There were at least four steps the Israelites had to follow in order to conquer Canaan once they crossed the Jordan. Who would have thought getting circumcised was one of them? Join us in our study of this book and what we can learn from it in order to live victoriously today.
https://youtu.be/LzvR4rfN0QY
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qy1ONC8cfO4
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
Israel gets safely across the Jordan and into Canaan, and the people prepare to meet the inhabitants of the land. Join us for our continued study of the book of Joshua.
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The next episode (#13) is up and running on MyChannel of our study of Joshua 4:1-7 -- setting up memorials to God's wonders. Join us and catch up on the earlier episodes you missed.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCN-2vKdbqc8K-5kNfR_w7yQ
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The account of the actual crossing of the Jordan River by the Israelites. Follow us as we study Joshua 3:14-17 together in our Youtube episode #12.
https://youtu.be/KR8hSLezp0U
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"You need wonders, God will show you wonders," the Israelites are told in our study today of Joshua 3:9-13. Join us for Episode #11.
Episode #11 of our study in Joshua
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The priests are told to put their feet in the raging river and stand still. Join us for our study of Joshua 3:7-8 today as we look at Episode #10 in this great book of the Old Testament.
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"Crossing a raging river and seeing wonders performed by God requires spiritual preparation," Joshua tells the people in this episode of our study of the Old Testament Book of Joshua. Join us for Joshua Episode #9.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KX2lkiNnHtQ
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Episode #8 on Joshua 3:1-4 now up on Youtube. Join us as the young leader instructs the Israelite on how to cross the Jordan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZiKCevudDE
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Hey guys, the next video on our study of Joshua is up and running and Youtube. In Episode #7, the spies report back to Joshua. We question the value of the scouting expedition and we get some answers. Join us as we study Joshua 2:22-24 and see if we can apply it to our lives today.
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Rahab wants her family protected and agrees to all that the spies tell her she must do. Join us as we study Joshua 2:15-21 and apply it to life today.
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Rahab the harlot tells the Israeli spies what she wants from them and why. Join us in our study of the Old Testament book of Joshua, chapter 2, verses 8-14.
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Join us as we study Joshua 2:1-7 together. Some interesting details about the story that you may have not heard before.
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Join us for Episode 3 of our study of the Old Testament Book of Joshua as we look at Joshua's first instructions to Israel as their new commander.
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A Layman Looks At Scripture -- Joshua Study #2 -- chapter 1:1-9. Join us as we study this Old Testament book together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFh2sOva9w4
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Okay, I think I did it. A number of you asked me to start putting my personal studies into a YouTube video. This takes more time, but if it helps people join me in studying the Word of God, it's worth. So here is the first one: Joshua - #1 -- Intro. Let me know what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbB-Jz9vqSU
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Moses Views Promised Land, Dies, Is Replaced, and Is Extolled -- Deuteronomy 34
We have come to the last chapter of Deuteronomy. It's only twelve verses long. Let's go through the highlights:
1. Moses obeys God's request that he climb up Mount Nebo. Matthew Henry says that it was as if Moses in climbing the mountain, was climbing up towards heaven, indicating his willingness to die. And in return for his obedience, God "showed him all the land". I've noticed throughout Scripture that there seems to be a correlation between obeying God and getting our heart's desire. It may not alway be our first choice, but God's choice for us will always ultimately lead to greater true joy and life, than our choices -- even if at first we will have to go through some very challenging and almost impossible times, or have to go to the point of losing our lives. But having obeyed God, it's what comes afterwards, or at the end of it all, that really counts. That is a very hard lesson for each of us to learn.
Common sense would require that we agree that Moses as the author of this book ends here at the very latest and that Joshua takes over from here on in.
5. Moses dies as "the servant of the Lord". He dies "according to word of the Lord". That's how I want to die. I want to die as "a servant" of the Lord's. And I want to die accepting God's appointed time for me to die and the way I would die. No regrets.
6. Moses is buried in the valley in the land of Moab. But notice who buried him. The text says, "He (God) buried him". And the actual location of his burial spot is not known to man, even to this day.
