Protect First. Prosper Next: 5 Moves to Safeguard Your Future.

(gentle music) - Hello and welcome to a word for this day podcast. I'm Jory Shae for the show's hosting creator and it is my joy and pleasure to welcome you today. Welcome to you returning listeners. Thank you for coming back another day to think about God's word together with me. I welcome to anyone who's found us for the first time. It's no accident that you're here today, friends. So please don't run off quite yet. Please stick around for a bit and let's see what all the Lord has for us today. It is such a joy to be able to think about God's word together with you and I just thank you for stopping in. I continue to pray for you regularly that the Lord would draw you closer to Him and give you more of a desire to know Him and to know His word. And I pray that you will be very intentional about your time with Him. Friends, we must be intentional. We must make a point to put these things in our schedule throughout today. And I'm not talking about just this podcast. If this is a helpful tool for you, I love sharing what I'm learning as I've spent a more time in the word with Him each day. But the main thing is you spending time with Him, you spending time in Bible study and prayer and worship each day. And we have to be very intentional so I encourage you in that. Please do consider sharing this podcast with your friends, family, neighbors, traders. Just any one you think may receive a blessing from it and know as always that I love to hear from you. Love to hear what God's doing in your life is your spending more time with Him. Well, our verse for the day for this 27th day of May, 2026 comes from Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter five, verse 27, I'm sorry, verse 27, and it reads as follows from the New American Standard Bible. Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says did speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you. And we will hear and do it. Oh, friends, what was going on here? Who was talking to who, to whom were they talking? What is the context? And what can we learn about this? I'm excited for us to park here today and see what the Lord would have us to know. And over these five seasons of a word for this day, we've done this verse a few times. And part of that reason is because there are not many chapter fives with verse 27s in all scripture. But this is just an important thing. It's an important thing for us to look at the context, to see the heart of the people that time, and to see how easy it is to get off track. I mean, what we read in that Paul wrote over in First Corinthians was that the things that happened to the children of Israel served as examples for us that we may not cry for it, see, and as they do, or as they did. So it is so important for us to pay attention to how they acted and then maybe how they fell away, so that we can learn from that and hopefully not commit as many as the same mistakes as they did. Although we're all human, we've all seen, we've all fallen short. We all have these tendencies to go our own way, but we can learn so much. And so I'm excited for us to park here. And I'm also reminded, and I tell you this just about every episode, for every two or three episodes, that all scripture is breathed out by God, and it's profitable. That means it's to our prophets, it's to our gain for teaching, correction, reproof, and training and righteousness, and why is it so that we may be complete or equipped for every good work, so that we could do what the Lord would have us to do. And so that pleases him. Not in stacking up a bunch of good deeds, just to say, look how tall my stack of good deeds is, but in obeying him, in wanting to follow him, in desiring to be in right relationship with him. That's what pleases him, and that's all on faith. But where we fight ourselves today is in the Old Testament, and we are in the law, and we are in the last book of the law. So remember that the Old Testament begins with the five books of the law, those are Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. It then moves to the Old Testament history, and then to wisdom and poetry literature, and then after that, the prophets, the major prophets, and the minor prophets. That's the very straightforward way that the Old Testament is set up. So we see that we are in that final book of the law. And when we talk about the law, if you are new to Bible study, it's not a whole five books with just one rule after another. That's the description of these first five books. And there is God's law within it, and what he had given to the children of Israel, right after they crossed into the wilderness, and were wondering for a good long while, in it at the end of 40 years. But that was because of their disobedience. But he gave them this framework, this law, because they were his people. They were to be a people set apart, and they were to live differently. But also, as we read over in the New Testament, Paul says, "If it weren't for the law, I wouldn't have known what sin was. If the law had not said, don't covet, I would not know what it meant to covet." And so there has always been a purpose for the law, because today, just like in the time, right after Jesus had come, and when Jesus came, people would say, "Well, are you telling us to do away with this law that the Lord said should not ever depart from us?" And it wasn't that. It was that Jesus fulfilled all the law of the prophets. And also, even after that law was given, after the children of Israel had broken it over many generations, God had given a