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June 2 - Deuteronomy 1 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends. It's Sean.
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  Here it is Monday, it's the 2nd of June.
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  It's winter in my part of the world.
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  Wherever you are, I hope you're going well because we are in for
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  a treat. We are opening up a new book of
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  the Bible today in Deuteronomy. And you may have tackled this
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  book previously and found a little bit perplexing, but I'd
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  like to offer us a lens through which we can approach this book.
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  In this book, we hear Moses speaking to Israel just before
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  they enter the Promised Land. They've been in the wilderness
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  for a long time. The old disobedient generation
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  has passed away, and now this is a new generation.
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  And so Moses takes a moment before they descend into this
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  land to flesh out the 10 commandments and that covenant
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  that God made with his people on Mount Sinai so that they know
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  what it looks like to live as God's people.
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  Now, like all writings during that period of history, of
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  course, it's going to begin by extolling the virtues of the
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  author so that everyone knows we're in good hands.
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  And then it's going to move on to talking about worship as the
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  central part of this new society and understanding the importance
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  of the name of God. And then pulling apart the 10
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  commandments and what following them is going to look like so
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  that this new nation can be formed around the heart of
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  loving and obeying the God that has gone into a covenant with
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  him. And to our modern ears, hearing
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  lists of laws can sound a little bit archaic and irrelevant
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  because we're all about grace and freedom.
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  But for these people, at that time, no other religion, no
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  other God, had ever laid out clearly what God expected of his
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  people. So implicit in Deuteronomy is
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  this incredible generosity and grace of a God who reveals
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  himself to his people so that his people know exactly how to
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  live in harmony with him. So let's begin this journey
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  together, friends, as we unwrap what it is that God wants His
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  people to know about living in relationship with Him.
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  As we read together Deuteronomy chapter 1, these are the words
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  that Moses spoke to all the people of Israel while they were
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  in the wilderness east of the Jordan River.
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  They were camped in the Jordan Valley near Saf, between Pahran
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  on one side and Tafel, Laban, Hezeroth and Daisahab on the
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  other. Normally it takes only 11 days
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  to travel from Mount Sinai to Kaddish Bhania, going by way of
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  Mount Seiya. But 40 years after the
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  Israelites left Egypt, on the first day of the 11th month,
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  Moses addressed the people of Israel, telling them everything
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  the Lord had commanded him to say.
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  This took place after he had defeated King Sion of the
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  Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and at Edrey had defeated King
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  Ogh of Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth while the Israelites
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  were in the land of Moab, east of the Jordan River.
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  Moses carefully explained the Lord's instructions as follows.
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  When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, You
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  have stayed at this mountain long enough.
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  It is time to break camp and move on.
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  Go to the Hill Country of the Amorites and to all the
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  neighbouring regions, the Jordan Valley, the Hill Country, the
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  western foothills, the Negev and the coastal plain.
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  Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon and all the way
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  to the great Euphrates River. Look, I am giving all this land
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  to you. Go in and occupy it, for this is
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  the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors Abraham,
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  Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants, Moses
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  continued. At that time I told you, you are
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  too great a burden for me to carry all by myself.
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  The Lord your God has increased your population, making you as
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  numerous as the stars. And may the Lord, the God of
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  your ancestors multiply you 1000 times more and bless you as he
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  promised. But you are such a heavy load to
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  carry. How can I deal with all your
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  problems and bickering? Choose some well respected men
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  from each tribe who are known for their wisdom and
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  understanding and I will appoint them as your leaders.
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  Then you responded. Your plan is a good one, so I
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  took the wise and respected men you had selected from your
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  tribes and appointed them to serve as judges and officials
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  over you. Some were responsible for 1000
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  people, some for 100, some for 50, and some for 10.
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  At that time I instructed the judges you must hear the cases
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  of your fellow Israelites and the foreigners living among you.
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  Be perfectly fair in your decisions and impartial in your
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  judgements. Here, the cases of those who are
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  poor as well as those who are rich.
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  Don't be afraid of anyone's anger, for the decision you make
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  is God's decision. Bring me any cases that are too
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  difficult for you and I will handle them.
