Year 7, Day 189: Joshua 4

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Twelve stones to build an altar from God, taken from the river Jordan.  These stones serve as a permanent reminder to the people that the Lord allowed them to cross over on dry ground.  These stones remind the Hebrew people that God is with them.  For generations – as long as God’s Word was told and now is read – people hear the witness of God’s work.

This is another great lesson for us to learn.  Why does God desire to have the altar built?  God knows the short attention span of human beings.  We see something happen, and we are all abuzz about it for a few hours, maybe even days.  A week later, and life is back to normal.  A month later and the fire that once blazed within us now smolders.  A year or two goes by and we remember having a fire within, but we cannot remember what it felt like.  Eventually we even forget the details of what once was a great moment in life.  As experience comes in, the past fades back in time and memory.  God knows this.  We need to have reminders to help us remember what God has done for us.

In another direction of thought, do you hear how Joshua connects the crossing of the Red Sea with the crossing of the Jordan?  When God led them out of Egypt, they passed through the waters and went from being slaves to freedom.  As God is leading them into the Jordan, they pass again through waters and their identity once more changes.  Now, they are going from wanderers to people with a home.  Granted, there is still more work to do – there always is.

What this signifies is that we see water being a symbol of a change in identity.  When we pass through the water, something changes in us.  It isn’t so much our nature that changes, but our identity changes.  The Hebrew people are still Hebrew people.  But their identity changes from slave to wanderer to people with a home. 

The same thing is true with us in Christianity.  When we pass through the water of baptism, our nature doesn’t change.  We are still sinful people capable of sin.  But when we pass through the water, our identity changes.  We go from being enemies with God to being claimed by God.  Starting with the very first steps of the Hebrew people in the fulfillment of God’s plan, we see that water plays an important role in our identity.

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Year 7, Day 188: Joshua 3

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Here in Joshua 3 we get more transitional relationship building.  God does more to remind the people that He will be with them.  God has the waters of the Jordan River to stand still as the ark and the people pass over it into Canaan.

There are some very interesting dynamics about this story.  First of all, don’t forget that this is not some simple small group crossing the river.  This is a large population of hundreds of thousands of people.  This crossing would take some time.  This is why we are told that the waters back up for a good long way into the preceding town.  The water of the Jordan was still coming from its source, God simply stopped it from coming down until the time of the crossing has passed.  This is a substantial supernatural event.

Second, I’m sure that God is doing more to reinforce Joshua’s mindset.  He’s reminding Joshua that He’s still with Him.  He’s reminding Joshua that He is still in control.  He’s reminding Joshua that His plan is still being followed.  God is going to continue to keep His promises to the Hebrew people.

Third, do you notice that God spoke to Joshua as God spoke to Moses?  This is another important detail, and it goes back to the ending of Deuteronomy.  I think this is part of why Moses could die so peacefully.  Things are continuing on as they had been before Moses died.  God is speaking to Joshua, leading him and guiding him.  The name of the leader may have changed.  The face of the leader certainly got a bit younger.  Nothing else has changed, though.  God is still in control.  God is still communicating with the leader of the Hebrew people.  God is still the primary actor in the story.

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Year 7, Day 187: Joshua 2

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Today we get the opportunity to read the start of one of the iconic stories in the Bible.  Most people who were raised in a family grew up in church singing “Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho.”  It starts here with the spies heading into Jericho to scout.

This is a great first move on Joshua’s behalf.  He shows wisdom in scouting out the land.  He shows wisdom in sending the spies to Jericho to see about its defenses.  He shows wisdom in choosing scouts who can think for themselves and who will get intel on the mood of the people and not just the defensive arrangements.    Joshua demonstrates why the people were wise to follow him and encourage him to be strong and courageous.

Yet, I think that there is more to this story than just good human leadership.  Do you hear what Rahab says?  She knows that God is with the people.  She knows that He will give the land into their hands.  Before the Hebrew people have stepped into the land, the native Canaanites are already becoming convinced that the Hebrew people are here to dominate.

In other words, God is keeping His promises.  God has gone before the Hebrew people and He has already begun to fight the battle for them.  He has already begun to set up their success.

This is largely what the Old Testament is about and even more specifically what the book of Joshua is about.  God keeps His promises.  Our job is to be obedient as Joshua is obedient here.  In fact, to come back full circle, it is his obedience that allows him to be called wise.

