That the slayer might flee

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Deuteronomy 4:41–49, “Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites. And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.”

Even though the soldiers belonging to the two and a half tribes were marching with the rest of Israel to war. They built places to keep their stock and the rest of their families stayed to live in the land they had claimed. There were some people who were not allowed to go to war as well (see Deuteronomy 20:7, “And what man is there that hath betrothed a wife, and hath not taken her? let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.”). With all these people staying on the eastern side of the river they was a good chance of accidents occurring. The Lord had already established the system of cities of refuge to save someone from vengeance if they accidentally killed another person. In order to make sure that everything was properly established the Lord told Moses to make sure that there were cities of refuge on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Moses also defined the boundaries of the territory they were to take. The Lord was generous but some territory had been allocated to other nations and it was not proper for Israel to take territory that belonged to other sons of Abraham or even people from Haran, the place where Abraham’s relatives lived.

Now, therefore

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Deuteronomy 4:1–40, “Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.  And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone. And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it. Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: Lest ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any figure, the likeness of male or female, The likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, The likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them. For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it? Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt; To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art, to bring thee in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.”

Moses carefully reminded Israel of their history since the Lord delivered them out of Egypt. He didn’t do this just for the sake of giving them a history lesson. This section begins with a “therefore” all that was done to remind Israel that they had an obligation to the Lord. He delivered them for a purpose and now they had to consider that purpose and how it would impact on their lives. The Lord gave them a code of conduct by which they were to live their lives while they were in possession of the Promised Land. This was a code that had been defined by the Lord and wasn’t to be added to or subtracted from. They had to keep it all, as the Lord gave it to them. They saw what the Lord would do to them when they sinned in the past. This was just a brief reminder of what the code of conduct included but the entire discourse was given so that they would be able to remake the contract and move forward, in their relationship with the Lord, understanding exactly what they were agreeing to.

Joshua and Moses

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Deuteronomy 3:21–29, “And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you. And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.”

Moses told Joshua to make ready to lead Israel over the Jordan River and in to the Promised Land. He reminded Joshua that the Lord is trustworthy and can be relied on in every situation. Moses then returned to the deepest wish of his heart. He had led Israel from slavery in Egypt and now they were a nation of warriors on the borders of the Promised Land. He came out of Egypt in hope, longing to go into the Promised Land as well. He had seen the Lord miraculously intervene in history many times and knew what the Lord could do. Even though the Lord promised him that he would not be allowed to go into the Promised Land, because of his sin (Numbers 20:12, “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”) Moses prayed again and begged the Lord to let him go into the Promised Land but the Lord refused to let him go in. Moses had to suffer the consequences of his actions. The Lord also knew that Joshua would be unable to effectively lead the people on their invasion of the Promised Land if Moses was still alive. It was very hard for Moses but it was essential for the rest of the nation that Joshua be allowed to lead them in his own right. There are some people today who suggest that we always get what we pray for if we have enough faith. However, Moses, the meekest man in all the earth (Numbers 12:3, “(Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.)”)

, who saw the Lord face to face (Exodus 33:11, “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”), prayed and the Lord said “NO!” How can any other person believe that the Lord will always say yes!” to them. The Lord remains the Lord and His ways are past finding out (Romans 11:33, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!”)

By the river Arnon

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Deuteronomy 3:12–20, “And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi; and called them after his own name, Bashanhavothjair, unto this day. And I gave Gilead unto Machir. And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the river Arnon half the valley, and the border even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; The plain also, and Jordan, and the coast thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, under Ashdothpisgah eastward. And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war. But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you; Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.”

Moses was still reminding Israel of the many things that had happened to them while they were travelling for Egypt to the place where they were at the border of the Promised Land. The area known as Gilead or Bashan was a fertile land and good for people with stock. Two and half tribes had decided that they wanted to stay on that side of the river and Moses reminded them that he, as the Lord’s appointed leader, had allocated portions of this land to various tribes and clans. However, these people were not to rest there and discourage the rest of Israel from taking possession of the Promised Land. They were to settle their families and then come, as armed soldiers, with the rest of Israel while they invaded and conquered the Promised Land. They would not be free to return to their own place until the invasion was complete.

Og, the giant king

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Deuteronomy 3:1–11, “Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many. And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city. But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. And we took at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) All the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.”

