with us through it all

Posted on June 9, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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with us through it all

Deuteronomy 31:4-6 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:4 Yahveh will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and their land when he exterminated them.
Deuteronomy 31:5 Yahveh will give them over to your face, and you must do to them exactly as I have commanded you.
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and tough; don’t be afraid or terrified of their faces. You see, Yahveh your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.”

with us through it all

The mission of the Israelites required that they occupy the lands that God had given them, and God was judging the present occupants of those lands for their sins. But that did not mean that taking over the lands would be a cake walk. Fulfilling their mission was going to be a daunting task, and the Israelites had to be strong and tough, and not give in to fear.

Our mission under the covenant with Christ is not to occupy a land, but to spread the gospel to every land. The opposition we face will often be just as determined as those pagan nations were. So, we also must be strong and tough, and not give in to fear. We also have the assurance that Jesus will be with us through it all, and not leave or abandon us.

Thank you, Lord, that you are with us through it all.

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the future without us

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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the future without us

Deuteronomy 31:1-3 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 31:1 Then Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel,
Deuteronomy 31:2 saying, “I am now 120 years old; I am no longer able to continue to go out and come in. Yahveh has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan.’
Deuteronomy 31:3 Yahveh your God is the one who will cross ahead of you. He will exterminate these nations before you, and you will drive them out. Joshua is the one who will cross ahead of you, as Yahveh has said.

the future without us

There comes a time in a leader’s life when he or she realizes that there are no more battles. The only battle left for Moses was an internal one. He would have to muster the courage to help Joshua transition to full leadership. He had one more task — climbing the mountain he would die on. He had spent the last third of his life doing something that he is no longer able to continue. He knew this day would come, but it is never easy to transition to nothing.

But Moses has confidence in the future of this nation, because he knows Joshua, and more importantly, he knows the source of his own ability and strength. There is hope for the future because the Lord is still there.

Lord, thank you for your permanent power and presence. That is our confidence for the future without us.

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staying faithful to him

Posted on June 7, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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staying faithful to him

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call sky and land as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, empowerment and affliction. Choose life so that you and your descendants may stay alive,
Deuteronomy 30:20 care about Yahveh your God, obeying him, and staying faithful to him. Because he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you stay in the land Yahveh swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

staying faithful to him

God’s covenant with Abraham is linked to his covenant with his descendants via the law of Moses. He had promised Abraham a land, and now that promise is fulfilled for his descendants. He had promised a future posterity, and the Israelites are part of that posterity. He had promised Abraham a blessing, and that blessing is being poured out on his descendants. But all of these promises are conditional for the Israelites. Neither the land, nor the blessing, nor their own continued existence is a given. They have to choose every promise for themselves.

It is the same for the new covenant. There are numerous blessings for us in Christ. But we must take hold of every one of them by faith, and demonstrate that faith with faithfulness. The faithfulness of God is not at issue. The question of the hour is whether we who are called will be faithful.

Lord, we are prone to wander. Take our hearts and seal them. We plead for faithful hearts.

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his mission

Posted on June 6, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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his mission

Deuteronomy 30:15-18 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.
Deuteronomy 30:16 You see, I am commanding you today to care about Yahveh your God, to walk in his ways, and to watch his commands, prescriptions, and rules, so that you may stay alive and multiply, and Yahveh your God may empower you in the land you are entering to take possession of.
Deuteronomy 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow in worship to other gods and serve them,
Deuteronomy 30:18 I tell you today that you will certainly be destroyed and will not prolong your days in the land you are entering to take possession of across the Jordan.

his mission

Why was obedience so important for the Israelites at this time? For hundreds of years, the Israelites had languished in a foreign land, and God had not spoke to them, or demanded much of them. Now, all of a sudden, he rescues them from slavery, and then slaps them with a mountain of laws and regulations. What gives?

The answer is his mission. The Israelites now have a mission — to draw the nations to God by demonstrating his holiness. Being faithful to the covenant was their way of carrying out the mission. Staying true to the mission would result in life and prosperity; failing the mission would bring death and adversity.

