Even one sin is enough to disqualify us from attaining God’s perfect standard; Jesus bridges the gap.
The book of Deuteronomy concludes with the death of Moses.
Moses faithfully leads God’s people as they wander in the desert for forty years, brings them to the border of the land God had promised to give to them, sees it from afar, and then dies before he can step into it.
It’s not fair!
How could God treat his dedicated servant this way? Yet this is what God had decided to do.
Years before Moses has a tiny slip-up. He disobeys God. God tells Moses to speak to a rock and water will gush forth. Instead Moses hits the rock with his walking stick—twice.
Perhaps he’s frustrated with the people’s grumbling; maybe he wasn’t listening to God’s instructions. Possibly he didn’t think it mattered.
It did.
As punishment for his mistake, God says Moses will not be allowed to enter the Promised Land, his final destination (Numbers 20:7-12). As a result, that’s the penalty for not meeting God’s exacting expectations: Moses dies.
We all fall short, so death is our penalty as well. But Jesus makes us right with God, bridging the gap between our failings and God’s gold standard.
Through Jesus we will make it to our final destination, the presence of God and eternity with him.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
The book of Deuteronomy offers surprising insights into our relationship with God
The book of Deuteronomy is never high on my reading list. The seemingly endless instructions about the form and format of God’s expectations for his people vex me, especially given that Jesus fulfills the Old Testament, and today we live under a New Testament arrangement.
Yet there are surprising truths buried in this stodgy book. We can easily miss these amazing insights if we read too hurriedly—or skip the book altogether.
One such passage presents a succinct summary of what God asks of us:
1. Fear God
Does this mean God wants his people to be afraid of him? No! He wants his people to stand in awe of him, with reverence and respect.
2. Walk with God
God asks us to move in relationship with him, to go where he goes. The word repent (which is found throughout the Bible) implies this. It basically means to change course and follow God (and Jesus).
3. Love God
God wants us to love him. That’s a great start. In the New Testament we see God’s love for us. Though it’s evident in the Old Testament, we can’t miss it in the New Testament.
4. Serve God
If we fear, walk with, and love God, we will spontaneously desire to serve him. Yet to make sure we don’t miss this part of our relationship with God, he spells it out for us.
5. Obey God
The fifth item also flows from those before it: obedience. Though obeying an authority is often dismissed in today’s culture, God is one authority who never disappoints, never falters, and never makes a mistake.
The book of Deuteronomy tells us that God is worthy of us doing the things he asks, starting with this passage: fear, walk, love, serve, and obey.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
After Their Situation Changes, David Gives Them New Jobs
The book of Numbers is so named because it starts and ends with a census—a numbering of the people. These take place forty years apart. Moses orchestrates both counts, at God’s command.
For the third part of the first census, Moses counts all men who can serve God from the tribe of Levite—in this case specifically the sons of Kohath. This count focuses on those between age thirty and fifty.
There are two implications from this age range.
One is that it takes not only adulthood, but also a degree of maturity that comes from life lessons before they can serve. We can infer this occurs at age thirty. I wonder at what age significant maturity tends to occur today. Is it sooner or later? I fear it’s later, if at all.
The second implication is that “mandatory retirement” occurs at age fifty. Yes, life expectancies were shorter than, but to see an upper age limit placed on their work for God is interesting.
These men, however, aren’t priests.
Their assigned work is manual labor. The sole task of the sons of Kohath is to move the tent of meeting and items relating to worship. This requires a degree of physical strength, so age does play a part in their work.
It also means they only have work to do when God tells his people to move from one campsite to another. Sometimes this happens frequently, and other times not often at all. The rest of the time they go about their everyday life.
They do this for forty years as the Israelites wander around the desert. But once they get to the land God promised to give them, their wandering stops. The need to pack, move, and unpack the tent of meeting and the items needed for worship ends.
What work do the sons of Kohath do for God once they no longer need to move these items? Nothing.
A few centuries later, however, David gives them new assignments (1 Chronicles 23:25-32).
Though God had given the sons of Kohath a specific assignment, it wasn’t permanent. After their job ended, King David gave them new work to do, changing what God had originally told Moses.
Sometimes God’s commands apply forever and other times only for a season. May we wisely distinguish between the two.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
The Bible Gives Us a Framework for Why We Should Be Holy
Reading through the book of Leviticus challenges most people. Its words fail to engage our imagination as they drone on with seemingly repetitious commands. But there are gems buried within its verses—if our minds aren’t too glossed over to see them.
In today’s verse, God tells us to be holy, but then he tells us why.
The idea to be holy—to live with God-honoring words and actions—both compels and confounds me. I like this ideal, but I fall short on the implementation. Holiness is easier said than done.
Sometimes I wonder why I should even bother to try to be holy—as if I can accomplish it on my own, anyway. Fortunately, Leviticus gives us some insight into this holiness thing.
