Day 69: OT Deuteronomy C29-34 (END); Simple Choice: Life & Good versus Death & Evil

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Second law is really the second telling of the law, i.e. remedial bible reading for idiots like me!

I pay attention the first time around but really like to pay attention to the details the second time around.

Hey Deuteronomy pretty much follows the narrative of the Book of Numbers. Not only follows it but adds some great detail too and really connected the dots, put the pieces together for me. But it skips over and does not contain Numbers C13 and C14: Twelve spies sent into Chanaan; Josue and Caleb encourage the people; The Lord decrees forty years of wandering. Pretty major sections of the exodus from Egypt and make it to the Promised Land saga!

Choose Life & Good…

Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil, that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live…

But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them, I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shall remain but a short time in the land that thou shalt pass over the Jordan…

That I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live, and that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days), that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee…

The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live. And he will turn these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee.

Reject Death & Evil.

Jesus to Moses: Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth…

And when they have eaten, and are full and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will serve them: and will despise me, and make void my covenant… for I know their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day… Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the children of Israel.

And as the Lord Promised he showed Moses the Promised Land, but did not promise for Moses to enter the Promised Land. At least not the one on the Earth.

The Lord showed him all the land… This is the land for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.

And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord… and no man hath known of his sepulcher until this present day. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face…

Yet a simple choice remains and awaits us day-by-day: choose life and good over death and evil. Do it today asking Lord Jesus into your heart and turn away from your sin. It’s as easy as that!

Day 69: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Simple Choice: Life & Good versus Death & Evil.

Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Deuteronomy Chapters 29-34 (END)

Bible Notes:

This Book is so called Deuteronomy, which means a second law, because it repeats, explains, and expands the Law given on Mount Sinai. It contains three discourses of Moses encouraging the Israelites, who will shortly enter The Promised Land, to observe the Law.

The last four chapters describe the last days and the death of Moses on Mount Nebo in the Land of Moab.

Deuteronomy Chapter 29: God’s favor during the exodus; Confirmation of the covenant; Punishment for following false gods.

These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab: beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb (Ten Commandments).

He hath brought you forty years through the desert…

You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink: that you might know that I am the Lord your God.

And took their land (Hesebon & Og), and delivered it for a possession to Ruben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses.

That he may raise up a people to himself, and he may be thy God as he hath spoken to thee, and as he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But with all that are present and that are absent…

You have seen their abominations and filth, that is to say, their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which they worshipped.

Deuteronomy Chapter 30: God will be merciful to the repentant; God’s law in the hearts of the people; The choice between life and death.

Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee…

If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven…

The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed: that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, that thou mayst live. And he will turn these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them that hate and persecute thee.

And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb…

For the Lord will return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he rejoiced in thy fathers.

But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart, that thou mayst do it.

Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and on the other hand death and evil, that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and thou mayst live…

But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them, I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shall remain but a short time in the land that thou shalt pass over the Jordan…

That I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose therefore life, that both thou and thy seed may live, and that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice, and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days), that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.

Deuteronomy Chapter 31: Moses announces his approaching death; Moses encourages Josue; Moses gives the written law to the Levites; Moses and Josue appear before the Lord; The Lord foretells the sins of Israel; Moses commanded to write a song; Josue appointed to lead the Israelites; The book of the law to be kept in the ark; Moses speaks to the wise man and elders.

I am this day a hundred and twenty years old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also hath said to me: Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan… and this Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

Do manfully and be of good heart: fear not, nor be ye dismayed at their sight: for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will not leave thee nor forsake thee.

And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel: Take courage, and be valiant: for thou shalt bring this people into the land which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt divide it by lot. And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee: he will not leave thee, nor forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

After seven years, in the year of remission… thou shalt read the words of this law before all Israel, in their hearing… that hearing they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and keep, and fulfil all the words of this law, that their children also, who now are ignorant, may hear, and fear the Lord their God, all the days that they live in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

The Lord to Moses: Behold the days of thy death are nigh: call Josue, and stand ye in the tabernacle of the testimony, that I may give him a charge…and the Lord appeared there in the pillar of a cloud, which stood in the entry of the tabernacle.

There will they forsake me, and make void the covenant… I will forsake them, and will hide my face from them… all evils and afflictions that shall find them, so that they shall say in that day: In truth it is because God is not with me that these evils have found me. But I will hide, and cover my face in that day, for all the evils which they have done, because they have followed strange gods.

Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children of Israel: that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth…

And when they have eaten, and are full and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will serve them: and will despise me, and make void my covenant… for I know their thoughts, and what they are about to do this day… Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the children of Israel.

The Song of Moses in this article relates to the name sometimes given to the poem which appears in Deuteronomy 32:1–43 of the Hebrew Bible, written/orated just prior to Moses’ death on Mount Nebo.

Wiki: The Song is believed by some to have been written down and placed in the Ark of the Covenant at one time, along with Aaron’s staff and the Ten Commandments.

Deuteronomy 32:1-43 contains the text of the Song.

