Deuteronomy

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Deuteronomy - Links

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Sunday, December 13, 2009

Deuteronomy 29-34

Deuteronomy 29


These are THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT the Lord commanded Moses to make with the Israelites while they were in the land of Moab, IN ADDITION TO the covenant he had made with them AT MOUNT SINAI.


Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them, “You have seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to his whole country— all the great tests of strength, the miraculous signs, and the amazing wonders. But to this day the Lord has not given you minds that understand, nor eyes that see, nor ears that hear!


...


“Therefore, obey the terms of this covenant so that you will prosper in everything you do. All of you—tribal leaders, elders, officers, all the men of Israel—are standing today in the presence of the Lord your God. Your little ones and your wives are with you, as well as the foreigners living among you who chop your wood and carry your water. You are standing here today to enter into the covenant of the Lord your God. The Lord is making this covenant, including the curses. By entering into the covenant today, he will establish you as his people and confirm that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.


“But you are not the only ones with whom I am making this covenant with its curses. I am making this covenant both with you who stand here today in the presence of the Lord our God, and also with the future generations who are not standing here today.


...


“Those who hear the warnings of this curse should not congratulate themselves, thinking, ‘I am safe, even though I am following the desires of my own stubborn heart.’ This would lead to utter ruin! The Lord will never pardon such people. Instead his anger and jealousy will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will come down on them, and the Lord will erase their names from under heaven. The Lord will separate them from all the tribes of Israel, to pour out on them all the curses of the covenant recorded in this Book of Instruction. “Then the generations to come, both your own descendants and the foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord inflicts on it. They will exclaim, ‘The whole land is devastated by sulfur and salt. It is a wasteland with nothing planted and nothing growing, not even a blade of grass. It is like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger.’ “And all the surrounding nations will ask, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why was he so angry?’ “And the answer will be, ‘This happened because the people of the land abandoned the covenant that the Lord, the God of their ancestors, made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. Instead, they turned away to serve and worship gods they had not known before, gods that were not from the Lord. That is why the Lord’s anger has burned against this land, bringing down on it every curse recorded in this book. In great anger and fury the Lord uprooted his people from their land and banished them to another land, where they still live today!’



  • Psalm 106:34-39: Israel failed to destroy the nations in the land, as the Lord had commanded them. Instead, they mingled among the pagans and adopted their evil customs. They worshiped their idols, which led to their downfall. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters. By sacrificing them to the idols of Canaan, they polluted the land with murder. They defiled themselves by their evil deeds, and their love of idols was adultery in the Lord’s sight.

  • This fall and dispersion subsequently happened in two stages:

    1. The Northern Kingdom by Assyria in 721 B.C.


    2. The Southern Kingdom in 586 B.C.



      The Southern Kingdom was attacked three times:

      1) The first was in 605 B.C., during the reign of King Jehoiakim, when Daniel was captured. Many sacred vessels were taken from the Jerusalem temple to Babylon at that time.

      2) The second occurred in 597 B.C., when King Jehoiachin was carried away. During this attack, the remainder of the
      sacred vessels were transported to Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-16.

      3) The third attack, in 586 B.C., resulted in the total destruction
      of Jerusalem. Its palaces and houses were burned to the ground and the temple left in ruins. King Zedekiah's eyes were put out and he was taken in chains to Babylon. Many of the people of Judah were deported with him. Only poorer inhabitants and those considered incapable of making trouble were allowed to remain. (2 Kings 25:1-21)




Foreign Empires that ruled in Israel Period Empire Major Events




  1. 721 B.C. The Northern Kingdom taken into exile by Assyria .

  2. 587 B.C. Babylonian Destruction of the first Temple.


  3. 538-333 B.C. Persian Return of the exiled Jews from Babylon and

  4. 520-515 B.C. Construction of the second Temple.


  5. 333-63 B.C. Hellenistic Conquest of the region by the army of Alexander the Great (333 B.C.). The Greeks generally allowed the Jews to run their state. But, during the rule of the king Antiochus IV, the Temple was desecrated. This brought about the revolt of the Maccabees, who established an independent rule. The related events are celebrated during the Hanukah holiday.


  6. 63 B.C. -313 A.D. The Roman army led by Titus conquered Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple at 70 CE. Jewish people were then exiled and dispersed to the Diaspora.

  7. In 132 A.D., Bar Kokhba organized a revolt against Roman rule, but was killed in a battle in Bethar in Judean Hills. Subsequently the Romans decimated the Jewish community, renamed Jerusalem as Aelia Capitolina and Judea as Palaestina to obliterate Jewish identification with the Land of Israel (the word Palestine, and the Arabic word Filastin originate from this Latin name). The remaining Jewish community moved to northern towns in the Galilee.

  8. Around 200 A.D. the Sanhedrin was moved to Tsippori (Zippori, Sepphoris). The Head of Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi (Judah the Prince), compiled the Jewish oral law, Mishna.


  9. 313-636 A.D. Byzantine period.


  10. 636-1099 A.D. Arab Dome of the Rock was built by Caliph Abd el-Malik on the grounds of the destroyed Jewish Temple.


  11. 1099-1291 A.D. The crusaders came from Europe to capture the Holy Land following an appeal by Pope Urban II, and massacred the non-Christian population (Jews and Muslims). Later Jewish community in Jerusalem expanded by immigration of Jews from Europe.


  12. 1516-1918 A.D. During the Ottoman reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-1566) the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem were rebuilt. Population of the Jewish community in Jerusalem increased.


  13. 1917-1948 A.D. British Great Britain recognized the rights of the Jewish people to establish a "national home in Palestine". Yet they greatly curtailed entry of Jewish refugees into Israel even after World War II. They split Palestine mandate into an Arab state which has become the modern day Jordan, and Israel.

  14. May 14, 1948 Israel declared its independence and was immediately attacked by the Arab states.


“The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.



  • Hmmm - What are these "secrets", and are we Gentiles now allowed to know them?

    • Isaiah 45:3:
      And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness - secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.

    • Matthew 10:26:
      “But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

    • Matthew 13:11:
      He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.

