One Year Bible Readings and Commentary for Thursday, March 7th
Click Here to Listen to the Readings
Click Here to Read Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27
Joshua Becomes Israel’s Leader
Moses has faithfully led the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years, but he knew from the Lord that he would not be the one to lead them into the promised land. Most importantly he gave them these words to inspire confidence in them,
"So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deut 31:6
I love this idea that when the Lord calls us to go out and we obey Him that God goes out before us. Literally God is ahead of us. Similarly Moses says to his successor,
"Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
The key to being a courageous person is realizing God goes before you and He will be with you!
Public Reading of the Book of Instruction
Moses wrote down of all the words God gave him into one book. We call this the Pentateuch, the book of the Law, or the Torah. They were to carry a copy of it in the Ark of the Covenant. Every 7th year all of the Israelites, including the children, were to gather and listen to the God's Word publicly read out loud. Not only were they to listen to these words, but they should be careful to do all that was written in them.
God's Word, the Holy Bible, needs to be at the center of the church, the body of Christ. It needs to be read publicly, preached boldly, taught diligently and instilled into the hearts of all of the children, youth and adult. As we listen to and obey God's Word it will always go well for us in the church.
Israel’s Disobedience Predicted
Unfortunately Moses' last message to the Israelites, as he commissioned Joshua to be their leader, was that when the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land they would turn from the Lord and start worshipping other gods. The Word of the Law stored in the Ark of the Covenant would be a witness against them when they rebelled. It would be a time when God would hide his face from them.
The Song of Moses
Moses writes this song, which summarizes his time as the leader of Israel and as the spokesperson for Yahweh.
He begins by uplifiting the greatness of the Lord.
"I will proclaim the name of the Lord; how glorious is our Gfod! He is the Rock; his deeds are perfect. Everything he does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright he is!"
Then he laments Israel's choosing to walk away from God.
“But they have acted corruptly toward him; when they act so perversely, are they really his children? They are a deceitful and twisted generation. Is this the way you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people?
But for the sake of His own name, he did not completely destroy the Israelites.
But I feared the taunt of Israel’s enemy, who might misunderstand and say, Our own power has triumphed! The Lord had nothing to do with this!”’
We often act the Israelites. Even after all God has done for us, we often turn back to old habits or patterns rather than living in the freedom God has given us. Jesus paid for our sins on the cross, so the curse of sin has been broken. He has given us the power of the Holy Spirit the presence of Jesus to live a life worthy of our calling in Christ.
Click Here To Read Luke 12:8-34
Jesus gives a challenge to his disciples. Whoever acknowledges him before others here on earth, he will acknowledge in the presence of God's angels in heaven. But for those who deny him here on earth, he will deny them in heaven. As we step out in faith to defend the Christian faith and Jesus himself, God's Holy Spirit will come alongside of us to help us. As we step out in faith, the Spirit will give us the words to say, which rhe world cannot refute.
Where is God calling you to stand up for His Son publicly? It is a pretty scary thing to think that if we are not willing to stand up for Jesus here on earth that he might not stand up for us in heaven.
Parable of the Rich Fool
This is a parable where Jesus teaches on greed. First, he is randomly interrupted by a man who queries him about his brother sharing his father's estate with him. Then to illustrate the inappropriateness of the man's comment, he tells this short parable. In the parable a man is blessed with a fertile farm which brings to him a huge yield of crops. Instead of giving thanks to God and continuing to work hard, he sees it as an opportuniity to build a huge barn and just sit back and sponge off of his wealth for the rest of his life.
The big mistake was that he thought that his wealth would give him continual and never ending happiness.
"The man was a fool – not because he was rich, but because he lived without any awareness of and preparation for eternity."
Where are you storing your riches? In your bank account or 401k, or in the bank of heaven? The riches accumulated here on earth can be gone in a New York minute, but the riches we store up in heaven will last forever! Even a run on the stock market can't affect its value!
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