Daily Truthbase: Sovereignty

Showing posts with label Sovereignty. Show all posts

Isaiah 45-48 God Knows

Isaiah 45-48 God Knows

Psalm 78:40-72 Forgetful Sheep

Ps 78:40 “(38 But he, being merciful, forgave iniquity, and didn’t destroy them. Yes, many times he turned his anger away, and didn’t stir up all his wrath. 39 He remembered that they were but flesh, a wind that passes away, and doesn’t come again.)

40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness, and grieved him in the desert! 41 They turned again and tempted God, and provoked the Holy one of Israel. 42 They didn’t remember his hand, nor the day when he redeemed them from the adversary; 43 how he set his signs in Egypt, his wonders in the field of Zoan, 44 he turned their rivers into blood...51 and struck all the firstborn in Egypt, the chief of their strength in the tents of Ham. 52 But he led forth his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 53 He led them safely, so that they weren’t afraid, but the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 54 He brought them to the border of his sanctuary, to this mountain, which his right hand had taken. 55 He also drove out the nations before them, allotted them for an inheritance by line, and made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tents. 56 Yet they tempted and rebelled against the Most High God, and didn’t keep his testimonies; 57 but turned back, and dealt treacherously like their fathers. They were turned aside like a deceitful bow. 58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their engraved images. 59 When God heard this, he was angry, and greatly abhorred Israel; 60 So that he forsook the tent of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; 61 and delivered his strength into captivity, his glory into the adversary’s hand. 62 He also gave his people over to the sword, and was angry with his inheritance. 63 Fire devoured their young men. Their virgins had no wedding song. 64 Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows couldn’t weep. 65 Then the Lord awakened as one out of sleep, like a mighty man who shouts by reason of wine. 66 He struck his adversaries backward. He put them to a perpetual reproach. 67 Moreover he rejected the tent of Joseph, and didn’t choose the tribe of Ephraim, 68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved. 69 He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth which he has established forever. 70 He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; 71 from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. 72 So he was their shepherd according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands."

Observations: 78:1-39 See post on 1Samuel 16 for vv 1-39, in which God saved but wound up having to discipline His rebellious people (just like the second half of the psalm).

78:40-72 God delivered, saved, and redeemed His people from Egypt to bring them into the land of promised blessing. However, they, His people, His inheritance, turned from Him to their sin and provoked Him to anger. Then He kicked them out of their inheritance, the promised land, into captivity. They were still His people, but rather than enjoying His delights, they experience His discipline. 1Corinthians 10 says this can happen to NT saints. After the nation was disciplined by death and loss of dominion, they repented. Then God graciously subdued their enemies, and brought them back into blessing. Because they turned back from obeying Him, (verse 9-11) He rejected the mighty tribe of Ephraim (here put for the nation), who had received Jacob's chief inheritance blessing and chose Judah instead to rule. God made a covenant with David (2Sam 7) to lead and shepherd His people.

Application: Those who rebel against God's rule in their lives will regret the loss they reap. Those who submit to God's shepherding care of them will rejoice in His guidance and blessing. Which camp are you in?

Prayer: My Good Shepherd, thanks for saving and guiding me; may You be delilghted by the way I respond to Your care of me. Amen.

Proverbs 20:1-4 Four Follies to Forego

Pr 20:1 “Wine is a mocker, and beer is a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not wise. 2 The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion. He who provokes him to anger forfeits his own life. 3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife; but every fool will be quarreling. 4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter; therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing."

Observations: Four unwise behaviors to avoid:

20:1 Being under influences that move you off the wise path;

20:2 Angering your authorities;

20:3 Disputing and quarreling (sometimes it's honorable to allow fools their delusions); and

20:4 Avoiding the difficult and uncomfortable.

Application: Develop the habits that give you the results you want.

Prayer: All-Wise God, thanks for giving guidance on the wiser way to live. May I do so. Amen.

Isaiah 45-48 In these chapters, God stresses that He is the only One who knows the future, because He has purposed it. He tells Cyrus of His purpose in giving him the kingship. This prophecy would be a powerful motivation for Cyrus to send the Jews back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. God also impresses upon Judah that He is the one sending them back, according to His plan. It's not the work of some dumb idol they might pray to, therefore they must only trust “The God of Israel.”

Isaiah 45 Cyrus, Meet God

45:1 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armor; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: 2 "I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.

5 I am Yahweh, and there is none else. Besides me, there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not known me; 6 that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am Yahweh, and there is no one else. 7 I form the light, and create darkness. I make peace, and create calamity. I am Yahweh, who does all these things. 8 Distil, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, that it may bring forth salvation, and let it cause righteousness to spring up with it. I, Yahweh, have created it. 9 Woe to him who strives with his Maker—a clay pot among the clay pots of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, ‘What are you making?’ or your work, ‘He has no hands?’ 10 Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What have you become the father of?’ or to a mother, ‘To what have you given birth?’"

11 Thus says Yahweh, the Holy one of Israel, and his Maker: "You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands! 12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their hosts. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward," says Yahweh of Hosts. 14 Thus says Yahweh: "The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains; and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely God is in you; and there is none else. There is no other god. 15 Most certainly you are a God who hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Savior.’" 16 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together. 17 Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting. 18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: "I am Yahweh; and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.

20 "Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save. 21 Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Savior; There is no one besides me. 22 "Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. 24 They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’" Even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be disappointed. 25 In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Observations: 45:1-4 God raised up Cyrus, king of the Persians and gave him victory over the nations, to accomplish His purpose of returning Israel to the the promised land. Cyrus is called Yahweh's “shepherd” in the last chapter, and here, His “anointed” (same word for Messiah). God can use pagan kings to accomplish His plans, who obey better than Israel.

2Chronicles 36:22 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, 23 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up! (cf Ezra 1).

