experiencing today, and what we know deep down in our hearts lies ahead. The story is based on some interesting techniques. Thomas utilizes himself as the one who tells us a story of another older storyteller who carefully describes for us the events leading up to 2054 and beyond. The world has become, to put it mildly, deplorable. Some synonyms that may serve us better are wretched, dreadful, godawful, and frightful.

The plot very successfully tackles the major issues of the day -- control, abortion, pornography, gaming, addiction, torture, and socialism or worse. He pulls no punches. People die, but they die for a cause. However there is hope for those that want out, although the way is long and difficult.

Woven throughout the book is the journey of a single Shekel -- the only one that has survived to this date after it was used to betray a King. Over the 20 or so centuries since then, the Shekel found its way into the hands of eleven men who brought extreme evil, wickedness and treachery upon humans, and when our story begins it is in the hands of the twelfth such man, the President of the United States. 

As I read the book, I found myself in four different worlds -- the world of the narrator (the author), the world of the storyteller (who tells us what happens), the world of the characters in the storyteller's stories, and my own world (for there's no escaping the ability of the narrator to draw us in to what is going on which he does with great success).

The pages are filled with humanity and inhumanity, most often at their extremes. As I continued I realized that the author was giving me an accurate picture of where we are and a scary picture of where we're heading. But he did not leave me there -- he gave his characters and thus, me, a hope that can be embraced by the very faith so many of us have refused to consider. There is a way out of a world where "it was no longer glorious or commendable to sacrifice for your neighbor, but rather to sacrifice your neighbor for the good of all."

The path Thomas E. takes us down as a means of salvation from hell on earth is one that faithful Roman Catholics could well identify with. While it may be less palatable to other Christians, the author's ability to hold us captive to his words keep us going to the end without any great objection. Once one accepts that,  it is not difficult to grant Thomas E. license to make his points to the reader as he believes them.

Throughout the book, the elements of "time" and making "decisions" are crucial. There are short, intermediate, and longer deadlines that have to be met by most of the characters. Choices have to be acted on constantly. In fact, Thomas E. writes about the fact that most people run out of time in terms of making the important choices of life. And at the same time, he seems to be suggesting that once we make the key choices as quickly as possible, we then have more time to live life as we leave the details to the One in charge.

As I kept reading, I couldn't help wanting to go on to see how life would be and could be for my grandchildren in the next thirty-five years. It made me realize that somehow the possibilities had to be shared. People had to be awakened to was happening and would happen.

The author has the ability of building several "science-fiction" contraptions, for lack of a better word, into his story but in hindsight, as far out as they may appear at first, upon further reflection, one soon realizes that every single one of them is within the realm of possibility very, very soon.

Thomas has a great command of the English language and throughout the book the reader finds incredible insight as well.  One such example is where he explains the relationship between evil and freedom. I'll let you discover that for yourself. Another is where our narrator is told to "be the servant. There is only one Master." And still another is when a character overhears someone saying about him, "He is afraid he will find what he does not believe" -- something that is so true of many a man and woman.

The Light of Gabriel is but Volume I of a three volume set. The characters are on an incredible journey. What happens next remains to be read. But I can assure you that they're not safely home yet.

As I finished the last page, I had discovered the entity that lived within and personified that nefarious Shekel, regardless of who's pocket it resided in.

The Light of Gabriel is highly recommended as an exciting, informative, and contemplative work -- a difficult task to accomplish by most authors.

-- Ken B. Godevenos, Toronto, Ontario.

 

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Ratification of a Divine Covenant

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Decision Time: The Conclusion of Moses' Great Sermon -- Deuteronomy 30:11-20

When I negotiate collective agreements, once a settlement is reached between the negotiating parties, each party has to take the tentative settlement back to their principals to get it ratified. Hopefully, those principals will support the deal the parties came to.  But if not, it's back to the drawing boards. This agreement was no different, except that the parties were their own principals -- God on the one hand and the Israelites on the other. And there was no going back to the drawing boards.

God proposed a great Covenant for the people of Israel. Moses acted as a mediator. Now the people had to accept it formally. And here Moses provides us, like a lawyer presenting a major case, with his 'summary statement' of the whole thing.

But first, in verse 11,  Moses is acting like a very strong 'mediator'. He is saying he 'commands' the Israelites to accept the Covenant. It is not too difficult for them. It's within their ability to attain. It's within reach. In verse 14, he says the 'word' (the Mosaic law) is 'very near you' (you know them; you've heard them; they're within your reach) -- in your mouth and in your heart. You can do this. David Guzik says he is implying to Israel that there's nothing so 'mysterious' about this whole thing. Matthew Henry says Moses is suggesting they have no excuse -- the matter is clear, it is simple.

