In today’s reading Moses addresses 5 main points with the children of Israel.

1) Moses recounts the Lord not allowing him to enter the promised land and then he blames the people by saying, “the Lord was angry with me on your account”. But Moses goes on to encourage the people to take the land and keep God’s commandments.

2) Moses says, “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”. Something similar is said at the end of this Story regarding the book of Revelation but the principle is consistent throughout scripture. “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Rev 22:18-19) God is not really interested in us teaching our thoughts and opinions. He wants us to teach what He said bc His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

3) Moses instructs the people to pass down generation after generation by teaching their children and their grandchildren the Lord’s ways and all that He has done for Israel.

4) Moses again warns the people NOT to worship false gods. He must know that they are not going to listen bc next he says, but when you do worship false gods, the Lord will scatter you among the people. Moses however gives them hope by telling them, “from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul”. This is exactly what will happen and we will read about it down the road.

5) Moses restates the commandments the Lord gave to the generation before them. He concludes by saying to do as God commanded; “…you shall not turn aside to the right or the left…that it may be well with you…”
Keep reading bc tomorrow Moses lets Israel know that they did nothing to earn the land they are about to receive.

(Deuteronomy 3:21-5:33)

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After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, Moses speaks to the new generation of Israelites. He reminds them of the time they asked for spies to spy out the promised land and how the people listened to the bad report from the 10 spies and didn’t take the land. Moses tells them the consequence was that only Joshua and Caleb, the faithful spies, would enter the land from that generation but “…your little ones and your children, who you say will be victims, who today have no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall posses it.”

Moses also reminds them how He has been faithful to them. “These forty years the Lord your God has been with you: you have lacked nothing.” Moses recounts how God told the Israelites not to harass Esau’s descendants (Jacob’s brother) or Lot’s descendants (Abraham’s nephew). God destroyed the enemies of Esau, Moab and Ammon (Moab and Ammon are from Lot and his daughters) and gave them land. Next Moses reminds Israel of the victories He gave them over the king of Sihon and the king of Og. Basically, what Moses is saying is, if the Lord has defeated the enemies of Esau, Moab and Ammon and given them their land how much more will He do for you. Matter of fact, God has already defeated 2 major enemies and gave their land to Reuben, Gad and 1/2 the tribe of Manasseh so you can trust Him with the remaining conquest.

We will see further into the Story that there will be tension between the Israelites and their three neighbors; Edom, Moab and Ammon. God will use these nations to discipline Israel but later He will pronounce judgment against them for so eagerly attacking the children of Israel. This highlights the Lord’s sovereignty over His people and their enemies. God is in control of it all! Tomorrow Moses restates the law to the new generation so keep reading!

(Deuteronomy 1:1-3:20)

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Today the Lord tells Moses about the land which the remaining 9 1/2 tribes will inherit once they come into Canaan. The Levites are given 48 cities scattered throughout the inheritance of the tribes of Israel, of which, 6 are cities of refuge. If a person accidentally kills someone they can flee to the city of refuge for protection until the trial so that a family member cannot avenge the death of the victim. If the person is deemed innocent at the trial he is to remain in the city of refuge until the high priest dies. After the death of the high priest he can return back home. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble”. (Psalm 46:1)

So a few days ago we learned that the Lord granted Zelophehad’s daughters’ request for their father’s land inheritance. Today the Lord commands that these daughters must marry within their tribe of Manasseh. “So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe, for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.” The daughters did as the Lord commanded. God is keeping with His promise that He made to Abraham back in Gen 17:8. “And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

Tomorrow we start the book of Deuteronomy which contains the final instructions from Moses before he dies and before the Israelites enter Canaan. Keep reading.

(Numbers 34:1-36:13)

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The tribes of Reuben and Gad request to inherit the land on the east side of Jordan bc it is a good place for all of their livestock. They say, “Do not take us over the Jordan”. Well this doesn’t sit well with Moses. He says this will cause the people to fear the conquest of the land just like the 10 unfaithful spies did and he says it wouldn’t be fair for them not to fight for the land with their brothers. The tribes of Reuben and Gad agree to settle their livestock, little ones, and women and then the men of war will cross the Jordan and fight with their brothers until each one of them inherits their land. So Reuben, Gad and also half the tribe of Manasseh settle in the land on the east side of the Jordan.

