Deuteronomy. Day 118, The Lord Tells Moses Where He Will Die

Moses has just finished teaching the Israelites a song they are to sing in the future, in a time when many will have turned to idolatry and need to be reminded that their safety and prosperity come from God alone. Today the Lord will reveal to Moses the location of his death, then Moses will bless each tribe of Israel in Chapter 33 before he departs for the location revealed to him by the Lord. In Chapter 34 Moses will die and be buried by the Lord.

We concluded our look at the lyrics of the song yesterday and that's where we pick up now. "Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, he said to them, 'Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you---they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.'" (Deuteronomy 32:44-47) 

In Deuteronomy Moses has been retelling the laws and commandments of the Lord to the new generation that will enter the promised land. The people reaffirmed their vows to the Lord when he read them all the laws and commandments. Now, before he leaves this world, Moses reminds them that these aren't idle words. Obedience to these words means abundant life. Obedience means experiencing all the blessings the Lord promised them in the land He is giving them. You'll recall the list of blessings from Deuteronomy 28: that they would be blessed in the city and in the country, blessed by the fruit of their womb, blessed by fertility of livestock, blessed by abundant harvests, blessed by being protected from enemies and---most of all---blessed by a close relationship with their Maker. 

You'll also recall that the Lord dwelled longer on the list of curses for disobedience than He did on the list of blessings for obedience. This is because He wanted to deeply imprint on their minds the consequences of choosing wicked things. He wanted them to avoid both the natural consequences of sin and the spiritual consequences of sin because He loves them and desires only the best for them. The best for them, and for anyone, is Him! The one who forsakes the Lord is forsaking Him at their own peril, to their own shame, and to their own ruin.

After Moses and his successor Joshua faithfully repeated all the Lord's laws and commandments and the words to the song to the people, the Lord tells Moses where he will take his last breath. "On that same day the Lord told Moses, 'Go up into the Abiram Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.'" (Deuteronomy 32:48-50) A panoramic view of the land can be seen from one of the high ridges in this location.

The Lord previously told Moses that although he would not enter the promised land he would be given a view of it. (Numbers 27:12-14, Deuteronomy 3:27) The view from Mount Nebo is the one the Lord was speaking of. Moses, along with everyone who was aged twenty and up when the Israelites left Egypt (with the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb), will not enter the promised land. The congregation members who were of legal age when they left Egypt were not allowed to enter because they rebelled against the Lord at Kadesh in Numbers 13 and 14 when they lacked the faith to believe the Lord could enable them to fight the giants and scale the city walls of the promised land. Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter because although they believed the Lord would help them take the land they disrespected the Lord at Meribah in Kadesh in Numbers 20. They disobeyed the Lord's instructions about how to bring water out of a rock in the desert and they took the credit for causing the water to come forth. Because of this the Lord said that neither of them would enter the promised land. The Lord restates His reason for not allowing Moses (and Aaron, who has already died) to enter the land here in Deuteronomy 32:51-52, "This is because both of you broke faith with Me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold My holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel." 

Did the Lord not forgive Moses and Aaron? There's no reason to believe He didn't. I am certain that both men were heartily sorry for their actions and I believe the Lord accepted their repentance. But He did not change His mind about not allowing them to step foot in the promised land. 

Sin can have very far-reaching consequences that linger long after the sin was first committed. We may repent and obtain forgiveness from the Lord but that doesn't mean the harm we did with our sin just disappears instantly. Moses and Aaron did spiritual harm to the congregation when they lost their tempers at Meribah and failed to follow the Lord's instructions (which were very simple and very precise) and when they took the credit for the water that flowed from the rock. It's bad enough when average citizens sin and set a bad example for those around them, but it's a serious matter indeed when a religious or political leader sins and sets a bad example. Moses and Aaron were in a position to greatly influence the entire congregation of Israel and they set a bad example at Meribah. When they did not honor the Lord in the sight of the people, this had the potential to cause the people to feel they didn't have to honor Him either. These two men had more influence over the congregation than anyone else and that's why their mistake was judged so harshly. 

But the Lord doesn't leave us wallowing in our mistakes, not if we let Him pick us back up. The Lord is going to allow Moses to impart a benediction upon each tribe of Israel before he leaves this earth. His many years of work for the nation will end on a good note. One big mistake may have kept Moses from the promised land but it didn't disqualify him from blessing the Lord's people.

Deuteronomy. Day 117, The Song Of Moses, Part Six

As we conclude the Song of Moses today the Lord counsels the nation of Israel to consider who gave them their victories. In a time when they have settled in the promised land, and when they have grown prosperous and have grown apart from the Lord, He will allow enemies to plunder them. In that day they are to ask themselves why they are being so easily defeated. He wants them to come to the conclusion that it is because they have pushed Him out of their lives. Because they have pushed Him to the side, He has taken a step back and removed His protective hand in order to allow hardship to turn them back to Him.

"They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be! How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up? For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras." (Deuteronomy 32:28-33) Earlier in Deuteronomy the Lord promised the people if they would remain faithful to Him no enemy could stand against them. "The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven." (Deuteronomy 28:7) But if they do not honor and obey the Lord, the opposite is to happen. "The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You will come at them from one direction but flee from them in seven, and you will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms on earth." (Deuteronomy 28:25) In the day when they begin experiencing defeat, and in the day when their sudden downturn in circumstances are being talked about far and wide, the Lord wants them to remember what He said so they can acknowledge that, as the prophet Isaiah put it, "Your iniquities have separated you from your God." (Isaiah 59:2a) 

As we've said time and again, the purpose of discipline is repentance. The Lord doesn't want to bring destruction; He wants to bring healing. Unpleasant consequences are intended to send the wayward running back to Him. For a time the Lord will use Israel's enemies as instruments of discipline but in due time He will avenge His people. He will judge the heathen nations for their treatment of the people of Israel. "Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in My vaults? It is Mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them. The Lord will vindicate His people and relent concerning His servants when He sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free." (Deuteronomy 32:34-36) Later in the Old Testament, when many of the Lord's people have fallen into idolatry, He will use nations such as Assyria and Babylon to discipline them. But the leadership of these nations will go above and beyond simply conquering the people and taking them captive. Power will go to their heads and they will give free reign to the cruelty lurking in their hearts. The Lord will bring those nations down to the ground, saying that He allowed them to conquer Israel for a time because "I was angry with My people" but that "you showed them no mercy". (Isaiah 47:6) 

The gods of the heathen nations will have no power against the Lord Almighty. Their gods will not defend them from His wrath and He will allow their kingdoms to fall. When these kingdoms lie defeated in the dust, the Lord will ask them where their gods are now. "He will say: 'Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in, the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter! See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides Me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of My hand. I lift My hand to heaven and solemnly swear: As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen My flashing sword and My hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on My adversaries and repay those who hate Me. I will make My arrows drunk with blood, while My sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.'" (Deuteronomy 32:37-42) 

Some of the citizens of other nations will turn to the one and only God when they behold His power over the idols. Those who give their hearts to the God of Israel will rejoice with God's people Israel when they see the Lord punishing Israel's enemies. "Rejoice, you nations, with His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants; He will take vengeance on His enemies and make atonement for His land and people." (Deuteronomy 32:43) The Apostle Paul interpreted verse 43 as finding its ultimate fulfillment in the church age when so many Gentiles turned from idolatry to the living God and began to feel an affinity for Israel. (See Romans 15:8-12.) I believe Paul was onto something because who are Israel's greatest supporters in the world today? Is it not the Christians, the majority of whom are of Gentile ancestry? In particular we find the denominations that fall under the heading of Evangelical Christians praying for the peace and prosperity of Israel and mourning with Israel every time she is attacked by an enemy and rejoicing with Israel every time the Lord frustrates the plans of Israel's enemies. Millions of Christians all over the world rejoiced when Israel was reinstated as a sovereign nation in 1948. Millions of Christians all over the world want to see Israel remaining a strong and prosperous nation from now on. We rejoice in the blessings the Lord pours out on Israel. 

The Song of Moses has concluded and it has concluded on a high note. The ancient Israelites were going to fall into idolatry for a time but they weren't going to remain there. The Lord would discipline the people for a time but they wouldn't remain under His discipline forever. The hearts of the people will be restored and the nation will be restored and in that day the Lord's wrath will turn upon those who were not merciful toward His people. 

