Deuteronomy 7 & 8: Are You Special?
Verse of the Day: (7:6) For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
1. Special (7:1-16)
But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. (7:9)
Israel is a special nation because God chooses to love them, and promised Abraham, their founding father that He shall bless them provided they believed and obeyed Him. However, Israel failed God many times, yet He does not give up on them. Today, God is still pleading with them to believe in Him and turn to Him. There is nothing special in us, in fact, we are sinners, yet God loves us, and not only He forgives us, but He saves us from fiery hell, and one day, He shall promote us to His glorious heaven. (1 Peter 2:9-10)
2. Signs (7:17-26)
The great temptations which thine eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the stretched out arm, whereby the LORD thy God brought thee out: so shall the LORD thy God do unto all the people of whom thou art afraid. (7:19)
One of God’s great signs was the opening of the majestic Red sea. Israel cried out to God when they were sandwiched between the Red sea, and the Egyptian army, who wanted to destroy them. God’s servant, Moses, by faith obeyed God, and stretched out his hand over the sea, and God miraculously opened it, so that they could cross it dry to the other side, and then miraculously closed it upon the pursuing Egyptians. (Exodus 14:15-22)
3. Suffering (8:1-20)
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (8:3)
No one enjoy suffering, yet Moses chose to suffer. As a baby, Moses’ parents cast him out in an ark so that others could save and raise him up. By God’s providence, Pharaoh’s daughter found him, and raised him as her own son. Again, by God’s providence, Moses’ mother was chosen to raise her son. When Moses grew up, by faith, he chose to deliver Israel, his own people, from the Egyptians, than to be their prince. He suffered for 40 years before God eventually used him to deliver Israel out of Egypt. (Hebrews 11:23-29)
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, thank You that I am special because I receive You as my Saviour.
