Deuteronomy 7:1-8:20, Luke 7:36-8:3, Psalm 69:1-18, Proverbs 12:1
Today is the 27th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian, it is wonderful to be here with you today as we do what we do, come around the Global Campfire, find our place and take the next step forward together. And our next step is leading us back into the Book of Deuteronomy, we are working our way through Deuteronomy, the last things that Moses has to say to the children of Israel before he, be…before he becomes a part of history, and a new leader leads the children of Israel forward. And so, let’s go back and pick up where we left off. Deuteronomy chapters 7 and 8 today.
Commentary:
Okay so, in the Book of Deuteronomy Moses, is of course, giving his final discourses to the children of Israel before, well before we move on without Moses into what comes next. So, Moses is leaving nothing unsaid, he’s doing a lot of review. He’s talking to an emerging generation that is about to come under new leadership and cross the Jordan into the Promised Land. He’s making sure everyone’s on the same page, at least as far as his leadership is concerned, nothing has been left unsaid. And so, as he’s describing today, their posture as they go into this Promised Land and displace people that the Lord has deemed, that what they’re doing is beyond evil, Moses then gives them counsel for what happens after that and it leads us to a place where, where we need to consider what happens when the struggle we are facing right now ends. What happens when we get what we wanted? What happens when the struggle is over? So, let me just quote a few sentences from Deuteronomy today, because Moses is describing for them what happens next when they get all that they were wanting and all that they were seeking, and the struggle is over. So, Moses tells them that you will eat, and you will be filled, and you will praise the Lord your God for the good land that He is given you. Be very careful so that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and ordinances and His statutes that I am commanding you today. When you eat and are satisfied you build nice houses and move into them your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold increase, and everything that you have prospers, and let’s just stop there for a second. I mean, isn’t that basically the general goal, right. Eat and be satisfied, build a nice house, move into it, have plenty of stuff, herds and flocks, have plenty of increasing assets. Your silver and your gold, your money increases and everything that you have prospers. Like, if we just had to write it down isn’t that sort of like the unspoken goal that we are all in some sort of way, because our culture is pulling us in this way trying to achieve. This was going on thousands of years ago, so let’s just get that out of the way. This was going on thousands of years ago, so this is part of the human story and Moses says when that happens, watch out so that your heart does not become arrogant and forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt where you were slaves. Do not forget the Lord who led you in the great and terrifying wilderness where there were venomous snakes and scorpions, where the thirsty ground had no water, but the Lord made water come out of a flint rock for you. Do not forget the Lord who in the wilderness fed you mana, which your father’s had not known before, to humble you and to test you so that it would be good for you later on. You might say in your heart, my ability and the power of my hand of earned this wealth for me. But then you are to remember that the Lord your God is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth, to confirm his covenant, that He promised to your fathers with an oath as He does to this day. So, what is the point here? What is Moses trying to tell them and what is the Bible trying to tell us? Certainly, when we find ourselves in the wilderness portion of our story. Certainly, when we are facing obstacle. Certainly, when we are having to endure. It is those times, that we find ourselves walking intimately, deeply, trusting in God to show us the way that we should go. And then, so often, when He does, and we have navigated through this season and He has shown us the way that we should go, and has led us to the place where we experience the relief of not having to face the struggle anymore. Then it’s so easy for us to just move on our own way. It’s like God is the God of the difficulty. God is the God of the hard times. God is the God of the wilderness but when everything else is going right, God is the God of nothing. We need him when we’re in trouble. And this is what’s being shown here thousands of years ago, this has been going on all along. Moses is saying, when everything is going good, that’s the time you find yourself endangered and there is something very important that you have to do in those times. Do not forget the Lord. He repeats that over and over. Do not forget the Lord who led you in the great and terrifying wilderness. Do not forget the Lord, who in the wilderness fed you mana. Do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commands and ordinances. Watch out so that your heart does not become arrogant and forget the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery. You might say in your heart that your ability and power of your hand have earned the wealth for you, but then you are to remember, do not forget, remember that the Lord your God is the one who gives you the ability to produce wealth. This is actually one of the greatest, most impactful, most important lessons for life that we can receive from the Scriptures. Do not for the Lord your God. Do not forget what He has brought you through. Do not forget how you got here, if you do, and I might as well read that from Deuteronomy to, if you ever do forget the Lord your God and you follow other gods and if you serve them and bow down to them, Moses says, I testify against you today that you will certainly perish. I’m pretty sure that a good majority of us within the sound of my voice today, know that’s true. When we forget the Lord our God, it is only bad news. The children of Israel are about to leave the wilderness. We have been in the wilderness with them for a long time. They’re about to leave the wilderness and this is the warning or the council that they are being given as they moved into the next season. And the council is, do not forget the Lord. Do not forget how you got here. Remember, which is, which is a theme that is throughout the Scriptures, not forgetting, remembering. And so, we talk about this, we talk about this in terms of like what would a modern version of this be? It would be to write it down or in some way document what God is doing in your life on a regular basis, so that when the fog comes in and we start thinking that it’s our own ingenuity, that it’s our own power that…that we are our own God. That we can turn back to the pages of our lives and remember. Not so much. I’m not my own God. I have navigated my cells, myself into terrible wilderness seasons and it was God. It was God who did delivered me. It was God who got me out. It was God who has brought me into this place. I must not forget. Cause it’s easy to remember when you’re struggling. It’s much, much more difficult to navigate when things are going your way. So, the children of Israel are being counseled now. Hey, you have to cross the Jordan, there is a lot of activity in front of you, but when that is over you will be prosperous and at peace, and that is a very pivotal moment for you. Because you could start down a new path where you make yourself your own sovereign. And you simply start the circle over again. Or you could remember how you got here and go somewhere new, where God is making all things new. Let’s remember this, as we continue to navigate forward into this new year that we’re well underway, by this point. But this year, the rest of this year, the rest of the story of this year and may we take to heart what remembering looks like and maybe insert some kind of practice into our lives, whether that be journaling. And we have all the stuff for journaling in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, because we do, we do this, we believe this. To not forget what God is doing in the here and now. But it can be anything, any kind of practice, anything that will make you remember, what does that look like for you. Let’s give that some thought today.
