Day 54: Deuteronomy 10-12

(The previous post covered Moses warning not to covenant with heathen nations and not to think their righteousness had anything to do with God giving them victory.)

Deuteronomy 10
¹ At that time Jehovah said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.

(Moses retold when God commanded him to make the two tablets again.)

² And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.
³ So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in my hand.
⁴ And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which Jehovah spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and Jehovah gave them unto me.
⁵ And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are as Jehovah commanded me.

(Moses put the tables in the Ark of the Covenant.)

⁶ (And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth Bene-jaakan to Moserah. There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's office in his stead.
⁷ From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.
⁸ At that time Jehovah set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before Jehovah to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this day.

(God had set Levi apart to bear the Ark and minister to Him.)

⁹ Wherefore Levi hath no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; Jehovah is his inheritance, according as Jehovah thy God spake unto him.)
¹⁰ And I stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights: and Jehovah hearkened unto me that time also; Jehovah would not destroy thee.
¹¹ And Jehovah said unto me, Arise, take thy journey before the people; and they shall go in and possess the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give unto them.
¹² And now, Israel, what doth Jehovah thy God require of thee, but to fear Jehovah thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Jehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,

(All God required of them was to fear Him, obey Him, love Him, and serve Him with all their heart and soul.)

¹³ to keep the commandments of Jehovah, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

(They were told that keeping God's commandments and statutes was "for thy good." It benefited people to keep God's commandments.)

¹⁴ Behold, unto Jehovah thy God belongeth heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is therein.
¹⁵ Only Jehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all peoples, as at this day.
¹⁶ Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.

(Circumcise your heart? This should have shown the people that even the physical circumcision was a physical act that represented a spiritual truth. Also, the heart was the part of the individual through which they consummated their Covenant with God.)

¹⁷ For Jehovah your God, he is God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward.
¹⁸ He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow, and loveth the sojourner, in giving him food and raiment.
¹⁹ Love ye therefore the sojourner; for ye were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
²⁰ Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; him shalt thou serve; and to him shalt thou cleave, and by his name shalt thou swear.

(Cleave to God. This usage of "cleave" was the same word used in Genesis 2:24 when the man was told to "cleave" to his wife. We are to cleave unto God as a man is to cleave unto his wife. This makes it pretty clear that the woman is more excellent (greater) than the man as God is DEFINITELY more excellent (greater) than us. The man and the woman do not cleave to each other. The man ought to cleave to the woman.)

²¹ He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
²² Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now Jehovah thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.




Deuteronomy 11
¹ Therefore thou shalt love Jehovah thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, alway.
² And know ye this day: for I speak not with your children that have not known, and that have not seen the chastisement of Jehovah your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm,

(God was not speaking to their children or others who did not see God’s greatness...)

³ and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land;
⁴ and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how Jehovah hath destroyed them unto this day;
⁵ and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came unto this place;
⁶ and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben; how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel:
⁷ but your eyes have seen all the great work of Jehovah which he did.

(…God was speaking to them.)

⁸ Therefore shall ye keep all the commandment which I command thee this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go over to possess it;
⁹ and that ye may prolong your days in the land, which Jehovah sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.

(More value was presented to them if they kept God’s commandments. Their days would be prolonged in the land God gave them.)

¹⁰ For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs;
¹¹ but the land, whither ye go over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven,
¹² a land which Jehovah thy God careth for: the eyes of Jehovah thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.
¹³ And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love Jehovah your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,

(God gave them some of the specific things He would do for them if they obeyed Him.)

¹⁴ that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain, and thy new wine, and thine oil.
¹⁵ And I will give grass in thy fields for thy cattle, and thou shalt eat and be full.
¹⁶ Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
¹⁷ and the anger of Jehovah be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit; and ye perish quickly from off the good land which Jehovah giveth you.

(God used the weather and farming as a way to reach Israel. They were blessed and punished in these very tangible ways. Do people today see these as methods (weather, fruit, etc.) in which God can reach them?)

¹⁸ Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul; and ye shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

(They were to put God’s Words in their heart and soul.)

¹⁹ And ye shall teach them your children, talking of them, when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
²⁰ And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates;
²¹ that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.

(This was a reminder of the Shaba: Deuteronomy 6.)

²² For if ye shall diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Jehovah your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him;
²³ then will Jehovah drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.
²⁴ Every place whereon the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the hinder sea shall be your border.

(Everywhere their feet stepped was their land. Remember, God only directed them to the land He was giving them. They did not go near other land.)

²⁵ There shall no man be able to stand before you: Jehovah your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath spoken unto you.
²⁶ Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse:

(God set before them a blessing and a curse…)

²⁷ the blessing, if ye shall hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah your God, which I command you this day;

(The blessing would come if they obeyed God.)

²⁸ and the curse, if ye shall not hearken unto the commandments of Jehovah your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

(The curse would come if they disobeyed God.)

