Lord – Page 2 – Praying Pint

53.f. Wilderness – 17.l. “The LORD saw it and spurned them?

Deu 32:19-25 “The LORD saw it and spurned them, because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters. And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have made me jealous with what is no god; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. So I will make them jealous with those who are no people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains. “‘And I will heap disasters upon them; I will spend my arrows on them; they shall be wasted with hunger, and devoured by plague and poisonous pestilence; I will send the teeth of beasts against them, with the venom of things that crawl in the dust. Outdoors the sword shall bereave, and indoors terror, for young man and woman alike, the nursing child with the man of gray hairs.

And when the Lord saw it,…. The disregard of the Jews to Christ, their forgetfulness of him, their disesteem and rejection of him; their continuance of sacrifices, when the great sacrifice was offered up; their setting up other messiahs and saviours, and the idol of their own righteousness, in opposition to the righteousness of Christ; all which not only as the omniscient God he saw, but took notice of, and considered, and did not at once pass judgment on them, at least did not immediately execute it, but waited some time to see how they would afterwards behave; for it was thirty years or more after the crucifixion of Christ that the utter destruction of the Jews came upon them: he abhorred them; in his heart, despised them, and at last rejected them with contempt and abhorrence, very righteously and in just retaliation, see Zechariah 11:8; as for what before observed, so for what follows: because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters; which is not to be understood of the Lord being provoked to wrath by the sins of those who called themselves or were called his sons and daughters; for these are such who were truly his sons and daughters, and different from those in Deuteronomy 32:20, said to be “children in whom is no faith”: these are no other than the disciples and followers of Christ, that believed in him, both men and women, and so the children of God, his sons and his daughters by special grace; and the “provoking” of them is the wrath of the enemy against them, as the same word is used and rendered in Deuteronomy 32:27; and should be here, “because of wrath”, or “indignation against his sons and his daughters” (m); meaning the affliction, distress, and persecution of them, through the wrath of the unbelieving Jews; for after the death of Christ they persecuted his apostles, they beat them and cast them into prison, and put some to death; a persecution was raised against the church at Jerusalem, in which Saul was concerned, who breathed out threatenings and slaughters against the disciples of the Lord, and haled men and women, the sons and daughters of God, and committed them to prison, and persecuted them to strange cities, and gave his voice to put them to death; and in the Gentile world, when the Gospel was carried there, the Jews stirred up the Gentiles everywhere against the followers of Christ, to harass and distress them; and this the Lord saw, and he abhorred them for it, and rejected them. (Gill)

When God’s people forsake Him, He withdraws the closeness of His presence. This is the opposite of the favor of God expressed in His face shining upon His people. (Guzik)

It is a dangerous and dreadful thing to be counted among those in whom is no faith. “I beg you to lay to heart this fact, that unless you have faith in Jesus you will perish just as surely as if you were an open denier of the word of God and a reviler of his Son. There are, doubtless, degrees in the terribleness of the punishment, but there are no degrees in the certainty of the fact that every unbeliever will be shut out from the blessing of the gospel of Christ.” (Spurgeon)

Nothing was or is hidden from God. Our thoughts, words, and actions are all known by Him. He has given us His Word, whereby we might gain understanding and knowledge of His holiness and our sinfulness, His promises and purpose, His righteousness, His grace, mercy and love, His wrath, anger, and coming judgment, His power, might, all-knowing, and ever-presence, His salvation through Christ, and His gift of the Holy Spirit. In light of this and as Paul stated; “What manner of persons should you be?”

53.d. Wilderness – 17.j. “Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations”

Deu 32:7-14 Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him. He made him ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs, rams of Bashan and goats, with the very finest of the wheat— and you drank foaming wine made from the blood of the grape.

