Thought to Guide Your Reading
Moses is reminding Israel of the God they serve and why God should be obeyed—and that they had not done a great job so far.Summary in 100 Words or Less
Moses reminded Israel of why God was worthy of being obeyed. He fed them in the wilderness when they were hungry—so they would learn to live by faith. The land they would receive would be ready for a great harvest. Moses warned them not to forget God when they had an easy life because their work was not the cause of their improved life.Moses also reminded the people of their rebellion at Sinai and that he had to talk God out of destroying them.
He reminded them of the basics of obeying God.
How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right
God gave the Israel manna in the wilderness to help them learn dependency on Him.
God reminds the people that they received food in the wilderness because God wanted them to depend on Him. God took care of them and became the reason they survived. We should not concern ourselves with the physical alone. We should live dependent on God. When we depend on God for our spiritual needs our physical needs will be taken care of.Prosperity brings laziness and temptation to leave our (w)holiness.
Moses' words are once again adamant—God will give you this land not because of you but because of Him. God did not make a promise with you; God made a promise with our ancestors. You are the benefactors of generations who obeyed God. In fact, the truth is the opposite; Israel would receive Canaan because the inhabitants of Canaan would not obey God. Moses cries, "Do not mess up that long line of God-worshippers!" We do not receive our blessings because of our righteousness. We receive our blessings because of the righteousness of our ancestors (either physical or spiritual) and the wickedness of our enemies.This is why I detest arguments that the USA is prosperous because we are somehow more righteous that the world. No. We are prosperous because our ancestors escaped Europe to worship God. God gave them this land because of it. Our blessings are not proportional to our righteousness. Our blessings are proportional to our ancestor's righteousness. We struggle to obey God because we are wildly blessed by God and have forgotten to pass on the source of our blessings.
Moses reminded Israel of their penchant for rebelliousness.
Two readings ago Moses reminded the people that God spoke to them. Within two months of that encounter they gave up on Moses and their God and created an idol-god. Humans are fickle. We are prone to leave God the moment we don't see Him working. This is why we must have God's words written everywhere, including our heart! Out of sight, out of mind. That could very well have been coined because of these people.Moses reminds Israel to take care of orphans and widows and to protect foreigners.
God will not let this go. This is why God is our praise! He took us out of slavery! He gave us everything we needed to survive! He gave us a land ready for a great harvest! This is why God is worthy to be obeyed! God is worthy of our praise, loyalty, and obedience because His love was made real!What blessings do you have because of your ancestors? Leave a comment in the section below or on the Sonoma Mountain Parkway Church of Christ Facebook page.
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