Quick Note – Deuteronomy 27:26 – Confirmation Requires Obedience

Deuteronomy 27:26 – “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.” And all the people shall say, “Amen.”

Before the people of Israel were to cross into the Promised Land, Moses and some of the elders gathered the people together to give some last words of wisdom. Moses was about to die, because he would not be allowed to cross over into the land, so he had a few last things he wanted to share with them. One thing he told the Israelites to do when they crossed over the land was to build an altar on Mount Ebal and recite some curses to which all the assembly of Israel were to agree upon by saying, “Amen.” This was to remind them that they were to follow and to obey God’s law even when they had reached their destination. Those curses included making an idol, dishonoring a parent, misleading a blind man, perverting justice to those who were helpless, and various sexual sins. However, the last curse is quite interesting and found in our focal verse today, “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them.”

I find this to be so interesting, because it seemed like a no-brainer that when you agree with God’s law by mouth, you would follow it in your actions. However, so many Christians today praise God’s name and profess to love His Word but fail to obey it. This verse is a reminder that in order to confirm the words of God’s law, you must do them. Saying that it is a good word, agreeing that it is righteous, talking about how it is an excellent source of wisdom means nothing if it is not followed – if it is not obeyed. How many times have you heard people say, “The Bible is such a good book to learn from. There are a lot of principles that we can gain from it. It is an excellent form of literature.” All these words are high praise, but if they don’t apply what it teaches to their lives, it is completely useless. They are just speaking nonsense.

If a person truly wants to confirm God’s Word, he or she must obey it. That means that you come to agreement that the Bible points to our Savior Jesus Christ, encourages us to accept Him as Savior and Lord, and teaches us how to live our lives. If we love God’s Word, then we must obey it. If not, then curse be on you.

Quick Note – Leviticus 19:1-2 – Be Holy

Leviticus 19:1-2 – ¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.

The people of Israel were called to be reflections of God in Leviticus.  They had just left captivity in Egypt, were heading to the Promised Land, and were given the commandments of God by Moses in the wilderness.  After sharing some of these commandments, God told them through Moses, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.”  Simply put, the Israelites were to live in a way that reflected the holiness of God.  It meant that they were not to live in sin and wickedness but to obey the commandments of God.  They were to put away all uncleanness, whether it be sexual immorality or in what they ate or in how they interacted with others.  They were to be true and honest, for God was faithful and true.  They were to be just, for God was just.  They were to be kind and forgiving, for God was gracious and merciful.  They were to live holy lives, because they were the people of God, who were to be a light and image of God to the world around them.  They were to be holy, set apart for God, because God is holy. 

Just as the people of Israel were to reflect God to the world in the Old Testament, we as Christians are called to reflect Jesus Christ now.  Acts 11:26 tells us that the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.  They were called this, because they lived their lives in a way that showed that they followed Christ.  The Greek meaning of Christian is “follower of Christ.”  When we call ourselves Christians, we declare to the world that we are His followers, which means that we trust Him, obey Him, and copy the example that He set for us in this world.  It means that our lives are a reflection of Christ and of the way He lived on this earth and continues to live in heaven.  It means that we love as He loves, that we hate the things He hates, and that we fear God as He feared the Father.  Christ showed mercy and love to sinners rather than judgment and that is what we are to do.  Christ hated pride and hypocrisy and sin, calling those who lived in that manner towards repentance, so we should hate those qualities in our lives as well.  Christ spent time with the Father in prayer, so we should make sure that we spend time with our Heavenly Father each day.  Christ willingly died for us, so we must be willing to give our lives for others.  Christ was holy, sinless, set apart for God, so we must be holy and set apart for Him as well. 

We should be holy, because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is holy.  Look at your life today.  Is there lustful thoughts that you need to repent of?  Is there a hateful heart that you need softened?  Is their self-pride, that you need broken down?  Confess that sin and turn to Him in repentance, and be holy for your God is holy.  1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  He can make us holy, if we desire to be.  Give your life to Him today and be holy. 

Quick Note – Exodus 12:1-4 – The Sufficient Lamb

Exodus 12:1-4 – “The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, ² “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. ³ Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. ⁴ And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb.”

Jewish people celebrate the Passover to commemorate the night when God delivered His people from Egyptian slavery. After sending nine plagues on Pharaoh and Egypt for not letting His people go, God decided that the tenth plague would be upon all the firstborn in Egypt whether livestock, slave, or royal. All the firstborn would be killed. However to preserve His people who lived in Egypt, God told the Israelites to take a lamb, kill it, and place its blood on the lintel and doorposts of their houses. In this way, when the angel of the Lord was coming to strike the firstborn, if it saw the blood on the house, it would pass over that house, sparing the firstborn inside. That night when the angel of God struck the firstborn of Egypt, all the Israelites were safe, because he passed over their houses when he saw the blood of the lamb. This is why the holiday/celebration was known as the Passover.

After that night, each year the Israelites were called to celebrate the Passover by taking a lamb and repeating this rite to remember that day. However, what is even more interesting is that each year when the Passover lamb was sacrificed, it was not just done as a commemoration of the past, but also, a representation of what would happen in the future when the Messiah would come to this earth to die for the sins of the world. Just as how the Passover lamb was slain as a replacement for the firstborn that was to die, the Messiah was to come and die as a replacement for sinners, whose wages for sin is death (Romans 6:23). When Jesus Christ came, He came to be that Messiah; He came to be, what John the Baptist called Him, “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29). He did this by living a perfect sinless life yet dying as a replacement on the cross for us. He paid the penalty that was ours, so that we could find life in Him. He acted as that Passover lamb, who would be sacrificed in our place to spare us from the judgment that was awaiting us. For that, we should accept His gift of salvation and always thank Him.