Following another string of things to do and not to do, God inserts this overarching thought. He says, “Therefore be holy, because” . . . wait for it . . . “because I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45, NIV).
Be Holy Because . . .
Notice that God doesn’t say, “Be holy because I said so,” even though he has every right to. Instead he gives an explanation. Knowing the why behind the command helps me a lot. I’ll take an explained instruction over a blanket edict any day.
In this explanation we have a reminder that God is holy. As we pursue a relationship with him, we’ll become more like him. A bit of God will rub off on us. We will, in fact, become more holy.
This doesn’t mean we must be perfect before we approach him, but it does remind us that he appreciates a little bit of holiness. Our motivation to be holy doesn’t come because God says so. It comes from a desire to be more like him and be in a closer relationship with him.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?
Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting?
It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray.
It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword.
The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance.
In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds.
Although this is a most appropriate description of the mighty steed Secretariat, it was not written for him or the movie, but was penned several millennia before. It is from the book of Job in the Bible. The movie quotes directly from the NIV version (Job 39:19-24).
Secretariatis an inspiring, feel-good flick about a magnificent racehorse, his will to win, and his big, strong heart. It is also a movie about the determination and drive of his owner to make it happen, fulfilling the vision of her late father.
Secretariat is not only a movie most worthy of our time to watch, but as a bonus, it is also family friendly. From a production standpoint, it is top-notch, especially with believable recreations of the races themselves.
Discover more about Job in Peter’s book I Hope in Him: 40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job. In it, we compare the text of Job to a modern screenplay.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
God Intended for Us to Take a Day of Rest Each Week
The Old Testament talks a lot about the Sabbath. God wants his children to work six days and then rest on the seventh. In fact, he commands that they observe the Sabbath. But lest we think this is an Old Testament thing, God says it’s a lasting covenant for generations to come.
That makes it sound like it applies to us today, that he expects us to observe the Sabbath too.
Let’s unpack what this entails.
The Sabbath Is Holy
First, God says that we are to observe the Sabbath
because it is holy. He doesn’t state why it’s holy. He merely decrees that it
is. He’s sovereign, so he can do that.
Because the day is holy, it’s sacred, belonging to him.
We are to regard it with reverence, a day deserving our respect. Many of us
have lost sight of this fact. It’s time to reclaim the Sabbath as holy.
The Sabbath Is a Day with No Work
At the time when God says to observe the Sabbath, the Hebrew people have just ended a time of enslavement, working continuously, toiling every day without a breather.
Taking a break would emerge as a welcome respite, giving them a chance to recover from the week that was and recharge for the week that will be.
The Sabbath Is a Day of Rest
Though slavery still exist today, most of us aren’t under its evil grasp. Yet many in the modern world still act like we’re enslaved. We’re a slave to busyness. We need a break from our jumble of continuous activity. We need a Sabbath rest, a day set apart from the other six.
Those Who Don’t Observe the Sabbath Deserve Death
So that we know how serious God is about this, he says that everyone who doesn’t observe the Sabbath deserves to die. Yikes! We can debate if this is an immediate physical death or an eventual spiritual death or something else, but that discussion misses the point.
God wants us to know he takes observing the Sabbath very seriously.
What the Sabbath Doesn’t Entail
Though I’m still looking for it, I haven’t found a verse where God commands his people to go to the temple (church) on the Sabbath (Sunday).
Yes, he does prescribe certain religious observances where the people go to the temple, and some of those days fall on the Sabbath. But I haven’t found a verse where he tells them to go to the temple every Sabbath—only special ones.
How Can We Observe the Sabbath Today?
How can we apply God’s command to observe the Sabbath to
our life today? This is up for each person to determine. We have three biblical
principles we can use to guide us.
1. Holy
First, it’s a holy day, set apart from all others. What should we do to treat the day as holy and not like the other six days of the week?
2. No work
Second, we are to do no labor on the Sabbath. What constitutes work is up for us to determine. A task that gives us joy is not work and may be an opportunity to worship God on this holy day.
3. A Day of Rest
Third, the Sabbath is a day of rest. What constitutes rest? Taking a nap? Spending time with family and friends? Going to church? Any activity that recharges us may apply as rest.
We need to reclaim the Sabbath as a holy day of rest
without work. The details of how we do this are up for us to decide.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
As readers of the book of Job, we are privy to the whole story: Satan torments Job in an effort to prove that Job’s Godly devotion is conditional, that it is dependent on circumstances.
Job, however, does not have the luxury of this grand view. All he knows is that his once amazing life is now in shambles. He is in pain, and with seemingly nothing left to live for, he wants to die and end his misery.
With a limited view of God and not knowing the back-story, Job’s only conclusion is that this is God’s doing. His perspective is to blame God.