45:5-11 Since God has known Cyrus' name (well over a hundred years before he was born), but Cyrus doesn't know Him, Yahweh gives a self-introduction, the Creator who brings righteousness and salvation to the earth, who is both knowable, but beyond the scrutiny of His creatures.

45:12-25 God spends a lot of verses saying there is no one like Him, so Israel won't be tempted to trust in false gods, like they did when in the promised land. He particularly emphasizes His knowledge of the future, to demonstrate His sovereign control, so people will look to Him and be saved. See comments on Isaiah 46:9-12. His salvation of them is everlasting.

Application: Since God knows the future, and makes it happen, it is wise to trust and obey what He's revealed.

Prayer: God, thanks for creating me with the capacity to seek and find You; to know You and serve You. You save and sanctify for a purpose; may I daily discern and do Your will. Amen.

Isaiah 46 God Knows and Purposes the Future

46:1 Bel bows down, Nebo stoops; their idols are on the animals, and on the livestock: the things that you carried about are made a load, a burden to the weary. 2 They stoop, they bow down together; they could not deliver the burden, but themselves have gone into captivity. 3 "Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne from their birth, that have been carried from the womb; 4 and even to old age I am he, and even to gray hairs will I carry you. I have made, and I will bear; yes, I will carry, and will deliver. 5 "To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? 6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down—yes, they worship. 7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8 "Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors.

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; 10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, my counsel/plan shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; 11 calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it. 12 Listen to me, you stubborn-hearted, who are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Observations: 46:1-8 Bel and Nebo are the powerless Babylonian gods who couldn't prevent the delivery of “their” people to Cyrus, God's servant. In contrast God still carries His people, Israel.

46:9-12 Repeatedly in this section of Isaiah, God asserts that He knows what will happen in the future, “declaring the end from the beginning”. God is outside of time, and knows all that happens at once. He reveals it linearly to His prophets and people. The prophets can see some things from God's perspective, as they happen in the future. God also has purposed some things to occur, and brings them to pass. In His sovereignty, He has set the rules of His universe (including giving man/woman free will), and has determined that certain things will occur according to His timetable (such as the interval from the decree of Cyrus to the entrance of the Messiah to Jerusalem Daniel 9:25). Other times, He waits to be gracious based upon His people turning to Him, or patiently forbears judgment based upon our repentance or exercises it based upon our unwillingness to obey. To miss the distinction between God's determined and permissive will or desire, is to misinterpret Scripture.

Application: Since God does all things for His pleasure, we should too.

Prayer: God, may I not be stubborn-hearted, but sensitive to You, Your pleasure, and Your timing in my life. Amen.

Isaiah 47 Trusting in Self or God

47:1 "Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. 3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man." 4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Hosts is his name, the Holy one of Israel. 5 "Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms. 6 I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.

12 "Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail. 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before. 15 Thus shall the things be to you in which you have labored: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you.

Observations: 47:1-6 God will humble the Babylonians, into whose hand He delivered disobedient Israel/Judah, because of their ill-treatment of them. Since they showed Israel no mercy, the God of Israel will not show them any either. Justice.

47:7-15 Since Babylon showed “god-like” self-sufficiency and pride, God will bring them down in desolation and destruction. All that they trusted in, their wisdom and wickedness, and wizards, will be unable to save them.

Application: Those who trust in themselves will be put to shame.

Prayer: Lord, You are my Redeemer, my confidence, my hope, and my trust. I look only to You for providing all that I need, and all that is good in my life. Amen.

Isaiah 48 Who's Your Lord?

48:1 "Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth/faithfulness, nor in righteousness 2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Hosts is his name): 3 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they happened. 4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass; 5 therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.’ 6 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? "I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.

Observations: 48:1-2 God calls Israel into account for calling themselves His people but not in truth nor righteousness (cf. Ex 20:7 Taking the name of the Lord in vain). Being His people and swearing by His name should have resulted in them obeying Him and manifesting righteousness.

48:3-6 God again reiterates that He's telling them that He is the one who will rescue them (and restore them), so that when it happens, they can't attribute it to their dumb idols.

Application: If you call yourself by God's name, or call upon His name, make sure your life reflects His will.

Prayer: Lord, I do not take your name lightly, but acknowledge You as the One in control of my life, whose will I pledge and desire to do. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: God reveals Himself as the Creator of everything, who has a plan for His people. He is incomparable, knowing and purposing the future, raising up and putting down kings and nations. He redeems and restores His people with an everlasting salvation, calling Himself not only the God of Israel, but their Savior.

Us in a nutshell: Our obstinate self-sufficiency makes us miss out on God's provision, and marks us out for discipline. We tend to lose sight of the fact that God blesses us for His glory's sake, not our self-indulgence. We also forget that God knows, and has revealed the future, and that pleasing Him is the best way to enjoy it.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Isaiah complete text

Isaiah 45

45:1 Thus says Yahweh to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held, to subdue nations before him, and strip kings of their armour; to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut: 2 "I will go before you, and make the rough places smooth. I will break the doors of brass in pieces, and cut apart the bars of iron. 3 I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, Yahweh, who call you by your name, even the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name. I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.

11 Thus says Yahweh, the Holy one of Israel, and his Maker: "You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands! 12 I have made the earth, and created man on it. I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens; and I have commanded all their army. 13 I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will make straight all his ways. He shall build my city, and he shall let my exiles go free, not for price nor reward," says Yahweh of Armies. 14 Thus says Yahweh: "The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains; and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely God is in you; and there is none else. There is no other god. 15 Most certainly you are a God who hidden yourself, God of Israel, the Saviour.’" 16 They will be disappointed, yes, confounded, all of them. Those who are makers of idols will go into confusion together. 17 Israel will be saved by Yahweh with an everlasting salvation. You will not be disappointed nor confounded to ages everlasting. 18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens, the God who formed the earth and made it, who established it and didn’t create it a waste, who formed it to be inhabited: "I am Yahweh; and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness. I didn’t say to the seed of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, Yahweh, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right.

