I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 21-23.

    This passage starts with an emphasis on the importance of finding justice for those who have been murdered. When someone is found murdered and it is not known who committed the crime, the town elders of the nearest town must make an offering and take an oath that they do not know who committed the crime. This stresses the importance of finding justice for those who have been wronged. In this case, someone who has been murdered and cannot seek justice for themselves.

    The very next part of this passage suggests to me a key difference between the rules governing Israelite treatment of slaves and that of most other cultures. It lays out the provisions a man must follow if he wishes to make a woman captured in battle (and thus a slave) his wife. My reading of this is that it implies that a man was not permitted to have sexual relations with his slaves. If a man wanted to have sexual relations with his slave, he needed to marry her. Further, if he later no longer wanted to be married to her, while he was free to divorce her just as he was a wife he obtained in the normal manner, she did not return to being a slave. Instead, the slave he had made his wife would then be a free woman.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 18-20.

    As Moses recounted the laws which God gave the people of Israel he reminded them that they must never sacrifice their children. He lumped that practice in with various forms of divination, sorcery, and consulting the dead. These things were all forbidden to the children of Israel (and I believe to all who wish to serve God). Moses immediately followed that with telling them that God would raise up other prophets after him. We are to listen to what those prophets say and obey the commands God gives us through them. Moses addresses the obvious question; how will we know if someone who claims to be a prophet was sent by God? The answer is that if someone who claims to be a prophet from God makes a prediction which does not come true they are speaking without the authority of God. In such a case we are under no obligation to listen to what they have to say.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 14-17.

    As I read this I noticed something interesting. At one point Moses told the people that when they come into the land, there should be no poor people among them. A few sentences later he tells them that nevertheless there will be some poor people among them. In between, he tells them to be generous to the poor among them. One of the things they were to do was to cancel the debt they were owed every seven years. In the same way, slaves were to be released every seven years as well. While this was to be the law of the land, it was also supposed to be something people did of their own accord. These rules were intended to not need enforcement. Like so many other good rules, if they needed enforcement, they were a failure. We should follow the spirit of these rules out of a love of God and our fellow man. I believe there is a basic principle here that we should follow. Let us not force people to pay for bad decisions for the rest of their lives.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 11-13.

    This passage contains a repeat of a message contained in yesterday’s passage. We must wholeheartedly obey God’s instructions. Write them down where you will see them repeatedly and be reminded to obey them. Teach them to your children. Talk about them continuously, when you are at home and when you are traveling, when you get up and when you go to bed. Let us do whatever it takes to remember and follow God’s commands. Moses went on to remind the people of Israel that they were not to interpret God’s instructions in isolation. They were to all get together and worship in a central location. This served the purpose of making sure that everyone came together to discuss what it meant to obey God. It is not enough to think about, talk about, and obey God’s commands as we understand them. We must gather with our fellow believers and test our understanding by comparing it to that of our brothers and sisters. Worshiping God is not just a private matter. It is something we need to do with fellow believers as well as by ourselves.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 8-10.

    If we fear and obey God while He tests our character and disciplines us, He will bless us and we will prosper. However, when we come into good times we must not forget Him. We must never come to believe that the wealth God gives us is ours because we deserve it. If and when God gives us wealth let us not think that we earned that wealth by our own efforts. Let us not forget that it was God who blessed us. We will not become wealthy because we are such good people. Wealth is yet one more test of our character which God gives us to see if we will use it to serve Him. Whether we are rich or poor, God requires but one thing of us: that we love and serve Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind (this is one thing because if we truly love Him we will serve Him). If we truly fear the Lord we will live in a manner which pleases Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 5-7.

    Once Moses completed his summary of what happened to the children of Israel from the time they left Mt. Sinai until they arrived on the eastern bank of the Jordan River he reviewed the commands which God had given the people of Israel during that time. He listed once again the Ten Commandments. I was struck by a different meaning to one of them than I had ever seen before. That one is “You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.” When I was growing up, I learned that it meant that I should not use “Jesus” or “God” as exclamations. While it is true that we should not use them in that way, that is not what this command means. This command is telling us that we should not use God’s name and reputation to commit fraud. We should not claim to be acting in God’s name when we are merely striving to advance our own interests. Nor should we claim to be acting in God’s name in order to advance any interests other than God’s.

    Moses went on to tell the people of Israel that they must commit themselves wholeheartedly to God’s commands. We are to repeat them again and again, to talk about them wherever we are, whether at home or away. Moses told the people to tie them to their hands and their foreheads, to write God’s commands on their doorposts and their gateways. We should be talking about God’s commands until people are sick of hearing it. However, this is not about telling others what they should be doing. When we talk about God’s commands, we need to talk about what it means for ourselves. All of our hearts, souls, and minds should be dedicated to determining how we can do what God desires. Let us be obsessed with obeying God’s commands.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 3-4.

    Moses continued his summation of what had happened from Mt Sinai to this point, including God telling him that he would not enter the land. When he completed that, he reminded the children of Israel that their God was the only God and they were to worship no others. Further, they were not to worship images, not even images which were intended to be representative of God. He told them that if they, or their descendants, failed to remember these commands they would be cut off from God. However, he then said the most important thing for us to remember, something I believe applies to all people everywhere: if you search for God with all of your heart and soul, you will find Him. Anyone who truly searches for God with all of their being will find Him. Once they find Him, they need to turn to Him and listen to Him. If we turn to God and listen to Him, He will not abandon us, nor will He destroy us, for He is a merciful God.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 1-2.

    This passage is the beginning of a speech which Moses gave to the Israelites shortly before his death. In this portion he summarizes the experiences of the Israelites from the time they left Mt Sinai until the time of his speech (some of that summary extends into tomorrow’s passage). In his summary, Moses points out that they were told to pass through the lands of the Edomites (descendants of Esau), Moabites (descendants of Lot), and Ammonites (also descendants of Lot) without attacking them. It was only when all of the men who were of fighting age when the twelve scouts returned from scouting Canaan (excepting Caleb and Joshua) had died that God began to lead the Israelites to conquer and occupy land.