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Year 7, Day 186: Joshua 1

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Today we switch to Joshua.  Moses is dead.  Joshua assumes command.  He’s three days from leading the people across the Jordan and into the biggest conquest of Hebrew history.  How’s that for pressure?

I think that’s exactly why we hear the same message again and again: be strong and courageous.  God says it to Joshua many times.  The people also tell this message to Joshua.  They are behind him.  They will follow him.  They will listen to his commands.  All they ask is that he is strong and courageous.

It's amazing what a little courage can do in life.  With courage, we can accomplish things that are difficult.  With courage, we can inspire the people around us to also do amazing things, too.  We need to live and act with courage.  We need to live and act in strength.

The people have a right to expect strength and courage from Joshua, too.  Joshua has a right to expect them to be willing to follow; they have a right to expect strength and courage.  Both things are necessary for a group to move.  The people must be willing to follow.  The leader must have strength and courage when the people are willing to follow.

Today we turn a page in God’s plan.  Today, several centuries of promise begin to become reality.  What’s important is that the people are ready to act upon it.

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Year 7, Day 185: Deuteronomy 34

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Today we bring the story of Moses to an end once more, my third time since writing this blog.  I am always awed by this ending.  Moses goes up the mountain to view all the land.  It is the Lord that shows Moses the land.  It is the Lord that explains His plan to Moses.  It is God that filled him with unabated vigor into his 120^th year.  It is God that kept his eyesight from waning.  In fact, perhaps the most awe inspiring aspect is that it is God who buries Moses.

Let that sink in for a second.  Nowhere else in the whole Bible are we told that God buried someone.  This speaks to the relationship that Moses had with God.  I’m not saying that Moses was the person with the greatest relationship with God ever, that’s for God to decide and know.  But this relationship that God had with Moses was really pretty special. 

I’d be lying if I didn’t confess that this ending evokes jealousy within me.  It isn’t the kind of jealousy that makes me hate Moses.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’d like to believe that my relationship with the Lord is close.  But I don’t expect God to come down and bury me when I die – although He will claim every individual follower of His into eternal life!  There is something so inspiring about the life of Moses and the relationship with God that was forged through it that causes me to be inspired.

Then, even before the chapter is over, we move on.  Joshua steps up to lead.  Joshua takes over command.  God’s plan moves on.  As special as Moses was, God’s plan marches on just fine because God is the enduring thread of success, not a human being.

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Year 7, Day 184: Deuteronomy 33

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At first glance, this chapter appears to be a blessing upon the tribes.  You can clearly get a sense for the standing of each tribe as the song is read.  Certainly the Levites are elevated, as are the people of Joseph.  The people of Judah – too become one of the most important tribes in David – are all but ignored in this passage.  Gad seems to be the vicious warriors who take the best.  The people of Reuben seem to be important, but there is something within them that needs to be kept in check and restrained.  There are others, but you can see what I mean.  The tribes each get their own blessing and the blessing is unique to their identity.

However, I don’t think the tribes are actually the overarching thrust of this chapter.  They are a central idea, of course.  Look at how this chapter begins and ends.  Look at what it is that bookends the speech regarding the tribes.  Words about God begin and end the talk about the tribes.

Moses has done an excellent job using rhetoric to make his point.  Just as the words in this chapter nestle within words about God, the people of God nestle within the presence of God.  We are best when we are within His hands.  We are best when He is protecting us and guiding us.  We are best when He is God and we are obediently following Him.

As this chapter says, God is our dwelling place.  It is God whose arms protect us.  It is God who keeps our enemies at bay.  It is god who loves us and invites us to follow Him to become more like Him.  We may be unique, but we are His people.  That is the overarching point of this chapter.

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Year 7, Day 183: Deuteronomy 32

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Deuteronomy 32 it a song, recited by Moses.  Let’s be honest.  The song has a pretty negative tone.  It’s easy to focus on all of the warnings that appear in this book.

Before we do that, however, let’s focus on God.  Look at the characteristics of God that are found in this chapter.  God is perfect, just, and faithful.  These characteristics lead God into righteous behavior as also witnessed in this chapter.  God finds the Hebrew people in Egypt, rescues them, guided them, cared for them, and elevated them in status.  These are the righteous actions of a righteous God.