20 "Assemble yourselves and come. Draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. Those have no knowledge who carry the wood of their engraved image, and pray to a god that can’t save. 21 Declare and present it. Yes, let them take counsel together. Who has shown this from ancient time? Who has declared it of old? Haven’t I, Yahweh? There is no other God besides me, a just God and a Saviour; There is no one besides me. 22 "Look to me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and will not return, that to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath. 24 They will say of me, ‘There is righteousness and strength only in Yahweh.’" Even to him shall men come; and all those who were incensed against him shall be disappointed. 25 In Yahweh shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory.

Isaiah 46

5 "To whom will you liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like? 6 Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down—yes, they worship. 7 They bear it on the shoulder, they carry it, and set it in its place, and it stands, from its place it shall not move: yes, one may cry to it, yet it can not answer, nor save him out of his trouble. 8 "Remember this, and show yourselves men; bring it again to mind, you transgressors. 9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me; 10 declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done; saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure; 11 calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country; yes, I have spoken, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed, I will also do it. 12 Listen to me, you stout-hearted, who are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not wait; and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Isaiah 47

47:1 "Come down, and sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, daughter of the Chaldeans: for you shall no more be called tender and delicate. 2 Take the millstones, and grind meal; remove your veil, strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. 3 Your nakedness shall be uncovered, yes, your shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and will spare no man." 4 Our Redeemer, Yahweh of Armies is his name, the Holy one of Israel. 5 "Sit in silence, and go into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms. 6 I was angry with my people, I profaned my inheritance, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy; on the aged you have very heavily laid your yoke.

7 You said, ‘I shall be a mistress forever’; so that you did not lay these things to your heart, nor did you remember the latter end of it. 8 "Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children’: 9 but these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come on you, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments. 10 For you have trusted in your wickedness; you have said, No one sees me; your wisdom and your knowledge, it has perverted you, and you have said in your heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. 11 Therefore evil will come on you; you won’t know when it dawns: and mischief will fall on you; you will not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come on you suddenly, which you don’t know. 12 "Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have laboured from your youth; if so be you shall be able to profit, if so be you may prevail. 13 You are wearied in the multitude of your counsels: let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save you from the things that shall come on you. 14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: it shall not be a coal to warm at, nor a fire to sit before. 15 Thus shall the things be to you in which you have laboured: those who have trafficked with you from your youth shall wander everyone to his quarter; there shall be none to save you.

Isaiah 48

48:1 "Hear this, house of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel, and have come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness 2 (for they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; Yahweh of Hosts is his name): 3 I have declared the former things from of old; yes, they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them: suddenly I did them, and they happened. 4 Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew, and your brow brass; 5 therefore I have declared it to you from of old; before it came to pass I showed it to you; lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them, and my engraved image, and my molten image, has commanded them.’ 6 You have heard it; see all this; and you, will you not declare it? "I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, which you have not known.

Joshua 22-24 Ultimate Choice: Whom Will You Serve

Joshua 22-24 Ultimate Choice: Whom Will You Serve

Psalm 35:1-10 Let God Fight Your Battles

Ps 35:1 “Contend, Yahweh, with those who contend with me. Fight against those who fight against me. 3 Brandish the spear and block those who pursue me. Tell my soul, "I am your salvation." 4 Let those who seek after my soul be disappointed and brought to dishonor....7 For without cause they have hidden their net in a pit for me. Without cause they have dug a pit for my soul. 8...Let his net that he has hidden catch himself. Let him fall into that destruction. 9 My soul shall be joyful in Yahweh. It shall rejoice in His salvation. 10 All my bones shall say, "Yahweh, who is like You, who delivers the poor from him who is too strong for him; 27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause. Yes, let them say continually, "Yahweh be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant!" 28 My tongue shall talk about your righteousness and about your praise all day long."

Observations: Blameless believer beseeches God to fight his unjust enemies, turning the tables on them. And He saves His servant and prospers him/her.

Application: When facing overwhelming odds, remember that you and God are a majority.

Prayer: Mighty Warrior, I praise You for fighting my battles when I am righteous in Your sight. Amen.

Proverbs 10:8-11 Can People Live on What Comes Out of Your Mouth?

Pr 10:8 “The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall. 9 He who walks blamelessly walks surely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out. 10 One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall. 11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

Observations: I found verse 11 doing my first study on speech, and asked myself the title question. I cut my sarcasm by 82.7%.

Application: If God's word is in my heart, words that give life will come out of my mouth.

See: Lk 6:45...for out of the overflow of the heart, his mouth speaks.

Prayer: Lord, help me walk and talk and do that others may live. Amen.

Joshua 22-24 The final chapters of the book. Make sure you get to 24:15 and make the right choice.

Joshua 22 Mission Accomplished and Misunderstanding

10 the children of Reuben Gad and Manasseh built an altar by the Jordan 12 When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. 13 The children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten princes...16 "Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel this day against Yahweh?

21 Then the children of Reuben,Gad and Manasseh answered 22 "The Mighty one, God, Yahweh, the Mighty one, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know...25...your children might make our children cease from fearing Yahweh. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; 27 but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings’; that your children may not tell our children ‘You have no portion in Yahweh.’ 29 "Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away this day from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle!"

30 When Phinehas the priest, and the princes heard the word, it pleased them well. 31 Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, "Today we know that Yahweh is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against Yahweh. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of Yahweh." 33 The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God...34 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar "A Witness Between us that Yahweh is God."