One question I have always had though is how many lambs were sacrificed during that first Passover. In vs. 3, the people were told that they were to take a lamb and sacrifice it for each household. They were to kill it, place the blood on the doorposts of the house, then roast the lamb and eat it, so as not to waste the sacrifice that was spilled in their place. However, vs. 4 tells us that if a household was too small for a lamb, then that house was to share a lamb between two households. This probably meant that two or three households could all stay in the same house and have the angel of God pass over or maybe use the same blood and place it on the lintels of two or three houses and share the meat of the lamb. I mean there must have been more than enough blood from one lamb to cover four doorposts and two lintels, right? So I wonder how many lambs were slain in Egypt during that night. Hundreds, thousands, or just a few that were shared for multiple houses.

As Christians though, we know that only one sacrifice exists for our sin, and that sacrifice is Jesus Christ. He came to this earth once; He died on the cross once; and He was raised again once. After His death and resurrection, no other sacrifice was needed; no other person needed to die; no other lamb needed to be slain. The reason for this was because He paid the full penalty for the sins of the world on that cross, when He cried out, “It is finished.” So there would only be one Passover lamb for the sins of the world. But why is that? Why only one? It is for the same reason why multiple households shared one Passover lamb during that first Passover – because one household could not finish that single lamb. The whole world and all its sin could never use up the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is enough. He is sufficient. He is complete. All of us can share that one Lamb, because no matter how many sins we commit, no matter how bad they are, it is still too small to use up the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His grace is enough. His mercy is enough. His love is enough. He is more than enough.

So if you believe that you have failed too much, sinned too badly, or fallen too far, remember that the sacrifice of the true Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ, is still more than enough for you. He is enough to pay for the sins of the world and that includes yours. Give your life over to Him today. Take part in that sacrifice by accepting Him as your Lord and Savior, and be saved today. Let His blood be the reason that the judgment of God will pass over your life.

Quick Note – Matthew 11:28-29 – The Best Teacher

Matthew 11:28-29 – Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Learning is accomplished in multiple ways. Some people learn best by hearing, some by reading, and some by watching. I think nowadays, a lot of people learn visually, which means that they need to see an example of what they want to be taught in order to accelerate their learning process. Fortunately, video websites like YouTube exist, making it easy for us to access visual examples of anything we want to learn. You want to learn how to change a tire, there’s a video for that. You want to learn how to cook, there’s a video for that. You want to learn how to do long division, there’s a video for that. There is an easily accessible example of anything you want to learn now on the Internet. 

However, having such easy access can also be problematic, in that, there are a lot of people posting videos that show the wrong way of doing things, leading to misinformation and the stifling of learning. That is why it is so important for us to digest and learn from the right examples. 

This is even more significant when it comes to our spiritual lives. Who and where we learn to live our lives is crucial. If we pick a bad example, we can send our lives tumbling down a cliff. Why do you think that so many people who surround themselves with bad friends go down dark paths for their lives? It’s like Paul said, “Bad company ruins good morals.” (1 Corinthians 15:33). 

What is wonderful though is that we have been given an example of how to live the best and perfect life in the Bible, the perfect example to follow – our Lord Jesus Christ. In Matthew 11:28-29, He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Jesus Christ told us that if we feel burdened, tired, and unable to keep going, where we will find rest and strength is in Him.  If we truly want a life that is fruitful, successful, and filled with peace, we are called to learn from Him.  What does that mean?  It means to watch how He lived His life and follow it.   

Jesus showed us how to live throughout the Gospels.  He showed us how to love others, unconditionally.  He showed us how to treat our enemies, with respect and forgiveness.  He showed us how to please God, obediently following His commands.  Jesus Christ gave us the example of how to live every aspect of our lives whether it dealt with relationships with others, relationship with ourselves, or our relationship with God.  All we need to do is follow Him.  So let us learn from the best life teacher Jesus Christ and find rest for our souls

Quick Note – Isaiah 43:1-4 – Exchanged for You

Isaiah 43:1-4 – ¹ But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.  ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  ³ For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.  I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.  ⁴ Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 

When they were being punished and disciplined by the LORD for their sins, the people of Israel must have thought that God had forsaken them.  They must have thought that they were being abandoned, because God allowed them to fall into the captivity of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.  This must be why the book of Isaiah was not only filled with prophecies of punishment but also with words of encouragement.   

One of these encouraging words is found in Isaiah 43:1-4, where God tells the people of Israel not to fear, because He had redeemed them and called them by their name.  He had declared them as His own and would watch over them in any trial or difficulty.  They need not fear, because God loved and treasured them so much that He willingly exchanged other nations for their lives.  It was like a prisoner exchange, where God gave up other nations for them – greater, stronger, and mightier than them like Egypt, Cush, and Seba – simply because He loved them and would do anything for them.  God would give up these treasures so that He could have His people return.   

I find beauty in these four verses, because it reminds me of how much God loves me.  God found me to be so precious in His eyes and loved me so much that He also gave up a ransom for me – a ransom that is worth a whole lot more than a nation; He gave up His Son.  Because of our sin, we deserve death and hell.  We deserve eternal punishment.  But rather than leaving us to die, God traded His Son for us.  He let His Son die on the cross as a ransom, as an exchange, so that we could have new life in Him, so that our relationship with Him could be restored.  He found us precious enough to trade His own Son – Jesus Christ.  He loved us so much that He died on the cross to redeem us.   

So the next time you feel worthless, the next time you feel like God doesn’t care or you are unworthy or unloved, remember that God gave up His Son, the greatest treasure, to have a relationship with you.  He loves you so much that He did everything to get you back.  So place your trust in Him.  Do not fear, do not be discouraged, and do not be dismayed – your God truly loves you.