Joshua 7 & 8 Setbacks

Joshua 7

Israel was under orders that any spoils from the destruction of Jericho were to be given to God as a sacrifice.
However it turns out that just one person did not get the message- a guy called Aachan.
Joshua sends out spies to scout out the next city - Ai. The spies report back that Ai is a walkover compared with Jericho and the entire army would not be required to take the city.

The problem was that God was not with them because of Aachan, and the defenders of Ai routed the Israelite army of 3000 and killed (I love this bit) "about 36 of them" About 36? what's all that about? We don't say about when connected with a specific number - about 40 ok, but about 36???

Joshua and the priests cast lots to find out who is responsible. One can imagine the confidence of Aachan as first his tribe is chosen, then his clan, then his family and finally Aachan is chosen by lot.

Aachan confesses that he took a Babylonian robe, about 5 kg of silver and about half a kilo nugget of gold.
Aachan bought trouble on Israel and his punishment is a not very nice death.
Was his death deserved? was God being unreasonable not to overlook a cloak and what today is about £1800 of silver and £11000 worth of gold?

I suspect that there is a principle at stake here and poor Aachan is a bit of an example.

Joshua 8

This time the entire Israelite army goes to attack Ai. Part of the army goes around the back of the city to create an ambush.
The army attacked head on and then broke as the defenders chase them.
This time the ambush troops rush into the now undefended city and set fire to it.
When the smoke is seen, the fleeing army turns and counter attacks, trapping the Ai soldiers between two fronts.
Every man, woman and child is killed from Ai and the king is impaled on a spear until nightfall when he is buried rather than being left as an example for others.
These days we do not have the death penalty in the UK, though it was not that long ago that it was abolished. And hanging in irons has been not used for a couple of hundred years (since public executions were discontinued)  but in the town of Rye in East Sussex they have the town gibbet which still has the head of the last person to be hung in irons in it on display in the town hall.

Israel then renews the covenant terms as instructed from mount Ebal and Mount Gerazim as detailed in Deuteronomy.

Joshua 5&6 Starting the conquest

Joshua 5

Crossing the river Jordan  has seriously worried the local kings.

The first thing that the Israelites do when they enter the promised land is to circumcise the male half of the nation in accordance with the covenant God made first with Abraham.
I guess that only the fear of the Israelites prevented the locals from using the opportunity to repay the favour that Jacob's sons did to the town in the book of Genesis.

Joshua then has an encounter with a person who is actually in commander of God's armies and in an echo of Moses and the burning bush, he is told to take off his sandals as he is standing on holy ground.

Joshua 6

The city of Jericho is locked up tight, nobody is allowed in or out when Israel turns up.

The strategy that God suggests is quite famous - the entire army marches around the city following the Ark of the covenant which is carried by the priests.
They march around the city well out of weapons range, and they do this once a day for 6 days while the band plays trumpets.

On the 7th day they march 7 times around the city, this time in silence apart from the last time, when they are encouraged to make as much noise as possible.
I assume that there is some kind of geological issues connected with the location of Jericho as the walls collapse.
The entire Israelite army storms in to the city. Joshua sends his spies to rescue Rahab and the people from the house and lead them to safety.

Every other person living in the city is killed along with all domestic animals.and everything in the city is dedicated to God.

Joshua curses the city that anybody who is going to attempt to rebuild this city will do so at the cost of the lives of his eldest and youngest sons.

This is one of the best known stories in the Bible, I am glad that Israel kept the promises made to Rahab and her family.

Joshua 2 4 river crossings.

Joshua 2 

Joshua, like Moses before him sends people to scout out the land and see what the state of the land is and how the people are preparing for the expected invasion of the Israelites. In particular the city of Jericho is the first major city that Israel will encounter.

The 2 spies hang out in the house of Rahab who is a prostitute. It is far too cheap to make a comment like "typical James Bond types hiding in a brothel." So I won't.
Rahab hides the spies on the roof under some flax that is drying so that they (and she) do not get discovered by the city watch.

The people have been living in fear for 40 years, ever since the tale of the crossing of the red sea reached them, and more recently how the kings opposing Israel were defeated, and in exchange for helping the spies her life, and that of her family will be spared when Israel conquer the city.
The spies agree, but only if they are actually inside the house.

Joshua 3

Just as in the time of Moses, the Israelites have to cross a body of water, in this case it is the river Jordan, which is in full flood when they decide to cross. I live in Wharedale in Yorkshire in the UK and the river Wharfe is supposed to be the fastest rising and falling river in the country. I don't know about that, but I do know that there are a few sets of stepping stones across the river and even when the river is not too high they are a little bit worrying, when the river is in full flood it is best to find a safe bridge!

The priests will carry the Ark of the covenant to the banks of the river and then start to move across. The whole nation will follow them.
As the priests enter the river the flow suddenly stops and the river dries up. Upstream at a place called Adam the water just piled up.
I'm told that at Adam the river runs through a gulley and the banks are quite unstable, and every so often the banks collapse and form a natural dam across the river, so it is just a natural event, no divine intervention required thank you very much. Science 1 - religion 0.
I would point out that the sceptics may well have a point and the river drying up could be a natural event, but there is the issue of timing and the effect this would have had on the local, already scared cities in the region. You can explain scientifically, but don't rule out that God, who wrote the laws of nature, cannot take advantage of them.

Joshua 4

Once the entire Israelite nation has crossed the Jordan (probably over 600,000 people based on the census data in Numbers) Joshua arranges for 1 person from each tribe to pick up a large stone from the bed of the river to form a memorial cairn.
The priest are then invited to come up out of the river and as they do so the flow of the river resumes.

Joshua 1 Joshua's first stand

Joshua 1 

"Moses, my servant is dead" - God tells Joshua  It is time (finally) to cross the river Jordan and take possession of the promised land.