Observations: 22:1-8 The trans-Jordan tribes (the ones who settled east of the Jordan River because of the pasture land) totally fulfilled their obligations to help the other tribes conquer the land west of the Jordan in accord with their agreement with Moses (Numbers 32).

22:5 A far cry from “let go and let God”. Note all that goes into an intimate, blessable relationship with God.

22:10-20 The trans-Jordan tribes build a memorial altar, but it looks like they are worshiping contrary to God's revelation, so all the other tribes read them the riot act.

22:21-31 Because God was at work (v31) unity is restored. The trans-Jordan tribes didn't take offense over the accusation that they had rebelled, but explained the altar was not for sacrifices but a witness/testimony that the trans-Jordan tribes had sacrifice privileges west of the Jordan.

Application: Peaceably finding out the facts before making rash decisions preserved God glorifying unity.

Prayer: Mighty God, may I be diligent to walk in harmony with You and with others who have the same purpose. Amen.

Joshua 23 Unwavering Courage Needed to Obey Correctly

23:1 When Yahweh had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2 Joshua called for all Israel...3 You have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is Yahweh your God who has fought for you. 4 Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes...5 Yahweh your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as Yahweh your God spoke to you. 6 Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left; 7 that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them; 8 but hold fast to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. 9 For Yahweh has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.

11 Take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh your God. 12 But if you do at all go back, and hold fast to the remnant of these nations, even these who remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go in to them, and they to you; 13 know for a certainty that Yahweh your God will no longer drive these nations from out of your sight; but they shall be a snare and a trap to you, a scourge in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you. 14 Behold, today I am going the way of all the earth. You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which Yahweh your God spoke concerning you. All have happened to you. Not one thing has failed of it. 15 It shall happen that as all the good things have come on you of which Yahweh your God spoke to you, so Yahweh will bring on you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land which Yahweh your God has given you, 16 when you disobey the covenant of Yahweh your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down yourselves to them. Then the anger of Yahweh will be kindled against you, and you will perish quickly from off the good land which he has given to you.

Observations: 23:6 Obedience isn't always easy. Great strength and courage are often needed to go against the tide.

23:11-16 It should be really obvious by now that God changes His posture toward His people based upon their obedience or disobedience. Just like all the good stuff happened when they obeyed, so all the evil stuff will happen if they disobey.

Application: Don't give your allegiance to anyone or anything other than the Creator God, who always keeps His promises to bless or curse.

Prayer: God may I be courageous in following You, so You will fight my battles and bless rather than destroy me. Amen.

Joshua 24 Ultimate Choice: Whom Will You Serve

24:1 Joshua gathered all the tribes 2 Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. 3 I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in its midst: and afterward I brought you out. 6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and you lived in the wilderness many days. 8 I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13 I gave you a land whereon you had not labored, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’

14 Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him completely and faithfully. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh. 15 "If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, CHOOSE this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." 16 The people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods"; 17 for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed. 18 Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God. 19 Joshua said to the people, "You can’t serve Yahweh; for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins." 20 If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good. 21 The people said to Joshua, "No; but we will serve Yahweh." 22 Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him." They said, "We are witnesses." 23 "Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel." 24 The people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice." 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. 27 Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God." 28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

29 It happened after these things, that Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Yahweh, died, being one hundred and ten years old. 30 They buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathserah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, on the north of the mountain of Gaash. 31 Israel served Yahweh all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, and had known all the work of Yahweh, that he had worked for Israel. 32 They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of money. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph. 33 Eleazar the son of Aaron died. They buried him in the hill of Phinehas his son, which was given him in the hill country of Ephraim.

Observations: 24:1-13 God could have eliminated a lot of pages with this concise history lesson. However, He emphasized certain things repeatedly because some folks are slow to learn.

24:14-16 God gives people the choice to serve Him or not. We're not robots, or rocks, but volitional beings. See last Sunday's post on Predestination and Free Will for a Biblical perspective on the issue.

24:17-22 The people make a reasoned decision to serve Yahweh, based upon what He had done for them. Their free choice (24:22).

24:23-27 After one commits their will to God, one follows through with obedience (put away), and value change (incline heart). Stones can't choose, but apparently they can hear :) Joshua makes a covenant with the people to commemorate their choice. (This covenant doesn't get much press.)

24:29 Joshua dies, and the first of three, seventy year “period of miracles” (where supernatural events are the order of the day) comes to a close. That doesn't mean God stops working in the lives of His people, nor that He no longer does miracles to aid His people; things will be different in future books.

24:31 See “Us in a Nutshell,”

Question: Have you decided to serve the Creator God fully and completely? If not, who or what are you serving?

Application: Choose to serve God exclusively and completely, then reap the benefits.

Prayer: My God, You are the one and only, there is no other; You redeem and protect and bless Your children. May I be conscious of Your ongoing work in my life, so I never swerve from serving You all of my days. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: “24:19...He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins." 20 If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after He has done you good.” He gives us a choice to serve Him, and incentives to do so. He always keeps His promises, for good or bad. The God who makes the rules (sovereign) gives people free will and sovereignly attaches consequences to our choices.

“Dt 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed; 20 to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life”

Us in a nutshell: We have a choice in serving and obeying God. As long we are obeying, God acts in our lives. As long as we are conscious of what God has done, we serve the true God. If we drift, we forget, then disobey, and forfeit the blessings, reaping judgment instead.

24:14 Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him completely and faithfully. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh. 15 "If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, CHOOSE this day whom you will serve; 18 Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples...Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God. 22 "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him." They said, "We are witnesses." 23 "Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel." 24 The people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice."

