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June 5 - Deuteronomy 4 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's Sean here.
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  It's Thursday, it's the 5th of June.
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  And how are you going? I hope you're going well.
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  I hope this week's treated you well and I hope our beginning of
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  our journey through Deuteronomy is treating you well.
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  It can be a little bit confronting as we encounter
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  these writings written at a different time and a different
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  place where the norms of writing were quite different.
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  And one thing that I've mentioned in the past, but it's
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  worth mentioning again, is that these historical narratives
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  captured in the ancient Near East have a certain way that
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  they go about describing A comprehensive victory.
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  And that is to say that the victorious army slaughtered all
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  of the people, men, women and children.
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  And we've already heard that a number of Times.
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  Now, this does not literally mean that they went around
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  stabbing babies, killing toddlers and murdering pregnant
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  women and old women in their beds.
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  Now, this is simply the way that authors at the time wrote a
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  comprehensive victory that left no resistance.
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  And that's why at other times in the Old Testament, you will hear
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  stories about the original inhabitants of those lands, even
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  after, quote unquote, every man, woman and child had been killed.
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  So that is simply the way that things were written.
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  And at the time, that would have been well understood as not
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  literal, but a literary device to describe comprehensive
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  victory and power. And you will see that God is a
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  God of grace even in this Old Testament space through today's
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  reading, as he creates these cities of refuge for people who
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  would otherwise have faced the sword for sure.
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  So let's continue this journey as we read together Deuteronomy
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  chapter 4. And now, Israel, listen
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  carefully to these decrees and regulations that I am about to
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  teach you. Obey them so that you may live,
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  so that you may enter and occupy the land that the Lord, the God
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  of your ancestors, is giving you.
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  Do not add to or subtract from these commands I'm giving you.
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  Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I'm giving
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  you. You saw for yourself what the
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  Lord did to you at Baal Payo. There the Lord your God
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  destroyed everyone who had worshipped Baal, the God of
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  Paio. But all of you who were faithful
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  to the Lord your God are still alive to day, everyone of you.
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  Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations, just as
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  the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the
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  land you are about to enter and occupy.
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  Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and
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  intelligence among the surrounding nations.
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  When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim how
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  wise and prudent are the people of this great nation.
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  For what great nation has a God as near to them as the Lord?
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  Your God is near to us whenever we call on Him, and what great
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  nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and
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  fair as this body of instructions that I'm giving you
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  today? But watch out.
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  Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen.
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  Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you
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  live, and be sure to pass them on to your children and
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  grandchildren. Never forget the day when you
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  stood before the Lord your God at Mount Sinai, where He told
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  me, Summon the people before me, and I will personally instruct
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  them. Then they will learn to fear me
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  as long as they live, and they will teach their children to
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  fear me also. You came near and stood at the
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  foot of the mountain while flames from the mountain shot
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  into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in
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  black clouds and deep darkness, and the Lord spoke to you from
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  the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of His
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  words, but didn't see his form. There was only a voice.
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  He proclaimed His Covenant, the 10 commandments which He
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  commanded you to keep and which He wrote on 2 stone tablets.
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  It was at that time that the Lord commanded me to teach you
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  His decrees and regulations so you would obey them in the land
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  you are about to enter and occupy.
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  But be very careful, you did not see the Lord's form on that day.
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  He spoke to you from the heart of the fire at Mount Sinai.
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  Do not corrupt yourselves by making an idol in any form,
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  whether of a man or a woman, an animal on the ground, a bird in
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  the sky, a small animal that scurries along the ground, or a
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  fish in the deepest sea. And when you look up into the
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  sky and see the sun, moon and stars, all the forces of heaven,
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  don't be seduced into worshipping them.
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  The Lord your God gave them to all the peoples of the earth.
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  Remember that the Lord rescued you from the iron smelting
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  furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and
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  His special possession, which is what you are to day.
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  But the Lord was angry with me because of you.
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  He vowed that I would not cross the Jordan River into the good
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  land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.
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  You will cross the Jordan to occupy the land, but I will not.
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  Instead, I will die here on the east side of the river.
