Devotional Thoughts

Deuteronomy 32:1-3    "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.  (2)  My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:  (3)  Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God." At this point, Moses has gathered the elders of each tribe together to speak his last words to them.  I remember an attribute of Moses that was spoken about him in Numbers 12:3, "Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." There seems to be no bitterness whatsoever in him as he takes this time to speak to the people.  He knows his time on earth is very short and he knows the reason why.  He is meek as he declares Joshua will take the people into the land. He is meek just now as he is speaking to the elders of the tribes.  He is meek in the manner that...

  Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son’s name, if thou canst tell? – Proverbs 30:4 By faith we understand and know that Jesus of Nazareth is Christ, the Savior.  A miraculous birth, a tremendous and unparalleled life of Truth, an agonizing torture and death followed by an astounding Resurrection reveal Him.  Jesus  is  the Son of God. Jesus said, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” (John 1:18).  And, “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father” (John 6:46).  Only Jesus reveals God.  He is the way, the truth, and the life of God in the flesh.  He is the light of God in the world, the radiance of the Almighty.  When asked to explain the king...

Deuteronomy 31:16-18    "And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them.  (17)  Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us?  (18)  And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods." The people will shortly be going into the Promised Land. The Lord has called Moses and Joshua into the tabernacle of the congregation. Here He is telling Moses that he will die shortly and Joshua will be the new leader to take the p...

Deuteronomy 31:12-13    "Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:  (13)  And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it." When Moses ended his reading of the law, he delivered it unto the priests which bare (carried) the ark of the covenant.  He told them to bring it out and read it to all the people every seven years when they gathered together to observe the feast of the tabernacles. In our text this morning, he told them to gather everyone - men, women, and children. Gather the stranger that is within the gatest and read the law to them.  He gives us the reason for doing this. First, to keep the law fresh in their hearts and minds. But in verse 13, he t...

Deuteronomy 31:3    "The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said." Deuteronomy 31:6-8    "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.  (7)  And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.  (8)  And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." A change in leadership can be very difficult at times. The Lord gave Moses grace to be able to help the people accept the fact that he would n...

Deuteronomy 31:6-7    "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.  (7)  And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it." Moses is now one hundred and twenty years old. He has been faithful to his people and we can also say he has been faithful to God. In fact, we saw that was true when we studied the book of Hebrews. Let me refresh our minds.  "And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after" (Hebrews 3:5) Yes, we know that Moses allowed his anger to get the best of him when he struck the rock instead of speaking to it. But haven't we all allowed that to happen?...

Deuteronomy 30:19-20    "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:  (20)  That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them." A casual reading of these verses might give the impression that God was giving His people the choice to be His or not. But may we do a very quick review of the declarative statements that God has already made concerning His people. "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 7:6) "Ye are the children of the LORD your God...

  The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. – Psalm 110:1 Do you ever stop to ask, where is Jesus? It is a worthy question. He lives. He is still interceding for His people.  And  He reigns over all creation from His throne at the right hand of God the Father. While the Bible only gives us flashes of insight into heaven, one thing about heaven is certain. Heaven is God’s domain and Jesus has a privileged place of honor beside the Heavenly Father. Furthermore, the Father has put all things into His power until all His enemies be put under foot. He will triumph. He will overcome for His victory is already assured.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3    "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,  (2)  And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;  (3)  That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee." Aren't you thankful that God is a patient and merciful Heavenly Father? There is nothing that catches God off guard.  Notice the wording in verse one, "when all these things are come upon thee."  God did not say, "if these things come upon you"; rather He said, "when".  He knows the nature of His children is to wander. That'...

Deuteronomy 29:29    "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." The one word question, "Why?" is one of the first questions learned as a toddler.  The inquisitive nature that has a hold on all of us takes us to the place where we want to know the when, where, what, and why of all things. We want to know how it works and why it works.  How many children have taken apart a toy in order to see what's on the inside and causes it do what it does.  We sometimes tend to want to do that with God also.   We were taught not to question God concerning things that happen; yet, the first question that often comes to our minds is that same one word question, "Why?"  In today's passage of Scripture, the Lord lets us know, right to the point, there are some things we will never understand.  The past several chapters, we have seen th...

