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

This passage contains blessings and curses for the people of Israel: blessings if they obey the Laws God gave them through Moses, curses if they do not.  While I believe the specific blessings and curses contained in this passage specifically apply to the Israelites, I believe the general principle of them applies to all people.  If we follow God’s commands and desires, we will be blessed.  If we violate God’s commands and desires, we will be cursed.  Moses instructed the people to divide into two parts, one half of the people to stand on Mt Gerizim to pronounce the blessings, one half to stand on Mt Ebal to pronounce the curses.  The purpose of this exercise was to reinforce the laws to the people and to give them a feeling of unity.  If you have ever been part of a large group which has done such a responsive reading you will understand how powerful such a thing is.

I really get two things out of this passage.  First, the closer a society keeps God’s commands, the more powerful and wealthy they will be.  To me this means that the majority holds to values which reflect God’s will (even when many of those people may not actually worship God) and that those who rebel against God’s will are ostracized to one degree or another, such that they hide their rebellion from general knowledge.  On the other hand, a society which openly embraces rebelling against God will become progressively weaker and poorer and will experience ever increasing suffering.  To the greatest extent I believe this results from natural forces.  I also believe that if we as individuals follow God’s will, we will be blessed, although not necessarily in ways which the world at large will recognize.

Every time I write about a passage like this, I come away feeling like I have failed to adequately communicate what it says to me.  Today is no different.

I use 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 a lot of miscellaneous laws given in today’s passage which are not exactly connected.  However, many of them do contain a common theme: do not take advantage of the poor, needy, foreigner, orphan. or widow.  Some of these laws go further than that by instructing us to have business practices which leave room for the above to provide for themselves.  Things like, do not take someone’s tools as a pledge against a loan (if you do, how are they going to make the money to pay you back?).  Things like, do not enter your poor neighbor’s house to collect his pledge against a loan, wait for him to bring it out to you.  Things like, if you miss some of the crops in your first pass of harvesting, don’t go back to get them, leave them for those less fortunate than yourself.

From the different commands contained in this passage, I think we can extend the principles involved.  If you own a business, don’t milk it for every penny you can make.  Leave “money on the table”.  The principles of God’s Laws says that if you follow them, society will be better off, and you will be better off.

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

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

The first portion of this passage makes an assumption which we easily overlook.  It assumes that only a murder committed in the countryside would remain unsolved.  It also indicates that the elders of a town would seek to solve any murders within their area of authority.  It makes me wonder if the first sign of the downfall of a society comes when they start having large numbers of unsolved, unpunished murders.  As I read through the laws which Moses gave to the people of Israel I see respect for human life emphasized.  When a society becomes complacent about identifying and punishing those who have murdered another human being that society is losing the respect for human life which God demands.  Most, if not all, sins result from failing to respect the lives of those around us, of beginning to consider other people as mere objects whose purpose is to give us pleasure.

I use 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 people of Israel that they must not imitate the detestable practices of the people in the land they were entering.   He then lists some of the detestable practices they must not imitate.  The very first one he mentions is that they must not sacrifice any of their children.  It was because of these detestable practices that God drove those nations out of the land.  Related to that Moses warns the people against relying on those who practice sorcery or divination to plan.  Instead we should listen to the prophets whom God will raise up among us.  Further Moses tells us how to distinguish a prophet raised up by God from an imposter.  Those things which a true prophet predicts will happen or come true.  If the prophet’s predictions do not meet that criteria, they are a fraud.  We should apply this lesson to the many experts who today tell us how we should live our lives.

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

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

There are several interesting things in this passage.  Once again we have the laws regarding kosher foods.  As I pointed out earlier in the year when we read the kosher rules in Leviticus, while not every animal in the forbidden categories is a disease risk when eaten, the animals in the clean categories are all essentially safe to eat.  Another point of interest, the tithe was to be consumed as part of a feast by those who made the offering, except every third year, when it was to be given to the Levites for the benefit of the Levites and to aid orphans and widows.

