Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 8-10.

Moses tells the Israelites that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word which comes from the mouth of God.  When Moses says this he is not just referring to food.  He means that material things do not bring us full satisfaction, that if we wish to live fulfilled lives we need to listen to the word of God.  Then he warns us against allowing ourselves to forget God when He gives us good things and our lives are going well.  Moses goes on talking about the importance of listening to God’s commands until he asks the question, “What does the Lord your God ask of you?”  Then Moses answers that question.  God asks us to fear Him (because His power and glory is so great that if we truly know Him we cannot help but fear Him).  God asks us to love Him (and we cannot love Him if we do not know Him).  God asks us to serve Him our of that love.  And finally God asks us to obey the commands and decrees which He has given us because they are for our own good.  The heavens and all the earth belong to God, yet from all of that He has chosen us.  Is it too much of Him to ask us to love and obey Him in return?  Especially when the things He commands us are for our own good?

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 8-10.

As an aside from my main point I want to make a reference to an issue which causes some archeologists to say that the Exodus did not happen, at least not as described in the Bible.  They point out that one would expect a group as large as the Bible describes the Israelites being to leave a significant number of artifacts to be discovered by archeologists if that group spent 40 years in the Sinai desert.  However, what the archeologists are referring to as artifacts are the things which such a group would have thrown out.  In this passage, Moses tells us that during the forty years in the wilderness their clothing did not wear out.  If the same thing applied to pots and other items, perhaps the reason the Israelites left no archeological artifacts is because they didn’t have any trash during those forty years (or, very little).

Moses warns the Israelites against two, closely related, mistakes they might make once they entered into the land and God had driven the people living there out before them.  These are mistakes which we are prone to as well.  First, they might forget God and come to believe that they had good things because of their own abilities and strengths.  Second, they might come to believe that God had taken the land and the good things from those He had driven out because of their righteousness.  We too must be careful not to make either of these mistakes, or any of the related ones which say that we have received good things because we are more deserving of them than others.  Moses warned the Israelites to remember that the good things they received came to them from God because God had chosen to be gracious to them, not because they were such strong, or wonderful, or righteous people.  Moses told the Israelites that God would drive the people out of the land ahead of them because those people were wicked.  Then he tells them that God defends the cause of the orphan and the widow and loves the foreigners living among them.  Finally, Moses sums up the main message of this passage by telling the Israelites, and us, that we should follow God’s commands because He has given them to us for our own good.  While it is true that most of the suffering which people endure comes from their decision to do that which God has declared wicked, that does not mean we should rejoice in their suffering, or think that we are better than they.  Instead, we should show them God’s love and seek to alleviate their suffering so that they may come to turn to the Lord and enjoy the good things which come from obeying Him.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 8-10.

Moses tells the Israelites several things in this passage which we would do well to keep in mind ourselves. I want to start my blog today from something he says towards the end of today’s passage: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?”  God asks these things of us for our own good.  God’s commands are not arbitrary.  He lays down a set of rules for us to follow that are for our own good. If we follow God’s commands we will be healthier and happier than if we do not.  This was truly brought home to me when I observed two different fathers raise their children.  One of them enforced the rules when it was convenient for himself, or when the behavior bothered him.  The other enforced the rules all of the time.  The children of the first man quickly learned that their father’s rules served their father’s interests and only served the interest of his children as a happy accident.  The children of the second man learned that their father’s rules were those he believed were in their best interests, and that when they thought his rules were not in their interests, they were usually wrong.  Well, I have learned that God has laid down His rules for me because they serve my best interests, and when I think I know a better way, I am always wrong.

Earlier in the passage Moses told the Israelites that God did not give the land of Canaan to them because of their righteousness.  Rather He gave them that land because those living there were so wicked.  The lesson here being that if we allow ourselves to become as wicked as those God displaced to make room for the Israelites, He will do the same thing to us.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 8-10.

This passage reminds us of the importance of remembering what God has done in the past, both the glorious blessings He has given us and the punishments He has visited upon us for our sins.  Further, it reminds us that when we profit from other’s suffering it is not because of our righteousness, but because of their wickedness.  This last is one with which I struggle, not the part about it not being because of our righteousness, but because of others’ wickedness. This passage says that the Children of Israel would conquer the Promised Land because of the wickedness of those who lived there when they arrived.  Applying this elsewhere would suggest that the success of the Europeans when they first arrived in the Americas was because of the wickedness of the indigenous peoples.  While that conclusion seems to be consistent with the Bible, one can easily make a very fundamental error when discussing it.  The important point is NOT that the indigenous people were wicked, but that the Europeans success was not because of their righteousness.  Even more important for us is the message Moses communicated by saying this: if we allow ourselves to fall into wickedness the same thing which happened to them will happen to us.
Editing to add a link which provides supporting information
I did not intend to spend so much time on what is in the previous paragraph.  I really wanted to talk about chapter 10 verses 12 and 13.

And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

God’s commands have been given to us for our own good.  They are not arbitrary, nor are they intended to restrict our fun.  God has given us these commands because He knows what is best for us.  For example, God does not tell us to restrict our sexual activities to a single partner of the opposite sex because He wants to limit our fun.  He does so because He knows that we will have a happier, more fulfilling life if we do so.  In a way, the rest of this provides a roadmap.  IF we fear God, we will walk in obedience to Him.  As we walk in obedience to Him, we will begin to love Him as we see how His commands are in our best interest. As we come to love Him, we will desire to serve Him with all of our being.  Which brings us back to observing, following, His commands because they are for our own good.

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

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 8-10.

Moses reminded the Israelites to remember what God had done for them in the past, and to remember the consequences they had suffered when they were unfaithful.  All too often we find it easy to turn to God when times are difficult, but then forget Him when times get better.  Moses’ reminder here is threefold.  First, we must make the effort to remember what God did for us when we were at our lowest.  Second, we must remember the consequences we suffered when we turned from God in the past.  Finally, we must remember that we do not experience good times while others suffer because we are better than they are.  We should seek to be righteous because God has been good to us, not seek to be righteous in order to obtain good things.