Word & the Wild

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This is Word and the Wild. It's a one year Bible adventure with friends, and my name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide on that adventure. Together, we're on this 12 month journey as a podcast plus community where we read the Bible for ourselves. But not by ourselves Gang, we're here in week 12 Where moses and the israelites wilderness wanderings are about to come to an end But they also come with a warning god wants his people to remember what they would rather Forget.

And if they do, it's their key to straightening out this loop they've been walking and turn it into a beeline out of the wilderness. So hello and welcome in to this chronological journey where we watch the story of the Bible unfold. Like the epic movie that it is. So subscribe here on your favorite podcast platform if you haven't already done so, and share the journey with a friend while you're at it.

Hey, I want to say a special welcome to our Word and the Wild Plus community members. It's their support. Of this non profit endeavor that makes space for all of us here on this bible reading adventure They enjoy access to our private safe online space It's called the wild where no honest question is a dumb question along with other bonus stuff like weekly live stream q and a's interactions, occasional social meetups, if you're local and even some live stream teaching gatherings with yours.

Truly, if any of that sounds like your cup of tea. Then check out the show notes for how to become a member yourself or get all the details over at word and the wild. com All right with that enough chatter. Let's get back on the trail. Let's take a look back at where we've been this week in the story And where we're headed next as we finally make our way out of the wilderness.

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It's not Deja Vu, it's Deuteronomy. Ha ha ha ha ha. The name Deuteronomy means second law. And as we've been moving through the story this week, we can easily understand how this section of the Bible got its name. I mean, it's just a restatement of the law, and the decrees, and the regulations, and the rules, and the guidelines for a good life, all of it for a second time.

And while much of the content In this week and last week has been a rerun. There has been some new information hidden inside of it that actually gives us a big clue as to why God decided it was essential for his people to hear all these guidelines all over again. The clue Is hidden inside the word, remember, it's all about memory for God's people.

Memory is essential to survival, survival, both from the internal pull. They feel to walk away from God's path and from the external pressure. They'll experience from the culture of Canaan, the promised land where they're headed. See. For 40 years this wilderness we've been in, it's been a workshop. It's been shaping and refining the Israelites.

It's been preparing them to cross the border, cross the Jordan River, step into the promised land. But what good is all that if their experiences evaporate from their memory? And the lessons that they learn, they're just swept away like so many footprints in the desert wind. What's the point? You know, there's a saying that goes history repeats itself.

Well, the actual quote comes from a man named George Santayana, and he said those who cannot remember the past are Condemned to repeat it. And so Deuteronomy, it's the law Again, God repeats himself so that history won't repeat itself Yeah, the thing is and it's it's tough for the Israelites and it's honestly tough for us, too.

The thing is God wants his people to remember what they would rather forget. Because an accurate memory is Essential to humility. And it's that humility that's essential to survival for God's people. See, an accurate memory can straighten out their path. They're gonna go from walking in circles in the wilderness to stepping in a direct line toward the good life that God has for them.

And the key to it all is just remembering what they want to forget. See, God keeps His promises, and that means He will lead them into the promised land. And as He has promised, life will be good there. But as Moses explains in Deuteronomy chapter 8, that good life will come with great risk. Listen to what Moses says.

He says, that is the time to be careful. Beware! That in your plenty, you do not forget the Lord your God and disobey His commands, regulations, and decrees that I'm giving you today. For when you have become full and prosperous, and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large.

and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else. Be careful. Moses goes on to say, do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness. With its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry.

He gave you water from the rock. He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and to test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy. Moses concludes, Remember the Lord your God.

He is the one who gives you power to be successful in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors. With an oath. That's Deuteronomy 8, 11 through 18. Did you catch that? God wants his people to remember what they would rather forget. Remember the hard times, the discouraging times, the missteps, the mistakes, the snakes, the scorpions, the terrifying wilderness.