Israel came in from the wilderness towards the south of the Jordan river valley. They were on the eastern bank and moved towards the north as other nations attacked them. Bashan includes the area now known as the Golan heights. Many years before that, Jacob made a treaty with his father in law, Laban. They agreed that Laban the Syrian would not cross over the cairn of stones they set up and that Jacob would not cross over that cairn either. (see Genesis 31:48–52, “And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee; This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.”) Not long after that incident, the Lord changed Jacob’s name to Israel and, after that, Israel was a distinct nation to Israel. This cairn of stones was in the Golan Heights area, we know from this that the Lord intended that the Bashan (Golan) area belong to Israel as part of the Promised Land. The region to the south of that pile of stones was designated as Israel’s land and the region to the north of that pile of stones was designated Syrian land. The other interesting thing to note about this land was that it was, formerly, controlled by a king who was a giant. The Lord allowed Israel to come into contact with giants before they every entered the Promised Land so that they could face giants without fear.

I have given into thy hand

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Deuteronomy 2:24–37, “Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the nations that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee. And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the high way, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. Thou shalt sell me meat for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only I will pass through on my feet; (As the children of Esau which dwell in Seir, and the Moabites which dwell in Ar, did unto me;) until I shall pass over Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us. But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land. Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz. And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed the men, and the women, and the little ones, of every city, we left none to remain: Only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, and the spoil of the cities which we took. From Aroer, which is by the brink of the river of Arnon, and from the city that is by the river, even unto Gilead, there was not one city too strong for us: the LORD our God delivered all unto us: Only unto the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not, nor unto any place of the river Jabbok, nor unto the cities in the mountains, nor unto whatsoever the LORD our God forbad us.”

The river Arnon was the boundary between Moab and the land of the Amorites. Later this river became the southern boundary between Israel on the eastern side of Jordan and Moab. When Israel crossed this river the Amorites, led by their king Sihon attacked Israel and tried to destroy them. Even though Israel sought peace with these Amorites they refused to make peace with Israel and in, the ensuing battle, were soundly defeated. They took their livestock for booty, according to rules of war that were applied during that age but they didn’t take any other booty from those people. The land from the river Arnon right up the north of Galilee was rich land for livestock so there was much livestock to be taken as booty. Israel fought battles all the way from Arnon to north of Gilead and no one was able to resist their progress even though the people who formerly lived there were determined to destroy Israel and stop their progress, this was because the Lord was with Israel and no one can withstand the Lord for very long. 

More giants

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Deuteronomy 2:8–23, “And when we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, through the way of the plain from Elath, and from Eziongaber, we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. And the LORD said unto me, Distress not the Moabites, neither contend with them in battle: for I will not give thee of their land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession. The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims. The Horims also dwelt in Seir beforetime; but the children of Esau succeeded them, when they had destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them. Now rise up, said I, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered. And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them. For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed. So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, That the LORD spake unto me, saying, Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day: And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims; A people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead: As he did to the children of Esau, which dwelt in Seir, when he destroyed the Horims from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day: And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, even unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)”

As Israel neared the Promised Land they, increasingly, came into contact with nations that were closely related to them. Abraham had spent the largest part of His life obeying the Lord and following the Lord’s directions. Most of this occurred in, or near, the Promised Land. All the nations, other than Israel, which had descended from Abraham came into being during this period of time or soon afterwards. This meant that these people all had connections close to the Promised Land. There were also other nations, which lived in, or near, the Promised Land. Some of these peoples included some races of giants. These giants had caused Israel to fear before but they Lord would prove to be far stronger than the biggest and strongest of these giants.

Many days

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Deuteronomy 2:1–7, “Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days. And the LORD spake unto me, saying, Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward. And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore: Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. Ye shall buy meat of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.”

Mount Seir is a large mountain range that runs along the eastern side of the Jordan River. It would seem that Israel wandered for a long time in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula after they had finished receiving the Law from the Lord in Mount Sinai. However, after a long time of wandering in that desert the Lord told them to turn towards the north and move towards Seir, where the descendants of Esau lived. Esau was Jacob’s (Israel’s) brother so they were forbidden from taking his land and attacking his descendants for the Lord had already allocated them Land because they, too, were descended from Abraham. In fact, they were to buy any food or water that they needed from these people. This was because the Lord had already provided far more abundantly for Israel than He had for any of the other nations.