Then in verse 15 he tells them, in case they missed it, that it's a matter of life and prosperity, and death and adversity. Or put more modernly, a matter of life and death, and also of prosperity and adversity. (Note prosperity here does not mean material riches, but rather a blessed life, generally peaceful, secure.)

And while verse 16 says Moses "commanded" them to love God, I would argue it is Moses' dying request, his last plea if you like, for the people he loves. He wants them to live and multiply. He wants God to bless them in their new land.

In verses 17-18 he takes time to warn them once more of the consequences if they don't obey -- they will perish. And more immediate to them -- they won't be able to keep the land God was giving them at that time.

Then (verse 19) Moses calls for "the question" as they say. With heaven and earth as witnesses, he implores the Isrealites to choose between life over death, that they and their descendants may live. Finally, in verse 20 he recaps exactly how they are to do that. In today's courts of law or impeachment hearings in the American Congress, as an advocate, he would have struck a chord and won the day. 

The Israelites had a choice to make. Moses laid it out well. You and I have that same choice. And so does everyone else. I hope we all have or will make the right choice.

As I watch the events going on around the world these days -- actions taking us globally away from God and righteousness, evil overcoming the best of men, and fear moving it's foot further and further into the doorstep of our lives, I can only pray that each of us has made the right decision when it comes to life or death.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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

From Slavery to Promised Land to Captivity -- What Kind of Covenant is That? -- Deuteronomy 30:1-10

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"Moses, Are You Sure This is a Good Deal For Us?" -- Deuteronomy 30:1-10

I have either studied or had preached to me the story of the Israelites getting ready to enter the Promised Land a number of times over my years as a Christian. But it wasn't until I was preparing this study that it crossed my mind that some of them may well have thought this wasn't a great deal after all.

I mean, let's get serious. The Israelites had just finished 400 years being slaves in Egypt and then spent 40 years in the wilderness roaming around before they reached the land of milk and honey, the Promised Land. And then in his last days of life, Father Moses clearly (in the last chapter and more so in this one) starts to tell them about their future of, wait for it, more captivity.

In verse 1 alone, he tells them that yes, they'll experience some blessings and also be dealt the consequences of the curses for their disobedience. And worse than that, Moses says "you will be banished to various other nations" where you will remember both the blessings and the curses. Wow, not so good. How long will they be banished? How long will they be in captivity?

My research indicates that Israel entered the Promised Land around 1400 BC. About 480 years later (around 920 BC) Israel is divided into two kingdoms. Two hundred years later (about 720 BC), the Northern Kingdom is taken into captivity in Assyria.

From 606 BC to 586 BC, three different waves of Israelites are taken into captivity by the Babylonians as part of the 70-year exile that had been prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10).  That covered the period 606 BC to 536 BC at which time the Jews start returning to Jerusalem and commence rebuilding the Temple. The third wave returns around 445 BC when Nehemiah organizes the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem. (Some Jews decide to remain in exile.)

Around 167 BC the Temple is defiled and worship is halted. Three years later (164 BC) Judas Maccabeus liberates and cleanses the Temple and the Hasmoneans rule Israel until the Roman invasion which lasts through the life of Christ on earth.

But it does not end there. In 70 AD, the second Temple is destroyed by the Romans. Approximately one million Jews are killed and most of the survivors are sold into slavery or scattered into the nations. However, a small remnant of Jewish people remained in the Land throughout the dispersion.

Then again in 135 AD, a Jewish rebellion against the Romans is quashed and Jews are barred from Jerusalem for several centuries. The City is renamed ‘Aelia Capitolina’ and the Land ‘Syria Palestina’ to eradicate the memory of the Jewish presence there.

And the story continues from then and right up to the present day. For more details check out the history of the Israelites website.

No sir, anybody would tell you that the words of Tevye, the father in the 1971 movie Fiddler On The Roof, when he cried out to God, "I know, I know. We are Your chosen people. But, once in a while, can't You choose someone else?" are words that many a Jew has uttered or said under his breath over the centuries.  Theirs wasn't then, and there isn't now, many would say, a history "to write home to mother about".

And isn't that the way we feel some times about our journey with God? I mean becoming a Christian was to be "heaven on earth" for us. If not a land of milk and honey, at least a life of joy and peace and blessings. What happened? What is happening now?

Let's go back to see what Moses prophesies for his people, God's People. Verse 2 says (picking up from the first phrase of verse 1), "It shall be when . . . you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul. . ." Moses is saying there will come a time when you, Israel, will do just that. And then it will be God's turn to act yet once more.

Verse 3 starts off, "Then the Lord will restore you from captivity. He will have compassion on you. He will gather you again." And verse 5 tells them God will bring them back to the land their fathers possessed. If I have that right, it's the very land they haven't at that instant entered into and settled fully yet. And there God will prosper them and multiply them even more.

