What a beautiful story, the anointing of David. Anointing of oil was symbolic of setting a person apart for God’s service. “…from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power”.We too have been anointed.
2 Cor 1:21-22
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
David was anointed king, yet he had to wait to be king, even though he was empowered by the Lord’s Spirit. Think about all the things that David learned while waiting. How often does God choose to have us wait? Do we use our waiting time wisely?

Why did God allow an evil spirit to torment Saul? (see 1 Kings 22:19-23 and Job 1:6-12)  At this point in time, Saul did not know that David had been anointed as king.

The armies of the Philistines and Israelites were camped opposite each other with a valley in between with steep walls on each side.  Often armies would send their strongest to battle to declare the winner to save the loss of many lives.  This is why Goliath (obviously a mighty warrior) was the champion for the Philistines.

When David related his success with a bear and a lion, we imagined that David might have struck the animal with his slingshot as the animal was leaving with the sheep in his mouth.  Then when the animal turned after being struck, David struck back and killed the wild animal in order to save the sheep. Now, this scenario doesn't seem humanly possible.  However, we are told that the spirit of the Lord came upon David in power on the day that he was anointed by Samuel.  Was David given the same physical strength that Samson was given?

What faith David had! He acknowledged that his deliverance from wild animals came from God and he had no doubt that God would deliver him from Goliath.

How is it with our faith? Do we trust God to deliver us from our “Goliaths”? Remember the entry from yesterday?
1Ch 5:20
And when they prevailed over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him. 

According to Acts 13:22 David was a man after God's own heart.
He raised up David to them to be their king; to whom He also witnessed and said, I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after My own heart, who shall fulfill all My will. 
In order to be a man (or woman) after God's own heart, we must do His will.  Just another example of complete obedience to Him.

1 Samuel 14:52a
"All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines..."
 Saul was never completely at peace or completely victorious over his enemies.

The eastern tribes of Israel wage war against the Hagrites. These people, the Hagrites  are generally regarded as descendants of Hagar (mother of Abraham's son Ishmael), and a branch of the Ishmaelites.  They appear to have been fairly wealthy because of the number of camels they owned. (1 Chron 5:21).

1Ch 5:20
And when they prevailed over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea because they trusted in him.

What an amazing little verse that is! Can we claim that verse today? Can we cry out to God in the middle of our "battles" because we trust in Him?

As we read the story of his life, it is simply amazing how often King Saul compromised, transferred blame, and rationalized....Oops…guess we do that too don’t we?  Another connection we can make from Saul to us today is that his obedience was somewhat "selective" at times. Selective obedience is another form of disobedience.

1Sa 15:22
And Samuel replied, Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams!
How very true for us today.  God doesn't want us to give him "lip-service" or just "go through the motions" of worshiping or serving Him.  He wants our obedience!

“I am grieved that I have made Saul king…”

God doesn’t make mistakes, at least that's what our four old granddaughter Addy told us last Saturday. He doesn’t regret any actions. And He doesn’t change His mind. “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind…”

He is simply grieved that Saul is doing what he is doing. Do we grieve the Lord by some of the things we are doing?

Again, that pride in Saul surfaces. He builds a monument in his own honor. And again, Saul does not obey the Lord completely when he says he has saved the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord. He wasn't supposed to save anything. Then Samuel gives Saul a stinging rebuke. Saul rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord rejected Saul.

Even with Saul's repentance, he transfers blame to the people, saying he was afraid of them and so he gave in to their wishes. HA! Reminds us of Aaron and the golden calf incident.

Saul asks Samuel to forgive him.  He doesn't ask God to forgive him.

A very interesting word is written in 1Sa 15:30.
Saul replied, "I have sinned! Now please honor me in front of the leaders of my people and in front of  Israel. Come back with me, and let me worship the LORD your God."
Saul says "the Lord your God", not the Lord our God. Hmmm...does that mean that Saul has rejected the Lord as the Lord rejected him?

Saul's pride begins to rear its ugly head. His son Jonathan attacks a Philistine outpost. Saul claims the victory as his own.

Then, to his credit, Saul prepares burnt offferings to the Lord - a good thing, right? Sure, it was a good thing, but... Saul gets impatient waiting on Samuel to arrive to offer up the burnt offering to God and he does it himself - not a good thing. What Saul did was in a good way, but not God's way...big difference! Many times we as a church and as individual Believers, do good things, but not always Godly things. Again, there's a big difference!  When Samuel says that Saul has acted foolishly, he was in effect saying the Saul acted as a non-believer.

After this act God removed the kingdom from the hand of Saul and gave it to "a man after his own heart."  It has been made clear that God has already chosen Saul's replacement.

Saul's son Jonathan again comes forward, stepping out in faith to attack the Philistines. God gave the Philistines into the Israelites' hand.  Here is an interesting modern day connection to this biblical story.
"During World War I, British forces under the command of General Allenby were to face the Turks at the same location. Major Vivian Gilbert of the British army relates the story of an unnamed brigade major who was reading his bible while contemplating the situation against the Ottoman forces. The brigade major remembered a town by the name of Michmash mentioned somewhere in the Bible. He found the verses, and discovered that there was supposedly a secret path around the town. He woke the brigadier general, and they found that the path still existed and was very lightly guarded. The British forces used this path to outmaneuver the Ottomans, and so took the town."

Jonathan stepped out on faith. So, how is it with us as Believers, do we step out in faith, and do God's will even if it seems as if we are going against impossible circumstances?

A sad commentary concerning Samuel’s two sons, “They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.”Sounds a bit like some of our leaders today, doesn’t it?

In Samuel's day, the people wanted a king. Now, at first this request sounded like a good thing. They said they didn't want Samuel's ungodly sons leading them. God warned them that they wouldn’t like having a king. But did they listen? Of course not! They wanted to be like the other nations. They wanted to be like the world. The people were rejecting any spiritual leader. They wanted God out of their lives. God let them exercise their free will just as He does us now. He warned them just as He warns us. The connections with ancient Israel and current events is spelled out in an amazing book, The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn. We highly recommend it!   Isaiah 9:10 Judgment is a video that we also highly recommend.

If you read about all the warnings spelled out in 1 Samuel 8:10-18, you will see just how many comparisons there are to be made to today's governments.

Here's their reasoning as to why they wanted a king:
“Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
What a stupid statement! Why do they need a king to fight their battles? THEY HAD THE LORD!!!

Many people were introduced to Saul as he searched around looking for his father's donkeys (the "pick-up truck" of the day).  Were they impressed by him?

Saul's lack of knowledge about Samuel seems to display his ignorance of spiritual matters.

Interesting that Saul used the same lame excuse that Gideon used, that he was of the least of all the clans of the tiny tribe of Benjamin. Also interesting that Saul/Paul of the New Testament was from the tribe of Benjamin. They both had a “change of heart”.

When Saul hid among the baggage was he displaying his fear of the great responsibility that Samuel had given him and was worried about his inadequacies?

“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes!”Another great lesson for us today. We just need to stand still, trust Him, and watch what He does.

