Devotions

monotheon

Posted on June 20, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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monotheon

Deuteronomy 32:12-14 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:12 Yahveh alone led him, with no help from a foreign god.
Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and eat the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from flinty rock,
Deuteronomy 32:14 curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat; you drank wine from the finest grapes.

monotheon

Moses continues his song, and he now traces the history of Israel from the open country to the promised land.

It was the Lord alone who led Israel through the open country, with no help from any foreign god.
It was the Lord alone who lifted Israel up on his wings, and made him ride on the heights of the land.
It was the Lord alone who fed Israel with all the plentiful food and drink they found in the promised land.

Moses knows that the Israelites will soon be tempted to add other gods to their pantheon. But his song (which they are to memorize and keep singing for generations) will bring them back to this truth: Israel has a monotheon. They don’t have any other gods, because they don’t need any other gods.

Lord, thank you for being God enough.

What are the limits of inclusion for a Christian?

Posted in dependence upon God, idolatry, loyalty, worldview | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 2 Comments

his wings

Posted on June 19, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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his wings

Deuteronomy 32:9-11 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:9 But Yahveh’s portion is his people, Jacob, his own inheritance.
Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desolate land, in a barren, howling open country; he surrounded him, cared for him, and protected him as the pupil of his eye.
Deuteronomy 32:11 He watches over his nest like an eagle and hovers over his young; he spreads his wings, catches him, and carries him on his feathers.

his wings

This portion of Moses’ song reflects the protective love of God. God is described as an eagle who hovers over her young, protecting them with the feathers of her wings. Biblical history showed how God had done that. The Israelites knew that God was capable of protecting them from any danger they might face in the future, because he had done so in the past.

How protected do you feel? Are you going through something right now that makes you wonder if there is an eagle eye watching over you, or wings ready to catch you and protect you from harm. It is so easy to lose that confidence, no matter how many times God has proven his love.

Lord, we want to feel protected today. Remind us of your faithful love today. Show us your wings.

Posted in protection, providence, Uncategorized | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

time travel song

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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time travel song

Deuteronomy 32:5-8 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:5 His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect – they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation.
Deuteronomy 32:6 Is this how you repay Yahveh, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father and Creator? Didn’t he make you and sustain you?
Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the days long past; consider the years of past generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.
Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance and divided the human race, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the people of Israel.

time travel song

Moses’ song engages in a bit of time travel. It places itself in the future, where Israel has already occupied the land for a time, and encourages this future people to consider the years of past generations. It instructs these future people to ask their old-timers about how God gave them the various nations who had previously occupied the land. He asks this future people to remember when the land was restructured according to the tribes of Israel.

Songs can do that for us. They can connect us with the past. They can also help us to see our present selves in better perspective.

Lord, give us a clarified perspective on our relationship with you, and the courage to change where we are not living up to our heritage.

Posted in discernment, discipleship, Moses, relationship with God, time | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 1 Comment

bloom or shrivel

Posted on June 17, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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bloom or shrivel

Deuteronomy 32:1-4 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 32:1 Pay attention, sky, and I will speak; listen, land, to the words from my mouth.
Deuteronomy 32:2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.
Deuteronomy 32:3 You see, I will proclaim Yahveh’s name. Declare the greatness of our God!
Deuteronomy 32:4 The Rock – his work is complete; all his ways are justice. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.

bloom or shrivel

Moses begins his song by calling on the sky and the land to listen to his words. Every time it rains it will be a testimony of God’s greatness and justice. The rain is the teaching of Moses, and that rain falls gently, like dew, and gushes like showers onto the new people planted in the land.

The song of Moses identifies the purpose of the Mosaic covenant: it was to continue proclaiming the name of Yahveh, and demonstrating his work, justice, faithfulness, righteousness, truth and greatness. By doing so, the covenant adherents were to draw others in the surrounding nations to this one God.

The Israelites had the choice to become a garden or a desert. They could take in the teaching and bloom, or ignore the teaching and shrivel.

