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August 4 - Deuteronomy 29 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Monday.
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  It's the 4th of August. Welcome to the first full week
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  in August and the last full week in Deuteronomy.
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  Because next week, after the last couple of chapters, we are
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  going to leap forward in our time machine and land in the
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  book of Acts where we will go through that wonderful story of
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  the birth of our church. Ah yes, so much to come, so much
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  good stuff. But this week we are going to be
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  finishing off this expose of what it's going to be like
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  heading into the Promised Land. And that means that this week
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  there is going to be a couple of chapters where Moses reviews
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  everything. And then Moses will go about the
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  work of handing over the leadership of the people of
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  Israel to the next generation, as he knows he won't be
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  following them into that Promised Land or big stuff to
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  come. So Are you ready to put down all
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  the busyness that this Monday holds for you?
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  Come before God and say, Holy Spirit, teach us something about
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  you today so that we can know you better and follow you more
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  closely and experience your love more vividly.
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  Oh, so good. You ready, friends?
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  Let's do it. Let's read together Deuteronomy
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  chapter 29. These are the terms of the
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  covenant the Lord commanded Moses to make with the
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  Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, in addition to
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  the covenant he made with them at Mount Sinai.
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  Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them, You
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  have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in the
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  land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to his servants, and to his whole
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  country, all these great tests of strength, the miraculous
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  signs and the amazing wonders. But to this day the Lord has not
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  given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that
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  hear. For 40 years I LED you through
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  the wilderness, yet your clothes and sandals did not wear out.
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  You ate no bread and drank no wine or other alcoholic drink,
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  but he provided for you, so you would know that he is the Lord
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  your God. When we came here, King Cyhon of
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  Heshbon and King OG of Bashan came out to fight against us,
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  but we defeated them. We took their land and gave it
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  to the tribe of Reuben and Gad and to the half tribe of Manasa
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  as their grant of land. Therefore, obey the terms of
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  this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do.
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  All of you, tribal leaders, elders, officers, all the men of
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  Israel are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God.
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  Your little ones and your wives are with you, as well as the
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  foreigners living among you who chop your wood and carry your
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  water. You are standing here today to
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  enter into the covenant of the Lord your God.
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  The Lord is making this covenant, including the curses.
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  By entering into the covenant today, He will establish you as
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  His people and confirm that He is your God, just as He promised
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  you and as He swore to your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and
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  Jacob. But you are not the only ones
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  with whom I am making this covenant with its curses.
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  I'm making this covenant both with you who stand here today in
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  the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future
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  generations who are not standing here today.
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  You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we
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  travelled through the lands of enemy nations as we left.
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  You have seen their detestable practises and their idols made
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  of wood, stone, silver and gold. I'm making this covenant with
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  you so that no one among you, no man, woman, clan, or tribe, will
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  turn away from the Lord our God to worship these gods of other
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  nations, and so that no root among you bears bitter and
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  poisonous fruit. Those who hear the warnings of
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  this curse should not congratulate themselves,
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  thinking I'm safe, even though I'm following the desires of my
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  own stubborn heart. This would lead to utter ruin.
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  The Lord will never pardon such people.
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  Instead, his anger and jealousy will burn against them.
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  All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and
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  the Lord will erase their names from under heaven.
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  The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel to pour
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  out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this
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  book of instruction. Then the generations to come,
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  both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from
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  distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the
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  diseases the Lord inflicts on it.
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  They will exclaim, The whole land is devastated by sulphur
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  and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing
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  planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass.
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  It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admar and Zabouim,
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  which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.
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  And all the surrounding nations will ask, why has the Lord done
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  this to this land? Why was he so angry?
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  And the answer will be This happened because the people of
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  the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their
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  ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land
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  of Egypt. Instead, they turned away to
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  serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were
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  not from the Lord. That is why the Lord's anger has
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  burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse
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  recorded in this book. In great anger and fury, the
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  Lord uprooted His people from their land and banished them to
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  another land where they still Live Today.
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  The Lord our God has secrets known to no one.
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  We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are
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  accountable forever for all that He has revealed to us, so that
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  we may obey all the terms of these instructions.
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  Our Lord, thank you that you don't leave us in the dark
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  wondering who You are and what we need to do to be your people.
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  You have revealed yourself to us not just in the revelation
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  captured here in the Old Testament, in Exodus and
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  Deuteronomy, but in Jesus, where we see who you are and what your
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  nature is. And that is in nature, yes, of
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  absolute justice and righteousness, but also of
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  compassion and love beyond anything that we could expect.
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  You are a good, good God, a loving Father and a kind
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  Saviour. And we, your people worship you,
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  and we just give you our lives today and every day afresh that
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  we can live as your people in your grace and love.
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  We pray all of this in the saving name of Jesus, Amen.