Deuteronomy 4:41-5:33

Today Moses recalls the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Horeb (aka Sinai). I expect we are all somewhat familiar with the Commandments themselves, but I doubt any of us can quite envision the scene of the LORD speaking these Commandments to the entire nation of Israel. But one thing we can say for certain: the people are left so terrified that they insist that Moses stand as intermediary as they vow to do whatever the LORD says.

Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear Me and to keep all My commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

Deuteronomy 5:29

Do you perceive the LORD’s deep love for His people in these words? Do you sense His desire for them to walk humbly with Him, that He might bless them? In the same way, He yearns over us, that we might walk in obedience, in holiness, and in righteousness, enjoying continual fellowship with Him and with one another.

He gives us His Commandments for our own good. Do we receive them that way? If you feel restricted by the Ten Commandments, here’s a complete change of perspective: As I suggested before, in Christ, the Ten Commandments should not be seen as rules, but as promises, promises for living the good life and living it well. So how about it?

Deuteronomy 4:1-40

Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves… And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them…

Deuteronomy 4:15-16a,19a

Idolatry.

Idolatry is the sin to avoid. In fact, ultimately, it is the only sin. Oh, sure, we do not commonly think of ourselves as worshiping graven images, and we can identify all sorts of other sins like lying, stealing, murder, adultery, sins of commission, and sins of omission — you name it. But in truth, all other forms of sin are really idolatry in disguise, as they all put something else before God. That “something” does not have to be some object carved from wood or stone. It can be a variety of things, but ultimately that “something” ends up being Self.

So if you think that idolatry fell out of fashion centuries ago, think again. It still strikes all too close to home, hence our need to die every day.

Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.

Deuteronomy 4:39

And [Jesus] said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Luke 9:23

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See also: February 22 / Deuteronomy 3-4.

Deuteronomy 3

And I [Moses] commanded Joshua at that time, “Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God Who fights for you.”

Deuteronomy 3:21-22

As the questions in Search the Scriptures suggest, Israel’s defeats of Sihon and Og serve both as bold proof against the faithless claims of the spies from Kadesh years earlier and as encouragement for moving forward. The people can look back at their earlier mistakes, then look at the recent successes from the LORD, and look forward in faith and confidence for what the LORD has in store for them.

We likewise should periodically review our own lives. We should acknowledge our past weaknesses and failings, but we should not get stuck there. We should recall the many good things God has done for us and in us and through us, His ongoing steadfast love and faithfulness. In remembering what God has already done (especially on the Cross and in the Resurrection), we should look forward in faith that He is able to carry us through whatever He calls us into.

But although we should have ultimate faith that God will accomplish His purposes, that doesn’t mean that if we “believe hard enough” that He’ll just do whatever we want. We can see this in God’s refusal to grant Moses’ earnest request to enter the Promised Land. Moses certainly had faith — I daresay better and stronger faith than all his countrymen — but God said, “No.” And that is where genuine faith really kicks in, to accept God’s will even when it is not what we (think we) want.

Deuteronomy 2

Rise up, set out on your journey and go over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle.

And the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.”

Deuteronomy 2:24,31

The third question in Search the Scriptures today asks, “What do [these two verses] teach about the relationship between divine grace and human faith? Cf. Eph. 2:8.” That’s good food for thought.

The first thing that comes to mind for me is that God is the One Who takes the initiative. God gives Sihon and his land into the hand of Israel, and He starts that process even before Israel shows up. (v. 31: “I have begun to give…”) Further, He initiates the call to Israel to take the land with the (repeated) command, begin to take possession. Only after God’s initiative do we see Israel’s response of faith and obedience. In marked contrast to Israel’s faithless actions years earlier in Kadesh (remember the spies?), Israel steps out in faith to engage in the hard work of doing battle and taking possession of the land.

So it is with us. God’s grace and call come first, and we have the opportunity to respond in faith — faith that is shown by obedience. But before we start patting ourselves on the back for whatever faith we might demonstrate, we should note that even that faith is itself a gift from God. In other words, it is all God’s good grace.

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See also: February 21 (2023) / Deuteronomy 1-2.

Deuteronomy 1

Today Search the Scriptures has us returning to the Old Testament to go through the book of Deuteronomy. Please take a minute or two to read the introductory section of our February 21, 2023 post. I’ll wait…

As is true for much of the rest of Deuteronomy, this first chapter recounts history that we’ve already been through in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers — Exodus 18:13-27 and Numbers 13-14 in particular here. So why does Moses retell this history? For his immediate audience of Israelites who are just about to enter into the Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness, Moses wants to ensure that they do not make the same mistakes as the prior generation. Likewise, we, too, need the repetition so that we, too, might learn the same lessons. As Paul says in I Corinthians 10, Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction… (I Cor. 10:11) So let’s pay attention. Let’s learn from the Israelites, from both their failures and their successes. Let’s learn to put our full faith and confidence in the One Who calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light. (I Peter 2:9)

Mark 9:30-50

Do you take sin seriously? Jesus certainly does.

