# commentaries

text:
<p><em>These are the words of the covenant which Yahweh commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb-</em></p><p>This additional repetition of the covenant was because by grace, God wished to reaffirm the covenant even though Israel had broken their part of it- see on :13 and :23. The covenant on Sinai (<em><a href='B:20 19:20'>Exo 19:20</a></em>) was reaffirmed in the plains of Moab (<em><a href='B:50 29:1'>Deu 29:1</a></em>) and on Joshua's death (<em><a href='B:60 24:25'>Jos 24:25</a></em>), and was to be reaffirmed every seven years (<em><a href='B:50 31:9-11'>Deu 31:9-11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:25-26'>Deu 31:25-26</a></em>). It is this reaffirmation of covenant relationship which we make in the breaking of bread service.</p>


text:
<p><em>Moses called all Israel and said to them, You have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land;-</em></p><p>As in <em><a href='B:50 4:34'>Deu 4:34</a></em> and <em><a href='B:50 7:19'>Deu 7:19</a></em> they had not literally seen these things- the audience by the end of Deuteronomy included those who had been born during the 40 years wandering. But historical events in God's word are as if we were there, hence David can rejoice as if he personally was delivered at the Red Sea. </p>


text:
<p><em>the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs and those great wonders- </em></p><p>The individual Israelite was to perceive his absolute connection with God's historical deliverance of His people from Egypt. And to be appropriately awed by all the grace shown in that. In our world, human history is generally felt to be bunk, irrelevant to this generation, of merely passing cultural fascination to the hurrying man of modern society. And in some ways, that may indeed be a legitimate take on secular history. But Biblical history is to be seen quite otherwise by God's people. It is a living word spoken to us, and the salvation acts which are there recorded happened to us. We are to learn from history, not as a merely fascinating exercise. But the Bible is history, and yet it is a living word to us. Israel were supposed to reason back from the actions of Egypt towards them, and their weakness spiritually at that time. And to respond personally to that grace. </p>


text:
<p><em>But Yahweh has not given you a heart to know and eyes to see and ears to hear, to this day-</em></p><p>In :2 we are told "you have seen" , but they didn't spiritually 'see' what they saw with their physical eyes. God confirms people in the psychological attitudes they adopt.</p>


text:
<p><em>I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not grown old on you and your shoes have not grown old on your feet-</em></p><p>The observation that their "clothes didn’t grow old, and their feet didn’t swell" is made in the context of lamenting that "Yet Yahweh has not given you a heart to perceive nor eyes to see nor ears to hear" (<em><a href='B:50 29:4'>Deu 29:4</a></em>). They refused to perceive His great and daily grace to them as witnessed in His daily provision of food and clothing, just as we can fail to perceive it today. Regular prayers of thanksgiving before food are a good way of guarding against this human tendency to not perceive such grace. The returned exiles likewise had been miraculously provided for by the decrees of the Persian kings, but refused to perceive the grace of all that provision (<em><a href='B:160 9:21'>Neh 9:21</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>You have not eaten bread neither have you drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am Yahweh your God-</em></p><p>The whole process of Nazariteship was to encourage the normal Israelite to have the ambition to rise up to the spirit of the High Priest himself; the restrictions governing Nazariteship were a purposeful echo of those regarding the High Priest. The way God describes Himself as depriving Israel of "wine or strong drink" (<em><a href='B:50 29:6'>Deu 29:6</a></em>) throughout the wilderness journey is Nazarite language: as if in all their weakness and profligacy, God still sought to inspire them to rise up to the heights.</p>


text:
<p><em>When we came to this place- </em></p><p>Moses was standing with the people near the battlefield where they had won a victory which was intended as a foretaste of how they would conquer Canaan.</p><p><em>Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle and we struck them- </em></p><p>The Divine intention was that the victory over Sihon would put fear into the hearts of all the other tribes (<em><a href='B:50 2:25'>Deu 2:25</a></em>). But it was God's ideal intention that Sihon would have accepted the message of peace (<em><a href='B:50 2:26'>Deu 2:26</a></em>)- perhaps implying peace with God, as "peace" often means in the Bible. We see here the complexity of God's workings with men. Little surprise, therefore, that at times we fail to perceive what God is doing in our lives. Things appear to be left hanging, or events lack apparent meaning, or things could have various possible outcomes, some of which are quite contradictory when compared against each other. This offering of peace before fighting was to be typical of Israel's approach (<em><a href='B:50 20:10'>Deu 20:10</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>and we took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of the Manassites-</em></p><p>To take and give land for an inheritance whilst still on the East side of Jordan was a foretaste of what was possible for them when they entered the land West of Jordan. The same terms are used about what Israel were to do with the rest of the land- although their fear of the Canaanite tribes suggests they didn't learn the lesson. It was a foretaste of the Kingdom... and our wilderness walk is designed, especially towards the end of it, to have similar foretastes encouraging us that really this is what we will experience.</p>


text:
<p><em>Keep therefore the words of this covenant and do them, so that you may prosper in all that you do-</em></p><p>The word so often used for "keeping" / "diligently observing" Yahweh's commandments is from the word meaning a thorn hedge; the idea originally was to hedge in. Taking this too literally led Judaism to all their endless fences around the law, i.e. forbidding this or that because it might lead to doing that or this, which in turn would then lead to breaking an actual commandment. And those various fences become elevated to the level of commandments. But this is not the idea. We are indeed to hedge ourselves in ("take heed to yourself", <em><a href='B:50 11:16'>Deu 11:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:13'>Deu 12:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:19'>Deu 12:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:30'>Deu 12:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:32'>Deu 12:32</a></em> s.w.), so that we may keep / hedge ourselves in to keep the commandments of God (<em><a href='B:30 18:4-5'>Lev 18:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 18:26'>Lev 18:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 18:30'>Lev 18:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:19'>Lev 19:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:37'>Lev 19:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 20:8'>Lev 20:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 20:22'>Lev 20:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 22:9'>Lev 22:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 22:31'>Lev 22:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 25:18'>Lev 25:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 26:3'>Lev 26:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 28:2'>Num 28:2</a></em>;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:50 7:11-12'>Deu 7:11-12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 8:1'>Deu 8:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 8:11'>Deu 8:11</a></em> (s.w. "beware"); 10:13; 11:1,8,22,32; 12:1; 13:4,18; 15:5,9 ("beware"); 17:19; 19:9; 23:9 ("keep yourself"); 24:8; 26:16-18; 27:1; 28:1,9,13; 29:9; 30:10,16; 31:12; 32:46). And without falling into the legalism of Judaism, self discipline does require a degree of fencing ourselves in to the one way. Thus the man struggling with alcoholism avoids the supermarket where alcohol is pushed in front of the eyes of the shoppers; the married woman struggling with attraction to another man makes little laws for herself about avoiding his company. And if we do this, then the Lord will "keep" us, will hedge us in to keeping His way (s.w. <em><a href='B:40 6:24'>Num 6:24</a></em>).</p><p>See on <em><a href='B:60 1:6'>Jos 1:6</a></em>. Joshua (cp. Jesus) is repeatedly made parallel with Israel (cp. Us); his victories were theirs; what he achieved is counted to them. In the same way, the people of the Lord Jesus are counted as Him. Joshua was to be strong and possess the land (<em><a href='B:60 1:6'>Jos 1:6</a></em>), just as they had been told to do, using the same Hebrew words (<em><a href='B:50 11:8'>Deu 11:8</a></em>). Indeed, Israel and Joshua are given parallel charges, to be strong and of good courage to take the land (<em><a href='B:50 31:6-7'>Deu 31:6-7</a></em>). Both Israel and Joshua are given the same charge to keep the words of the covenant, that they might “prosper” (<em><a href='B:50 29:9'>Deu 29:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 1:7'>Jos 1:7</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>You stand this day, all of you, before Yahweh your God: your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers, all the men of Israel-</em></p><p>Moses on that last day of his life addressed the whole assembly of Israel; and yet he so often speaks in the singular ("thee" rather than "ye" in the KJV), as if to emphasize that the laws and covenant he was giving them was to them <em>personally</em>. This is made clear in :10,12: "You (plural) stand this day, all of you, before Yahweh... that you (singular) may enter into covenant with Yahweh". That covenant was made anew by God to each generation and individual. We cannot hide within a family or a church. We are individually responsible to God and will personally be saved. In the same spirit, Moses points out that Yahweh is the only God that can be personally <em>known</em>; all the idols could not be known personally (:26). No fewer than 137 times in Scripture we read the phrase "my God". This was used in a public, unashamed way by many of God's children (it was a particular favourite of Nehemiah, David and Paul). </p>


text:
<p><em>your little ones, your wives and the foreigner who is in the midst of your camps, from the one who cuts your wood to the one who draws your water-</em></p><p>Verses 10-13 is a very long sentence; from now until the end of his speech in Deuteronomy, Moses uses (in the Hebrew text) very long sentences, at times with unclear syntax- as if he was getting increasingly intense and excited as he speaks of the utter realities to which we stand personally related by our covenant with God.</p>


text:
<p><em>You wish to enter into covenant with Yahweh your God and into His oath, which Yahweh your God makes with you this day- </em></p><p>For Israel in covenant with God, absolutely nothing- not sex, menstruation, the content of clothing fabric, diet- could fall outside the scope of their covenant relationship. And so in principle it is with us under the new covenant. Such a relationship also precludes the worship of <em>any</em> other God. The covenant we have entered has constant and binding claims upon our loyalty; and it also speaks of God’s constant and passionate commitment to us.</p>


text:
<p><em>that He may establish you this day to Himself for a people and that He may be to you a God, as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob-</em></p><p>The promise that Israel would be God's people and He would be their God was conditional upon their obedience- that was the deal made with them nearly 40 years previously (<em><a href='B:20 19:5-6'>Exo 19:5-6</a></em>). They had not kept their side of it- but by grace, God still wanted to fulfill His side of it. Israel would be 'established' as God's people "unto Himself" only if they were obedient (<em><a href='B:50 28:9'>Deu 28:9</a></em>)- the point of the covenant proclaimed in chapter 29 is that despite their disobedience, God was still going to establish them as His people. This was the grace that only comes from a deep love and desire for the beloved. Moses urges the peoples' faithfulness so that Yahweh might "establish His covenant" with them (<em><a href='B:50 8:18'>Deu 8:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:9'>Deu 28:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 29:13'>Deu 29:13</a></em>); and we note that despite their disobedience, He still "established" the covenant with them, by grace alone (<em><a href='B:50 9:5'>Deu 9:5</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>Not only with you do I make this covenant and this oath- </em></p><p>Moses is one of greatest types of the Lord Jesus, in whom the Father was supremely manifested. Because of this, it is fitting that we should see a very high level of God manifestation in Moses. Indeed it seems that God was manifest in Moses to a greater degree than in any other Old Testament character. Therefore the pronouns often change (in Deuteronomy especially), showing a confusion between the voice of God and that of Moses. <em><a href='B:50 7:4'>Deu 7:4</a></em> is an example: “They will turn away thy son from following me (this is Moses speaking for God)... so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you”. Thus Moses’ comments on God’s words are mixed up with the words of God Himself. There are other examples of this in <em><a href='B:50 7:11'>Deu 7:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 29:1'>Deu 29:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 29:10'>Deu 29:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 29:14-15'>Deu 29:14-15</a></em> (“I” cp. “us”). Consider especially <em><a href='B:50 11:13-14'>Deu 11:13-14</a></em>: “If ye shall diligently hearken unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord... that I will give you the rain of your land... I will send grass in thy fields”. The “I” here switches at ease between God and Moses. The Moses/God pronouns are also mixed in <em><a href='B:520 10:19'>Rom 10:19</a></em>.</p>


text:
<p><em>but with him who stands here with us this day before Yahweh our God and also with him who is not here with us this day- </em></p><p>"Not only with you... but with him..." requires us to read in an ellipsis here; clearly the idea is that what God had done at Sinai wasn’t <em>only</em> between Him and the people there at that time, <em>not so much </em>with the first hearers as with the later ones, with all His subsequent people. In our Bible study we must be aware that we are reading translations of languages which often rely on understanding the idiom for their real meaning to be delivered to us the readers. In Hebrew especially, we often have to read in an ellipsis; and this verse is a parade example. </p>


text:
<p><em>For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed- </em></p><p>The argument is that when living in Egypt and passing through the nations on the wilderness journey, they had "seen" idols (:17) and were now warned not to worship them (:18). And yet <em><a href='B:330 20:7-8'>Eze 20:7-8</a></em> is clear that they carried the idols of Egypt with them through the wilderness; they carried the tabernacles of both Yahweh and Moloch, the standards of their tribes and also the star or Remphan (<em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em>). Yahweh and Moses surely knew this, so the language here is very soft indeed. This overly positive view of Israel is in line with the way God says He fell in love with Israel in the desert, and did not count iniquity to them nor see perverseness in Jacob (<em><a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a></em>). His positive view of us in Christ is even greater. </p>


text:
<p><em>and you have seen their abominations and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them-</em></p><p>See on :16. Israel passed through the nations at close enough range to see their idols. We should not therefore envisage the 38 year wilderness journey as being through endless tracts of uninhabited desert.</p>


text:
<p><em>This covenant is made lest there should be among you man or woman, family or tribe- </em></p><p>Covenant relationship brings a natural desire to live within the atmosphere of God's spirituality. For Israel in covenant with God, absolutely nothing- not sex, menstruation, the content of clothing fabric, diet- could fall outside the scope of their covenant relationship. And so in principle it is with us under the new covenant. Such a relationship also precludes the worship of <em>any</em> other God. Moses said that God had made a covenant with every member of Israel "lest there should be among you..." any who turn away from God and influence others.&nbsp; The height of the demand, the extent of the implication of being in covenant with God, ought to preclude the possibility of worshipping anything else. The covenant we have entered has constant and binding claims upon our loyalty. </p><p><em>Whose heart turns away this day from Yahweh our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood- </em></p><p>Applied in <em><a href='B:650 12:15'>Heb 12:15</a></em> to those within the church who discourage others from total commitment to God. Those who don’t totally commit to Him will poison others by their attitude and cause them to fall away from God’s grace; and we must be keenly aware of this, because there are such people around- so says <em><a href='B:650 12:15'>Heb 12:15</a></em>. The idea however seems to be that the root is the thought in the heart of :18, and if that was their thought as they entered covenant with Yahweh, then it would give rise to a bitter plant. </p>


text:
<p><em>who, when he hears the words of this curse blesses himself in his heart saying I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart- </em>The context is of the blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience, listed in the previous chapter. God here addresses the deepest psychology of the sinner. He hears the words of cursing for disobedience, but in his heart, says that the blessings for obedience will apply to him, even if he sins in his heart. And this is the assumption made by sinners- 'the condemnation stuff won't happen to me'. </p><p><em>To destroy the moist with the dry- </em></p><p>This may refer to the mentality that the moist (the blessed righteous) will likely be destroyed anyway with the dry (unspiritual) majority, so seeing Israel generally are astray, there was no point in being righteous. This totally fails to see individual standing before God and thinks instead only of membership in a collective sense of God's people. "To add drunkenness to thirst" (AV) could however mean that the reasoning went that sin (getting drunk) was only anyway a natural meeting of basic human needs (to drink and slake thirst). Whatever, this is an indication that God knows the mind games played by the 'devil' of our own sin-inclined hearts. See on :29.</p><p>The "peace and safety" cry within the latter day ecclesia (<em><a href='B:590 5:3'>1Th 5:3</a></em>) is part of an extended set of allusions back to the parables of <em><a href='B:470 24:1-51'>Mat 24:1-51</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 25:1-46'>Mat 25:1-46</a></em>, concerning the apostate, drunken servant who thinks everything is fine- but it then suddenly destroyed by his Lord's coming. This kind of believer had been foreseen by Moses in <em><a href='B:50 29:19'>Deu 29:19</a></em>; the type who hears the curses for disobedience, but blesses (forgives) himself in his heart, "saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst" (AV).</p><p>Time and again, Moses speaks of the state of their heart. He warns them against allowing a bad state of heart to develop, he speaks often of how apostasy starts in the heart. Moses makes a total of 49 references to the heart / mind of Israel in Deuteronomy, compared to only 13 in the whole of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. This indicates the paramount importance which our Lord attaches to the state of our mind. This was perhaps his greatest wish as He faced death; that we should develop a spiritual mind and thereby manifest the Father and come to salvation. Moses likewise saw the state of our mind as the key to spiritual success. But do we share this perspective? Do we guard our minds against the media and influence of a mind-corrupting world? It's been observed that the phrase "The God of (somebody)", or similar, occurs 614 times in the Old Testament, of which 306 are in Deuteronomy. Our very personal relationship with God was therefore something else which Moses came to grasp in his spiritual maturity. Statistical analysis of the word "love" in the Pentateuch likewise reveals that "love" was a great theme of Moses at the end of his life (Moses uses it 16 times in Deuteronomy, and only four times in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers). </p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh will not pardon him, but then the anger of Yahweh and His jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky- </em></p><p>Yahweh's refusal to pardon will only be at the last day, so these events may be intended as only coming fully true at judgment day.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh will separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law-</em></p><p>The ministering of judgement on the unworthy will no doubt be supervised by an (the?) Angel of evil, in the same way that it appears an Angel of evil ministered the curses of the Law: "The Lord shall separate (Hebrew: sever) him (the disobedient man) out of all the&nbsp; tribes of Israel, according to all the words of the covenant" (<em><a href='B:50 29:21'>Deu 29:21</a></em>)- just as He did to Achan. In the same way the Angels "sever the wicked from among the just" (<em><a href='B:470 13:49'>Mat 13:49</a></em>) at the judgement. The picture of the rejected severed from among God's people is fairly common in the pictures of condemnation- the people of God shall see the naked shame of the rejected (<em><a class='bible' href='#b66:16:15'>Rev 16:15</a></em>). Willful separation from God's people in this life, either by thinking them worthy of our rejection or through disinterest in them, is therefore living out the picture of condemnation.</p>


text:
<p><em>The generation to come, your children who shall rise up after you and the foreigner who will come from a distant land, shall see the plagues of the land and the sicknesses with which Yahweh has made it sick- </em></p><p>The curses for disobedience outlined in <em><a href='B:50 28:1-68'>Deu 28:1-68</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 29:1-29'>Deu 29:1-29</a></em> never came totally true; hence the prophecy that disobedient Israel would be poor and unsuccessful in business during their dispersion never really came true, and instead God had blessed them through His grace. The whole land of Israel was to become “brimstone and salt and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom…” (<em><a href='B:50 29:22-25'>Deu 29:22-25</a></em>). It’s no good even reasoning that this will come true in the future; these were to be the punishments that would come when Israel broke covenant and went into dispersion. They’ve been in this position for many centuries, but still the full extent of the prophesied cursing hasn’t come about. And yet God keeps His word; and yet His grace is such that He can chose not to keep some of the punishments. This is a paradox of grace, beyond our human explanation in trite, logical, expositional terms.&nbsp;This to my mind is the real explanation of why the prophecy that in the day Adam ate of the fruit, he would die… never came true, in that sense. </p>


text:
<p><em>The whole land is sulphur, salt and burning, that it is not sown nor giving produce and no grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Yahweh overthrew in His anger and in his wrath-</em></p><p>Israel were disobedient, but still this promised judgment didn't come. This chapter is full of grace; for Israel was never made as Sodom although this was commonly threatened. Although they acted worse than Sodom (<em><a href='B:330 16:48'>Eze 16:48</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 7:16'>Jer 7:16</a></em>). It was due to the faithful remnant that God did not judge Judah as Sodom even though their rulers were in fact rulers of Sodom (<em><a href='B:290 1:9-10'>Isa 1:9-10</a></em>). They were Sodom, disobedient Israel were to be judged as Sodom (<em><a href='B:50 29:23'>Deu 29:23</a></em>), but were not judged as Sodom because of a remnant- who themselves were preserved by God's grace. We see grace all through this. Although <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:18:1-24'>Rev 18:1-24</a></em> and many of the prophets seem to foresee a Sodom-like destruction coming upon latter day Israel. </p>


text:
<p><em>They and all the nations shall say, Why has Yahweh done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?- </em></p><p>There is no particular example of this oft repeated curse coming true, apart from in <em><a href='B:310 2:15'>Lam 2:15</a></em>, which appears to be spoken by Jeremiah in deep grief, and does not include the words predicted here and in :25. The actual destruction of Jerusalem and Judah was not as extensive as threatened; either God took pity, or there was a modicum of intercession or repentance which ameliorated the extent of the judgment. And that would explain why neither in the Bible nor other history is there any record of this happening. </p>


text:
<p><em>Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Yahweh the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt- </em></p><p>See on :24. The idea was that the destroyed land would be a silent witness to the power of Yahweh, and how this God who kept covenant was now as it were 'free' as His earlier people had betrayed Him and left Him without a people. The deserted city and ruined temple (<em><a href='B:110 9:8-9'>1Ki 9:8-9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 22:8-9'>Jer 22:8-9</a></em>) would therefore have been an invitation to observers to seek this Yahweh, and enquire whether they could enter a new covenant with Him, seeing His previous covenant with His people had been broken and He was now, as it were, unattached.</p><p><em><a href='B:70 2:13'>Jdg 2:13</a></em> says that the people did forsake Yahweh. But instead of these judgments , we are to read that although God punished them, He raised up saviours to save them from the judgments; and this looks forward to His grace in the Lord Jesus, 'Yah's salvation'. </p>


text:
<p><em>and went and served other gods and worshipped them, gods that they didn’t know and that He had not given to them- </em></p><p>Moses points out that Yahweh is the only God that can be personally <em>known</em>; all the idols could not be known personally (<em><a href='B:50 29:26'>Deu 29:26</a></em>). No fewer than 137 times in Scripture we read the phrase "my God". This was used in a public, unashamed way by many of God's children (it was a particular favourite of Nehemiah, David and Paul). </p>


text:
<p><em>Therefore the anger of Yahweh was kindled against this land, to bring on it all the curse that is written in this book- </em></p><p>See on :25,26. The fact is, not all the curses were brought upon the land. But the allusions to the language of :22,23 in the book of Revelation suggests that it will come true in the last days, and will be the prelude to the conversion of a Gentile remnant at the time of the Lord's return and establishment of His Kingdom on earth. </p>


text:
<p><em>and Yahweh rooted them out of their land in anger in wrath and in great indignation and cast them into another land, as at this day- </em></p><p>As Israel were "cast" out of their land and into another country (<em><a href='B:50 29:28'>Deu 29:28</a></em>) so the rejected are cast out of God's presence. Zedekiah fled, was overtaken, wept (<em><a href='B:330 7:27'>Eze 7:27</a></em>), judgment was given upon him (<em><a href='B:300 52:9'>Jer 52:9</a></em>), he was punished in the presence of the king (<em><a href='B:300 52:10'>Jer 52:10</a></em>), cast into prison (<em><a href='B:300 52:11'>Jer 52:11</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:470 5:25'>Mat 5:25</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>The secret things belong to Yahweh our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law-</em></p><p>This could be translated as meaning that the secret things of God have been revealed unto God's children. Or it could mean that the things which have been revealed are the Law and Covenant made with Israel then, but they should not think that this was all there was to God. There was more, the "secret things", which had not then been opened to them. And those things were the things of Christ and the new covenant- <em><a href='B:530 2:9-10'>1Co 2:9-10</a></em> appears to allude here by saying that "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. But God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God" .</p><p>The immediate context of the "secret things" is :19, where they refer to the secret thought that one could continue in sin, and just be treated by God as He was going to treat the nation of Israel. But the warning here would be that God indeed does know the secret things of hearts, and will judge people on an individual and not a collective basis. And this is indeed how the New Testament speaks of God's individual judgment of the secret things of human hearts (<em><a href='B:520 2:16'>Rom 2:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 4:5'>1Co 4:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 14:25'>1Co 14:25</a></em>). Therefore the lesson is that the revealed things of God's law 'belonged to' Israel for them to keep individually.</p><p>"Forever" doesn't require us to think that the Mosaic law and covenant was eternal. The Sabbath is described as a perpetual, eternal ordinance between God and His people (<em><a href='B:20 31:16'>Exo 31:16</a></em>). Yet in the New Testament we read that the Old Covenant has been done away; and the Old Covenant clearly included the ten commandments (<em><a href='B:50 4:13'>Deu 4:13</a></em>), one of which was concerning the Sabbath. For this reason the New Testament is at pains to explain that Sabbath keeping is not now required of God’s people (<em><a href='B:580 2:14-17'>Col 2:14-17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 14:1-3'>Rom 14:1-3</a></em>). Indeed, the whole Law of Moses is described as an everlasting covenant (<em><a href='B:290 24:5'>Isa 24:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 29:29'>Deu 29:29</a></em>), but it has now been done away (<em><a href='B:650 8:13'>Heb 8:13</a></em>). The feasts of Passover and Atonement were to be “an everlasting statute unto you” (<em><a href='B:30 16:34'>Lev 16:34</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 12:14'>Exo 12:14</a></em>); but now the Mosaic feasts have been done away in Christ (<em><a href='B:580 2:14-17'>Col 2:14-17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 5:7'>1Co 5:7</a></em>). The Levitical priesthood was “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood” (<em><a href='B:20 40:15'>Exo 40:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 25:13'>Num 25:13</a></em>), but “the priesthood being changed (by Christ’s work), there is made of necessity a change also of the law” (<em><a href='B:650 7:12'>Heb 7:12</a></em>). There was an “everlasting covenant” between God and Israel to display the shewbread in the Holy Place (<em><a href='B:30 24:8'>Lev 24:8</a></em>). This “everlasting covenant” evidently ended when the Mosaic Law was dismantled. But the same phrase “everlasting covenant” is used in <em><a href='B:100 23:5'>2Sa 23:5</a></em> concerning how Christ will reign on David’s throne for literal eternity in the Kingdom. In what sense, then, is God using the word olahm, which is translated “eternal”, “perpetual”, “everlasting” in the Old Testament? James Strong defines olahm as literally meaning “the finishing point, time out of mind, i.e. practically eternity”. It was God’s purpose that the Law of Moses and the associated Sabbath law were to continue for many centuries. To the early Israelite, this meant a finishing point so far ahead that he couldn’t grapple with it; therefore he was told that the Law would last for ever in the sense of “practically eternity”. For all of us, the spectre of ultimate infinity is impossible to intellectually grapple with. We may glibly talk about God’s eternity and timelessness, about the wonder of eternal life. But when we pause to really come to terms with these things, we lack the intellectual tools and linguistic paradigms to cope with it. Therefore there is no Hebrew or Greek word used in the Bible text to speak of absolute infinity. We know that death has been conquered for those in Christ, therefore we have the hope of immortal life in his Kingdom. But God speaks about eternity very much from a human viewpoint. </p>


text:
<p><em>When all these things have come on you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where Yahweh your God has driven you-</em></p><p>We're wrong to think that God passionlessly waits for us to repent or pray to Him, and then He will forgive or act for us. He loves us, simply so; and with all love's manipulation of circumstances, seeks to pour out His love upon us. Thus repentance itself is a gift which God gives and is not totally upon human initiative (<em><a href='B:50 4:29-31'>Deu 4:29-31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:1-10'>Deu 30:1-10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 8:58'>1Ki 8:58</a></em>). </p><p>Moses by the end of his life had a great sensitivity to the likely failures of Israel, and in this he points forward to the Lord Jesus. He often reminds them that he knows that they will turn away from the Covenant he had given them (e.g. <em><a href='B:50 30:1'>Deu 30:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:29'>Deu 31:29</a></em>). He knew that one day they would want a king, even though God was their king (<em><a href='B:50 17:14'>Deu 17:14</a></em>). He knew that there would always be poor people in the land, even though if the Law was properly kept this would not be the case (<em><a href='B:50 15:4'>Deu 15:4</a></em> mg, 11). He knew they would accidentally commit murder and would need a way of escape; therefore he twice repeats and explains the law concerning the cities of refuge (<em><a href='B:50 4:42'>Deu 4:42</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 19:5'>Deu 19:5</a></em>). These being a symbol of the future Messiah (<em><a href='B:650 6:18'>Heb 6:18</a></em>), this emphasis would suggest that like Paul and Jacob, the mind of Moses in his time of spiritual maturity was firmly fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ. He foresaw how they would see horses and chariots and get frightened (<em><a href='B:50 20:1-4'>Deu 20:1-4</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>and return to Yahweh your God and obey His voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul- </em></p><p>This point of return of repentance is when all the curses of <em><a href='B:50 29:1-29'>Deu 29:1-29</a></em> have come upon Israel (:1). But as noted on <em><a href='B:50 29:23'>Deu 29:23</a></em>, the level of curse stated there has never come upon Israel: "The whole land is sulphur, salt and burning, that it is not sown nor giving produce and no grass grows therein, like the overthrow of Sodom". It waits to be fulfilled therefore in the last days, and so this 'returning' ultimately speaks of the latter day repentance of a minority in Israel once the tribulation comes upon the land. Revelation gives more details of all this. </p>


text:
<p><em>then Yahweh your God will turn your captivity and have compassion on you. He will return and gather you from all the peoples where Yahweh your God has scattered you- </em></p><p>God’s attempt to regather Judah from captivity <em>before</em> they had repented therefore indicates His grace, operating at times beyond the conditions which He has stated in His own word. LXX "the Lord shall heal thine iniquities, and shall pity thee, and shall again gather you..." suggests that there will be a psychological action of God upon the hearts of Israel, healing their sin (:6). This will be as a result of accepting the new covenant which we now accept at baptism, when the law is written on our hearts, and God's Spirit transforms our spirit / heart (<em><a href='B:300 31:33'>Jer 31:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 8:10'>Heb 8:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 10:16'>Heb 10:16</a></em>). See on :14. "Shall<em> again</em> gather you" suggests that the restoration from Babylon will be repeated in the last days.</p>


text:
<p><em>If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of the heavens, from there will Yahweh your God gather you, and from there He will bring you back- </em></p><p>Time and again in the context of the restoration it is emphasized that God would return to His people if they returned to Him (<em><a href='B:450 1:3'>Zec 1:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:460 3:7'>Mal 3:7</a></em>). And they didn't return to Him- most chose not to return to the land, and those who did for the most part did not return to their God in their hearts. The whole basis of Israel's covenant relationship with God was that if they were exiled from the land for their sins, they must repent and <em>then </em>God would return to them (<em><a href='B:50 30:1-10'>Deu 30:1-10</a></em>). Yet God graciously states to the exiles: "I am returned unto you" (<em><a href='B:450 1:16'>Zec 1:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:450 8:3'>Zec 8:3</a></em>). Here was grace indeed. Passages like <em><a href='B:330 36:24-31'>Eze 36:24-31</a></em> therefore speak as if God's grace to the exiles was effectively a new covenant- which has in essence been extended to us. Having stated the conditionality of His 'returning' to His people, and recognizing they hadn't fulfilled their part of the conditions- God all the same returns to them, such was and is His almost desperate desire for relationship with His beloved people. This is a lesson for us in our relationships with others- to continue our acceptance and 'return' to them, even if they don't fulfill their part of the deal. For this, day by day, is how our God deals not only with us but with His weak and wayward people as a whole.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it, and He will do you good and multiply you above your fathers- </em></p><p>"Drive out" is s.w. "possess". We must note the difference between the&nbsp; Canaanite peoples and their kings being "struck" and their land "taken" by Joshua-Jesus; and the people of Israel permanently taking possession. This is the difference between the Lord's victory on the cross, and our taking possession of the Kingdom. Even though that possession has been "given" to us. The word used for "possession" is literally 'an inheritance'. The allusion is to the people, like us, being the seed of Abraham. The Kingdom was and is our possession, our inheritance- if we walk in the steps of Abraham. But it is one thing to be the seed of Abraham, another to take possession of the inheritance; and Israel generally did not take possession of all the land (<em><a href='B:60 11:23'>Jos 11:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 13:1'>Jos 13:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 18:3'>Jos 18:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 23:4'>Jos 23:4</a></em>). The language of inheritance / possession is applied to us in the New Testament (<em><a href='B:560 1:11'>Eph 1:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:560 1:14'>Eph 1:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:580 3:24'>Col 3:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 20:32'>Act 20:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 26:18'>Act 26:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:670 1:4'>1Pe 1:4</a></em> etc.). Israel were promised: "You shall possess it" (<em><a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:23'>Deu 33:23</a></em>). This was more of a command than a prophecy, for sadly they were "given" the land but did not "possess" it. They were constantly encouraged in the wilderness that they were on the path to possessing the land (<em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:18'>Deu 30:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:3'>Deu 31:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:13'>Deu 31:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:47'>Deu 32:47</a></em>), but when they got there they didn't possess it fully. </p><p>Abraham was promised that his seed would have Yahweh as their personal God, and would eternally inherit the land. In a sense, the promises that the seed <em>would </em>inherit the land, and that God <em>would be</em> their God were fulfilled straight after God said them. He became Isaac's God (<em><a href='B:10 31:42'>Gen 31:42</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 31:53'>Gen 31:53</a></em> refer to this), the God of Abraham's son. Time and again God reminds Israel that He <em>is </em>their God. And that land in a sense <em>was </em>given to the Jewish fathers (<em><a href='B:10 15:18'>Gen 15:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:63'>Deu 28:63</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a></em> NIV; <em><a href='B:60 1:2-9'>Jos 1:2-9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 21:43'>Jos 21:43</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 4:20-21'>1Ki 4:20-21</a></em>). David could praise God simply because He was ''my God'' (<em><a href='B:230 118:28'>Psa 118:28</a></em>)- an allusion back to the Abrahamic promise. Of course, the <em>main</em> fulfillment of this promise will be in the Kingdom; but in principle, the promise has <em>already</em> been fulfilled to Abraham's seed- i.e., us! </p><p>They had left Egypt with great riches of silver and gold, and this is "your silver and gold" which was to be multiplied even more (<em><a href='B:50 8:13'>Deu 8:13</a></em>). The multiplication of Abraham's seed promised to him clearly meant not simply numerical multiplication, but material multiplication too. That is the sense too in <em><a href='B:30 26:9'>Lev 26:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a></em>. We wonder why God gave them all this blessing, knowing that it would lead to such spiritual temptation and failure. We wonder why He gives so many of His people today the same huge blessings, however unappreciated they are. One simple answer is that it is because He loves us with all the love of a father for his children; He rejoiced to multiply them (<em><a href='B:50 28:63'>Deu 28:63</a></em>). The king of Israel was warned in the same words not to multiply silver and gold lest his heart turn away (<em><a href='B:50 17:17'>Deu 17:17</a></em>). The idea may be that we are to leave God to multiply our silver and gold if He wishes, and not set our heart to doing so.</p><p>Things 'going well / good' with Israel is the language of the Kingdom of God in <em><a href='B:50 8:16'>Deu 8:16</a></em> "to do you good / well at your latter end". It is associated with days being prolonged (<em><a href='B:50 22:7'>Deu 22:7</a></em>) and the fulfilment of the promises to Abraham (<em><a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a></em>), and Israel and the children somehow existing "forever" (<em><a href='B:50 12:28'>Deu 12:28</a></em>). So I deduce in the wish "that it may go well with you" a hint towards the eternal establishment of God's Kingdom based around Israel, what Paul terms "the hope of Israel". </p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your seed- </em></p><p>If Israel took the initiative in attempting to circumcise their hearts (<em><a href='B:50 10:16'>Deu 10:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 4:4'>Jer 4:4</a></em>), then God would confirm them in this by doing what man cannot do- operating directly upon the human heart to cut off the flesh from it (<em><a href='B:50 30:6'>Deu 30:6</a></em>). <em><a href='B:580 2:12'>Col 2:12</a></em> presents baptism as the equivalent in our day if we wish to enter the new covenant, which is based upon the same promises to Abraham. But there is more to new covenant relationship than simply the ritual of baptism. Circumcision spoke of a cutting off of the flesh in the most private and intimate place. We always read of circumcision as being done to a person. Water baptism enables us to receive the birth of the Spirit, whereby the Lord will work through the Spirit to change our hearts, to cut off our flesh in the most private and personal recesses of human hearts. <em><a href='B:580 2:11'>Col 2:11</a></em> explains: "In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ". Through baptism, we enter the "in Christ" status, and our flesh is as it were cut off, by status we are in Him and not in the flesh. This is repeated in Paul's argument in <em><a href='B:520 1:1-32'>Rom 1:1-32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 2:1-29'>Rom 2:1-29</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 3:1-31'>Rom 3:1-31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 4:1-25'>Rom 4:1-25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 5:1-21'>Rom 5:1-21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 6:1-23'>Rom 6:1-23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 7:1-25'>Rom 7:1-25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 8:1-39'>Rom 8:1-39</a></em>, although there he stresses that our flesh still remains; but from God's perspective, it is cut off. It takes faith to believe this- faith in God's operation, that the circumcision operation was really performed by Him (<em><a href='B:580 2:12'>Col 2:12</a></em>). Baptism is the means by which we become "in Christ" and in spiritual terms cease to be uncircumcised (<em><a href='B:580 2:13'>Col 2:13</a></em>).</p><p>There will be a psychological action of God upon the hearts of Israel, healing their sin (see on :3). This will be as a result of accepting the new covenant which we now accept at baptism, when the law is written on our hearts, and God's Spirit transforms our spirit / heart (<em><a href='B:300 31:33'>Jer 31:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 8:10'>Heb 8:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 10:16'>Heb 10:16</a></em>). </p><p><em>To love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live- </em></p><p>Some time, read through the book of Deuteronomy in one or two sessions. You'll see many themes of Moses in Deuteronomy. It really shows how Moses felt towards Israel, and how the Lord Jesus feels towards us, and especially how he felt towards us just before his death. For this is what the whole book prefigures. "Love" and the idea of love occurs far more in Deuteronomy than in the other books of the Law. "Fear the Lord your God" of <em><a href='B:20 9:30'>Exo 9:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:14'>Lev 19:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:32'>Lev 19:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 25:17'>Lev 25:17</a></em> becomes "love the Lord your God" in Deuteronomy (<em><a href='B:50 6:5'>Deu 6:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 7:9'>Deu 7:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 10:12'>Deu 10:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:1'>Deu 11:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 19:9'>Deu 19:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:6'>Deu 30:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:20'>Deu 30:20</a></em>). There are 23 references to not hating in Deuteronomy, compared to only 5 in Ex. - Num.; Moses saw the danger of bitterness and lack of love. He saw these things as the spiritual cancer they are, in his time of maturity he warned his beloved people against them. His mind was full of them. The LXX uses the word ekklesia eight times in Deuteronomy, but not once in Moses' other words (<em><a href='B:50 4:10'>Deu 4:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 9:10'>Deu 9:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 18:16'>Deu 18:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 23:1-3'>Deu 23:1-3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 23:8'>Deu 23:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:1'>Deu 32:1</a></em>). Responsibility for the whole family God had redeemed was a mark of Moses; maturity at the end of his life, at the time of Deuteronomy. It is observable that both as a community and as individuals, this will be a sign of our maturity too.</p><p>"Love the Lord your God with <em>all </em>your heart, and with <em>all </em>your soul, and with <em>all </em>your might". Time and again, Moses in his final hours used these words, as he pleaded on that last day of his life for Israel to grasp the nettle, to take on board the idea of loving God, of giving our all (<em><a href='B:50 6:5'>Deu 6:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 10:12'>Deu 10:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:13'>Deu 11:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:22'>Deu 11:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 13:3'>Deu 13:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 19:9'>Deu 19:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:6'>Deu 30:6</a></em>; an impressive seven-fold emphasis). I can almost hear his voice cracking as he stressed the word "all". Having pleaded six times for them to love God with <em>all </em>their soul and <em>all</em> their might, Moses then makes the point that if they enter the Kingdom, there they will be <em>made by God</em> to love Him then with all their soul and might (<em><a href='B:50 30:6'>Deu 30:6</a></em>). The logic is over-powering. In the Kingdom, our very nature, every fiber of our being, will be bent towards love of God. If this will be our eternal destiny, isn't it logical that we at least aspire to it now?</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh your God will put all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you and persecuted you- </em></p><p>The curses upon Israel will then come upon their haters. This is exactly the message of the book of Revelation, once we accept the book speaks of the latter day events to come upon the earth / land of Israel. The seals, vials and trumpets are all rather similar in their imagery and effect- because the judgments which come upon latter day Israel (the seals) then come upon their abusers within the land promised to Abraham- after the repentance of a Jewish remnant, which is presented in the visions of the 144,000. What the beast coalition did to Israel is done to her- a major theme of Revelation.</p>