Deuteronomy. Day 116, The Song Of Moses, Part Five

We are still in the portion of Deuteronomy called the Song of Moses. Our passage today is very sad for it speaks of the consequences to come after the Lord's people turn to idolatry. In yesterday's passage the Lord said that because He had been rejected He would hide His face (withdraw the closeness of His presence) and in a lot of cases this can be enough to turn a person back to Him. A person begins to miss their close connection with the Lord and starts to think about how far they've fallen. But when this approach doesn't work, the Lord has to resort to more unpleasant methods to get a person to see the error of his ways. I confess there have been times when He's had to let my situation become quite desperate in order to get me to stop going in the wrong direction and turn around. He is capable of using these methods for individuals or for nations who have drifted away from Him.

"For a fire will be kindled by My wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains." (Deuteronomy 32:22) Many times already the Lord promised abundant harvests if the people remain faithful to Him. If they do not remain faithful to Him, He said the crops would be cursed. He said there would be scorching heat and drought, blight and mildew. What didn't burn up in the drought would be eaten by locusts and worms. 

Not only would famine be the result of waywardness, but so would illnesses and invasion by enemies. The Lord went into much greater detail about these calamities in Deuteronomy 28 but gives a brief summary of them again here in Chapter 32. "I will heap calamities on them and spend My arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair." (Deuteronomy 32:23-25) 

Famine, disease, and the enemy sword don't discriminate: they strike people of all ages. This is why we find mention of young men and women, infants, and those with gray hair being affected by the same troubles. Although the Lord says "I will send" these calamities, I feel like it would be accurate to say that what He's doing is taking His protective hand off the nation in the day when many of the citizens have forsaken Him. That's all He would have to do to cause these things to take place. When the time comes that they have withdrawn from Him and do not wish to have Him in their lives, like the gentleman He is He will withdraw His presence and hand of protection. This will allow the enemy nations surrounding them, who were greater in number and in military experience, to swoop in and take advantage of the situation. In withdrawing His presence He withdraws the extra abundance of blessing He promised for obedience: the blessings of the rains always being on time, the blessings of keeping destroying insects away, the blessings of great fertility in humans and in livestock, and the blessings of holding back the diseases that plagued the heathen tribes. If the Israelites begin adopting idolatrous practices, a number of diseases will befall them that they've never dealt with before, for the heathen tribes ate unclean foods forbidden to the Israelites and they drank blood in their idolatrous ceremonies. The Lord doesn't have to point His finger and literally strike someone with these plagues; the plagues will be the natural consequence of ingesting things He told them never to ingest. 

Several times since the Exodus we've found the Lord upset enough with the people's rebellious attitude that He's threatened to make an end of them. You'll recall Moses interceding on their behalf, saying that not only was the fate of the nation at stake but that the Lord's reputation was also at stake. If the Lord destroyed the nation, the other nations would mock His name and claim that He was not powerful enough to keep the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The heathens would continue their false belief that their gods were real and that their gods were stronger than the God of Israel. The Lord is not a promise breaker. The Lord must be true to who He is at all times, and who He is is someone of integrity, someone who is holy, someone who is powerful, someone who is faithful, someone who must show Himself to be Lord---the only God---to all the nations on earth so that all human beings will have the opportunity to know and serve their Creator. So we find Him saying next that although He had the right to destroy His chosen people for "unchoosing" Him, He would not do so because the heathens would misinterpret what He was doing. "I said I would scatter them and erase them from human memory, but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, 'Our hand has triumphed; the Lord has not done all of this.'" (Deuteronomy 32:26-27)

The Lord would be within His rights to be done with the entire human race. We have all sinned against Him. We have committed some sins in ignorance when we weren't familiar with His laws and commandments. We've committed some sins knowing full well we were disobeying Him. We've put other things and other people ahead of Him sometimes. We've put ourselves ahead of Him and have done what seemed right to us without consulting Him about the path we should take. He could wipe us all off the face of the earth and conclude that this human "experiment" (for lack of a better word) has been unsatisfactory. But He hasn't and He won't because, as the prophet Jeremiah stated, He loves us and has compassion on us. We don't deserve this love and compassion but the Lord must be who He is: a loving and compassionate God. So we are still here on this earth today because of who He is, not because we are worthy. "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Deuteronomy. Day 115, The Song Of Moses, Part Four

We are continuing on through the Song of Moses in Chapter 32. Yesterday our study closed with the Lord speaking of a day in which the ancient Israelites, having taken hold of the promised land, will turn to idolatry. As a result of this unfaithfulness, we talked about how the Lord would discipline the nation later on in the Bible. (The Lord, by the way, has the right to discipline any nation or any person who turns from Him and puts something else in His place.) We talked about how the Lord disciplines His sons and daughters to help them get back on the right path, the same reason good earthly fathers use discipline. 

Because many of the people will turn from Him to idols later in the Old Testament, for a time the Lord will allow them to reap the consequences of this poor decision. He will allow hardship and defeat to come into their lives to remind them that only when they are in step with Him are they victorious. "'I will hide My face from them,' He said, 'and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no god and angered Me with their worthless idols.'" (Deuteronomy 32:20-21a) 

As we said yesterday, the Lord is jealous for us---jealous on our behalf. We could say the same of good and loving parents; they are jealous on behalf of their children---they want only the best for them. The Lord wants only the best for the humans He created. We can never be all we should be or have all we should have apart from Him. We'll never be "living our best life", as the saying goes, apart from Him. We'll never be our best selves without a relationship with Him. We'll miss out on a great deal of peace, comfort, strength, and victory in this life if we neglect a relationship with our Creator. Worst of all, we'll miss out on eternity in His presence if we reject Him our whole lives long.

The Lord says the people made Him jealous by forsaking Him in favor of heathen idols. He plans to stir the people's hearts and bring them back to Himself by making them jealous of people they've never been jealous of before: the Gentiles. "I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding." (Deuteronomy 32:21b) How do we know this is a reference to Gentiles? Whenever the Lord speaks of any tribe or nation other than the tribes of Israel or the nation of Israel, He is speaking of the Gentiles. All the other races on earth fall under the heading of "Gentile". Any time the Lord speaks of "the nations" He means nations other than Israel. He says the Gentiles have "no understanding"---meaning no understanding of Him---because at that time the vast majority of Gentiles did not want to know or serve Him. 

The prophet Isaiah referenced Deuteronomy 32:21b when he spoke of the idolatry his own people had fallen into. The Lord revealed to the prophet His plan to call the Gentiles to salvation, saying, "I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call on My name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'" (Isaiah 65:1) The Gentiles were people who did not ask for the Lord, who did not seek Him, who were serving false gods for thousands of years, yet when He began to call to them, they listened. In comparison, the Lord said that the Israelites of Isaiah's day were "an obstinate people" who offered sacrifices to idols, ate unclean foods, and engaged in occult practices like trying to commune with the dead. (Isaiah 65:2-5) 

Don't get me wrong: I don't believe there was ever a time when 100% of the Israelites turned from the Lord. The Bible makes it clear that the Lord has always had a remnant of faithful ones in every era. Also we must not forget that the nation turned back to the Lord; the people did not remain fallen away from Him. The Lord allowed a downturn in prosperity and then invasion and captivity for a time as discipline, but this discipline served to get the nation back on the right track. For a time the Gentile nations flourished more than the nation of Israel, but this was because for a time so many citizens of Israel forsook the Lord. The Israelites of that time could feel "envious", in a sense, of the Gentile nations. The Lord allowed the Gentiles to become mighty nations not because He approved of how they were living but in order to use them to bring His covenant people back to Him. Because so many of His covenant people fell into idolatry in Old Testament times, He allowed Gentiles to invade and conquer Israel. He allowed Gentiles to take Israelites captive to foreign lands. The Gentile nations of those days had great wealth and enormous armies. The comparison of the Israelites' current circumstances (after having fallen into idolatry) with the prosperity of the heathen Gentiles who lived in detestable ways was intended to turn the people back to the Lord and make make them ask themselves, "Why are times so difficult now? Why have our circumstances turned so bitter? Why are our enemies able to defeat us?" It was intended to make them conclude, "It is because we have forsaken the Lord our God." 

