“Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.” (Deuteronomy 11:26)
This is the shortest, most clarifying message of Deuteronomy: Moses speaks to a new generation of God’s people about two very different pathways for them to decide – the obedient path leading to God’s abundant blessings or the path of disobedience that brings God’s curse upon their lives. Sometimes, hearing God’s Word doesn’t produce the clarity of conviction that is needed. Paul writes these words about those who take in Biblical information but are not brought under a life-changing conviction of truth: “Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Timothy 3:7). In Deuteronomy, the second giving of the law, Moses gives a farewell address to a generation of Israel that needs a heart conviction on obeying God’s law and going forward to possess the land of promise. For forty years, this generation had lived in the wilderness under the fallout of God’s judgment on the adult generation that came out of Egypt. At this point, they receive clarity: “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:2). Clarity is knowing what God has in mind for our life going forward and being faithfully surrendered to God’s purpose and pathway for His blessings. Deuteronomy calls us to spiritual clarity for a new season. VHH