Monday, January 17, 2011

Deuteronomy 9

3 comments:

Unknown said...

After the Lord your God has forced those nations out ahead of you,don't say to yourself, "The Lord brought me here to take this land because I am so good. No! It is because these nations are evil that the Lord will force them out ahead of you. You are going to take the land not because you are good and honest, but because these nations are evil. The Lord your God is giving you this good land to take as your own. But know this. It is not because you are good, you are a stubborn people." v4-6

Why is it so often that when good things happen to us we are being rewarded and when bad things happen we are being punished? It is a twisted paradigm as we can see from this statement by God paired with all that we have read about Job in recent months. God is God. His ways are not our ways. Not everything that happens to us revolves around... us. There is a whole universe being run out there...

Also struck by the love and compassion Moses had for his people. That 40 day and 40 night wrestling in prayer for them without food really says a lot. It's hard to love stubborn and hard hearted people. My focus this year is on love... REAL love. The kind of love that lays down it's life and personal concerns for another. this is a good example for me to ponder.

Joan said...

Just another reminder of how the Israelites didn't believe God would help them. They always looked to their own limited resources instead of to God. This is just something for us all to think about. Is that what we do?

I too was impressed with the love Moses had for his people. He really went to bat for them. More love and compassion for others - not always easy to do but what I need to strive to have.

Chris said...

I read frustration in Moses' words- as though he's talking to children who can't get it through their thick skulls. Moses is often in dialogue with our Holy and Rightous God, and coming down from the mountain to see what insanely creative ways his people have chosen to sin must've nearly blew his lid.
I love how he gives the descriptions at the beginning - walls up to the sky, and strong and tall Anakites... he begins by giving them a pep talk, and then peppers it with the very honest reminder of their inadequacies and sinfulness. "Hello????" (imagining Moses shaking his head)

Today I'm going to think about what Moses did with the calf. It wasn't a simple confession. He put sweat and tears into making sure there was NO WAY his people could continue to sin in this way... he definitely loved these people.