Lowly Day 10 Self Selected Exclusion: Digging Deeper
December 20, 2024
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Deuteronomy 31:14-23
When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting, 15 the Lord appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent. 16 The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will abandon me and break the covenant I have made with them. 17 My anger will burn against them on that day; I will abandon them and hide my face from them so that they will become easy prey. Many troubles and afflictions will come to them. On that day they will say, ‘Haven’t these troubles come to us because our God is no longer with us?’ 18 I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.
19 Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. 20 When I bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey, they will eat their fill and prosper. They will turn to other gods and worship them, despising me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. For I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.”
22 So Moses wrote down this song on that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
The Original Intent
1) Why would the Lord commission a new leader on the heels of re-telling the story of Israel’s failure to be faithful? (verses 14-17)
Looking to give yourself a Christmas gift? Read Deuteronomy. If you start today, reading just one chapter at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you’ll finish on New Year’s Eve with just one chapter left to start off your new year! About 9 minutes a day total to reap a benefit of glimpsing God’s incredibly rich compassion exceedingly outweighs the cost. Always choose #HisWordsBeforeOurs
Deuteronomy tells the story of Israel’s history as Moses prepares to pass the baton to God’s pick for a new leader, Joshua. Why spend a whole book retelling the dark tales of Israel’s enslavement and their blatant rebellion against the God who single-handedly freed them? Their selfish, complaining, faithless rebellion resulted in the emancipated slaves dying in the desert before reaching the reward.
If this was your past, wouldn’t you prefer its stories remained buried in the sand along with your deceased, faithless relatives? I would. Some tales are best left untold.
Was the Lord so cruel as to dedicate an entire book to parading the sins of the past before a new generation? Or maybe, the spotlight wasn’t intended for Israel. Perhaps the brilliance of God’s mercy and compassion were meant to take center stage as the stories were rhythmically read aloud for generations to come. (Deuteronomy 31:10-11)
Merciful compassion has a way of coloring even the darkest sins and offering something we all desperately need, hope. (Proverbs 10:12) Not only did the Lord provide for His people during their rebellious wandering, He lovingly led them, and provided a leader who worshipped Him fully to care for and guide His people as they entered the Promised Land.
Yes, Israel’s rebellious past was pocked with wretchedness, but still, He provided by compassionately commissioning Joshua. The Lord would not leave His people, even though they were faithless. (2 Timothy 2:13)
The Everyday Application
1) Why would the Lord commission a new leader on the heels of re-telling the story of Israel’s failure to be faithful? (verses 14-17)
In the face of a kindness that stoops so low as to ensure that the soles of even the most defiant were protected from scorching sand, our attention shifts from ugly sin to stunning, lowly love. (Deuteronomy 8:4) It takes our breath away, captivating our attention, holding our faces to stare in astonished amazement at beautiful, undeserved love.
Our justice hungry hearts cry, “They didn’t deserve for you to care about their feet, God! Their clothes never wore out?!” (Deuteronomy 29:5) What kind of love is this that the God who holds every galaxy in His palm would care for the details of protecting vulnerable skin against a desert sun?
The God of Israel cared. The God who reigns and rules today cares for you. The God who knows when every sparrow dies, who counts every hair on every head of every person across every generation, the God who daily stoops low to bear our burdens, HE invites us, in every moment, to come, “cast your burdens on Me” for He “cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 68:19, Matthew 10:29-31)
This God cares.
I know, I know, you don’t feel it, right? You can’t see it. If I knew your circumstances, surely, I would hold my tongue. But that’s the thing about truth, it remains true even if feelings don’t align. The proof that He is the God who cares is seen in an animal’s rough feeding trough holding silky newborn skin, crafted to encompass the God who came to save us from the filth of our sin.
Sisters, does it get lower than placing your newborn infant in a place where animals drool and chew their food?! Yes, it does. Hanging naked on a cross to pay a debt He did not owe so we would see the gracious, loving compassion of the God who cares.
The Original Intent
2) If the Lord knew Israel would be so rebellious, why does He persevere with mercy and good gifts? (verses 17-21)
Not convinced you should read Deuteronomy for the next 11 days? I submit Deuteronomy 7:7-9 as further evidence of God’s vast love waiting to be explored.
““The Lord had His heart set on you and chose you, not because you were more numerous than all peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved you […] He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you […]. Know that the Lord you God is God, a faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant […].”
What does God’s goodness, kindness, mercy, and compassion not depend? His people. The ones He chose. He knew full well they would break covenant with Him (verse 16), but His love didn’t hinge on their performance.
It wasn’t because they were many in number, produced the finest offspring, or could be a superpower in the ancient world, it was simply because the Lord loved them. He made them, He called them His own, He gave them His law, He entered into covenant with them, and He chose to love them on His own accord.
Verse 20 brilliantly tells of the faithfulness of God, which shines in extraordinary contrast to the previous verses detailing how Israel would break faith with the Lord and sin against Him. Centuries prior, the Lord promised to give Abraham’s descendants land of their own where they would flourish and prosper. Never, not once, does the Lord break a promise. Ever.