This is the same God who has rescued us from our sins by the death of Christ on the cross. What do we think would happen if people who claim to be saved by Jesus turn against his mission?

Lord, make us a people consistently dedicated to your mission.

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not beyond our reach

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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not beyond our reach

Deuteronomy 30:11-14 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:11 “You see, this command that I command you today is certainly not too extraordinary or beyond your reach.
Deuteronomy 30:12 It is not in the sky so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to the sky, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’
Deuteronomy 30:13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’
Deuteronomy 30:14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

not beyond our reach

As a modern evangelical, this text is one of the hardest to believe. I am so conditioned to think that the Mosaic covenant was so astronomically complex that the Israelites were doomed to break it from the beginning. Indeed, Deuteronomy assumes that as a nation, Israel would shatter the covenant they were receiving, just as Moses would shatter the first tablets of stone.

But the Israelites did not fail God because he had made obedience too hard. In fact, this passage implies that something deep inside each citizen understood and wanted to obey God, and wanted to succeed with his mission. God had instilled in them a desire to display his glory by obeying his commands.

In the same way, every believer in Christ knows that doing what he said is not beyond our reach. But we still fail him. Christ mercifully calls us back to himself time and time again. His love is far more powerful than our consistency.

Thank you Jesus, for your forgiveness. Lead us to be more consistently faithful to your words, because they are not beyond our reach.

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riches that please God

Posted on June 4, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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riches that please God

Deuteronomy 30:7-10 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:7 Yahveh your God will put all these oaths on your enemies who hate and persecute you.
Deuteronomy 30:8 Then you will again obey Yahveh and follow all his commands I am commanding you today.
Deuteronomy 30:9 Yahveh your God will make your prosperity survive in all the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, Yahveh will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your fathers,
Deuteronomy 30:10 when you obey Yahveh your God by watching his commands and prescriptions that are written in this book of the instruction and return to him with all your heart and all your throat.

riches that please God

The Israelites learned that there were hundreds of ways to become prosperous, but there was only one way to make their prosperity survive. Returning to the covenant and obeying the commands of their rescuer was the only way to be both prosperous and secure.

This lesson reverberates throughout the scriptures. Prosperity gained by being disobedient does not last. The riches that last are the kind of riches that please God. Those are the kind that he gives to those who follow his commands.

Thank you Lord, for blessing our obedience. Give us the good sense to always seek your blessing, not just temporary prosperity.

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regathered and returned

Posted on June 3, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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regathered and returned

Deuteronomy 30:4-6 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:4 Even if your exiles are at the end of the sky, Yahveh will gather you and bring you back from there.
Deuteronomy 30:5 Yahveh your God will bring you into the land your fathers took possession of, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your fathers.
Deuteronomy 30:6 Yahveh your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will care about him with all your heart and all your throat so that you will live.

regathered and returned

This regathering and return speaks of more than just a restoration of Israel to the land. It speaks of a new covenant with circumcised hearts and throats — and a prosperity that is more than that first experienced when they entered the land. All of these promises were given just as the Israelites were entering the land for the first time. God knew that they would fall away, and Moses knew. These words reveal that God would redeem his people again — not from slavery in Egypt, but from exile due to their own rebellion.

Lord, you redeemed us from the consequences of our sin by the death of Christ on the cross. We have covenanted to follow Christ and glorify you by obeying his commands. But we have failed to do that. Regather us and bring us back to the place where we can glorify you.