No shame

Genesis 2: 5-25, “And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

This second document is Adam’s document (see Gen 5:1, “This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;”). Adam wasn’t there for the first five days and only for part of the sixth day so he couldn’t write about them. This also means that there is no contradiction between the two accounts of creation. There is only one account of creation and then Adam’s account of what he saw. The next question we have to answer is, “How did we get these documents?” The Lord gave Adam the first document then Adam passed his document to his family and Noah took the documents on the ark with him. As time went by and the documents were written the were kept with Abraham’s family and Joseph finished Genesis. Joseph was trained in Egyptian ways and didn’t use Mesopotamian rules so there is no “these are the generations...” at the end of Genesis. Moses had access to these tablets when he left Egypt because they carried Joseph’s body with them when the Lord delivered them from slavery (Ex 13:19, “And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for he had straitly sworn the children of Israel, saying, God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.”) When Moses, inspired by God, put the documents together, he had a slightly different purpose that the original writers so the older documents don’t always agree with the current chapter divisions.

The first thing that we notice when we read this passage is that the writer believed that he was writing an historical narrative about his own life. The second is that it was written before the Flood because the writer makes statements that were current before the Flood but wouldn’t make sense if they were written after the Flood.

Adam started his account on the sixth day, when he was made out of the dust of the earth. However, he described the earth as he first found it. The plants had been created but there was no rain on the earth because there was no rain d until the Flood. The clouds were moist and the plants took their water from a mist that came up from the ground. The other issue that confronted Adam, when he was made, was that there was no one to act as custodian of the Lord’s creation. Even at that stage plants needed to be cared for.

Adam then came onto the scene when the Lord God formed him out of the dust of the earth and then breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and he became a living soul. This is the only example of the Lord God breathing the breath of life into a living creature. We can see from this that man is distinct from all the other living creatures. In chapter one we see that the Lord created man in His own image, and in this chapter we see that God used an extra process in creating mankind. The Bible doesn’t allow for man to have descended from any other animal because man came from the dust of the earth. There is no evidence that the other creatures came from the dust or that they are living souls.

The time frame isn’t specified here but it seems as though the Lord planted the garden eastward in Eden on the same day that He made Adam. This is because He put Adam in the garden that He had planted. The trees grew out of the ground but they were not made from the dust. The trees were both pleasant and good for food. There was one specific tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Even though there wasn’t rain, there was a river that sprung up in the garden. This river further divided into four rivers: the Pison, the Gihon, the Hiddekel and the Euphrates. Some of these names appear after the Flood as well. ( Pison only appears here, 2 Chron 32:30, “This same Hezekiah also stopped the upper watercourse of Gihon, and brought it straight down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.” Dan 10:4, “And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;” and Gen 15:18, “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:”) so do the names of some of the regions. This doesn’t mean that these places survived the Flood. After the Flood when Noah and his descendants confronted the new earth, they used familiar names.

This section must have been written before the Flood because it is written in the present as though all those place existed at the time that the document was written.

Verse 16 gives us the first recorded conversation between God and man and it defines the way that the Lord God will relate to man through the ages. The Lord gave Adam a command, as He had been doing all the way through the entire process of creation. God’s account of creation is one of activity. He speaks and things happen, according to the Lord’s word. The Lord gave Adam a commandment, in the same way as He had given previous commandments. Adam was not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge is generally considered to be good in the Bible but “Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.” (1 Cor 8:1) Knowledge can be used profitably but it can also cause problems when it leads to pride.

The Lord also painted a picture of two opposite forces, that of good and evil. When God does something it is good, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good:” (Gen 1:3–4) Evil is the converse of good, that is, it is the absence of God. The Lord made it clear to Adam that He alone is qualified to define what is good and what is evil and no one else.

This commandment differs from the rest of all the Lord’s commands during the first six days. The Lord told Adam that there would be consequences if he didn’t obey the commandment. This tells us that the Lord actually offered Adam a choice. The Lord allowed Adam to decide if he wanted to enjoy all the good things that the Lord had made or if he wanted to reject them.

When the Lord created Adam in His own image, He created him with the capacity to enjoy relationships but Adam was alone. Adam had a relationship with God but God wasn’t there all the time as He had other things to do as well. We know this by reading Gen 3:8, “And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.” During the time that Adam and Eve sinned, the Lord knew what was happening but they knew that the Lord wasn’t in sight. The Lord understood that this could be a problem for Adam for it would be unpleasant for him to be alone at times. The Lord had also created all the other animals, fish and birds as male and female so they all had similar creatures to associate with.

