Quick Note – Deuteronomy 16:3 – A Day to Always Remember

Deuteronomy 16:3b – “…That all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.”

Holidays are used to remember specific events in a person’s or nation’s life or history.  We celebrate Christmas to commemorate Christ’s birth.  We celebrate Easter to remember Christ’s Resurrection.  We celebrate Mother’s Day to honor mothers and Father’s Day to honor fathers.  Veteran’s Day is for us to remember our veterans, but it also commemorates the day when WWII was won on the European front.  Holidays help us to remember.  

The people of Israel were given a specific week long holiday to remember their deliverance from Egypt.  This holiday was known as the Passover.  Deuteronomy 16:1-8 describes the week long celebration where they were to offer a sacrifice to God and not eat leavened bread (bread made with yeast).  It is in this passage that we find our verse today – “…That all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.”  This holiday was given for them to remember the day they were delivered.  And even today, Jewish people continue to celebrate the Passover (but without the sacrifices now).  

Although Christians do not celebrate the Passover, there is still something important we can learn from this passage today – the reason for the Passover – to remember the day when they were delivered all the days of their lives.  Like the Israelites, we used to live in bondage; rather than being in bondage to Egypt, we were in bondage to sin.  We were then saved by the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  When we received Him into our hearts, we were set free from sin and entered the family of God.  This is the day we must remember all the days of our lives.  Every single day we should remember what Christ has done for us.  We should be thankful and grateful for His grace, love, and mercy.  This grateful heart will spur us to honor and serve Him every day of our lives.  Although you may not remember the exact day when you received Him into your life, you can still praise Him for it.  I must admit I don’t know the exact day, I only know that He is my God, my Lord, and my Savior and that I have given my life to Him.  And after reading this passage, I am challenged to remember His gift every day and give Him praise.  

Quick Note – Deuteronomy 4:32 – No Greater Thing than This

Deuteronomy 4:32 – “For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of.”

Moses was about to die.  He had led the people of Israel through the wilderness for forty years and was coming to the end of his life as they approached the Jordan River.  They were about to cross into Canaan, the land that God had promised to give to Abraham and his descendants.  Unfortunately, Moses wasn’t allowed to cross over.  Because of a mistake he made, in which he failed to honor God, God punished him and told him that he would die before entering the land.  So before the people crossed over and before Moses died, he made one last address to the Israelites, reminding them of the God they serve and the rules and commands that He gave them.  These last words were written for us in the book of Deuteronomy, where Moses recounted the wilderness journey, the works that God had done over the past forty years, and the laws that God had given. 

In his speech, Moses brought up an interesting point for the people to reflect upon in Deuteronomy 4:32-40.  He asked them to consider whether they had ever seen or heard of a situation where a god acted and cared for a person as much as God did for Israel.  Was there ever a time, where God spoke directly to a person and that person lived, as He did for them on Mount Sinai (vs. 33)?  Was there ever a time, where God stretched out His hand with great signs and wonders just to deliver a group of people, as He did for the Israelites who were captives in Egypt (vs. 34)?  Was there ever a time that God worked wonders just to prove to His people that He was God and that there was no one like Him (vs. 35)?  Unlike any time ever before, God worked personally in the lives of the Israelites, so it was only right that the people of Israel kept His commandments and served and worshipped Him.  God was their God, so they needed to be His people.

Just as Moses posed this thought for reflection to the people of Israel, I pose this thought to you.  When in history have you ever heard of a parent who was willing to give up their child in order to save an enemy?  When in history has there ever been a king and lord who sacrificed his life in exchange for his people’s wrongdoings?  When in history have you ever heard of a god who loved his creation so much that He died for it?  These things all happened at one point in history – when Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross.  Jesus Christ was on the cross, because God the Father gave up His Son to save us, His enemies.  Jesus Christ was on the cross, because He, the Lord of lords and King of kings, chose to sacrifice His life to pay the penalty for our sins – death.  Jesus Christ was on the cross, because He loved His creation so much that He was willing to die in our place.  Just as God worked personally in the lives of the Israelites, He works personally in our lives today.  He stretched out His hands for you.  He worked wonders and miracles for you.  He died for you.  How can you continue to reject and disobey Him?  Submit your life to Him today. 

Ask the days that are past, ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has been any act of love as great as what God did for us when He died on the cross.  There has never been and never will be a sacrifice as great as this.  Knowing that God did this for you, may your heart be stirred to give your life to Him.  Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).  Jesus Christ laid down His life for you. 