The Song opens with an exordium (verses 1–3) in which heaven and earth are summoned to hear what the poet is to utter. In verses 4–6 the theme is defined: it is the rectitude and faithfulness of YHWH toward His corrupt and faithless people. Verses 7–14 portray the providence which conducted Israel in safety through the wilderness and gave it a rich and fertile land; verses 15–18 are devoted to Israel’s unfaithfulness and lapse into idolatry. This lapse had compelled YHWH to threaten it (verses 19–27) with national disaster and almost with national extinction. Verses 28–43 describe how YHWH has determined to speak to the Israelites through the extremity of their need, to lead them to a better mind, and to grant them victory over their foes.

In a Torah scroll the song is written with a special layout, in two parallel columns.

The four Hebrew letters יהוה‎, commonly transliterated into Latin letters as YHWH. It is one of the names of God used in the Hebrew Bible. The name may be derived from a verb that means “to be”, “to exist”, “to cause to become”, or “to come to pass”. (End Wiki).

Lord to Josue: Take courage and be valiant: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I have promised, and I will be with thee.

Therefore after Moses had wrote the words of this law in a volume, and finished it… Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God… For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck. While I am yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious against the Lord: how much more when I shall be dead?

Moses to the wise men and elders: …and will call heaven and earth to witness against them. For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will quickly turn aside from the way that I have commanded you: and evils shall come upon you in the latter times….

Deuteronomy Chapter 32: The canticle of Moses; God’s blessings; Sins of the people; God’s punishment; The foolishness of the sinful Israelites; God will show mercy to them; The Lord will destroy his enemies; Children shall be taught to obey the law; God allows Moses to see Chanaan

The canticle of Moses: Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to the words of my mouth… Because I will invoke the name of the Lord: give ye magnificence to our God. The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments: God is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right… O foolish and senseless people?… Remember the days of old, think upon every generation: ask thy father, and he will declare to thee: thy elders and they will tell thee… But the Lord’s portion is his people: Jacob the lot of his inheritance… and he kept him as the apple of his eye. As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them, he spread his wings and hath taken him and carried him on his shoulders. The Lord alone was his leader: and there was no strange god with him… The beloved grew fat, and kicked: he grew fat, and thick and gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his savior… They sacrificed to the devils and not to God: to gods whom they knew not: that they were newly come up, whom their fathers worshipped not. Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten the Lord that created thee… for it is a perverse generation, and unfaithful children… and have angered me with their vanities… and will vex them with a foolish nation… and shall burn the foundations of the mountains. I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among them… Where are they? I will make the memory of them to cease from among men… Our mighty hand, and not the Lord, hath done these things. They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom… For our God is not as their gods… Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time… The Lord will judge their people, and will have mercy on his servants… Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?… Se ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me: I will kill and I will make to live: I will strike, and I will heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand… I live for ever…

So Moses came and spoke all the words of this canticle in the ears of the people, and Josue, the son of Nun… Set your hearts on all the words, which I testify to you this day: which you shall command your children to observe and to do, and to fulfil all that is written in this law, for they are not commanded you in vain but that every one should live in them, and that doing them you may continue a long time in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

God allows Moses to see Canaan: Go up into this mountain Abarim (that is to say, of passages), unto mount Nebo… and see the land of Chanaan, which I will deliver to the children of Israel to possess, and die thou in the mountain… because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children of Israel, at the waters of contradiction in Cades in the desert of Sin; and you did not sanctify me among the children of Israel. Thou shalt see the land before thee, which I will give to the children of Israel, but thou shalt not enter it.

Deuteronomy Chapter 33: Moses blesses the tribes before his death; Moses blesses Ruben, Juda, Levi, Benjamin, the children of Joseph, Zabulon and Issachar, Gad, Dan, Nephtali, Aser; Moses blesses all of Israel.

Moses blessed the tribes before his death:

Ruben, be small in number…

Juda, his hands shall fight for him, and he shall be his helper against his enemies

Levi, thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy holy man… these have kept thy word, and observed thy covenant… and let not them that hate him rise…

Benjamin, the best beloved of the lord shall dwell confidently in him…

Children of Joseph, come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren… as the horns of a rhinoceros… these are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these are the thousands of Manasses.

Zabulon, rejoice in thy going out…

Issachar, in thy tabernacles…

Gad, blesse be in his breadth… and did the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel…

Dan is a young lion, he shall flow plentifully from Basan…

Nephtali, he shall possess the sea and the south…

Aser, blessed with children…

NOTE: No blessing of Simeon who was to go to mount Garizim to bless???

Deuteronomy Chapter 34: Moses sees the Promised Land; Death of Moses; Josue succeeds Moses; Praise of Moses.

… and the Lord showed him all the land… This is the land for which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying: I will give it to thy seed. Thou hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.

And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, by the commandment of the Lord… and no man hath known of his sepulcher until this present day. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had laid his hands upon him. And the children of Israel obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face…

NOTE: Deuteronomy skips over and does not contain Numbers C13 and C14: Twelve spies sent into Chanaan; Josue and Caleb encourage the people; The Lord decrees forty years of wandering. Pretty major section!

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