Day 74 – Deuteronomy 11-13

Talking Points

• God says that He is not speaking to the sons of Israel who were not witnesses to the discipline and greatness of God, but those who had seen it with their own eyes. With experience and knowledge comes great responsibility — both to pass down and to uphold His commandments.
• The LORD says that His people are to “impress” His words upon their hearts and souls (11:18). To “impress” means to lay up, set, or charge. What would it look like if we actually took this command seriously?
• God confirms that doing what He’s commanded is “doing what is good and right.” He tells us to “be careful” in doing so (12:28).
• God’s people are given clear instruction to do away with all false worship. More than that, they are told to avoid any place, thing, or person, that might “seduce” them into false worship (13:5).
• Over the last couple years of life’s circumstances tempered by Bible study, the same theme seems to keep coming up for me: know who God is, remember what He has done, teach these truths to anyone who will listen, and take God at His word, quickly obeying Him in faith. And, in that, my heart loves Him more and more. That’s His plan for all people.

Thoughts

This section really highlights some great truths about the Word of God.

• First, it is important that God’s people actually have His Word. It is so important that God graciously gives it to them again — a hard copy (no pun intended). Today, God gives us His written Word in the Bible. It is also important that we have His words.
• Second, see that God protects His Word. Notice, God instructs Moses to build a wooden ark (box) for the stone tablets. Where the first tablets were broken to bits, the new ones would be protected in a carrying case. Today, in many ways, God has also protected the Word He has given us. Over thousands of years, He has supernaturally preserved it, that we may have confidence in what we hold.
• Last, see the seriousness that God gives to the issue of distorting His Word. If God is revealing Himself to us in words, then to tamper with those words is to tamper with the understanding of who He is. God has no tolerance for false prophets. The cost is much too great and the danger way too severe. Today, we should hold the same seriousness, checking everything and everyone against the plumb line of Scripture. There is no room for even the slightest deviation.