Deuteronomy 31:9 – 13 “So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
Then Moses commanded them, “At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of remission of debt, during the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes before the LORD your God at the place He will choose, you are to read this law in the hearing of all Israel.
Assemble the people—men, women, children, and the foreigners within your gates—so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and to follow carefully all the words of this law. Then their children who do not know the law will listen and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
When Moses was giving these instructions, the Israelites must have thought, “Duh! How can we possibly forget any of these things?” Unfortunately, it didn’t take very long for them to forget completely.
Moses commanded the priests to read the entire law to all Israel, including people of all ages and any foreigners living among them. Everybody in Israel was to study the Law, learn the Law, and abide by the Law so that they would learn to fear the Lord. These readings were to be done every seven years at the appointed time during the Feast of Tabernacles, the most joyous celebration in the Jewish year. Why every seven years? This cycle would give time for children who were too young during the first reading to be able to understand most of it.
So, what happened to this commandment? Sadly, once the Israelites made it into the Promised Land, they conveniently forgot about this commandment entirely. It was not until the time of Nehemiah when the Israelites had been in exile and then had returned from Persia that a public reading of the Law actually took place. (Nehemiah 8) When the exiles who had returned actually heard the words of the Law, they wept in remorse for their sins and the sins of their fathers. (Nehemiah 8:9) During that celebration, the Israelites also celebrated the Feast of Booths for the first time since the days of Joshua. How sad those Israelites who had been in exile must have been when they realized that their suffering might have been avoided completely, had their ancestors followed God’s commands regarding His Law.
APPLICATION: Psalm 119:10 -12 says, “With my whole heart have I sought Thee; O let me not wander from Thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee. Blessed art Thou, O Lord, teach me Thy statutes.” And Psalm 119:18 says, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.”
Long before advanced technology existed, there were those individuals whose job it was to detect counterfeit money. How did these people learn to discern the real from the fakes? They studied real money so intensively that they could not be deceived, no matter how cleverly a counterfeiter had been. In the same way, if we want to know what is spiritually true, we too must study the Word of God, hiding it in our hearts until our hearts overflow.
“But,” you say, “how can I possibly study God’s Word that intensively? I have very little time and I have never been to Bible school.” That’s where Psalm 119:12 comes in. If we ask God to teach us His statutes, He will do so readily. And God knows our minds and hearts better than we know ourselves. God knows exactly how much we can absorb at a given time.
James 1:5 promises that “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” When you ask God to help you understand His Word, the entire universe will be on your side. God wants you to understand His word so that you will be able to obey it. All that you need is a heart that is hungry for God’s truth and a willingness to learn. Let’s pray.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Give us a hunger to learn Your Will for our lives. Help us to study Your Word and open our minds to understand more each day. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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