Deuteronomy 29:19-20    "And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:  (20)  The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven." The Lord, through Moses, is still giving warnings to His people concerning the dangers of entering the Promised Land.  Notice the dangers that are spoken are not concerning the people, their armies, nor their strength.  The Lord is warning His people against allowing the things of the land, the idols, the traditions, and the ways of the land to intrude into their way of thinking and their actions. Truly the Lord understands our weaknesses to the degree that He issues warning after warning  c...

Deuteronomy 28:14    "And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them." This 28th Chapter of Deuteronomy is filled with blessings and cursings. There are Blessings in obedience and Cursings in disobedience.  I wanted to speak to the whole of the chapter in this writing. As you make a complete reading of the chapter you will see 14 verses that speak of the blessings and 54 verses that speak of the cursings that come due to disobedience.  At first glance, you might think it should be the other way around. But as you think upon these things you realize how dangerous it is to walk contrary to God's Word. Let's get the negative out of the way as we begin. Here are just a few of the cursings that are experienced because of disobedience to God. I will condense them to say, there will be no prosperity in the city. There will be no prosperity in the country. The crops w...

  They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away. – Psalm 69:4 Hate is all around us today. People often hate others just out of envy, resentment, ignorance, and foolishness. Because we are often ruled by our emotions and not reason, we let the opinions of others dictate our motives. We get caught up in the moment and the feelings of the crowd. We react  instead of consciously acting. This was the source of the hatred against Jesus. The Savior did nothing to truly deserve the hatred and resentment directed at Him. He came to bless and teach. Yet unbelievers stirred up strife and sinful reproach of the Lord. Often the worst offenders were the religious elite who envied His popularity and sway with the masses. Some despised Him because He publicly corrected them and exposed their fraud. Sadly others ridiculed Him and the disciples for being f...

Deuteronomy 28:1-2   "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:  (2)  And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God." What makes a nation great?   We hear so much concerning this question lately.  Maybe it is more of a statement than a question in these modern times. There is much debate and, quite honestly, much bragging as to who is the greatest nation in the world. But in my estimation, people use the wrong standards as far as measuring greatness.  Who has the greatest technology? Who has the greatest military might? Who is the richest in oil and other natural resources?   When those standards are used, the nation with the greatest of all these things is considered to be ...

Deuteronomy 27:26    "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen." Moses had reviewed the law to the people before they were to cross the Jordan River. He now was instructing them concerning the blessing and cursing which was about to be pronounced concerning obedience and disobedience.  In verses 16-26, He condensed the law into simple sentences for the people and after each declaration, the people were to say, "Amen". Cursed was the man who made graven idols. The people said, "Amen".   Cursed is he who makes light (mock) his parents. The people said, "Amen".  Cursed be the man who removed the landmark from his neighbor's property. That is, cursed be the one who tried to increase his property by moving the stakes on his neighbor's land. The people said, "Amen".  Cursed be the one who led the blind person in the wrong way. "Amen".  Cursed be he who mistrea...

Deuteronomy 27:1-3    "And Moses with the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, Keep all the commandments which I command you this day.  (2)  And it shall be on the day when ye shall pass over Jordan unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, that thou shalt set thee up great stones, and plaister them with plaister:  (3)  And thou shalt write upon them all the words of this law, when thou art passed over, that thou mayest go in unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, a land that floweth with milk and honey; as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee." The people of Israel were very close to entering the land of Canaan.  The Lord had provided every need and led them to this place. When they entered the new land, they would see the various idols and styles of worship that the nations had established in that land. Human nature is such that we can be easily swayed, if not careful to maintain our stance in the Lord. We are ...

Deuteronomy 26:17-19    "Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice:  (18)  And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his commandments;  (19)  And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken." There is something special about a spoken promise from one to another.  There is encouragement and security when the words are heard. This is what was taking place in today's verses of Scripture.  The people were speaking aloud their heart and mind concerning their relationship with the Lord.  The word, avouched, means to communicate, or declare, a promise.  Moses was reminding the people of Israel they ha...

