March 14: Deuteronomy 8-10

March 14, Deuteronomy 8-10

Deuteronomy 8. This is a continuation from yesterdays reading where God is teaching us about loving Him with our entire being and it moves a little bit to being about reliance on the Lord alone. God had the Israelite parents tested for forty years in the wilderness to reveal whether or not they would keep God’s commandments… God fed them manna to teach them that man does not live by bread alone - but that their nourishment came from God alone. And we need to do the same and realize that our nourishment comes from the Words of God!

Then we get to read about a stark reminder (my paraphrase): ‘Beware! Don’t even consider thinking that it was by your awesomeness or craftiness that you now have the wealth that you have. You best remember that everything that what we have was given to us. Even the power to get wealth was given to us.’ Then they get a curse that states that if they forget who God is and go after other gods, they will perish - like the other nations that have forgotten who God is…

Deuteronomy 9. God claims that He will drive out their enemies before them, and that they must trust, as they have already seen that - just like God promised them. Here, they are reminded again, that is was not because of how good or great that the Israelites were that God saved them, but because of the wickedness of the surrounding nations that God saved them. God is getting them ready to enter the Promised Land (a land that God promised to give them…). Then Moses recounts a couple of the rebellious episodes that the Israelites went through - the golden calf, Horeb… Remember that rebellion is the same as stubborn and lacking trust in the Lord and this is what the Israelites exemplified.

Deuteronomy 10 starts with the the recount of of how Moses was given the second set of the Ten Commandments. Then Moses goes very straight with them (and us!). “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?” (Deut 10:12-13) This is what the Lord wants from us - all of our being to desire Him, not just lip service. Then Moses tells them to circumcise their hearts… what does this mean? In other words - it symbolizes ‘removing’ the rebellion or stubbornness of the hearts, that is keeping them from pursuing and loving Him.

To sum it all up:

• We don’t live by food and water alone - but we need our daily bread, we must be in God’s Word to be full and satisfied. I think back on my life when I felt most isolated from the world or in pursuit of sin… and it was in those times, that I was not in the Word of God and seeking Him first… I was starving for Him. 
• Also, If we forget who God is and pursue other gods (idols), we will be like the Israelites - God requires total obedience and surrender to Him, and He blesses that and takes care of us, like a good Father does. 
• This is what the Lord wants from us - all of our being to desire Him, not just lip service.
• We are called to have circumcised hearts. This is of course a metaphor. But a great one. We need to make sure that we are circumcised in the heart. Which means removing the rebellion and stubbornness of the heart and make sure that we all keep pursuing and loving Him.