I had never noticed the fact that it was God who buried Moses. That should tell us a lot about their relationship. Can you imagine how God felt at that moment in history? One of his greatest servants had been asked to die for the cause of Israel and he did. And God had to bury him. Can you think of a parallel? Many years later God's greatest Servant also had to die for the cause of mankind and He did. And while God allowed Him to be buried by others, He took Him out of the tomb, resurrected Him, and then took Him back to Himself.
7. Now get this -- even at age 120 when he died, the Scripture tells us that Moses' vision was very good and so was his vigor.
This is in contrast to the eyes of Isaac, Gen. 27:1, and Jacob, Gen. 48:10. I'm 73 and I'm told I soon will be a candidate for cataracts. And my vigor? Well, let's put it this way -- the four miles a day my wife and I were doing for years up to a couple of months ago in one hour, now takes us up to an hour and a quarter. And my guess is things will only get worse. But not for Moses. He lived almost half a century (47 years) more than I am now and his vision did not dim, nor his vigor wane. God needed him to be like that until his appointed time to die.
David Guzik says this about his death:
"Moses' epitaph - the line on his tombstone - was simple.
8. Israel mourned him for thirty days in the plains of Moab.
I am sure you have witnessed the passing of many people in your life time. Some were very close to you -- perhaps a parent or a child; some were acquaintances from work; and some were famous leaders. But I will venture to argue that accept for those that were intimately close with the deceased, no one else mourned their passing for thirty days and stayed near the burial location while doing so. In Moses' case, the entire nation of Israel did just that. I think God was trying to get a message across to them because He loved them and He was saying, "what this Prophet told you, this Moses that you are mourning so much, you must heed his words because he was My servant and the words he spoke were My words."
9. Joshua who was "filled with the spirit of wisdom" because Moses had laid his hands on him, was now being listened to by the sons of Israel. And Joshua did as the Lord had commanded Moses to tell him to do.
Joshua was ready to take over Moses' responsibilities. God had selected him and had arranged for his training under the guidance of Moses for all these years. He had proven himself in the earlier tasks he had been given. But more than that, he was "filled with the spirit of wisdom" because Moses had blessed him. That gave him credibility and he was to be listened to by the people. But for his part, Joshua was not to stray from what he had been commanded to do in leading the people.
I often wonder how many mature Christian leaders are ever in such a relationship with God that they can bless a younger leader to the point of his/her being "filled with the spirit of wisdom" so that others listen to them and so that they themselves stay true to the words of God?
10-12. The text says that since that time no greater prophet had risen in Israel like Moses which God knew "face to face". What made him so was also all the signs and wonders God had sent him to perform, and all the mighty power he was given, and all the great terror which Moses performed "in the sight" of Israel.
In these last three verses of the entire book of Deuteronomy we get a summary of Moses' special privilege and his special life. God knew him "face to face". And God had allowed him to be used mightily in God's service.
David Guzik does make an interesting comment about the "face to face" phrase:
I am not suggesting that we could all be like Moses. I'm not suggesting that we could all know God face to face. Or that we might have the powers that Moses had. But I am suggesting that each of us could know God more than we know Him today. And I am suggesting that each of us, by walking closer with God (and without expectations), be used more by God.
Both of those things are my desire. I pray they are yours.
Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section. You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that. Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless. Ken G.
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[ picture from ifiwalkedwithjesus.com -- check it out ]
The Last Official Act of the Lawgiver of Israel -- Deuteronomy 33
These are Moses' own words of blessings to the tribes of Israel. In verses 2-5, Moses once again gives praise to God for Who He is and what He had done for Israel. He points out how much He loves the people of Israel. He makes reference to God's Words (the Law at that time) and how it is a true possession of value for the descendants of Jacob.
Before he gets to the individual blessings, there is, in verse 5, reference to his own role, referring to himself as a king in Jeshurun (the Hebrew word of Israel). This was interesting to me today as our small life group has been studying another book in the Old Testament, that of Judges (which we too will take up in due time). Throughout that book, we are reminded time and again, before the judges, between the judges, and after the judges, that "in those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Thus, the significance of Moses as king of Israel here takes on additional meaning for me. He really did all he could to keep the Israelites in hand.
And then from verse 6 to verse 25, we have accounts of ten blessings that Moses uttered. Wait a minute, you may ask, "I thought there were twelve sons of Jacob and twelve tribes of Israel. Why only ten blessings?" Good question, and I had to do some digging into this to find out.