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Predestination and Free Will

Joshua complete text

Joshua 22

22:1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them, "You have kept all that Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, and have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you." 3 You have not left your brothers these many days to this day, but have performed the duty of the commandment of Yahweh your God. 4 Now Yahweh your God has given rest to your brothers, as he spoke to them. Therefore now return and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan. 5 Only take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commandments, to hold fast to him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. 6 So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents. 7 Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but to the other half gave Joshua among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8 and spoke to them, saying, "Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with brass, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers." 9 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of Yahweh by Moses.

10 When they came to the region about the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, a great altar to look at. 11 The children of Israel heard this, "Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar in the forefront of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that pertains to the children of Israel." 12 When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. 13 The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were everyone of them head of their fathers’ houses among the thousands of Israel. 15 They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16 "Thus says the whole congregation of Yahweh, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following Yahweh, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel this day against Yahweh? 17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of Yahweh, 18 that you must turn away this day from following Yahweh? It will be, since you rebel today against Yahweh, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of Yahweh, in which Yahweh’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against Yahweh, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the altar of Yahweh our God. 20 Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’"

21 Then the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered, and spoke to the heads of the thousands of Israel, 22 "The Mighty one, God, Yahweh, the Mighty one, God, Yahweh, he knows; and Israel shall know: if it was in rebellion, or if in trespass against Yahweh (don’t save us this day), 23 that we have built us an altar to turn away from following Yahweh; or if to offer burnt offering or meal offering, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings, let Yahweh himself require it. 24 If we have not out of concern done this, and for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your children might speak to our children, saying, "What have you to do with Yahweh, the God of Israel? 25 For Yahweh has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no portion in Yahweh. So your children might make our children cease from fearing Yahweh. 26 Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; 27 but it will be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we may perform the service of Yahweh before him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings’; that your children may not tell our children in time to come, ‘You have no portion in Yahweh.’ 28 "Therefore we said, ‘It shall be, when they tell us or our generations this in time to come, that we shall say, "Behold the pattern of the altar of Yahweh, which our fathers made, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it is a witness between us and you. 29 "Far be it from us that we should rebel against Yahweh, and turn away this day from following Yahweh, to build an altar for burnt offering, for meal offering, or for sacrifice, besides the altar of Yahweh our God that is before his tabernacle!"

30 When Phinehas the priest, and the princes of the congregation, even the heads of the thousands of Israel that were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them well. 31 Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to the children of Manasseh, "Today we know that Yahweh is in the midst of us, because you have not committed this trespass against Yahweh. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of Yahweh." 32 Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the princes, returned from the children of Reuben, and from the children of Gad, out of the land of Gilead, to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought them word again. 33 The thing pleased the children of Israel; and the children of Israel blessed God, and spoke no more of going up against them to war, to destroy the land in which the children of Reuben and the children of Gad lived. 34 The children of Reuben and the children of Gad named the altar "A Witness Between us that Yahweh is God."

Joshua 23

23:1 It happened after many days, when Yahweh had given rest to Israel from their enemies all around, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, 2 that Joshua called for all Israel, for their elders and for their heads, and for their judges and for their officers, and said to them, I am old and well advanced in years. 3 You have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to all these nations because of you; for it is Yahweh your God who has fought for you. 4 Behold, I have allotted to you these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, even to the great sea toward the going down of the sun. 5 Yahweh your God will thrust them out from before you, and drive them from out of your sight. You shall possess their land, as Yahweh your God spoke to you. 6 Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, that you not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left; 7 that you not come among these nations, these that remain among you; neither make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause to swear by them, neither serve them, nor bow down yourselves to them; 8 but hold fast to Yahweh your God, as you have done to this day. 9 For Yahweh has driven great and strong nations out from before you. But as for you, no man has stood before you to this day. 10 One man of you shall chase a thousand; for it is Yahweh your God who fights for you, as he spoke to you.

Joshua 24

24:1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2 Joshua said to all the people, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Your fathers lived of old time beyond the River, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor: and they served other gods. 3 I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4 I gave to Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave to Esau Mount Seir, to possess it. Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5 I sent Moses and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did in its midst: and afterward I brought you out. 6 I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and you came to the sea. The Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and with horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 When they cried out to Yahweh, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea on them, and covered them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt: and you lived in the wilderness many days. 8 I brought you into the land of the Amorites, that lived beyond the Jordan: and they fought with you; and I gave them into your hand. You possessed their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9 Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and fought against Israel. He sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you; 10 but I would not listen to Balaam; therefore he blessed you still. So I delivered you out of his hand. 11 You went over the Jordan, and came to Jericho. The men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Girgashite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I delivered them into your hand. 12 I sent the hornet before you, which drove them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; not with your sword, nor with your bow. 13 I gave you a land whereon you had not laboured, and cities which you didn’t build, and you live in them. You eat of vineyards and olive groves which you didn’t plant.’ 14 Now therefore fear Yahweh, and serve him in sincerity and in truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the River, in Egypt; and serve Yahweh.

15 "If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose this day whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh." 16 The people answered, "Far be it from us that we should forsake Yahweh, to serve other gods"; 17 for it is Yahweh our God who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way in which we went, and among all the peoples through the midst of whom we passed. 18 Yahweh drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve Yahweh; for he is our God. 19 Joshua said to the people, "You can’t serve Yahweh; for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your disobedience nor your sins." 20 If you forsake Yahweh, and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you evil, and consume you, after he has done you good. 21 The people said to Joshua, "No; but we will serve Yahweh." 22 Joshua said to the people, "You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen Yahweh yourselves, to serve him." They said, "We are witnesses." 23 "Now therefore put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to Yahweh, the God of Israel." 24 The people said to Joshua, "We will serve Yahweh our God, and we will listen to his voice." 25 So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26 Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a great stone, and set it up there under the oak that was by the sanctuary of Yahweh. 27 Joshua said to all the people, "Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has heard all the words of Yahweh which he spoke to us. It shall be therefore a witness against you, lest you deny your God." 28 So Joshua sent the people away, every man to his inheritance.

