The sons of Simeon received their inheritance from a portion of the territory which had been given to the sons of Judah had because it was too large for them. Why was it necessary to keep the cities occupied? Did the land and cites need to be occupied because they needed to be defended and maintained?

The sons of Dan received a territory but that increased because they fought the inhabitants of the land. Why do some of the sons of Israel drive out the inhabitants of the land and others choose not to? It is important to remember the word’s God spoke through Moses in Numbers 33:54-56, “You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger you shall give more inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give less inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to anyone, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sided, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.  And as I plan to do to them, so I will do to you.” It is clearly told that if the sons of Israel do not drive out the inhabitants of the land they inherit it will become a stumbling block and a thorn in their side. The place where the sons of Israel dwelt and lived needed to be free from stumbling blocks but the inhabitants that were left were left there caused problems. How does this apply to our lives to day? What things have you allowed into your house? Are these things a prick in your eye or a thorn in your side? The things that dwell within our lives need to be cast out just as the sons of Israel needed to cast out the inhabitants of the land.

The cities of refuge which were discussed in Numbers and Deuteronomy are established in Joshua chapter 20. I still find encouragement and amazement when I think about a city of refuge. The word refuge is not used too often in the culture today. What do you take refuge in? The image that fills my mind when I think of refuge is a warm blanket that I am wrapping around myself. I think the one thing that I take refuge in is Jesus Christ. He is the true place that I will find rest, peace, and hope for tomorrow.

In the first chapter of Joshua God reaffirms the leadership of Joshua and His desire to bless the Israelites. God details all the lands that will become a possession of the Israelites. God promises that, “no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 1:5) The people living in the promised land were filled with a sense of fear, dismay, and dread over the coming of the Israelites. The signs and wonders that God performed for the Israelites were known far and wide and increased the fear of Israel because He was their God.

Joshua chapter 1 encourages me to be strong and courageous. The leadership of Israel had changed and the people needed to know they could trust the leadership of Joshua. Their benchmark for a great leader was Moses so the people desired to follow Joshua but they wanted to be assured that God would be with Joshua as He was with Moses and that Joshua would be strong and courageous. What does it mean to be strong and courageous? I think source strength can be found in Deuteronomy 1:7,8 “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from you mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.” The center of strength and courage is found when a person centers their life upon the Bible and the truths therein. Where do you place your hope for strength and courage? I know that my foundation of strength and courage is being built up on a consistent and daily basis as I seek to know Jesus Christ through the studying of scripture.

The narrative of Joshua starts in chapter 2 when spies enter into the promised land to spy on the cities of the land especially Jericho. The men were soon discovered and hidden by a woman named Rahab who hid them in her house. Have you heard this story before? Every wonder why she was able to hide these men so easily? Why did people not see a woman escorting men into her house? The key fact is that Rahab was a harlot and she commonly would have brought men into her house was key in her ability to hide these men. I am continually amazed that God will use the least people of this world in the greatest ways. We are too often feeling like we live in an exclusive club of the people that God only choose to uses. The fact that God used a prostitute to saves these men points to the truth that He looks at a persons heart and we all too often judge by outer  appearance. Rahab knew that God was on Israel’s side and she sought protection for herself and her family from the men she hid. What an amazing trust she had by acknowledging that God was in control, that it was futile to fight against God’s will by alerting the city, and knowing her only salvation would come at the hand of God. This story sounds very much like my journey of faith with God. I acknowledge my helplessness, God’s power, and His authoring of salvation. Where do you trust to obtain salvation? Will you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way for you to find help?

If my life is motivated by an ambition to leave a legacy, what I would probably leave is a legacy of ambition. But, if my life is motivated by the power of God’s spirit in me and the awareness of the indwelling Christ, if I allow His presence to guide my motives, that’s the only time I think we really leave a great legacy.

-Rich Mullins

This is my favorite quote of mine is a unique way to sum up Deuteronomy. What will your legacy be built upon? What is your motivation in life? Why do you do what you do? These and many more questions are answered within Deuteronomy.

The story of the people of Israel is summarized in Deuteronomy in a final speech given by Moses before his death and the peoples entry into the promised land. The statutes and laws repeated in the book are the necessities that the people of needed to live. The Israelites needed to remember who God was, how they disobeyed Him, and His proven faithfulness throughout their History spanning from Egypt through the wilderness as they entered into the promised land where their dependance on God was necessary to their survival.