text:
<p><em>You shall return and obey the voice of Yahweh and do all His commandments which I command you this day- </em></p><p>The Hebrew word for ‘hear’ is also translated ‘obey’ (<em><a href='B:10 22:18'>Gen 22:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 19:5'>Exo 19:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:8'>Deu 30:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:20'>Deu 30:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 95:7'>Psa 95:7</a></em>). We can hear God’s word and not obey it. But if we really hear it as we are intended to, we will obey it. If we truly believe God’s word to be His voice personally speaking to us, then we will by the very fact of hearing, obey. The message itself, if heard properly and not just on a surface level, will compel action. We can delight to know God’s laws and pray daily to Him, when at the same time we are forsaking Him and His laws; if we are truly obedient, then we will delight in God’s law (<em><a href='B:290 58:2'>Isa 58:2</a></em> cp. 14). We have a tendency to have a love of and delight in God’s law only on the surface. John especially often uses ‘hearing’ to mean ‘believing’ (e.g. <em><a href='B:500 10:4'>Joh 10:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 10:26-27'>Joh 10:26-27</a></em>). And yet the Jews ‘heard’ but didn’t believe. We must, we really must ask ourselves: whether we merely hear, or hear and believe. For we can hear, but not really hear. </p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh your God will make you plenteous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, for good. Yahweh will again rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your fathers- </em></p><p>I have explained above that the scenario here envisaged is when the curses of <em><a href='B:50 29:1-29'>Deu 29:1-29</a></em> have come upon Israel, which they have not yet done. This is yet to come, and as a result, a remnant of Israel will repent and their curses will come upon their latter day abusers. The description here of material blessing then applies to the situation when a restored Israel become the basis of the Kingdom of God upon earth. Yahweh rejoicing over His people is the prophetic picture of that time (<em><a href='B:290 62:5'>Isa 62:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:430 3:17'>Zep 3:17</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>if you will obey the voice of Yahweh your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if you turn to Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul- </em></p><p>I have explained above on :9 and elsewhere that the ultimate fulfilment of this is when Israel repent in the last days. But the scenario could have happened earlier, in which case the repentance would have been shown by obeying the Mosaic law. But that law and covenant has now been abrogated, so it is the essence and not the letter of these things which will come true in the last days.</p><p>The word so often used for "keeping" / "diligently observing" Yahweh's commandments is from the word meaning a thorn hedge; the idea originally was to hedge in. Taking this too literally led Judaism to all their endless fences around the law, i.e. forbidding this or that because it might lead to doing that or this, which in turn would then lead to breaking an actual commandment. And those various fences become elevated to the level of commandments. But this is not the idea. We are indeed to hedge ourselves in ("take heed to yourself", <em><a href='B:50 11:16'>Deu 11:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:13'>Deu 12:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:19'>Deu 12:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:30'>Deu 12:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:32'>Deu 12:32</a></em> s.w.), so that we may keep / hedge ourselves in to keep the commandments of God (<em><a href='B:30 18:4-5'>Lev 18:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 18:26'>Lev 18:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 18:30'>Lev 18:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:19'>Lev 19:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:37'>Lev 19:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 20:8'>Lev 20:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 20:22'>Lev 20:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 22:9'>Lev 22:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 22:31'>Lev 22:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 25:18'>Lev 25:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 26:3'>Lev 26:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 28:2'>Num 28:2</a></em>;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:50 7:11-12'>Deu 7:11-12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 8:1'>Deu 8:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 8:11'>Deu 8:11</a></em> (s.w. "beware"); 10:13; 11:1,8,22,32; 12:1; 13:4,18; 15:5,9 ("beware"); 17:19; 19:9; 23:9 ("keep yourself"); 24:8; 26:16-18; 27:1; 28:1,9,13; 29:9; 30:10,16; 31:12; 32:46). And without falling into the legalism of Judaism, self discipline does require a degree of fencing ourselves in to the one way. Thus the man struggling with alcoholism avoids the supermarket where alcohol is pushed in front of the eyes of the shoppers; the married woman struggling with attraction to another man makes little laws for herself about avoiding his company. And if we do this, then the Lord will "keep" us, will hedge us in to keeping His way (s.w. <em><a href='B:40 6:24'>Num 6:24</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>For this commandment which I command you this day is not too hard for you, neither is it far off- </em></p><p>Moses assures them that full obedience to his Law is possible (even if finally nobody achieved it). It was "not grievous" (LXX), and the LXX is quoted and applied to us in <em><a href='B:690 5:3'>1Jn 5:3</a></em>. It was Judaism and legalism which made obedience to the law "grievous" (<em><a href='B:470 23:4'>Mat 23:4</a></em>), and again this LXX passage was alluded to by the Lord in saying that. The individual commandments of the law of Moses were designed to reinforce each other and to make obedience relatively easy. Hence NET Bible: "This commandment I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it too remote". It wasn’t as if they had to climb up to Heaven or go down beneath the sea, they had to simply from the heart obey it as a way of life and thinking. In <em><a href='B:520 10:6-9'>Rom 10:6-9</a></em> Paul quotes this passage, having observed that in practice nobody has actually succeeded in fully keeping the Law. He says that the going up to Heaven was done by Christ at His ascension, and going beneath the sea and returning by Christ at His resurrection; and so what remains is not to keep the Mosaic law but to believe in the word of Christ; and the “life” promised here (:15) will be <em>eternal</em> life for those in Christ. See on :12.</p>&nbsp;


text:
<p><em>It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who shall go up for us to heaven and bring it back down to us and make us hear it, that we may do it?-</em></p><p>Paul comments that truly Israel have already heard the essence of the Gospel we preach, in that “the word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach” (<em><a href='B:520 10:8'>Rom 10:8</a></em>). He quotes here from <em><a href='B:50 30:12'>Deu 30:12</a></em>: “For this command (to be obedient- or, as Paul interprets it, the word of the Gospel)... is it not far from thee (cp. how God is “not far” from anybody, <em><a href='B:510 17:27'>Act 17:27</a></em>). It is not in heaven above, that thou shouldest say, Who will ascend for us into heaven, and bring it to us, that we may <em>hear and do it</em>” (<em><a href='B:50 30:12'>Deu 30:12</a></em> LXX). As noted on :11, obedience is presented as not difficult; and this perhaps became true when the command to keep the old covenant was reinterpreted as keeping the new covenant, through faith in Jesus. God wants to save us; so conformity to His conditions (faith in Jesus) are not difficult.</p><p>As Moses spoke these words on the last day of his life, he was at the foot of Nebo, which he ascended for his final meeting with God. He is surely alluding to the way in which he had ‘ascended to heaven’ before in ascending to God on Sinai, fulfilling Israel’s wish that he should bring God’s word to them rather than God Himself speak with them. He had returned bringing God’s word to them, to which they had agreed they would “hear and do”. Earlier, in <em><a href='B:50 5:27'>Deu 5:27</a></em>, Moses had reminded the people how they had said: “Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will <em>hear it, and do</em> it”. Now he is telling them that actually the word he had brought to them needn’t have been brought to them as in essence it was within their hearts. It is for exactly this reason that Paul could reason elsewhere in Romans that the Gentiles do by nature the things contained in the Law, although they don’t know the letter of the Law. And the same principle is found in <em><a href='B:590 4:9'>1Th 4:9</a></em>: “As touching brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves (i.e. from within yourselves?) are taught of God to love one another”. This is rather like how the Gentiles were not ‘written unto’ and yet they knew from their conscience the essential spirit of the Mosaic Law.</p>


text:
<p><em>Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who shall go down into the deeps for us and bring it up to us-</em></p><p>The depths or abyss may refer as in <em><a href='B:520 10:7'>Rom 10:7</a></em> to the lands beyond Israel. The beast that comes out of the abyss comes out of the sea (<em><a class='bible' href='#b66:11:7'>Rev 11:7</a></em>; <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:13:1'>Rev 13:1</a></em>). It seems that the geographical area referred to is that just outside the <em>eretz</em> / land promised to Abraham, the sea on the border of the land, as it were. Iran, Egypt or Turkey would fit this. Israel had no need to go outside to the Gentile world in order to find relationship with God.&nbsp;</p><p><em>And make us hear it, that we may do it?- </em></p><p>LXX "make it audible to us, and we will do it?". The allusion is how Israel had shied away from hearing God's personal voice, and had asked Moses to go and hear that voice and tell it to them, "that we may do it". But what was in view was a new covenant, where the word would not be spoken collectively through a mediator, but directly to the heart (:14). </p>


text:
<p><em>But the word is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it- </em></p><p>What was hinted at was a new covenant, where after repentance, God would put His word into their hearts (see on :3,6). And therefore these words are quoted by Paul in the New Testament about the experience of believers today. Acceptance of the new covenant means the receipt of the Holy Spirit, and God placing His word in our hearts, writing His law in our hearts as promised (<em><a href='B:300 31:33'>Jer 31:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 8:10'>Heb 8:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:650 10:16'>Heb 10:16</a></em>). </p><p><em>Paul therefore defines the word here as "That is, the word of faith, which we preach".</em> The word of the simple Gospel- that if you believe in Christ you shall be saved- was enabled by the Lord's resurrection and shall come to full term in His descent from Heaven at the last day (<em><a href='B:520 10:6-7'>Rom 10:6-7</a></em>). "The word of faith" can simply mean that the basic content of God's word is an appeal for faith in His Son. But it is thereby also true that the word of the Gospel leads to faith. The Lord foresaw in <em><a href='B:500 17:20'>Joh 17:20</a></em> that there would be those who would believe on Him “through their word” (i.e. the word taught by the disciples). Our word of preaching can bring others to faith. Our preaching leads to faith being created in the hearers. “The word of faith, which we preach” (<em><a href='B:520 10:8'>Rom 10:8</a></em>) is the word (Gospel) that leads to faith; and a man cannot believe without hearing the Gospel, and he will not hear it unless it is preached by a preacher. Paul summarizes by saying that faith comes by hearing (the Gospel) and hearing by (the preaching of) the word of God (<em><a href='B:520 10:8'>Rom 10:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 10:14'>Rom 10:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 10:17'>Rom 10:17</a></em>). Paul’s point is that whoever believes will be saved (<em><a href='B:520 9:33'>Rom 9:33</a></em>)- and therefore, we must preach to all, so that they might take advantage of this blessed opportunity. In his repetitious manner, Paul builds up the argument in this letter:</p><p>- Even under the law, Israel could believe God’s word as preached by Moses and have righteousness imputed to them (<em><a href='B:520 10:5-8'>Rom 10:5-8</a></em>)</p><p>- We preach, in essence, the very same word (<em><a href='B:520 10:9-10'>Rom 10:9-10</a></em>)</p><p>- Isaiah said the same: that belief of his preaching would result in justification (<em><a href='B:520 10:11'>Rom 10:11</a></em>)</p><p>- We preach the same. Whoever believes in the Lord’s saving Name by baptism will be saved (<em><a href='B:520 10:12-13'>Rom 10:12-13</a></em>)</p><p>- Therefore preach the word, for without your doing this, people can never believe it and therefore be saved (<em><a href='B:520 10:14-15'>Rom 10:14-15</a></em>)</p><p>- Israel had heard the word of the cross preached in the past, so just hearing the preacher will not automatically result in faith (<em><a href='B:520 10:16-21'>Rom 10:16-21</a></em>). Both preacher and hearer must be aware of this. Therefore there was a need for the preachers to turn to another wider audience, i.e. the Gentiles.</p>


text:
<p><em>Behold, I have set before you this day life and good, and death and evil-</em></p><p>As with Israel, the ways of life and death are set before us (<em><a href='B:50 30:15-20'>Deu 30:15-20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 21:8'>Jer 21:8</a></em>). Moses, on the day of his death and at his final spiritual maturity, realized that this was the ultimate choice. His appeal to <em>therefore </em>chose life is painfully evident in its logic. We are either on the road to the Kingdom, or to eternal death; from God's perspective. We may not see the issues of life that clearly; we may not see our direction as clearly as God does.</p>


text:
<p><em>I command you this day to love Yahweh your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it- </em></p><p>“If you love me you will keep my commandments” (<em><a href='B:500 14:15'>Joh 14:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 14:21'>Joh 14:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 14:23'>Joh 14:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 15:10'>Joh 15:10</a></em>) reflects a major identical theme in <em><a href='B:50 5:10'>Deu 5:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 7:9'>Deu 7:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:1'>Deu 11:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:22'>Deu 11:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 13:3-4'>Deu 13:3-4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 19:9'>Deu 19:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>. Moses at the end of his life, when he spoke Deuteronomy, was very much the image of the future Lord Jesus. </p><p>God is His word (<em><a href='B:500 1:1'>Joh 1:1</a></em>); to love God is to love His word. If we love Christ, we will keep His words (<em><a href='B:500 14:15'>Joh 14:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 14:21'>Joh 14:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 15:10'>Joh 15:10</a></em>). This is evidently alluding to the many Old Testament passages which say that Israel's love for God would be shown through their keeping of His commands (<em><a href='B:20 20:6'>Exo 20:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 5:10'>Deu 5:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 7:9'>Deu 7:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:1'>Deu 11:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:13'>Deu 11:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:22'>Deu 11:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 22:5'>Jos 22:5</a></em>). Israel were also told that God's commands were all related to showing love (<em><a href='B:50 11:13'>Deu 11:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 19:9'>Deu 19:9</a></em>). So there is a logical circuit here: We love God by keeping His commands, the essence of which is love of people, therefore His commands are fundamentally about love. Thus love is the fulfilling of the law of God; both under the Old and New covenants (<em><a href='B:520 13:10'>Rom 13:10</a></em>). </p><p>The Hebrew <em>mishpat</em>, "ordinances", has a wide range of meaning. The idea is of judgment, as if God and His Angels gave these laws as their considered judgment after considering the human condition, and Israel were to abide by them. But the word also the idea of a right or privilege; and that is how we should see God's laws. They are only felt as a burden because of human hardness of neck towards God's ways. His laws are not of themselves burdensome, but rather a privilege and blessing. The law was indeed "holy, just and good" (<em><a href='B:520 7:12'>Rom 7:12</a></em>), designed to inculcate a holy, just and good life (<em><a href='B:630 1:8'>Tit 1:8</a></em>), a way in which a man should "walk" in daily life (<em><a href='B:30 18:4'>Lev 18:4</a></em>), a culture of kindness and grace to others which reflected God's grace to man. If we dwell upon the idea of "rights" carried within the word <em>mishpat</em>, we note that the law begins in <em><a href='B:20 21:1-2'>Exo 21:1-2</a></em> (also <em><a href='B:50 15:12-18'>Deu 15:12-18</a></em>) with the rights of a slave- those considered to have no rights in the society of that day. The "rights" to be afforded by us to others are the essence of God's rightness / justice.</p>


text:
<p><em>But if your heart turns away and you will not hear, but shall be drawn away and worship other gods and serve them- </em></p><p>The heart that <em>turns away</em> from God by free choice then becomes <em>drawn away</em> by other forces. Time and again, Moses speaks of the state of their heart. He warns them against allowing a bad state of heart to develop, he speaks often of how apostasy starts in the heart. Moses makes a total of 49 references to the heart / mind of Israel in Deuteronomy, compared to only 13 in the whole of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. This indicates the paramount importance which our Lord attaches to the state of our mind. This was perhaps his greatest wish as He faced death; that we should develop a spiritual mind and thereby manifest the Father and come to salvation. Moses likewise saw the state of our mind as the key to spiritual success. But do we share this perspective? Do we guard our minds against the media and influence of a mind-corrupting world? It's been observed that the phrase "The God of (somebody)", or similar, occurs 614 times in the Old Testament, of which 306 are in Deuteronomy. Our very personal relationship with God was therefore something else which Moses came to grasp in his spiritual maturity. Statistical analysis of the word "love" in the Pentateuch likewise reveals that "love" was a great theme of Moses at the end of his life (Moses uses it 16 times in Deuteronomy, and only four times in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers). </p>


text:
<p><em>I declare to you this day, that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land, where you pass over the Jordan to go in to possess it- </em></p><p>Moses pleaded with them to see that "this day... this day... this day" he set before them life and death, forgiveness or salvation (<em><a href='B:50 30:15-19'>Deu 30:15-19</a></em>). The Lord Jesus had His mind on this when He told the thief with the same emphasis that "this day" He could tell them that he would be saved, not condemned (<em><a href='B:490 23:46'>Luk 23:46</a></em>). He felt like Moses, but greater than Moses, in that He not only set before men the choice, but could grant them the salvation they sought. The fact Israel did prolong their days for some centuries in the land, despite their disobedience, is therefore a reflection of God's great patience with them.</p>


text:
<p><em>I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your seed-</em></p><p>Finely aware of the seriousness of our relationship with God, Moses pleads with Israel to "choose life", not with the passivity which may appear from our armchair reading of passages like <em><a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a></em>. I wonder if he wasn’t screaming this to them, breaking down in the climax of logic and passion which resulted in that appeal. Yet he knew that the majority of Israel would not choose life. When he appeals to them to choose obedience he is therefore thinking of the minority who would&nbsp; respond. Yet he knew that the majority of Israel would not choose life. When he appeals to them to choose obedience he is therefore thinking of the minority who would respond. Our Lord Jesus, with his knowledge of human nature, must have sensed that so many of those called into his new covenant would also turn away; He must have known that only a minority of Israel would choose the life which He offered. Yet like Moses He doubtless concentrated his thoughts on the minority who would respond. Moses spoke Deuteronomy without notes. It was no set piece address. All these things were in his heart; their proneness to failure, the coming of judgment for sin, his knowledge of their future apostasy. Enter into the <em>passion</em> of it all. The man who was willing to give his eternal life for them, about to die for the sake of their provocation- singing a final song to them, giving a final speech, which showed that he knew perfectly well that they would turn away from what he was trying to do for them, and therefore the majority of them would not be saved.</p><p>"Blessing" is parallel with "life", and eternal life may ultimately be in view in Moses' mind. The connection between blessing and forgiveness / salvation is widespread throughout Scripture: <em><a href='B:50 33:23'>Deu 33:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 5:12'>Psa 5:12</a></em> (blessing = grace) <em><a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 3:8'>Psa 3:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 24:5'>Psa 24:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 28:9'>Psa 28:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 133:3'>Psa 133:3</a></em> (= salvation); <em><a href='B:20 12:32'>Exo 12:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 32:29'>Exo 32:29</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 24:1'>Num 24:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:100 21:3'>2Sa 21:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 67:1'>Psa 67:1</a></em> (cp. context); <em><a href='B:490 6:28'>Luk 6:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 3:26'>Act 3:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 4:7-8'>Rom 4:7-8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 10:16'>1Co 10:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:550 3:14'>Gal 3:14</a></em> (= forgiveness). </p>


text:
<p><em>Love Yahweh your God, to obey His voice and to cling to Him; for He is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, to give them- </em></p><p>Yahweh was to be loved with all the heart, soul and mind (<em><a href='B:50 6:5'>Deu 6:5</a></em>). This is understood by Joshua as meaning that those who loved Yahweh would not "mix with" and intermarry with the nations and accept their gods (<em><a href='B:60 23:11-12'>Jos 23:11-12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 23:16'>Jos 23:16</a></em>). "Love" for God was not therefore a feeling; Joshua said that they must "take good heed therefore to yourselves, that you love Yahweh" (<em><a href='B:60 23:11'>Jos 23:11</a></em>). This is the love of conscious direction of the mind, the love which is a choice rather than an emotion.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>"Cling" is "cleave". The idea of 'cleaving' to God is a big theme of Moses in Deuteronomy (<em><a href='B:50 4:4'>Deu 4:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 10:20'>Deu 10:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:22'>Deu 11:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 13:4'>Deu 13:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 13:17'>Deu 13:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:21'>Deu 28:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 28:60'>Deu 28:60</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:20'>Deu 30:20</a></em>); the only other time Moses uses the word in his writings is in <em><a href='B:10 2:24'>Gen 2:24</a></em>, concerning a man cleaving to his wife. Moses seems to have been suggesting to Israel that their covenant relationship with God meant they were <em>marrying God</em>. This was a real paradigm breaker. We may be used to such things. But against the theological background of the time, not to say the generally low level of spirituality among Israel, this was a shocking idea. It reflected the heights to which Moses had risen.</p><p>The Lord’s common Upper Room theme of ‘abiding’ in Him uses the same word as Moses used in the LXX when exhorting his people to ‘cleave unto’ God (<em><a href='B:50 10:20'>Deu 10:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:22'>Deu 11:22</a></em>). This abiding involved loving God and keeping His commandments- all ideas which occur together in <em><a href='B:50 13:4'>Deu 13:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:20'>Deu 30:20</a></em>.</p>


text:
<p><em>Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel- </em></p><p>LXX "And Moses finished speaking all these words".</p>


text:
<p><em>I am one hundred and twenty years old this day- </em></p><p>He died on his birthday. His life so clearly splits up into three periods of 40 years; the 40 years leading sheep around Sinai clearly prepared him for 40 years leading Israel. We too can look back on life and see how clearly God had arranged things.</p><p><em>I can no more go out and come in, and Yahweh has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan’-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:50 31:9'>Deu 31:9</a></em>. We note that he makes no reference to the reason why he couldn't enter the land. He makes his age an excuse for not entering the land, but we read later that his natural strength was not at all abated. Even in his great spiritual maturity, even Moses maybe found it hard to accept personal sin and consequences for it.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh your God, He will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you and you shall dispossess them. Joshua shall go over before you, as Yahweh has spoken-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:50 1:36'>Deu 1:36</a></em>. Moses recalled how God had said to him "The LORD thy God He will go over before thee", and then said to Joshua "be strong and of a good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them: for the LORD<em> thy</em> God (the same Angel called 'the LORD thy God' in&nbsp; relation to Moses), He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee nor forsake thee" (<em><a href='B:50 31:3'>Deu 31:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:6-7'>Deu 31:6-7</a></em>). These words are quoted in <em><a href='B:650 13:5'>Heb 13:5</a></em>, and it is good to note the original Angelic context in which the words were used: "Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I (the Angel) will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord (i. e. the Angel) is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me". Later on we see that Joshua did conceive of God in terms of the Angel- he took Moses' exhortation.</p><p>At Moses' death, the positive thrust of his closing exhortation was his conviction that the Angel of His presence which had been with them so far would continue to be so, to enable them to enter the land. This alone shows the great part that the Angel played in Moses' life. "The Lord thy God, He will go over before thee. . . and Joshua shall go over before thee. . . and Joshua shall go over before thee (showing Moses' belief that Joshua would work with the Angel- cp. <em><a href='B:230 91:1-16'>Psa 91:1-16</a></em>, where Moses commends Joshua for keeping close to the Angel in the tabernacle). . . Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God (the Angel God of Israel), He it is that doth go with thee, He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" (<em><a href='B:50 31:3-6'>Deu 31:3-6</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh will do to them as He did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites and to their land, whom He destroyed- </em></p><p>The victories over Sihon and Og were intended as foretastes and assurances of the Kingdom, and we have the same in our lives.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh will deliver them up before you and you shall do to them according to all the commandments which I have commanded you- </em></p><p>The truth was that they were not obedient to the commandments. Their entry to the land was predicated upon their obedience, but they were disobedient. So they entered the land by grace, and that experience was intended to elicit their obedience. Divine commandment is likewise for us a way or channel to express our gratitude for salvation by grace rather than a requirement in order to attain salvation by our works.</p>


text:
<p><em>Be strong and courageous, don’t be afraid nor be scared of them, for Yahweh your God, He it is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you-</em></p><p>See on 31:17; <em><a href='B:60 1:6'>Jos 1:6</a></em>. <em><a href='B:50 4:31'>Deu 4:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:6'>Deu 31:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a></em> say that despite the sins Israel may commit, their Angel-God "will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant... He will not fail thee". But then <em><a href='B:50 31:17'>Deu 31:17</a></em> says that because the people would disobey Him, God "will forsake them... and they shall be devoured... and I will surely hide My face in&nbsp; that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought". We have seen that in the Pentateuch, especially in God's dealings with Israel on their journey, God&nbsp; is&nbsp; to&nbsp; be&nbsp; conceived of as an Angel; which would explain the apparent fickleness shown here.</p>


text:
<p><em>Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which Yahweh has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it- </em></p><p>"Cause them to inherit it" could imply that their inheritance was still conditional. For the inheritance was predicated upon their obedience, and they were disobedient. So they would only enter it thanks to Joshua / Jesus.</p>


text:
<p><em>It is Yahweh who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you neither forsake you. Don’t be afraid neither be dismayed-</em></p><p>Note that the promise of Moses that God would not fail nor forsake Joshua, but would be with him (<em><a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a></em>) was similar to the very promise given to Moses which he had earlier doubted (<em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:12'>Exo 4:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 4:15'>Exo 4:15</a></em>). Such exhortation is so much the stronger from someone who has themselves doubted and then come to believe.</p>


text:
<p><em>Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, and to all the elders of Israel-</em></p><p>The word of his God was in his heart, as he stood there before Israel, that people whom he loved, those for whom he wished to make atonement with his own life, even his eternal life. " Yea, he loved the people" is the Spirit's comment (<em><a href='B:50 33:3'>Deu 33:3</a></em> - the " he" in the context seems to be Moses). It could only be the Spirit which would write so concisely. " Yea, he loved the people....they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words" . This is God's comment on that last meeting between Moses and Israel. And then he pours out his heart to them, he reels off what we have as the book of Deuteronomy (it takes about four hours to read it through loud), writes a copy of the Law (31:9; notice how <em><a href='B:50 24:1-22'>Deu 24:1-22</a></em> was <em>written</em> by Moses, <em><a href='B:480 10:5'>Mar 10:5</a></em>), sings a Song to that silent multitude (surely with a lump in his throat, especially at points like 32:15), and then he turns and climbs the mountain to see the land and meet his death. The fact it all happened on his birthday just adds to the pathos of it all (<em><a href='B:50 31:2'>Deu 31:2</a></em>). The huge amount of work which he did on that last day of his life looks forward to the Lord's huge achievement in the day of his death. No wonder Yahweh describes that day of Moses' death with an intensive plural: "The days (i.e. the one great time / day) approach (s.w. "at hand", "made ready") that thou must die" (<em><a href='B:50 31:14'>Deu 31:14</a></em>). It seems that he said much of the book in one day; hence his repeated mention of the phrase " this day" throughout the book. The people were often reminded that they were about to “go over (Jordan) to possess” the land (<em><a href='B:50 11:8'>Deu 11:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:11'>Deu 11:11</a></em> RV), as if they were on the banks of Jordan almost. In reality that speech of Deuteronomy was the outpouring of his heart, pleading with Israel to be faithful to the covenant, encouraging them to be aware of their weakness,&nbsp; encouraging them to go forward and inherit the Kingdom. Not only do we have a powerful type of the Lord Jesus in all this; Israel assembled before him really do represent us. <em><a href='B:50 32:36'>Deu 32:36</a></em> (" the Lord shall judge his people" ) is quoted in <em><a href='B:650 10:20'>Heb 10:20</a></em> as relevant to all of us. </p>


text:
<p><em>Moses commanded them saying, At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of tents- </em></p><p>LXX "After seven years" may suggest this refers to a special ceremony to be performed seven years after they had entered Canaan, when all the land was intended to be subdued before them.</p>


text:
<p><em>when all Israel has come to appear before Yahweh your God in the place which He shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing- </em></p><p>We note the frequent references to Yahweh choosing a specific geographical location for the sanctuary. This apparently was not fulfilled, for the ark moved around a lot. This was a tacit reflection of Israel's disobedience, and of how the inheritance of the Kingdom was to be reinterpreted and rescheduled until the last days. </p>


text:
<p><em>Assemble the people, men, women and the little ones and your foreigner who is within your gates, that they may hear and that they may learn to fear Yahweh your God and observe to do all the words of this law- </em></p><p>All Israel were envisaged as attending this ceremony; but as noted on :11, it never happened. The "foreigner" could refer to the members of the "mixed multitude" amongst them, or may reflect Yahweh's hope that some like Rahab and the Gibeonites would accept covenant relationship with Yahweh rather than having to be destroyed.</p>


text:
<p><em>and that their children, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear Yahweh your God as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it- </em></p><p>The idea is that fearing Yahweh would lead to their living long in the land. But they didn't fear Yahweh. The fact Israel did prolong their days for some centuries in the land, despite their disobedience, is therefore a reflection of God's great patience with them.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, your life will end shortly. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the Tent of Meeting, so that I may commission him. Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the Tent of Meeting-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:50 31:9'>Deu 31:9</a></em>. Yahweh said that He would give Joshua a charge; but Moses gave Joshua the charge (<em><a href='B:50 31:14'>Deu 31:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:23'>Deu 31:23</a></em>). God was so strongly manifested in Moses.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud. The pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent- </em></p><p>LXX "And the Lord descended in a cloud", as if the theophany of Sinai was now repeated. The Angel in the pillar of cloud shone forth.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh said to Moses, Behold, you shall lay down to sleep with your fathers, and this people shall rise up and play the prostitute after the strange gods of the land where they go to be among them, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:50 34:6'>Deu 34:6</a></em>. A few hours before the death of Moses, he had been telling Israel: "While I am yet alive with you this day (for a few more hours), ye have been rebellious against Yahweh; and how much more after my death?" (<em><a href='B:50 31:27'>Deu 31:27</a></em>). Earlier that same day the Angel had told him: "Thou shalt <em>lie down </em>(mg.) with thy fathers (cp. the Angel lying him down in the grave)... and this people will <em>rise up </em>(i.e. immediately after his death), and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land" (<em><a href='B:50 31:16'>Deu 31:16</a></em>). No wonder this was ringing in Moses' ears as he came to his death. Yet he triumphed in the fact that a minority would not give way. <em>His very last words</em> were a confident exaltation that ultimately Israel would overcome their temptations, the influence and idols of the surrounding world. But he knew that the majority of them would spiritually fall because of these things. Therefore he was looking forward to the minority in Israel who would gloriously overcome, who would come to the Kingdom, the land of corn and wine, when the heavens would drop dew. This is clearly the language of <em><a href='B:230 72:1-20'>Psa 72:1-20</a></em> and Isaiah about the future Kingdom. Moses met death with the vision of the faithful minority in the Kingdom, in the promised land, having overcome all their besetting temptations. And the Lord Jesus died with exactly that same vision (<em><a href='B:230 22:22-31'>Psa 22:22-31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 69:30-36'>Psa 69:30-36</a></em>).&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p><em>Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and I will hide My face from them and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come on them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Haven’t these evils come on us because our God is not among us?’- </em></p><p>This was envisaged as happening in the next generation (:16). But the tragedy was that for all their sufferings, Israel generally didn't come to this realization, and will only fully do so in the last days. So we see here God's desperate hope for them, a hope which was a reflection of His love.</p>


text:
<p><em>I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods- </em></p><p>These words were spoken by the Angel in the pillar of cloud whose face was now shining forth (:15). The idea practically may be that the shekinah glory would no longer be seen in the tabernacle. </p>


text:
<p><em>Now therefore write this song for yourselves and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel- </em></p><p>In illiterate society, songs were the usual way to remember beliefs and history and keep them alive. It was God's intention that His people would sing this to themselves, ever reminding themselves of His grace and purpose with them, and of their likelihood to waste it all by falling away.</p>


text:
<p><em>For when I have brought them into the land which I swore to their fathers, flowing with milk and honey, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise Me and break My covenant- </em></p><p>They carried the idols and tabernacle of false gods with them through the wilderness (<em><a href='B:330 20:7-8'>Eze 20:7-8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em>). So it was grace indeed to speak in terms of their future apostacy and acceptance of other gods. Israel came to describe the Egypt they had been called out from as the land flowing with milk and honey (<em><a href='B:40 16:12'>Num 16:12</a></em>), and denied that the Kingdom was in fact like that. And so we have the same tendency to be deceived into thinking that the kingdoms of this world, the world around us, is effectively the Kingdom of God, the only thing worth striving after.</p>


text:
<p><em>When many evils and troubles have come on them, this song shall testify before them as a witness, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed; for I know their imagination which they plan this day, before I have brought them into the land which I swore- </em></p><p>Seeing they had the idols already with them (<em><a href='B:330 20:7-8'>Eze 20:7-8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em>), it was clear that they intended to use them in Canaan. God knew their hearts, and realized this was "their imagination". Constantly we see God's focus upon the state of the heart. </p>


text:
<p><em>So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the children of Israel-</em></p><p>We note the continual emphasis upon "the same day" and "this day..." throughout Deuteronomy. A fair case could be made that all this happened on the last day of Moses' life; an intense final day of a very busy life. </p>


text:
<p><em>He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun and said, Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and I will be with you- </em></p><p>"I will be with you" surely refers to God, but Moses at the end of his life was totally identified with God, and spoke personally on His behalf.</p>


text:
<p><em>When Moses had finished writing the words of this law in a book-</em></p><p><em><a href='B:20 40:33'>Exo 40:33</a></em> is perhaps the clearest basis for the words of <em><a href='B:500 17:4'>Joh 17:4</a></em>. This describes how Moses "reared up" the tabernacle, representing us (<em><a href='B:540 6:16'>2Co 6:16</a></em>); "So Moses finished the work" God had given him to do. <em><a href='B:50 31:24'>Deu 31:24</a></em> likewise speaks of Moses finishing the work. The Hebrew for "reared up" is also used in the context of resurrection and glorification / exaltation. As our Lord sensed His final, ultimate achievement of the Father's glory in His own character, He could look ahead to our resurrection and glorification. He adopted God's timeless perspective, and died with the vision of our certain glorification in the Kingdom. This fits in with the way <em><a href='B:230 22:1-31'>Psa 22:1-31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 69:1-36'>Psa 69:1-36</a></em> (which evidently portray the thoughts of our dying Lord) conclude with visions of Christ's "seed" being glorified in the Kingdom. There are a number of passages which also speak of the temple (also representative of the ecclesia) being a <em>work </em>which was <em>finished </em>(e.g. <em><a href='B:140 5:1'>2Ch 5:1</a></em>). In His moment of agonized triumph as He died, the Lord Jesus saw us as if we were perfect. </p><p>“It is finished" has some connection with the Lord loving His people “to the very end" (<em><a href='B:500 13:1'>Joh 13:1</a></em> - <em>eis telos</em>). To the end or completion of what? Surely the Lord held in mind Moses’ last speech before he died. Then, “Moses had finished writing all the words of this Law in a book, even to the very end (LXX <em>eis telos</em>)" (<em><a href='B:50 31:24'>Deu 31:24</a></em>). It was Moses’ law which was finished / completed when the Lord finally died. Again we marvel at the Lord’s intellectual consciousness even in His death throes. The fact He had completed the Law was upmost in His mind. This alone should underline the importance of never going back to reliance upon that Law, be it in Sabbath keeping or general legalism of attitude. </p>&nbsp;


text:
<p><em>he commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh saying- </em></p><p>Presumably to the Kohathites (<em><a href='B:40 4:4-5'>Num 4:4-5</a></em>) who carried the ark; but only the priests could touch it, so perhaps they are in view here, as the ark had to be touched in order to fix the scroll of the law to the side of it (:26). The priests often carried the ark (<em><a href='B:60 3:3'>Jos 3:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 4:9-10'>Jos 4:9-10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 6:6'>Jos 6:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 8:33'>Jos 8:33</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 8:3'>1Ki 8:3</a></em>).&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p><em>Take this book of the law and put it in the side of the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh your God, that it may be there for a witness against you- </em></p><p>This may have been the book of the law which was found in Jeremiah's time, having become detached from the ark.</p>


text:
<p><em>For I know your rebellion and your stiff neck; even while I am alive with you this day you have been rebellious against Yahweh, and how much more after my death?- </em></p><p>Although the people were "stiff-necked", refusing to bow their necks in obedience, and thereby liable to destruction if God was amongst them (<em><a href='B:20 32:9'>Exo 32:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:3'>Exo 33:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:15'>Exo 33:15</a></em>), God was willing to give this stiff-necked people a place in God's Kingdom (<em><a href='B:50 9:6'>Deu 9:6</a></em>). And so although God had said that He would not go in the midst of a stiff-necked people, yet Moses asks Him to do so (<em><a href='B:20 34:9'>Exo 34:9</a></em>)- for He senses God's desire to save them by grace despite their hardened disobedience.&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p><em>Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears and call heaven and earth to witness against them- </em></p><p>It was specifically Moses' song which called heaven and earth to witness (<em><a href='B:50 32:1'>Deu 32:1</a></em>). Perhaps the idea was that "earth" was witness in that a copy of the law or the song was to be placed by the ark; and God in heaven was witness too.</p>


text:
<p><em>For I know that after my death you will utterly corrupt yourselves and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will happen to you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke Him to anger through the work of your hands-</em></p><p>God can be grieved (s.w. 'provoke to anger'). He has emotions, and His potential foreknowledge doesn't mean that these feelings are not legitimate. They are presented as occurring in human time, as responses to human behaviour. This is the degree to which He has accommodated Himself to human time-space limits, in order to fully enter relationship and experience with us. As He can limit His omnipotence, so God can limit His omniscience, in order to feel and respond along with us.</p>


text:
<p><em>Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were finished- </em></p><p>The implication would be that the song was Divinely inspired, it came to him and he spoke or sung it to them until the revelation had finished. </p>


text:
<p><em>Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth- </em></p><p>The echoes of Deuteronomy in the Lord’s goodbye speeches shouldn’t be missed; for Moses at this time truly was a superb type of the Lord Jesus. Deuteronomy concludes with two songs of Moses, one addressed to the Father (<em><a href='B:50 32:1-52'>Deu 32:1-52</a></em>), and the other to his people (<em><a href='B:50 33:1-29'>Deu 33:1-29</a></em>). It is apparent that the Lord’s final prayer in <em><a href='B:500 17:1-26'>Joh 17:1-26</a></em> is divisible into the same two divisions- prayer to the Father, and concern for His people. It has been observed that the prayer of <em><a href='B:500 17:1-26'>Joh 17:1-26</a></em> is also almost like a hymn- divided into seven strophes of eight lines each. It would appear to be John’s equivalent to the record in <em><a href='B:480 14:26'>Mar 14:26</a></em> of a hymn being sung at the end of the Last Supper. </p><p>The lives of both Moses and the Lord ended with a farewell discourse and prayer. Not only do the words of the Lord consciously allude to Moses’ words in Deuteronomy, but John’s comments do likewise. John’s comment that “Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world…” (<em><a href='B:500 13:1'>Joh 13:1</a></em>) is without any doubt referring to the well known (at the time he was writing) Jerusalem Targum on <em><a href='B:50 32:1-52'>Deu 32:1-52</a></em>: “And when the last end of Moses the prophet was at hand, that he should be gathered from the world…”.</p><p>Significantly, the Pentateuch begins with the account of the creation of “heaven and earth” and concludes with Moses appealing to the “heavens and earth” of Israel (<em><a href='B:50 32:1'>Deu 32:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:28'>Deu 33:28</a></em>). This is not to say that <em><a href='B:10 1:1-31'>Gen 1:1-31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 2:1-25'>Gen 2:1-25</a></em> <em>only</em> recount the creation of Israel; but it was probably understood by early readers and hearers as God’s account of the creation of the land on which Israel found themselves living. For an observer on the earth / land of Israel, the impression is given that the whole of creation came into existence on account of Israel. The stars etc. came into existence to give light on the earth / land of Israel; just as in the new creation, all things likewise “are” for <em>our </em>sakes, even if the rest of the world benefits too. </p><p>Let’s remember that under inspiration, Moses wrote Genesis, presumably during the 40 years wandering. He therefore wrote it in a context- of explaining things to Israel as they stumbled through that wilderness, wondering who they were, where they came from, where they were headed. This explains why there are so many links within the Pentateuch- e.g. the Spirit “flutters” over the waters in <em><a href='B:10 1:2'>Gen 1:2</a></em>, just as God like an eagle (a symbol of the Spirit) “flutters” over Israel in bringing about their creation as a nation (<em><a href='B:50 32:1'>Deu 32:1</a></em>). The point is that what God did at creation, He can do at any time. As He made the waters “swarm” in <em><a href='B:10 1:20'>Gen 1:20</a></em>, so He made the waters of the Nile “swarm” with frogs (<em><a href='B:20 8:3'>Exo 8:3</a></em>) in order to save His people from a no-hope, chaotic, disordered, hopeless situation. The command to subject the animals in Eden (the land promised to Abraham?) corresponds to later commands to subject the tribes living in the land (<em><a href='B:10 1:28'>Gen 1:28</a></em> = <em><a href='B:40 32:22'>Num 32:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 32:29'>Num 32:29</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 18:1'>Jos 18:1</a></em>). The “fear and dread” of humans which fell on the animals after the flood is clearly linkable with the “fear and dread” which was to come upon the inhabitants of Canaan due to the Israelites (<em><a href='B:10 9:2'>Gen 9:2</a></em> = <em><a href='B:50 1:21'>Deu 1:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 3:8'>Deu 3:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 11:25'>Deu 11:25</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall condense as the dew, as the small rain on the tender grass, as the showers on the herb- </em></p><p>This reads in LXX as a commandment to accept the teaching of Moses in this song: "Let my speech be looked for as the rain, and my words come down as dew". </p>


