We have all heard the saying “be careful of the company you keep.” As Proverbs 13:20 says, “Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” We see today how serious the Lord is concerning the company we keep – “If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers…you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” God is a jealous God (Deuteronomy 6:15) and does not want His people to be lured into idolatry because He knows it will lead to their destruction. 

Then Moses restates instructions regarding diet, tithing, the Sabbatical Year, and the three annual feast; Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacle, which we read about earlier in Exodus and Leviticus. 

The Israelites loan to one another with the understanding that in the seventh year the debts will be released and slaves will be set free as instructed by the Lord. Moses tells the Israelites that “the Lord will greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance— only if you carefully obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe with care all these commandments which I command you today. For the Lord your God will bless you just as He promised you; you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow; you shall reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over you.” However, while citing the curses that will come with disobedience, Moses is going to say that if the Israelites disobey the Lord, they will be scattered among all people…”And among those nations you shall find no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul” (Deuteronomy 28:65).

Tomorrow Moses will give the Israelites guidelines for a king. Wait. What?! The Israelites don’t have kings. 🤔 See, God knows that one day the Israelites are going to reject Him and ask for a king to rule over them like the people around them so God is preparing the Israelites for that day. The Lord always provides what we need before we even know we have a need. However, there is more to happen in this Story before we get to the Kingdom Era, so keep reading. 

(Deuteronomy 13:1-16:17)

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Moses says to the people, “Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” Physical circumcision was a sign of the covenant the Lord made with His people, as He first told Abraham in Genesis 17. God is interested in people’s hearts and circumcision of the heart means a heart totally devoted to the Lord. Later in the Story, the prophet Jeremiah will tell the people to “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts, O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 4:4). Then in the New Testament, Paul will go on to say, “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter” (Romans 2:28-29). Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit, which the Lord will give to his people after His Son dies, rises from the dead, and ascends to heaven with His Father, changes the heart, not the law; only the Lord can change hearts. Before Jesus ascends to heaven, He will say, “It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). The Helper He is referring to is the Holy Spirit. That is why Paul will write, “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God…anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (Romans 8:8-10).

When the Holy Spirit fills the Lord’s people they will become the temple where God’s spirit dwells (1 Corinthians 3:6) but until that day arrives, the Lord is telling His people that there is only ONE place to worship Him. “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes— for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the Lord your God is giving you. But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, then there will be the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the Lord…Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see; but in the place which the Lord chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.” 

The Lord warns the Israelites not to worship like the nations whose land they are going to possess. “You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”

God expects His people to worship Him the way He instructs and in the place He will choose. The Lord will select Shiloh as the place to worship Him when the Israelites settle into the promised land during the Conquest Era and before the temple is built in Jerusalem during the Kingdom Era. However, during the Kingdom Era, one of the kings will disobey the Lord and worship false gods on high places resulting in the downfall of the kingdom and bringing us to the Divided Kingdom Era. But first…the Israelites still have to conquer the land, so keep reading. 

(Deuteronomy 10:1-12:32)

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The Lord desires for His people to know His Story to pass on to others and to walk in obedience as His image bearers. Moses says to Israel, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Today we see three truths regarding elevating God’s Word, obeying His Word, and remembering Him.

1. Know His Story and pass it down – “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates… When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then He brought us out from there…”

2. Be holy and set apart – Moses tells the Israelites not to make covenants with the people around them, not to intermarry with the people around them, and not to worship their false gods. “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt…Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments…Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.”

3. Remember the faithful God and His Word – “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” Then God warns his people to be careful that when they enter the new land and get all fat and happy that they don’t forget Him; God knows how we tend to neglect Him when things are going great. This is why He tells Israel, “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”

Moses goes on to tell Israel that there is nothing Israel did to deserve this land – “It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.” It is by God’s grace that the Israelites are going to receive the promised land. 

We end the reading with Moses recalling the epic fail with the golden calf in the wilderness. Have the children of Israel learned from their past mistakes? Will pride come with battle success and the new land? Will they forget the Lord? Keep reading to find out.

(Deuteronomy 6:1-9:29)

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Moses pleads with the Lord to let him “cross over and see the good land beyond the Jordan.” The Lord responds – “Enough of that! Speak no more to Me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift your eyes toward the west, the north, the south, and the east; behold it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.”

Then Moses gives 3 key instructions to Israel:

1. Obey the Lord – “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’” See, the Lord calls for his people to walk in such a way that those around them will be drawn into His presence. 

2. Teach your children the statutes and righteous judgments of the law – “And teach them to your children and your grandchildren, especially concerning the day you stood before the Lord your God in Horeb…So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might observe them in the land which you cross over to possess.”

3. Do not fall into idolatry – “Take heed to yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Moses goes on to say when they do get into the land and forget the Lord and begin worshiping false gods “you will not prolong your days in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you.” And this is exactly what will happen but the Lord does give them a word of hope – “But 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. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.”

Then Moses reminds Israel that there is only one God and restates the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel telling them to “be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.” 

More from Moses tomorrow, so keep reading.

(Deuteronomy 3:21-5:33)

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After nearly forty years of wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel are camped on the plains of Moab looking across the Jordan into the promised land of Canaan. In the book of Deuteronomy, which means “second law”, Moses will remind the children of Israel of the Law that the Lord first gave them at Mount Sinai. Moses knows that he is going to die before entering the promised land so he is exhorting this new generation to remain faithful and trust the Lord as they move forward with the conquest of the land.