The phrase "Be strong and courageous" or variants of this appear no less than 5 times in this chapter, I guess that Joshua required a bit of encouragement, after all he has been second in command to Moses for 40 years now.

This is addition to the several times that Joshua was told this at the end of Deuteronomy.
The 2 and a half tribes that have their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan river will now fulfil their promise to Moses and lead the Israelite army into the land.

With the words of the Law of God fresh in their ears, now Israel is ready to claim God's promise.

Deuteronomy 31-34 Moses Last stand

Deuteronomy 31

Moses is now 120 years old, he seems to have matured quite well since he first appeared in Exodus, after 4 decades of leading the fledgling nation Moses is ready to die.

Moses successor Joshua is here given the duty of leading Israel and is told twice to be strong and courageous as he is given the responsibility.

Moses instructs that the law be read to all the people every 7th year so that they will not forget what their obligations are.

Moses and Joshua meet at the tent of meeting with God, during the meeting, God tells Moses he is about to die, Joshua should be strong and courageous, but the people of Israel will anger God by turning from his law, worshipping other gods, 

Deuteronomy 32

God inspired Moses to write a song about God and his relationship with his chosen people.

It is worth a read, I'm not going to comment further - read it.

Read it as poetry if you will after all that is how it was meant 

Deuteronomy 33

If you cast your mind back to the end of the book of Genesis - Jacob (The original Israel) gave his verdict and blessing on his sons.

Now Moses does the same - it is interestingly slightly more positive now than it was some 400 years earlier!

The blessings can be summarised as follows (read it if you want the full story)

Reuben - let him live and never let his people be few

Judah - Let God listen to the cry of Judah who defends his own cause

Levi - God has given Levi the holy office of priest - his teachings are blessed and he does not hold his relatives as more important than God.

Benjamin - Can rest loved by God who is his shield

Joseph - Is blessed with the best land that can be found and blessed by God

Zebulun - Blessed in his going out

Issachar - in his tents

Gad - Lives like a lion 

Dan - like a lions cub

Naphtali - Full of Gods blessing and abounding with the favour of God

Asher - Good, solid architecture 

Deuteronomy 34

Moses finally dies - in the land of Moab, he never actually crossed the border into the promised land.

God buried Moses himself, and Joshua takes over as leader.

Some critics of the Bible will point to verses 10 and 11 - if Moses wrote these books of the Bible, don't you think that the last bit is rather taking the biscuit?

I suspect that a later scribe put these 2 verses at the end of these 5 books of the Bible to round things off nicely

Having reached the end of the law, we move on to the promised land. 

Deuteronomy 29-30 How far do you have to go to find God?

Deuteronomy 29

There is an expression - there is none as blind as those who won't see. 
The Israelites at this point have been first hand witnesses of God's liberation of Israel from Egypt, they heard the giving of the Law at mount Sinai , in the wilderness wandering for 40 years they ate no bread and did not drink 

However Israel has not been given eyes to see, ears to hear, or hearts to understand the law of God.

The contract is that Israel will follow God and keep the laws. God will then bless the nation and keep them safe. 

Deuteronomy 30

God has made his curses for not keeping the commandments very clear, but there is an ongoing promise - even if God drives Israel from the land he will not abandon them completely but will turn their hearts to him, 
Their eyes will see, and their ears will hear.
God promises, at this stage that he will bring prosperity to the people.

With the covenant and laws we do not have to travel to far off lands or fly to the heavens it is given to us to read freely and understand the law of God.
We have a simple choice - life of death, prosperity or famine, security or fear. 

Given the laws of God include not killing, regular forgiveness of sins, care for the vulnerable, I'd say, along with Moses,  Choose life.

Deuteronomy 26 -28 Firstfruit and tithes, Blessing and Curses

Deuteronomy 26

There are instructions here about giving the first fruits of your harvest to God, in it the person is to remember the history of Israel.
Every third year the tithe is given to the Levites and for the poor so that they do not starve in the towns along with a promise to God that the tithe has been made.

We are also encouraged to bear in mind to keep the Biblical law - keeping (or trying your best to keep) God's law is commended.

Deuteronomy 27 & 28

The path of Israel across the Jordan river would lead them between 2 mountains, mount Gerazim and Mount Ebal. Israel was to build a symbolic alter at the top of each mountain and from the top of Mount Gerazim the promises of God's blessings would be proclaimed for those who follow the law, while from the top of Mount Ebal curses would be proclaimed for those that do not follow the law

The curses are quite similar to the 10 commandments including thieves, idolators, murderers, those who have sex with animals, those who withhold justice, trip the blind, and assassins.

The blessings are quite mundane really - health, peace, plenty, any attacking army will not succeed and anything that the people put their hand to will be a success.

The curses are just as mundane, but the other way around, illness, death, famine, invaders, any project will go wrong and basically it all gets rather unpleasant, 

I wonder why the blessings take 14 verses while the curses take the rest of the 68 verse chapter - I calculate 44 verses of curses 

I wonder if it is partly due to the way that we have seen the Israelites behave since the exodus and God really wanted to ram home the point that the curses are really so much worse than the blessings in the hope it would lead to faith?

Deuteronomy 25 When not to stand up for one's husband

Deuteronomy 25

This chapter carries on the theme of the last chapter - various laws.
The first law is about the rule of law, court cases are to be heard with judges and swift justice.
Nobody is to be beaten more than 40 times - this is apparently crossing a line between punishment and justice and humiliation. 

If you are using an animal as labour (for example grinding grain) it must not be muzzled to prevent it eating some of the grain it is grinding.

If a Hebrew man dies without children, his brother is expected to marry his widow to keep the family land intact. If he refuses she should make a complaint to the town elders, remove his sandel and spit in his face saying "this is what happens to the man who will not build up his brothers family line". The family name will then be changed to "unsandaled".