text:
<p><em>For I will proclaim the name of Yahweh. Ascribe greatness to our God-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:530 10:4'>1Co 10:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 17:8'>Joh 17:8</a></em>. Moses is asking them to glorify God as he had done, inviting them to make his life path that of every Israelite: "For <em>I</em> have called on the name of the Lord: assign <em>ye</em> greatness to our God" (LXX). Yet Israel came to glorify Moses as a person, as religious people do, without seeing the reality of this invitation to be like Moses personally. Paul grasped this, and says that we each with unveiled face have seen a greater glory than Moses saw; thus inviting us to be like Moses but to see even far greater glory (<em><a href='B:540 3:18'>2Co 3:18</a></em>). </p><p>"Proclaim the Name" (<em><a href='B:20 33:19'>Exo 33:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 34:5'>Exo 34:5</a></em>) is the same phrase used about 'calling upon the Name' (e.g. <em><a href='B:50 28:10'>Deu 28:10</a></em>). The calling out / proclamation of Yahweh's Name, in the Gospel and ultimately in the declaration of the Name on the cross (<em><a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a></em>), elicits a desire to call that Name upon us, which we initially do through baptism into that Name. And like Moses, we in turn proclaim the Name to others (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em> s.w.).&nbsp;</p><p>"I have proclaimed the name of the Lord" (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em> LXX) was surely in Christ's mind in His goodbye prayer of <em><a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a></em>; and those words are in the context of Moses' song, which roundly exposed Israel's future apostacy. The character, the fundamental personality of God, is declared through appreciating human weakness and apostacy. Christ's words of <em><a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a></em> were likewise in the context of revealing apostacy and future weakness. Thus through recognition of sin we come to know God; this is the fundamental message of Ezekiel and other prophets. Through knowing our own sinfulness we know the righteousness of God, and vice versa. Thus properly beholding the righteousness of God as displayed on the cross ought to convict us of our sinfulness, as it did the people who saw it in real life (they "smote upon their breasts" in repentance, cp. <em><a href='B:490 18:13'>Luk 18:13</a></em>).&nbsp; As Christ declared God's Name just before His death (<em><a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a></em>), so did Moses (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em> LXX).&nbsp; Moses saw at the end of his life that there was no third way: it was either complete dedication and salvation, or rebellion and condemnation. See on <em><a href='B:50 28:58'>Deu 28:58</a></em>.</p><p>The Lord told the Father that He had given the disciples His words, “and they have received them” (<em><a href='B:500 17:8'>Joh 17:8</a></em>). This is evident allusion to the editorial comment in <em><a href='B:50 33:3'>Deu 33:3</a></em> about how all Israel received God’s words through Moses. Likewise “I manifested Your name… they have kept Your word” (<em><a href='B:500 17:6'>Joh 17:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a></em>) = “I will proclaim the name of the Lord… they have observed thy word” (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:9'>Deu 33:9</a></em>). One marvels at the way the Lord’s mind linked together so much Scripture in the artless, seamless way in which He did. </p><p>The Lord Jesus fed off the majesty of the Name of Yahweh (<em><a href='B:400 5:4'>Mic 5:4</a></em>)- this was how inspirational He found the things of the Name. To fear the Name of Yahweh was to “observe to do all the words of this law” (<em><a href='B:50 28:58'>Deu 28:58</a></em>). Meditation and sustained reflection upon the characteristics of God as epitomized and memorialized in His Name will of itself lead to a conformation of personality to that same Name. If we declare that Name to others, they too have the chance to be transformed by it- thus Moses comments: “Because <em>I </em>will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe <em>ye</em> greatness unto our God” (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em>). </p><p>We in our turn are to manifest God's Name by outgoing witness; so many of the Psalms were written in order to do just that. Moses 'proclaimed the name of Yahweh' (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em> RV)- just as the Angel had proclaimed the Name to Moses in <em><a href='B:20 34:1-35'>Exo 34:1-35</a></em>. In perceiving God's Name we are seeing something which cannot be kept to ourselves; God's personality of itself bids us proclaim it. And Moses goes on in the same verse to urge Israel to do as he was doing: "Ascribe <em>ye</em> greatness unto our God".</p>


text:
<p><em>the Rock; His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is He-</em></p><p>The Lord's final address to His people before His death was based upon these last words of Moses. “Holy Father… righteous Father” (<em><a href='B:500 17:11'>Joh 17:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 17:25'>Joh 17:25</a></em>) was a form of address which the Lord had in a sense lifted from Moses when he addresses God as “righteous and holy” (<em><a href='B:50 32:4'>Deu 32:4</a></em> LXX).</p>


text:
<p><em>They have dealt corruptly with Him; they are not His children any more because of their blemish. They are a perverse and crooked generation-</em></p><p>Moses is saying that his prophesy that they would "corrupt themselves" would indeed come true (<em><a href='B:50 31:29'>Deu 31:29</a></em>). <em><a href='B:50 4:16'>Deu 4:16</a></em> says that this corruption with or of Yahweh would be through idolatry and making images. It is man who is made in the form / image / likeness of God (<em><a href='B:10 1:26'>Gen 1:26</a></em>). Our emphasis must be upon replicating God's thinking in ourselves, making ourselves after His image and likeness. Rather than seeking to worship a physical image of Him in the form of an idol or animal. To do so is to corrupt both Him and the humanity which He intends to be in His image and likeness.</p><p>AV "Their spot is not the spot of His children" effectively refers to this corruption of Yahweh's image. But there is specific allusion to the marks which idolaters placed on their bodies and foreheads; given specific latter day significance in <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:20:4'>Rev 20:4</a></em>. </p><p>This description of Israel is quoted about the world in <em>Php_2:15</em>. If God’s people worship this world’s idols, then they are counted by God as the world. "Corrupted" is s.w. "'destroyed" or "perish". All judgment is finally self inflicted. Sin is its own judgment; hence the Hebrew word for "corruption" also means "destruction", for moral corruption is its own destruction. God Himself does judge, but always prefers men to judge themselves. Apostate Israel are spoken of as the pagan world; and therefore at the day of judgment the rejected of the new Israel will be condemned along with the world (<em><a href='B:530 11:32'>1Co 11:32</a></em>); assigned their portion “with the unbelievers” (<em><a href='B:490 12:46'>Luk 12:46</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>Do you thus repay Yahweh, foolish people and unwise? Isn’t He your father who has bought you? He has created you and established you- </em></p><p>The appeal is to their salvation history<em>- </em>Israel's redemption (being "bought") from Egypt (<em><a href='B:20 15:16'>Exo 15:16</a></em>), their establishment in the land and creation as a nation at Sinai. So often, their experience&nbsp; of these things is alluded to in the law as a basis and reason for their loyalty to Yahweh's laws, and living in a culture of grace and kindness to others- given their own experience of grace. We too must never forget our own spiritual path and redemption by God's hand, active throughout our lives. Such personal reflection upon our life's path is therefore necessary if we are to continue to be awed by His grace to us.</p>


text:
<p><em>Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you- </em></p><p>In our world, human history is generally felt to be bunk, irrelevant to this generation, of merely passing cultural fascination to the hurrying man of modern society. And in some ways, that may indeed be a legitimate take on secular history. But Biblical history is to be seen quite otherwise by God's people. It is a living word spoken to us, and the salvation acts which are there recorded happened to us. We are to learn from history, not as a merely fascinating exercise. But the Bible is history, and yet it is a living word to us. Israel were supposed to reason back from the actions of Egypt towards them, and their weakness spiritually at that time. And to respond personally to that grace. </p>


text:
<p><em>When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the children of men, He set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:340 10:20-21'>Dan 10:20-21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 24:9-11'>Exo 24:9-11</a></em>. A total of 70 bulls were offered at the feast of ingathering. <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:5:9'>Rev 5:9</a></em> presents us with the picture of men and women redeemed from <em>every</em> kindred (tribe / clan), tongue (<em>glossa- </em>language), people (a group of people not necessarily of the same ethnicity) and nation (<em>ethnos</em>-</p><p> ethnic group, lit. ‘those of the same customs’). This means that, e.g., not only redeemed ‘Yugoslavs’ will stand before the throne in the end; but Macedonians, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Montenegrans, Bosnians... every ethnic group, with every custom, will have representatives who will have believed the Truth and been saved. This idea is confirmed by considering how 70 bullocks had to be sacrificed at the feast of ingathering (<em><a href='B:40 29:1-40'>Num 29:1-40</a></em>), prophetic as it was of the final ingathering of the redeemed. But 70 is the number of all Gentile nations found in <em><a href='B:10 10:1-32'>Gen 10:1-32</a></em>. And it is written: “When he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel” (<em><a href='B:50 32:8'>Deu 32:8</a></em>). A total of 70 went down with Jacob into Egypt; and thus 70 seems an appropriate number to connect with the entire Gentile world. My point is, representatives of <em>all</em> of them will be finally ingathered. It could be that this conversion of all men occurs during the final tribulation (<em><a class='bible' href='#b66:14:6'>Rev 14:6</a></em>); but it seems to me that the context demands that people from every nation etc. are already redeemed in Christ and await His return.</p><p>The Canaanite explanation of the family of the gods was that it contained a total of 70 gods – Ugaritic Tablet II AB 6:46 speaks of the “seventy sons of Asherah”. This is re-focused by the record of <em><a href='B:10 10:1-32'>Gen 10:1-32</a></em> – which speaks of 70 nations of men. Likewise <em><a href='B:10 46:27'>Gen 46:27</a></em> and <em><a href='B:20 1:5'>Exo 1:5</a></em> speak of the 70 sons of Jacob – and <em><a href='B:50 32:8'>Deu 32:8</a></em> says that the number of the Gentile nations was fixed “according to the number of the sons of God” or, “Israel” (according to some texts). The belief in the 70 gods of the Canaanite pantheon is therefore re-focused down to earth – where there were 70 sons of Jacob, 70 nations in the world around Israel, and <em><a href='B:50 32:8'>Deu 32:8</a></em> may imply that each is cared for by a guardian Angel in Heaven.</p><p>According to <em><a href='B:50 32:8-9'>Deu 32:8-9</a></em> LXX, humanity has been divided up “according to the number of the angels of God”; each nation has its Angelic representative in Heaven. These representative, all righteous Angels are spoken of as being ‘punished’ in the sense that their charges on earth are punished. Note the parallelism in <em><a href='B:290 24:21-22'>Isa 24:21-22</a></em>:</p>&nbsp;<p>“Yahweh will punish</p><p>The host of heaven in heaven</p><p>And on earth the kings of the earth”.</p><p>This doesn’t mean that the representative Angels are themselves sinners; but they are identified in the court of Heaven with those on earth whom they represent. We think of Angels representing nations in Daniel and Zechariah.</p>


text:
<p><em>For Yahweh’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance- </em></p><p>We are His inheritance, and we are His. An inheritance was of major significance to the Semitic mind. We see here how we are all things to Him, and He is to be all things to us, and no mere passing religious hobby. Israel were to be God's inheritance if they were obedient (<em><a href='B:20 19:5'>Exo 19:5</a></em>). They weren't, but His love was such that He still took them as His inheritance. </p>


text:
<p><em>He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He embraced him, He cared for him-</em></p><p>God’s search for man is a repeated theme of the prophets. “Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree, I saw your fathers” (<em><a href='B:350 9:10'>Hos 9:10</a></em>). “He found him in a desert land… He encircled him, He cared for him, He kept him as the apple of his eye” (<em><a href='B:50 32:10'>Deu 32:10</a></em>). “I said, Here am I, here am I… I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people… I called, no one answered” (<em><a href='B:290 50:2'>Isa 50:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 65:1-2'>Isa 65:1-2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 66:4'>Isa 66:4</a></em>). “I have found David my servant” (<em><a href='B:230 89:20'>Psa 89:20</a></em>). So it’s not us as it were reaching out to God; He is fervently reaching out to us, and we have to come to realize that. We don’t so much as find God, as realize that He already is earnestly with us. Every man and woman is somehow a life “bound in the bundle of living in the care of the Lord” (<em><a href='B:90 25:29'>1Sa 25:29</a></em>). We come to realize that before we were formed in the womb, God knew us (<em><a href='B:300 1:5'>Jer 1:5</a></em>). God hunts for us like a lion, Job came to realize; and in this "You show yourself wonderful to me" (<em><a href='B:220 10:16'>Job 10:16</a></em>). And we are searching for God. God is not indifferent to our searching for Him. Those awestruck moments of wonder, of radical amazement, are where God finds us at the time we are searching for Him. Both sides are seeking each other; and in those moments, they meet. As a Jewish poet put it: "And going out to meet thee / I found thee coming toward me". In those moments, heaven and earth kiss each other. There is a click, a flash, between Almighty God and us- as we stand at a bus stop, turn left into Acacia Avenue, lay there on our bed meditating. </p><p><em>He kept him as the apple of His eye-</em></p><p>One of the most sensitive spots on the body. Anyone who even comes near God’s people stimulates a natural response from God, so sensitive is He to our pain in this life. We are the apple of God’s eye (<em><a href='B:230 17:8'>Psa 17:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:10'>Deu 32:10</a></em>), and His word must be as the apple of our eye (<em><a href='B:240 7:2'>Pro 7:2</a></em>). We dwell in God, and His word dwells in us (<em><a href='B:500 15:1-27'>Joh 15:1-27</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>As an eagle that stirs up her nest and flutters over her young, He spread abroad his wings. He took them, He carried them on His feathers-</em></p><p>The way that Israel were intended to be a missionary nation is brought out very beautifully by the way that God speaks of carrying Israel on eagles' wings out of Egypt (<em><a href='B:50 32:11'>Deu 32:11</a></em>). Apparently, the eagle throws one of its young into the air and catches it, bearing it on its wings, until it learns to fly freely, and then the others learn from this how to fly. If this is the right track of interpretation, then we are left with the conclusion that it was God's intention that all the Gentile world were intended to be God's ultimate children, and that they would learn from the example of Israel. But Israel failed to fly as God intended, and thus they were not the intended example for others. Note in passing how God's intention is that we should fly freely- not merely be His initiative-less servants for the sake of it. </p><p>Moses is depressed by Israel complaining at how boring the manna was. He doubts God's earlier promises to him: " Moses said unto the Lord, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight (God said he had, in <em><a href='B:20 33:17'>Exo 33:17</a></em>)...have I conceived all this people? have I begotten them, that thou shouldest say unto them, Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing father beareth the sucking child unto the land which thou swearest unto their fathers (not "our" - notice the uncharacteristic separation between Moses and Israel). Whence should I give flesh unto all this people...if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand, if I have found favour in the sight (as God had earlier promised him that he had)" (<em><a href='B:40 11:12'>Num 11:12</a></em>). God was the father and conceiver of Israel, the one who would carry them to the land (<em><a href='B:20 19:4'>Exo 19:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 33:15'>Exo 33:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:11-12'>Deu 32:11-12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:350 11:1'>Hos 11:1</a></em>); it is as if Moses is saying: They're your children, you look after them, don't dump them on me. Although compare this with his earlier love for them, willing to sacrifice himself for them. God then says that He will provide more food for Israel. But Moses almost mocks God: "Shall the flocks and herds be slain for them, to suffice them?". And the Angel angrily replied: "Is the Lord's hand waxed short? thou shalt see whether my word shall come to pass unto thee or not" . If he had faith, Moses surely would have realized that if God could provide manna, he could provide any food. Moses seems to have suffered from fits of depression and also high spirituality.</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh alone led him, there was no foreign god with Him-</em></p><p>Although there was no pagan god with Yahweh at the time of the exodus, there was with Israel- for they took the idols of Egypt with them through the Red Sea, carrying the tabernacle of Moloch with them for guidance as well as Yahweh's (<em><a href='B:510 7:43'>Act 7:43</a></em>), just as we are tempted to take the world with us through the waters of baptism rather than seeing it as cut off from us (<em><a href='B:330 20:7-8'>Eze 20:7-8</a></em>).</p><p>Right at their birth by the Red Sea, the Almighty records that "the people feared Yahweh, and believed Yahweh, and His servant Moses" (<em><a href='B:20 14:23'>Exo 14:23</a></em>). No mention is made of the Egyptian idols they were still cuddling (we don't directly learn about them until <em><a href='B:330 20:1-49'>Eze 20:1-49</a></em>). Nor do we learn that this "belief" of theirs lasted a mere three days; nor of the fact that they rejected Moses, and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. "There was no strange god" with Israel on their journey (<em><a href='B:50 32:12'>Deu 32:12</a></em> AV); but there were (<em><a href='B:370 5:26'>Amo 5:26</a></em>). The reconciliation is that God counted as Israel as devoted solely to Him. </p><p>The degree to which righteousness is imputed to us is hard to feel. <em><a href='B:50 32:12'>Deu 32:12</a></em> states that there was no strange God with Israel- but <em><a href='B:330 20:1-49'>Eze 20:1-49</a></em> says they took the idols of Egypt with them. God counted wayward Israel as righteous; at that time, as Balaam said, God did not see iniquity in Israel, nor behold the perversity that was in Jacob. Paul speaks of the fruits of righteousness, the same Greek word translated "justification" (<em>Php_1:11</em>). Justification by faith brings forth fruits of righteousness. When the disciples argued about who should be the greatest, the Lord replied that " it is not so among you: whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister" (<em><a href='B:480 10:43'>Mar 10:43</a></em> R.V.). He expected them to live up to the righteousness which He imputed to them. </p>


text:
<p><em>He made him ride in victory on the high places of the earth and fed him with the increase of the field. He caused him to suck honey out of the rock, oil out of the flinty rock-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:230 81:16'>Psa 81:16</a></em>. The promised land was to flow with milk and honey to those who kept covenant. And yet Saul later precluded the people from experiencing the blessings of the covenant by petty legalism and a desire for personal control. The people were obedient to his word, but then totally disobeyed Yahweh's command about not eating blood as a result of it (<em><a href='B:90 14:25'>1Sa 14:25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:90 14:33'>1Sa 14:33</a></em>). Tragically, Israel went back to those very “high places” to worship the local idols, as the prophets so often lament.</p>&nbsp;


text:
<p><em>butter of the herd and milk of the flock with fat of lambs, rams of the breed of Bashan and goats, with the finest of the wheat. Of the blood of the grape you drank wine- </em></p><p>Such agricultural abundance is all the stuff of the blessings for obedience. They were disobedient, but still God blessed them with the blessings for obedience- in the hope that such grace would elicit obedience and faithfulness to Him. But tragically it didn't. The very opposite (:15).</p>


text:
<p><em>But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked. You have grown fat. You have become covered with flesh. Then he forsook God who made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:50 31:9'>Deu 31:9</a></em>. Moses in Deuteronomy so many times warns that Israel would become unfaithful to God once they became prosperous. This is a major theme with him. Any request for material prosperity must be made knowing that really this is not for the best spiritually. And God must struggle with those requests as a parent does with a request for something which they want to give, because they love their child, but know that it will almost certainly be misused. It’s no surprise therefore that the majority of God’s people have been poor- it is the poor who respond to the Gospel (<em><a href='B:470 11:5'>Mat 11:5</a></em>), and the wealthy are a minority amongst us (<em><a href='B:530 1:26'>1Co 1:26</a></em>).</p><p>"Jeshurun" means 'the upright one'. But they were never upright, and were rebellious from the day Moses knew them. But this is how they were seen by God when He fell in love with the people in the wilderness, not seeing iniquity in Israel (<em><a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a></em>). "Lightly esteemed" is s.w. "disgrace".</p>


text:
<p><em>They moved Him to jealousy with strange gods, they provoked Him to anger with abominations-</em></p><p>God can be grieved (s.w. 'provoke to anger'). He has emotions, and His potential foreknowledge doesn't mean that these feelings are not legitimate. They are presented as occurring in human time, as responses to human behaviour. This is the degree to which He has accommodated Himself to human time-space limits, in order to fully enter relationship and experience with us. As He can limit His omnipotence, so God can limit His omniscience, in order to feel and respond along with us.</p>


text:
<p><em>They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods that they didn’t know, to new gods that came up recently, which your fathers didn’t fear- </em></p><p>Demons are associated with idols, and they are not the gods which they are believed to be (:21; <em><a href='B:530 10:20'>1Co 10:20</a></em>). The language of demon possession we meet in the Gospel records is therefore the language of the day to describe healing of illnesses attributed to demons; but demons have no real existence because there is only one God.</p><p>Dale Martin in an article points out that there are six different Hebrew words which are all translated 'daimon' in the Septuagint Greek version of the Old Testament, and this is the term which the New Testament uses for 'demons'. He concludes: “Ancient Jews used <em>daimonion</em> to translate five or six different Hebrew words.&nbsp; In the ancient Near Eastern context, those words referred to different kinds of beings … What they have in common, nonetheless, is that they all were thought of as gods – in fact, as the gods other people falsely worship: the gods of the nations... we find no equation of fallen angels with Greek <em>daimons</em>” (pp. 662, 670). As an example, the Hebrew 'sedim' translated "demons" in <em><a href='B:50 32:17'>Deu 32:17</a></em> and <em><a href='B:230 106:37'>Psa 106:37</a></em> is defined by Martin as follows: "In the ancient Near Eastern context, the word sedim is related to the Assyrian sidu, which referred to the great bull statues in front of the Assyrian palaces, sometimes depicted with wings. According to some modern commentators, the word <em>adon</em> originally meant simply “lord” and served as a divine title like “Baal” or “Adonai”. It could, therefore, be taken to refer to ancient gods of Canaan and other surrounding people, who could have viewed them as good powers or gods". The connection between demons and idols is quite clear, both from context and linguistic analysis.</p>


text:
<p><em>Of the Rock who became your father you are unmindful, and have forgotten God who gave you birth-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:10 49:24'>Gen 49:24</a></em>. As discussed on :7, their problem was that they refused to accept the historical perspective on their lives. They were not awed by the way God had brought them by grace to their present location. Like spoilt children, they came to presume upon special grace as the norm, and failed to see the wonder of it. We note that we have here an example of where God likens Himself to a woman, something unusual in the religious thinking of the times. </p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh saw and abhorred, because of the provocation of His sons and His daughters-</em></p><p>Scripture repeatedly speaks as if God notices things and is then hurt by what He sees (<em><a href='B:390 3:10'>Jon 3:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 29:31'>Gen 29:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 3:4'>Exo 3:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:19'>Deu 32:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 23:13'>Eze 23:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 59:15'>Isa 59:15</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:490 7:13'>Luk 7:13</a></em>). If He knew in advance what they were going to do, this language is hard for me to understand. But God is therefore hurt and 'surprised' at sin- He saw Israel as the firstripe grapes, but they were worshipping Baal even then (<em><a href='B:350 9:9'>Hos 9:9</a></em>). Thus God can allow Himself to feel an element of surprise- and this was a shock to Jeremiah, who queried: "Why are You like a man who is caught by surprise...?" (<em><a href='B:300 14:9'>Jer 14:9</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>He said, I will hide My face from them. I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very perverse generation- </em></p><p>God Himself knows the end from the beginning and need fear no man; but His Angels do not have ultimate knowledge or strength, and therefore such language is more suited to them. This ‘language of limitation’ may refer to the Angels rather than God personally. He <em>can</em> see all things, and yet in the time of Israel's apostacy He hides His face from them (<em><a href='B:400 3:4'>Mic 3:4</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:50 32:19-20'>Deu 32:19-20</a></em>). He enters fully into our humanity by as it were limiting His omniscience and omnipotence in order to relate with us in real time.</p><p><em>Children in whom is no loyalty-</em></p><p>"Loyalty" is the word for "faith" or "trust". Such trust in the Father should have come naturally, but from babyhood they revolted against Him. <em>Pistis</em>, one of the NT words for 'faith' is used here in the LXX, and is translated in the LXX as both 'faith' (e.g. <em><a href='B:50 32:20'>Deu 32:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:240 12:22'>Pro 12:22</a></em>) and 'truth' (<em><a href='B:240 12:17'>Pro 12:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:240 14:22'>Pro 14:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 5:1'>Jer 5:1</a></em>). Indeed, another word used in the LXX is 119 times translated 'truth' and 26 times 'faith'. There <em>is</em> a connection between true knowledge of the Gospel and faith. And this faith is the basis for our works. We don't just learn the propositions of the one faith before baptism, and forget them. The triumphant spiritual life <em>lives them out</em>. </p>


text:
<p><em>They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked Me to anger with their vanities-</em></p><p>We read of God being slow to anger (<em><a href='B:20 34:6'>Exo 34:6</a></em>), at others, of Him not restraining His anger, or restraining it (<em><a href='B:230 78:38'>Psa 78:38</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 48:9'>Isa 48:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:310 2:8'>Lam 2:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 20:22'>Eze 20:22</a></em>), and holding His peace (<em><a href='B:290 57:11'>Isa 57:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 50:21'>Psa 50:21</a></em>), and being provoked to anger by the bad behaviour of His covenant people (<em><a href='B:50 32:21'>Deu 32:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 78:58'>Psa 78:58</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 65:3'>Isa 65:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 8:19'>Jer 8:19</a></em>). God clearly has emotions of a kind which are not unrelated to the emotions we experience, as beings made in His image. But those emotions involve a time factor in order to be emotions. We read of the anger of God "for a moment" (<em><a href='B:230 30:5'>Psa 30:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 54:7-8'>Isa 54:7-8</a></em>), and of His wrath coming and going, leaving Him "calm" and no longer angry (<em><a href='B:330 16:42'>Eze 16:42</a></em>). When we sin, we provoke God to anger- i.e. at a point in time, God sees our sin, and becomes angry. This is attested many times in Scripture. But it's meaningless if God is somehow outside of our time and emotions. </p><p><em>I will move them to jealousy with those who are not a people, I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation-</em></p><p>This is interpreted in the New Testament as referring to the conversion of the Gentiles (<em><a href='B:520 10:19'>Rom 10:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:670 2:10'>1Pe 2:10</a></em>). It was intended to provoke them firstly to jealousy, but then to accepting the same God of Israel which the Gentiles had accepted. Paul sees the Jewish anger at Gentile conversion to Christ as a reflection of their jealousy. If Gentiles became followers of some idol cult, the Jews would have been indifferent. But their jealousy was provoked by Israel accepting Jesus of Nazareth as God's Son and Saviour. This jealousy was and is surely a reflection of a bad conscience, just as subconsciously Joseph's brothers knew that Joseph was not dead but alive, and standing before them. It was Israel's 'knowledge' of the Gospel they had heard which is related by Paul to their anger and jealousy. And we see the same today in many who exhibit anger and jealousy over the faith of others. This is a function of their 'knowledge' which they are in denial of. </p>


text:
<p><em>For a fire is kindled in My anger, which burns to the lowest Sheol. It devours the earth with its increase, and sets the foundations of the mountains on fire- </em></p><p>Gilgamesh and the pagan myths presented whole groups of gods as responsible for and presiding over death and the underworld, and another, separate, pantheon of gods as involved in creation. The Biblical emphasis upon one God is significant and unusual; it is Yahweh who sends man back to the dust from which He created him, and the same Yahweh who is in total control of <em>sheol</em> (the grave or underworld), and in a sense even present there (<em><a href='B:50 32:22'>Deu 32:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:220 26:6'>Job 26:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 139:7-8'>Psa 139:7-8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:240 15:11'>Pro 15:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:370 9:2'>Amo 9:2</a></em>). The same God is in control of the earth, as taught here by God through Moses. The state of the dead is defined in Genesis as a return to dust, and later Scripture emphasizes that this means unconsciousness, for the righteous merely a sleep in hope of bodily resurrection. This was radically different to the ideas espoused by the peoples amongst whom Israel travelled and lived. </p>


text:
<p><em>I will heap evils on them. I will spend my arrows on them- </em></p><p>These arrows are alluded to with reference to the Babylonian desolation (<em><a href='B:310 3:13'>Lam 3:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 5:16'>Eze 5:16</a></em>). "Evil arrows" were thought to be cast by displeased gods; but here Yahweh insists that there is no supernatural evil, and He is going to be the one who fires such arrows. His omnipotence meant that there was no place left for any understanding of "evil" as coming from some cosmic evil being, such as the "satan" of modern theology.</p>


text:
<p><em>They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured with burning heat and bitter destruction- </em></p><p>The curses to come upon Israel as a result of the latter day invasions are described in terms which are extremely apposite to modern warfare. The plagues to come upon Israel as a result of the invasions are almost impossible to identify with anything presently known:&nbsp;"a consumption... a fever... an inflammation... an extreme burning... blasting... the burning ague that shall consume the eyes" (<em><a href='B:50 28:22'>Deu 28:22</a></em>;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:30 26:16'>Lev 26:16</a></em>) all seems to echo the language of nuclear fall-out.&nbsp;"They shall be burnt... and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction" (<em><a href='B:50 32:24'>Deu 32:24</a></em>) is similar. The release of complex chemical weapons, as well as nuclear detonation, would explain why rainfall patterns will be interrupted during this latter day tribulation (<em><a href='B:50 28:23'>Deu 28:23</a></em>).&nbsp;The fall-out from such weapons would create the murderous rain of dust upon the land which <em><a href='B:50 28:24'>Deu 28:24</a></em> speaks of:&nbsp;"The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed".&nbsp;It is twice emphasized that those in the land would suffer blindness (<em><a href='B:50 28:28-29'>Deu 28:28-29</a></em>), which may also be related to such nuclear or chemical fallout. This has not yet happened;&nbsp; the context invites us to read this as literal rather than figurative.&nbsp;We know that the latter day invaders who attack Jerusalem will both fight each other and have their eyes rot in their sockets (<em><a href='B:450 14:12'>Zec 14:12</a></em>), the implication being that they use their weaponry against each other as well as against Israel.&nbsp;Their earlier use of these weapons would account for this blindness coming upon Israel, and again we see the principle that what the attackers do to Israel will be inflicted upon them. </p><p><em>I will send the teeth of animals on them and the poison of crawling things of the dust-</em></p><p>The whole record of Adam and Eve in Eden is alluded to multiple times in Moses' law. As they were given a command not to eat, so Israel were asked not to eat certain things. As there was a snake who was there in the 'land' of Eden, so there was the equivalent amongst Israel- the false teachers, the tribes who remained, etc., the "serpents of the dust" (<em><a href='B:50 32:24'>Deu 32:24</a></em> - an evident allusion to the language of the snake in Eden). </p><p><em><a href='B:110 22:22'>1Ki 22:22</a></em> gives an insight into the workings of the court of Heaven, with an Angel told: "Go out and do so". This describes the Angels being sent out from the court of Heaven to do God’s word. So when we read of God sending lions (<em><a href='B:120 17:25-26'>2Ki 17:25-26</a></em>), sending wild beasts and famine (<em><a href='B:30 26:22'>Lev 26:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 5:17'>Eze 5:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:24'>Deu 32:24</a></em>), sending locusts (<em><a href='B:360 2:25'>Joe 2:25</a></em>), it would seem that Angels are sent forth from God’s throne in order to command animals to obey God’s word. And moreover, He sends an evil spirit between men (<em><a href='B:70 9:23'>Jdg 9:23</a></em>) and stubborn hearts are also sent from God (<em><a href='B:230 81:13'>Psa 81:13</a></em>). The same Angels who are sent to control the animals can also therefore work to give men certain attitudes of mind.</p>


text:
<p><em>Outside, the sword shall bereave and inside, terror shall be on both young man and virgin, the nursing infant with the grey-haired man- </em></p><p>During their latter day tribulation, Israel will experience intense "terror" (<em><a href='B:30 26:16'>Lev 26:16</a></em>), which would be enough to kill them (<em><a href='B:50 32:25'>Deu 32:25</a></em>).&nbsp;This extraordinary level of paranoia will be modelled upon that of Jacob as he faced Esau - representing Israel's confrontation with the Arabs in the last days (<em><a href='B:300 30:5'>Jer 30:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 30:7'>Jer 30:7</a></em>). This state of fear will result in many Jews going to live in Jerusalem, as happened during the Babylonian and Assyrian invasions (<em><a href='B:300 35:11'>Jer 35:11</a></em>).&nbsp;Ezekiel had prophesied of this time:&nbsp;"Terrors (an intensive plural - i.e. 'the one great terror') by reason of the sword shall be upon my people" (<em><a href='B:330 21:12'>Eze 21:12</a></em>).&nbsp;Likewise our Lord spoke of "fearful sights" being seen in latter-day Israel (<em><a href='B:490 21:11'>Luk 21:11</a></em>). This fear will be absolute paranoia:&nbsp; "I will make you a terror to yourself" (<em><a href='B:300 20:4'>Jer 20:4</a></em>) because of latter day Babylon's invasion;&nbsp;"ye shall flee when none pursueth you... I will send a faintness into their hearts... the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them" (<em><a href='B:30 26:17'>Lev 26:17</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 26:36'>Lev 26:36</a></em>). "I will bring the land into <em>desolation</em>" (<em><a href='B:30 26:32'>Lev 26:32</a></em>) uses a Hebrew word which can imply stupefaction by fear.&nbsp;This paranoia will be associated with a manic depression which will have its roots in a chronically bad conscience towards God, going back thousands of years to their national childhood:&nbsp;"I will... cause sorrow of heart... they that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity... and also in the iniquity of their fathers shall they pine away" (<em><a href='B:30 26:16'>Lev 26:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 26:39'>Lev 26:39</a></em>). Note how the <em>land</em> will be brought into this mental desolation. Frequently the land of Israel is paralleled with the people (e.g. <em><a href='B:300 19:14'>Jer 19:14</a></em> cp. 26:17). The intense desolation of Jewry will be reflected physically in the state of their land. And the resolution of this psychological torment will only be through repentance and acceptance of the Saviour Messiah whom they crucified.</p>


text:
<p><em>I said I would scatter them afar, I would make their memory to cease from among men- </em></p><p>But by grace, God never did this; He preserved their name / memory. Yahweh's Name, by contrast, was to be an eternal memory (<em><a href='B:20 3:15'>Exo 3:15</a></em>). He was to be remembered for how He had articulated His Name in how He had historically acted in saving the patriarchs, and He would be remembered for how He was going to act to save His people from Egypt. What was to be memorialized was therefore His actions, rather than simply the letters YHWH. It was His wonderful works which were to be remembered (<em><a href='B:230 111:4'>Psa 111:4</a></em>, s.w. "My memorial"). By contrast, the sinful works and persons of the wicked would not be remembered / memorialized, be they Amalek (s.w. <em><a href='B:20 17:14'>Exo 17:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 25:19'>Deu 25:19</a></em>), or God's apostate people (s.w. <em><a href='B:50 32:26'>Deu 32:26</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>but I feared the provocation of the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge wrongly, lest they should say, ‘Our hand is exalted, Yahweh has not done all this’- </em></p><p>But this was the argument used by Moses when God had threatened to destroy Israel and make of him a great nation instead. Now we see God as it were persuaded by Moses' argument, and adopting it as His own. We see here His remarkable humility and openness to influence by our prayers and reasoning before Him.</p>


text:
<p><em>For they are a nation without wisdom; there is no understanding in them-</em></p><p>This could continue the quotation of the enemies in :27, but it seems to lead on rather to :29- their lack of understanding refers to their refusal to understand that one could have chased a thousand (:30). Wisdom and understanding is therefore effectively referring to faith, trust that the promises of God will be indeed fulfilled. Any wisdom or understanding that doesn't lead to this is useless. This is the fallacy of academic Bible study. It was and is the mistake of Judaism. </p>


text:
<p><em>Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!- </em></p><p>Faith is all about realizing that action and attitudes now will affect our eternal future. The way of the flesh is to just live for the present- and not consider the future, let alone the final end of all things at the day of judgment. In allusion to this verse, the same phrase is used of how Daniel understood the latter end of Israel (<em><a href='B:340 10:14'>Dan 10:14</a></em>), and how the final generation of repentant Israelites will "consider" at their "latter end" after they have experienced the wrath of God (<em><a href='B:300 23:20'>Jer 23:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:300 30:24'>Jer 30:24</a></em>). But they were to consider the "latter end" of things in this life, and not wait until condemnation at the last day before perceiving the ultimate truth of life and death. And we can do the same. </p>


text:
<p><em>How one could have chased a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight, had not their Rock sold them and Yahweh delivered them up!- </em></p><p>Verse<em>s </em>30-33 could refer to Israel, who "could have chased a thousand...", or to her enemies. Thus GNB "They fail to see why they were defeated; they cannot understand what happened.&nbsp;Why were a thousand defeated by one, and ten thousand by only two? The LORD, their God, had abandoned them; their mighty God had given them up.&nbsp;Their enemies know that their own gods are weak, not mighty like Israel's God.&nbsp;Their enemies, corrupt as Sodom and Gomorrah, are like vines that bear bitter and poisonous grapes...". </p>


text:
<p><em>For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges- </em></p><p>The idea may be that the Gentiles tacitly recognized that Yahweh was superior to their gods / rock. Or the lament may be that the Gentiles, like Israel, failed to perceive ultimate realities with the understanding of faith: "For their gods are not as our God, but our enemies are void of understanding" (LXX).</p>


text:
<p><em>For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, of the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter- </em></p><p>GNB takes this as referring to Israel's enemies, but it could as well refer to Israel. For Moses has just stated that Israel are spiritually as Sodom and will be treated like Sodom (see on <em><a href='B:50 29:23'>Deu 29:23</a></em>). The idea would be that they were presently sowing seeds of attitudes which would come to fruition in the grapes of judgment. </p>


text:
<p><em>Their wine is the poison of serpents, the deadly venom of asps- </em></p><p>Again, we could with GNB read this as referring to Israel's enemies, but it could as well refer to Israel. The grapes and wine of blessing could have their awful counterpart in the grapes of Divine wrath. </p>


text:
<p><em>Isn’t this laid up in store with Me, sealed up among My treasures?- </em></p><p>The reference is to the judgment of the last day (:35), which will be like being given a cup of bitter wine to drink (:32,33). God giving people wine to drink is a double symbol- either of condemnation (as here), or of blessing. It is why the communion service is a cause for self-examination, for we must ask ourselves whether we are drinking His cup to our eternal blessing or condemnation.</p>


text:
<p><em>Vengeance is Mine and punishment, at the time when their foot slides; for the day of their calamity is at hand. The things that are to come on them shall make haste- </em></p><p>We must remember that “Vengeance is <em>mine</em> (not ours, not the state’s), and requital" (<em><a href='B:50 32:35'>Deu 32:35</a></em>), and God will take that vengeance at the last day and not necessarily in this life (<em><a href='B:290 63:4'>Isa 63:4</a></em>). In another sense, that taking of vengeance, that requital, was worked out by God on the cross. There the Lord Jesus was clothed with the ‘garments of vengeance’ (<em><a href='B:290 59:17'>Isa 59:17</a></em>); the day of the crucifixion was “the day of vengeance" (<em><a href='B:290 63:4'>Isa 63:4</a></em>). This is one reason why God doesn’t operate a tit-for-tat requital of our sins upon our heads- because He dealt with sin and His vengeance for it in the cross, not by any other way. Hence David calls Yahweh the “God of revenge", the one <em>alone</em> to whom vengeance belongs (<em><a href='B:230 94:1'>Psa 94:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 94:3'>Psa 94:3</a></em>). Our response to all this is to believe that truly vengeance is God and therefore we will <em>not </em>avenge ourselves (<em><a href='B:520 12:19'>Rom 12:19</a></em>). I take this to apply to all the micro-level ‘takings of vengeance’ which we so easily do in our words, body language, attitudes etc., in response to the hurt received from others. The cross alone enables us to break the cycle. All the sins, all the grudges that called for revenge or "vengeance", were to be placed upon the scapegoat, and it was released into the desert (<em><a href='B:30 16:10'>Lev 16:10</a></em>). They could watch it scampering away into the bush. This is how we are to understand the placing of human sin- yes, the sins committed against you this day by others- upon the Lord as He hung on the cross.</p><p>As Moses addressed the people at that point, these things were "at hand" and "make haste". There are several times when God warns that generation that they will not last many days in the land if they are disobedient. The scenario of judgment is implied to be coming upon that generation. But it didn't. God hung on with Israel for centuries. It was like the kind of relationship which we have often observed in life- one party passionately loves the other, but the other doesn't respond is constantly unfaithful to that love, of which they are completely not deserving. It's a Hosea and Gomer situation. And this is God's love for Israel. But just as such relationships usually come to an end at some point, even it takes decades, so in the end, Israel walked out of it with God and slew His own Son.</p>


text:
<p><em>For Yahweh will judge His people and have compassion on His servants when He sees that their power is gone, that there is none remaining, shut up or left at large-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:50 31:9'>Deu 31:9</a></em>. Israel assembled before Moses really do represent us, for this is quoted in <em><a href='B:650 10:20'>Heb 10:20</a></em> as relevant to all of us coming before judgment. But our verse goes on to say that at this very time of judgment, He will have compassion upon His people. Which is a comforting thought to take with us to the judgment seat of Christ.</p><p>"For the Lord shall judge His people" is quoted in <em><a href='B:650 10:20'>Heb 10:20</a></em> concerning the judgement seat. But the context here is wonderful. Israel are hopeless sinners under judgment, and God on the basis of pure pity for them, rather than their obedience, relents of judgment. And His judgment of them is paralleled with His having compassion upon them. I don't wish to imply that convicted sinners are just waved through into the Kingdom because God feels sorry for people in the misery of their gnashing of teeth. But all the same, we must give the argument here its full wonderful weight. God's judgment is His compassion. And He will show that compassion on the basis of pure pity rather than obedience.</p>