Moses gives particular instances of God’s kindness and concern for them. The eagle’s care for her young is a beautiful emblem of Christ’s love, who came between Divine justice and our guilty souls, and bare our sins in his own body on the tree. And by the preached gospel, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, He stirs up and prevails upon sinners to leave Satan’s bondage. In ver. 13,14, are emblems of the conquest believers have over their spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world, in and through Christ. Also of their safety and triumph in him; of their happy frames of soul, when they are above the world, and the things of it. This will be the blessed case of spiritual Israel in every sense in the latter day. (Henry)

Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations,…. That went before the times of Christ, and the Jews’ rejection of him, and observe the instances of divine goodness to them; as in the time of the Maccabees, whom God raised up as deliverers of them, when oppressed by the Syrians and others; and in the time of the Babylonish captivity, how they were delivered out of it; in the times of David and Solomon, when they enjoyed great prosperity; and in the times of the judges, by whom they were often saved out of the hands of their enemies; and in the times of Moses and Joshua, how they were led, by the one out of Egypt and through the wilderness, and by the other into the land of Canaan; and thus might they be led on higher, to the provision and reservation of the good land for them in the times of Noah and his sons, which they are referred to in Deuteronomy 32:8, and in all these times, days, years, and generations, they might consider what notices were given of the Messiah, the rock of salvation, rejected by them; not only by the prophets since the captivity of Babylon and in it; but before it by Isaiah and others, and before them by David, and Solomon his son, by Moses and by all the prophets, from the beginning of the world; (Gil)

“Remember” – have in or be able to bring to one’s mind an awareness of (someone or something that one has seen, known, or experienced in the past

Recall, call to mind, recollect, think back to, commit to memory, retain, bear in mind, not lose sight of the fact, not forget, take into consideration…..

It is easy to forget. We do it all the time. Keys, phones, receipts, notes, tools, dates, addresses, phone numbers, tasks, etc…. We even forget to think about God, God’s Word, Things of God, His creation, His power, might, strength, His control over all of creation, His presence, His Holiness, love, grace, and mercy, His promises, His purpose, His gift of the Holy Spirit, His working for the good of His people, His discipline, His forgiveness, and definitely we forget about our sinfulness and desire to sin and the need for repentance.

In many disciplines, Medical, Engineering, Teaching, Computer Technology, Chemistry, Physics, etc…. it is required to have continual education. Why? For two reasons. So you won’t forget, and so you will learn new. The best way to not forget is to continue to use what you have learned. The only way to learn NEW is to study and then apply it.

Neglect of God’s Word will result in Forgetting what you once knew, cherished, and applied. Complacency will result in the lack of learning something new from God.

The busyness of life will try to rob you of your memories of God. It will surely rob you of learning more about God’s holiness and your sinfulness. It is an intentional choice to Study God’s Word and apply it. Nothing in life will compare to the peace, joy, happiness, and hope that is found in it.

53. Wilderness – 17.f. “They will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them”

Deu 31:14 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. And the LORD appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent. And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods. “Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel. And the LORD commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give them. I will be with you.” When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book to the very end, Moses commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, “Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Behold, even today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the LORD. How much more after my death! Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that after my death you will surely act corruptly and turn aside from the way that I have commanded you. And in the days to come evil will befall you, because you will do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking him to anger through the work of your hands.”

Moses and Joshua attended the Divine Majesty at the door of the tabernacle. Moses is told again that he must shortly die; even those who are most ready and willing to die, need to be often reminded of its coming. The Lord tells Moses, that, after his death, the covenant he had taken so much pains to make between Israel and their God, would certainly be broken. Israel would forsake Him; then God would forsake Israel. Justly does he cast those off who so unjustly cast him off. Moses is directed to deliver them a song, which should remain a standing testimony for God, as faithful to them in giving them warning, and against them, as persons false to themselves in not taking the warning. The word of God is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of men’s hearts, and meets them by reproofs and correction. Ministers who preach the word, know not the imaginations of men; but God, whose word it is, knows perfectly. (Henry)

