Day 073 (Deuteronomy 8-10) - Year 7
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we drop back in on Moses' speech to the new generation of Israelites before they enter the Promised Land. This is his final locker room talk. He's recounting all the ways they've made bad plays in the past, and he's going over the plays they want to execute well in the future. He tells them that the wilderness was a test to refine them, and it's clear that the Promised Land will be a test as well.

It's not some kind of end game for them, some kind of reward where they can just kick back and do whatever they want. They personally won't retain the land unless they respond to God's covenant promise by worshiping Him alone. The promised land is just another part of God's process to restore wicked humanity in relationship with Himself. And He knows how this next step will turn out too. He's not testing them for His sake. He's testing them for their sake. This generation had yet to encounter anything that was really a result of their own actions—

They had to endure at least a portion of the 38 years of wilderness that their parents received as punishment. But they weren't complicit in the rebellion at Kadesh Barnea. So this wasn't a punishment for them, even though they had to endure it just like their parents did. I'm sure it felt like punishment at times, but it wasn't in response to anything they had done. For them, it was discipline. It was training in how to respond to hardship and how to trust God. It's important to make a distinction between punishment and discipline—

And in fact, for those of us who know Christ, all our punishment has been absorbed by Him on the cross. If you've been adopted into God's family, you are His forever, and you can rest assured that He is never punishing you. He might be disciplining you as any good father does, but you will never, ever, ever see His wrath. Not ever. Christ absorbed it all on the cross.

It's not that we don't deserve punishment. We absolutely do. It's all we deserve. But Christ took what we deserved and gave us what we could never earn, eternal love and acceptance into God's family forever. The Israelites needed to be humbled despite 400 years of slavery. They needed to be tested to see what was in their own hearts, to see who they really are. They also needed to see His provision, to see who He really is.

He tested them, and he provided for them. They always had food and clothes, and even their feet didn't swell. I've been in that desert, and I can tell you that is a miracle. I was there for 24 hours, and my ankles were the size of my knees. They were there for 40 years. Moses wants to remind them of all God has done because, honestly, given their track record, he knows what to expect from them.

Yesterday, he warned them against one particular kind of wrong thinking, and I mentioned that we'd encounter two more today. Yesterday's first warning was against fear and mistrusting God. Do you remember what the antidote to fear was? I'll give you a second. He told them to recall who God is and what He has done for them. We see him reference the same antidote today for two entirely different kinds of wrong thinking—

Today in his second warning against wrong thinking, which comes in 8, 17-18, he says, So while yesterday's warning was against fear, today we see him warning against pride. Prosperity can numb you to God's activity, even when God is the one who brought that prosperity. The third kind of wrong thinking he warns against comes in 9, 4, and it says this,

This third warning is also against pride. The second warning was against pride in their efforts, and this warning is against pride in their righteousness. It's interesting that they have to be warned twice against pride and only once against fear.

In our society that beefs us up and tells us it's all about us and what we deserve, we would do well to heed these warnings too. Pride makes us forget God just as much as fear does. Both kinds of wrong thinking, fear-based and pride-based, have their roots in forgetting God and fixing our eyes on ourselves and our enemies. The way to fight these kinds of wrong thinking is to remember who God is and what He has done.

God says it's not because they're righteous that He gives them the land, but because the other nations are unrighteous. We can't earn God's blessings. They're a gift, freely given to the undeserving. This is humbling, but it also should be comforting. It should prompt us to stop striving for His approval and favor. It has already been granted to us in Christ. God blesses us because of His goodness, not ours.

And in fact, right after Moses warns them against thinking it's because of their goodness, he gives them a very lengthy reminder of exactly how un-good they really are by going over five stories of their rebellion in the wilderness. The golden calf, the fearful rebellion at Kadesh Barnea when they said they wouldn't go in to take the land, and three times when they grumbled over food and water, doubted his plan, and wished they were back in Egypt. God doesn't just want their obedience. He wants their affection and relationship.

Moses reminds them that God's rules aren't about diminishing their joy and freedom, but about increasing it. God has chosen and set them apart, through no doing of their own, as we've seen time and time again, for their joy. In 10.16, Moses uses a peculiar turn of phrase when describing how this all plays out. He tells them, "...circumcise your heart."

We know that circumcision serves as a physical sign of the covenant between God and the Israelites, but this is an indication to have a full transformation and commitment, spiritual, emotional, and mental. Because again, like we talked about yesterday, the ancient Hebrew word used here for heart encompassed all those things. He goes on to tell them that one way they can demonstrate the love they've received from God is by caring for the fatherless, the widow, and the sojourner.

These would be the people among them who typically don't have any physical land or inheritance. God commands for all of them to be taken care of by their unique nation-state community. And you may recall that this same sort of provision is made for the Levites, who also have no land inheritance. We continue to see God showing how attentive and thoughtful He is toward the have-nots. What was your God shot today? I loved this little moment in 10:14-15.

God owns everything, yet He set His heart on me and on you. And not only is it not because of any good works or righteousness, but it's despite the fact that I lack those things.

That kind of love is magnetic. When I stop to remember who I am and who He is, I can't help but be drawn to Him. He's where the joy is. ♪

Today, I just want to say thank you for your encouragement and your prayers and your support of the Bible Recap. My team and I are blown away by how God is growing this TBR family and all the incredible things He's doing in your lives and in our lives. We love seeing your pictures and reading your posts and your messages and your emails about how you're in the Word, reading and understanding and loving it more. And most importantly, we love hearing how it's all led you to knowing and loving God more.

Families are being restored, people are coming to know Jesus, and others are breaking free from long-held sin patterns. Praise God! These are just some of the ways He's at work in our hearts and lives as we lean into His pursuit of us by reading His Word. It's such an honor and a joy to be able to read the Bible alongside all of you. We'll see you back here tomorrow.