text:
<p><em>He will say, Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge- </em></p><p>Yahweh was the rock of Israel, but it seems just as they sacrificed to Yahweh so they did to idols (:38); as they called Him their rock and refuge, so they did the idols. This verse explains the pity and compassion God will show to His condemned people (:37). He will look back, from that point of final judgment, to how all their lovers and gods had not helped them. And this only elicits His final compassion to them rather than solely His wrath. </p>


text:
<p><em>which ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you! Let them be your protection- </em></p><p>They offered the best of their sacrifices, the fat, to their idols. They are bidden now call upon all the things they have previously trusted in, be it missile systems or religion, and finally realize that in Yahweh and His Son alone can be their salvation. Those things are now effectively dead, and will not "rise up" in resurrection; for Yahweh alone is the God of resurrection. "Protection" is s.w. "hiding place". It is Messiah, the Lord Jesus, who will be Israel's latter day "covert (s.w.) from the tempest" of the invaders (<em><a href='B:290 32:2'>Isa 32:2</a></em>). See on :43. </p>


text:
<p><em>See now that I, even I, am He. There is no god with Me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. There is no one who can deliver out of My hand- </em></p><p>The force of "See now" is that this is God speaking to Israel in their latter day condemnation (:36 = <em><a href='B:650 10:20'>Heb 10:20</a></em>), giving them the one last desperate chance which a remnant will accept. They are bidden accept Yahweh for the "I am" which He uniquely is, and finally quit idolatry and all other gods for all time. They are to recognize that He has slain them and can alone make alive; and <em><a href='B:330 37:1-28'>Eze 37:1-28</a></em> speaks of Israel's national death and resurrection.</p>


text:
<p><em>For I lift up My hand to heaven and say, as surely as I live forever- </em></p><p>This is God's final oath that finally, judgment will not be further delayed and is about to fall (:41). </p>


text:
<p><em>if I whet My glittering sword and My hand takes hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to My adversaries and will punish those who hate Me- </em></p><p>LXX "I will sharpen my sword like lightning". As explained above, these things will come to full term in the very last days, when finally judgment will no longer be endlessly delayed, but Yahweh's sword will fall in judgment, He will take hold upon judgment and fulfil it.</p>


text:
<p><em>I will make My arrows drunk with blood. My sword shall devour flesh with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the head of the leaders of the enemy- </em></p><p>This devouring of the flesh of the slain enemies of Israel is specifically applied to the last days in <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:19:18'>Rev 19:18</a></em>; <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:19:21'>Rev 19:21</a></em>. "The head" is Hebrew <em>rosh</em> and may refer to the latter day <em>rosh</em> which invades Israel and is destroyed in <em><a href='B:330 38:1-23'>Eze 38:1-23</a></em>. The destruction of <em>rosh</em> in <em><a href='B:330 39:1-29'>Eze 39:1-29</a></em> is described in similar terms as used here.</p>


text:
<p><em>Rejoice, you nations, with His people, for He will avenge the blood of His servants. He will take vengeance on His adversaries and will make expiation for His land, for His people- </em></p><p>LXX "Rejoice, ye heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him; rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people, and let all the sons of God strengthen themselves in him". These words are interpreted in the New Testament as referring to the Lord Jesus being worshipped by the Angels when He is brought into the world at His second coming (<em><a href='B:650 1:6'>Heb 1:6</a></em>); and the Gentiles rejoicing with Israel in Jesus as Christ (<em><a href='B:520 15:10'>Rom 15:10</a></em>). The Messiah Jesus is in view as the final salvation for Israel (see on :38). But salvation in Him will be predicated upon Israel's final repentance and turning to Him whom they once slew. </p>


text:
<p><em>Moses came and spoke all the words of this song in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun- </em></p><p>This exactly corresponds to the command "write ye", you plural (<em><a href='B:50 31:9'>Deu 31:9</a></em>). Joshua was to assist Moses in doing this and he did so. We marvel at the internal correspondence within the Biblical record, which to me is the most powerful evidence of its Divine inspiration.</p>


text:
<p><em>When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel- </em></p><p>Moses, perhaps on the very last day of his life, assembled all Israel by their tribes, and with a voice no doubt cracking with emotion, <em>pleaded </em>with them to understand that <em>there's nothing like the God of Israel and His Truth</em>, and it must therefore be at the very centre, at the very <em>core</em>,&nbsp;of a man's soul: "There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun...who is like unto thee, O people saved by Yahweh... Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day... for it is not a vain thing for you; <em>because it is your life</em>" (<em><a href='B:50 33:27-28'>Deu 33:27-28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:46-47'>Deu 32:46-47</a></em>). "The love of Christ constrains us".</p>


text:
<p><em>he said to them, Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you this day, which you must command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law- </em></p><p>The word so often used for "keeping" / "diligently observing" Yahweh's commandments is from the word meaning a thorn hedge; the idea originally was to hedge in. Taking this too literally led Judaism to all their endless fences around the law, i.e. forbidding this or that because it might lead to doing that or this, which in turn would then lead to breaking an actual commandment. And those various fences become elevated to the level of commandments. But this is not the idea. We are indeed to hedge ourselves in ("take heed to yourself", <em><a href='B:50 11:16'>Deu 11:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:13'>Deu 12:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:19'>Deu 12:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:30'>Deu 12:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 12:32'>Deu 12:32</a></em> s.w.), so that we may keep / hedge ourselves in to keep the commandments of God (<em><a href='B:30 18:4-5'>Lev 18:4-5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 18:26'>Lev 18:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 18:30'>Lev 18:30</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:19'>Lev 19:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 19:37'>Lev 19:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 20:8'>Lev 20:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 20:22'>Lev 20:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 22:9'>Lev 22:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 22:31'>Lev 22:31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 25:18'>Lev 25:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:30 26:3'>Lev 26:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 28:2'>Num 28:2</a></em>;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em><a href='B:50 7:11-12'>Deu 7:11-12</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 8:1'>Deu 8:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 8:11'>Deu 8:11</a></em> (s.w. "beware"); 10:13; 11:1,8,22,32; 12:1; 13:4,18; 15:5,9 ("beware"); 17:19; 19:9; 23:9 ("keep yourself"); 24:8; 26:16-18; 27:1; 28:1,9,13; 29:9; 30:10,16; 31:12; 32:46). And without falling into the legalism of Judaism, self discipline does require a degree of fencing ourselves in to the one way. Thus the man struggling with alcoholism avoids the supermarket where alcohol is pushed in front of the eyes of the shoppers; the married woman struggling with attraction to another man makes little laws for herself about avoiding his company. And if we do this, then the Lord will "keep" us, will hedge us in to keeping His way (s.w. <em><a href='B:40 6:24'>Num 6:24</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>For it is no vain thing for you, because it is your life- </em></p><p>Enter into the <em>passion</em> of it all. The man who was willing to give his eternal life for them, about to die for the sake of their provocation- singing a final song to them, giving a final speech, which showed that he knew perfectly well that they would turn away from what he was trying to do for them, and therefore the majority of them would not be saved. As he came to the end of his speech, he seems to have sensed they didn’t grasp the reality of it all: “It is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life” (<em><a href='B:50 32:47'>Deu 32:47</a></em>); and thus his speech rises to a crescendo of intensity of pleading with them, after the pattern of the Lord.&nbsp;</p><p>The idea of not taking Yahweh's Name "in vain", 'vanity' (<em><a href='B:20 20:7'>Exo 20:7</a></em>), is often associated with idolatry. Israel never formerly rejected Yahweh, and never became atheists. They mixed Yahweh worship with idolatry on the basis that they claimed that they worshipped Yahweh through worshipping the idols. This is what emboldened them to later place idols in Yahweh's temple. They were taking Yahweh's Name as a form of vanity, "in vain", a kind of idol. Thus their relationship with Yahweh was not to be a "vain thing" (<em><a href='B:50 32:47'>Deu 32:47</a></em>).</p><p><em>And through this you shall prolong your days in the land, where you go over the Jordan to possess it- </em></p><p>"Drive out" is s.w. "possess". We must note the difference between the&nbsp; Canaanite peoples and their kings being "struck" and their land "taken" by Joshua-Jesus; and the people of Israel permanently taking possession. This is the difference between the Lord's victory on the cross, and our taking possession of the Kingdom. Even though that possession has been "given" to us. The word used for "possession" is literally 'an inheritance'. The allusion is to the people, like us, being the seed of Abraham. The Kingdom was and is our possession, our inheritance- if we walk in the steps of Abraham. But it is one thing to be the seed of Abraham, another to take possession of the inheritance; and Israel generally did not take possession of all the land (<em><a href='B:60 11:23'>Jos 11:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 13:1'>Jos 13:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 18:3'>Jos 18:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 23:4'>Jos 23:4</a></em>). The language of inheritance / possession is applied to us in the New Testament (<em><a href='B:560 1:11'>Eph 1:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:560 1:14'>Eph 1:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:580 3:24'>Col 3:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 20:32'>Act 20:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 26:18'>Act 26:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:670 1:4'>1Pe 1:4</a></em> etc.). Israel were promised: "You shall possess it" (<em><a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:23'>Deu 33:23</a></em>). This was more of a command than a prophecy, for sadly they were "given" the land but did not "possess" it. They were constantly encouraged in the wilderness that they were on the path to possessing the land (<em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:18'>Deu 30:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:3'>Deu 31:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:13'>Deu 31:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:47'>Deu 32:47</a></em>), but when they got there they didn't possess it fully. </p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh spoke to Moses that same day saying- </em></p><p>We note the continual emphasis upon "the same day" and "this day..." throughout Deuteronomy. A fair case could be made that all this happened on the last day of Moses' life; an intense final day of a very busy life. </p>


text:
<p><em>Go up into this mountain of Abarim, to Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab that is opposite Jericho, and see the land of Canaan which I give to the children of Israel for a possession- </em></p><p>Moses seeing the Kingdom but being unable to enter it, nor himself lead God's people into it, points forward to how the law of Moses gave a vision of the Kingdom, but was unable to bring us into it. That required the work of Joshua / Jesus. "Abarim" means 'the regions beyond'. Moses and his law gave an insight into the Kingdom, the region beyond him. For the culture of grace and kindness, centered around the sacrificed future Messiah, the Lord Jesus, was the outcome of the law. But it was unattainable by weak men.</p>


text:
<p><em>Die on the mountain and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people-</em></p><p>Moses being gathered to his people by an Angel (<em><a href='B:50 32:50'>Deu 32:50</a></em>) may also refer to his spirit / Angel returning to where the guardian Angels of his ancestors were. This solves the considerable difficulty of his ancestors being physically dead and decayed, and being buried in a different place from where Moses died. LXX "be added to thy people" suggests God keeps a record of all Israel. The command to die suggests Moses was being asked to be willingly complicent with the idea of his death, just as Isaac was, and as the Lord Jesus was.</p><p>In those hours as Moses stood there saying those words of Deuteronomy, and then as he sung that song of Moses to them of <em><a href='B:50 32:1-52'>Deu 32:1-52</a></em>, I think we see Moses at his finest. His voice would have been that of a young man, and yet with all the passion of meaning of his 120 years. And then he blesses those assembled tribes, the <em>love</em> of that man for Israel flowing out, with that same wondrous voice. "Yea, he <em>loved </em>the people". And then, no doubt with a lump in his throat, swallowing back the tears, he turned and walked away, up that mountain, higher and higher, with the blue mountains of Moab shimmering in the distance. "That selfsame day" Moses spoke Deuteronomy, God commanded him: "Get thee up into this mountain... and behold the land... and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people" (<em><a href='B:50 32:50'>Deu 32:50</a></em>). Like the Lord Jesus, he received a commandment to die (<em><a href='B:500 10:18'>Joh 10:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 14:31'>Joh 14:31</a></em>), and yet he presumably did not know how to consciously fulfil it according to his own actions. He climbed the mountain alone, that same day he spoke Deuteronomy. Presumably he spoke Deuteronomy in the morning, sung the song of Moses, and then "that selfsame day" died. It would have taken him time to climb the mountain, to be met at the top by the Angel, who then showed him the land, kissed him (see later) and buried him. Presumably he died late in the day, watching the sun setting over the promised land-&nbsp; perhaps at the same hour Jesus died. The pathos of the scene is wondrous, the Song of Moses as it were can be heard still echoing. Yet in the sadness of it all, we see&nbsp; prefigured the death of Christ for us. It was for their sakes that Moses didn't enter the land, remember. That is the emphasis the Spirit gives. As he climbed, for it would have taken a while, perhaps he thought back to those years in Egypt, the struggle of his soul in those years. You may think I'm being over emotional, but it seems to me as he climbed he would have thought back to his dear mum to whom he owed his relationship with God, the mother he'd doubtless disowned for forty years, admitting that he was the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He would have reflected how at age 40 he was honest with himself, how he told the world who his real mother was (probably, tragically enough, after her death, sad that her son seemed to have rejected her for the pleasures of Egypt), how he had refused to be called any longer the son of Pharaoh's daughter. I mean, if we had say 24 hours to live, and we were told to go for a walk before we died, I guess we'd think back to our childhood for at least a moment, wouldn't we. And he was a man, just like you and me, with all a man's feelings, all a man's memories, all a man's humanity. I believe, although I can't prove it, that he wept all the way to the top, climbing farther and farther away from the people he loved, knowing that the majority simply didn't understand him and what he had suffered for them. And perhaps as he sung the song of Moses, he thought back to those weak years in Midian, to Zipporah, to the arguments with her, to the pain of the divorce, to the Ethiopian woman, to the long lonely days with the animals. And then to the wonder of the Red Sea, to the nervousness of meeting the Angel, to the joy of that communion in another mountain. He knew that Angel well, they spoke face to face as men who are friends speak to each other (<em><a href='B:20 33:11'>Exo 33:11</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>because you trespassed against Me in the midst of the children of Israel at the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin; because you didn’t sanctify Me in the midst of the children of Israel-</em></p><p>Moses truly was made spiritually strong out of weakness. His faith fluctuated, until at last he came to a spiritual height at the end of his life. We have seen something of the intensity and passion of his love for Israel, to the point where he was willing to give his physical and eternal life for Israel's salvation. In a sense, his desire was heard. Because of the sin of a moment, caused by the provocation of the people he loved, God decreed that he could not enter the land of promise. For their sakes he was barred from the land; this is the emphasis of the Spirit (<em><a href='B:50 1:37'>Deu 1:37</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 3:26'>Deu 3:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 4:21'>Deu 4:21</a></em>); and <em><a href='B:230 106:32-33'>Psa 106:32-33</a></em> says that Moses was provoked to sin because Israel angered God, and that therefore "it went ill with Moses for their sakes". Truly, God works through sinful man to achieve His glory. <em><a href='B:330 20:38'>Eze 20:38</a></em> says that the rebels in the wilderness “shall not enter into the land”, with reference to how when Moses called the people “rebels” and beat the rock, he was disallowed entry into the land. Because he called them rebels, i.e. unworthy of entry to the Kingdom, he also was treated as a rebel. If we condemn others, we likewise will be condemned. On another level, he was simply barred for disobedience; and on yet another, his prayer to the effect that he didn’t want to be in the land if his people weren’t going to be there was being answered; and on yet another and higher level, his offer to be blotted out of the book of inheritance for Israel’s sake was also being heard. Thus God works within the same incident in so many ways! Thus Moses says that he must die “Because ye (plural) trespassed against me” (<em><a href='B:50 32:51'>Deu 32:51</a></em> AV). This all helps explain why Christ had to die, apart from the fact that he was mortal. He died the death of a sinner for our salvation, he felt all the emotions of the rejected, the full weight of God's curse; for "cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" in crucifixion (<em><a href='B:550 3:13'>Gal 3:13</a></em>). Moses was a superb and accurate type of the Lord Jesus. Therefore Moses in his time of dying must grant us insight into the death of our Lord, the prophet like him (<em><a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a></em>). See on :3.</p>


text:
<p><em>For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there into the land which I give the children of Israel- </em></p><p>This is laboured by God so many times. Moses had carefully omitted the reason why he could not enter the land when explaining it to Israel. He was now reminded of it; for God wanted him to die not in denial of his sin, but fully recognizing it. And He works likewise in our lives, leading us to a crescendo of humility by the time we die.</p>


text:
<p><em>This is the blessing with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death-</em></p><p>"Man of God" refers to a prophet (<em><a href='B:90 9:6'>1Sa 9:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 12:22'>1Ki 12:22</a></em>; <em><a href='B:110 13:14'>1Ki 13:14</a></em> etc.). What Moses now says is presented as reported speech directly inspired by God, presumably written down by Joshua after Moses' death.</p>


text:
<p><em>He said, Yahweh came from Sinai and rose from Seir to them- </em></p><p>Most Rabbis are insistent that the Hebrew for "came from Sinai" effectively means "came down upon", referring to God's manifestation upon Sinai. The idea of John Thomas was that this verse refers to a 'march of the rainbowed Angel', the saved believers, from the judgment seat in Sinai, from whence they march to destroy various European nations in Israel. There are multiple problems with this view, not least that Moses here is recalling an incident in the past, when Yahweh "came" upon or from Sinai. Surely the theophany on Sinai is in view, perhaps the idea being that the Angels who 'came down' then continued to march with Israel through the wilderness. "Rose from Seir" uses the word for the rising of the sun; therefore He "shone forth" from Paran. It was as if the sun was arising on a new day; but Israel turned away from entering the Kingdom, even though it was made possible for them.</p><p><em>He shone forth from Mount Paran- </em></p><p>The significance of this is in that this was from where the 12 spies set out from in their faithless exploration of Canaan (<em><a href='B:40 13:3'>Num 13:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 13:26'>Num 13:26</a></em>). They failed to walk in step with the Spirit. There were ten thousands of Angels going with them in glory in order to give them the Kingdom, but they were faithless and turned back.</p><p><em>He came with ten thousands of holy ones. At His right hand was a fiery law for them-</em></p><p>Deborah alludes to this verse in saying that she has experienced the same in the victory over Sisera (<em><a href='B:70 5:4-5'>Jdg 5:4-5</a></em>). She feels as if she sees and feels "this Sinai" shaking, as if Deborah felt herself back there standing before Sinai witnessing the great theophany there, in that she has seen it before her eyes, as it were, in what God has now done in giving her victory against Sisera. This is the power of Biblical history. There is a living word which continues to speak to us; the historical victories of God are replicated, in essence, in our own experiences. </p><p><em><a href='B:50 33:2-3'>Deu 33:2-3</a></em> RVmg. bring out the solidarity between the Angels and Israel by describing them both as thousands of saints / holy ones. It would appear that all the people of Israel had a guardian Angel- this seems to be implied by <em><a href='B:20 7:4'>Exo 7:4</a></em> "(I will) bring forth Mine armies (of Angels), and My people the children of Israel", implying that there were two armies leaving Egypt- one of Angels, another of their charges. Thus we read in <em><a href='B:20 12:41'>Exo 12:41</a></em> "it came to pass that <em>all</em> the hosts of the LORD (a phrase often used about the Angels- but here concerning the Israelites too) went out from the land of Egypt". In the same way as the Angels were especially Israel's guardians in guiding them out of Egypt, it may be that the Angels minister in a guardian capacity to us especially in leading us out of the world to baptism (cp. the Red Sea). <em><a href='B:650 1:14'>Heb 1:14</a></em> offers tentative support in that the Angels are said to "minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation". At baptism we become heirs of salvation (<em><a href='B:520 4:13'>Rom 4:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:550 3:27-29'>Gal 3:27-29</a></em>)- those who "shall be heirs" are those as yet outside the promises of salvation. Confirmation of all this is provided by a careful reading of <em><a href='B:50 33:2-3'>Deu 33:2-3</a></em>. This describes God coming "unto them" (Israel) "with ten thousands of saints"- i.e. Angels- and giving them "a fiery Law". The next verse records: "Yea, He loved the people; all His saints are in Thy Hand (Angelic language)... every one shall receive of Thy words". Here the saints appear to be the people, thus showing that God's love to Israel was shown by each of them having an Angel (thousands of saints for thousands of people), who individually taught them the word of God, albeit all at the same time. The Angels in the court of Heaven are watching us, almost with baited breath. We are made a theatre unto the Angels, as if they are in the audience as we act out our lives (<em><a href='B:530 4:9'>1Co 4:9</a></em> RVmg.).</p>


text:
<p><em>Yes, He loved the people- </em></p><p>LXX "And he spared his people" could refer to God's sparing of the people after they declined to enter the Kingdom (see on :2), or the reference may be to how Moses spared the people through the love of his intercession and self sacrifice. This simple clause is one of the few which state so baldly the sublime truth- that God loves His people. But we could also read this as a parenthesis, added by the Divine inspiration of the editor of Deuteronomy, simply stating that Moses loved the people. </p><p>The word of his God was in Moses' heart, as he stood there before Israel, that people whom he loved, those for whom he wished to make atonement with his own life, even his eternal life. "Yes, he loved the people" is the Spirit's comment (<em><a href='B:50 33:3'>Deu 33:3</a></em> - the "he" in the context seems to be Moses). It could only be the Spirit which would write so concisely. "Yea, he loved the people... they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words". And then he pours out his heart to them, he reels off what we have as the book of Deuteronomy, written at the end point of the spiritual growth of Moses. But in reality that was the outpouring of his heart, pleading with Israel to be faithful to the covenant, encouraging them to be aware of their weakness,&nbsp; encouraging them to go forward and inherit the Kingdom. In those hours as he stood there saying those words, and then he sung that song to them of <em><a href='B:50 32:1-52'>Deu 32:1-52</a></em>, I think we see Moses at his finest. And then he blesses those assembled tribes, the <em>love</em> of that man for Israel flowing out, and then, no doubt with a lump in his throat, swallowing back the tears, he turned and walked away, up that mountain, higher and higher, with the blue mountains of Moab shimmering in the distance. Even before that, surely his voice had faltered, even broken down, when he spoke to them of the tragedy of their future apostasy, of how the gentle and sensitive woman among them would eat her own children. And how the days would come when they would awake in the morning and say ‘Would God it were evening’. As he foresaw in essence the horrors of the Nazi camps, and of so much else… he could only have said those words with tears and passion. For “he loved the people”. If ever there was an understatement…</p><p>The pathos of the scene is wondrous. Yet in the sadness of it all, we see&nbsp; a type, more than a type, a superb image, of the death of Christ for us. It was for their sakes that Moses didn't enter the land, remember. That is the emphasis the Spirit gives. As he climbed, for it would have taken a while, perhaps he thought back to those years in Egypt, the struggle of his soul in those years. You may think I'm being over emotional, but it seems to me as he climbed he would have thought back to his dear mum to whom he owed his relationship with God, the mother he'd doubtless disowned for forty years, claiming that he was the son of Pharaoh's daughter; until at age 40 he was honest with himself, he told the world who his real mother was, he refused to be called any longer the son of Pharaoh's daughter. I mean, if we had say 24 hours to live, and we were told to go for a walk before we died, I guess we'd think back to our childhood for at least a moment, wouldn't we. And he was a man, just like any of us.&nbsp;</p><p>And perhaps he thought back to those weak years in Midian, to Zipporah, to the long lonely days with the animals. And then to the wonder of the Red Sea, to the nervousness of meeting the Angel, to the joy of that communion in another mountain. He knew that Angel well, they spoke face to face as men who are friends speak to each other (<em><a href='B:20 33:11'>Exo 33:11</a></em>). How fitting that at the top, he met that Angel again. The same love, the same open-faced friendship would have been there. The Angel showed him the Kingdom, opening his eyes to see to the very boundaries of the land. And then he buried him, laying him in the grave in hope of better days, when Christ would come and raise his people, when God's people would at last be obedient. What an end. Out of weakness, such weakness, he was made strong. His temperamental faith, with its flashes of devotion, turned into a solid rock, a real ongoing relationship with a loving Father. <em>Every one</em> of his human relationships had failed: with his brother and sister, with his wife, with his people. But finally that lonely man found his rest in Yahweh, Israel's God, he came to know Him as his friend and saviour. No wonder he is held up, by way of allusion throughout the New Testament, as our example.</p>&nbsp;<p><em>All His saints are in Your hand. They sat down at Your feet; each receives Your words-</em></p><p>LXX "all his sanctified ones are under thy hands; and they are under thee; and he received of his words". This initially speaks of how Moses received God's words and shared them with Israel, who were placed in his hand. But it all looks forward to the Lord Jesus. The Lord told the Father that He had given the disciples His words, “and they have received them” (<em><a href='B:500 17:8'>Joh 17:8</a></em>). This is evident allusion to the editorial comment in <em><a href='B:50 33:3'>Deu 33:3</a></em> about how all Israel received God’s words through Moses. Likewise “I manifested Your name… they have kept Your word” (<em><a href='B:500 17:6'>Joh 17:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 17:26'>Joh 17:26</a></em>) = “I will proclaim the name of the Lord… they have observed thy word” (<em><a href='B:50 32:3'>Deu 32:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:9'>Deu 33:9</a></em>). One marvels at the way the Lord’s mind linked together so much Scripture in the artless, seamless way in which He did. </p>


text:
<p><em>Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob- </em></p><p>It might help if we try to visualize the practical benefits of keeping the laws. "In keeping of them is great reward", David commented (<em><a href='B:230 19:11'>Psa 19:11</a></em>). Moses likewise: "The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes... <em>for our good always</em>" (<em><a href='B:50 6:24'>Deu 6:24</a></em>)- not for their irritation, or as a pointless test of obedience. Perhaps this is why the giving of the Law is described as an expression of God's <em>love</em> for Israel (<em><a href='B:50 33:2-4'>Deu 33:2-4</a></em>). It was the loving marriage contract between God and Israel. We must see the keeping of the law by the faithful Israelite as being done within a certain spiritual atmosphere. It would have been impossible to keep all those laws from a series of deliberate acts of the will. The truly obedient Israelite would have developed a way of life and thinking, a culture of kindness to others, which achieved obedience to them. This was surely how Jesus was able to perfectly fulfil the Law. "If a man do (the commands) he shall even live in them" (<em><a href='B:30 18:5'>Lev 18:5</a></em>) seems to refer to this atmosphere of obedience.</p>


text:
<p><em>He was king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together-</em></p><p>God imputed righteousness to Israel at this time, seeing them as Jeshurun, the upright one, not perceiving iniquity in Israel (<em><a href='B:40 23:21'>Num 23:21</a></em>); because He so loved them. He fell in love with them in the desert. LXX "And he shall be prince with the beloved one, when the princes of the people are gathered together with the tribes of Israel". The thought in this case would be looking ahead to Messiah as the beloved one.</p>


text:
<p><em>Let Reuben live, and not die, nor let his men be few-</em></p><p>Reuben was the firstborn but was demoted because of his sin. But he is mentioned here in first place. The request for him not to die, and to not have few descendants, may be a statement to the effect that Moses wished that the effect of all curses for disobedience would finally be removed. And that only will come true in the Kingdom of God when the Lord Jesus returns. </p><p>At this point we would expect Simeon to be blessed, but he is apparently omitted. Although the Alexandrian LXX renders the last part of this verse as "Let Simeon be very numerous". At the census taken when they left Egypt, Simeon numbered 59,300, but only 22,000 at the census taken at the end of the wanderings. So Moses may therefore be wishing that Simeon would stop declining and grow. But we note that there are at least 24 lists of the 12 sons of Jacob / tribes of Israel. And they each slightly differ. The names are in different orders, and some are omitted- e.g. Levi is sometimes omitted, or the two sons of Joseph are sometimes listed, and sometimes not. Simeon and Levi were cursed because of how they had treated the Hivites (<em><a href='B:10 49:5-7'>Gen 49:5-7</a></em>). Levi had no allocation of land, and Simeon's small portion was carved out of that of Judah (<em><a href='B:60 19:1-9'>Jos 19:1-9</a></em>). Yet Levi were somehow justified because they had not allowed their cursed state to stop them serving Yahweh (<em><a href='B:50 33:8-11'>Deu 33:8-11</a></em>), whereas Simeon perhaps wallowed in his curse and didn't seek to rise above it. </p>&nbsp;


text:
<p><em>This is for Judah. He said Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah- </em></p><p>The implication was that Judah would be an intercessor with God who would be heard as Moses had been. And clearly the reference ultimately was to the Lord Jesus. </p><p><em>Bring him in to his people- </em></p><p>This could be read as a desire for the coming of this Messianic intercessor from the tribe of Judah.</p><p><em>With his hands he contended for himself- </em></p><p>The idea is as in AV that his hands would be made strong, just as the hand of Joseph's were (<em><a href='B:10 49:24'>Gen 49:24</a></em> - another type of Christ). </p><p><em>You shall be a help against his adversaries- </em></p><p>The Messianic intercessor descendant of Judah was clearly to be strengthened for his task by Yahweh, just as happened with the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:230 80:17'>Psa 80:17</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>Of Levi he said- </em></p><p>Again we note that this is reported speech, written up under inspiration presumably by Joshua.</p><p><em>Your Thummim and your Urim are with your holy one whom You proved at Massah, with whom You strove at the waters of Meribah- </em></p><p>LXX "whom they tempted in the temptation; they reviled him at the water of strife". It was this provocation which led Aaron to sin by striking the rock rather than speaking to it. Yet despite that sin, the Urim and Thummim remained on Aaron. They were the two stones on the breastplate which flashed out yes / no responses to prayers and questions. </p><p>"Holy one" is 'consecrated one'. The Levites were consecrated in God's eyes by their zeal (motivated by the word) to rid Israel of apostacy; this is what constituted them Yahweh's "holy (sanctified) one" (<em><a href='B:50 33:8-9'>Deu 33:8-9</a></em>). The Lord alludes to this: "Sanctify them through (i.e. through obedience to) Your word" (<em><a href='B:500 17:17'>Joh 17:17</a></em>), as the Levites were sanctified (<em><a href='B:130 23:13'>1Ch 23:13</a></em> Heb.). Through His allusions to this, the Lord Jesus was telling the disciples not to be frightened to stand alone from the community they knew and respected.</p>


text:
<p><em>who said of his father and of his mother, ‘I have not seen him’. Neither did he acknowledge his brothers, nor did he know his own children; for they have observed Your word and keep Your covenant-</em></p><p>The loyal Levites were asked to kill their own brothers and neighbours in their tribal encampment area (<em><a href='B:20 32:27'>Exo 32:27</a></em>). The 3000 may have been the apostate amongst the tribe of Levi (<em><a href='B:20 32:28'>Exo 32:28</a></em>). So we are wrong to think that all the Levites were loyal to Moses and spurned the golden calf. Indeed it could be that those slain were the unfaithful amongst the tribe of Levi.</p><p>"The men which You gave me out of the (Jewish) world... they have kept Your word" (<em><a href='B:500 17:6'>Joh 17:6</a></em>) compares with the faithful Levites being "given" to Aaron / the priesthood out of Israel (<em><a href='B:40 3:9'>Num 3:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 8:19'>Num 8:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 18:6'>Num 18:6</a></em>); at the time of the golden calf they "observed Your word, and kept Your covenant" (<em><a href='B:50 33:9'>Deu 33:9</a></em>), as did the disciples. The relationship between Moses and the Levites was therefore that between Christ and the disciples- a sense of thankfulness that at least a minority were faithful. See on <em><a href='B:500 17:6'>Joh 17:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:500 17:17'>Joh 17:17</a></em>. </p><p>These words are alluded to by the Lord Jesus in explaining why He felt closer to those who listened to His word than to His natural family (<em><a href='B:480 3:21'>Mar 3:21</a></em>; <em><a href='B:480 3:31-35'>Mar 3:31-35</a></em>; <em><a href='B:470 12:46-50'>Mat 12:46-50</a></em>). He read these same words that we do. To feel this closely to those who are, like us, God’s spiritual children, can seem an impossible challenge at times; especially in family-based societies where life is one endless social club.</p>


text:
<p><em>They shall teach Jacob Your ordinances, and Israel Your law- </em></p><p>"They shall..." was a command more than a predictive prophecy. Much which appears to be prophecy, such as the passage about the rebuilding of the temple at the restoration in <em><a href='B:330 40:1-49'>Eze 40:1-49</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 41:1-26'>Eze 41:1-26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 42:1-20'>Eze 42:1-20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 43:1-27'>Eze 43:1-27</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 44:1-31'>Eze 44:1-31</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 45:1-25'>Eze 45:1-25</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 46:1-24'>Eze 46:1-24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 47:1-23'>Eze 47:1-23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 48:1-35'>Eze 48:1-35</a></em>, is command more than prediction. For the priesthood failed to teach Israel as here envisioned. See on :11.</p><p><em>They shall put incense before You and whole burnt offering on Your altar- </em></p><p>LXX "they shall place incense in the time of thy wrath continually upon thine altar". The idea, as in :7, is that just as Moses and Aaron had saved Israel by their intercession, so the future descendant of Judah and Levi would do so. And the ultimate fulfilment is in the Lord Jesus. </p><p>Revelation describes Angels rushing in response to human prayers, vials of judgment being poured out on earth as a result of the incense of prayer accumulating...this is the power of prayer. If prayer is like incense, we must give <em><a href='B:50 33:10'>Deu 33:10</a></em> RVmg. its full weight- that incense would come up "in your nostrils". This is how intimately we are invited to see our prayers being received by God; this is the power of prayer. The golden vials full of prayers of <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:5:8'>Rev 5:8</a></em> become the vials of judgments which are poured out on the land in <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:8:5'>Rev 8:5</a></em> - so close is the connection between the events that mould history, and the incense of prayer. </p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh, bless his substance- </em></p><p>This request for material blessing was in the light of the fact they had no land inheritance, and lived on their share of the gifts given to Yahweh. So the fulfilment of this blessing was dependent upon Israel's obedience. See on :10.</p><p><em>Accept the work of his hands- </em></p><p>That work was intercession for Israel; see on :10.</p><p><em>Strike through the hips of those who rise up against him, of those who hate him, so that they will not rise again- </em></p><p>The reference may be to the rising up against the established priesthood of <em><a href='B:40 16:1-50'>Num 16:1-50</a></em>. But the permanent, final crushing of those who rise up against Levi surely refers to the final latter day destruction of all opposition to the ultimate priest and intercessor, the Lord Jesus. The language is used about opposition to Him (<em><a href='B:230 69:24'>Psa 69:24</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>Of Benjamin he said, The beloved of Yahweh shall dwell in safety by Him. He covers him all the day long-</em></p><p>The reference is clearly to the presence of Yahweh dwelling between the cherubim over the ark. The temple was to be built in Benjamin's territory in Jerusalem. But David, a man of Judah, often appropriates this language to himself. For the Psalms speak of him as being covered by the wings of the cherubim, as if he were located on the mercy seat or lid of the ark where the blood of atonement was scattered every year, covered by the wings of God's cherubic care. "The beloved of Yahweh" was Solomon, so there may be a hint here of the potential possible for Solomon. But he failed, and so the prophecy and potential came fully true in the Lord Jesus. I noted on :5 that the LXX there speaks of Messiah as the beloved of Yahweh, so this may be the reference here too. </p><p><em>He dwells between His shoulders- </em></p><p>This could mean that Yahweh dwelt between the shoulders of Benjamin, just as the breastplate of glory was between the shoulders of the high priest. It would be another indication that the special presence of God in the tabernacle and with the high priest was in essence and spirit possible for all God's people. This came to full term when the veil was torn down at the Lord's death, and Paul argues that all of us can like the high priest enter into the holiest with the Lord's blood of atonement.</p>


text:
<p><em>Of Joseph he said, His land is blessed by Yahweh for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath- </em></p><p>Ephraim and Manasseh demanded more land at the time of <em><a href='B:60 17:14'>Jos 17:14</a></em>, but their argument was weak because they had been given ample land, but they refused to drive out the Canaanites or clear the forests in it (<em><a href='B:60 17:15'>Jos 17:15</a></em>). They claimed they deserved it because they had been "blessed". By saying this they were twisting scriptures which speak of their blessing (<em><a href='B:10 48:20'>Gen 48:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 49:25-26'>Gen 49:25-26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:13-17'>Deu 33:13-17</a></em>), and therefore demanding more territory which was easier to live in. But the promised "blessing" didn't require they be given more land, and the other tribes were also "blessed". This is typical of how people take one verse here or there to justify their own secular claims. </p><p>The blessing of dew was withdrawn during the three and a half years of Elijah's ministry, as he pleaded with Israel to repent. And so it will happen in the latter day Elijah ministry. Only when Israel repent will these blessings be realized again. God "will not be unto the residue (remnant) of this people as in the former days... the heavens shall (now) give their dew;&nbsp; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things" (<em><a href='B:450 8:10-12'>Zec 8:10-12</a></em>). The dew will come upon the whole land, because only this righteous remnant of Israel will be left alive. We note that dew represents teaching in <em><a href='B:50 32:2'>Deu 32:2</a></em>, and the repentance of Israel and restoration of blessing will be due to their response to the teaching of the Elijah ministry.</p>


text:
<p><em>for the precious things of the fruits of the sun, for the precious things of the growth of the moons- </em></p><p>An allusion to the idea that on each new moon, a different type of fruit tree begins to ripen its fruit. This seems to me an example of where wrong scientific understandings are used without correction. But perhaps <em><a class='bible' href='#b66:22:2'>Rev 22:2</a></em> is the final fulfilment, when the forest of trees of life will bring forth fruits every month, i.e. at the monthly new moons. </p>


text:
<p><em>for the chief things of the ancient mountains, for the precious things of the everlasting hills- </em></p><p>LXX "from the top of the ancient mountains, and from the top of the everlasting hills". The idea of abundant fruit (:14) on the very top of huge mountains is the language of the establishment of the Kingdom (<em><a href='B:230 72:16'>Psa 72:16</a></em>). </p>


text:
<p><em>for the precious things of the earth and its fullness, the good will of Him who was manifested in the bush. Let this come on the head of Joseph- </em></p><p>LXX "let the things pleasing to him that dwelt in the bush come on the head of Joseph". The will of the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush was clearly the salvation of Israel. And that salvation would be associated with abundant fertility of the land in physical terms. </p><p><em>On the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers-</em></p><p>Just as Levi was separate from his brethren and commended for it (:9), so with Joseph. "Separated" is the word for Nazirite. He was literally 'Nazirited', consecrated, from among his brothers; this could be a reference to how he was the family priest, wearing the coat of many colours; and how he was clearly consecrated by God as well to be the family's saviour. Joseph's separation from his brethren, by their choice, was what separated him unto the things of God. And in so many lives, separation from the community of brethren, by their choice rather than pushing off in a huff from them, is what brings a person to special service toward God. And enables them to thereby save their brethren. Job would be a classic example, coming to full term in the Lord Jesus (<em><a href='B:650 7:26'>Heb 7:26</a></em>), who was separated from and by sinners that He might save sinners. See on :24.</p>


text:
<p><em>The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox; with them he shall push all the peoples to the ends of the land- </em></p><p>The idea may be that God would have potentially enabled Ephraim and Manasseh to do the bulk of the work in driving out the tribes. But half of Manasseh wanted to remain beyond Jordan, and there is no evidence they lived up to this potential at the time of the conquest. Just as so many are given the potential power to inherit the Kingdom, but refuse to use it. Moses ‘prophesied’ that Ephraim would “push the people (Gentile inhabitants of the land) together to the ends of the earth / land” (<em><a href='B:50 33:17'>Deu 33:17</a></em>). And yet <em><a href='B:350 7:8'>Hos 7:8</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:230 106:34-36'>Psa 106:34-36</a></em> criticize Ephraim for <em>failing</em> to push the people out of the land. Moses’ prophecies about the tribes sound like predictions; but they were actually commands which those tribes had the freewill to obey or not.</p><p><em>They are the ten thousands of Ephraim; they are the thousands of Manasseh-</em></p><p>See on <em><a href='B:10 48:5'>Gen 48:5</a></em>. The way Jacob insisted on blessing Ephraim as the firstborn seems to show some kind of favouritism and a desire to see his grandson living out his own experience, i.e. the younger son who fought his way up and received the blessings as opposed to the rightful heir. Ephraim becomes a code-name for apostate Israel throughout the prophets. And yet God accepted Jacob's preferential blessing of Ephraim and repeated this in <em><a href='B:50 33:17'>Deu 33:17</a></em>.&nbsp;Jacob foresaw how Simeon and Levi would be especially responsible for 'houghing the ox' (<em><a href='B:10 49:6'>Gen 49:6</a></em> RV), or bullock (Concordant Version), i.e. Christ (<em><a href='B:50 33:17'>Deu 33:17</a></em> RV), the bullock of the sin offering (<em><a href='B:650 13:11-13'>Heb 13:11-13</a></em>). <em><a href='B:10 49:6'>Gen 49:6</a></em> can also be rendered, with evident Messianic reference, 'murdering the prince' (<em><a href='B:10 49:6'>Gen 49:6</a></em> Adam Clarke's Translation). </p>


