Today's text from the ESV Study Bible: Deuteronomy 27-34.
As you can see, I still have some catching up to do as I fell behind on our recent two week vacation.
Today I finished the book of Deuteronomy, and I tried to wrap my mind around what seems to me to be a heavy burden for Moses to carry:
"And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods." (Deuteronomy 31:16-18)
I wonder, did Moses cry for Israel in the tent of meeting, when God foretold of Israel's future behavior? My mind snaps forward thousands of years to Messiah crying over Israel when they did not recognize him.
What must it have been like to have this type of knowledge? Did the great joy of the Promised Land become overwhelmed by the horror of Israel's future behavior?
What was in the mind of Moses as he viewed the Promised Land from atop Mount Nebo?
I imagine myself as one of the Israelites listening to Moses recite the Law, and I realized that I am doomed because my fallen nature will have me daily in disobedience. Thankfully, for Israel, God implemented a sacrificial system for them to atone for their sins.
For us, looking back thousands of years, we can see that the Law was designed to help us understand that we desperately need Messiah.
As we step forward in history, the picture for Israel is going to get very, very bleak. As I look back in my own life, I also see periods of darkness, and dismay.
As Augustine said: "non posse non peccare". We are not able not to sin. [HT - Laurie Mathers]
If we truly understand this, then how grateful must we be to understand the great gift of God's salvation? How can we not weep for joy at being a part of His chosen?
Do you see? Do you understand? Can we even begin to comprehend?
