Scripture Readings:
Deuteronomy 31;1-32:27; Luke 12:8-34;
Psalm 78:32-55; Proverbs 12:21-23
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you ask for it
'Cause you need one, you see
I'm not gonna write you a love song
'Cause you tell me it's make or breaking this
If you're on you way
I'm not gonna write you to stay
All you have is leaving
I'm gon' need a better reason
To write you a love song, today, today
~Sara Bareilles
Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27
There is nothing like a beautiful love song to put your heart in the right place. Do you have certain songs that, when you hear them, take you to a past time and place? Songs can evoke strong memories and strong emotions. Songs speak to us on many levels. They reach our intellectual minds. They touch our emotions. Vibrations from music even affect our physiology. Today, God commands Moses to write down a song for the Israelites to adopt as a national anthem. The thing is this song is no love song.
As we begin our reading today Moses is 120 years old. That is three segments of forty years each. Do you think that is a coincidence after reading the Bible and studying God's symbolic use of numbers? Moses has completed God's purpose for him on earth. We see that Moses is not going to be the person to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land. Some of Moses' final acts are to take God's Laws that he has transcribed once more, and place them in the possession of the priests beside the Ark of the Covenant. Moses then witnesses God's commissioning of Joshua as the next leader of Israel. God tells Moses that after he dies, the Israelites will rebel against God.
Finally, God tells Moses to write down a song that He has composed. This ain't no love song, people. This is a song designed to be a witness against Israel. Here is what God says about the song in Deut. 31:19-20,
"Now write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Teach them to sing it, so it may serve as a witness against them. For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors- a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous; they will eat all the food they want and become well nourished. Then they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant."So now we know the motivation behind God writing this song. As we study the song in chapter 32 of Deuteronomy, we see that this is a Rock song, rather than a love song. God is called a "Rock" throughout this anthem. It is the story of God's mighty work, Israel's birth, God's blessing on His people, their rebellion after abundance, and God's judgment on their unfaithful disbelief and rebellion. Remember that Israel is a picture of all of mankind. Wow. God does not sugar-coat the truth. He lays out the story. Can I get an "Amen" from the crowd?
Why do you think God chose to write this song? I think the theme of this song is that God is good and we are not. If the case is that you and I are sinners, just like the Israelites are sinners, then we are compelled to go to God for salvation to prevent His judgment upon us. That is the point, my friends, of this whole book. God wrote a nice rock song so that we could remember this truth. Can you sing this song in truth today? Are you willing to sing a song that witnesses to your sin and His justified judgment of that sin?
Luke 12:8-34
Jesus is on a roll. He is on a wisdom roll. We get some deep, deep good teaching from the greatest teacher that ever lived. His message begins by Jesus telling the disciples that they MUST NOT be ashamed of Jesus' teachings and God's truths while they are ministering on earth. Their attitudes will be judged in heaven. There is a sin that dooms a person to hell. In verse 10, Jesus clarifies that if you speak against God's Holy Spirit, you can not be forgiven for that. Remember, God's Spirit is the Word of Truth. The Holy Spirit testifies that Jesus is the Savior. Therefore, if you don't believe God's Holy Spirit, you will not believe Jesus is the Messiah. If you don't receive salvation through Jesus the Messiah, you will be damned to hell because your sins will not be covered and sin cannot be in God's Holy presence.
The next great teaching today is that your use of money and your possessions tell the real story of your heart. If you are hanging on to material possessions and they are your God, meaning they provide you with comfort, security, and belief in your own ability to sustain yourself, you have made a spiritual mistake. Jesus says that we cannot get true peace and happiness from material possessions because they do not last. Jesus confirms that God is who really provides everyone with true happiness in heaven (vs. 32). That is what we should be working for, a happiness that will last forever, not treasures that rust, break, and decay.
Do you live as if the things you own here on earth define your happiness? Do they define your happiness? How can you turn your focus to eternal things? Storing up treasure in an eternal place is smarter.
Psalm 78:32-55
This is a recounting of Israel's sins against God. Lest we judge, please know that we are all guilty of disloyalty to God in some way.
Proverbs 12:21-23
"The Lord hates those who don't keep their word, but he delights in those who do."
What did you see today?
Blessings,
Jubilee Gal
Kathy Fullerton
© 2011
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