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Tomorrow is our last day in Deuteronomy.  You made it through 80 days.  Seems long?  Well, that is how many days Moses was on Mt. Sinia so suck it up buttercup. 😂

Chapter 30.   Yesterday we were warned that if they disobey they will be taken into captivity (we have about 1000 years of history to read before this happens), then they are scattered.  Today we read about the prophecy of some returning to Jerusalem (verse 1-10) ❤️. I love these verses: Returning to the Lord. ❤️

Moses completed all three of his speeches and only has few last things to do.  Moses meets with God and Joshua, and he writes the Law word for word.

Chapter 31: Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel: ² “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’ ³ The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you…

Take a moment to soak in how much you have learned so far this year.  Would you have been able to understand this scripture 80 days ago?

¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, ¹¹ when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. 

😁

So I guess our next read-through is 2028?  Mark your calendar.

The Lord meets with Moses “mono y mono” and says to him “Moses, since you won’t here I will tell you what’s going to happen!”

“You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. ¹⁷ And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’ ¹⁸ And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

Oh My! 😢

Ok, let me let you into my crazy brain for 1 moment.  That is about all people would be able to handle ( a moment).    Do you listen to worship music when you read?  Well, I read this today:

¹⁹ “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.

I know Moses is going to write a song.  Was it this one??? 😂

Click here

Verse 23, as the torch gets passed, The Lord speaks to Joshua!!  ²³ The Lord gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

The book of the Law was written word for word and was placed beside the Ark of the Covenant.   Inside the Ark was:

• Aaron’s budded rod,
• manna,
• and the tablets from Sinia.

  It is no wonder Indian Jones was looking for it!

So tomorrow is choir practice as 3 million people learn the song of Moses and we finish Deuteronomy!

I underlined some amazing scriptures.  I will share mine if you share yours. (I wonder if they are the same)

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen (But I totally recommend reading. )

Here we go.  We have half the tribes on Mt. Ebal (dry and rocky) and the other half on Mt. Gerazim (green and lush).   

1. You may read this historically (it is historical)
2. or you may read this personally (it is personal).
3. I tend to read it both and add a 3rd one in there, where does America fit into this

Blessings: If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. ² All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:

1. Your city and county will be blessed (v.3)
2. Your children (fertility), herds,  and crops will be blessed (v.4)
3. Your needs (food) will be blessed (v.5)
4. Wherever you go and whatever you do will be blessed (v.6)
5. Your enemies will attack you from 1 direction, but you will scatter them in 7 (v.7)
6. You will lend money to nations but never have to borrow (v.12)

Curses: ¹⁵ However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you:

1. Your city and county will be a curse (v.16)
2. Your children (fertility), herds,  and crops will be cursed (v.18)
3. Your needs (food) will be cursed(v.17)
4. Wherever you go and whatever you do will be cursed(v.19)
5. Your enemies will attack you from 1 direction, but you will scatter in 7 (v.25)
6. They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them (v.44)

These are all the blessings, but not all the curses.  Moses lists about four times more curses than blessings. The lists of curses (in ancient documents) were typically longer and more detailed than the lists of blessings probably to stress the seriousness of violating the covenant. Israel was entering a very dangerous environment in Canaan, and needed strong warnings against the temptations they would encounter.

This might be a huge spoiler alert for some (sorry) but it will make future reading more interesting:  After we are in the Promised Land for some time; the curses of disobedience will be literal.  Read chapter 28 closely and you will see the Captivity at its worst.  Many do not know what I mean when I say the captivity since we have not read it yet.  A quick summary of the captivity:  after hundreds of years of God warning the Israelites to obey him (he’s very patient),  He finally takes His hand of protection off of them.   He will allow the Assyrians and the Babylonians to capture all of them and take them OUT of the land completely.  Here is a quick visual.

⁴⁹ The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, ⁵⁰ a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. ⁵¹ They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine or olive oil, nor any calves of your herds or lambs of your flocks until you are ruined. ⁵² They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land the Lord your God is giving you.

First, the Assyrians will capture them, but then the mighty Babylonians will sweep in and take them to their land.

This captivity will be so severe that they will resort to cannibalism and eating the afterbirth.  Then finally in verse 64: Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other.  we will see the prophecy of the scattering “diaspora”.  They literally scatter around the Mediterranean Sea rather than return to Jerusalem (only a few will return). This will explain WHY Paul’s mission trips to find Jewish people are so far from each other.