The next one is a salutary law - I don't know if it was ever enforced - if 2 men are fighting and the wife of one of the men joins in grabbing the testicles of the other man the wife's hand is to be cut off. This sounds rather barbaric to me not to mention uncomfortable to the wife who will suffer much more in the long term than the other man!

If one is in commerce as well as science or engineering it is very important that weights, measures and units are common and fair - using dishonest weights, lengths and scales are totally forbidden.
In science it is very important that we agree on what constitutes a kg, second, volt, amp, metre and so on,

Deuteronomy 23&24 Tidy camping

Deuteronomy 23

Certain people are not allowed into the assembly of the Israelites - including emasculated men, foreigners who would not let Israel pass through their land - even until the 10th generation. I don't know if this was rigorously enforced.

There are some rules here about camping and siege warfare- a separate location outside camp is reserved for a latrine and the kit of every soldier included a trowel for burying his excrement. I guess this is a form of disease control.

There are some general laws for the next bit

• If a slave runs away they are to be given freedom to stay in Israel and not returned to their previous owner.
• Don;'t make an offering to God of the proceeds of prostitution and don't become a shrine prostitute.
• Don't charge interest on a loan to a fellow countryman (how many wish that our banks would take this one on?) but Israelites may charge interest on money lent to other nations - historically this is one reason Jews became money lenders.
• If you make a promise to God it is best to get on and fulfil it, but it is not compulsory to promise in teh first place.
• This is a bit of an odd one - if you walk through a farm, field, vineyard or orchard you may eat while you pass through but you cannot take anything with you in a pocket or basket or harvest with any tools.

Deuteronomy 24

• If a man marries and later changes his mind, he can divorce his wife, but if she marries and divorces again, the couple may not get back together - I seem to recall controversy in the USA a while ago when a divorced couple re-married (the husband was in politics)
• A recently married man may not be conscripted into military service for the first year.
• Don't take a persons method of earning a living in surety of a loan 
• If anybody is caught kidnapping it is to be treated as seriously as murder as is selling a kidnapped person as a slave.
• Infections skin disease is to be treated very seriously and has to be inspected by the priests. These days I think a doctor would be better than your local priest! (Who may be nonplussed if you show him your rash!)
• Don't enter a persons house to take a pledge for a loan wait outside. If the person is poor you should return the pledge before nightfall as this is good in God;'s eyes and helpful for the person.
• If you are hiring people make sure that you pay them promptly - if they are working for a daily wage pay them on the day.
• Don't punish parents for the actions of their children, nor children for the actions of their parents. I watched an interesting program on TV a while ago where they interviewed the children of some of the notorious characters of the German Third Reich, these people I feel sorry for them as they have to live with the actions of their parents.
• Justice is not to be denied foreigners, widows or orphans it is open to all.
• If you are harvesting  don't forget the poor and don't take every grain, go back multiple times over fruit trees and vineyards, the leavings are to be left for poor, widows, orphans and foreigners.

Deuteronomy 21&22 Where is Sherlock Holmes when you want him?

Deuteronomy 21

The start of this chapter is a bit odd to my mind.
A body is found in open country. in these days one would send for the police who would investigate, search for clues and try and find evidence for cause of death and the culprit.
Here however, the nearest town or village is automatically suspected. the elders of the village or town sacrifice a bull in an uncultivated valley with a stream and basically say "It wasn't us"

If a man fancies a woman captured in war he may marry her after she has shaved her head and been given a month to mourn. However if they then fall out of love the woman is to be allowed to go free.

The first born son is to be given the rights of the firstborn even if he is born to a second favourite wife or he prefers another child.

There is no record of a rebellious son being executed in theBible, which is probably just as well!

Deuteronomy 22

There are very good principle found in this chapter - if you see something lost, return it, if you see somebody struggling, help them, don't take a nesting mother with her eggs, leave the mother. 
Also one is commanded to take notice of health and safety - if you build a house make sure that nobody can accidentally fall off the roof.

The law against planting 2 kinds of seed, mixed fibres, and trying to plough with 2 different animals.

Some of the marriage laws are quite odd today - a woman had better have proof of her virginity because if her husband suspects that she is not a virgin and her parents cannot prove it then the woman could be executed outside her parents house.

If there is proof though the husband may never divorce her.
The poor woman in this case cannot divorce the swine who has accused her.

If a woman is raped in town then both her and the rapist are guilty and face death - the idea is that the woman did not scream or struggle. If it happens in open country then only the man has to die with the inference that the woman screamed and struggled but nobody was around to assist.

If the woman is not engaged then she has to marry the rapist who has given her dad a bride price of 50 sheckels.

I'm glad that things are way more even handed now, though it has taken a very long time. After all it was only in the 20th century that women were allowed to vote in the UK

Deuteronomy 19&20 Santuary, justice, and war

Deuteronomy 19

We have touched on cities of refuge before, here they are repeated, if somebody kills another person, that person's relatives may be out for blood. if the death was accidental and not deliberate murder, the perpetrator may flee to a city of refuge and plead his or her case and gain protection from the relatives of the dead person.

Only 1 witness is not enough to convict anybody in the  Bible - this means that a vindictive person cannot accuse an innocent person.
If there are doubts about the case, the priests are to investigate carefully and if the witness is perjuring himself or herself, the punishment he intended for the victim will be meted out to them

Compared to other ancient law codes (such as the code of Hammerabi) the law in the bible applies equally to all classes of people, in other codes the severity of the offence depends very much of the status of the victim and of the offender. For example a poor man attacked by a lord could expect no justice.

Deuteronomy 20

Israel is promised peace if they obey the law of God, here it would appear that this is unlikely to happen.
Israel is told to trust in God and not to be afraid of the opposing soldiers.