text:
<p><em>Of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out-</em></p><p>The idea was that Zebulun would be blessed in her voyages by sea, in line with the blessing of <em><a href='B:10 49:13'>Gen 49:13</a></em> "Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea. He will be for a haven of ships. His border will be on Sidon". But this didn't happen. Zebulun was to dwell along the sea coast (LXX), where ships unload (a "haven"), "beside the sea" (GNB), until Sidon. But this wasn't the case. The canton of Zebulun even in Ezekiel's prophecy of the restored Kingdom was to be nowhere near Sidon, and Zebulun never had a border unto Sidon. According to Josephus (Ant. 19:10,16), Zebulun was never even bounded by the sea, being cut off by Asher. So again we see a case of a potential Kingdom blessing which was never realized. And this must be the great tragedy for God, to see so much potential wasted in so many lives. What joy for Him when we at least seek to fulfil those potentials He has given us.</p><p><em>And Issachar, in your tents- </em></p><p>Issachar was to have prosperous harvests so that they rejoiced in their homes ("tents", <em><a href='B:50 16:7'>Deu 16:7</a></em>). The contrast is with how Zebulun were intended to "go out" in trading and be blessed, and Issachar likewise in their more localized activities. </p>


text:
<p><em>They shall call the peoples to the mountain. There they will offer sacrifices of righteousness, for they shall draw out the abundance of the seas, the hidden treasures of the sand- </em></p><p>The idea is that they would invite the Gentiles to the mountain of God's inheritance, His Kingdom established in the land (<em><a href='B:20 15:17'>Exo 15:17</a></em>). And the grateful Gentiles would bring their offerings and gifts to the land in response. Hence LXX "for the wealth of the sea shall suckle thee, and so shall the marts of them that dwell by the sea-coast". This is all the language of the restored Kingdom of God in Israel (<em><a href='B:290 60:5-6'>Isa 60:5-6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 60:16'>Isa 60:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:290 66:11-12'>Isa 66:11-12</a></em>). The nations of the world were imagined as arriving at the sea ports in their territory. But instead, Israel retreated into mere religion rather than spirituality, and were not a light to the Gentile world as intended. Indeed instead of restoring the Kingdom as intended in those Isaiah passages, they instead became elitist and xenophobic towards Gentiles. And so the new Israel must learn from this.&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p><em>Of Gad he said, He who enlarges Gad is blessed- </em></p><p>If Israel had been obedient, their borders could have been enlarged (<em><a href='B:50 12:2'>Deu 12:2</a></em>). It seems God would have done this especially for Gad, even for the sake of one faithful man. Yet there’s no evidence it ever happened; another potential set up which was left unfulfilled because of the chronic lack of vision and satisfied-with-what-I-have attitude of God’s people. Who knows the height and depth, length and breadth of what could have been for God’s people? And the same is true for us today. According to Israel’s perception of the land, so it was defined for them. </p><p><em>He dwells as a lioness and tears the arm, yes the crown of the head-</em></p><p>LXX "as a lion he rested, having broken the arm and the ruler". The reference may specifically be to the destruction of the latter day invader of Israel, with Gad identified with the latter day lion of Judah, Messiah Jesus (<em><a href='B:10 49:9'>Gen 49:9</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>He provided the first part for himself, for there was the lawgiver’s portion reserved. He came with the heads of the people. He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel- </em></p><p>LXX "And he saw his first-fruits, that there the land of the princes gathered with the chiefs of the people was divided; the Lord wrought righteousness, and his judgment with Israel". The reference may be to how Gad was apparently the leader of the "heads of the people" of Gad, Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh who wanted to take their inheritance east of Jordan (<em><a href='B:40 32:2'>Num 32:2</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 32:6'>Num 32:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 32:25'>Num 32:25</a></em>). The idea therefore was that they were told by Moses to see the inheritance they were allowed east of Jordan as merely a firstfruit of greater inheritance. Just as we are invited to receive&nbsp; firstfruit of inheritance of the Kingdom through the gift and experience of the Holy Spirit. But as with so many today, the first fruit was treated as the full experience, with no spiritual ambition to inherit more. "He executed the righteousness of Yahweh, His ordinances with Israel" would then be a very positive take on how the men of Gad apparently obeyed the agreement to go over Jordan and help their brethren inherit the Kingdom. </p>


text:
<p><em>Of Dan he said, Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps out of Bashan- </em></p><p>The reference may specifically be to the destruction of the latter day invader of Israel, with Dan identified with the latter day lion cub of Judah, Messiah Jesus (<em><a href='B:10 49:9'>Gen 49:9</a></em>). Bashan simply refers to the fact it was an area known for lions (<em><a href='B:260 4:8'>Son 4:8</a></em>). Or perhaps there will be some specific latter day fulfilment of this in the area of Bashan. There may have been a potential initial fulfilment in Samson who was from Dan.</p>


text:
<p><em>Of Naphtali he said, Naphtali, satisfied with favour, full of the blessing of Yahweh, possess the west and the south- </em></p><p>Blessing is here associated with favour, or grace. The connection between blessing and forgiveness / salvation is widespread throughout Scripture: <em><a href='B:50 33:23'>Deu 33:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 5:12'>Psa 5:12</a></em> (blessing = grace) <em><a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 3:8'>Psa 3:8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 24:5'>Psa 24:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 28:9'>Psa 28:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 133:3'>Psa 133:3</a></em> (= salvation); <em><a href='B:20 12:32'>Exo 12:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 32:29'>Exo 32:29</a></em>; <em><a href='B:40 24:1'>Num 24:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:100 21:3'>2Sa 21:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:230 67:1'>Psa 67:1</a></em> (cp. context); <em><a href='B:490 6:28'>Luk 6:28</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 3:26'>Act 3:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:520 4:7-8'>Rom 4:7-8</a></em>; <em><a href='B:530 10:16'>1Co 10:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:550 3:14'>Gal 3:14</a></em> (= forgiveness). So it seems Moses had in view the day when Naphtali would have spiritual blessings.</p><p>"Drive out" is s.w. "possess". We must note the difference between the&nbsp; Canaanite peoples and their kings being "struck" and their land "taken" by Joshua-Jesus; and the people of Israel permanently taking possession. This is the difference between the Lord's victory on the cross, and our taking possession of the Kingdom. Even though that possession has been "given" to us. The word used for "possession" is literally 'an inheritance'. The allusion is to the people, like us, being the seed of Abraham. The Kingdom was and is our possession, our inheritance- if we walk in the steps of Abraham. But it is one thing to be the seed of Abraham, another to take possession of the inheritance; and Israel generally did not take possession of all the land (<em><a href='B:60 11:23'>Jos 11:23</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 13:1'>Jos 13:1</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 18:3'>Jos 18:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:60 23:4'>Jos 23:4</a></em>). The language of inheritance / possession is applied to us in the New Testament (<em><a href='B:560 1:11'>Eph 1:11</a></em>; <em><a href='B:560 1:14'>Eph 1:14</a></em>; <em><a href='B:580 3:24'>Col 3:24</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 20:32'>Act 20:32</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 26:18'>Act 26:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:670 1:4'>1Pe 1:4</a></em> etc.). Israel were promised: "You shall possess it" (<em><a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 33:23'>Deu 33:23</a></em>). This was more of a command than a prophecy, for sadly they were "given" the land but did not "possess" it. They were constantly encouraged in the wilderness that they were on the path to possessing the land (<em><a href='B:50 30:16'>Deu 30:16</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 30:18'>Deu 30:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:3'>Deu 31:3</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 31:13'>Deu 31:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 32:47'>Deu 32:47</a></em>), but when they got there they didn't possess it fully. </p>


text:
<p><em>Of Asher he said, May Asher be blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers; let him dip his foot in oil- </em></p><p>These blessings look ahead to a day when Joseph would no longer be separate from his brothers (:16) and Asher would no longer be despised by his brothers. One great joy of the Kingdom will be the ultimate reconciliation between brethren. The blessing of oil doesn't refer to the discovery of crude oil in Israel, but refers to agricultural blessing of olive oil as in <em><a href='B:220 29:6'>Job 29:6</a></em>; <em><a href='B:10 49:20'>Gen 49:20</a></em>.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p><em>Your bars shall be iron and brass- </em></p><p>LXX "His sandal shall be iron and brass". The sandal or foot spoke of inheritance, so this may be a wish that Asher have iron and brass within their territorial inheritance (<em><a href='B:50 8:9'>Deu 8:9</a></em>).</p><p><em>As your days, so your strength will be- </em></p><p>The idea is as the Vulgate "let thine old age be as thy youth", wishing the blessing of Moses upon Asher. Again we see Moses set up as a realistic pattern to be followed, rather than to be as it were worshipped as an unapproachable icon, as Judaism effectively came to do. </p>


text:
<p><em>There is none like God, Jeshurun- </em></p><p>The appeal is to realize that their God is incomparable with any other god or idol.</p><p><em>Who rides on the heavens for your help, in His excellence on the skies-</em></p><p>Through it all we sense the great love of Yahweh, manifest in that Angel, for His servant. And this all typifies the tenderness of God for Jesus in his time of dying. As we think of the Angel lowering the body of Moses, with his arms around and underneath him, it seems no accident that the last words of Moses spoke of this very thing: "There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency in the sky. The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee... Israel then shall dwell in safety alone (language of the future Kingdom, <em><a href='B:330 39:26'>Eze 39:26</a></em>; <em><a href='B:330 34:25'>Eze 34:25</a></em>):&nbsp; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by Yahweh... thine enemies shall be subdued unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places" , i.e. their idols (<em><a href='B:50 33:26-29'>Deu 33:26-29</a></em> AV). Surely these Moses' last words could not have been said without his voice cracking with emotion. </p>


text:
<p><em>The eternal God is your dwelling place- </em></p><p>LXX "And the rule of God shall protect thee". This looks ahead to the Kingdom, when the rule of God will be openly upon earth.</p><p><em>Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrusts out the enemy from before you and said ‘Destroy!’- </em></p><p>LXX "Perish!". And yet although the Canaanites were thrust out by God from before them, they refused to accept this potential power to inherit the Kingdom. Just as so many do today. </p>


text:
<p><em>Israel shall dwell in safety alone- </em></p><p>LXX "Israel shall dwell in confidence alone on the land of Jacob". They would not share the land with other tribes, they alone would be there, and the other tribes would become part of Israel.&nbsp; In <em><a href='B:230 4:8'>Psa 4:8</a></em> David spoke of how God alone "makes me dwell in safety alone". The very same Hebrew words occur in <em><a href='B:50 33:28'>Deu 33:28</a></em> – Israel will “dwell in safety alone” in the Kingdom. David felt that even in the midst of hardship, this time of Kingdom blessing had come for him internally, in the peace of his own mind. Likewise in our lives the essence of the Kingdom can come. We live the eternal life now.</p><p><em>The fountain of Jacob in a land of grain and new wine. Yes, His heavens drop down dew-</em></p><p>Paul evidently disapproved of Jacob's attitude in falsely obtaining the physical blessing from Isaac (<em><a href='B:520 12:20'>Rom 12:20</a></em> surely alludes to it); but his evil deception of his father was used by God to grant him the physical blessing (<em><a href='B:10 27:28'>Gen 27:28</a></em> is confirmed by God in <em><a href='B:50 33:28'>Deu 33:28</a></em>), even though at the time he was dressed like a goat, connecting himself with fallen Adam and the rejected at the day of judgment; “Deceiving and being deceived” certainly rings bells with Jacob (<em><a href='B:620 3:13'>2Ti 3:13</a></em>).</p><p>The passage in :26-29 speaks of God's dramatic intervention to permanently save Israel from their enemies in the last days, and associates this with the heavens dropping dew upon the land. Seeing this is a normal thing to happen, the implication must be that during the time of their enemies' domination the dew had not come. See on :13.&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p><em>You are happy, Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by Yahweh, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellence!- </em></p><p>LXX "and his sword is thy boast". Israel would finally come to a point where they boasted not in their own strength (unlike today) but in Yahweh's saving work for them in giving them the Kingdom.</p><p><em>Your enemies shall submit themselves to you; you shall tread on their high places- </em></p><p>LXX "Upon their neck". But "high places" would be a reference to the idolatrous “high places”, which the prophets lament were a spiritual snare to Israel. Moses’ final wish and knowledge was that ultimately, Israel would quit with idolatry and be Yahweh’s alone. Seeing that he had predicted their spiritual failures, Moses perhaps had his eye on the day when finally God’s people shall conquer all their temptations, even if only a minority of those with whom God works actually get there in the end, all the same, a minority will, and they will be God’s true Israel.</p><p>Moses’ books were helping the wilderness generation to see where they were coming from historically. Passages like <em><a href='B:10 12:6'>Gen 12:6</a></em> now take on special relevance: "The Canaanites were then in the land". Moses was saying this as his people were about to enter a Canaan likewise occupied by Canaanites. He was bidding the people see their connection with their father Abraham, who then lived with Canaanites also in the same land. <em><a href='B:10 15:1'>Gen 15:1</a></em> introduces us to Abraham as a man who had God as his "shield"; and <em><a href='B:50 33:29'>Deu 33:29</a></em> concludes the Pentateuch by saying that Israel as a nation should be happy because <em>they</em> have Yahweh as their "shield". </p>


text:
<p><em>Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, opposite from Jericho. Yahweh showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan- </em></p><p>This presumably required supernatural vision, it was a vision of the Kingdom. This vision may not have just been literal, because in <em><a href='B:50 33:1-29'>Deu 33:1-29</a></em> the blessings of Moses imply his foresight also of their future experiences in that land, especially in the last days. It was from "Abarim" (<em><a href='B:50 32:49'>Deu 32:49</a></em>). Moses seeing the Kingdom but being unable to enter it, nor himself lead God's people into it, points forward to how the law of Moses gave a vision of the Kingdom, but was unable to bring us into it. That required the work of Joshua / Jesus. "Abarim" means 'the regions beyond'. Moses and his law gave an insight into the Kingdom, the region beyond him. For the culture of grace and kindness, centered around the sacrificed future Messiah, the Lord Jesus, was the outcome of the law. But it was unattainable by weak men.</p>


text:
<p><em>and all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah to the hinder sea- </em></p><p>The idea is that he saw the western boundary, having seen the northern boundary in :1. The renowned Hebrew commentator Rashi claims "to the hinder sea" should be "unto the last day". As noted on :1, I suggest that the vision was not only geographical, but also of how things would be in the land over time, especially in the last days, as explained on <em><a href='B:50 33:1-29'>Deu 33:1-29</a></em>.</p>


text:
<p><em>and the South and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees to Zoar- </em></p><p>If indeed (see on :1,2) Moses saw not only geographically but also over time, he would have seen the events around Jericho as the walls fell, and seen things like the casting of the temple items in <em><a href='B:110 7:46'>1Ki 7:46</a></em> - which was done in the plain of the valley of Jericho. The LXX puts this description in terms of the promises made to Abraham which will be alluded to in :4: "from the River of Egypt unto the Great River, the River Euphrates, and unto the Western Sea".</p>


text:
<p><em>Yahweh said to him, This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob, saying ‘I will give it to your seed’. I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there- </em></p><p>Moses' final experience was to view the land just as Abraham did, looking to all points of the compass and then receiving the promise that he would one day, not immediately, eternally inherit it (<em><a href='B:10 13:14-15'>Gen 13:14-15</a></em>). So Moses was comforted that he was indeed a seed of Abraham. </p>


text:
<p><em>So Moses the servant of Yahweh died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of Yahweh-</em></p><p>Moses died "by the mouth of the Lord (Heb.). "By the mouth of the Lord" can imply a kiss; as if the Angel kissed Moses, and this resulted in his death. Remember, the Angel was Moses <em>friend</em> (<em><a href='B:20 33:11'>Exo 33:11</a></em>). It was a reversal of how the Angel created Adam and breathed into his nose the Spirit; now the Angel kisses Moses and takes it away. And then he buried him, laying him in the grave in hope of better days, when Christ would come and raise his people, when God's people would at last be obedient. What an end. Moses seems to have foreseen this when he said that “We bring our years to an end with a sigh”, a final outbreathing (<em><a href='B:230 90:9'>Psa 90:9</a></em> RVmg.). And then the Angel built a sepulchre. Just picture that Angel perhaps digging, yes <em>digging</em> the grave, building the sepulchre of the rocks laying around in that cleft in the mountain. In the context of Moses leading Israel, we are told: "As a beast goeth down into the valley (tired at the end of a day, led there to drink by a loving owner), the Spirit (Angel) of the Lord caused him to rest" (<em><a href='B:290 63:14'>Isa 63:14</a></em>). Moses was buried by the Angel in a valley in the mountain (<em><a href='B:50 34:6'>Deu 34:6</a></em>). The Hebrew translated " rest" means both to physically lay down and to comfort. So we have the picture of the Angel comforting Moses with the hope of resurrection, kissing him goodnight as it were, and then laying him down in the grave. The softness of God at the death of Moses, the gentleness, prefigured above all the gentleness, in a sense, of the Father with His Son at the cross; and His gentleness with each of us in out time of dying. Let's remember this idea. For short of the second coming, we're all mortal. There's something wondrous about the death of Moses. It's as if God took Moses' funeral- and said in truth 'This is the best man I've yet known', as a man might say at the funeral of his best friend.</p>


text:
<p><em>He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows of his tomb to this day-</em></p><p>This was the very place where they camped after being rejected from entering the land (<em><a href='B:50 3:29'>Deu 3:29</a></em>). In his death, Moses was completely identified with his sinful people, as was the Lord Jesus. For those association with Him, sin itself is thereby no longer a barrier between God and man. <em><a href='B:290 63:14'>Isa 63:14</a></em> says that the Spirit (the Angel) caused Moses to rest as a man leads his animal to water in a valley. The way the Angel buried Moses is very touching. “According to the word of Yahweh” (:5) can bear the translation “By the kiss of Yahweh”, as if the Angel with whom Moses was used to speaking face to face, as a man speaks with his friend, kissed him and as it were reversed the kiss of life, took his breath / spirit away, and laid him down to rest there on the mountain, then carried the body down to the valley and buried him there, to rest until the resurrection. The softness, respect and gentleness of God with His beloved in their time of dying comes over very strongly here.</p><p>An alternative reconstruction of the death of Moses is possible. Rabbinical commentators claim that "he buried him" (<em><a href='B:50 34:6'>Deu 34:6</a></em>) is reflexive; it means that Moses buried himself. For confirmation of this, see S.R.Hirsch, <em>The Pentateuch</em>, Vol. 5 p:685 (New York: Judaica Press, 1971). It is the same Hebrew construction as in <em><a href='B:30 22:16'>Lev 22:16</a></em> and <em><a href='B:40 6:13'>Num 6:13</a></em>. In this case, the description of Christ as 'making his own grave' (<em><a href=B:290 53:9'>Isa 53:9</a></em>) could be read as an allusion to the death of Moses. Therefore the pattern of events was perhaps something like this: The Angel showed Moses the land;&nbsp;Moses, in the presence of the Angel, dug his own grave and lowered himself into it, as a conscious act of the will, in obedience to God's command (as the prototype of the Lord Jesus). The prophesy that Moses would <em>lie down</em> in death takes on a literal sense in this case (<em><a href='B:50 31:16'>Deu 31:16</a></em>). Then the Angel kissed him, and he died. The Angel then built up the sepulchre over his body. Personally I feel this was what happened, but I am cautious to strongly push&nbsp; ideas which rely on a fine point of Hebrew grammar.</p>


text:
<p><em>Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his youth abated-</em></p><p>Moses was one of those old people who still had a ‘young’ attitude to life; not for him the cynicism which comes with old age; hence Deuteronomy is at times optimistic about people with what could be seen as an almost naive youthful optimism. One wonders whether he was therefore right to accept Jethro’s advice that he needed to arrange helpers lest he wear out (<em><a href='B:20 18:18'>Exo 18:18</a></em>), seeing that God had kept him so physically strong, and continued to do so. Strong defines those Hebrew words as meaning that his newness, his youth, had not been chased away (NEV "abated") by the years, as happens to most men. He had all the energy, intellectually and physically, of a 21 year old, yet with all the sadness and knowledge of God of his 120 years. All the times we read he "rose up early" to commune with God demonstrate his energy, his enthusiasm for the word of the God of Israel (<em><a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a></em>; <em><a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a></em>).</p><p>Moses accepted Jethro's advice on the basis that he will "surely wear away" (<em><a href='B:20 18:18'>Exo 18:18</a></em>); even though his natural strength never abated (<em><a href='B:50 34:7'>Deu 34:7</a></em>), and God surely would not have asked him to do the impossible. Jethro at this time seems to have seen Yahweh as only one of many gods; he was a pagan priest. He prophesied that if Moses followed his advice, "all this people shall go to their place in peace" - which they didn't. <em><a href='B:40 10:31'>Num 10:31</a></em> suggests Moses saw Jethro's knowledge of the desert as better than the Angelic "eyes" of Yahweh (<em><a href='B:140 16:9'>2Ch 16:9</a></em>; <em><a href='B:240 15:3'>Pro 15:3</a></em>) who were going ahead of the camp to find a resting place (<em><a href='B:40 10:33'>Num 10:33</a></em> cp. <em><a href='B:20 33:14'>Exo 33:14</a></em> cp. <em><a href=B:290 63:9'>Isa 63:9</a></em>). It seems Moses recognized his error on the last day of his life, when he admits Yahweh, not Jethro's wisdom, had led them (<em><a href='B:50 1:33'>Deu 1:33</a></em>). Likewise Paul in his final communication comments on the way that Mark with whom he had once quarrelled was profitable to him (<em><a href='B:620 4:11'>2Ti 4:11</a></em>).</p>


text:
<p><em>The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days; so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended- </em></p><p><em><a href='B:50 9:1'>Deu 9:1</a></em> records Moses' assumption that Israel would enter Canaan on the day that he died: "You are to pass over the Jordan this day". But they did not pass over that day because they mourned for Moses 30 days. It is possible that Moses felt so despised by them that he assumed there would be no period of mourning for him. </p>


text:
<p><em>Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him, and the children of Israel listened to him and did as Yahweh commanded Moses- </em></p><p>We must compare this with <em><a href='B:40 27:18'>Num 27:18</a></em>: "Yahweh said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him". Because Joshua had the Spirit, Moses was told to lay his hand on him. Yet <em><a href='B:50 34:9'>Deu 34:9</a></em> says that Moses laid his hand on him so that Joshua might receive the Spirit. Here we see the upward spiral of spirituality at work- those who are of the Spirit are made more spiritual. </p>


text:
<p><em>There has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face- </em></p><p>Messiah was the prophet promised "like unto" Moses (<em><a href='B:50 18:15'>Deu 18:15</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a></em>; <em><a href='B:510 3:22'>Act 3:22</a></em>). This may therefore be a note to the effect that the Messiah had not yet arisen at the time of writing. Gideon was bidden rise up to the example of Moses- for there were many similarities between his call by the Angel, and the Angelic calling which Moses received at the burning bush. Thus Gideon was called to follow the Angel in faith, "because Ehyeh is with you" (<em><a href='B:70 6:16'>Jdg 6:16</a></em>)- a direct quotation from the Angelic manifestation to Moses in <em><a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a></em>. And yet he responds: "Alas! For I have seen Yahweh's envoy face to face!" (<em><a href='B:70 6:22'>Jdg 6:22</a></em>). Gideon knew full well that Moses had seen the Angel "face to face" (<em><a href='B:50 34:10'>Deu 34:10</a></em>). Gideon's fear is therefore rooted in a sense that "No! I'm simply <em>not</em> Moses!". And it's the same with us. We can read of all these reasons to believe that Moses is really our pattern, and respond that "No! This ain't me...". But there, in the record of Gideon and his success, lies our challenge to rise up to the spirit of Moses.</p>


text:
<p><em>in all the signs and the wonders which Yahweh sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land- </em></p><p>Of all the miracles God has worked, those involved with the salvation of Israel from Egypt are repeatedly presented as the greatest ever done, and thereby Moses becomes the most spectacular Old Testament channel for the work of God's Spirit. And this reflects the personal wonder of the way God brought each of us out from the world onto the path to His Kingdom. For those raised Christian, this is so hard to perceive adequately enough.</p>


text:
<p><em>and in all the mighty hand and in all the great terror, which Moses worked in the sight of all Israel- </em></p>The idea is that the hand of Moses did these things, hence GNB "the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel". But the "great terror" was done by the mighty hand of Yahweh (<em><a href='B:50 4:34'>Deu 4:34</a></em>; <em><a href='B:50 26:8'>Deu 26:8</a></em>). The final accolade for Moses was that his hand was hand in hand with God's, he was a willing partner in the salvation of God's people. The same phrase "great terror" is used in <em><a href='B:300 32:20-21'>Jer 32:20-21</a></em>, but the point is made that this was an ongoing work "unto this day". This is the power of event in Biblical history. Those events are no mere past actions that are completed. God's word becomes a living word, as we perceive that the same hand which worked in those historical events is bringing about the essence of those events in our own lives.


text:
<p>After the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh spoke to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ servant, saying- </p><p>I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day" occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different points of historical reference (<a href='B:60 4:9'>Jos 4:9</a>; <a href='B:60 5:9'>Jos 5:9</a>; <a href='B:60 6:25'>Jos 6:25</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:60 8:28-29'>Jos 8:28-29</a>; <a href='B:60 9:27'>Jos 9:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:27'>Jos 10:27</a>; <a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a>; <a href='B:60 14:14'>Jos 14:14</a>; <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a>; <a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a>; <a href='B:60 22:3'>Jos 22:3</a>; <a href='B:60 23:8-9'>Jos 23:8-9</a>; <a href='B:70 1:26'>Jdg 1:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:24'>Jdg 6:24</a>; <a href='B:70 10:4'>Jdg 10:4</a>; <a href='B:70 15:19'>Jdg 15:19</a>; <a href='B:70 18:12'>Jdg 18:12</a>). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation.</p>


text:
<p>Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise- </p><p>The Messianic prophecy of <a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a> had a potential Messianic and primary fulfillment in Joshua: “I will raise them up [God ‘rose up’ Joshua- s:w. <a href='B:60 1:2'>Jos 1:2</a>; <a href='B:60 7:10'>Jos 7:10</a>; <a href='B:60 7:13'>Jos 7:13</a>; <a href='B:60 8:1'>Jos 8:1</a>; <a href='B:60 8:3'>Jos 8:3</a>]&nbsp; a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee [Joshua’s life was framed to be like that of Moses- e.g. he too was told to remove his shoe when on holy ground, also held his hands up whilst Israel fought their enemies]; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him [Joshua is constantly presented as telling Israel what God commanded him- <a href='B:60 4:8'>Jos 4:8</a>; <a href='B:60 4:10'>Jos 4:10</a>; <a href='B:60 4:17'>Jos 4:17</a>; <a href='B:60 6:10'>Jos 6:10</a>; <a href='B:60 8:8'>Jos 8:8</a>: “according to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do. See, I have commanded you”; <a href='B:60 8:27'>Jos 8:27</a>]. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him”.</p><p>Go over this Jordan, you, and all this people, to the land which I give to them, even to the children of Israel- </p><p>This was a primary fulfilment of the promises to Abraham, and we too experience that. For the covenant is not only about 'jam tomorrow'. In a sense, the promises that the seed would inherit the land, and that God would be their God were fulfilled straight after God said them. He became Isaac's God (<a href='B:10 31:42'>Gen 31:42</a>; <a href='B:10 31:53'>Gen 31:53</a> refer to this), the God of Abraham's son. Time and again God reminds Israel that He is their God. And that land in a sense was given to the Jewish fathers (<a href='B:10 15:18'>Gen 15:18</a>; <a href='B:50 28:63'>Deu 28:63</a>; <a href='B:50 30:5'>Deu 30:5</a> NIV; <a href='B:60 1:2-9'>Jos 1:2-9</a>; <a href='B:60 21:43'>Jos 21:43</a>; <a href='B:110 4:20-21'>1Ki 4:20-21</a>). David could praise God simply because He was ''my God'' (<a href='B:230 118:28'>Psa 118:28</a>)- an allusion back to the Abrahamic promise. Of course, the main fulfillment of this promise will be in the Kingdom; but in principle, the promise has already been fulfilled to Abraham's seed- i:e:, us!</p>


text:
<p>I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, as I told Moses- </p><p>This meant that according to their spiritual ambition, so would be their inheritance of the Kingdom, as Moses had told them (<a href='B:50 11:24-25'>Deu 11:24-25</a>). The temptation for them, as for us, was to consider that once we have our small inheritance, our farmstead and secure land, as it was for them- then we need have no wider vision. For to go onwards from that parochial mentality and tread upon the entire land (:4) up to the Euphrates was a vision only worth pursuing if they had a vision of collective inheritance of the Kingdom. To seek to get others there is a call which few really perceive. See on <a href='B:60 3:13'>Jos 3:13</a>.</p>


text:
<p>From the wilderness, and this Lebanon, even to the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your border- </p><p>God’s opening commission to Joshua was that the people were to possess the whole land promised to Abraham, right up to the Euphrates. But Joshua ended up drawing up the borders of the land far smaller than these; he didn’t even seek to subdue the territory up to the Euphrates, even though God had promised him potential success and even commanded him to do so. See on :3,6,15.</p>


text:
<p>No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not fail you nor forsake you- </p><p>But these very words are quoted in <a href='B:650 13:5'>Heb 13:5</a> as the grounds of our matchless confidence that the Lord God will be with us too! As He was with Moses- not just in power, but in wondrous patience and gentleness- so He will be with us too. Not only did God encourage Joshua to see himself as in Moses' shoes; He inspired Jeremiah likewise (<a href='B:300 21:8'>Jer 21:8</a> = <a href='B:50 30:15'>Deu 30:15</a>; <a href='B:50 30:19'>Deu 30:19</a>), and Ezekiel (<a href='B:330 2:3'>Eze 2:3</a> = <a href='B:50 31:27'>Deu 31:27</a>; <a href='B:160 9:17'>Neh 9:17</a>; <a href='B:40 17:10'>Num 17:10</a>); and He wishes us to also see Moses' God as our God. But if Moses' God is to be ours in truth in the daily round of life, we must rise up to the dedication of Moses; as he was a faithful steward, thoroughly dedicated to God's ecclesia (<a href='B:650 3:5'>Heb 3:5</a>), so we are invited follow his example (<a href='B:530 4:2'>1Co 4:2</a>; <a href='B:470 24:45'>Mat 24:45</a>). Note that the promise of Moses that God would not fail nor forsake Joshua, but would be with him (<a href='B:50 31:8'>Deu 31:8</a>) was similar to the very promise given to Moses which he had earlier doubted (<a href='B:20 3:12'>Exo 3:12</a>; <a href='B:20 4:12'>Exo 4:12</a>; <a href='B:20 4:15'>Exo 4:15</a>). Such exhortation is so much the stronger from someone who has themselves doubted and then come to believe.</p><p>We may boldly say that we will not be fearful, as Joshua was, because God has addressed to us the very words which He did to Joshua: “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee” (<a href='B:650 13:5-6'>Heb 13:5-6</a>). In this especially, Joshua is our example. When <a href='B:650 13:13'>Heb 13:13</a> speaks of us going forth outside the camp, perhaps there is a reference to Joshua who dwelt with Moses outside the camp- thus making Joshua symbolic of us all.</p><p>Watch out for quotations and allusions within Scripture; there are connections not only between New and Old Testaments, but also (e.g.) between Paul's letters; Peter alludes to Paul's writings, Paul frequently alludes to the words of John the Baptist; Jeremiah often refers to Job's words and experiences. Note the context of the source quotation, because this often sheds light on the passage in which it is quoted. Be aware that many NT passages mix a number of OT passages in one 'quotation'; e.g. "The deliverer will come from Zion" (<a href='B:520 11:26'>Rom 11:26</a>) is a conflated quotation of <a href='B:230 14:7'>Psa 14:7</a>; <a href='B:230 53:6'>Psa 53:6</a> and <a href='B:290 59:20'>Isa 59:20</a>. And <a href='B:650 13:5'>Heb 13:5</a> combines quotes from <a href='B:10 28:15'>Gen 28:15</a>; <a href='B:60 1:5'>Jos 1:5</a> and <a href='B:50 31:16'>Deu 31:16</a>. <a href='B:650 13:5'>Heb 13:5</a> doesn’t quote any of them exactly, but mixes them together.</p>


text:
<p>Be strong and courageous; for you shall cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give them-</p><p>God’s opening commission to Joshua was that the people were to possess the whole land promised to Abraham, right up to the Euphrates (<a href='B:60 1:4'>Jos 1:4</a>). But Joshua ended up drawing up the borders of the land far smaller than these; he didn’t even seek to subdue the territory up to the Euphrates, even though God had promised him potential success and even commanded him to do so. Joshua was to divide up the whole land promised to Abraham, amongst the tribes of Israel (<a href='B:60 1:6'>Jos 1:6</a>). And yet in the extensive descriptions of Joshua dividing up the land, we don’t find him dividing up that whole territory up to the Euphrates. He seems to have lacked that vision, and fallen into the mire of minimalism, just content with a utilitarian, small scale conquest, rather than seeing the bigger picture of the potential Kingdom which God wanted to give His people:&nbsp;See on :3,4,15.</p><p>Joshua is repeatedly made parallel with Israel; his victories were theirs; what he achieved is counted to them. In the same way, the people of the Lord Jesus are counted as Him. Joshua was to be strong and possess the land (<a href='B:60 1:6'>Jos 1:6</a>), just as they had been told to do, using the same Hebrew words (<a href='B:50 11:8'>Deu 11:8</a>). Indeed, Israel and Joshua are given parallel charges, to be strong and of good courage to take the land (<a href='B:50 31:6-7'>Deu 31:6-7</a>). Both Israel and Joshua are given the same charge to keep the words of the covenant, that they might “prosper” (<a href='B:50 29:9'>Deu 29:9</a>; <a href='B:60 1:7'>Jos 1:7</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Only be strong and very courageous to observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Don’t turn from it to the right hand or to the left-</p><p>Joshua is repeatedly made parallel with Israel; his victories were theirs; what he achieved is counted to them. In the same way, the people of the Lord Jesus are counted as Him. Joshua was to be strong and possess the land (<a href='B:60 1:6'>Jos 1:6</a>), just as they had been told to do, using the same Hebrew words (<a href='B:50 11:8'>Deu 11:8</a>). Indeed, Israel and Joshua are given parallel charges, to be strong and of good courage to take the land (<a href='B:50 31:6-7'>Deu 31:6-7</a>). Both Israel and Joshua are given the same charge to keep the words of the covenant, that they might “prosper” (<a href='B:50 29:9'>Deu 29:9</a>; <a href='B:60 1:7'>Jos 1:7</a>):&nbsp;See on <a href='B:290 59:21'>Isa 59:21</a>.</p><p>As God charged him to be courageous and obedient to the book of the Law, so Joshua on his deathbed charged his people (<a href='B:60 1:7-8'>Jos 1:7-8</a> cp. 23:6). Joshua had faithfully followed, and now he became the leader who was to be faithfully followed. Likewise, he led the Israelites in battle whilst Moses stood on the hill with arms uplifted in prayer for his success. And in capturing Ai, it was Joshua’s turn to stand on a hill with arms uplifted [also in prayer?] whilst Israel fought.</p><p>That you may prosper wherever you go-</p><p>Joshua potentially could have been the Jesus-Messiah figure, leading Israel into what could have become the Kingdom of God. He could have given the people rest; but he didn’t. Yet the possibilities and prophecies relating to Joshua were then reinterpreted and fulfilled in another ‘Jesus’, the Son of God. Solomon was another case of this. God’s servant Joshua was intended to “prosper” (<a href='B:60 1:7'>Jos 1:7</a>); but in the end it was the Lord Jesus through His death who was the servant who would “deal prudently” [s:w. ‘prosper’, <a href='B:290 52:13'>Isa 52:13</a>]. And so, in His foreknowledge, God spoke of “another day” when His begotten Son would give “rest”, fulfilling what Joshua could potentially have achieved, and so much more (<a href='B:650 4:8'>Heb 4:8</a>). The lesson for us is that so much has been potentially prepared for us to achieve. Our salvation may not necessarily depend upon achieving all those things, but all the same, so much potentially is possible which we refuse to reach up to, because we are petty minimalists, like Israel, satisfied with their little farm in the valley, rather than seeking to possess the fullness of the Kingdom prepared for them.</p>


text:
<p>This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. Thus you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success-</p><p>In <a href='B:230 1:1-3'>Psa 1:1-3</a>, David makes several allusions to Joshua. He speaks of how the man who meditates in God’s word day and night will prosper in his ways; and he uses the very same Hebrew words as found in <a href='B:60 1:8'>Jos 1:8</a> in recounting God’s charge to Joshua. But David’s point is that the man who does these things will not “walk in the counsel of the ungodly”- he won't give in to peer pressure. The fact that Joshua was wrongly influenced by his peers in later life would indicate that he didn’t keep the charge given to him.</p><p>Try to memorize Scripture, run through verses as you go about life, play tapes of Bible studies or Bible reading in the background (instead of the mindless radio). Much of Scripture was probably memorized by various contemporary believers. "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth" (<a href='B:60 1:8'>Jos 1:8</a>) presumably means that Joshua was commanded to keep reciting it to himself in daily life, so that he would be obedient to it. The way Jeremiah consciously and unconsciously quotes and alludes to Job would suggest that he had memorized that book. And many of the Psalms are written in such a way (in Hebrew) as to be easily memorized. David memorized God's law and meditated upon it (hardly the easiest part of Scripture to memorize, at least to Western eyes; <a href='B:230 119:16'>Psa 119:16</a>). He recited it to himself in the night seasons.</p><p>As Joshua had been told to be strong and of good courage in order to take the land, so he had to tell others (<a href='B:60 10:25'>Jos 10:25</a>).</p><p>This connection between Joshua and Israel is developed in <a href='B:290 59:21'>Isa 59:21</a>, which describes the new covenant which God will make with Israel in the Messianic Kingdom in terms evidently reminiscent of Joshua- as if the new covenant was made with him, thereby enabling him potentially to be part of a Messianic Kingdom even in his day:&nbsp; “And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: my Spirit that is upon thee [“Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him” <a href='B:50 34:9'>Deu 34:9</a>; <a href='B:40 27:18-23'>Num 27:18-23</a>] , and my words which I have put in thy mouth [<a href='B:50 18:18'>Deu 18:18</a> - God’s words were put in Joshua’s mouth], shall not depart out of thy mouth [“this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth”, <a href='B:60 1:8'>Jos 1:8</a>, s:w:], nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever”.</p>


text:
<p>Haven’t I commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed: for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go- </p><p>The idea being, as discussed on :3, that wherever they went, they would have victory and take the land for themselves. The various towns in our lives may be alcoholism, the struggle to forgive, gentleness, patience, or whatever seems so insuperable. It is God's eager desire that we should inherit the Kingdom, and so we need not fear (<a href='B:490 12:32'>Luk 12:32</a>). The command to be strong and courageous is understood by David as meaning "be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart" (<a href='B:230 27:4'>Psa 27:4</a>; <a href='B:230 31:24'>Psa 31:24</a>). It is not so much a call for human strength and bravery, as to open our hearts to the strengthening of His Spirit:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying- </p><p>"Officers" is literally 'the scribes'. It could refer to those who had a record of the people from the latest census, and could therefore better organize them. But we wonder if it refers to those who had already been set up to keep copies of God's law and interpret it to the people. And yet their work was not academic, just as true Bible study can never be an academic discipline. They were to in practice prepare the people to enter the land and conquer Canaan.</p>


text:
<p>Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, saying, ‘Prepare food; for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess’- </p><p>The "three days" period sends the mind to the Lord's resurrection, which was what gives us ultimate entry into Canaan. Preparing food in advance was a new discipline for people who had lived for decades on the daily provision of manna by God every morning. That this need to "prepare food" should be recorded gives absolute circumstantial credibility to the record. Such a command would have been absolutely necessary. These things really happened. The exodus from Egypt had been in haste, so that they had no time to "prepare food" (<a href='B:20 12:39'>Exo 12:39</a>). They had left Egypt because of push factors. Now, they were to be motivated by the pull factor of the Kingdom, and were not being thrust out in haste, but rather entering the Kingdom on their own terms.</p><p>These three days may be those of <a href='B:60 3:1-2'>Jos 3:1-2</a>. The order to prepare food was given on 7th Nisan, as they crossed Jordan on the 10th. The spies would have been on their mission between the 5th and 8th Nisan.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua spoke to the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh saying- </p><p>They had received their inheritance to the east of Jordan, because they were attracted by the rich pasture there for their many flocks and herds&nbsp; (<a href='B:40 32:16'>Num 32:16</a>; <a href='B:40 32:24'>Num 32:24</a>). This had been on the agreement that they would help the rest of Israel to inherit their inheritances too.</p>


