Day 72- Lessons from History

Deuteronomy means "Second Law". The old, disobedient, disbelieving generation is gone except for Joshua/Caleb. Now they are at the border, ready to enter into the Promised Land. Moses gives his last message to the new generation who will claim the Promised Land. His speech is part review, part encouragement, part reminder. The idea is to tell them the lessons so they will not make the same mistakes. The message is to tell them who God is and who they are: God's chosen people.

I've enjoyed reading your posts. You all are "getting" it. Keep up the good work. One lesson many of us have commented on, how much we are like the children of Israel: we complain, we distrust, we disobey just like they did. That's one important lesson. I have the same flaws, the same propensities. I need to be very humble.

The other great lesson from these stories is how awesome God is: the miracles, the power, the care and protection, the passion, the drama, the patience, the love and compassion, the anger.

Another lesson is God is a God of the Second Chance. tonight, the HSF will be watching a movie by that title. As we read the Bible this month, we have come to know better, the God of salvation. The God who desires to redeem this world. I hope HSF will begin to see themselves as God's Chosen People who will go out to their promised lands and claim it for God.

This Bible reading plan skipped over a full recitation of the law. It was probably a good choice, as it is slow, and confusing. But law is necessary for us. The law can't save us, but it clearly shows us we need to be saved. It also shows us a path of blessing. I often feel rules are a burden, but strangely as we follow them we see God's laws are actually a path to freedom.