The army is commanded to let anybody who wants to go leave before battle, if a man has built a house but not moved in yet, planted a vinyard but not had any wine yet, got engaged but not married yet. Or even if they don't want to be there - these people will sap the morale of the army and are not really a benefit on the field.

If Israel is attacking a city that is not set for destruction - i.e. belonging to nations that Israel is not commanded to destroy completely, Israel is to offer a chance to surrender and be subject to forced labour.
They are not to cut down any orchards or fruit bearing trees during a siege of the city  But they are to kill all the men once the city is captured if they do not surrender.

The option is not given for Israel for the cities of the Hittites, Amorites, Caananites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. These people are so depraved that God has chosen to destroy them.

Deuteronomy 17&18 Legal process and free offerings

Deuteronomy 17

Why is it such an evil thing for Israelites to worship other gods? I don't know but it is interesting that any accusations must be investigated and there is a burden of proof required. And no person could be put to death on the word of just one person.
Unfortunately in history in such times as the witch trials the burden of proof has not really been taken al that seriously. Having bought up the witch trials let me mention a couple of historical facts - in about 400 years some 50,000 people were executed as witches. This is an alarming and embarrassing number, but let me put some context in this - in the 20th century alone totalitarian states (communist and fascist) executed some 170,000,000 people.

In Israel there is due legal process - if a case cannot be settled locally there is a national high court. it is odd to my mind that the priests are to act as judge in these cases.

There are instruction here about future kings - each king is to be chosen by God, not build up massive armies or send to Egypt for more horses or weapons, not have many wives else his heart will prove weak and he will wander away from God's law. His first act on taking the throne is to make himself a copy of the law of God which he should study carefully.

Deuteronomy 18

Priests have duties - even today a priest is paid a stipend rather than a salary - the stipend is, in theory, money to allow the priest to live without having another job to support him or herself and their family.
In Israel it is very much the same, priests and Levites serving God are entitled to portions of the sacrifices so they do not need to work at another job.

In chapter 17 worshipping other gods and natural phenomenon is forbidden, here witchcraft, divination, spiritists and mediums are forbidden. These are a bit more controversial these days than those who sacrifice their children in fire.

God promises to send prophets to Israel from time to time- however there are guidelines given to detirmine if a prophet is speaking truthfully If what he says does not come true or take place it is not a messge from God.
The main thing is that if you hear God's word and ignore it you are missing a chance at something good or to avoid something not good.
We will run into some prophets later in the Bible.

  

Deuteronomy 15 Ancient banking practices

Deuteronomy 15

I would so love for the modern banks to do this - every 7th year all debts are cancelled for ones fellow countrymen. 
The way that the western world is getting into debt (The UK national debt is greater than the number of stars in our milky way galaxy - these numbers are not simply astronomical - there are economics gone mad!) It may be that at some point in the future the world will have to forgive debts. 

God says that there will always be poor people in the land but they must not be ill treated and must not be denied credit if the time to cancel debts is coming up before the debt is likely to be repaid.

Any fellow country person who becomes poor and sells themselves to be a servant or slave must be freed at the end of the seventh year. The end of their term of employment, they should be given gifts and not just be turfed out.
A servant who wants to carry on his employment after seven years will have his ear pierced using an awl into the doorpost of the house. this person will then be in the family for life. Such an arrangement was outlined by the servant of Ben Hur in the novel by Lew Wallace.
The work the servant has given in the term of labour is better than 12 years of service from a hired hand or forced labour.

The last part of this chapter kind of takes a side step - in that the firstborn of any womb belongs to God - this includes all domestic animals.

Deuteronomy 16

You know what, this chapter outlines the different festivals that are to be celebrated - we have had these before so we will pass over the passover, skip the weeks, camp out in tabernacles,

Local government is commanded in this chapter - every town is to appoint a judge who is impartial and not open to bribes.
Follow Justice and Justice alone - this is a good maxim in my opinion, a lot of trouble in the world stems from people who believe that they have been denied justice.

The chapter ends with a warning - not to set up sacred Asherah poles or sacred stones for the worhip of other gods - this is contrary to the main commandments God hates this type of thing.

Deuteronomy 13 Other gods

Deuteronomy 13

It seems that one of the big deals in these books of the bible is that people are to worship only 1 God and anybody who suggests worshipping any other gods is guilty of trying to corrupt the nation and must not be allowed to continue - even if they are an immediate family member.

If any community or village goes astray and worships other gods they are to be treated as traitors and a national disgrace.

Deuteronomy 14

Clean and unclean food are again outlined here - they are the same as the ones we found in Leviticus - meat is only animals that have a divided hoof and chew the cud, fish with fins and scales.
Most birds and insects are unclean.

God imposes an income tax of 10% (less than half of the UK government!) - a first fruits of the harvest every year = this is used to support the ministry of the priests and the temple - every third year  the tithe is used for the Levites and also for the poor and needy.
If you live too far from the place God will chose you can convert the tithe to silver and then convert it back close to Gods chosen place.

Deuteronomy 11&12 To love, and obey

Deuteronomy 11
In my Bible this is entitled Love and obey the Lord.

The other day we saw that the most important commandment is to love the lord with all your heart, mind and soul.

The theme of this chapter is that Israel needs to be careful - they have the responsibility to remember that they witnessed the exodus and the giving of the 10 commandments - not their children.
Israel has two choices - either follow the law and enjoy peace and prosperity in the promised land or not and suffer famine, war, invasion and trouble with locals and neighbours.

All the blessings were to be pronounced from mount Gerazim and the curses from mount Ebal, which were close to each other.

Deuteronomy 12
In the town where I live there are no less than 9 different churches of various denominations, - this chapter tells the Israelites that they have to destroy all local places of worship - lest they get distracted from following God.
There is only one place for Israel to worship, but it is not yet decided. Israel is allowed to slaughter animals for food locally but they are not allowed to eat the firstborn animals, nor the tithe of the crops.

