OceanSide church of Christ
Read devotionals for August 2024
September 1, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:5, 6 – And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the Lord you God.
Thought: During the forty years Israel was in the wilderness, God took care of them. Their clothes did not become ragged. Their shoes did not wear out. The Lord also nourished them. He gave them manna from heaven and quail to eat. They needed no medications such as wine or strong drink to survive. The Lord cared for them that they might know that He was the Lord their God. This provision sadly did not keep some from rebelling against His will.
Nehemiah 9:21
September 2, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:7, 8 – And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them: and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
Thought: When Israel approached the Promised Land, the asked Sihon for passage along the border of his kingdom. He, however, refused to grant passage. Israel, therefore, fought against him and took his land. Og, on the other hand, came out against Israel to do battle. He, too, was defeated by Israel. This land was well suited for flocks and herds. Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh asked if they could possess it. That right was granted.
Numbers 32:1-5
September 3, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:9 – Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
Thought: This one verse summarizes the main exhortation Moses was making to the children of Israel prior to their crossing the Jordan River. Keeping the words of their covenant with God was the key to their happiness and their prosperity. Two words stand out in this text: “do them.” There are many who find excuses not to do the Lord’s will. If they would expend as much energy just doing what God commands, their lives would prosper.
Psalm 103:17-18
September 4, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:10, 11 – Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water.
Thought: When God made His covenant with His people, He did not simply address the leadership of the nation. He did not merely gather the men into His presence. Instead, He made sure all of the people stood before him. Leaders, men, women, little ones, and the strangers that were in their camp were present to agree to the terms of the Lord’s covenant. This procedure was the most equitable. No one was forced into this covenant with Jehovah.
2 Chronicles 23:16
September 5, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:12, 13 – That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day: that he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Thought: Covenants and oaths were serious matters in Bible times. Once made and entered into, they were to be faithfully kept by all parties involved. The covenant that God made with Israel established them as a people for God. It also affirmed that Jehovah would be there God. This was the fulfillment of promises made to the patriarchs many, many years before the covenant transpired. Regardless of the amount of time that passes, God is faithful.
2 Peter 3:8-10
September 6, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:14, 15 – Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; but with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not with us this day.
Thought: Multitudes of Israelites agreed to God’s covenant. However, they needed to understand this was not just a generational covenant. It was a multi-generational covenant. It was being made with Israel and all their descendants. This is why it was imperative for the Jews to diligently teach the Law of Moses unto their children. God’s plan to bring the Messiah into the world would be fulfilled, but it would take generations to accomplish.
Deuteronomy 6:4-7
September 7, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:16, 17 – (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye have passed by; and ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:).
Thought: Israel had lived in the land of Egypt for a long period of time. They had witnessed the idolatry practiced by the Egyptians. In the wilderness, they also witnessed the idolatry of the nations they passed by. God said: “Ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them.” They were not being warned about something unknown to them. They had experienced the vanity and folly personally.
Acts 17:22-23
September 8, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:18 – Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood.
Thought: God knew the abominations of the heathen could present a temptation to some in Israel. The temptation could impact a man, a woman, a family, or and entire tribe. Such an action would involve their hearts being turned away from the Lord their God. A root of this nature found within the Israelite community would bear evil fruit. The fruit is described as gall, a poisonous plant, and wormwood meaning to curse, which was also poisonous.
Jeremiah 9:13-15
September 9, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:19 – And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst.
Thought: Self-deception is dangerous to the well-being of man. It can harm him physically. It can destroy him spiritually. God had set forth the nature of the curses He would bring upon Israel if they disobeyed Him. However, some citizens of the nation would bless themselves in their hearts, “saying, I have shall peace.” They said this while they walked in the imaginations of their own heart and while indulging in all sensual gratifications.
Psalm 10:4-6
September 10, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:20 – The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.
Thought: Some men convince themselves that they can defy God without suffering the consequences. They tell themselves: “I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart.” Moses reminds these individuals, saying: “The Lord will not spare him.” God is sovereign, not man. God is Lord and Master, not man. The rebellious anger the Lord. They will suffer God’s curses and will have their names blotted out from under heaven.
Ezekiel 5:11
September 11, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:21 – And the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law.
Thought: This verse begins with the words: “And the Lord shall separate...” This is a common theme found in the Scriptures. God often separates the good from the bad, the righteous from the unrighteous. When God divides the sheep from the goats, He never makes a mistake. The righteous are rewarded. The evil doers suffer His curses. Truly, God is a just God. He makes the perfect distinction between the holy and the profane.
Malachi 3:18
September 12, 2024
Deuteronomy 29:22, 23 – So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they shall see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon it; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass grown therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath.
Thought: We will not be the only ones who will see the consequences of the sins we commit in this life. Others such as our children and strangers will see the consequences as well. Our lives are not lived in a vacuum. We do not live on remote islands isolated from others. Some see our lives as we live them. Others only see the consequences our lives have brought into the world. Sometimes others will learn from our sins. Sometimes they will repeat them.
Leviticus 26:31-32
