Year 1, Day 182: Deuteronomy 31

Obedience

I have to admit something here.  Moses is a strong man.  Okay, maybe that isn’t earth shattering.  Maybe that isn’t exactly breaking news.  But think about how this passage opens.  Moses turns, looks at a people who are about to receive the fulfillment of 40+ years of his work, and he says to them: God says I can’t go, so I’m staying here.  There doesn’t appear to be any strong-willed assertion of his will in opposition to God’s will.  Moses knows what God said, knows why God said it, and accepts it.  I don’t care what anyone else says, that’s strength.  That’s also submission.

You see, any self-monger* can assert their own will.  Any full-flooded human being living in the midst of the world and in the throes of sin can lift up their desires and push to accomplish them.  It takes absolutely no strength at all to stand up for what you want, when you want it, and with the force of how badly you want it.  Any two year-old throwing a tantrum understands that standing up for what you want doesn’t necessarily involve strength or submission.

However, what takes real strength is to stand up for what God has decreed.  What takes real strength is to understand that when God wants something and we want something different, God’s will needs to be followed instead of ours.  It takes real strength to not only put oneself aside but to actually crucify oneself so that they die and God lives within them instead.  That’s the thrust of the word “estauromai,” which is what Paul means in Galatians 2:19-20 when he says “I have been crucified to sin.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”  I see that here in Moses today.  Moses does not fight God’s will; he humbles himself to God’s will and asserts it as the right thing.  True strength is asserting God’s will and God’s ways regardless of whether they agree with our own human tendencies.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not saying it is a sin to be assertive.  God tells us that in the right time assertiveness is acceptable.  We should stand up for God and God’s ways.  What I am saying is that we should not be assertive about that which we desire and God does not.  As I said earlier, any self-monger can stand up for their desires.  A strong person can put their personal desires aside and stand up for God’s ways.

Beyond Moses

Moving along, notice the confidence with which verses 16-18 are spoken.  Moses will die.  As the ESV translates – and I love it! – “Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.”  As I wrote yesterday, there is no “if.”  There is only “when.” It is a foregone conclusion that this group of human beings will turn away from God.  It is a sad commentary on humanity, but it is a very real one.  As human beings we all turn our back on God.  It is fundamental to who we are. 

Anyone also see here the ‘self-monger’ aspect of this?

God, Moses, and Music

We’ll save the actual song for tomorrow.  However, notice that the point of the song is intended to help keep people mindful of God.  Songs – and music in general, for that matter – are incredibly powerful devices for most humans, though not all.  Most of us will remember something better if it is put to music.  Most of us will listen to something much more often when put to music.  Think about it.  How often do you listen to your favorite song and always continue to enjoy it compared to how often can you read your favorite Bible story and still enjoy it?  Things involving music typically get stale much more slowly than the read or spoken word.  God knows the power of music, Moses knows the power of music, and that’s God calls for a song.

For the record, this is precisely the reason why I gave up non-Christian music back when I was 18.  I still listen to music without lyrics regardless of the author, because I do not believe it is the notes played that makes music Christian or non-Christian but rather the lyrics sung and thus the message purveyed.  Because I am far more likely to spend more of my time doing things while listening to music than not, I want the music to which I listen to try and build up my spirituality.  I want the music to which I listen to be able to guide me in ways that are congruent to God.  There is no point trying to follow God’s ways and then have to fight the battle of staving off the subtle messages taught through secular music about how the world expects us to live. 

Now, I’m not saying that all secular music is bad, but I am saying that whatever I listen to, I have chosen to ensure that it is lifting God up in my presence.  If I am going to be bombarded with messages about how to live, how to set goals, what’s important in life, and how to make decisions – shouldn’t I want those messages coming at me from a perspective that is in line with God’s Word rather than a perspective that more than likely isn’t?  Well, anyway … food for thought today.

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*My use and understanding of the word “self-monger” comes from a Deliverance song that can be heard here.  Note to the feint-of-heart, this is a Christian heavy metal song; so if you listen to it, realize that up front.  It is a word I introduced to the youth, which many immediately adopt and own for themselves.  Essentially, a self-monger is a person who is interested in asserting themselves and drawing attention to themselves above and beyond the people around them.