Lord, give us the wisdom to take in your word and bloom.

Posted in Bible, dependence upon God, discipleship, growth, Moses, righteousness | Tagged Deuteronomy 32 | 3 Comments

congressional warning

Posted on June 16, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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congressional warning

Deuteronomy 31:28-30 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:28 Collect all your tribal elders and officers before me so that I may speak these words directly to them and call sky and land as witnesses against them.
Deuteronomy 31:29 You see, I know that after my death you will become completely corrupt and turn from the path I have commanded you. Disaster will come to you in the future, because you will do what is evil in Yahveh’s sight, angering him with what your hands have made.”
Deuteronomy 31:30 Then Moses recited aloud every single word of this song to the entire collected assembly of Israel:

congressional warning

The collected assembly was like a parliament or congress. It consisted of all the tribal elders and officers, as representatives of the whole nation. Moses met with them as a group and sang his song to them. He knew they would be responsible to pass the Mosaic commission along to all the covenant followers under their charge. He did not want to be guilty of hiding what was going to happen in the future. He knew that the nation was going to rebel, and that God was going to punish them for that rebellion.

It is amazing to me that the Bible has so much material like this, and we fail to hear the message in our pulpits. We are so busy trying to encourage our listeners with a positive message that we fail to tell them the whole truth. Sometimes bad things do happen to us when it is not not our fault — as testified by Job. But we need to warn each other that sometimes those tough times are the result of our wrong choices.

Lord, may your words of warning flow from our pulpits, and may we be wise enough to listen, and repent.

Posted in discernment, judgment, prophecy, truth | Tagged Deuteronomy 31 | 1 Comment

double-edged witness

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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double-edged witness

Deuteronomy 31:23-27 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:23 Yahveh commanded Joshua son of Nun, and this is what he said, “Be strong and tough, because you will bring the Israelites into the land I swore to them, and I will be with you.”
Deuteronomy 31:24 When Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word of this instruction,
Deuteronomy 31:25 he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of Yahveh’s covenant, and this is what he said:
Deuteronomy 31:26 “Take this book of the instruction and place it beside the ark of the covenant of Yahveh your God so that it may stay there as a witness against you.
Deuteronomy 31:27 You see, I know how rebellious and hard-necked you are. Notice, if you are rebelling against Yahveh now, while I am still alive, how much more will you rebel after I am dead!

double-edged witness

The scroll inside the Ark of the Covenant was a witness of that covenant. As such, if the Israelites obeyed, it would witness to that obedience in favor of the Israelites. But if they disobeyed, this same sword would manifest its other edge. Moses told the Levites to put the book in there as a witness against the people. Every act of rebellion and unfaithfulness was already recorded in the scroll.

The Bible is a faithful witness of God’s grace and love, demonstrated by Christ. But it is also a double-edged sword, attesting to every act of rebellion and transgression and omitted act of righteousness. By it we learn how high and holy God is, and how low and depraved we can be. We travel with that witness. It helps us stay true to the one who called us to himself, and commands repentance when we fail him.

Lord, thank you for your sacred word, a double-edged witness.

Posted in Bible, faithfulness, new covenant, rebellion | Tagged Deuteronomy 31 | 1 Comment

the other verses

Posted on June 14, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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the other verses

Deuteronomy 31:19-22 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:19 Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; place it on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.
Deuteronomy 31:20 When I bring them into the land I swore to give their fathers, 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.
Deuteronomy 31:21 And when many troubles and afflictions come to them, this song will testify against them, because their descendants will not have forgotten it. You see, I know what they are prone to do, even before I bring them into the land I swore to give them.”

the other verses

Moses wrote a song about what was going to happen. It predicted the conquest of the land, and the prosperity to follow. These verses ensured that the song would be remembered and repeated by the next generations. But then there were the other verses of the song. These would predict that Israel would turn to other gods and worship them, despising their God and breaking his covenant. Over time, these verses would drop off, as no one wanted to remember these predictions. But the prophets would keep reminding them. The whole song is important.

