February 3, 2024

“At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release of debts.” Deuteronomy 15:1.

In Deuteronomy 15, there are some facts that are surprising. The chapter first tells the people that they should grant a release of debts every seven years. Then it tells that the people should show generosity to the poor. Next, it tells that you should free your servants in the seventh year of service. Finally, it says that all the firstborn animals should be sanctified.

My first response as I read the chapter was, ‘Man, that sounds really unfair.’ ‘I would hate to be the creditor, or the master.’ As the lender I have all the right to recollect what belongs to me! And for the servant, he/she is mine! At least that’s how it would look like in human point of view.

Yet, as you read into the chapter you will start to understand what God is intending for us to learn. First, God promises us His blessings. “For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you.” Deuteronomy 15:6. This promise is repeated once again in verse 18. It seems like we are at a loss when we cancel the debt or release the servants, but God has His way of blessing us when we listen.

Second, these instructions show us that we are all equal under God. Whether you are the creditor or the debtor, whether you are the master or the servant, in the end we are all His children. The condition to salvation does not depend on what you have or owe, but on your faith in Jesus and that makes us all the same.

Third, this is a good illustration of our salvation. As much as it seems it’s a loss for the creditor or the master, consider the freedom the debtor and the servant has received. It wasn’t deserved, yet given. It goes the same for us as we are slaves to sin. God has paid the price for us and therefore we can be freed and saved.

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January 27, 2024

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4.

After 40 days of fasting in the wilderness, Satan appeared to Jesus to tempt Him. According to Matthew, the first temptation was to make Jesus turn the stone into bread. To this was Jesus’ reply was the text mentioned above.

Jesus was quoting the Old Testament scripture of Deuteronomy 8:3. This is what the verse says: “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.”

The emphasis here is that it is God who provides. Up until this chapter in Deuteronomy, God speaks through Moses and emphasizes many times the importance of God’s people needing to obey His commandments. God keeps talking about the blessings to be received when His people are faithful to Him. God does not want His people to make the mistakes that their fathers made. So here in this verse, God is saying that we need to fully depend on God no matter what. God provides.

Perhaps that is what Jesus wanted to be an example as He was tempted. Yes, Jesus could have used His divinity to change the stone to bread. But He chose not to. Jesus chose to depend on the Father to become an example for us. We should follow the example of Jesus. We should continue to be faithful to God and put our full dependence on our Father who loves us.

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January 13, 2024

“It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.” Deuteronomy 1:2.

When Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land, it could have been a rather easy and short journey. But it took them decades to finally enter the land they were promised. It was actually the second generation that were born in the wilderness that got into the promised land. The first generation that first came out of Egypt never made it but all died.

Moses in Deuteronomy tells the readers that it takes only 11 days to get to Kadesh Barnea from Mt. Horeb. So if you add the time it took to get to Horeb from Egypt, the total duration of time still wouldn’t be that too long. Finally, when the people arrived in Kadesh Barnea, Moses picked out 12 spies, one from each tribe, to check out the promised land. The spies returned with good reports of the land.

At the entrance of the promised land, the people started to complain. “Nevertheless, you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God; and you complained in your tents…” Deut. 1:26, 27. They did not even try to fight (even when they had God’s promises). They got scared.

And the LORD was angry. Therefore, He did not let this generation enter. In chapter 2 of this book, “So it was, when all the men of war (the first generation) had finally perished from among the people,” (Deut. 2:16) the LORD commanded Moses to fight for the land that God had promised. It took them 40 years to finally enter the promised land.

Do we get scared, too? Even when we have God on our back, do we need to get scared? I wonder how the Bible story would have changed if the first generation of people had trusted God and entered the promised land. I wonder how much things would have worked better had we learned to trust God from the beginning.

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