As we've said before, whenever any of us experiences a downturn in circumstances it's wise to first consider whether we've drifted from the closeness we once had with the Lord. Have we been neglecting fellowship with Him in prayer? Have we been neglecting Bible study? Have we fallen into some sinful habits? If we find the answer is "yes" to any of those questions, we may be under the Lord's discipline. What's the best thing to do when we're being disciplined? Allow it to lead us to repentance and restoration. 

Just as the Lord allowed ancient Israel to fall as a nation after the people fell from their relationship with Him, He is able to allow any nation of today's world to fall if its citizens fall from their relationship with Him. We should daily pray that we and all our fellow citizens who believe in the Lord would remain strong in the Lord. We should daily pray for the conversion of all our fellow citizens who don't know Him at this time. The Bible says that, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," (Psalm 33:12), and the best way to ensure a blessing upon our nation is to serve the one and only God.

Deuteronomy. Day 114, The Song Of Moses, Part Three

We are studying the song that the Lord told Moses to teach the Israelites to sing. They are to sing it later on down the road, in a time when many of them will have drifted into idolatry, in a time when the Lord has had to discipline them for going astray. As we've discussed before, the Lord is a good Father who disciplines His children for their own good. The ultimate goal of discipline is to get the wanderer back onto the right path.

Although it has not happened yet, the Lord knows it will happen, so He speaks of the fall into idolatry as if it has already taken place. "They made Him jealous with their foreign gods and angered Him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God---gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth." (Deuteronomy 32:16-18) I once heard somebody say in a women's Bible class that when the Bible says the Lord is jealous it means the Lord is jealous for us. He is jealous for us in the sense that He wants the best for us, and being in fellowship with Him is what is best for us. It's what we were created for. It's the only thing that will help us. It's the only thing that will satisfy us. It's the only thing that will save us.

He says in the verses above that the people have forsaken the eternal God who created them for false gods who were created by man. Their ancestors didn't know these gods because the names of these gods hadn't been invented in their day. I am reminded of some passages from the book of Isaiah where the Lord is pleading with the nation to forsake false gods and turn back to Him. He reminds them that He is the only God there ever has been or ever will be. "'Before Me no god was formed, nor will there be one after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from Me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed---I, and not some foreign god among you. You are My witnesses,' declares the Lord, 'that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am He.'" (Isaiah 43:10b-13a) And again He says, "I am the first and I am the last; apart from Me there is no God...You are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one." (Isaiah 44:6b, 8b)

The people witnessed His power in Egypt. The false gods of Egypt were not able to stand before Him because they were not real. They witnessed the Lord's power at the Red Sea and in the wilderness when He made a way for them and provided for them for forty years. They will witness His power when they've crossed over the Jordan and He causes cities to fall before them and armies to flee from them. Have they ever witnessed the power of any other god? Has any god of any other nation ever done anything for them? No, because God alone is God. That's why He appeals to them to consider all that they have seen and heard of Him. He's provided enough proof to believe in Him and trust in Him.

The Lord has provided enough proof for me to believe in Him and trust in Him. No other god has done anything for me. I have only witnessed the Lord God of Israel---the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob---coming to my rescue. This is the only God who has made a way for me through the seas of adversity and who has provided for me when it looked impossible to pay my bills and who has healed me several times when the doctors weren't even sure what the problem was. This is the only God who answers when I call because this is the only God there is!

The Lord became angry when, in spite of all He'd done for the nation, the people rejected Him in favor of useless idols. "The Lord saw this and rejected them because He was angered by His sons and daughters." (Deuteronomy 32:19) Something we want to take note of here is that even though the Lord was angry with the nation, He still calls the citizens His "sons and daughters". He isn't going to break any of the covenant promises He's made to Israel. He isn't going to forsake Israel. He had to apply discipline here and there just as any father must discipline a rebellious child but that doesn't mean the Lord disowned Israel. 

My earthly father had to discipline me from time to time but he never disowned me and forbade me to speak to him again. The purpose of my father's discipline was to get me back on the right track and to teach me---for my own safety---to obey his instructions without question. That's the purpose of the Lord's discipline too. He intends it for our own good and for our own safety. Obedience to Him is in our best interests because He knows all things. He knows what will be the result of us going astray. He knows what kinds of heartache and disappointment lie along the path of disobedience. He knows the spiritual, physical, emotional, and financial pitfalls of going the wrong way. He'd like to spare us troubles of our own making. When we keep going in the wrong direction He has to do something to get our attention and turn us around. That "something" often takes the form of discipline. Discipline isn't fun but it's necessary when we won't listen any other way. As the Apostle Paul said, "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11)

 

Deuteronomy. Day 113, The Song Of Moses, Part Two

Moses is teaching a song to Israel, a song the people can sing when they are residing in the promised land and realize they have turned from the Lord to the idols of the other nations. The Lord is providing this song now because He knows all things and knows the day is coming when the song will prove His faithfulness and prove the people's unfaithfulness. But He also knows a day is coming when they will return to Him and He will restore their prosperity.

We closed our last study with the Lord encouraging the people to think back on how their forefathers served Him. Because the patriarchs served the Lord, the Lord called their descendants (the nation of Israel) to be His special covenant people. "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He divided all mankind, He set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob His allotted inheritance." (Deuteronomy 32:8-9)

In our next segment the one referred to as "him" is Israel/Jacob. In the Bible we often find the words "Israel" and "Jacob" used interchangeably as the name of the nation. "In a desert land He found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; He guarded him as the apple of His eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him." (Deuteronomy 32:10-12) Who led Israel through the wilderness? Who protected and provided for Israel in the wilderness? It was God alone. No god of any pagan nation did any of these things. 

Who will cause Israel to flourish in the promised land? God alone. The following verses are written in the future tense in the original language. In the English version these verses are provided in the past tense, like things that have already taken place, but there's nothing theologically wrong with that since anything God says He is going to do is as good as done. He intends to bless Israel in the promised land and He can speak of these blessings either as things that are going to happen or as things that have already happened; it is all one and the same to Him. "He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape." (Deuteronomy 32:13-14)

The Lord can speak of deeds He intends to accomplish as if they are already done. Because He knows the future, He can speak of Israel's rebellion in the promised land as if it has already happened, which is what He will do momentarily. After the people take over the land and begin to prosper in it, many of them will allow themselves to neglect their relationship with the Lord. Prosperity, as we've discussed before, has the potential to make anyone lazy in their faith. Good times can cause a person to neglect prayer and to neglect studying God's word. The Lord wants to make His people prosper but the people have a responsibility not to allow prosperity to come between them and God. Like any loving father, the Lord enjoys giving good things to His children but it is the responsibility of all who belong to the Lord to be respectful children. We must not ignore Him when times are good and call upon Him only when things go wrong. 

Think of it this way: Do we treat our earthly fathers like that? Do we call them only when we need help or do we call them just because we enjoy talking with them? Do we visit them only to ask for something or do we visit them because we love them and enjoy their company? Those who have good fathers are interested in maintaining their relationships with them at all times---in the good times and in the bad times. Those who love their fathers spend time with them when they aren't asking for a thing and when they aren't expecting a thing. 

When we became adults we started asking our fathers what we could do for them, didn't we? This is another facet of our relationship with our heavenly Father. The Lord wants us to come to Him with our prayer requests but He also wants us to ask, "What can I do for You, Lord? How can I serve You?"

The word "Jeshurun" in this next verse means "the upright one" and the Lord is using this word as a symbol for Israel. "Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior." (Deuteronomy 32:15) The Lord compares the nation to a fat and lazy farm animal that stubbornly refuses to obey its master. This is not a flattering description. It depicts an animal that sought its master when it was hungry but ignores its master when it's full and comfortable. This is a condition that can come upon any person or any nation, not just ancient Israel. If we allow a comfortable season in life to make us spiritually lazy, any of us can drift from a close relationship with the Lord. If that happens, and if we ignore the warning of the Holy Spirit that we're drifting, the Lord is willing to take us through a difficult season in order to get us back on track. He is a good Father. A good and loving parent does not sit back and allow his child to walk over a cliff; no matter what it takes, that parent will try to turn the child around and get him going back in the right direction. Sometimes the only way the Lord can get our attention as we walk stubbornly toward the cliff is to bring hardship into our lives. What has the ability to drive us to our knees in a hurry? It's hardship, isn't it? It's unpleasant circumstances. It's a situation we want the Lord to turn around. It's a problem we want the Lord to fix.

