Today’s passage: Deuteronomy 10
Helpful thoughts:
- Moses recounts his journey back up the mountain to receive a second copy of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s death, Eleazar’s appointment as the next High Priest, and the command of the Lord to lead Israel to the Promised Land.
- In these verses, Moses commends the faithfulness and covenant promises of the Lord to the people. God had been angered, He had been sinned against, He had reason to reject the people and abandon them, but He did not. God had shown His grace and mercy and He would see Israel through as He promised.
- The right response of Israel to these wonderful truths about the Lord was to fear Him, to love Him, to obey Him.
- More important than the external circumcision of the flesh was the figurative “circumcision of the heart.”
Questions to consider:
- Why isn’t it wrong or prideful or selfish for God to command worship, loyalty, love and obedience? Why is He entirely worthy of all these things? Why is He truly loving (to our benefit) in commanding them from us?
- What is required for a person to receive “circumcision of the heart” (Ezekiel 36:26, 2 Corinthians 5:17)? What is the true nature of this “circumcision?”
- How was Israel to love others outside of their own people, the sojourner (Verses 17-19)? How has God loved you and brought you in to His people (Romans 5:6-11)? How does this love inform and compel our love for others (1 John 4:19)?