After handing over the office to Joshua, and the law to the priests and elders, Moses was called by the Lord to come to the tabernacle with Joshua, to command him (צוּה), i.e., to appoint him, confirm him in his office. To this end the Lord appeared in the tabernacle (Deuteronomy 31:15), in a pillar of cloud, which remained standing before it, as in Numbers 12:5 (see the exposition of Numbers 11:25). But before appointing Joshua, He announced to Moses that after his death the nation would go a whoring after other gods, and would break the covenant, for which it would be visited with severe afflictions, and directed him to write an ode and teach it to the children of Israel, that when the apostasy should take place, and punishment from God be felt in consequence, it might speak as a witness against the people, as it would not vanish from their memory. The Lord communicated this commission to Moses in the presence of Joshua, that he also might hear from the mouth of God that the Lord foreknew the future apostasy of the people, and yet nevertheless would bring them into the promised land. In this there was also implied an admonition to Joshua, not only to take care that the Israelites learned the ode and kept it in their memories, but also to strive with all his might to prevent the apostasy, so long as he was leader of Israel; which Joshua did most faithfully to the very end of his life. (Keil)

Knowing and being in covenant with God, knowing and receiving His blessings under this covenant, and being given clear warnings of blessings and curses is not enough for a person to walk in obedience and honor the covenant between God and us. There are two sides to a covenant and it requires both parties to fulfill their obligations of the covenant. It is not enough to just “know”. We can know of God and His promises, and yet not live for Him. We can know of His love, grace, and mercy, and yet not trust Him. We can know of His offer of salvation, and yet not believe it. We can know of His great might and awesome power, and yet not rely upon Him. We can know of His all-knowing of our thoughts and intents, and yet, still allow sinful thoughts into our minds. We can know of His in-filling Holy Spirit, and yet, not listen and follow its leading. We can have His Word readily at our fingertips, and yet, not read it. We can know of His healing powers, and yet, deny it for ourselves. We can know of His holiness, and yet, continue in our sinfulness. Knowing is not enough. There must be a reason, purpose, something more, something deeper driving us to more than knowing.

This covenant is offered to us by the Creator of all there is. Let this sink in. God, Creator of all there is, All-Powerful, Ever-Present, and All-knowing has made a covenant with His creation. This covenant is born out of grace, mercy, and love. Holiness reaches out to sinfulness and makes a covenant with those who would take hold of it, obey it, follow it, trust it, rely upon it, believe it, and cling to every word of it.

We live under a new covenant that came at a great cost for Jesus Christ, who was beaten, spit upon, whipped, flogged, ridiculed, nailed to the cross, and died. He is worthy of all honor, glory, praise, and worship. The redemption and salvation of our sinful souls have a very high cost, and yet, we give it little respect if we were to be honest with ourselves. Our time in His Word seems to be more of an afterthought, or a bit of an inconvenience, or a tick in the box of “living for Jesus”. Does this sound at all like the type of person who was thankful, repentant, humble, and wanting to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ?

We intentionally choose to be always mindful of the covenant, the presence of God, the quiet whispers of the Holy Spirit, the sacrifice made for our redemption, and His worthiness of all our praise and worship, not only for what He has done but also for the promises of what He is doing and will do.

Growth, understanding, and wisdom of and about God are not obtained apart from His Word and a desire and seeking of it. This is an intentional choice. A life choice. A purposed life. A mindset and ever-present purpose to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ. Every thought is taken captive, every word spoken is with grace, mercy, and kindness, and every action is subject to bringing honor and glory to Jesus.

The new covenant of redemption and salvation has two parties. God has given and fulfilled this blessed, graceful, and merciful covenant. Are we living up to our obligations of it?

52.z. Wilderness – 17.e. “Hear and learn to fear the LORD your God

Deu 31:9-13 Then Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Though we read the word in private, we must not think it needless to hear it read in public. This solemn reading of the law must be done in the year of release. The year of release was typical of gospel grace, which is called the acceptable year of the Lord; for our pardon and liberty by Christ, engage us to keep his commandments. It must be read to all Israel, men, women, children, and to the strangers. It is the will of God that all people should acquaint themselves with his word. It is a rule to all, therefore should be read to all. Whoever has read of the pains taken by many persons to get scraps of the Scriptures, when a whole copy could not be obtained, or safely possessed, will see how thankful we should be for the thousands of copies amongst us. They will also understand the very different situation in which the Israelites were placed for many ages. But the heart of man is so careless, that all will be found too little, to keep up a knowledge of the truths, precepts, and worship of God. (Henry)