The grumbling, the complaining, the doubts and embarrassments, the enslavement, the rescue and redemption of God time and time again. Honest history keeps us humble. That's a theme through the book of Deuteronomy. The word remember comes up 23 times in the book and the word forget, you know, the opposite of remember, it comes up a dozen more.

Our memory. Is what mines the wilderness for the gems of humility, honesty, and clarity. Our memory brings into this present moment the truth about ourselves, our Creator God, and the purpose for which we have been made. Fact is, we are proud, we are stubborn, and we are very, very painfully limited. And yet.

God loves us, chose us, rescues us, walks with us. Why? Well, so that God will keep his promise and we can fulfill our purpose to love and represent him inside a world that has gone so, so wrong. And that's why Deuteronomy is littered with reminders like this one from chapter 4 verse 9 Watch out Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen Do not let these memories escape your mind as long as you live and be sure To pass them on to your children and your grandchildren.

Remember, God wants his people to remember what we would rather forget.

Now this week in the story, as we look ahead, we are in a time of transition. Moses, this gifted, godly leader, will fade from view. Moses will give his place to Joshua. And Joshua will move the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the promised land. We're going to see that happen. And we're going to visit some people and places along the way that you might recognize.

Even if you're not a big time Bible nerd, you're going to see names like Rahab. And we're going to visit places like Jericho. It's coming up. We got good stories ahead this week. But for me this week, the most poignant moment on the trail. We'll be in some of our final moments with Moses. Moses, now a hundred and twenty years old, he's gonna climb up Mount Nebo and he's gonna look out across the land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants more than five hundred years ago.

Moses is gonna see it and he's gonna know that soon the people of Israel will have a place for And it's there in that moment, around that time, as Moses sits with the fact that God's people will have a home, but that he himself is not going to be able to join them there. In that space, we're going to hear some of the bittersweet reflections of this man of God, all about the idea of home.

Moses, think about Moses, the man who was born to an enslaved family, uh, the floated down a river in a basket as a baby, raised in an Egyptian palace, lived on the run as a fugitive, lived in a tent in a hot and windy wilderness for decades, following God's pillars of cloud and fire. And Moses, it's been a lifetime ago for him since he felt the stability and comfort of a steady place to call his own, to call home.

And yet, his rugged nomadic life has given Moses an insight few will ever gain. Moses has come to understand a big idea about home. See, for Moses, home is not a place. Home is a person, a strong, steady, powerful person who shelters him no matter where he happens to sleep, no matter where the journey takes him.

Moses writes this. Lord, through all generations, you have been our home. Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God. You turn people back to dust, saying, return to dust, you mortals. For you a thousand years are as a passing day. As brief as a few night hours, you sweep people away like dreams that disappear.

They're like grass that springs up in the morning. In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it's dry and withered. Moses writes, Seventy years are given to us, some even live to be eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble. Soon they disappear. And we fly away. Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.

Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so that we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery. Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants, see you work again. Let our children see your glory. Some of Moses final words recorded for us in Psalm 90.

All about home. Think about home. Wherever we wander, wherever we settle down, wherever the wilderness takes us, take it from Moses. Home is not a place. It's a person. God is where we live. God is where we belong.

And you, my friend, are set to roll. Enjoy the journey this week. Word and the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. I am having a blast on this adventure, and I hope you are too. All you word and the wild plus community members I'll be seeing you this week out there in the wild our private online community space. Everybody else, don't be a stranger first of all you can join the community second of all just subscribe to the podcast you got going on here and Thirdly just follow word of the wild on Facebook and we get into some interaction there. Word and the wild is a line house community.

It's part of the line house community network. We're a non profit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the Bible because friendship and God's word change lives and change cities. Word and the wild is presented by the LumaVoz Podcast Network.

Thank you, LumaVoz. And with that, my friend, I'm out. I'm Owen, your host and your guide. It's been a pleasure. Until next time, I'll be seeing you out there on the trail in the word and the wild. Have a great week.