Though the idea of covenant (berit in Hebrew), to describe God’s relationship with His people, is found all through the Bible, this word appears so often in Deuteronomy that Deuteronomy has been called “The Book of the Covenant.” Look at Deuteronomy 5:1-21. What is happening here that helps to show how central the idea of covenant (berit) is to the … Continue reading –>
“It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, … Continue reading –>
All through the Bible, the covenant and the gospel appear together. Though the idea of covenant existed before the nation of Israel (for example, the Noahic covenant), and though the covenant promise was made before the nation of Israel existed, it was expressed prominently through God’s interaction with His people, starting with their fathers, the … Continue reading –>
Sabbath Afternoon Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 12:1-3, Romans 4:1-5, Exodus 2:24, Deuteronomy 5:1-21, Deuteronomy 26:16-19, Deuteronomy 8:5, Matthew 28:10. Memory Text: “And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7). “Then I saw another angel flying in … Continue reading –>
My Mother’s Heritage By Park Yeon-sook My mother turned to me as she was dying from gallbladder cancer. “You must go to church,” she said. Mother had taken me to church every Sabbath since I was a young girl, but I had stopped attending as I got busy with my shop in Hanam, a suburb … Continue reading –>
Further Thought: Here’s how one scholar seeks to answer the hard questions about what the Israelites did to some of these nations: “As Creator of all things and all human beings and as sovereign over all, God can do anything [He] wants with anyone and be right in doing so. … The ways of God … Continue reading –>
In Deuteronomy 2 and 3, Moses continues to recount Israelite history and how, with God’s blessing, they routed their enemies; when they were faithful, God gave them the victory, even over “giants” (Deuteronomy 2:11, Deuteronomy 2:20; Deuteronomy 3:13). Of course, this brings up the difficult topic, which we must at least touch on, regarding the destruction of these … Continue reading –>
A specter has been haunting the early parts of the book of Deuteronomy, the specter of Kadesh Barnea. This unfortunate story, as we have seen, set the immediate background for the book of Deuteronomy, and it’s worth taking a closer look at it. Read Numbers 14:1-45. How did the people react to the report of the … Continue reading –>
After the long trek in the wilderness, Moses, speaking for the Lord (he was a prophet, though, indeed, more than a prophet), said: “See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers — to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — to give to them … Continue reading –>
Despite some of the error that modern science tries to promulgate as truth (such that our universe by itself arose from “absolutely nothing” or that all life on earth arose by chance from simple chemicals), science has nonetheless given us some astonishing insights into God’s creative power. The harmony, the balance, the precision of many … Continue reading –>