text:
<p>Remember the word which Moses the servant of Yahweh commanded you saying, ‘Yahweh your God will give you rest, and will give you this land- </p><p>After the pattern of the Reubenites, we have been given the promised rest of the Kingdom here and now (<a href='B:60 1:13'>Jos 1:13</a> cp. <a href='B:650 4:3'>Heb 4:3</a>); but we will, like them, only take possession of that inheritance after we have ensured that our brethren have received their possession (<a href='B:60 1:15'>Jos 1:15</a>). <a href='B:60 1:13'>Jos 1:13</a>; <a href='B:60 1:15'>Jos 1:15</a> present a paradox: the Reubenites were given their "rest", but they would only get their "rest" once their brethren had. Those Reubenites really were symbols of us: for this passage is surely behind the reasoning of Hebrews 4, where we are told that we have entered into rest, but that we must labour if we want to enter into it.</p>


text:
<p>Your wives, your little ones and your livestock shall live in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan; but all your mighty men of valour shall pass over before your brothers, armed, and shall help them-</p><p>This was no small sacrifice, because it left their much beloved flocks, as well as their women and children, without protection. That is the significance of the agreement that "all" their soldiers were to pass over Jordan. And they were to be in the front line, "before your brothers", forming the vanguard. Further, their inheritances east of Jordan were huge, and included areas inhabited by giants and strong enemies. So the agreement required them to live by faith in God's protection far more than did the other tribes. Their attempted short cut to the Kingdom didn't work, it ended up with far greater challenge to their faith. And that is true to this day.</p>


text:
<p>until Yahweh has given your brothers rest, as He has given you, and they have also possessed the land which Yahweh your God gives them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and settle it, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise’- </p><p>See on :13. Joshua didn’t give the people rest (<a href='B:650 4:8'>Heb 4:8</a>); but he said he had (<a href='B:60 22:4'>Jos 22:4</a>). He failed to fulfil the potential of <a href='B:60 1:13-15'>Jos 1:13-15</a> - that he would lead the people to “rest”. The Messianic Kingdom could, perhaps, have come through Joshua-Jesus; but both Joshua and Israel would not. <a href='B:50 1:38'>Deu 1:38</a> states clearly that “Joshua… he shall cause Israel to inherit [s:w. possess]” the land. Yet by the end of Joshua’s life, Israel were not inheriting the land in totality. He didn’t live up to his potential. Note, in passing, that God’s prophecy here was conditional, although no condition is actually stated at the time. See on :4,6.</p>


text:
<p>They answered Joshua saying, All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go- </p><p>As noted on :14, the demands on them were a great test of faith. That they agreed and didn't seek to renege on the agreement is therefore the more commendable.</p>


text:
<p>Just as we listened to Moses in all things, so will we listen to you. Only may Yahweh your God be with you as He was with Moses- </p><p>This was surely an exaggeration, as Israel had not been obedient to Moses "in all things".</p>


text:
<p>Whoever rebels against your commandment, and doesn’t listen to your words in all that you command him, he shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous-</p><p>They now encourage Joshua themselves, perhaps sensing his weakness and nervousness. There is repeated encouragement to be strong and of a good courage and not be fearful (<a href='B:50 31:23'>Deu 31:23</a>; <a href='B:60 1:6-8'>Jos 1:6-8</a>; <a href='B:60 1:18'>Jos 1:18</a>). What does this imply about Joshua? He could perhaps have potentially been 'Jesus', as his name means, the Messiah figure. But he failed, perhaps because of his fear, and so this possibility was reapplied and rescheduled to the Lord Jesus. Hebrews effectively makes this point, saying that although Joshua gave the people "rest", in fact he didn't ultimately; and so his work was fulfilled only in the Lord Jesus.</p><p>Joshua had been charged to be strong, of good courage, not fearful nor be dismayed. Yet he had a tendency to forget those charges, the implications of his having been called by God for a purpose; and needed to be reminded of them as he forgot or lost faith in them. Perhaps this is why he is an otherwise surprising omission from the list of faithful men and women in Hebrews 11. And here of course is the challenge to us. We too have been given commissions and callings. Whether it be to raise a Godly family, to establish an ecclesia in a certain place, to overcome a specific vice…the obstacles will flee before us, every place where the soles of our feet rest, will be blessed…if we truly believe in God’s purpose with us. Yet like Joshua, we usually fail to have a full faith in this. We get distracted by the views of others, peer pressure, worried by lack of resources, discouraged by setbacks; when it is belief in God’s most basic initial promises to us that will overcome them. Joshua’s fear is all the more reprehensible when we consider the testimony of Psalms 91. Here Moses speaks about Joshua, the one who dwelt in the secret place or tabernacle of God (<a href='B:230 91:1'>Psa 91:1</a> = <a href='B:20 33:11'>Exo 33:11</a>), and who therefore was miraculously preserved throughout the wilderness wanderings. Thousands of Joshua’s generation died at his side from the various plagues which wasted out his generation during those wanderings; but they never came near him (<a href='B:230 91:5-8'>Psa 91:5-8</a>). As a result of this, he was commanded by Moses to “not be afraid” (<a href='B:230 91:5'>Psa 91:5</a>), perhaps Moses was thinking specifically about peer pressure, with the assurance that truly God would hear Joshua’s prayers (<a href='B:230 91:14-15'>Psa 91:14-15</a>). His amazing preservation during the wilderness years ought to have instilled a faith and lack of fearfulness within him; and yet the implication is that he did very often fall prey to fearfulness in later life. Just as with us, the circumstances of earlier life are controlled by the Father to give us faith with which to cope with later crises; but we don’t always learn the lessons we are intended to.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua the son of Nun secretly sent two men out of Shittim as spies, saying, Go, view the land, including Jericho. They went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab, and slept there.</p><p>The spies were sent out "secretly". I'd argue that the sending out of the 12 spies about 40 years earlier was essentially a lack of faith- in the fact that God's Angel had gone ahead of them anyway to spy out the land, and Yahweh Himself had told Israel how good the land was. Perhaps the secrecy involved a sense that this was in fact not really a very spiritual decision and Joshua was somehow furtive about it. Israel had never known urban life nor perhaps even seen walled cities like Jericho. The spies entered the city at evening time, and the gate was shut. Strangers always attract attention in such places- let alone when the city was in the direct line of attack of the Hebrews. The language / accent of the two spies would've given them away. According to the record in Joshua 2, it seems they entered the city gates at dusk, the gates were shut, and they'd have perceived that they were being watched and had been noticed as suspicious strangers. And so they used some desperate initiative, and dived into a whorehouse nearby to the gate. This was the sort of place strangers would go to, as it would be today. We imagine them entering the house, and meeting the madame of the house. "What do you want?" was as dumb a question as the doctor asking the patient "How are you feeling today?". Rahab was a smart woman, accustomed to strangers, and knew what was going on. Within the first couple of sentences, she'd have figured who they were. And it seems they spoke for a short time, maybe an hour or so, realized they were busted, understood they were in a death trap within that walled city, and threw themselves on her mercy. And there, providence kicked in. <a href='B:660 2:25'>Jas 2:25</a> calls those men "messengers", with a message Rahab believed. They hardly had an hour to tell her the message, before men were knocking on the door enquiring what Rahab knew about the spies. In that brief time, she believed a very sketchy and incomplete Gospel of the Kingdom. And her works reflected that faith, in telling the men [whom local culture would've barred from entering the house of a single woman] that the spies had come and gone. "That was quick!", we can imagine the King's men joking. There was weakness and dysfunction all around this story. The men "lodged" with Rahab (<a href='B:60 2:1'>Jos 2:1</a>)- but the Hebrew term is often translated "slept with..." in a sexual context. In fact, whenever the term is used in relation to a woman, let alone a prostitute, it implies intercourse. As a word it does mean simply to sleep... but it is strange that no other term for 'lodging the night' is used, and that the term in the context of a female or prostitute does usually carry a sexual meaning. Whilst I don't believe the spies did sleep with Rahab, it's strange that no other word for 'lodging' is used. The ambiguity is, I suggest, purposeful. But they and their message were 'welcomed in peace' by Rahab (<a href='B:650 11:31'>Heb 11:31</a>), she 'received' their message and justified herself by works by protecting them (<a href='B:660 2:25'>Jas 2:25</a>). This would contribute to an overall theme in the book of Joshua of Israel's weakness- the land wasn't fully possessed, Joshua appears himself as weak in many ways, he didn't fully follow the admittedly hard-to-follow act of Moses, Rahab believed the very words of promise which Israel didn't believe, the spies were sent out secretly by Joshua with no command from God to do this, when God had promised to go before Israel and give them victory... and yet God worked through all this. Even to the extent of using the weakness of the spies in going in to a brothel and "sleeping" with the madame... in order to save that woman and her family, and the lives of the spies, all in a manner which through human weakness glorified the God of Israel. Rahab had an extensive knowledge of parts of Moses' words and law, and this was the basis for her faith. Yet where did she, a whore in Jericho, get that knowledge from? Presumably from her clients, who would've been travellers who had heard these things and passed them on to her. All this is wonderful encouragement for all sinners- that God has a way of working through sin to His glory, and He doesn't give up so easily with human weakness.</p><p><a href='B:470 1:4'>Mat 1:4</a> records that Salmon married Rahab. Salmon was of the tribe of Judah, because this is the genealogy through Judah (<a href='B:470 1:2'>Mat 1:2</a>). The two spies who had been faithful the first time when spies were sent out were Joshua and Caleb- of the tribes of Ephraim and Judah (<a href='B:40 13:6'>Num 13:6</a>; <a href='B:70 2:9'>Jdg 2:9</a>). It seems a fair guess that when the two spies were sent out, they were from these same two tribes; see on :23. Salmon was a prince of the tribe of Judah- it’s a fair guess that he was one of the two spies who went to Rahab, and he subsequently married her.</p>


text:
<p>The king of Jericho was told, Behold, men of the children of Israel came in here tonight to spy out the land!- </p><p>Their dress would likely have been unusual, having worn the same clothes and shoes throughout the wilderness journeys. And they would maybe have asked a few people on the street for directions and their accent and language would have given them away. They would have been spotted going in to Rahab's house.</p>


text:
<p>The king of Jericho sent to Rahab saying, Bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered into your house; for they have come to spy out all the land- </p><p>We have an example here of how a king's representatives are spoken of himself personally. This is why the Lord Jesus can be called "God" because he functions as God's representative; but this doesn't make Him God Himself in person in a Trinitarian sense.</p>


text:
<p>The woman took the two men and concealed them. Then she said, Yes, the men came to me, but I don’t know where they came from- </p><p>There are times when circumstances do change the appropriacy of behaviour which in more normal life we should practice. Take lying as an example. To lie is wrong. We should be truthful. Of course. But think of Rahab. She lied- and her lie and acts of deception are quoted in the New Testament as acts of faith! Further, Rahab implied that the Israelite spies were her clients- "there came men unto me" (<a href='B:60 2:4'>Jos 2:4</a>) appears to be a euphemism- and she gave the impression that of course, as they were merely passing clients, how did she know nor care who they were nor where they went? Her male interrogators would've found it hard to press her further for information after she said that. So she not only lied but she gave the impression that the messengers of the Kingdom of God were immoral- in order to protect both them and her. Of course the way she left a red cord hanging from her window, as if almost inviting people to imagine the spies had been let down over the wall from her home on the wall, was a tremendous act of faith and witness by her, but she presumably kept to her story that they were her anonymous clients. For she was still living in her home when the city was taken. Her witness was thus an indirect one to those who wished to perceive it, but it was made within the context of a major series of untruths. The Hebrew midwives lied to the Egyptians- and were blessed for it. And we could give other examples. If we probe further, and ask why such lies were acceptable and even required, we find that often those lies were connected with saving life. To do anything that would cause the loss of human life when it is in our power to save it is dangerously close to murder. If it is in the power of our hand to do good, surely we should. Otherwise we are likely to be saying "Be warmed and filled!", yet do nothing. We do of course emphasize the need for prayer- and we have arranged days of prayer and fasting for these cases. But this does not absolve us from the need for action. Rather, it seems, do those prayers open up ways practically for us to seek our brethren's good.</p><p>There are times when we marvel at God's way of working. Rahab as a prostitute was the only person who could say with credibility that yes, men came into my home- but I have absolutely no idea who they were or where they came from. And her male interrogators would have had to avert their eyes from her gaze and shrug and leave her. For they could say no more to that implied comment that "What? You ask me of all women that question?! In my profession you don't ask those questions, didn't you realize that...".</p>


text:
<p>It happened about the time of the shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that the men went out. Where the men went I don’t know. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them- </p><p>Here she moves into telling untruths; see on :3,4 for the discussion of that. For her lies are cited in Hebrews and James as an example of her faith and works in response to that faith. "Overtake" is the word for ability or possibility. She is implying that surely if they are true men, they will have the strength to chase after these spies and catch them. She was an expert in male psychology. And they obeyed her (:7).</p>


text:
<p>But she had brought them up to the roof, and hid them under the stalks of flax, which she had laid in order on the roof-</p><p>We imagine the spies panicked once inside the walled city, with their clothing and accent / language making it so obvious they were foreigners. With the Israelites only a short distance away across the river, everyone was fearful of spies. And they realized they had no way out. So they in desperation ran into a whore house. And it seems Rahab immediately perceived who they were, and figured they were in danger. For they were noticed entering her house in the evening (:3), and the gate was closed in the evening (:5,7), when the pursuers chased after the spies [as they thought]. So she hid them immediately they knocked on her door. Their desperate prayers for deliverance were heard in this unusual way. She would have heard of the Israelites and their God, perhaps from her clients who would have been travellers. And she desperately wanted to connect with their God. But she was stuck in Jericho, and stuck in a life of sin. It would have seemed impossible to make the connection with Him she so desired. But then two of His representatives came knocking on her door.</p><p>"The harvest" at this time was the barley harvest (<a href='B:60 3:15'>Jos 3:15</a>), which was traditionally reaped on 10 Nisan; not the wheat harvest, which was at Pentecost seven weeks later (<a href='B:20 34:22'>Exo 34:22</a>). We note that the barley and flax harvests were at this time, and the two crops were harvested at the same time (<a href='B:20 9:31'>Exo 9:31</a>; <a href='B:20 9:33'>Exo 9:33</a>). This would explain why Rahab had flax stalks on her roof (<a href='B:60 2:6'>Jos 2:6</a>). This is the kind of internal corroboration within the record which is to me the greatest proof of Biblical inspiration.</p>


text:
<p>The men pursued them the way to the Jordan to the fords. As soon as those who pursued them had gone out, they shut the gate- </p><p>As discussed on :5, this had been her challenge to her own people, and they fell for it. They likely searched every house in Jericho for the spies. But not hers, or at least, not too thoroughly. Male awkwardness and embarrassment before a woman like her would have meant they accepted her word and she ceased from being a possible suspect.</p>


text:
<p>Before they had lain down, she came up to them on the roof- </p><p>Rooftops were consistently associated with idolatry throughout the Hebrew Bible. But here, Rahab learns more of the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, having quit idolatry. The spies are called "messengers" in Hebrews 11 because they had a message for her; and their message were 'welcomed in peace' by Rahab (<a href='B:650 11:31'>Heb 11:31</a>), she 'received' their message and justified herself by works by protecting them (<a href='B:660 2:25'>Jas 2:25</a>).</p>


text:
<p>and she said to the men, I know that Yahweh has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you-</p><p>See on <a href='B:230 24:6'>Psa 24:6</a>. When she says that she was aware that God had "given you the land" (<a href='B:60 2:9'>Jos 2:9</a>), she uses the same two Hebrew words used repeatedly in Deuteronomy regarding God's promise to give Israel the land of the Canaanites. "Your terror is fallen upon us" is likewise an allusion to <a href='B:20 15:16'>Exo 15:16</a>; <a href='B:20 23:27'>Exo 23:27</a> [the same Hebrew word for "terror" is used by Rahab]. Rahab speaks of how her people are "fainting" in fear- quoting <a href='B:20 15:15'>Exo 15:15</a> about how the inhabitants of Canaan would "faint" (AV "melt away") because of Israel. Knowing all this, she has the ambition to request the impossible- that she would be the exception, that with her a covenant would be made. When she says that "we have heard" about the Exodus (<a href='B:60 2:10'>Jos 2:10</a>), she may be referring to the prophecy of <a href='B:20 15:14'>Exo 15:14</a>: "The people shall hear and be afraid". In this case, her emphasis would have been upon the word "have"- 'yes, we have heard indeed, as Moses sung, and yes, we are afraid'. Seeking God's face is actually to strive for the unachievable in this life; but it's what we are to do. Spiritual ambition of the type Rahab had lifts us far above the mire of mediocrity which there is in all human life under the sun.</p>


text:
<p>For we have heard how Yahweh dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom you utterly destroyed- </p><p>This utter destruction was because Yahweh had hearkened to the voice of Israel (<a href='B:40 21:3'>Num 21:3</a> cp. <a href='B:50 3:6'>Deu 3:6</a> s:w:), and Rahab was attracted to a God who listened to prayers and responded to dramatically. Israel's enemies were to be 'utterly destroyed' which is defined as meaning that no covenant be made with them (<a href='B:50 7:2'>Deu 7:2</a>). Rahab desperately wanted to enter covenant with Yahweh, but she saw she was doomed to 'utter destruction' because that was to be Jericho's fate (<a href='B:60 6:21'>Jos 6:21</a> s:w:). But her desire from the heart was read by God, and responded to in such a wonderful way, beyond any human device; hence in :12 (see note there) she asks for covenant relationship.</p>


text:
<p>As soon as we had heard it, our hearts melted, neither did there remain any more spirit in any man because of you; for Yahweh your God- </p><p>When the earlier spies had spent 40 days looking around Canaan, they had reported that the people were strong, and they were despised by them, as if they were mere grasshoppers (<a href='B:40 13:33'>Num 13:33</a>). The Canaanites represent all those things which appear insuperable to our inheritance of the promised kingdom. But behind those high walls, were people with melted hearts. But the ten spies perceived the people as so strong that they could never defeat them, whereas Joshua and Caleb perceived how things really were- which is how Rahab described it. The paradox is that the hearts of the Canaanites melted (<a href='B:60 2:11'>Jos 2:11</a>), and this is the phrase used of how the hearts of the Israelites melted (<a href='B:50 1:28'>Deu 1:28</a>). Both sides were scared of each other; but victory could have been with Israel. They wasted so much potential.</p><p>He is God in heaven above, and on earth beneath-</p><p>This was the prophetic hope, that at the restoration (see on <a href='B:60 1:1'>Jos 1:1</a>, where I suggest Joshua was rewritten for the exiles), the Gentiles would come to state that "Yahweh is God" as they had done at times historically (here and <a href='B:20 18:11'>Exo 18:11</a>; <a href='B:230 100:3'>Psa 100:3</a>; <a href='B:110 8:60'>1Ki 8:60</a>; <a href='B:120 5:15'>2Ki 5:15</a>; <a href='B:120 19:19'>2Ki 19:19</a>; <a href='B:290 45:14-15'>Isa 45:14-15</a>). Rahab was therefore set up as representative of the Gentiles at the time of the exile.</p>


text:
<p>Now therefore, please swear to me by Yahweh, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s house, and give me a true token-</p><p><a href='B:650 11:31'>Heb 11:31</a> comments that "By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace". Rahab's faith was faith in God's grace. For Rahab was an Amoritess and according to the law of Moses there was to be no pity or covenant with them- only death (cp. <a href='B:50 7:2'>Deu 7:2</a>):Rahab had the spiritual ambition to ask that they make a covenant with her- she requests hesed, the common term for covenant relationship ("deal kindly with me", <a href='B:60 2:12'>Jos 2:12</a> cp. <a href='B:90 20:8'>1Sa 20:8</a>). See on :10. And the spies made a covenant with her. Grace, like love, finds a way. Remember that she was also aware of what Israel had done to their enemies on their way to Jericho- and she appears to allude to Moses' commands to destroy utterly and not make covenant with the peoples of the land (<a href='B:50 2:32-37'>Deu 2:32-37</a>; <a href='B:50 7:1-5'>Deu 7:1-5</a>; <a href='B:50 20:16-18'>Deu 20:16-18</a>).</p><p>The spies apparently didn't give her any token, apart from their word that their lives would be forfeit if hers was lost- if she continued faithful to the covenant (:14). Considering they were completely at her mercy, we wonder why they didn't make any token. Perhaps they had nothing material to give her apart from their word. But see on :18.</p>


text:
<p>Please save alive my father, my mother, my brothers and my sisters and all that they have, and will deliver our lives from death- </p><p>Rahab apparently lived alone, with her family avoiding her for shame that she was a whore and her home was a brothel. They would have had to significantly humble themselves to accept the gospel of the Kingdom from her mouth, and to have entered into her home in order to be saved.</p>


text:
<p>The men said to her, Our life for yours, if you don’t talk about this business of ours; and it shall be, when Yahweh gives us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with you- </p><p>"Kindly and truly" is the language of covenant. Jericho was to be utterly destroyed which meant no covenant made with her inhabitants (see on :10,12; <a href='B:50 7:2'>Deu 7:2</a>). Here they repeat that the covenant has been extended to her, if she doesn't betray them. We note the contrast between Gentile whore Rahab and respectable Israelite family man Achan. He broke covenant (<a href='B:60 7:11'>Jos 7:11</a>), whereas she entered covenant and was faithful to it (<a href='B:60 2:12-14'>Jos 2:12-14</a>). She took and hid the spies (<a href='B:60 2:6'>Jos 2:6</a>), whereas Achan took and hid the spoil (<a href='B:60 7:21-22'>Jos 7:21-22</a>). Rahab saved her family alive (<a href='B:60 2:13-14'>Jos 2:13-14</a>; <a href='B:60 6:22-23'>Jos 6:22-23</a>), whereas Achan destroyed his family (<a href='B:60 7:25'>Jos 7:25</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was on the side of the wall, and she lived on the wall- </p><p>Heb. "in the wall" may mean her house was between the inner and outer walls. Perhaps the flax stems on her roof had been grown outside the city walls and she therefore had a rope to haul them up to her. This may have been a way of avoiding paying tax on them, which would have been required if they had been brought through the city gate.</p><p>Escaping out of a window down the wall was the experience of David and Paul (<a href='B:510 9:25'>Act 9:25</a>). Paul describes it as one of the most humiliating things which happened to him (<a href='B:540 11:32'>2Co 11:32</a>). The triple repetition shows the same Divine hallmark of His operation, in the lives of different men separated by centuries.</p>


text:
<p>She said to them, Go to the mountain, lest the pursuers find you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward, you may go on your way- </p><p>Rahab comes over as in command of the situation, even though she was a Gentile prostitute begging for God's grace. "Three days" may be a non literal period. <a href='B:20 14:4'>Exo 14:4</a>; <a href='B:20 14:8'>Exo 14:8</a> uses the same word for "pursuer" about the Egyptians likewise pursuing Israel in vain- also around the time of Passover.</p>


text:
<p>The men said to her, We will be guiltless of this your oath which you have made us to swear-</p><p>The next three verses give the conditions for the covenant, but they say that Rahab had "made us swear". She had used her position of power over them to make them enter a covenant of Yahweh with her (see on :10,12).</p>


text:
<p>Behold, when we come into the land-</p><p>LXX "If we succeed in penetrating into a part of the town".</p><p>You shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you used to let us down. You shall gather to yourself into the house your father, your mother, your brothers and all your father’s household- </p><p>See on :21. This line or rope may have been the "true token" of :12. It seems they gave her the scarlet thread. Perhaps they had worked this out in advance, entering Jericho with the aim of finding someone to believe their message. It was around Passover time, and so this may have been an invitation for Rahab to in essence participate in the Passover ritual, putting the symbol of blood on her house so that she might be saved whilst the rest of the world around her perished. She was being treated as one of the covenant people. Scarlet was associated with the removal of sin (<a href='B:30 14:4'>Lev 14:4</a>; <a href='B:30 14:6'>Lev 14:6</a>; <a href='B:30 14:51'>Lev 14:51</a>; <a href='B:40 19:6'>Num 19:6</a>) and the Passover blood (<a href='B:20 12:7'>Exo 12:7</a>; <a href='B:20 12:13'>Exo 12:13</a>).</p>


text:
<p>It shall be that whoever goes out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood will be on his head, and we will be guiltless. Whoever is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand is on him- </p><p>This continues the allusions to the Passover legislation, although Rahab and her family were only able to keep the spirit and not the letter of it. As Rahab was a whore and her home a brothel, her family had to humble themselves to accept the Gospel and take refuge in it.</p>


text:
<p>But if you talk about this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless of your oath which you have made us to swear- </p><p>Compare the evidence for Rahab's preaching the message of the spies, with the terms of the covenant thrashed out with her- if she were to "utter" (Heb. to preach, advertise openly] the "business" of the spies, then the covenant would be null and void. She did indeed do this, and yet the covenant still stood. Perhaps the agreement insisted upon by the spies was somewhat self-protective, without the ambition which Rahab had to bring others to throw themselves upon God's grace. This would only make her spiritual perception and ambition stand out the more. All this fits in with the overall theme of the book of Joshua- that Israel were given the land, Ephraim and Manasseh were allowed to return to their lot East of Jordan, despite the fact that they were disobedient and didn't drive out all the Canaanites as required by God. Taking the crossing of the Red Sea as a type of baptism, the wilderness walk as symbolic of our probationary lives now (<a href='B:530 10:1-3'>1Co 10:1-3</a>), the entrance of the promised land speaks of our entrance to God's Kingdom- and this will likewise be by grace, in the face of all the mess ups, disobedience, failure to obey... which we're all so guilty of.</p>


text:
<p>She said, According to your words, so be it. She sent them away, and they departed. She tied the scarlet line in the window-</p><p>Rahab was told to bind the scarlet cord in her window "when we come into the land" (<a href='B:60 2:18'>Jos 2:18</a>). But Rahab bound it there immediately when they left- as if she recognized that her land was already in Israel's hands (<a href='B:60 2:21'>Jos 2:21</a>). Considering the whole town was wondering how the spies had escaped, and she was under suspicion, to leave the escape rope dangling there, indeed to take it up and then place it there again immediately (so :21 implies), was really stupid. She didn't need to do that at that stage. But the joy of the Gospel should make us fools for Christ's sake. But does it, in our postmodern age? When was the last time the joy of the good news we know, lead you to do something humanly foolish? It could be gathered from <a href='B:650 11:31'>Heb 11:31</a> that Rahab preached to others the message she had received from the spies- for the inspired commentary there notes that Rahab did not perish with those "that believed not"- apeitheo suggesting disbelief, a wilful refusal to believe. What message did Jericho not believe? There was no particular message for them from the words of Moses or Joshua. The message was presumably an appeal from Rahab, to repent and accept the God of Israel as she had done- to cast themselves upon His mercy. And in any case, as a prostitute estranged from her family, either due to her profession or because estrangement from them had led her to it, she must have gone to her estranged family and preached to them, bringing them within her despised house. The question, of course, is: 'Why then was not Rahab killed by the people of Jericho if she openly preached to them about the God of Israel?'. The ancient law code of Hammurabi contains the following statute: “If felons are banded together in an ale-wife’s [prostitute’s or innkeeper’s] house and she has not haled [them] to the palace, that ale-wife shall be put to death” (S:R. Driver and J:C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws [Oxford: Clarendon, 1956], 2:45). Perhaps she was so despised that she was untouchable, or treated as mad. Perhaps former clients of hers in the city's leadership decided it would be better to let her 'get religion' rather than spill any beans about them. But it could be said that it was a miracle she wasn't murdered for her witness. She certainly ran the risk of it. If men and women with a far less complete understanding of the Gospel could risk their lives for it... what does our understanding and faith convict us to do for the sake of witnessing to it? Give money towards it? Risk our lives, health, convenience in travelling for it? Risk our embarrassment and loss of standing in the workplace or family by preaching it…? Our knowledge of the Gospel of the Kingdom is far more detailed than that of Rahab, who picked up snatches of it from her clients, and had at most an hour's pressured conversation with the spies before she had to show whether or not she believed it. If it motivated her to do all she did- what about us?</p><p>The book of Joshua was rewritten for the encouragement of the exiles (see on <a href='B:60 1:1'>Jos 1:1</a>). Judah had gone into exile because they had acted like a prostitute, as the prophets make clear. This account of the salvation of a prostitute was therefore for their encouragement. Against all odds, they could be saved out of Babylon, a nation and city marked out for destruction by 'falling' as was Jericho.</p>


text:
<p>They left and came to the mountain, and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers sought them throughout all the way, but didn’t find them- </p><p>Rahab appears to have knowledge and authority in all this, although she was the underdog. The pursuers and the spies are both presented as doing what she told them to do; as if she, the despised Gentile whore in a condemned city, was exalted to a position of power by her commitment to God.</p>


text:
<p>Then the two men returned, descended from the mountain, passed over, and came to Joshua the son of Nun. They told him all that had happened to them- </p><p>"Returned and descended" is the very phrase used of how the faithful spies, Joshua and Caleb, had returned and descended to Israel with the news that they could easily conquer the land (<a href='B:50 1:25'>Deu 1:25</a>). I suggested on :1 that there were distinct connections between those two faithful spies and the spies now being sent out. Israel were being bidden learn from their failure to believe the spies 38 years previously. The Bible continually bids us learn from recorded history.</p>


text:
<p>They said to Joshua, Truly Yahweh has delivered into our hands all the land. Furthermore, all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us!</p><p>They had begun to melt away after the exodus (<a href='B:20 15:15'>Exo 15:15</a> s:w:), and the spies may be almost frustrated that Israel had wasted so much time before believing this. For nearly 40 years, the Canaanites had been in this 'melted away' mental state, and Rahab uses the same word to describe them (:9). The prophetic descriptions of hills [nations / cities] and 'the land' "melting" before God (s:w. <a href='B:370 9:5'>Amo 9:5</a>; <a href='B:370 9:13'>Amo 9:13</a>; <a href='B:410 1:15'>Nah 1:15</a>) are therefore not to be read literally, but rather alluding to this state of mind amongst the peoples within the land promised to Abraham- in the shadow of latter day Divine judgment and the giving of their kingdoms to His people.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua rose up early in the morning-</p><p>In the days before alarm clocks, special note is taken of this feature of Joshua (<a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a>; <a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a>; <a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a>). There is a much repeated characteristic of God's servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God's work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a>; <a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a>; <a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a>); Jacob (<a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a>); Job (1:5); Moses (<a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a>; <a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a>; <a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a>; <a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a>); Joshua (<a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a>; <a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a>; <a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a>; <a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a>); Gideon (<a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a>; <a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a>); ). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a>; <a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a>; <a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people ( ; <a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a>; <a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a>; <a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a>; <a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a>; <a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a>; <a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a>; <a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a>; <a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up.</p><p>And they moved from Shittim, and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel. They lodged there before they passed over-</p><p>Lodging in full view of Jericho would have been a tactical mistake, humanly speaking. Far better, surely, a quick attack by an advanced guard of soldiers, rather than taking the whole nation over Jordan in full view of their enemies waiting for them.</p>


text:
<p>It happened after three days that the officers went through the midst of the camp-</p><p>The three days spent looking at Jordan was perhaps to encourage them to meditate upon the Red Sea deliverance and to help them make the move in faith. Humanly speaking, sitting there in full view of the men of Jericho was unwise. These three days may be those of <a href='B:60 1:11'>Jos 1:11</a>. The order to prepare food was given on 7th Nisan, as they crossed Jordan on the 10th. The spies would have been on their mission between the 5th and 8th Nisan.</p><p>Jericho was protected from the oncoming Israelites by the Jordan river. Rahab mentioned to the spies that the men of Jericho were terrified at the way Israel's God had dried up the Red Sea (<a href='B:60 2:10'>Jos 2:10</a>), implying that they believed Yahweh could likewise dry up the Jordan and take away their line of natural defence. Perhaps Joshua and Caleb envisaged the drying up of the Jordan as already in essence accomplished when they reasoned that their defence [the Jordan] was departed / held up / turned off from them (<a href='B:40 14:9'>Num 14:9</a>). The whole situation was a purposeful repetition in essence of the Red Sea crossing. Circumstances repeat in life so that we learn faith from the previous incident, at least potentially. 1:11 had foretold they would pass over the river, but they had to go forward in faith not knowing how exactly that would work out in practice. Once they had gone over Jordan, they were entering a hostile country from which there would now be no retreat. This is hinted at in the descriptions of Israel not only passing over but totally passing over (3:17; 4:1). This is the way God works- if we go forward in faith, then the way back to the world is harder. Joshua therefore encouraged them that when God drove back the river it would be as if He had stretched out His hand to strike all the inhabitants of the land (<a href='B:50 7:1'>Deu 7:1</a>). The wonder of our baptism implies that all future conflicts and obstacles to entry to the Kingdom will likewise be overcome.</p>


text:
<p>and they commanded the people saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of Yahweh your God and the priests the Levites bearing it, then you shall move from your place, and follow it- </p><p>Instead of following the pillar of cloud and fire they had to follow only the ark. The miraculous presence of the fire and cloud was now removed- that had trained them to follow God's leading even when now there was no miraculous sign. <a href='B:20 15:15-17'>Exo 15:15-17</a> had reasoned that a division of the waters immediately prior to Israel's entry into Canaan would make the Canaanites fear Israel. There was therefore the hint that a drying up of the Jordan would happen- Joshua seems to have imagined it would, but only the spiritually minded amongst Israel would've grasped the hint from <a href='B:20 15:15-17'>Exo 15:15-17</a>. This is typical of how God works- those who love His word find hints and encouragements for their faith when facing specific obstacles. Those who are not sensitive to God's word or who are ignorant of it don't find this same encouragement. Hence when <a href='B:290 64:3'>Isa 64:3</a> comments that God did great things for Israel which they "looked not for"- this is an expression of His grace towards the less spiritually perceptive. They should have 'looked for' this miracle- but even although they did not, God still did it. This is comfort, although not without limit, to those who still wonder how and whether they shall pass over to be in God's Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Don’t come near to it, that you may know the path to follow; for you have not passed this way before-</p><p>Two thousand cubits is nearly one kilometer. The ark was as it were able to protect itself, without the need of being guarded by soldiers- in fact it was the unguarded ark which was itself a guard to them. In this lies a caveat about 'apologetics' and the idea of defending God and His Truth. He doesn't need it, and so much damage has been done by those who think that somehow, His Truth and glory depends upon them to preserve it. The distance from the ark was to also focus their attention upon it as the means of their crossing over the river- just as our crossing into the Kingdom will be made with total focus on the person of Jesus as our Saviour. We need the appropriate distance from Him so that we may observe His path.</p><p>"Space" translates a word which is often used about time, s:w. "a great while to come". The physical distance between them and the ark looked ahead to how the ark, representing the Lord Jesus, was to enter into the rest before they did, but as the guarantee that they / we would follow. If we follow that "path". "The way" "passed" is a phrase often used about the wilderness wanderings (<a href='B:60 24:17'>Jos 24:17</a> and often in Deuteronomy). Some of the wilderness march was going over similar territory where they had been before; but the entrance to the Kingdom was to be of a totally different nature. On one hand, we are to live the eternal life now, acting now as we will in the Kingdom. But on another hand, the Kingdom life will not at all be what we have experienced in this life.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves; for tomorrow Yahweh will do wonders among you- </p><p>This was calmly spoken in absolute faith. For there was no visible evidence that the Jordan would dry up. They were to sanctify themselves not so as to be worthy of God's gracious action, but rather because they were in the presence of it. These "wonders" are a hint that they are to enter covenant with God as at Sinai (s:w. <a href='B:20 34:10'>Exo 34:10</a>). The command to sanctify themselves recalled the command as they entered covenant at Sinai (<a href='B:20 19:10-15'>Exo 19:10-15</a>). "Tomorrow" would have been the 10th Nisan (<a href='B:60 4:19'>Jos 4:19</a>), the day when they had taken to themselves a lamb for salvation (<a href='B:20 12:3'>Exo 12:3</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and walk in front of the people. They took up the ark of the covenant, and walked ahead of the people- </p><p>This is now happening on the day following :5, the "tomorrow" there spoken of. It was the Angel and pillar of fire which had "walked ahead of the people" (s:w. <a href='B:40 14:14'>Num 14:14</a>; <a href='B:20 32:34'>Exo 32:34</a>). But now all focus was to be upon the ark, representing the Lord Jesus. The time of following Angels and seeing God's actions as solely through them needs to give way to perceiving His direct presence with us through the Lord Jesus, represented by the ark.</p><p>It was God's intention that Moses would go before the people and lead them into the land (<a href='B:50 10:11'>Deu 10:11</a>), but Moses failed, and so it fell to Joshua. But it seems he was nervous, and so God used the ark rather than Joshua personally to 'go before the people' (s:w. <a href='B:60 3:6'>Jos 3:6</a>). All the time we see God setting up potential programs which have to be amended because of human weakness.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to Joshua, Today I will begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I will be with you-</p><p>Just as Moses was given credibility before the people by the miraculous opening of the Red Sea (<a href='B:20 14:31'>Exo 14:31</a>), so Joshua was given similar credibility. Moses achieved the miracle by his rod; Joshua did so by the ark of the covenant. Both times they passed over "on dry ground" (3:17). Clearly Joshua was not of the personality type which would naturally be found compelling as a charismatic leader. And so God gave this to him (<a href='B:60 4:14'>Jos 4:14</a> s:w:).</p>


text:
<p>You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant saying, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan’- </p><p>More commands to the priests resume in :13. "Stand still" recalls how at the Red Sea, Israel were to stand still and see the saving action of God in parting the water (<a href='B:20 14:13'>Exo 14:13</a> cp. <a href='B:140 20:17'>2Ch 20:17</a>). Only the older ones would have remembered the Red Sea parting. They were all being shown that what was apparently merely Bible story time events were going to be repeated just as amazingly in their own experience.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said to the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of Yahweh your God- </p><p>This continues to allude to the covenant at Sinai. Although the date was here just before Passover, and Israel first entered into the covenant after Passover. God is not a literalist, and clearly the essence of the Passover and entry into covenant at Sinai were being repeated.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said, Hereby you shall know that the living God is among you-</p><p>Heb. "in the midst of you". The God of the living ones, the cherubim which covered the ark and between which was the shekinah glory, was now revealed. For the ark was no longer hidden from view in the most holy place, but openly in view of all. And all Israel could look at it as they passed over. The Lord Jesus uses this phrase in speaking of His abiding presence in the midst of His people today (<a href='B:470 18:20'>Mat 18:20</a>).</p><p>And that He will without fail drive out the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Hivite, and the Perizzite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Jebusite from before you- </p><p>But they did not drive them all out. Here we have an example of a conditional promise, spoken of as a prophecy. They were made "to know" that surely they could inherit the entire promised land up to the Euphrates, and the seven nations are spoken of surely as a summary of all the tribes. But the experience of the miracle at Jordan didn't have an abiding impression upon them. And so again we see that miracles don't in fact inculcate abiding faith. Pentecostalism needs to reconsider the role of miracles. For faith, according to Biblical history, is simply not predicated upon miracles. See on :16.</p>


text:
<p>Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passes over before you into the Jordan-</p><p>It could be rendered&nbsp; “the ark of the covenant is called the ruler of the whole earth"- as if the ark is personified, encouraging us to see it as representative of a person (the Lord Jesus). <a href='B:450 4:14'>Zec 4:14</a> likewise associates the ark with "the Lord of all the earth"; and the eretz in view is the land promised to Abraham. The Israelites looked across Jordan to a land apparently not under their control. But they are invited to see Yahweh as enthroned between the cherubim, and therefore His entry into Canaan was as it were His taking control as Lord of His own territory. And they as His people were therefore assured of taking the land.</p><p>Israel had been taught throughout their wilderness journey that they were 'passing over', the word is used so often in Deuteronomy about their passing through various places on the journey. It is another allusion to Passover, which feast was about to begin. The fact God has brought us over so much day by day in this current journey means that our final crossing over at judgment day into God's Kingdom will just be another stage in the journey, seamlessly part of the process we are currently experiencing, and we should not therefore see judgment day as some huge unknown factor which lies inexorably ahead. They had been taught to speak to others of how they were to pass over Jordan (e.g. <a href='B:50 2:29'>Deu 2:29</a> "as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me, until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us"; see too <a href='B:40 33:51'>Num 33:51</a>; <a href='B:40 35:10'>Num 35:10</a>; <a href='B:50 4:22'>Deu 4:22</a>; <a href='B:50 4:26'>Deu 4:26</a> "you shall pass over this Jordan"; 9:1; 11:31; 12:10 "when you pass over Jordan"; 27:2,4,12; 30:18; 31:13; 32:47). That's a total of 14 times that they were specifically told they were to pass over Jordan, corresponding to the endless Biblical encouragement we receive that really, we shall inherit the Kingdom. Even if like Israel the words can appear to just drone on in our ears. We too are to live with the full assumption [not presumption] that by grace we shall enter and inherit the Kingdom. The 'passing over' of the ark was to be seen by them as a guarantee that they too would pass over Jordan, just as we are to see in the resurrection of the Lord and His passing over into Divine nature the guarantee of our personal salvation. The Lord's resurrection thereby becomes utterly central to our assurance of salvation if we are indeed 'in Him'. The 2000 cubits distance may be a hint at the Lord 'passing over' 2000 years ahead of us doing so at judgment day. Note that the Hebrew for 'passed over' is also translated 'to carry over' (e.g. <a href='B:60 4:3'>Jos 4:3</a>; <a href='B:60 4:8'>Jos 4:8</a>)- they were carried over by God just as we will be.</p>


