Moses asks the Lord for a successor. Even though he must have greatly desired Joshua to be that man, yet he doesn’t ask for him. He leaves it in the Lord’s hand. And look what happened, God gave him Joshua!

The Israelites were told to drive out the inhabitants of the land, destroy their idols, and demolish their high places. If not, these inhabitants would become barbs in their eyes and thorns in their sides. What an understatement! If only the Israelites had obeyed God completely. These idols and high places would be a source of great disobedience on the part of God's people.

The people are reminded of what the Amalekites did to them along the way. They attacked those who were weary and worn out or who were lagging behind. Great lesson for us. When we are at our weakest, we are easy prey for the enemy. But equally important, when we are at our strongest, we are also easy prey. Whenever we are doing something big for the kingdom, we get Satan's attention and he tries to "cut us off".

In the plans for the cities for the Levites, it seems as if God is placing a “pocket” of Levites to essentially surround each of the towns. Maybe to be a buffer for them spiritually?

Has God placed any of us as a spiritual buffer for others?