Reading With the People of God - #5 We Believe.Sample

Memorization Challenge of the Month:

I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

Reading with the People of God Primer:

As Moses wrote the Book of the Law, especially the last book, Deuteronomy, he reminded the children of Israel that the benefits of the land of promise would only materialize if they were faithful to obey the covenant or commands.

Chief among the commands was to love and serve the Lord with all one’s heart and soul, that is, to keep the Shema (Deut. 6:5). The needed rains to make this land bountiful, would come from the Lord, not the Canaanite god Baal. Once they entered the land and were immersed in this religion, it would be easy to share the naturalistic point of view that the forces of nature must be acknowledged and appeased if animal and vegetable life were to be achieved. Thus, Moses issued his stern warning in v. 16.

The words Moses uses here are identical to those that immediately followed the pronouncement of the Shema (Deut. 6:7-9). Moses insisted that his words be taught to the children in such powerful ways that they would never be forgotten.

In our reading text today, the result of heartfelt obedience would be the expulsion of the Canaanite peoples from the land, even though these were greater and stronger than Israel. The amount of territory would measure the extent of their conquest they stepped, specifically from the Negev to Lebanon, the south and north extremities, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea, the east and west boundaries. This was already promised to Abraham (Gen. 15:18) and reaffirmed to Moses (Ex. 23:11). It is worth noting that David and Solomon created an empire that included all this (2 Sam. 8:1-14;1 Kings 4:21-24).

Moses instructed the people to meet at Shechem to formalize and solemnize this covenant with the Lord. They knew exactly where at the base of the mountains Gerizim and Ebal (v. 29). This was near where the patriarchs received the covenant promises from the Lord…Abraham built his first altar (Gen. 12:6-7); Jacob bought a piece of property (Gen. 33:19), built an altar (Gen. 33:20), and dug a well (John 4:6). It is not surprising then that Joshua was careful to renew the covenant in the exact spot when the conquest was over (Josh. 8:30-35).

- Bian Mott, Middle School Bible Teacher, Stoneridge Christian, and member at Cornerstone Community Church, Chowchilla.