Quick Note – Deuteronomy 2:20-22 – God the Giant Killer

Deuteronomy 2:20-22 – “It is also counted as a land of Rephaim.  Rephaim formerly lived there – but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim – a people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before the Ammonites, and they disposed them and settled in their place, as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day.”

When we face trials and difficulties in our lives, it is very easy to feel overwhelmed – to feel like we are drowning under the weight of the troubles with no rescue in sight.  The obstacles seem insurmountable, and the burdens too great to bear.  And it is during those times that our faith falters – that we begin to question whether our God is as powerful, as loving, and as gracious as the Bible describes.  The hardships just seem too tall, and we feel dwarfed by these giants. 

These are the thoughts that went through the Israelites’ minds when they first approached the land of Canaan.  After escaping from Egypt, traversing through the wilderness for two years, and finally arriving at the boundaries of the Promised Land, they sent spies out to scout the land.  These twelve spies returned with ten of them giving a bad report by telling the people of Israel that the people who dwelt in the land were giants, the cities were fortified, and that they had no chance of beating them, especially since the Anakim dwelt there (Read Numbers 13-14 and Deuteronomy 1).  The Anakim were people that were tall and strong.  This report sent waves of doubt into the hearts of the Israelites.  Rather than trusting God to defeat the Anakim, they let their fear direct their actions and rebelled against Moses and God.  They were then punished by God and had to wander in the wilderness for thirty-eight years with none of that generation being able to enter the land other than Joshua and Caleb, the two good spies.  Eventually, the children of the past generation were able to conquer the land, but they were delayed for almost forty years, because they refused to trust in God.

You may be wondering why I am reviewing this story about the Israelites when our verses for today focus on the Ammonites and the people of Esau and make no mention of the Israelites.  The reason I bring this up is because like the Israelites, the Ammonites and the people of Esau had to deal with their own giants when they were settling the land promised to them.  The Ammonites fought the Rephaim who were great and many, and as tall as the Anakim.  The people of Esau fought the Horites, who may have been giants as well.  The Moabites fought the Rephaim, who were also giants (Deuteronomy 2:10).  Each of these groups of people who were related to the Israelites (Moab and Ammon came from Lot, the nephew of Abraham, who is the father of the people of Israel.  Esau was the brother of Jacob, the grandson of Abraham.) dispossessed a group of giants to inherit the land God had promised to give them.  This was precedence of God’s faithfulness.  These were previous examples of His power.  Yet, even though, the people of Israel knew that God had done this previously for other nations, they doubted that God would defeat the Anakim, the giants in front of them.  They faltered in their faith even though God had shown Himself to be faithful.  

When we face adversities and troubles which seem like undefeatable giants, we need to look to the past and recall God’s faithfulness to others and to ourselves.  We should speak to other Christians who have faced similar giants and hear their testimonies of God’s deliverance.  We should read the Word of God and see the many examples in the Bible of God’s provision, God’s mercy, and God’s love.  We should recall the times that God has conquered the giants in our lives previously.  If God will work in the lives of others, He will and surely can work in your life as well.  So when you are faced with your giant, remember that God conquered Goliath for David (1 Samuel 16), your giant will fall as well. 

Quick Note – Numbers 35:34 – Showing Reverence and Respect where God dwells

Numbers 35:34 – “You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

I have been fortunate enough to be able to travel to a lot of countries over the first thirty-two years of my life.  While traveling, especially to places in Europe, I have had the opportunity to visit a number of old churches and cathedrals.  I have been to the large famous ones like St. Peter’s Basilica, the Santiago de Compestela, and the Hagia Sophia, but I have also been to small ones with no names that you pass by while strolling along the streets of Italy.  But one thing that is always true no matter where I have gone is that when people enter the church, whether they are Christians or not, they enter with reverence and respect.  People will remove their hats; they will walk in quietly; they will cover themselves (if the church requires it).  They do this because they have entered a place of worship, a place to bring honor and glory to God, so they dare not do anything disrespectful in His presence. 

This attitude of respect reflects the command given by God to the people of Israel in Numbers 35:34. This verse was spoken in the context of murder and applying the appropriate justice for that crime, but it was also a reminder to the people of Israel that God dwelt in their midst.  God promised to be their God and to watch over them and to dwell in their midst, but He would only do so if they would follow His commands and honor and worship Him.  When the people of Israel failed to do so, God would discipline them to try to get them to repent, and when they continued to refuse, God sent them out of the land.  God is a holy God and could not dwell in the presence of sin. 