In order to solve this issue before it became a problem, the Lord made someone for Adam who was complementary to him. The Lord made Adam sleep and took one of his ribs to form it into a woman. Adam and Eve now came from the same original material and they both had the breath of life that the Lord God breathed into Adam’s nostrils. They were both living souls.

While Adam came from the dust of the earth, the Lord God made the other creatures from the ground. This distinction reinforces the fact that the kinds of animals are distinct from each other and not related. The Lord gave Adam a role as His representative on the earth for He was holds all things together. (Col 1:17, “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” and  Heb 1:3, “Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”) The Lord gave Adam the dignity of having responsibilities.

Adam named all the creatures that the Lord had made and then he named the woman as well. Notice that both Adam and Eve were given responsibilities in their roles as the Lord’s representatives on the earth.

The Lord then defined marriage. There are some people who suggest that the Bible doesn’t actually command that people be married but this section proves that wrong. When a person is born they belong to their family but, at some stage in their lives, these people make a public and official proclamation that they are leaving the place they belong and are establishing a place of their own, then they enjoy the privileges of being together.

At that stage, there was no sin on the earth and, hence, there was no shame for shame is a consequence of sin.

No evolution

Genesis 1: 1-2:4, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,”

There are various theories about Genesis from people saying that this is pure mythology to pure history. I subscribe to a theory described by a man called PJ Wiseman. This theory is based on examination of ancient documents from Mesopotamia written on clay tablets. We find that there is a colophon at the end of these documents, describing the author and his qualifications to write the document. In those days a person’s heritage was considered to be the most important qualification and at the end of documents we find the formula, “these are the generations of ...” This formula occurs in Gen 2: 4, 5: 1, 6: 9, 10: 1, 11: 10, 11: 27, 25: 12, 25: 19, 36: 1, 9, 37: 2. We can divide the book of Genesis into various ancient documents. The first of which, begins at 1: 1 and ends with 2: 4, by the colophon, “These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,”

The first chapter of Genesis was written by an eye witness. However, Adam appeared on the sixth day so he wasn’t in a position to give an eyewitness account. We also know that the Law was given by the Lord to Moses on the mountain and the Lord gave Moses the first tablets which he broke and Moses carved the second tablets but the Lord wrote on them as well (Exodus 24:12, 32, 19, 34: 1, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.”, “And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.” Exodus 34:1, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.”) We can assume from this that the first tablet was made and written by the Lord God, Himself and given to Adam as a record of the Lord’s actions.

This chapter begins by making a statement “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” and then it goes on in verse 2 to expound the statement. This is the best explanation and it also deals with the, so called, “Gap Theory”. Some people suggest that there is a Gap between verse 1 and 2 to allow for evolution, or whatever, to occur. On the other hand we know that death didn’t come into the world till Adam and Eve sinned and , at the end of the sixth day, the Lord God saw everything that He had made and it was very good. If everything was very good then there could not possibly be any sin or death in the Lord God’s perfect creation.

One of the basic facts that you learn about science is that energy and matter cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be changed from one form to another. If we accept this then we can see that the Lord God produced all the matter and energy first and then He moulded everything, moving from chaos to perfect order in the process of six days.

The process that the Lord used was Diving command, “And God said...”, and, “it was so...”, or, “there was...”.

Many religions are based on the assumption that the Lord God put some of His Divine being into creation and so diminished Himself to the position where He was no longer absolute in every respect. This is not true and the words of the document do not allow this to be so, it is a satanic lie.

The Lord God created the heavens and the earth completely distinct from Himself, He used His own resources but He created with ease because He is all powerful. Created being can never aspire to being God or to being part of a diminished God. God is always God and He never changes (Mal 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” and Heb 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”)

The Lord God was always in control of His creation and was working towards a specific plan with a perfect ending. He first created light for, without light, there is no chance of life (compare John 1:4, “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.”)

The days of creation start in the evening followed by the morning and time is measured by day and night. This is also an act of grace allowing God’s creatures, who came later, to rest either during the day or the night.

The Lord made the heavens, (see Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” this demonstrates that the heavens and the firmament are the same thing.”)