The Feast of Tabernacles was appointed as the season for the reading, doubtless because there was a connection between the end for which the Law was read and the spirit and meaning of that festival as a festival of rejoicing because of their deliverance from the uncertainty and unsettledness of their state in the wilderness, and their establishment in a well-ordered state where they could in peace and quietness enjoy the blessings which the bounty of God bestowed. (Unkown)

Much could be said about the importance of this Law in regards to the timing of its reading, we should not lose sight of the importance given to reading it at this time for the children who may have not heard before. The law was to be their guiding observance for conduct and worship and obedience to God every single minute of every single day. And yet, it appears that during this special time of feasting the reading of the law to everyone.

How easy is it to lapse into a famine of God’s Word in our lives? We may continually have Christian music playing, and we might listen to snippets of sermons on the radio or read a daily devotion but is the Word of God hungered and thirsted for each day? Do we desire and cherish it? Is The Word of God more important than social media sporting events or the pursuit of our pleasures in this world? A host of things come to mind that lead to our lukewarmness. Envy, fear, pride, greed, jealousy, self-worth, busyness, worry, arrogance, boastfulness, hate, anger, lust, neglect, complacency, etc…. are common threats to our walk with God. His Word and the Holy Spirit’s leading bring to light when they stand at the door of our hearts.

Come to His Word with a hunger to learn from it. Thirst to be led by it. Commit to apply it as the Holy Spirit instructs you. Strive to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions each moment of every day. As we grow in the knowledge and understanding of our sinfulness we will grow in our experience and knowledge of God’s grace, mercy, and love.

52.y. Wilderness – 17.d. “The LORD your God himself will go over before you.”

Deu 31:1-8 So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Moses assures Israel of the constant presence of God with them. This is applied by the apostle to all God’s spiritual Israel, to encourage their faith and hope; unto us is this gospel preached, as well as unto them; he will never fail thee, nor forsake thee, Heb 13:5. Moses commends Joshua to them for a leader; one whose wisdom, and courage, and affection they had long known; one whom God had appointed to be their leader; and therefore would own and bless. Joshua is well pleased to be admonished by Moses to be strong and of good courage. Those shall speed well, who have God with them; therefore they ought to be of good courage. Through God let us do valiantly, for through him we shall do victoriously; if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. (Henry)

In chapter 30 Moses instructed the people on “Blessings and Curses”, and that the choice is in each individual person. Follow and obey and serve and trust and rely upon God will result in blessings. Conversely – curses. Being steadfast in this commitment and not being distracted by the worldly pursuits that those who deny God follow after. Now Moses is passing leadership to Joshua for entry into the promised land. He was not going because God said “You shall not go over this Jordan”.

Moses encourages them; God will go before you, He will destroy these nations, You will dispossess them, Joshua will lead you. God will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og. They will be given over to you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or dread them. The Lord your God not only goes before you, He goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Then Moses summons Joshua before all of Israel and encourages Him as the leader who will take them into the promised land.

How many times do we have our hearts and minds on other things than God going before us and being with us? When God is not our internal vision of desire, then the things of this world will become a snare and lead us down paths neither pleasing or in line with God’s Word for our lives. It would seem that we want the blessings of God and yet we live with our hearts and minds focused on things of this world, its pleasures, worries, and fears.

Every morning we awake we are given the opportunity to live that day to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ in every thought, every word spoken, and every action taken. This must be an intentional choice, a desire, purpose, and lived out. Are we striving after this or are we just tending our lives with lukewarm commitment?

52.u. Wilderness – 17. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled

Deu 29:22 And the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, will say, when they see the afflictions of that land and the sicknesses with which the LORD has made it sick— the whole land burned out with brimstone and salt, nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout, an overthrow like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger and wrath— all the nations will say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Therefore the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book, and the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger and fury and great wrath, and cast them into another land, as they are this day.’