Chapter 29! This is it!  Moses Final Speech so read it closely (I am honest with you when I skim, so now I am telling you to hang on every word)

As the people stand in God’s presence to renew their allegiance to him ALL are included.  Men, wives, children, servants…ALL.  He renews the Covenant from Genesis 15 (Promised in 12), and warns them one last time about idolatry,  apostasy, hypocrisy, and rebellion.

There are so many verses I want to talk about.  Last year, 29:19 hit me hard.  This year it is:

²⁴ All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”

Why do bad things happen?

²⁵ And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. ²⁶ They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them.

²⁹ The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

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Deuteronomy 24 begins with divorce.  These scriptures are not “for” or “against” it. However, it discusses that divorce for the couple is permanent.  It is not “on/off/on” situation so the decision should not be taken lightly.

Verse 7-18 is about being fair.  We live in such a warped world of suing and being sued.  It’s honestly quite scary.  We have all been there, you get into a small bumper accident and the first thing you think of is “are they going to fake a neck/back injury”.  Be fair.

Chapter 24 ends with God’s love towards the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow.  We leave provisions for them in our fields (not leftovers…provisions).  We will see this applied when we read the book of Ruth.

Chapter 25. Forty lashes.  At this time, lashing or flogging was a punishment where it fit the crime.  The Law stated no more than 40 lashes (over 40 might kill someone).  However, when we get to the Gospel, flogging techniques had evolved.  What started as a single whip per lash later becomes a Roman weapon known as a cat-o-nine tail.  In the New Testament, Paul says in 2 Cor. 11:24 “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.” The Jews made laws about the laws to be careful not to break the laws, so they made it “less one” just in case they miss counted.  BUT the 40 lashes written in Deuteronomy were not the same 40 lashes Jesus took for us.  The Jews didn’t flog Jesus.  The ROMANS did!  The Romans used the cat-o-nine tail:

If the Romans used a cat-o-nine tail, then Jesus’ sentence was 40-1= 39 x 9= 351 lashes. (Not sure if the Romans would have -1, so possibly 360 lashes)

I know this is hard to watch but with Good Friday coming up I thought we might need a reminder of all that Jesus did for us.

CLICK HERE

25:5 The Levirate Vow!  One of my favorite topics to teach!  If you missed the original post on this…it’s a hot mess!  Click here.  Not often do I get to talk about contraception!

If you remember this (Judah and Tamar). Kudos to you for good memory!

25:17: Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. ¹⁸ When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. ¹⁹ When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

If you cannot recall who the Amalekites were,  click here for the story.  They attacked the Israelites when they were at their weakest.

We haven’t looked at a genealogy in a long time,  so find them and see the significance.  Amalek is the grandson of Esau through a concubine relationship.

Chapter 26: Continued instruction of when they enter the Promised Land.

Chapter 27  is a major scene-setter for tomorrow’s reading!  The Israelites are commanded to put 6 tribes on Mt. Gerizim, who will stand and say the blessing for obedience to everyone.  The other 6 tribes are to stand on and say the curses for disobedience from Mt. Ebal.

In the meantime, the Levites recite 12 curses.  Notice these examples are all sins that one could hide or do in secret.  Read them and make a checklist of the ones you think you can follow (if you don’t have at least 1 or 2 checked, we cannot be friends). The curses pronounced on Mount Ebal were the following:

1. Cursed is anyone who makes an idol
2. Cursed is anyone who dishonors their mother or father
3. Cursed is anyone who moves their neighbor’s boundary stone
4. Cursed is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road
5. Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow
6. Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his father’s wife
7. Cursed is anyone who has sexual relations with any animal
8. Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his sister
9. Cursed is anyone who sleeps with his mother-in-law
10. Cursed is anyone who kills their neighbor secretly
11. Cursed is anyone who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person
12. Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law

Look at #12.

“Cursed is anyone who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out.”

Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

The last verse covers the violation of any other command in the law.  Paul used this verse to emphasize the fact that no one can obey God perfectly (Gal. 3:10-14).

¹⁰ For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” ¹¹ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” 

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Let’s just set the scene.  Moses is sitting with the Israelites that are about to enter the Promised Land.   When God gave Moses the 10 commandments and the Book of the Law, the Israelites sat there for almost a year studying it.    Deuteronomy is the “retelling” of their history to the next generation (since they weren’t there in person).  In chapter 5, Moses read the 10 Commandments.  When the Israelites enter the Land they need to APPLY the Law.  In today’s terms: don’t go to church and say “Amen” and then go about your life without APPLYING IT.  Sorry, I had to yell at myself for a moment.

