King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2023
Chapters: DEUTERONOMY 32-34, PSALM 91
Study: Save By More Than The Fire
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
God, led me to this passage this morning before even reading the chapters for today, [John 17:23-26 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.] and now as I begin to read them I understand why.
The second that we accept Christ as our Saviour, we become not only one with Him, but God as well, we are children of the ONE AND ONLY LIVING GOD, JEHOVAH HIMSELF. Our becoming children of God has nothing to do with what earthly family we are born into, and every to do with our faith in Christ. The life we live after we are saved will send a reflection of Christ through us as we walk with Him, [John 13:13-17 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. 16 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.]
As we come to the end of the reading of Deuteronomy, Moses, is not happy with the news that he heard regarding how the Israelites are going to turn on God, he is reminded of how rebellious they have been the whole time. This is actually the song that God wanted Moses to write and they were to sing when they return to Him after they have gone their own way and He turns His back on them.
[Deuteronomy 32:1-5 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. 2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass: 3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. 4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. 5 They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.]
[He is the Rock, his work is perfect:] There is only One Rock, and that is the LORD, Jesus Christ, His greatness is indescribable, and will only establish those who come to Him by faith, [1 Corinthians 10:1-4 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.]
[their spot is not the spot of his children:] The world should be able to see Christ in us however, the opposite comes to those who do not walk with Christ, their walk will actually be one of darkness and that will darkness will overtake their world and drive others away from Christ. Jesus said it this way, [John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.]
God’s ideal image for all of His people is, of course, being in the likeness of His Son. However, the sad truth is, many have forsaken the Rock that saved them and turned to the world’s ways instead. And Moses goes on to address how it was that Israel forsook God and why God turned His face from them.
[Deuteronomy 32:9-10,15-20 For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10 He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 15 But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16 They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. 17 They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. 18 Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. 19 And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. 20 And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.]
[But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked:] This is another name for the Israelites, meaning, “the dear upright people”. It is a poetical name for the people of Israel, used as a token of affection that God had for His people. Israel, was great and powerful when they came together as one nation under God, but the complete opposite when they forgot God. We as saved born again Christians are the same way, and do you know why? One word, lust, [James 4:1-3 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.]
[Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful,] This is the same exact thing that we read, [Romans 1:21-23 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.] God, is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. Grace may save us through our faith in Christ alone, but sin is sin, and God will judge His people for their sin. They may not lose their salvation because they are standing upon the Rock, but God will not be mocked, He will let them suffer in their sin until they repent of or die in their sin. God, is not only disgusted over the way His people behave, He is jealous, and He’s declaring vengeance.
[Deuteronomy 32:27-32,35-36 Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this. 28 For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them. 29 O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! 30 How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up? 31 For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. 32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter: 35 To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. 36 For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left.]
[that they would consider their latter end!] How long do you think God will be merciful to those who take His good graces for granted and continue to live in sin? As you can see with the state of the entire world right now, God is not happy. God is very long suffering, but He will not be mocked, He will judge His people and He will use the world to do it, just as He did with Israel, [Romans 9:22-23 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: 23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.]
It was time for Moses’s journey on earth to come to an end, he led the people to the promised land as God called him to do, he gave them God’s law and told them of what was to come as they took possession of the land. Now, his time on earth was done, God, tells him that it was time for him to get up to the mountain where he will die, reminding him of why he could not step foot on the promised land.
[Deuteronomy 32:48-52 And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying, 49 Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: 50 And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people: 51 Because ye trespassed against me among the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because ye sanctified me not in the midst of the children of Israel. 52 Yet thou shalt see the land before thee; but thou shalt not go thither unto the land which I give the children of Israel.]
[Yet thou shalt see the land before thee;] I am sure that Moses was quite disappointed to not be able to go into the promised land because he hit that rock instead of speaking to it out of anger. Nevertheless, he did not fear death for he knew what Rock He was really standing upon. Moses wrote this Psalm as a reminder.
