[Originally posted in a WhatsApp group (KD), a reading update (reflection) from one chapter of the Bible a day]
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"And
you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty
years in the wilderness, that he might ππ¦ππππ you, testing you to know what was in your heart,
whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he ππ¦πππππ you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which
you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that
man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from
the mouth of the LORD."
God
seeks humility in man! God wants us to be people of humility. That's what we
see even in the incarnation of Jesus, our Lord. Paul in Philippians 2 exhorts us
to have the mind of humility which was in Jesus Christ to the point of His
death. The good news of this is humility precedes exaltation. And pride goes
before destruction!
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"It
is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are
going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these
nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to
confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. ‘Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your
God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn
people’."
Two
things are clear:
1.
Israelites are unworthy.
2.
Canaanites are too wicked.
Some
stupid people mocked the Bible saying, God is so cruel to chase out native
people to give lands to Israelites. They see cruelty when in reality is a
demonstration of grace!
No
matter what, Canaanites deserved to perish just like any sinners, more so
because of their wickedness. The unworthy Israelites given land they didn't
belong to, is a grace.
This
world is a story of God's people. Whatever happened to the wicked people is not
relevant compared to what happened to God's people. It always is this way. Even
the secular world says, "Histories are written by the winners,"
Indeed, History is His [God’s] Story.
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"I,
moreover, stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights like the first
time, and the LORD listened to me that time also; the LORD was not willing to
destroy you."
Deuteronomy
10 is by the far the most impressive passage in this book so far, especially
v12-22, but since I have known that for quite some time, it will be laziness of
me if I share from this passage this time again. So, I've chosen v10 for my
sharing today.
Notice
the word "like the first time"
1.
God was angry with Israelites that He decided to annihilate them. (No wonder
why Hitler and Hamas wanted to annihilate them as well). God proposed to make
Moses and his descendants great ones. (Which Moses humbly denied, and no wonder
why God called him the humblest man on the face of the earth). BTW, apart from
Moses, his descendants were quite ordinary. Aaron's descendants were some of
the most popular people in biblical history. Moses had that offer from none
other than God; he turned down because Moses wanted the glory of God than
anything (his greatness).
2.
Not only God was angry with the Israelites, but Moses was angry too. (Moses, a
great shepherd of Israel, prayed for forgiveness, not for the sake of
Israelites, but for the sake of God's Name, that the nations around them will
not mock God for His “inability” to fulfill His promise of bringing them to the
promised land.) Moses concluded that the Israelites didn't deserve to have
Yahweh as their God, so, he destroyed the tablets. (He received those tablets
after 40 days and nights of alone-time with God without food and water. Who
would waste such tablets received through such perseverance?) However, like
God, Moses was forgiving, he went up to the mountain again, without food and
water for 40 days and nights spending alone-time with God for the [new] tablets
for the sake of the people.
Two
more Observations:
1.
God and God's leaders would do anything for the godliness of God's people.
2.
When God's people are ungodly, they weary the bones and life of God's leaders
and God!
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"Then
the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the
heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and
you will perish quickly off the good land that the LORD is giving you."
I
am not an Israelite nor a farmer, but I never take rain for granted. I always
see the majesty of God in the rain.
Rain
is a great leveler. It makes everyone still. Even the busiest street takes a
pause when there's rain!
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v8.
"You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing
whatever is right in his own eyes."
The
theme of the book of Judges is "everyone’s doing what is right in his own
eyes," which Moses sternly warned against it. Moses was right. How chaotic
their life was!
That's
why we have church, leaders, teachers, and pastors. We all have the Holy Spirit
indwelling us, yet we are too foolishly ignorant and arrogant to live rightly
before God.
Some
professing Christians never become a member of a church. Even some of them who
became a member hardly attended a church. Their life is displeasing to God, and
most probably they aren't truly saved at all!
v30.
"Beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed
before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these
nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’"
The
word of God is sufficient to instruct us on how to please God, or on how to run
a church, how to do a mission, or how to reach out to people. Some Christian
leaders sought to learn from the world—the world of business, mass media,
psychology, etc. on how they have reached out to people (customers) and insist
to practice in the church. Moses warned the Israelites not to seek how other nations
have served their gods because Yahweh is different.
Churchgoers
aren't customers. We don't do anything to please the attendees or members
primarily, we do to please God.
Worship
is to please God, not to make people comfortable or feel good. This, we need to
recover again. When we do this, worship will be both pleasing to God and
members again!