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June 4 - Deuteronomy 3 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello, friends, it's Sean here. It's Wednesday the 4th of June
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  and we are on our way through the book of Deuteronomy.
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  Thank you for tapping a play and coming back to pick up where we
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  left off yesterday and keep on working our way through it.
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  And you might be thinking to yourself, boy, this Old
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  Testament, reading it, it's hard work compared with, you know,
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  the the beautiful flow of the New Testament talking about
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  Jesus. The wonderful thing to know as
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  we read these words, these are the same scriptures that Jesus
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  and all of those people in the Gospels had read and read and
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  again and again and studied so that these stories really shaped
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  their world. So if we want to understand
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  Jesus ministry and those people around him who received his
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  teachings, it all comes out of the context that is set up in
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  these readings that we read, particularly this story so
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  central in their identity and their place.
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  So as we read this book of Deuteronomy, not only are we
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  giving God the opportunity to speak through these words to us
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  and our lives, but also we familiarise ourselves with the
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  world view that Jesus had during his earthly ministry.
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  So let's continue on this incredible twofold journey as we
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  read together Deuteronomy chapter 3.
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  Next we turned and headed for the land of Bashan, where King
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  Ogg and his entire army attacked us at Edray.
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  But the Lord told me, do not be afraid of him, for I have given
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  you victory over Ogg and his entire army, and I will give you
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  all his land. Treat him just as you treated
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  King Scion of the Amorites who ruled in Hejbon.
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  So the Lord our God handed King Ogg and all his people over to
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  us, and we killed them all. Not a single person survived.
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  We conquered all sixty of his towns, the entire our Gob region
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  in his Kingdom of Bashan. Not a single town escaped our
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  conquest. These towns are all fortified
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  with high walls and barred gates.
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  We also took many unwalled villages at the same time.
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  We completely destroyed the Kingdom of Bashan, just as we
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  had destroyed King Scion of Hezbon.
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  We destroyed all the people in every town we conquered, men,
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  women and children alike. But we kept all the livestock
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  for ourselves and took plunder from all the towns.
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  So we took the land of the two Amorite kings east of the Jordan
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  River, all the way from the Arnon Gorge to Mount Hermon.
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  Mount Hermon is called Syrian by the Cydonians, and the Amorites
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  call it Senna. We had now conquered all the
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  cities on the plateau and all Gilead and Bashan, as far as the
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  towns of Salakhar and Edray, which were part of Ogg's Kingdom
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  in Bashan. King Ogg of Bashan was the last
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  survivor of the great rephates. His bed was made of iron and was
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  more than 13 feet long and six feet wide.
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  It can still be seen in the Amorite city of Rabah.
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  When we took possession of this land, I gave to the tribes of
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  Reuben and Gad the territory beyond Arroa along the Arnon
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  Gorge, plus half of the Hill Country of Gilead with its
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  towns. Then I gave the rest of Gilead
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  and all of Bashan Ogg's former Kingdom to the half tribe of
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  Manasseh. This entire Agub region of
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  Bashan used to be known as the land of the Rephates.
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  Jaya, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh, conquered the whole
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  Aghab region in Bashan, all the way to the border of the
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  Gesherites and Markathites. Jaya renamed this region after
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  himself, calling it the towns of Jaya as it is still known to
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  day. I gave Gilead to the clan of
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  Marka, and I also gave part of Gilead to the tribes of Reuben
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  and Gad. The area I gave them extended
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  from the middle of the Arnon Gorge in the South to the Jabok
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  River of the Ammonites frontier. They also received the Jordan
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  Valley all the way from the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea,
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  with the Jordan River serving as the western boundary.
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  To the east were the slopes of Pisgah at that time.
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  I gave this command to the tribes that would live east of
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  the Jordan. Although the Lord your God has
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  given you this land as your property, all your fighting men
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  must cross the Jordan ahead of your Israelite relatives, armed
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  and ready to assist them. Your wives, children, and
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  numerous livestock, however, will stay behind you in the
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  towns I've given you. When the Lord has given security
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  to the rest of the Israelites as He has given to you, and when
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  they occupy the land the Lord your God is giving them across
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  the Jordan River, then you may all return here to the land I
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  have given you. At that time I gave Joshua this
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  charge. You have seen for yourself
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  everything the Lord your God has done to these two kings.
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  He will do the same to all the kingdoms on the West side of the
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  Jordan. Do not be afraid of the nations
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  there, for the Lord your God will fight for you.
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  At that time I pleaded with the Lord and said, O Sovereign Lord,
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  you have only begun to show Your greatness and the strength of
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  your hand to me, Your servant. Is there any God in heaven or on
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  earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as you?
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  Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the
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  other side, the beautiful Hill Country and the Lebanon
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  Mountains. But the Lord was angry with me
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  because of you, and He would not listen to me.
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  That's enough, he declared. Speak of it no more, but go up
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  to Pisgah Peak and look over the land in every direction.
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  Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River.
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  Instead, Commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him,
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  for he will lead the people across the Jordan.
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  He will give them all the land you now see before you as their
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  possession. So we stayed in the valley of
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  Bethpeo. Ah, our God, you are a good and
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  consistent God. And as the people at that time
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  and place, as we read these words in Deuteronomy, the
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  concept of a mighty God at the time was filled with the God who
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  was self serving and changeable and terrifying and inconsistent.
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  And here you are with your long term plans and your unchanging
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  nature. Lord, thank you that you are the
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  same from one day to the next, generation to the next, aeon to
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  the next, and that as we come before you, we know exactly who
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  you are and that who you are is so constant.
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  So Lord, when we hear the answer no from you, when we pray for
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  something, Lord, help us to know that this is part of Your bigger
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  plan for us. And that even if what we
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  desperately ask for and what we just believe that we need or so
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  desperately want at the time. Or that you have a better way
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  And that your plans are bigger with a greater awareness of time
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  stretching out in every direction.
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  And that ultimately, You are our loving Father who loves us more
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  than we could ever possibly understand.
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  So Lord, help us sit in your love, your provision, and your
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  wisdom for our lives. And thank you for the gift of
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  Jesus through which you saved us and brought us back into your
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  presence. We pray all of this in His
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  precious name, Amen.