Now, let’s focus on the people.  Whereas God is perfect, just, and faithful, the people are corrupt, crooked, blemished, and twisted.  These characteristics lead them into the behaving poorly.  They kick against God, rebel against God, they scoff at God, they follow foreign gods, and ultimately they forsake God.

This is the dynamic of the song. This is the dynamic that Moses wants to make sure that the Hebrew people hear about themselves before entering into the Promised Land.  Moses knows the corruption that lives within all of us.  He knows the rebellion that can be found.  He desires to put this corruption before the people so that they an be mindful of their humanity.

I find this to be a valuable practice.  I would rather have someone show me my faults – as difficult a process as that may be – than be allowed to bury my faults and pretend they don’t exist.  When I know my faults, I can work on them.  I can struggle against them.  I can prepare for when they rear their ugly heads.  That’s the opportunity that Moses gives us in this song.  It is not an easy song to read or hear, but it is a great perspective on humanity.

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Year 7, Day 182: Deuteronomy 31

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My first take on this chapter is one of sadness.  Here is Moses, faithful servant to God.  He stood up to Pharaoh.  He faithfully crossed the Red Sea.  He went up to Mount Sinai.  He dealt with the people in the wilderness for forty years.  And now he simply passes off the reigns to Joshua right at the great moment of triumph.

However, Moses himself doesn’t seem all that sad.  Granted, this is writing and not a live speech, so it is hard to tell how it was delivered.  Still, Moses doesn’t seem upset in this passage.  He is not wrestling with God.  He is not resisting the will of the Father.  He is doing his part.

This is the wise perspective of Moses that I long to learn.  Moses is in tune with God so much that it truly isn’t about him at all.  Moses is just playing his part in God’s plan.  When Moses’ time is up, Moses knows that God’s plan isn’t about to stop with him.  God’s plan will carry on for generations.  Moses is simply handing off the baton to God’s overarching plan.

What a phenomenal perspective to have.  I believe this is the true core of humbleness right here.  We can genuinely be humble when we see ourselves as a simple piece of God’s overarching plan, because we are no longer concerned with our own perspective.  If I am not trying to make life about me, but rather about God, then then is no need for my pride, hubris, arrogance, self-centeredness, or egotism to get in the way!

There are so many things that I love about Moses.  Perhaps one of the best is that we know that in the end, Moses does get it right.  But remember that it takes him 120 years.  That gives me hope.  One day, I may be able to be like Moses and intuitively focus on God’s will and cast my will off completely.  Some days I already do it well.  Other days, not so well.  But I’m also not 120 years practiced, either!

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Year 7, Day 181: Deuteronomy 30

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Today, Moses sounds utterly convinced that the people will eventually fail.  Honestly, I think this is because Moses is a good student of humanity and he knows what it is like to lead.  He knows that people eventually make mistakes and eventually mess up.  It’s just our human nature, and anyone who leads knows this fact.

Knowing this, do you hear the message that Moses proclaims?  Moses doesn’t tell the people, “It’s okay, do as you please.  God will love you anyways.”  No, that isn’t the message – although God certainly does desire to lavish His love upon us.  What Moses says is, “When you turn from your evil, God will be willing to forgive you.”  Only after the proclamation of repentance does Moses declare restoration.  That is highly important to remember.  There is an expectation of turning to the Lord.

Moses also tells the people that they are capable of doing the Law.  On the surface, I disagree with Moses.  If living a life without sin was possible, someone would have done it.  Paul teaches us that nobody can do it, not one person.  In that light, I have to argue with Moses here.

However, on a deeper level what Moses says is correct.  We are capable.  There is nothing in the Law that is intrinsically impossible for human beings to accomplish.  It isn’t though the Law is impossible, we simply are not able to consistently choose obedience.  Therefore, the issue is not with our capacity; the issue is with our desire.  We are capable of doing what the Law desires of us.  We simply lack the will to do so.

I love how Moses ends this chapter.  Choose life.  Choose obedience.  Choose to follow God’s ways.  Moses puts the emphasis exactly where it needs to be.  It is not a matter of capacity, it is a matter of heart.

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Year 7, Day 180: Deuteronomy 29

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Deuteronomy 29 really begins Moses’ wind-up to the finale.  This is a bit amusing to say, of course, because Deuteronomy is in itself a summary of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.  Therefore, we’ve really entered into the summary of the summary.

