Deuteronomy 30:1-6 1“So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you, and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.” A poster on Skip Moen’s site (Drew) wrote this: Look at the shift in matters: Moshe tells all Israel “to” love the Lord with all the heart, soul, etc. … however in the verse provided herein … G_D will be providing the necessary heart to actually comply with the mitzvot. G_D will be providing this to us all because of YESHUA! It is a fulfillment because despite Israel’s desire to abide within the covenant … we as people can’t on our own! But with Yeshua abiding on our behalf … we can do it … because it is HIM within us Who is doing it! As YESHUA taught us … without HIM we are powerless! My thought was that we are kind of like a terminal heart patient. We desperately need a heart transplant in order to live, and Yeshua willingly laid down His life – a perfectly healthy, perfectly matched donor – so that we could receive the new heart we require. His sacrifice allows us to live with a heart capable of loving God fully and obeying Him completely. However, until we sign the paperwork to allow the transplant to take place, we limp onwards, missing out on the fullness of life because our diseased, dying hearts are powerless to allow us to truly live. Are you ready for a transplant?
Deut.17:18-20 18 “When he sits on the throne as king, he must copy for himself this body of instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 He must always keep that copy with him and read it daily as long as he lives. That way he will learn to fear the Lord his God by obeying all the terms of these instructions and decrees. 20 This regular reading will prevent him from becoming proud and acting as if he is above his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from these commands in the smallest way. And it will ensure that he and his descendants will reign for many generations in Israel. Did you know that the king of Israel was required to hand-write the laws and read them daily?! Wow! It was to teach him to fear God and to keep him from pride and turning from God. That would certainly help me to remember more. When I write things I think more about them. I suppose that’s why we’re supposed to read the Bible every day – it helps us to fear God and know Him. Although, I’m not quite sure I really understand what it means to fear God. Maybe I’ll need to study that, too. On a side note, did you notice that God told Israel to NEVER return to Egypt, even to trade? Interesting! I wonder if they broke that command or if it’s still upheld?
Deuteronomy 2: 16 “When all the men of fighting age had died,…” When the Israelites wandered in the desert, they wandered until all the fighting men had died. Once all the warriors were dead then God said it was time to conquer the Promised Land… What?! So, God waited until the only people left who could fight were men and boys with no fighting experience… and then decided to go and conquer a land filled with giants and kings. Wow. Talk about making sure the Israelites had to trust God. I guess they didn’t have much in the ways of strategy either since they had no experience. With me, I guess that God is waiting for me to stop fighting and admit that I don’t know anything about what’s going on. I don’t have experience here so why do I keep insisting my strategy (or whatever this blundering is called) is right? Maybe God holds me back from the Promised Land of His plan for me until I stop trying to be a warrior and let Him be in charge. When I finally let Him lead, and follow His battle plan (even if it seems crazy – like being silent while walking around a HUGE fortified city for 7 days before yelling and watching the walls fall down) maybe things will be smoother. I’ve never understood His ways of thinking. Maybe that’s why He’s the commander, not me. Now, if I can just remember to stop squirming and fighting and let Him be God.