BIAY - History Lesson
Deuteronomy 1-4, Psalm 40
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Deuteronomy is the second telling of the Law (deutero = second; nomos = law). This book will have lots that repeats or says in a different way the laws, commands, and instructions that are found in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Moses and the people are at the cusp of entering the Promised Land, so he wants to review it all before the people move forward under Joshua’s leadership.
History lesson (Deut 1-3) - Before Moses moves forward, he is keen to review the people’s history. It isn’t pretty. In fact, it’s damning. They were stubborn, prideful, and faithless in many ways. The reason for the history lesson, however is not to make them wallow in their past mistakes, but to set them up to move forward. They need a healthy dose of conviction in order to see the need for a reset and a renewed commitment to move forward not just geographically into the Promised Land, but spiritually into fresh faithfulness.
Passing the torch (Deut 3:28) - Moses will not enter the Promised Land, which he mentions quite a few times, so the Lord is providing Joshua to step up into leadership. Setting aside the particulars of why Moses is not going with them, it is helpful to see a couple of things. One, Moses has done something for and with God that will outlive him. Two, God has provided a new leader for the people in the proper time. We can aspire to be part of something in God’s kingdom that will outlive us and trust that God will raise up the next leaders.
Yes to wisdom and understanding; no to idolatry (Deut 4:6, 15-18) - Obedience and loyalty are emphasized strongly in this chapter. Why? What is the purpose for this? Obedience—observing the law—produces wisdom, which gives the understanding by which may live well and witness effectively to others (v6). Eschewing idolatry will keep them connected to the reality of God’s saving work in the Exodus and his covenant with them. Turning to idols is turning to false stories about who we are (v20).
Questions:
How has remembering difficult lessons from your past helped you grow as you move forward in life?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, set my feet upon the rock of your faithfulness and put a new song of your grace in my mouth. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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