i reeeeaaally didn't mean to leave all of this for one long stephanie-commentary on this book. i feel apologetic often for being more sporadic than i really want to be...i'm so sorry! most importantly, i want to communicate that my enthusiasm is constant-present! i'm amazed and in awe and dependent on His Word! so...i will blog us through these 34 chapters tonight and tomorrow...:)...begin joshua tomorrow as well...and come back to some old testament survey/textbook study material info on leviticus, numbers and deuteronomy later in the week. so, here we go...;)
--old testament understanding--
our taste of chapter one is still on my mind and so significant...quick reminder from verses 30-31, "the Lord your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place" (italics mine). soooo comforting and faith-inspiring. (thank You, Father...) i love chapter 2, verse 7 which speaks of His faithfulness in their wanderings (in His words)..."the Lord your God has been with you; you have not lacked a thing.'" and...the end of chap 2 and into chap 3-conquests of two cities which the Lord fought for on their behalf. (3:22: "do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one fighting for you.") the accounts of the defeat of these two cities, heshbon and bashan, were kind of examples to the israelites...that the Lord would continue to fight for them (see 3:21). my bible entitles chapter 4, "israel urged to obey God's law." this urge/urgency is great...the cost would be so great to disobey and the reward so great to follow....i posted several days ago on v 29...a verse that is chalk-inked onto one of the art windows in our home...if they sought Him with everything...He would be found. chapter 5 repeats the 10 commandments (read to the people by moses). verse 29 is significant here as well as the Lord speaks to moses..."oh, that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!" if we needed a text to illustrate that the commandments were for their good, here it is!!! that it may be well with them....
6:5 and following are epic. :) His instruction to love Him with everything and to teach His law and to display His law (on doorposts and gates) is important for us as well. chapters 7 and 8 include reminders of God's faithfulness. may i point out one short phrase that seems to shout out a theme throughout the law?...from 8:2 and then 8:18: you shall remember.... (and...we'll come back to look at 8:3 a little later.....)
i want to pause at chapter 9 to point out a faith-shaping concept here...a kind of truth that answers the questions of the heart. this one is about war and about God's activity in moving His chosen people to take out these "-ites." you know, the hittites, girgashites, amorites, canaanites, perizziites, hivites, and jebusites.... i have always wondered about this...kind of like when the united states was "peopled" by our ancestors...kind of moving native americans out of the way. (i've never known quite what to think about all of that.) so...i love this very clear answer to my questions about why it was okay for the israelites to drive people out of their occupied homes and cities. here it is in chapter 9...(and it is actually repeated twice, i assume for emphasis)...verses 4-5, "do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, 'because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you." i think of sodom and gomorrah...the outcry that the Lord was responding to...i wonder if there was an outcry heard from the "-ites'"exceeding wickedness. (--personal thoughts--> wickedness produces pain. wickedness yields an outcry...sin and death-choices yield harm to people whom God created and whom He loves. we see in scripture...sodom and gomorrah/the flood/and here-->war. all-to end extremes in wickedness.) please please note later in chapter 12 (verses 29-31)...this is so very grave and serious...they burned their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. it was extreme...and necessary to end these inconceivable practices.
chapter 10 records the account of the tablets with the 10 commandments rewritten. we have another reference in verse 13 affirming the idea that the law was for their good. (right on!) chapter 11:18-20 is an echo of 6:5-9/the epic passage. :) and...i am going to lump chapters 12 through 29 together for brevity's sake and with respect to your time tonight...these chapters include laws of the sanctuary, instructions to shun idolatry, laws about clean and unclean animals, instructions about the sabbatic year and about feasts, laws about the administration of justice in their culture, spiritism/witchcraft forbidden, instructions about cities of refuge...laws of warfare, expiation of a crime, domestic relations, and other laws...(from chapters 22-25).
chapter 26 records the admonition to give of the first fruits. chapter 27 records curses for those who disobey the law. chapter 28 records blessing for the israelites and their offspring...and consequences of disobedience. chapter 29 records a covenant given at moab...note verse 9, "...keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do." in chapter 30 we read the encouragement of the Lord as restoration is promised. i love verse 11, "for this commandment which i command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach...." verse 14, "the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it." beautiful.
chapter 31 records encouragement to "be strong and courageous..." (verses 6-7 and 23). and more encouragement...as it is forewarned that they would fall away...but would remember...as in the song that moses would write. 31 also records joshua's commissioning. chapter 32 records the song of moses....i love the imagery especially in verses 10-11. again, of the eagle. chapter 33 records the blessing of moses to the tribes of israel.
and...drumroll? heehee...chapter 34. there is actually something very cool and significant as moses is remembered and his death recorded. did you notice in verse 7, it says that "although moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated." watch this...could this have to do with his time spent in God's presence? look back at 8:3b..."man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord." i'm just wondering if moses was just a picture of health and vibrancy and vigor...even at 120...because God's presence and His words breathed life into him physically. i just love this idea/this thought that moses spent so much time directly receiving words from God (see ex. 33:11)...and i wonder if it poured life and health into his physical body. so very cool to think about. (and this idea could definitely be sooooo motivating to be in His Word and in His presence).
have i praised the Lord for His faithfulness in this post? He is worthy...
thank You, Father, for Your great great faithfulness.
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