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  So be careful not to break the covenant the Lord your God has
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  made with you. Do not make idols of any shape
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  or form, for the Lord your God has forbidden this.
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  The Lord your God is a devouring fire.
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  He is a jealous God. In the future, when you have
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  children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long
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  time, do not corrupt yourselves by making idols of any kind.
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  This is evil in the sight of the Lord your God and will arouse
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  His anger. To day.
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  I call on heaven and earth as witnesses against you.
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  If you break My covenant, you will quickly disappear from the
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  land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.
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  You will live there only a short time.
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  Then you will be utterly destroyed, for the Lord will
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  scatter you among the nations there.
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  Only a few of you will survive there in a foreign land.
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  You will worship idols made from wood and stone, gods that
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  neither see nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
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  But from there you will search again for the Lord your God.
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  If you search for Him with all your heart and soul, you will
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  find Him in the distant future. When you are suffering all these
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  things, you will finally return to the Lord your God and listen
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  to what He tells you. For the Lord your God is a
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  merciful God. He will not abandon you or
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  destroy you, or forget the solemn covenant He made with
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  your ancestors. Now search all of history from
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  the time God created people on the earth until now, and search
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  from one end of the heavens to the other.
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  Has anything as great as this ever been seen or heard before?
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  Has any nation ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire
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  as you did and survived? Has any other God dared to take
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  a nation for himself out of another nation by means of
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  trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, a strong hand, a
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  powerful arm, and terrifying acts?
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  Yet that is what the Lord your God did for you in Egypt right
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  before your eyes. He showed you these things so
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  you would know that the Lord is God and there is no other.
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  He let you hear His voice from heaven so He could instruct you.
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  He let you see His great fire here on earth so He could speak
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  to you from it. Because He loved your ancestors,
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  He chose to bless their descendants, and He personally
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  brought you out of Egypt with a great display of power.
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  He drove out nations far greater than you so He could bring you
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  in and give you their land as your special possession as it is
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  today. So remember this and keep it
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  firmly in mind. The Lord is God both in heaven
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  and on earth, and there is no other.
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  If you obey all the decrees and commands I'm giving you today,
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  all will be well with you and your children.
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  I'm giving you these instructions so you will enjoy a
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  long life in the land the Lord your God is giving you for all
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  time. Then Moses set apart three
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  cities of refuge east of the Jordan River.
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  Anyone who killed another person unintentionally, without
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  previous hostility could flee there to live in safety.
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  These were the cities Bazaar on the wilderness plateau for the
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  tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for the tribe of Gad.
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  Golan in Bashan for the tribe of Manasseh.
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  This is the body of instruction that Moses presented to the
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  Israelites. These are the laws, decrees, and
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  regulations that Moses gave to the people of Israel when they
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  left Egypt as they camped in the valley near Beth Payor, east of
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  the Jordan River. This land was formerly occupied
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  by the Amorites under King Scion, who ruled from Heshbon,
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  but Moses and the Israelites destroyed him and his people
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  when they came out of Egypt. Israel took possession of this
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  land and that of King Og of Bashan, the two Amorite kings
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  east of the Jordan. So Israel conquered the entire
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  area from Arroa at the edge of the Arnon Gorge, all the way to
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  Mount Syrian, also called Mount Hermon, and they conquered the
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  eastern Bank of the Jordan River as far South as the Dead Sea
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  below the slopes of Pisgah. Our Lord, you make it so simple.
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  You make this covenant with your people, and all you ask of them
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  is to trust you and to never worship another.
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  And Lord, as history would tell us, that was too much of an ask
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  for them. And so, Lord, you have made a
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  new covenant. You have sent your son, You have
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  given up something of great value, something so precious to
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  yourself because you just want more than anything else, a way
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  for your chosen possession, your special people.
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  That's us, to be able to be close to you.
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  We don't understand this good and complete love that you have
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  for us, but there it is, and here's the evidence.
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  And so we thank you for your love for us.
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  We thank you for making a way to bring us back into your arms.
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  Let me thank you for Jesus and we pray all this in his saving
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  and holy name. Amen.