text:
<p>Now therefore take twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, for every tribe a man- </p><p>These men had to be appointed first, and were then used in the ritual of <a href='B:60 4:2-4'>Jos 4:2-4</a>. They were to take stones with them, which all looked forward to the future reality of <a href='B:730 21:14'>Rev 21:14</a>.</p>


text:
<p>It shall come to pass, when the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the ark of Yahweh, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan- </p><p>Israel had been encouraged in <a href='B:60 1:3'>Jos 1:3</a> that "I have given you every place that the sole of your foot will tread on". Wherever their foot stepped could be theirs. And this was now dramatically and visually taught to them. The waters represented the nations, and perhaps specifically their armies, as in later scripture. As soon as the soles of their foot stood in Jordan, then Jordan was theirs, and the flow of the water of the nations against them would be stopped. For Yahweh was Lord of all the eretz promised to Abraham, and they were His people.</p><p>The waters of the Jordan will be cut off. The waters that come down from above shall stand in a heap-</p><p>"Cut off" is a direct allusion to the crossing of the Red Sea (<a href='B:20 15:8'>Exo 15:8</a>). But I suggested above that the waters represented the flow of nations against them. And those nations were to be "cut off" before Israel (<a href='B:50 12:29'>Deu 12:29</a>; <a href='B:50 19:1'>Deu 19:1</a> and often).</p>


text:
<p>It happened, when the people moved from their tents to pass over the Jordan, that the priests who bore the ark of the covenant walked in front of the people- </p><p>But at a distance of 2000 cubits, about 1 kilometer. There was a natural fear at who was to go first. God went first. It is a natural human fear and desire that someone leads, goes over first. And the Lord Jesus, represented by the ark, has done that. We are "like sheep", and God realizes that. We have the huge comfort that One has indeed gone ahead first, and we are to follow.</p>


text:
<p>When those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark had dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks all the time of harvest)-</p><p><a href='B:230 114:5'>Psa 114:5</a> and <a href='B:290 43:2'>Isa 43:2</a> reason that what God did at the Jordan He does in essence in our lives. God made the people cross Jordan at the time when it was widest- an example of how (at some times, in some ways) He purposefully tests faith. To cross the Jordan in flood was a heroic and very difficult act, according to <a href='B:130 12:15'>1Ch 12:15</a>. Likewise God chose their crossing place as facing Jericho ("right against Jericho", :16)- the strongest opponent, whose spies no doubt were nervously watching the Israelites. <a href='B:230 93:3-4'>Psa 93:3-4</a> refer to how the floods lifted up their voice, but God's people walked through them- this is more relevant to the Jordan crossing than to the Red Sea exodus. Jordan is widest after the Spring snow melt in the Lebanon mountains ("the swelling of Jordan", <a href='B:300 12:5'>Jer 12:5</a>; <a href='B:300 49:19'>Jer 49:19</a>)- incidental proof that they crossed Jordan around Passover time, which is when they had crossed the Red Sea. "The harvest" was the barley harvest, which was traditionally reaped on 10 Nisan; not the wheat harvest, which was at Pentecost seven weeks later (<a href='B:20 34:22'>Exo 34:22</a>). We note that the barley and flax harvests were at this time, and the two crops were harvested at the same time (<a href='B:20 9:31'>Exo 9:31</a>; <a href='B:20 9:33'>Exo 9:33</a>). This would explain why Rahab had flax stalks on her roof (<a href='B:60 2:6'>Jos 2:6</a>). This is the kind of internal corroboration within the record which is to me the greatest proof of Biblical inspiration.</p><p>God arranged circumstances so that they could see the similarities with the Red Sea crossing, and learn from that incident now that the circumstances were repeating. God does the same with us, daily; repeating circumstances, and trying to get us to see how in essence our experiences are repeating Biblical experiences. All the promises that Israel would enter Canaan actually implied this miracle- but it was for the thoughtful Israelite to perceive that.</p>


text:
<p>that the waters which came down from above stood and rose up in one heap- </p><p>Presumably they froze and congealed, as perhaps happened at the Red Sea. &nbsp;The language of waters divided and gathered together recalls the language of creation (<a href='B:10 1:6'>Gen 1:6</a>; <a href='B:10 1:9'>Gen 1:9</a>). Allusions to creation language are frequent in the Bible, to encourage us that what God did then and continues to do in creation, He does in our lives. The new creation in Christ (<a href='B:540 5:17'>2Co 5:17</a>) involves the same expenditure of energy to create ex nihilo the spiritual person within us.</p><p>A great way off- </p><p>We see here God's sensitivity to human weakness . They were not asked to cross with a wall of water on one side of them, which they would feared could come crashing down upon them. The water of Jordan fled backwards (<a href='B:230 114:3'>Psa 114:3</a>), referring to this creation of a dry riverbed upstream of the crossing as well as downstream of it. "Jordan" is literally 'the descender', and we see here God's power to arrest an otherwise apparently inevitable downward movement, and even reverse it. The water was not merely parted, but driven back upstream.</p><p>At Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan- </p><p>We naturally see the symbolism; the problem caused with Adam was arrested by God's action. "Zarethan", 'place of piercing', would then allude to the promised piercing of the serpent, the power of sin (<a href='B:10 3:15'>Gen 3:15</a>). There is no city known as Adam, but probably Admah is in view (<a href='B:10 14:2'>Gen 14:2</a>). It is spelt "Adam" here in order to direct our attention to the symbolism.</p><p>And those that went down toward the sea of the Arabah, even the Salt Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people passed over right against Jericho-</p><p>As discussed above, this was therefore in full view of the men of Jericho who for sure had been sent out to report on the Israelite movements. Tactically it would have appeared foolish. But this was an example of how we are "fools for Christ's sake". God works not through human wisdom but through the way of His Spirit:&nbsp;I suggested on :13 that the 'cutting off' of the waters represented the cutting off of all opposition to them. And therefore this miracle was the guarantee that they would successfully displace all the tribes in the land (:10).</p>


text:
<p>The priests who bore the ark of the covenant of Yahweh stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan. Then, all the people of Israel passed over the Jordan on dry ground- </p><p>As discussed on :13,16, the cutting off of the waters&nbsp; represented the cutting off of all Gentile opposition to them. But this depended upon the priests 'standing firm' or "upright" (Heb:), so that all Israel could inherit the Kingdom. And Israel's history is full of evidence that the priesthood did not stand firm, and all Israel therefore lost the Kingdom because of it.</p>


text:
<p>When all the nation had completely passed over the Jordan, Yahweh spoke to Joshua saying- </p><p>It is stressed that they all passed over (<a href='B:60 3:17'>Jos 3:17</a>). The salvation was complete.</p>


text:
<p>Take twelve men out of the people, out of every tribe a man- </p><p>These twelve man and their stones looked forward to the final reality of <a href='B:730 21:14'>Rev 21:14</a>. We are to see in them symbols of the 12 disciples upon whom the kingdom was to be built.</p>


text:
<p>and command them saying, ‘Take from out of the middle of the Jordan, out of the place where the priests’ feet stood firm, twelve stones, and carry them over with you, and lay them down in the resting place where you will rest tonight’- </p><p>The language of rest connects with the potential possibility that Joshua would bring the people to "rest". But <a href='B:650 4:8'>Heb 4:8</a> is clear that he didn't achieve this, and so all these things come to their ultimate term in a reapplied fulfilment in the work of the Lord Jesus.</p><p><a href='B:50 27:2-8'>Deu 27:2-8</a> had commanded that "in the day" Israel passed over Jordan, they were to set up plastered stones with the law written upon them [perhaps just the ten commandments], and put them "in mount Ebal". The location was defined as near Gilgal (<a href='B:50 11:30'>Deu 11:30</a>), where they camped after entering the land. Clearly enough, the ceremony of blessing and cursing ought to have been done immediately they entered the land. But they let secular concerns dominate their spiritual obligation to be thankful as God had asked. For when Joshua fulfilled it in <a href='B:60 8:30'>Jos 8:30</a>, this was not "in the day" that Israel passed over Jordan. They had indeed taken stones with them from the Jordan, but had not used them as intended. They didn't plaster them nor write the law upon them. And so perhaps God ammended His intention- which was initially that they would set those stones up in mount Ebal immediately. Instead, He sent the people against Jericho, and then against Ai. Perhaps an instant conquest of Jericho had been originally intended, so that they could proceed to mount Ebal immediately. For later in Joshua we will read of God giving His people unnaturally speedy progress against their enemies, all in the same day. Or maybe His intention was that firstly they ought to have gone to mount Ebal with the plastered stones, and only then attacked Jericho. But they didn't plaster the stones nor wish to proceed immediately to Ebal. And so He arranged the campaign against Jericho and then Ai. We see how God is so eager to accommodate His programs to the weakness of men.</p>


text:
<p>Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had prepared of the children of Israel, out of every tribe a man- </p><p>They had been "prepared" at the time of <a href='B:60 3:12'>Jos 3:12</a>. They look forward to the 12 disciples whom the Lord Jesus likewise prepared to lay the foundations of His new kingdom (<a href='B:730 21:14'>Rev 21:14</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said to them, Pass over before the ark of Yahweh your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you pick up a stone and put it on your shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel- </p><p>We note that the two and a half tribes who had taken their inheritance east of Jordan were included in this. Always God was (and still is) careful to inculcate a spirit of unity amongst His people. The stones were not huge, they could each be carried upon a shoulder; God is not at all in the grandiose buildings such as Solomon's temple, but is memorialized in small things like this.</p>


text:
<p>This will be a sign among you, that when your children ask in time to come saying, ‘What do you mean by these stones?’- </p><p>These were probably the stones in view in <a href='B:470 3:9'>Mat 3:9</a>, where John warned the people near the Jordan river that God was able "of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham". They represented Israel, but an Israel which could become living stones. The language here again recalls that of Passover (<a href='B:20 12:26'>Exo 12:26</a>; <a href='B:20 13:14'>Exo 13:14</a>), which they were about to keep. But the spirit of it was seen in the events they were experiencing.</p>


text:
<p>then you shall tell them, ‘Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off’. These stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever- </p><p>Here we have another example of where "forever" is not to be read as literal infinity. For the memorial has now vanished. The double emphasis upon the waters being cut off is because as noted on <a href='B:60 3:13'>Jos 3:13</a> the waters represented the flow of nations against them. And those nations were to be "cut off" before Israel (<a href='B:50 12:29'>Deu 12:29</a>; <a href='B:50 19:1'>Deu 19:1</a> and often). And therefore this miracle was the guarantee that they would successfully displace all the tribes in the land (<a href='B:60 3:10'>Jos 3:10</a>). This was to serve as encouragement to subsequent generations in their struggles against the local peoples of the land.</p>


text:
<p>The children of Israel did as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan as Yahweh spoke to Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel; and they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged, and laid them down there- </p><p>The stones were not huge, they could each be carried upon a shoulder (:5); God is not at all in the grandiose buildings such as Solomon's temple, but is memorialized in small things like this. The stones were carried, representing how God carried His people into the land. They apparently lodged at Gilgal (:20).</p>


text:
<p>Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood- </p><p>"In the midst of the Jordan" could be read as "from the midst...". But if we stick with "in the midst...", we are then to understand that there were two memorials. The twelve stones at Gilgal (<a href='B:60 4:20'>Jos 4:20</a>) where they lodged that night (:8), and another 12 stones left in the midst of the Jordan river. This would then speak of how there was both a visible and invisible memorial to God's bringing His people into the land. Or it could be that the twelve stones were first set up on the dry river bed, and then removed from there to Gilgal. This would have visually symbolized the bringing of all twelve tribes from the river to dry ground.</p><p>They are there to this day- </p><p>I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day" occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different points of historical reference (<a href='B:60 4:9'>Jos 4:9</a>; <a href='B:60 5:9'>Jos 5:9</a>; <a href='B:60 6:25'>Jos 6:25</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:60 8:28-29'>Jos 8:28-29</a>; <a href='B:60 9:27'>Jos 9:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:27'>Jos 10:27</a>; <a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a>; <a href='B:60 14:14'>Jos 14:14</a>; <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a>; <a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a>; <a href='B:60 22:3'>Jos 22:3</a>; <a href='B:60 23:8-9'>Jos 23:8-9</a>; <a href='B:70 1:26'>Jdg 1:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:24'>Jdg 6:24</a>; <a href='B:70 10:4'>Jdg 10:4</a>; <a href='B:70 15:19'>Jdg 15:19</a>; <a href='B:70 18:12'>Jdg 18:12</a>). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation.</p>


text:
<p>For the priests who bore the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that Yahweh commanded Joshua to speak to the people, according to all that Moses commanded Joshua- </p><p>Joshua was very good at obedience to clear commandments (<a href='B:60 4:10'>Jos 4:10</a>; <a href='B:60 4:17'>Jos 4:17</a>; <a href='B:60 8:27'>Jos 8:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:40'>Jos 10:40</a>). But when he had to articulate his faith in God in unexpected situations, e.g. when the ambassadors from Gibeon arrived, or when the first attack on Ai failed, he seems to have performed poorly. Legalistic obedience is no use in those cases when principles need to be applied. <a href='B:60 5:13-14'>Jos 5:13-14</a> can be read as a rebuke of Joshua, wanting to boil everything down to black and white, wanting to see God as either personally for him or against him; when the essence is to seek to discern and do God’s will. He very strictly adhered to God’s commandments with legalistic obedience, e.g., about how to approach and deal with Jericho, or how to cross the flooded Jordan and build an altar; and time and again, we read in Joshua of how he strictly relayed and obeyed the Divine commandments given by Moses (<a href='B:60 8:31'>Jos 8:31</a>; <a href='B:60 8:33'>Jos 8:33</a>; <a href='B:60 8:35'>Jos 8:35</a>; <a href='B:60 11:12'>Jos 11:12</a>; <a href='B:60 11:15'>Jos 11:15</a>; <a href='B:60 11:20'>Jos 11:20</a>; <a href='B:60 14:2'>Jos 14:2</a>; <a href='B:60 14:5'>Jos 14:5</a>; <a href='B:60 17:4'>Jos 17:4</a>; <a href='B:60 21:2'>Jos 21:2</a>; <a href='B:60 21:8'>Jos 21:8</a>):&nbsp; Yet as with any literalistic or legally minded person, it was hard for Joshua to apply the principles behind the laws to situations which weren’t specifically addressed by Divine revelation, where legalistic obedience wasn't what was required.</p><p>And the people hurried and passed over- </p><p>Their haste is understandable, as their eyes would have been toward the wall of water building up some distance from them upstream, fearful it could come surging towards them. But it may be mentioned to draw attention to the similarity with the first Passover and exodus (<a href='B:20 12:39'>Exo 12:39</a>).</p>


text:
<p>It happened, when all the people had completely passed over, that the ark of Yahweh passed over with the priests, while the people watched- </p><p>The phrase "completely passed over" is used several times. It looks forward to the total deliverance of God's people into His Kingdom. "All the people" excluded many of the two and a half tribes, but their representatives (:12) were counted as them. "The people watched" because they had never seen the ark before, as it was kept in the most holy place. God had as it were denuded Himself in this great work of salvation. He was enthroned in the shekinah glory between the cherubim. The idea was that it was the ark which had enabled them to pass over into the inheritance of the Kingdom. And God would not cease His working until all His people were in His Kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>The children of Reuben, the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had spoken to them- </p><p>There was no small cost for taking their inheritance east of Jordan. Their soldiers were to all leave their families and flocks defenceless (humanly speaking) and to serve as the vanguard of the assault on Canaan, marching directly behind the ark but in front of the Israelites. Taking inheritance east of Jordan may have appeared initially as an easy way out of showing the faith required to dispossess the Canaanites west of Jordan. But God arranged things, as He does to this day, so that in fact there is no short cut to His Kingdom, no avoidance of showing faith. And in fact attempts to short cut often result in greater faith being required.</p>


text:
<p>About forty thousand men prepared and armed for war passed over before Yahweh to battle, to the plains of Jericho- </p><p>"Thousand" is often not a literal number in the historical records; especially when used in the context of soldiers, it seems to refer to some military subdivision.</p>


text:
<p>On that day, Yahweh magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they feared him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life- </p><p>It could be that Joshua was a not very confident individual who needed constant encouragement not to fear or be discouraged, as given to him throughout Joshua 1. But God used such an uncharismatic figure, endowing him with respect, because that is His style of working.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh spoke to Joshua saying- </p><p>The style here constantly recalls how Yahweh had spoken to Moses and he relayed this to Israel.</p>


text:
<p>Command the priests who bear the ark of the testimony, that they come up out of the Jordan-</p><p>David's bringing up / going up / ascending of the ark (<a href='B:100 6:2'>2Sa 6:2</a>) recalls how the ark did not go up into Canaan in <a href='B:40 14:44'>Num 14:44</a> (s:w:); for the land was not to be given to Israel. But when the time came, the ark was brought up into Canaan (<a href='B:60 4:16'>Jos 4:16</a>; <a href='B:60 4:18'>Jos 4:18</a> s:w:). David felt as if he was as Joshua reconquering Canaan in fulfilment of the promises; for Joshua had failed to bring the people into the promised rest as was potentially possible (<a href='B:650 4:8'>Heb 4:8</a>). This may explain why Paul in <a href='B:510 13:21'>Act 13:21</a> parallels the 40 years wandering of Israel with the 40 year reign of Saul; and he may speak of Saul reigning 40 years because of this, even if it was not literally true. It creates big chronological problems if we read that 40 year reign of Saul literally.</p><p>The ark is described as "the ark of the testimony" because the tables of the commandments (<a href='B:20 25:40'>Exo 25:40</a>) were "the testimony", and sometimes "the ark" is just called "the testimony". Although other things were in the ark, the tables of stone were paramount. The ark represented the Lord Jesus, who was "the word made flesh", with God's word within His heart as the word of God was within the ark. God's covenant word was of the essence in defining His presence amongst men.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua therefore commanded the priests saying, Come up out of the Jordan!- </p><p>This phrase 'come up out of Jordan' is used of the priests, the ark (:18) and the people (:19). Clearly the people were to perceive that their coming through Jordan into the promised land was due to their identification with the ark. It all points ahead to our entry into the Kingdom because the Lord Jesus has enabled it, and has Himself entered in.</p>


text:
<p>When the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of Yahweh had come up out of the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests’ feet were lifted up to the dry ground, that the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went over all its banks as before- </p><p>"Lifted up" is literally "plucked up". The Divine cameraman is zoomed in close up. Their plucked their feet up out of the mud onto more solid, dry ground. Once their feet were out of the mid, the waters started flowing back. We can imagine it made quite a sound.</p>


text:
<p>The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, on the east border of Jericho- </p><p>The 10th Nisan (<a href='B:60 3:5'>Jos 3:5</a>) was the day when they had taken to themselves a lamb for salvation (<a href='B:20 12:3'>Exo 12:3</a>). It was when the firstfruits were to be offered (<a href='B:30 23:9-15'>Lev 23:9-15</a>). But the grace of their salvation was impressed upon them; instead of their giving something to God, He gave them the great gift of salvation.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua set up those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan in Gilgal- </p><p>It seems those stones became abused into a form of idolatry, just as the brazen serpent was. And God particularly hated the sins which were therefore committed at Gilgal (<a href='B:350 4:15'>Hos 4:15</a>; <a href='B:350 9:15'>Hos 9:15</a>; <a href='B:370 4:4'>Amo 4:4</a>; <a href='B:370 5:5'>Amo 5:5</a>). It was there that Israel demanded a king, despite the clear message at this time that the ark was the presence of the "Lord of all the earth". Yahweh was their king who had saved them, memorialized by the stones; and there they demanded a king.</p>


text:
<p>He spoke to the children of Israel saying, When your children ask their fathers in time to come saying, ‘What do these stones mean?’-</p><p>Quoting / alluding to Moses- as Joshua often does. The need to teach their children about this great salvation is laboured here just as much, if not more, as is the Passover remembrance.</p>


text:
<p>then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel came over this Jordan on dry land- </p><p>"This Jordan" implies that the question would be asked when the children enquired about the meaning of the stones, which were near the Jordan river and the river was in clear view of the questioners.</p>


text:
<p>For Yahweh your God dried up the waters of the Jordan from before you, until you had passed over, as Yahweh your God did to the Red Sea which He dried up from before us, until we had passed over- </p><p>The Red Sea crossing clearly represented baptism (<a href='B:530 10:1-2'>1Co 10:1-2</a>), and the crossing of the Jordan is very similar- but it represents our entry into the Kingdom. We can therefore conclude that baptism is an entry in prospect into God's Kingdom; although we must stay the course through the wilderness.</p>


text:
<p>that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of Yahweh, that it is mighty; that you may fear Yahweh your God forever’- </p><p>The miracle of crossing Jordan was to visually demonstrate the 'cutting off' of the waters of the nations before Israel (<a href='B:50 12:29'>Deu 12:29</a>; <a href='B:50 19:1'>Deu 19:1</a> and often). See on <a href='B:60 3:10'>Jos 3:10</a>. The whole action had been of God's grace, and therefore they were to fear or respect Yahweh. This will only happen in our experience if we perceive grace to be point of being utterly awed by it, rather than just admiring it in passing.</p>


text:
<p>It happened that when all the kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan westward- </p><p>"Amorites" seems a very general term; they were apparently on both sides of the Jordan. Perhaps they were the remnants of those slain during the battle with Sihon and Og, who had fled from Israel to the west bank of Jordan.</p><p>And all the kings of the Canaanites, who were by the sea, heard how that Yahweh had dried up the waters of the Jordan from before the children of Israel, until we had passed over, that their heart melted, neither was there spirit in them any more because of the children of Israel-</p><p>Everything about the battle plan was somehow humanly foolish- to yet again attempt to teach Israel, old and new, that victory comes from following God's way, and His way is humanly foolish. The warriors were circumcised before the battle (<a href='B:60 5:2'>Jos 5:2</a>)- and we know from the Biblical record of Shechem how this would've weakened the men- for this was only a week or so before the battle. The manna wasn't phased out- it stopped abruptly just before the battle of Jericho (<a href='B:60 5:12'>Jos 5:12</a>). The people would likely have been short of food, and would've been dealing with the problems associated with a new diet- after 40 years! Walking around the city seven times, starting at dawn, would've made the people tired. There was no advantage of shock or surprise by doing this. Planning the final assault for late afternoon was hardly smart either- humanly speaking! But all this was- and is- to teach God's people that victory His way involves shedding our human strength, just as Gideon was likewise taught so dramatically.</p><p>As Israel were called to follow the Angel after their Red Sea baptism, so we too follow where the Angel leads.</p>


text:
<p>At that time Yahweh said to Joshua, Make flint knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time-</p><p>"The second time" is omitted by some manuscripts, and some read "tomorrow". For surely a man cannot be circumcised a second time. There could be the implication that there had been a national circumcision of the nation some time previously, although unrecorded; and now this was to be done a second time.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua made himself flint knives and circumcised the children of Israel at the hill of the foreskins- </p><p>Everything about the Jericho battle plan was somehow humanly foolish- to yet again attempt to teach Israel, old and new, that victory comes from following God's way, and His way is humanly foolish. The warriors were circumcised before the battle- and we know from the Biblical record of Shechem how this would've weakened the men- for this was only a week or so before the battle. See on :12. But the point was that they were to enter Canaan only because they were Abraham's seed, and therefore they must be circumcised.</p>


text:
<p>This is the reason Joshua circumcised: all the people who were males who came out of Egypt, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness in the way after they came out of Egypt-</p><p>"In the way" confirms the impression we have of them being slain one by one at different places along the route. The "terror by night" and arrows in the day time (<a href='B:230 91:5'>Psa 91:5</a>) consumed them, and their carcasses were left unburied in the scrub (<a href='B:650 3:17'>Heb 3:17</a>). The wilderness journey was a living out of the condemnation of judgment day for those people.</p><p>The extent of spiritual despair and apostasy amongst the condemned generation cannot be overstated. They neglected the circumcision of the children born to them then, thus showing their rejection of the Abrahamic covenant. There is good reason to believe that Romans 1 is a description of Israel in the wilderness; notice the past tenses there. <a href='B:520 1:23'>Rom 1:23</a> charges them with changing "the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like... to four-footed beasts, and creeping things", clearly alluding to <a href='B:230 106:20'>Psa 106:20</a> concerning how Israel in the wilderness "Changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eats grass" by making the golden calf. The effective atheism of Romans 1 is matched by <a href='B:230 106:21'>Psa 106:21</a> "They forgot God their saviour". The long catalogue of Israel's wilderness sins in Psalms 106 is similar to that in Romans 1. "Full of envy" (<a href='B:520 1:29'>Rom 1:29</a>) corresponds to them envying Moses (<a href='B:230 106:16'>Psa 106:16</a>), "whisperers" (<a href='B:520 1:29'>Rom 1:29</a>) to "murmurers" (<a href='B:230 106:25'>Psa 106:25</a>), and "inventors of evil things" (<a href='B:520 1:30'>Rom 1:30</a>) to God being angered with "their inventions" of false gods (<a href='B:230 106:29'>Psa 106:29</a>). Because of this "God gave them up" to continue in their sexual perversion and bitterness with each other even to the extent of murder (<a href='B:520 1:27'>Rom 1:27</a>; <a href='B:520 1:29'>Rom 1:29</a>). A huge rabble of people living in moral anarchy with little law and order, driven on in their lust by the knowledge that God had rejected them... is surely a frightening thing to imagine. The emphasis on sexual sin in Romans 1 is paralleled by 1 Corinthians 10 stressing the frequent failure of Israel in the wilderness in this regard. Against such an evil and God forsaking background that young generation rebelled, to become one of the most faithful groups of Israelites in their history. As such they set a glorious example to the youth of today in rebelling against a world that mocks any form of true spirituality.</p>


text:
<p>For all the people who came out were circumcised; but all the people who were born in the wilderness by the way as they came out of Egypt had not been circumcised-</p><p>&nbsp;The commands concerning Israel's behaviour after they had settled in the land form a large chunk of the Mosaic Law, and thus these were only relevant to the younger generation and the Levites who were to enter the land of promise (note how only those who were numbered and over 20 at the time of leaving Egypt were barred from the land; the Levites were not numbered). This younger generation were in sharp contrast to those aged over 20 at the Exodus. The extent of spiritual despair and apostasy amongst the condemned generation cannot be overstated. They neglected the circumcision of the children born to them then (<a href='B:60 5:5-6'>Jos 5:5-6</a>), thus showing their rejection of the Abrahamic covenant.</p>


text:
<p>For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, even the men of war who came out of Egypt, were consumed; because they didn’t listen to the voice of Yahweh. Yahweh swore to them that He wouldn’t let them see the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers that He would give us, a land flowing with milk and honey-</p><p>Israel did not obey / hearken to the voice of Yahweh, and He did not hearken to their voice in prayer (<a href='B:50 1:45'>Deu 1:45</a>; <a href='B:50 9:23'>Deu 9:23</a>; <a href='B:50 28:15'>Deu 28:15</a>; <a href='B:60 5:6'>Jos 5:6</a>; <a href='B:70 2:20'>Jdg 2:20</a>; <a href='B:70 6:10'>Jdg 6:10</a> cp. <a href='B:50 8:20'>Deu 8:20</a> s:w:). <a href='B:120 18:12'>2Ki 18:12</a> states this specifically. God hearkened to Joshua's voice in prayer (<a href='B:60 10:14'>Jos 10:14</a>) because Joshua hearkened to His voice. It was to be the same with Saul. He didn't hearken to God's voice (<a href='B:90 15:19'>1Sa 15:19</a>) and God didn't hearken to Saul's voice in prayer in his final desperation at the end of his life (<a href='B:90 28:18'>1Sa 28:18</a>). If God's word abides in us, then our prayer is powerful, we have whatever we ask, because we are asking for things according to His will expressed in His word (<a href='B:500 15:7'>Joh 15:7</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Their children whom He raised up in their place were circumcised by Joshua; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them on the way- </p><p>See on :4. The new generation were raised up by God, not their parents, whom He slew in the desert. They were raised up "in their place" in that they entered the Kingdom which their parents had despised.</p>&nbsp;


text:
<p>It happened, when they were done circumcising all the nation, that they stayed in their places in the camp until they were healed-</p><p>"All the nation" were circumcised, in that the men represented the women; just as all twelve tribes crossed Jordan, but only in that the soldiers of the two and a half tribes represented those who remained east of Jordan. It is this principle of representation which is hard to grasp for those raised in societies which glorify individualism over collectivism. But it is clearly a principle by which God works, coming to full term in our salvation "in Christ", on account of His representation of us in His representative sacrifice.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to Joshua, Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from off you. Therefore the name of that place was called Gilgal to this day- </p><p>I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day" occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different points of historical reference (<a href='B:60 4:9'>Jos 4:9</a>; <a href='B:60 5:9'>Jos 5:9</a>; <a href='B:60 6:25'>Jos 6:25</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:60 8:28-29'>Jos 8:28-29</a>; <a href='B:60 9:27'>Jos 9:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:27'>Jos 10:27</a>; <a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a>; <a href='B:60 14:14'>Jos 14:14</a>; <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a>; <a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a>; <a href='B:60 22:3'>Jos 22:3</a>; <a href='B:60 23:8-9'>Jos 23:8-9</a>; <a href='B:70 1:26'>Jdg 1:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:24'>Jdg 6:24</a>; <a href='B:70 10:4'>Jdg 10:4</a>; <a href='B:70 15:19'>Jdg 15:19</a>; <a href='B:70 18:12'>Jdg 18:12</a>). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation.</p>


text:
<p>The children of Israel encamped in Gilgal. They kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at evening in the plains of Jericho- </p><p>The Lord taught in John 6 that the true manna was His flesh, which He was to give for the life of the world. Some have supposed from <a href='B:60 5:10-12'>Jos 5:10-12</a> cp. <a href='B:20 16:35'>Exo 16:35</a> that the manna fell for the first time on the eve of the Passover, thus adding even more poignancy to the Lord’s equation of the manna with His death. Yet all this painstaking attempt to re-focus the crowds on the spiritual rather than the literal, salvation through His death rather than an immediate benefit for them, patient eating / sharing in His sufferings rather than a kingdom here and now… all this went so tragically unheeded. And it does to this day.</p>


text:
<p>They ate unleavened cakes and parched grain of the produce of the land on the next day after the Passover, in that day-</p><p>They presumably stole this from the local population, who would have fled before them, back into the walls of Jericho.</p>


text:
<p>The manna ceased on the next day, after they had eaten of the produce of the land. The children of Israel didn’t have manna any more; but they ate the fruit of the land of Canaan that year- </p><p>The manna wasn't phased out- it stopped abruptly just before the battle of Jericho (<a href='B:60 5:12'>Jos 5:12</a>). The people would likely have been short of food, and would've been dealing with the problems associated with a new diet- after 40 years! Walking around the city seven times, starting at dawn, would've made the people tired. There was no advantage of shock or surprise by doing this. Planning the final assault for late afternoon was hardly smart either- humanly speaking! But all this was- and is- to teach God's people that victory His way involves shedding our human strength, just as Gideon was likewise taught so dramatically. See on :3.</p>


text:
<p>It happened that when Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked- </p><p>Lifting up the eyes to Heaven is an idiom for prayer. This seems likely in <a href='B:40 24:2'>Num 24:2</a>; <a href='B:60 5:13'>Jos 5:13</a>; <a href='B:70 19:17'>Jdg 19:17</a> and <a href='B:130 21:16'>1Ch 21:16</a> among others. The simple implication of all this is that we should begin our prayers with a conscious imagination and personalization of the Father to whom we pray; "Our Father, who is in Heaven" says it all. "God is in Heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few (more often translated "little")" (<a href='B:250 5:2'>Ecc 5:2</a>). Ezra, Nehemiah and Solomon all start their major prayers with a reference to the fact that God really is there in Heaven.</p><p>And behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?-</p><p>Perhaps this is a rebuke of Joshua, wanting to boil everything down to black and white, wanting to see God as either personally for him or against him; when the essence is to seek to discern and do God’s will. Joshua was very good at obedience to clear commandments (<a href='B:60 4:10'>Jos 4:10</a>; <a href='B:60 4:17'>Jos 4:17</a>; <a href='B:60 8:27'>Jos 8:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:40'>Jos 10:40</a>). But when he had to articulate his faith in God in unexpected situations, e.g. when the ambassadors from Gibeon arrived, or when the first attack on Ai failed, he seems to have performed poorly. Legalistic obedience is no use in those cases when principles need to be applied. He very strictly adhered to God’s commandments with legalistic obedience, e.g., about how to approach and deal with Jericho, or how to cross the flooded Jordan and build an altar; and time and again, we read in Joshua of how he strictly relayed and obeyed the Divine commandments given by Moses (<a href='B:60 8:31'>Jos 8:31</a>; <a href='B:60 8:33'>Jos 8:33</a>; <a href='B:60 8:35'>Jos 8:35</a>; <a href='B:60 11:12'>Jos 11:12</a>; <a href='B:60 11:15'>Jos 11:15</a>; <a href='B:60 11:20'>Jos 11:20</a>; <a href='B:60 14:2'>Jos 14:2</a>; <a href='B:60 14:5'>Jos 14:5</a>; <a href='B:60 17:4'>Jos 17:4</a>; <a href='B:60 21:2'>Jos 21:2</a>; <a href='B:60 21:8'>Jos 21:8</a>):&nbsp; Yet as with any literalistic or legally minded person, it was hard for Joshua to apply the principles behind the laws to situations which weren’t specifically addressed by Divine revelation, where legalistic obedience wasn't what was required.</p><p>The Angels formulate their plans perhaps without knowing whether we will respond suitably to enable the plans to go ahead, or maybe they arrange circumstances whether they know we will obey or disobey, so that we always have the encouragement that if we obey and do our part&nbsp; we will have the pre-arranged workings of the Angels behind us too. The entrance of Israel to Canaan shows this. God had promised in Exodus 33 to send an Angel before them which would drive out the tribes from Canaan; the 'Hornet'- a result of Angelic activity- was sent before them to do the same. <a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a>&nbsp; describes this: "Yahweh your God is He which goes over (the Jordan) before you; as a consuming fire (the language of Angels- <a href='B:20 24:17'>Exo 24:17</a>) He shall destroy them (the nations)... so shall you drive them out". Thus when Joshua approached Jericho to attack it "there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand... and He said... As captain of the host of the Lord (Angels) am I come" (<a href='B:60 5:13-14'>Jos 5:13-14</a>). So in prospect the Angels drove out every tribe that was in the land; the people of Israel had to just go in and possess the work which the Angels had done. So when they failed to drive out certain tribes, this was an example of human failing to be "workers together with God". Thus in prospect, the Angels led them to the promised "rest"- <a href='B:50 25:19'>Deu 25:19</a>; <a href='B:60 1:13'>Jos 1:13</a>; <a href='B:290 63:1'>Isa 63:1</a> N:I:V:; although in practice they did not enter that rest because of their faithlessness (<a href='B:650 3:11'>Heb 3:11</a> to <a href='B:650 4:11'>Heb 4:11</a>), despite the Angel promising He would lead them there- "I will give you rest" (<a href='B:20 33:4'>Exo 33:4</a>). Was this due to the Angel over-estimating the spiritual strength of His charges? See on <a href='B:730 21:12'>Rev 21:12</a>.</p>


text:
<p>He said, No; but I have come now as commander of Yahweh’s army. Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him, What does my lord say to his servant?- </p><p>As Israel were called to follow the Angel after their Red Sea baptism, so we too follow where the Angel leads. The conquest of Jericho is a classic example of following the Angel. <a href='B:60 5:13'>Jos 5:13</a> speaks of the Angel who was the commander of Yahweh's army appearing to Joshua, the commander of God's human army on earth, and standing "over against him", i:e. dead opposite him. Clearly enough, Joshua was being shown that he had an opposite number in Heaven, a representative there before the throne of God- just as each of us do. Note in passing how the Angel answers Joshua's question- 'Are you for me, or against me?'. God has no interest in taking sides in human arguments, demonizing the one side and glorifying the other. The response was simply that the Angel stood for God and was His representative (<a href='B:60 5:14'>Jos 5:14</a>). Religious people so easily fall into this trap of demonizing their enemies, on the basis that "God is with me, and therefore, not with you my opponent, in fact, He hates you because I hate you". The true God and His Angelic servants are far above this kind of primitive, binary dichotomy.</p>


text:
<p>The prince of Yahweh’s army said to Joshua- </p><p>The same phrase is found in <a href='B:340 8:11'>Dan 8:11</a>, where the army is the host of God's people and their representative Angels</p><p>Take your shoes off of your feet; for the place on which you stand is holy. Joshua did so-</p><p>This is evidently reminiscent of the command to Moses in a similar situation. Shouldn’t Joshua have perceived this, seeing his life was so clearly framed after that of Moses? For we note he had to wait to be asked to do this.</p>


text:
<p>Now Jericho was closely shut up because of the children of Israel. No one went out, and no one came in- </p><p>The gates which we saw shutting at dusk every day in Joshua 2 were now shut permanently. But the idea may be that God had shut them in; He was the one who closed that gate (s:w. <a href='B:10 7:16'>Gen 7:16</a>; <a href='B:10 19:10'>Gen 19:10</a>).</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to Joshua, Behold, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the mighty men of valour-</p><p>The idea may have been that the king and his mighty soldiers were much feared in the area. But they were to be overcome without any fighting by Israel. The reference is to <a href='B:50 7:24'>Deu 7:24</a>, "He will deliver their kings into your hand and you shall make their name perish from under the sky; no man shall be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them". But this was conditional upon them not being afraid (<a href='B:50 7:21'>Deu 7:21</a>), and believing that God had already softened them up by "the hornet" (<a href='B:50 7:20'>Deu 7:20</a>). This is why Joshua was encouraged constantly not to be afraid (seven times in Joshua 1). It seems that he finally came to the level of faith required, although it's unclear whether Israel did. But thanks to his faith, Jericho and its king was given into the hand of Joshua personally.</p><p>Perhaps the Lord had this scene in mind when He spoke of the strong man guarding his palace, and being overcome by one stronger than himself, i:e. the Lord Jesus, who was represented by Joshua (<a href='B:490 11:21-22'>Luk 11:21-22</a>). We are those who then spoil his palace, making the nervous Israelites representative of us all, and making the victory over Jericho solely due to Joshua's faith; see above.</p>


text:
<p>All your men of war shall march around the city, going around the city once. You shall do this six days-</p><p>Jericho was to be circled for six days before victory on the seventh (<a href='B:60 6:3-5'>Jos 6:3-5</a>). This recalls Naaman's cure on his seventh dipping (<a href='B:120 5:10'>2Ki 5:10</a>), and the way Elijah was only answered at his seventh prayer (<a href='B:110 18:43'>1Ki 18:43</a>). The intention was that through the six times performing something which had no immediate answer, faith, hope and humility were elicited.</p>


