Devotions

his last summit

Posted on June 30, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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his last summit

Deuteronomy 32:48-52 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:48 On that same day Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said:
Deuteronomy 32:49 “Go up Mount Nebo in the Abarim range in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan I am giving the Israelites as a possession.
Deuteronomy 32:50 Then you will die on the mountain that you go up, and you will be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
Deuteronomy 32:51 For both of you betrayed me among the Israelites at the Water of Meribath-kadesh in the open country of Zin by failing to treat me as sacred in their presence.
Deuteronomy 32:52 Although from a distance you will view the land that I am giving the Israelites, you will not go there.”

his last summit

As a long-distance hiker, I have gone up a lot of mountains. Sometimes I am enticed by the prospect of a spectacular view at an overlook. I have seen a lot of those. Sometimes I go up just because the trail leads there, and I just have to tick off another summit on my long list.

Moses was getting ready to ascend a mountain that he would never come down. This was his last summit. He had led his people through the long distance hike to Canaan, but he would never reach the promised land himself. He faces an end that he doesn’t want, but knows that it is his fault.

If it were me, I would probably say to God that if he’s going to kill me anyway, I would just as soon skip this last climb. But that is not Moses. He may have failed at a lot of things in his life, but he was not going to fail here.

Lord, give us the courage to follow you, even if it is into the darkness.

Posted in courage, sovereignty of God, Uncategorized, will of God | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

not meaningless words

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

Photo by Patrick Case on Pexels.com

not meaningless words

Deuteronomy 32:44-47 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people.
Deuteronomy 32:45 After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,
Deuteronomy 32:46 he said to them, “Place in your heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to follow all the words of this instruction carefully.
Deuteronomy 32:47 You see, they are not meaningless words to you but they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of.”

not meaningless words

The thing about a song is that you can sing the words and sing them quite enthusiastically without meaning them at all. A song can be play-acting, pretending. Good singers can even spread the emotion of the song, causing their listeners to feel those emotions passionately, and producing tears or uncontrollable laughter — while at the same time not feeling the emotions of the words at all themselves.

Joshua was encouraged not to be such a singer. Moses told him to place the words of his song in his heart as a warning, because the rebellion of which Moses spoke was going to come. Joshua was to make sure it didn’t happen on his watch.

Each of us is responsible for our own voice, in our own generation. We have to sing God’s song from the heart — making sure that the words we sing are not meaningless words.

Lord, burn in us a passion for your gospel, and the skill to proclaim your words from the heart.

Posted in discipleship, faith, hypocrisy, integrity, truth | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

vengeance on his adversaries

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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vengeance on his adversaries

Deuteronomy 32:40-43 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:40 I raise my hand to the sky and declare: As surely as I live permanently,
Deuteronomy 32:41 when I sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold of judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.
Deuteronomy 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood while my sword devours meat – the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
Deuteronomy 32:43 Rejoice, you nations, concerning his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries; he will provide reconciliation for his land and his people.

vengeance on his adversaries

This part of Moses’ song records God’s oath in which he swears to take vengeance on his adversaries. Those who slaughter the innocent will feel the sharp tips of God’s arrows and the slicing edge of God’s sword.

Why sing of such a thing? One reason is that there will be ages of what will seem to be senseless violence against God’s people. We certainly know that was a true prediction. God calls on his people to trust him to provide reconciliation.

Reconciliation of every evil is going to happen. It is our choice what kind of reconciliation we can have. It will either be permanent destruction in hell, or permanent forgiveness through Christ’s death on the cross.

Lord, we recognize ourselves as your adversaries due to our own sin. We plead the blood of Christ as our reconciliation.

Posted in destruction in hell, reconciliation, vengeance, wrath of God | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

no other contestants

Posted on June 27, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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no other contestants

Deuteronomy 32:36-39 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:36 Yahveh will indeed vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their strength is gone and no one is left – slave or free.
Deuteronomy 32:37 He will say: “Where are their gods, the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?
Deuteronomy 32:38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up and help you; let it be a shelter for you.
Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I alone am he; there is no God but me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from my power.

no other contestants

Moses warns the Israelites that it matters who they trust in. At some point they are going to look around and discover that there really is no contest. God alone is God. All of the others are pretenders, who will not be around forever. All the sacrifices and worship to these false gods will mean nothing. At some point in the future, the only relationship that would give healing and life is the relationship with God.

So, Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” At some point in life, we will come to understand that all those other ways are the wrong way, all those other “truths” are lies, and all those other “lives” are death.

Lord, we seek you, because you alone are God.

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poisonous grapes

Posted on June 26, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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poisonous grapes

Deuteronomy 32:32-35 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.
Deuteronomy 32:33 Their wine is serpents’ venom, the deadly poison of cobras.
Deuteronomy 32:34 “Is it not stored up with me, sealed up in my vaults?
Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

poisonous grapes

Moses had just compared the gods of the nations to Israel’s God by saying that the nations had rocks which could not protect them. Now he compares grapes. He warns the Israelites that the wine produced by those nations is deadly. Don’t trust in them, because disaster is near. Their doom is coming quickly.

