Bible in 90, Day 13: Image Bearers, Not Image Makers

Numbers 33 – Deuteronomy 7

Originally at Words of Reason

Bible in 90, Day 15: The Secret & The Revealed

Deuteronomy 23-34

*image courtesy of fasnail at www. sxc.hu

If you weren’t paying close attention, you may have missed something big today.  In Deuteronomy 29, there’s this amazing verse:

“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

Did you ever stop to think about the fact that God has revealed certain things about Himself, life, and the universe?  Isn’t that amazing?  The stance of the hard agnostic is not just that he doesn’t know if there is a God out there, but that if there is a God, we cannot know Him.  And ya know, if it weren’t for the Bible, I might be inclined to agree.  I mean, what would an all-powerful, all-knowing god want with us?  If you consider god in purely logical categories, it’s reasonable to assume that he wouldn’t have much, if anything, to do with us.  

Bible in 90, Day 14: Choose Life

Deuteronomy 8-23

*video courtesy of Ardent Music at youtube.com

I’m pro-choice.

But we’ll get back to that in a minute.  Moses is preparing the Israelites to enter the Land which God has promised to them with several farewell speeches.  He begins Deuteronomy 11 by reminding this generation that their children have not seen what they have.  None of them saw the plagues and miracles surrounding the Exodus event.  Most of them have only ever known manna as their food and don’t realize the significance of this miraculous provision.  They did not see the ground swallow up those who rebelled against God’s appointing of Moses as leader.  He urges the people again to love God supremely and follow His ways.  He repeats the admonition to commit the commands to memory and make them a part of everyday life.  In vv. 16-25, Moses lays out the penalty of disobedience and the rewards of obedience.

Then in vv. 26-32, Moses lays out the ultimate choice – living or dying, blessing or cursing.  This is what I mean when I say I am pro-choice.  God gives everyone the choice to follow His way, or their own.  Every man and woman must make that choice.  Every man and woman does make that choice everyday.  With every decision we make, we choose to follow our own desires and wisdom, or God’s.  One way leads to blessing and life, the other to cursing and death.

For us today, ultimately the choice boils down to Jesus.  Will you accept Him or reject Him?  Will you follow Him and find blessing and life, or will you spurn or reject Him and find cursing and death?  If you’ve never considered this choice before, I urge you to do so.  I urge you to consider the claims of Jesus Christ seriously.  Put your faith and trust in Him alone to forgive you of your sins and give you eternal life.  Check out the GOSPEL Journey at Dare2Share ministries for more on what the Bible has to say about this, or feel free to contact me through the comments section on this page if you have any questions or want more information.

Bible in 90, Day 13: I believe the children are our future… seriously

Numbers 32-Deuteronomy 7

*image courtesy of jayofboy at www.sxc.hu

So, they finally made it to the Promised Land!  Some of these people were teenagers when they left Egypt, and now they’re in their 60’s and 70’s!  That’s a long time to wait on a promise to be fulfilled!  But God is faithful.  Before they go in, Moses lays down some ground rules: tribal allotments and boundaries, cities of refuge, Levitical towns, and inheritance standards.  This brings us to the end of Numbers.

Deuteronomy begins with a recounting of the last forty years, right up to the defeating of Sihon and Og.  Here, Moses reminds the people of God’s faithfulness, the unfaithfulness of their parents’ generation, and the reason behind the forty years of wandering.  Then begins one of the foundational passages of Judaism.  Chapters 4-6 of Deuteronomy are amazingly important chapters in the Old Testament.  In chapter 4, Moses commands the people to obey God and reminds them of their incredibly unique situation.  They are God’s chosen people and have heard His very voice speaking to them from the fire.  This prepares them to hear once again the Ten Commandments in chapter 5.  In chapter 6, we encounter the Jewish declaration of faith.  It is known as the Shema.  Shema is the first Hebrew word in v. 4 and it translates to “Hear!”