Next, Moses documents the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. I counted over 40 moves. Can you imagine moving that many times with over 2 million people and all that livestock?! 🤯 The Lord wants to remind them how He was faithful during all of that AND if He was faithful to them during their wilderness journeys, He will be faithful to them moving forward with the conquest of the land. We end the reading with the Lord once again commanding the Israelites to drive the inhabitants out of the land and to destroy their false gods. He knows they will be a stumbling block to His people. He says if they don’t then, “those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides…”. Will the Israelites obey? Keep reading to find out.

(Numbers 32:1-33:56)

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The Lord commanded, “If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth”. However, the Lord gives protection to women living under their father’s house and to married women by allowing their father or husband to release them from a vow. Jesus will go on to say later, “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. But I say to you, do not take an oath at all…And do not take an oath by your head, for you can not make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simple “Yes” or “No”; anything more than this comes from evil”. (Matthew 5:33-37) God knows we are prone to make vows we will not keep so He says keep it simple; be a man or woman of your word; yes means yes and no means no. Simple enough. 👍

Ok, next the Israelites take revenge against the Midianites. The Israelites kill everyone except the young virgin girls and then they divide the spoils amongst themselves. I know it is difficult to read about women and boys being killed but remember, the women were the ones that seduced the Israelite men and the Lord knows those boys could grow up and take revenge on His people. Also, the Lord already warned the Israelites about all the sexual sin and idolatry of the people around them and He does not want the Israelites following their practices (Numbers 18).

a lot of killing is about to go down as the Israelites conquer the promised land. We must keep in mind that God is good and He knows the hearts and minds and future potential of everyone. The children of Israel will have to trust the Lord to protect them His way and we will have to trust Him too. Remember, God is working His plan to send our Savior through the Israelites so keep reading bc tomorrow some of the tribes are allocated their land bringing us one more step closer to Jesus!

(Numbers 30:1-31:54)

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Today we meet the daughters of Zelophehad. They go before Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of all the congregation with a request to inherit the land of their deceased dad. This was a bold move! 💪Moses, once again proves to be a wise leader, and brings the request of the women of the congregation before the Lord. The Lord, once again proves to be fair, just and gracious, by honoring the request of women “in the church”. He not only honors the request from the daughters of Zelophehad but He also makes a new rule for ALL the children of Israel, that the inheritance of a deceased father with no sons goes to the daughter. See, stepping out boldly in faith pays off for you and others! 🙌

Next the Lord tells Moses he can see the promised land but reminds him that he won’t enter it due to his rebellion with the water and the rock. Moses, still concerned for the people, asks the Lord to give the Israelites a leader and the Lord says to take Joshua and inaugurate him. After the inauguration of Joshua, Moses gives the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual laws of the sacrificial system and worship of the Lord to the new generation of the Israelites who are camped outside the promised land.

The Israelites are going to have to fight hard to conquer the land so Moses is assuring them that they will settle into the land but they need to keep their eyes on the Lord during the battles as well as when they get to their new homes. But first, before the conquest of the land, the Israelites have some unfinished business to settle. Tomorrow they take revenge on the Midianites for using their women to make them stumble with idolatry and sexual sin. Keep reading.

(Numbers 27:1-29:40)

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Toward the end of this Story we find out Balaam’s plan in Revelation 2:14 – “But I have a few things against you; you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality”. Balaam knew he couldn’t curse the Israelites so he came up with another way to make them stumble by sending their women out to the Israelites’ camp. These women lured the men into idolatry and sexual sin. See, the children of Israel had no clue what all the Lord was doing behind the scenes. How over and over and over again the Lord was protecting them from being cursed by their enemies. Instead of trusting the Lord and walking by faith, the Israelites made a bad decision based on the sight of these beautiful women which never goes well.

So “…the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel”. He said to the leaders “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor”. Phinehas, grandson of Aaron, shoves a javelin through a Midianite woman, Cozi, and an Israelite leader, Zimri, who were flaunting their harlotry in the sight of all the congregation by having sex in a tent near the tabernacle. Phinehas’s action ended the plague that the Lord sent upon the people. The Lord rewards Phinehas’s zeal with an everlasting priesthood to him and his descendants.

Next, the Lord instructs Moses and Eleazar, Aaron’s son, to take another census of the men 20 and over who were eligible for war. The first census in the beginning of the book of Numbers resulted in 603,550 men. We see today toward the end of the book of Numbers, about 38 years later, 601,730 men were counted. The Lord was faithful and replaced the first generation of Israelites, who did not take the promised land in the beginning of this wilderness journey, with a whole new generation. Also, the Lord is keeping His promise to Abraham that He would make a great nation out of his descendants. Keep reading bc tomorrow God picks a new leader to lead the people into the land.

