September 7, 2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The message of Deuteronomy is one that the church desperately needs to hear today. These final words of Moses given to the children of Israel as they prepared to enter into the Promised Land serve as a warning, an encouragement, and a charge. Through them, God exposes the idolatry of our hearts and calls us to give all of our love, worship, and devotion to Him alone in every area of our lives! Moses warns the people that when they enter the land there will be things that compete with God for their attention, their affections and their worship. We, too, have hundreds of things that compete for our hearts each and every day. In this book, God teaches us how to properly respond to the amazing grace He has given us by giving Him our undivided allegiance, our whole hearts and our whole lives. Over the next 34 days, let\u2019s seek this ancient way together as a church!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he comes to the ending of his explanation of the law, Moses begins in this chapter to lay out the covenant curses that the people were to recite from Mount Ebal. These curses were to serve as a reminder towards those who did not obey the terms of the covenant, the commands and statutes of the Lord. Almost all of them have been explained by Moses at one point or another throughout the book; this would serve to remind the people of the law and the grave consequences for disobeying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Something significant about these curses is that, in the recitation, all the people of Israel were to say \u201camen\u201d to each one. The Levitical priests would call down the curse on those who disobeyed, and the people were to all state their agreement with it, thereby calling down a curse upon themselves should they disobey! It may seem strange to us to call down a curse on ourselves were we to disobey God, but the Israelites had received such grace and had been given God\u2019s perfect law, and in worshipful response they were to acknowledge the seriousness of disobedience in this way!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, in spite of all the measures they took to be reminded of God\u2019s immense grace towards them, of the dire consequences of disobedience and of the blessing and life that would come by obedience, the people of Israel still rebelled and transgressed the covenant. Like us, they needed something more than the right set of standards to live by; they needed to be transformed from the inside out! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Galatians 3:13 says that \u201cChrist redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us\u201d. It is in Jesus alone that we experience this transformation of heart that produces obedient lives! Praise Him that He took on the curse for us and vanquished it forever in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension, and that in Him we can now obey the law from the heart!<\/p>\n\n\n\n