The past few chapters Moses has discussed the Commandments that refer to our relationship with the Lord (1-4).  Now, we are continuing the read about how to apply these laws in relation to others (6-10).  Here is your quick reference:

Chapter 21:  You will clearly see Commandments 5, 6, 7.   You know I want to break down EACH verse but I will spare you a long post.  If you have already read, stop here.  Go to comments and talk about the Scriptures that you stopped at or made your eyebrows move.  THEN come back and read some of the ones I underlined.

21: ⁶ Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. ⁸ Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for, ⁹ and you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

It’s where we get the phrase “I wash my hands of this”

(That is Pontius Pilate washing his hands, referencing this scripture.  He saying I am not responsible for Jesus’ death)

Matthew 27: ²⁴ When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”

As you continue to read you have to keep in mind that God’s Law was not the first time a set of Laws was enforced.  In general, the Code of Hammurabi was the law.  God’s laws were written so that EVERYONE could understand them just like the Code of Hammurabi.  The codes were always written in “If this….then this…” Example:  If my kids leave one more dish in the sink, then I am going to lose my mind”.

Chapter 21: Atonement for an unsolved murder, marrying a captive woman, the rights of the firstborn, and rebellious children.  If you were not with us in Genesis, I want you to know the rights of the firstborn (Commandant 5) are huge. BUT remember the firstborn may receive a double portion but that is not the blessing.  If you are confused Genesis 25, (Jacob and Esau) the Bible talks about selling his birthright, but that was small potatoes compared to Jacob stealing the blessing!

As you read chapter 22 we continue the application of these laws: keeping ourselves holy (set apart) from the Canaanites.  Do you look like the world or do you look set apart?  I can break down each one for you if you need, just comment on the one that you did not get.  Each one is significant..proof of virginity, wearing clothes, mixing fabrics, sleeping with your father’s wife.   (Trivia: which one of Jacob’s sons slept with his father’s wife)

Chapter 23:  If you are old like me, the names may be familiar but you cannot remember who they were.  I will recap some of them:

• Ammonites and Moabites- first find them on your genealogy. They were the sons (tribes) that were born after God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.  In Genesis 19, Lot took his daughters to the high land, and his daughter planned to get their father, Lot, drunk and have children.
  • Then in Numbers 22– the Ammonites and Moabites did not allow the Israelites passage through their land.  Balaam was the scorer they hired to curse them.  But we know that would never happen because of God’s Covenant
    • • • “I will make you into a great nation,
              and I will bless you;
          I will make your name great,
              and you will be a blessing.^{[
          3} I will bless those who bless you,
              and whoever curses you I will curse;
          and all peoples on earth
              will be blessed through you.”
• Edomites: were Esau’s descendants, (Esau was Jacob’s brother on your map).

We know him as Saint Patrick 

• His name wasn’t Patrick
• He wasn’t Irish
• He was never canonized by the Catholic Church as a Saint

Maewyn Succat was his real name.  He was born in Britain in 386.  His family had a high social standing for generations.  His dad, Calphurnius was a deacon from a Roman family.  His grandfather, Pontious was also a member of the clergy.  However, he was not raised religiously.  Many people work for churches for financial and job security but fail to raise their children in a spiritual way.

When Maewyn was 16 he was captured by pirates and brought to Ireland and sold into slavery.  Evidently, Ireland was the pirate hot-spot, which explains all the accents in the movies 😂. He was a slave for at least 6 years.  While a slave, he was a shepherd, spending most of his time alone and afraid.  So he turned to God.  He had a dream that he would escape and return to the very people that enslaved them to talk to them about Christianity.

Maewyn did escape and studied theology for about 15 years and became a priest. He changed his name to Patricius, or Patrick, which derives from the Latin term for “father figure,” when he became a priest because he knew he had to return to the horrible place he was enslaved as a missionary.  He knew the language, cultures, and rituals.  Their pagan rituals were nature-based (just like the Old Testament). Maewyn incorporated nature into his missionary work so that the people would be less defensive as he shared the Gospel.  For example, they used fire to honor their gods, so he sat around a bonfire when speaking to them.  He also drew a circle to represent the sun when he introduced the Cross.  (They worshipped Ra-the sun god), so he added it to the back of the cross so they did not shut him down as he continued to share the scriptures. (We could learn a lot about how to approach people with the Gospel)

And of course, everyone’s favorite…

The 3 leaf clover was used when Maewyn would need to explain the Holy Trinity.  He would scoop up the clover and point to each leaf and explain the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as separate but also as one.

