Sonshine's Journal

It has been some years since my father died and the memories of that day are in the past and are hardly remembered. He lived, he died and was buried in the land of the north. There was little mourning.  Mother refused to let us mourn but encouraged us to move on and return to our work and other things. How unlike the death of Moses. He lived, he died and was buried on Mt. Nebo in some unknown place. The people mourned for thirty days and then moved on with Joshua as the new leader. 

Elijah and Enoch lived but did not die for God took them home to heaven. There was no mourning but life moved on and we have their witness in the Word. Moses died and we have his witness in these last chapters of this book. 

So what are we to glean from these last chapters? We are to recall the life of this man. As the book of Hebrews tells us: “Now Moses was faithful in all God’shouse as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken.” Is this our life’s testimony as well? Are we faithful in all of God’s house? Stay faithful dear ones so you will receive the same eulogy as this servant of the Lord. 

There are many lessons to glean from this marvelous book of the Law but one stands out above all and one I have chosen many a year ago while studying. How often have you heard “if only God would reveal Himself or do miracles” then I would believe. When men ask those questions they are testing God who has revealed all we need to know about Him and His plan for us. Listen carefully, there are 10 lessons for us to learn in this chapter but vs 29 is a key point: The secret things belong to God but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever so that we might obey the Law.”

The revealed things belong to us FOREVER!  We can know what those are by reading, meditating on and obeying that which is revealed. God has kept some things in His secret places and He has given us enough to know His will and His plan for the ages and for us in particular. 

What things has God revealed to you so you might obey? Share some here. 

For centuries the Jewish nation has endured many a curse. Why? It is because they have become stubborn and hard hearted. They read the book of the Law but do not choose to honor it and obey it. Today antisemitism is rampant across the globe and it breaks our hearts. Yet, the Book of the Law is clear. Do these things and God will bless you. Forget or disobey these words and God will bring curses upon you. 

These chapters are hard to read because of the evidence that is on every newspaper and tv news shows. Men have tried to stop this madness. Men have sought for peace but it is non-existent. Even Moses was not given the blessing of being able to enter the land because of his disobedience. 

There is lesson here for all of us. If we want God to bless us we must be a people that honor Him and obey His commandments. How are we doing in that department? 

War is a terrible event but it has been that way since the Garden. Men lead into battle and many do not return home. Moses gave men several opportunities to not go and they are listed here. A new house, a new vineyard, engagement to a woman. In all of them, many were just fearful and rightly so. War is never pleasant and often the soldiers pay with their lives to protect the innocent. Today we have those who are pacifists but in this passage God called the men to go and reminded them to not be afraid for He would be with them. 

What lesson are we to learn from this? God calls us to do hard things and many times we pay with our lives. What has God called you to do that might mean you will have to sacrifice your life? Are you prepared? Are you fearful? Will you trust God in the battle and beyond? 

Here in America we have the same principle that God gave the Israelites. A man/woman is considered innocent until proof of his guilt is established. No matter what social scale they live in, what cities they inhabit, their family structure, innocence was the key to proper law adherence. We adhere to this and it is part of our judicial system. 

So what was the test of guilt or innocence? There had to be at least two witnesses and the court is to listen and then a jury of their peers responds. God is clear about what He has ordered in order that there may be peace and order in the land. What was done in Israel is also done in our court system today here in America. Wise principles help to maintain order and righteousness. 

Moses returns our thoughts back to the sin of Nadab and Abihu who offered strange fire in the Holy Place and God took their lives. As hard as that was, it teaches us the failure of our sinfulness before a Holy God. So, when this chapter crosses our reading, we are to stop and ponder what price has been paid for our sins. In the OT, it was the price of slain animals and their blood and the one goat paying the price of separation from the congregation. Aaron as High Priest offered the blood for himself and the people on this day before God. 

Fast forward to Hebrews 9 and we read: that Christ entered once for our sins. He is our atonement. Two steps: one is the shed blood for our sins and the scapegoat is the price of separation from our sins. Jesus paid it all and for that we are most grateful. 

