Tag Archives: Deuteronomy 11-13

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2024 Bible Study — Remind the Young of What God Has Done, and Remember What Those Who Went Before Us Told Us About What God Had Done for Them

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

Today’s passage reminds us that those who are children have not seen the wonders which we have seen God perform.  But not just those who are children, many of those younger than ourselves may not have seen wonders which we have seen God perform.  We need to teach those too young to have seen what God has done in the past.  When we listen to them we need to keep in mind what examples of God’s power they have seen, and what examples of it happened before their time.  The passage goes on to remind us that if we faithfully obey God, He will provide for us.  Our memories of how we have seen God work in the past will help us have faith that He will act in the future.  More than that, when we read this passage we need to consider whether we are in the place of the children who did not see God’s wondrous power.  If that is the case, then we need to keep in mind the stories which the generations which went before us shared with us.  Let us study the ways in which God has acted in the past so as to remain faithful, trusting that He will act similarly in the future.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2023 Bible Study — Do Whatever It Takes To Remember And To Obey The Commands Which God Has Given You

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

Moses begins today’s passage by reminding the Israelites that they were the ones who had seen God’s wondrous signs and experienced His discipline for disobedience.  We must remember this, we have seen God’s wondrous works (at least, I hope that you have, I know that I have).  Others may not have, so let us be careful about how we let them influence us.  But whether others have seen God’s great signs or not, if you have you are responsible to remember what those signs mean.  Be careful not to be enticed to worship and/or serve other gods.  Do whatever you need to do to remember, and follow, the commands which God has given to us.  If that means attaching them to you hands, or writing them on your forehead, then do so.  And let us talk about God’s commands, to our children and to our friends, when we are at home and when we are away from home.  Talk about them in the evening as you get ready for sleep, and in the morning as you prepare for the day.  In every waking moment, think about what God’s commands mean for what you do next.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2022 Bible Study — Those Who Fail To Keep God’s Commands Destroy The Environment

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

This passage starts the hits coming by telling us that those of us who have experienced God’s power first hand have an obligation to communicate that to the next generation, to teach the next generation to love and obey God.  If we take those experiences to heart and obey God’s commands, the land God has given us will provide for our needs.  I love the way in which Moses sums up God’s commands here–love and serve God with all of our heart and with all of our soul.  Another important point which I see referred to from time to time is that obeying God means that we do not destroy the environment around us.  However, what I have never seen anyone comment on is that those who disobey God will destroy the environment around them.  What makes this promise especially interesting is that few of the Laws laid down by Moses directly address our interaction with the environment around us.  I like the remedy which Moses offers to avoid being enticed to worship other gods, and therefore destroy our environment.  He tells us to fix the words of God’s Law in our hearts and minds by tying symbols on our hands and binding them to our foreheads if necessary.  We should talk about God’s commands when we sit at home and when we travel. when we lie down and when we get up.  Basically, we should be talking about God’s commands all of the time, no matter where we are or what we are doing.  A little later while discussing his instructions to worship in a central location, Moses says something which I believe goes along with what I have written above and will help us to talk about God’s commands, and to keep them.  Moses told the Israelites that they should rejoice before the Lord in everything to which they put their hand.  So, let us rejoice before the Lord in everything we do.  Doing so will help us keep and talk about His will for us.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2021 Bible Study Do Not Allow Ourselves To Be Enticed To Worship Other Gods

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

Once again Moses emphasizes loving and serving God with our entire being.  He also reiterates the idea of thinking and talking about God’s commands morning, noon, and night, at home and on the road.  At the same time we should talk about the things God has done for us, both the wonderful blessings He has given us and the discipline He has inflicted on us when we sinned.  We should do these things because otherwise we may be enticed to worship and follow other gods.

Moses goes from talking about not allowing ourselves to be enticed to worship other gods to instructing the Israelites to only conduct their sacrifices at the one place chosen by God from within the land.  They were not to conduct sacrifices and offerings upon any random hill or mountain, but only at the one place chosen for the entire nation to come together.  To me, this resonates with the passage in Hebrews which tells us not to forsake gathering together.  By gathering together people can see how little things which seem innocent are tempting us away from God.  We see that the gathering to worship was for this purpose because Moses goes from talking about gathering to instructions about rejecting those who attempt to entice us to worship other gods.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2020 Bible Study — Talk About God’s Word All of the Time

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 11-13.

I want to focus today on what Moses told the Israelites in chapter 13 verses 18-20: “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.  Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.  Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,…”  While I do not think today we are called to take this literally, we should strive to follow this.  We should talk about God’s Word when we at home and when we travel.  We should talk about it in the evening as we end our day and in the morning when we get up, and all the time in between.  We should be thinking about what God wants us to do wherever we are, whenever we need to make a decision.  I was embarrassed to learn that someone I worked with for several years a few years back had not known I was a Christian while we worked together.  It is not that I think all of my co-workers should be aware of my faith, but this was someone I worked closely with day in and day out for a couple of years.  My failure to communicate my faith to them over that time is something I must work to ensure never happens again.  However, there is more to the importance of what Moses says here than just making others aware of our faith.  In fact, others being aware of our faith should just be a side-effect of making God’s Word an integral part of our day to day life.  

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2019 Bible Study Responding to God’s Power and Love

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 11-13.