Moses tells the Israelites of the time they asked for spies to spy out the promised land and how the people listened to the bad report from the ten spies and didn’t take the land. As a consequence for the people’s lack of faith, only Joshua and Caleb, the faithful spies, will 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 possess it.” Moses goes on to say how the Lord has been faithful to them during their years of wilderness journeys – “For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. 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 their relatives, 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 descendants of Lot and his daughters) and gave them their own land…this was not the promised land God had for the nation of Israel. However, the Lord gave the Israelites great victory over the Amorite kings, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan, who are descendants of Canaan, Ham’s cursed son (Genesis 9:18-10:1, 10:15-16), and gave the Amorite kings’ land to the children of Israel. 

Moses wants the Israelites to know that they can trust the Lord. If the Lord has defeated the enemies of Esau, Moab, and Ammon and given them their own land, how much more will He do for the children of Israel. And since God has already defeated two major enemies of the Israelites, the descendants of Canaan, Sihon and Og, and given their land to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, then the Israelites can trust Him moving forward 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 highlighting the Lord’s sovereignty over His people and their enemies.

Tomorrow Moses begins restating 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 nine and a half tribes will inherit once they come into Canaan. The Levites will be given forty-eight cities with surrounding common land scattered throughout the inheritance of the tribes of Israel. Moses says that the children of Israel “shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.” Of the forty-eight cities, six are cities of refuge. If a person accidentally kills someone they can flee to a 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. 

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 obey the Lord because God is keeping with His promise that He made to Abraham back in Genesis 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.” The Lord is assuring that the land remains within the possession of Abraham’s descendants. 

God is always working on a much larger scale than just our short lifespan. He is working all things together from the Creation Era to End Times / New Beginnings Era to accomplish His plans to redeem His people through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ…all the way to Jesus’ second coming. 

That’s a wrap on the book of Numbers. 🎉 Tomorrow we start the book of Deuteronomy which contains the final instructions from Moses before he dies and 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 because of their great multitude of livestock. So they say to Moses, Eleazar, and the leaders of the congregation, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

Moses responds, “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Now why would you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them?” Moses reminds them of what their fathers did when Moses first sent them to spy out the promised land; how ten of the twelve spies came back with a bad report and put fear in the heart of the people. Moses tells them that “The Lord’s anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone. And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. If you turn away from following him, he will again leave all this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.” 

The tribes of Reuben and Gad agree to settle their livestock, little ones, and women in the land across the Jordan with the agreement that their men of war will cross the Jordan and fight with their brothers until each one of them inherits their land. So Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh settle in the land on the east side of the Jordan.

Then Moses documentments the over forty moves the Israelites’ made during their wilderness journeys. Can you imagine moving that many times with over two million people and all that livestock?! 🤯 The Lord is reminding His people how He was faithful during all of their wilderness journeys; 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 because He knows they will be a stumbling block to His people. God gives Israel a warning of what will happen if they disobey Him – “But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” 

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 later go on to say, “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. Pretty soon in the Story, during the Judges Era, we will meet a man named Jephthah who is going to make a very foolish vow to the Lord with a high cost proving that the Lord takes seriously vows made to Him. 

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.’” The Midianites were joined with the Moabites in attempting to curse the Israelites in the wilderness with Balaam. The Midianites ultimately sent out their women along with the Moabite women to lead Israel into sexual sin and idolatry. So the Israelites kill all the Midianites, except for their virgin girls, and divide the spoils amongst themselves. “Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.”

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 these 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 to carry out His judgement on the wicked as He sees best, just as we have to trust Him too. Remember, God is working His plan to send our Savior through the Israelites so keep reading because 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 who had no sons. This is a bold move for these ladies and one done in faith. The daughters are asking for land they have not yet acquired but they are trusting that the Lord will do what He said He will do and give the children of Israel the promised land. Moses, once again proving to be a wise leader, brings the request of the women before the Lord. And the Lord, once again proving to be fair, just, and gracious, honors the request of women of the congregation. 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! 🙌

The Lord then tells Moses he can see the promised land but reminds him that he won’t enter it due to his rebellion – “For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes.” Moses, who is more concerned for the people than himself, responds – “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” Moses knows he is about to die and he doesn’t want the people to be left without a good shepherd. So the Lord gives the Israelites a faithful leader, Joshua, who will bring them into the promised land and encourage them to trust the Lord…the Lord who is working His plan through them to bring the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. And when Jesus arrives on the scene He will say, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep…and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:11-16). Jesus is coming to lay down His life as a Good Shepherd does for His flock to provide a way in which we may enter green pastures of rest and eternal life – “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:7-19).

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. Tomorrow the Israelites have some unfinished business to settle with the Midianites who used 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 knows he can’t curse the Israelites so he comes up with another plan to make them stumble by sending the women of Moab out to the Israelites’ camp. The women lure the men into idolatry and sexual sin. See, the children of Israel had no clue what all the Lord was doing behind the scenes. They had no clue that 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 make a terrible decision based on sight of these beautiful women which never goes well.

Therefore , “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, Aaron’s grandson, 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 in a tent near the tabernacle. Phinehas’s action ends the plague that the Lord sent upon the people and the Lord rewards Phinehas’s zeal with an everlasting priesthood to him and his descendants.

After the plague, the Lord instructs Moses and Eleazar, Aaron’s son, to take another census of the men age twenty and over who are 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 thirty eight years later, 601,730 men are counted. The Lord is faithful and has replaced the first generation of unbelieving Israelites, who did not take the promised land in the beginning of this wilderness journey, with a whole new generation who will take the promised land by faith. God is keeping His promise to Abraham that He would make a great nation out of his descendants and He would give them the land of Canaan – “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God” (Genesis 17:8). 

Tomorrow, the Lord selects a new leader who will lead the people into the promised land. Keep reading.

(Numbers 25:1-26:65)

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