We as Christians often forget the verse in the Bible that states that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that we should glorify God in our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).  This is why so many of us allow the things of the world to defile our lives.  We watch and listen to things that would not be pleasing to God, defiling our eyes and ears; we say things that are hurtful and spiteful, defiling our mouths; we act upon our impure thoughts, defiling our hands and feet by doing and walking in sin.  But if God lives in our hearts, then by doing these things, we are defiling the place in which He dwells.  We are breaking this command given in Numbers 35:34, “You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell.”  And eventually, God’s presence and blessings will have to depart from your life, for He will not dwell in the midst of sin.  (That is not to say you will lose your salvation, but you will lose your interactions with Him.)  As the temple of the Holy Spirit, we must make sure that we live in a way that brings honor and glory to Him.  Just like we show reverence and respect when we enter a physical building for worshipping God, let us show reverence and respect to God with our lives, for our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Quick Note – Numbers 9:1-8 – The Desire to Worship

Numbers 9:1-8 – And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, 2 “Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. 3 On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.” 4 So Moses told the people of Israel that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, at twilight, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so the people of Israel did. 6 And there were certain men who were unclean through touching a dead body, so that they could not keep the Passover on that day, and they came before Moses and Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said to him, “We are unclean through touching a dead body. Why are we kept from bringing the Lord’s offering at its appointed time among the people of Israel?” 8 And Moses said to them, “Wait, that I may hear what the Lord will command concerning you.”

When you miss out on a chance to go to church or to study the Word of God, what is your reaction?  Be honest with yourself, because this is a time for internal reflection.  You can feel safe that you do not need to keep your mask on.  If you are like me, at times, when I am exhausted from a long work week or tired from a Saturday full of activity, part of me internally is happy that I don’t need to attend a Wednesday night Bible study or wake up early to dress up properly to attend church.  I am just tired and want a “break.”  But worshipping and spending time with God should not be a burden to us.  It should be something that we long for, that we desire to do more than anything else.  It should be something that we are excited to do and don’t want to miss out on.  This was the heart of the men described in our passage today. 

In our passage, the Lord asked Moses and the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover.  This was a feast used to help the people of Israel remember the time when God delivered them from Egypt.  It was a time of reflection and worship of the Almighty God.  It took place on the fourteenth day of the first month of every year.  But if a person was unclean (because at the time if you were in the presence of a dead body, you were considered unclean for a certain amount of time), then you were told not to bring anything to the Tabernacle, which meant you could not take part in the Passover and would not be able to worship with everyone that day.  It wasn’t because of sin that they were not allowed to worship but because of an unexpected and unavoidable situation – death of a friend or loved one.  These men in vs. 6 could have easily used this as an excuse to not have to bring an offering and to have the “day off” from worshipping God.  But they wanted to glorify God so much that they went to Moses and told him, “Why should we be exempted from this worship?”  They had a heart that craved the presence of God, that desired to spend time with Him, and that wanted to serve Him.  And they didn’t want anything to keep them away.  So they asked for a time to worship, and God gave them the fourteenth day of the second month as a replacement day. 

We as Christians need to have this type of heart – a heart that longs to spend time with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  With the coronavirus pandemic that occurred last year and is still ongoing, many Christians have gotten used to staying at home, turning on Zoom at the last minute, and listening to a sermon in the comfort of their bed.  Because there is no need to dress up, no need to get up and drive, no need to put in any effort, the heart is distracted up until the last minute before the service begins and sometimes continues to be distracted by all the things that are going on in the home.  They are no longer concerned about going to meet other believers, they just want to enjoy the comfort and ease that worshipping digitally brings.  But this is the wrong heart.  It is a heart that simply wants to check an obligation box to God and move on for the day.  It is a heart that would be happy to miss that time with God if a valid excuse came up.  Rather than being like the men described in this chapter, their hearts are glad to get a “break.”  This is the wrong heart, and a heart I am guilty of having at times.  So let us ask the Holy Spirit to change our hearts – to restore that desire to honor and worship God, to convict us when we are lazy, and to push us to spend time with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  May we be like these men described in Numbers 9, who asked God for an opportunity to worship and to serve Him during the Passover, rather than wait another year for that celebration to come again.  It is a privilege for us to worship God. Let us desire to worship Him.