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09/22/2019
The Bible Jesus Read: Concluding and Confirming
Deuteronomy 26:1-29:1
1. Finally Home : Deuteronomy 26 and 27 record a series of ceremonies ( or worship services! ) Israel was to perform after entering into the land. One ceremony was to take place at the start of Israel’s very first harvest in the land (26:1-11). Read the account of this ceremony and try to identify two or three ‘worshipful’ elements of this event. What parallels can you find with our own regular and periodic worship experience?
2. Our Provider : Harvest festivals, once a completely normal part of life, have become less and less common and understood. In addition to being the glorious fulfillment of ancient promises (Gen. 12:1-3), what does the following confession demonstrate about the average Israelite’s understanding of who ‘brings home the bacon’? “Now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O Lord, have given me” (Deut. 26:10; see also: Psa. 104:10-15). When you receive your paycheck every month, do you think of God as your provider or yourself?
3. Renewing their Vows : Israel said “I do,” formalizing her marriage to Yahweh, on Mount Sinai in Exodus 24:3, and now in Deut. 26:16-19, you might say they are ‘renewing their vows’. Moses orders Israel to conduct a special ceremony once they’ve entered the land, with half of Israel climbing up Mount Gerizim and the other up Mount Ebal (Deut. 27:11-13; Josh. 8:30-35). How does the ceremony described in Deut. 27:1-8 (writing the law on the stones, building an altar, offering sacrifices, eating and rejoicing) set the tone for Israel’s life in the land? Do you have any special practices or routines which help you ‘set the tone’ for your walk with God?
4. Blessings and Curses : Deuteronomy 28 is a big deal. Together with Leviticus 26, it provides a framework for understanding all of Israel’s history, and the rest of the OT constantly alludes to this chapter. When Israel is without water (1 Kings 17:1), we remember Deut. 28:22-24. When Israel is defeated in battle (1 Sam. 4:1-11), we remember Deut. 28:25. When Israel is finally destroyed and exiled from the land (2 Kings 17:1-23; 25:1-21), we remember Deut. 28:49-68. And yet, this list of curses is one of the most disturbing passages of Scripture. How do you make sense of this? How could a loving God find it necessary to etch this into His
constitution (Amos 9:6-11)?
