We read of certain prohibitions the Lord commanded Israel and may wonder what’s behind them. One such that we come across today in our reading is Deuteronomy 12:23 in which Yahweh declares through Moses: “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat…
Deuteronomy 9:3 – A Consuming Fire
God created us with an ego, but that sure can get out of hand! The Oxford English dictionary says about ego that it’s “a person’s sense of self-esteem or self-importance.” Certainly the self-esteem part of the definition is critical simply so we can function on a daily basis. We have to feel a sense of…
Deuteronomy 7:14 – Blessed Above All Peoples
The Lord wanted to bless His children Israel. He told them time and again all that He wanted to do for them. When they responded positively to His giving them the Ten Commandments, listen to the yearning of Yahweh’s heart in Deuteronomy 5:29: “Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear…
Deuteronomy 4:15 – Watch Yourselves
When Moses repeated the Word of the Lord to the children of Israel prior to his death and their crossing the Jordan River into Canaan with Joshua at the helm, he gave them severe warnings along with a reminder of who their God was. The Israelites were to heed God’s Word for their own safety…
Deuteronomy 2:34 – No Survivors
The book of Deuteronomy is the second telling of the Law. Often, what it provides is more detail from the narrative of the previous books that comprise the 5-volume Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). We get a good dose of that in the first two chapters and learn some very interesting details about the…
Numbers 35:33 – Blood Pollutes the Land
Some of the final instructions to the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan River into the land of Canaan gave them important principles that we in modern times should have heeded, but did not. They display the character and intent of God, which ultimately His people ignored, and which we likewise have disdained in the…