15
Deuteronomy 1:29-33
“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be shocked, nor fear them. ‘The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.’
“But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God, who goes before you on your way, to seek out a place for you to encamp, in fire by night and cloud by day, to show you the way in which you should go.”
There are so many ways God wishes to fight for us, but it is easy to take the fight into our own hands. Our own Egypt experience and our personal wilderness journeys shape our capacity to trust.
16
Deuteronomy 4:2-4
“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you. But you who held fast to the LORD your God are alive today, every one of you.”
Paying attention to our own personal journey experiences includes sifting our responses through the lens of our choices. We can choose for self or choose for God. It is easy to overwhelm ourselves with secondary things and miss God’s main point in what is happening in our lives.
17
Deuteronomy 6:4-7
“Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.”
A home belonging to Yahweh invites His presence, celebrates His Words, and impresses what He has spoken to the entire family. This calling far eclipses our careers or hopes for success. Seriously.
18
Deuteronomy 8:2-3
“You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.”
This forty day journey took forty years. This gives us some insight into the question “why are things the way they are?” God is bringing about things that can only take place in this wilderness. They are deeply valuable things for sure.
19
Deuteronomy 10:16-21
“So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer. For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen.”
Anything the Law required in obedience has been eclipsed by finding our new heart through trusting Jesus. “Old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new.”
20
Deuteronomy 11:26-28
“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.”
Choices. Choices. Choices. Our lives are filled with choices. Perhaps the weightiest of all is described here. Will we listen? Are you listening? Do our neighbors even care that God has spoken?
21
Deuteronomy 13:1-4
“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.”
Our human environment includes false teachers who are even attested to by “wonders.” This is one of the reasons it is critical to understand God’s word. It is the only way we have hope of discovering authenticity.