In Samuel's farewell address he reminds the people of their sins, including the sin of asking for a king.  Then the people acknowledge that sin but even though they knew it was wrong to ask for a king they still wanted a king.  They should have rejected Saul and placed the Lord in His rightful place!  We as Believers in Jesus may know it's wrong to do certain things and yet we do them anyway.  It's hard to break away from the traditions of men especially when everyone around us hangs on to traditions.  When it comes to the false doctrine "traditions of men" we should be as Teflon - let them slide right off.  When it comes to the "commandments of God" we should be as Velcro - and stick to them. (Mark 7:7-8)

Can we sin against the Lord by failing to pray for people? Samuel thought so.
1 Sam 12:23
As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.

“…consider what great things he has done for you.”
What a great verse to contemplate!

Hannah's little boy Samuel grew up under the watchful eye of the priest Eli.

In those days the word of the Lord was rare. Was that because the people were so evil?  It seems as if there was no spiritual connection with the Lord because there was nothing for the Lord to "plug in to".

One night Samuel was lying down in the temple when the Lord spoke to him.

“Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord. The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”
Is this because Eli had not prepared Samuel?  God was speaking. Samuel was listening. Samuel was more than willing to respond to Eli’s voice, and just as willing to respond to the voice of God.

“The Lord came and stood there…”
The word of the Lord (the pre-incarnate Son of God) had just been revealed to Samuel. 

“The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.”
Sounds like the Lord appeared to Samuel in bodily form. Another encounter with the Son of God?

Israel's age-old enemy the Philistines appear once more on the scene and soundly defeat the Israelites in battle. Then the elders of Israel make a very bad judgment call! They take the Ark of the Covenant out of the Holy Place and into battle with the Philistines. They put their trust in the ark of the Lord, instead of the Lord of the Ark. The result? The Israelite army was defeated and the ark was captured. But read 1 Samuel 5 and see what happened to the Philistines. The ark brought nothing but trouble with a capital T.

The Ark of the Covenant was supposed to stay in the Holy of Holies and not be visited but once a year on the Day of Atonement and then only by the high priest.

The Philistines were descendants from Noah's son Ham.  Dagon, god of grain and harvest, was the most worshiped god of the Philistines. The god Dagon kept falling down while in the presence of the Ark of the Covenant and so the Philistines kept sending the Ark to other places.  Disaster always followed.

After crying out to the Lord, Israel then defeats the Philistines, but not in their own power, only through the power of God. Good reminder for us Believers today.
Phil 4:13
I can do everything through him who gives me strength.
We think this verse should be read in this way, "Through him who gives me strength, I can do everything." This way it puts God first.

Samuel called for re-dedication for the whole house of Israel.  It is a classic "if  - then" proclamation!
If...
1. you return to the Lord with all your hearts
2. you rid yourselves of the foreign gods and Ashtoreths
3. you commit yourselves to the Lord
4. you serve Him only

Then...the Lord will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.  Reminds us of 2 Chronicles 7:14.  The only problem then was that the people put away the pagan gods but didn't destroy them.  They were to destroy any tiny bit of paganism.  But they didn't and there was still a lingering influence.  So true for us today.  We have been told if we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, repent....then He will...

In the midst of all the spiritual apostasy going on around them, both Hannah and Elkanah were devout enough to go to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice at the prescribed times. And yet, Elkanah had two wives. Did he take Peninnah as his second wife because Hannah was barren?

Contrast the devotion of Elkanah to the actions of Eli’s sons.

Hannah wanted something so much (a son) that she was willing to give it up. Check out Hannah's prayer. She relates a great contrast between godliness and corruption. This great insight from Hannah was uncommon in the biblical record.

Even though, Hannah gave up her son in service to the Lord as soon as he was weaned, she still was a typical mother in many ways. She made him a special little robe each year.

Samuel was from the tribe of Ephraim.

The two sons of Eli, the priest were corrupt. In fact the entire priesthood seemed to be corrupt. Look at what the two sons did concerning the Lord's offering. And Eli benefited from his son's sins.  Not all "godly" men are Godly men.  They were taking out the best first for themselves.  Connections today???

“Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.” What does it mean to grow up in the presence of the Lord?

There is mention of "faithful priest" who will minister before the Lord's anointed. There are many prophetic foreshadowings of the "faithful priest".  One of them is the faithful priest Zadok. His descendants will serve before the Messiah in the millennial kingdom.

Ezek 44:15-16
"'But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service.

These descendants of Zadok will be given this high honor because Zadok was faithful in carrying out his duties in the sanctuary.

How are all of us as Believers doing in carrying out our duties in the midst of spiritual apostasy? Are we as faithful as the priest Zadok?

A Levite living in the hill country of Ephraim took a concubine (something like a common-law wife) but she was unfaithful to him.  This unfaithfulness doesn't necessarily mean she committed adultery, but that she simply left him to go back to her father's house.  The Levite went after his concubine and on the way back home with her, stopped at Gibeah.  The common practice of the day when traveling was to go into the city and sit in the city square until someone offered a place to stay for the night.  An old man offered his house.  Wicked men of the city came to the old man's house demanding that he send the man out to them so they could have sex with him.  This story is quite reminiscent of what happened in Sodom with Lot and his family and the angels.  The old man offered his virgin daughters, which the wicked men refused, and the Levite man offered his concubine.  The men did disgraceful things to the concubine and she died.  When the man returned home, he cut up the concubine into 12 parts and sent the pieces into all the areas of Israel.  As a result the Israelites decided to do battle against Benjamin.  However, they did not inquire of the Lord before going into battle.  As a result the Israelites were defeated by the warriors of Benjamin in this battle.  After this defeat, the Israelites wept before the Lord and then they inquired of the Lord.  They were still defeated in battle by the Benjamites.  Lastly, the Israelites wept, fasted, presented sin offerings, and then inquired of the Lord.  They were successful.

Lessons for us today?
We have to learn obedience, make ourselves right before the Lord by repenting of our sins, inquire of Him concerning our decisions, then we will be successful in "battle".  We do battle each day with the evil forces of  wickedness.  Our weapons come from God's Word.

The tribe of Benjamin had turned to homosexuality – a practice that God calls an abomination. God used the Israelites to discipline the Benjamites. He wanted homosexuality purged from Israel.  Yet the people grieved for Benjamin.  They had made an oath that they would not give their daughters in marriage to any man from the tribe of Benjamin.  After making this oath, they grieved for Benjamin because this would cause a gap in the tribes of Israel. So they subverted their oath by finding a "loophole".  They couldn't GIVE their daughters to the Benjamites but they could allow their daughters to be TAKEN. (Judges 21:16-24).  The intent of the vow they took was to deny their daughters in marriage to the Benjamites.  They violated this vow, "loophole" or not.

One of the most profound statements in the Chronological Bible commentary so far is this one. “Religious apostasy is somewhat understandable in an age of idolatry and pagan practices, so it is not surprising to see the Israelites repeatedly lapse into spiritual unfaithfulness."

It is absolutely amazing how applicable this is to our world today. Many of God’s people continue to “fall away” from sound biblical teaching. This is spiritual unfaithfulness. Paul echoed these same words in his letter  to Timothy.

2 Tim 4:3-5
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Why would we want to turn away from God's truth and honor pagan practices instead?  Are we, like the ancient Israelites finding a "loophole" to suit our own desires?

But what a great encouragement Paul gave to Timothy and to us.

But you (put your name here), keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Even though there may be spiritual unfaithfulness all around us, we must keep on doing the work that God has called us to do...to be His faithful witnesses!

What a sad note concerning those Israelites who continually were attracted by pagan idols and practices...“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.”

Does this sound like our world today? Everyone does as everyone wants. So much emphasis today is on what feels good, it seems to be all about self-gratification.

The Danites, from the tribe of Dan (one of the 12 tribes of Israel) hadn’t yet claimed the inheritance that God   promised them. They took Laish and renamed it Dan. There they set up idols. This among other things is why the tribe of Dan is excluded from the 144,000 listed in Revelation.

Did you ever wonder what happened to Moses’ descendants? Some apparently didn’t do so well. One of his descendants fell in with the tribe of Dan and continued to use idols.

Micah installed a young Levite as priest and offered him ten shekels of silver a year, food, clothing, and shelter in exchange for acting as priest for him, in a shrine that included an ephod and some idols. Micah rationalized installing this Levite as priest saying,"Now I know that the Lord will be good to me, since this Levite has become my priest."  

The man, Micah plays an infamous role in today's reading. He compromised and perverted true worship of God. Through his leading, the rest of the tribe practiced idolatry. The Power of One truly is illustrated in this story. Micah led the people away from God. As individual Believers today, we too have the Power of One, the power to lead people to God and not away from Him. It should be easy for us. After all, we have the Power of the Holy Spirit with us!

More Christophanies in today's reading...evidence of God the Son in the Old Testament.

Manoah's wife was sterile until she was visited by an angel of the Lord. When his wife saw the man of God she thought He looked like an angel. In Manoah's encounter with this same man of God, Manoah recognized that this man of God was the angel of the Lord. Manoah inquired of Him, “Are you the one who talked to my wife.”

The angel identified Himself just as He did with Moses at the burning bush, as “I am.”

Then Manoah asked His name, just as Jacob did in the “wrestling” incident with the man.

Then this most wonderful of images…Manoah and his wife witnessed the ascension. They knew they had seen God because they thought they were doomed to die…same thing that Gideon said when he saw the angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Son of God!

Oh, and the son born of the sterile wife of Manoah? None other than the man Samson.

Samson was a Nazarite, set apart from birth to begin the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. The spirit of the Lord came upon him in power and he was able to do great and powerful things.

"The Spirit of the Lord began to stir him..." What exactly does that mean to have the Spirit of the Lord stir a person? The Hebrew word is "pa-am" and means "to thrust, agitate, be disturbed, troubled". Now if the Spirit of the Lord is the one doing the stirring, it must be to agitate a person to do something godly, or to be disturbed about sin, or be troubled about current events that are not going the way they should. In 2012, many people were reading the book, The Harbinger. We were stirred to DO something.

Samson taking a Philistine wife was "of the Lord", which means this was in the plan in order to fulfill the purposes of God.

Because he was a Nazarite, Samson was to use no razor on his head, and yet he allowed his head to be shaved, breaking his vow. After this the Lord left him.  The length of his hair had nothing to do with his strength.  His strength came from God.

Samson did redeem himself later when he began the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the Philistines. He accomplished what God intended him to do. God's will WILL be done!

Oh, how rich is today’s reading! Have we said that before???

It is impossible for a believer to read the story of Ruth and not be overcome with its significance.
It is a story of how God puts ordinary people (Ruth and Boaz) together to do “extra” ordinary things.

The commentary in today's reading states that Ruth is a Gentile.  This word is used in the New Testament to differentiate between those who were Jews and those who were not.  The primary reference is to a difference of religion and worship.  In Ruth's case she was a Moabite, a descendant of Lot who was a Hebrew.

Can we draw some conclusions here about Ruth's statement concerning Naomi's God? Was Naomi's faith so strong, her witness so great that Ruth wanted to follow after this God of Naomi? Is our Christian faith and witness that strong? Ruth left her country, her family, her home to go with Naomi. Had Ruth not gone with Naomi, Naomi would have been hard pressed. She may not have been able to glean for herself.

When they arrived in Bethlehem it was during the barley harvest, late spring.

Was it love at first sight when Boaz saw Ruth? He told the harvesters to deliberately drop some good stalks for Ruth to pick up.

What a beautiful illustration of a kinsman redeemer in Boaz for Ruth. It shows us the connection with Jesus as our kinsman redeemer.

Naomi told Ruth to wash, perfume herself, and put on her best clothes and go to Boaz at the threshing floor. This meant that Ruth was no longer in mourning and was available for marriage. When Ruth went to the threshing and removed the garment from Boaz, she was letting him know that she was ready for marriage.  The obligatory time of mourning was past.  It was again time for the barley harvest, which meant a year had passed.

Boaz sent Ruth back to Naomi with a bundle of barley. But it was much more than that, Ruth returned to Naomi with the knowledge that she would be redeemed.

The transaction at the city gate was a legal binding agreement. The city gate was where the business of the town was taken care of, like a courthouse or town hall. Notice they didn't write out contracts, a sandal would do.

When the elders of the town say, to Boaz, "may your family be like that of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah", they were in effect amending the established law that the son of the kinsman redeemer would be considered the son of the dead husband of the woman he was marrying. They were giving permission for Boaz to be listed as father in his son's genealogy, rather than Ruth's dead husband Mahlon.  They made an exception of the law as was done with Judah and Tamar. Also, Naomi was considered the grandmother of the son of Ruth and Boaz even though technically, he was a distant relative.

Think about the genealogy of both of these people. Ruth was a descendant of the incestuous relationship of Lot and his daughters. Boaz was the son of the Jericho prostitute Rahab. And yet God chose Ruth and Boaz  to be great grandparents of King David and so the ancestors of Jesus.

What foreshadowing in this quote to Boaz from the elders at the gate, “May you have standing in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.”

Through the descendants of Boaz certainly came One who is and who was famous in Bethlehem!

In the opening verses of Judges 10 we read about a couple of Israel's leaders and no mention of whether or not they were obedient to the Lord.  Then beginning with verse 6 we find that the Israelites are once again doing evil in the eyes of the Lord.  It mentions several gods including Baal and Ashtoreth and other gods who were similar gods but with different names.  Baal was the god of the harvest and Ashtoreth was the goddess of sex.  The god Chemosh mentioned in Judges 11 was the national deity of the Moabites and a god of the Ammonites, also identified with ‘Baal-peor’, ‘Baal-zebub’, ‘Mars’ and ‘Saturn’.  It would seem that if the people were doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, then the leaders were disobedient to the Lord.

Because the people served these false gods, the Lord sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. (The Ammonites were descended from Ammon, Lot's son by his daughter).  Israel was in great distress because of their disobedience in following other gods.

Gilead is a mountainous region bounded on the west by the Jordan, on the north by Bashan, on the east by the Arabian plateau, and on the south by Moab and Ammon; sometimes called ‘Mount Gilead’ or the ‘land of Gilead’ or just ‘Gilead’. Divided into north and south Gilead.

Stories in the Bible don’t always have a “happily ever after” ending. The story of Jephthah and his daughter is one of those stories that is both shocking and confusing. Jephthah made a rash bargain with God. If God would allow him victory against his enemies, he would sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house. Unfortunately, it was his daughter that came out of the house to meet him. How could a man make such a promise? Equally shocking and confusing is that Jephthah’s daughter also honored her father’s bargain.

When Jephthah told his daughter about the bargain he had made with God, she asked to be allowed two months to roam the hills and weep with her friends.  Did Jephthah think that she might run away to a distant land and he wouldn't have to sacrifice her?  Also, did he think that God would stop the sacrifice of his daughter the way He stopped the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham?  Notice that the girl returned to her father willingly.

What does God say about such a bargain as Jephthah made?
Eccl 5:4-6a
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it. He has no pleasure in fools; fulfill your vow. It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it. Do not let your mouth lead you into sin.

Leviticus and Deuteronomy list rules pertaining to vows of dedication.
Deut 23:21-23
If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to pay it, for the LORD your God will certainly demand it of you and you will be guilty of sin. But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty. Whatever your lips utter you must be sure to do, because you made your vow freely to the LORD your God with your own mouth.

This passage is very clear that such vows like the one that Jephthah made are not from the Lord. They are from the mouth of men. Lessons for us are equally clear. We must be very cautious in making vows to the Lord.  But when we make a vow, we'd better keep our end of the bargain.

We get a glimpse into the character of Gideon when he admits that he is afraid. (chapter 7, verses 10, 11). Another glimpse of his character is when he makes the statement right before the Midianites flee, "For the Lord and for Gideon." Was pride beginning to surface here?

The Israelites wanted to make Gideon their ruler after he killed the two kings of Midian (incidentally Moses father-in-law was a priest of Midian). Gideon tells them that he will not be their ruler, that the Lord will rule over them. Yet Gideon makes a golden ephod from the plunder that had been taken from the Midianites. This ephod is usually something worn by the priest. Another definition of the word ephod is image. This ephod or image was placed in Gideon's town and all Israel worshiped the golden ephod. Now this sounds as if Gideon wanted a lasting monument to himself, and not something to honor God. And look what happened with the people.

Jdg 8:27b
All Israel chased after it there as though it were a prostitute. It became a trap for Gideon and his family.
Does this mean that there were sexual orgies going on around the golden ephod as there were at the golden calf recorded in Exodus?

Even though Gideon sinned God allowed the land peace for 40 years during Gideon's lifetime and he died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of his father. What a merciful God we have!

It gets a little confusing with the two different names, Gideon and Jerub-Baal. Can you believe he had seventy sons??? And even more astounding that one of those sons, the son of a concubine, would kill all seventy of them, save for Jotham. Was Jotham another son of the concubine? Seems like the math doesn't work here with the seventy.

Lots of lessons to be learned from Gideon. As we are faithful to God, He will give us more responsibility. God expands and uses the abilities He has already built into us. God uses us in spite of our limitations and failures. We can easily fall into sin if we are not consistently following God.

Great lessons for us today, wouldn't you say???

Oh, so much to write about today’s reading!

Often a prophet rises up to remind the people of what God has done for them. This prophet also reminds them that they were told not to worship other gods.  And they are reminded that they have not been obedient.

When Gideon first appears in Scripture he is threshing wheat in a winepress.  Threshing wheat usually was done outside, often on a hillside so the wind could blow the lighter chaff away,  leaving the grains of wheat. In this case Gideon had to thresh the wheat in somewhat of a pit that was hidden from view.

No doubt about the identity of the Angel of the Lord. Gideon knew he was speaking with God. Otherwise why would he have thought he was going to die?

Exod 33:20
But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."

If we can’t see God and live and yet Gideon saw God, there is only one explanation. Gideon was face to face with God the Son.

How often have we thought similar thoughts as Gideon's?“My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
Yet we should know that if God asks us to do something, He will empower us to do it!

God told Gideon that He would be with him and yet Gideon asks for a sign! Why can’t we just take God at His word and believe His promises to us?

Or was Gideon just being cautious and making sure he got things right? Later on we will see some evidence of Gideon's character that may help us decide the answer to this question.

God reduced the number of fighting men so that there could be no mistake that the victory was from God.

Why on earth would the men who lapped with their hands be the ones chosen to do the fighting? Could it be because by lapping with their hands they were able to still be watching for the enemy? Instead of having their faces down in the water? We are warned about watching for the enemy from the apostle Peter.

1 Pet 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.While Satan cannot devour our salvation, he sure can devour our witness and our testimony. We must be alert to his schemes!

Jesus said it so well!
Matt 26:41
Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Deborah was the fifth judge of Israel, a prophetess and the only female judge. Deborah's home was in the hill country of Ephraim between Bethel and Ramah.  She also answered the call to become a female military leader, an unlikely commander of military forces.  This was a radical departure from standard biblical themes which rarely place women in roles as warriors and generals.

Deborah summoned Barak and told him it was God's will that he lead her forces against the mighty warrior, Sisera. Sisera was the commander of the army of Jabin, king of Canaan, who had terrorized Israel for 20 years. Barak accepted on one condition: Deborah must accompany him. Deborah and Barak's army consisted of only 10,000, while Sisera had a multitude of fighters and 900 chariots of iron.

When the battle ended, not a single man of Sisera's army survived, except Sisera himself, who fled on foot. When Sisera took refuge in the tent of Heber the Kenite, Jael (the wife of Heber) drove a tent peg through his temple killing him. Ouch!

Then the land had peace for forty years. Is that because of the obedience of Deborah leading the people into obedience?
A great responsibility our leaders have, isn't it?

We took a real journey on this verse.
Jdg 5:20
They fought from heaven; the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.

We wondered if these "stars" were referring to angles involved in spiritual warfare. So we started looking at the Hebrew words referring to stars and courses. We found this comment from John Wesley on Jdg 5:20.
"From heaven - Or, they from heaven, or the heavenly host fought, by thunder, and lightning, and hail - stones, possibly mingled with fire. The stars - Raising these storms by their influences, which they do naturally. Courses - Or, from their paths, or stations. As soldiers fight in their ranks and places assigned them, so did these."

What Wesley is saying is that he believes this verse refers to angels involved in a spiritual battle in the heavenly realms. It seems as if these "stars" being referred to have certain "stations" or rank. We know there is a hierarchy in heaven, so this comment from Wesley really makes sense.
Fascinating thought, huh?

Makes us think about the Frank Peretti book, This Present Darkness. Here is a link to the book. We highly recommend it.

http://www.amazon.com/This-Present-Darkness-Frank-Peretti/dp/1581345283/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1299975013&sr=1-1

The last few chapters of the book of Joshua are filled with instances of God giving showers of blessings if they obey and downpours of curses if they disobey. This litany is repeated in the first few chapters of the book of Judges. The people then were consistently warned of coming judgment if they did not repent and turn back to Him.  They didn't see the consequences of instant gratification. We are warned today.  And today we don't see the consequences of instant gratification. History has shown us that while God consistently warns of coming judgment, He also consistently gives chance after chance after chance to change. His grace and mercy are abundant! It was their choice. It is our choice.

Judg 2:10
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.

And whose fault was that? They had been given this admonition earlier.
Deut 4:9
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.
The people forgot what God had done for them. They neglected to teach it to their children. They prostituted  themselves to other gods. Remember God’s relationship to His people is like a marriage. These people were  God’s people. They had a covenant relationship with Him. To go after other gods for self-serving motives is to be a prostitute, which is what they did and what they were.

Do you notice the correlation to what we do as Believers now? Don’t we prostitute ourselves when we value other pleasurable things above our worship of God?

Jdg 3:7
The people of Israel forgot the LORD their God; they sinned against him and worshiped the idols of Baal and Asherah.
This was SO not a good thing! Baal was the god of the harvest. Asherah was the goddess of sex and fertility.  They worshiped these "gods" for what they supposedly could do for them. They believed that Baal gave them good and abundant crops (translation today, wealth, money, possessions). And of course, they believed Asherah gave them the pleasures of sex (translation today, sex is still elevated to worship status) In other words, nothing has changed.

Remember the story of Othniel, Caleb's brother's son? Caleb gave his daughter to Othniel. He proved to be a good choice. God sent him to be a deliverer for Israel.

Whenever the people of Israel did evil, God gave them into the hands of their enemies. Then when they cried out to Him, God sent them a deliverer. They continued to repeat this pattern again and again.

Praise God, He sent us our final Deliverer, Jesus!

Finally Joseph's bones rest in Shechem, modern day Nablus. Interesting link to a 2008 article concerning Joseph's tomb.http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=56238

Judges 1:1
After the death of Joshua, the Israelites asked the Lord, "Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?"
God had already told them earlier that He (God) would do their fighting for them (Joshua 23).  A better question for them to ask would have been, "Who will be the first to go into the land?"

The Lord answered with, "Judah is to go; I have given the land into their hands."  And yet, the men of Judah asked their brothers the Simeonites to go and fight with them. Then Judah and Simeon join forces and fight for Jerusalem, a city in Benjamin's territory. They were unsuccessful in part because they were influenced with pagan culture in the land. Not so sure that Jerusalem was supposed to be burned.

The people were again disobedient in part and suffered the consequence of being unable to drive out some of the inhabitants of the land.

The commentary in the Chronological Bible, "The danger of incomplete conquest is the lingering presence of pagan influence." Not much difference today.  The Israelites were fascinated with the pagan culture around them.  Again, not much difference for us today.  Many people are fascinated with paganism and the occult.

Judah and Simeon join forces and attack the Canaanites and Perizzites. A rather unique thing happens with a ruler named Adoni-Bezek.
Jdg 1:6
And Adoni-bezek fled. And they ran after him and caught him, and cut off his thumbs and his big toes.
This makes a person rather handicapped. He can no longer run or wield a sword or bow.

Interesting connection with the angel of the Lord in Judges 2:1-5 and the angel of the Lord in Exodus 23:20-22. Seems as if we are seeing a pattern here.

Another pattern emerges as well. The people were told to break down the altars of the pagan gods. They did not and the gods became a snare. The people wept when the Angel of the Lord revealed this to them and they offered sacrifices to the Lord. The question remains. Were they only giving "lip-service"?

n Joshua's farewell address, he reminds the people then, and us Believers today, of the following:
1. Love the Lord your God
2. Walk in all His ways
3. Obey His commands
4. Hold fast to Him
5. Serve Him with all your heart and soul

How are all of us as Believers doing on these five things? Loving the Lord is easy, holding fast to Him is easy, serving Him is another matter, and walking in His ways and obeying His commands... well that's another matter entirely.

Oops, guess we forgot about Deuteronomy 30:1.
"The command that I am giving you today is not too difficult or beyond your reach.

However, in order to walk in His ways and obey His commands, we must know what they are. We do that by studying His word and listening to the Holy Spirit speak.

Joshua also reminds the people...
Jos 23:6
And be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the Law of Moses, so that you do not turn aside from it to the right or to the left;

To keep those five things listed above, we must be courageous. We must be different. There will always be something there on the left or the right for us to turn to. That takes many forms today.

God offers again to push the current inhabitants out of the land if only His people would obey His laws and commandments.  He had already prepared the land for them.  All they had to do was to go in and claim it as their own.  It seems as if God is, in effect saying that even though they have been disobedient in the past, He is offering them a "do-over", a chance to obey Him and start over. But do they take Him up on His offer?  They said they would and even set up a monument of stone as a witness.

What great words from Joshua, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”Joshua was the decision maker for his family. He was the spiritual leader of his house. Again, how are we as Believers doing with that one? We must choose every day, even several times a day, whether or not we will serve the Lord. When we are tempted to turn to the right or to the left, we must choose to serve Him. He's given us this promise.
Isa 30:21
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

“He is a holy God; he is a jealous God.”God tells us early on that He views our relationship with Him as a   marriage. He doesn’t want any other “god” taking our attention. We (Phil and Patti) find great comfort in that!

Chapters 18-21 of the book of Joshua are filled with specifications for the land allotments of the tribes.  Remember, this land allotment was significantly smaller than the land given to Abraham.  The land would have been much larger had Abraham only walked the land given to him.  That land would have extended from Turkey to the Persian Gulf following the Euphrates River, from the Persian Gulf to the Nile River, up the Mediterranean coast and back to Turkey.  Because of their disobedience, the land eventually was taken away from them and the people were taken into captivity.  There are consequences to disobedience then and now.

Only the tribe of Dan is listed as having difficulty taking possession of their territory. The tribe of Dan took property that was not given to them by God. They will pay for this later. None of the other tribes seemed to have had any problems.

Six cities are named as Cities of Refuge. This appears to be a foreshadowing of the places of safety that will be provided during the last days and also a foreshadowing of the protection from the wrath of God that only Jesus can provide. Notice that in each of Aaron's descendants is a City of Refuge.

Going back to the tribe of Dan and their difficulty in taking their God-given land, could it be that they did not trust the Lord's provisions for them? We have this promise listed , “Not one of the Lord’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.”

God kept His promises then. He keeps His promises now. Here are a few of our favorite promises. John 14:15-18, John 14:1-3, I Cor. 12, Is. 35:10, I John 5:14-15, John 14:27.

Claiming His promises is all about trust! We trust Him, we obey Him, He keeps His promises.  Pretty simple!

The commentary in the Chronological Bible for today's reading contains this sentence, "For some unknown reason, the tribes of Judah and Ephriam, and the remaining half-tribe of Manasseh, are given a preferential portion of the land..."  The reason IS known.  Look at pages 92-94 (Genesis 48-49).  Jacob blessed these tribes more than the others.

Shortly after a general conquest of the land of Canaan, we are told of the land allotment by tribes, all the tribes that is except the tribe of Levi.
Joshua 13:33
But unto the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the LORD, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as He spoke unto them.

The tribe of Levi was given no land allotment. The Lord was their inheritance. Compare that to our lives as believers today.
1Pe 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

What a delightful inheritance (pun intended) we have with Him! We are His royal priesthood, a holy nation, His possession. And what are we to do for Him? Praise Him. He has called us out of darkness of sin and into a life of light.

Caleb was 40 years old when he went in to explore the land of Canaan. He, along with Joshua were the only two of the original multitude (fighting age and above) who were able to go into the land of promise. Why? Because Joshua and Caleb trusted in God’s promises. When Caleb settled in the land he was 85 years old, strong and vigorous.

In the division of the land Zelophehad of the tribe of Manasseh had no sons and so the daughters petitioned Joshua and the leaders for the right to have an inheritance. This will be extremely significant later. In the culture and customs of that day, the women basically counted for nothing, except for having children. Yet if we read the gospels, Jesus certainly elevated women. He had many women followers. No need for us women to be concerned with Women's Lib!

The tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh are numerous and they petition Joshua for more land.  Joshua makes this prophetic statement.
Joshua 18:17b-18a
"You are numerous and very powerful.  You will have not only one allotment but the forested hill country as well.  Clear it and its farthest limits will be yours..." 
The tribes were given the farthest limits.  This included more than just the land of Israel!  More details when we reach the reading of the book of Jeremiah.

We are reminded once again that the Israelites had to fight for the land as a result of not obeying God in the beginning.  Had they been obedient, they could have gone straight into the land with no fighting at all.

Another example of disobedience are the consequences they suffered as a result of making a treaty with the Gibeonites.  These are the descendants of the same people that the nation of Israel is dealing with today.  God told them not to make a treaty with the people living in the land.
Exod 34:12-15
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. "Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices.

Their problem was that they did not inquire of the Lord as to what to do. The people of Gibeon tricked Joshua into making a covenant with them claiming that they were from a distant country. Isn’t that just like Satan? He played on Joshua’s mercy. Even after Joshua realized that he had been tricked, he still wanted to hold on to the oath he had made with men rather than to please God. Not a good thing!

How often do we as Believers worry about what others think, and not so much about what God thinks? Shouldn't it be the other way around???

Also, as an application for today - how often do we as Believers make "treaties" with the ways of the world, give in to the "traditions of men" and compromise the truth?  The ways of the world can be just as much a snare to us today.

God's Word is definitely in black and white.  Why would we want to settle for gray?

Today's reading contains much foreshadowing of future events.  There are several connections to the fall of Jericho in the book of Joshua and the fall of evil on earth as recorded in the book of Revelation.  As recorded in Joshua 6, there are seven priests who carry seven trumpets in front of the ark.  On the seventh day, they march seven times around the city of Jericho. The people were to remain quiet until told to shout. On the seventh day on the seventh time around the city the people shouted as the seven priests blew the trumpets.  Then the walls of the city fell.  As recorded in Revelation 8 there is silence in heaven for about half an hour. There were seven angels.  One of the angels sent to the earth thunder, lightning and an earthquake.  Then the seven angles who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

The battle of Jericho is a foreshadowing of the beginning of the coming Millennium, the multiple "sevens" in Jericho and the multiple "sevens" in Revelation's seven seals. Even the point of the destruction of Jericho is a symbol of the destruction of evil on earth prior to the Millennium.  The walls of Jericho fell.  The Israelites went into the city, killed every living thing, and burned the remnants of the city, except for those who were protected (Rahab and her family).  They were brought out alive to live with the Israelites.  The prophecies about the beginning of the Millennium are very similar.  God's people will enter into their "places of safety" (Isaiah 26:20-21). Every other living thing on earth will be killed.  The face of the earth will be burned and only God's people will survive.  They will come out and "leap like calves in the ashes" (Malachi 4:2-3) and  will live with God's people during the Millennium. Other connections can be found in 1 Thes 4:16. Rahab and her family were saved because of the scarlet rope.  Believers are saved because of the blood of Jesus.

When the Israelites took Jericho they were told to keep away from the devoted (or accursed) things within the city. These would be things that the people devoted to other gods. Yet Achan acts unfaithfully and takes some of the devoted things. His one act of disobedience brought about God’s anger against all Israel.
A lesson for us today…when we sin others almost always get hurt. Sin has consequences.

In Joshua 7, Joshua prays a prayer similar to one that Moses prayed.  At the time Joshua prayed, it seems as if he was unaware of the sin of Achan so he may have been confused about why God allowed the routing of the Israelites by the men of Ai.  Or was it simply a statement of a slip in faith?

God reminds them that they will not be able to stand against their enemies unless they destroy the sin within the camp. Notice also that when God reveals the guilty party (Achan), He does it publicly.

Joshua 8 records the battle to attack the city of Ai using an ambush called in today's military terms, "double envelopment".  This same tactic was used in such battles as the Revolutionary War battle of Cowpens.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cowpens

Joshua pronounces curses on Jericho. The results of that prophecy happened during Ahab’s reign. Hiel laid the foundations at the cost of his firstborn, the gates at the cost of his youngest son, just exactly what Joshua had predicted as found in 1 Kings 16:34.

IKing 16:34
In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

After Ai was taken Joshua copied on stones the law of Moses (the Ten Commandments?), built an altar and read the total Book of the Law, every word to the whole assembly, including women, children, and aliens.

This is great encouragement to read the entire Bible on a regular basis. Just as all of us are doing this year.

Today's reading contains another reminder.  God gives the Israelites this promise before they enter into the land. He tells them, "I will give you every place where you set your foot..." In other words, in the cultural procedure of the day, whenever a person took ownership of a piece of land, that person would walk the land and claim the land. The problem is that the people do not walk the entire land that God promised them. Look in Joshua 1 for the boundaries of the land. It is much larger than the land of Israel today.

The people are told to "meditate on the law day and night" so that you will be "prosperous and successful". This is a good reason to meditate on Scripture. There is a great promise that follows.

Joshua sent two spies into Jericho. They stayed at the house of a prostitute. Did the spies go into Rahab’s house because there were many people coming and going there and they wouldn’t be noticed?

Rahab was instrumental in protecting the men and in effect helped the Israelites take Jericho.

Rahab said “…for your Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below.” She as well as many others in Jericho had seen or heard about the pillar of fire and the cloud that guided the Israelites.

In Joshua 3, we are told that the focus of the Israelites is no longer on following the cloud and the pillar of fire. They are now to follow the Ark of the Covenant.

When they celebrated the Passover, they ate some of the produce of the land. The day after that, the manna stopped.

The story of Rahab is so significant. It is such a beautiful illustration that God can use ordinary people, even prostitutes to do extraordinary things!  Rahab was the mother of Boaz who was an ancestor of King David.

Joshua 1:16
..."Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go."...
Great verse for us to live by!  These words were spoken to Joshua by the people. However, they followed up this statement with the following;  "Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you."
Wait a minute...they didn't fully obey Moses! And they won't fully obey Joshua either.

Fascinating that most remember the parting of the Red Sea yet seldom remember the parting of the Jordan River – and at flood stage even! Notice that the priests stepped into the water without hesitation and look what happened. Talk about stepping out on faith.

How goes it with us as Believers? Are we obedient to where God is leading us? Do we step out in faith as we go where He leads?

Another great story in today's reading is the appearance of the Divine Commander found in Joshua 5:13-15. Note the similarities to what happened with Moses and the burning bush. Joshua was allowed to see face to face...God the Son.