Have a Great St. Patrick’s Day.

If you have children (of any age), ask them who he is?

My son had the craziest story that involved deer, rainbows, and gold.   Deer??

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Chapter 17- This is one of those chapters that appears boring BUT is filled with things to underline.  Have you ever watched a movie like Sixth Sense?  The kind of movie that when you watch it a second time and you pick up on all the little clues, this is that chapter!

Example: When we read the trial of Jesus:

Things to underline today:

• ⁶ On the testimony of two or three witnesses a person is to be put to death, but no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
• ⁸ If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose
• ⁹ Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. 

Did Jesus have 2 (truthful) witnesses?  Was He tried at the Temple?  Who is the High Priest at the time?  If the priest gave a verdict why were Pontius Pilate and Herod involved? (many more illegalities will occur)

Verse 14-20.  You might as well memorize these scriptures.  I am probably going to refer back to them 100 times!  You must read them twice, they are very important.  Right now in our read-through, we are a Theocracy-The Lord is King.  However, we will throw that idea away and become a Monarchy, and after that, we will become a divided kingdom (2 Monarchies).  The Lord KNOWS we are going to want a king (other than God) so here are the rules for the king:

Chapter 17:14  “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”

God does not just appoint them a king….they ask for one!  Oh no, that won’t be good.  We already know we are to follow God, not a king.  But God gives them a king anyway to show them they don’t need one!

The King must:

1. He must be the one the Lord chooses
2. He must not multiply his horses for military purposes
3. He must not acquire many wives (or you will take on their false worship)
4. He must make a copy of the Law and have it with him at all times.  He will read it every day. (oh, and follow it)

Chapter 18-

• The Levitical priests—indeed, the whole tribe of Levi—are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the food offerings presented to the Lord, for that is their inheritance.  If people are not worshipping at the Temple eventually, how will the priests live off the offerings?  SMH.

Chapter 18:9-13 (Refer to Lev. 18 for a recap)

¹⁰ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, ¹¹ or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

Sacrifice their sons and daughters??  This was a Canaanite ritual, that was common.  Molech represented the male principle of life and reproduction while Ashtoreth represented the female principle of fertility.

Canaanites would sacrifice their children to this false god.  A fire inside the statue would receive the newborn child and pass through to their god.  But this should not be a problem BECAUSE we have read that when they enter the Promised Land they will should destroy ALL of their pagan ritual sites, not take on their ways, or marry into their tribes, or partake in their sexual rituals to their gods……

The second part of the above verse…consult mediums?  Who would do that in the Bible?  Maybe the FIRST king does it?  (Trivia: Can anyone name the first king of the Monarchy in the Bible? No googling! It is NOT David 😂)

Prophets- After reading that the Israelites should NOT listen to a fortune teller, a medium, or spiritist, they are introduced to Prophets.  Well, how do we know one from the other?

A True Prophet:

1. will be Hebrew
2. must speak in the name of the Lord
3. what the prophet says must come to pass

BUT ❤️

¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. ¹⁹ I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.

Chapter 19 Cities of Refuge.  If you skipped some of the readings click here for the Numbers 35 post on this.

These chapters are amazing…Jesus is on every page! Kings, Prophets, Priests….

Chapter 20.  A beautiful ending.  If Jesus is our High Priest, and you are facing a battle in your life: cling to chapter 20: ❤️

20 When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. ² When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. ³ He shall say: “Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. ⁴ For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

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• This post is NOT light.  If it is overwhelming you, don’t read it. 🤪

OK.  Ready?  If you flip back in your Bible to Chapter 5 (go ahead, I will wait), Moses gave the next generation the 10 commandments.  Now we are in the middle of the 2nd speech.  Moses is breaking them down for them.

Chapters 10 and 11 (go ahead, flip to them): Love and Obey the Lord (that chapter was for the First Commandment)

• ¹³ So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul

Now, look at Chapters 12 and 13,   Laws for proper worship. (these chapters are for the Second Commandment)

• 12:2 Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains…
• 12:4You must not worship the Lord your God in their way.
• 13:3“Let us follow other gods” 

So now we are at Chapter 14: Taking the Lord’s name in vain.  Unfortunately, we have watered this commandment down to saying “OMG”.    The word vain can mean “empty,” “nothing,” “worthless,” or “to no good purpose.”  It is not just our speech, but in how we live too.