Deuteronomy 26:10-11    "And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which thou, O LORD, hast given me. And thou shalt set it before the LORD thy God, and worship before the LORD thy God:  (11)  And thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the LORD thy God hath given unto thee, and unto thine house, thou, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you." We see the Lord giving instructions concerning worship as we begin this chapter. These instructions were to be followed when they came into the Promised Land. They were to bring tithes of the fruit of the land "which thou, O LORD, hast given me." We all probably can admit there have been times when we have left the meeting time and still felt empty.  We sometimes hear it said, and probably have said it ourselves, "I just did not get anything out of that."  When I was first ordained, I would hear the older preachers respond in this manner, "Well, did you bring a basket to put...

Deuteronomy 25:13-15    "Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights, a great and a small.  (14)  Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures, a great and a small.  (15)  But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee." As I look at these verses, my first thoughts go to a merchant in the marketplace who uses scales to measure whatever he is selling.  The merchant was not to have two sets of scales, one for buying and another for selling.  God speaks to the merchant to use a "just measure" in dealing with others. By that, it is meant that the weight bought is to be the same as the weight sold, not a small weight to buy and a larger weight to sell.  In our day, it would be called "truth in advertising." That is my first thought concerning these verses, but then I think why would God place in His law these passag...

  The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. – Psalm 118:22 Psalm 118 is often reckoned as the very middle of the Bible. This Psalm is filled with adoration of God and acknowledgement of His everlasting mercies. He protects and saves us. He teaches and guides us. We owe Him all our faith and praise. God made Jesus Christ the Cornerstone of the Church. His work and commandments are the sole basis of the Church. Without Him, we are not even a Church. Notice how t118:22he psalmist declared this prophecy in the midst of other verses acknowledging the power of God. It is a reminder to us that we may one day show our love for God and the next day reject Him. Praise the Lord that we cannot move that Cornerstone. The words of the psalmist again ring true in the prophecy given to Daniel when he wrote about the powers that would crumble before the kingdom of God. “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be d...

Deuteronomy 25:4    "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn."   It has been a while since I studied the book of Deuteronomy verse by verse.  As I read the verses, I am made to see myself as the vile sinner that I am. I am made to be more and more thankful for the finished work of redemption which was accomplished by my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  I am thankful for His shed blood which paid the debt that was exacted by the law for guilty transgressors. Also there are times when I am reading and a verse seems disjointed. Today's passage is one such verse.  I know the Apostle Paul used this passage of Scripture when speaking of the churches taking care of their pastors. "For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?  (10)  Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth shoul...

Deuteronomy 24:22    "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing." As I read through the various commands of God, I am made to be more and more thankful for the redemption of Jesus Christ. When I see the many different laws given by God, I realize how vile I am and how much I need my Saviour.  As I read through Chapters 22-24, my mind kept going back to our study of the book of John in chapter 1, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.  (17)  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." (John 1:16-17)   I am so thankful that Jesus held nothing back. We have received the fullness of His redeeming blood.   My mind kept going back to the book of Galatians.  "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,  (5)  To redeem them that were under the law, that we mig...

Deuteronomy 22:12    "Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, wherewith thou coverest thyself." As I read the first twelve verses of Deuteronomy 22, my mind is overwhelmed.  I find myself becoming more and more grateful that I am not under the penalty of the law. Just in case, I might be tempted to want to think myself okay concerning the keeping of the law, I am reminded of James 2:10,  "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."  God does not allow us to "pick and choose" that which we think to be adequate in order to be righteous before Him. As I read the first twelve verses, I find myself having to say, "I am guilty" on so many counts.  Have you ever been riding down the road and saw someone's cattle out of the pasture?  Did you stop to tell them their cattle were out?  Did you help them put their cattle back inside the fence?  Have you ever found money laying ...

Deuteronomy 21:22-23    "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:  (23)  His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." Much of the book of Deuteronomy is written concerning the matters of everyday living. God instructed His people concerning life and death, obedience and disobedience.  He was very specific in His instructions.  If a man took a wife from another nation, she was to trim her nails, cut her hair, and not wear clothing that was native to her own land.  She was to be completely conformed to the ways of Israel.  If a son was disobedient to his parents, they were to bring the son to the elders of the city.  "And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and reb...

Deuteronomy 20:16-18    "But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth:  (17)  But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:  (18)  That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God." I do not pretend to know the mind of God concerning all things.  Many questions are asked concerning the contrast between the commandment, "Thou shalt not kill," and this directive from the Lord to "save alive nothing that breatheth."  Back in chapter 7, we read these words: "And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them." (D...