Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27
One of the things that happens when you read your Bible year after year, even if you have a brain like mine that only works intermittently, is that you make connections. You read something here, and later in another OT book or in the NT, you find the same, or similar, thing. It makes all of this a lot of fun. Now, you can always do a word search, but this is different. There is nothing like making natural connections to spark your curiosity. Below, I'll mention some things about the "sons of God." I didn't get that out of a seminary class or someone's book. It just happened after reading the Bible through for a few years. Suddenly all these puzzle pieces that you've been viewing, year after year, come together. After preaching and studying for years, I know the difference between things that the Lord has led me to find naturally in my time together with Him, and things I dig up for a sermon. The stuff I read or find for a sermon is either forgotten or stored up with other information in my head. What the Lord leads me to, becomes a part of my heart and conviction in following Him in the harvest. I think this will be the same for you.
Deut. 31:1-30
Notice the recurring words, "strong and courageous." We'll be seeing them again.
V. 8 is quoted again to Joshua, and later in the NT in Hebrews 13:5.
It's interesting that the pillar of cloud appeared over the Tabernacle when Moses commissioned Joshua.
Deut. 32:1-27
So actually, God wrote this song. I'll bet it had a catchy tune.
V. 6 There are very few references in the OT where God is referred to as "father." That makes this unique.
Vs. 8-9 are actually very important. There is good evidence for this reading "sons of God." It refers to angels to whom God gave the guardianship of the nations. You find "sons of God" also in Job 1:6 (where they are definitely angels) and again in Genesis 6:2 as a contributing cause of the wickedness in mankind (very likely angels). In Daniel 10 you see these "sons of God," among whom the nations were divided, as the prince of Persia and the prince of Greece and realize they are demons. Link this together with what Satan tells Jesus in the temptation and what Paul says about the principalities and powers, and you get a picture of God giving Satan a kind of guiding responsibility over the nations. God never revoked that responsibility from Satan after the fall of Satan or the fall of man. It seems that with the fall of mankind, Satan's guidance over the nations became ruling authority because of our sin. Yet, within this system that God Himself set up, He chose one nation for Himself to be a witness to the world, and through which His plan of redemption would go forward.
Satan has thought that He has crippled God's plan, especially in getting Israel to crucify its Messiah, but God's plan for Israel will be fulfilled during the time of "Jacob's Trouble," (the Tribulation) and then in the Millennium. Also, after Christ's resurrection, a new nation sprang into being, over which Satan has no authority. This temporary nation has no geographical boundaries, no common language, no unique ethnicity. This nation without earthly definition has only one common link: The Blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. Today it is the Church that God is using to work in the Harvest and to win the day. Soon, Israel will take up the torch.
1 Corinthians 2:7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glorification. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
V.17 This is reminiscent of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:20, "No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons."
V. 21 Paul quotes this in Romans 10:19 as referring to the church taking over Israel’s responsibility to be a witness to the nations and thus making Israel jealous enough, eventually, to get saved.
V. 27 is interesting. This sounds like what Moses said to God, that if He destroyed them in the wilderness, the nations would think ill of God. In this case, the nations would think they were responsible for the demise of Israel, maybe by cursing them like Balak tried to do.
Luke 12:8-34
Luke 12:8-12
Jesus continues (from yesterday) his talk to His disciples concerning the leaven of the Pharisees and fearing to speak the truth. Paul must have known this saying of Jesus when he shares this with Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:11-13, "The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; 12 if we endure, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful -- for he cannot deny himself."
V. 12 is not meant to be the verse of assurance for the unprepared Sunday school teacher. It only works if you're being persecuted in the harvest.
Luke 12:13-34
The other destructive force to following Christ in the harvest as disciples is the desire for stuff and the anxiousness for our basic needs.
Some of these sayings are new, and some of them were said earlier in His ministry to the disciples after He selected the 12 and gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7, Luke 6). Like a good teacher, Jesus didn't say something just once. In this case, the needs of the disciples are different and they have a much more mature idea of what it means to follow Jesus. Now, that old message has new meaning. As Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians 3:1, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is not irksome to me, and is safe for you."
Jesus' method of training His disciples was to orient them (all the time up to and including the Sermon on the Mount), involving them in ministry with Him, and as they grew, as the occasions presented themselves, He taught them as they lived together.
Since this portion, occurring here in Jesus' training of His disciples, is unique to Luke, as you read it, think of what it might have meant to the disciples now. They have seen the crowds leave Jesus and they've seen the Pharisees unite with the Herodians to destroy Jesus. They have seen Jesus' power in ways that assure them that He is the son of God and crowds still follow Him, but Jesus talks about His death and resurrection.
Psalm 78:32-55
Isn’t it weird that we’re reading the end of Deuteronomy and the song of Moses and then also reading this psalm that addresses the same things?
Vs. 32-35 seem to be referring to Kadesh-Barnea and the death of that generation.
Vs. 36-41 seems to be how they put God to the test in the wilderness. The rebellion of Korah, the crying of the people for meat and for water, and Baal-Peor would have been a part of this.
Vs. 42-55 the summary of God's love for Israel from Egypt to the conquest of the land.
Underline in your Bible what God did and what they did.
We don't want to imitate Israel. What "story" is our claim to fame (redemption) and what should that mean for us as we follow Jesus in the harvest?
Proverbs 12:21-23
Now, going backwards, I understand that a prudent person judges situations and weighs and watches his words. I understand that God delights in us when we act faithfully.
So, how do you understand that "no ill" befalls the righteous? The meaning must be hinted at in the second part of verse 21. A wicked person is full of trouble. That must be the "ill" that befalls him, that is, being full of stress, full of conflict and having a bad conscience. All sorts of bad things happen to righteous people, but the permanent "ill" of having a sick heart, mind, and conscience, and living in inner conflict and stress, doesn't happen to someone whose heart is being massaged daily by the Spirit in the Word. Knowing God, His love and forgiveness in Christ, defines us and determines our actions and thoughts. God in us and with us continually protects and heals us, as we follow Him.
If you’re reading along and don’t have a One Year Bible, click on this link Every Day in the Word. If that doesn't work, go to http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/devotions/ and click on “Every Day in the Word.”
I'm writing these comments to and for those who are following a One Year Bible and interested in growing deeper as a disciple, following Jesus in the harvest. My hope is to see the growth of a discipleship culture in the church. Groups of 3-4 disciples, meeting weekly, encouraging each other to follow Christ and work to reach out and make disciples who make disciples. The Bible itself is the most universal manual we have and key to our growth and service in Christ. Nothing keeps us more focused on why we are here or what we are to be doing. My comments are only meant to provide some explanation of the events or to show the flow of God's plan of redemption. My comments are in no way exhaustive, but are designed to keep us focused on Christ and our role in His harvest. My hope is that the people in these groups will grow in Christ and be willing, after a year, to find 3 others to meet with and encourage in their growth as disciples, disciples making disciples in the harvest.
If you would like a more descriptive commentary that is still readable and concise, I'd recommend the Bible Knowledge Commentary. It's keyed to the NIV, so the result is, the commentators are constantly telling you what the Greek or Hebrew is. That never hurts.
I am not endorsing any particular One Year Bible; in fact, I read something you don't, die revidierte Lutherbibel 1984.
Anyone reading along with us is welcome to do so and is encouraged to take their own notes and make their own observations. If the comments made do not agree with your particular tradition or understanding, that's OK. Nothing I've written is meant to criticize any point of view, but only to express the truth of what God has written to us, as I understand it.
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