So I’m a sophomore in highschool, trying to read through the whole bible (which you could probably guess since we are all in this plan) and im finding it kind of hard to get through this section because it seems like a lot of Deuteronomy is all of these Old Testament commands and customs of that time, I guess when I do my devos, I wanna be enlightened which i know won’t happen every time I read but I guess my question is, I don’t doubt that God puts everything in the Bible for a reason, but why does he want us reading this? How does it apply to us?
I think the OT helps us understand how God interacted with His people through history. As we move into the NT we see how Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of the law. The OT helps me appreciate His incredible kindness in being my sacrificial substitute so I can be set free from sin and death. So thankful you are prioritizing your time in the Word. Keep it up Samantha!
Thank you for that! That makes perfect sense, it sure is cool to see how God can speak through people to explain to me why he has me reading this, thankful that you reached out to answer my question!
We are going through the OT in church and we are studying how Jesus is reveled even in the OT way before the NT…
So I’ve been asking myself as I read through.. “how is God or Jesus shown here… is he present, pattern (as does his character show up here) or is there proof of him (do we see a correlation to his death and the NT)
It’s so hard to stay good and follow all the things we know to be right. And every day I fail. It’s comforting to know that at the end of every day my only success is to love God with all my heart. If I can do this, I can stop feeling like a failure every day.
30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 ‘The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
I was looking back at these verses and what stood out to me today was the ‘to love your neighbor as yourself.’ I’ve always known this to be a commandment of course, but as I’ve immersed myself in Gods word and made it a daily part of my life, I’ve come to realize that if I don’t love myself, than its much more difficult to show love and compassion for others. The self love I’m talking about isn’t selfishly putting yourself before everyone else, or thinking that you’re better than other people; its seeing who you are & what you have, rather than who you aren’t & what you need to fix; it’s embracing both your strengths & imperfections & accepting yourself in the here & now, the way God accepts and loves us — viewing ourselves the way God sees us will allow us to see the value & worth we have. The concept of self love and embracing who you are is essential in living out the life God wants for us & necessary in order to use the gifts and talents He has entrusted in us.
SO good, Jenna!! When I’m in a bad place in my heart & life it’s VERY difficult to love others; when I’m beating myself up about not being in church more diligently, it’s nearly impossible to feel like inviting my neighbors; when I feel bad about my lack of pretty dishes, it’s defeating to want to invite that friend over for a coffee chat. Self love is CRUCIAL, and possible when the reality of how much God loves us truly sinks in! When we realize how much we are loved, how much we WERE loved when our savior hung on a cross for OUR SAKE — well, then, its more fathomable to love ourselves isn’t it? Loved your comment. Than you for posting!
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
This verse stuck out to me – it’s a good reminder of the difference between times now and times back in the OT. I’ve been struggling reading the OT so far and it’s been hard to focus, but I like this connection seen in Mark. the scribe here reminds us that all the sacrifices and burnt offerings seen in the OT are void because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us… Glory be to God!!!!
If all sin is equal, why are some commandments looked at with greater importance (29-31)? Wouldn’t breaking any of them be a sin, making following all of them just as important and equal
I think Antimony summed it up pretty well above. Yes, they are all equal in weight and breaking God’s law separates us from Him. However, Jesus summarized their intent into two main points: when we love God and love other people, the following the other commandments becomes second nature.
I love the passage about the widow. It’s challenging and inspires me to continue to give in a way that honours God.
Does anyone know they ‘how’ of her giving? It obviously wasn’t a tithe as it wasn’t produce or agriculture. Was it a free will offering? Some insight would be great!
Mk 12:30-31 “Love God with heart (emotion), soul (spiritual part), mind (intellect), and strength (physical strength). Love others in the same way/extent/quality as you love yourself”. Really this does sum up all of the law.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
*what a faithful and trusting heart, Jesus saw this!! So many other men looked good giving large amounts, but “they were giving out of their wealth”.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
Matthew 12
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus so beautifully summed up what He was expecting of us. The full Ten Commandments in 2 summarized commandments. The task is ours.
Matthew 19:26- Jesus looked at them and said
“……….with God all things are possible.”
We can do this—not perfectly—but we can design our lives to please Our Father.
3 but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.
When I read this, I can’t help but think about Jesus at the flogging post. I don’t think He took less than 40 lashes on his body because it was the Romans who dished out the punishment on Him. It just brings to my mind the divine exchange that happened at the cross. He was despised and rejected at the cross so that today we are accepted in the Beloved.
The poor woman at the synagogue is such a testimony to how we should live!
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Love God and your neighbor
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God is our deliverer! He is our hope ! We will inherit the promise land , we will cross over and live in it in abundance!
44For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
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The widow loved the Lord with all her heart, mind, and strength.
30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ -ellie
May we also be careful to remember and obey this command.
29Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
There is no other!