Oh, if this generation of Christians can only hear these words! We seem to listen to every bit of advice we can get from the world around us, as if it does not matter where your education comes from. Moses was not comparing grapes. He was comparing world-views.

Lord, give us the discernment and wisdom to stop listening to the world for advice!

Posted in discernment, discipleship, insight, teaching, Uncategorized, worldview | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

rock contest

Posted on June 25, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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rock contest

Deuteronomy 32:28-31 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:28 Israel is a nation which has lost its sense with no understanding at all.
Deuteronomy 32:29 If only they were wise, they would comprehend this; they would understand their fate.
Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one pursue a thousand, or two cause ten thousand to run away, unless their Rock had sold them, unless Yahveh had given them up?
Deuteronomy 32:31 But their “rock” is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.

rock contest

Moses reminds the Israelites that there had been a rock contest. The rock that the nations relied on to protect them was not strong enough to do so when Israel marched into the land. Their rocks — their gods — lost the contest. Israel’s rock was harder. God’s protection was stronger.

Our God offers us protection that can withstand the attacks of the gods all around us. We cannot afford to be disloyal to him, because he has no peer. He is God almighty.

Lord, we come to you seeking salvation and protection.

Posted in commitment, idolatry, protection | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

small thread

Posted on June 24, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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small thread

Deuteronomy 32:26-27 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:26 “I would have said: I will cut them to pieces and blot out the memory of them from mankind,
Deuteronomy 32:27 if I had not been intimidated by provocation from the enemy, or thought that these foes might misunderstand and say: ‘Our own hand has prevailed; it wasn’t Yahveh who did all this.'”

small thread

A small thread kept the Israelites dangling under the protection of God almighty. That thread was not their righteousness or faith, but God’s desire to protect his own reputation. He had committed himself to the Israelites. It was his glory at stake.

Oh, brother and sister, we need to run to our God and reconnect with him! May it never be that God is forced to keep us from obliteration by virtue only of his own reputation. May we give him many reasons to keep providing for us and protecting us.

Lord, we want you to be proud to announce to the world that we are yours.

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fire from God

Posted on June 23, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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fire from God

Deuteronomy 32:22-25 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:22 For fire has been kindled because of my anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
Deuteronomy 32:23 “I will pile disasters on them; I will use up my arrows against them.
Deuteronomy 32:24 They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.
Deuteronomy 32:25 Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, there will be terror; the young man and the young woman will be killed, the infant and the gray-haired man.

fire from God

God’s fire is a metaphor for his punishment for sin. Sometimes he punishes sin with literal fire, but in today’s passage it is obviously a metaphor for death from a variety of sources: disaster, arrows, hunger, disease, wild animals, snakebite, swords, and fright.

Moses was singing his song of the future, and he was pretty comprehensive when he predicted the various ways God would avenge himself on those who claimed to be part of his covenant and yet rebelled against the commands of the covenant.

Lord, we are children of your covenant of grace, bought with the blood of Christ. Make us a people serious about following the commands of Christ.

Posted in destruction in hell, judgment, Uncategorized | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

forgotten parent

Posted on June 22, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

selective focus photography of blue petaled flowers

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forgotten parent

Deuteronomy 32:18-21 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who gave you birth; you forgot the God who gave birth to you.
Deuteronomy 32:19 When Yahveh saw this, he despised them, angered by his sons and daughters.
Deuteronomy 32:20 He said: “I will hide my face from them; I will see what will become of them, for they are a changed generation – unfaithful children.
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked my jealousy with what is not a god; they have enraged me with their worthless idols. So I will provoke their jealousy with what is not a people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.

forgotten parent

The last few years of my mother’s life were difficult for her. Her mental condition continued to disintegrate from dementia. Most of her children were already dead, so she had few visitors in the nursing home. And I lived in another country, and when I returned to the USA, I was still in another State, many hours away.

But I called her every week. At first, the calls were delightful, because she still recognized me, and she would ask about my children and grandchildren. I looked forward to catching up with mom. But as her condition worsened, the calls were heartbreaking. Still, I kept up the calls. I didn’t want her to feel like her child had forgotten her.

Moses describes God here as a forgotten parent, who first despised Israel, then was angered by them, then was jealous and enraged by them. No parent likes to be put on the shelf. No parent wants to be forgotten.

Lord, we want to be in your presence, and to benefit from your parental love. Draw us closer.

Posted in appreciation, dependence upon God, relationship with God | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

provider and pretenders

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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provider and pretenders

Deuteronomy 32:15-17 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:15 Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled — you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.
Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked his jealousy with illegitimate gods; they enraged him with repulsive practices.
Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your fathers did not fear.

provider and pretenders

Moses’ song had just mentioned all the wonderful food and drink that the Israelites experienced at the hand of God after their long ordeal in the open country, once they arrived in the promised land. He described his nation as a person who was suddenly treated to a banquet after a long period of near starvation. The result was gorging on the feast, and abandoning the master of the feast. That is bad enough, but then Israel does the unthinkable. Israel sacrifices not to the provider, but to the pretenders, not to God, but to demons.

Lord, we acknowledge you as our one and only provider. Give us the wisdom to reject all those who would pretend to take your place.

Posted in appreciation, dependence upon God, idolatry, rebellion | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment