DAILY BIBLE READING

Mar 8: Num 31-32
Mar 9: Num 33-34
Mar 10: Num 35-36
Mar 11: Deut 1-2
Mar 12: Deut 3-4
Mar 13: Deut 5-7
Mar 14: Deut 8-10
Mar 15: Deut 11-13

NOTES ON NUMBERS 31-36

·         Numbers ends with some final “events” that set the stage for the conquest of Canaan.  Remember, we are now AFTER the “40 years” (or so) of wandering in the desert.  The people are camped east of the Jordan, ready to invade.

·         One item of business:  some of the tribes like the land they currently occupy.  They ask Moses for permission to stay there, even after the conquest.  Moses agrees, on the condition that they fully assist with the military invasion.

·         Chapters 33-35 summarize the story so far and outline who will live where in the land after the invasion – including the Levites, who don’t have any land per se, but do have towns which also function as safe havens for people falsely accused of premeditated murder.

·         The book closes in a fascinating way, with giving females at least a limited right of inheritance – apparently a significant cultural advance.

NOTES ON DEUTERONOMY 1-10

·         If the first five books of the Bible are a full-course meal, Deuteronomy is dessert.  If you don’t particularly like vegetables, and the starch seemed hard to swallow and the meat was tough, a good dessert makes you forget your disappointments. So if you found Leviticus and Numbers at times difficult to “swallow,” you have something to look forward to. 

·         As I am reading through the Bible, I am writing down “great quotes” in a file for each book.  In Leviticus I might read a bunch of chapters without writing anything down.  By contrast, in Deuteronomy, I find myself wanting to cut and paste entire chapters.

·         I was talking to my mother yesterday, who rather randomly commented that she heard Ravi Zacharias say Jesus quoted more from Deuteronomy 8 than any other Old Testament chapter.  I can see why.  It was one of those chapters for me.  (See devotions.)

·         It’s also true that the New Testament in general quotes more from Deuteronomy than any other book in the Old Testament.  It’s as if Moses has had forty years to think and ponder and write and now speak his deepest and most profound thoughts.  Some of it (the Ten Commandments, for example) is repetition.  But there’s so much more that is profound in its application to us as well as to them.

·         Enjoy your dessert!

DEVOTIONS

Before she held her own Oscar last night for best actress, Sandra Bullock took the stage to present the Oscar for cinematography.  In her speech, she said, “The cinematographer (is)…the first friend I always make.  That usually goes something like this: ‘Dude, make me look good.  I’m serious.  You’ve got to make me look real good.’”

Those who achieve the most always need to be aware they need a lot of help to do it.  It’s too easy to forget.

Prior to Israel entering the Promised Land, Moses recognized the greatest danger was not external attack, internal conflict, failure, or discouragement.

Their greatest danger was the same as ours: pride.

“When you have eaten and are satisfied,” Moses told them, “praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.  Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God.  Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God….

“You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’  But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”

The danger of taking personal credit for what God does on our behalf is always with us.