These days, obviously this regulation is not observed either by Jews or Christians.

  

Deuteronomy 9&10 Reasons why God has not done something

Deuteronomy 9


God has chosen the people of Israel, however it is not because of their strength, numbers or inherent holiness. God is giving the land to Israel because of the wickedness of others.

Israel and holiness are somewhat distant really as Moses mentions that Israel broke the second commandment that they had heard not to make idols within a few weeks of hearing the 10 commandments when they made a golden calf. Moses said it took 40 days to talk God out of wiping his chosen people then.

Deuteronomy 10

Moses describes how he made new tablets and led Israel away.
At School my German teacher, Mrs Longfield, who is probably long retired by now once said that she did not like how people were supposed to "fear God" 
For me possibly a better translation would be to respect God and the law as he can make life extremely pleasant or unpleasant depending on his will.

God is above bribes and is incorruptible, defending the vulnerable and strangers.

The end of this chapter is interesting for me - God promised Abraham that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars of the sky. Moses now says that 70 people went into Egypt and they are now more numerous than the stars in the sky. 

Deuteronomy 7&8 Taking over the land

Deuteronomy 7

This chapter starts with the instruction that the land israel is to conquer is peopled by by 7 stronger nations, and the Israelites are to completely destroy them

This seems like a very bad thing to do - why would God demand that anybody should completely destroy another nation? Why should a God I believe is loving and forgiving allow such homicide let alone command it?

The reason in the bible is that these nations have incurred God's wrath by thier evil actions that they have been set apart for destruction.

Israel is commanded that they are not to forget that God drove out these nations before Israel and therefore they should not get complacent when things are going well.

Another charge that is touched on in this chapter and often levelled at the church - Israel is to completely destroy the religion of the people they take over.
this is a charge levelled at the church - that native feasts, customs, and places of worship are deliberately wiped out - In my opinion I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, I don't agree with child sacrifice, fertility rituals and so forth. Besides which why have the ancient Greek, Roman, Egyptian myths survived if the church wiped them out? Also there are certain celebrations that are decidedly unchristian - such as halloween and various Latin American practises which mix pagan religion with Catholic faith?


Deuteronomy 8

In this chapter the Israelites are reminded that they have been living off Manna which is a food that their ancestors never knew and that their clothes and shoes did not wear out.

Many commentators use this verse to remind us to be grateful when things do not go wrong - this nearly made me throw a bible across the room when I was feeling down and something had not gone right.
I turned to the bible and read this chapter with a comment to be grateful when things go right 

When Jesus is tempted in the wilderness and Satan tempts him to make bread out of stones, Jesus response is from this chapter.

But the main thrust of these chapters are that when things are going well that they should not forget the law of God when things are going well and they are settled in the land, and even with the trouble we may have with the destruction of nations in this passage it is till worth remembering God when things are going well.

If things are not going well for you, my experience is that God is actually with us in the hard times even if we cannot sense him, keep the faith, find your friends and if you need to talk to somebody, if nowhere else try your local church.

Deuteronomy 5+6 The big commandments

Deuteronomy 5

Here we have a retelling of the 10 commandments we had in Exodus 20.
Moses points out that this covenant was not given generations ago, but they themselves were there.

Lets just check they are the same now-
Commandment 1 You shall have no other god before me - is the same in exodus
Commandment 2 You shall not make idols or worship other "gods" - is the same in exodus
Commandment 3 Do not misuse God's name - is the same in exodus
Commandment 4 Observe the Sabbath - exodus says remember the Sabbath but it is the same
Commandment 5 Honour your parents - exodus is the same
Commandment 6 Do not murder - exodus is the same
Commandment 7 Do not commit adultery - exodus is the same
Commandment 8 Do not steak - exodus is the same
Commandment 9 Do not give false testimony - exodus is the same
Commandment 10 Do not covet your neighbours belongings - exodus is the same

At least these have not changed!
Of the laws that are enforceable in a court of law today only commandment 5 could be challenged and then only with evidence that the parents are harming the child.

Deuteronomy 6

This chapter is entitled Love the Lord your God in my Bible - it is not enforceable by any government it is based on attitude.
When Jesus is tempted in the wilderness he quotes 3 verses of scripture at Satan - 2 of them are from this chapter and the third is only 2 chapters away in chapter 8.

The prime commandment is in verse 4 "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength."
The israelites are encouraged to keep reminders of the law of God everywhere and Orthodox and observant Jews will still do this and carry a copy of the law in a box tied to their head, strapped to their wrist, written on their doorposts and gates. They are encouraged to talk about them in conversation.

being tempted in the wilderness, Jesus is offered all the kingdoms of earth if he will worship Satan - Jesus responds with verse 13 
When Jesus is challenged to throw himself from a high place because Angels would catch him, he responds with verse 16

The big challenge for the fledgeling nation of Israel will be remembering and following the law of God when they are living in cities they did not build, eating fruit from trees they did not plant and drinking water from wells they did not dig - it is important not to forget the hard times when times are good.

Deuteronomy 4 Introducing the Law

Deuteronomy 4

This is a long chapter - Moses gets down to the main bits of what he wants to leave wit the people of Israel, the one thing that sets them apart from all other nations, the law of God.

The law is not to be taken away from, but neither is it to be added to.
The Law is to be taught to children and Grandchildren and the Israelite people will have a reputation of being wise and understanding and alone in that the God of Israel hears prayers and answers them - which is more than can be said of the god of others.
Moses reminds the nation that they heard the law with their own ears at Mount Sinai and though they knew God was with them , they never saw any form to God, because of this they are not to distract themselves with images and idols
Moses threatens that if Israel degenerates into worshipping idols or the stars or celestial bodies that they will become corrupt and will be driven out of the land

for some reason the chapter breaks and mentions that Moses sets up 3 cities of refuge in the lands occupied by Israel to the East of the river Jordan

The main thing for me in this chapter is that God is described in verse 24 as "A consuming fire, a jealous God"

What on earth does this mean? Do you know i am not sure, but it sounds dramatic doesn't it?