Compare Moses' blessing of the tribes with Jacob's blessings of the tribes (see pages 93-94 or Genesis 49). We noticed that when blessing the tribe of Levi, Moses relates that the Levites cared more for the keeping of the Word and the covenant than they did their families.

God gives a great blessing to the tribe of Levi.
“Bless all his skills, O Lord, and be pleased with the work of his hands.”

Isn’t this a blessing that every Believer should want? No matter what our skills are; manual labor, missionary work, office work, teaching, ministering, nursing, housework, heads of corporations, etc. shouldn’t we want all our skills to be blessed?
Col 3:23-24
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Scripture says that when Moses died “his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.”
Sounds like he was still healthy and strong. It's just that his time was up. His eyes must have been pretty strong to be able to see all that land from the top of Mount Nebo! Moses was able to “see” from the tip of the Dead Sea (Zoar) to way north of the Sea of Galilee (Dan and Naphalti).
Pretty impressive! But even more impressive than that is the following:

"...no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face..."
Now that's impressive!

Lots of points to ponder and current applications in today's reading.

 Deu 31:26
Take this book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may be there for a witness against you.
God Himself wrote the Ten Commandments on stone.  Moses wrote all the other commandments, laws, decrees, etc at the dictation of God.  The Ten Commandments were placed inside the Ark of the Covenant.  But God instructed Moses to place what he wrote beside the Ark of the Covenant.  It seems that the Ten Commandments will be preserved forever.

The Song of Moses gave us "food for thought". God told Moses that this song will testify against the Israelites when they sin. It is a judgment against Israel and also a judgment against us as individuals and us as a church and a nation.

Here is a great verse to ponder.
"Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants."
God is telling us that even though He chastises us, it will be good for us because it gives us an opportunity to change.

Deut. 32:15-22 has a verse hidden away, "...gods that recently appeared..." We thought about many "gods" that have recently appeared in our culture today...sports, leisure activities, rock stars, movie stars, politicians, etc. We can "fill in the blank" with anything that pulls us away from an abiding relationship with HIM.

Deut. 32:23-27,
"wasting famine, consuming pestilence, deadly plague" - sounds like addictions, Aids, STDs, etc.
"in their homes terror will reign" - home invasions?
perish- "infants and gray haired men." - abortions and euthanasia?
"a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them." - bad political and economic decisions, arming our enemies?
"Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah" -homosexuality, sexual perversion?

There is a warning in Deut. 32:34-38 but in Deuteronomy 32:47a God reminds them about the words of the law.
"They are not just idle words for you - they are your life."
How very true!

There is a great book we would recommend, The Harbinger by Jonathan Cahn and the video The Isaiah 9:10 Judgment. It relates prophecies for Israel with America today.

In all of our spiritual battles, this promise should empower and encourage us. “The Lord himself goes before you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Discouragement is one of the Devil’s Deadly Ds. If we give in to discouragement it inevitably leads to doubt. Satan will whisper in our ears the same thing he whispered to Eve, “Did God really say….”

God warns Moses that the people will be unfaithful. He calls it prostitution. When we are unfaithful to God, with some gain for us, that is spiritual prostitution.

The Song of Moses is mentioned again in Rev. 15. John saw those who had been victorious over the beast and his image. They were singing the Song of Moses.
Rev 15:3-4
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are Your ways, O King of saints. Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You only are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, for Your righteousnesses were made known. 
Compare this song in Revelation to the one in Deuteronomy.  Quite a contrast!

Deut 32:18
You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Ever wonder who the Rock was? Paul tells us.
1 Cor 10:1-4
For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ.Here's a great little verse giving us assurance that our salvation is secure!
Deut 32:39
"See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.

Oh, and here's another one...
2 Cor 1:21-22
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Any doubts???

As the people prepare to go into the land of Caanan, God through Moses, renews His covenant with His people. There are multiple blessings if they obey and multiple curses if they don't. Look again at Leviticus 26:14-42 from yesterday's reading. Notice the progression of the punishment for their disobedience. Each stage of punishment gets worse than the one before ranging from diseases to hunger so intense that the people resort to eating their children. Finally, their punishment reaches a crescendo when the people no longer have peace. They live with an anxious mind and are in constant suspense, fearful of even a "windblown leaf". (Lev. 26:36)

And then Moses reminds the people of all that God has done for them. He reminds them that God sets before them "life and prosperity, death and destruction". (Deut. 30:15)

All the promises made to Israel are also promises made to those who believe in Jesus.

Notice all the times the word "if" is used.  The use of the word "if" means the people are given a choice.

One of the curses of oppression was confusion of mind.  This is so prevalent in the religious establishment and in our churches today.  But there shouldn't be.  Truth never changes.  People's perception of the truth is dependent on whether or not they are listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The curses listed in today's reading are literal curses but if we really think about it, they are spiritual as well.
"The Lord will turn the rain of your country into dust and powder..." Reminiscent of the dust bowl of the 1930s in the US?  There was a famine in the land.  Is there a spiritual famine today - a famine of hearing the Word - of hearing the truth?

As we read about the curses of captivity in Deut 28, it seems as if things can't get much worse than this.  It is a description of a totally godless people.

The people are reminded to be cautious in turning to the right or to the left following other gods and serving them. Good advice for all of us today as well. There will always be something on each side for us to follow after instead of keeping our focus on Him.

In Deut 27 Moses tells the people to"write very clearly all the words of this law on these stones you have set up."  What great advice for the people then.  Are the commands of God being taught clearly to us today?

Deut 27:15
Cursed is the man who carves an image or casts an idol - a thing detestable to the Lord, the work of the craftsman's hands - and sets it up in secret."
Makes one think about burying the statue of St. Joseph in the yard of a house for sale, and then praying for St. Joseph to intervene in the sale of the house.  Don't think that is pleasing to God for a number of reasons.

Have you ever really thought about the verse, “Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.”?

God never asks us to do anything that is beyond our capabilities. He does set a very high standard though doesn’t He? Sometimes we may think it is insurmountable but He promises us that it isn’t. Why?
“…the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”

How do we get the word in our mouth and in our heart? Would that be possible if we only spend a few minutes each week listening to a sermon? Or if we only spend a few minutes each week in prayer? Or if we only spend a few minutes each week in any kind of daily devotional? Or if we only spend a few minutes each week reading His Word?

I don’t think so!

In Lev 19:2 we are told to "Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy." 
Now this seems to be an impossible task.  What human (other than Jesus) could be holy as God is holy?  That's a rather tall order, wouldn't you say?   Well, of course it is if we try to do it on our own.  But in today's reading, we have this great promise in Lev 22.
"I am the Lord who makes you holy..."
Wow!  HE is the one to make us holy!

God again lays out the punishments for disobedience.  In Lev 26:27-35 some very specific consequences are spelled out.  All these consequences happened when Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem and the people were taken into Babylonian captivity.  The people were warned way ahead of time.  One of the things listed in this passage is that God collected on his seventy years of Sabbaths.

