Deuteronomy 34: Moses' Funeral: Officiated by God

Moses wrote another poem (Psalm 90) in which he contrasted the everlasting nature of God with the temporary nature of human life on earth (70 or 80 years). Moses lived far beyond that average—an additional 40 years. And how well he used them in faithful service. Physically, he did not have to die in Deuteronomy 34—he wasn’t weak or sick—it was just time, according to God. And God conducted the funeral. What more can be said?

Deuteronomy 33: "To the Tribes" - Last Words of Moses

Every verse of this chapter (except verse 1) is poetry. This poem is Moses’ address to various tribes, describing their character, function, and future. All of the tribes are mentioned except Simeon (see 27:12). No reason is given. But what is said about the others can give us a lot of reasons to meditate on how we can and should serve God today as His family (Ephesians 3:14-21).

Deuteronomy 32: Let's Sing

The first 43 verses of this chapter are poetry. It could easily be a song. In fact, it is often called, “The Song of Moses.” When the song leader announces his number and waits for us to find it, he often says, “Let’s sing.” And then we sing. If Israel had sung this song with the right attitude through the centuries, who can say how many of the bad things in their history could have been avoided? Let’s remember that every time our leader says, “Let’s sing.”

Deuteronomy 31: Time Is Filled with Swift Transition

One short meditation cannot do anything but begin to encourage us to learn about the changes that come about in all lives. Sometimes these changes are very big. Joshua is taking over for Moses. How big was that? Moses’ dream will not be fulfilled due to sin. But God gave him something better. Joshua takes the dream and fulfills it—he leads Israel into rest (Hebrews 4:1-13). Maybe we will be able to handle our big transitions better by working harder on the small ones.

Deuteronomy 30: When You Come to Your Senses

After predicting that they would indeed offend God, Moses moves on to announce what God would do for them when they came to their senses (“call them to mind,” KJV). Let us keep in mind that God is predicting their future here. The apostasy of chapter 29 would occur (see 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles), and some of them would come to their senses—in captivity (see Daniel and Ezekiel). But none of this had to happen! What about me—how much of what has happened to me could have been avoided if I had just been obedient?

Deuteronomy 29: Covenant: God Did All of This for You

The word “covenant” in this chapter refers to a treaty or agreement He had made with Israel. God’s claim was that He had done this, and that, and the other—all for Israel. He was making an amazing offer to the stiffnecked (stubborn) nation for their own good and for the furtherance of His commitment to offer redemption to the entire human race. On the other side of this covenant, God reminded them of the terrible consequences they would suffer if they aroused His fierce anger by continuing in their stubbornness.

Deuteronomy 28: Blessings

The word used here has to do with giving good things to the people. In this case, it was the good that God promised Israel as a result of their obedience. However, we need to remember that being blessed by God is not always a sign that He is pleased with us (Matthew 5:45). The only way we can know that our blessings are a sign of His good pleasure is if we have obeyed—and that is easy to determine. Just keep His commandments!

Deuteronomy 27: Curses

The word used here is used to describe punishment that will surely come for disobedience. It is also meant to be a means of keeping the people from disobedience (deterrence). Think carefully about each one and then look in your concordance for other places where it is used (including the next chapter).

Deuteronomy 26: Let's Sum It Up

This is the end of Moses’ second speech in Deuteronomy (beginning in 4:44). In the last four verses (16-19), he reviewed the whole thing in very basic terms:

¨ God told you what to do.

¨ You knew it.

¨ You have said you will do it.

¨ He has made it clear how special you are.

¨ He has said He will make you His Own.

Why wouldn’t anyone honor such a God? See Acts 10:44-45.

Deuteronomy 25: Amalek

As the journey to Canaan began, the Israelites met with and fought against Amalek (Exodus 17). Amalek was to pay a high price for this—as far as God was concerned. In today’s meditation, He tells them to blot the memory of Amalek out from under heaven. When the time came to inherit the land, Israel did not blot Amalek out. Hundreds of years later, Saul was told to do it—and he chose not to. It was a great tragedy (1 Samuel 15) and led to Saul’s ruin and death for him and others, including his own sons (1 Samuel 31). When God gives us a distasteful job to do, it is best that we do it.

Deuteronomy 24: What if...?

