Loading summary
Transcript11 lines
- [00:06]
A
Hey, this is a year in the Bible with daily grace. I'm Shelby and I'm here with Paul. Hey, Paul.
- [00:11]
B
Hello.
- [00:11]
A
And we're jumping into the book of Deuteronomy today. Paul, you last walked us through the book of Exodus. Are you ready to jump into Deuteronomy?
- [00:19]
B
Yes. Yes, I am. Yeah. I was grateful to Scott and CJ for jumping into Leviticus and numbers, but, yeah, we're back.
- [00:25]
A
Yeah. Super excited. Okay, so before we get into our chapters for today, chapters one through three. Is. Is there anything we need to keep in mind just as we read Deuteronomy, the book as a whole?
- [00:35]
B
Yeah. Yeah. So obviously we're continuing our story of the Israelites. They've just finished wandering through the wilderness in Numbers, and now they are standing just at the edge of the Jordan river, about to step into the promised land. And so as they're about to do that, Moses here in Deuteronomy is basically just going to give a retelling of the law and the commandments that God had given them, reminding them who they're supposed to be, how they're supposed to live in the promised land. And, you know, I think if some of these things sound familiar, that's because they are. He's actually, in the first few chapters here, he's going to be kind of retelling the story of the Israelites and again, giving some of those commands that God had given them. And that's because, you know, they'd been wandering for 40 years. And so, you know, there's definitely some children that have been born that haven't heard their story. And also some people that have probably just forgotten some of it. And so he's going to retell them that. And, you know, when Scripture is repeating itself, it can be a little bit challenging for us as readers, like, oh, I've already read this. I've already seen this, you know, but it's such an important reminder for us to remember our story, remember truths about God, because we are forgetful people, Israel especially is. Are very forgetful. And so it's just an invitation to remember who God said that they are and how they're supposed to live.
- [01:53]
A
Yeah, I think you're pointing out something really important because the Bible does repeat itself, and we're gonna see that a lot as we walk through the Old Testament. And so I think we sometimes wanna think of the Bible like a textbook. It's gonna teach us one thing and then move to the next thing and teach us that. But it's closer to a story than A textbook. And so we're gonna see repeated ideas and themes and even narratives repeated throughout this. I think we also have to remember that Scripture was shared orally in Old Testament times. And so this way of things was a way of remembering and being able to share that Scripture with those around you. And so we're experiencing Scripture in a different way than the original audience probably did. But all that said, let's talk about chapters one through three. What do we have going on in these chapters?
- [02:41]
B
Yeah, so it's actually interesting. I'm glad you mentioned kind of that oral tradition, because we see early on in Deuteronomy something that we've seen before. And it comes in chapter one, verse ten, and it says, the Lord your God has so multiplied you that today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky. And since we're reading through the whole Bible, you might recognize this. It comes from Genesis, where God told Abraham that his descendants would become as numerous as the stars of the sky. And so, essentially, when Moses is saying this, he's repeating that oral tradition like you mentioned, and it's showing that God has been faithful. He has been faithful to his people to sustain them despite slavery, despite their disobedience and their wanderings. They have grown to a very great nation. And so God is sustaining them and bringing them into the place that he promised he would in the promised land.
- [03:30]
A
Yeah, that's great. Okay, so what are our kind of takeaways from these three chapters? How can they apply to us today?
- [03:38]
B
Yeah, so I think, you know, when I think about God's faithfulness, like I just mentioned, it's just an encouragement to me that in moments when I might be discouraged, in moments when kind of like the Israelites, I wander to remember God's faithfulness and call it back to mind. You know, Moses is going to retell the story of them wandering through the wilderness. And he doesn't sugarcoat it. He tells it like it is. He mentions all of their failings and all of their victories as well. And yet the common theme through all of that is that God remained faithful. God sustained them. God brought them to where he said he would. And so, you know, I think for me, when I think about living my life as a Christian, it means remembering my true story that God has redeemed me from my sin, and that no matter what I do, he's not going to give up on me and he's going to remain faithful to me always. And so there's lots of days when I just feel down in the dumps and I just don't really feel God's love. And yet that doesn't change the fact that he is going to remain consistent.
- [04:39]
A
That is so good. I think that's probably my takeaway. I love what you said, remembering your true story, because we all have this internal narrative of like, maybe the story of our life, who we are as a person. But when we look at who God is and what he says about us as his people, then that story can be quite different than maybe what we tell ourselves. And so I think that's going to be my takeaway for today. Thanks for walking us through these first three chapters. I'm excited to get through the rest of the book of Deuteronomy with you, Paul, for sure.