• Cut yourself/shave the front of your forehead
  • To make a long story short, in 1928 they began excavating tablets written in cuneiform text that described Baal cycles (false gods) in Syria, called the Ugaritic Text.  They found about 1500 fragments.  We have de-coded about 100 poems and 50 cult rituals.  Anyway, this practice of mutilating yourself or shaving your head was a cult practice of the dead and fertility rituals. (this will come up when we read Elijah)

Below is the decoder (who is old enough to remember the decoders found in cereal boxes??  The good ole days)

• • Clean/Unclean animals: (by the way what is a hyrax?) Some forbidden animals were eaten in pagan religious rituals (for example: Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk was a fertility ritual for women).  It amazes me that The Lord was also giving them a “medical degree” since he knew which animals carried illnesses to people.
  • Tithes-giving God 1/10 BACK to what he provided.  If I GIVE you $10 and then ask for $1 back… hmmmm think on that for a moment.

Chapters  15 and 16: break down the 4th Commandment concerning the use of our time. Sabbath day, the Sabbath year, and the Jubilee.   Remember how the Israelites collected double the day before the Sabbath so they would always have enough of God’s provisions:

Caring for the poor:  (ready to get punched in the stomach)

• • • ⁷ If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. ⁸ Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need. 
    • Freeing Servants: This is a big topic for me because you have to know one of the biggest arguments against God is the word “slavery” in the Bible.  I discussed this in Exodus that taking a servant Biblically is NOT what He intended for the “History” of slavery as we know it.
      • • To be a slave was not a horrible thing for the Israelites. Israelites had to respect their slaves. Slaves served other people in order to pay their debts (rather than become poor). When their owners freed them, the owners gave them generous gifts to help them in their new lives.  Sometimes a slave wanted to remain with his master. The master made a hole in the slave’s ear. To do that, he would push a piece of metal through the slave’s ear and into the door. That showed that the slave wanted to join the master’s home. We could talk about this FOREVER…blood, doorpost, “whose” they became….so may hidden messages.  Ever hear of the term “earmarked”.  (If my boss is reading this, I may come back from Spring Break with more piercings-it’s in the Bible!!) 😂

Chapter 16: Passover, Feast of Weeks, and Feast of Tabernacles. I know we have read about this several times BUT sit in awe that God has the whole timeline mapped out!  My mind explodes on the thought that Jesus IS the “Lamb that takes away the sins of the world” fulfilling the foreshadow of the Passover ON the day of the Passover!

Here is your recap AND taking it a little deeper 😁:  These are the 3 feasts the Lord commanded them to visit the Temple (when we build it in the book of Kings) to celebrate.  God will use these “pilgrimages” (the large crowds) to show the world the death, burial, resurrection, and the giving of the Holy Spirit!  (He has it ALL planned out)

• Passover-foreshadow and fulfilled on Good Friday.  Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the Israelites’ freedom from slavery. The Feast of Passover, along with the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the week that follows Passover), was the first of the festivals to be commanded by God to observe (Exodus 12 if you need a refresh). Passover takes place in the spring, during the Hebrew month of Nisan. (Nisan is renamed ‘Abib’ after the Babylonian captivity, which we have not read yet)

• 7 weeks later.  Do the Math!  Festival of Weeks (Pentecost). Pentecost is significant in both the Old and New Testaments. “Pentecost” is the Greek name for  Feast of Weeks.  The Greek word means “fifty” and refers to the fifty days that have elapsed since the offering of Passover. The Feast of Weeks celebrated the end of the grain harvest.  The Lord will orchestrate another “big crowd event” so people from all over witness the Holy Spirit given) If you want to look at something cool flip to Joel 2:28 for the prophecy::“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
  • Now flip to Acts 1:8.  The Festival of Weeks is fulfilled marking the beginning of the Church Age!  ME AND YOU!!!!  So when you read today, know that YOU are in Deuteronomy 16!!
    • • ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

• Festival of Tabernacles–(NOT YET FULFILLED)  also known as the Feast of Booths. The feast begins five days after the Day of Atonement and at the time the fall harvest had just been completed. It was a time of celebration as the Israelites celebrated God’s continued provision for them in the current harvest and remembered His provision and protection during the 40 years in the wilderness (that is why it is also called “Booths”-the tents they lived in)
  • • We know a lot about the first 2 Feasts, but the 3rd one might be new to you.  Historically it is going to be a cool one to pay attention to.  As we read the Bible, on the Feast of Tabernacle:
      • • • Solomon’s Temple will be dedicated on it
          • When the Temple is rebuilt, Ezra will read from the Bible on this day (and the people will cry because they never even heard of this festival 😢)
          • It will be the Last and FINAL fulfillment in Revelation.