As Moses speaks this chapter, I was struck by the realization that the adults who are alive at this point may have memories of the plagues in Egypt.  Remember that God promised Moses that they would wander in the desert for 40 years, just long enough to let all – save two, of course – in the rebellious Hebrew generation die.  It’s easy to think that all the people who left Egypt in the Exodus are dead.  But that isn’t true at all.  Only the adults who left Egypt are dead.  This new generation of adults, who are about to take possession of the Promised Land, were the youth and children of the Exodus.  These people saw the plagues, but they saw them through the wonder, amazement, and terror of the eyes of children.  I wonder if that isn’t part of what allowed them to remain faithful in God’s eye?

As I moved into that thought more deeply, I began to think of all the things they saw through the amazement of a child’s eye.  Of course, there are the plagues.  But there was also Moses on Mt. Sinai, the water from the rock, manna from heaven for forty years, the pillar of fire, the pillar of smoke, the parting of the Red Sea, and I’m sure a couple of things that I left off the list.  Imagine seeing all of that through the wonder of a kid.  Oh, there’s one more thing, a point which this chapter emphasizes more than other places in the Bible.  Their clothes never wore out.  I can’t imagine having a pair of sandals for 40 years and seeing them still function!  I can’t imagine having the same shirt, belt, socks, etc for 40 years and not seeing them wear out.  This is no small miracle.  I know how hard people – namely, myself – can be on clothing.  It never wore out.

I am flabbergasted by all of the ways that the people of that generation saw God’s handiwork.  They saw it like no other generation – except perhaps those who were alive to know Christ.  Yet, I know that they are called the wicked generation because they had this great witness and they still rebelled against God.

Except, of course, the children.  Their eyes caught what God was doing.  They were able to remain faithful.  They were awed by His presence.  They kept the faith kindled in their hearts.  Oh, to be like a child again in innocence and faith.

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Year 7, Day 179: Deuteronomy 28

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I’ll never forget one of the first lessons that I learned in my first Old Testament class in seminary.  My professor, Dr. Brooks Schramm, told us that when it comes to blessings and curses, the blessings section is always dwarfed by the curses section.  I think that there are some very good reasons for that.

As we look at this chapter, we do notice that the blessings section is fairly small.  Why can it be so small?  Does God really just enjoy cursing people more than He enjoys blessing them?  The answer, obviously, is no.  The reason that the blessings section can be so small is because human beings who are doing the right things in life don’t need to be told why they should be doing them!  If I have it in my head that I don’t want to lie, cheat, steal, or have sex with someone who isn’t my wife then I don’t need to be told why I don’t want to do those things.  I’ve already figured out my life is better when I don’t do them, so consequences aren’t necessary!  Instead, God can simply tell us that we will reap the fruit of our decisions in every facet of our life.

As we look at the curses section, we can understand why it is so long.  The curses section is written to warn people who are doing – or more importantly, who are contemplating doing – things that are contrary to God.  These people need to be told that such behavior is wrong.  They need to be told why it is wrong.  They need to be told how their life will be affected by doing such things.  It takes time to develop the ethics, the reason for the ethics, and the consequences in life for not having ethics.  It is necessary to do, but it takes time to develop all of that thought.

Before I leave this passage, I want to speak specifically about the Hebrew people and then broaden that out to a generalized perspective.  When we read Deuteronomy 28, we do get a sense that this chapter is prophetic in what will happen to the Hebrew people.  They do fall away.  They do get cursed with other nations, disease, famine, and the other things mentioned here.  Eventually, they do get plucked from the land by Assyria and Babylon and escorted away into slavery.  All of the promised laid out in this chapter do in fact come true.

I think this is a witness to all of human culture.  As human beings, our pattern is to forge a nation.  Out of that forging comes several generations of people with strong drive, strong ethic, and good morality.  However, the further we get away from that forging event, the further we also get from our ethics and morality.  Culture degrades into moral relativism.  People do what seems best in their own hearts, not what is best.  The cultures falters.  If it doesn’t correct itself, it fails and someone comes in to take over.

