Posts tagged Deuteronomy

(PHOTO from ::big daddy k::)

That’s it. No more funny, weird, or stuff that I totally don’t understand was found in the book of Deuteronomy after chapter 29. A lot of my comments on the verses I highlighted were absurd. But as I made my way through the book and with the little knowledge I have from the book of Exodus, this weird stuff actually started to make some sense.

The book of Deuteronomy was written for a people who experienced God physically, mentally, and emotionally. They had no excuses for disobeying God due the excruciating details that were penned in this book. As I tried to understand the need for detailing that you shouldn’t sleep with your mom, boil goats in milk, or give God the earrings of a prostitute as an offering, all things that I assumed were common sense, I began to realize that we need the law, in detail. I don’t know about you but I look for loopholes to get away with my sin. It’s hard to create excuses if you know exactly how you should or shouldn’t live.

29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

This book offers hope and this verse highlights that hope. We don’t have to understand our lives. Which motivates dependency on God. I ain’t Hebrew or a descendant of Moses but I believe I can say that this law belongs to me. I have the fortunate ability to follow this law. And without this law, it IS impossible to have grace.

34:7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

I’m not sure about this verse. I don’t know how the author knew Moses’ strength and eyes were still capable if he was dead. Maybe it’s true, if you follow the law of obeying and honoring your parents, you will live a long life. Maybe the author wanted us to know that God was finished with Moses and was ready to use Joshua. Maybe the point was to show that this life is only temporary and after death is when the rest of our lives begin. I don’t know.

I went into this book knowing I would be confused but I leave with a little more understanding, hope, and a firmer belief in grace. This is why I must read his word. Who knows, it could all be fiction. I can’t prove my beliefs, especially with words but I know the affirmations I receive deep down in my soul only come from studying His word.

(PHOTO from vale p*)

29:5 During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet

You can not escape Gods goodness. But at the same time, you can not escape Gods judgement. When SH happens or IT happens, God is somehow involved. But we want to know why. And we want to know NOW! We want the freaking answers. What did we do to deserve this?

“Why cant the married couple have a baby but that 16 year old has two?” “Why did the valedictorian get hit by the drunk driver?” “Why does the soldier come home from war and his life never go back to normal?”  “Why did the widow’s husband die of a heart attack at the age of 32?”

I believe God keeps secrets.

29:29 The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

I can’t imagine going through a crisis and someone telling me, “God is always good.” Really? Prove it. Because you just said always. At this moment, as I am typing, the waters are calm so it is easy for me to agree that God is always good. My hope is that when a crisis comes I can believe that God is always good. But I must know that I might not understand or see the proof until I see Christ face to face.

Maybe all I need to do to realize that God is always good, is to look down at my shoes.