After that the Lord God made one large land mass surrounded by water and covered by clouds containing water. When the Lord had made the dry land, He planted every kind of plant on this earth. This demonstrates that there is a difference between plant life and animal life. When we eat a plant we don’t kill the plant and the process is good for the plant, for even today gardeners prune plants to make them prosper.

On the fourth day the Lord began to act more specifically to the earth. The first verse of the chapter shows us that God created the earth to be distinct from the rest of creation for He had a special purpose for the earth. On the fourth day the Lord began to focus on the earth in particular rather than on the heavens and the earth in general. At this stage the Lord made the sun and moon to rule over the day and the night so that there could be a division between the day and the night. This also demonstrates that the Lord created an ordered world with Himself in absolute control but other structures ruling the day and the night, on His behalf, under His authority.

Once everything was ready, the Lord made creatures to fly in the sky, and swim in the sea. We know, at that stage, that every creature was herbivorous because meat was not allowed to be eaten until after the Flood (Gen 9:3, “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.”)

On the sixth day the Lord made living creatures for the Land. When all this was complete the Lord God made man in His own image, He made a man and a woman and told them, as He had told the other creatures, to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. The Lord put man in charge of every plant and living thing that He had made. At the end of the sixth day the Lord saw everything that He had made and knew He had achieved perfection.

On the seventh day there was nothing left to do so the Lord God rested from the work of creation. In His grace, the Lord God decreed that the seventh day was to be set apart as a day of rest to honour the fact that He had created perfection and rested on the seventh day.

The first chapter of Genesis is vital for any person who wants to deal with Almighty God for this is where Almighty God introduces Himself to the world. Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”), encouraged Eve to believe that she could evolve into a higher form a being (“...ye shall be as gods...” Gen 3: 5) God was not diminished by the process of creation and creation does not contain particles of God so that we can aspire to evolve into a higher form of being, that is, become more God like. There is only one God and every  living thing in creation is just his creature

Because the LORD hated us

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 1:19–46, “And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadeshbarnea. And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come. And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there. Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes; And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place. Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the LORD. Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us. And when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war, ye were ready to go up into the hill. And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill. And the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah. And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.”

It was important for Moses to remind the people of their recent history. In fact, they had only been an independent nation for just over forty years and Moses gave them a quick account of the first part of those years. The Lord miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt; in fact, He saved them twice. They were beside the Red Sea with no way of escape but the Lord saved them anyway. In the process of saving them, the Lord the destroyed the armies of the major world super power of their day. In spite of this, after they were given the Law, they were afraid of the giants in the Promised Land and refused to go and fight them. The Egyptians controlled those giants and the Lord destroyed the Egyptians but they didn’t trust the Lord to defeat the giants. The Lord then told them that they would wander in the desert for forty years so they changed their minds and tried to defeat the giants after all. They failed because they refused to trust the Lord and show their trust by obeying Him.

Take you wise men

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 1:9–18, “And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. (The LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!) How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it. And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.”

Moses began this last task by reminding Israel that he was not able to lead the entire nation by himself. When the foundational leader of a nation or an organisation needs to be replaced there are many in the organisation who won’t accept any other leader because they believe that the first leader is the only one that can do the task. The Lord approached Moses in the Midianite desert and told him to deliver Israel from slavery. Moses asked the Lord to give him another person who could speak better than he could do the Lord gave him Aaron, his brother. However, when Israel went into the wilderness it wasn’t long before the Lord appointed other people to take some of Moses authority and administer the Law that the Lord God gave to Moses. All the people who were alive at that stage, apart from Moses, Joshua and Caleb, had reached adulthood under this system. All the people there were used to the fact that Moses was not God and that Moses required help to lead and rule the people as God’s representative. This meant that these people were used to serving under leaders other than Moses. Before long Moses was going to die and the Lord would replace him with another leader. This meant that these people would have to accept the new leadership. Mose also reminded the people that these people were still under God and everyone was required to administer the Lord’s Law without prejudice and treat every person with the same dignity.

These be the words

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Deuteronomy 1:1–8, “These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.) And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei: On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.”