As Moses is about to die, the Lord gives him the opportunity to see the Land that was Promised and says to Moses, ““This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’”’ (Deuteronomy 34:2, emphasis mine)
Faithful and true is the Lord and His steadfast love. (Deuteronomy 33:27-28, Revelation 19:11-13)
The Everyday Application
2) If the Lord knew Israel would be so rebellious, why does He persevere with mercy and good gifts? (verses 17-21)
By the time Jesus arrived as a baby, Israel was a disaster. They were no longer recognized as a nation, and though they technically lived in the Promised Land, Roman occupation oppressed and overtaxed them. Poverty replaced promised prosperity. The Lord hadn’t spoken through a prophet in 400 years. Had God abandoned them? Had His love run out?
As Mary’s screams of labor pain pierced Bethlehem’s hillside one night, they ended in a newborn’s trembling wail and the Lord God of Israel shouted, “I AM is here!”. No, God had not abandoned His people. No, His love had not run dry. It was as fresh and vibrant as the scent of life Jesus wore as He nestled next to Mary’s warmth.
Israel was rebellious, but God persevered with kindness, humility, and the gift of His Son. Lavish Love, Sisters. Lavish.
Transparently, just today, I’ve been selfish and angry. I’ve grieved the brokenness so evident around me, and I’ve asked the Lord, “Do you see?! Do you care?!”. To my own desperate heart, truth persists, “I AM is here.” No, His love has not run out. Yes, His promises are trustworthy. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
I need only glance at the impossible love, that should have never come, because we, each of us, have given the Lord endless reasons to abandon His love for us. Lying lips, lustful eyes, hands that hurt, and words that mock are just the start of our sin.
Jesus didn’t choose that manger, or the cross, because we deserved rescue. He didn’t lay helpless or hang naked because we brought anything but sin to the table of His holiness. He chose to bring us Himself because He Loves Us.
He knows all about our rebellion. He’s still holding out forgiveness and love, just like He promised He would. (Isaiah 53:4-6)
The Original Intent
3) Why would the Lord go to the work of writing a song, asking Moses to sing it, and intend for His people to memorize it? (verses 19-23)
The Lord compassionately provided Joshua as Israel’s new leader as Moses was nearing death, and then He gave Moses a final leadership privilege, singing over Israel.
Much about Moses’ story brings me to tears as I glimpse the tender heart of God toward him, but this aspect of God’s song being passed to Israel through Moses is spectacular to behold! Can you imagine? The Lord calling Moses away to Himself at the Tent of Meeting where He had met with Moses, face to face (Deuteronomy 34:10) all throughout Israel’s 40 years of wilderness wanderings.
In this tent, Moses had come to know the Almighty as, wait for it, friend. (Exodus 33:11) Doesn’t that just thrill your insides and make your lungs take in air?! In this place of shared friendship, the Lord sings to Moses. Do tears fill your eyes at the thought?!
Moses had just completed the monumental task as the Lord’s scribe, writing down every word of the Law from Genesis to this scene in Deuteronomy. (Deuteronomy 31:9) Moses draws near to the Lord, who instructs, “Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.” (verse 19)
Moses obeyed, as evidenced by the preserved song (Deuteronomy 32), but when it came time for Moses to sing over Israel, Scripture doesn’t use the Hebrew verb pronounced “qara” for “read aloud”. The Hebrew verb pronounced “dabar” is translated in English as “speak conversationally as if through song”. (Studylight.org) Here in the CSB translation it’s written as “recite”.
“Then Moses recited aloud every single word of this song to the entire assembly of Israel.” (Deuteronomy 31:30)
As if from memory, from the secret places of his heart where God had sung to him, Moses recited God’s Song.
For bonus exploration, I give you Revelation 15:3; you do the rest!
The Everyday Application
3) Why would the Lord go to the work of writing a song, asking Moses to sing it, and intend for His people to memorize it? (verses 19-23)
The lyrics of God’s song, “every single word”, were already implanted in Moses’ heart from God’s voice through the Holy Spirit. Consider the emotion and gusto with which Moses must have sung!
These aren’t ordinary words and the purpose of this song wasn’t entertainment but was intended as a testimony against Israel’s sin and as a portrait of God’s steadfastness to His character. The lyrics would tell the truth of Israel’s rebellion and corrupt acts (Deuteronomy 32:5 and 15), but it would sing plainly of the goodness of God despite Israel’s atrocious idolatry (Deuteronomy 32:4, 6, 8-10).
Today, we can’t access the specific melodies sung by Moses, but we can sing God’s Word back to Him in worship. We can study and memorize Scripture so it becomes written on our hearts and knit to our souls, becoming the very language we use to speak to each other and the Lord God.
We can even craft a song, making melody in our hearts to God so we can speak to each other in hymns, songs, and spiritual songs. (Ephesians 5:19) Every time we do, we’re repeating the same gospel truth woven into Moses’ hymn. We are sinful, stuck in our rebellion, but God, who is rich in mercy and compassion and whose steadfast love never fails, stooped low to bring us into relationship with Him so we might become the friends of God!
I sure hope you decide to take on the Christmas challenge of reading Deuteronomy until the New Year dawns. Your unexpected gifts will spill over as you peer into the gracious goodness of God who invites us to sing His song!
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