(Numbers 25:1-26:65)

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The children of Israel are now camped in the plains of Moab. Balak, the King of Moab, feared the Israelites so he joined forces with the Midianites and together they sent for the pagan prophet, Balaam, to get him to curse the Israelites. Now Balaam is a prophet that loves a profit! 🤑 (2 Peter 2:15-16) So he is eager for the job and the Lord eventually tells Balaam he can go with them but he can only say “the word which I speak to you – that you shall do”.

Balaam travels by donkey and God uses that donkey to put Balaam in his place! See, God knew Balaam’s heart. He knew he only cared about financial gain but God was going to use him for His glory and for the good of His people anyway. So the donkey speaks and rebukes Balaam for his spiritual blindness. Then the Lord opens Balaam’s eyes and the Angel of the Lord reminds Balaam to only speak what the Lord speaks.

So King Balak took Balaam up to the high places of Baal (a false god) and Balaam builds an altar to the Lord as instructed by Balak. But instead of cursing the Israelites, Balaam blesses them as the Lord instructed. So Balak moves Balaam 2 more times hoping for a different outcome but each time Balaam blesses the children of Israel according to the Word of God.

Well Balak gets mad and tells Balaam to go home. Before Balaam leaves he gives another prophecy. In this prophecy he says, “A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel; And batter the brow of Moab, And destroy all the sons of tumult”. This is pointing to the Davidic Kingdom to come and ultimately the King our Savior. So Balaam goes home but he gets to thinking. 🧐 Balaam comes up with an idea 💡 that will get him paid and make the children of Israel stumble.

We find out tomorrow what that stumbling block is so keep reading!

(Numbers 22:1-24:25)

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Today the people complain AGAIN bc there is no water. God tells Moses and Aaron to take the rod, gather the congregation and “speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water”. Moses and Aaron take the rod and gather the congregation but Moses, totally fed up, ends up going off on them out of anger and hits the rock 2 times w the rod. 😬 This is not good. The Lord says, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them”. So Moses disobeyed God by hitting the rock instead of speaking to the rock and then he gave credit for the water to himself and Aaron when he said, “Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” Well, as a punishment, neither of them will enter the promised land. We see that come true for Aaron as he dies in today’s reading.

Afterwards, the Israelites encounter problems when Edom (descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother) refuse to let them cross through their land. Then they battle more Canaanites and the people grow weary and complain AGAIN about leaving Egypt and having no food or water. This time God sends serpents to kill them. Moses intercedes for the people and the Lord instructs Moses to make a serpent and put it on a pole. He says that anyone who looks at that serpent will live. One day our savior will be lifted up on a pole to shed His blood for our sins. Anyone who looks upon Christ in faith will be saved by grace. “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:56-57)

The reading ends today with the Lord giving the Israelites a great victory over their enemies Sihon and Og. This was such a huge defeat that later in the Story a Canaanite harlot will say, “I know that the Lord has given you the land…For we have heard…what you did to the two kings of the Amorites…, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God.”(Joshua 2: 9-11). We will get to that story soon but next up is a talking donkey so keep reading. 

(Numbers 19:1-21:35)

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Korah, along with his buddies Dathan and Abiram and 250 men, challenge Moses and Aaron. Well we already learned with the Miriam leprosy situation that God does not like when His appointed leaders are challenged. Same is true in this case. The Lord opens the earth and swallows Korah, Dathan and Abiram along with everything in their household. Next He kills the other 250 by fire. So now the entire congregation is complaining against Moses and Aaron for killing “the people of the Lord”. Really?! I’m pretty sure at this point I wouldn’t be saying anything against Moses and Aaron. Anyway, the congregation’s complaint makes the Lord angry so He sends a plague that kills 14,700 but Moses has Aaron intercede for the people and the plague stops.

God then makes clear who He appointed as leader with the budding rod contest. Aaron was the winner. 🏆 God restates that the priesthood was given to Aaron and his sons and he lays out the support they are to receive from the children of Israel. He also says to Aaron “You shall have no inheritance in the land; nor shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance among the children of Israel”.

We will see when the children settle into the promised land that the Levites will not inherit land; however, they will be given cities among the people so that they can minister to the communities. This fulfills the blessing given to them by Jacob back in Gen 49:7 when he said “I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel”. Tomorrow Moses lashes out in anger. Keep reading to find out what happens.

(Numbers 16:1-18:32)

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