I think we could avoid some hardships in life by making certain we're daily maintaining our relationship with the Lord. Many of the hardships of my life have been the result of spiritual laziness. The Lord has had to resort to getting my attention any way He could. When I didn't respond to spoken warnings (the ministry of the Holy Spirit who communes with my spirit), He had to take action. At times I've been like a small child who keeps reaching for a boiling pot of water on the stove. I didn't respond to the Lord's instructions not to touch it so He had to smack my hand to startle me enough to get me to stop. A good parent does not allow his child to pull a pot of boiling water over himself and the Lord is a good parent. If He has to smack our hand away, He will.

Deuteronomy. Day 112, The Song Of Moses, Part One

We are going to spend several days studying what is called "The Song Of Moses" because it is quite long. This song could more accurately be called "The Song Of Israel", in a way, because it's a song for the Israelites to sing after they have entered the promised land and have turned from the Lord as the Lord predicted they would. But the song was given to Israel by the Lord through Moses. It was taught to them by Moses and it was written down for them by Moses, so it is known as "The Song Of Moses".

"And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel: Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants." (Deuteronomy 31:30, Deuteronomy 32:1-2) In yesterday's passage Moses said he would "speak these words" and "call the heavens and the earth to testify". Here we find him calling upon the heavens and the earth to witness the fact that he is faithfully relaying this song to the congregation of Israel, just as the Lord commanded him.

In yesterday's passage the Lord said this song would "be a witness for Me against them". The song will proclaim the goodness of God toward Israel. It will demonstrate that the Lord did everything He possibly could to help the people be spiritually successful in their new lives in the promised land. The song begins by extolling the goodness of the Lord. "I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the goodness of our God! He is the Rock, His works are perfect, and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He." (Deuteronomy 32:3-4) Things will go wrong in the promised land but not because the Lord is at fault in any way. His ways are perfect. He keeps His promises. No one will have any legitimate complaint about Him and be able to truthfully claim, "God didn't help us. He didn't do what He said He'd do. He didn't give us everything we needed to be successful in our relationship with Him."

As the saying goes, when a person realizes he isn't as close to the Lord as he used to be, it is the person who moved and not the Lord. The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) He is of perfect character at all times and He does not change. He does not break promises. He does not fail and fall short. In time the people won't be as close to Him as they are now but it will be because they drifted away from Him, not because the Lord drifted away from them. "They are corrupt and not His children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and unwise people? Is He not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?" (Deuteronomy 32:5-6) The song accuses the unfaithful, saying, "The Lord did not forsake you. You forsook Him. The Lord did everything He could possibly have done for you and you repaid Him by rejecting Him."

The song encourages the Israelites to remember how faithful the patriarchs were to the Lord. They are to look back at their forefathers and follow their examples. "Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you." (Deuteronomy 32:7) I am reminded of what the Lord said to the people through the prophet Jeremiah during a time of rebellion. "This is what the Lord says: 'Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.' But you said, 'We will not listen.'" (Jeremiah 6:16) 

When troubled times come, and when the people wonder, "Why have things turned out so badly for us? Why is the Lord not with us as He was with our fathers? Why isn't He giving victory to our army? Why is He allowing our enemies to persecute us?", the answer is, "Because we have not been faithful to the Lord like our fathers were. We have not clung to Him like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We have not followed His commands like Moses. We have strayed from the good path our fathers forged for us. We must find our way back to it. Then the Lord will forgive us and make His face to shine on us again."

Unpleasant circumstances in our lives aren't always the result of sin but the first thing we should do when hardships come is get alone with the Lord and pray and search our hearts to determine whether or not we have been living in sin. When bad things happen it's natural to wonder, "Why is this happening to me?" and sometimes the answer is, "Because I brought it on myself. Because I've gotten off track. Because the Lord had to allow trouble into my life to get my attention and turn me back to Him." 

Deuteronomy. Day 111, The Rebellion Of Ancient Israel Foretold, Part Two

The Lord told Moses in yesterday's passage that the people will soon turn from Him to other gods in the promised land. The Lord is telling Moses to write down the words of a song and teach the song to the Israelites to sing when they realize they've forsaken Him. The Lord said this song would be a testimony to His faithfulness and a testimony to their unfaithfulness. But as we discussed yesterday, the song will end on a positive note. 

Before we are given the lyrics of the song, we finish reading the remainder of the Lord's prophecy regarding Israel's coming rebellion. "Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting Me and breaking My covenant." (Deuteronomy 31:19-20) In reading these words it may be difficult for us to understand why anyone would turn away from the Lord who fulfills all His promises and brings such good things to pass, but it's only difficult to understand if we don't consider how much easier it is to neglect the Lord in good times than in bad times. Prosperity can make us lazy. It can make us complacent, bored, prideful, and overconfident in ourselves. If we take a moment to think back over our lives I think most of us will have to admit we have prayed and read our Bibles more during the hard times than during the easy times. 

Because it will take hard times to turn the people back to the Lord, He will allow troubles and trials to come upon the nation. When these troubles and trials come, they are to sing the song He has given them. The words of the song will tell them why they are in this predicament and cause them to repent. "And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath." (Deuteronomy 31:21) 

We've all made some bad choices. We've all brought hardships on ourselves through our bad choices. But the Lord always leaves His door open so we can return to Him. He has provided us with His word so we can read His laws and commandments and acknowledge that we have failed to live up to them. When we acknowledge our failures, we can come to Him and admit our sins and ask for His mercy and forgiveness. He is going to give the Israelites a song to help them see where they went wrong and to help them get back on the right path. This is because He intends to extend mercy and forgiveness to them when they repent. He doesn't intend to say, "Sorry, you've messed up too shockingly. You've sinned too many times. I'm not going to hear your prayer of repentance." No, as the author of Psalm 106 points out, even though "many times He delivered them, yet they were bent on rebellion," still He "took note of their distress when He heard their cry; for their sake He remembered His covenant and out of His great love He relented". 

Moses obeys the Lord and writes down the song and teaches it to the congregation. Then the Lord issues another word of encouragement to Joshua, who is probably feeling as sad and worried as Moses. "So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites. The Lord gave this commandment to Joshua son of Nun: 'Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.'" (Deuteronomy 31:22-23) 

Joshua might have been thinking, "If the people aren't going to remain faithful to the Lord, why am I taking them into the land? This is a very big job that I'm being called to do. Is it all going to be for nothing? I'm struggling with the idea of performing this monumental task only to have the people turn from the Lord after we've won these battles." But the Lord reassures Him, "You won't be performing this monumental task alone. I will give you the strength and the endurance to accomplish it. Don't be discouraged because I've told you that the people will turn away from Me. They will also turn back to Me. I always knew everything they would ever do and yet I called them to be My special covenant people. I knew they would rebel against Me in the promised land but I intended long ago to give it to them anyway. I will give it to them. And even though they will turn for a time to other gods, and even though I will allow other nations to conquer them, and even though I will allow them to be scattered throughout the earth, in time I will regather them to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joshua, you are a part of My plans for Israel. You are the man I've chosen to take them into the land. Though the people may forsake Me for a time, don't let that discourage you. It doesn't change the job you've been called to do. Your job is simply to obey Me and let Me handle everything else." 

Moses finishes writing down the song and the copy of the law that the Lord commanded him to put into the care of the religious leaders who will read it aloud at the end of every seven years to the congregation as a whole during the Feast of Tabernacles. Next Moses speaks some words that must have been difficult to hear. He relays to them the prophecy of the Lord concerning their coming rebellion. He upbraids them for the rebellious spirit they've had in the wilderness. Though Moses was probably upset and dismayed by the news of the coming rebellion, I don't believe he was surprised by it. He has led a great number of people for a great many years and he knows human nature. He knows how hard it is to keep people on track. He knows how easy it is for people to go astray. 

He closes with these words of warning. "After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord: 'Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! Assembled before me all the elders of your tribes and all the officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them. For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse His anger by what your hands have made.'" (Deuteronomy 31:24-29) 

Disaster comes due to rebellion. But restoration comes because the Lord is merciful and forgiving and hears the cry of the repentant soul. In the song in Chapter 32 we'll find the Lord turning His anger away from the people and turning it on those who have made themselves the enemies of His people. We'll find Him encouraging the Israelites to rejoice because He intends to forgive them and help them.

Deuteronomy. Day 110, The Rebellion Of Ancient Israel Foretold, Part One

The Lord is going to give Moses a song to write down for the Israelites. Before Moses teaches them the song, the Lord explains the purpose of the song.

