Editor’s Note: We continue our series of blogs for those who are reading the Bible with us cover-to-cover this year. Interspersed with our thoughts on our daily reading, we want to provide some tips about reading the Bible in general. Today we want to explore …
Deuteronomy …
Living up to Expectations for the Present Generation
(Deuteronomy 5-26)
In the second section of this book of renewed hope, we see Moses deliver the laws that will govern the nation in the new land. Notice how many times he recasts the vision as he says, “When you enter the land the Lord is giving to you.”
As you explore these chapters, remember you are dealing the laws of an entire nation! It is quite possible that the nation of Israel numbers almost three million at this time, and is only supposed to grow larger! Although it is not your typical inspirational reading, this legal section does have one major difference from reading the Constitution of the United States and it’s Law Code: These laws are given with God’s voice all through them. Please remember the principle set forth by Jesus as you read them:
“The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. ” (Luke 6:45, ESV)
Since God is good, these laws are good for the people of Israel. They flow from the abundance of God’s heart. Therefore, they are designed to bring life to their daily lives as much as eternal life to their souls.
Listen as you travel through these major sections of Israel’s New Law Code. We see Moses is …
- Explaining the meaning of the Ten Commandments, which housed the core of Israel’s moral life. (5-10)
- Explaining the meaning of the Ceremonial Laws, which housed the core of Israel’s religious life. (11-16)
- Explaining the meaning of the Civil Laws, which housed the core of Israel’s political life. (16-20)
- Explaining the meaning of the Social Laws, which housed the core of Israel’s daily life. (21-26)
It is our hope that this background information helps a bit as you read on in the Bible. We will continue this series with our next installment on Friday when we talk about “Building a Love for God.”
For daily insights into the passage we are reading together each day, you can follow Dr. Smith on Twitter and on Facebook.
You can obtain more help from the FREE Bible reading schedule on our resource page. In His Image is a daily devotional that also follows our reading schedule and expresses the Biblical truth: “God Created You to Love You.” You can find this resource on the side bar of our website.