So I’m a sophomore in highschool, trying to read through the whole bible (which you could probably guess since we are all in this plan) and im finding it kind of hard to get through this section because it seems like a lot of Deuteronomy is all of these Old Testament commands and customs of that time, I guess when I do my devos, I wanna be enlightened which i know won’t happen every time I read but I guess my question is, I don’t doubt that God puts everything in the Bible for a reason, but why does he want us reading this? How does it apply to us?
I think the OT helps us understand how God interacted with His people through history. As we move into the NT we see how Jesus has fulfilled the requirements of the law. The OT helps me appreciate His incredible kindness in being my sacrificial substitute so I can be set free from sin and death. So thankful you are prioritizing your time in the Word. Keep it up Samantha!
Thank you for that! That makes perfect sense, it sure is cool to see how God can speak through people to explain to me why he has me reading this, thankful that you reached out to answer my question!
We are going through the OT in church and we are studying how Jesus is reveled even in the OT way before the NT…
So I’ve been asking myself as I read through.. “how is God or Jesus shown here… is he present, pattern (as does his character show up here) or is there proof of him (do we see a correlation to his death and the NT)
Completely agree Cindy!!!
❤!
It’s so hard to stay good and follow all the things we know to be right. And every day I fail. It’s comforting to know that at the end of every day my only success is to love God with all my heart. If I can do this, I can stop feeling like a failure every day.
It’s as if you took the words from my own mouth Cindy couldn’t agree no more
30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 ‘The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
I was looking back at these verses and what stood out to me today was the ‘to love your neighbor as yourself.’ I’ve always known this to be a commandment of course, but as I’ve immersed myself in Gods word and made it a daily part of my life, I’ve come to realize that if I don’t love myself, than its much more difficult to show love and compassion for others. The self love I’m talking about isn’t selfishly putting yourself before everyone else, or thinking that you’re better than other people; its seeing who you are & what you have, rather than who you aren’t & what you need to fix; it’s embracing both your strengths & imperfections & accepting yourself in the here & now, the way God accepts and loves us — viewing ourselves the way God sees us will allow us to see the value & worth we have. The concept of self love and embracing who you are is essential in living out the life God wants for us & necessary in order to use the gifts and talents He has entrusted in us.
SO good, Jenna!! When I’m in a bad place in my heart & life it’s VERY difficult to love others; when I’m beating myself up about not being in church more diligently, it’s nearly impossible to feel like inviting my neighbors; when I feel bad about my lack of pretty dishes, it’s defeating to want to invite that friend over for a coffee chat. Self love is CRUCIAL, and possible when the reality of how much God loves us truly sinks in! When we realize how much we are loved, how much we WERE loved when our savior hung on a cross for OUR SAKE — well, then, its more fathomable to love ourselves isn’t it? Loved your comment. Than you for posting!
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
This verse stuck out to me – it’s a good reminder of the difference between times now and times back in the OT. I’ve been struggling reading the OT so far and it’s been hard to focus, but I like this connection seen in Mark. the scribe here reminds us that all the sacrifices and burnt offerings seen in the OT are void because of Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for us… Glory be to God!!!!
Good point. It helps me to remember that the OT .is speaking to the Jews. His chosen tribes
If all sin is equal, why are some commandments looked at with greater importance (29-31)? Wouldn’t breaking any of them be a sin, making following all of them just as important and equal
I think Antimony summed it up pretty well above. Yes, they are all equal in weight and breaking God’s law separates us from Him. However, Jesus summarized their intent into two main points: when we love God and love other people, the following the other commandments becomes second nature.
That makes sense! Thank you for explaining it better!
I love the passage about the widow. It’s challenging and inspires me to continue to give in a way that honours God.
Does anyone know they ‘how’ of her giving? It obviously wasn’t a tithe as it wasn’t produce or agriculture. Was it a free will offering? Some insight would be great!
Mk 12:30-31 “Love God with heart (emotion), soul (spiritual part), mind (intellect), and strength (physical strength). Love others in the same way/extent/quality as you love yourself”. Really this does sum up all of the law.
Love that thought! thanks for sharing!
This just speaks to me the importance of tithing, among other things.
42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
*what a faithful and trusting heart, Jesus saw this!! So many other men looked good giving large amounts, but “they were giving out of their wealth”.
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
LOVE is greater than SACRIFICE
Matthew 12
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Jesus so beautifully summed up what He was expecting of us. The full Ten Commandments in 2 summarized commandments. The task is ours.
Matthew 19:26- Jesus looked at them and said
“……….with God all things are possible.”
We can do this—not perfectly—but we can design our lives to please Our Father.
3 but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes.
When I read this, I can’t help but think about Jesus at the flogging post. I don’t think He took less than 40 lashes on his body because it was the Romans who dished out the punishment on Him. It just brings to my mind the divine exchange that happened at the cross. He was despised and rejected at the cross so that today we are accepted in the Beloved.
Love that thought :)