text:
<p>Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark- </p><p>LXX and :8-14 show that this was to be done on each of the six days. These trumpets were to be blown each day (:13). Literally, "trumpets of Jubilee". The allusion may simply be to the length of the blast made; or the idea may be that these were the trumpets used to announce the year of Jubilee on the day of atonement (<a href='B:30 25:9'>Lev 25:9</a>)- announcing freedom for the slaves and landless, which is who Israel were. It could be that the trumpet blasts were to be understood by the people of Jericho as a call to repentance, which they ignored (<a href='B:370 3:6'>Amo 3:6</a>; <a href='B:290 18:3'>Isa 18:3</a>). This would then explain why the city was devoted to Yahweh in destruction which was the punishment for a city which turned away from Yahweh (<a href='B:50 13:12-14'>Deu 13:12-14</a>).</p><p>On the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets- </p><p>To enter covenant was literally 'to be sevened' (<a href='B:10 21:28'>Gen 21:28</a>; <a href='B:10 21:30'>Gen 21:30</a>). The city was to enter covenant- through those who didn't want to be in the covenant being destroyed. Rahab wanted to be in the covenant (see on Joshua 2), and was brought into it through the city's destruction.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout- </p><p>This was the victory shout. They were being asked to believe that what was promised had indeed come true, in the spirit of <a href='B:480 11:24'>Mar 11:24</a>. They were asked to believe that they had won- before they had. And therefore by faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, so says <a href='B:650 11:30'>Heb 11:30</a>.</p><p>The wall of the city shall fall down flat- </p><p>"Flat" can simply mean 'from beneath', or the idea may have been that the rubble would be 'flat' enough for the Israelites to advance over it into the city, straight before them. The same word is used for how Achan hid the silver under or beneath the garment he stole (<a href='B:60 7:21-22'>Jos 7:21-22</a>). "Fall down flat" is the phrase used of enemies falling down beneath a victorious Israel (<a href='B:230 18:38'>Psa 18:38</a>; <a href='B:230 45:5'>Psa 45:5</a>). The mighty wall represented the Canaanites. The same language of a mighty wall falling is used of the destruction of latter day Babylon (<a href='B:300 50:15'>Jer 50:15</a>; <a href='B:300 51:44'>Jer 51:44</a>; <a href='B:330 38:20'>Eze 38:20</a>). Joshua clearly represented the Lord Jesus and His conquest of all opposition to Him in the land of the last days.</p><p>There are archaeological claims to have unearthed a wall laying flat on one of the levels of excavation. But surely a wall built from flimsy cement would have not fallen down "flat" but would have disintegrated on impact. Our faith is purely in God's word, rather than hinged solely on questionable archaeological evidence. The evidence for the city having been burnt is more solid, and indeed corroborates the later statement that Jericho was burnt.</p><p>And the people shall go up every man straight before him- </p><p>Following the Angel is the theme that lies behind God's statement that because He had already given Jericho to Israel, therefore they should arise and take it. So many victories have been prepared for us in prospect- against addictions, engrained weaknesses of character, habits, impossible situations. Israel had to follow the ark, where the Angelic presence of God was (<a href='B:60 6:2'>Jos 6:2</a> cp. 6:8). The people were to go up into Jericho "straight before them" (<a href='B:60 6:5'>Jos 6:5</a>; <a href='B:60 6:20'>Jos 6:20</a>), just as the Cherubim-Angels have "straight feet" (<a href='B:330 1:7'>Eze 1:7</a>; <a href='B:330 1:9'>Eze 1:9</a>; <a href='B:330 1:12'>Eze 1:12</a>). They were to follow in the Angel's steps.</p><p>It is unclear whether "the people" refers to the "armed men"; or to the ordinary unarmed people, as I prefer to think. For it would fit the whole theme of a victory being granted to the weak. If there were unarmed people in the mass of Israelites around the city, this would be another example of the strategy being very weak militarily. For masses of unarmed civilians could easily be attacked and panicked. Perhaps they are the "rearguard" of :13.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Yahweh- </p><p>Upon the ark was the "mercy seat", imagined as the throne upon which Yahweh was enthroned as king, perhaps with the shekinah glory visible between the cherubim which were over it. The trumpets going before it were therefore proclaiming or heralding Him as king; hence the usage of the phrase "Lord of all the earth" in connection with the ark (<a href='B:60 3:11'>Jos 3:11</a>; <a href='B:60 3:13'>Jos 3:13</a>). The idea is consistently that Canaan was being claimed as His Kingdom, with Himself as King.</p>


text:
<p>They said to the people, Go, march around the city, and let the armed men pass on before Yahweh’s ark-</p><p>See on :13. We note that the focus of the description is upon the ark. The armed men went before it, followed by the priests and only then the ark. But the description begins with the ark, for this was the central point of the procession. The archaeological excavations reveal Jericho to have only been of 600 meters circumference. The people would have spent the rest of the day looking at the walls, meditating upon them. This was all intended to pique their faith in God, compared to the height of the obstacle. They were being set up to undo the mistake of the previous generation, who had considered the walls of the Canaanite cities an insuperable obstacle.</p>


text:
<p>It was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before Yahweh advanced and blew the trumpets; and the ark of the covenant of Yahweh followed them- </p><p>See on :7. This is rather similar to how the ark stood in the Jordan riverbed until the people had passed over, and then followed them. This recalls how the Angel [who was perhaps dwelling over the ark in the shekinah glory] "went behind" [s:w. "followed"] at the exodus (<a href='B:20 14:19'>Exo 14:19</a>). The word is also used in <a href='B:50 23:14'>Deu 23:14</a>, where Israel are warned that if they are unclean, then Yahweh will no longer follow them. They of course were bidden follow Him, but He is also presented as following them. And thus God's people hear His voice behind them, urging them to choose the right path (s:w. <a href='B:290 30:21'>Isa 30:21</a>); for He is not only their vanguard, but also their rear guard following them (<a href='B:290 52:12'>Isa 52:12</a>; <a href='B:290 58:8'>Isa 58:8</a>). This indicates not only the mutuality between God and His people; but the sense that we are both following and being followed by Him, as it were sandwiched by His presence.</p>


text:
<p>The armed men went before the priests who blew the trumpets, and the ark went after them. The trumpets sounded as they went- </p><p>"Armed men" is s:w. <a href='B:60 4:13'>Jos 4:13</a>, and could possibly refer specifically to the men of the two and a half tribes who were to be the vanguard for the Israelite army. See on :8.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua commanded the people saying, You shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I tell you ‘Shout!’ Then you shall shout- </p><p>The command to "shout" was a reflection of the belief Israel were to have in the fact that God had already given them the city- for the Hebrew for "shout" usually refers to a shout of victory. The word is translated "... will I triumph" in <a href='B:230 60:8'>Psa 60:8</a>; <a href='B:230 108:9'>Psa 108:9</a>. The same idea of shouting in victory over a city which has been given to God's people recurs in <a href='B:230 47:3'>Psa 47:3</a>; <a href='B:230 47:5'>Psa 47:5</a>; <a href='B:300 50:15'>Jer 50:15</a> - "Shout against her round about [cp. compassing the walls of Jericho]... her foundations are [present tense] fallen, her walls [cp. Jericho's] are thrown down". And this speaks of our latter day victory against Babylon- thus making the whole account of earnest relevance to us who live in the last days, and who will see Babylon fall by faith. Notice how literal Babylon fell by the water of the river being dried up, and the walls being opened- just the same sequence of events that occurred at Jericho. Likewise <a href='B:530 3:12-15'>1Co 3:12-15</a> likens all the faithful to material which can pass through the fire of judgment- and this surely is a reference to the way that Jericho was burnt with fire, and only the metals along with Rahab and her family came through that fire to salvation. Thus according to the allusion, Rahab and her family represent all the faithful.</p>&nbsp;<p><a href='B:650 11:30'>Heb 11:30</a> associates the circling of the walls with faith: “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they had been circled seven days”. <a href='B:540 10:3-4'>2Co 10:3-4</a> is perhaps an allusion to the way that Jericho was taken with such a humanly weak battle plan: “for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ". The point of the allusion is for us to see ourselves as those nervous Israelites desperately clinging on to their faith in God's victory rather than human strength. And we each have our Jerichos- habits, life-dominating patterns of thinking, that seem so impossible to shift.</p><p>The deliverance at the Red Sea had been intended to teach Israel these very lessons. And the account of the fall of Jericho is recorded in similar language, in order to teach the same lesson. Rahab's house had to be identified by a scarlet cord- like the blood of the Passover lamb sprinkled on the two doorposts and lintel of the Israelites' homes in Egypt. The silence demanded of the people in <a href='B:60 6:10'>Jos 6:10</a> was surely to recall <a href='B:20 14:14'>Exo 14:14</a>, there the people standing before the Red Sea were assured: “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent". Compare the command to keep silent whilst Yahweh fought, with the common practice of yelling war cries as an ancient army approached their enemy. All human convention, wisdom and strength, was placed in purposeful opposition to what seemed quite counter-instinctive- to be utterly silent whilst God did the fighting.</p>


text:
<p>So he caused the ark of Yahweh to go around the city, going about it once. Then they came into the camp and lodged in the camp-</p><p>There's a distinct theme in the record that actually, God's people didn't do according to His ideal plan, and yet still He gave them the victory. One wonders whether the comment that "So the ark of the Lord compassed the city" (<a href='B:60 6:11'>Jos 6:11</a>) could imply that the entire fighting force of Israel didn't bother doing as commanded on the first circuit of the city- possibly they just sent the ark around it. See on :20.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Yahweh- </p><p>Joshua was characterized by rising early (<a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a>; <a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a>; <a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a>; <a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a>). This is a much repeated characteristic of God's servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God's work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a>; <a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a>; <a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a>); Jacob (<a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a>); Job (1:5); Moses (<a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a>; <a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a>; <a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a>; <a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a>); Gideon (<a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a>; <a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a>). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a>; <a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a>; <a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people (<a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a>; <a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a>; <a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a>; <a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a>; <a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a>; <a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a>; <a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a>; <a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up.</p>


text:
<p>The seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of Yahweh went on continually and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them. The rear guard came after the ark of Yahweh. The trumpets sounded as they went- </p><p>This rear guard could have just been ordinary unarmed people, as discussed on :5. The restoration prophets may allude to this in saying that Yahweh would be Israel's rear guard (<a href='B:290 52:12'>Isa 52:12</a>), and Yahweh's glory would be their rear guard (<a href='B:290 58:8'>Isa 58:8</a>)- manifest in unarmed, ordinary people. The tribe of Dan was the rear guard of the camp when it was usually on the move (<a href='B:40 10:25'>Num 10:25</a>).</p>


text:
<p>The second day they marched around the city once, and returned into the camp. They did this six days- </p><p>Verse 10 implies that the people maybe didn't know the battle plan- each day they would've walked around the city in silence, and nothing happened. They were kept on the tip toe of faith and obedience throughout those six days, and may well have wondered whether this was not just some bizarre ritual which would make no dent in the walls of Jericho. The command to "Shout!" didn't come- for six days. The whole exercise was surely to develop their faith. Again, this was the most crazy of battle plans, in human terms.</p>


text:
<p>It happened on the seventh day that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and marched around the city in the same way seven times. Only on this day they marched around the city seven times- </p><p>As noted above, they would have been exhausted by the end of this. The battle plan was God's and was against all human wisdom, which would have wanted an early morning surprise attack, with troops at their most fresh. Rather than an exhausted group of soldiers later in the day, in full view of the enemy, having given the defenders every warning that a major attack was coming.</p>


text:
<p>It happened at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, that Joshua said to the people, Shout, for Yahweh has given you the city!-</p><p>The command to "shout" was a reflection of the belief Israel were to have in the fact that God had already given them the city- for the Hebrew for "shout" usually refers to a shout of victory. The word is translated "... will I triumph" in <a href='B:230 60:8'>Psa 60:8</a>; <a href='B:230 108:9'>Psa 108:9</a>. The same idea of shouting in victory over a city which has been given to God's people recurs in <a href='B:300 50:15'>Jer 50:15</a> - "Shout against her round about [cp. compassing the walls of Jericho]... her foundations are [present tense] fallen, her walls [cp. Jericho's] are thrown down". And this speaks of our latter day victory against Babylon- thus making the whole account of earnest relevance to us who live in the last days, and who will see Babylon fall by faith. Notice how literal Babylon fell by the water of the river being dried up, and the walls being opened- just the same sequence of events that occurred at Jericho.</p>


text:
<p>The city shall be devoted, even it and all that is in it, to Yahweh. Only Rahab the prostitute shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent- </p><p>"The prostitute" is emphasized. Those within her house, a brothel, sound like they were her clients; although we know they were her family. But the language is used like this to emphasize her low moral situation. Her salvation was a strong lesson to Israel. Those whom they would otherwise despise as the lowest of the low, a Gentile prostitute, were to be welcomed into the covenant:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when you have devoted it, you take of the devoted thing- </p><p>This was precisely what Saul did (<a href='B:90 15:3'>1Sa 15:3</a>). Like so many, he failed to learn from Biblical history. Whether we have a mean or generous spirit will affect our whole life- an evil [stingy] eye means our whole body is full of darkness. Just let this sink in. If we are materialistic, our whole life will be filled with darkness, whatever our external pretensions may be, and there is a definite link to be made here with the "darkness" of rejection. The riches of Jericho are described with a Hebrew word which means both a curse, and something devoted (to God; <a href='B:60 6:18'>Jos 6:18</a>). This teaches a powerful lesson: such riches of this world as come into our possession will curse us, unless they are devoted to the Father.</p><p>Understanding God as creator, in its true, deep and thought-through sense, leads to an understanding of grace. That all we have, are, were, shall ever be, is purely His gift. Likewise, to take for ourselves what is God’s is to play God. Materialism and selfishness are in this sense playing God. This was Achan’s sin- to take what was devoted to God for himself. And this was why he is described as having ‘stolen’. But from whom? From God (<a href='B:60 6:18'>Jos 6:18</a>; <a href='B:60 7:11'>Jos 7:11</a>). The fact God owns everything means that there can be no distinction between what is ours and what is God’s. To think like that is to steal from Him. And hence the power and force of <a href='B:460 3:8'>Mal 3:8</a>: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me”. Have we robbed God in this way, especially in our attitudes and perceptions?</p><p>That would make the camp of Israel accursed- </p><p>"Accursed" is s:w. "devoted". Jericho and its wealth was to be sacrificially devoted to Yahweh. If Israel took that wealth to themselves, then they too would have to be handed over to Him in destruction.</p><p>And trouble it- </p><p>Ahab's denunciation of Elijah as "he that troubles Israel" (<a href='B:110 18:17'>1Ki 18:17</a>) effectively accuses Elijah of being like Achan, the troubler of Israel (<a href='B:60 6:18'>Jos 6:18</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;As Achan brought about Israel's defeat at the hand of her surrounding enemies, so latter-day Israel will blame their similar defeats and the strange drought which will afflict them, upon Elijah:&nbsp;&nbsp;Elijah's response to Ahab's accusation is typical of his theme of the need to throw off the worship of Baal and the other local gods, for that of Yahweh:&nbsp; "I have not troubled Israel, but you... in that you have... followed Baalim" (<a href='B:110 18:18'>1Ki 18:18</a>):&nbsp;The stress upon this may indicate that the latter-day Elijah will seek to turn Israel away from a devotion to Islam - the idol of the surrounding nations.</p>


text:
<p>But all the silver and gold, and the vessels of brass and iron, are holy to Yahweh. They shall come into Yahweh’s treasury-</p><p>The same phrase "of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass" is used of the vessels taken from the Gentile world and dedicated to the tabernacle (<a href='B:20 11:2'>Exo 11:2</a>; <a href='B:20 12:35'>Exo 12:35</a>; <a href='B:60 6:19'>Jos 6:19</a>; <a href='B:100 8:10'>2Sa 8:10</a>; <a href='B:110 7:51'>1Ki 7:51</a>). The generosity of others in Biblical history, their right perspective on the wealth taken from this world, was to inspire other believers in later history. And this is how the body of Christ should function today, with members inspiring others to spirituality.</p>


text:
<p>So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets. It happened that when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him; and they took the city-</p><p>See on :5,11; <a href='B:730 21:12'>Rev 21:12</a>. For "flat", see on :5. Yet according to <a href='B:650 11:30'>Heb 11:30</a>, “by faith the walls of Jericho fell down …”. Whose faith? What faith? Was Joshua-Jesus' faith counted to the people? Or was their very weak, hope-for-the-best faith all the same accepted as faith by God's grace?</p><p>The people were to shout when the trumpets sounded (<a href='B:60 6:10'>Jos 6:10</a>). But in reality, like a Sunday School play gone wrong, the people shouted, the trumpets sounded, and then the people again shouted (<a href='B:60 6:20'>Jos 6:20</a>). See on :11.</p>


text:
<p>They utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword- </p><p>"Destroyed" is the word for "devoted". But actually not all was devoted; Achan stole some of it. So this is an example of where the Bible records things as they appeared to men, without as it were adding footnotes to clarify. Just as the language of demons is used in the New Testament, although they do not in fact exist.</p><p>The animals aren't recorded as being destroyed in later conquests. It's as if God recognized that the totality of devotion to Him which He so desired was just not going to be forthcoming from His people. And so He asked for less, and allowed them keep the cattle, which clearly they were tempted to covet. Yet we need to learn from this, and be inspired to at least try to rise up to total devotion.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, Go into the prostitute’s house, and bring out from there the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her- </p><p>Hebrew tenses are vague, unlike tenses in Greek or English. The idea is that Joshua "had said" this to the two men. Artists have done us a great disservice by presenting the walls of Jericho as having fallen, apart from the section where Rahab's house was. She had already been brought out- perhaps by using the scarlet rope to descend the walls, bringing her into full fellowship with the experience of the spies. But the emphasis is that the spies 'brought her out', and entered her house.</p>


text:
<p>The young men who were spies went in, and brought out Rahab with her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had. They also brought out all her relatives, and they set them outside the camp of Israel- </p><p>The family had been warned that they must remain within the house, as if they were keeping Passover (<a href='B:60 2:19'>Jos 2:19</a> = <a href='B:20 12:22'>Exo 12:22</a>). They were "brought out" as Israel were then brought out from Egypt, the "house" of bondage (s:w. <a href='B:20 20:2'>Exo 20:2</a>). The king of Jericho had used the same phrase in ordering that the spies be brought out from her house (<a href='B:60 2:3'>Jos 2:3</a>). But it was all turned the other way around, which is typical of God's style of working.</p>


text:
<p>They burnt the city with fire, and all that was in it- </p><p>Insofar as Israel followed their Angel, they had success. We repeatedly read that the cities they conquered were 'sent up in flames' (<a href='B:70 1:8'>Jdg 1:8</a>; <a href='B:60 6:24'>Jos 6:24</a>; <a href='B:60 8:8'>Jos 8:8</a>; <a href='B:60 11:11'>Jos 11:11</a>), surely because they were following the Angel who was himself as a devouring pillar of fire (<a href='B:50 9:3'>Deu 9:3</a>). Yet quite naturally we balk at the height of our calling, to follow the Angel.</p><p>Only they put the silver, the gold and the vessels of brass and of iron into the treasury of Yahweh’s house-</p><p><a href='B:530 3:12-15'>1Co 3:12-15</a> likens all the faithful to material which can pass through the fire of judgment- and this surely is a reference to the way that Jericho was burnt with fire, and only the metals along with Rahab and her family came through that fire to salvation. Thus according to the allusion, Rahab and her family represent all the faithful. And she was a whore, and her family had to humble themselves to reconcile with her and come within her brothel in order to be saved.</p>


text:
<p>But Rahab the prostitute, her father’s household, and all that she had- </p><p>Family, however estranged from them she must have been, were "all that she had", and in a secular sense that is true for even the wealthiest people.</p><p>Joshua saved alive. She lived in the midst of Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho- </p><p>I would consider the book of Joshua to have largely been written by Joshua, under Divine inspiration, although edited [again under Divine inspiration] for the exiles. And the book of Judges likewise. For the exiles too were set to reestablish God's Kingdom in the land and to inherit it again as the Israelites first did. The phrase "to this day" occurs several times in Joshua / Judges, and appears to have different points of historical reference (<a href='B:60 4:9'>Jos 4:9</a>; <a href='B:60 5:9'>Jos 5:9</a>; <a href='B:60 6:25'>Jos 6:25</a>; <a href='B:60 7:26'>Jos 7:26</a>; <a href='B:60 8:28-29'>Jos 8:28-29</a>; <a href='B:60 9:27'>Jos 9:27</a>; <a href='B:60 10:27'>Jos 10:27</a>; <a href='B:60 13:13'>Jos 13:13</a>; <a href='B:60 14:14'>Jos 14:14</a>; <a href='B:60 15:63'>Jos 15:63</a>; <a href='B:60 16:10'>Jos 16:10</a>; <a href='B:60 22:3'>Jos 22:3</a>; <a href='B:60 23:8-9'>Jos 23:8-9</a>; <a href='B:70 1:26'>Jdg 1:26</a>; <a href='B:70 6:24'>Jdg 6:24</a>; <a href='B:70 10:4'>Jdg 10:4</a>; <a href='B:70 15:19'>Jdg 15:19</a>; <a href='B:70 18:12'>Jdg 18:12</a>). I would explain this by saying that the book was edited a number of times and the remains of those edits remain in the text. For God's word is living and made relevant by Him to every generation. Here, it seems that the record is being written whilst Rahab was still alive, and so "to this day" was only a relatively short time after the events.</p><p>Again we see the spies described as messengers; and <a href='B:650 11:31'>Heb 11:31</a>; <a href='B:660 2:25'>Jas 2:25</a> say that she believed them. They preached the gospel of the Kingdom and she had faith in it.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua commanded them with an oath at that time, saying, Cursed before Yahweh is the man who rises up and builds this city Jericho. With the loss of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up its gates-</p><p>The idea was to build it in the sense of fortifying it; for the city was inhabited for quite some time before this curse came true. Was this unnecessarily extreme? However it was fulfilled at the time of Ahab in <a href='B:110 16:34'>1Ki 16:34</a>: "In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho: he laid its foundation with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun". To even attempt to rebuilt Jericho meant a studied disregard of God's word, considering Biblical records of Joshua's words to be merely the words of men. Hiel was from Bethel, where the golden calf was. Jericho had been inhabited after Joshua's time (<a href='B:70 3:13'>Jdg 3:13</a>; <a href='B:100 10:5'>2Sa 10:5</a>). So this was a conscious rebuilding of the walls with gates in defiance of Yahweh's word. And his sons died during the building work, perhaps 'at some time between the beginning, in laying the foundations, and the ending of the project, in hanging the gates'. After Abiram died laying the foundations, we would rather imagine that Hiel might have learned the lesson. But he didn't, such was his desire to defy God's word. And so his youngest son died when the project was almost completed and the gates were being hung. The desire to rebuild the settlement as a walled, gated city could have been because of its strategic position near the crossing of the Jordan river. Jericho was on the border of Ephraim but belonged to Benjamin (<a href='B:60 16:7'>Jos 16:7</a>; <a href='B:60 18:21'>Jos 18:21</a>), so it seems Ahab had taken it, and wanted to have the city and fortify it as a boundary against the two tribe kingdom.</p>


text:
<p>So Yahweh was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land-</p><p>The eretz promised to Abraham is the land / earth which the Bible focuses upon. “The LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country” (<a href='B:60 6:27'>Jos 6:27</a>), the&nbsp; eretz. Clearly the whole planet didn’t know Joshua had invaded Canaan. Many times in Joshua and Judges we read of the people of the eretz: “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land [eretz] shall hear of it, and shall environ us round, and cut off our name from the earth [eretz]” (<a href='B:60 7:9'>Jos 7:9</a>). Here the Israelites feared being cut off from their place in the land. They perceived the world / earth to them as the land where their enemies lived. In <a href='B:60 12:1'>Jos 12:1</a>; <a href='B:60 12:7'>Jos 12:7</a> we meet “the kings of the earth”, i:e. of the land, and this must surely be the basis of how we are to understand the references to “the kings of the earth” in Revelation. <a href='B:50 13:7'>Deu 13:7</a> defines “the peoples which are round about you” [Israel] as being “from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth” (RV). Those peoples which bordered with the Israelites were “the earth” / eretz.</p>


text:
<p>But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the devoted things; for Achan, the son of Carmi the son of Zabdi the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things- </p><p>The words for "devoted" and "destroyed" are the same. The wealth of Jericho was to be destroyed in that it was devoted to God. Therefore Achan had to be destroyed, because he had associated himself with that which was to be destroyed / devoted. We&nbsp; too must understand that all things are God's. To keep wealth as it were for ourselves will lead to our destruction; we are to devote it to God.</p><p>Therefore Yahweh’s anger burned against the children of Israel-</p><p>The gods of the nations were also understood as getting angry with their people but for whimsical, irrational reasons; or without any explanation. Yahweh is presented as a God of consistent, passionate love for His people; but whose wrath burns because of their moral sin. Such a conception of 'God' was unknown to the surrounding world.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Beth Aven on the east side of Bethel, and spoke to them saying, Go up and spy out the land. The men went up and spied out Ai- </p><p>Joshua had himself received that command 40 years ago, and had done so in faith. And clearly that was what he expected of these spies; but as noted on :3, they had more arrogance than the confidence of faith.</p>


text:
<p>They returned to Joshua and said to him, Don’t let all the people go up; but let about two or three thousand men go up and strike Ai. Don’t make all the people to toil there, for there are only a few of them-</p><p>Shouldn’t Joshua have led them into battle in person (<a href='B:60 1:5'>Jos 1:5</a>); he did the second time they attacked Ai (<a href='B:60 8:15'>Jos 8:15</a>). And the spies appear over confident. There were 12,000 men of Ai slain (<a href='B:60 8:25'>Jos 8:25</a>). To assume that they could so easily overcome with an inexperienced force a fraction of their size... indicates arrogance. So the sin of Achan was worked through by God, in a multi faceted way. For they needed the defeat in order to make them more humble. The spies' comment that not all the people needed to "toil" or "labour" to capture Ai betrays a wrong idea that victory was through their labour, rather than God's grace (<a href='B:60 7:3'>Jos 7:3</a>). And so <a href='B:60 24:13'>Jos 24:13</a> uses the word in saying that Israel were given a land for which they did not "labour" (s:w:). They were taught through Achan's sin that they were not defeating the Canaanites by their strength, but by God's undeserved grace.</p>


text:
<p>So about three thousand men of the people went up there, and they fled before the men of Ai- </p><p>Apparently the ark wasn't taken with them (:6); another indication of assuming they would win, rather than going in faith. For the ark had been central to the victory over Jericho. The record consistently places it as the central point of the victory.</p>


text:
<p>The men of Ai struck about thirty-six of them, and they chased them from before the gate even to Shebarim, and struck them at the descent- </p><p>"About 36" reads strangely, as we would expect a round number to follow the word "about". But it's likely from archaeological evidence that the peoples of Canaan were using the sexagesimal system; and 6 x 6 would therefore mean 'a large number', or maybe one hundred, according to the decimal system [i:e. 6 x 6 = 10 x 10].</p><p>The hearts of the people melted and became like water- </p><p>This was just how the hearts of the Canaanites had been, according to Rahab's words; and it was how Israel's hearts had been when they were first rejected from the land. They were as if they had never conquered Jericho. All they saw was the result of sin; they didn't apparently think of the reason for the judgment. Like the peoples around them, they were thinking of Yahweh as if He were one of the standard deities, who got angry with his people for no reason. They were failing to perceive that Yahweh was only angry with His people if they sinned; and therefore, they had sinned:&nbsp;</p>


text:
<p>Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of Yahweh until the evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads- </p><p>This was all a sign of grief, but not necessarily of repentance. As discussed on :6, the obvious conclusion was that they had sinned and were therefore not experiencing Yahweh's blessing. For to flee before enemies was a curse for not remaining obedient to the covenant. But Joshua focuses only upon the judgment, rather than the underlying reason for it. He comes over as distinctly lacking in spiritual perception at this point.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said, Alas, Lord Yahweh, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to cause us to perish? I wish that we had been content and lived beyond the Jordan!-</p><p>He lost faith in the promise of <a href='B:60 1:5-7'>Jos 1:5-7</a>; <a href='B:60 1:9'>Jos 1:9</a>. It is similar to the language of <a href='B:40 14:3'>Num 14:3</a>, the faithless complaint of Israel in the wilderness to the effect that God had cruelly brought them over the Red Sea [cp. over Jordan] just to kill them. And as Israel wished they had remained in Egypt, so Joshua wishes the people had remained east of Jordan. His faith was in tatters. And yet he ought to have had the humility to perceive what had happened- Israel had taken of the devoted thing. He may well have guessed so, but Joshua probably though that such grabbing of a bit of spoil was to be expected, and was surely not such a big item. But it was. And the lesson is that any assumption that we can 'rob God', by assuming our wealth is "ours", is extremely serious to Him.</p>


text:
<p>Oh Lord, what shall I say, after that Israel has turned their backs before their enemies!- </p><p>Joshua lamented how Israel had fled before their enemies the first time they attacked Ai, alluding back to the curses for disobedience which Moses had recently pronounced to them. Therefore the second time they attacked Ai, Joshua and his people purposefully fled before their enemies; as if recognizing that the curses for disobedience were justified for them. But by doing this, they ended up chasing their enemies, just as Moses had said they would if they were faithful. No wonder that after the victory, the whole of Israel recited the blessings and cursings (<a href='B:60 8:5'>Jos 8:5</a>; <a href='B:60 8:20'>Jos 8:20</a>; <a href='B:60 8:33-35'>Jos 8:33-35</a> cp. 7:8)!</p>


text:
<p>For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us, and cut off our name from the earth. What will You do for Your great name?- </p><p>This seems a half hearted attempt to follow the logic of Moses when he was told that God intended to destroy all Israel because of the sin with the golden calf. But Joshua sounds like faithless Jacob, fearful that the surrounding nations will cut him off- as if he considered God's promises about his seed as somehow nullified (<a href='B:10 34:30'>Gen 34:30</a>).</p><p>"The earth" here is specifically the eretz promised to Abraham; the peoples of that earth / land would surround Israel. In <a href='B:60 12:1'>Jos 12:1</a>; <a href='B:60 12:7'>Jos 12:7</a> we meet “the kings of the earth”, i:e. of the land, and this must surely be the basis of how we are to understand the references to “the kings of the earth” in Revelation. <a href='B:50 13:7'>Deu 13:7</a> defines “the peoples which are round about you” [Israel] as being “from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth” (RV). Those peoples which bordered with the Israelites were “the earth” / eretz.</p>


text:
<p>Yahweh said to Joshua, Get up! Why are you fallen on your face like that?-</p><p>He is being reminded not to just see himself as part of a community, but to remember his personal relationship with God, and not to have such a low self image. He ought to have perceived why Israel had turned their backs to their enemies; it was because they had broken covenant with God through sin. What God now spells out to Joshua, he really ought to have perceived an stated to God. "Like that" suggests Joshua was fallen on his face not in repentance, as he ought to have been, but just in grief for the Divine judgment which had come.</p>


text:
<p>Israel has sinned. Yes, they have even transgressed My covenant which I commanded them- </p><p>See on :10. In the same way as Daniel, Isaiah, Ezra, Israel at the time of Achan etc. were reckoned as guilty but were not personally responsible for the sins of others, so the Lord Jesus was reckoned as a sinner on the cross; He was made sin for us, who knew no sin personally (<a href='B:540 5:21'>2Co 5:21</a>). He carried our sins by His association with us, prefigured by the way in which Israel's sins were transferred to the animal; but He personally was not a sinner because of His association with us.</p><p>Yes, they have even taken of the devoted things, and have also stolen and also deceived. They have even put it among their own stuff-</p><p>Understanding God as creator, in its true, deep and thought-through sense, leads to an understanding of grace. That all we have, are, were, shall ever be, is purely His gift. Likewise, to take for ourselves what is God’s is to play God, and therefore to steal from Him. Materialism and selfishness are in this sense playing God. This was Achan’s sin- to take what was devoted to God for himself. And this was why he is described as having ‘stolen’. But from whom? From God (<a href='B:60 6:18'>Jos 6:18</a>; <a href='B:60 7:11'>Jos 7:11</a>). The fact God owns everything means that there can be no distinction between what is ours and what is God’s. To think like that is to steal from Him. And hence the power and force of <a href='B:460 3:8'>Mal 3:8</a>: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me”. Have we robbed God in this way, especially in our attitudes and perceptions?</p>


text:
<p>Therefore the children of Israel can’t stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will not be with you any more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you-</p><p>If Canaan is seen to represent the Kingdom, the things which are stopping us entering the Kingdom are our sins. In prospect, Jesus, the antitype of the great Angel which lead Israel into the land and drove out the enemies in prospect, has vanquished all our sins. When Israel sinned, the help the Angels were giving Israel to help them possess what they had already prepared for them, was taken away. Thus with the first attack on Ai, the Angels had in prospect driven out the people of Ai, but the realization of that was conditional on Israel's obedience. Just as Israel in the wilderness were threatened with the withdrawal of the presence of the Angel, so here.</p>


text:
<p>Get up!- </p><p>God was displeased with Joshua moping around on the floor. Joshua needed to recognize Israel had sinned, and had taken things devoted to Yahweh- and devote those things to Yahweh by destroying them.</p><p>Sanctify the people and say, ‘Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, because Yahweh the God of Israel says, There is a devoted thing in the midst of you, Israel. You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted thing from among you- </p><p>This is not the same as guilt by association. The situation here has been misinterpreted by some to mean that we therefore cannot associate with sinners of the Achan category, lest we become defiled by association with them. But the point is that all the community of believers are in a sense considered at fault because of the failings of some of them. So if there is guilt by association, then it cannot be avoided by not associating with sinful people within the community. For the people of God, the community, is indivisible. We are in it and cannot quit it, if we wish to remain God's people. And in fact the Lord Jesus time and again turned all this around to the opposite- by willingly seeking association with sinners, eating with them, touching the leper etc. He was not thereby condemned, but rather sought to highlight His association with unclean people of God. It was through that willing association that we are saved.</p>


text:
<p>‘In the morning therefore you shall be brought near by your tribes. It shall be that the tribe which Yahweh selects shall come near by families. The family which Yahweh selects shall come near by households. The household which Yahweh selects shall come near man by man- </p><p>This was presumably achieved by the flashing out of yes / no answers from the urim and thummim in the breastplate (<a href='B:40 27:21'>Num 27:21</a>; <a href='B:90 14:42'>1Sa 14:42</a>). The long drawn out process (requiring Joshua to rise early, :16) was surely to elicit repentance and confession from Achan. But instead he hoped against hope that he would somehow not be found out. His lack of immediate confession reflects his impenitence.</p>


text:
<p>It shall be, that he who is taken with the devoted thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he has, because he has transgressed the covenant of Yahweh, and because he has done a disgraceful thing in Israel’- </p><p>"All that he has" could mean all his possessions, or it could also include his family. Because surely they knew of his sin, seeing he buried the loot in the tent. And the long drawn out process of :14 had given them all plenty of opportunity to confess what had happened.</p>


text:
<p>So Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel near by their tribes. The tribe of Judah was selected- </p><p>Joshua was characterized by rising early (<a href='B:60 3:1'>Jos 3:1</a>; <a href='B:60 6:12'>Jos 6:12</a>; <a href='B:60 7:16'>Jos 7:16</a>; <a href='B:60 8:10'>Jos 8:10</a>). This is a much repeated characteristic of God's servants: that they 'rose up early in the morning' and did God's work. In each of the following passages, this phrase is clearly not an idiom; rather does it have an evidently literal meaning: Abraham (<a href='B:10 19:27'>Gen 19:27</a>; <a href='B:10 21:14'>Gen 21:14</a>; <a href='B:10 22:3'>Gen 22:3</a>); Jacob (<a href='B:10 28:18'>Gen 28:18</a>); Job (1:5); Moses (<a href='B:20 8:20'>Exo 8:20</a>; <a href='B:20 9:13'>Exo 9:13</a>; <a href='B:20 24:4'>Exo 24:4</a>; <a href='B:20 34:4'>Exo 34:4</a>); Gideon (<a href='B:70 6:38'>Jdg 6:38</a>; <a href='B:70 7:1'>Jdg 7:1</a>). This is quite an impressive list, numerically. This can be a figure for being zealous (<a href='B:230 127:2'>Psa 127:2</a>; <a href='B:240 27:14'>Pro 27:14</a>; <a href='B:260 7:12'>Son 7:12</a>; <a href='B:290 5:11'>Isa 5:11</a>; <a href='B:430 3:7'>Zep 3:7</a>). God Himself rises up early in His zeal to save and bring back His wayward people (<a href='B:300 7:13'>Jer 7:13</a>; <a href='B:300 7:25'>Jer 7:25</a>; <a href='B:300 11:7'>Jer 11:7</a>; <a href='B:300 25:3-4'>Jer 25:3-4</a>; <a href='B:300 26:5'>Jer 26:5</a>; <a href='B:300 29:19'>Jer 29:19</a>; <a href='B:300 32:33'>Jer 32:33</a>; <a href='B:300 35:14-15'>Jer 35:14-15</a>; <a href='B:300 44:4'>Jer 44:4</a>). Yet the above examples all show that men literally rose up early in their service to God; this was an expression of their zeal for God, in response to His zeal for us. I'm not suggesting that zeal for God is reflected by rising early rather than staying up late; but it wouldn't be too much to suggest that if we are men of mission, we won't waste our hours in bed. Get up when you wake up.</p>


text:
<p>He brought near the family of Judah; and he selected the family of the Zerahites. He brought near the family of the Zerahites man by man, and Zabdi was selected- </p><p>"Man by man" refers not to all the men, but to the heads of families.</p>


text:
<p>He brought near his household man by man, and Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, was selected- </p><p>We note that none of his ancestors had God's name within their names.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said to Achan, My son, please give glory to Yahweh the God of Israel, and make confession to Him. Tell me now what you have done! Don’t hide it from me!-</p><p>He correctly perceives that repentance is a giving of glory to God’s Name. And one is tempted to think that Joshua’s appeal to Achan to properly confess his sin was meant to give him the chance of avoiding the ‘definite’ condemnation promised. However it could be that Joshua accepted Achan had to die, but he urged his repentance because he understood that there would be a future day of resurrection and judgment; and if Achan was repentant, then he would then be saved.</p>


text:
<p>Achan answered Joshua and said, I have truly sinned against Yahweh the God of Israel, and this is what I have done- </p><p>The summary of his sins, and his appreciation of the psychological processes behind them (:21), is very thorough. But it was only made after the long process of exposing him had finished. All through it, and it would have taken some time (therefore Joshua arose early that morning, :16), Achan could have volunteered his confession. But he didn't; and like the drug addict who completely understands his situation but won't break free, so Achan perceived exactly the process of temptation and sin, but wouldn't really repent.</p>


text:
<p>When I saw among the spoil a beautiful Babylonian robe- </p><p>This could have been a pagan priestly robe which was attractive to Achan as an idolater. Or since "robe" is that used for the kingly robe of <a href='B:390 3:6'>Jon 3:6</a>, it was perhaps the robe of the king of Jericho. To steal it, when it could never be worn or sold easily, is therefore typical of how the lust of the eyes leads to stealing of wrongly obtaining things which have no practical value.</p><p>Two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, then I coveted them and took them. Behold, they are hidden in the ground in the middle of my tent, with the silver under it- </p><p><a href='B:660 1:13-15'>Jas 1:13-15</a> uses a family analogy- a man and "his own lust" beget a child, called sin; and sin, in due time, gives birth to death. Strange, surely, how James makes no mention of a personal Devil or demons as having any part at all to play in this process. It's quite possible that James' language is alluding to a classic example of the thought-lust-temptation-sin-death process which we have in the record of Achan in <a href='B:60 7:20-21'>Jos 7:20-21</a>: "I saw two hundred shekels of silver, I coveted them, and took them... I sinned"- and so he was executed.</p>


text:
<p>So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran to the tent. Behold, it was hidden in his tent, with the silver under it- </p><p>The speed was appropriate because they realized that they as a nation were defiled by having material which was God's still amongst them. It's all a powerful lesson for us; for all we apparently own is not ours. Ownership, especially in its capitalist sense, is an illusion; all is God's. The Lord's parable of hidden treasure appears to allude to this scene, in an inverse sense. The true treasure we are to find and hide is that of the Gospel, as opposed to material things.</p>


text:
<p>They took them from the middle of the tent, and brought them to Joshua and to all the children of Israel. They laid them down before Yahweh- </p><p>"The middle of the tent" could imply that the entire family were guilty and complicent in what he did, which would explain why they also were slain. "Laid them down" suggests the weight of the wealth stolen. We note too that "Joshua", like the Lord Jesus his namesake, was "Yahweh" in a functional sense, although not of course God Himself in person. The material was laid down before Joshua, i:e. before Yahweh, seeing Joshua was His representative. Failure to appreciate this has led to all manner of Bible verses being misinterpreted as proof texts for the mistaken dogma of the Trinity. Likewise "all the children of Israel" surely means their representative elders, and LXX here gives "elders".</p>


text:
<p>Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the wedge of gold, his sons, his daughters, his cattle, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and all that he had; and they brought them up to the valley of Achor- </p><p>We see here how the record was written at some point afterwards, for the valley "of Achor" was named after Achan, who is called "Achor" in the Chronicles genealogies. Although the judgment was to be by burning, it was also by stoning- so that all Israel would have a hand in it. The destruction of all he had would be a lesson that the rich man who tried to get richer was being judged by losing absolutely all he ever had. We also learn from this that the people crossed Jordan along with a fair number of animals, and perhaps they also had flocks with them in the wilderness journey.</p>


text:
<p>Joshua said, Why have you troubled us? Yahweh will trouble you this day. All Israel stoned him with stones, and they burned them with fire and stoned them with stones- </p><p>Ahab's denunciation of Elijah as "he that troubles Israel" (<a href='B:110 18:17'>1Ki 18:17</a>) effectively accuses Elijah of being like Achan, the troubler of Israel (<a href='B:60 6:18'>Jos 6:18</a>):&nbsp;&nbsp;As Achan brought about Israel's defeat at the hand of her surrounding enemies, so latter-day Israel will blame their similar defeats and the strange drought which will afflict them, upon Elijah:&nbsp;&nbsp;Elijah's response to Ahab's accusation is typical of his theme of the need to throw off the worship of Baal and the other local gods, for that of Yahweh:&nbsp; "I have not troubled Israel, but you... in that you have... followed Baalim" (<a href='B:110 18:18'>1Ki 18:18</a>):&nbsp;The stress upon this may indicate that the latter-day Elijah will seek to turn Israel away from a devotion to Islam - the idol of the surrounding nations.</p><p>It was Achan who was stoned with stones. The "them" burned with fire could refer to his family, or to his possessions. Perhaps his family were brought close to observe his death, just as the families of those who committed atrocities in the holocaust were made to watch the hanging of their guilty relatives.</p>


