May 2, 2014 (Friday)
After the tribes of Israel had wandered in the wilderness nearly 40 years, they again faced the task of entering Canaan and possessing the land. The generation that had refused to enter had died off and a new generation gathered to hear Moses speak.
Deuteronomy is a record of three great speeches by Moses to that new generation. He recounted the wilderness wanderings, reminding them that in spite of Israel’s failures, the nation was God’s Covenant People and God had been with them the entire journey thus far. He reminded them of the law(s) given to them by God, and urged them to follow Joshua and Caleb, his successors, into the promised land. God would give them the victory. God allowed him to see Canaan, but he was forbidden to enter (Numbers 20).
Moses’ message to the people included words from the Lord at Sinai, later to be applied to Christians as well by Peter in the New Testament: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
Devotional thoughts from Deuteronomy:
The Israelites were far from perfect. The Book of Numbers catalogs their many failures. The Bible is completely open and honest about the failings of God’s people, individually and collectively. Yet Deuteronomy called upon them to remember that they were “The Chosen People,” chosen by God to fulfill the purpose of making His redemption available to all the people of the world.
We, too, are God’s chosen–chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). We, too, much to our chagrin, commit sins and fail God. We are sinners saved by grace. Here is the New Testament’s word to us Christians: “You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn’t something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. God planned for us to do good things and to live as he has always wanted us to live. That’s why he sent Christ to make us what we are” (Ephesians 2:8-10 CEV).
An extra blog for Saturday on the Five Scrolls will be published. “Tune in tomorrow” for more.