Today started out with the directions to “remember the Lord your God.” Moses was speaking to the people of Israel to remember to obey the commandments and all that the Lord had done for them. The Lord led the Israelites for forty years and never let them go hungry or worry about clothing.
They were to remember that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
All they needed to do was obey and follow the commandments, laws, and statues the Lord set and spoke to Moses to deliver to the people of Israel. Whenever they disobeyed or rebelled, there were consequences.
“Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.”
-Deuteronomy 8:5-6
The people needed to remember that all of their blessings came from the Lord. For he was the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt and out of slavery. Everything they had came from the Lord.
He protected them and delivered them to the land he had promised their fathers. He forced out their enemies so they could conquer the land. He multiplied every aspect of their lives.
This was not because of the righteousness of the people of Israel, but because of the wickedness of the other nations.
“Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. Remember and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. Even at Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, and the Lord was so angry with you that he was ready to destroy you.”
-Deuteronomy 9:6-
It went on to discuss how Moses went up the mountain to receive the two tablets of stone with the ten commandments on them that were written with the finger of God. He remained on the mountain for forty days and forty nights without drinking or eating. When he came down the mountain he saw that the people were corrupted.
They had made themselves a metal image, the Golden Calf. This part recapped the golden calf and the situation that was discussed in Exodus.
https://liveandlearnjourney.com/day-28-exodus-30-32/
Moses was so angry he threw down the tablets of stone and they broke. He went back to the mountain and pleaded with God to forgive the people and not completely destroy them. Two new tablets of stone were made, they were the same as the first ones.
https://liveandlearnjourney.com/day-29-exodus-33-35/
Today ended with a section called, “Circumcise Your Heart.” I liked this entire part, because it was half what the people should do and half God’s love for them.
[…] That Israel’s 40 years of enforced sojourn in the “vast and dreadful desert” (Deuteronomy 8:15) on its pilgrimage to the promised land (see Numbers 14:26-35) should evoke such a prayer ought not […]