    • Mark 4:11:
      He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders,

    • Luke 8:10:
      He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled:‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’

    • Luke 8:17:
      For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.

    • Luke 12:2:
      The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all.

    • Romans 16:25:
      Now all glory to God, who is able to make you strong, just as my Good News says. This message about Jesus Christ has revealed his plan for you Gentiles, a plan kept secret from the beginning of time.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:1:
      When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan.

    • 1 Corinthians 2:10:
      But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.

    • 1 Corinthians 15:51:
      But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!

    • Ephesians 3:9:
      I was chosen to explain to everyone this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

    • Colossians 1:26-27:
      This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.




Deuteronomy 30


“In the future, when you experience all these blessings and curses I have listed for you, and when you are living among the nations to which the Lord your God has exiled you, take to heart all these instructions. IF at that time you and your children return to the Lord your God, and IF you obey with all your heart and all your soul all the commands I have given you today, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes. He will have mercy on you and gather you back from all the nations where he has scattered you. Even though you are banished to the ends of the earth, the Lord your God will gather you from there and bring you back again. The Lord your God will return you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will possess that land again. Then he will make you even more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors!



  • The official return began on May 14, 1948 after 2500+ years of being dispersed from their homeland. The prophesy of Moses is not complete yet, though - they haven't turned back to God to the extent specified. That's coming at the end of the tribulation. May 14, 1948 was just the start of a prophesy that was given over 3,400 years ago.


  • We see four events that must take place to fulfill this prophecy of Israel's restoration:


    1. A restoration to Israel's homeland in 1948 - NOT the return of the exiles in 535 B.C. under Cyrus.


    2. A work of grace in Israel's hearts.

    3. A judgment of Israel’s enemies.

    4. Prosperity in the land.




  • Some might argue that the return to the land to which Moses referred is the return under Cyrus beginning in 535 B.C. However, the total renewal, prosperity and longevity we see in this chapter were not fulfilled at that time.

    • 1948 was just the beginning of this process. Today Israel is a largely secular nation. There is respect for the Bible as a book of history and national identity, but there is not, and has not been, a true turning to the Lord God, particularly as a nation.

    • The picture of regathering in Ezekiel 37 - the vision of the dry bones - shows Israel regathered, and strong, before the Lord breathed the breath of His Spirit on the regathered Israel.

    • Not until after the millennium begins will the total dependence upon the Messiah by Israel be realized.



  • Paul quotes these verses in Romans 10:6-8. In these verses Moses proclaims to the people that simple acceptance of God's law is all that is required. Paul uses this passage to proclaim the same - simple faith in Jesus Christ as one's Savior is all that is required.


“The Lord your God will change your heart and the hearts of all your descendants, so that you will love him with all your heart and soul and so you may live! The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate and persecute you. Then you will again obey the Lord and keep all his commands that I am giving you today. “The Lord your God will then make you successful in everything you do. He will give you many children and numerous livestock, and he will cause your fields to produce abundant harvests, for the Lord will again delight in being good to you as he was to your ancestors. The Lord your God will delight in you IF you obey his voice and keep the commands and decrees written in this Book of Instruction, and IF you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.


“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.


“Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster. For I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. IF you do this, you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy. “But if your heart turns away and you refuse to listen, and if you are drawn away to serve and worship other gods, then I warn you now that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live a long, good life in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And IF you love and obey the Lord, you will live long in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”


Deuteronomy 31


When Moses had finished giving these instructions to all the people of Israel, he said, “I am now 120 years old, and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has told me, ‘You will not cross the Jordan River.’ But the Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy the nations living there, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua will lead you across the river, just as the Lord promised.


...


So Moses wrote this entire body of instruction in a book and gave it to the priests, who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, and to the elders of Israel. Then Moses gave them this command: “At the end of every seventh year, the Year of Release, during the Festival of Shelters, you must read this Book of Instruction to all the people of Israel when they assemble before the Lord your God at the place he chooses. Call them all together—men, women, children, and the foreigners living in your towns—so they may hear this Book of Instruction and learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully obey all the terms of these instructions. Do this so that your children who have not known these instructions will hear them and will learn to fear the Lord your God. Do this as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to occupy.”



  • Lest we misunderstand the command here, Israel actually assembled three times each year according to Exodus 34:23; these gatherings were the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks (Pentecost) and the Feast of Tabernacles. The specifications of "every seventh year" was for the purpose of reading the law to the people every seven years at the annual gathering for the Feast of Tabernacles.

  • The first we know of a public reading of the law is in Joshua 8:30. The next we hear of it is during the reign of Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:7), more than 500 years later. Then, in the reign of Josiah there was another public reading of the law (2 Chronicles 34:30), more than 250 years after Jehoshaphat. With this kind of neglect of God’s word, no wonder Israel was so often in trouble!


Then the Lord said to Moses, “The time has come for you to die.


Call Joshua and present yourselves at the Tabernacle, so that I may commission him there.” So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the Tabernacle. And the Lord appeared to them in a pillar of cloud that stood at the entrance to the sacred tent. The Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die and join your ancestors. After you are gone, these people will begin to worship foreign gods, the gods of the land where they are going. They will abandon me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will blaze forth against them. I will abandon them, hiding my face from them, and they will be devoured. Terrible trouble will come down on them, and on that day they will say, ‘These disasters have come down on us because God is no longer among us!’ At that time I will hide my face from them on account of all the evil they commit by worshiping other gods. “So write down the words of this song, and teach it to the people of Israel. Help them learn it, so it may serve as a witness for me against them.


For I will bring them into the land I swore to give their ancestors—a land flowing with milk and honey. There they will become prosperous, eat all the food they want, and become fat.


But they will begin to worship other gods; they will despise me and break my covenant. And when great disasters come down on them, this song will stand as evidence against them, for it will never be forgotten by their descendants. I know the intentions of these people, even now before they have entered the land I swore to give them.”


So that very day Moses wrote down the words of the song and taught it to the Israelites.


Then the Lord commissioned Joshua son of Nun with these words: “Be strong and courageous, for you must bring the people of Israel into the land I swore to give them. I will be with you.”


When Moses had finished writing this entire body of instruction in a book, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant: “Take this Book of Instruction and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, so it may remain there as a witness against the people of Israel. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are. Even now, while I am still alive and am here with you, you have rebelled against the Lord. How much more rebellious will you be after my death!



  • Where was the Torah scroll placed? The Sages of Israel were divided over this matter. Some maintained that there was a shelf protruding from the Ark, where it was put. Others maintained that it was put next to the tablets, inside the Ark.

  • 2 Kings 22:8-23: Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the court secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the Lord’s Temple!” Then Hilkiah gave the scroll to Shaphan, and he read it. Shaphan went to the king (Josiah ) and reported, “Your officials have turned over the money collected at the Temple of the Lord to the workers and supervisors at the Temple.” Shaphan also told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a scroll.” So Shaphan read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes in despair....Then the king summoned all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the Temple of the Lord with all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, along with the priests and the prophets—all the people from the least to the greatest. There the king read to them the entire Book of the Covenant that had been found in the Lord’s Temple. The king took his place of authority beside the pillar and renewed the covenant in the Lord’s presence. He pledged to obey the Lord by keeping all his commands, laws, and decrees with all his heart and soul. In this way, he confirmed all the terms of the covenant that were written in the scroll, and all the people pledged themselves to the covenant.

  • Some raise objections at this point, wondering who wrote the last three chapters of Deuteronomy, because the text says that Moses finished here. No doubt, Joshua had the remainder of Moses’ words and deeds recorded and added to the end of his magnificent work.


“Now summon all the elders and officials of your tribes, so that I can speak to them directly and call heaven and earth to witness against them. I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.” So Moses recited this entire song publicly to the assembly of Israel:


Deuteronomy 32 is mostly the Song of Moses, which we're going to skip for now except for this little piece:




  • Now I will rouse their jealousy through people who are not even a people;
    I will provoke their anger through the foolish Gentiles.

    • The Apostle Paul refers to this verse to turning to the Gentiles with the gospel after the Jewish rejection of Christ in Romans 10:19.




So Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song to the people. When Moses had finished reciting all these words to the people of Israel, he added: “Take to heart all the words of warning I have given you today. Pass them on as a command to your children so they will obey every word of these instructions. These instructions are not empty words—they are your life! By obeying them you will enjoy a long life in the land you will occupy when you cross the Jordan River.”


That same day the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Moab, to the mountains east of the river, and climb Mount Nebo, which is across from Jericho. Look out across the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the people of Israel as their own special possession. Then you will die there on the mountain. You will join your ancestors, just as Aaron, your brother, died on Mount Hor and joined his ancestors. For both of you betrayed me with the Israelites at the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. You failed to demonstrate my holiness to the people of Israel there. So you will see the land from a distance, but you may not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”


Deuteronomy 33


This is the blessing that Moses, the man of God, gave to the people of Israel before his death: “The Lord came from Mount Sinai and dawned upon us from Mount Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran and came from Meribah-kadesh with flaming fire at his right hand. Indeed, he loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands. They follow in his steps and accept his teaching. Moses gave us the Lord’s instruction, the special possession of the people of Israel. The Lord became king in Israel— when the leaders of the people assembled, when the tribes of Israel gathered as one.”



  • Moses said this about the tribe of Reuben: “Let the tribe of Reuben live and not die out, though they are few in number.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Judah: “O Lord, hear the cry of Judah and bring them together as a people. Give them strength to defend their cause; help them against their enemies!”

    • Moses knew this destiny for the tribe of Judah from Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49:10: The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from his descendants, until the coming of the one to whom it belongs, the one whom all nations will honor.



  • Moses said this about the tribe of Levi: “O Lord, you have given your Thummim and Urim—the sacred lots— to your faithful servants the Levites. You put them to the test at Massah and struggled with them at the waters of Meribah. The Levites obeyed your word and guarded your covenant. They were more loyal to you than to their own parents. They ignored their relatives and did not acknowledge their own children. They teach your regulations to Jacob; they give your instructions to Israel. They present incense before you and offer whole burnt offerings on the altar. Bless the ministry of the Levites, O Lord, and accept all the work of their hands. Hit their enemies where it hurts the most; strike down their foes so they never rise again.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Benjamin: “The people of Benjamin are loved by the Lord and live in safety beside him. He surrounds them continuously and preserves them from every harm.”

    • The place of special love and blessing Benjamin had would be prophetically fulfilled in a Benjaminite city becoming the center of the nation - Jerusalem.



  • Moses said this about the tribes of Joseph: “May their land be blessed by the Lord with the precious gift of dew from the heavens and water from beneath the earth; with the rich fruit that grows in the sun, and the rich harvest produced each month; with the finest crops of the ancient mountains, and the abundance from the everlasting hills; with the best gifts of the earth and its bounty, and the favor of the one who appeared in the burning bush. May these blessings rest on Joseph’s head, crowning the brow of the prince among his brothers. Joseph has the majesty of a young bull; he has the horns of a wild ox. He will gore distant nations, driving them to the ends of the earth. This is my blessing for the multitudes of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.”

  • Moses said this about the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar: “May the people of Zebulun prosper in their travels. May the people of Issachar prosper at home in their tents. They summon the people to the mountain to offer proper sacrifices there They benefit from the riches of the sea and the hidden treasures in the sand.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Gad: “Blessed is the one who enlarges Gad’s territory! Gad is poised there like a lion to tear off an arm or a head. The people of Gad took the best land for themselves; a leader’s share was assigned to them When the leaders of the people were assembled, they carried out the Lord’s justice and obeyed his regulations for Israel.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Dan: “Dan is a lion’s cub, leaping out from Bashan.”

    • History records that Dan was a troublesome tribe. They were the tribe to introduce idolatry into Israel (Judges 18:30); Jeroboam set up one of his idolatrous golden calves in Dan (1 Kings 12:26-30), and later Dan became a center of idol worship in Israel (Amos 8:14). Indeed, Jacob said of Dan in Genesis 49:17, Dan will be a snake beside the road.



  • Moses said this about the tribe of Naphtali: “O Naphtali, you are rich in favor and full of the Lord’s blessings; may you possess the west and the south.”

  • Moses said this about the tribe of Asher: “May Asher be blessed above other sons; may he be esteemed by his brothers; may he bathe his feet in olive oil. May the bolts of your gates be of iron and bronze; may you be secure all your days.


  • Where's Simeon in these blessings? As a matter of fact, the Tribe of Simeon gets swallowed up into the Tribe of Judah when they reach Canaan. Their inheritance is contained within the boundaries of Judah. Later on, they seem to disappear altogether. Remember that attempt to overthrow the theocracy in lieu of a democracy back in Numbers 16? Well, the Tribes on the south side of the Tabernacle (Simeon was one) took a big population hit as a result. When the census is taken at the end of the 40 years, their numbers have diminished by nearly two-thirds. Now, at the end of the 40 years, they are the smallest Tribe of Israel with just 22,200 men. And to make things worse, they don't even get a mention in the blessings of Moses.


“There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor. The eternal God is your refuge, and his everlasting arms are under you. He drives out the enemy before you; he cries out, ‘Destroy them!’ So Israel will live in safety, prosperous Jacob in security, in a land of grain and new wine, while the heavens drop down dew. How blessed you are, O Israel! Who else is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your protecting shield and your triumphant sword! Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will stomp on their backs!”


Deuteronomy 34


Then Moses went up to Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab and climbed Pisgah Peak, which is across from Jericho.


And the Lord showed him the whole land, from Gilead as far as Dan; all the land of Naphtali; the land of Ephraim and Manasseh; all the land of Judah, extending to the Mediterranean Sea; the Negev; the Jordan Valley with Jericho—the city of palms—as far as Zoar. Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have now allowed you to see it with your own eyes, but you will not enter the land.”



So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, just as the Lord had said.



  • Literally, the phrase just as the Lord had said means upon the mouth of the Lord. From this, ancient Jewish traditions say that Moses died as God took away his soul with a kiss. The medieval Jewish rabbi Maimonides says that of the 903 different ways to die, this was the best.


The Lord buried him in a valley near Beth-peor in Moab, but to this day no one knows the exact place.



  • Jude 9 speaks of an occasion when Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses. Apparently, there was a contention over the body of Moses, and according to Jude Michael the archangel won this contest as he appealed to the Lord’s authority: “The Lord rebuke you!”

  • Possibly, Satan wanted to use Moses’ body as an object of worship to lead Israel astray into idolatry.


Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyesight was clear, and he was as strong as ever.



  • Moses’ life was neatly divided into thirds. He spent 40 years as the crown prince of Egypt, 40 years as a humble shepherd in the wilderness, and 40 years leading the children of Israel to their destiny in the Promised Land. The first two-thirds were in preparation for the last one third. Moses was willing to let God prepare him for 80 years.


The people of Israel mourned for Moses on the plains of Moab for thirty days, until the customary period of mourning was over.


Now Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. So the people of Israel obeyed him, doing just as the Lord had commanded Moses.


There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.



  • The term face to face does not literally mean “physical face to physical face,” but it has the idea of free and unhindered communication. Moses had a remarkably intimate relationship with God.


The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land. With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.



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Sunday, December 6, 2009

Deuteronomy 21-28

Deuteronomy 21-28: Additional Rules When They Are in the Land



  • Undetected Homicide: In the event of an undetected homicide in the open country, the elders of the nearest city had to make atonement by breaking the neck of a heifer and then confessing their innocence before the priests above the dead heifer whereupon God would remove the bloodguiltness from upon the people.


    • The heifer is not burned, as in the usual sacrifices. However, its death is a sacrifice to atone for sin committed by an unknown person.

    • Why did they have to do this? These were small towns and its inhabitants should be aware of what's going on in their town. We assume that they would have told the Levites if they had had information about who may have been guilty.

    • This was important based on a principle stated in Numbers 35:33-34. This passage shows that the blood of unsolved, unavenged murder defiles and pollutes the land. Therefore, if there is a murder unavenged, some kind of cleansing is necessary, so the land will not be defiled.

      • Numbers 35:33-34: This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder. You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”

        • The reason behind many of these rules is that God lives among them!








  • Marrying a captive woman: A soldier could take a captive woman home where she must shave her head, cut her nails and change from the clothes she had been wearing and must be allowed to mourn for her parents for 1 month. Then he could marry her. But if he decides later he doesn't like her, he has to let her go free - she cannot be held as a slave.

    • Before marriage, she could have been sold as a slave. After marriage, however, she must be given her freedom to go wherever she pleases.

    • This law must apply for conquests of cities far away (20:10–15), otherwise the women would have been destroyed (20:17).

    • This legislation could have two basic results: the men would be restrained from rape, and the women would have time to become adjusted to their new condition.

    • The woman doesn't appear to have a choice.




  • Inheritance problem with two wives: He must give the double portion inheritance to the firstborn son, regardless of which wife bore him, even if it's the wife he doesn't like.

    • Monogamy was God's will (Genesis 2:24; Matthew 19:4-6).237 However, God also gave laws that regulated life when His people lived it in disobedience to His will. In other words, God did not approve of polygamy, but He tolerated it in Israel in the sense that He did not execute or punish polygamists through civil procedures.

      • Genesis 2:24: This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

      • Matthew 19:4-6: “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.”





  • Dealing with a rebellious, stubborn son who is a glutton and a drunkard: If he refuses to obey even when he is disciplined, the parents must take him to the town gate to the elders and hold court. All the men of the town must stone him to death.

    • The parents are ultimately responsible. The parents have done their part to correct him, hopefully in love.

    • This probably refers to a son who is old enough to be accountable.

    • The elders, after hearing his case, could have decided to give him probation.

    • Breaking the fifth commandment (5:16) attracted the death penalty. Notice that the parents take the initiative in this penalty.

    • This case presupposes a long history of rebelliousness. The son had become a glutton and a drunkard (v. 20). That is, he had developed a lifestyle of deviant behavior. Before loving parents would take the step available to them in this law, they would doubtless try every other measure to secure their son's correction. This was the last resort for the parents. This law withheld the right of parents to slay their children for rebelliousness while at the same time preserving parental authority fully.





  • Rules for the body of a criminal hung on a tree: The body is not to be left on the tree overnight - it must be buried the same day.

    • Hung on a tree: Or impaled on a pole. Jewish commentators believe that the person was killed then hung up on a tree.

    • Galatians 3:13: But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

    • Genesis 40:19: Three days from now Pharaoh will lift you up and impale your body on a pole. Then birds will come and peck away at your flesh.”

    • Jesus literally became accursed by God as he was upon the cross redeeming the world. The hanging of a body on a tree was most often done, not as the means of death, but rather as a form of public humiliation after death.

    • The method of public execution prescribed in Israel was normally stoning. After criminals had died, sometimes their executioners hung their bodies up for all to see as a deterrent to similar crimes.





  • Return goods (ox, sheep, goat, clothing, etc.) you find that don't belong to you.

    • The opposite of "Finders, keepers; Losers, weepers".

    • Being helpful to others included enemies.

      • Exodus 23:04: “If you come upon your enemy’s ox or donkey that has strayed away, take it back to its owner.



    • Helping to protect a neighbor's property fulfills the command to love your neighbor as yourself.

      • Leviticus 19:18: “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against a fellow Israelite, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.





  • Help your neighbor with a collapsed donkey or ox.

    • Who is "your neighbor"?

    • What about a broken water pipe? A broken down car? Or any other problem?




  • Proper roles for men and women: “A woman must not put on men’s clothing, and a man must not wear women’s clothing. Anyone who does this is detestable in the sight of the Lord your God.

    • Men and women are not to reverse their sexual roles. It's not the clothing style that offends God, but using the style to act our a different sex role.

    • It has been appropriately suggested that this rule may have been to protect against homosexual relationships where one partner acts like a person of the opposite sex. God created men and women as different. Proper clothing and behavior help preserve that distinction and maintain a special kind of respect.

    • In Old Testament times, men and women wore clothing that was superficially similar - long robes and wrapping garments were common for both sexes. Yet, the specific types of garments and the way in which they were worn made a clear distinction between the sexes, and this command instructs God’s people to respect those distinctions.

    • Some have taken this command to be the “proof-text” against women wearing pants and some Christian groups command that women wear only dresses. Yet, this is not a command against women wearing a garment that in some ways might be common between men and women; it is a command against dressing in a manner which deliberately blurs the lines between the sexes.

    • The dramatic rise in cross-dressing and “gender-bender” behavior in our culture is a shocking trampling of this command, and will reap a bitter harvest in more perversion and more gender confusion in our culture.

    • This law most likely prohibits transvestitism. The strong word abomination may also suggest transvestite practices associated with pagan temple prostitution.

    • Men appeared in women's clothing and vice versa in some of the worship rituals of Astarte. Perhaps for these reasons God gave the command to wear clothing appropriate to one's own sex as well as because God intended to keep the sexes distinct. Homosexuality was punishable by death in Israel.




  • OSHA Rules:

    • Build a railing around the flat roof of a building. These areas were used for sleeping and resting (and bathing in Bathsheba's case).




  • Purity rather than Mixture: One is to not mix seeds in a vineyard, animals at a plow or materials together in clothing. There is to be natural purity.

    • These laws prohibit mixing various items, reflecting God's ordering of creation “according to its kind” (e.g., Genesis 1:25). They also reminded Israelites that God had separated them from other peoples to be distinct and holy (Deuteronomy 14:2).




  • Tassels on Garments:

    • Israel is to tie tassels on the four corners of their garments to remind them to obey the Law.

      • Numbers 15:38: “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: Throughout the generations to come you must make tassels for the hems of your clothing and attach them with a blue cord.



    • In Jesus’ day, He had to condemn the Pharisees in Matthew 23:5, saying they enlarge the borders of their garments. In other words, they made the tasseled portion of their garments larger and more prominent to show how spiritual they were.

      • Matthew 23:5: “Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.



        • Matthew 9:20-21: Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe, for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”

        • Matthew 14:36: They begged him to let the sick touch at least the fringe of his robe, and all who touched him were healed.








  • A man accusing his new bride that she wasn't a virgin:


    • The betrothal was a legally-binding agreement between the father and groom. This usually took place a year or more before marriage. From the time of betrothal, the woman was regarded by everyone as the lawful wife of the man to whom she was betrothed. The marriage itself consisted basically of the consummation of the relationship. Here's the unusual part. Immediately after the first night for the newlyweds, the parents of the bride would strip the bed and hold in storage the bed sheet for future reference. If the new husband ever called into question the virginity of the bride prior to that night, the stained bed sheet served as evidence before the elders of the city. A false accusation by the husband resulted in a stiff fine, and he relinquished his right to ever divorce her. However, if her virginity previous to her wedding night could not be proved, she was stoned to death.

    • According to custom, a Jewish woman would first be intimate with her husband upon a special cloth, which would collect the small drops of blood which were accepted as evidence of the young woman’s virginity. This blood-stained cloth would then become the property of the married woman’s parents, who kept it as the evidence of the young woman’s virginity.

    • If the man's accusation was false, the town elders are to punish him and fine him 100 pieces payable to her father. The woman remains his wife and he can never divorce her.

    • If is accusations were true, the men of the town are to take her to the door of her father and stone her to death there because the father's lack of guidance and discipline and teaching were the cause.

    • In some cultures, there is the custom of showing a bloodstained cloth on the wedding night as “proof” of the bride’s virginity. This custom is still practiced in some Egyptian villages to this day. Relatives of the bride and the groom actually sit outside the newlywed couple’s room on the wedding night waiting for the bloody bed sheet to be exhibited. This is also true in some Greek weddings.

    • Historical evidence suggests that the virginity cloth was the bed sheet from the wedding night. By the first century, what would often happen is after the marriage was consummated, the sheet would be hung in the window of home to show that the woman was in fact a virgin.





  • Sexual Sin & Rape:

    • Punishment for adultery: Both must die!

    • Premarital sex with a virgin who is engaged: They are both to be taken to the gates of the town and be stoned to death.

    • Rape in the country of an engaged virgin: The man must die at the gates of the town, because it is assumed that she screamed for help but no one was there to rescue her.

    • Rape in the city of an engaged virgin: They are both to be stoned to death at the gates of the town because she evidently didn't scream for help.

    • Premarital sex with a virgin who is not engaged: The man must pay her father 50 pieces of silver, must marry the girl, and can never divorce her.

    • A man must not marry his mother-in-law.




  • Whom to Allow in the Assembly:

    • The assembly of the Lord may not be entered by anyone who: is emasculated, of illegitimate birth to the tenth generation, Ammorite, or Moabite to the tenth generation because of their hostility toward the nation in the wilderness when Israel came from Egypt.

    • However the assembly of the Lord may be entered by Edomites who are Israel’s brothers and by Egyptians because Israel was an alien in their land.





    • This probably refers to men made eunuchs in the context of pagan worship. cut off. In Galatians 5:12 (“emasculate themselves”) Paul uses the same verb as appears in the Greek translation of Deuteronomy, perhaps to imply that his opponents are acting like pagans; by this action the ancient Israelites would disqualify themselves from entry into the assembly.



      • Galatians 5:12 (Contemporary English Version): I wish that everyone who is upsetting you would not only get circumcised, but would cut off much more!






  • Bodily Functions: All bodily functions (nocturnal emissions, excrement) are to be cared for outside of the camp so that the camp will be clean for the presence of the Lord.

    • The idea of the divine presence in their midst was all-important. This fact was to govern their most private habits, and give character to all their ways.

    • If He was in their midst to secure victory over their enemies, He was also there to demand holiness of life.

    • It is our privilege to have God the Spirit dwelling in us, individually and collectively. Thus we read, in 1 Corinthians 6: 19, "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself," This is individual.




  • Runaway slaves:

    • Runaway slaves shall not be handed over to their (foreign) masters, but shall be allowed to live in one of Israel’s towns without being mistreated.

    • Most students of the Old Testament agree that this regulation concerns a slave who has escaped from his master in some foreign land and sought refuge in Israel.

    • In addition to slaves captured in battle, debt slavery and voluntary slavery existed in Israel and was protected by law.




  • Temple prostitutes: None of the children of Israel may be cult prostitutes and Israel may not hire any harlot to seek fertility from pagan gods since this is an abomination to the Lord.

    • Cultic prostitution was practiced by Canaanite religion as a fertility rite. It was strictly prohibited for ancient Israel.

    • See Genesis 38 about Tamar acting as a temple prostitute with Judah.




  • Prostitution earnings: Not to be brought as an offering to the house of the Lord. Prostitution is detestable to the Lord.

    • Prostitution is strictly forbidden.





  • Charging interest:


    • No interest to be charged to a fellow Israelite.

    • Okay to charge interest to a foreigner.





  • Voluntary vows: Fulfill the vow promptly and in full.

    • Acts 18:18: Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that, then said good-bye to the brothers and sisters and went to nearby Cenchrea. There he shaved his head according to Jewish custom, marking the end of a vow. Then he set sail for Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.




  • Eating fruit or grain in someone else's field: Okay to eat your fill, but you can't harvest or carry away in a basket.

    • Incidentally, the Pharisees accused the disciples of Jesus of breaking the law when they gathered corn on the Sabbath day for personal consumption (Matthew 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5). They accused them of reaping corn on the Sabbath. We see from this passage of scripture that doing so in the field itself was simply feeding oneself, not reaping.




  • Divorce:
    The man can write a letter of divorce and send her away. She can then marry another, but she cannot go back to the first husband.

    • This is not endorsing divorce. What did Jesus say?

      • Matthew 19:3-10: Some Pharisees came and tried to trap him with this question: “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?” “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied. “They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’ And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’ Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” “Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” they asked. Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.” Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!”








  • The draft: Newly married man must be allowed to spend one year at home, "bringing happiness to the wife he has married."

    • There are two reasons for this:

      1. To allow time for the marriage to strengthen and

      2. To ensure that the woman would get pregnant and have a child before he goes off to war so that if he died in battle, he would have an heir.





  • Security for a loan:

    • You can't take the man's means of a living as security (a millstone is one example).

    • You can't enter the person's house to get the security item.

    • You can't keep overnight his cloak if used as security.





  • Kidnapping: The death penalty!


  • Skin diseases: Follow the instructions of the Levitical priests. "Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam as you were coming from Egypt."


  • Labor laws: You must pay fair wages every day before sunset.


  • Sins of children: Parents must not be put to death for their children's sins.


  • Sins of parents: Children must not be put to death for their parent's sins.


  • Justice: True justice is not just for the Israelites, but also for the foreigners and orphans.


  • Feeding the foreigners, orphans and widows: Don't go back for missed bundles of grain or olives or grapes.


  • Flogging: Limited to 40 lashes.

    • Rabbis in the first century decreed 39 stripes instead of 40; they wanted to be certain there was a margin for error so as to not exceed the letter of the law in case of a miscount.

    • 2 Corinthians 11:24: Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. In the case of these Law-prescribed beatings, the judge was to oversee the beating as the beatee was to lie, face down, on the ground for the punishment.




  • “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.

    • Paul makes reference to this verse when talking about preachers getting paid in I Timothy 5:18




  • Levirate marriage: If a man marries and then dies without children, the wife is not to marry outside of the family but to allow her husband’s brother to marry her and raise up seed to the name of his dead brother to prevent his name from being blotted out; but if the brother will not fulfill his duty he is to be disgraced before the whole community.

    • See the story of Ruth.

    • In fact, providing an heir was the issue here. The widow needed an heir for her dead husband, and the remaining brother was obligated to provide that heir in his brother's name - without regard to the one or more wives he might already have.

    • In Matthew 22:23–33 the Sadducees use this law in an effort to disprove the idea of resurrection, and Jesus reveals their faulty reasoning.

