April 13, 2022 - Deuteronomy 8-10

We have so many memories of special times with our children and how the Lord protected and guided us through the years. One special time was when we went to the Adirondack mountains on a summer trip and watched the black bears roam for food. Seeing families leave their cars and get within a few feet of those wild animals was quite stunning.

Israel had many vivid memories of seeing God's provision and safekeeping while traveling through the wilderness. Moses commanded the people to remember that the Lord had led them, rebuked, and tested them for their obedience. They were to trust Him for physical sustainment, material prosperity, and spiritual maturity.

Israel was to remember that the Lord gave the nation all they possessed and to live in humility. "And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day" (8:18). They were to cross the Jordan and dispossess nations greater than themselves because the Lord went before them (9:3).

The nation was also to remember that they had forgotten the Lord's mighty power previously and provoked Him to such anger that He was ready to destroy them. He had ordered Moses down from Mount Sinai to contend with the rebellion which led Moses to break the original two tablets. He then burned, crushed, and ground the stones into dust and made the people drink of the mixture.

It was only because Moses interceded for the nation, that God did not destroy them and subsequently reinstated them as His people. He sent Moses back to the mountain and he returned with a second set of stone tablets for the people to keep in the ark.

All this was done to bring the people of God to remember God's faithful works despite their rebellious nature and to challenge them to be obedient. Moses states, "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes..." (10: 12-13).

Elvis Presley sang a song with lyrics that went, "Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind...". The Lord wants us to remember and to press into our minds His faithfulness throughout our lives. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not His benefits" (Psalm 103:2).