Future generations and foreign visitants, seeing the calamities with which the rebels had been visited, nay, all nations, should ask, in astonishment and horror, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? It is evident from this that Moses contemplates, and in fact here predicts, a defection, not of individuals or families merely, but of the nation as a whole from the Lord, and the punishment which came in consequence upon the nation. (Unknown)

The secret and presumptuous nation who deceives its self that all is well and will be well with them, since they follow their own devices and they seemingly prosper. (Barnes)

This case supposes a general departure from the worship of God to the service of self-reliance; otherwise single individuals are punished in their own persons. (Gill)

How thoroughly Moses was filled with the thought, that not only individuals, but whole families, and in fact the greater portion of the nation, would fall into idolatry, is evident from the further expansion of the threat which follows, and in which he foresees in the Spirit, and foretells, the extermination of whole families, and the devastation of the land. (Keil)

There is an obvious reason to punish the covenant-breaker for his own sake. But God has a purpose beyond the reason of individual covenant. God’s purpose in bringing judgment against a covenant-breaking Israel was also for the sake of the coming generation of your children… and the foreigner. When they see the devastation that comes from breaking God’s covenant, when they see what happens to the land which the LORD overthrew in His anger and wrath, they will be warned to obedience. We can also learn from the calamity that comes on the lives of others when they break God’s covenant. We can learn that the price of disobedience is not worth it. We can learn that the commands of God are good, and protective in our lives. God’s purpose in bringing judgment against a covenant-breaking Israel was also for the sake of all nations. When they see what happens to a nation who forsakes the LORD, they will be warned to obedience. (Guzik)

It is good for us to read and study God’s Word for the benefit of our hearts, minds, and souls. Examples of God’s merciful and grace filled blessings and His wrath and anger filled judgements and punishment. Though we like to read of God’s blessings and give little thought to his wrath and anger it limits our understanding of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of mankind.

Time in God’s Word is never wasted time. It will bring forth much fruit satisfying the hearts, minds, and souls of those who cherish that time.

52.r. Wilderness – 16.x. “Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them”

Deu 29:1-9 These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that he had made with them at Horeb. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

This was not a new covenant in addition to that made at Sinai, but simply a renewal and reaffirmation of that covenant. At Sinai the covenant was, properly speaking, made; sacrifices were then offered, and the people were sprinkled with the sacrificial blood, whereby the covenant was ratified, but on the occasion here referred to, no sacrifices were offered, for this was merely the recognition of the covenant formerly made as still subsisting.

Some 40 years before this, at Horeb (Mount Sinai), Israel made a covenant with God: Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.” And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.” For the most part, the people who had the blood of the covenant sprinkled upon them had died in the wilderness. The generation of unbelief had died, now it was an opportunity for the generation of faith. So, Moses will reconfirm the covenant with the new generation.

Israel saw great wonders from the hand of God since coming from Egypt. They saw the plagues, they saw the death of the firstborn, they saw the Red Sea parted, they saw the Egyptian armies destroyed, they saw victories won by prayer, they ate the manna, they drank the miraculously provided water, and they saw miracle after miracle. Some people today think the greatest help to evangelism would be to see more miraculous events. After all, who could not believe in the face of such displays of spiritual power? But seeing great wonders accomplishes nothing apart from a supernatural work of God in someone’s heart.

During their forty years in the wilderness, their clothes did not wear out, their sandals did not wear out, and though they had no bread to eat or wine to drink, their needs were provided for. Israel conquered over their enemies, and they took their land.

Plainly, these are remarkable miracles. Clothes and sandals simply do not last 40 years of hard marching in the wilderness apart from a miracle. The wilderness does not provide enough food and water to meet the needs of some two million people apart from a miracle. A nation of slaves for 400 years does not conquer standing nations and take their land apart from a miracle. Seeing these great works of God, there is one logical response. Knowing the greatness of God’s love and power should make Israel more committed than ever to His covenant. (Guzik)

Both former mercies, and fresh mercies, should be thought on by us as motives to obedience. The hearing ear, and seeing eye, and the understanding heart, are the gift of God. All that have them, have them from him. God gives not only food and raiment, but wealth and large possessions, to many to whom he does not give grace. Many enjoy the gifts, who have not hearts to perceive the Giver, nor the true design and use of the gifts. We are bound, in gratitude and interest, as well as in duty and faithfulness, to keep the words of the covenant. (Henry)

52.q. Wilderness – 16.w. “And the LORD rejected”

Deu 28:43  The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower.

