The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Deuteronomy 24-27
Act 2: God’s Covenant People
Scene 3: The Sinai Covenant and law: God embraces and instructs his people
Background Information: Deuteronomy 24-27
The laws given to Israel kept God’s holiness front and center, and they also protected human dignity. Details like: you could make a loan to a person in need but you could not enter their home, allowed the person in financial need to retain sovereignty in his own home. You could take a cloak in pledge, but you had to return it at night. These laws considered both human dignity and human sinfulness. They considered dignity because even those in need of help remained image bearers with certain rights. They also considered sinfulness because there was accountability built into them. Having a need did not remove responsibility. Remember, these are laws given to an emerging nation. They are likely representative of the full body of laws the nation of Israel operated under. There is more background to many of them than we can see in the text of the passage. They were given by God so that Israel would prosper and thrive as a people. Laws do not restrict human thriving; they protect and empower it. If there were no laws on our freeways they would not be places of free travel but rather pure danger. When laws are removed or unenforced, freedom does not increase, it decreases. At the same time if laws are purely unjust or arbitrary they limit human thriving. God gave Israel laws to set them up for success and to maximize their freedom under his Lordship. The law is now summarized by Jesus as “Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” The New Testament unpacks what love for God and others looks like in practice. If we truly obey this law, we will experience the thriving life that the Old Testament law was designed to provide for God’s people. Israel could not keep the Law, for it was too much for sinful humans. We can now keep the law of Christ; he has written it on our hearts.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
Pray for Men’s Rally tonight. Ask God to encourage and challenge the men who gather. Pray that they would be strengthened in their inner being.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call some now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.
Review the Storyline Map: Where we are in the Bible
Act 1 God’s Plan for All People
Scene 1: The Creation: The God of all of life.
Scene 2: The Fall: Rejecting God’s vision for life
Scene 3: The Flood: God judges and makes a covenant to preserve life
Act 2 God’s Covenant People
Scene 1: The People: God calls a Covenant People
Scene 2: Deliverance: God rescues his people.
Week 11:
Scene 3: The Sinai Covenant and law: God embraces and instructs his people
Day 1: Deuteronomy 16-19
Day 2: Deuteronomy 20-23
Day 3: Deuteronomy 24-27
Day 4: Deuteronomy 28-30
Day 5: Deuteronomy 31-34
Scene 4: The Land: God’s place for his people
Day 6: Joshua 1-2, Psalm 105
Scene 5: Kings and Prophets: God shapes a kingdom people
Scene 6: Kings and Prophets: God divides the kingdom people.
Scene 7: Kings and Prophets: The southern kingdom as God’s people
Scene 8: Exile: God disciplines his people
Scene 9: Return: God delivers his people again
Act 3 God’s New Covenant People
Scene 1: Christ’s coming: God’s true king arrives
Scene 2: Christ’s ministry: God’s true king manifest his kingdom
Scene 3: Christ’s deliverance of his people: God’s work through the death, resurrection, and enthronement of his king
Scene 4: Christ’s church: God’s people advance the kingdom
Scene 5: Christ second coming: God future for the kingdom