Even though God’s plan for marriage is “one man and one woman for life,” He knew that all kinds of situations could (and would) arise in life. His wisdom made provisions for those situations. That’s how the chapter begins. Jesus referred to this provision as having been given due to the hardness of their hearts (Matthew 19:1-12). But even with this—God requires us—men and women—to treat our mates correctly. This will prevent the “what if…” from ever coming up.

Deuteronomy 23: Oh, Those Consequences!

Many times in every person’s life there are consequences that are not a result of the person’s sin or wrong-doing. But they are consequences anyway, and they need to be dealt with honorably. Some of those situations—extreme ones, I might say—are given in this chapter. God pronounced the consequences (without necessarily implying any guilt). One valuable element of these situations is the lesson of humble dependence on God that can be learned.

Deuteronomy 22: Because I Said So

There are many commands in the Bible that do not have an explanation from God. He simply says to “do” or not to “do” a certain thing. This reading has a number of them. It seems to me that something to learn from this (beyond obeying!) is that those who are in positions of authority have the right to tell us what to “do” or not “do” simply “because I said so.” Let us learn to honor the authority that others have over us by doing what we are supposed to—even when we do not have an explanation.

Deuteronomy 21: What if my Child Is...

The principle of honoring and obeying parents is so important to God that He not only has made the Bible a manual for the home, He has also given a number of statements showing what He thinks of disobedient children (Romans 1:30; Hebrews 12:5-12; and the whole book of Proverbs). This chapter has one of those references. When you come to it, read it with a desire to understand why this is so important to God. Then decide to be a part of the solution by encouraging people to learn these principles.

Deuteronomy 20: Rules of War

The Israelites were an earthly nation with an earthly homeland. This land was possessed by nations who had become idolaters and no longer deserved to live there. To eliminate them, God chose to send His people out to war. So He gave them rules of war. That is all simple enough—so let us now compare it to the spiritual Israel of the New Testament (the church—Galatians 1:2; 6:16). We are also an army, we have “enemies,” and we have rules of war (Ephesians 6; 2 Timothy 2). Our objective is different, for our mission is to make friends out of our enemies with the sword of the Spirit (Matthew 5:9,43-48).

Deuteronomy 19: Part of the Pattern

How do we learn whether or not a person is guilty of a charge? Some people think that if they have two or more “reliable witnesses,” they need to do no more. They use such “proof texts” as verse 15 of this chapter. However, Moses does not say that the witnesses must be “reliable,” but that their testimony must “establish a fact.” And in no way are we to stop with this one text as the entire pattern anyway. At Jesus’ trial even He was given the option of testifying. The goal is to be fair and come to the correct conclusion, isn’t it?

Deuteronomy 18: Like unto Me: That Prophet

The spiritual growth of Moses from Exodus 3 is one of the great stories of the Bible, and the fact that he was 80 at the beginning is truly thought-provoking. In this chapter, he makes one of the more remarkable prophecies of the Old Testament regarding the prophet Who would be like Moses. Among the references to this prophecy in the New Testament is Acts 3:23-26. Compare it with verses 15-19 in today’s reading and meditate on the many similarities between these two men.

Deuteronomy 17: The King Is Coming - But Should He Be?

It was not God’s plan for Israel to have an earthly king. This chapter is the one where Moses predicts that they would someday desire  a king (for all the wrong reasons). God was going to permit it, but He still expected them to honor Him. The fulfillment of this sad prediction began in 1 Samuel 8. There is another King coming, someday. He will come to judge us according to our works (Matthew 25:31-46). Let us honor Him now so we can be welcomed into the everlasting kingdom (2 Peter 1:10-11).

Deuteronomy 16: Make Sure They Are Fair

One of the things Israel would have to do in the land of Canaan was to have officials in all the tribes and towns to deal with everyday issues. The fundamental characteristic of these officials was to be that they were to be fair! Read verses 18-20 carefully and note that all of the things Moses said led to this point. We need fair-minded people in leadership positions of all kinds. Character counts!

Deuteronomy 15: You Need to Remember This

The word “remember” always includes the idea of looking back. But the reason for looking back is also important. In verse 15, Moses tells them to remember (that is, “do not forget”) that they had been slaves in Egypt and that God redeemed them (delivered; 7:8). One of the most powerful motivations to right living is to use the “rememberer” correctly—as, for example, when Christians observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday (1 Corinthians 11:23-29).