Perhaps God is Jealous in his love for his people and anything that separates them from him?
What about a consuming fire? Fire can be devastating, and the aftermath of a wild fire can be extreme, but what remains afterwards is more fertile and free for things to grow that would otherwise not stand a chance.

Another thought is that heat is vital in a lot of engineering - metal is extracted from ores by application of heat, refining metals is usually done by heating them and allowing the impurities to come to the surface.
Even something as basic as welding 2 pieces of metal toghether   actually consumes some of the metal - what actually happens on a molecular level is that the metals melt and flow into each other and on a molecular level the different pieces of metal are the same at the weld.

Perhaps a jealous God whose laws and statutes make me more pure is the kind of God I want to worship after all.

Deuteronomy 1-3 Moses Last words

Deuteronomy 1

Deuteronomy 1 describes itself as Moses final address - his last words, so to speak, however they seem to go on for quite some time!!

Moses starts by reminding the Israelites what bought them to their current position - they started getting to inhabited lands, appointed tribal leaders to share Moses load, sent spies to check out the promised land, and then decided to doubt God's promise.
They are now 40 years later and a new generation is due to enter the land that their parents did not believe God would give them,.

Deuteronomy 2

Moses recalls the wandering in the wilderness and the defeat of the first king that marched out to attack Israel.

Deuteronomy 3

Moses recalls the defeat of other attacking kings, giving tribal land East of the River Jordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and hafl of the half tribe Manesseh (Joseoh's son)

Moses also says that he will die on this side of the Jordan and he will not set foot in the promised land.

It seems to me that Moses last words are going to take a while here - I hope you are sitting comfortably!

Numbers 35 & 36 Sanctuary and Inheritance

Numbers 35

The tribe of Levi (Moses relatives) are not given a plot of land with the other tribes because the Levites have been set apart to care for the tabernacle, and the priests are taken from their tribe.
Instead they are given a number of towns and cities from within the other tribes - each city with about a square kilomtetre of land surrounding it.

Among the towns given to the Levites are to be cities of sanctuary or refuge. The idea of a city of refuge is that somebody who, in innocence, accidentally kills another person. The vengeful relatives are not allowed to kill a person in a city of refuge.
If the killing is not accidental or there was a weapon involved the city of refuge leaders are to execute the murderer.

Interestingly this chapter forbids the practise of paying a ransom to pardon a murderer.

Numbers 36

Do you remember Zelophehad? I did not think you did - he appeared a few chapters ago, or at least his daughters did.

His daughters get their inheritance in this chapter, but there is a catch - they must marry within their tribe to avoid another tribe inheriting their land in the future, I guess the idea of this is that the land inheritance is fixed for all time and future squabbles are avoided.

This is the end of book 4 - next time we are into Deuteronomy.

Numbers 32 - 34 Settling down, journeys and boundaries

Numbers 32

Having invaded and dispossessed the locals two and a half tribes of Israel decide that they want to stay and live in the land they have already taken rather than in the promised land.

Moses is not impressed but they promise that the tribes taking this land will march at the head of the army to held their relatives to take the promised land.

Numbers 33

Describes a 40 year journey. Very few of these places have been located archaeologically,

  Numbers 34

Read this with an atlas - it describes the boundaries of the promised land.
There is also a list of the 12 tribal leaders at this time

Numbers 30 Promises, promises

Numbers 30 

In most things under law a woman has the same rights and duties as a man, and this chapter just does not ring right to me.

If I make a promise to God it is fully and legally binding according to this chapter and if I fail to fulfil this it is on my head.

If a legally responsible woman (such as a widow of divorcee) makes a vow it is legally binding too.

However, and this is the tricky bit if a daughter living at home makes a vow or a wife living with her husband makes a vow, her husband or father can say that he does not approve and agree and the vow is then not binding. However he has to object immediately - if he takes time to think then the lack of immediate response is taken that he accepts and the vow is binding, should he change his mind later, he will bear the responsibility of upsetting God by preventing his wife or daughter fulfilling her vow.

Part of me says - that is patronising and making women second class citizens, but then another part of me thinks nice one ladies, you can promise God things and if dad or husband objects it is not your problem or your fault.

I wonder if this law takes effect in the wedding service? For example could the husband say that he does not agree to his wife promising to obey him?

Numbers 31 

This chapter makes really uncomfortable reading - God calls on Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites, who have been responsible for tricking Israel into abandoning God.
This act of what would be called Genocide today took place and 12,000 Israelites including their kings.
Balaam has apparently not departed far enough - having blessed Israel when Balak had paid him to curse them, he is killed in the action, which is a shame I would have liked him to disappear into the mists of history proclaiming disasters. But there you go.

Moses hits the roof when he finds that the army only killed the men basically saying that it was the women who drew Israel aside from God's laws.
Moses insists that the boys and married women are to be executed and the young girls can be kept.

To me this is pretty gruesome, and in these days it is very barbaric, but certainly Rome and barbarian hordes did similar things and worse, there are some gruesome reminders of this - there is a fort in Israel today called Masada where the Jewish defenders eventually killed themselves rather than surrender to the Romans.
Closer to home, in the city of York in 1190 400 Jews chose suicide in Cliffords tower rather than a mob of anti-semitic locals.

After this - the soldiers are deemed unclean and any plunder that they took has to be ritually purified.
The plunder was split 50:50 between the community of Israel and the fighting men, with a portion for God of everything 1 in 500 from the army share and 1 in 50 from the civilian share.

