Good Morning Everyone! I appreciate all the comments!
Deuteronomy chapter 4.
Moses is about to teach the Israelites God's laws and decrees. And we have God's words today, the Bible, which we are to follow and keep. I love all the words Moses uses in helping us keep God's words. They are both encouraging words and warning words. I wrote them down.
- THE ENCOURAGING WORDS MOSES SAID: Follow, keep, remember, hold fast, observe, teach them, keep.
- THE WARNING WORDS MOSES SAID: Don't add to, don't subtract from, be careful, watch yourself, lest you forget, watch yourself, don't be enticed, be careful, don't forget.
Satan is attacking us all the time in hopes of enticing us with something or someone in this world that will take our hearts away from the one and only true God. Once we are enticed we end up following or giving our heart to someone or something else. When that happens, it becomes our god.
What do we give our hearts to the most? The One and only true God? Or our job? Sports? Our money? Our possessions? Personal success? Fame? Popularity? Acceptance? Other relationships? Other?
We are so blessed – we have the promises of His Word; we have the hope of heaven. We’ve been given a wonderful treasure in the Scriptures, but need to beware that it remains a priority, that we don’t lose our passion to know the heart of God, the Word of the Lord.
I love reading Deuteronomy – it is a synopsis of the blessings of the Lord to the nation of Israel in their brief life of 40 years, a warning of the future consequences of not following the Lord’s laws. The days of promised restoration point to the Messiah’s return to set up the millennial kingdom.
A story is told in the Mishnah, the collection of Jewish teaching and writings, of a Persian king named Arteban who sent Judah, a prince of Jerusalem, the biggest diamond known to exist at that time. When Judah received the gift, he sent back a copy of the Book of Deuteronomy with a note that said “what you have sent me requires guards to protect it. What I have sent you will guard and protect you.”
Verse 2 of chapter 4 reminded me of Revelation 22:18-19 with the warning that is given.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
20 “But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance, as you now are.”
God has delivered each of us from a life of sin and an eternity in Hell. Praise be to God for His love for US!
23 “Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
God Is a loving God, be He is also a jealous God because he wants the absolute BEST for us. He knows that it is only through Himself and Jesus Christ that we are truly and wholly FULFILLED. Therefore we must not fall to the idols of this world no matter how enticing or tempting they seem. We must remember to set our eyes on the things above and that there is no life with the Lord.
27 “The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.”
I feel so strongly that this is such a large part of our society today- worshipping man made gods. Maybe not of wood and stone, but money, power, sex, fame, notoriety…. desires of the flesh rule over so many!
29 “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. 31 For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.”
Through it ALL God is merciful to us. He is a loving and forgiving God and we can leave behind the idols of our past and fully surrender our lives to Him, seek Him with ALL of our hearts and He will welcome us back like the prodigal son. But we mustn’t wait, or delay – because each day we do, is one more day away from the one who loves us more than we could even imagine.
How can we help those around us seek the Lord will all their heart? What can we let go of to do that ourselves???
There is so much in this one chapter! But I guess the two most important points being keep God’s statutes (obedience and remembering all that He has done for them) and don’t have any other gods (images, people, animals, stars, etc.).
“Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren”
Deuteronomy 4:9
God knew they would mess up and forget, but He told them to seek Him with all their hearts and they would find Him and He would be merciful to them! How awesome that we have a merciful God!
“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”
Deuteronomy 4:29-31