"The Lord said to Moses, 'Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.' So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting." (Deuteronomy 31:14) Joshua's succession of Moses has already been announced (for the second time in the Old Testament) by Moses in our current chapter but now the Lord shows up to confirm that Joshua is His choice. "Then the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent." (Deuteronomy 31:15)

The Lord also shows up to predict a turning away of Israel. Because Israel will turn away from the Lord for a time, the Lord gives Moses the words of the song the people are to sing when they realize they have turned from the Lord and lost the many benefits of being close to Him.

"And the Lord said to Moses: 'You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I made with them. And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide My face from them, and in that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?' And I will certainly hide My face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods." (Deuteronomy 31:16-18) The Lord knows all things, so He knew many of the Israelites would adopt the practices of the heathen tribes of Canaan. He also knew He would allow those who forsake Him to experience the consequences of their actions, which is why He said He would "hide My face from them". The consequences of our sins can be very unpleasant, can't they? But this is the mercy of God, for if there were never any painful results of sin, we might not repent of it. Sin can be pleasant at first but the pleasure of sin is fleeting and lasts only for a season. (Hebrews 11:25) 

The Lord will give the people a song to sing on the day when they realize they've lost a measure of His protection due to their own waywardness. It will be a song about the goodness of God and about how they repaid the Lord's goodness with unfaithfulness and rebellion. "Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them." (Deuteronomy 31:19) The song will testify against the people. It will prove that the Lord did everything that could have been done to help them successfully follow Him but that they abandoned the one true God who called them out of Egypt and made a covenant with them.

But the song will end on a positive note. The Lord's discipline won't last forever. The people will turn back to Him when they realize the gods of the heathens cannot save them. When they see how much they gave up by turning away from God, and when they admit that the Lord is the source of all good things, they will repent. The song will end by saying that the Lord will "make atonement for His land and people." (Deuteronomy 32:43) 

We have all sinned and rebelled against the Lord, both before we made Him the Lord of our lives and after we came to salvation in Him. We struggle against our carnal natures and sometimes we give in to our carnal natures. Sometimes we put other people or other things ahead of God. Sometimes we put ourselves ahead of God by deciding to go our own way and have the thing that is wrong or have the thing that is right but at the wrong time. When we charge down the wrong path and keep going down it in spite of knowing it's the wrong path, our Father may have to discipline us in order to get us to turn around. In addition to that, there are natural earthly consequences to wrong behavior. For example, if we steal from someone we can repent of our sin and be forgiven by God, but the person we stole from may never trust us again no matter what we do or say to try and make things right. Another example would be that of a person who is unfaithful to their spouse; though they may repent of their sin and deeply wish they could undo it, their marriage may still be over. One more example might be if a person commits a crime and ends up in jail. Confessing and repenting to the Lord makes things right with the Lord but it won't make it right with the legal system; the person will still have to serve their sentence. 

In order to avoid the Lord's discipline and to avoid the natural consequences of sin, the best thing to do would be to not sin. But we are frail. We are beset by temptations in this fallen world. We are going to make mistakes from time to time. That's why the song the Lord gives to Israel ends on a note of forgiveness and restoration. That's why the Lord makes a way for all of us to repent and turn back to Him to receive forgiveness and restoration. The price of rebellion can be high. The consequences can be unpleasant. The discipline of the Lord can be difficult to bear. But the song doesn't end there! The song ends in hope, thanks be to our merciful and loving Creator. 

Deuteronomy. Day 109, Public Reading Of The Law Every Seven Years

Yesterday we talked about how plain the Lord made His laws and commandments. Today we learn that Moses wrote a copy of the law to give to the priests to read to the congregation every seven years.

"So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel." (Deuteronomy 31:9) The responsibility for the religious instruction of the congregation as a group belonged to the religious leaders of the community. That's why the priests were entrusted with this copy of the law. 

"Then Moses commanded them: 'At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place He will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.'" (Deuteronomy 31:10-11) This doesn't mean the people were only to read the law every seven years. But they were to hold this special assembly and a special public reading of the law at the end of every seven years. 

Imagine if you and I only heard portions of the Holy Bible every seven years. We wouldn't have a very comprehensive knowledge of what is contained in the Bible. We'd have trouble memorizing verses from the Bible. We'd almost certainly find it difficult to develop a close relationship with the Lord because we'd have no idea what He says and how He thinks and what He wants us to do. The people were to make themselves very familiar with the law at all times. We've already seen that maintaining a close connection to the word of God was to be a part of everyday life for the Israelites, for Moses instructed them: "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Deuteronomy 11:18-20) 

To ensure as many citizens as possible are able to hear this special reading of the law, it is to be read during one of the three yearly festivals which Jewish men were required to attend: the Festival of Tabernacles. This attendance was usually a family affair, with the men bringing their wives and children and their extended family members and servants. The Lord wants everyone to hear the reading of the law so He commands the women, children, and foreigners to attend this reading along with the men. "Assemble the people---men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns---so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." (Deuteronomy 31:12-13)

The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:35 that husbands were supposed to be explaining the Lord's laws at home. But we can safely assume that not every man of Israel was fulfilling this duty in the home, just as not every man in today's world is fulfilling this duty in the home. (For example, there are a lot of Christian men in today's world who are not stepping up and setting the spiritual example for their households by talking about the Lord at home and reading the Bible with their families and leading prayer with their families; their wives have had to step into this role.) Until modern times a lot of cultures did not consider it necessary to teach women or servants or slaves how to read. How then were they to hear the word of the Lord if the male head of the household did not speak of the Lord and His laws at home? They would at least be able to hear the word of God at the public reading of the law every seventh year. The Lord wants everyone to have an opportunity to learn about Him and that's why He commanded everyone to assemble at this public reading of the law.

In our own country there is really no excuse for not knowing at least some of what the Scriptures say. We have access to the word of God through more methods than ever before. We have printed Bibles. We have online Bibles. We can get free Bibles from a lot of different organizations. We can hear the word of God on TV and radio. We can attend religious services whenever we choose without anyone trying to prevent us from assembling together. In order to be completely ignorant of what the word of God says, a person pretty much has to be deliberately avoiding hearing or seeing anything that pertains to the Bible. The Lord has graciously made His word available to anyone and everyone who wants to hear it or read it. But because He's made His word so easily accessible, our guilt for not knowing His laws and commandments is that much greater. We are more responsible for knowing and following His holy precepts than we ever have been before. With this in mind, let's try to never let a day pass without taking time to read something out of the Bible. We are so privileged to have this free, unhindered access to it! There are some countries where a person can be put to death for possessing a page of the Bible. How can we neglect this awesome opportunity we've been given? 

Deuteronomy. Day 108, Joshua Re-Confirmed To Succeed Moses

In Numbers 27 we found the Lord announcing Joshua as Moses' successor. Moses obeyed the Lord's instructions by having Joshua stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire congregation to be commissioned in the sight of everyone to succeed Moses. At that time Joshua took on more leadership responsibilities because the Lord had said to Moses, "Give him some of your authority." It was important for the congregation to begin viewing Joshua as their next leader so he began doing a lot of the things a leader does, even while Moses was still alive. This ensured a smooth transition of power. King David used a similar method to ensure his son Solomon succeeded him as king of Israel; from what would be David's deathbed he ordered that Solomon be anointed as king, announced as king, and seated on the throne. Solomon began taking over some of the leadership duties of the nation while his father was still alive. All these things solidified his claim to the throne to prevent anyone trying to usurp him.

In our text today Moses reminds the congregation that Joshua will be the man to take them across the Jordan. Moses will die without entering the promised land, just as the Lord said, but he is giving all his support to Joshua and they must do the same. 

"Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: 'I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, 'You shall not cross the Jordan.'" (Deuteronomy 31:1-2) If we didn't have some information from Chapter 34 regarding Moses' physical condition we'd conclude from Moses' words here that he was too infirm to continue leading the nation. But Deuteronomy 34:7 tells us, "Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone." He was not feeble. He still stood tall and steady. He still had a lot of energy. His eyesight was sharp. His hearing was normal. He was just as able as ever to stand and address the congregation with strength of body and strength of voice and strength of mind and strength of spirit. We don't want to picture him frail and thin, leaning over a cane, breathing heavily and speaking in a whispery voice. That was not the case. 