Judges 2:3     So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

2 Kings 17:20    And the LORD rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until he had cast them out of his sight.

John 19:15   They cried out, “Away with him, away with him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.”

shall rise higher and higher above you
they shall become thorns in your side
their gods shall be a snare to you
We have no king but Caesar.

When you look at what our culture has become, how it influences our thoughts, what we consider important and worthy of our time, what is tolerated, what is not condemned, what has weakened our commitment, what has stunted our growth, what consumes our hearts and minds, what causes fear, chaos, and confusion, what causes division, hate, and anger, and how the thought of the return of Jesus Christ at any moment is void from our daily lives, – have we not placed this world and what it offers above God? How much of our thoughts and times are consumed by what this world says is important.

Professional and college sports teams, players, and stats, TV series and movies, Facebook, Twitter, Rumble, Instagram, influencers, news media outlets (live or in print), abortion, pornography, LBGTQ pride, etc…… all of this rises higher and higher and they become a snare. Our Redeemer, Savior, and coming again King Jesus Christ is forgotten. Our growth and maturing are stagnant if not totally snuffed out. The thorn in our side we once felt, we are now numb too.

Does any of this sound like a blessing or a curse?

Consuming what the world deems worthy and right will result in a weakness of faith and reliance on Jesus Christ.

Do we even seek to hear the quiet whispers or shouts of the Holy Spirit’s leading and conviction? If there is any Holy Spirit conviction, the time for repentance is today, now, and immediate. Oh that we would see what we have become and the pursuits of our hearts and minds that consume us.

Neglecting God’s Word and being unable to hear the Holy Spirit leading are good indicators that the snares of this world have enclosed around you. God’s curses are promised equally as His blessings. How are we blind to what it means to live, godly, holy, and honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ if our hearts and minds are focused on things of this world? What consumes your time will consume your thoughts.

52.o. Wilderness – 16.u. ““But if you will not listen to Me”

Deu 28:15-20  “But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field.  Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. “The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.

Leviticus 26:14-16    “But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments,  if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, then I will do this to you:

I will set my face against you

I will visit you with panic

I will set my face against you

I will discipline you

I will break the pride of your power

I will continue striking you

I also will walk contrary to you in fury

I will bring a sword upon you

I will send pestilence among you

I break your supply of bread

I myself will discipline

I myself will devastate the land

I will unsheathe the sword after you

I will send faintness into their hearts

“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity, I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers

I am the LORD their God.

Isaiah 3:11     Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Daniel 9:13    As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.

Malachi 2:2     If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the LORD of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart.

Romans 2:8-9     but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.  There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek

Galatians 3:10    For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”

We enjoy and turn our ears toward scripture where grace, peace, love, joy, hope, refuge, eternal life, salvation, redemption, and forgiveness are found. Our ears open up and our hearts are encouraged by them. And they should be, for in them we find eternal hope and reasons for living to the honor and glory of Jesus Christ.

I fear we stop short of our understanding of the holiness of God though. We truly enjoy hearing about the blessings of God but much of the time we skim over or deafen our ears to the warnings and curses of God. When we do this our understanding of our fleshly desires, sinfulness, and worldly temptations get watered down. We live in a make believe mindset that views God as a blessing giver and all we have to do is to the God-ATM and withdraw a blessing when we are running low. It is as though we keep a ledger book of the good works we do in the hope they will over shadow the wrongs, and thereby, add blessings into our account. It is as if we don’t even consider the need for confession and repentance because our minds are set on receiving blessings. Many times the blessings we seek are worldly and not of God. Other times we seek blessings while we are openly walking in sin.

A weak understanding of the curses, which points out the sinfulness of our hearts and minds, severely hinders our understanding of God’s grace, mercy, and love. Without this understanding of our sinfulness and the greatness of God’s grace, mercy, and love we live blinded to worldly and fleshly lusts and unable to discern between Godly and worldly. It is through His Word and the Holy Spirit that we are able to examine our hearts and minds of worldly and fleshly desires.

