continue your journey

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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continue your journey

Deuteronomy 10:10-12

Deuteronomy 10:10 “I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first time. Yahveh also listened to me on this occasion; he agreed not to annihilate you.

Deuteronomy 10:11 Then Yahveh said to me, ‘Get up. Continue your journey ahead of the people, so that they may enter and take possession of the land I swore to give their fathers.’

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does Yahveh your God ask of you except to fear Yahveh your God by walking in all his ways, to care about him, and to worship Yahveh your God with all your heart and all your throat?

continue your journey

Moses’ first forty day fast was when he received the ten covenant words. His second was to find out if everything was for nothing. Was God going to annihilate the Israelites?

The result of this second fast was standing orders: directions for both Moses and the people. Moses was to continue his journey. God would forgive even the rebellion at Sinai.

As for the people, their standing orders were these: fear God by staying obedient to him, care about him and worship him with all their heart (no other gods) and with all their throat (enthusiastically, as if their breathing depended on it)!

Lord, if we have this day to continue our journey, may we do so under the same standing orders.

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to preserve and protect

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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to preserve and protect

Deuteronomy 10:6 The Israelites traveled from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died and was buried there, and Eleazar his son became priest in his place.
Deuteronomy 10:7 They traveled from there to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water.
Deuteronomy 10:8 “At that time Yahveh separated the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of Yahveh ‘s covenant, to stand before Yahveh to assist him, and to pronounce empowerments in his name, as it is today.
Deuteronomy 10:9 For this reason, Levi does not have a portion or inheritance like his brothers; Yahveh is his inheritance, as Yahveh your God told him.

to preserve and protect

This passage provides a summary of of the functions of the Levites. They were responsible to preserve the covenant documents, to assist with the tabernacle worship, and to pronounce empowerments as representing God. They were not descendants of Aaron, but assisted the Aaronic priests. The entire tribe would not be allocated its own section of land, but would be interspersed among the other tribes. Many Levites became scribes. They took it upon themselves to preserve and protect the word of God among the people of God.

Lord, thank you for those who dedicate their lives to protection and dissemination of your word.

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reverence for his revelation

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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reverence for his revelation

Deuteronomy 10:1-5

Deuteronomy 10:1 “Yahveh said to me at that time, ‘Cut two stone tablets like the first ones and come to me on the mountain and make a wooden ark.
Deuteronomy 10:2 I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets you broke, and you are to place them in the ark.’
Deuteronomy 10:3 So I made an ark of acacia wood, cut two stone tablets like the first ones, and climbed the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.
Deuteronomy 10:4 Then on the day of the collected assembly, Yahveh wrote on the tablets what had been written previously, the Ten Words that he had spoken to you on the mountain from the fire. Yahveh gave them to me,
Deuteronomy 10:5 and I went back down the mountain and placed the tablets in the ark I had made. And they have remained there, as Yahveh commanded.

reverence for his revelation

God in his grace chose not to destroy Israel, so Moses goes to the mountain once more for a fresh set of covenant words.

Two new elements stand out in the story. First, God prescribes the building of a container for the tablets: the ark of the covenant. Wherever the people go, this covenant was to go with them.

Secondly, while Moses is retrieving the covenant words, the collected assembly waits at the base of the mountain. The people are to go nowhere without the covenant words.

Christian, you are in covenant with your Lord Jesus Christ? Discover the stipulations and commands associated with that covenant, and go nowhere without those commands written on the tablet of your heart.

Lord of the new covenant, prepare us for our journey by giving us a reverence for your revelation.

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focused praying

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Jefferson Vann
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focused praying

Deuteronomy 9:25 “I fell down in the presence of Yahveh forty days and forty nights because Yahveh had threatened to exterminate you.
Deuteronomy 9:26 I prayed to Yahveh: Lord Yahveh, do not annihilate your people, your inheritance, whom you redeemed through your greatness and brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.
Deuteronomy 9:27 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Ignore this people’s stubbornness, and their wickedness and mistakes.
Deuteronomy 9:28 Or else, those in the land you brought us from will say, ‘Because Yahveh wasn’t able to bring them into the land he had promised them, and because he hated them, he brought them out to kill them in the open country.’
Deuteronomy 9:29 But they are your people, your inheritance, whom you brought out by your great power and outstretched arm.

focused praying

Twice in his prayer recorded in this text, Moses reminds God that the Israelites are his people, his inheritance. He prayed for God to remember his people of the past— the patriarchs whom he invested in, despite their shortcomings. He prayed for God to consider the outcome of his threat to exterminate the race. He reminds God that he had rescued these people for a purpose.

Not once did Moses appeal to God to spare the Israelites on the basis of their own merit. The prayers always focused on God and his acts and his will. Focused praying is not so much reminding God who we are and what we need as it is rehearsing who God is and what he wants.

Our Father in the sky, may your name be honored, and your kingdom come, and what you want be done.

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thoughts on radical obedience

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

thoughts on radical obedience

Deuteronomy 9:21-24

Deuteronomy 9:21 I took the calf you had mistakenly made and burned it. I crushed it, thoroughly grinding it to powder as fine as dust, and tossed its dust into the stream that came down from the mountain.

Deuteronomy 9:22 “You continued to infuriate Yahveh at Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-hattaavah.

Deuteronomy 9:23 When Yahveh sent you from Kadesh-barnea, and this is what he said: ‘Go up and take possession of the land I have given you’; you rebelled against the command of Yahveh your God. You did not believe or obey him.

Deuteronomy 9:24 You have been rebelling against Yahveh ever since I have known you.

thoughts on radical obedience

I have been reading these accounts with the assumption that there is a parallel in the experience of the Christian today. I see two principles of radical obedience implied in today’s text.

