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

I recently learned a Bible study method which is good for those who are new to reading the Bible, and can be useful to those who have long studied it.  The method consists on asking three questions when looking at a passage: What does this passage tell us about the nature of God?  What does this passage tell us about the nature of mankind? And, how can we apply this passage to our lives today?  I have not used this method for writing my blog up until now, but today it felt like the right approach.

So, what does this passage tell us about God?  God is upright, faithful, and just.  He brings blessings upon those whom He has chosen, but vengeance on those who oppose Him.  He disciplines those He loves and forgives them when they turn back to Him after sinning against Him.  And what does it tell us about mankind?  We forget God when life is good and turn against Him.  We turn to other things in place of God, things which only have power which we give them.  So, how do we apply this to our lives?  Let us recognize our temptation to believe that we do not need God and turn to Him, both when times are good and when they are bad.  Recognize that God cares for us, and will discipline us when we do wrong.  He will strive to teach is to do what is right, His will.  Let us praise Him and recognize that there is no God, but He.

I use 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 made one final prophecy to the Israelites.  He told them that when they had settled in the land and become prosperous they would turn from God, they would abandon God and worship other gods.  God would become angry and turn His back on them.  Since they had made Him jealous by worshiping that which was not a god, God would make them envious by embracing those who are not a people, and angry by giving wisdom to a nation which had no understanding.  Before I write about what I see in that I want to point out what the compiler of this book wrote at the very end.

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt…

The man who wrote that was referring back to an earlier prophecy which Moses had made where he told the Israelites that God would raise up a prophet like him for them to follow.  The compiler was saying that Moses’ prophecy about a prophet like him had not yet been fulfilled.   Which brings me to what I believe Moses meant when he said that God wake the Israelites jealous of those who were not a people.  Through Jesus, God has taken people from all over the world, people who not only had no ties in common but instead had animosity towards one another and forged them into a nation, that nation is His Church.  God took people whose traditions did not understand God and gave them His wisdom.  God did this in the desire to draw the descendants of Jacob back to Him.  Let us seek, by our faithfulness, to draw those He first loved back to Him.

I am tempted to write more about how God desired for the Israelites to faithfully follow His commands, and thus draw all people to Him, but, knowing that would not work, instead used them to bring His Son, Jesus, to this earth.  Through Jesus, God is drawing people from every tribe and nation to Him, creating a new nation and thus draw in the Israelites as well.

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

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

In many ways Moses’ song recorded here applies to us today.  God had blessed us, but we turned from Him to false gods.  After World War II, Christians used the opportunities provided by the opening of the world to bring God’s word to places where it had rarely been heard.  That message was warmly received in many of these places and people throughout the world were greatly blessed.  In the 1970s and 80s great strides were made reducing hunger throughout the world.  Then. we put our trust in things which were not God, were not even gods, and God has brought calamity upon the world.  God is challenging us to take shelter from the “gods” we have chosen, gods which cannot shelter us, and, to be perfectly clear, would not if they could.  As He said through Moses God is once more telling us:

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.

God is calling us once more to turn to Him, listen to His word, and obey His instructions.   Let us once more pray to God for discernment, and when He offers it to us let us follow what it tells 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 32-34.

In order to understand the beginning of today’s passage we need to go back and read the last two verses of chapter 31:

“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. And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:”

With this introduction, we see that Moses is warning about what happens when people turn away from God.  While Moses’ song here applies mostly to the Jewish people and makes sense of their history, it has application to all people who have come to know Him.  We learn here that God has not allowed, and will not allow, the Jewish people to be wiped out because He will not allow His enemies to believe that they have done it.  The continued existence of the Jewish people is a reminder to the world that the troubles they face result  from God’s punishment upon them.  However, for those who think that statement justifies antisemitism, Moses warns us that God will avenge His people against those who persecute them.

Perhaps that is the most important thing for us to take out of this passage.  Vengeance belongs to God.  It is His prerogative to avenge those who have been wronged.  He will repay.  When we have been wronged, or think we have been wronged, let us not seek vengeance ourselves.  Let us leave that to God.  There are two reasons we should do so.  First, God claims vengeance as His alone.  We do not have the right to seek our own vengeance.  Second, God’s justice always fits the crime in full. We cannot hope to obtain revenge as fitting as that which God will inflict.

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 32-34.

In his final address to the Israelites, Moses predicted that at some point in the future they would be unfaithful to God.  He further predicted that when that day came terrible things would happen to them.  One could easily read that part of Moses’ prediction and conclude that those responsible for the terrible things suffered by the Jewish people through the centuries were justified.  However, Moses also makes clear that God will not forget the terrible things done to His people and He will deliver justice against those who cause their suffering.  The basic message in Moses’ address applies to all people in some way.  Those who choose to be among God’s people will thrive when they obey and serve Him, but will face great suffering when they rebel against Him.  However, just because God uses someone, or some group, to bring suffering on those who rebelled against does not mean they will be free from suffering the consequences of causing others to suffer.