Post by Deleted on Nov 14, 2021 16:03:30 GMT -5
Powerful and Loving By: Winn Collier
Click here for the Audio Message
You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
Deuteronomy 4:11
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Deuteronomy 4:5–8, 11–14
In 2020, the Ecuadorian volcano Sangay erupted. The BBC described the “dark ash plume which reached a height of more than 12,000 m.” The discharge covered four provinces (about 198,000 acres) in gray ash and grimy soot. The sky turned dingy and grim, and the air was thick—making it difficult to breathe. Farmer Feliciano Inga described the unnerving scene to El Comercio newspaper: “We didn’t know where all this dust was coming from. . . . We saw the sky go dark and grew afraid.”
The Israelites experienced a similar fear at the base of Mount Sinai, as they “stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire . . . with black clouds and deep darkness” (Deuteronomy 4:11). God’s voice thundered, and the people trembled. It was terrifying. It’s an awesome, knee-buckling experience to encounter the living God.
“Then the Lord spoke,” and they “heard the sound of words but saw no form” (v. 12). The voice that rattled their bones provided life and hope. God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and renewed His covenant with them. The voice from the dark cloud caused them to quake, but also wooed and loved them with tenacity (Exodus 34:6–7).
God is powerful, beyond our reach, even startling. And yet He’s also full of love, always reaching out to us. A God both powerful and loving—this is who we desperately need.
Reflect & Pray
When has an encounter with God made you tremble? How did He also communicate love?
God, at times I’ve approached You too casually, assumed too much. Thank You for Your patience with me. And thank You for Your love.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The book of Deuteronomy concludes the five books of Moses (also known as Torah or the Pentateuch). The word deuteronomy means “second law,” which describes the contents of the book—a second telling of the law Israel had received at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 20). This was important because forty years had passed since those days at the base of Sinai. The generation who’d received the law and accepted it had died during their years of wandering in the wilderness. Now a new generation of Israelites stood at the threshold of the land God had promised them. Therefore, it was imperative that the law be reaffirmed as preparation for their entry into the land.
Bill Crowder
King James Version
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Deuteronomy 4:11-14
King James Version
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Click here for the Audio Message
You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire to the very heavens, with black clouds and deep darkness.
Deuteronomy 4:11
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Deuteronomy 4:5–8, 11–14
In 2020, the Ecuadorian volcano Sangay erupted. The BBC described the “dark ash plume which reached a height of more than 12,000 m.” The discharge covered four provinces (about 198,000 acres) in gray ash and grimy soot. The sky turned dingy and grim, and the air was thick—making it difficult to breathe. Farmer Feliciano Inga described the unnerving scene to El Comercio newspaper: “We didn’t know where all this dust was coming from. . . . We saw the sky go dark and grew afraid.”
The Israelites experienced a similar fear at the base of Mount Sinai, as they “stood at the foot of the mountain while it blazed with fire . . . with black clouds and deep darkness” (Deuteronomy 4:11). God’s voice thundered, and the people trembled. It was terrifying. It’s an awesome, knee-buckling experience to encounter the living God.
“Then the Lord spoke,” and they “heard the sound of words but saw no form” (v. 12). The voice that rattled their bones provided life and hope. God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and renewed His covenant with them. The voice from the dark cloud caused them to quake, but also wooed and loved them with tenacity (Exodus 34:6–7).
God is powerful, beyond our reach, even startling. And yet He’s also full of love, always reaching out to us. A God both powerful and loving—this is who we desperately need.
Reflect & Pray
When has an encounter with God made you tremble? How did He also communicate love?
God, at times I’ve approached You too casually, assumed too much. Thank You for Your patience with me. And thank You for Your love.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The book of Deuteronomy concludes the five books of Moses (also known as Torah or the Pentateuch). The word deuteronomy means “second law,” which describes the contents of the book—a second telling of the law Israel had received at Mount Sinai (see Exodus 20). This was important because forty years had passed since those days at the base of Sinai. The generation who’d received the law and accepted it had died during their years of wandering in the wilderness. Now a new generation of Israelites stood at the threshold of the land God had promised them. Therefore, it was imperative that the law be reaffirmed as preparation for their entry into the land.
Bill Crowder
King James Version
5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Deuteronomy 4:11-14
King James Version
11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
12 And the Lord spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.
13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.