You Can Read the Bible

If you felt a little lost with the hodgepodge of material in Numbers, then Deuteronomy should come as a welcome change. Deuteronomy is raw and intense, full of emotion and reflection. As Numbers could feel distant, Deuteronomy is personal, proximate, close to the ground.

The very first line establishes the setting of the book: “These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness…” Three extensive speeches fill the first thirty chapters: it’s what Moses wants Israel to remember most of their journey together, of God’s covenant with them, and even of him.

Remember that Moses will not join them in Canaan, and you’ll see today that his feelings are still raw about this. Along the way, it’ll be important to keep in mind Moses’ final, passionate plea:

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying His voice and holding fast to Him, for He is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”

Chapters 1 through 3 present the history of Israel’s journey: from Egypt to the borders of Canaan. Listen for the LORD’s reminder of His provision and protection throughout. Listen also for how the LORD has looked out for Esau, and Lot, names we’ve barely heard from since Genesis.

When Moses recounts their conquests, pay attention to the phrase, “…and we devoted them to destruction…”. This is a translation of the Hebrew charam, which is to set apart for destruction to the LORD – in the sense of a sacrifice. You will see this term often through Deuteronomy and Joshua.

And finally, you might need to listen twice to Moses’ intense acknowledgement of how much it burned him to lose Canaan. Remember the LORD’s reason for excluding him, listen to Moses’ own perspective on the matter, and take time to sort through your own feelings on this.

Our verses for this week are Matthew 22:37-38: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”

Deuteronomy chapters 1 through 3. Now let’s read it!

Deuteronomy 1 - 3

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suf, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. In the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Jehovah had given him in commandment to them, after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying, "Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, 'You have lived long enough at this mountain. Turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the places near there: in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the lowland, in the South, by the seashore, in the land of the Canaanites, and in Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you. Go in and possess the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers--to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob--to give to them and to their offspring after them.'" I spoke to you at that time, saying, "I am not able to bear you myself alone. Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the sky for multitude. May Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! How can I myself alone bear your problems, your burdens, and your strife? Take wise men of understanding who are respected among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you." You answered me, and said, "The thing which you have spoken is good to do." So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and respected men, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, captains of hundreds, captains of fifties, captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. I commanded your judges at that time, saying, "Hear cases between your brothers and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it." I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. We traveled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. I said to you, "You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God gives to us. Behold, Jehovah your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Jehovah the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Don't be afraid, neither be dismayed." You came near to me, everyone of you, and said, "Let's send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring back to us word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come." The thing pleased me well. I took twelve of your men, one man for every tribe. They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. They took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, "It is a good land which Jehovah our God gives to us." Yet you wouldn't go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God. You murmured in your tents, and said, "Because Jehovah hated us, he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our heart melt, saying, 'The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to the sky. Moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there!'" Then I said to you, "Don't be terrified. Don't be afraid of them. Jehovah your God, who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you have seen how that Jehovah your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place." Yet in this thing you didn't believe Jehovah your God, who went before you on the way, to seek out a place for you to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day. Jehovah heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, "Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his children, because he has wholly followed Jehovah." Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, "You also shall not go in there. Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, shall go in there. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. Moreover your little ones, whom you said would be captured or killed, your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, shall go in there. I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea." Then you answered and said to me, "We have sinned against Jehovah. We will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us." Every man of you put on his weapons of war, and presumed to go up into the hill country. Jehovah said to me, "Tell them, 'Don't go up and don't fight; for I am not among you, lest you be struck before your enemies.'" So I spoke to you, and you didn't listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you and chased you as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. You returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah didn't listen to your voice, nor turn his ear to you. So you stayed in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you remained. Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Jehovah spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days. Jehovah spoke to me, saying, "You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward. Command the people, saying, 'You are to pass through the border of your brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore be careful. Don't contend with them; for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. You shall purchase food from them for money, that you may eat. You shall also buy water from them for money, that you may drink.'" For Jehovah your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has known your walking through this great wilderness. These forty years, Jehovah your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing. So we passed by from our brothers, the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. Jehovah said to me, "Don't bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you any of his land for a possession, because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession." (The Emim lived there before, a great and numerous people, and tall as the Anakim. These also are considered to be Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. The Horites also lived in Seir in the past, but the children of Esau succeeded them. They destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place, as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Jehovah gave to them.) "Now rise up and cross over the brook Zered." We went over the brook Zered. The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea until we had come over the brook Zered were thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the middle of the camp, as Jehovah swore to them. Moreover Jehovah's hand was against them, to destroy them from the middle of the camp, until they were consumed. So, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, Jehovah spoke to me, saying, "You are to pass over Ar, the border of Moab, today. When you come near the border of the children of Ammon, don't bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you any of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession, because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession." (That also is considered a land of Rephaim. Rephaim lived there in the past, but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, a great people, many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Jehovah destroyed them from before Israel, and they succeeded them, and lived in their place, as he did for the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day. Then the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza: the Caphtorim, who came out of Caphtor, destroyed them and lived in their place.) "Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you." I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, "Let me pass through your land. I will go along by the highway. I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink. Just let me pass through on my feet, as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I pass over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God gives us." But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him, for Jehovah your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as it is today. Jehovah said to me, "Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you. Begin to possess, that you may inherit his land." Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. Jehovah our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, his sons, and all his people. We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. We left no one remaining. Only the livestock we took for plunder for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities which we had taken. From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. Jehovah our God delivered up all before us. Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn't come near: all the banks of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Jehovah our God forbade us. Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan. Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. Jehovah said to me, "Don't fear him; for I have delivered him, with all his people and his land, into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon." So Jehovah our God also delivered into our hand Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people. We struck him until no one was left to him remaining. We took all his cities at that time. There was not a city which we didn't take from them: sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, in addition to a great many villages without walls. We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. But all the livestock, and the plunder of the cities, we took for plunder for ourselves. We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon. (The Sidonians call Hermon Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir.) We took all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron. Isn't it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its width, after the cubit of a man.) This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites; and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh--all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) I gave Gilead to Machir. To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; the Arabah also, and the Jordan and its border, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. I commanded you at that time, saying, "Jehovah your God has given you this land to possess it. All of you men of valor shall pass over armed before your brothers, the children of Israel. But your wives, and your little ones, and your livestock, (I know that you have much livestock), shall live in your cities which I have given you, until Jehovah gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God gives them beyond the Jordan. Then you shall each return to his own possession, which I have given you." I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, "Your eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God has done to these two kings. So shall Jehovah do to all the kingdoms where you go over. You shall not fear them; for Jehovah your God himself fights for you." I begged Jehovah at that time, saying, "Lord Jehovah, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or in earth that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon." But Jehovah was angry with me because of you, and didn't listen to me. Jehovah said to me, "That is enough! Speak no more to me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan. But commission 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 shall see." So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

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