I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 32-34.

    In this passage Moses teaches the Israelites a song which encourages them to remember God’s wondrous acts. The song that while God is faithful and does no wrong, the same cannot be said for us. Despite the many great things which God has done for us, we turn from Him and look to other gods, gods which are not really gods at all. When we do this God will not rescue us from the consequences of our actions. On the other hand, when we put our trust in God, and faithfully serve only Him, our actions will lead to better consequences and God will intervene to bring us good things. The enemies of God’s people are fools who rely on a source of strength which cannot supply strength. Let us rely on God, who can truly provide us with the strength to face our troubles.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 29-31.

    God gave the people of Israel a choice. A choice which He also gives us. It is a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. That choice is not too far away for us to reach, nor does it require us, or anyone else, to go to heroic lengths to obtain it. God has put His message on our lips and in our hearts so that we may obey it, if we so choose. Life and prosperity are not a reward for obeying God and death and disaster are not a punishment for disobeying. Those are just the results of our actions. If we obey God our actions will result in positive things happening for us, including God acting to provide us with all that we need. However, if we disobey God our actions will result in negative things happening to us, and God will not act to deflect the negative consequences of our actions. This is the choice we are faced with today.

    The choice which God has given us involves choosing to enter into a relationship with Him. Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, humans have been hiding from God, afraid to approach Him. We have come up with excuses and attempted to put distance between ourselves and Him. Repeatedly throughout the Bible and history God has told us that He is right there by us, waiting for us to turn to Him. We do not need to go to heroic lengths to find God. He is waiting right next to us for us to turn to Him. Let us turn to Him today and make that choice for life and prosperity.

    There is one final point I want to make about this passage. The people of Israel were about to make a change in their lives. They were about to enter a new land to settle there. They were going to face opposition. Through Moses, God told them not to be afraid, not to panic. He promised them that as they entered into this new life, this new place to live, that He would be with them and overcome all of the obstacles they would face. That struck close for me, because I am in the process of finding a new place to live. It is a scary process, but God has promised that He will be by my side as I go through this process. I do not need to fear because He will guide and protect me.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 27-28.

    Moses instructed the people of Israel that when they entered the land they were to set up some stones, coat them with plaster, and inscribe the commands on them. Then half of the tribes were to go to Mt Gerizim and declare God’s blessings over the people and the land. The other half of the tribes were to go to the top of Mt Ebal and declare God’s curses over the people. The blessings and curses were conditional. Moses declared that if they kept God’s commands they would receive the blessings, but if they did not keep His commands they would suffer the curses. This logic applies today. When a people keeps God’s commands they will be blessed. They will prosper and be successful in all they do. On the other hand, if they violate God’s commands, they will suffer and everything they turn their hand to will fail. The closer the people of a nation come to following God’s will, the more prosperous and powerful that nation will be.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 24-26.

    Today’s passage is a collection of miscellaneous instructions for the people of Israel. There are two related themes which run through many of them: justice and compassion for the poor/those in our power. One of the interesting things I see here are the repeated commands to provide the poor with the opportunity to help themselves. When you are gathering your harvest and forget a portion of the harvest in the field, do not go back for it. Instead, leave it for the poor to gather. Notice that it does not say to be as efficient as you can and give from your excess to the poor. Instead, it tells you to leave opportunities for the poor to gather for themselves. Several of the commands address issues related to making loans to the poor. When you make a loan, do not take the person’s means to produce as security against them paying you back. Also, when giving loans, do not take that which the person needs to fulfill their basic necessities as security (the passage speaks of clothing, but I think the rule extends beyond that).

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 21-23.

    This passage starts with an emphasis on the importance of finding justice for those who have been murdered. When someone is found murdered and it is not known who committed the crime, the town elders of the nearest town must make an offering and take an oath that they do not know who committed the crime. This stresses the importance of finding justice for those who have been wronged. In this case, someone who has been murdered and cannot seek justice for themselves.

    The very next part of this passage suggests to me a key difference between the rules governing Israelite treatment of slaves and that of most other cultures. It lays out the provisions a man must follow if he wishes to make a woman captured in battle (and thus a slave) his wife. My reading of this is that it implies that a man was not permitted to have sexual relations with his slaves. If a man wanted to have sexual relations with his slave, he needed to marry her. Further, if he later no longer wanted to be married to her, while he was free to divorce her just as he was a wife he obtained in the normal manner, she did not return to being a slave. Instead, the slave he had made his wife would then be a free woman.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 18-20.