¹⁶ Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed: ¹⁷ Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the Lord your God has blessed you.

(I bet that will be a Trivia Question one day)

• appoint Judges
• Do not worship other gods.

• Click here to read
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Too often we walk around like we are chess pieces and God will move us where He wants, so we just live how we want to. BUT Deuteronomy 11 is very clear that we have choices to make that may determine His chess move.

¹³ So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— ¹⁴ then…

But he knows us soooo well…we will love “things of the world more”

¹⁶ Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. ¹⁷ Then the Lord’s anger will…

So He tells us again!

²² If you carefully observe all these commands I am giving you to follow—to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him and to hold fast to him— ²³ then the Lord will 

So the ball is in our court….

²⁶ See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— ²⁷ the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; ²⁸ the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.

Back to the Israelites!   They are about to enter the Promised Land:

³¹ You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you have taken it over and are living there, ³² be sure that you obey all the decrees and laws I am setting before you today.

Will they??

Chapter 12:  What is idolatry?  In the Bible, it is anything that replaces the one, true God. The most prevalent form of idolatry was the worship of images that were thought to embody the various pagan deities. In reality, idols were blocks of stone or wood, and their power exists only in the minds of the worshipers. Israelites were forbidden to intermarry with other cultures who embraced false gods because God knew this would lead to compromise.

² Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods.

The people possessing the land (Canaanites) would go to the High Places to worship their gods.

³ Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.

An Asherah pole was a sacred tree or pole that stood near the High Places to honor the pagan goddess Asherah, also known as Astarte.

.Sometimes they made images of her too.

If you missed it, please go back and read Chapter 12.  God will choose the Holy City.  Go back and underline-the place the Lord your God will choose.

When they enter the Promised Land, the land will be distributed between the 12 tribes.  The place the Lord will choose will be on the border of Benjamin and Judah.  Spoiler alert (something to look forward to). The tribes are going to have a civil war against each other and split 10 tribes against 2 tribes.  The 2 tribes that merge are Benjamin and Judah keeping the Holy City: Holy.  Trivia:  What is the name of the city the Lord will choose?

OK, flag on the field.  The Lord does not mince words about HIs feelings regarding idolatry!

³¹ You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

³² See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.

Hate is a strong word!

Chapter 13. 

Will the Lord let us be tested by the things of the world?  Who/what do you love more?

13:3 The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Again…I have a lot of thinking to do today!

• Click here to read
• Click here to listen
• If you are behind, click here for chapters 1-7

Chapter 8 has two bookends: verses 2 and 18 with the word “Remember”.

• ² Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
• ¹⁸ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Read this chapter carefully, Jesus uses this part of His speech when confronted by the devil in Matthew 4:4. (One of the most important things I learned is that the devil knows and uses scripture to manipulate us, so we need to know it too if we are going to stand against him daily).

Read closely and look for something new to pop off the page to you.  I had MANY.  He is retelling the history of his ancestors but this time from God’s viewpoint not the Israelites.

Chapter 9: Obviously I love chapter 9 for so many reasons!  He carries us NOT because of our righteousness but because of HIS righteousness.  By the way,  I never noticed how long Moses lay prostrate before the Lord each time!  I have to reflect on that and my own pitiful prayer habits.

Chapter 10:  Read it word for word!  Underline all the cool new findings this year that God has revealed to you that you may not have picked up on this time last year…put them in the ark….acacia wood…set apart the tribe of Levi! (If you read ONE scripture and think…I don’t remember that, ASK us to talk about it in the comments.

Verse 12-22

“What does the Lord ask of you??”

1. Fear the Lord
2. Walk in Obedience
3. LOVE HIM
4. Serve the Lord with all your heart
5. Observe HIs commands

The Lord is Great, Mighty, and Awesome.  He shows no partiality, accepts no bribes, defends the fatherless, and loves the foreigner.

Did one scripture stick out to you? (I KNOW more than one did).  I kept the post short for a reason, today is a read worth reading twice.  Read it again. If a verse did not pop off the page to you today…we need to talk!