[Psalms 91:1-2,5-9 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;]
[which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;] Moses, may not have been able to walk onto the land that would become the country of Israel, but he knew he was going where only those whom know God are going, [Psalms 91:11-16 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.]
[because he hath known my name.] If you did not notice, God, is the one speaking here, and I tell you what, I have seen (not visibly) His angels over me and they have delivered me from some situations that should have been the death of me. Nevertheless, he knows my name because He has shown me His salvation, [John 10:1-4 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. 4 And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.]
True believers will never turn away from their faith in Christ, even if they have gotten themselves caught up in sin, they still find their way back to Him, even if it is the last thing they do before they get to heaven. We must understand that as stubborn and willful as we are sometimes, we still belong to God, and He will never stop defending us. Before Moses takes his last journey on earth, he gave one last speech, in fact, it was his blessing.
[Deuteronomy 33:1-5 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them. 3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. 4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. 5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.]
[he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand:] Remember, God’s saints are not a bunch of dead people who were only named saints by the religious world after being dead for decades, they are His saved, born again people, who have His Spirit upon their soul, [Ephesians 2:18-19 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. 19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;]
Now, Moses goes on to give his blessing to each of the twelve tribes, beginning with Reuben, [Deuteronomy 33:6-9,10-11 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few. 7 And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies. 8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah; 10 They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar. 11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.]
[smite through the loins of them that rise against him,] We need to think of God as a mother bear who protects her babies, and if anyone tries to harm them she will attack. You see, God deals with our sin on His own terms, if He feels that we need a bit of judgment from the enemy, He will send them, if He feels that we need a bit of judgment from His own people, He will send them. Likewise, if He feels that we need a bit of judgment by dealing with us all by Himself, then He will do that through some chastening. Regardless of how He judges us, we still belong to Him, and He will defend us, [2 Corinthians 7:10-11 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.]
It is only when we love God with all our heart, that we will see Christ for who He truly is, and not just someone to save us from hell. He is someone who also saved us from the life we lived, and the endless suffering that sin brings, He is our refuge from all these things. Moses, finishes up his speech with the reminder that God is their refuge as long as they trust Him.
[Deuteronomy 33:26-29 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. 28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. 29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.]
[the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency!] It is only when we love God with all our heart, that we will see Christ for who He truly is, our Deliverer, our Rock that is not only our defense, He is our foundation. We may lose out on some earthly things because, after all, we sinners, but we will never lose our salvation, [Romans 6:8-10 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.]
The land flowing with milk and honey, could been seen for miles, but Moses could not enter, and although he never got to step foot on the promised land, there was no other prophet that knew God as Moses did, and He let everyone know about it. God led Moses to the top of Pisgah, He allowed him to get a view of the promised land as well as Gilead, but his time on earth was up, yet God still had great respect for him.
[Deuteronomy 34:1-6 And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, 2 And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, 3 And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. 4 And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither. 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day.]
[So Moses the servant of the LORD died there] This always makes me a little sad every time I read it, to get so far and not be able to enjoy the one thing that you waited so long to get. Moses, is a reminder that even though we fail God many times, and often forfeit some things that we waited so long for, the most important thing to remember is that when Jesus called on us to get His attention, we answered and got upon His Rock, [1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; 13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for the gift of eternal life through Your Son, we do not have to work for our salvation, we just need to believe in and accept that He alone paid the price for our sins in order to receive it. While my salvation can never be earned or repaid, my faith in You will lead me to live my life in a way that is pleasing to You. Now, I know I mess up every day, and for the life of me, I will never understand why You do not give me what I really deserve, but I am forever grateful that You do not. Lord, You are my Rock, my refuge, and my salvation, and it is You I trust to see me through this life until You bring me home. Lead me and guide me, give me Your power, wisdom, mercy, grace, and love to get through every battle I face. Help me to live by faith and not by what I see, show me great and mighty things as I know You have the power to do all things. And let me continue to live my life in a way that is repentant and that when I stand before You, I will hear You say, well, done, my good and faithful servant. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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