“You must love the Lord your God and obey all his requirements, decrees, regulations, and commands. Deuteronomy 11:1 (NLT).
This message was to the Children of Israel, the Jews, God’s
chosen generation. Here’s the
backdrop. God forced the hand of Pharaoh,
the ruler of Egypt, to release the Jews who had been slaves in his country for
approximately 400 years. We are talking
about generations upon generations of people that were born into slavery, the
majority of which followed the customs of the land including idolatry (worshipping
false Gods). They knew very little about
God because He had been pretty much silent during their slavery, however, those
who were praying and crying out to Him got His attention and he sent Moses as
their appointed deliverer and negotiator of their freedom. Upon their release, Moses led approximately
one million Jews out of Egypt towards the Promised Land. But, after the euphoria of freedom dissipated,
the reality of walking and roughing it through a dessert with no food, water, Costco,
KFC, motels, etc. kicked in.
Victory Thought:
The Jews didn’t have a relationship with God and Christ had not yet come.
They saw all of the miracles God performed
(e.g. plague of flies, frogs, locusts, hail, etc. that affected the Egyptians
but skipped them); being led by a cloud during the day and a pillar of fire at
night; crossing the Red Sea on dry land and that same sea swallowing Pharaoh
and his army when they chased them down, but they had no relationship with
God. I am sure they were grateful for
the miracles performed in that moment but their reality was that they had no
relationship with God, no loyalty and therefore no love. They most likely viewed God as an abstract
inordinate being whom they couldn’t see, touch or feel unlike their idols “that
they made” or bought. There was no
bible, no instructions, no church, nothing.
This was an organic grass roots movement and everything had to be
created, including law and order. Moses was charged with leading, feeding and instructing
them and finally implementing the instructions he received from God (the God
the Jews had never seen).
The Jews had to be taught who God was through instruction
given to Moses and the examples from God himself (e.g. provision, protection,
even speaking to the congregation) and they had to be taught to serve Him and Him
alone. Part of that instruction was loving
God completely, get rid of the idols, worship Him, the one true and living God. To ensure they don’t bring that behavior with
them into their new home, the Promised Land, He has Moses lay out the
instructions prior to possessing the land.
They had to be reminded of this constantly as they were prone to idol
worship because it was all they knew. It
was their comfort zone.
Victory Nugget:
This didn’t catch God by surprise.
God was understanding of their ignorance which is why He was so lenient
with them but after constant correction and chance, God was done with them. Regretted his choice of them but rather than
kill them off, He turned an 11 day trip into a 40 year journey and that
generation (the OGs led out of Egypt by Moses) wandered around the desert for
40 years until they all died except Caleb and Joshua. Why? Because of their disobedience, including
Moses.
But
be very careful to obey all the commands and the instructions that Moses gave
to you. Love the Lord your God, walk in all his
ways, obey his commands, hold firmly to him, and serve him with all your heart
and all your soul.” Joshua 22:5
(NLT). Forty years later we read
a similar message, except it is not to the same group of people, it is to their
children and grandchildren. Their
ancestors blew it because of disobedience, but God is giving them the
opportunity to possess the Promised Land provided they are obedient. Joshua is now the leader and he is charged
with reminding them to “be careful to obey ALL of the commands”.
These scriptures are from the Old Testament, but we see
similar scriptures in the New Testament:
·
1 John 3:23 (NLT): And
this is his commandment: We must believe in the
name of his Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another, just as he commanded us.
· 2 John 1:6 (NLT): Love means doing what
God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you
heard from the beginning.
Fast forward thousands of years later and we are in a very similar
position. What do you mean? We are teaching the same message, love God
with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength; there can be no other god
placed before Him. The problem is that
we don’t really love God. Yes we do; no
you don’t. Yes we do; no you don’t. What are you talking about, I don’t worship
idols? Sure you do, let me give you an
example:
- That ungodly relationship that you refuse to leave has become your god because you have decided to remain even though you know it’s wrong;
- You work multiple jobs and/or so much overtime that you don’t have time for God, studying your word, attending church, or even your family. You don’t work because you “need” the money, you want it because it’s your security. You trust the provision (money) not the Provider, God, El Shaddai;
- The person that will do anything for money and I mean anything (e.g. sexual favors (shuga Daddy), credit card fraud, lie, steal, etc.) you are in the same boat;
- The church position you covet and guard as if your very life depended on it; the one you lied to get and you lie to keep, that’s your God;
- The non-scriptural “religion/rituals” you uphold (e.g. it’s a sin to wear this, do that, go here or there, your judgmental attitude towards others who are not as solid as you and the clique you have a lifetime membership to) that is your god;
- The leader you worship and idolize (e.g. they are always right even when they are wrong, they do everything better than anyone else; you will jeopardize your salvation to please them even when you know what they ask or require is unethical, unlawful and/or unchristian because it can’t be wrong since they asked or hinted for you to do it); that person is your god;
- Your intentional disobedience to God; you are your god
1 John 5:3 (NLT): Loving God means keeping his
commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
If they are, it’s because you are in your own way … “move,
get out the way”
In His Humble Excellence
Tan
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