Scripture Daily

Context No. 2289 of 4322 · Deuteronomy

Context · Reflection

Deuteronomy 29:1-16: in context

1These are the words of the covenant which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. 2Moses called to all Israel, and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land; 3the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4But the LORD has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. 5I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you, and your sandals have not grown old on your feet. 6You have not eaten bread, neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 7When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, and we struck them. 8We took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. 10All of you stand today in the presence of the LORD your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders, and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11your little ones, your wives, and the foreigners who are in the middle of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water, 12that you may enter into the covenant of the LORD your God, and into his oath, which the LORD your God makes with you today, 13that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he spoke to you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14Neither do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, 15but with those who stand here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with those who are not here with us today 16(for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the middle of the nations through which you passed;

As Moses renews the covenant with Israel, he reminds them of all they have seen: the wonders in Egypt, the great trials, the signs, the forty years of God's provision in the wilderness. They had witnessed it all with their own eyes. And yet Moses says something surprising: but the LORD has not given you a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day. Despite all they had seen, they lacked the inner perception to truly understand, for such a heart is given by God.

Moses' words reveal a profound truth: spiritual perception is God's gift. Israel had seen God's mighty works with their physical eyes, heard his word with their physical ears; the evidence was before them, overwhelming and undeniable. And yet, Moses says, they lacked a heart to know, eyes to see, ears to hear, the inner spiritual perception to truly understand what they had witnessed. Seeing the works and hearing the word was not enough; true understanding required a heart given by God, which they did not yet have. Spiritual perception is not produced by evidence alone but is God's gift. This searches how we understand our own understanding of God. We can imagine that spiritual understanding comes simply from being told, from seeing the evidence, from having the facts. But Moses' words, and much of Scripture, teach that true spiritual perception, the heart to know God, the eyes to see, the ears to hear, is God's gift, given by him, not produced by evidence or effort alone. We can witness God's works, hear his word, know the facts, and still not truly perceive, until God gives us a heart to know him. Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, Jesus told Peter, but my Father in heaven; true perception of who Christ is comes from God. This should both humble us and move us to ask. It humbles us: our understanding of God is not our own achievement but God's gift; if we perceive him truly, it is because he has given us the heart to know him. And it moves us to ask: since spiritual perception is God's gift, we may ask him for it, praying that he would give us a heart to know him, eyes to see, ears to hear. Paul prays that God would give the eyes of our hearts light, that we may know him; and this is a prayer we may make our own, asking God for the spiritual perception only he can give. This calls us to ask God for the perception to truly know him, rather than relying on evidence or effort alone. Israel saw all God's wonders and still lacked a heart to know, for such a heart is God's gift. And we too, if we would truly perceive and understand God, must ask him for the heart to know him, the eyes to see, the ears to hear, that only he can give. Open my eyes, the psalmist prays, that I may see wondrous things in your law. This calls us to seek from God the spiritual perception that only he can grant, praying that he would give us a heart to know him, and not resting in the mere seeing and hearing that, without his gift, does not truly understand.

Do I imagine that spiritual understanding comes simply from evidence, being told, or knowing the facts, or can Moses' words, that Israel had seen all God's wonders and yet lacked a heart to know, eyes to see, and ears to hear because such perception is God's gift, humble me to recognize that my understanding of God is his gift, and move me to ask him for the heart to know him and the eyes to see that only he can give, rather than resting in a mere seeing and hearing that does not truly perceive?

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