message through His prophets that there would be a new covenant. It would be unlike the word that their fathers broke in the wilderness. And so there was a notice that a new covenant would come, but Jesus would fulfill all of this. And so I just love that. And then when he was asked about the greatest commandment, and he would say that the law and the prophets could be summed up in, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength, and the second is like it to love your neighbor as yourself." And he says, "On all these hanging the law and the prophets, so if we will do those first two things, it will, all the rest of it will fall right into place." And so I love that. But what we see here where we find ourselves in Newterronomy, today is the last book of the law. And so Genesis gives a lot of history. It tells us about the very beginning, tells us about creation, tells us about how that first sin entered into the world, tells us what that did to the world, and then how God started over with Noah because the wickedness was so great, and he sent a flood, and then he would start it back over with, and Noah and his wife had his sons and their wives. And in that lineage, there would be Abraham, who later would be called Abraham, and God had told Abraham that through him, all the nations of the earth would be blasted. That was before there was ever a law. And Abraham believed God. It was created to him as righteousness, that Abraham had Isaac, Isaac had Jacob, and Jacob's other name was Israel. Israel was the father of the 12 sons, who would be the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. And these would be that chosen group, that chosen people. And they had gone down to Egypt, and over about 400 years had grown from 70 persons to over 600,000 people are men. So it's thought that there are probably two to two and a half million people total. And God heard their cry, they were slaved and oppressed, just as he had told Abraham some 400 years before, that it would be that way. And he sent Moses to bring them out of Egypt and take them to that promised land, that he had promised Abraham all the way back in the early parts of Genesis. And so it was in that coming out, that Exodus, that exit is what we read about in the book of Exodus, and that's where God first gives the 10 commandments. Now in Leviticus, that next book of the law, it's more about this law, this priesthood had been ordained by God, that the heir and his descendants would be the Levitical priest, because they were from the tribe of Levi. And so they would be the ones that would manage and help to take care and direct, all the things having to do with worship and with the law. And so you read about more about that in Leviticus. Numbers talked about more of that time in the wilderness, and there was a lot of counting. being in a lot of synthesis and things like that. And then due to Rodomy, this final book of the law is right as the children of Israel are getting ready to cross into the promised land. Moses has been told that he is not going to be able to go over with them. And that was because he had an act of disobedience and God had told him that he wasn't going to be able to go, but that Joshua was going to lead them. But Moses had been there later for these 40 years and he so wanted them to be in right relationship with God and to follow him into obey and not to drift off. Because he had dealt with them for 40 years. He had dealt with how they were stiff necked and stubborn and would remember to do the right thing for a short time and then they would forget. And he knew that was the case and so this Deuteronomy was where he was reminding them. So it's a series of farewell addresses. He recounts what God had done and where they had traveled and how God had taken care of them. He recounts how they had turned away at times. And so that's what we see in Deuteronomy. And where we find ourselves today is kind of on the beginning of some of those things. And he's doing some more recounting here. And so first I want to pick up right here in chapter 1. Just so you hear how this Deuteronomy begins. It says these are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan and the wilderness in the air by opposite surf between parent and tofu and labanin has a Roth and his a hab. It is 11 days journey from Horib by the way of Mount seer to Kadesh, Barnea. And the 40th year on the first day of the 11th month Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had commanded him to give them. And so we see that this he's right here at the beginning of the 40th year and he is doing what God has wanted him to do. He is telling them all these things and recounting all these things. And he's recounting where they went and how they acted and some of the things that happened along the way. And then he recounts God given the law. If you look here or at least the 10 commandments right here because there would be other rules and statutes that he would give. And so after that it says in chapter 5 verse 22 and I'm going to pick up here because he has just read the law. It says these words the Lord spoke to all your assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire of the cloud and of the thick loom with a great voice. And he added no more. He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire you came near to me all the heads of your tribes and your elders. You said behold the Lord our God has shown us his glory and his greatness and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen today that God speaks with man yet he lives. Now then why should we die