We can see this pattern all over the globe.  Obviously, the Hebrew people lived this out.  So did every dynasty in Egypt.  So did the Babylonians and Assyrians.  So did the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans.  So did all of the dynasties in China.  So did all of the dynasties in India.  The Holy Roman Empire did this.  The Ottoman Empire did this.  The British Empire has gone through many cycles of this.  I believe that the United States is going through a similar cycle.

The point to remember in all of this is that the more cultural relativism pervades – people doing what is right in their own eyes instead of adhering to a higher moral and ethical standard – the further we get into the faltering stage of a culture and the closer we get to sheer and utter failure.  I don’t believe we are there yet, but I don’t think one has to look too far in the daily news to see signs of cultural faltering occurring all around.

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Year 7, Day 178: Deuteronomy 27

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Year 7, Day 177: Deuteronomy 26

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Deuteronomy 26 is first and foremost a chapter about remembering.  We are to give back to God because the act helps us to remember how faithful God has been to us.  We remember that He does not abandon us.  We remember that all that we have was His to give in the first place.  We remember, and in so doing we find our place in His kingdom.

Second, this is a chapter about witness.  When we give, we are to give with a testimony.  We are to give a verbal accounting of God’s generosity.  Giving is not just an act of solitude but actually an act of community.  We give so that others may benefit from our witness, too!

Third, our giving is service.  So often we hear or think that the sacrifices were to be brought to the priests and the Levites.  So often people in churches use that as the excuse for making the church rich with large buildings and luxurious carpeting. But that isn’t actually how the giving described in this chapter was to go.  Notice that the gift could go to the Levites, but it could also go to the widows, orphans, sojourners, and the other people who had no defense or safety net.  We give, so that others may receive of God’s bounty.

In this act of service, then, we see that our act of remembrance is the start of the next person’s cycle of giving.  When we remember the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the defenseless we are giving them cause to remember God’s faithfulness to them.  We become the literal hands and feet of God’s generosity.

I like this system of giving far better than what I have typically experienced in the church.  The system of giving which I typically experience is one where I go to church, stick money in an offering plate, and then walk out feeling a pang of guilt relieved.  While I don’t want to say that it is wrong, that experience simply falls incredibly flat when compared to the rich cycle of hospitality and generosity that I see here in this chapter.  Speaking personally, sticking money into a plate that goes in front of me often quite impersonal.  Actually supporting an orphan and a widow and the poor is anything but impersonal.  It opens the door to perpetuate the faith personally, which is what we are supposed to be all about.

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Year 7, Day 176: Deuteronomy 25

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Deuteronomy 25 is one of those chapters that amuses me.  It amuses me because like so many of the chapters before, it fits into the “do the right thing” or “be fair” category.  But the situations discussed here seem almost absurd.

For example, take the teaching about the court case.  It absolutely makes sense that if two people sue each other, then the judge should be able to exact fair and appropriate punishment.  It also makes sense that the punishment should fit the crime and not be more than the person can bear.  We can get that from the teaching in this chapter.  However, it amuses me to hear the Bible say, “Don’t give him more than forty lashes, because then he will be degraded in your sight.  As if there is something more embarrassing about getting 41 lashes than 39!

Or, take the law about the marriage that doesn’t produce an offspring.  I can absolutely understand how this situation would come about.  Children often died in infancy or as a young person.  It would not be uncommon for a woman to have multiple children but many would simply not make it to adulthood.  I can see a situation where a man marries and dies before he can produce an adult heir.  I can see the case where the woman would want a son to continue on in the name, again remembering the ancient custom of woman and their inability to own land, etc.  What this law is about is making sure that the inheritance of the whole people of Israel stays the inheritance of the whole people of Israel.  This law is in there to prevent one person – or a small group of people – from taking over. But it seems so odd to our modern ears to her that a woman had the right to demand that their now deceased husband’s brother give her an heir!  It’s not wrong, mind you.  It just sounds odd on our modern ears with our modern understanding of love and marriage.

Or take the law about two men fighting.  Men know that there are certain unwritten rules about fighting.  There are places you don’t intend to injure.  There is more to this law than simply fighting fair.  In the context of this law, remember that we’ve heard frequently about the importance of a person being able to bring about an heir.  If a man is damaged and cannot bring about an heir, then we have a much greater problem.  This law is ultimately concerned not just with fairness in a fight but in a person being able to receive their God-given right of heirs and family.

