I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Deuteronomy 24-26.

    There are several commands in this passage which all fit together. As I was reading through the passage trying to think of a way to summarize their theme I read this, “Never take advantage of poor and destitute laborers,…” Which gave me the theme I see running through these verses: never take advantage of those over whom you have power.

• Don’t take the tools someone uses to earn a living as security for a loan.
• Don’t go into someone’s house to pick up the item they are giving you as security for a loan, let them bring it out to you.

It may be less than obvious how this might amount to taking advantage of someone, but by going into their house you might see something which they do not wish to offer as security and demand that instead (if not this time at a future time). There are other ways that invading their space might amount to taking advantage of them.

• Pay your workers’ wages promptly.

There are a few more of these here, but they all represent the command not to take advantage of those over whom you have power. Even the admonition against using inaccurate scales can be seen as falling into this. I will add that I interpret the injunction against dishonest weights and measures to apply to any form of deception in making a deal.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    Today’s passage contains a lot of miscellaneous instructions which I do not believe apply today. However, there are a few things of which we should take note. The passage emphasizes the importance of gaining closure when someone has been murdered. If it is not possible to conclude who committed the murder, the political leaders of the closest town must swear that they did not have the person murdered nor know who did so. This focuses on the importance of not allowing the murder of anyone go without notice, someone must acknowledge that a murder has taken place and make some effort to hold the responsible parties to account. The passage also brings up the importance of addressing the issue of children who will not honor their parents. While I do not think we should go as far as this passage goes, its emphasis on how serious it is when children will not obey their parents. In this case, it seems to be concerning children who are old enough that their parents can no longer hold them to account by physical strength. A review of many of the high profile cases of violence in our society shows the importance of this. In many of those cases we see people who had stopped being obedient to their parents long before they reached the age of independence. The final instructions I want to emphasize today are those which tell us to look out for the interests of others: if you see your neighbor’s (and remember what Jesus says about who our neighbor is) animal wondering loose, take it back to them. If you find your neighbor’s possession, return it to them. In both of these cases the passage says, “Do not ignore your responsibility.”

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    Moses warned the Children of Israel not to imitate the detestable practices of the people living in the land. He highlights two such practices, sacrificing their children and consulting fortunetellers and sorcerers. It was because those people practiced these detestable practices that God drove them out of the land and gave it to the Israelites. We should take a lesson from this and avoid the detestable practices of those living around us who do not worship the Lord. Whenever I read these passages about the people driven out of the Promised Land sacrificing their children I am reminded of abortion in the modern world. So many of the problems of today’s society stem from that one sin.

    Moses proceeds to tell us how we can distinguish between fortunetellers and prophets who speak in the name of the Lord. We must listen to the words spoken by prophets sent by God, but how do we know if someone is such a prophet? The answer is simple. When someone claims to be speaking in God’s name when they make a prediction, that prediction will come true. If it does not, they are a false prophet. Now, as I read this, sometimes a prophet will speak in the name of the Lord, and sometimes that prophet may merely be making predictions based on their own understanding. It is important that prophets make a clear distinction between these two things. It is important that we pay attention to when those who claim to be prophets make predictions. If we continue to lend credence to those who have falsely prophesied we bring dishonor to the name of the Lord.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    Today’s passage is a clear reminder of why we call this book “Deuteronomy” because it consists of a rehash of laws given earlier. Today’s passage provides less detail on many of these laws, but also presents them in a way which provides fresh insight into them. As an example, the laws regarding what animals and insects can be eaten significantly reduce the risk of disease and food poisoning. Then there is the restatement of the Sabbath Year, except that here it only talks about canceling debts and freeing slaves. The purpose here is to give people who made bad choices, but who learned from them, the opportunity to “start over” free from debt.

