Law – Deuteronomy 32-34

While today is a special day for many people because of the mistaken idea that it is the day our Saviour was born or that ‘it is a good thing to remember His birth even though it’s not on this day isn’t it?’, it is just an ordinary day for us (although a happier day than others because it’s a holiday J).

Having said that, however, it must be noted that every time this ‘special’ day rolls around, it means a new year will be starting the same day the following week.

It also means we need to think about what we should resolve to do in this new year.

Let our last portion of the last book of Moses give us some ideas while we consider this.

Bible Passage:  Deuteronomy 32-34

Remember…

Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will show you;
Your elders, and they will tell you: (Deut 32:7)

He found him in a desert land
And in the wasteland, a howling wilderness;
He encircled him, He instructed him,
He kept him as the apple of His eye.

As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings,

So the LORD alone led him,
And there was no foreign god with him. (Deut 32:10-12)

But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
You grew fat, you grew thick,
You are obese!
Then he forsook God who made him,
And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.

They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.

Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful,
And have forgotten the God who fathered you.(Deut 32:15-18)

and he said to them: “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe-all the words of this law. For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.” (Deut 32:46-47)

Is it strange to make a resolution to remember the past? Don’t we always say we should forget the past and make a new start in the new year?

Our past should not be forgotten however.

We should resolve to remember how God saved, guided and protected us all our lives so that we don’t fall into the trap of trusting ourselves, our achievements or our money.

We should resolve to remember our transgressions towards Him so that we remember how much He loves us as well as not to make the same mistakes again.

We should resolve to remember to the words of God we had learnt so that they keep us on the right path.

So, don’t you think remembering is very important when we start our new year?

Need power?

Your sandals shall be iron and bronze;
As your days, so shall your strength be. (Deut 33:25)

Have you worked hard this year? What and who have you worked hard for?

God promises us (through the final blessing of Moses) that as our days, so shall our strength be. It is clearer in the Chinese Bible -你的日子如何，你的力量也必如何

Meaning to say, we have strength commensurate to the kind of days we live.

In the new year, would you like godly strength for each day? In that case, you might want to resolve to live each day in a godly manner so that you get strength befitting your day.

Never too old…

Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigour diminished. (Deut 34:7)

For those who feel tired and old, remember Moses in the year! How his eyes were not dim nor his natural vigour diminished till the day he died.

This ties in with the promise of strength equal to our days. Because Moses worked for God till his final breath, he was given godly strength till he died.

In the coming new year, let us resolve to be like Moses so that no matter how old or tired we feel, we will be revived and renewed in our strength to serve the Master who always gives this strength to us beyond what He asks of us.