I'm not going to describe the plunder, you can read about it for yourself,  but there is one more interesting thing, The officers having done a roll call found nobody had died and the officers donate their share of the gold to God as an atonement gift, the gold weighed the best part of 190 kg which is quite a bit.

I don't want to gloss over the brutality in this chapter - it is awful, but no worse than other civilisations before and after, and while I try and make excuses, I do find this very difficult from the vantage point of the 21st century 

I don't think that the entire Midianite civilisation was destroyed - I seem to recall they turn up again later....We shall have to wait and see.

  

Numbers 28 & 29 High days and Holidays

Leviticus 29 & 30

Describing the pattern of the religious observations, there is a prescribed service every morning and evening.
Every week there is another service on the sabbath.
At the start of each month there is another service. The Hebrew calender is based on the lunar cycle so this I think coincides with the new moon.

There are then the annual celebrations that we have already seen in Leviticus, namely Passover, weeks, trumpets, day of atonment and festival of tabernacles.

Each of these has their own service and sacrifice rituals.

The idea of animal sacrifice seems a bit barbaric to modern eyes. and in total 1051 lambs, 102 bulls, 24 goats and 31 rams are sacrificed on the alter every year.(that is a western year not a Jewish year) 
Though since the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in about AD80 there have been no official Jewish animal sacrifices.

By the way, as a meat eater, I really cannot take any moral high ground on this, however barbaric it may seem after all the majority of the sacrificed animals were actually eaten.

I will say that these animal sacrifices are pretty humane compared to a lot of the extremely unpleasant "sports" that used to be very popular but thankfully are now illegal including cock fighting, dog fighting, hare coursing, badger baiting, bear baiting, fox hunting etc.  

Post 100 - And now for something completely different

I don't know if you have been counting the number of these blog posts - Google has for me which is really nice of them, that is how I know this is the 100th post!

I thought this is a good time to stop and re-evaluate what I am doing and why.

I feel that there has been a lot of really quite unremarkable stuff in the journey to date - 7 chapters of Leviticus on how to burn things probably being the worst.

However lets look at some of the things we have read
Carl Sagan once said "To make an apple pie from scratch, one must first invent the universe" and we have seen in the poetic language of Genesis the creation of the universe, planet and the emergence of life.
These days there are fantastic programmes exploring the universe with Professor Brian Cox and the myriad forms of life with David Attenborough for us Brits and the aforementioned Carl Sagan in the USA.

Really, for me at least, the true scientist just stands there and looks at the universe and then puts his or her efforts into understanding just one small part of the puzzle.
Professor Tom McLeish once said (probably more than once to be honest but once in my hearing) that "Natural Philosophy" Which translates from the Greek as the "love of knowledge of nature" is better in some ways than "Science" which translates ore or less as "to know"

Anyway we followed Adam and Eve as they left paradise, we briefly explored the colossal Noah's Ark, watched Noah drink himself unconscious and see our very own rainbows, we saw the building of the first high rise run into difficulty when language barriers were erected
We then followed Abraham as he adventures around, paid a visit to Sodom and births of Isaac, How Isaac found his wife and we then see his soms.
We saw Jacob running away and his adventures with sheep, wives and father in law before re-uniting with his brother,
We saw Joseph sold into slavery and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat, dreams and portents, feast and famine and family reunions.

In Exodus we watched Moses born, become a killer, shepherd and leader and liberator of Israel.
We watched the suffering of the Egyptians wondering why this could happen.
We saw the red sea pedestrians crossing and heard the ten commandments.
We saw the complaints of the community in difficult states and saw the fabrication of the tabernacle and the alter.
We have seen Israel wander the wilderness and spy out the promised land then panic about taking hold of the promise.
Just the other day we saw Balaams talking donkey (I still reckon it sounded like Eddie Murphy from Shrek).

Not to mention all those regulations - I think we may even have found answers to the questions in the Open Letter to Dr Schlessenger and I'll try and formulate the reply once we have finished the section of the Bible that is known as the Law.

In the meantime, I hope that you have found some new things in the Bible so far, thank you for reading.

Mark
Nov 21st 2013

Numbers 26 Inheritance

Numbers 26

A guy called Zelophehad had dies without any sons, and his daughters (one of whom is called Noah by the way which I am pretty sure was a boys name last time we came across it in Genesis) asking if their family name should be lost as there are no male heirs.

Moses and Eleazar the priest say "good question" and ask God.

God's response is that if a man has no sons, his estate goes to his daughter, then if he has no daughters, brothers then uncles then some more distant relation.

Strangely enough - parents and wives don't seem to be in line to inherit - which is a bit odd to me.

The next person to inherit is Joshua Son of Nun, not A Nun, apparently his father really was called Nun - I think that Zelophehad probably might have died of vexation trying to spell his name right!

Due to Moses striking the rock in chapter 20 of numbers he will not enter the promised land, but he does not want the Israelites not to have a leader, so God tells Joshua that the job is his, whether he wants it or not. After all Moses interview technique showed just how keen HE was for the job back in Exodus "Can't somebody else do it?"

Numbers 25 & 26 Mixed marriage

Numbers 25

A common theme so far is that people will be people and they often forget or ignore the law of God.

In this chapter Israelites are being seduced by the local Moabites and give up following God and start following the god of the Moabites.
God is not impressed and sends a plague, which only ends when a man bringing a Moabite woman to his tend is spotted and executed.

I think God's beef in this chapter is more to do with living a moral and God fearing life than about falling in love - I guess it is possible the Israelites were probably falling in lust rather than love?

Numbers 26 is another census after the plague and is (to my view) quite boring!

Leviticus 23 & 24 More than he bargained for

Leviticus 23+24

Balaam finally meets up with Balak.
Balaam asks for 7 alters with 7 oxen and 7 rams for sacrifices.
Balaam then goes up to a high place where he can see the Israelites. 