David Guzik says this: "The regathering had to happen in the land of Israel. The modern regathering of Israel more accurately fulfills this promise than the return from the Babylonian exile. In the return from the Babylonian exile, Israel was still a vassal state of the Persians. But in the modern regathering of Israel, you shall possess it is literally fulfilled."

More background on this from Guzik: "At one time, in the early days of the Zionist movement, the British offered the country of Uganda to the Jews as a place to establish a Jewish state. If that would have happened, and if Jews from all over the world would have flocked there to establish a Jewish state, it would not fulfill the promise of regathering stated here and in other Old Testament passages. The promise here is plain: The land which your fathers possessed." More proof that history must bend to God's promises, not the other way around.

Furthermore, verse 6 says God will "circumcise" their hearts.  A better translation may be "cleanse" or "give you obedient hearts" so that you will love Him with all your heart and soul.  Why?  ". . . in order that you may live."

In a sense, this is the last of the blessings to Israel and it has not yet happened. The gathering has happened, but Israel is primarily a secular nation at this point. Ultimately, this last blessing will turn them into a spiritual people for God. Guzik says, the "ultimate fulfillment will happen in the millennium, when Israel has regathered as a people truly turned to the LORD and His Messiah, Jesus."

But wait, there's more. God will inflict all the curses that we heard about from Moses, on their enemies, on those who hate them and persecute them (verse 7).

When all that happens, and you obey the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, then (verse 9), "the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers."

It is not hard for us to see all the parallels here for us today. Yes, this account is about Israel and what was to happen to them in the centuries after Moses. But we can learn from it as well.

How many times have we come to the Lord and then by our own actions or lack thereof, we have fallen back into some captivity or other, some sin or other, but always impacting any rejoicing that God may have been enjoying over our relationship with Him? Yes, it's that personal.

But notice what happens. First, we take the steps of obedience. That is all God asks. Then He does the rest. He cleanses our hearts so that we can put our whole hearts and souls into the relationship. We are to start with obedience, and God will see that the Love between us and Him will grow.

Then our enemies will be defeated -- personal ones, as well as national and global ones. The enemies of God and us as Christians are alive and well and living in the governments of our countries right now. Their actions are nothing if they are not anti-god and anti what God has ordained to be good and holy and righteous. They are cursed. They will be destroyed. Our job is to obey.

So, the story is not just about Israel. It's also about how God relates to us. And it's also about how God will ultimately deal with all the world and our enemies on the return of Jesus Christ as He Himself prophesied in Matthew 24:31. And you are part of it. Rejoice. Perhaps, on second thought, the "deal" was indeed a great one.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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

A Partnership That Beats All Partnerships -- Deuteronomy 29:10-29

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The Mosaic Covenant Between God and the Israelites Has Lasted over 3,240 Years and Still Going Strong -- Deuteronomy 29:10-29

My Internet research tells me that the average business partnership lasts 10 years. Marriage in Canada lasts 14 years and only 8 in the U.S. So, a Covenant that has lasted over three millennia is clearly a record setter. And there's reason for that as we'll continue to see in our study of Deuteronomy.

Matthew Henry introduces this passage with this observation which helps us understand its significance: "It appears by the length of the sentences here, and by the copiousness and pungency of the expressions, that Moses, now that he was drawing near to the close of his discourse, was very warm and zealous, and very desirous to impress what he said upon the minds of this unthinking people. To bind them the faster to God and duty, he here, with great solemnity of expression (to make up the want of the external ceremony that was used Ex. 24:4 etc.), concludes a bargain (as it were) between them and God, an everlasting covenant, which God would not forget and they must not. He requires not their explicit consent, but lays the matter plainly before them, and then leaves it between God and their own consciences."

In verses 10 and 11 of chapter 29, Moses tells the Israelites that each of them is standing before the Lord their God. Personally, and collectively. Right down to their little children, their foreigners, and their servants. It's an excellent description of God's love and desire to save all peoples who keep the Covenant that He establishes with them. God does not exclude anyone who wishes to be part of the family of God. He didn't then and He doesn't now.

The Covenant is between those identified above and the Lord their God (verse 12). The people were entering into it, including the oath that God made with them. We need to note that whole thing is God-initiated. It's a God-thing. Not a man-thing. You're fortunate to be invited to take part.

And God did this (verse 13) to establish the people of Israel, once and for all as His People. That was necessary in order for Him to the be their God, and to keep His word given years earlier to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Now verses 14-16 are interesting in that Moses said he wasn't making this Covenant just with them, but with all those that stand there today in God's presence and, here's the interesting part, "and with those who are not with us here today." What was that all about? David Guzik says this is a clear reference to the descendants of those who were standing there that day, that is, to the future generations of the Israelites.