Moses was now preparing to complete the final task in the ministry that the Lord God had given forty years before. He was keeping his father in law’s sheep in the Midianite desert when the Lord called him to go down to Egypt and set Israel free from their slavery. He led Israel out of Egypt and took them to Sinai where the Lord gave them the Law. After that, the generation of slaves who had been miraculously freed from slavery refused to trust the Lord any more. They knew that the Lord would perform mighty miracles but they didn’t trust the Lord to conquer giants so they wandered in the desert for forty years while that unbelieving generation died off. Everyone in the first generation had a choice. They had to pack their bags and sacrifice the Passover Lamb so that they would be protected. Having made that choice they were committed to leaving Egypt with the rest of Israel. In spite of the fact that they made the choice they didn’t follow it through. At this stage, every one in Israel, apart from Moses, Joshua and Caleb, had been twenty years old and younger when they left. Legally, these people didn’t have the right to make that choice. However, Moses was preparing to put that choice before Israel again. Every adult who went into the Promised Land did so knowing what they were agreeing to.

The daughters of Zelophehad

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 36:5–13, “And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well. This is the thing which the LORD doth command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry to whom they think best; only to the family of the tribe of their father shall they marry. So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe: for every one of the children of Israel shall keep himself to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter, that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers. Neither shall the inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; but every one of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep himself to his own inheritance. Even as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their father’s brothers’ sons: And they were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. These are the commandments and the judgments, which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses unto the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.”

This section is repeated to make sure that it is understood well. The entire covenant between the Lord and Israel was based on the promise of the Land. If the Land could be lost by something over which they had no control then the Lord’s integrity would be compromised. This meant that the Land was given according to the Lord’s promise and would only be taken away if the Lord applied the penalty clauses of the contract to Israel’s disobedience. Israel were still in complete control of their response to the contract and hence to the security of their future.

Only daughters

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 36:1–4, “And the chief fathers of the families of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel: And they said, The LORD commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto his daughters. And if they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be put to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall it be taken from the lot of our inheritance. And when the jubile of the children of Israel shall be, then shall their inheritance be put unto the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they are received: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

Israel was a patriarchal society, at that stage, and they had to follow the rules of the time. Women were not allowed to own property in their own right. However, the Land was subdivided according to the number of people in each tribe, as counted in the census just before they went into the Land. There was one particular man, Zelophehad, who had no sons, only daughters. The leader of his tribe were concerned that, if his daughters married outside the tribe, part of their inheritance would go to another tribe and they would lose part of the land that the Lord promised to them. This was a major issue as the Land was evidence of the Lord’s blessings that had first been promised the Abraham and, now, were to come to his descendants by the Lord’s hand.

The cities of refuge

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 35:9–34, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person unawares may flee thither. And if he smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying of wait, that he die; Or in enmity smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.”

When the Lord God made Adam there were three things that He did: He created Adam in His own image; He made Adam from the dust of the earth and He breathed into His nostrils the breath of life (Gen 1:27, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” and Gen 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”) This meant that each living soul was precious in the Lord’s eyes and killing another person was an extremely grave crime (see Gen 9:4–6, “But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”) This made murder, unlawful killing, extremely grave and the issue had to be dealt with. A land that tolerates murder will eventually become debased, like the Land of Canaan was before Israel come to exact the Lord’s punishment on them. If a person treats another’s person’s life as valueless then his life should be given the same value. However, sometimes accidents happen and a person who, accidentally killed someone needed to be given protection. Hence, the cities of refuge were set up. It also important to note that there was no centralised legal system in those days and the kinsman, redeemer system was in force. This meant that a person’s kinsman was responsible for exacting the penalty for a premeditated, unlawful killing. This act of vengeance was not murder because it was legally sanctioned.

Give unto the Levites

(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)

Sinking Sand

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Numbers 35:1–8, “And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give also unto the Levites suburbs for the cities round about them. And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts. And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. And ye shall measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and two cities. So all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs. And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.”

The Levites were not given a portion of the Land to inherit because their primary job was to act for the Lord in Israel. They were to represent the Lord to Israel and Israel to the Lord. However, they needed to have somewhere to live and places to graze their stock. The Lord told the people from the other tribes to set apart cities with the surrounding land for the Levites so that they could concentrate on their primary task without having to worry about feeding their families. In those days, people would take revenge for a killing. If someone from a family was killed then other members of the family would kill the murderer. Sometimes a person would be killed in an accident. There was no intention to kill and that person had to have a means of escape. This was done by establishing cities of refuge. A person who killed another person, without malice, could go to a city of refuge and be save from vendetta. There had to be sufficient of these cities so that anyone, anywhere in Israel, could escape to the place of refuge quickly and easily.