Last, I’ll mention the law about two kinds of weights.  It seems silly to think of a merchant having two different kinds of weights.  However, remember that this was a day where electronic scales didn’t exist.  Standardized spring loaded scales didn’t exist, either.  You bought goods according to a balance, where a known weight was placed against the quantity being sold.  A merchant could cheat customers by using larger weights when buying and smaller weights when selling.  This law was incredibly useful, although it amuses me that human beings are so fickle that they could live with themselves being a cheat.  I know we can.  It happens all the time.  It’s just a shame that people have so little internal ethic.

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Year 7, Day 175: Deuteronomy 24

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Deuteronomy 24 continues the string on miscellaneous laws.  Again, I find that this chapter gives us laws that simply make sense.  If we just do the thing that makes sense and is right, there is no trouble in keeping the law.

For example, it makes sense that if a man divorces his wife and she has moved on to another person, why would he take her back?  Why would she even want to go back.  I’m a strong advocate of keeping marriage going and working through the rough spots together.  But if people do come to the place where they simply cannot imagine going one day more with their current spouse – especially in the case of infidelity as this chapter indicates – then be done with it and move along!  Why go back to a person that you left because they could be loyal and faithful in the marriage?

Another example is the law about letting the person who owes you money come out of their house and give you the debt as opposed to you going in to collect.  The reason it makes sense to not go in to collect is because you might see something else that the person owns.  Then you open yourself up to greed as you desire something of theirs.  You might ask for it unfairly, putting the person who owes you in a bind.  In the end, it is better to let those who owe you money bring it to you so that you are not tempted.

The laws at the end about leaving food in the field or on the trees for the sojourner also makes sense.  First of all, if we always claim every fruit of a plant, how will the plant ever reproduce to make new fruit?  Second, how will the surrounding nature – birds, squirrels, etc) ever be able to do their job and spread around the seeds to create a healthy environment?  That doesn’t even begin to talk about the true focus of the law, which is one of hospitality and care for the other person.  How will other people see us if we always take everything that we can as soon as we can and never leave anything for other people?  A society like that is self-centered and self-focused and erodes very quickly.

The law about the millstone also makes sense.  What is at the core of this law is a person’s ability to survive.  The millstone was used in taking grain and turning it into flour to be used for bread – one of the most basic of foods.  Saying that a person lost their millstone is essentially saying that a person has lost their ability to provide even the most basic of needs.  We should be able to collect what is owed to us.  At the same time, we should also be careful to whom we give a loan.  We should only give loans to those for whom it is reasonable to think they can pay us back.  Those who cannot pay us back should be given in charity, not in loan.

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Year 7, Day 174: Deuteronomy 23

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Deuteronomy 23 continues the pursuit of miscellaneous laws.  Most of these laws feels like they have simply been thrown together because they don’t really fit in well with the rest of the prior portions of the Law.  That’s a generically true statement.  They don’t particularly fit.

Within these laws, we do have an overarching theme that covers most of the laws in this chapter.  We can call this the chapter about keeping the holiness of the Lord.  Remember that holiness is a word that means “separate,” not “better-than-thou.”  Although, I don’t have any problem saying that the Lord is better than me.

For example, take these opening verses about eunuchs and males who are deformed in their sexuality.  They simply are not allowed to enter into the holy places of the Lord.  As I mention in the commentary I wrote six years ago, there is every reason to read this through the lens of the New Testament.  This doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love them.  It doesn’t mean that God will not have a good relationship with them.  All who seek the Lord will find Him.  What this is about is remembering that the Lord is separate.  He is holy.  We can’t come to God with a “whatever works” mentality.  We come to God with a mentality that is focused on God, God’s ways, and God’s holiness.  We come to God with a mentality that says, “Not my will but your will, God.”

I find this true in the passage about uncleanliness in the camp as well.  I love the line in Deuteronomy 23:14 that says, “Because the Lord walks in the midst of your camp…”  How easy is it to picture God as a far off God who doesn’t care about the intricate details of our existence?  That’s just simply not true.  He walks among us.  He dwells among us.  When we remember God’s holiness, we need to remember that this holy God is among us, dwelling with us.

In fact, if we take that and go back to the eunuch, we honestly have a better perspective on it.  The eunuch may not be able to go into the worldly place designated as God’s holy place, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t come to the eunuch!  God walks among us.  He walks among us all!

