Author: Joshua Kansiewicz

Take a moment to read Deuteronomy 3 before reading the devotional below.

“Did you know he would be eligible to get a Super Bowl ring, if they won?”  Considering my total lack of interest in football, this is normally the moment when I check out of a conversation.  But this conversation caught my attention. Apparently a player was being traded, and he would only be on the team officially for a week or so.  Apparently, however, that’s enough. Even if he doesn’t play in the Super Bowl. Even if he isn’t even on the team anymore when they go to the Super Bowl.  None of that matters.  If the team wins the Super Bowl, he’s getting a Super Bowl ring.  The team’s win is his win.

That is a major part of the point that Moses is making in today’s chapter of Deuteronomy.  As Moses continues to rehearse Israel’s history from the previous generation, he is trying to cement important lessons into the minds of the current generation.  In this case, one story is about a win for everyone – the battle against Og. The next story is even more powerful, though. The promised land was divided by the Jordan river.  Some of the tribes were getting land on the East side of the Jordan where the Israelites were currently staying. The men of those tribes, however, were expected to go with the other tribes to conquer the rest of the land.  This is the opposite of “every man for himself.” It is reminiscent of the three musketeers: all for one, and one for all.

The spiritual life isn’t fought alone.  It isn’t won or lost alone. The local gathering of Jesus’ followers – the church – is like Israel. We are gathered together because we come under God’s leadership.  When the church wins, rejoice. When a fellow Jesus-follower wins, celebrate. Allow those wins to inspire and inform your hope for your own story. What God is doing among us, God can do for any of us.  More importantly, the greatest things God is planning will not be done through any one of us, but through all of us together.

Take a moment to read Deuteronomy 2 before reading the devotional below.

Several years ago, I had to travel to Delaware.  The car I rented was the first I’d ever driven that was fully equipped with Bluetooth.  The moment I turned the car on, it synced with my phone, and started playing my favorite songs.  The directions I’d programmed into my phone’s GPS were pulled onto the car’s giant touch-screen, and the voice of Siri gently instructed me using the best sound system that I’d ever heard on wheels.  The ride was a breeze… until we hit the tunnels of New York. For the first time, I heard words that now haunt drivers: “signal lost.” I had no idea where I was, no idea how to get where I was going. I was depending on Siri, and Siri had lost her way because I was stuck in a tunnel. Panic set in.

Chapter 2 of Deuteronomy begins to set a theme that will be important later on: the theme of obedience.  Throughout the years in the desert, the Israelites moved when God told them to. They learned to follow directions.  Sometimes, it probably felt like they had lost the divine signal, like they were wandering aimlessly. But God had a plan.  He wanted them to learn to trust Him. And when the time was right, He invited them to go to the land he’d promised them. There too, obedience was important.  At certain times, God said to leave certain people alone. The Israelites obeyed. At other times (like with King Sihon), God said to fight. Again, the Israelites obeyed.  Throughout this time, obedience brought blessing.

Sometimes, as with the Israelites, following may look like being on a mission or in a war. In this case, God was using the Israelites to bring His justice to a number of unspeakably evil nations.  Following doesn’t always look like leisure or prosperity or happiness or convenience. It often involves challenges and struggles. But throughout the struggles and the challenges, the people of God will encounter the faithfulness of God.  The best way to go is the way that God leads. You are most free when you receive what God provides. The Israelites didn’t yet know what that meant, but soon they were going to learn. 

Take a moment to read Deuteronomy 1 before reading the devotional below.

“Do you remember when we were little?” Several years ago, I sat with a good friend.  As we drank coffee together, this question arose. We talked about his family and mine.  We talked about the influences that made us who were became as adults. As the coffee drained away and the night wore on into the morning, we talked and talked.  Of all the stories we could have told, we reminisced about just a few – telling them in detail, savoring the memory. Why? Because those few stories became defining moments in our lives.  

As we begin to read the book of Deuteronomy together, one of the key themes in the book is to remember.  The book is a series of speeches by Moses. Moses had been leading God’s people from the time they were slaves in Egypt, through a generation-long ramble through the desert, and up to the present moment.  God’s people, the nation of Israel, were on the brink of a special portion of land that God had promised them. Moses was old, however, and he would die before they began to take over that promised land. Moses knew his leadership was ending, and he was determined to encapsulate everything that the Israelites had learned about being the people of God under his leadership.  Deuteronomy is the text from his final speeches.

In Deuteronomy, we will have the opportunity to listen in on Moses’ final words as a leader. Moses had encountered God face-to-face.  He had been used by God to do miracles for as long as anyone could remember. God had personally handed him the ten commandments. For years and years, Moses had learned from and obeyed God.  He had been faithful in carrying out the most significant parts of God’s plan in his generation. If we take the time to listen, we have much we can learn.

We are beginning a new book of the Bible today, and it is one of the most important books in the Old Testament.  In order to get a big picture view of what Deuteronomy is all about, take a few minutes today to watch this brief video.  We will begin to dive into a verse by verse study of the book tomorrow.