DailyTruthbase Pentateuch in Review

We're almost done with the Pentateuch, the Five/Penta Books of Moses, also called "The Law." This would be a good time to nail down your very own Biblical Theology according to Moses.

Review any of the posts/chapters you missed (especially the last two chapters Dt 28 and 29.

Then take five minutes and write out a couple of paragraphs describing God as revealed by His servant, Moses. What does He like/dislike? What did He do and what has He promised to do? What can we expect from Him? What does He want from us?

Then take anther five minutes and do the same for humankind (in general, and His people specifically). Focus on what His chosen people are like, what He expects of them, what will happen if we do what He wants, and what will happen if we don't.

If you really want to validate your observations/conclusions, go back over each of the Nutshell sections under Digging Deeper. Verify that each reflects the emphasis of the Biblical texts from which they were drawn, and then synthesize them. Now you have an irrefutable view of God as He has revealed Himself, not as men have imagined Him.

Finally, reflect on your life in light of His revelation, and respond in prayer, purposeful obedience, and praise. You're on your way to living Biblically!
(Angels are dancing.)

Deuteronomy 26-29 Blessed or Cursed, Which Will You Choose To Be?

Deuteronomy 26-29 Blessed or Cursed, Which Will You Choose To Be?

Psalm 31:1-14 Trusting When You've Caused Your Trouble

Ps 31:1 “In you, Yahweh, I take refuge. Let me never be disappointed. Deliver me in Your righteousness. 2 Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be to me a strong rock, a house of defense to save me. 3 For you are my rock and my fortress, therefore for your name's sake lead me and guide me. 4 Pluck me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for you are my stronghold. 5 Into your hand I commend my spirit. You redeem me, Yahweh, God of truth. 6 I hate those who regard lying vanities, but I trust in Yahweh. 7 I will be glad and rejoice in your hesed/loyal love, for you have seen my affliction. You have known my soul in adversities. 8 You have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a large place. 9 Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am in distress. My eye, my soul, and my body waste away with grief. 10 For my life is spent with sorrow, my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity. 13 For I have heard the slander of many, terror on every side, while they conspire together against me, they plot to take away my life. 14 But I trust in you, Yahweh. I said, "You are my God."

Observations: In other Psalms, David appeals to God for deliverance from his enemies on the basis of his own integrity and righteousness. Unfortunately this time, he is in trouble because of his own iniquity (10:13). So his appeal for help and healing is based upon God character (Your righteousness and mercy) and reputation (Your name's sake), and hesed/loyal covenantal love.

Application: There is always grounds for calling out to God and trusting in Him.

Prayer: My mighty Fortress and God, my times and future are in Your hands; have mercy and deliver me, for Your name's sake. Amen.

Proverbs 8:17-19 An Offer You Can't Refuse

8:17 “I love those who love me. Those who seek me diligently/early will find me. 18 With me are riches, honor, enduring wealth, and prosperity. 19 My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold; my yield than choice silver.“

Observations: 7:15-17 If I told you there was a surefire way to get riches, honor, and prosperity, and not lose them, would you be interested? Probably not, because you have a dozen such offers in your spam box. However, this offer contains the promise of enduring benefit, and the yield is better than (there's another one) gold, even fine gold. It also has been tried and found true over the thousands of years, by countless thousands of people, from every culture and walk of life. What does it cost? Just your life, which you're going to waste anyway, if you don't take wisdom up on her offer. It only takes a few hours a week to start, and you can work from home, or while commuting, riding elevators, stuck in traffic, or waiting on line. Once you start reaping the benefits, you'll carve out (as in cut away with a knife) time from other less profitable pursuits to seek wisdom. You'll fall in love, and no sacrifice will be too great to enjoy the bliss of the relationship. Simple formula:

Fear God (Proverbs 1:7);
Find out what He wants You to do (Proverbs 2:4-7);
Follow through: Do it in faith, right away, all the way (Proverbs 3:5-13).

Application: Seek wisdom until you find her, then don't let her go.

Prayer: Lord, I will seek You, Your wisdom and will, early and continually, Amen.

Deuteronomy 26-29 The Palestinian Covenant (how to get blessed in the Promised Land) gets ratified (accepted by the people). The sanctions of blessing or cursing are presented. If you are short on time, make time to steep your soul in Chapter 28. Don't skimp on having every word soak into your value system. God sovereignty gives the choice of experiencing good or evil depending on our response to Him. The consequences are sovereignty decreed. Which set of consequences we experience is totally up to us (see observations on Chapter 29 below).

Deuteronomy 26 First-fruits and First Position

26:1 when you have come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell in it, 2 you shall take the first of all the fruit of the ground...5 You shall say before Yahweh your God, "A Syrian/Arameanready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage: 7 and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice...8 and brought us out of Egypt with...signs, and with wonders 9...and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me." You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God. 11 You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is in the midst of you.

14...I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey."

16 This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul. 17 You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice: 18 and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments; 19 and to make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.

Observations: Giving God the first portion was an acknowledgment that all was His, including themselves (26:16). If God had not acted on their behalf, they would still be slaving in Egypt.

26:16-19 List what God expects of His people, and what can they expect of Him.

Question: Who's your God, and where would you be without Him?

Application: Note the responsibilities and results of 26:16-19. Are you lacking any of them?

Prayer: God, You are my God. You own me; I am Yours. I will keep Your desires, with all my heart and all my soul, without compromise. Amen.

Deuteronomy 27 “Curse Me if I Disobey”

6 You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings thereon to Yahweh your God: 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. 8 You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly."

9 Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, "Keep silence, and listen, Israel: this day you have become the people of Yahweh your God. 10 You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day." 11 Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, 12 "These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali.

