The BOOK – Looking Up

From Deuteronomy 5, we find Moses’s second address to the people of Israel as they are about to enter the promise Land. From now on as they are going to the new land, everything would depend on their constant and intelligent obedience to God who was giving them the land. 

Moses explains God’s love towards the people and because of that love God chooses them and he will protect them. But they need to obey God for their good. Now since we, the people who believe in Christ is the chosen one, we cannot avoid these commands from God, even if it is from the Old Testament. God wants his people to walk in the world in the way that befits them, separating themselves from evil. God demands discipline. 

In Deuteronomy, God mentions about the great Prophet, Lord Jesus Christ. God showed them, the highest duty was to exhibit it the spirit of loving obedience. We see Moses heart burdened because he knew that Israel had a hard heart and the people were self-willed.

When you check the history of Israel, we can find after all these what God did for them, they went against the Lord. Whatever things God for-bided, they did. Finally God’s wrath came upon Israel and they were punished. They were severely punished, that can’t be describable, until they called him for help.

It took almost 2000 years of struggle they got their people and land in the year 1948. Even though God punished them, when they called on him, God heard their cry and protected them. Even now they are facing threats, but miraculously God is protecting them. All these history are shown for us to know who we are and what we need to do. If you have gone away from the Lord, call upon him and he will forgive you and even forget your sins against him. But there is a clause- Call upon him and repent. 

It is not all about getting 100% attendance in Church, or having positions in Church, but about personal relationship with God. It is not showing outside how spiritual you are, but showing God how you are when no one is around you. I pray that you walk closely with God in prayer and by studying his word and kick out the dark side from your life and be a role model to the ones who don’t know Christ, so that they can also see the fruits of the Spirit in you and get attracted to the living true God, Amen

The BOOK – Looking Back

As the book of Deuteronomy opens, we see Israel on the border of the land of Canaan, in a place where eleven days journey, some forty years before, could have brought them. We marvel at Israel’s slowness. We like them, are kept back by unbelief many times and because of that we lose the blessing on time. But God is a faithful teacher. He never lets us pass on to another grade until we are ready.

God never fails us when we put our trust in him, but he will not do many mighty works because of our unbelief. “And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith” – Mathew 13:58.

We can see, in Deuteronomy God is putting before the children of Israel the conditions of their entering and holding the land. We can see all these conditions summed up in one great word – Obedience. The children of Israel entered the Promised Land under the Conditions of Law. In the first four books if Pentateuch, God is choosing Israel. Now he is letting Israel choose him. There will be certain times in our life, when we are in pit and God will take us from that and put us in high, and gives us a chance to choose between world and him, or between lust /power/greed and him. 

Besides Moses, only Joshua and Caleb were left from the generation that had come out of Egypt. The younger generation would have suffered in wilderness, but Moses recites them the law before entering the land. Moses knew his work is done as God chose another leader to lead his people to the land. We should always know that we have our role to play in life. Once our role is over, someone else will take our role. Our role may me small or big. Instead of comparing our roles with others, better to understand ours and work hard and run our race fast to be part of the Kingdom. 

Since it was Moses farewell address to Israel, he recalls the history of Israel and their wanderings. He reminds them to be faithful and urges them to be grateful and obedient. He spoke to the people in the most earnest and eloquent way and appealed them to serve and obey God. You can study leadership from this man. He spent forty years of his life in delivering the people from bondage of Egypt, in guiding them through the many dangers that confronted them. He trained them, gave them forms of government, laws, and religious institutions and molded them into a nation. Each and every one God called is leaders and you should examine your leadership qualities with respect with that of Moses. 

For the people of Israel, it was like an adult graduating and going to enter upon their life’s work. They studied what God wants to tell them throughout this journey. Now they need to implement that faith and possess the land. This is the reason why a believer should study the word of God. You cannot claim that you know the word of God fully. But each and every time you read it and study it, you will become more mature in life and you see the world different than a worldly person sees. You will get separated from the lust and power of the world and you will work hard for the glory of God in serving others and use your talents and develop it for Gods glory.

I pray that God enables you to lead a leadership life of that of Moses in guiding the people around you to victory in life through Christ Jesus. Amen.

The BOOK – Second Law

In this book, Deuteronomy, God is telling us through Moses to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. This is an important book for us to study about the blessings and curses. Just recently I read a book on Blessings and Curses by Derek Prince which was based on this word from God. This book shows the blessings of obedience and the curse of disobedience. 

This book shows blessings which depends on obedience – life, possession of Promise Land, Victory over foes, prosperity and happiness. This book is also a collection of the orations and songs of Moses he gave as a farewell to Israel.  Moses once again reminds the people what God had done to them and what they were to do to server God when they reach the promise land.

