Previously On...

A devotional from Deuteronomy 1-3

My children love Star Wars. Last year we watched a new Star Wars show on Disney. Unlike most of today’s programs that stream, this one did not release all the episodes at once. This horrified and confused my children. They came to appreciate a dying piece of television that I grew up with, “Previously on…” The “previously on…” at the beginning of a show connected what happened last time and also gave direction to the new episode about to come on. 

This week we began reading the book of Deuteronomy. The first three chapters of Deuteronomy serve as the “previously on…” for the show, “Israel.” It covers the time from their departure from Mt. Horeb, 1:6, through the wilderness years (2), and up to their current location, Mt. Pisgah across from Jericho (3:27). In fact, the entire book of Deuteronomy may be viewed as a “previously on…” of the books of Exodus-Numbers. 

There is an important theological theme throughout Scripture - remember. We may think, “How hard could it be to remember all God had done for Israel?” Psalm 106 is similar to Deuteronomy 1-3. It retells the story of Israel from Egypt to the conquest of the Promised Land. The Psalmist wrote, “But they soon forgot his works” (106:13), “they forgot God, their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wondrous works in the land of Ham, and awesome deeds by the Red Sea” (106:21-22). After the people forget, they are judged. Nevertheless, as God looks at his people in distress under discipline, he remembers the promises he made and delivered them, “For their sake he remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of his steadfast love” (106:45). 

Before he leads his people into the Promised Land, he calls them to remember all that he has done for them and all they have done. At the end of Deuteronomy, he will renew the covenant with Israel. This act of remembrance, “previously on…” empowers the people to know the direction they are headed as they go into the Promised Land: they are God’s chosen people returning to the land promised to their fathers and with the might of the God who delivered them out of Egypt in their presence. 

Saints, how often have you forgotten the works of God in your life? How often have you broken his covenant while he has kept it? Are you quick to forget like Israel? These stories are included to remind us that we are weak like they were. We are forgetful. We are disobedient. The next time you walk in a wilderness or are disciplined by the Lord, remember, that he was, is, and always will be your faithful God who remembers you when you forget him. Remember his, “previously on…” for your life.