March 20, 2026 -Warnings & Prophecies

Psalms 79:1-13

Deuteronomy 4:1-49

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

Bible in a Year Through Song - Day 79 of 365

Deuteronomy 4:1 NIV

[1] Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

Moses knows that the time is coming for the Israelites into the promised land and the Lord is giving them some instruction and warning through him since he will not be going with them. He needs to remind them of all that God has done and the laws and decrees that He has given them.

Deuteronomy 4:6 NIV

[6] Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”

The laws and decrees are not just for us but for others. When we live according to God's word people will notice.

Deuteronomy 4:9 NIV

[9] Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

Warning: Don't do what you have done repeatedly since leaving Egypt.

They often forgot what they had seen. Moses says don't let them fade from their hearts. Another statement of faith being a matter of the heart. Obedience comes from a faith that reaches the heart. When our faith is not coming from our hearts we will forget. When we live a life for Christ that is coming from a faith of the heart others will recognize it. When we teach them to our children and live in that faith, they will know what true faith is.

Deuteronomy 4:15-16, 18-19 NIV

[15] You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, [16] so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman,

[18] or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below. [19] And when you look up to the sky and see the sun, the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the nations under heaven.

Warning: Don't be corrupted by the practices of those who worship false gods. Don't make idols of anything. Not something created by human hands. Don't worship anything that God has created like sun moon and stars. God is greater than all things He has created. And He is even more greater than anything that the people He created create.

Moses tells them what not to do because he knows they are going to do it. He knows because God knows and speaks to the people through Moses. They have been given clear instruction and warning so they can't say they didn't know.

Deuteronomy 4:25-28 NIV

[25] After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, [26] I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. [27] The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you. [28] There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

Prophecy: God tells them what is going to happen through Moses. Everything is told to them and recorded. Over time they will give into the lies of the land they have come into. We do the same thing. Over time we are corrupted by the lies of the world around us. The only way to battle those lies is to keep God's word in our hearts and minds and know what the truth is. We need to know God and remember all that He is and has done and keep it in our hearts.

Deuteronomy 4:29-31 NIV

[29] But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. [30] When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. [31] For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.

Prophecy: God promises through Moses that if they turn back to the Lord He will always be found.

When I read "if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul" shows me that it's not just about calling out to God. It is about seeking Him. Desiring Him. It means that it has to go beyond our head and into our heart and soul. He knows when our words and actions are not from our heart and soul. Being with Him needs to be a stronger desire in our lives than anything of this world.