    As I was reading the description about justice in the land a couple of things stood out. While they were told to appoint judges, seeing that justice was carried out was not just the job of those judges. The people were instructed to judge people fairly, to not twist justice. If the death penalty was called for, those who had accused the perpetrator were to be the first to carry out the sentence…meaning that if they had falsely accused the person the accuser was guilty of murder.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    Moses explains that the Children of Israel learned to love and obey God during lean, trying times. During their time in the wilderness, God disciplined them as a loving father disciplines his children. Now they were about to enter a land of plenty and face a new temptation. Moses warned them that when times got good for them it would be easy to become proud and forget God. When times are good it is easy to become complacent and forget God, thinking that our ability and success will provide for our needs. We must remember that our success comes from obeying God and that if we fail to continue to do so, He will remove His blessings from us. I do not think I can stress enough how hard it is for us to remain faithful when things are going well for us.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    The passage begins with Moses restating the Ten Commandments (as we know them), which are referred to in Hebrew as the “Ten Words” or “Ten Sayings”. Moses reminds his audience that these words were spoken by God to all of those assembled before the mountain at Mt. Sinai. Moses instructed his audience to wholly commit themselves to obeying the commandments which God had given them. I really love what Moses says in Deuteronomy 6:4-9. God is our only god and we must love Him with all of our being, with our minds, our emotions, and our physical abilities. Truly loving God means doing as He has instructed us. In order to be sure that we do as He has instructed we need to repeat God’s commands again and again, to ourselves, to our children, and to our neighbors. Let us talk about God’s will for our lives, both long term and for the next minute, when we are at home, at work, or on vacation, when we get up in the morning and when we go to bed at night. How does what I am doing right now fit into the instructions which God has given me?

    Moses goes on from there to remind the Children of Israel that God did not choose them because of how wonderful they were. He chose them because He loved them. The same is true of us today. God did not choose us because we were wonderful. In fact, we were the opposite of wonderful when God chose us. Each and every one of us has done terrible, horrible things deserving of complete condemnation, but God has chosen to redeem us and transform us. If we accept His transformation of ourselves we need fear no one and nothing. God will not allow anyone or anything to disrupt the transformation He has in mind for us, although He will not force us to accept that transformation. Part of accepting God’s transformation is ridding ourselves of the desire for the detestable things which we did before we encountered Him.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    Moses finished recounting the events which the people had experienced between the time they left Mt. Sinai until they arrived east of the Jordan. He expressed how deeply he desired to enter the Promised Land while explaining how God had denied him the privilege because of his reactions to the stresses the people had put him under. Which led him to remind them of the importance of obeying God’s commands. Obeying God’s commands will cause those around us to honor God. One thing which helps us to obey God’s commands is remembering the things He has done, especially our first experience with His power and glory. That first experience with God’s power and glory shaped how He taught us His commands. We must be careful not to substitute some image or object for the glory of God’s true presence.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

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

    When Moses realized that his days were reaching their end, he gave a speech to the Children of Israel recounting their travels from Mt. Sinai to where they were at that time, east of the Jordan. It was important for him to do this, since none of those listening had been adults when they left Mt. Sinai (except for Caleb, Joshua, and Aaron’s sons) and most had not even been born. Moses described how he had consulted with the people to appoint leaders over them. By doing so, he reminded them that the authority of leadership goes both from the bottom up and from the top down: leaders at all levels need to have the support of the people they lead, but they also need to be approved of by those above them.

    Moses reminded them how their parents had refused to follow his leadership and trust God when first commanded to enter the Promised Land. I never noticed before how Moses subtly reminded them of the importance of following the correct leader into battle here. Initially, they did not trust that God would give them victory through Moses’ leadership going into battle against the Canaanites. Then they attempted to attack the Canaanites without any plan at all. The latter ended in disaster. This was an important reminder to follow Joshua’s commands as they entered the land. Moses also showed them how God had guided them in their approach to their present location. God wished for them to avoid conflict with the Edomites, Ammonites, and Moabites. Those three nations did not attack them when they approached their borders. However, the Amorites preemptively attacked the Children of Israel, showing that they were “fair game”. The Israelites utterly defeated them and took their land.