Let's start from the beginning. Jacob had twelve sons and one daughter. Let's list the sons in order of birth:
1. Reuben; 2. Simeon; 3. Levi; 4. Judah; 5. Dan; 6. Naphtali; 7. Gad; 8. Asher; 9. Issachar; 10. Zebulun; 11. Joseph; and 12. Benjamin.
But as we look at the blessing in this chapter, I count only ten of them. Simeon and Issachar are not blessed here by Moses. Why is that?
Let's deal with Simeon first. Here is the best answer I can find from hermeneutics.stackexchange.com --
Simeon and Levi are brothers – their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel.
The New International Study Version notes give this explanation with regard to Jacob’s prophetic words that Simeon’s descendants would be scattered:
Fulfilled when Simeon’s descendants were absorbed into the territory of Judah (see Joshua 19:1, 9) and when Levi’s descendants were dispersed throughout the land, living in 48 towns and the surrounding pasture-lands.
At the time of the second census conducted by Moses and Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, the tribe of Simeon was the smallest and weakest of all the tribes that came out of Egypt, only 22,200 men aged 20 years or more (Numbers 26:14).
Simeon was cursed by his father Jacob, probably because of the event recorded in Genesis 34:24–30 when Simeon and Levi took revenge on the men of Shechem after the rape of Dinah. After the horrific event, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,
You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land. We are few in number, and if they join forces against me and attack me, I and my household will be destroyed (Genesis 34:30).
Moses was undoubtedly aware of this and that may be why the tribe of Simeon was excluded from Moses’ blessing.
Now what about Issachar? You will remember that Moses was basically at the Jordan River and would not be allowed to cross over into the Promised Land on the east side of the river. This blessing was for those tribes (minus Simeon) that were going to go into the Promised Land. The tribe of Issachar you will remember decided to stay and settle in the west side of the Jordan and not in the Promised Land.
Hope that explains why ten blessings and not twelve.
David Guzik introduces these blessings as follows:
If you read the blessings and know something of the history of each of the tribes as we studied them in the earlier parts of the book of Deuteronomy as well as in the earlier books of the Torah, you will note that Moses took care to say something very personal and precious with respect to each of the tribes. There is no doubt in my mind that this reflects the epitome of leadership when a leader can do this while withdrawing from the work. Moses led to his very last breath.
I must point out something I found to be a real comfort to me in verse 25b in the blessing to Asher. He says, "And according to your days, so shall your leisurely walk be." Chuck Smith explains this blessing:
I don't know about you, but as the persecution of Christians is spreading like wildfire even in North America, I find this promise here to be a comfort to the believer. God will give you and me the strength we need to live our very last day.
In verses 26-29 he now turns the opportunity of the blessing back to praising God -- the key figure in all of this. There is none like Him he says in verse 26. I love the second part of that verse which implies that God "rides back and forth across the Heavens and the Skies in His Majesty to come to your help" (translation mine). I've never noticed that before. It's an incredible picture.
And then verse 27 gets even better. He portrays God as a "dwelling place" for us, whose arms are everlasting, driving out His and our enemy, destroying him," and then verse 28, "so that Israel (so that you and I) may dwell in security, and all our generations being secluded in the land of grain and new wine." What a picture these verses are of what God is doing for us right now. His heavens provide us with the necessary fresh dew for life.
Verse 29, summarizes it all up and says, "We are blessed, there is none blessed like us, because God is our shield that helps us, and the sword which keeps us as His. Our enemies will "cringe before" us and we shall conquer them.
Wow, what a parting message to the children of Israel, and to us, that Moses leaves them and us with. What an image of our God.
If you really want to dig deeper into these blessings and the whole chapter, may I recommend that you find some time to go through Matthew Henry's commentary on it which you can find here. It takes you through each blessing and what the outcome was as well.
Then go back and look at the picture of God that Moses paints for us here and then go forth each day knowing that this God, our God, loves us so much and He and He alone stands on guard 24/7 for you and me. If that does not move you towards Him, nothing will.
Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section. You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that. Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless. Ken G.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
After the Song of Moses, God Delivers Moses' Fate -- Deuteronomy 32:44-52
So Moses spoke the whole song to the people of Israel, with Joshua present. Matthew Henry makes an interesting comment about this exact moment:
"Moses who was laying down the government, and Joshua who was taking it up, they would see they were both in the same mind, and that, though they changed their commander, there was no change in the divine command; Joshua, as well as Moses, would be a witness against them if ever they forsook God."
Once he finished, he told the Israelites to take to heart all that was in the song, with this warning:
"It is not an idle word -- it's your life. By it, you can prolong your days in the [promised] land you are about to enter."
So many people take God's Word as an idle thing, and his warnings as idle threats. Moses and God warn us against doing that very thing here. Unfortunately, like 'know-it-all' children, many will not listen and they will bring destruction upon themselves. They better be ready for the consequences.
This whole thing reminds me of the big issue right now about taking the covid vaccine. Whether you are for it or against it right now is not our concern here. The point I want to make is that if you take it, you have to be prepared to accept the risks of taking it. If you don't take it, you have to be able to accept the risks of not taking it. The choice is clearly yours (and mine). Similarly, our ultimate state of affairs depends on the decision we make about God and His Word and our obedience to it. We have to be able to withstand the consequences of that decision. But know this, it is a lie of the devil that it is a futile thing to serve God and obey His Word. It is not. There are rewards and there are great consequences in not doing so.
Then God speaks to Moses that very day and says,
"Climb Mt. Nebo and view the Promised land from afar. Then die on that mountain and join your people, as Aaron did, because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel." [emphasis mine]
This is Moses' last act of his 120 year old life. But once again Robert Jamieson reminds us thus about Moses:
"Notwithstanding so severe a disappointment, not a murmur of complaint escapes his lips. He is not only resigned but acquiescing; and in the near prospect of his death, he pours forth the feelings of his devout heart in sublime strains and eloquent blessings."
Matthew Henry says this:
"The remembrance of his sin might make death terrible, but the sight God gave him of Canaan took off the terror of it, as it was a token of God's being reconciled to him, and a plain indication to him that though his sin shut him out of the earthly Canaan, yet it should not deprive him of that better country which in this world can only be seen, and that with an eye of faith. Note, Those may die with comfort and ease whenever God calls for them (notwithstanding the sins they remember against themselves) who have a believing prospect and a well-grounded hope of eternal life beyond death."
Here's what we need to ask ourselves.
1. Are we "breaking faith" with God? Are we disobeying Him? That is a sin that will count against us here and now as it did for Moses, although it will not ultimately cause us to lose our salvation.
2. Are we somehow "not treating God as Holy"? Are we not trusting His Word and obeying it? Are we doubting Him?
3. Finally, are we doing these things in the presence of others? Are we bad role models for our families, our friends, our Christian brothers and sisters? God says He doesn't appreciate that.
These are crucial questions we must ask ourselves. And if we don't like the answers, we must do something about them. My prayer for you and for me, if we realize our sin and repent and stay the course like Moses, is that God would treat us as well as He did Moses. May it be so.
Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section. You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that. Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless. Ken G.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
In this passage, verses 34-44 of the Song, God speaks directly. The passage ultimately covers the vindication of God by God. It is addressed to the Israelites, even though at times it sounds like God is referring to the enemies of Israel (e.g. in verse 43). And indirectly, He may be -- because whether one is an Israelite idolater, or a heathen idolater, he is still an enemy of God's.
34. God tells us He is indeed "storing" up all these things -- His anger, His revenge. How long will he store them up? How much more godless could Israel have gotten in those days? How much more godless can we become today? We do not know the limits of God, but I assure you that from passages like these we know that He too has limits when it comes to this.
It is interesting that the text says these things are "sealed up in [His] treasuries". The NET Bible says "in [His] storehouses".
35. God says "vengeance is Mine". Period. There will come a time when Israel (and thus us) will slip so far that our calamity will be at hand. It is at this time that the things He has stored up for that time (His anger, His revenge), things He has prepared, will start coming at the Israelites (and thus us). The NLT and the NET says "I will pay them back."
