March 10, 2012 … Redundancy Teaches

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Deuteronomy, Chapters 1-2 … To study these chapters, go to this link -

Deuteronomy 1: 1-3: … [God Speaks On Deafened Ears] ... 1 These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan—that is, in the Arabah—opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab. 2 (It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.) … 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the LORD had commanded him concerning them.

My Journal for Today: Okay, now we’re taken by our chronological Bible read into the “book of redundancy,” as I call it. … Deuteronomy, … which, when I’ve read it in the past, always seemed to be quite a bit repetitive from a lot of what was already covered in Leviticus and Numbers. Actually, I know that the word “Deuteronomy” comes from the Greek “deutero” [second] and “nomos” [law]; so, … the title for this book means a “restatement of the law;” and that’s exactly what Moses is writing here, an historical recounting and restatement of “The Law” for the posterity of the people, as well as a chronicling of their trek through the wilderness in God’s purification process of these very fallible and forgetful children.

And it is this latter reason for Moses writing Deuteronomy which has captured my application attention for blogging this morning. God repeating, via Moses, all of this information about why He turned an 11 day trek into one which lasted 40 years was worthy material for His people (which includes me). They needed to get it – AGAIN; and so do I. Therefore, it’s worthy enough for me to pay close attention to this Book as I read through it one more time, trying to glean what God has for me by reading what He had Moses write for the Israelites.

I’m certainly no different than God’s stiff-necked and recalcitrant Old Covenant Jews. I can so easily go into pity-party mentality and grumble about my circumstances. I too often tend to see things my way rather than seek out – or just simply trust – life as God’s way. I wander though life with a self-inflated attitude when my Savior keeps saying over and over to me, in a personally redundant paraphrase of Luke 9: 23, [God’s Spirit speaking to me Christ’s throughts] … “Bill, if you want to follow after Me as My disciples, you just have to deny yourself, trust me in all of our travels through life, and simply follow Me.”

But like the Israelites, wandering through the desert on the way to God’s promised-land, do I get it? No, … even though God redundantly keeps trying to show me this truth and message of obedience in so many different ways, I’m coming to believe that God needs to be very redundant in repeating His message of truth through His word over and over and over so that people like me can wander in the wilderness of life and die to our sin nature, giving us life and direction, through God’s grace and truth, taught so repetitively in His word.

So, as I read through Deuteronomy … AGAIN, … I’m going to expect that God is going to give me truth after truth after truth for my living just as He was doing through Moses in this Book of repetition for His children, the Israelites. Hopefully, I’ll see those truths and die to self, allowing me to live … in and through God’s truth revealed by His Spirit through His word.

My Prayer Today: … Lord, say it again so that I’ll hear it this time! Amen