Guzik writes: "God's purpose in bringing judgment against a covenant-breaking Israel was also for the sake of the coming generation of your children … and the foreigner. When they see the devastation that comes from breaking God's covenant, when they see what happens to the land which the LORD overthrew in His anger and wrath, they will be warned to obedience." 

Verses 17 to 21 are a warning to anyone who thinks it may be good for him to do without this Covenant. If such a person or family or tribe hear the curse that had been covered in the previous chapter, were to think they could have peace though they act with a stubborn heart towards God, and to mix themselves up with those idolatrous enemies of Israel (the watered land with the dry -- verse 19), he/she would be greatly mistaken. The NET Bible says this phrase (watered land with the dry) implies that not only will those individuals be ruined but so will anything they touch.  Now here comes the warning (verse 20): "The Lord shall never be willing to forgive him or them." Every curse will befall them and their name will be blotted out in heaven. Those are strong and unequivocal words. Do you get the message, people?

Guzik talks about the people who think they have peace in their heart, yet have disobeyed God. He says, "A rank sinner may feel confident in his own heart, having a marvelous sense of "peace." But this peace is an illusion. It is the peace of the blind, of the unknowing. If a bomb is on a plane, most everyone on the plane is at peace the moment before the bomb explodes. But their peace is based on their ignorance. In the same way, a sinner may be completely untroubled in his heart. But this is only because he is blind."

He continues: "As though the drunkard could be included with the sober: The drunkard may be happy when he is drunk, but his happiness is based on a illusion. God warns against including the peace of the righteous with the peace the wicked might seem to have."

Verses 22-28 relate to the Israelites what they are to tell their sons and future generations when they ask about the lands that God had destroyed in years past or more importantly would destroy in the future. They were to say that God did this because someone "forsook the covenant of the Lord".  Furthermore, they were to add, that "they went and served other gods and worshipped them against His command." That made God's anger to burn against them. The section also depicts for many the future scattering of Israel that was to take place.

The chapter ends with another poser, verse 29, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of the law."

Guzik again: "Moses pauses to give a principle of how God speaks to us. First, God never declares everything to man: There are secrets God has, and will always have. He has the right to have secrets, because He is God. . . . We must simply accept this. "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

"Second, God does reveal somethings to man. Since God is there, and He is not silent, we must do all we can to pay close attention to Him.

"Third, God's revelation is meant to say something to us. God did not speak just to blow our minds or to amuse us; there is a message which belongs to us. While we cannot perfectly understand God's revelation, it is perfectly understandable.

"Fourth, God's revelation is trans-generational. Yes, God had a specific message for Moses' generation, but the message goes beyond its original audience to speak to all generations which follow.

"Fifth, God's revelation is eternal. His word not only lasts forever, it is forever relevant. God's word is more relevant than any new fad or interest which might sweep through the world or the church.

"Finally, God's revelation must matter to us. He has not spoken to us merely to satisfy our curiosity about spiritual things. He has spoken to us to affect the way we live. If we are only hearers of the word, and not doers also, then we have not really received His word."

Robert Jamieson takes a little different approach, but still relevant when he writes: "This verse has no apparent connection with the thread of discourse. It is thought to have been said in answer to the looks of astonishment or the words of inquiry as to whether they would be ever so wicked as to deserve such punishments."

Chuck Smith says the key point of this entire passage is simply this: Disobedient man cannot escape the wrath of God. There is no escape. Don't be fooled. God will not be mocked.

Henry reminds us in his summary of the passage that we must note that again, the major disobedience and thus the ruin of Israel in years ahead is indeed idolatry. God hates it.  He still does and it remains the key cause of our own ruining. Second, we must understand that God would never do this without a valid reason -- that is, God never forsakes anyone until we first forsake Him.

It is possible in the past that many of us may have skipped the real lessons of chapters like this in Deuteronomy, but I believe we would be foolish not to fully understand that the God of Deuteronomy 29 is the same God you and I proclaim today in the 21st centrury. Let's not be fooled otherwise.

This is indeed a partnership that beats all others. You and I are privileged to be invited to be part of it through Jesus Christ. But like all partnerships, there's no room whatsoever for cheating.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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

What Makes God's Covenant With Israel (or Us) Work? -- Deuteronomy 29:1-9

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How a Covenant Between Some Former Slaves & the Creator Can Work? -- Deuteronomy 29:1-9

Anyone who has studied the books that Moses wrote in the Old Testament would agree that his central topic is the Covenant between God and His chosen people, Israel. That Covenant is an agreement between two parties. It contains some conditions. For the most part, it is a matter of One party (God)  saying to the other (the Israelites), "If you do this, I will do that." And it is by any account, a great deal for Israel.