On these two verses (34 and 35), Matthew Henry writes:
[God shows] displeasure against their wickedness, which he takes notice of, and keeps an account of, v. 34, 35. "Is not this implacable fury of theirs against Israel laid up in store with me, to be reckoned for hereafter, when it shall be made to appear [or made clear] that to me belongs vengeance?' Some understand it of the sin of Israel, especially their persecuting the prophets, which was laid up in store against them from the blood of righteous Abel, Mt. 23:35. However it teaches us that the wickedness of the wicked is all laid up in store with God.
On verse 35, Chuck Smith adds this most interesting account:
36. But we are then provided with this verse, that says God will judge His people, and then He will have compassion on them, or change His mind about destroying them, when He sees that their strength is totally gone, and they have all but disappeared, either free men or in captivity. It is hard to fully understand what is meant here. Matthew Henry again tries to help us out:
He will [judge] in compassion to his own people, who, though they had greatly provoked him, yet stood in relation to him, and their misery appealed to his mercy (v. 36): The Lord shall judge his people,. that is, judge for them against their enemies, plead their cause, and break the yoke of oppression under which they had long groaned, repenting himself for his servants; not changing his mind, but changing his way, and fighting for them, as he had fought against them, when he sees that their power is gone. This plainly points at the deliverances God wrought for Israel by the judges out of the hands of those to whom he had sold them for their sins (see Jdg. 2:11-18), and how his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel (Jdg. 10:16), and this when they were reduced to the last extremity. God helped them when they could not help themselves; for there was none shut up or left; that is, none that dwelt either in cities or walled towns, in which they were shut up, nor any that dwelt in scattered houses in the country, in which they were left at a distance from neighbours. Note, God's time to appear for the deliverance of his people is when things are at the worst with them. God tries his people's faith, and stirs up prayer, by letting things go to the worst, and then magnifies his own power, and fills the faces of his enemies with shame and the hearts of his people with so much the greater joy, by rescuing them out of extremity as brands out of the burning.
37-38. Then back to chiding or scolding them via a means of ridicule, asking, "Where are their gods? Where is their rock of refuge? Who ate the sacrifices they offered? Let them rise up (since they're dead) to help you (God is talking directly to the Israelites and thus to us here). Hide in them," He mockingly advises. And He alone is the one that can mock as the next two verses suggest.
39-40. God then speaks again of Who He is. There is no one beside Him. He gives life and He takes life. He wounds and He heals. No one can save anyone from His hand. He lives forever. Henry says He does this by way of an oath: "The divine sentence is ratified with an oath (v. 40): He lifts up his hand to heaven, the habitation of his holiness; this was an ancient and very significant sign used in swearing, Gen. 14:22. And, since he could swear by no greater, he swears by himself and his own life." God will indeed get His revenge as He explains in the next two verses.
41-42. In these two verses, God switches to what He can or would do. If He sharpens His sword and if His hand pursues justice, He will render vengeance on His enemies and will repay those who hate Him. His arrows will be drunk with blood and His sword will devour flesh. The NET says the Hebrew term שָׂנֵא (saneʾ, “hate”) in this covenant context speaks of those who reject Yahweh’s covenant overtures.
If there is anything we see in the world today, especially among many liberal and progressive leaders, is the fact they unequivocally hate God, often by hating everything that God stands for. God say when the time is right, He will sharpen His sword and get His vengeance, repaying those that hate Him. And that's the bad news these leaders do not want to hear from Christians. And that's why they would prefer that we either shut up or be eliminated one way or another. And folks when we shut up, the Enemy loves it. God's Adversary is inching forward when we do that.
But as these verses tell us the ultimate revenge by God will be a terrible execution of justice. I want no part of it.
43. Then Moses enters the Song again and is basically encouraging the Israelites (and us) that as God's people we can indeed rejoice. God will avenge us who remain true to Him. He will take revenge out on 'our' enemies and they will 'atone' for what they have done to His land and His people. (The NLT says, "He will cleanse the land for His people.)
Henry says, "in God's Israel there is a remnant whose end will be peace." Amen.
A judgment day is coming for us all. May I suggest you get to know the Judge now, as well your Advocate.
Note to reader: If you like the way we are studying scripture, why not subscribe to our posts by providing us just with your email? You can do that to the right of this column in the "Subscribe to" section. You can also search our earlier studies in the "Blog Archive" section below that. Finally, please encourage others to study along with us by sharing this link with your family and friends. Thank you and God bless. Ken G.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
