1 John 4:8
God is love.
From the time the first generation of Israelites out of Egypt refused to conquer the Promised Land, the Ninth of Av (in the Jewish calendar) has been the 'Day of Woe' of Jewish History.
As the second generation of Israelites out of Egypt arrives at the same spot where their fathers tested Adonai, Moses is determined not to have a repeat of the same situation. For five weeks he prepares the people for the conquest of the Land with a long exhortation called in Hebrew 'Sefer Dvarim': the 'Book of Deuteronomy'. In his exhortation Moses explains the Torah to this desert generation (Deuteronomy 1:5). In view of the upcoming battle with the Sons of Anak (giants), Moses reminds the people of their recent military victories, especially with the giant Og (Numbers 32:33). Herein is a lesson for us: to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, we must devote ourselves to the study of the Torah.
Israel understanding and dedicating themselves to the Torah was essential to the successful conquest of the Land. The camp in the desert also counted other people from other nations, so ancient texts propose that when Moses 'expounded', or 'explained' the Torah, he did it in all the 70 languages of the world. This is reminiscent of the day of Pentecost where it is believed that God spoke the Torah in all the languages of the world through tongues of fire (Exodus 20:18). This also reminds us of the other Pentecost when God sent tongues of fire on the disciples of the Master enabling them to speak the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in the languages of all the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the festival (Acts 2). This is usually referred to as the 'gift of 'tongues' or, 'languages'.
Moses may not actually have spoken the sermon of the Book of Deuteronomy in all main 70 languages of the world, except prophetically. As the Children of Israel of old stood at the entrance of the Promised Land, we, in this 'Endtime', stand at the door of the Kingdom of Heaven established on earth as it is in Heaven, and most everyone in the world has access to the Book of Deuteronomy in his own language, just as if Moses spoke it to them.
This teaches us another lesson. Sometimes in our hasty zeal to share the Words of the Kingdom, we forget to make sure to expound the Words in a 'language' that people understand. There is more to 'language' than linguistics. We may speak the same 'tongue', but if our body language, intonations, and style are proud and arrogant, we actually lock the message in a language foreign to the hearer. It has been said that 'love' is an international 'language', and love was the language of the Master, which He learned from the Father.
As the Master emulated His Father in all things, may we also emulate the Master in learning to share the Word in the 'language' of love, which all men understand, love with our words, but also in deeds.
God is love.
From the time the first generation of Israelites out of Egypt refused to conquer the Promised Land, the Ninth of Av (in the Jewish calendar) has been the 'Day of Woe' of Jewish History.
As the second generation of Israelites out of Egypt arrives at the same spot where their fathers tested Adonai, Moses is determined not to have a repeat of the same situation. For five weeks he prepares the people for the conquest of the Land with a long exhortation called in Hebrew 'Sefer Dvarim': the 'Book of Deuteronomy'. In his exhortation Moses explains the Torah to this desert generation (Deuteronomy 1:5). In view of the upcoming battle with the Sons of Anak (giants), Moses reminds the people of their recent military victories, especially with the giant Og (Numbers 32:33). Herein is a lesson for us: to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, we must devote ourselves to the study of the Torah.
Israel understanding and dedicating themselves to the Torah was essential to the successful conquest of the Land. The camp in the desert also counted other people from other nations, so ancient texts propose that when Moses 'expounded', or 'explained' the Torah, he did it in all the 70 languages of the world. This is reminiscent of the day of Pentecost where it is believed that God spoke the Torah in all the languages of the world through tongues of fire (Exodus 20:18). This also reminds us of the other Pentecost when God sent tongues of fire on the disciples of the Master enabling them to speak the mysteries of the Kingdom of God in the languages of all the pilgrims who had come to Jerusalem for the festival (Acts 2). This is usually referred to as the 'gift of 'tongues' or, 'languages'.
Moses may not actually have spoken the sermon of the Book of Deuteronomy in all main 70 languages of the world, except prophetically. As the Children of Israel of old stood at the entrance of the Promised Land, we, in this 'Endtime', stand at the door of the Kingdom of Heaven established on earth as it is in Heaven, and most everyone in the world has access to the Book of Deuteronomy in his own language, just as if Moses spoke it to them.
This teaches us another lesson. Sometimes in our hasty zeal to share the Words of the Kingdom, we forget to make sure to expound the Words in a 'language' that people understand. There is more to 'language' than linguistics. We may speak the same 'tongue', but if our body language, intonations, and style are proud and arrogant, we actually lock the message in a language foreign to the hearer. It has been said that 'love' is an international 'language', and love was the language of the Master, which He learned from the Father.
As the Master emulated His Father in all things, may we also emulate the Master in learning to share the Word in the 'language' of love, which all men understand, love with our words, but also in deeds.
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