Which brings us to God’s commands regarding debt and dealing with the poor.  I want to focus on what Moses tells them, and us, regarding the poor.  He tells them that there will not need to be any poor among them, if they only fully and faithfully follow God’s commands.  However, Moses essentially acknowledges that they will fail to do so such that there will be poor among them.  Those who are well-to-do and/or wealthy should freely lend to the poor whatever it is that the poor need, and not attempt to profit at the expense of the poor.  My father said on several occasions something which I think sum up how we should apply this today.  “There is nothing wrong with a Christian being a millionaire, and there is nothing wrong with a Christian being on welfare.  But there is something seriously wrong if one congregation has someone who is a millionaire and someone who is on welfare.”  He meant by that that those of us who are wealthy should aid those who would otherwise depend on the government so that they do not need to depend on the government.  I want to note that here, and everywhere else in the Bible where it is discussed, the wealthy have an obligation to God to aid the poor, but the poor do not have a right to that aid.  The Bible does not give the poor the right, or even the standing, to demand that the wealthy help them out.  I also want to point out that this passage makes no provision for the King (the government) to aid the poor (except insomuch as he is one of the wealthy).

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.

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.

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.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 5-7.

The translators footnote on verse 3 of chapter 5 says that it could be translated as “It was not only with our parents that the Lord made this covenant.”  I suspect that to the original readers of that verse it conveyed both that and the way in which the NIV translators chose to translate it.  Each and every one of us must choose to accept God’s covenant for themselves, whether or not our parents did so.  However, I want to focus on chapter 6 verses 4 to 7.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

I really find this to be inspirational.  First, it contains what Jesus tells us is the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  I could spend my whole blog today on that, but I want to focus on what comes next.  God’s commands should be in our hearts at all times.  We should talk about them when we are at home, and when we travel.  We should talk about them as we go to bed, and when we get up in the morning.  We should spend all day every day thinking about what God wants us to do, and then doing it.  Of course, that follows from loving God with all of our heart, soul, and strength, but sometimes we need to spell that out.

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

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Deuteronomy 3-4.

I am not quite sure where I am going to go with this, but I want to focus on a couple of contrasting phrases in today’s passage.  First, the passage says, “do not make for yourselves an idol…For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”  Then a few verses later when discussing the punishment which will come from breaking that command it says, “ if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul… For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you…”  The final quote I want to pull out from today’s passage comes a few verses later and, in my mind, explains all of this, “Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.  Keep his decrees and commands, …so that it may go well with you…”  The words I left out are also important, but I want to focus on the parts I quoted.  God is jealous because He knows that the idols we may seek to worship cannot fulfill the desires which lead us to worship, cannot satisfy the needs which we turn to them to fill.  He knows that our worship of idols can only lead to our heartbreak.  God is also a merciful God and has provided that anyone who truly seeks Him will find Him.  That final phrase reminds us that God’s commands are not arbitrary.  He made us and thus knows what we must do so that things will go well for us.   His anger at us when we violate His commands comes from His sorrow at the suffering which He knows our actions will bring us.  Once again, everyone who truly seeks God with their entire being will find 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 1-2.being written

Many scholars believe that the Book of Deuteronomy was the “Book of the Law” found in the Temple under King Josiah and that it was written at that time. While I have my doubts about Deuteronomy being written by Moses, I think it was likely written close to the time of Moses than to the time of Josiah.  I also believe that it is an accurate portrayal of the events it describes (while it is possible that there are some transcription errors, everything of theological significance is accurate).  The Book of Deuteronomy describes what Moses told the Children of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land, something they would be doing without his leadership.  The point of the book is that those Moses addressed had not lived through the Exodus and the giving of God’s Law.  There are a lot of things I would like to write about today’s passage, but I probably will not get to all of them.

Moses begins his recounting of how the Israelites had gotten to where they were at that moment with their departure from Mount Horeb.  The references to Mount Horeb (or often, just Horeb) throughout Deuteronomy, suggest that the camp being referred to was the one at Mount Sinai.  The Hebrew word Horeb derives in a way which suggests that Mount Horeb was “the mountain of the Sun”.  Sinai derives in a way which suggests that Mount Sinai was “the mountain of the Moon”.  Perhaps Horeb and Sinai are two different names for the same mountain.  Or, perhaps Horeb and Sinai were two mountains which were close enough together that the Israelite camp was at the base of both of them at the same time. I would also like to note that Moses’ encounter with the burning bush occurred at the base of Mount Horeb. For all it’s significance to the Exodus and the Israelites covenant with God, Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb never again became significant places for the Israelites to worship.

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