9.23.09: Deuteronomy 1 - 7

God has led His people out of Egypt and through the great wilderness for40 years. Now they stand ready to enter the Promised Land. But before the Israelites go into the land, Moses has some important advice to give them. He delivers His advice in three parts. In the first part, Moses reviews the history of God's previous care for the people of Israel. Through God's actions in the past, we can learn about the God we serve today.

The Israelites spent 40 years on a journey that should have lasted 11 days. It wasn't distance that stood between them and the Promised Land. It was the condition of their hearts. God's purpose went deeper than simply transporting a huge group of people to a new land. He was preparing them to live in obedience to him once they arrived. What good was the Promised Land if the Israelites were just as wicked as the nations already living there? The journey as painful but necessary part of their preparation. Through it God taught the Israelites who He was: the living God, the Leader of the nation. He also taught them who they were: people who were fallen, sinful prone to rebellion and doubt. He gave his rebellious people the law to help them understand how to relate to God and to other people. Your spiritual pilgrimage may be lengthy and you may face pain, discouragement and difficulties. But remember that God isn't just trying to keep you alive. He wants to prepare you to live for service and devotion to Him.

If you were to give a slide show reviewing the last twenty years of your life, what would you highlight? The fun times? The disasters? The family outings? The struggles and pain? The brushes with greatness?
The book of Deuteronomy is where Israel gets to sit down for a little reminiscing - both good and bad. Moses highlights God's laws and how well (or poorly) Israel obeyed those laws along the way.
God gave Israel many laws, and he commanded that the people remember those laws and then teach them to their children (Deut. 4:8-9). Do these laws apply to Christians today? God designed His laws to guide His people in honoring and worshiping Him and to help them see their sin and the proper way to deal with that sin. God's law is the perfect expression of who God is and how he wants His people to live.
God's laws always have a purpose but in some cases the purposes has been finished. For example, God told Israel to practice animal sacrifice in worship to receive forgiveness and to express thanks. But Christ made the ultimate, final sacrifice for sin - we must now come to Him for forgiveness. The principle (coming to God for forgiveness and thanking Him), not the form (animal sacrifice), still applies.

Wherever you come upon a law directed specifically to Israel in its own time, look for the principle behind it. Look for ways to obey God; don't search for loopholes in His commandments.

1:9-13. It was a tremendous burden for Moses to lead the nation by himself. He could not accomplish the task single-handily. As nations, organizations and churches grow, they become increasingly complex. Conflicting needs and quarries arise. No longer can one leader make all the decisions. Like Moses, you may have a natural tendency to try to do all the work alone. You may be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help. Moses made a wise decision to share the leadership with others. Rather than trying to handle larger responsibilities alone, look for ways of sharing the load so that others may exercise their God-given gifts and abilities.
1:13-18. Moses identified some of the inner qualities of good leaders;
1. wisdom 2. experience, and 3. understanding
These characteristics differ markedly from the ones that often help elect leaders today: good looks, wealth, popularity, willingness to do anything to get to the top. The qualities Moses identified should bee evident in us as we lead and we should look for them in those we elect to positions of leadership.
2:14,15. Israel did not have to spend 40 years on the way to the Promised Land. God sentenced them to wilderness wanderings because they rejected his love, rebelling against His authority, ignored His commands for right living and willfully broke their end of the agreement made in Exodus 19:18 and 24:3-8. In short, they disobeyed God. We often make life's journey more difficult than necessary by disobedience. Accept God's love, read and follow His commands in the Bible and make a promise to stick with God whatever your situation. You will find that your life will be less complicated and more rewarding.
4:2. What is meant by adding to or subtracting from God's commands? These laws were the word of God, and they were complete. How could any human being, with limited wisdom and knowledge, edit God's perfect laws? To add to the laws would make them a burden; to subtract from the laws would make them incomplete. Thus the laws were to remain unchanged. To resume to make changes in God's laws is assume a position of authority over God who gave the laws (Matthew 5:17-19, 15:3-9, Revelation 22:18,19). The religious leaders at the time of Christ did exactly this; they elevated their own laws to the same level as God's. Jesus rebuked them for this (Matthew 23:1-4).
4:8. Do the laws God gave to the Israelites still apply to Christians today? God's laws are designed to guide all people toward lifestyle that are healthy, upright, and devoted to God. Their purpose was to point out sin (or potential sin) and show the proper way to deal with that sin. The Ten Commandments, the heart of God's law, are just as applicable today as they were 3,000 years ago because they proclaim a lifestyle endorsed by God. They are the perfect expression of who God is and how he wants people to live.
But God have other laws besides the Ten Commandments . Are there just as important? God never issued a law that didn't have a purpose. However, many of the laws we read in the Pentateuch were directed specifically to people of that time and culture. Although a specific law may not apply to us, the timeless truth or principle behind the law does.
For example, Christians do not practice animal sacrifice in worship. However, the principles behind the sacrifices behind the sacrifices-forgiveness for sin and thankfulness to God - still apply. The sacrifices pointed to the ultimate made for us by Jesus Christ. The New Testament says that with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Old Testament laws were fulfilled. This means that while the Old Testament laws help us recognize our sins and correct our wrongdoings, it is Jesus Christ who takes our sins away. Jesus is now our primary example to follow because he along perfectly obeyed the law and modeled its true intent.
4:25. Jealousy is a demand for someone else's exclusive affection or loyalty. Some jealousy is bad. It is destructive for person to get upset when his or her spouse talks to someone of the opposite sex. But other jealousy is good. It is right for a man to demand that his wife treat him, and only him, as her husband. Usually we use the word jealousy only for the bad reaction. But God's kind of jealousy is appropriate and good. He is defending his word and guarding his high honor. He makes a strong, exclusive demand on us: We must treat only the Lord - and no one else in all the universe - as God.

5:8,9. How would you feel if someone took a picture of you, framed it, stared at it a lot, showed it to others but completely ignored the real you? God does not want to be treated this way either. He wants a genuine relationship with us, not mere ritual. He wants us to know him. God knows that if we put anything other than Him at the center of our lives, we will not reach our potential and become all that he wants us to be.

7:2. God told the Israelites to completely destroy their enemies. How can a God of love and mercy wipe out everyone, even children? Although God is loving and merciful, he is also just. These enemy nations were as much a part of God's creation as Israel was, and God does not allow evil to continue unchecked. God had punished Israel be keeping out of the Promised Land all those who had disobeyed. The command to destroy these nations was both a judgement (9:4-6) and a safety measures. On one hand, the people living in the land were being judged for their sin, and Israel was God's instrument of judgement - just as God would one day use other nations to judge Israel for its sin (2 Chronicles 36:17; Isaiah 10:12). On the other hand, God's command was designed to protect the nation of Israel from being ruined by the idolatry and immortality of its enemies. To think that God is to "nice" to judge sin would be to underestimate Him.

Although God could instantly transform us, he has chose to develop us slowly. Jesus is deliberate in developing His disciples. Just as God allowed the Israelites to take over the Promised Land "little by little" Deut. 7:22 so they wouldn't be overwhelmed, he prefers to work in incremental steps in our lives. Why does it take so long to change and grow up? There are several reasons;
1. We are slow learners. 2. We have a lot to unlearn. 3. We are afraid to humbly face the truth about ourselves. 4. Growth is often painful and scary. 5. Habits take time to develop.