And yet another offer is presented from the Father to His children if they follow His decrees and commands. Just read again all the blessings of obedience listed in Lev 26:3-13. It sounds almost like the Millennial Kingdom or the Garden of Eden. If they had obeyed, they would have entered the land under millennial conditions. This time He promises them all this and once again, “I will walk among you.”
2 Cor 6:16-18
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.""Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."

As in yesterday's reading, we are reminded again of avoiding anything indecent. That means staying away from those who might pull us away from God. And again, we are reminded that we are to be different and separate from the world around us. This is not to say that we must remove ourselves from the world, but we are to show ourselves to the world to be different!

Even now He promises us an abundant life with Him if we only listen and obey!

Under the punishments for disobedience, in each stage of punishment, God gives them a chance to repent. Then when they disobey, each stage of the punishment gets worse than the one before. Look at the progression:
1. Sudden terror, diseases, and seeds don't grow
2. Punishment seven times over - soil will not yield
3. Multiple afflictions seven times over, wild animals devour children and cattle
4. Suffer the effects of multiple afflictions - plague, sent into enemies' hands, food cut off
5. Punishment seven times over - they will eat their children, cities are in ruin, land is laid waste, people are scattered among the nations
6. Anything left will live in constant fear even though no one is pursuing them
7. They will perish among the nations

Look at the progression from the first to the seventh. But God....

Lev 26:46
These are the decrees, laws, and the regulations that the Lord established on Mount Sinai...
All these were given to Moses during the trips up the mountain.  It all began with only the "Big 10".  God added more because of their disobedience.  Many lessons for us to learn from this!

In all the laws God gave to Moses for the people, He made provisions of benevolence toward others.  In the custom of gleaning, some remnants are left over for the alien, fatherless, and the widow, but the remnants were not picked and handed to them, they had to go get them for themselves.

It was through this custom that Boaz was introduced to Ruth…and we know where that led. Ruth 4:13
So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.
Ruth 4:17b
And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse, the father of David. (ancestor of Jesus)

Again God warns the Israelites about the nations teaching them to follow their detestable ways, the worst of which is the worship of other "gods", the first of the Ten Commandments.

Deut 23:14
For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.

Can we even begin to wrap our minds around this one? The Lord moves about in our "camp" to protect us and deliver our enemies to us, spiritually speaking. But in order for the Lord to do this for us, our "camp" must be holy, containing nothing indecent. When we do anything indecent, He will turn away. Makes a person want to evaluate everything; what we say, what we do, who we hang out with, what we watch on TV, what kinds of movies we watch, what kind of books we read, etc.... Would anything we see, say, or do be considered indecent in the Lord's eyes?

Many of the dietary and health regulations listed in Deuteronomy and Leviticus are just plain common sense. It seems that many of the animals, fish, and birds listed as unclean are those who either eat meat or are scavengers.

Lev 17:11
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
Couldn’t help but think of Jesus on this one. It is through His shed blood that we have atonement for our sins.

Col 1:19-20
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

While we may not want to commit to memory the qualifications for clean and unclean animals, it is good to have it there for us to refer back to, especially when telling the story of Noah's ark.  Not all the animals went into the ark in pairs.
Gen 7:2
You shall take with you every clean animal by sevens, the male and female. And take two of the animals that are not clean, the male and female. 

Rather a strange command concerning cooking a young goat in its mother's milk.  Mixtures of milk and meat are prohibited according to Jewish law.
According to the Talmud, these almost identical references are the basis for three distinct dietary laws:

• the prohibition against cooking a mixture of milk and meat
• the prohibition against eating a cooked mixture of milk and meat
• the prohibition against deriving any benefit from a cooked mixture of milk and meat.

And there is also this explanation.
"It was a custom with the ancient heathens, when they had gathered in all their fruits, to take a kid, and boil it in the dam's milk; and then in a magical way, to go about and sprinkle all their trees, and fields, and gardens, and orchards with it, thinking by these means, that they should make them fruitful, and bring forth more abundantly in the following year. Wherefore, God forbad his people, at the time of their in-gathering, to use any such superstitious or idolatrous rite.
Dr. Cudworth, from a MS. comment of a Karaïte Jew.

As we struggle through the reading of the laws and regulations, imagine what a struggle it was for the people to keep the law.
Rom 7:6-7a
But now we having been set free from the Law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter.  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Let it not be said! But I did not know sin except through the law. 

In all the rituals concerning people with infectious diseases, leprosy, boils, burns, etc. there is no mention of a cure. They were simply separated from the general population. Jesus came with cures, not just for the physical but for the spiritual as well.

“You must keep the Israelites separate from things that make them unclean…”
If only we would keep ourselves separate from things that contaminate us.

2 Cor 7:1
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.Praise God, He sees us as "clean" through the blood of Jesus!

In today's reading, there is a provision for the Israelite men to marry a foreign woman. At first this sounds like a contradiction. Earlier God had warned them against marrying the inhabitants of the land saying that the foreigners would lure them away from Him. This provision is for marrying a captive woman. This woman would be considered "spoils of war"." The captive woman has no ties, no family, or anyone to support her in drawing the man away from God.

At the heart of the marriage relationship is the idea of faithfulness to the vows of commitment. Faithfulness is important both in marriage and in the people's relationship with God. Their unfaithfulness to God is considered spiritual adultery."
-quote from the Chronological Bible comments

Spiritual adultery happens when believers in Jesus break their vows of commitment and follow after other gods.

In Lev. 18 homosexual practices are forbidden.  This was confirmed by Paul in his letter to the Romans.
Rom 1:27
Likewise, their men have given up natural sexual relations with women and burn with lust for each other. Men commit indecent acts with men, so they experience among themselves the punishment they deserve for their perversion. 

Deut 22:5 forbids women to wear men's clothing and men to wear women's clothing.  Many people use this verse to say that women shouldn't wear pants. But what kind of clothing did men wear at the time this was written?  They didn't wear pants like men do today.

According to the law, the penalty for adultery is the death of both parties involved.
(Deut 22:22, Lev 20:10)

There is a New Testament connection.  When the teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery, notice they didn’t bring in the man with her. (John 8:3-11) Could it be that some of those men who were standing around the woman were guilty themselves? Is that what Jesus wrote on the ground…their names or their sins?

All the woman's accusers left, one by one. Jesus told the woman that He didn't condemn her. But He also declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

The sin is condemned, but not the repentant sinner. Praise God for that!

A great welfare system that God put in place – be openhanded toward your brothers. This command from the Lord has some stipulations. It is based on three important words, brother, lend, and need. Open-handedness should be to the brothers (believers) first. This was to be a loan with the expectation of being paid back. And it was to be based on need, not on wants. God said, “There will always be poor in the land.”

John also recorded these same words from Jesus.
John 12:8
You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me."

Jesus was probably talking here about the poor in worldly possessions. A woman had just poured out some costly perfume on Jesus (a year's wage to be exact). However, there are also spiritually poor among us. What is our responsibility to them?

We should feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty, but we should also tell them about the "Bread of Life" and the "Living Water".
We should house the homeless, but we should also tell them that in "our Father's house are many mansions".
We should clothe the naked, but we should also tell them about the "garments of righteousness".
God called us to do both, to take care of physical needs but to also take care of spiritual needs. Tall order!