²⁹ And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt set the blessing upon mount Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal.
³⁰ Are they not beyond the Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?
³¹ For ye are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth you, and ye shall possess it, and dwell therein.
³² And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.




Deuteronomy 12
¹ These are the statutes and the ordinances which ye shall observe to do in the land which Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath given thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth.

(They were given statutes and ordinances specifically for when they lived in the land God gave them.)

² Ye shall surely destroy all the places wherein the nations that ye shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree:
³ and ye shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods; and ye shall destroy their name out of that place.

(They were commanded to destroy anything that facilitated worshipping other gods. Asherim meant "groves (for idol worship)" and specifically referred to a Canaanite goddess.)

⁴ Ye shall not do so unto Jehovah your God.
⁵ But unto the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come;
⁶ and thither ye shall bring your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill-offerings, and the firstlings of your herd and of your flock:
⁷ and there ye shall eat before Jehovah your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee.

(All acts of worship were supposed to be towards Jehovah.)

⁸ Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes;
⁹ for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.
¹⁰ But when ye go over the Jordan, and dwell in the land which Jehovah your God causeth you to inherit, and he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about, so that ye dwell in safety;
¹¹ then it shall come to pass that to the place which Jehovah your God shall choose, to cause his name to dwell there, thither shall ye bring all that I command you: your burnt-offerings, and your sacrifices, your tithes, and the heave-offering of your hand, and all your choice vows which ye vow unto Jehovah.

(When they crossed the Jordan and inherited the land, then God gave them a place where He would cause His Name to dwell.)

¹² And ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God, ye, and your sons, and your daughters, and your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and the Levite that is within your gates, forasmuch as he hath no portion nor inheritance with you.
¹³ Take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou seest;
¹⁴ but in the place which Jehovah shall choose in one of thy tribes, there thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, and there thou shalt do all that I command thee.
¹⁵ Notwithstanding, thou mayest kill and eat flesh within all thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy God which he hath given thee: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof, as of the gazelle, and as of the hart.
¹⁶ Only ye shall not eat the blood; thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.
¹⁷ Thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy grain, or of thy new wine, or of thine oil, or the firstlings of thy herd or of thy flock, nor any of thy vows which thou vowest, nor thy freewill-offerings, nor the heave-offering of thy hand;
¹⁸ but thou shalt eat them before Jehovah thy God in the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, thou, and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy man-servant, and thy maid-servant, and the Levite that is within thy gates: and thou shalt rejoice before Jehovah thy God in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.
¹⁹ Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest in thy land.

(They were told not to forsake the Levites as long as they lived upon the earth.)

²⁰ When Jehovah thy God shall enlarge thy border, as he hath promised thee, and thou shalt say, I will eat flesh, because thy soul desireth to eat flesh; thou mayest eat flesh, after all the desire of thy soul.
²¹ If the place which Jehovah thy God shall choose, to put his name there, be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which Jehovah hath given thee, as I have commanded thee; and thou mayest eat within thy gates, after all the desire of thy soul.
²² Even as the gazelle and as the hart is eaten, so thou shalt eat thereof: the unclean and the clean may eat thereof alike.
²³ Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and thou shalt not eat the life with the flesh.

(The blood was the life. Life was "the ability to repair." The ultimate Blood would provide the ultimate ability to repair, which was Jesus' Blood. In John 10:10, Jesus said He came that we might have life and life more abundantly.)

²⁴ Thou shalt not eat it; thou shalt pour it out upon the earth as water.

(They were not to eat blood of the animals they killed for food. They poured it on the earth as water. Some heathen hunters would leave the blood exposed as an offering to a god. From Leviticus 17:13 we learned that not only was the blood of the animal poured on the earth, it was also covered with dust/soil. Covering the blood would ensure offerings to this god were not happening.)

²⁵ Thou shalt not eat it; that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.
²⁶ Only thy holy things which thou hast, and thy vows, thou shalt take, and go unto the place which Jehovah shall choose:
²⁷ and thou shalt offer thy burnt-offerings, the flesh and the blood, upon the altar of Jehovah thy God; and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of Jehovah thy God; and thou shalt eat the flesh.
²⁸ Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the eyes of Jehovah thy God.
²⁹ When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee, whither thou goest in to dispossess them, and thou dispossessest them, and dwellest in their land;
³⁰ take heed to thyself that thou be not ensnared to follow them, after that they are destroyed from before thee; and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, How do these nations serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.
³¹ Thou shalt not do so unto Jehovah thy God: for every abomination to Jehovah, which he hateth, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters do they burn in the fire to their gods.

(God told them not to enquire after the gods of the other nations. These nations had even burnt their sons and daughters to their gods.)

³² What thing soever I command you, that shall ye observe to do: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.

(The Gospel Accounts showed the Pharisees and Sadducees added their traditions to the Law.)

(This post covered Moses' retelling of the events that led to them getting the Ten Commandments. Also, Moses gave Israel more instructions for how they ought to conduct themselves once they possessed the Promised Land.)

Day 55