Today as you read these chapters stop and ponder the price for your sin. Is Jesus your atonement? Have you accepted His payment? Are you now like the free goat or are you like the separated goat wandering in the desert of your sins? Christ is the One whose sacrifice truly cleanses the heavenly holy places, and he’s the One who, like the scapegoat, utterly removes and bears away our sins.

The nation of Israel has been wandering and will continue to wander for many years—-all because they refused to obey God. How often do we wander because of the same issue? We move from here to there and are never content. But, one day we will be when we see and understand the ways of God. When that happens, God will open the windows of heaven and pour out His blessings upon us too numerous to hold. That has been my experience over and over. We wonder why and it is this: we are never satisfied and content with what God has given us now and are looking for more and more. The children of Israel have never been content and still are discontented. But, for me, I am content. Be careful what you wish for as God may indeed continue to bring these discontented ideas to you until you learn contentment. 

Now as to Moses. God reveals to us why he could not enter the Promised Land. He had disobeyed and did not trust God. Another lesson for us. Obey God. Listen to Him and follow His ways. Thus God told him to climb to the top of Pisgah and there prepare Joshua to lead. Did Moses cry? Did he plead with God? Yes and yes but God told him to be silent. When God tells us no are we silent or do we weep? 

Welcome to the book of Deuteronomy and its lessons for us. 

We as 21st century believers still have problems when we read chapters like this. We ask, isn’t God a God of love and mercy? Or, isn’t God patient not willing any to perish? Why would He want vengeance against the Midianites? To understand, we must return to previous chapters where we read about the sin of immorality. We read that Phineas had killed an Israelite that blatantly brought a Midianite woman to the camp for sexual pleasure. We erroneously thought that was enough but God saw way beyond that circumstance to what lay ahead if not found a way to end this sin. So he gave the rule to the Israelites to kill all those who perpetrated this sinful character. 

The world sees this as a character flaw but instead God is showing us how to purify a people for His kingdom work. God cannot tolerate sin and He will use whatever means to cleanse it from the land and the people. He could have brought physical destruction but instead He chose to use the armies of Israel and we ask why?  Perhaps this is the reason: God wants us to see the gravity of sin upon God’s people. He wants us to see the price that has to be paid. 

It is the same with the church in Corinth. Paul led the people to realize the gravity of sin and how to cleanse the church. God sent His Son to pay the price of our sin and why no longer does a chapter like this one need to be revisited. 

When we as Christians read these chapters we wonder why God had the Israelites bring so many offerings and why were women left to their men to nullify or keep vows. So let’s step back and see if we can understand the reasons behind these chapters.

First why so many offerings and why so many details? The answer may lie in this fact, men are inherently sinners and in need of repentance and cleansing. These offerings reveal to the people how sinful they were and the heavy price that must be paid to rectify them before a holy God. 

Now as to vows made by women but can be removed by the men in their family. Again, we must understand the vow, understand the reasoning and the wisdom of the men who hear and decide. God holds the male family member responsible for his household. That is a heavy responsibility for the men. 

Principles to glean: What we see as strange is indeed perfectly made pure by God’s design. God has set aside these chapters to remind us of the power of offerings to cleanse us and to remove vows that would not honor God. 

What we fail to realize is that sin is sin, righteousness is purity and holiness. We also fail to realize our sin corrupts not just ourselves but others as well. God clearly had given examples to follow for righteousness and the early Israelites knew them, yet one man decided rules didn’t apply to him. His lust for sex led him to seek pleasure rather than holiness and the consequence was the loss of his life and the woman with whom he sought that pleasure. We fail to realize how our sin affects others as well as ourselves. It destroys our testimony and God’s blessing that He had planned for us. It is interesting to read that both were named and thus this is not just a random point but for all eternity they and their sin is noted. Be careful what you wish for! 

Second example is in the lives of five daughters of Zelophehad, all of whom were righteous. Since they had no longer any male to seek a husband for them, they came to Moses for wisdom. This was wise and honoring to their father as well as the community. Zelophehad had only borne daughters, not sons so they had no one to seek suitors for them. Moses went to the Lord for direction and God honored these young women. All were blessed and given direction on how to obtain a husband since their father had passed away. 

We can learn much from these two examples of what to do and what not to do. Do we seek to honor or to bring dishonor to our families and our nation?