Moses focused his comments to those of us who have seen and experienced God’s power and love.  While I have not experienced anything comparable to the parting of the Red Sea, on numerous occasions I have seen God act in my life when I was desperate for change.  This experience has made me a firm believer that if we are faithful to God He will meet our needs.  However, as Moses said in yesterday’s passage and again in today’s passage, if we begin to believe that our good life is a product of our own worthiness and turn away from God disaster will strike.  If we have seen God’s power and love in our lives we must be strive to obey God’s will with all of our being.

From time to time I encounter someone who claims that Judaism was not monotheistic until relatively late.  They base this upon the biblical accounts which describe how the Israelites often worshiped other gods along with God once they entered the Promised Land (and on some of the stories in Genesis).  However, such an opinion overlooks the repeated focus on monotheism throughout the first five books of the Bible.  It is true that the Israelites tended towards polytheism through most of their history before the Exile.  However, the command in today’s passage for the people of Israel to worship God in a central location was designed to address that.  Sacrifices were only to be offered at that designated central location.

I had intended to stop at that point, but I was struck by a lesson the modern Church could learn from.   If anyone was discovered to be trying to seduce people away from following God’s commands they were to be put to death.  I do not believe that God calls us today to kill those who violate His commands.  However, I have been struck by the number of people who attempt to convince the people of God to stop calling one sin or another a sin who remain in good standing with their Church after their argument has been defeated.  Many of them fail to accept that God has spoken through the Church and continue to strive to change the Church’s teachings after the Body has rejected this change.  Those who reject the teachings of the Church, which have been its teachings since the First Century should be cast out with those who refuse to stop practicing those sins.  I want to make an important distinction here between those who fall into sin and acknowledge that God is calling them to change and those who sin and proclaim that there is no reason to stop doing so.  Even the best of us will fall into the former category but those who fall into the latter category must be exposed as not seeking to follow God’s will.

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2018 Bible Study — Being Enthusiastic About Obeying God

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 11-13.

    We should obey God’s commands based on our own experiences, not those of our parents, or grandparents, or other ancestors. If we pay attention we will see that God has done wondrous things in our lives. Further, if we obey God’s commands we will experience the blessings which are the result of doing so. On the other hand, if we fail to obey God’s commands we will experience the sufferings and hardships which result from that. I want to note that Moses here is speaking to a community of people and is referring to the consequences of communal obedience, or disobedience, to God. There are blessings from individually obeying God, even when all of those around us fail to do so, but that is not what Moses is referring to here.

    Despite what I said at the end of the last paragraph, what Moses said next applies to us as individuals. We have a choice between receiving a blessing or a curse. If we choose to love and obey God, we will receive a blessing. If choose not to do so, we will receive a curse. Moses repeats here something he said earlier. IF we want the blessings of obeying God we must commit ourselves wholeheartedly to doing so. That means that we will talk about God’s instructions constantly. We need to talk about God’s instructions to our children, our spouses, our neighbors, our friends, even to strangers. We should be so enthusiastic about God’s word that we cannot help ourselves. We will find ourselves thinking about God in the morning when we get up and in the evening when we go to bed, and at all times in between. We will talk about God and doing His will when we are at Church and when we are at a party. Doing God’s will should fill our time continuously.

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2017 Bible Study — You Always Have A Choice

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 11-13.

    Today’s passage continues with Moses’ admonition to the people of Israel to love God with their whole being. These instructions are not for the children of those who have seen God’s wondrous power, and yet, in a way, they are. Those who have seen God’s wondrous power in action are obligated to talk about it and about God’s instructions for how we live our lives. We have seen, or, at least, I have seen, God do wonderful, powerful things. Things which changed the course of my life. As a result, I have an obligation to commit myself to God’s instructions. When people interact with me, when they come into my house, they should have no doubt in their minds that I seek to follow God’s instructions (I know I often fall short of this, but it is the goal I strive to meet).

    It is not enough to write and talk about God’s commands, we must follow them. And not just some of the time, but all of the time. Today we are given a choice. A choice between a blessing and a curse. If we obey God’s will for us, we will experience a blessing. If we do not obey His will for us, we will experience a curse. This is not a once and done choice. We are given this choice again and again. Even if we chose the curse the last time, and the time before that, and the time before that, we can choose the blessing this time, and every time going forward. We have the choice, if we have made bad choices in the past, we do not have to make bad choices in the present, or in the future. Choose the blessing.

Daily Bible Study

March 3, 2016 Bible Study — Worshiping God Is Not Just a Private Matter

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    This passage contains a repeat of a message contained in yesterday’s passage. We must wholeheartedly obey God’s instructions. Write them down where you will see them repeatedly and be reminded to obey them. Teach them to your children. Talk about them continuously, when you are at home and when you are traveling, when you get up and when you go to bed. Let us do whatever it takes to remember and follow God’s commands. Moses went on to remind the people of Israel that they were not to interpret God’s instructions in isolation. They were to all get together and worship in a central location. This served the purpose of making sure that everyone came together to discuss what it meant to obey God. It is not enough to think about, talk about, and obey God’s commands as we understand them. We must gather with our fellow believers and test our understanding by comparing it to that of our brothers and sisters. Worshiping God is not just a private matter. It is something we need to do with fellow believers as well as by ourselves.