How can we be careful to do all the Lord commands without knowing His Word? How can we know the fullness of God’s grace without knowing the full extent of our intent to disregard holy living? God is not mocked. If we sow neglect to His Word we will harvest the rotting flesh of the fruit of neglect. If we sow desires for what this world has to offer we will harvest nothing that will satisfy our hungering soul. If we sow the busyness of life we will harvest nothing that gives us peace, joy, or rest.

The whole Word of God is given to us so that we will grow and mature in our understanding of His holiness, grace, mercy, and love. It is in this understanding that we continue to grow and mature in our desire to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions every second of every day.

52.h. Wilderness – 16.n. “You shall be a people holy to the LORD your God”

Deu 26:14-19 ………. I have done according to all that you have commanded me. Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel and the ground that you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.’ “This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have declared today that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised.”

Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe. From Deuteronomy chapter 4 through chapter 26, Moses has reminded Israel of God’s commands. Now he exhorted them to keep the commands. Israel was to proclaim two things. First, that the LORD to be their God. Second, that they will walk in His ways and keep His statutes. The two go together, because the identity of our God is always demonstrated by the direction of our obedience. God promised that He exalt an obedient Israel, to set them high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor. (Guzik)

Have we hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done according to all that thou hast commanded us; observed his word, and kept close to it, and not swerved from it, but acted according to it in all things before referred to? Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God,…. Said, affirmed, protested, and in the most solemn manner declared, that the Lord was their God, and him only; and that they would have no other God, nor worship, serve, or obey any other. The Lord is the God of all mankind, as he is the Creator and Preserver of them, and was of the people of Israel in a peculiar manner, they being chosen, redeemed, and privileged by him above all others; and especially is of his elect in Christ among all nations, whom he has loved and set apart for himself, and determined to save; whom he has adopted and regenerated; he provides for them, protects and preserves them, gives them grace here and glory hereafter: he is their God in Christ, and by virtue of the covenant of his grace made with them in him; and is known by them to be so in the effectual calling by the application of covenant blessings to them; and which is certified to them by the Spirit of God, upon which they claim their interest in him, and make profession of him as their God:and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice; that is, this was then their resolution and determination, their protestation and declaration, to walk in all the ways of God, both in private and in public, he directed unto; and to observe all his laws, ceremonial, moral, and judicial, which he had given them as the rule of their walk and behaviour; and to regard whatsoever he should reveal by his prophets and ministers as his will; and a view of covenant interest in God lays all good men under the strongest obligation in the strength of divine grace to attend to his will; nor can there be a greater motive to them than covenant love, grace, and mercy. (Gill)

After that solemn profession of their obedience to God’s commands, they are taught to pray for God’s blessing upon their land, whereby they are instructed how vain and ineffectual the prayers of unrighteous or disobedient persons are. (Poole)

Moses winds up his address by a solemn admonition to the people to keep and observe the laws and commandments which the Lord by him had laid upon them, reminding them that they had entered into covenant with God, and had thereby pledged themselves to obedience to all that he had enjoined, as he on his part had pledged himself to be their Benefactor, who would fulfill to them all his gracious promises, and would exalt them above all the nations of the earth. (Unknown)

Moses here enforces the precepts. They are God’s laws, therefore thou shalt do them, to that end were they given thee; do them, and dispute them not; do them, and draw not back; do them, not carelessly and hypocritically, but with thy heart and soul, thy whole heart and thy whole soul. We forswear ourselves, and break the most sacred engagement, if, when we have taken the Lord to be our God, we do not make conscience of obeying his commands. We are elected to obedience, 1Pe 1:2; chosen that we should be holy, Eph 1:4; purified a peculiar people, that we might not only do good works, but be zealous in them, Tit 2:14. Holiness is true honour, and the only way to everlasting honour. (Henry)

At the close of his discourse, Moses sums up the whole in the earnest admonition that Israel would give the Lord its God occasion to fulfil the promised glorification of His people, by keeping His commandments with all their heart and soul. (Keil)