for this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived and then here's our verse verse 27. Go near and hear all that the Lord our God says then speak to us all that the Lord our God speaks to you and we will hear and do it. Oh I love that. So the context of our verse is that Moses is recounting for the children of Israel all the things that God has done and how he gave them those ten commandments and how that they the people heard that voice they it was intense and they saw that fire in the cloud in the thick gloom and they knew that God had given Moses those things on the tablets and how it was very disturbing to them because they had come close to the power and the glory of God and they knew that Moses had been the only one that was able to go up close to God and live. And so I think as a way that they felt like kind of self preservation they were saying. So Moses you keep going to God to hear what he would have us what he would tell you and what he wants us to know and then you tell us because we can't be in his presence we can't stand to be that close because we know that we'll surely die because remember even if anyone or an animal or anyone came near to the foot of the mountain while God was speaking they would die. So they were seeing God's power they had already seen God's power they had already seen what he had done with the plagues they had already seen what he did with parting the red sea so that they could go through on dry land and then how he closed it up over their pursuers. They had in person witnessed this over and over and over and over again and so Moses is recounting to them what they had told him that if they would if he would just keep going to get in the messages from God that they would listen and do it. Now an interesting thing here Moses is in the 40th year or this is in the 40th year when this has happened after they had wandered in the wilderness. One thing that had happened at the very beginning of that journey was that I had told Moses to send spies into that land of Canaan to scope it out and he had told him that he was going to take care of them and they needed to go on over into the promised land. Ten of those came back and said oh no the walls are too high the people are too great there's their too mighty we can't do it. Two came back Josh Wynne Caleb and said yes we could do exactly what God has said and so for those who grumbled and who didn't believe God had told them that they would die in the wilderness. So everyone who was 20 years and above when they came out of Egypt who grumbled against God were going to die in the wilderness. So when Moses is talking here to the people it is either people that were under 20 years of age when they came out of Egypt being led by Moses or those who had been born in the wilderness. So what are the reasons he's recounting all of this is to remind them of exactly what happened. And so he was reminding those in his audience right now that you know God gave the Ten Commandments he gave this law on the two tablets of the testimony and when that happened it was there was fire on the mountain and darkness and gloom and some of you and mostly your forefathers said we can't get that close to him so you go tell us what he says and we'll do it. Now at that time that was the right answer but later even when Moses would tell him what to do or later when God would give instruction they would still grumble and friends we can't be hard on them you know we will hear a message or read something in God's Word or be convicted about something and think oh this is the right way I'm going to walk on it and then we get distracted or we let self take over or we drift to the side or drift away and so may we have the right heart though and say oh Lord show me what you'd have me to do help me to keep that and obey it and may it be and obey your Word and may it be for your glory. Once that takes an intentional being in his Word and in his truth daily that takes denying ourselves pick it up or cross daily and following him and he has been so gracious to us to give us his written Word and also his Holy Spirit to God us you know the people here didn't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to convict them and remind them so when they would get off track I think sometimes it may have been easier for them to get off track than for us believers who we have no excuse we have his written Word we have these years of truth from him given us in the written Word and then we have his Holy Spirit that living Holy Spirit within us who God's a direct us so may we have that heart to say especially even when our pastors are teaching us if they are God honoring men who have been chosen called to be the ones who are teaching us and shepherding us may our cry be to them or may our heart be toward them yes hear what the Lord would have you to share with us and may we may we listen may we pay attention to that message that he has given you for us. Now on this side of the cross, we also as a matter of fact, we have a lot of work to do. mentioned just now have the Holy Spirit who guides us and leads us in direct says, but God has still put shepherds over us. He has still put leaders. We just need to make sure that they are following His Word. If they are going the way of the world, if they are making things up or not preaching the Word, then you need to run as hard and fast as you can away from them and away from that congregation that supports that. But may we seek to follow His Word, may we seek to be led by the Spirit and may it be for His glory. Bless to you friends until next time.