November 18, 2025

Deuteronomy 29:16-21  (HCSB)
Abandoning the Covenant
16 “Indeed, you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and passed through the nations where you traveled. 17 You saw their detestable images and idols made of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which were among them. 18 Be sure there is no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the Lord our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Be sure there is no root among you bearing poisonous and bitter fruit. 19 When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land. 20 The Lord will not be willing to forgive him. Instead, His anger and jealousy will burn against that person, and every curse written in this scroll will descend on him. The Lord will blot out his name under heaven, 21 and single him out for harm from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this book of the law.

Alan Davis
In this next section, Moses reminds the people about the areas they have traveled through, and the idols that those people worshiped. Moses tells them how important it is to keep your eyes on the one true God, and to never look back to those idols from those other nations. Moses goes on to explain how important it is to not allow one single person to turn away from God and become a poison to the entire community. This is as important today as it was back then, one difference is that we have so many more things that we tend to put before God. We have to be careful about making things in this world more important than God, like screen time, sports time, money, possessions, or anything else that works its way into our mind that takes us away from God.