In the previous chapter, chapter 28, Moses has outlined both the blessings that Israel stood to gain "if they did" and the curses they would suffer "if they didn't". And what was it exactly that they had to do (or not do)? Chapter 28, verse 1 tells us. It was simply to "diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments".

Let's think about this a little before we dig into the passage. A small nation of people whose most recent claim to fame was being slaves in Egypt for 400 years was invited to be participants in a covenant with the Almighty. Is this a no brainer or what? I mean they had nothing more to lose and nothing really to offer. God, on the other hand, was and is all-powerful, He loved them a lot, but He also hated sin, especially idolatry. Could this really work with mere mortals prone to sin and a righteous God? If so, how?

It seems that God and Moses knew people back then, and even now, would be asking themselves the same question. So, thankfully, in the first part of this chapter, chapter 29:1-9, Moses relates God's words to the people, explaining exactly how this arrangement would work. Let's look at it.

Here's God's argument: "You've seen everything I did before your eyes in Egypt" (verse 2). He could have stopped there, but He goes on.  "You remember the great trials, as well as the great signs and wonders" (verse 3).

"But to this day, you still don't get it because I haven't given you a heart to know, eyes to see, or ears to hear" (verse 4). "For 40 years that I led you in the desert, your sandals and clothes have not worn out" (verse 5).

"You fasted, from bread and wine, in order to know that I am the Lord" (verse 6). "When we reached the promised land, 'we' met your enemies and defeated them" (verse 7). "We took their land as an inheritance for certain of your tribes" (verse 8).

That's it. That's His whole argument.  He concluded His argument with these words: "So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do."  And then He rested His case. Nothing more needed to be said to explain how this would work. Anyone with the ability to put two and two together, could figure out that God had not lost any of His power that He had exhibited. He could make this Covenant work on His power alone.

Moses was saying in essence, "If seeing is believing, then you had better believe and obey, because you have seen the mighty hand and power of God at work, and there's no denying it." I believe that is true of all  of us. If we stop to think about, and know a little about, how God operates, we too cannot deny that we have seen the hand of God at work in our lives.

But yet the Israelites still didn't get it and today, we don't get it, or we don't believe it. Why is that?  Well, perhaps verse 4 in this passage explains why the Israelites didn't get it and why we don't get it today. If no one gets it, it's because the Lord has not given us a heart to perceive. And why is that? David Guzik suggests the reason:

"The miracles in and of themselves could not accomplish anything in the heart of Israel. If God did not send His Spirit to change their hearts, then the greatest wonder imaginable would not make a difference. Some people today think the greatest help to evangelism would be to see more miraculous events. After all, who could not believe in the face of such displays of spiritual power? But seeing great wonders accomplishes nothing apart from a supernatural work of God in someone's heart."

That's what the Israelites needed and that's what we need today -- "a supernatural work of God in our hearts". And to get it, we need to really want God and God alone, not His blessings, but Him. We need to want a relationship with Him for Who He is, nothing else.

Matthew Henry wants us to be careful that we don't think God is to blame for the fact that He had not given the Israelites (or us for that matter) a heart to perceive. In fact, Henry writes:

"Moses laments their stupidity: Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, v. 4. This does not lay the blame of their senselessness, and sottishness, and unbelief, upon God, as if they had stood ready to receive his grace and had begged for it, but he had denied them; no, but it fastens the guilt upon themselves. 'The Lord, who is the Father of spirits, a God in covenant with you, and who had always been so rich in mercy to you, no doubt would have crowned all his other gifts with this, he would have given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see if you had not by your own frowardness and perverseness frustrated his kind intentions, and received his grace in vain.'

[And he continues.] Note, (1.) The hearing ear, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart, are the gift of God. All that have them have them from him. (2.) God gives not only food and raiment, but wealth and large possessions, to many to whom he does not give grace. Many enjoy the gifts who have not hearts to perceive the giver, nor the true intention and use of the gifts. (3.) God's readiness to do us good in other things is a plain evidence that if we have not grace, that best of gifts, it is our own fault and not his; he would have gathered us and we would not."

In conclusion, if we're not succeeding in perceiving Who God really is, it's not God's fault. It's because of our frowardness (our being difficult and ornery) and our perverseness (our contrariness, our deliberate and stubborn unruliness and resistance to guidance or discipline) that has frustrated His desire to give us that kind of heart, eyes, and ears.

If we can't perceive Him for Who He is, we cannot avail ourselves of His power -- the very Power that is the only thing that would make the Covenant between Israel and Him work; and the only thing that would make His covenant with us work.

We need to Know God and Let Him Be God, for us. How are we doing?