The last one that I want to focus on is the vows to the Lord.  If we make a vow to the Lord, then we need to keep it.  In fact, we need to not delay in keeping it.  Again, I think that this is about the holiness of the Lord.  If we generally love the Lord and desire to dwell in His holiness, then we absolutely should want to fulfill that vow.  We should not desire for our unfulfilled vow to come between us and a holy and righteous God!

In the end, there is a lesson we can learn here.  The Lord is holy.  The Lord does walk among us.  He does desire relationship with us.  We need to remember this and take this seriously.

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Year 7, Day 173: Deuteronomy 22

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I believe that this chapter can be summed up in five simple words: just do the right thing.  We have a series of disjointed laws.  But in each case, people doing what they would want done to them satisfies the law.

For example, if you see someone else’s property doing what it shouldn’t be doing, tell them!  At the very least, take care of it so the situation doesn’t get any worse until they come along and can fix it themselves.  After all, if something of yours was in danger and a person could prevent it, isn’t that what you would want of them?

Or, take the rule about putting a parapet around your roof.  In those days, rooves were places of relaxation.  If your friends came over, you would probably take them up to the roof to relax.  Doesn’t it make sense that if you are going to be entertaining people on your roof that you would want to have a little wall so that people couldn’t just randomly fall off the edge?

Then there is the law about men dressing up like women and women dressing up like men.  God calls it an abomination, plain and simple.  Mind you, that’s a very strong word.  But again, just do the right thing!  If you are a man, be a man!  If you are a woman, be a woman! Don’t make life more complicated than it already is.

The same can be said with the rest of the laws.  You don’t plow with an ox and a donkey because you’ll never go straight.  You don’t kill the mature female population of animals because that way you are doing your part to ensure their will be a food source for later generations.  You don’t put two kinds of seed in the same field because they will need to be harvested at different times and you’ll destroy the unfinished crop.  More common sense.

I find chapters like this refreshing.  So many people read the Law and walk away saying, “It’s too hard, who can live like that?”  Yes, there are some pretty hard teachings in the Law.  There are some ways in which it is easy for the typical human being to fail.  But at the same time, there are some parts of the Law that just make sense.  In fact, I would say that the vast majority of the Law are the kind of laws where if you just do what is right and stop being self-centered, you don’t really have much of a problem with it at all!

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Year 7, Day 172: Deuteronomy 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Deuteronomy 21 gives us another series of interesting and disjointed laws.  I don’t know that I have the space to talk about all of them here.  However, feel free to check out the link above if you want a more thorough discussion on each.

As I did read through them, my mind focused on two of the laws.  First, we have the law for the unknown murder.  God’s not dumb.  He knows that murders often occur by people who do not want their act observed.  God knows that within the heart of sin is a place that does not want the sin to be observed.  It is the fundamental essence of sin.  Sin knows that it is set apart from God.  It knows that it cannot stand the light.

However, just because sin is unobserved does not mean that it has no consequence.  Just because sin is unobserved does not mean that it doesn’t affect a community.  Sin always has a way of leaching into the people around us, even if it goes unobserved.  What God desires of us is that we take the time to recognize the unobserved sin around us and ask for repentance.  We might not be able to solve every case of sin, especially among those who wish their sin to remain hidden. But we need not remain blind to their effects.  We would be wise to remain vigilant instead.

The second law that I found interesting is the law for taking women as conquests in warfare.  Of course, we need to understand that this was an entirely different context in which women – especially women of conquered nations – had more in common with property than with being considered a civilian.  That is considerably different than with many modern countries, especially in the western world.  But I find it interesting that there are still rules governing this circumstance.  A conquered woman may be taken as a wife.  But the woman must be allowed to mourn her change in circumstance.  She must be allowed to mourn her loss of community and family.  After this time, she can become a wife to a Hebrew man.

However, it is possible that after watching a woman mourn for an extended amount of time, the man may decide not to keep her.  Perhaps he even feels guilt for what has been done and no longer wants to force himself upon her as his husband.  In this case, she must be set free.  She cannot be kept on as a slave or servant.  The woman must be set free to go and do as she desires.  Considering that we would speak of this overarching aspect of culture incredibly inhumane, we have a remarkably humane decision in the midst of the inhumane cultural dynamic.

