Monday, December 12, 2022

Deuteronomy 4:30

Deuteronomy 4:30 says, When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;  Moses called on the people of Israel to remember God and to be obedient to Him in times of tribulation, especially in the latter days.  This still holds true for us today as followers of Christ.  Verse thirty-one adds, (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.  We, like the people of Israel, can trust God because He is a merciful God and will never fail to keep His word.  God will never forget His covenant with anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Verse thirty-two asks, For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?  Moses told them to ask themselves if since God had created mankind there had ever been anything else done that was as great as what God did for them or if they had even heard of anything.  We as Christians have now heard of something greater than God's delivering the people of Israel out of Egypt, and that is His delivering anyone who will put their faith in Jesus Christ, Who died to deliver us, from the death penalty of sin.  Verse thirty-three adds, Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?  Moses asked if any other people had heard God’s voice speaking out of the midst of the fire and lived.  We today as followers of Christ may not have physically heard the voice of God speaking out of the fire, but we have spiritually heard the voice of God calling us to Him, and the only way to everlasting life is to say yes to His call to salvation.  Verse thirty-four continues, Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?   Moses asked the people of Israel if they had ever heard of any god doing all that the one and only true God had done for the people of Israel to attain their release from Egypt.  Most of the people there had only heard about it, because the generation that had experienced it were dead.  We did not personally experience the greater act of deliverance that Jesus Christ provided on the cross, but we must put our faith in Him if we are to be saved, and we must tell our children about the great salvation that He offers everyone.  Verse thirty-five states, Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.  Moses said that what God did fot Israel in Egypt was done so that they might know that He is God and there is none other beside Him.  I am not sure why God chose the people of Israel to be the ones who would proclaim Him to the world, but He did.  I am not sure why God chose to allow His only begotten Son to die in my place, but He did.  Verse thirty-six adds, Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.  Moses said that out of heaven God made His voice heard to them so that He might instruct them, and that He also showed them the great fire that they heard His voice from.  We today as Christians hear the voice of God calling us to salvation and then to faithfulness to Him.  We may not hear an actual voice speaking out loud, but we must hear the voice of God speaking to us spiritually in order to be saved.  Verse thirty-seven continues, And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;  Moses said that because God loved the fathers of the people of Israel that He brought them out of Egypt.  God had established His covenant with their forefathers before they went into Egypt, and God still honored that covenant relationship with them.  Once we enter into a covenant relationship with God by putting our faith in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, God will never go back on His covenant with us, even if we fail to live up to our part by not always putting Him first.  Verse thirty-eight says, To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.  Moses said that God drove out nations greater than the people of Israel and gave them the land of those who had been driven out.  We can still rely on God to provide for our needs today, even in difficult situations as long as we remain faithful to Him.  Verse thirty-nine adds, Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.  This is the decision that every person has to make at some point in their life.  God is the only God in heaven and in the earth, and the only way to salvation is through faith in the fact that Jesus Christ died for our sins to bring us salvation if we put our faith in Him.

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