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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

Are We Paying the Price of Disobedience Today that Moses Warned Israel About? -- Deuteronomy 28:15-68

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Bottom Line: "Righteousness exhalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people¨ (Prov. 14:34)

WARNING: What you are about to read is not at all fun. It is not intended to scare anyone. It is hoped that by reading it, you will be fully aware of the choices that each nation, each family, each individual has in life. There is a God. He loves us. But He doesn't kid around and will not be taken for a fool. Read on with care.

Yes, this was a warning to Israel. I understand that. But the people of Israel are His chosen people. If God who loves them so much would do that to them because of wilful disobedience, I am not ready to think that He would deal with me differently because of my wilful disobedience.  That is what we are talking about here.  We are not talking about being good enough to earn God's favor and certainly we are not talking about being good enough to earn salvation. That is a free gift. But rejection of that free gift and wilful disobedience of God has its consequences.

If we get nothing else out of all of Deuteronomy 28, let's get the basic law or message that God wanted the Israelites and now us to understand. We are to pursue righteousness, but our sin can destroy us. As long as a nation pursues God, it will be blessed. Stop pursuing, leave God out of the nation's decision-making, and it will be cursed. Many of us, if not all of us, reading this today, are living in such a nation. Perhaps it is time to look a little closer at the kinds of things that may lie ahead for us.

Moses took just 14 verses at the front end of this chapter to go into detail about the blessings a nation can expect if they obey and do God's commandments diligently. But it seems he needed 54 verses to describe the curses that could befall a nation that does not. [If you're in a hurry, at least read the parts below in red.]

As you would expect, many of these verses in this passage are the opposite of the first 14 verses. But there are number of new ideas and thoughts provided and those are the ones we want to look at more closely. If a nation, a family, or a person disobeys God, here are more details of what we can expect:

Note: In the material that follows I have used the personal pronouns "we, us, etc." The text was not written to us. It was written to the Israelites. I know that. But I wanted us to put ourselves in their shoes listening to what Moses is telling them. And in so doing, if we think there's a word of caution or a parallel for us today, let's apply it to us, today.

Verse 20 -- lives will be ones of confusion and rebuke in all we try to do, until we are destroyed, until we perish quickly, on account of our evil by forsaking God.

Verse 21 -- pestilence will cling to us until we can't live on the land God has given us. I don't know about you but I'm starting to feel that now. Pestilence is defined as a fatal epidemic disease, especially bubonic plague. I think considering this passage was written thousands of years ago, I would say "Covid-19" is close enough to that and qualifies.

Verse 22 -- the Lord will smite us with consumption (a wasting disorder not unlike tuberculosis), fever, inflammation, fiery heat, the sword, blight and mildew (two atmospheric influences fatal to grain), all of which will pursue us until we perish.

Verse 23 -- our skies will be bronze (dark with no sunshine which we need) and the earth iron (hard and impossible to work).

Verse 24 -- our rains will be like dust and powder (tornadoes and sandstorms).

Verse 26 -- our carcasses will be food for the vultures and no one will scare them away.

Verse 27 -- we will be smitten with the boils the Egyptians suffered in Egypt, with tumors, scabs, itching, with no healing in site. Is that a reference to cancer?

Verse 28 -- we will be smitten with madness, blindness, and bewilderment of heart. Our mental institutions are full, mental illness cases are out of control, and more and more people are committing suicide.

Verse 29 -- we will grope at noon, fail to prosper, be oppressed, robbed continuously, with no one to save us.

Verse 30 -- our wives will be violated by strangers, we will build houses but not be able to live in them, we will plant but see no fruit. How many people have had their wives and daughters violated by guerrilla soldiers throughout history, something that still goes on today? And if not soldiers, just evil gangs. How many homes have been taken by illegal immigrants and refugees and migrants in Europe? And how many harvests have not been realized because of the way we treat our world, or the politics that does not allow farmers to produce and freely sell their goods?  We are living in the days of curses.

Verse 31 -- our farmers won't do too well. Their ox will be slaughtered in plain view, they won't be getting any of the meat, their work animals will be taken, and their sheep given to their enemies, and they'll have no one to save them. If this isn't a picture of total anarchy and lawlessness, I don't know what is.

Verse 32 -- now this next one really hurts. The verse says our sons and daughters will be taken from us and given to another people. Hello, is this not going on today as more and more of our children lose their love for God and are given over to other gods worshipped by other people? Think about it. And there's nothing we can do.

Verse 36 -- God says ultimately our leaders (with us) will fall prey to other nations that neither of us knew, to serve other gods. Who will that be -- is it China, Russia, Iran, or is simply Islam?

