{"id":22729,"date":"2022-08-11T22:00:28","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T05:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy31_1-13-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T15:45:01","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T22:45:01","slug":"deuteronomy31_14-30","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy31_14-30\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Love For You Is Stronger Than Your Sin Against Him"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deuteronomy 31:14-30\u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 31:14-30.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 31:14 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse\u00a014: \u00a0God had been preparing Joshua to be Moses’ successor for some time already (see\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a03:28 and Numbers 27:15-23).\u00a0 Moses had already publicly commissioned Joshua so that all the people knew who would lead them after Moses died (Deuteronomy\u00a031:7-8).\u00a0 Now in verse\u00a014, we see God personally and privately commissioning Joshua at the Tent of Meeting in Moses’ presence (v14).\u00a0 In verse 23, God speaks to Joshua directly and tells him to be strong and courageous.<\/p>\n

Notice that it is God who chose, prepared and raised up the next leader for Israel.\u00a0 It wasn’t done by a democratic vote by the people.\u00a0 It was God’s decision, which He communicated to Moses.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this? \u00a0 God is specific and intentional when it comes to choosing leaders.\u00a0 Whenever God wants to do a great work in, through or for His people, He chooses leaders to lead them.\u00a0 So if you are in a leadership role, do not take your role lightly.\u00a0 If you are serving under a leader, don’t take your leader’s God-given authority lightly either; rather serve them and work with them, with love and respect.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 31:15-29 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then the\u00a0LORD\u00a0appeared at the Tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the Tent.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?’
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.
\n20\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.
\n21\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.”
\n22\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
\n23\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
\n24\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end,
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the\u00a0LORD:
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the\u00a0LORD\u00a0while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against them.
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and provoke him to anger by what your hands have made.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 15-29: \u00a0 God and Moses both knew that the Israelites would not remain faithful to God, that their hearts were bent on rebelling against God and worshiping idols.\u00a0 That’s why God says that the Israelites will “forsake me and break the covenant I made with them (v16)…I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised to them on oath. \u00a0(v19)”. That’s also why Moses says in verse 29, “For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you”.<\/p>\n

Why do God and Moses both bother to lead, instruct and take care of the Israelites when they know that they are disposed to rebel against them?\u00a0 It’s because that’s how great God’s love is.\u00a0 He continues to love His children even though He knows how stubborn and sinful they are.<\/p>\n

Similarly, when God created you and me, He already knew we would intentionally sin against Him in countless ways.\u00a0 Yet He still went ahead and created us. Why?\u00a0 It’s because God’s love for you is not based on your performance.\u00a0 God’s heart is always filled with love toward you and me, no matter what we do.\u00a0 He is faithful even when we are faithless.\u00a0 God’s propensity to love you is even stronger than our propensity to sin against Him!<\/p>\n

Does that mean we should go ahead and sin as much as we want?\u00a0 Not at all.\u00a0 God\u2019s Word is clear that if we choose to go ahead and sin, the result is that we will experience many “disasters and calamities” (v17) in life, and that is why God commands us to steer far from sin, so as to avoid unnecessarily troubling ourselves.<\/p>\n

By the way, does the fact that God knew the Israelites would sin against Him mean that the Israelites did not really choose to sin?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 The Bible teaches that these two things mysteriously co-exist: \u00a0God’s foreknowledge about the future, and our free will to choose.\u00a0 While we can never fully figure out how these two things work: we can’t deny that God is sovereign and knows everything that will happen, and we also can’t deny that we make real choices in life that have a real impact on us and those around us.\u00a0 Let’s focus on making the best choices we can and leave the rest to our good Heavenly Father.<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 31:30 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 30:\u00a0 We\u2019ll take up verse 30 when we look at Deuteronomy 32:1 tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Thank You, Lord, that You are predisposed to love me even more than I am predisposed to sin against You. \u00a0 Your love toward me can even outlast my sin toward You.\u00a0 What love is this that a perfect, holy God would be so full of love for me that He would never give up on me despite all the ways I sin against Him.\u00a0 I worship You today and thank You for never giving up on me.\u00a0 In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Deuteronomy 31:14-30.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Deuteronomy 31:14 (NIV)
\n14\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tent of Meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the Tent of Meeting.<\/p>\n

On verse\u00a014: \u00a0God had been preparing Joshua to be Moses’ successor for some time already (see\u00a0Deuteronomy\u00a03:28 and Numbers 27:15-23).\u00a0 Moses had already publicly commissioned Joshua so that all the people knew who would lead them after Moses died (Deuteronomy\u00a031:7-8).\u00a0 Now in verse\u00a014, we see God personally and privately commissioning Joshua at the Tent of Meeting in Moses’ presence (v14).\u00a0 In verse 23, God speaks to Joshua directly and tells him to be strong and courageous. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Notice that it is God who chose, prepared and raised up the next leader for Israel.\u00a0 It wasn’t done by a democratic vote by the people.\u00a0 It was God’s decision, which He communicated to Moses. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22731,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22729"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22732,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22729\/revisions\/22732"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}