Day 71: Deuteronomy 3-4

Welcome to 5 -Minute Bible, your daily guide for your daily reading. Today's March the 12th and we'll be looking at Deuteronomy 3 -4.

Now today we continue Moses' very first sermon to the new generation of Israel and the people are camped just east of the

Jordan River and they're preparing to enter the promised land. And behind them lies 40 years of wilderness wanderings and in front of them lies the land that God promised

Abraham centuries before. Now in Deuteronomy 3 -4 Moses is going to continue recounting the journey that brought them up to this point and he's going to remind the people of the victories that God had given them along the way.

And then he's going to turn towards a very passionate warning about obedience. Because Moses is not merely retelling the people's history, he's also preparing them to live faithfully under God's covenant once they enter the land.

Now in that way Deuteronomy 3 begins with Israel's battle against King Og of Bashan.

Og ruled over a powerful kingdom and his defeat represented a major victory for the

Israelite nation. Moses even notes the enormous size of Og's iron bed as a way of illustrating how formidable of an enemy he was.

Yet despite the strength of the opposition, Israel prevails because the Lord fights their battles.

The victory reinforces a lesson that Moses has already told the people to remember that the land will not be won by Israel's strength or might, but by the faithfulness of God.

Now after the battle, the land east of the Jordan was assigned to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half -tribe of Manasseh.

These tribes are going to settle there, but their soldiers must still cross the Jordan with the rest of Israel and help them conquer the remaining territory, all before they go home and settle.

Moses then recounts his own request to enter the Promised Land, but because of his earlier disobedience at Meribah, God told him that he would not cross the

Jordan. Instead, Moses will see the land from a distance while Joshua will lead the people into it.

Then in Deuteronomy 4, Moses shifts from recounting events to urging the people towards obedience.

He calls them to remember what they experienced at Mount Sinai, where God revealed His law and He spoke to them from the fire.

Because God has revealed Himself so clearly, Moses is telling them, that Israel must guard themselves against idolatry and remain faithful to the covenant.

Now as you read today, I want you to ask the following question. What happens when a people forget the God who delivered them?

Deuteronomy 3 -4 warns that forgetting God inevitably opens up the door to idolatry.

And that's the central pattern in these chapters. It is a memory or a remembering that guards you for faithfulness.

Moses repeatedly urges the people to remember what they saw and the experience. They saw the Lord defeat powerful enemies, they heard

His voice at Sinai, they witnessed His guidance throughout the wilderness. And if those moments fade from their memory, something dangerous is going to replace them, and that is idolatry.

Because idolatry rarely begins with an immediate rejection of God, but it begins when people slowly, over time, forget who

He is and what He's done. And that pattern intersects with our life as well today, because faithfulness is rarely sustained by emotion alone.

Oftentimes, we don't feel like being faithful. So then what? Well, faithfulness is actually sustained by deliberate remembrance.

When God has worked in your life, His word that is true always in your life, and His character, all of those things should remain central in our mind so that our faith can grow stronger even when our heart and our emotions are at odds with our mind.

And when those things are forgotten, and by that I mean His works and His word and His character, well then false worship begins to take root almost immediately.

And in that way, these chapters also point forward perfectly to Jesus Christ in a very important way, because Moses is the great mediator who delivered

God's law and led Israel through the wilderness. Yet even Moses can't ultimately bring the people into the promised land because of his failure.

So in that way, another leader must finish the journey. And that moment quietly reveals a very deep truth about humanity.

Even the greatest human leader of us all cannot ultimately secure the inheritance of God's people.

A greater mediator is needed. And Jesus Christ fulfills that role perfectly. Where Moses fell short,

Christ obeys completely. Where Moses can only lead Israel near the promised land, Christ brings

His people fully into His rest. And the promised land itself even foreshadows the greater inheritance that will be secured through Him.

Except this time, it's not going to be just a nation. God has given His church the entire world and expects us to take possession of it.

Now, as you read Deuteronomy 3 -4 today, I want you to notice Moses' urgency. He knows his time is ending and the nation stands on the threshold of a new chapter.

And tomorrow, we're going to see Moses begin explaining the law again, reminding

Israel what covenant obedience looks like when they're in covenant with this God. But until then, read your

Bible carefully, devotionally, and joyfully, and may the Lord use His word to sanctify you completely, and we will continue our journey tomorrow.