Week 12, Deut 8 - Deut 28

So much of this week's readings concern knowing what the Lord said to the Israelites, reminding them to obey His commandments, and remove what is evil from their sight.

Chapter 8:1-3

"You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the LORD swore to your fathers. Remember that the LORD your God led you on the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

The Lord led us out of the wilderness into the promised land, we cannot possess what He has for us and continue to willfully sin at the same time. When we possess what He gives us, we are able to bless and advance the Kingdom. It's hard to be a blessing when we are dwelling at the bottom of the pit. When we possess the spiritual blessings He has for us, our prayer lives are empowered, our spiritual walks become more bold. In verse 4 we hear the very words Jesus uses as satan tempts Him, man does not live by bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

Chapter 9, when the Lord leads us across the Jordan, He goes before us, He is our banner, Jehovah Nisi, He takes care of the obstacles for us. We must follow Him, not take the lead in our rush to do things.

Verses 26 & 27,

26 I prayed to the LORD: Lord GOD , do not annihilate Your people, Your inheritance, whom You redeemed through Your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand. Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Disregard this people's stubbornness, and their wickedness and sin.

This is the 1st time I noticed the Israelites, the descendants of Abraham are the Lord's inheritance. You and I are heirs of Abraham - we are His inheritance.

Chapter 10:9

For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; the LORD is his inheritance, as the LORD your God told him.

WOW - The Levites inheritance is the Lord. That's an inheritance!

verses 12 - 22:

"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you except to fear the LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, and to worship the LORD your God with all your heart and all your soul? Keep the LORD's commands and statutes I am giving you today, for your own good. The heavens, indeed the highest heavens, belong to the LORD your God, as does the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD was devoted to your fathers and loved them. He chose their descendants after them—[He chose] you out of all the peoples, as it is today. Therefore, circumcise your hearts and don't be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is the God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, mighty, and awesome God, showing no partiality and taking no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreign resident, giving him food and clothing. You also must love the foreigner, since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. You are to fear the LORD your God and worship Him. Remain faithful to Him and take oaths in His name. He is your praise and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome works your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt, 70 people in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.

The passage really sums up much of what the Lord wanted to instill in His people.

Chapter 11:13-21

"If you carefully obey My commands I am giving you today, to love the LORD your God and worship Him with all your heart and all your soul, I will provide rain for your land in season, the early and late rains, and you will harvest your grain, new wine, and oil. I will provide grass in your fields for your livestock. You will eat and be satisfied. Be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside, worship, and bow down to other gods. Then the LORD's anger will burn against you. He will close the sky, and there will be no rain; the land will not yield its produce, and you will perish quickly from the good land the LORD is giving you. "Impress these words of Mine on your hearts and souls, bind them as a sign on your hands, and let them be a symbol on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the heavens are above the earth, your days and those of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your fathers.

What more needs to be said about living for the Lord? He meets every need of His people as long as they serve Him. This passage further convicted me to hide more of His word in my heart. As a side note, much of what we read, makes it very clear the Promised Land was given by God to the Israelites. The land is theirs...I cannot help but wonder if God will bless countries whose governments advise Israel to carve up their land and give a portion to other people...

Chapter 12

The Lord is so clear about removing idols from our life. He wanted the Israelites to destroy the places in which idols were worshiped.

Chapter 14

11 "You may eat every clean bird, 12 but these are the ones you may not eat:
the eagle, the bearded vulture,the black vulture, 13 the kite, the various kinds of falcon, 14 every kind of raven, 15 the ostrich,the short-eared owl, the gull,
the various kinds of hawk,16 the little owl, the long-eared owl,the white owl, 17 the desert owl, the osprey, the cormorant, 18 the stork,the various kinds of heron,
the hoopoe, and the bat. 19 All winged insects are unclean for you; they may not be eaten. 20 But you may eat every clean flying creature.

I gotta say - Not a problem.

The chapter goes on to remind us to give Him our tithe and to take care of those in need.

Chapter 15 - every 7 years debts are cancelled, can you imagine if the world operated like this today! Again His word tells us to help the poor.

Chapter 17 - we read about requirements for a king, after reading this passage and knowing the kings in Israel's future, we know many of them did not fit the bill:

14 "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, take possession of it, live in it, and say, 'We want to appoint a king over us like all the nations around us,' 15 you are to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. Appoint a king from your brothers. You are not to set a foreigner over you, or one who is not of your people. 16 However, he must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire many horses, for the LORD has told you, 'You are never to go back that way again. ' 17 He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won't go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself. 18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he is to write a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to observe all the words of this instruction, and to do these statutes. 20 Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue ruling many years over Israel.

Chapter 18

9 "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. 10 No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. 12 Everyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and the LORD your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things. 13 You must be blameless before the LORD your God. 14 Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do this.

Not so long ago these practices were done in secret in America, now it's done right out in the open. This is no laughing matter to the Lord.

This week ends with us reading Chapter 28, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. The Lord wants so much to bless us so we can be a blessing. Let us really search our hearts this week and determine what we need to do to grow in Christ and let go of in our lives.