Verse 43 -- the 'alien' among us will rise higher and higher above us, and we shall go down lower and lower. Isn't that exactly what is happening. Look at the demographics in our business boardrooms, and worse still in our governments. I have no problem with people of all nations who have fully adopted our culture having access to all institutions. But sadly, the majority of those who rise are not fully committed to their new land and they have dreams and visions of bringing their cultures to their new lands. One only need to look at the so called "squad" of Congresswomen in the U.S. Need I say anything more?

Verse 48 -- we will serve our enemies, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and lacking all things, until we perish.

Verse 49 -- the Lord will bring a foreign nation against you from afar with a language we do not understand. Again, who will that be?  China, Russia, Iran?

Verse 50 -- they will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. The evil powers, the elite, the globalists, the godless, the liberals, and so-called progressives are doing that right now. Look at all the commotion and progress in euthanasia laws to facilitate the elimination of elders. Look at all calls for increased abortion right up and even after the point of birth.  We need to wake up. We have disobeyed. And we're paying the price as a nation.

Verse 53 -- things will get so bad that you will have to end up eating your own offspring.

Verses 54-55 -- those who are richer among us will turn against their own families, giving them nothing to eat to live.

Verses 56-57 -- richer women will behave likewise and end up starving and eating their own children.

Verse 62 -- certainly Israel's numbers would return to a very small number. I think the number of true Christians will be much fewer than all who claim to be Christians today.

Verses 66-68 -- we will not be assured of our lives from morning to night, and we will offer ourselves to be sold as slaves to our enemies in order to survive, but no one will want us.

We cannot become perfect. Nor will we reach that state in this life. But we can diligently seek a continuously improved relationship with God. We can diligently want to love Him more, please Him more, obey Him more, and serve Him more. That we can and must do. I don't know what God will do if we don't with precise accuracy. But through this chapter I know what He promised to do to His own chosen people with whom He had a covenant.

Clearly there is much to be argued here. Does this all apply to us or was it just for the Jews? Am I stretching the point when I draw the inferences to what is going on in the world as I did above? You'll have to decide that for yourself. But let me call on Matthew Henry to come and help us out as we ponder these questions. I can certainly live with his words on the matter of this passage as a whole:

• (1.) The accomplishment of these predictions upon the Jewish nation shows that Moses spoke by the Spirit of God, who certainly foresees the ruin of sinners, and gives them warning of it, that they may prevent it by a true and timely repentance, or else be left inexcusable.
• (2.) Let us all hence learn to stand in awe and not to sin. I have heard of a wicked man, who, upon reading the threatenings of this chapter, was so enraged that he tore the leaf out of the Bible, as Jehoiakim cut Jeremiah's roll; but to what purpose is it to deface a copy, while the original remains upon record in the divine counsels, by which it is unalterably determined that the wages of sin is death, whether men will hear or whether they will forbear?

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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

Promised Blessings: The Details -- Deuteronomy 28:1-14

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Do Israel's Promised Blessings Apply to Us? -- Deuteronomy 28:1-14

In this 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses expands on two words from the previous chapter -- blessings and curses. In this first passage, verses 1-14, he provides the Israelites with the details of the blessings that God will provide under certain conditions. Throughout all the writings so far with respect to the Covenant God made with Israel, there were elements of the blessings that would be as Matthew Henry says, at three levels -- personal, family, and national, with the emphasis of course on the national level. But we cannot avoid seeing how often Israel is blessed through the blessing of individual families and later on, as will see in the rest of the Old Testament, individuals themselves. 

I also like the way Robert Jamieson lays out the real purpose and impact of this chapter for us when he says:

"In this chapter the blessings and curses are enumerated at length, and in various minute details, so that on the first entrance of the Israelites into the land of promise, their whole destiny was laid before them, as it was to result from their obedience or the contrary."

Let me make the following point here and get it out of the way. Salvation is free. You can't do anything for it except accepting it as a free gift of God through His Son Jesus Christ. But blessings are not a big free giveaway. They weren't in the days of Israel and they aren't now, no matter what some of your TV preacher friends may tell you. They come with conditions.

They are conditional on two things as indicated very clearly in verse 1 of this chapter: "IF you will diligently obey the Lord your God" and in case we misunderstand what that means, Moses goes on to say, "being careful to do all His commandments".  [Please note, the word "If" in the verse isn't there just for fun. It never is there just for fun in any part of Scripture.]

If you can do that, then blessings start to flow. So many of us in 2021 are wondering where our blessings are. Why are we not being blessed?  Why doesn't this thing work? Perhaps the answer may be because we have failed to read the instruction pamphlet. Which part of verse 1 aren't we following?  Is it the being diligent part?  I think that's the one that matters today.  We can't possibly be satisfying all 613 of the laws. And besides, that is why Jesus died -- because no one could satisfy that requirement.

