Ok! Today’s reading is packed with a variety of laws. Seemingly, there are regulations for everything! From unsolved murders to finding your neighbor’s escaped goat, Moses instructs Israel even in the miscellaneous details of life. Towards the end of what seems to be a long read, the following verse spoke to me.
The camp must be holy, for the Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies. He must not see any shameful thing among you, or he will turn away from you. (Deuteronomy 23:14, NLT)
Notice the phrase, “…the Lord your God moves around in your camp to protect you and to defeat your enemies.” Here’s the picture, God was among His people! He was around the corner! He was over there and over here! God was not sequestered; He was “out and about.” God was everywhere among His people. So what was God doing? He was protecting Israel, defeating the enemy!
While the context of today’s reading emphasizes holiness, one of the many applications is the presence of God. In our lives as believers, our God is not sequestered! He is not a Sunday only—leave Him at church type of God. God is with us in the details of our lives, in our day-to-day! He is aware; He is here and there! He is not distant from how we feel. He is not removed from our trouble. He is in us and walks among us! Can we grasp this truth?
And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said: “I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. (2 Corinthians 6:16, NLT)
As believers, let’s share every aspect of our lives with God! That’s where He is, and that’s where He wants to be! How different is our God from the gods of this world! This kind of presence is very personal, and that’s the relationship God desires to have with us!
Thank you for joining with me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Deuteronomy 21:1-23:25.