14 The Levites shall answer, and tell all the men of Israel with a loud voice, 15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ 16 ‘Cursed is he who dishonors his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17 ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbor’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18 ‘Cursed is he who makes the blind to wander out of the way.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19 ‘Cursed is he who deprives the foreigner, fatherless, and widow of justice.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20 ‘Cursed is he who sleeps with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 21 ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 23 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24 ‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbor in secret.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25 ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26 ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t uphold the words of this law by carrying them out (NIV).’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’"

Observations: 27:1-8 God mandated that they set up memorial stones on which were written the law so they would keep it, since that was the basis of blessing in the promised land, which God was graciously giving them.

27:9-26 The people verbally accepted the responsibility to keep the commands, and accepted the terms of being cursed if they disobeyed. Most of the Ten Commandments are reflected except for the Sabbath.

27:26 The last curse equates disobedience with denying the validity of the law (failing to uphold it as the standard of conduct).

Application: What steps do you take to ensure that you are doing what God wants you to do? (Hint: Memorizing and meditating on Scripture couldn't hurt.)

Prayer: God who blesses and curses, help me always be behaving so You can bless me. Amen.

Deuteronomy 28 Blessed or Cursed, Which Will You Choose?

15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you. 16 You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed. 18 The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed. 19 You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out. 20 Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. 21 Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it. 22 Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. 24 Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed. 25 Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away. 27 Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumours, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. 28 Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart; 29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you. 30 You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand. 33 The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don’t know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always; 34 so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 35 Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. 38 You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor harvest; for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess. 43 The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: 46 and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you. 49 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand; 50 a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favour to the young, 51 and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. 53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining; 55 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates. 58 If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD; 59 then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed. 62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 63 It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it. 64 Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. 65 Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; 66 and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 68 Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, you shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.

Observations: I included the entire text because it is very beneficial. Don't skim. Read it slowly. God promises a boatload of blessings if His people loyally obey (28:13-14), and He promises a double boatload of curses if His people don't listen and obey. (Most are more motivated by fear than desire.)

If His people don't serve Him, so He can rejoice to bless them, He will rejoice to punish them, having them sorrowfully serve those who afflict them.

Question: Do people have a choice in whether or not they obey, and the degree to which they obey?

Application: Either way we will not be our own masters, so it makes sense to serve God in the midst of delight and blessings, rather than evil masters in deprivation and cursings. Your choice. Chose wisely.

Prayer: God who rejoices to bless, keep this chapter firmly in my thinking, so You don't have to rejoice over cursing me. Amen.

Deuteronomy 29 Who Controls Your Eyes and Heart?

29:1 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 2 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, you have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt...4 but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoes have not grown old on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck them: 8 and we took their land 9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

10 You stand this day all of you before Yahweh your God...12 that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you this day; 13 that he may establish you this day to himself for a people, and that he may be to you a God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

18 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; 19 when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry." 20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. 24 even all the nations shall say, "Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?" 25 Then men shall say, "Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, 27 therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book; 28 and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day." 29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Observations: 29:4 God did not give (perfect tense) the ears, nor eyes nor heart, because He has just spent dozens of chapters in these five books stressing their responsibility to hear, observe, and do with all their heart. They have the responsibility to seek and understand. He's given them all the evidence they need, but requires them to focus or fail. It's not that He sets up all the promises to bless and curse and then only gives a few or none the ability to see and get the blessing, and then punishes the ones to whom He didn't give the ability to hear and do. He clearly wants all the nation to “get it”, both cognitively and materially, for that is how He glorifies Himself. He gives them evidence in 29:2-3 and 5-8 so they can see/perceive and “get it.”

Preview Dt 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse: therefore CHOOSE life, that you may live, you and your seed; 20 to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cleave to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

29:18-22 The fact that some “hearts” will turn away indicates to everyone but the most blind and stubborn that God doesn't control individual hearts (cf Solomon 1Kg 10). Most did hear, see and perceive, both to make the covenant, and get the blessings (as noted in the Book of Joshua), but by the time of Judges, many hearts turned away from fully following God (cx Caleb). Unfortunately many NT believers have the mindset of 29:19, and will reap similar ensuing consequences.

29:24-28 These verses sadly describe much of the history of Israel up to AD 1948.

Application: God reveals things for His people to do, in order to get blessed. Set your ears to hear and your heart to do (worship is a response to revelation).

Prayer: God of wonders, thanks for Your care, provision, and instruction; may I be wholehearted in doing what You've revealed for me to do. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: God graciously cares for His people in ways they're not even aware of. He also gives His people the choice of experiencing His blessing or cursing. Then He gives incentives to hear, observe and do what He wants, and disincentives to disobey. He wants us to choose to get the blessings, but doesn't force the choice. Blessing an obedient people is His means of glorifying Himself. He gets no glory from obedient rocks staying where He put them.

Us in a nutshell: We have a choice to make which has real ensuing positive or negative consequences (which implies the ability to exercise our will or volition freely in one direction or another). We need to look at what God offers and embrace the option that yields the greatest benefit to both ourselves and God. We have the capacity to be deceived, and rationalize our bad choices, stubbornly following falsehood. That path leads to guaranteed destruction.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Deuteronomy complete text

