Monday, March 28, 2011
Deuteronomy 7:6
Monday, March 28, 2011 |
For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Today we will begin our journey through Deuteronomy, the fifth book of Moses, and will look at the “prophetic passages” in this very important book. Before we spend time in this book let me reflect on the last chapters of Numbers.
Information found in Numbers 22 thru 36 will conclude the record of the “wanderings in the wilderness” by the Israelites, chapters 22-33, and the “closing instructions” to the Jewish people, chapters 34-36.
As we come to Deuteronomy we will see that this book is a summary of the history of Israel in the wilderness, a restatement of the “Law”, the prophecies of the Jewish Prophet Moses, the “Land Covenant” and the “Song of Moses” and his parting “blessings” on the Jewish people.
God tells the Jewish people through their leader Moses that He had ‘chosen’ them to be a “special people” and did thus chose the Jews, above everybody on earth.
Our extended reading actually tells the Jews, and we who are reading this passage of scripture for our devotional reading today, that they were not chosen because they were the largest number of people of any people around. Reality is that the “Jews were the fewest of all the people”.
Then, the Lord tells everyone why He chose the Jewish people, verse 8, “because He loved them”. Someone has suggested that we put the word "grace" around verse 8. It was by His "grace" that the “Jewish people were chosen”. The truth is, it was by His grace that I, or any of us, was chosen for salvation.
Verse 9 is a key verse, not only in the passage, but throughout the Bible. God is a “covenant keeping God”. He makes this statement through Moses to the Jews and it is true throughout 1,000 generations. That's a long time, however you number a generation.
The promise of God to the Jewish people is that He will keep His covenant. His promises, to the Jewish people, are key to understanding Bible prophecy and how history is going to play out in the future.
God has a plan for the Jewish people. He has made a number of covenants, promises to the Jews, promises that have not yet been fulfilled, but will be in the future.
God is not God if He can break any promise or covenant He made with His chosen people. Those who believe that the church has replaced the Jews must re-think that and accept these promises in scripture or otherwise their theology is wrong, actually heretical.
God's plan for the Jewish people includes a Jewish nation in the “land” of their forefathers, with a “temple” in Jerusalem and the Jewish people recognizing and accepting Jesus Christ as their “Messiah” and Lord and Savior.
Satan would like to negate God's promises to the Jews and he can do that through violence or violation of God's program for the Jews. Religion and even false doctrine found in Christian circles can make that happen. God's promises to the Jews, His chosen people, are true and forever.
Not only does the Lord keep His promises to the Jews, He keeps His promises to those of us who are Christians as well. Those promises effect our salvation, eternal home and that He will come in the sky to call us to meet Him in the heavens at the Rapture. What a promise.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for your faithfulness in keeping your promises to the Jews and to each of us that are Christians, also.
For further reading - Deuteronomy 7:1-9
Today we will begin our journey through Deuteronomy, the fifth book of Moses, and will look at the “prophetic passages” in this very important book. Before we spend time in this book let me reflect on the last chapters of Numbers.
Information found in Numbers 22 thru 36 will conclude the record of the “wanderings in the wilderness” by the Israelites, chapters 22-33, and the “closing instructions” to the Jewish people, chapters 34-36.
As we come to Deuteronomy we will see that this book is a summary of the history of Israel in the wilderness, a restatement of the “Law”, the prophecies of the Jewish Prophet Moses, the “Land Covenant” and the “Song of Moses” and his parting “blessings” on the Jewish people.
God tells the Jewish people through their leader Moses that He had ‘chosen’ them to be a “special people” and did thus chose the Jews, above everybody on earth.
Our extended reading actually tells the Jews, and we who are reading this passage of scripture for our devotional reading today, that they were not chosen because they were the largest number of people of any people around. Reality is that the “Jews were the fewest of all the people”.
Then, the Lord tells everyone why He chose the Jewish people, verse 8, “because He loved them”. Someone has suggested that we put the word "grace" around verse 8. It was by His "grace" that the “Jewish people were chosen”. The truth is, it was by His grace that I, or any of us, was chosen for salvation.
Verse 9 is a key verse, not only in the passage, but throughout the Bible. God is a “covenant keeping God”. He makes this statement through Moses to the Jews and it is true throughout 1,000 generations. That's a long time, however you number a generation.
The promise of God to the Jewish people is that He will keep His covenant. His promises, to the Jewish people, are key to understanding Bible prophecy and how history is going to play out in the future.
God has a plan for the Jewish people. He has made a number of covenants, promises to the Jews, promises that have not yet been fulfilled, but will be in the future.
God is not God if He can break any promise or covenant He made with His chosen people. Those who believe that the church has replaced the Jews must re-think that and accept these promises in scripture or otherwise their theology is wrong, actually heretical.
God's plan for the Jewish people includes a Jewish nation in the “land” of their forefathers, with a “temple” in Jerusalem and the Jewish people recognizing and accepting Jesus Christ as their “Messiah” and Lord and Savior.
Satan would like to negate God's promises to the Jews and he can do that through violence or violation of God's program for the Jews. Religion and even false doctrine found in Christian circles can make that happen. God's promises to the Jews, His chosen people, are true and forever.
Not only does the Lord keep His promises to the Jews, He keeps His promises to those of us who are Christians as well. Those promises effect our salvation, eternal home and that He will come in the sky to call us to meet Him in the heavens at the Rapture. What a promise.
PRAYER THOT: Thank you Lord for your faithfulness in keeping your promises to the Jews and to each of us that are Christians, also.