Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy Chapter 29

• Deuteronomy 29:1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
• 2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
• 3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
• 4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

God is reminding them of the covenant that He made with Israel in Mt. Horeb. They had gotten victory over Egypt, Pharaoh, they had seen many signs and miracles along the way. They were tempted to go astray and return to Egypt because of trials of their faith and hardships. Yet many still didn't understand.

We see from studying the history of Israel how important it is to have a steady relationship with God. Miracles are soon forgotten as great as it is to see miracles but we forget them when hardships come. We need to learn to live by faith and stay in constant fellowship with the Lord. Praying, studying His word and having fellowship with other believers is vital to stay the course and not stray. Never should we rely on past experiences but be up to date and always walking constantly with the Lord involving Him in every area of our lives. 

• Deuteronomy 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

God miraculously took care of them that even their shoes lastest for forty years. Their clothes did not wear out. 

• Deuteronomy 29:6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.

God fed them along the way with manna and quail from heaven. They didn't drink wine or strong drink. They depended upon the Lord for their substance.

• Deuteronomy 29:7 And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
• 8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

Half of the tribe of Manasseh, the tribe of Reuben and Gad settled on the opposite side of Jordan than the other tribes. The land was taken from the king of Bashan that had come out against them in battle. I don't know if they were originally meant to settle in that part but a king coming out to resist them helped them to make that decision. God allowed them to settle there but the men had to continue on the journey and help the other tribes settle their land before joining their families.

• Deuteronomy 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

All Israel had to do to be safe from all enemies was to keep the words of the covenant God gave them. They would then prosper. The times when Israel failed and were oppressed by the enemy was when they got careless and departed from God's commandments. It's still that way today. We are only safe if we stay in fellowship with God and keep His word. To reject God is to reject His hand of protection upon us.

In the 9/11 attack upon the United States, we saw that God's hand of protection wasn't with us as it was in years past although He still had mercy and kept it from being worse than it could have been. The  had planned to attack the White house and other places as well. Someone was praying.

• Deuteronomy 29:10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
• 11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
• 12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
• 13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

Look at verse 13. What a promise. They were to be a people to have fellowship with God and continue the promise He made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who later was named Israel. This covenant was for the leaders as well as those that did the labor and necessary work, the women as well as the children.

• Deuteronomy 29:14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
• 15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:

This covenant was for future generations. Warnings are not given to them so they do not forget and lose their place in days to come.

• Deuteronomy 29:16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
• 17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
• 18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
• 19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
• 20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

Idolatry grieves the heart of God and leads to all other sins, sexual immorality and perversions that destroy both soul and body. It separates all from a God that loves and only wants to give good things. Israel had it all just as all believers in today's world can have access to God's presence through faith in Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit abiding within them. We too must avoid idolatry and sexual sin for it will separate us from God just like it did with Israel. We can't have God and sin too. Strong drink also dulls the senses and leads us into getting away from that which is holy and pure. 

• Deuteronomy 29:21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
• 22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;
• 23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
• 24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
• 25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
• 26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
• 27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
• 28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
• 29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Even though God brings curses upon Israel when they sinned against Him and went into idolatry, sexual immorality and even offered children upon the altar of idols and caused them to be driven from their land, He also punishes all nations that come against them because of His covenant to Abraham. They are not to be lifted up in pride and think they have God's favor without considering their sin. Other nations are not to gloat and be puffed up for they will be judged also if they come against Israel. No human being past and present will get by with sinning against God. The bible clearly spells out what sin is and how to avoid it.

That is why He sent Jesus to become the final sacrifice for sin instead of sacrificing animals which had no power over sin but just pointed toward the one who was coming to take away sin from all who would believe and receive His Holy Spirit given to all who obey Him. We now have power to overcome sin and do not have to be in bondage to sin any longer. This includes the same sins that plagued Israel. Idolatry, sexual impurity, along with other things the defile the flesh and separate us from a loving God who makes commandments for our good. If Israel would have obeyed Him from the time past until now. They would not have disease, sickness, military defeats, or loss of land. On top of that they would be granted everlasting life through faith in Jesus Christ.  -DC

Deuteronomy Chapter 30