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full repentance

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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full repentance

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 30:1 “When all these things happen to you — the empowerments and afflictions I have set before you — and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where Yahveh your God has driven you,
Deuteronomy 30:2 and you and your children return to Yahveh your God and obey him with all your heart and all your throat by doing everything I am commanding you today,
Deuteronomy 30:3 then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where Yahveh your God has scattered you.

full repentance

We Christians are often guilty of casually throwing around the word repentance as if it is a simple thing. But the repentance Moses was talking about was a complicated set of actions and reactions. It involved…

  • …recognizing how good they had it when God was blessing them for their obedience,
  • …recognizing that the tough times they were now experiencing were also signs from God, calling them to change,
  • …returning to God and recommitting to following his covenant (as families),
  • …obeying the commands associated with the covenant wholeheartedly,
  • …patiently waiting in faith for their restoration, and
  • …preparing themselves for God’s promise of restoration.

Repentance is not a simple reset. Just as rebellion against God takes more than a simple act of the will, so recovery will take more than simply admitting one’s sin. It starts with that, but there is much more to it.

Lord, we beg for your forgiveness, and ask you to show us how to walk in full repentance.

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time machine

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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time machine

Deuteronomy 29:26-29 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 29:26 They began to serve other gods, bowing in worship to gods they had not known – gods that Yahveh had not permitted them to worship.
Deuteronomy 29:27 Therefore Yahveh’s anger burned against this land, and he brought every affliction written in this book on it.
Deuteronomy 29:28 Yahveh uprooted them from their land in his anger, rage, and intense wrath, and tossed them into another land where they are today.’
Deuteronomy 29:29 The hidden things belong to Yahveh our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children permanently, so that we may follow all the words of this instruction.

time machine

God not only warned the Israelites of the consequences of rebelling against the covenant, he as much as brought them in a time machine to the land of their future exile, and treated them to a glimpse into that future. This beautiful land they are beginning to experience with all its wonder and joy would be lost, and it would be their fault.

Verse 29 is intriguing. It talks about the hidden things and the revealed things. In this context, the future is not one of the hidden things. It is displayed in all its tragic irony. God did not keep them from knowing their destiny. But his revelation did not stop them from abandoning his covenant.

God loves you and me so much that he wants to covenant with us as well. It’s a different covenant, but the same mission. He wants to draw all the nations to himself through us, as we reflect his glory by our obedience to Christ’s commands. Could we be so stupid as to think that we could enter into covenant with God through Christ’s blood on the cross, and then rebel against that covenant by abandoning the lives of holiness he calls us to? Or, do we think that just this once we can do what the Israelites did and not be tossed into exile?

Lord, thank you for revealing the future of rebellion against your covenant. We renounce any thought of failing you.

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a burning waste

Posted on May 31, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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a burning waste

Deuteronomy 29:22-25 (JDV)

Deuteronomy 29:22 “Future generations of your children who follow you and the foreigner who comes from a distant country will see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses Yahveh has inflicted on it.
Deuteronomy 29:23 All its land will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unplanted, producing nothing, with no plant growing on it, just like the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahveh demolished in his fierce anger.
Deuteronomy 29:24 All the nations will ask, ‘Why has Yahveh done this to this land? Why this intense outburst of anger?’
Deuteronomy 29:25 Then people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of Yahveh, the God of their fathers, which he had established with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

a burning waste

The land was supposed to be a holy land. It was supposed to shine like the sun in dark space, displaying God’s goodness and grace. But when the Israelites rebelled against God’s commands and abandoned his covenant, the land would be the sign of God’s displeasure with them. These words were not a description of the land as it was. When Moses first spoke these words, the land was a promised land — flowing with milk and honey — ready to be entered and enjoyed. But it would not be enjoyed for long, because God’s grace was extended to the children of Abraham for a purpose. When the purpose is abandoned the blooming garden will become a burning waste.

Can I ask you, Christian, where are you right now. Are you confidently prancing around a beautiful garden, enjoying God’s grace, or are you scouring the countryside for your next meal? I’m not asking you to ignore your surroundings, I want you to notice them. Because the condition of your land is often a sign of your current relationship with God.

If you do find yourself in a burning waste land today, there is still hope. The God who rescued you by his grace can return you to the garden he promised. Return to the covenant you have abandoned.

Lord, show us how to reconnect with our covenant with Christ, and return to the life you promised.

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