Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 27.9-10
9 Then Moses and the Levitical priests said to all Israel, “Be silent, Israel, and listen! You have now become the people of the Lord your God. 10 Obey the Lord your God and follow his commands and decrees that I give you today.” 

Reflection: The Sojourn of Sanctification
By John Tillman

The desert sojourn is a transforming experience for Israel and this process of sanctification can be mirrored in the lives of modern believers.

When Israel entered Egypt, they were small, humble, and in need but carried with them God’s blessing. Egypt, so long as she remembered Joseph, enjoyed these blessings and was transformed into a nation that blessed other nations. Soon, however, nationalism took hold in Egypt. Joseph was forgotten. Foreigners were to be feared and exploited. Generations of Israilites were oppressed in slavery. They became a people unfamiliar with freedom and separated from the pleasures of life. They were disconnected from their calling to bless others.

The Exodus is about more than freedom. The desert transforms Israel. They are reintroduced to their purpose, calling, and empowerment. Those who had been exploited as foreigners were commanded to become a nation that blessed foreigners. Those who had been held in slavery, were commanded to become a nation marked by releasing slaves from bondage. Those who had been indoctrinated in the false gods of Egypt would become the teacher of all nations, showing them what the one, true God is like. 

God’s people are always in a process of becoming. Moses says, “Be silent…you have now become the people of the Lord, your God.” (Deuteronomy 27.9) When we come to Christ, we are freed from sin as the Israelites were freed from Egyptian slavery. Sin’s chains are struck from our hands in an instant, but it takes time in the desert with God’s word for the chains of an enslaved mindset to be melted from our hearts.

Jesus says, “For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17.19) Jesus is our model, our pattern, our leader to follow through the desert as we are changed from one kind of people to another.

Paul says, “We…are being transformed into his image, with ever-increasing glory.” (2 Corinthians 3.18) God is glorified with every step we take in becoming more like Christ.

We are like the people of Israel in many ways. We are not just freed from sin, but called for a purpose. The desert of sanctification is transformational so let us hold nothing back from its influence. May we become the people of the Lord our God.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Jesus taught us, saying: “It is not anyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ who will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the person who does the will of my Father in heaven. When the day comes many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?’ Then I shall tell them to their faces: ‘I have never known you; away from me all evildoers!’” — Matthew 7.21-23


– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 27-28:19 (Listen – 13:27)
Psalm 119:1-24 (Listen – 15:14)

Read more about Attending God’s Lessons
Through their liberation from Egypt and their time in the desert, God became Israel’s teacher.

Read more about Ready to Exit the Desert
Their faith wasn’t ready to exit the desert and enter the promised land. Desert months turned into desert decades.

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 26.5-12
5 Then you shall declare before the Lord your God: “My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. 6 But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. 7 Then we cried out to the Lord, the God of our ancestors, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression. 8 So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. 9 He brought us to this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey; 10 and now I bring the firstfruits of the soil that you, Lord, have given me.” Place the basket before the Lord your God and bow down before him. 11 Then you and the Levites and the foreigners residing among you shall rejoice in all the good things the Lord your God has given to you and your household. 

12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied. 

Reflection: Short-Circuit Oppression
By John Tillman

Those who have been abused are not immune from becoming abusers. In history, those who overthrow oppressors, often succumb to the temptation of becoming oppressors. 

Moses, in his many instructions to the people before entering the land, is intentional about trying to prevent those who escaped oppression in Egypt from becoming oppressors themselves. Part of his strategy to short circuit oppression was in worship practices and prayers.

The declaration worshipers were to make when they brought in the firstfruits and the tithe was part history lesson, part confession, and part mission statement. It acknowledged humble beginnings, celebrated what God had done, accepted all peoples into God’s family, and committed the worshiper to care for the vulnerable. This was intentional. Because they had been oppressed they were commanded to care for the oppressed. Because they had been foreigners, they were to treat foreigners as native born.

Bringing our “firstfruits” and tithes to God is inextricably tied in the law to care for the poor, the foreigner, and the outcasts. It won’t matter what we do with our money if our hearts aren’t bent toward caring for the vulnerable.

Today we will pray based on this declaration from Deuteronomy 26.5-19:

Because of what you have done, Lord, we are yours.
Your hands have set us free of our own chains.
When we were hard pressed you brought us into a spacious place.
When we had nothing you gave to us abundantly more that we could imagine.

Lord we bring to you the firstfruits, tithes, and offerings of our lives.
Not our material things only but our hearts, thoughts, and souls, we give to you.
Let us not carelessly “eat” the tithe by participating in the mindless consumption of our culture and economy.
Bend our hearts to care for your church but not to neglect the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widow.
May they eat in our towns and cities.
May they be satisfied and treated with dignity.
May our offerings and our care for others cause you joy.
As you have set us free, may we work to free all humanity.
As you have treasured us, may we look on all people as your treasured ones.

As you have made us holy and blessed us, may we extend to others your blessing and call others to your holiness.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
Deliverance belongs to the Lord. Your blessing be upon your people! — Psalm 3.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 26 (Listen – 3:13)
Psalm 117-118 (Listen – 2:52)

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The results of true prayer are tangible actions on our part, empowered by God to make a difference in our world.

Read more about Deuteronomy’s Dream for the Poor
Christians can look the darkest realities of poverty in the face and confidently say, “It doesn’t have to be this way.”

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 22.26-27
26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

Reflection: Abusive Assumptions
By John Tillman

A court’s verdict is just a number on the scoreboard or the snapshot of a referee holding up one fighter’s glove. When we see an article about a Supreme Court ruling, that’s typically all we get—a snapshot. Detailed legal opinions from the justices give graphic, blow-by-blow accounts of how every punch landed and every point was scored.

The “Majority Opinion” shows the reasoning that won the majority of the court over. We learn the evidence the majority found compelling and vital. The “Minority Opinion” details the other justices’ disagreements with their colleagues, including evidence they weighed differently, and reasons they would rule differently.

Moses became the de facto Supreme Court for Israel. He daily heard case after case of everyday mishaps, typical crimes, and outright scandals during the desert sojourn. Eventually, Moses created a court system, appointing judges over successively smaller groups of people. These judges decided simple cases and sent only the most difficult cases to higher judges and eventually to Moses.

Moses had, or developed, a refined legal sensibility and the writings of the law reveal this. They often read like a listing of old case decisions. Sometimes we get only a ruling or verdict, but often, we get hints of Moses’ reasoning. Without familiarity with the cultural context, sometimes we scratch our heads at the verdicts we see. However, it can be helpful to keep our ears open to the compassionate reasoning we find.

In this case of two people in a sexually compromising situation, Moses gives the benefit of the doubt to the party more likely to be victimized. Abuse is assumed by the more powerful and the best is assumed about the target of abuse, not the worst. In Moses’ day, it was assumed that when someone cried out regarding abuse, help would come. In our day, this assumption has often proved false.

God expects us, like Moses, to use our logic to apply his love for others in our interactions with them. Whatever judgments we make about others should be humble (because we are also sinful), compassionate (assuming the best about the victims), and without bias (allowing no excuses due to someone’s prior status, wealth, or “importance”).

Moses’ task was to establish justice. Ours is as well. God will judge organizations, nations, churches, and individuals by how well we carry out justice—especially for abuse victims. May we avoid abusive assumptions and act to rescue them.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you; let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me.
Let none who look to you be put to shame. — Psalm 25.1-2

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 22 (Listen – 4:13)
Psalm 110-111 (Listen – 1:57)

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The very first step of abuse is to groom victims until they consent to abuse.

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How many believers veil their trust in men as trust in God?