Consider Mark 9:42-48, where Jesus says that it is better to discard offending body parts and enter the Kingdom of God maimed rather than to be thrown whole into hell. A little thought about all this should readily tell us that Jesus is not to be taken literally here. That is, it should be clear that our hands, feet, and eyes are never actually the cause of our sin, and so lopping off limbs or gouging out eyes will not fix our sin problem. But should we then breathe a sigh of relief that this is “just” figurative language? No, not at all! We should instead get a clue that sin is deadly serious business that calls for intense repentance.

So, do you take sin seriously?

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See also: March 24 (2021) / Matt. 17:24-18:9; Mark 9:33-50; Luke 9:46-50.

Mark 9:1-29

“…But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

Mark 9:22b-24

Who among us cannot relate to this father’s plea? We probably all identify more easily with his unbelief than with his belief. But that’s crazy, because God has given us every reason for it to be the other way around.

He Who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32

Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s great love for us, so why do we persist in unbelief?

Lord, we believe; help our unbelief!

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See also:

• March 22 (2021) / Matt. 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36
• March 23 (2021) / Matt. 17:14-23; Mark 9:14-32; Luke 9:37-45
• October 29 (2023) / Matthew 17:14-18:9; Mark 9:14-50; Luke 9:37-50

Mark 8:27-38

Today’s reading has long been seen as the pivotal passage of the Gospel of Mark, first with Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ (or the Messiah, the Anointed One) (Mark 8:29), and then with Jesus’ teaching about his approaching suffering, death, and Resurrection. (Mark 8:31) The notion of a suffering Messiah is so radically upside-down for the disciples that Peter immediately rejects the idea (Mark 8:32), resulting in a swift reaction from Jesus:

Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Mark 8:33

We, of course, know the rest of the story. We know that Jesus suffers many things and dies on the Cross. And we know about His Resurrection. But perhaps in our familiarity with the story we grow numb to the enormity and scandal of a suffering Messiah. Consider a Protestant cross versus a Catholic crucifix. Why the bare cross? Yes, in part, it is a good and proper recognition of the Resurrection. But perhaps in our rush to the Resurrection, we — like Peter here — refuse to consider a suffering Messiah, because that just does not fit what we expect from God, even as we recite the Creeds.

In our reluctance to fully consider a suffering Christ, we simultaneously minimize the notion of a suffering Christian, particularly when that Christian is oneself. So we water down what Jesus says next:

If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

Mark 8:34b

Again, we’re familiar with the words, but we rob them of meaning. We’ve grown used to a tepid interpretation of the word “deny” and fail to recognize that it here means “renounce.” And we likewise think of “taking up a cross” as merely tolerating an annoyance. No. Jesus has something much more serious in mind here. As Bonhoeffer said:

When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

So how about it? What does Christ’s call mean for you today?

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See also:

• October 28 (2023) / Matthew 16:1-17:13; Mark 8:11-9:13; Luke 9:18-36
• March 21 (2021) / Mark 8:27-9:1; Luke 9:18-27

Mark 8:1-26

Dear RTB’ers,

Today will be my last post for a while. I am having shoulder replacement surgery tomorrow morning and will be out of action for a while. I’ll be in a sling for about a month and then a few more months of recuperation and rehab. John S. has said that he will probably continue to post something in my absence, but that’s up to him. We have a few more days in Mark, then we move to Deuteronomy. A good time for me to take some time off…!! 😊!

Today’s reading has four thousand fed, Pharisee challenges, the disciples’ “unbelief”, and Jesus healing a blind man. This healing of a blind man is one of those six items that appears only in Mark’s gospel. Although Jesus healed the blind on other occasions, this healing occurred at Bethsaida and was accomplished in two stages. There are a couple of curious items in this incident. Why did Jesus take the man out of the village, away from the crowds? (v. 23) Why did the man not see perfectly after Jesus had first anointed his eyes with His spit? (v. 24) Why did Jesus lay His hands on the man’s eyes a second time? (v. 25) Why did Jesus tell the man to go straight home and not even enter the village? (v. 26) And why was this incident reported only in Mark’s gospel? It has enough unique features that I’m surprised at it not being reported elsewhere. The bottom line for this incident, setting aside all the “curious” items: Then Jesus laid His hands on his eyes again; …and he saw everything clearly. (v. 25) How many times has Jesus spoken to us before we could see “everything clearly”? Or, how many more times are needed?

Blessings!

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See also:

• March 18 (2021) / Matt. 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10
• March 19 (2021) / Matt. 16:1-12; Mark 8:11-26