Deuteronomy 1 – 3

Verse 1:3 & 4 set the stage for Moses’ talk:

^3-4 Now on the first day of the 11th month, 40 years after the nation left Egypt and sometime after Moses had defeated Sihon (king of the Amorites who ruled in Heshbon) and Og (king of Bashan who ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei), Moses began to give to a new generation of the Israelites each word the Eternal had commanded him to tell them. 

Here Israel is standing on the threshold of the Promised Land after 40 additional years after leaving Egypt. Moses shall address the people by first giving them a review of how they got to where they are this day.

Verse 1:17 is how judges were to operate then and show do so now:

Don’t show any favoritism when you judge; whether a person is important or unimportant, hear him out. Don’t be intimidated by anybody because it’s really God who is the judge; you are just His agents. If any case is too difficult for you, bring it to me, and I’ll handle it.” 

As I read this I thought of the many times I went before a judge. I have represented myself and had legal representation a few times. In many cases it seemed that the law was not review and the judge took the easy way out. Either way it seemed that as solid of a case I may have presented, the loss was confusing and seemed to go to the side with the money.

Verse 1:32 kind of says it all for them and us today:

But you still don’t trust the Eternal your God,

Think about how we interface with God in life today. We have all these promises we try to rest on, yet when we live in the world that says it’s false. I experienced something at Men’s Step Up this past week that encouraged me greatly. Here us old guys invited a group of “flat bellies” to sit with us and learn. At prayer time Jeff was talking about his hip replacement and the complications since. The young man with us dropped everything and had us pray over him. He trusted God in Jesus saying “will be able to do what I have done, but they will do even greater things.”

He taught me that we are not trusting God, but using Him as a “Make A Wish” genie.