March 15: Deuteronomy 11-13

March 15, Deuteronomy 11-13

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Deuteronomy 11 is the last chapter of what they call the first speech or sermon from Moses. He finishes up with the summation of the repercussions of obedience to God vs disobedience to God. Again, Moses is speaking the the children of the disobedient Israelites and is strictly commanding them to stay in allegiance with Yahweh as they are about to enter the Promised Land. Here is what it comes down to: God will bless them if they obey Him and will curse them if they disobey Him. 

Deuteronomy 12 is what they call the second speech or sermon from Moses. The next 14 chapters are far more specific than the last 6 chapters and the upcoming chapters somewhat follow the Ten Commandments. Remember, God is getting the younger Israelites (who didn't have to go through what their parents did, but will be the ones inheriting the Promised Land) ready to enter the Promised Land and God will be much stricter on them in that land. 

Proper Worship of God is detailed here in the command to completely destroy the cities that God will give to them. Basically, destroy their detestable ways, including all of their idols that they worshipped and they places that they worshipped them in. Then Moses tells them to step up their game, and don't rely on themselves but to rely solely on Yahweh. The Israelites are commanded to always take care of the Levites and not neglect them. 

Interesting as well, Moses reiterates again to not drink the blood of any animals. Do you recall that the life is in the blood and it is divinely set aside as atonement for their sins? Yeah, that has not changed for them! They can eat as much meat as they want, just not the blood. Again, the Israelites are reminded to obey God and stay away from idolatry - don't have anything to do with it - so that it goes well for them and their kids. 

Deuteronomy 13 seems like a harsh chapter, doesn't it? But lets break it down a bit. Moses starts out by telling us that God will bring in false prophets to test the Israelites, but that they are not to follow them - God will send people to ‘tickle’ our ears to see if we love Him more than anything. What are the Israelites to do with the false prophet? Kill him, as he will lead them away from loving God. But then Moses goes a step further and talks about what should happen if their family members, their spouse, or their close friends try to entice them to walk away from God or they secretly plant in their minds what is not truth… They are told to kill them to and purge the evil from among them! Truth is - obedience and faithfulness to the Lord takes priority over everything and everyone, even loved ones. Here is how it ends: If you obey the voice of the Lord your God - it will go well for you.

To sum it all up:

• Like the Israelites, we too must stay away from all forms of idolatry and have nothing to do with it. That hasn't changed! God will not share our love and He must be first. In my own life, I can tell you that when my heart strayed and I was wandering into idolatry, that God took extreme measures of discipline to get me back on track. Let’s not be like that together! Let us put Yahweh first!
• Truth is - obedience and faithfulness to the Lord takes priority over everything and everyone, even loved ones. We just need to keep Him first, that is what matters here on earth and eternally…