Lord, we confess that we don’t like to think about negative things, and we also are guilty of dropping off the other verses of your song. But help us to walk in integrity, paying attention to your whole word.

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noseburn and a hidden face

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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noseburn and a hidden face

Deuteronomy 31:17-18 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:17 My nose will burn at 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? ‘
Deuteronomy 31:18 I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.

noseburn and a hidden face

The Lord uses two anthropomorphic figures of speech to describe his attitude toward the Israelites after they rebel. To have a long nose is to be patient, but to have a burning nose is to be furious. To show your face is to make your presence known, but to hide your face is to ignore cries for help. Neither of these figures of speech can be taken literally, because God is normally invisible to us. But both of these figures of speech explain why for hundreds of years God only spoke to his rebellious people through prophets, and he seemed to have taken a holiday and left his people on their own.

But then Jesus came, and Israel saw the face of the God. In fact, all the nations can now know God, because his exact nature is now revealed in his Son. And Jesus does not have noseburn, and he has not hidden his face to us. He invites us to come to him, and he promises never to leave us.

Thank you Lord for your forgiveness, your grace and your presence.

Posted in fellowship, forgiveness, grace, Jesus Christ, presence of God | Tagged Deuteronomy 31 | 2 Comments

not the best news

Posted on June 12, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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not the best news

Deuteronomy 31:14-16 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:14 Yahveh said to Moses, ” Notice the time of your death is now approaching. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the conference tent so that I may command him.” When Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the conference tent,
Deuteronomy 31:15 Yahveh appeared at the tent in a column of cloud, and the cloud stood at the entrance to the tent.
Deuteronomy 31:16 Yahveh said to Moses, “Notice you are about to lie down with your fathers, 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 established with them.

not the best news

Imagine being Moses, and learning that this great covenant which you have promoted among your people would be soon abandoned and discarded by them. What a thing to learn at your retirement! It was not the best news.

Imagine being Joshua, and learning that this people you are about to take over the leadership of will not be loyal to the God who rescued them, but will seek a relationship with foreign gods instead. What a thing to learn as you are about to don the mantle of leadership! It was not the best news.

Both of these men of God were learning that the situation would not be the best. But they both clung to the God who is able to rescue them from an unpleasant future,and get the glory for the rescue.

Lord, the news we are learning is not the best, but we choose to trust you, even if we have to walk where we did not want to walk.

Posted in dissapointment, leadership, obedience, trust | Tagged Deuteronomy 31 | 2 Comments

read this instruction aloud

Posted on June 11, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

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read this instruction aloud

Deuteronomy 31:9-13 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:9 Moses wrote down this instruction and he gave it to the priests, sons of Levi, who carried the ark of Yahveh’s covenant, and to all the elders of Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:10 Moses commanded them, and this is what he said: “At the end of every seven years, at the same time in the year of debt revoking, during the Festival of Huts,
Deuteronomy 31:11 when all Israel assembles in the presence of Yahveh your God at the place he chooses, you are to read this instruction aloud before all Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:12 Collect the people – men, women, dependents, and the guests within your city gates — so that they may listen and learn to fear Yahveh your God and be careful to do all the words of this instruction.
Deuteronomy 31:13 Then their children who do not know the instruction will listen and learn to fear Yahveh your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of.”

read this instruction aloud

Moses made sure that every child growing up in the land would have an opportunity to listen and learn God’s instruction. It was essential not only that the traditions be handed down, but also the history behind them be known. No one was excluded from these assemblies. No man, no woman, no child, not even the foreign guests and workers.

The content of our new covenant with Christ needs to be read aloud regularly as well. Without the words of the holy scriptures, our traditions become empty. Empowered by God’s word, those traditions can become means of passing on the glorious gospel.

Lord, instill in us a healthy pattern of reading your words.

Posted in Bible, bible study, new covenant, scriptures, traditions | Tagged Deuteronomy 31 | 1 Comment