In the first nineteen verses of this chapter, Moses is speaking in the first person as he recites his song for the people. He refers to God as “He,” “Him,” and “His.” But then - in verse twenty – Moses turns the “microphone” over to God and begins to record what...
Moses is now an old man. He has lived a long and very hard life. And he has learned a lot about the LORD, his God during his lifetime. As he nears his last few hours on earth, he sits down to write a song. A song about this God he has met and...
Knowing he had only a few more days to live, Moses hands over the leadership of Israel to his divinely appointed successor, Joshua. He reminds both Joshua and the people that fearless commitment to the task ahead, combined with total trust in...
God is unlike anything or anyone we could ever know or imagine. He is one of a kind, unique and without comparison. Even describing Him with mere words truly falls short of capturing who He is – our words simply cannot do justice to describe an indescribable Being. While it is impossible for us to fully comprehend all there is to know about God, we are told here that God has...
In contrast to the enormous blessings for obedience which Moses laid out in the first half of this chapter, here he lays out the consequences for disobedience. Obedience, he told them, would culminate in...
There is a connection between obedience and blessing. You cannot have one without the other. As Moses nears the end of his life and ministry, he emphasizes this connection as he...
This day is a special day in the history of Israel. Today is a day of preparation. They are on the edge of the Promised land and “the game is on.” Soon, they will close the chapter on their wilderness wanderings and begin a new chapter in their history. Soon, the desert wilderness will be...
We are exhorted over 200 times in the Bible to REJOICE. The word “rejoice” means to experience joy and gladness in a high degree; to be exhilarated; to express great joy or delight. When God calls upon us to rejoice, does that mean we are supposed to go around with a smile on our face all the time? Are we supposed to deny...
God’s laws place a great deal of emphasis on human rights, protections for the defenseless, and care for the needy. God’s people were commanded to show mercy to those in debt and not to trample on the rights of the poor. Employers were to be considerate to their employees. Justice was not to favor the rich and...
Several years ago,
during a very difficult financial time, a friend of ours sent my wife and I some money
in the mail. The note with the money
read, “This is not a loan. It is a gift
to you. All we ask is that one day, when
you’re back on your feet, that you do the same for someone else in need.” Wow!
What a blessing. They trusted God
and we received a much-needed lift.
God’s Word says that
people can “wander from the faith and pierce themselves with many griefs” (1Timothy 6:10) when they allow money to have an improper hold on their hearts.
That’s why the Bible contains hundreds of verses on how God wants us to treat
money, and this includes the lending of it.
Essentially, the
Israelites were not permitted to charge interest when they loaned money to a
needy brother. They could, however, charge interest on loans made to
foreigners. This rule was part of the Mosaic Law: “If you lend money to one of
my people among you who is needy, do not be like a moneylender; charge him no
interest.” (Exodus 22:25)
The purpose of the law
was two-fold: (1) Charging the person interest would only make their financial
situation worse; and (2) God promised a blessing on the gracious lender that
would be far more than the interest they would have charged.
In the New Testament,
Jesus tells us not to “turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). He applied this principle even to our enemies in their
time of need: “But love your enemies and lend to them without expecting
to get anything back. Then your reward will be great” (Luke 6:35).
There are numerous
passages throughout the Bible exhorting us to have a generous and giving heart,
especially to the less fortunate. The
clear teaching of the Bible is that God expects His children to act generously
when lending money, or anytime they see someone in need. And always remember
that our ability to produce wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8:18), so it is important that we treat money with an open hand.
One way you can bless a
person in need today is to offer them a financial gift with no strings attached. And, if at all possible, do it anonymously so “that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:4)
In the first part of chapter 22, Moses gives a collection of brief exhortations about day-to-day living. He urges the people to act in such a way that is caring and helpful to those around them. Today, these short exhortations might fall under the heading of “Good Samaritan Laws.” The gist of most...
In Israel, any person who was executed for breaking God’s law was considered as bearing a “curse” in his body. A curse is the opposite of a blessing: a blessing is a pronouncement of good fortune because one participates in God's plans and promises, a curse is a...
God’s laws are true and so practical and real-world. Here Moses gives God’s laws regarding eyewitnesses. Of primary importance under these laws is that nothing shall be decided upon the testimony of a single witness. The purpose of...
Are you listening to “the Prophet?” In today’s passage, Moses gives the people the promise of a coming One – a Prophet who is to come in the future. This is a prophetic statement about the...
In this chapter, the LORD gives Moses and the
Israelites the rules He wants them to follow when they choose a king over the
nation. And it gives you and me some
insight into how to choose candidates for political offices in our culture.
This entire section predicts that the day will come when the people will opt-out of God’s “administration” and opt for...
Moses instructs the Israelites to appoint judges and officers, organized by tribes, in all the towns the LORD is giving them. But, they are to make sure to appoint “just” judges, a word that means “to act according to what is morally right and fair” – even when others disagree with...
Jesus often quoted from Scripture during His ministry here on earth. Most often, He quoted from the Book of Deuteronomy. By one count, He is recorded as quoting Deuteronomy 37 times in the Gospels. During His wilderness temptations, each of His Scripture quotations was from...
A funny thing happens when you start talking about money to another Christian. Most people start to get uncomfortable. Money – and in particular tithing – is one of those things that most people...
The Bible repeatedly calls upon us to be a people who “rejoice” in the LORD. “Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous; befitting is the praise of the upright.” (Psalm 33:1) “Yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of...
One
of the most sobering and weighty commands in Scripture is God’s demand that parents
teach their children His word. It is
sobering because the task is so big. It
is weighty because our child’s eternal life depends upon it.
Most parents are very aware that a “good parent” is someone who...
How do you feel about refugees and immigrants? Are you frustrated with them? Or hateful toward them? Or do you love – really love – them? Moses has been reciting the history of the nation’s deliverance from slavery and...
Just
like you and me, Israel was a stubborn people who did not deserve any of God’s
blessings.
God made a covenant with Israel and the people affirmed their desire to keep it, but failed repeatedly to do so. At Sinai, the people promised to keep the commandments of the LORD, but...
An often misunderstood principle in Scripture is that of the wealth of the believer. Tragically, some influential pastors and leaders have promoted a “health and wealth” gospel. They teach their unsuspecting listeners that it is their divine “right” as followers of Christ to...
One of the most prevalent sins in Christianity today is the sin of “carelessness.” So many people do not give as much care to their walk with God as necessary. We give a great deal of attention to things like managing our investments, planning our...
Moses urged God’s people to listen to and to obey the laws of God. Not to analyze them, criticize them, spiritualize them, compromise them, liberalize them, modernize them, or trivialize them. They were exhorted to...
Moses has been a faithful leader of the Israelites for four decades. But now it is time to pass on the leadership role to a new person. It is time to choose someone who could take them the rest of the way into the Land God...
It is so easy, when recounting our past experiences, to focus on the hardships and difficulties. So often, we tell others about how hard it had been to go through a particular circumstance or experience. We love to “sing the blues.” Unfortunately, when we recount...
The Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land presents amazing illustrations and analogies for us of the Christian walk and life and experience. Egypt, the area of bondage, slavery, and hardship is symbolic of the life of the world, slaves to...
Zelophedad was blessed with seven daughters. He had no sons, which caused a bit of a problem for the girls. The LORD had commanded that the Land of Israel be divided (apportioned) among the twelve tribes and that whenever the father of a family died, his land was to...
