Remember the days of old

(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 32:7–14, “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.”

It is always important to check a person’s record before we decide to trust them. Israel was called up to check on the Lord’s record. Everyone is invited to ask their parents and the old people with the longest memories and see what the Lord has done. Ever since the Lord divided the people into different nations and tribes He gave everyone a place to live. The Lord’s didn’t forget Israel. By rights, Israel should have been ignored because they were strangers wandering in the desert but the Lord chose them to be His favourite people. When the Lord says that He kept Israel as the apple of His eye He meant that He kept the close and made them His most precious people. He was as protective of Israel as an eagle is of her young. The eagle prepares a nest of her young, she makes the nest soft and keeps it protected. Even though the nest is high on the side of the cliff for protection, when the young eagle is learning to fly the older eagle spreads out her wings and flies underneath the fledgling so that it will not fall but be carried up if it cannot fly. The Lord did this alone and He required no help for anyone else, after all, there is only One God. He brought Israel to rich and fertile Land so that they could live well.

Give ear, O ye heavens

(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 32:1–6, “Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:  Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?”

This is the beginning of the song that the Lord inspired Moses to write. He called up creation to listen to what he was teaching Israel to sing. The Lord’s teaching is the same as all the other good things that the Lord provided in creation. His words bring life as the dew and the rain brings to the grass and the herbs. Israel, as well as the rest of creation, was called upon to talk about the Lord’s greatness. As the only Creator, he is great and powerful and supreme above everything that He has made. The Rock provides security but anyone who trusts on other gods is really trusting sinking sand. Everything that the Lord does is perfect. He has no association with sin and can never be accused of doing anything evil. In His grace, the Lord gave the people made in His own image the right to choose. This does not make the Lord responsible for the choices that people make. Every person is responsible for the choice that he makes and the Lord is completely innocent even though He is both gracious and merciful. When people sin they get what they choose but the Lord gives them time to repent.

Moses wrote this song

(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 31:22–30, “Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee. And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death? Gather unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record against them. For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended.”

As soon as the Lord told Moses to write a song, he composed that song. Lord inspired Moses as he wrote that song so the song was appropriate to its purpose. However, Moses was also handing the leadership to Joshua. He had trained Joshua since the time Israel left Egypt. (Ex 17:9, “And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand.”) Now, Moses was to lay down his own burden of leadership. It was too late for him to spend more time making sure that Joshua was ready, he just had to trust the Lord to guide Joshua. Moses made sure that the written copy of this second making of the Law was complete and he handed it over to the Priest, who were responsible to keep the book, and they put it in the Ark of the Covenant. Moses also reminded Israel that they already had a bad record of disobedience to the Lord’s commandments. If they disobeyed the Lord under Moses ‘leadership then surely they would disobey under any leadership. In spite of this, they were encouraged to remain pure and not corrupt themselves by disobeying the Lord.

Write this song

(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 31:14–21, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. And the LORD appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. And the LORD said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.”

Moses had just about finished his job, at this stage. He had gone to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh. He demanded, in the Name of the Lord, that Pharaoh set Israel free from slavery. Eventually he had sent them away but changed his mind. The Egyptian armies were completely destroyed by the Lord so Israel could move on without any fear of retribution from Egypt. The Lord gave Moses the Law and Moses taught Israel the Law. In spite of this, Israel refused to go into the Promised Land because they were afraid of giants. Moses led them through the wilderness and trained the next generation. The Lord told Moses to train his successor and Moses did that. Now Moses was ready to die but, before he died, he needed to ensure that Joshua, his assistant, was ordained and accepted by Israel as their leader. Moses took Joshua and the presented themselves before the Lord in the Tabernacle. The Lord demonstrated His approval by appearing in the pillar of cloud. This had been the way that the Lord showed His presence since they left Egypt. He warned Moses and Joshua that Israel would not always remain completely true to the Law of the Lord. The Lord would deal with them according to the penalty clauses of their contract so that they would realise that they were rejecting the Lord and come back to Him. The Lord told Moses to write a song that the people could learn, sing and remember. Songs are easier to remember than prose. They would be able to sing the song and remember that everything good that existed in their Land was a gift from the Lord.

Every seven years

(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 31:9–13, “And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, When all Israel is come to appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.”

