I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 32-34.

    Moses wrapped up his final address to the Children of Israel by singing a song of prophecy. This song foretells that when the Children of Israel become prosperous they will forget God’s commands and worship other gods. I will note that while this song was prophetic and foretells the future it is not intended to recount in detail what would happen. For me the most striking part is where God declares that they have roused His jealousy by worshiping other gods, so He will rouse their jealousy by people who are not even a people. God declares that He will not forget His people, the Children of Israel, and will restore them to His presence. This to me is such a striking prophecy of God’s plans to create the Church, to make a people out of those who are not a people. As Christians we come from all parts of the world, but God has made us one people, His people. Yet despite creating a people for Himself out of those drawn to Christ, God still loves the descendants of Jacob and desires to bring them back to Himself, to make them once more His people. As Christians we should never forget that God constantly desires for the Jews to once more take their place as the People of God. How that place relates to the Church which God has created as His people in the meantime is beyond my understanding. I have heard various suggestions as to what that might be, but I have my doubts as to our ability to comprehend God’s plan in this matter before the day of Christ’s return.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 29-31.

    In discussing the blessings and curses which come from following, or not following, God’s commands Moses told the people that on that day they had a choice between life and death. We have the same choice today. We have that choice every day. When we make that choice it makes it easier to make the same choice the next day. Each day that we choose to follow God’s commands makes it easier to follow His commands the following day. OF course the reverse is also true, each day we choose not to follow God’s commands makes it harder to do so the following day. Following God’s commands is not difficult or complex. We do not need someone to go up to heaven for us in order to know what God expects of us. Nor is the understanding kept in some far away exotic location so that we need to go to great effort to learn His commands. God will deliver His message into our very hearts and onto our lips if we but ask Him. It really is this simple: love God and strive to obey Him. As we obey the instructions that we understand, we will learn to understand the more complex instructions. On the other hand, if we do not do the things which we know that we ought we will gradually come to believe that it is right to do wrong.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 27-28.

    Moses promises the Children of Israel that, if they obey God’s commands, they will be blessed, but if they disobey God’s commands they will be cursed. Moses lays out both the blessings and the curses. As I read these blessings and curses they read like the natural consequences which follow when a people either obey or disobey God. This is more obvious when you look at the curses. When a people as a whole obey God’s commands, they will be unified and respect each other. As a people they will protect and value the weak among them, which will allow the weak to learn their strengths and become productive (productive does not necessarily mean “able to earn money”). On the other hand, when a people do not obey God’s commands each will seek what he perceives as his own interest, not even aware how that damages the interests of the people as a whole. Disobeying God’s commands make one more susceptible to disease (for example, sexual immorality leads to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases). If those with power do not insist on justice for those without power, they will discover that they will not receive justice when their power wanes. I could go on, but it seems clear to me that when a society fails to honor God and seek to obey His commands it is only a matter of time until tragedy strikes it again and again.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 24-26.

    There are several commands in this passage which all fit together. As I was reading through the passage trying to think of a way to summarize their theme I read this, “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers,…” Which gave me the theme I see running through these verses: never take advantage of those over whom you have power.

• Don’t take the tools someone uses to earn a living as security for a loan.
• Don’t go into someone’s house to pick up the item they are giving you as security for a loan, let them bring it out to you.

It may be less than obvious how this might amount to taking advantage of someone, but by going into their house you might see something which they do not wish to offer as security and demand that instead (if not this time at a future time). There are other ways that invading their space might amount to taking advantage of them.

• Pay your workers’ wages promptly.

There are a few more of these here, but they all represent the command not to take advantage of those over whom you have power. Even the admonition against using inaccurate scales can be seen as falling into this. I will add that I interpret the injunction against dishonest weights and measures to apply to any form of deception in making a deal.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 21-23.

    Today’s passage contains a lot of miscellaneous instructions which I do not believe apply today. However, there are a few things of which we should take note. The passage emphasizes the importance of gaining closure when someone has been murdered. If it is not possible to conclude who committed the murder, the political leaders of the closest town must swear that they did not have the person murdered nor know who did so. This focuses on the importance of not allowing the murder of anyone go without notice, someone must acknowledge that a murder has taken place and make some effort to hold the responsible parties to account. The passage also brings up the importance of addressing the issue of children who will not honor their parents. While I do not think we should go as far as this passage goes, its emphasis on how serious it is when children will not obey their parents. In this case, it seems to be concerning children who are old enough that their parents can no longer hold them to account by physical strength. A review of many of the high profile cases of violence in our society shows the importance of this. In many of those cases we see people who had stopped being obedient to their parents long before they reached the age of independence. The final instructions I want to emphasize today are those which tell us to look out for the interests of others: if you see your neighbor’s (and remember what Jesus says about who our neighbor is) animal wondering loose, take it back to them. If you find your neighbor’s possession, return it to them. In both of these cases the passage says, “Do not ignore your responsibility.”

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 18-20.

    Moses warned the Children of Israel not to imitate the detestable practices of the people living in the land. He highlights two such practices, sacrificing their children and consulting fortunetellers and sorcerers. It was because those people practiced these detestable practices that God drove them out of the land and gave it to the Israelites. We should take a lesson from this and avoid the detestable practices of those living around us who do not worship the Lord. Whenever I read these passages about the people driven out of the Promised Land sacrificing their children I am reminded of abortion in the modern world. So many of the problems of today’s society stem from that one sin.

    Moses proceeds to tell us how we can distinguish between fortunetellers and prophets who speak in the name of the Lord. We must listen to the words spoken by prophets sent by God, but how do we know if someone is such a prophet? The answer is simple. When someone claims to be speaking in God’s name when they make a prediction, that prediction will come true. If it does not, they are a false prophet. Now, as I read this, sometimes a prophet will speak in the name of the Lord, and sometimes that prophet may merely be making predictions based on their own understanding. It is important that prophets make a clear distinction between these two things. It is important that we pay attention to when those who claim to be prophets make predictions. If we continue to lend credence to those who have falsely prophesied we bring dishonor to the name of the Lord.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 14-17.

    Today’s passage is a clear reminder of why we call this book “Deuteronomy” because it consists of a rehash of laws given earlier. Today’s passage provides less detail on many of these laws, but also presents them in a way which provides fresh insight into them. As an example, the laws regarding what animals and insects can be eaten significantly reduce the risk of disease and food poisoning. Then there is the restatement of the Sabbath Year, except that here it only talks about canceling debts and freeing slaves. The purpose here is to give people who made bad choices, but who learned from them, the opportunity to “start over” free from debt.

    As I was reading the description about justice in the land a couple of things stood out. While they were told to appoint judges, seeing that justice was carried out was not just the job of those judges. The people were instructed to judge people fairly, to not twist justice. If the death penalty was called for, those who had accused the perpetrator were to be the first to carry out the sentence…meaning that if they had falsely accused the person the accuser was guilty of murder.