Deuteronomy 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
Cattle and pigs are interesting critters. They will search out any hole in their pen and try to get out. However, when you want to move them, you can have a big gate open, and if they do not want to go through that gate, they can try your patience.
Animals can be scared and they can act in strange ways when they think they are trapped. That is part of the instinct that God placed in them.
God created man with a conscience. Man has the basic knowledge of right and wrong. Due to the fall of man, he often chooses wrong over right. He needs to be born again to change his way of doing things.
In our text, God was addressing the nation of Israel as they were close to crossing over Jordan. They had spent forty years wandering in the wilderness. The people that God was addressing in our text, had watched their parents and relatives die in that wilderness. They knew the reason that generation died there was due to their rebellion against the Lord. Those parents and relatives did not set a good example for their children.
God knew that this present generation was not any different from their parents. Even though they knew why they lost their loved ones, many of them would still insist on going their own way. Man has the ability to reason. He can observe and he can look at things and make decisions based on what he sees. He has the ability to rationalize things. Sin has corrupted man’s ability to see things clearly.
It is interesting to watch people try to find answers to life’s questions apart from submitting to God. There are people who have home Bible studies, and there are denominations that have developed by people who want to appease their conscience but they do not want to surrender to God’s will.
They lack the fear of God and they twist God’s Word to try to soothe their guilty conscience. “Bible book stores” are full of study books and devotional books written by Bible twisters. They have catchy titles and they know how to use subtlety to trick gullible people into following them.
Of course the pride of lost people leads them to suggest that they do not follow any one person. They leave their options open to consider many points of view. That is why the perversions are so popular. They like the way a certain perversion writes a certain verse, and they like how a different perversion writes another verse, etc.
God told the nation of Israel that God’s Word was not hidden from them. It was not only in heaven, where they could not access it. It was not in some distant land where they could not access it. God told them the Word of God was nigh them. It was in their mouth and in their heart. They had a superficial understanding of God’s Word.
When they would cross the Jordan, Joshua would lead them to circumcise that generation of males, because they neglected to do that for forty years. Circumcision was not strange to that generation. They did not argue with Joshua about it. They knew what it was about, but they had neglected to take care of it.
Joshua would also lead them in keeping the Passover prior to going to Jericho. They also knew about the Passover. It was not strange to them, but they needed to keep it in preparation for what lay ahead.
There were many things they knew about, but they were not living by it. God had shown them the blessings of following the good and He had shown them the consequences of choosing the evil. As mentioned, they saw a generation of people die off and there was nothing they could do to stop it. What they could do, is learn from it and they could choose to follow the Lord.
Today, most of the people who will read this devotional are Gentiles. God’s Word is not far from us either. It is not that difficult to find a King James Bible. You do not even need to go to a store to buy one. You can download a free Bible app that has the King James Bible, and you can read it freely. You can also get a free audio Bible that will even make it more convenient to hear God’s Word. There are also some free study helps based on the KJV that you can access.
Our church does not charge for the teaching and preaching that we do. I know there are people who have attended our church and did not like what they heard, and they warn their friends to stay away from our church.
It is not that the truth is not available but it is not appreciated. So people will seek one of many false religious groups and they will get involved in twisting and corrupting God’s Word. They will feel good about themselves because they feel real important. They think they have found the answers, but yet when they see a truly God-fearing person, they avoid them. They do not like to hear the truth, because God’s Word cuts to the core of man. It pierces through the pretence and the facade. It shows who you truly are. Unless the person is willing to be broken and surrender to the truth, he or she will resist the Truth.
The nation of Israel needed to be reminded that the Truth was not going away, just because they were crossing the Jordan. The Truth was going to be with them at all times. The Truth was there to guide them and protect them.
God reminded them that they could choose to follow the Truth and be blessed, or they could choose to rebel against the Truth and face the wrath of God.
God had already shown them, that those who rejected Him would die. They did not die right away. It took forty years for some of them to die. When they died, most of them went to hell. Some of them were quite old when they died, but they still died.
Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. He did not go to hell, but he could not enter that blessed, promised land. Canaan was not a picture of heaven. There is no sin in heaven. Canaan had many pagan nations that needed to be conquered by the people. Heaven is a place free from sin and the mansions are prepared by Jesus Christ. Those who enter heaven do not need to fight to purge it of evil. There is no evil there.
Canaan gives us a picture of the world and of the war that takes place in the heart of man. Even those who trust in the Lord will have battles to fight.
Joshua was a man of God, but he still had battles to fight. He needed to learn the importance of submitting to God in all things. That is why he needed to spend time in God’s Word every day. He was not supposed to twist God’s Word to suit his ideas. He was to submit to God’s Word and follow His way. That was the way of blessing.
When he did that, he experienced the blessings of God. When he chose to go it alone, he suffered the consequences of that. It is never wise to choose to venture out on our own. We need to submit to God’s sure Word and we need to submit to God’s appointed leaders. That is the way of blessing.
Pastor Bartel