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timewithgod.blog-city.com — March 2009
Deuteronomy 27 & 28 Giving Up Our Sovereign Right
God had Moses direct them to one day have a solemn ceremony, where large stone "billboards" would be erected, containing all of the teachings Moses had passed on to them from God. The tribes would not only "Amen!" the blessi
God had Moses direct them to one day have a solemn ceremony, where large stone "billboards" would be erected, containing all of the teachings Moses had passed on to them from God. The tribes would not only "Amen!" the blessings as the priests read them, but they'd also "Amen" the curses as well. In doing so, they would be serving as witnesses against themselves.
There were several passages in here that tied in and amplified things we talked about last night during the Middle School Bible study on sexual purity.
In 28:15, Moses said, "But if you do not obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands and laws I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and stay." There was no middle ground, just as there is none today. God promises blessings for 100% obedience and curses for disobedience of any kind. My favorite math equation comes up again: 90% obedience equals 100% disobedience.
Amid all the curses, I found one that particularly caught my eye. Medically, it describes an irritation, but spiritually it describes an aggravation: "You will have...itches that can't be cured." Over the years, an itch has come to symbolize recurring pet sins. Without Christ we have no hope of defeating them, but with Christ, all things are possible.
Another thing that fit right in with our Bible study came from verse 47: "You had plenty of everything, but you did not serve the Lord your God with joy AND a pure HEART." It sure sounds like both joy and a pure heart must be present. Unfortunately, when our hearts aren't pure, our joy will be the first thing to go.
My commentary, speaking of verse 68, says that Egypt also means servitude in general in many places in the Bible. "God had delivered Israel from literal Egyptian slavery in the past, but if she would not love Him and acknowledge HIS sovereign right to her obedience ... then she would be sold back into slavery."
The sidebar in my Bible added even more:
"The partially surrendered life may be Christian in spirit, but secular in practice. It may save one's soul, but it hardly leaves a noticeable ripple on one's lifestyle, life view, or the world and culture in which we live ... It is of no value (in this life) to be Christian if you do not think Christianly -- if you do not have a Christian life view.... Why do we have a broken generation? The answer is disobedience. It is to lead a partially surrendered, or worse, an unsurrendered, unyielded life. We must learn how to surrender, to submit to Christ in the details of daily life..... It is the proposition that Jesus can be Savior without being Lord. It is the idea that one can add Christ, but not subtract sin.... The problem is that we often seek the God we want, but do not know the God who is .... it's the life of a cultural Christian."
It comes down to something right out of our Bible study: "You are not your own; you were bought at a price." They distilled it down to this: "I have no right to look at that or think about it. I haven't the authority." If Jesus isn't boss of one's life, then He isn't Lord of it. Jesus is the Christian's boss, and therefore He's got all the authority and we have none. We are His, because He bought us with His blood when He died on the cross. We must acknowledge His sovereign right to our obedience.
Father, that letting go of what we feel is our sovereign right to do as we please is hard. Please help me to do that, and help each young man in our Bible study group to do so before he ever encounters temptations that may lead him away from You. Give us joy and a pure heart.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
Deuteronomy 29-31 What God Was About To Enable
Moses was wrapping up his retelling, and god led him to show the people what God had not yet done, but was just about to do:(29:4) "But to this day, the Lord has not given you a mind that understands; you don't really understand what y
Moses was wrapping up his retelling, and god led him to show the people what God had not yet done, but was just about to do:
(29:4) "But to this day, the Lord has not given you a mind that understands; you don't really understand what you see with your eyes or hear with your ears. I led you through the desert for 40 years, and during that time neither your clothes nor sandals wore out. You ate no bread and drank no wine or beer. This was so you would understand that I AM the Lord your God."
They'd so taken for granted everything that they'd failed to realize they were totally dependent on God during those 40 years -- for water and food. It hadn't occurred to them that nothing they wore was wearing out. Likewise, they'd not yet been capable of seeing spiritually what God was doing either. Now God will allow them to see and understand. It wasn't just about them, but also their future children and grandchildren. This was way beyond what they'd been able to comprehend. They'd wanted the Promised Land. They'd just had not clue that the Promised Land really meant life with God.
Whenever God gives us a vision for what He wants us to do, He also empowers us to achieve it. In 30:6, Moses says, "The Lord your God will prepare you and your descendants to love Him with your whole being so that you will live."
As part of this enabling, Moses said in 31:13, "They must learn to respect the Lord your God..." Having had to depend on Him and Him alone for the 40 years in the desert hadn't done this. Their hearts had been stubborn. Now God was preparing their hearts to love him AND respect Him.
Father, I still need fresh provision from You every day, just like the manna You provided to the Israelites. Each morning as I wake, help me to be totally dependent on You. Empower anew my heart to love You and respect You, with my entire being.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
Gary Ford
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