The reason Moses is no longer able to lead the congregation is because the Lord told him, "You shall not cross the Jordan." The Lord is going to call Moses home before Israel enters the promised land. Moses' work on earth is almost finished. He has completed the job the Lord called him to do. He has been a political leader and a spiritual leader for over forty years and it is time for him to retire---not to the sidelines on earth but to heaven. At this stage in the history of Israel there needs to be a man capable of commanding the military forces on the frontlines of battle and Joshua is the right man for that job. As we discussed when we studied Numbers 27, if Moses had still been on the earth after Joshua took over the reigns of leadership, conflicts would probably have arisen. A division could have occurred with half the people preferring Moses and half the people preferring Joshua. The people have been used to consulting Moses for so long that they might have felt compelled to run Joshua's every command by Moses before obeying it. The leadership of the nation must be very clear cut. Moses did the job he was commissioned to do and he did it well. But a new kind of work needs to be done now and it needs to be done by a man with the personality of Joshua, not by a man with the personality of Moses. 

I am sure it grieved the people deeply to know Moses wouldn't be going across the Jordan with them. To comfort their hearts he reminds them that the Lord will be going with them. In fact, He won't only be going with them; He'll be going ahead of them. "The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you." (Deuteronomy 31:3a) Isn't it comforting to know that when we come upon a difficult circumstance the Lord got there ahead of us? The Lord goes not only with us but before us, clearing a path for us, making a way forward even when it looks like there is no way forward. Sometimes He clears a wide path in front of us so that we can see ahead for miles and miles. Other times He only lights the way one footstep at a time. But we have the assurance that He is there and that, although we may only be able to see well enough to keep putting one foot ahead of the other, He's moving mountains or parting seas for us somewhere up ahead.

Taking over the promised land won't be easy. The Israelites will have to fight for it. But as we talked about earlier in the Old Testament, human beings tend to place a lot more value on the things that are hard won. The Israelites won't be fighting alone because the Lord will be fighting on their side. This is another thing that causes people to place more value on victories. When we know the Lord fought alongside us and armed us with strength and enabled us to win, the victory is even more precious. I'm fifty-one years old and when I look back over my life I place more value over the victories that were won by the Lord than I place on victories won by human abilities. We've all had some successes in life through our own strength. There have been times when we've pulled ourselves up by our own bootstraps through sheer human determination. But what about the times when the problems were too big for us to solve in our own human ingenuity? We had to call on the Lord for a miracle, didn't we? We had to ask Him for big things. Those are the victories we look back on with a sense of awe and wonder. Those are the victories we comfort ourselves with when times get tough again. We remind ourselves that the Lord who moved mountains and parted seas for us in the past is able and willing to do such things for us again. 

The Israelites will have to do some fighting but the Lord will be wielding His mighty sword along with them. The Lord who made a way for them through the Red Sea will make a way for them through every enemy army. Joshua, their new earthly leader, will go ahead of them as well. They can't see the Lord with their eyes and must trust that He is going ahead of them just as He promised. But they can see Joshua, the man whom the Lord appointed to lead them, and the sight of Joshua will help them to be bold and courageous. Moses promises the Lord will do this: "He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said. And the Lord will do to them what He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom He destroyed along with their land. The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:3b-6) 

It's not just the congregation of Israel who needs encouragement. Leaders need encouragement too, so Moses turns to Joshua in the sight of everyone and reminds him that the Lord will go ahead of him. Moses publicly reinforces Joshua's God-commissioned right to lead Israel into the promised land. In this way he confers a blessing upon Joshua---a blessing from himself and from the Lord. "Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, 'Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.'" (Deuteronomy 31:7-8)

Many times in the Bible we'll find the Lord urging a person or all Israel as a whole not to be afraid or discouraged. This is because the Lord knows it's a human weakness to fall into fear and discouragement. It's a human tendency to look at the size of the problem and feel overwhelmed by it. But God is bigger than any problem. God is more powerful than any enemy. With Him on our side, why should we be discouraged? As the Apostle Paul asked, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) The Apostle Paul faced a great many obstacles and enemies in his life---probably far more obstacles and enemies than you and I will ever face---but he was not afraid or discouraged because he continually comforted himself with the knowledge that God was with him. This is why he could say this about himself and about the other soldiers of the gospel who were enduring intense persecution: "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." (2 Corinthians 4:8-9) 

I'm having the kind of year where I feel hard pressed on every side. I am perplexed. I am dismayed. But, to paraphrase the Apostle Paul, "I may be down but I am not out." If I did not know that the Lord loves me and is with me, I would be crushed and I would be in despair and I would feel abandoned and I would be destroyed in battle by the one who is the enemy of my soul. But the Lord does love me! The Lord is with me. Therefore I declare that I may be feeling down right now but I am not out. No, not by a long shot. I will wait and see what the Lord will do, and in that spirit I conclude our study today by quoting these words from Micah 7:7-8: "But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light." 

Deuteronomy. Day 107, Choose Life Or Choose Death

Moses presents the congregation with a choice. They can have life---an abundant life in the promised land as a result of remaining faithful to the Lord. Or they can choose death---hardship and exile as a result of a broken relationship with the Lord. 

"Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, 'Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?' Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, 'Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?' No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it." (Deuteronomy 30:11-14) Moses says, "The Lord has made His laws and commandments very easy to understand. He has not spoken in riddles. He has not presented the terms of the covenant in a way that is difficult to interpret. The Lord doesn't want you living in ignorance about what He expects of you so He has explained His laws and commandments in simple terms that you can understand and obey."

Many times in my life I've heard preachers say, "The Lord made the gospel message so simple that even a little child can understand it." I have to say that's true. I can't recall a time when I was so young that I didn't know the basics of the gospel message. Moses is saying something similar to the congregation of Israel. The Lord has spoken to them in plain words. What good would it do if the Lord made His laws and commandments too difficult to understand? How could people follow them? What use is it if the terms He used were so obscure and so open to interpretation that people could argue and debate what He actually said? The Lord couldn't have made the rules any plainer when He said things like this, for example: "Do not commit murder," or, "Do not steal," or, "Do not worship anyone but Me." Moses is saying, "We can't claim ignorance of the Lord's holy precepts. We can't say, 'Well, I stole from my neighbor but I didn't know stealing is a sin.' We can't say, 'I slept with a married woman because I didn't know adultery is a sin.' We can't say, 'I attended a pagan festival and bowed down in front of a carved idol because I didn't know idolatry is a sin.' We also can't say, 'Who can understand the Lord's laws? They can be interpreted a number of ways. Maybe He doesn't really mean it's wrong to steal and kill and pervert justice and oppress the widow and the orphan.'" 

Since the choices have been made clear, Moses urges the people to choose wisely. "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess." (Deuteronomy 30:15-16) The key to walking in obedience to the Lord and keeping His commandments is to love the Lord. When Moses commands the people to choose wisely, the first thing he says is to "love the Lord your God". If we don't love the Lord we're going to find it difficult to obey Him. He's made His laws and commandments plain enough for us to understand but we'll have trouble following these precepts unless we love Him.

How can we begin loving the Lord and why should we love Him? Well, for one thing, He loved us first! (1 John 4:19) He created us because He wanted us to exist and even before He created us He loved us and knew all about us, according to what He said to the prophet Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 1:5) He loved the thought of us and He loves the reality of us and He wants to enjoy a relationship with us and He wants us to enjoy a relationship with Him. Because He loves us He extends mercy to us when we sin. Because He loves us He has made a way for us to be forgiven and reconciled to Him. God always makes the first move and He does this because He loves us. God is the one who offered a covenant with Israel; Israel didn't offer a covenant to Him. God is the one who sent the Redeemer and offered a new covenant to us through Him; we didn't propose a new covenant to the Lord. We ought to love the Lord because He loves us. 

We can put it into perspective like this: It's hard not to love a human being who thinks highly of us, isn't it? Even if we don't have much in common with that person it's hard not to feel a great deal of affection for someone who clearly loves us. I have dear friends with whom I actually have little in common (we have very different hobbies and interests and we have very different opinions on things like religion and politics) but it doesn't matter because they love me and I love them. Some of the Lord's commandments may not match up with what we want to do in our carnal natures. We want to give in to temptations sometimes. Even when the thing we want to do isn't a sin in itself, it may not be the Lord's will for us but we may find ourselves wanting to do it anyway. If we love the Lord we'll find it easier to say no to anything He wouldn't want for us. Out of respect for Him we'll decide to do the right thing. Just as we don't want to hurt the feelings of a human friend who loves us, we won't want to repay the Lord's love with disobedience and disrespect.

