DEUTERONOMY 9
As Moses continues to recount the failures of faith in the wilderness, he reminds the people where they’re going. "Hear, Israel: You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky. The people are strong and tall — Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: 'Who can stand up against the Anakites?'" (vs 1-2)
Photo © Unsplash/Yoann Boyer
God said
I am your God, and I am with you.
Jacob replied
If God will be with me, then he will be my God.
This, this!
is the human problem—
Always adding doubt to God's steadfast recipes.
Always placing conditions on God's unconditional offers.
Always suggesting a coalitional approach to God's unilateral operations.
DEUTERONOMY 8
I was intrigued by this verse today: "Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands." (vs 2) As I read, I thought, didn’t God already know what was in the hearts of the Israelites? Of course He did. God knows us intimately and reads our hearts.
DEUTERONOMY 7
Wow, this is a pretty heavy chapter. God lays out for the Israelites the plan to take over Canaan. There is talk of both destruction and driving nations out ahead of the Israelites with "the hornet." (vs 20) God does say that, when the Israelites have defeated a nation, they are to destroy everything associated with that nation's gods. "This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire." (vs 5)
DEUTERONOMY 6
One of my favorite Bible texts is in this chapter, but it might not be the one you think. Yes, there is the famous "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." (vs 4) And there’s also the one Jesus quoted: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (vs 5) And both of those are nice, but neither is the one I’m thinking of.
DEUTERONOMY 5
Before the Israelites went in to take possession of the Promised Land, Moses was determined to reiterate the law the Lord had given them. In fact, the very name of this book means a "second" (deutero) giving of the "law" (nomy). Remember, this was 40 years after God had originally given the law to the Israelites at Mount Sinai, and those who were now in Moses’s audience were either babies at that time or not yet born.
DEUTERONOMY 4
I totally loved this part: "Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other." (vs 32-35)
Esau walked into
Jacob's restaurant
and ordered the special—
rustic lentil stew and bread.
The bill came before the meal:
Esau's birthright
guaranteed with an oath.
Esau was pleased, or so it seemed.
He slurped up every morsel without complaint—
no fly in the stew,
no hair on the plate,
no "this is too cold"
or "that needs more salt."
Some time later,
the hunger pangs he foolishly assuaged
became pangs of remorse he couldn't stomach.
He regretted the cost
of that hasty meal
and published a nasty (and untrue) review:
"The chef in that joint stole my dough with his bread!"
DEUTERONOMY 2
In this chapter of Deuteronomy, the Lord said to the Israelites, "This very day, I will begin to put the terror and fear of you on all the nations under heaven. They will hear reports of you and will tremble and be in anguish because of you." (vs 25) This immediately made me think of the Israelites themselves when they were camped around the base of Mount Sinai. There was thunder and lightning and smoke, and the Israelites were trembling and afraid.
DEUTERONOMY 1
Sometimes, with God, we are tempted to think it’s all about "arriving." You know, getting to the destination, reaching the goal. But, as I read this chapter, I saw something different. Check out this verse: "It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road." (vs 2) I love the fact that, in the Bible, this verse is actually in parentheses, more like an aside. It’s as if Moses was saying, "Uh, we’ve spent forty years in this desert. Just so you know, this journey should have taken eleven days."
NUMBERS 36
After God instituted the inheritance rules for women (in response to the request of Zelophehad’s daughters), the family heads of their tribe came to Moses with a concern over the "unintended consequences" of such a rule. They were concerned that if the women married men from another tribe, the land would become the property of their husbands, thereby passing the land from one tribe to another. Theoretically, over time, one or two tribes could potentially amass a good deal of land through marriage.
NUMBERS 35
There is a beautiful analogy about God in this chapter of Numbers. If a person had unintentionally killed another person, the cities of refuge provided a place for them to flee when they were being pursued by the "avenger." If the "avenger" found them outside the city, they could be killed, thus "avenging" the death. But if the person made it to the city of refuge, they could request a trial. If found innocent, they would be allowed to stay in the city. If they were found guilty, however, they would be turned away from the city.
The sins of the fathers
are visited upon the children
unto the third and fourth generations.
/raise a child
and learn firsthand
the awful truth/
The Sins of the Fathers
silently transmitted (like DNA)
proudly passed down (like family heirlooms)
meticulously cultivated (like cherished hobbies)
systematically served up (like three meals a day)
Words /like birds/ fly
up down and around
in out
alighting departing
flitting
fluttering
fleeting
Actions
settle in
take root
cement
That Isaac weaved
his father's tangled web
is no surprise.
The miracle would have been
a son of Abraham
who didn't practice the deceit
that had permeated the air
from the first moment
he drew breath.
NUMBERS 34
I’m having an awe-filled moment with God right now. I love this little chapter. I just love the straightforwardness of it. It’s God, simply spelling out to His people the land they will inherit in Canaan. He plots out the land for them with no ceremony, no pomp, no fanfare. What I absolutely love about this is, the Canaanites were living in this land. Undoubtedly, they thought the land belonged to them. They thought they were the rightful inhabitants. They were wrong.
NUMBERS 33
So, right off the bat, you know that there is a lot in the Old Testament that would seem to contradict the title of this particular blog. If God is not a destroyer, He certainly has a lot of explaining to do... because it seems like He has gone around and done (or condoned) an awful lot of destruction in the Bible.
NUMBERS 32
So, the Israelites are again poised to enter the Promised Land, when the Reubenites and Gadites come to Moses and request to settle where they already are, outside the border of Canaan. After Moses makes sure they don’t intend to desert their Israelite brothers in the effort to drive out the Canaanites from the land, Moses makes the deal to let them have the land on the other side of the Jordan as their inheritance.
NUMBERS 31
This has to rank right up there as one of those "horrifying" chapters in the Old Testament that make us cringe and want to run to the "safety" of Gentle Jesus, Meek and Mild in the New Testament. But there is a lot going on here, and I would suggest that there is much more going on than meets the eye.
The first-time father
at eighty-six.
The bastard child
also blessed with twelve tribes.
The barren woman
gifted with twins.
The birthright
given to the baby.
The servant
becoming the master.
The poor
suddenly
rich.
The weak
suddenly
strong.
The inconsolable
suddenly
in-high-spirits.
God has been overturning tables
long before He
whipped the temple
into a frenzy.
NUMBERS 30
There is a very simple point in this chapter: God listens when we speak. Our words are important to Him. And He wants us to take our words as seriously as He takes them.
Nowadays, business is run on the basis of written contracts. If you have to take a business partner to court, the court will make a judgment based on the terms of the signed contract. With little exception, what is contained in "the four corners of the contract" determines the outcome of the case.