Job lacks an understanding of God’s overarching purpose at work. Job is unaware that once he proves himself faithful and that the enemy, Satan, is proved wrong, all that Job lost will be restored—two-fold (Job 42:10).
In many ways we are like Job. We lack a comprehension of God’s overarching plan and end up blaming God for our pains, our disappointments, and our anger.
If we could just see a glimpse of God’s big picture, then we would know that he in not the source of our frustration, that it lies elsewhere; we would see the reward that awaits us if we but stay on course.
Job did just that, even though he didn’t see God’s big picture.
Discover more about Job in Peter’s book I Hope in Him: 40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job. In it, we compare the text of Job to a modern screenplay.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
God’s chosen people toil as slaves in Egypt. He tasks Moses with getting them out. So far things aren’t going so well. God has sent seven plagues to get the Pharaoh’s attention, without achieving the people’s release. Plague number eight is on its way: Locusts.
An army of locusts. They strip the foliage and fruit off everything in sight.
Panicked, Pharaoh summons Moses. He confesses his sin for having reneged on his last promise to let the people go. He begs for forgiveness and asks Moses to pray that God will take away the plague of locusts.
Moses prays. God answers. He whips up a wind that carries the locusts out to sea. Not one remains in Egypt. Problem solved for Pharaoh, at least for now.
Guess what happens next? With the threat of locusts over, and the pressure for relief gone, Pharaoh changes his mind—again. He refuses to let the Israelites leave.
It will take two more plagues, with the tenth being the deadliest of them all, before Pharaoh lets the people go. If only he had followed through on his promise to let them leave sooner, he would have avoided countless needless deaths—including that of his firstborn son.
What Promises Do We Make to God When We’re in a Jam?
It’s easy to criticize Pharaoh for making a promise during a crisis and going back on his word when life returns to normal. But we do the same thing. It’s human nature.
How many times, when in a moment of crisis, have we made a rash promise to God? It goes something like this, “Get me out of this mess, and I’ll never do it again.”
Or we pledge to do something that we should have been doing all along. Or we vow to stop doing something that we shouldn’t be doing anyway.
Then God hears our plea and often rescues us. But do we follow through on what we promise God? Not likely. Or if we do follow through, our pledge lasts only a short time, and we soon return to living life as we’ve always lived.
Making a bargain with God is never a good idea, because if we don’t follow through, we may find ourselves in an even worse situation. We may be better off to confess our shortcomings and ask for his grace and mercy.
Else we could end up like Pharaoh who paid a huge price for his broken promises.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
After Job’s so-called friends fail so miserably to comfort him in his time of need, after they criticize and malign him, God steps in. God puts them in their place for what they said and affirms that Job has spoken truth.
Then God tells the friends to prepare a sacrifice and to ask Job to pray for them.
Picture the situation. Job’s life is in shambles. He is destitute and in pain, despising life itself. The only people who will even talk to him, attack him and his character, pulling him down even further. Then they have the audacity to ask him to pray for them!
If you were Job, how would you respond?
Praying for them would be a hard thing to do; it would be far easier to give them the payback they deserve, but not Job. In the midst of his torment, he prays for his misguided friends even though they seem to be in a much better state than he is.
God accepts Job’s prayers—and then restores his fortunes twofold.
What if Job had refused to pray for his friends, might God’s response have been different?
Discover more about Job in Peter’s book I Hope in Him: 40 Insights about Moving from Despair to Deliverance through the Life of Job. In it, we compare the text of Job to a modern screenplay.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
A Women Takes Extreme Action to Get What Is Due Her
Tamar is a victim who takes extreme action to vindicate herself. She’s the daughter-in-law of Judah. She suffers at his hand, responds with guile, and has twins with him. Later she is one of four women mentioned in Jesus’s family tree. Talk about a messed-up situation. Here’s her story:
Tamar marries Judah’s oldest son. He’s evil and dies. She’s passed on to his brother to produce offspring in his stead. The brother doesn’t cooperate, and God kills him. Judah promises Tamar his third son when he’s old enough and sends her back to live with her parents to wait.
He has no intention of following through. He lies to her.
Once she realizes this, she dresses like a hooker, and waits where she knows Judah will be. Not knowing who she is, he sleeps with her, and she gets pregnant. He uses her.
When Judah finds out his daughter-in-law is pregnant, he condemns her to die.
Then she reveals who the father is. Judah confesses his role, and he professes his daughter-in-law as righteous. They, along with their son Perez, are part of Jesus’ genealogy.
Tamar’s drastic steps ensure she will have a family and be cared for; God ensures she has a legacy.
The story of Tamar concludes in Matthew 1:3. She’s also celebrated when the elders bless Ruth in Ruth 4:12.
Learn about other biblical women in Women of the Bible, available in e-book, paperback, hardcover, and audiobook.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