Deuteronomy 26

26:1 It shall be, when you have come in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein, 2 that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you shall bring in from your land that Yahweh your God gives you; and you shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there. 3 You shall come to the priest who shall be in those days, and tell him, "I profess this day to Yahweh your God, that I am come to the land which Yahweh swore to our fathers to give us." 4 The priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of Yahweh your God. 5 You shall answer and say before Yahweh your God, "A Syrian ready to perish was my father; and he went down into Egypt, and lived there, few in number; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous. 6 The Egyptians dealt ill with us, and afflicted us, and laid on us hard bondage: 7 and we cried to Yahweh, the God of our fathers, and Yahweh heard our voice, and saw our affliction, and our toil, and our oppression; 8 and Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terror, and with signs, and with wonders; 9 and he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 Now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, Yahweh, have given me." You shall set it down before Yahweh your God, and worship before Yahweh your God. 11 You shall rejoice in all the good which Yahweh your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the foreigner who is in the midst of you. 12 When you have made an end of tithing all the tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled. 13 You shall say before Yahweh your God, "I have put away the holy things out of my house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the foreigner, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandment which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed any of your commandments, neither have I forgotten them: 14 I have not eaten of it in my mourning, neither have I put away of it, being unclean, nor given of it for the dead: I have listened to the voice of Yahweh my God; I have done according to all that you have commanded me. 15 Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the ground which you have given us, as you swore to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey." 16 This day Yahweh your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul. 17 You have declared Yahweh this day to be your God, and that you would walk in his ways, and keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his ordinances, and listen to his voice: 18 and Yahweh has declared you this day to be a people for his own possession, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments; 19 and to make you high above all nations that he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that you may be a holy people to Yahweh your God, as he has spoken.

Deuteronomy 27

27:1 Moses and the elders of Israel commanded the people, saying, "Keep all the commandment which I command you this day. 2 It shall be on the day when you shall pass over the Jordan to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, that you shall set yourself up great stones, and plaster them with plaster: 3 and you shall write on them all the words of this law, when you have passed over; that you may go in to the land which Yahweh your God gives you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised you. 4 It shall be, when you have passed over the Jordan, that you shall set up these stones, which I command you this day, in Mount Ebal, and you shall plaster them with plaster. 5 There you shall build an altar to Yahweh your God, an altar of stones: you shall lift up no iron on them. 6 You shall build the altar of Yahweh your God of uncut stones; and you shall offer burnt offerings thereon to Yahweh your God: 7 and you shall sacrifice peace offerings, and shall eat there; and you shall rejoice before Yahweh your God. 8 You shall write on the stones all the words of this law very plainly." 9 Moses and the priests the Levites spoke to all Israel, saying, "Keep silence, and listen, Israel: this day you have become the people of Yahweh your God. 10 You shall therefore obey the voice of Yahweh your God, and do his commandments and his statutes, which I command you this day." 11 Moses commanded the people the same day, saying, 12 "These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you have passed over the Jordan: Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin. 13 These shall stand on Mount Ebal for the curse: Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14 The Levites shall answer, and tell all the men of Israel with a loud voice, 15 ‘Cursed is the man who makes an engraved or molten image, an abomination to Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.’ All the people shall answer and say, ‘Amen.’ 16 ‘Cursed is he who sets light by his father or his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 17 ‘Cursed is he who removes his neighbour’s landmark.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 18 ‘Cursed is he who makes the blind to wander out of the way.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 19 ‘Cursed is he who the foreigner, fatherless, and widow of justice.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 20 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his father’s wife, because he has uncovered his father’s skirt.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 21 ‘Cursed is he who lies with any kind of animal.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 22 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 23 ‘Cursed is he who lies with his mother-in-law.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 24 ‘Cursed is he who strikes his neighbour in secret.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 25 ‘Cursed is he who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’ 26 ‘Cursed is he who doesn’t confirm the words of this law to do them.’ All the people shall say, ‘Amen.’"

Deuteronomy 28

28:1 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth: 2 and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 3 You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. 4 You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. 5 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. 6 You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. 7 Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways. 8 Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you. 9 Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways. 10 All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh; and they shall be afraid of you. 11 Yahweh will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you. 12 Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow. 13 Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do, 14 and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. 15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you. 16 You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed. 18 The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed. 19 You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out. 20 Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. 21 Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it. 22 Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish. 23 Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron. 24 Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed. 25 Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. 26 Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away. 27 Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumours, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. 28 Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart; 29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you. 30 You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit. 31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you. 32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand. 33 The fruit of your ground, and all your labours, shall a nation which you don’t know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always; 34 so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 35 Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. 36 Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. 37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away. 38 You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it. 39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor harvest; for the worm shall eat them. 40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olives shall drop off. 41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity. 42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess. 43 The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower. 44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. 45 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: 46 and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever. 47 Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you. 49 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand; 50 a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favour to the young, 51 and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. 52 They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you. 53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you. 54 The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining; 55 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates. 56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, 57 and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates. 58 If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD; 59 then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance. 60 He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you. 61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed. 62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh your God. 63 It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it. 64 Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. 65 Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul; 66 and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. 67 In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see. 68 Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, you shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.

Deuteronomy 29

29:1 These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 2 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, you have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders: 4 but Yahweh has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes have not grown old on you, and your shoes have not grown old on your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink; that you may know that I am Yahweh your God. 7 When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we struck them: 8 and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10 You stand this day all of you before Yahweh your God; your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and your foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water; 12 that you may enter into the covenant of Yahweh your God, and into his oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you this day; 13 that he may establish you this day to himself for a people, and that he may be to you a God, as he spoke to you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath, 15 but with him who stands here with us this day before Yahweh our God, and also with him who is not here with us this day 16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed; 17 and you 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 turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; 19 and it happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to destroy the moist with the dry." 20 Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky. 21 Yahweh will set him apart to evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. 22 The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick; 23 and that the whole land of it is sulphur, salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor bears, nor any grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 24 even all the nations shall say, "Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?" 25 Then men shall say, "Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they didn’t know, and that he had not given to them: 27 therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book; 28 and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as at this day." 29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Isaiah 45-48 God Knows

Joshua 22-24 Ultimate Choice: Whom Will You Serve

DailyTruthbase Pentateuch in Review

Deuteronomy 26-29 Blessed or Cursed, Which Will You Choose To Be?

Translate Daily Truthbase

Contact Us at Daily Truthbase