Moses also reminded the people to not forget God by heeding the statutes and commands that He gave them. It was crucial that the generations who directly saw God’s signs and wonders emphasized the importance of following God to the following generations. The question I was challenged with as I read through Deuteronomy was how will I impart and emphasize my faith to the generations that will come after me. It is a question of my legacy and what I leave behind. All the laws and commands seen throughout Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy can be summed up as Jesus Christ said by loving God and loving people. In the commands to love God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love my neighbor as myself the question of how a legacy is imparted is answered. As I strive to love God and love people I will impart my faith to those around me and to the generations to come.

My reading through Deuteronomy was surprisingly enjoyable. I had the same preconceived notion that the books containing the law were boring. You would think that I would have learned that lesson from my reading of Leviticus and Numbers but it keeps presenting itself as a surprise. I am thankful that God gave me the dedication to read through Deuteronomy at a consistent pace that allowed me to reflect upon the meaning of the text. I was encouraged by the consistent foreshadowing of Jesus Christ that is glimpsed in the Old Testament. It is important not to forget that my hope and future rest in Jesus Christ alone.

Who fights for you? What strength is used to fight your battles? As I read Deuteronomy chapter 20 I saw a clear picture of the mindset of the Israelites when they were preparing for battle. The officers of the army go through the men and ask who of them is wholly ready for  battle. If there was anything that was holding them back from fighting they were told to stay home. The victory in battle was not in the number of men that could be fielded in battle but only upon God could victory be assured. I think about the battles that I wage in my own walk to follow God’s commands. Do I feel that my ability and skill are what allow me to overcome stumbling blocks? It is all too easy for me to forget that God is more than able enable me to overcome my battles. I need to rest in God’s power not mine just as the Israelite army did in chapter 20.

To get a greater grasp on what this word test means I looked it up in my concordance and it appears throughout the Old Testament in Hebrew and also in the New Testament in the Greek. Now I want to limit myself to looking at the use of the word within the Pentateuch. Limiting my search to the first five books of the Bible helps because Moses authored all the books and I can have consistency in the use of the word.

This word ‘testing’ found in Deuteronomy 13:3 in Hebrew is ‘nasah’ which means: to test, try. The word appears as test six times, tested five times, and testing twice within the Pentateuch in Genesis 22:1; 42:15,16; Exodus 15:25; 16:4; 17:2,7; 20:20; Numbers 14:22; and Deuteronomy 6:16; 8:2,16; 13:3. You have the story of God testing Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, of Joseph testing his brothers to see if they were spies, when the Israelites grumbled about water and food it says that God tests the people to see if they will walk in His instructions, of the Israelites complaining and testing God asking for water again, of God testing the Israelites so they may fear Him and not sin, where the people tested God ten times and didn’t listen and they were sent to wander in the wilderness, when God tells the people to not test Him as at Massah, of God testing the people for 40 years in the wilderness to know their hearts and see if they will obey, that God tested the people for their overall good, and lastly of God testing the people with false prophets. All of these verses show that God indeed will test the Israelites and in turn the Israelites put God to the test. How does this relate to me? I honestly do not know. Does God test people today? Do we test God? From all of my reading through the Bible the story of the Israelites parallels my journey as a christian. I think that God test people today and I imagine we put GOd to the test just as the people of Israel did. I think it is important to know that God is not causing us to fall when we are tested. He allows me to choose which is a mystery and when I choose and sin that is wholly my fault.

In light of my study on the word ‘test’ I have a greater appreciation of Deuteronomy. The rules laid down in chapter 13 to stay away from idolatry and in chapter 14 to only eat clean animals was for the greater good of the Israelites. God desired loving obedience from the people and that formed as He laid tests before them where they sometimes failed and other times succeeded to follow God’s command. How does this reflect to my faith? I don’t know exactly. I just believe that I should not live in fear of every circumstance that is in my path wondering if I am being tested. I will trust that God has my best in all His plans and I will seek to honor Him in the choices I make. I will fail but when I fail I will get up and keep following God.

