Day 74: How well God knows our hearts – Deuteronomy 4 vs 25-31

25-26 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, 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.

27-28 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. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell.

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. Deuteronomy 4:25-31 New International Version.

One of the saddest things in life is that as time goes by love sometimes grows cold. It can happen in friendships and even in marriages. It can also happen in our relationship with God. That seems to be the warning that God, who knows our hearts so well, gave to Israel through Moses in vs 25-26. He foresaw a time when they would become attracted to the immoral idol worship they saw in other nations and begin to do the same. Notice how Moses starts by speaking of their children and grandchildren. Why do you think they might forget God?

We see how important it is for God fearing parents to teach their children well, and to pray much for them as they grow. We see too that people can't get to heaven on their parents experience of God. We need a personal trust in Christ. .

Moses then points out that, just as anyone would be angry if their spouse was brazenly unfaithful, so God's anger would be stirred up by their betrayal. What did he warn would be the result of their unfaithfulness? (vs 25-28).

How sad those words are where Moses warns them 'they would quickly perish from the land'. If love fades and grows cold it does not take long for everything to deteriorate. The things God warned would happen if they turned away from Him actually did happen to Israel as the years rolled on. They were conquered by Babylon's armies and were scattered in exile among the nations. God gave them up to the consequences of their unfaithfulness. If we choose sin our lives also quickly perish. But, fortunately, Moses doesn't stop there. What is the good news he goes on to give in vs 29-31?

In the New testament the word 'gospel' means good news too. And, like Moses' words to Israel, the gospel also tells how sinners can find God's mercy. How did Moses say they should seek after God in vs 29? What is the promise if they did this? (vs 29) Why does he say they can be encouraged that God would forgive them if they came back to Him with heart and soul? (vs 31)

The promise Moses gave came true when the Jews eventually returned from Babylon, as told in the Old Testament books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai and Zechariah. But its ultimate fulfilment is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the really good news is that promise of God's mercy is not only for Jews - His covenant to Abraham includes gentiles too. When the gospel was preached for very first time after Jesus returned to heaven the apostle Peter said “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21). The God who knows our hearts so well - is also the God who is able to give us a new heart that is faithful to Him.