Prayer:
And Holy Spirit, we invite You into that and we confess we…we understand the truth that’s being spoken today. We understand that in our most difficult times we are clinging to you for dear life. And then when things seem like they’re all going our way, that’s when we slip and slide and wander and navigate ourselves back into hardship again. What would it look like if we didn’t do that? What would it look like if we went somewhere new with you? Not forgetting how we’ve gotten here. Come, Holy Spirit, give us vision for what life would look like and help us to walk straight in that direction, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.
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And that’s it for today, I’m Brian, I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here, tomorrow.
Prayer and Encouragements:
Hello DAB Family, this is my first time calling. Call me Lost and In Search of Hope. I’m just calling about financial burdens on our life, both business and personal. I pray that God would lead a way. That He would help us to find the answer and illuminate the path that we are to follow. That He would grant wisdom so that, we can stop making the same mistakes. And be able to grow and be successful and bring honor to His name in these successes. This is my first time calling in and I’m a little nervous, but I know that when many gather, they, He will listen. So, here I am. Thank you DAB Family.
Morning, this is Early Riser on my way to work. I’m about a week behind on the podcast. Sparky yesterday encouraged people to call in so I’ll just make a request for my son. He’s in college, he’s an athlete and he last year at this time, got injured and eventually recovered and then, probably about a couple weeks ago really did well, went to the National, National Tournament. Really did well and he did amazing. Well, last night I got a text that he injured his other ankle. And so, it’s just discouraging when you have an injury and you’re 21 and you’re invincible and you’re, he’s also not arrogant. He’s, he’s a good kid. And he still has plenty of the season left, he’s a track athlete and still has plenty of the season left and has to sit for two weeks. And was invited to a couple big invitationals and now he’s just discouraged. So, if you could just say a prayer for him. I call him my Man Cub, if you could just pray for the Man Cub. And then pray for me, his family, as we just be the hands and feet of Jesus to him and bring comfort.
Good evening, Prayer Warriors, DAB all over this world. Thank you, Brian, for the opportunity for us to pray for one another, to share your wisdom, encouragement and to lift up praises before prayers answered. This is Libby in Texas. I’m calling to ask for prayer for my son-in-law. He is 58 years old; my daughter is 55, my grandson is 15 months old. He needs a liver transplant and they have found one to transplant but he has refused it and now he is refusing all medications. He’s not eating or drinking anything, and he just wants to go to Hospice. I just you to offer up prayers for him. I don’t know that he believes in Christ. I know my daughter does. She’s a prayer warrior. So, please pray for Mark Bernstein, my daughter Katie Bernstein, my 15-month-old Duncan Graham Bernstein. God’s will be done. But I just know the Lord works miracles, I also pray for His will. Not mine or anyone else’s. It’s in His hands. Thank you for praying for my family. And I pray for all of you. I hear your voices. I don’t call in often. I hear your prayers. And I lift them up every day to our Lord Jesus Christ. So, thank you for being a part of this community, for sharing and…
Good morning, DAB Family. I’ve been enjoying listening to this podcast at work. But I thought I would call in and ask for some prayer for myself. I’m currently looking for another jobs, one that will provide more money for me. So far, things have been mostly okay, God has been providing more and more and I have been enjoying my job more and more. But I pray for something that I would truly enjoy, not just something to scrap by with. I pray for encouragement, and I pray I would be able to make some more friends.