Moses address continues in today's reading.  Once again he reminds the Israelites of their God who created heaven and earth and everything in them who there's none to compare with. I was a little downcast due to what happened at work yesterday.  Thing that I thought it would be easy to deal with turned out to be totally opposite to my wrong expectation. It was wrong because I raised myself too high and become too confident instead of being humble.  The Lord gave me a lesson again that He's the one who should increase, not me!! 
 
Today 4:6 and 7 caught my attention.  It says,
 
⁶ Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” ⁷

God chose the Israelites not because they were better somehow than others but because they are the weakest of all for His purpose that is to show His greatness to others.  We can see here that other nations were supposed to see the glory of God from the Israel's wisdom and understanding just as other passages of the OT say the same thing such as Exodus 19:6 (you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation..) Choosing the Israel as His people does not mean that God doesn't care about other nations.  The nation of Israel was supposed to be the priest country to draw other nations who are lost.  Our election should not be an excuse for arrogance or complacency but the true motivation for bringing the lost to the Lord.  Let us strive to obey His Word so that our lives may be the compelling reason for people to come to the Lord!
 

Friends, we read in Deuteronomy 4:2, "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you." Moses was speaking of the Law. Paul would echo this sentiment in 1 Corinthians 4:6, "Do not go beyond what is written." Finally, the Book of Revelation carries with it a similar warning:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If any one of you adds anything to them, God will add to you the plagues described in this scroll. And if any one of you takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from you your share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scrol (Revelation 22:18-19).

I'm convinced that most of the egregious controversies and cults of today arise out of a violation of this principle, which is captured in Luther's dictum sola Scriptura (that is, "Scripture alone"). As if the Bible is insufficient, they look for new prophecies, new experiences, even new doctrines. Leaders, unable to capture the attention of their followers with the plain teaching of the Scriptures, give in to the temptation to proffer new ideas that are foreign to the text and the context of a passage.

We live in a day where Christians are not stirred up simply by the command, "Love the LORD your God..." Instead, the lights have to be dimmed, the music has to play, the atmosphere has to be created with loud cries and tears and repetitions of "Stir it up in our hearts, Lord...Stir it up in our hearts, Lord..." as many times as it takes to make it so. But this type of induced devotion can hardly be sustained in the day to day. And we wonder why there is a disconnect between faith and life experienced by so many Christians.

When will we finally realize that true spiritual growth does not arise out of a well-choreographed performance, or a well-planned and marketed program, or a retreat finale, where people are brought to some emotional crescendo after a week of activities and sleepless nights that has brought them to the heights of physical fatigue. When will we realize that people don't need "more of Christ," they need Christ.  They don't need to go beyond the Word. They need the Word. They don't need to experience God. They need God.

This may sound like semantics, but I'm afraid that we have substituted the reality for counterfeits. When we are struggling with sin, it is not simply stubborn disobedience that needs to be dealt with. We say, It is because we need more of Christ. If we want to get right with God, we say, we have to stand up, come forward, and have the pastor lay his hand on us to get a breakthrough. If someone shares with us that they are getting a divorce, we try to be sensitive and understanding and accepting. All of this probably sounds really good, because this is how far the Christian faith has descended. This unbiblical approach to faith is the new norm. All of these may have a semblance of Sciptural support, but they add or take away from Scripture. They "go beyond" what is written or perhaps come short of it.

Therefore, I find no better remedy than to encourage everyone to get back to the Word, even to weep and mourn, not because of the loud music and cries from a praise leader, but because we have forgotten God's Word and have neglected His truth for counterfeits. Daily reading of the Bible is not what we "want" to do, it is what we "must" do. I write this both to leaders and followers, to pastors and laymen, to Christians everywhere. Israel of all generations "fell from grace" because they either forgot God's Word, added to God's Word or took away from God's Word.

First, I would like to comment on Fernando's earlier remark about Moses "passing the buck." I never thought of it that way before, but I think it makes total sense. There are many times throughout the Pentateuch that Moses seems infalliable, almost too good to be true. I think he blame of the Israelites proves that he is just a man, prone to mistakes, as were his people.

