Deuteronomy 07 Journey Through the Bible Deuteronomy 09
King James Version
The Book of Deuteronomy
Chapter 08
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Commentary
Deuteronomy 8
In verse 1 Moses addressed the People with a reminder that the guidelines for the nation that they now are, and for when they take over the Land of Promise, shall be observed to do. As a result, the People shall live and multiply, and will partake of the promise that God swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as an everlasting covenant for all generations.
Verse two is a reminder that the People must never forget all that God has done for them in the time that they were in the wilderness, refered to as “wanderings”. Could it be that if the People don’t forget all that God has done for them, that they might not turn away from Him? Is it true that if we keep our mind on the things that God has done for our lives, that we won’t turn away, to forget the commandments that He has established in us?
Could the song be true, then? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. The things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. This seems easy to do, so why have so many of us come short of it? Why is it that we live each day as though there is nothing to do to improve our relationship status with God?
The things of this world are not strangely dim right now, are they? What are the things of the world, anyway? Things that nations or individuals do that are not pleasing to God, and that do not bring glory to God are the things of the world. We exalt ourselves instead of God. We want to be accepted, even by the people who already do accept us, so we do things that we think will be accepted by those who’s opinion concerns us. Isn’t this exactly what we are required to do for the Name of God? Aren’t we required to seek His acceptance in all that we do? It’s His opinion of us that matters most.
There was a time when a buddy of mine owed me some money. When the day came for him to pay me what he owed me, he had to decided who to pay first, me or another buddy that he owed money to. We are not the proud owners of our own soul. We only own a will to do with our soul as we wish. The soul is not ours. Satan and God have been fighting over the ownership of each of our souls sense before any of us were formed. Surely they wouldn’t fight over something that isn’t eithers’ to fight over.
At some point, each of us will face a physical death. We will be judged after that, to determine who earned our soul. Did I live my physical life mostly for Satan, or did I live mostly for God? Who will I turn over my soul to when I am judged? Clearly it’s not an after death decision. My free will to choose who I live for now will determine who I live for after physical death. Who I live for now will determine the quality of life I have now, in the physical life.
In verse 16 it says that God hand fed the People manna, that He might humble us, to prove us, to do us good at our latter end. We would surely do more for our obedience to God if we were fed by His own hand as the People were. A cat will be closest to the person who feeds it. We are similar, but not all the time. Even those who purpose to help us are often neglected and abused by our own selfish desire of gain.
What is gain that we would do nearly any manner of evil to possess? God wants to be, and is determined to be our only source of gain, that it might be said, His power and the might of His hand hath gotten me this wealth. Any other gain is later to be referred to as filthy lucre. Even then, it will be discovered that this ungodly gain is not some sort of a reward, nor is it actually any kind of gain, but a sort of debt. Another way of looking at it is this…
If I got sick, I will have gained a bacteria. Is this the sort of gain that God would provide? I think not. In my sickness I must take extra care to become well. This gain is a loss, rather than the addition of wealth. God has made it very clear in verse 18 that the gain that He provides for us is that of wealth, and the ability to establish this wealth in our life is by Him. It is important to understand that God would have us to do for each other what He would do for us. With our plenty, and “not scarce” bread must be shared. Those who have lack can receive from those who have abundance.
Moses’ ministry is so detailed in God’s will for our lives, that it is often reminded that God will not be hidden, but rather that He will be exalted as the One True God. The nations that live in God’s will is the nations that will benefit from the source of all creation. No other honor or greatness of gain or influence could compare to that.
Monday, January 11, 2010 7:06pm