Another reason we ought to love the Lord is because He blesses us. He helps us and protects us in so many ways. He wants us to obey Him so He can bless us by giving us good things. Moses assures the Israelites that good things are in store for them if they'll love the Lord and walk in His ways. But if they turn away from Him they will face His discipline. If they fall into idolatry He will remove them from the promised land just like He removed the idolaters who were there before them. "But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess." (Deuteronomy 30:17-18)

"This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years in the land He swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." (Deuteronomy 30:19-20) We must keep in mind that it's not only Moses who wants the people to make the right choice. Ever since the Lord called Moses to lead them out of Egypt, Moses has been the spokesperson for the Lord. Moses has been the mediator of the covenant between the Lord and the people. He's speaking for the Lord when he says, "Choose life!" This is what the Lord wants for them! The Lord wants them to choose the right thing---the good thing---so He can bless them. 

That's what the Lord wants for you and for me. It breaks the Lord's heart when we don't want to live in fellowship with Him. It breaks His heart for our sake because we are only hurting ourselves when we reject Him. What use is it to live a life without Him? What good is eternity without Him? As David said in Psalm 16:2, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing." Apart from the Lord we have no good thing. The pleasures of this life are temporary. The money and possessions of this life are temporary. The desires of this life are temporary. Everything is hollow and empty and unsatisfying without the Lord. That's why there are so many wealthy and famous people who are absolutely miserable; no amount of fortune and fame can satisfy a heart that is far from God. But if we have the Lord in our hearts, everything good thing that comes our way is like the icing on the cake. We already have the greatest blessing of all if we have Him but He gives us other blessings besides. We can enjoy those blessings to the fullest when we already have the greatest blessing of all.

Deuteronomy. Day 106, Restoration Of Relationship And Restoration Of Prosperity

Our previous chapter discussed the penalties for disobeying the Lord and turning away from Him. Our segment of Chapter 30 today deals with the restoration of prosperity (and the restoration of the peoples' closeness with the Lord) when they turn back to Him. Moses speaks of when the people turn away from the Lord and then turn back to Him, not if they will. 

Through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Moses knows a time will come when a widescale turning away from the Lord will happen. He knows the nation will be defeated by enemies and that many of the people will be taken captive to foreign countries. He knows many of the people will be scattered throughout the world. But he also knows they will turn back to the Lord. "When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the Lord disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where He scattered you." (Deuteronomy 30:1-3)

This prophecy was partly fulfilled by the Assyrian exile and the Babylonian exile. After so many citizens fell into idolatry, the Lord allowed Assyria to conquer the ten northern tribes and Babylon to conquer the two southern tribes. A remnant of the exiles returned to the land after the Lord allowed Assyria and Babylon to be conquered, but a number of the Jewish people remained dispersed throughout other territories. A larger fulfillment of Moses' prophecy occurred after the fall of the second temple. The Israelites were under Roman rule at the time and attempted to revolt against their occupiers, resulting in the fall of Jerusalem and the temple in 70AD and a very widespread dispersing of the people throughout other lands. Another revolt occurred in 132AD which led to more casualties and an even wider dispersing of the people; they were forbidden reentry to Jerusalem for a long time, even after the Roman Empire fell into decay, split apart, and was eventually conquered. In today's world we can find descendants of Abraham scattered all over the world, but Moses' prophecy about the Lord's intention to "gather you again from all the nations" began to be fulfilled with the restoration of Israel as a sovereign nation in 1948. Moses was not the only person who predicted a return to the land; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel said the same thing. Daniel, when describing end time events while he lived in exile in Babylon, spoke of Israel as a restored sovereign nation. The prophecies of Daniel could not be fulfilled unless Israel became a sovereign nation again, and although by human eyes it may have looked like an impossible dream in Daniel's day, the Lord always intended to keep His word. The prophecies of the book of Revelation, which go hand in hand with the prophecies of the book of Daniel, indicate a complete and joyous return of all the Jewish people to Israel under the reign of the Messiah.

We've all heard references to "lost tribes" but not one person from any of the tribes of Israel is lost to God. He always knew where each person was during various exiles. He knows where every person of Jewish heritage is today. Moses speaks of the ability of the Lord to gather the people back to the land. "Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors." (Deuteronomy 30:4-5) Israel is a mighty nation in the world today, just as the Lord said. Becoming "more prosperous and more numerous than your ancestors" did not happen during the return from ancient exiles. For example, only a remnant of the population returned to the land after the Babylonian exile and their few number were constantly harassed and attacked by enemies who didn't want them to rebuild. They managed to rebuild by the help of the Lord but they remained a vassal state of various other nations until their restoration as a nation in 1948. Israel can truly be said to be more prosperous today than it was even under the rule of King David or King Solomon. 

The Lord promised a spiritual restoration as well as a national restoration. "The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." (Deuteronomy 30:6) Circumcision was the outward sign of being the Lord's covenant people. But a person could be circumcised in the outward flesh and not be circumcised in the heart. A person could go through the motions of religion without loving the Lord. To provide a modern example for those of us of Gentile heritage and of the Christian faith, not everyone who sits in church with us on Sunday is a Christian. They may be dressed like everyone else, they may be bowing their heads in prayer along with everyone else, they may be dropping money in the offering plate, and they may be singing along with all the hymns. We can't tell from the outward appearance which of the people sitting in church with us love the Lord and which of them have hearts that are far from Him. But the Lord sees straight to everyone's heart. He's far more concerned with the inward man than with the outward man. 

The Lord promises to visit all the curses of Deuteronomy 29 on the enemies of Israel after He restores Israel to the land. This prophecy has not yet been completely fulfilled, for Israel still has enemies in this world who would love to see the nation wiped off the map, but in preserving and delivering the Jews as a people from their enemies throughout the ages up until now and in reinstating Israel as a sovereign nation He has begun bringing about the downfall of everyone who has hated and oppressed Israel. "The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you." (Deuteronomy 30:7)

"You will again obey the Lord and follow all His commands I am giving you today. Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in the work of all your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as He delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 30:8-10) Life in this fallen world isn't going to be perfect for anyone but life is better with the Lord than without Him. Life is better when we have His help and support and encouragement. I don't know how unbelievers get through some of the things life throws at us. I might have fallen into depression or addiction or I might even have taken my own life sometime during dire circumstances if I had not had hope in the Lord. Even when He doesn't change our circumstances, He gives us the grace to bear them. He uses even the bad times to produce spiritual fruit in our lives. Some of the greatest blessings of my life would not have happened if adversity hadn't come my way first. But what got me through the bad times (and will continue to help me while I live on this earth) is the knowledge that I am a child of God and that He loves me and delights in me and will be with me.

Deuteronomy. Day 105, Renewing The Covenant, Part Two

Today we'll look at the second half of Chapter 29. The congregation of Israel is standing before Moses as he restates the terms of the Lord's covenant with them. They are renewing their vows with the Lord before going into the promised land.

"Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do. All of you are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God---your leaders and chief men, you elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water." (Deuteronomy 29:9-11) Everyone is assembled together: men, women, children, and foreign servants. You'll recall that when the Israelites came out of Egypt we were told that a "mixed multitude" came out with them; this is likely where the foreigners came from. Others who had been enslaved by the Egyptians may have made their escape with the Israelites. Or perhaps these were foreigners living freely in Egypt who were no longer happy with the way things were going in the nation or who decided to follow the one true God after witnessing His power in Egypt. It appears these foreigners may have offered to be the servants of the Israelites if they would take them with them out of Egypt, since we are told they are chopping wood and carrying water for the Israelites. But one and all---young and old, male and female, Israelite and foreigner---have come together to renew their covenant with the Lord.

"You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, to confirm you this day as His people, that He may be your God as He promised you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today." (Deuteronomy 29:12-15) "Those who are not here today" are those generations which had not yet been born when Moses spoke these words. The Lord's covenant was not only with the Israelites who lived in Moses' time but was with all the Israelites of every generation to come. 