I love the foreshadowing that we see in Number that points to the need of Jesus Christ, the better sacrifice. The people had God dwelling among them in the Tabernacle in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. God loved the Israelites so much that he blessed them with his law. Yet the obstinate and headstrong people continued to complain. Their disbelief culminated in their wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. During the years in the wilderness God imparted structure to the people of Israel. I wonder at how it would have been for the surrounding nations to see a people coming out of the wilderness as a cohesive entity. The people constantly had to learn to depend on God  and they needed to learn who they were in light of who God is. Still the people complained, grumbled, and disbelieved God and consistently challenged His authority in their lives. As time progressed leaders developed like Joshua and Eleazar who desired to stand for God and remind the people to constantly look to God. The constant failure of the Israelites to follow God’s commands points to the greatest insurmountable wall. The wall was only able to be overcome when Jesus Christ came and died on the cross for the sins of the world.

Do you believe that God is sovereign and that His will is better for your life? I know that my life parallels the journey of the Israelites because I constantly finding myself prone to wander away form God. I am thankful that I am completely helpless in this struggle. I know that God has given me a hope that is greater than anything I could hope to attain to in my own strength. The Hope that is Jesus Christ is the only way that I will find true satisfaction in my life. The story in Numbers is a signpost pointing to the only way to find true satisfaction. I know that disbelief will cloud the way at times but God is faithful and he will bring me through any valley that seems greater than what I may be able to overcome.

The book of Numbers concludes with chapter 36 with more discussion on inheritance among the people of Israel, namely the families of the sons of Joseph. Would a woman who obtained an inheritance from her father marry into a different tribe and so take the inheritance away from her family? It seems like such a trivial question by todays way of life but when land is all that you have and it is a precious inheritance you want to keep that land intact for your descendants. Moses tells the people of Israel that women will marry only people from their tribe and families so that there will be no transfer of inheritances.

Moses was not entering the promised land and God has him remind the people to drive out all the inhabitants from the land and to destroy their idols. This was a crucial fact that will be forgotten as the the years pass in the promised land. Numbers 33:55 tells what will happen to the people if they do not drive everyone out, “but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall come about that those whom you let remain of them will become as pricks in your eyes and as thorns in your sides, and they will trouble you in the land in which you live.” Anyone who the Israelites did not drive out became a stumbling block to them. What things in my life are stumbling blocks? What areas have I compromised?

The glimpse into the future for the Israelites is laid out in Numbers chapter 34. God tells the people what will be the border of their land. It must have been a great encouragement as well as a tremendous hurdle in faith. The people are told that this land will be theirs but it required faith and dependance upon God. This land was inhabited by many people that would have to be driven out. Did the people believe that God was able to deliver the land to them? Throughout their journeying in the wilderness the people saw God work time and time again but their obstinate and headstrong natures caused them to constantly stray away from God. Were they aware of their nature to stray? The story of the people of Israel constantly falling away makes me thankful that Jesus Christ came to be the final and perfect sacrifice for sin. My actions are not the key to Jesus Christ’s faithfulness to me. I can rise in the morning and make it through any day because of what Jesus Christ has done. I am just as obstinate and headstrong as the children of Israel but I can find hope in the fact that God loved me enough while I was purely sinful to send Jesus Christ to die for me. My hope is built upon this singular fact and I am so very thankful.

Numbers 32 we see the sons of Ruben and Gad desired to not enter the promised land but stay in the land they just conquered. This was a point where these sons of Israel were faithful to God where their forefathers were not and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. The men of war of the sons of Ruben and Gad followed Moses’ command and they would fight with the other tribes of Israel until the promised land was conquered. If this vow theses men made to God and Moses’ was not carried out God said, “[they] have sinned against the Lord, and be sure [their]sin will find you out.” Was this vow that was made similar to the vows talked about in chapter 30? I would never take a vow before God lightly. I am excited to continue the story to see if the sons of Ruben and Gad were faithful to their vow.

My last questions are from Numbers chapter 30. What are these vows that are being talked about? What kind of vow is made before God? Do we make vows before God today? In Matthew 5:33-37 Jesus Christ speaks concerning vows and says that no oath should be made by either heaven for it is the throne of God or by earth because it is the footstool of His feet. In verse 37 Jesus says, “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.” Is a vow similar to when someone swears on something to do something? Did the Israelites swear on God as a way to reaffirm there desire to do something? Did people start using that casually like people say today, “I swear to god”? It could make sense because Jesus is exhorting me to make my word true where I say Yes or No and mean it. What things do I take casually that Jesus Christ would want me to change? Has there been any language that I use in my life that is not true but just a shallow statement? Lord search me and show me what there is that needs to change.