This is the last of the five books written by Moses, called “Pentateuch”, meaning five books. Genesis tells the beginning of the chosen nation, Exodus relates the people to a nation and gives law, Leviticus tells the way the people were to worship God, Numbers gives the story of the their wanderings and Deuteronomy relates the final preparation for entering the Promised Land. Of course Moses was the writer, but not the author of Pentateuch. It is the Lord who is the author. 

We can find this book of obedience being a weapon for Christ Jesus when faced with the devil. (Mathew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13, Deuteronomy 8:3, 6:16, 6:13 and 10:20). As for a Christian, this book leads him the same way he reads and understands the Epistles, which will help him grow spiritually if he practises it. 

People don’t like to hear or no one wants to be told he or she is a sinner. I have seen people who sins, have a great explanation – through grace we are saved. Yes, we are saved by grace through Christ Jesus. But once you are Christ’s it is your duty to do good and remain faithful. For leading a Spirit-filled life, this book helps a person march ahead to reach the promise Land and serve God.

May God Bless you.

The BOOK – On to Canaan

The Ultimate aim for what God rescued Israel from Egypt was to send them to Canaan. After all the wanderings, from Numbers 20 to 36, the scene is they are near to Canaan. Now we find that all the Israelites who left Egypt had died except Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Caleb, Miriam and the Children who were under 20 years of age when the spies entered the land. Now they camped in Kadesh and Miriam, Moses sister died and Aaron, Moses brother also died. 

When they started from Egypt, the promise God gave was for their best. But because of their murmurings and sin, now God gave them the second best. God is kind and he sets before us another way, a second best, or it may even be a third, for his mercy is wonderful. He forgives us seventy times seven. Even if we are not faithful, he is faithful.

Even after almost reaching the Promised Land the chosen people were complaining. In Numbers 20 and 21 we see people grumbling and God sending venomous snakes among the people, which caused them suffering and death. Once they confessed their sin, Moses prayed for them for deliverance, but God did not take away the snakes. God told Moses to make a bronze snake and fasten it to a pole so that all could see it. As soon as they looked they lived (Numbers 21: 6-9).

The Bible reveals us that whole human family has felt the ancient serpent’s sting of sin, which means death. The only way people can live is by looking to the one who took upon himself the likeness of a human and was lifted up on the cross to take the sting of death upon him. 

The bottom line is the world is full of sin and the penalty of sin is death, Spiritual death along with physical death. But if we look on him, Christ, our saviour, we shall live, even after physical death. 

“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the son pf man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him” – John 3: 14, 15.

The BOOK – Wilderness Wanderings

From the Mount Sinai, Israelites journeyed to Kadesh which is the southern border of the Promised Land Canaan. Since the people did not believe in God, the Promised Land which they could have gone in 2 years took 40 years. Sometimes this happens to the current children of God. We will be told to do a certain things and we will not and will lose years and finally will end up in doing the same thing. 

One problem which occurred to them were that they got discouraging words from the spies who told them that since giants are there it is impossible to overcome these giants. They did not listen to Joshua and Caleb who were confident that God will give victory to them. Instead they were telling to choose a leader and go back to Egypt (Numbers 14:4). I have seen people who are Christians, are forced to listen and do things which are against the will of God because of doubt in faith. When you go and convince them that it is not the way God wants, they may come against you, same way Israel went against Moses and Joshua.

When the people of Israel tried to take things in their own hand instead of seeing how powerful their God was, God decided that anyone who is over 20 years will not enter the land of Canaan, except Joshua and Caleb. Eleven days from the land of Promise! But they turn back. They could have made 11 days of progress, but they chose 40 years of wanderings. Miracle might be there in front of you. But because of your unfaithfulness, it is getting dragged away. God opens doors that no human can close and he closes doors that no human can open. God took Israel from Egypt to bring them to the promise land, might in in some weeks. But because of their fear disqualified them to take over the land promised. There is a saying that if you have never faced any difficulties or challenges in life, you have not done any good thing. When you decide to do well, which is against the worldly life, difficulties will come. You need to come out from your comfort zone and walk along with God who called you without any doubt. Often we fear what others say and this fear keeps us from enjoying all God wants to give us. Like the 10, we can be pessimists, or like the 2, we can be optimists. Like the 10 we can put difficulties between us and God and say we are not able, or like the 2, we can put God between the difficulties and ourselves and say we are able.

We also find people questioning Aaron’s priest hood. Moses gathers 12 staffs, one from the leader of each tribe, and placed them overnight in the tent of meeting. God put life into Aaron’s alone, causing it to sprout and bud. All the religious authors in the world died, even Christ died – but only Christ was raised from the dead and exalted to be our High Priest. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess”

We find even though Moses disobeyed God by striking the rock, God was faithful and kept his promise. But since Moses smote the rock instead of speaking, he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land. 

Jesus Christ is the rock and was to be smitten once for our sins. 1 Corinthians 10:3, 4 – “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ”. Christ need not be smitten again. 

I pray that you repent your sins, believe and confess Christ as your saviour and be faithful to him and him alone.