But we can diligently obey the Lord in all He tells US, you and me, personally, to do. Our blessings friends will, for all intent and purpose, indeed be related to that. That is not to say that God won't bless more than we deserve in our lame attempt at diligent obedience if He wants to. He can and often does. But it is also to say that He may hold off because right now He wants more obedience from you or me. He is God. It's His call.

David Guzik provides this interesting bit of history in relation to this chapter:

"As a literary form, this chapter is similar to ancient treaties between a king and his people; this is God the King, making a covenant with His people, Israel. 'In the ancient Near East it was customary for legal treaties to conclude with passages containing blessings upon those who observed the enactments, and curses upon those who did not.' (Harrrison)"

So what will God do for the Israelites and I believe, for you and I, where appropriate, if we do our part?  Let's take a look:

Verse 1: The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. You will be honored among others -- at school, at work, in the community.

Verse 2: All these blessings will overtake you. You will be awed and amazed. Henry says it this way: "Good people sometimes, under the sense of their unworthiness, are ready to fly from the blessing and to conclude that it belongs not to them,; but the blessing shall find them out and follow them notwithstanding."  Wow, obey God and you can't run away from the blessings. I believe we can claim that.

Verse 3: Blessings will follow you around no matter where you go. No matter where you go. That to me also speaks of protection in our travels, especially these days.

Verse 4: Your children will be blessed and so will your land and your livestock. The fruits of your labor.

Verse 5: You will have all you need at home to eat.

Verse 6: You will be recognized at home and outside your home.

Verse 7: Your enemies won't stand a chance against you. You will be blessed in actual warfare of all types.

Verse 8: All your well-intentioned God-approved projects will be blessed. Again, to me this speaks of success in our employment from God's perspective, not necessarily ours. That means He may want us to leave a job, or He arranges for us to lose a job because there is something else He wants us to do. I know that's hard to accept but that is what this is all about.  Obedience means obedience and that comes with total trust on Him.

Verse 9: The Lord will deem you, and make you, His holy people for Himself. This may be the best blessing -- a special relationship with God, now available to each and every one of us.

Verse 10: People will fear you because you are called by the Lord's name. I think many godless people are going after Christians today while they have safety in numbers because they really fear what Christians claiming the whole power of God could do.

Verse 11: You will prosper with offspring, crops, and livestock. Now Henry again here says there is method in God's promise. He writes, "They should be rich, and have an abundance of all the good things of this life, which are promised them, not merely that they might have the pleasure of enjoying them, but (as bishop Patrick observes out of one of the Jewish writers) that they might have wherewithal to honour God, and might be helped and encouraged to serve him cheerfully and to proceed and persevere in their obedience to him."  Where have we heard the idea of "blessed to be a blessing" before? 

Verse 12: You will have access to God's storehouse, including rain for your crops, so that you can help others and not need their help. Or said another way, you will have influence among other nations. How true that is today. Every politician is concerned about what Israel is doing or might do. But at the same time, every nation is aware of what Israel has accomplished in science, especially medicine, and research. 

Verse 13: You will be a leader of others, not the other way around. The phrase "the Lord will make you the head and not the tail" stems, according to Robert Jamieson, from "an Oriental form of expression, indicating the possession of independent power and great dignity and acknowledged excellence ( Isa 9:14 19:15 )."

Henry says, "both the promises and the threatenings are designed to bring and hold us to our duty, yet it is better that we be allured to that which is good by a filial hope of God's favour than that we be frightened to it by a servile fear of his wrath. That obedience pleases best which comes from a principle of delight in God's goodness." That is, let us not follow these conditions out of fear of what may happen, but rather because we want to please our God.

Guzik again helps us out here:

"God's purpose in blessing Israel was greater than just enriching the nation for its own sake. He intended to glorify Himself through blessing them. When Israel walked after the LORD, these blessings were real; one example of this is when the Queen of Sheba came to Solomon and saw a nation so blessed, she knew it had to be of God (1 Kings 10:1-13)."

And the passage ends with another warning: Don't turn aside from any of the words you were commanded to follow. Moses then adds God's favorite emphasis with respect to what God hates -- Don't go after other gods to serve them. Henry sees this as a third condition in addition to those mentioned above.

Before we move on into the next passage the next time in our study, I wanted to share with you what David Guzik says about what we're looking at:

"The idea behind the choice [that Israel and we have to obey or not to obey] is that God was determined to reveal Himself to the world through Israel. He would do this either by making them so blessed that the world would know only God could have blessed them so; or by making them so cursed that only God could have cursed them and cause them to still survive. The choice was up to Israel."

I believe that was true for Israel, as it was for Job later on, and also true for us today. Read that one paragraph above one more time and let it sink in as it applies to you and me. We have a choice. Make it well.

Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section.  You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that.  Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless.  Ken G.

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