Deuteronomy 1-5

Okay, so I couldn't help myself. I haven't had a ton of time to read since I've been at school, but when I do I continue to see the same things. I know that if I wait till the end of Deuteronomy, the post will be extremely long and take you forever to read, so I am just going to cut it down into multiple parts. This is what I have learned and seen in Deuteronomy 1-5.

It starts off and you realize that it is Moses summarizing everything that has gone on in the last couple of books. The great thing about this is that summaries create big picture thinking. That is why I have tried to give some summaries on here. It makes you see patterns clearly and makes you ask 'why?' questions a lot. So, Moses is summarizing what has happened from when they were commanded to leave Horeb and go to the promised land (Exodus 33) until the present time. A lot of great stuff ensues.

It is basically all telling what we have already heard until chapter 4. Then Moses starts to give reasons for all of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Deuteronomy 4:6-7, "Keep them and do them (the statutes that the Lord commanded them, the Law), for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon Him?" So the Law and them following the Law is so the nation of Israel looks a certain way. A way that makes the nations say, "Look at their God." Wow. That is awesome.

Then in verses 9-10, Moses makes it clear again what the purpose of the Law is, "Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children- how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb (where He gave them the Law), the Lord said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'" BAM! What is the purpose of the Law? That they would remember what God did for them, all His great acts. Furthermore, the Law was so they would fear Him because of those awesome and powerful acts, and teach their children to fear Him also. There it is. The purpose of everything I've read in the last week and a half- so they know how great God is. What happens when they remember how great He is? They fear Him!

The next amazing thing written is Deuteronomy 4:32-40. It's worth the time to read.

"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. Out of heaven He let you hear His voice, that He might discipline you. And on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the fire. And because He loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with His own presence, by His great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than yourselves, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day, know therefore today, and lay it on your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep His statutes and His commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time."

That is so awesome! This totally speaks to what was said just a couple verses earlier in 4:24, "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." Moses is reminding the Israelites of all these great things God did, all the way back to creation. And he keeps asking, "Do you know of any other god that's done all this?" In verse 34, he says all these things about what God has done in taking them out of Egypt and saving them by His hand. Then, he says why- verse 35, "To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him." We are supposed to remember how great He is. Not only that, we are supposed to remember how much greater He is than everything else. God is so much greater than every idol or god that anyone could ever show them, and He demands that they acknowledge that and fear Him because of it. So awesome!

Next comes the Ten Commandments in chapter 5. Have you ever noticed what God started them out with? "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery." That's the opening to the Ten Commandments. I don't remember hearing that. He's just reminding them right off the bat, 'Remember how great I am in what I have done fore you." And when you start reading, it makes sense that He would give them that reminder. The reason being, all of the first commandments are basically, "Acknowledge how awesome I am; remember it, and don't you dare act like anything else is better!" Seriously, look at these. The first four take up these huge paragraphs and they are basically, don't put anything on the same level as me, don't try to act like you can even imagine my greatness and put it in to form, don't take this Name that I have made great and profane it, and set aside an entire day to remember how great I am. Then He just kind of tacks on the next six. I'm not saying they aren't important. They are; they're God's commandments, but it's pretty clear to me what He is trying to stress here. So in verses 24-25 it shows the Israelites reaction to God telling them all of this out of fire on the mountain. It's basically, "Look we are seeing God's glory right now and we are scared that we are going to die if we see any more. Please tell Him to stop talking to us so we don't die from the presence of His power." Hahaha. That is so great. Do we have that fear of the Lord. Not from what I can see. I can tell you that I sure don't. Not yet anyway. In verse 29, it is God wishing that they had this type of attitude always, that they would always have this kind of fear of Him. And He says, then it would go well with them!

More to come soon. I will try to get to chapters 6-14 tomorrow and then continue in my reading. This is awesome stuff. Soak it in. But don't soak in what I'm saying. Read it and then soak in the truth of God's Word. Oh, it is awesome to see the glory of the Lord!