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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The Lord said to Moses, "Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him."
So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.
Then the Lord appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent. And the Lord said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I made with them. On that day, I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' And I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.”
"Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them. When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting Me and breaking My covenant. And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath."
So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: "Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I Myself will be with you."
After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord: "Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. There it will remain as a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call Heaven and earth to testify against them. For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made."
Deuteronomy 31:14-29
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The Book of Deuteronomy has been building to this moment, the moment when Moses would pass away and Joshua would assume leadership over the Israelites as they crossed the Jordan River into the land God promised them. Unfortunately, God’s chosen people were going to betray their Lord once in Canaan.
We know this through our scripture passage for today from the 31st chapter of Deuteronomy where we find God summoning Moses and Joshua to the Tent of Meeting so He could commission Joshua. There, He says this to Moses:
"You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake Me and break the covenant I made with them. On that day, I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide My face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?' And I will certainly hide My face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.”
It’s important to remember that the Israelites hadn’t entered Canaan yet and yet God knew what was to come because He is the Lord of the past, present, and future. He knew Israel would let Him down, despite all His attempts to teach them His expectations for how He wanted them to live. We know this because God tells Moses this:
“I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath."
Indeed, Israel would “soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods”, abandoning their God while breaking the covenant they made with Him. And so out of anger over their disobedience, God would “forsake them” and hide (His) face from them” while permitting their destruction at the hands of their enemies.
In the end translation, the Lord had forewarned His people regarding what would happen if they chose to be unfaithful to Him and I can’t help but think He was deeply saddened to know that His beloved children would soon turn away from Him to chase after their sinful desires.
So how about us today? Do we think about our future and what God sees there?
Like the ancient people of Israel, we have the Word of God but we have so much more than they did. Our bibles contain sixty-six books in all and within those books, God has fully spoken. Further, we have the benefit of having the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a Spirit who illuminates the scriptures to bring us understanding and discernment. Finally, we have a full documentation of the life of Jesus which we can use to model our own lives after.
But here’s the thing. We need to put all this to work in our lives in order to ensure we are living in ways pleasing to God, the God who can already see out future before we get there.
So we should ask ourselves…
What does God see when He looks at my future?
What does He see me predisposed to do?
When He looks ahead in my life, does he see things that will bring joy to His heart? Or does He see things that will enrage Him and cause Him to turn away from me, leaving me hostage to the sin and evil in the world?
Looking into what’s to come, does He see me in a totally reverent relationship with Him, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? Or does He see our relationship fractured by the sins I committed against Him?
As we consider all these questions, the key to being on the positive side with the Lord is through surrendering our will and way for His. He has given us His absolute all and we need to be equally committed, willing to lay ourselves down and sacrifice for Him.
My prayer is that we will commit ourselves daily to starting, finishing, and doing everything in a God-honoring way. For if we vow to do this and then carry through with our promise, not breaking it like the Israelites, then our Lord will see our future and feel compelled to say with gladness:
“Well done, good and faithful servant. With you I am well pleased.”
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.
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