    • It is possible that Paul's advice in 1 Corinthians, allowing a widow to marry “whom she wishes,” was addressed to Christians who thought this law was still applicable.

      • 1 Corinthians 7:39: A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If her husband dies, she is free to marry anyone she wishes, but only if he loves the Lord.





  • Honesty in business: Use accurate scales. God hates cheaters.


  • Amalekites: Destroy them from the land! Exodus 17:8-16
    discusses the battle of the Israelites with the Amalekites.

    • According to the Jewish Study Bible, "These verses are read liturgically on the Sabbath before Purim, since according to Jewish tradition, Haman, the evil protagonist of Esther, is an Amalekite (see 1 Samuel 15:8 and Esther 8:3)."

    • The Amalekites remained a thorn in Israel's side. Notably, Saul failed to destroy them (1 Samuel 15:1–9), though David later defeated them (1 Samuel 30:1–20).




  • Offering of First Fruit when Entering the Land: When Israel enters the land they are to offer the first fruits to the Lord at the place where He chooses to dwell declaring the Lord’s faithfulness to him and on the third year he is to give it to the Levite, stranger, orphan, and stranger in his city asking for the Lord’s blessing in obedience.


  • Special tithe: “Every third year you must offer a special tithe of your crops. In this year of the special tithe you must give your tithes to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, so that they will have enough to eat in your towns. Then you must declare in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘I have taken the sacred gift from my house and have given it to the Levites, foreigners, orphans, and widows, just as you commanded me. I have not violated or forgotten any of your commands. I have not eaten any of it while in mourning; I have not handled it while I was ceremonially unclean; and I have not offered any of it to the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God and have done everything you commanded me. Now look down from your holy dwelling place in heaven and bless your people Israel and the land you swore to our ancestors to give us—a land flowing with milk and honey.’


  • Setting up an altar after crossing the Jordan: Then Moses and the leaders of Israel gave this charge to the people: “Obey all these commands that I am giving you today. When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, set up some large stones and coat them with plaster. Write this whole body of instruction on them when you cross the river to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you—a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. When you cross the Jordan, set up these stones at Mount Ebal and coat them with plaster, as I am commanding you today. “Then build an altar there to the Lord your God, using natural, uncut stones. You must not shape the stones with an iron tool. Build the altar of uncut stones, and use it to offer burnt offerings to the Lord your God. Also sacrifice peace offerings on it, and celebrate by feasting there before the Lord your God. You must clearly write all these instructions on the stones coated with plaster.”

    • Altars were to be made of fieldstones and not cut - unlike those of the pagans.

    • The temple was built without iron tools.

    • Notice that the writing is temporary - it would be eventually washed and weathered off - unlike carving of the stones - showing that the law itself was temporary.

    • Joshua 8:30–31 clearly states that Joshua built "an altar of uncut stones" on Mount Ebal in accordance with divine instruction to Moses (Deuteronomy 27:2–8).

    • Excavations at Mount Ebal have uncovered a worship site with a large altar (30 x 23 feet) constructed of unhewn stones, accessed by a gently sloping ramp. The pottery dates to the Israelite settlement. This perhaps is the altar that Joshua built or is built on top of Joshua's altar.






  • Blessings and cursings:

  • This is about the big service planned atop Mount Gerizim/Ebal when they get to Canaan. It actually takes place in Joshua 8:29-35. As Israel is encamped on the east side of the Jordan preparing to go into their promised land, Canaan, God's making a very big impression on Israel regarding the rewards of exclusively serving him. This chapter is a repeat of what was proclaimed to Israel in Leviticus 26. Obey God and everything will be perpetually great.

  • That same day Moses also gave this charge to the people: “When you cross the Jordan River, the tribes of Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin must stand on Mount Gerizim to proclaim a blessing over the people. And the tribes of Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali must stand on Mount Ebal to proclaim a curse.




  • Curses: “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey ALL the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you: “Then the Levites will shout to all the people of Israel:

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who carves or casts an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols, the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who dishonors father or mother.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who steals property from a neighbor by moving a boundary marker.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who leads a blind person astray on the road.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who denies justice to foreigners, orphans, or widows.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with one of his father’s wives, for he has violated his father.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with an animal.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his sister, whether she is the daughter of his father or his mother.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who has sexual intercourse with his mother-in-law.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who attacks a neighbor in secret.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’

    • ‘Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.’

      And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’




  • Reward for the nation's obedience: “IF you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep ALL his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience ALL these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:



      • Your towns and your fields will be blessed.

      • Your children and your crops will be blessed.

      • The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.

      • Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.

      • Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.

      • The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!

      • The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain.

      • The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.

      • If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do. Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

      • The Lord will give you prosperity in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you, blessing you with many children, numerous livestock, and abundant crops.

      • The Lord will send rain at the proper time from his rich treasury in the heavens and will bless all the work you do.

      • You will lend to many nations, but you will never need to borrow from them.

      • If you listen to these commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, and if you carefully obey them, the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always be on top and never at the bottom.

      • You must not turn away from any of the commands I am giving you today, nor follow after other gods and worship them.



    • Curses for Disobedience: “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:


      • Your towns and your fields will be cursed.

      • Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be cursed.

      • Your children and your crops will be cursed.

      • The offspring of your herds and flocks will be cursed.

      • Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed.

      • The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me.

      • The Lord will afflict you with diseases until none of you are left in the land you are about to enter and occupy.

      • The Lord will strike you with wasting diseases, fever, and inflammation, with scorching heat and drought, and with blight and mildew.

      • These disasters will pursue you until you die.

      • The skies above will be as unyielding as bronze, and the earth beneath will be as hard as iron.

      • The Lord will change the rain that falls on your land into powder, and dust will pour down from the sky until you are destroyed.

      • The Lord will cause you to be defeated by your enemies. You will attack your enemies from one direction, but you will scatter from them in seven! You will be an object of horror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your corpses will be food for all the scavenging birds and wild animals, and no one will be there to chase them away.

      • The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, scurvy, and the itch, from which you cannot be cured.

