August 24, 2017
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Reading along with us in Deuteronomy? Here’s today’s reading:
Deuteronomy 1 (ESV)
These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’… Continue Reading
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After reading Deuteronomy 1 this morning, I read a column — written by a Rabbi — about the length of time the journey took from Egypt to Canaan. He really didn’t talk much about sin, but instead focused on the “crooked path” we often take to get to a destination, in this case, the land of promise.
I was reminded of the crooked path we walk in our own faith journeys as followers of Christ. Some of us, from the first baby steps of faith in Jesus, are given to clinging closely to Him the rest of our lives. The thought of wandering away from Him, of “going our own way” apart from Him, never crosses our minds once we’ve tasted of the glorious riches of God’s love, a love unmatched by anything this world has to offer. When our hearts do wander, we sense the distance and go running back to our Abba Father, crying, “Daddy! Daddy!” and He swoops us up in His arms.
Others may take a much more crooked path, and find ourselves veering so far off from the path God has laid out for us we end up lost, unmoored, and maybe even feeling despised by God. When we finally cry out to Him in the wilderness, hoping He will hear us once again, hoping for just a shred of the mercy and grace He once showed us, we discover to our wonder that His faithfulness never faltered. He had his eye on us the whole time, watching over us even as we disgraced Him and shipwrecked our own faith. And as we turn back to Him in humility, the prodigal son changed after finding the world to be a land of broken cisterns, our heavenly Father swoops us up in His arms and welcomes us back with great joy.
Oh, how rich are the tender mercies of God toward His children!
Appointing of leaders and telling them to resolve disputes and be fair
If the matter can not be resolved to bring it to Moses
This is a reflection of God – being fair in our judgement
21See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
Grateful for Caleb and Joshua’s faith to follow.
Have you ever been in a situation where you are recounting an event for another group of people years after it happened? And sometimes you remember certain details you may have forgotten before and other times you leave things out? Well this is kind of what Deuteronomy is. Moses in his latter age, recounting the events and laws given to the last generation of the Jews and telling them to the new generation of the Jews. They will enter the promised land and Moses will not. So these are the words he wants to pass along to them.
In this chapter, Moses recounts the leaders chosen to share his burden of making judgements for the people, the spies being sent our and the peoples rebellion. All important principles for this new generation to internalize: respect your leaders, be available to help them saddle their load, seize what God has given you, and don’t disobey. God has so much for us if we will just believe and follow…..
Thank you, this clarified chapter 1 for me. I was going to ask some questions but this basically answered them because I was having trouble picturing what was going on…
“2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.”
— Is this the way that Moses was traveling? Why is it mentioned?
This is the journey from Mt Sinai to the outskirts of the promised land. Moses sent the spies from Kadesh Barnea. Moses is just probably giving this new generation a reference point for how short the journey could have been…but the old generation took 40 years….