Deuteronomy 5:1-33

I almost laughed in irony as I read v. 29 in this passage.  Moses is reminding Israel of the 10 Commandments, the sons and daughters of the generation that received them.  He describes for them how the Lord had spoken to their parents out of a fire consuming the top of the mountain, and how their parents feared to remain in His holy presence.  They alone of the people of the earth were given an opportunity to hear the voice of God has He commanded them, and it was too much: they knew if they heard anymore His holiness would overcome them.  They promised Moses that if he would be a liaison between themselves and God, they would do everything the Lord commanded.

The entire time reading this, I kept thinking to myself, "They saw God!  They saw Him and heard His voice from the midst of the fire and knew that His very words had the power to kill them.  Why did they not remember this at Kadesh on hearing the spies' report and say to themselves, 'It doesn't matter how big these people are!  Our God could kill them with a whisper!'" and just march on in?

V. 29: "Oh that they had such a mind as this always, to fear Me and to keep all My commandments, that it might go well with them and their descendants forever!"

Even at the time the bargain was struck, God saw what was coming down the road.  They would not always keep "such a mind as this."  Instead, they would become tied to the things of the present and forget God's awesome power and how He could pave the way for them.  They were stubborn and obstinate and disobedient.  And that entire generation who saw with wisdom that God's holiness did not mix with their sinful natures died in the desert for lack of wisdom and judgment and faith.

Lest we judge them too quickly, though: how many times have we seen God do incredible things, both big and small, and forget them or fail to recall them to mind when faced with a new trial or crisis?  It is easy to do, isn't it?  Instead, we need to take on the attitude mentioned twice in this chapter: "being careful", or being intentional, doing with purpose, all that the Lord has commanded.  Being careful to remember what the Lord has done for us so that in times of trial our faith is strengthened.  We see it happen a lot in the Psalms!

Tomorrow's Reading: Deuteronomy 6:1-7:26