Learning from the Israelites

This year I am reading chronologically through the Bible and finished Deuteronomy a while back. Admittedly, some of those books of the law (Genesis through Deuteronomy) can be hard to get through, but then along the way in an area where I may be struggling to get *something* from God’s word and BOOM! I find a gold nugget.

A lot of times, we don’t get anything out of our Bible reading because we don’t understand the culture of the people, what was going on in that time in history, or the context of the scriptures. How I have improved my Bible reading is I allow myself time to look up anything I may question if I cannot figure it out through context. I’m a natural born researcher when it comes to anything and like to learn.

Deuteronomy is the fifth book written by Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and then Deuteronomy). It’s known as a book of the law and is also known as part of the Torah and the Pentateuch. (penta = five, if you remember learning about prefixes in school.)

One of those aforementioned “gold nuggets” I found while reading is in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 which may be familiar to you. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

I learned this is the first part of the “Shema Israel” which is a Jewish prayer and in traditional Judaism is prayed twice a day. Moses gave this to the Israelites as part of his last words before death.

The premise of this prayer is on two words – “Listen” and “Love.” Moses wanted the people to listen or respond to God’s grace by obeying, and then he taught them the motivation for this obedience was love.

It’s a cycle.

Do you remember stories about the children of Israel (aka, the Jews)? God’s chosen people? Moses wanted them to pray this as a reminder of how God brought them out of slavery.

I will admit as a child and teenager and truthfully, probably into early adulthood, when I read about or was taught a lesson concerning the Israelites, I was often astounded at their repeated disobedience.

I mean, they just kept. messing. up.

They were hungry, so God gave them manna, then they complained. They didn’t like being slaves for Egypt, so God brought them out, and then they complained. You probably remember these stories and more like them.

But now, in my “old age” (or at least on the downhill slide), I realize how much I am like them. I mess up daily. I turn my back on God daily.

Just like the Israelites when things get good, we often turn away from God. We forget our first love (Revelation 2:4). We would probably not admit it to ourselves, but our actions show we think we don’t need Him.

The Israelites hardened their heart and rebelled. So do we. Maybe it’s when God doesn’t answer a prayer the way we think He should. Maybe it’s when someone we love gets sick or dies. Maybe it’s just when life isn’t going the way we think a “loving” God should have it go for us.

Moses was also telling the people that one day their hearts would be transformed to help them to be able to “listen” and “love.” That is the good news for us.

At salvation, God brought us out of slavery. We were slaves to the devil, to sin. We still have a human nature which is to sin, but because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can trust Him to get us back on the listen-and-love-and-listen-and-love track.

As you read through the Bible, think about the lessons the Israelites were taught. We can even apply their warnings and commandments to our own lives. Let their mistakes experiences be our teachers in this 21st century.

This is why it is important to dig in and study, so we too can find those gold nuggets and become a rich Bible reader. We will be rich in the fact that we now know more than before and understand a little more about God’s grace, love, and mercy. And we may learn a thing or two from the Israelites’ experiences that will help us from making the same mistakes. 💕