Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How You Fit in God’s Story | Torah | Deuteronomy 1-3

Episode Date: September 21, 2022

Is your life all about you? Do you take time to remember your history? Why is history important? In today’s episode, Jensen explains the purpose of Deuteronomy 1-3 and God’s bigger story for your life. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Deuteronomy 1-3

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. My favorite part of family reunions is when all the festivities have subsided and too many people crowd into a living room and start sharing stories. In my family, I'm one of the youngest. My oldest cousin is only about 10 years younger than my dad, which means there was a lot of life lived before I came around. And so I love that crowded living room where I get to hear about my grandparents when they were younger. One after another, people offer up stories of teenage rebellion and Christmas disasters and vacations to Tennessee. It feels so special to be in a room sharing and laughing together over our shared history.

It's good to remember the parts I was there for and learn new stories I never got to experience. It paints a fuller picture of our family for me, and it's something that honestly I'll just always love. Now today, we're jumping into a new book of the Bible, Deuteronomy. And the book of Deuteronomy is Moses's final parting words to the people of Israel before they enter the promised land without him. See, God's people have wandered in the wilderness for 40 years now. And in that time, a new generation has grown up and taken the place of their rebellious parents.

It is this generation who will take possession of the promised land. So, Deuteronomy is Moses speaking to this new generation, sharing with them their history, reminding them of their covenantal relationship with God, and urging them to be faithful to his commands. This is the final book of the Torah, and it kicks off with three chapters of Moses telling this new generation, the history of their family. And so as we enter into the book of Deuteron, Hieronym, let's try to hear this as the Israelites would, as a retelling of their story, the story of their mothers and fathers. But as Moses sits this generation down and begins reminding them of where they came from, he doesn't hold anything back. He doesn't just share the happy memories or

the funny stories, but he sets them down and tells them the truth, because he isn't telling them just to reminisce. See, Moses tells the people of God's faithfulness to promise them a land and inheritance he had prepared for them. And he tells them of his parents' rebellion. He reminds them of God's justice and his faithfulness to continue to be with his people in the wilderness. And he finishes by reminding them of the ways God has continued to deliver on his promises, giving them victory over their enemies as he has brought them safely to the edge of the promised land. In verse 21 of chapter 3, Moses speaks directly to Joshua, the man who will replace him and lead God's people into the promised land. Here he says, you have seen with your own eyes all that the Lord your

God has done to these two kings. The Lord will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going. Do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God himself will fight for you. See, Moses isn't just reminiscing. He's reminding God's people of who they are and who their God is so that they can confidently walk in the path he has set before them. He's saying to them, look at where you have come from. See how God has guided you. Look at the ways your parents. fail to honor God, learn from them. But also, look at the God who has delivered you, protected you, and provided for you. Yahweh has made a covenant with you, and he's been faithful. See, he reminds them who they are and who their God is before they enter into the promised land so that they can

confidently follow him. Despite their failure to uphold their end of the covenant, God will be faithful to his people. The inheritance that they are about to receive is larger than just them. And it's important that this new generation remembers and sees the bigger story. Moses tells Joshua to remember what God has done. He has delivered enemies into your hands before, and he'll do it again. He is unchanging. Do not fear.

The Lord fights for his people. It is in looking back in remembering where they have come from, in remembering their story, that they will have the strength, wisdom, and faith to continue forward. And the same is true for us. I love to remember my family history. I love to learn from it and allow it to shape the way I see my family. But even more than that, I should also love to remember the history of my faith, to learn from it, and to allow it to allow it to shape the way. it to shape my whole life. Throughout the Bible, God's people are reminded to remember their history, the way God has provided for them personally, but also for his people as a whole. We aren't just

individual people following a God who is only individually focused on our lives. No, we're a part of a larger story, a larger group of believers throughout all of history. And when we acknowledge that, we gain so much goodness and richness to our faith. We live in a highly individualized culture, so it can be hard to break the habits we formed in our minds when we think about God. But we have to try, because God is telling a story that is so much bigger than just you and me, and that's really good news. See, when life is hard, when I fail, when I can't see God in my individual circumstances. I can lift my eyes and remember who he is and how he has been at work in the people of God for all of history. I can open up my Bible and read of how God has been faithful throughout generations.

His story is so much bigger than my life. Ultimately, I know that God is faithful in his covenants to his people. From the first human failure, God promised to send a deliverer, someone who would crush the enemy and restore humans into right relationship with each other, themselves, and God. And he did that. God did it by becoming a man, Jesus, and living, dying, and rising again so that you and I can enter into our inheritance, even when we don't deserve it. We look back and remember that God has been faithful to his promise. and we do this so that we can look forward to his future promises with hope and confidence. God has promised to restore all of creation. He has promised to bring his children into a new city,

a new kingdom that he is building, one that is full of love, justice, and mercy. That is our future. And we can confidently walk into it without fear because we look back and know that he has been faithful to deliver in the past. When my focus is on me and my daily life, everything can seem so unstable, so unsure, so messy at times. But when I step back and I reorient myself, I remind myself of my history of God's faithfulness and of his promises. And in doing this, I can confidently walk forward into faithfulness. So when you read through chapters like the first three in Deuteronomy and wonder, why are we retelling the stories we just heard? Or when you're sitting in church and you're hearing from a passage, you've heard a hundred

times before. Imagine you're in your cramped living room, preparing your heart to hear your history, to remember you belong to a body of believers with a rich and beautiful story. Learn from the failures of those who came before you and be encouraged. by the faithful steadfastness of your God. Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter. Hit the link in the show notes, and you'll get an email every Wednesday that will help encourage you in the middle of the work week

and bring you deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.