      • The Lord will strike you with madness, blindness, and panic. You will grope around in broad daylight like a blind person groping in the darkness, but you will not find your way.

      • You will be oppressed and robbed continually, and no one will come to save you.

      • You will be engaged to a woman, but another man will sleep with her.

      • You will build a house, but someone else will live in it.

      • You will plant a vineyard, but you will never enjoy its fruit.

      • Your ox will be butchered before your eyes, but you will not eat a single bite of the meat.

      • Your donkey will be taken from you, never to be returned.

      • Your sheep and goats will be given to your enemies, and no one will be there to help you.

      • You will watch as your sons and daughters are taken away as slaves. Your heart will break for them, but you won’t be able to help them.

      • A foreign nation you have never heard about will eat the crops you worked so hard to grow.

      • You will suffer under constant oppression and harsh treatment.

      • You will go mad because of all the tragedy you see around you.

      • The Lord will cover your knees and legs with incurable boils. In fact, you will be covered from head to foot.

      • The Lord will exile you and your king to a nation unknown to you and your ancestors. There in exile you will worship gods of wood and stone! You will become an object of horror, ridicule, and mockery among all the nations to which the Lord sends you.

      • You will plant much but harvest little, for locusts will eat your crops.

      • You will plant vineyards and care for them, but you will not drink the wine or eat the grapes, for worms will destroy the vines.

      • You will grow olive trees throughout your land, but you will never use the olive oil, for the fruit will drop before it ripens.

      • You will have sons and daughters, but you will lose them, for they will be led away into captivity.

      • Swarms of insects will destroy your trees and crops.

      • The foreigners living among you will become stronger and stronger, while you become weaker and weaker. They will lend money to you, but you will not lend to them. They will be the head, and you will be the tail!

      • If you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and to obey the commands and decrees he has given you, all these curses will pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed.

      • These horrors will serve as a sign and warning among you and your descendants forever.

      • If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you.

      • You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything.

      • The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.

      • The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand, a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young. Its armies will devour your livestock and crops, and you will be destroyed. They will leave you no grain, new wine, olive oil, calves, or lambs, and you will starve to death. They will attack your cities until all the fortified walls in your land—the walls you trusted to protect you—are knocked down. They will attack all the towns in the land the Lord your God has given you.

      • The siege and terrible distress of the enemy’s attack will be so severe that you will eat the flesh of your own sons and daughters, whom the Lord your God has given you. The most tenderhearted man among you will have no compassion for his own brother, his beloved wife, and his surviving children. He will refuse to share with them the flesh he is devouring—the flesh of one of his own children—because he has nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns. The most tender and delicate woman among you—so delicate she would not so much as touch the ground with her foot—will be selfish toward the husband she loves and toward her own son or daughter. She will hide from them the afterbirth and the new baby she has borne, so that she herself can secretly eat them. She will have nothing else to eat during the siege and terrible distress that your enemy will inflict on all your towns.

        • 2 Kings 6:28-29: But then the king asked, “What is the matter?” She replied, “This woman said to me: ‘Come on, let’s eat your son today, then we will eat my son tomorrow.’ So we cooked my son and ate him. Then the next day I said to her, ‘Kill your son so we can eat him,’ but she has hidden her son.”

        • Lamentations 2:20 : “O Lord, think about this! Should you treat your own people this way? Should mothers eat their own children, those they once bounced on their knees? Should priests and prophets be killed within the Lord’s Temple?

        • Lamentations 4:10: Tenderhearted women have cooked their own children. They have eaten them to survive the siege.

        • Jeremiah 19:9: I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone. Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends. They will be driven to utter despair.’



      • If you refuse to obey all the words of instruction that are written in this book, and if you do not fear the glorious and awesome name of the Lord your God, then the Lord will overwhelm you and your children with indescribable plagues. These plagues will be intense and without relief, making you miserable and unbearably sick. He will afflict you with all the diseases of Egypt that you feared so much, and you will have no relief. The Lord will afflict you with every sickness and plague there is, even those not mentioned in this Book of Instruction, until you are destroyed. Though you become as numerous as the stars in the sky, few of you will be left because you would not listen to the Lord your God.

      • Just as the Lord has found great pleasure in causing you to prosper and multiply, the Lord will find pleasure in destroying you. You will be torn from the land you are about to enter and occupy. For the Lord will scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship foreign gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods made of wood and stone! There among those nations you will find no peace or place to rest. And the Lord will cause your heart to tremble, your eyesight to fail, and your soul to despair. Your life will constantly hang in the balance. You will live night and day in fear, unsure if you will survive. In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were night!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘If only it were morning!’ For you will be terrified by the awful horrors you see around you. Then the Lord will send you back to Egypt in ships, to a destination I promised you would never see again. There you will offer to sell yourselves to your enemies as slaves, but no one will buy you.

        • This came true when Israel was defeated and carried away into captivity by Assyria (722 BC) and Judah to Babylonia (586 BC). Later, in AD 70, after Jerusalem was destroyed by Rome, the people were scattered throughout the various nations.

        • The curse of exile eventually comes for the northern kingdom under Assyria (2 Kings 17) and for the southern kingdom of Judah under Babylon (2 Kings 25).






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    About Me

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    Bible studies are held in Oakbay subdivision in Noblesville, Indiana. In-person Sunday studies have been eliminated because of COVID-19 concerns. Wednesday studies at 7:00 pm led by Don Terry via Zoom - presently studying the Book of Acts from a dispensationalist viewpoint. Bi-monthly Wednesday’s women’s studies at 7:00 pm led by Carolyn Terry via Zoom - presently studying Paul’s second letter to Timothy - and his last writing. You can see several of our present and past studies but we covered many other subjects before starting this blog. The goal of these studies is to bring each of us to know Christ better (epignosis) and then to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” as mentioned by Paul in Philippians 3:14 and to hear Jesus’ “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”. Dedicated to the memory of Don & Carolyn Terry’s daughter, DJ (Dorothy Jean) Terry, who went to be with the Lord Jesus Christ in 1999 at 20 years old.