Deuteronomy: Chapters 1-7
Chapter 1: Follow the Lord wholeheartedly. Act not out of your own will.
V. 1-8: The Lord said: “Go in and take possession of the promise land.”
V. 9-18: Moses took man’s advice and he appointed leaders to share the burden of ruling. All of the people thought his plan was good. But those leaders became a big trouble for Moses later because they wanted more power.
V. 19-25: The Israelites obeyed God’s words and set out to take possession of the promise land. But they asked to spy out the land first. They should have just gone and took possession of the land in simple faith.
V. 26-33: Now they became discouraged because they looked at the enemies, the environment and themselves. They started to grumble against God. They became disbelieved and rebellious. And they forgot about the great kindness of almighty God.
V. 34-40: In this way they provoked God to anger. All of those who did not believe could never see the land. Only Caleb and Joshua should see the good land God swore to them. Two of them followed God wholeheartedly. And the weak ones such as women and children would also enter the good land.
V. 41-46: Then, they acted out of their own will. They were bound to be defeated because they had sinned against God. God was not with them so they were completely defeated by their enemies. It would be better if they had connected to the Lord closely without any doubts.
Chapter 2: Be very careful. Follow God’s commands completely.
V. 1-25: Be very careful to follow God’s words. Do not war against Esau, the Moabites or the Ammonites. But fight against the Amorite, king of Heshbon.
V. 26-37: Fully obey God’s words. Then, there was not one town too strong for them. The Lord handed all of the towns over to the Israelites. Be sure not to go near any of the land forbidden by God.
Chapter 3: Do not be afraid. Desire nothing but the will of God.
V. 1-21: Do not be afraid how strong the enemies are. God said: “I have handed them over to you.” None of the enemies would survive. The Lord our God Himself would fight for us. But the two and half tribes chose their own land because they were selfishness. They cared only about themselves. In fact, God’s chosen land was the best. (e.g. Testimony of Gandi)
V. 23-29: God did not listen to Moses’ prayer because it was not of God’s will. Desire nothing but the will of God.
Chapter 4: Obey the word of God. Do not add to it, subtract from it, or mix it.
V. 1-8: Fully obey God’s words so that you may live. Do not add to it, subtract from it, or mix it. It is by trusting in the Lord that we can follow His words completely. Surely it is wise and smart to follow God’s words completely. No other gods like the way of our God who is near us whenever we pray to Him. God said, “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”(Isaiah 65:24) When we pray according to the Holy Spirit and the will of God, we are sure that God will answer it. It is just like prophet Ezekiel who prayed according to the command of God over the dry bones. His prayer became a prophecy. Let us read Ezekiel 37/7-10: “So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them;
prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.”
V. 9-14: Only be careful, and watch your heart closely. Always follow the word of God and never stop proclaiming His words.
V.15-28: Watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt by idols. If you corrupt yourselves by idols, you would make God angry and have great disasters.
V.29-31: Turn to God and follow God’s words. The Lord would never forsake you.
V. 32-40: Be sure to know that the Lord is God; besides Him there is no other. If you follow God’s words, you may go well and live long in the good land.
V. 41-49: Set up cities of refuge. Anyone who has killed a person by accident can flee into the Lord. He will be trialed by the word of God everyday in the city of refuge. He does not have to die for his sins. Rather, he can live a new life in Jesus Christ and take possession of the land.
Chapter 5: Keep God’s commands carefully. Act out all His orders.
V.1-22: These are the ten commandments of the Lord. God adds nothing more. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they held on to the traditions of men and their own tradition. Therefore, the Pharisees regarded the guiltless as guilty. One Christian sister taught others how to drive out the demons by her own tradition. It made her like a detestable witch. We must not put God’s commandments aside and follow traditions of men.
There is a lady in London. She has been famous for her good behaviors at church. Ever since she started to attend church, she has always carried two heavy bags with her wherever she goes. One is full of spiritual books, and the other is full of tapes about spiritual teachings. She has been distributing them free to anyone she came across even when she did not believe in Jesus. Many of her books or tapes are not pure gospel. She has not led people to build up their faith in the most holy words of God. She told people that once she fasted 24 days for a man who was addict to gamble. Though many people think she is spiritual and caring, she is not after God’s own heart. God desires us to intercede for all nations and everyone. Apostle Paul warned church of Corinthian not to go beyond what was written in the Bible. Be aware of Satan pretending as an ANGEL of LIGHT. If we do not keep God’s words carefully, we will go astray from the truth. We will mislead people. Therefore, it is very important that we ourselves must first of all keep God’s words carefully and take root in the foundation. Then we can really help others.
V. 29: Fear God and always keep all of God’s commands, you will prosper forever.
V. 32-33: Be careful to do what the Lord has commanded you. Do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the good land.
Chapter 6: Be prudent and fear God. Reject evil and practice good.
V.20 and V.24: Why does God repeatedly ask us to pay attention to His words? It is because the evil doer and the deceiver go from bad to worse. If we do not follow God’s words carefully and do well fervently, we may be led astray from God easily.
V. 4-9: How can we love the only true God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength? (1) It is to be like Mary listening to God’s words with a quiet spirit and remember them well in our heart. (2) Never stop proclaiming God’s words. (3) Meditate His words day and night so that they will be imprinted in our mind. (4) Whatever we do, do it for the sake of the Lord.
V. 12-14: Be careful that you do not forget the Lord. Do not follow other gods. Do not test your God. If we know it is wrong and still do it thinking we can get away with it, we put God to test. (e.g. testimony of Guo) God cannot be mocked.
Chapter 7: Depend on the power of the Almighty God. Destroy the enemies totally.
V. 1-11: Be sure to destroy the enemies totally. Show them no mercy because they are enemies against God. Smash and cut down their sacred stones and idols. Though we are holy people of God, we have enemies outside and inside. Outside there are seven nations in the land of Canaan. Inside we have flesh and sinful nature to deal with. It is by the atonement of the precious blood of our Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit that we will put to death our enemies internally and externally.
V. 12-16: If we are careful to follow God’s words, then God will keep His covenant of love with us. Destroy all the enemies. Do not look on them with pity, for they will be a snare to you. (e.g. Saul and Solomon)
V. 17-24: Do not doubt how you can drive out all of the enemies. Remember well the great power of God. God is almighty. No one will be able to stand up against you. Do not be discouraged. Continue to pray by faith until you destroy them totally.
V. 25-26: Be careful not to covet the silver and gold on the idols of the enemies. Nor take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it. Utterly abhor and detest what God detests. If you bring a detestable thing into your house, you will be like one of it.