Ekev “Because”
Deut. 7:12–11:25
Isaiah 49:14–51:3
1 Peter 1-5

Enough Already!

I know Deuteronomy is supposed to be a recap of the Torah, but after a while it seems that the words "If you will obey" get a bit old! Doesn't Moses think that after repeating these same words over and over the people will finally get it and he can go on to another subject? I guess not, because he will continue to say this all through this message of his.

Moses had spent forty years with these folks. After this much time with a person or people you can get to know them pretty well. Moses knew their tendency to stray from the Torah and from the One who had given the Torah to them. He knew that human nature was still very much alive and well within each of their hearts and that they needed to be reminded very often of who they were and Who they were to serve. He wanted to get this message into their minds with a hope and prayer that for some it would make it to their hearts.

If ever there was a time for my favorite quote of Will Rogers it is now. He said, "People change, but not much.' How true is this? It seems like over the hundreds of years since Moses stood before the Children of Israel we could have gotten things right, but have we really made much progress? I will not answer for you, but will leave it for you to ponder.

Truth is that just as Moses stood and repeated himself to the people over and over, we need the same thing in our lives today. Like it or not we all come face to face with the words and actions of Paul who said there were times he still battled to do that which was right and fought against that which he knew to be wrong.

Maybe one of the greatest reasons I personally look forward to the Millennium and the reign of Messiah upon this earth is that not only will I be taught correctly by The Teacher, but I will have the right heart to learn and to do. Do not get me wrong or read into this more than I am meaning. The above sentences are not lines of confession to be taken out of context, but rather a statement of a longing to live Torah to the fullest extent possible. This however can only happen when the heart which is changing from stone to flesh is transformed completely from the inside out by the One who made the heart in the first place.

Moses knew that as many times as he told them to obey, they would go through periods of time in which they would not do so. God also knows that as many times as we today read the words of Moses there will be times we are going to struggle with our old nature. There will be times when we pass the tests He places in our paths and there will be times when we fail. We pray that in the end what He finds down deep inside us all is a heart that truly desires to seek Him and to be obedient to His every command. We desire for Him to be proud of the actions coming forth from our lives.

Today, we understand a bit more than the Children of Israel did. We understand more of the work of Yeshua in our lives. We understand that overcoming anything, including ourselves, cannot be done in our own power but only through His working in us. We understand that no matter how many times we are told to do what is right, without Him it is just not going to happen.

As we continue through the Book of Deuteronomy let us continue to see the theme of obedience coming forth loud and clear, but let us never think that obedience can be done by ourselves. Obedience is a message which humbles us and draws us all to seek Him and to seek His power daily in our lives.