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The scriptures. May God
bless the reading of His holy word.
“If
you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord
your God will keep His covenant of love with you, as He swore to your
forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will
bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land - your grain, new wine and
oil - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that He
swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other
people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock
without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not
inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will inflict
them on all who hate you. You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God
gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods,
for that will be a snare to you.”
“You
may say to yourselves, ‘These nations are stronger than we are. How can we
drive them out?’ But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the Lord your
God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great
trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm,
with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the
same to all the peoples you now fear. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the
hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do
not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great
and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you,
little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the
wild animals will multiply around you. But the Lord your God will deliver them
over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. He
will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from
under Heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy
them. The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the
silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be
ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a
detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for
destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.”
Deuteronomy
7:12-26
This ends this reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
“…for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great
and awesome God.”
These words from verse 21
of Deuteronomy, chapter 7 resonate across this entire scripture passage and
across the landscape of our everyday lives as well.
For ask yourself this:
Where would we be without
the great and awesome God who created us and this universe we live in?
Just the fact that He has
brought us into existence to serve Him would be reason enough to rejoice but
through Him, we have so much more in life, an abundance of blessedness from the
One who sends every good and perfect gift from above (James 1:17). We see some
of the specific things He provides from our verses for today. They include:
1. God loves His people.
Moses said this to the
Israelites as a reminder:
“If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to
follow them, then the Lord your God will keep His covenant of love with you.”
Truly, God had established
a divine promise (or covenant) to love His people and He has never stopped
loving those who place their belief, hope, and trust in Him since then.
Consider these words from
the Psalms:
“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to
anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will He harbor His
anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according
to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is
His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far
has He removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:8-12
Truly, there is no limit applied
to the love of God. It reaches to the highest heights and the lowest lows,
spanning to the furthest reaches of the east and the west.
Thanks be to God for His
love for we only know how to love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).
2. God blesses His people.
Throughout the history of
the Israelite people, God continuously blessed them with His provision, power,
and protection...and would continue to do so as we see Moses asserting:
“He will love you and bless you and increase your
numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land - your
grain, new wine and oil - the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks
in the land that He swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed
more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor
any of your livestock without young.”
The people of Israel would
enjoy an amazing life, basking in the goodness of their God, as long as they
would remain obedient to Him. This is what was promised by their great and
awesome God.
Today, we should consider
all that God has given us in life and when we do so, it’s important to not
allow our consideration to only include the tangible things for this is how the
world gauges how blessed they are...by way of how much stuff they have.
The wonderful think about
being a Christian believer is that we see the greater value contained within
the intangible. Just having a heart that beats and lungs that breathe in and
out are reasons for thanksgiving. Ditto for the mercy, grace, forgiveness, and
yes, the unchanging, steadfast love that comes from our great and awesome God,
a love that didn’t wish for us to perish but gain eternal life through His Son,
Jesus (John 3:16).
Truly, God blesses us abundantly
and in return, we need to show Him an unending attitude of gratitude in
response to His goodness.
3. God heals His afflicted people.
Indeed, God was the Great
Physician for the Israelites, something else we find Moses reminding them of:
“The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He
will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but He will
inflict them on all who hate you.”
One could say that there
is a power to create, administer, and spread disease within the domain of man
and they would be correct. Recently during the COVID crisis, we saw where a
laboratory created virus could wreak havoc on the world if it was allowed to
escape. Further, nearly all major nations of the world have biological weapons
developed and hidden away to use if needed.
Yes, there’s little doubt
that humankind has the ability to develop and unleash elements that would
afflict and destroy people but the power to keep people free from any disease?
That ability is solely reserved by a great and awesome God.
Truly, our Lord is capable
of doing anything He wills to do, including healing His people. An obedient Israel could expect this to be the
case for them but unfortunately, we know they didn’t do too well in holding up
their end of the bargain as they willingly chose to violate God’s commands. In
the end translation, they needed to learn that the only way to have a God-blessed
life was to comply fully with His expectations.
In present times, we too
will face afflictions of many kinds and when sickness or injury comes our way,
we need to remember the amazing , healing power that God holds in His hands,
remembering that He promised that nothing is impossible with Him (Luke 1:37).
What an incredible,
blessed assurance that is!
4. God protects His people.
After entering Canaan, the
land God had promised to give His people, the Israelites would face many adversaries,
powerful enemies who weren’t going to give up their nation without a fight.
All this might have
brought fear and anxiety to the people of God and so we find Moses speaking
into that space with the following words:
“You may say to yourselves, ‘These nations are
stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?’ But do not be afraid of them;
remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw
with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the
mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out.
The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. Moreover,
the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who
hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your
God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive
out those nations before you, little by little.”
To sum this up, Moses was
letting the Israelites know that they didn’t have to be worried about fighting
against stronger nations in Canaan for those nations lacked one very important
thing. They didn’t have the only great and awesome God fighting for them.
Rather, He was their chief opposition and because of this, they didn’t stand a
chance.
Today, Christ followers
may encounter people who seek to oppose them as well, especially as they go
forth to carry out Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations. When resistance
comes, it’s of critical importance that they remember that the great and
awesome God of the scriptures is with them as much as He was with His people of
Israel. As it was with them, He is with and for anyone who places their hope
and trust in His holy name, ever ready to help believers overcome their enemies.
All they need to do is just keep faith and trust in Him.
5. God delivers His people.
Going back to Moses, we
find him sharing the following with God’s people:
“The Lord your God will drive out those nations before
you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once,
or the wild animals will multiply around you. But the Lord your God will
deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are
destroyed. He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their
names from under Heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will
destroy them.”
God promised to drive out
the pagan groups within Canaan and deliver them into the hands of Israel and as
we know, He never fails to keep any promise. So it will be when the Israelites
enter the Promised Land. No one will be able to stand against them because God
was fighting on their behalf.
In present times, no one
can stand in opposition to what the Lord is doing through His people either
when they put Him first in everything they do. Indeed, He always rises up to
help and defend us when we face trials, allowing us to stand firm in the midst
of adversity, not by our own strength but by His power residing within us.
Finally…
6. God words miracles and wonders in support of His
people.
Here’s what Moses said on
this:
“...remember well what
the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes
the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and
outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out.”
Going back to the Book of
Exodus, we see where Israel’s departure from Egypt was far from an easy,
routine exit. After all, how many people can say that they walked across a dry
sea bed while the mighty waters were divided in two, suspended in air so they
could pass safely?
The people of Israel could
as they were able to testify that their great and awesome God was a God of incredible,
astounding miracles and wonders.
This same great and
awesome God still puts his marvels on full display each and every day. Look at
the news and/or social media closely enough and you will discover evidence of God’s
miracles and wonders happening all over the world. For our Lord is ever at
work, unveiling His mighty power while amazing and astounding us while performing
acts that are seemingly impossible and improbable, constantly reminding us that
He can indeed do all things.
Friends, we can’t afford
to adopt an attitude of indifference over just how unbelievably incredible our
God is. Let us rejoice and be glad daily that our Lord liberally lavishes His love,
blessings, healing, protection, deliverance, and miracles and wonders upon us
every second of every minute of every hour of every day.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS:
Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might
be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to
TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com