Because I am trying to understand some of the finer points in the Bible, I find myself always looking for questions, perhaps reading too deep into things rather than just letting them be. Some may seem rather trivial, and if so, I apologize. Throughout Numbers and Deuteronomy, God talks about the people of Israel "taking" numerous cities in order to truly achieve control of the Promised Land. "At that time we took all his towns and completely destroyed them - men, women and children. We left no survivors" (Deut. 2:34). Wouldn't an act like this violate the laws just recently set by God through the 10 Commandments? Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not commit murder. How can these actions be justified according to God's laws for His people? I hate to say it, but this almost seems hypocritical.

My final thought, however, can see some of the lessons learned through all of this. The fact that Moses is being punished, not only for his sins, but the sins of his people, still holds true today. We, as leaders/martial arts instructors/teachers, need to be aware that the actions of our students and those serving beneath us are reflections of us. Sometimes we tend to overlook this.

Yujin responds... Great thoughts, Heather! Regarding your comment on what seems a "double-standard" for God and man, this is exactly what it is. Where we would not stand for it with people, it is absolutely right with respect to God. God is above the law, and the righteousness of the Law stems from God Himself. Job learned this when he suffered the chastisement of God even when he was righteous. God can take life because He gave it, but we cannot do the same. And since he owns all things, He can do with it what He wills; however, we are only stewards and are responsible for handling things as the owner directs us to do so. Therefore, we must understand that there is a differentiation between God and us. He is completely consistent in Himself.

As leaders we are responsible for those who follow us and followers can get the leader in peril sometimes.  I often laugh when my son does something  wrong and my wife would hollar at me in fustration, "Get your son. He just like you".  Then I would say to him, "What did you do to have her mad with me".  I don't think that Moses was passing the buck.  I feel that he excepted what he did wrong while leading the people, just wanted his works to get him into the Promiseland.  I think that this ought to be an example that our works don't cover our faults.  I am glad that we have God grace today...that repentence through Christ still gets us our blessings not because of our works, but because Grace.

Towards the end of ch 3, as I think i have read before, Moses said "Godis angry with me because of you." I understood Moses was denied entrance because of his own disobedience at the rock. This sounds like he is passing the buck. Can you clarify?

Yujin responds... “But because of you the LORD was angry with me…” (Deut 3:26) - I think you have a point here. This kind of blaming is not befitting the “humblest” of all men, but reveals that even in the best and greatest of leaders there are chinks in the armor, there is the place of weakness and pride. And this was not the first time or last time he shifted blame (cf. Deut 1:37; 4:21). These last years are not among the greatest for Moses. Perhaps God in His mercy cut Moses’ life short here before his moral and spiritual decline become more pronounced. Perhaps we could say the same for others, like Martin Luther King Jr. or Abraham Lincoln. As I understand God’s perspective on our lives, it is not how you begin but how you end that matters (Ezek. 33:12-19). Remember, the real reason for Moses’ not being able to enter the Promise Land was his sin at the waters of Meribah recorded in Numbers 20:1-13. There he dishonored God by (1) not following God's instructions carefully, (2) taking credit for the miracle rather than giving glory to God. This event happened likely in the 40^th year after the Exodus. After so many long years of taking a rebellious people through the wilderness, and for no fault of his own at that time, now he is unable to go in because of this last sin, which he committed undoubtedly in his frustration. As you read Deuteronomy, you do get a sense that Moses may be a bit on edge, and like Elijah would be after him, ready to be finished with his ministry and pass it on to another. Just as God closed Elijah's ministry and commissioned Elisha, so God would end Moses' ministry and commission Joshua.
 

As I read about how God has given the people of Bashan over to the Israelites I thought about how God has done this for me in my life.  The easy summary is to say that when God's will aligns with mine it just all seems to work out.  But the other half of the story is the part I found enlightening.  I realize that God may have often said, "Go, Matt, and do this or that for I have handed it over to you", and I just didn't fully trust God or may not have seen the importance of what God wanted me to do.  It may just not have been that obvious or evident.  I wonder what would be different today if I would have taken those steps of faith and trusted in God to provide even when I couldn't wrap my brain around the reasons why he wanted me to do it.  Rather than thinking "what if", I think the important thing is to think "OK, now what".  Now what does God want me to do?  This simple change in my daily thinking may be the difference of finding God's will and struggling outside of it.

Yujin comments...Profound, brother Matt! I try to make this my daily prayer. Paul writes in Galatians 5:25, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." So we try not to get behind or get ahead of the Spirit but to keep "in step" with Him.