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  At that time I gave you instructions about everything
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  you were to do. Then, just as the Lord our God
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  commanded us, we left Mount Sinai and travelled through the
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  great and terrifying wilderness, as you yourselves remember, and
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  headed toward the Hill Country of the Amorites.
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  When we arrived at Kadeshbarnia, I said to you, You have now
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  reached the Hill Country of the Amorites that the Lord our God
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  is giving us. Look, He has placed the land in
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  front of you. Go and occupy it as the Lord the
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  God of your ancestors has promised you.
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  Don't be afraid, don't be discouraged.
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  But you all came to me and said, first let's send out scouts to
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  explore the land for us. They will advise us on the best
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  route to take and which towns we should enter.
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  This seemed like a good idea to me, so I chose 12 scouts, one
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  from each of your tribes. They headed for the Hill Country
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  and came to the valley of Eskol and explored it.
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  They picked some of its fruit and brought it back to us and
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  they reported the land the Lord our God has given us is indeed a
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  good land. But you rebelled against the
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  command of the Lord your God and refused to go in.
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  You complained in your tents and said the Lord must hate us.
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  That's why he's brought us here from Egypt to hand us over to
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  the Amorites to be slaughtered. Where can we go?
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  Our brothers have demoralised us with their report.
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  They tell us the people of the land are taller and more
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  powerful than we are, and their towns are large with walls
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  rising high into the sky. We even saw giants there, the
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  descendants of Anuk. But I said to you, don't be
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  shocked or afraid of them. The Lord your God is going ahead
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  of you. He will fight for you, just as
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  you saw him do in Egypt. And you saw how the Lord your
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  God cared for you all along the way, as he travelled through the
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  wilderness, just as a father cares for his child.
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  Now he has brought you to this place.
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  But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your
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  God, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp,
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  guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of
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  cloud by day. When the Lord heard you
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  complaining, he became very angry, so he solemnly swore.
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  Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the
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  good land I swore to give your ancestors, except Caleb, son of
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  Geffenae. He will see this land because he
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  has followed the Lord completely.
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  I will give to him and his descendants some of the very
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  land he explored during his scouting mission.
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  And the Lord was also angry with me because of you.
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  He said to me, Moses, not even you will enter the Promised
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  Land. Instead, your assistant, Joshua,
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  son of Nun, will lead the people into the land.
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  Encourage him, for he will lead Israel as they take possession
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  of it. I will give the land to your
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  little ones, your innocent children.
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  You were afraid they would be captured, but they will be the
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  ones who occupy it. As for you, turn around now and
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  go back through the wilderness toward the Red Sea, then you
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  confessed we have sinned against the Lord.
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  We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our
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  God has commanded us. So your men strapped on their
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  weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the Hill Country.
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  But the Lord told me to tell you, do not attack, for I am not
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  with you. If you go ahead on your own, you
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  will be crushed by your enemies. This is what I told you.
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  But you would not listen. Instead, you rebelled against
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  the Lord's command and arrogantly went into the Hill
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  Country to fight. But the Amorites who lived there
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  came out against you like a swarm of bees.
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  They chased and battered you all the way from Sayer to Horma.
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  Then you returned and wept before the Lord, but he refused
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  to listen. So you stayed there at Kadesh
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  for a long time? Our Lord, you are a great,
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  magnificent, wise and all knowing God, and You care for us
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  in ways that we cannot possibly understand, and you lead us to
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  places, places that you have prepared for us and ask us to
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  step out in faith. Our Father, I pray that you
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  would continue your work in US, giving us obedient hearts so
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  that as your busy work is done, that we would step confidently
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  following your lead into these places so that we can work for
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  your Kingdom's good, that we can shine Your love, and that we can
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  enjoy the beautiful things that you prepare for us both now and
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  in eternity. And thank you that you have
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  given us Jesus, that you have told us exactly what we need to
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  do to come to you, and that is to believe in you, your love for
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  us and your Lordship over all. Ah, we believe, we love you and
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  we are so grateful. Our mighty God, our kind
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  Saviour, our constant companion. And we pray all of this in the
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  name of Jesus, Amen.