Thoughts on the readings for April 18th (Deuteronomy 1, Proverbs 28, John 11)

The name Deuteronomy comes from the Septuagint, Greek translation of the Old Testament, and means "The Second Law-giving". The opening words of this fifth book of Moses, although not strictly a title, introduce the book by the phrase "These be the words". This is the title of the book in the Hebrew Bible. They are the last words of Moses, given under the inspiration of God, and spoken in the last month of Moses' life - just before Israel entered the Promised Land under Joshua. Deuteronomy captures the spirit of the Law. Chapter 1 covers a few topics. Verses 1-8 tell of the command to leave Horeb, ie Mount Sinai, called by the local arabs the Mount of Moses. Israel stayed in this locality for 22 months, where they received the Ten Commandments and the rest of the law found in the book of Exodus from chapter 20 onwards and in the book of Leviticus. Verses 9-18 speak of the appointing of new leaders to bring them into the Land - in fact one of the great themes of the book of Deuteronomy is that "Yahweh brought THEM OUT of Egypt that He might bring THEM INTO the Land promised to their fathers" - Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who was also called by their name of Israel. Verses 19-33 speak of Israel, as a nation, refusing to obey God's voice and being barred from entering the Land. Those verses also tell of their Father's care for them as He carried them through the wilderness - see Isaiah 63 verse 7-14. Verses 34-46 describe the cost of their rejection of their Sovereign - they would for the next 38 years wander through the wilderness of Kadesh. The writer to the Hebrews in chapter 3 outlines the gravity of their sin and tells of their failure to trust in the Living God. Proverbs 28 continues the theme of friendship. Verses 1-5 tell of the consequences of those who in their folly forsake the obligations of friendship. Verses 6-16 say that the wise will heed the instruction of the Law of the LORD and will benefit both themselves and those who strive to follow the path that their lives have illuminated. Verse 9 should be given special attention as it reveals that if we turn our ear from our Sovereign's direction through His Word then our God will stop listening to our prayers. This theme is developed at length in Proverbs 1. The verses after V9 of Proverbs 28 show the consequences of such folly. Verses 17-28 speak of further disasters which will come upon the foolish who have forsaken the wise words of the LORD. These verses make it abundantly clear that the wise will not be deflected from faithful service to their Maker. Those wise and faithful servants will be blessed both now and forever more in the Kingdom of God on earth. While beyond Jordan Jesus is informed that his friend Lazarus is gravely ill and the messengers request that Jesus come immediately. But verse 4 says that our Lord's response is to declare that this sickness of Lazarus is not unto death; but that Jesus might be glorified. After two days delay our Lord goes to his friends. Christ tells his disciples not to stumble; but to walk in the light, as long as the Light ie our Lord is with them. Jesus now plainly says that Lazarus is dead. This information probably raising more questions for his disciples than answers. When our Lord arrives note Martha's unshakable conviction that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and any one believing in him would be raised up at the Last Day. Mary, however, had had her confidence in her Lord undermined by the Jewish rulers - called throughout John's account "the Jews". This caused Jesus to weep. The whole scenario was an out-working of the prophecy of Jeremiah 13 verses 15-17, which verses are cited three times by our Lord in John 11 verses 4-10. To show that Lazarus is one of the Lord's sheep when our Lord's voice of command is spoken with authority Lazarus came forth alive. Lazarus walked out in his grave clothes indicating that this was not the resurrection of the last day that Martha had spoken of. How infuriating to the authorities that Jesus had raised Lazarus. Did they respond to this miracle in belief - no? They immediately sought the death of Lazarus death and schemed Jesus' own destruction. Caiaphas takes the lead in these matters. The Lord had predicted these events in his parable in Luke 16. Penned by Warwick Rosser and his team, produced by Christadelphianvideo.org See more Thoughts from the Christadelphian Dialy Bible Reading Planner (By R.Roberts) here... https://christadelphianvideo.org/thoughts-on-the-readings-for-april-18th-deuteronomy-1-proverbs-28-john-11/?feed_id=89775&_unique_id=6800adc186584