Devotionary

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Ep 975 – Deuteronomy 19:1-13 Jan 02, 2020

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Nothing surprises God. There is never a moment when He is caught off guard or finds Himself asking, "How did that happen?" And we're going to see that truth lived out in Deuteronomy 19:1-13, as God reveals His plan for the cities of sanctuary that were to be established by the Israelites once they entered the land of Canaan. God was preparing for future events, long before they ever happened. He was lovingly protecting His people from unknowingly committing a sin. The Israelites were only human and God knew they would be prone to act according to their emotions. He knew the land of promise was going to be filled with people who could and would hurt one another – even kill one another. So, He had Moses provide them with His plan for the inevitable so that they would not do the unthinkable.

Ep 974 – Deuteronomy 18:15-22 Jan 01, 2020

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The Bible is one book that emanated from a single source: God. Yes, He used a variety of human authors to pen the words, but each did so under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The words they wrote were, as Paul put it, God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16). And what makes the Word of God so unique is its unbelievable continuity and cohesiveness, even though its content was written over a lengthy period of time by a diverse array of individuals from different backgrounds and living in different centuries. When reading the Bible in its entirety, one is able to see the divine authorship of God as he weaves a narrative that points to His plan of redemption for mankind. And there are few places where this is made more clear than in Deuteronomy 18:15:22.

Ep 973 – Deuteronomy 18:9-14 Dec 31, 2019

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Holiness is a non-negotiable as far as God is concerned. It is not a suggestion that He has left up to our discretion or according to our definition. He has a strong opinion about what holiness is and how His people are to pursue it. And in Deuteronomy 18:9-14, Moses is going to remind the people of Israel that God had high expectations for them when it came to their lifestyle. He had set them apart as His own treasured possession, given them His law as a code of conduct, and He fully expected to live according to His standards and not those of the world. They were to live distinctively and differently. There was no room for compromise and complacency. And as God's people, they were to resist the temptation to blend in with the world around them.

Ep 972 – Deuteronomy 18:1-8 Dec 30, 2019

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The Levites were one of the 12 tribes of Israel. But they were different from all the rest. God had set them apart and ordained them to care for the tabernacle and to meet the spiritual needs of His people. But how did this one tribe receive this illustrious responsibility? What was it about them that earned them the privilege of acting as God's priests? To understand Deuteronomy 18:1-8, where Moses addresses the role and responsibilities of the Levites, we have to go back to the book of Genesis. This tribe, the descendants of Levi, were under a curse, pronounced on them by their own father. But it was well-deserved. Yet, God would redeem this unlikely and undeserving tribe, setting them apart for His service and honoring them with the responsibility of caring for His tabernacle and the spiritual needs of His people.

Ep 971 – Deuteronomy 17:14-25 Dec 29, 2019

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God is omniscient. That's a theologian's fancy way of saying that God knows everything. He is all-knowing. There is nothing that escapes His attention. And unlike us, God doesn't find out about things as they happen. He knows about them in advance. So, when Moses told the people of Israel that there was a day coming when they would demand to have a king just like all the other nations had, he was letting them in on a little secret that no one but God knew. At this point, they weren't even thinking about kings and kingdoms. They were just hoping to survive their takeover of the land of Canaan. But in Deuteronomy 17:14-25, God provides Moses with a glimpse of the future that he shares with the people of Israel. In time, the Israelites would decide they wanted a king. But God wanted them to know that He was going to be very particular about the kind of man who would rule over His chosen people.

Ep 970 – Deuteronomy 17:8-13 Dec 28, 2019

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We live in an age when tolerance is the mantra of the day. Acceptance is the new sign of true enlightenment. There is no such thing as truth, because truth is relative. And we are told that we have no right to push our version of the truth on anyone else. But God would beg to differ. He is the one who established the rules for life and determines the basis for all truth. It is not arbitrary or left up to the imaginations of men. That's why Moses provided the people of Israel with a much-needed reminder, encouraging them to take God's laws seriously and to keep them diligently. In Deuteronomy 17:8-13, we find Moses urging the people of Israel to purge the evil from their midst, not tolerate it or cozy up next to it. There was no room for compromise or complacency. God was not going to allow His people to live according to their own set of standards. He had rules and He expected them to be followed.

Ep 969 – Deuteronomy 17:1-7 Dec 27, 2019

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As Moses attempted to prepare the people of Israel for their entry into the land of promise, he covered every imaginable topic. In Deuteronomy 17:1-7, he addresses the issue of committing an abomination to the Lord. But what exactly does that mean? The Hebrew word actually means "disgusting thing" and was used to refer to anything having to do with the worship of God that was unacceptable. But it also included the worship of false gods. It was an extension or elaboration of the very first commandment of God. The people of Israel were not free to worship false gods. But they were also not free to worship the true God in a false or inappropriate manner. Anyone who did so would be deemed disgusting and unacceptable by God. And the men who would be appointed as judges over the various tribes would be held accountable to deal with such people promptly and severely.

Ep 968 – Deuteronomy 16:8-22 Dec 26, 2019

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God has always chosen to use men to accomplish His will. Over the centuries, He has placed certain men in positions of leadership over His people, even though those men were far from perfect and, at times, anything but holy. They were commissioned by God to act as His representatives on earth, providing His people with leadership, direction, care, and even discipline, when necessary. And in Deuteronomy 16:18-22, Moses provides the people of Israel with God's directives concerning the establishment of leadership once they arrive in the land of promise. Yes, God was their sovereign and the one to whom they owed their unwavering allegiance. But God wanted them to appoint judges and officers who would render righteous judgment and prevent perverted justice. They would act as His agents, dispensing His divine will at the local level and in relevant, easy-to-relate-to ways.

Ep 967 – Deuteronomy 16:9-17 Dec 25, 2019

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Moses continues his exhortation of the Israelites to keep the various feasts and festivals instituted by God. These annual events were non-optional and every single Israelite was to participate in them, from the oldest to the youngest and the richest to the poorest. In Deuteronomy 16:9-17, Moses outlines the seven feasts that were to be celebrated each and every year. But even he was oblivious to the hidden meaning behind each and every one of these festivals. They were to act as precursors, pointing the way to the coming Messiah. In one way or another, He fulfills and completes each one of the festivals, providing mankind with more than enough cause to celebrate. At least for those who have placed their faith in Him. These feasts and festivals were to be times of joy, celebration, and thanksgiving, providing God's people with the opportunity to rejoice in all that God had done for them, over the previous year and the many generations since He had made them His own.

Ep 966 – Deuteronomy 16:1-8 Dec 24, 2019

Show notes

Forgetfulness. We all suffer from it at one time or another. But for the people of Israel, forgetting God was going to be a constant problem. And Moses knew that it would be. So, in Deuteronomy 16:1-8, we have recorded his words warning the Israelites to never forget all that God had done for them. And the way they were to keep all His mighty acts seared into their memory was by keeping the various feasts and festivals He had prescribed for them. From the Passover to the Feast of Unleavened Bread, God had provided a host of annual commemorative ceremonies designed to keep the memory of God's goodness alive and well. While God had great things in store for the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, He also wanted them to never let all His past deeds on their behalf fade from their memories. Remembering was going to be a great way of reminding the Israelites to keep trusting.

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