He then goes back to Balak with a blessing for Israel 
This does not impress Balak, but he decides to try again at a different place.
He then does the same again and blesses Israel 

Balak then tells Balaam to stay silent if he is not going to curse Israel - you can hear the exasperation building a bit.

Balak then (rather foolishly if you ask me) asks Balaam to try again.
Again Balaam blesses Israel, at which point Balak goes crazy - he will now not pay Balaam what he promised and basically tells Balaam to go home without pay.

Balaam then tells Balak that his own country is basically doomed, on his way home he tells the same to the Amelekites, Kenites, Ashur, and Eber.

Numbers 21 & 22 Opposition and talking donkeys

Numbers 20

Israel seems to be getting close to inhabited areas and it is worrying the locals. The king of Arad attacked the Israelites and took captives. Israel flattens the cities in his realm and kills everybody there.
This seems like over reaction, but that is from a 21st century perspective - even then there are those who would do the same today.

I've lost count of how many times the Israelites grumble about their lot. In this case God sends a plague of snakes. When the Israelites work out that they managed to upset God again Moses makes a bronze replica of the snake which he sets on a tall pole, anybody bitten could get relief by simply looking at the bronze snake.

This, I believe, is the origin of the medical symbol that is used to this day.

The Israelites carry on their journey toward Moab, as they travel they come across 2 kings of Sihon and Og, 
Sihon is of the Amonite tribes (A son of Lot, Abraham's nephew. Israel offers to travel peaceably through his land keeping to the highway - Sihon marched out and attacked Israel, he lost.
Og also marched out and was also destroyed.

Israel takes possession of these lands.

Numbers 21

This is one of the best stories in the Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Bible)  Having seen what Israel did to Sihon and Og, king Balak of Moab gets some help from a guy called Balaam who actually came from somewhere close to where Abraham started from.
Balaam seems to have a gift for blessing and cursing, so Balak asks Balaam to curse Israel.
God tells Balaam not to go when summoned, so Balak sends some more impressive messengers.
Balak tells Balaam that money is no object, and Balaam agrees to go in the end.

On the way an angel blocks the road with a sword in his hand - Balaam cannot see the angel but his donkey does and the creature turned off the road into a field.
Balaam beat the animal back to the road.

A second time the angel blocks the road close to a walled vinyard, the donkey scraped Balaams leg on the wall trying to get past.
Third time, the Angel picks a spot where the donkey cannot go around - so it lies down and is again beaten.

Next moment the donkey starts to argue with Balaam -  demanding Why did you beat me? 
Balaam answers that he has been embarrassed by the donkey and if his staff was a sword there would be no more trouble.

The donkey asks, based on their long relationship if he is in the habbit of doing this, and Balaam has to admit that he does not.

At this moment Balaam is able to see the angel, who tells Balaam that his talking donkey has just saved his life - I hope Balaam's ass didn;t sound like Eddie Murphy who played Donkey in the Shrek movies!
Now read the story and try not to hear Eddie Murphy's voice!!

Balaam carries on and warns Balak that he cannot curse Israel unless God tells him it is ok.

Numbers 19 &20 Water

Numbers 19

This chapter describes the use and manufacture of the water of cleansing.

If anybody becomes ritually unclean through touching a dead body they have to be sprinkled with the water of cleansing on the third and seventh day otherwise they will never become ritually clean.

The water of cleansing is made by taking a red heifer and killing it outside camp, the priest will sprinkle some of the blood towards the tent of meeting. The heifer will then be burned completely, while burning thehave to throw some scarlet wool, hyssop branches and cedar wood onto the burning cow.

The priest, and the man who does the burning must bathe and wash their clothes and are unclean until night.
A ceremonially clean man has then to gather up the ashes - he then has to bathe and wash his clothes - he is then unclean until evening.

The ashes are kept and sprinkled on water and then the water is used for cleansing.

How this work is a total mystery to me and this just makes me go "Huh?"

Numbers 20

Moses Sister, Miriam dies at the start of this chapter.

The Israelite community seems to have the shortest communal memory as the Israelites start complaining that they were better off doing forced labour in Egypt, at least they had water there.

God tells Moses to shout at the rock and water will flow out.
In the end, Moses temper gets the better of him and he strikes the rock with his staff, and water flows out.

God's response to this is that Moses did not honour God and follow his instuctions therefore he will not lead Israel into the promised land - Given that Moses is well into his 80's, if not older, perhaps this is not too much a surprise.

The ancestor of Edom was a relative of Jacob, so when Israel comes out of Egypt they ask permission to cross the land .

Permission is refused outright. 

Israel says that they will pay for anything eaten or drunk and stay on the main road.
Edom basically says that this would be a declaration of war and they would attack.
Israel backs down and goes another way rather than provoke war.

This is not a good chapter for poor Moses, his sister dies at the beginning and now his brother dies at the end.
The method of Aaron's death is a bit odd, Moses, aaron and Eleazar (Aaron's son) climb up to the top of Mount Hor. Moses removes Aaron's priestly clothes and dresses Eleazar in them. Aaron then dies at the top of the mountain. Not much of a shock there - an old man climbing a mountain and then stripping off?  if the climb did not finish him off, well I mean, what the heck??

Numbers 17 & 18 You can't get the staff

Numbers 17

God tells the Israelites to bring one staff from each tribe and leave it in the Tabernacle.
The Man God has chosen staff will sprout leaves. This will put an end to all the grumbling.

In the Morning Aaron's staff has not just sprouted, but flowered and produced a crop of almonds.

Somehow I think that God is just showing off to prove a point!

Numbers 18

The Levites are given responsibility for care and maintenance of the tent of meeting and everything apart from the most holy items - these have to be looked after by the priests only.

In return for this the community will support the Levites and priests, they are entitled to a portion of all the sacrifices offered by the community.

The chapter goes on about this for quite some time but I really cannot be bothered to go into the same level of detail!