When Moses gave the contract to Israel so that they new generation could make it on their own behalf, he committed it to writing. Everybody’s memory is faulty in some respect but if something is written down then it is fixed and can be referred to at any time if people have different recollections. The priests were dedicated to acting for the people to the Lord and for the Lord to the people so they were the natural choice to be custodians of this written contract. Every seven years, Israel was called upon to celebrate their jubilee, which was similar to the Sabbath but measured in years instead of days. Every year Israel was also called upon to celebrate holidays so that they could remember what the Lord had done for them and offer Him their thanks for His goodness. Once a year, Israel was to live in tents to remember that they lived in tents for forty years as they travelled in the wilderness. This was a celebration of the fact that the Lord miraculously fed them and gave them water while they lived as desert nomads for all those years. In the seventh year, at this time, they were to read the Law together in a public place. In every period of seven years a new group of children would be born. Their parents were expected to teach them about the Lord and their contract with Him as they grew up. However, it was essential that the whole nation affirmed this contract on a regular basis so that they young people would understand that the contract was not just a matter for the individual but for the entire nation as well. They were all to be reminded that each person in the nation would be held responsible if they rejected the Law on a national basis. It would never be good enough for an individual to say, “I’m okay!” because they were all responsible to male sure that everybody was keeping the Law. As long as everybody took full responsibility then everyone would remain true to the Lord. It was important to remember that every generation wants to push the boundaries but each generation starts from the place where the last generation stopped. The only way to stop this tendency was for everyone to go back to the beginning every seven years to that each generation would start with the pure contract before they tried to push their boundaries.

He will not fail thee, neither forsake thee

(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 31:1–8, “And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. The LORD thy God, he will go over before thee, and he will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt possess them: and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath said. And the LORD shall do unto them as he did to Sihon and to Og, kings of the Amorites, and unto the land of them, whom he destroyed. And the LORD shall give them up before your face, that ye may do unto them according unto all the commandments which I have commanded you. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it. And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.”

Moses had just been telling Israel that it was essential for them to make the contract with the Lord God on their own behalf. They needed to understand that they had responsibilities that came with the privileges of living in the Promised Land. He had just made an incredibly simple but deeply profound statement. Everything in the Law was based on the fact that there is only one God. God is Almighty and Eternal but is completely distinct from His creation. Even though the Lord chose Israel to be the vehicle through whom He would bless all the families of the world, they were still just creatures made in His own image. He then moved on to his closing remarks. At that stage, he was 120 years old. Even though Moses had taken Israel from slavery in Egypt, by the Lord’s miraculous intervention, and brought them to the borders of the Promised Land, he was  not going in to the Land himself. This was a punishment for something that Moses chose to himself. Instead of speaking to the rock to bring out water, in a fit of anger, Moses struck the rock instead and his actions had consequences. (Num 20:7–12, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 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 reminded Israel of the fact that they had already defeated two of the great Amorite kings because their iniquity was now full (compare Genesis 15:16, “But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”) If the Lord had already begun the destruction of the Amorites, He was going to complete that task. However, Moses went on to say that they were to be strong and courageous as they went about that task. If they believed in the integrity of the Lord then they would experience His integrity and enjoy everything that He promised them. The Amorites believed in other gods but if there is only one God then they believed in nothing and would not find any help as they tried to resist the Lord God. The Lord does not fail people, because “failure” means that a person has run out of resources to complete a task he has begun. “Forsake” means leave alone. In many ways these are parallel concepts. As long as they believed that there is only one True God then they could go about their task with confidence knowing that He is always there and His resources are always available.

I have set before thee

(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 30:15–20, “See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Before Israel entered the Promised Land they were given a choice. The choice was between good and evil, as defined by the Lord. God is associated with life and evil is associated with death. The first time that we encounter death in the Bible is in Gen 2:17 (“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.”) This shows that dying is a consequence of rejecting the Lord’s commands. There are only two possibilities: obeying the Lord or not. Obeying the Lord leads to life, not just physical life but a rich spiritual life as well while disobeying the Lord leads to death both physical and spiritual. Both good and evil are defined in these terms as well. Good is to accept that the Lord God has the authority to tell us what to do while evil is to reject the Lord God and His wisdom. Just before this section the Lord told Israel that His commandment was not hard and there is nothing hard about these definitions. If the Lord God is Israel’s Maker, and He is, then He knew what was best for them. He didn’t have to tell them what to do but, in grace and love, He gave them the instructions to get the best out of the life that He gave them in the Promised Land. As long as they were willing to trust His wisdom they would enjoy all the benefits of His goodness. As soon as they decided to be evil and reject His wisdom then they would lose the benefits of His goodness. After all the Lord has perfect integrity and will give anyone exactly what they choose. This is overridden by the fact that, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.” (Psalm 103:8) He takes His time to give a chance to be sure that we want to follow the way of death, that is, everlasting separation from God and all the good things that He has in store for us.