First, Moses’ completely obliteration of the golden calf indicates an attitude toward past sin and failure. We cannot tolerate the existence of those things we had craved which competed with God for our allegiance. No measure is too extreme in ridding ourselves of the temptation to make the same mistake again.

Secondly, we need to clarify our objective to stay in God’s will. We can be happy that he has rescued us from Egypt, but that is not enough. His command for us today is to go up and take possession of the covenant land. The Christian corollary to this is not “heaven when we die” but possessing the mind of Christ. That’s the standing order for us.

Lord, show us how to obliterate our past failure and focus on your standing order so that sin does not prevent us from possessing your holiness.

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I prayed for Aaron

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

I prayed for Aaron

Deuteronomy 9:18 I fell down like the first time in the presence of Yahveh for forty days and forty nights; I did not eat food or drink water because of all the mistakes you made, doing what was evil in Yahveh ‘s sight and angering him.

Deuteronomy 9:19 I was afraid of the fierce anger of Yahveh’s infuriation against you, because he was about to exterminate you. But again Yahveh listened to me on that occasion.

Deuteronomy 9:20 Yahveh was angry enough with Aaron to exterminate him. But I prayed for Aaron at that time also.

I prayed for Aaron

Moses said that he prayed for his brother during that time of fasting and prayer — when he was so overwhelmed by the sin of the Israelites he could do nothing else.

Christian, are you overwhelmed? Has this world and its cares hit you so hard this time that you are actually considering giving up? Perhaps you could never dare confess being so spiritually low. But you don’t have to. Many of us have walked that path.

For Moses, the way out began with the ministry of prayer for Aaron. Let me suggest that nothing can heal the damaged faith of a servant of God like praying for others.

Lord, we choose to intercede this day for our brothers and sisters who need your help like we do.

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acts of defiance

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

acts of defiance

Deuteronomy 9:15 “So I went back down the mountain, while it was blazing with fire, and the two tablets of the covenant were in my hands.

Deuteronomy 9:16 I saw and noticed how you had made a mistake against Yahveh your God; you had made a calf image for yourselves. You had quickly turned from the way Yahveh had commanded for you.

Deuteronomy 9:17 So I took hold of the two tablets and tossed them from my hands, shattering them before your eyes.

acts of defiance

The Israelites had broken covenant with God even before they saw the inscribed tablets. Moses was in such a distress over their rebellion that he shattered the tablets in anger.

As Moses recounts this incident, the readers are left wondering if there can even be a future for such a race.

But God’s grace stays stubbornly in the midst of our acts of defiance and rebellion. His anger is but a moment, his faithfulness outlasts it.

Lord, thank you for your patience in bearing with our acts of defiance.

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daring to intercede

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Jefferson Vann

daring to intercede

Deuteronomy 9:12 “Yahveh said to me, ‘Get up and go down immediately from here. You see, your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly. They have quickly turned from the way that I commanded them; they have made a cast image for themselves.’

Deuteronomy 9:13 Yahveh also said to me, and this is what he said: ‘I have seen this people, and notice, they are a hard-necked people.

Deuteronomy 9:14 Leave me alone, and I will exterminate them and blot out their name under the sky. Then I will make you into a nation stronger and more numerous than they.’

daring to intercede

The Lord is infuriated with the sinful idolatry of the Israelites and asked Moses to leave him alone and he would exterminate them. What would have happened if Moses had not interceded for his people? Sometimes all it takes is one person who dares to pray.

This year, we can be the intercessors who make all the difference.

Lord, give us a heart to intercede for those whose actions are provoking your wrath.

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duplicate

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Jefferson Vann

duplicate

Deuteronomy 9:8 You infuriated Yahveh at Horeb, and he was angry enough with you to exterminate you.

Deuteronomy 9:9 When I went up the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant Yahveh established with you, I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I did not eat food or drink water.

Deuteronomy 9:10 On the day of the collected assembly Yahveh gave me the two stone tablets, inscribed by God’s finger. The exact words were on them, which Yahveh spoke to you from the fire on the mountain.

Deuteronomy 9:11 Yahveh gave me the two stone tablets, the tablets of the covenant, at the end of the forty days and forty nights.

duplicate

Some scholars contend that the reason there were two stone tablets was that God gave two copies of the commandments to Moses. Generally, when we make contracts, we have a duplicate of the contract made so that both parties are aware of their responsibility in fulfilling it. Both copies were to go with the Israelites because God was promising to be in their midst.

When Jesus concluded his covenant with us, he gave us our standing orders: our mission to make disciples of all nations, and then he promised to be with us to the end of the age. As we come to the end of another year, we can be grateful that our Lord has been with us to help us stay true to our covenant with him.

Thank you for your presence among us, Lord, as we seek to obey all your commands and teach others to do so.

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infuriating God

Posted on December 30, 2019 by Jefferson Vann
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infuriating God

Deuteronomy 9:6 Understand that Yahveh your God is not giving you this good land to take possession of because of your righteousness, because you are a hard-necked people.
Deuteronomy 9:7 “Remember and do not forget how you infuriated Yahveh your God in the open country. You have been rebelling against Yahveh from the day you left the land of Egypt until you reached this place.

infuriating God

It is a serious thing to infuriate God. The story of the Israelites is filled with incident after incident where they did just that. God stayed with them anyway, because he was determined to take them to the land he promised to them, and settle them in it.

We Christians make much of Christ’s promise to be with us. He is with us wherever we go. But what is the expression on our Lord’s face? Is he with us gladly, or infuriated by our stubbornness and rebellion?

Lord, we determine to honor you in our actions in the coming year.

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