Next Moses reminds the people of the abominations of idolatry they witnessed in Egypt and in the heathen lands they've passed through on their way to the promised land. They will see all sorts of idolatrous altars and images in the promised land too, when they enter it to take possession of it. None of these so-called "gods" rescued them from slavery, provided for them in the wilderness, and gave them a land flowing with milk and honey. They are never to have anything to do with any rites or rituals involving false gods. There is only one God and He is the God of Israel: the God who performed awesome signs and wonders for them in Egypt and in the wilderness, the God who will enable them to overtake any enemy in the promised land. So they must never turn away from the Lord and turn to useless idolatry. "You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of these nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison." (Deuteronomy 29:16-18) 

A few days ago we talked about how what matters is not simply hearing the words of the covenant. Hearing this message wasn't what made the hearts of the Israelites right with God; it was obeying the Lord's commands that made them right with Him. The Lord Jesus said this is how a person shows His love to the Lord---that he obeys the Lord's commands. (John 14:15) Jesus' brother James said a person is deceiving himself if he thinks he's okay simply because he has heard the word of the Lord. (James 1:22) Moses says the same thing to the congregation of Israel that James said to the Christian church. They must be doers of the word and not just hearers of the word. "When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, 'I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,' they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as on the dry." (Deuteronomy 29:19) When Moses says "such a person" he is referring to the one whose heart is filled with the "bitter poison" of verse 18. This bitter poison is a heart that rejects the Lord. This heart belongs to a person who has made himself the lord of his own life and who has decided to follow his own sinful inclinations instead of serving the holy God who loves him.

If a person persists in rejecting the Lord and has no desire to repent, he is capable of influencing others into wickedness. The Lord will judge the one who "brings disaster" as Moses referred to such wicked influence in verse 19. "The Lord will never be willing to forgive them; His wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the Lord will blot out their names from under heaven. The Lord will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law." (Deuteronomy 29:20-21)

The individual who rejects the Lord his whole life long has nothing but a woeful judgment to look forward to. If the nation has a widescale turning away from the Lord, the people as a whole and the very land itself will be afflicted. "Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur---nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. All the nations will ask, 'Why has the Lord done this to the land? Why this fierce, burning anger?'" (Deuteronomy 29:22-24) The enormous prosperity the Lord has promised Israel in the land of Canaan is conditional upon their obedience to Him. The prosperity will be such that all the other nations will take notice, perhaps leading some to convert to the Lord. But if the people are not obedient to the Lord, there will be disaster instead of success. The nations will take note of this too and ask, "Why has the Lord done this to His people and to their land?"

"And the answer will be: 'It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant He made with them when He brought them out of Egypt. They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods He had not given them. Therefore the Lord's anger burned against this land, so that He brought on it all the curses written in this book. In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.'" (Deuteronomy 29:25-28) Even if the Lord pours out His wrath on Israel, this is a sign to the other nations that He is real and that He is holy. Everything the Lord does is a testimony to His righteousness and power. The fear of Him may come upon the citizens of some of the other nations when they witness how He judges sin and some of these people may find their way to Him.

The Lord doesn't tell human beings everything we want to know but He tells us everything we need to know. We wouldn't understand everything about Him or everything about His plans even if He tried to explain these things to us. But He has told us enough for us to see that He is holy and righteous and good. He has told us enough to know that He expects holy living from us. He has told us enough to know that, if we falter and fail from time to time, we can repent and be restored by His mercy. Moses concludes our chapter by reminding the Israelites that the Lord gave them the law so they and the generations to come could follow it. "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law." (Deuteronomy 29:29)

Tomorrow Moses will speak of the willingness of the Lord to forgive anyone who fails to fully keep the law (and no one can perfectly keep it because no one is perfect) when the person repents of his mistake. 

Deuteronomy. Day 104, Renewing The Covenant, Part One

Israel's time in the wilderness is coming to an end. Moses' time with the people is coming to an end. He has been providing a refresher course on all the Lord's laws and commandments so the current generation of Israelites will be prepared to take over the promised land and prosper in it.

Today and tomorrow we will study Chapter 29 which has to do with the renewing of the covenant. We might compare this, in a way, to vow renewal ceremonies in which a husband and a wife repeat the vows they made to each other long ago. Moses has been repeating the terms of the Lord's covenant to Israel and the current generation of Israelites are repeating the vow that their fathers made forty years earlier: "We will do everything the Lord has said." It's important to renew these vows before entering the promised land. The people need this reminder of who the Lord is and who they are in Him. They need this reminder of what the Lord expects from them and what they can expect from Him if they keep their part of the covenant.

"These are the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant He had made with them at Horeb." (Deuteronomy 29:1) This is not a different covenant; it is a re-offering of the same covenant to a new generation. 

"Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: 'Your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and wonders." (Deuteronomy 29:2-3) The Israelites saw the judgment that fell on the nation that oppressed them. If they continue in covenant with the Lord, they can count on Him to always defend them against any enemy.

Yet, though they witnessed many great and wondrous things, not everyone took those things to heart. They witnessed the power and strength of God, and they believed in God, and in a sense they feared God, but at the same time some of them did not develop a personal relationship with Him. Some of them did not love and honor Him in their hearts. No matter how many great things they witnessed, a percentage of the congregation did not develop the spiritual maturity that they should have, so the Lord says, "But to this day the Lord has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear." (Deuteronomy 29:4) It's not that the Lord didn't give them the capability to understand. It's not that He didn't give them plenty of opportunities to understand, either. What Moses is saying is something like this, "The things the Lord did in your sight in Egypt did not give you a mind that understood Him or eyes and ears that are open to Him in the way they should be. Not all of you allowed these things to minister to you in the way you should have. Even after He brought you out of Egypt with a mighty hand, many of you still doubted He had your best interests at heart. Many of you doubted He was able to help you defeat the occupants of the promised land and so you rebelled against Him and refused to move forward. In spite of all you'd seen and heard in Egypt, and in spite of the way He parted the Red Sea for you, somehow you didn't take to heart how much He loves you and how much He wants to do awesome things for you."

Because the people's faith wasn't as strong as it should have been after emerging from Egypt, they made some grave mistakes not long after the Lord made a covenant with them. Due to weakness of faith they weren't ready to charge into the promised land and begin taking it over from the heathen tribes there. The Lord provided them with forty more years of religious training in the wilderness. For forty years He was their sole provider. For forty years He worked on teaching them to trust Him to supply their every need. "Yet the Lord says, 'During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the Lord your God.'" (Deuteronomy 29:5-6) 

Clothes and shoes naturally wear out with use, yet the Lord preserved these materials the whole time the Israelites were in the wilderness. He provided food and water for them in the wilderness although they weren't planting and harvesting or digging wells. How could two million or more people plus livestock survive forty years in the wilderness without planting, harvesting, digging wells, and growing vineyards? Only with the Lord's miraculous help! He gave them forty years of learning to trust Him to give them each day their daily bread because if they didn't trust the Lord with small things, how could they ever learn to trust Him with big things? If they could not learn to depend on Him to supply their everyday needs, how could they count on Him to make them victorious in battle against fierce trained soldiers and the giants of the land of Canaan?

As they learned to trust the Lord in all things, He began giving them victories in battle on their way to the promised land. "When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh." (Deuteronomy 29:7-8) They needed these preliminary victories out in the open (these kings' armies marched out to oppose them) because they would have to attack fortified cities in the promised land. They would have to lay siege to heavily guarded settlements. The Lord gave them the training and the confidence they needed along the way.

He does these same things for you and me. He wants to help us learn to trust Him with the small things so that we'll trust Him with the big things. He wants to train us along the way to depend on Him for small victories so that, when a major battle comes, we'll charge confidently ahead knowing He is with us and He is for us. Having the confidence to face down a giant doesn't happen overnight; this confidence comes from daily leaning on the Lord. This confidence comes from walking with Him, talking with Him, and learning about Him each day of our lives. That's how David learned about Him during his younger years when he watched his father's sheep in the fields. David spent time communing with the Lord and composing songs of praise to Him. David trusted the Lord to help him the time a bear came to attack the sheep and the time a lion came to attack the sheep. Because David came to know and trust the Lord during the years he shepherded the sheep, and because the Lord gave him victory over the lion and the bear, David could stand confidently in the sight of the Philistine army and their champion Goliath the giant and declare, "The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." (1 Samuel 17:37a) Because David had learned to trust God in the small things, he had learned to trust Him in the big things. Therefore he was able to say to the giant standing before him, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." (1 Samuel 17:45)