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Year 7, Day 171: Deuteronomy 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

In Deuteronomy 20 we have a chapter about warfare.  Naturally, this is a pertinent chapter for Moses to give as he prepares to die and Joshua prepares to lead the people into the Promised Land.  The people are about to experience much warfare.  They need to know the rules.

Moses gives the general rule first.  If you besiege a city, first make sure that they aren’t willing to take the easy way out.  See if they surrender.  In other words, don’t fight battles unnecessarily.  I think that’s a generally good practice.  If there is a way to get through a conflict where there is peace and you don’t compromise your own position, take that option first.  In this case, Moses tells the Hebrew people that cities in general who surrender are to become forced laborers to the Hebrew people.

However, Moses makes a simple exception to this general rule.  Of the cities in Canaan, they are to be utterly destroyed.  Nobody is to be left.  When we look at this, we need to remember.  The general rule above still applies.  However, the case of Canaan is a specific place where God Himself is bringing judgment.  It isn’t the Hebrew people that are planning to attack, it is God’s plan of judgment.  It is God who will give the cities over to the Hebrew people.  This is God’s war.  That’s why the general rule of besieging a city can be supplanted.  The Canaanites are to die because God decreed it, not because it’s generally okay to utterly destroy those who oppose us.

Finally, we have a neat little paragraph about the fruit trees around a city.  God doesn’t want the people chopping down the fruit trees to make siege works.  From the perspective of the big picture, this makes a ton of sense.  Fruit trees are one of the land’s natural ways of providing for the animals and people that live there.  When fruit trees are cut down, there is no way to get more fruit unless you plant more trees.  That takes years of cultivation to replace.  What that means is that the incoming population of your own people will have a harder time surviving because they have no trees from which they can eat fruit!  It makes sense to chop down the trees that bear no fruit and use them for siege works but leave the fruiting trees be.

In general, I think that there is a really good principle at work.  Whenever we are in a conflict with another person, don’t allow the conflict to destroy the resources around us.  We need to make sure that we are measuring the cost of our conflict. There is nothing worse than having a conflict that is so bad that when the winner is decided there is nothing left of any value.  In that case, the conflict was ultimately over nothing, and the conflict was truly pointless.  If fighting a battle will ultimately result in the destruction of everything around us, is the battle really worth fighting at all?

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Year 7, Day 170: Deuteronomy 19

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Deuteronomy 19 is a very interesting legal chapter.  We have disconnected laws.  They are nonetheless important.

First, we have the old laws about the manslayer.  I spoke about these back when we first heard them given in the Law.  As I read through this law in the context of today’s reading, what I was struck with was the difference between intentional versus unintentional sin.  Keep in mind, both have consequences.  Unintentional sin is still sin, and manslaughter is about as big of an unintentional sin as you can get.  Manslaughter still had dire consequences.  But manslaughter is absolutely different from murder.  One is premeditated with anger, the other is death by a mistake or thoughtlessness.  God truly desires to illustrate that sin has consequences, but not all sin carries the same consequence.

Next, we have the short laws on moving property boundaries.  Again, I think that we have a similar theme.  The thing about moving property boundaries is that it is deceptive and subtle.  It is certainly sin – stealing land is not yours.  But what makes it deplorable is that it is a sign that is committed in the shadows.  It is a sin of deception.  It is a sin that tries to get the better of another without the other realizing what is going on.  Mistakes happen.  But this is not mistake.  This is sin in the shadows.

Last, we have the law against the witnesses.  First of all, notice that one witness does not satisfy the Law.  From my experience with humanity, I think this is a good thing.  I have seen far too many people lie about a witness to get themselves or a friend off of the hook.  Granted, two witnesses can lie just as much as one.  But it takes more effort to get two witnesses to corroborate well.

However, what I find absolutely fascinating about this particular law is that we once more have a focus on intention of the sin.  A false witness is to be punished by the same punishment that was desired for the falsely accused!  In other words, a person who brings a fake case against another person would receive the punishment they sought for the other!  I personally think that this is a phenomenal idea.  There should be a punishment for wasting the court’s time and for damaging the character of an innocent person!  As we have seen, there should be punishment for all wrongdoing – people who do wrong and people who falsely accuse others alike!

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