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

I know I wrote abut this last year when I covered this passage, but it still seems like the most important point to be made.  Moses tells the Israelites that they must not imitate the detestable practices of the people who lived in the land that God was giving them.  He tells them that they must not sacrifice their children, they must not practice divination, or sorcery, they must not consult the dead.  I find it telling that killing your children as a sacrifice to your god is lumped in with divination and practicing witchcraft as equally detestable things.  God was driving the people out of the land in order to give it to the Israelites because they did these detestable practices.  All of these things are detestable to God.  He will drive from His presence anyone who practices them, just as He drove these people out of the land which He gave to the Israelites.  Moses goes on to tell the Israelites that God would raise up prophets to give them guidance, so that they need not turn to divination to know what to do.  We should pay careful attention to what those prophets say, but those who claim to speak in God’s name when He has not spoken to them are just as detestable as those who practice the previously mentioned acts.  If someone claims to be a prophet of God, and what they say does not come true, they have spoken presumptuously.  We can safely disregard what they say.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 11-13.

I am not sure if I will be able to find the words to properly express the idea I find in today’s passage, but I’m going to try.  As I read today’s passage I was struck that God wants us to take care of our environment, but not the ways which most people approach doing so are counterproductive.  These words from Deuteronomy 11:13-15 really struck me on that: “So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.”  Our care for the environment follows from doing what God commands, not from devotion to nature.  Moses makes sure the Israelites understand this because he follows that up by saying that they need to be careful to not be enticed away to follow other gods.  The people of the land they were entering worshipped gods whose worship they claimed was vital to preserving the environment in which they lived, but, through Moses, God warns us that their tactics will fail.  If we begin worshiping the gods of this world, the land will stop producing crops and become a dried out desert.  If we look at some places in this country we can see examples of this.  There are places which had been productive and beautiful, but the people living in those areas gave power to those who worshiped the gods of nature.  Those people began enforcing laws to “protect nature” and the lands became dry and/or uninhabitable.  I thought of giving specific examples of this, but instead I want to focus on the lesson.  If we worship God and follow His commands, the lands we live in will provide us with abundant resources to live, prosper, and serve Him.  If we worship other gods, even the “gods of nature”, and attempt to serve them, the lands we live in will become places where nothing will prosper.

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