    As Moses recounted the laws which God gave the people of Israel he reminded them that they must never sacrifice their children. He lumped that practice in with various forms of divination, sorcery, and consulting the dead. These things were all forbidden to the children of Israel (and I believe to all who wish to serve God). Moses immediately followed that with telling them that God would raise up other prophets after him. We are to listen to what those prophets say and obey the commands God gives us through them. Moses addresses the obvious question; how will we know if someone who claims to be a prophet was sent by God? The answer is that if someone who claims to be a prophet from God makes a prediction which does not come true they are speaking without the authority of God. In such a case we are under no obligation to listen to what they have to say.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 14-17.

    As I read this I noticed something interesting. At one point Moses told the people that when they come into the land, there should be no poor people among them. A few sentences later he tells them that nevertheless there will be some poor people among them. In between, he tells them to be generous to the poor among them. One of the things they were to do was to cancel the debt they were owed every seven years. In the same way, slaves were to be released every seven years as well. While this was to be the law of the land, it was also supposed to be something people did of their own accord. These rules were intended to not need enforcement. Like so many other good rules, if they needed enforcement, they were a failure. We should follow the spirit of these rules out of a love of God and our fellow man. I believe there is a basic principle here that we should follow. Let us not force people to pay for bad decisions for the rest of their lives.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 11-13.

    This passage contains a repeat of a message contained in yesterday’s passage. We must wholeheartedly obey God’s instructions. Write them down where you will see them repeatedly and be reminded to obey them. Teach them to your children. Talk about them continuously, when you are at home and when you are traveling, when you get up and when you go to bed. Let us do whatever it takes to remember and follow God’s commands. Moses went on to remind the people of Israel that they were not to interpret God’s instructions in isolation. They were to all get together and worship in a central location. This served the purpose of making sure that everyone came together to discuss what it meant to obey God. It is not enough to think about, talk about, and obey God’s commands as we understand them. We must gather with our fellow believers and test our understanding by comparing it to that of our brothers and sisters. Worshiping God is not just a private matter. It is something we need to do with fellow believers as well as by ourselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 8-10.

    If we fear and obey God while He tests our character and disciplines us, He will bless us and we will prosper. However, when we come into good times we must not forget Him. We must never come to believe that the wealth God gives us is ours because we deserve it. If and when God gives us wealth let us not think that we earned that wealth by our own efforts. Let us not forget that it was God who blessed us. We will not become wealthy because we are such good people. Wealth is yet one more test of our character which God gives us to see if we will use it to serve Him. Whether we are rich or poor, God requires but one thing of us: that we love and serve Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind (this is one thing because if we truly love Him we will serve Him). If we truly fear the Lord we will live in a manner which pleases Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 5-7.

    Once Moses completed his summary of what happened to the children of Israel from the time they left Mt. Sinai until they arrived on the eastern bank of the Jordan River he reviewed the commands which God had given the people of Israel during that time. He listed once again the Ten Commandments. I was struck by a different meaning to one of them than I had ever seen before. That one is “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” When I was growing up, I learned that it meant that I should not use “Jesus” or “God” as exclamations. While it is true that we should not use them in that way, that is not what this command means. This command is telling us that we should not use God’s name and reputation to commit fraud. We should not claim to be acting in God’s name when we are merely striving to advance our own interests. Nor should we claim to be acting in God’s name in order to advance any interests other than God’s.

    Moses went on to tell the people of Israel that they must commit themselves wholeheartedly to God’s commands. We are to repeat them again and again, to talk about them wherever we are, whether at home or away. Moses told the people to tie them to their hands and their foreheads, to write God’s commands on their doorposts and their gateways. We should be talking about God’s commands until people are sick of hearing it. However, this is not about telling others what they should be doing. When we talk about God’s commands, we need to talk about what it means for ourselves. All of our hearts, souls, and minds should be dedicated to determining how we can do what God desires. Let us be obsessed with obeying God’s commands.