OCT 8 READ JUDGES 5-9

On October 1, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Judges 5. The song of Deborah and Barak. This is a victory song that I assume was actually sung to some tune. I would love to hear the original and maybe one day we can get Deborah to sing it for us! In the meantime, I found this rendition of the song of Deborah using the exact words in Judges 5 so please listen to it. Notice vs 8: Barak’s men had “no shield or spear”, maybe his men got the weapons from the panicking army of Sisera after their chariots were swept away by the flooding waters of the Kishon River (flooding rains that God sent); vs 9-11 the volunteer, peasant army of Barak; vs 18 Zebulun and Naphtali were especially praised as Judges 4:6 states that the main army of 10,000 men came from those two tribes; vs 21-22 the torrent waters of Kishon that mired and immobilized the 900 iron chariots of Sisera; vs 21-24 the heroic efforts of Jael deceiving Sisera and then driving a tent peg through his temple; vs 28-30 a little imagination, Sisera’s mom wondering why Sisera hasn’t returned victorious from the battle. Judges 4:7 somehow Deborah drew Sisera’s men and chariots to the Kishon River and then God sent rains to flood the river. 5:31 “And the land was undisturbed for forty years.” Now listen to this rendition of Deborah’s song using the exact words in Judges 5.

Judges 6-8 Gideon defeats the Midianites who had oppressed Israel for 7 years. Here is a good AI summary:

Background and Calling

Midianite Oppression: Israel faced seven years of poverty and raids by the Midianites because of their disobedience to God.
The Angel’s Visit: God called Gideon while he was threshing wheat in a winepress to hide it from enemies. An angel called him a “mighty warrior,” though Gideon felt weak and insignificant. The angel consumes with fire an offering prepared by Gideon.
Destroying Idols: God told Gideon to tear down his town’s altar to the pagan god Baal. Gideon obeyed at night, earning the nickname Jerubbaal. The men of the city wanted to kill Gideon for doing this but Gideon’s father said to them, “Can;t Baal contend for himself?”
The Fleece Sign: Doubting his ability, Gideon asked God for proof by testing a wool fleece with dew. God proved Himself by making the fleece wet and the ground dry, then vice versa.

The Defeat of Midian

The 300 Soldiers: God reduced Gideon’s army of 32,000 down to just 300 men so Israel would know the victory came from God, not human strength. 22,000 of the 32,000 were allowed to leave b/c they were afraid, leaving 10,000 who were tested with how they drank water and 9,700 of those were seent away, leaving 300. The Midianites had 135,000 men!
The Night Attack: Armed only with trumpets, clay jars, and torches, the 300 men surrounded the enemy camp at night. They blew the trumpets, smashed the jars, and shouted.
The Victory: Panic struck the Midianite army, causing them to turn on and fight each other, allowing Israel to win the battle. Gideon’s men killed 120,000 of the 135,000 Midianite army. Gideon chased down the 2 kings of Midian and the last 15,000 Midianites, killing them. Gideon killed many of the men of Succoth who had refused to help Gideon capture the 2 kings and their armies.

Later Life

Refusing Kingship: Grateful Israelites asked Gideon to rule as king, but he refused, stating that God alone ruled over them.
The Ephod: Gideon later made a religious object called an ephod out of gold from the spoils of war, which unfortunately became an idol trap for the Israelites and a snare to Gideon..
Peaceful Era: Israel enjoyed 40 years of peace during the remainder of Gideon’s lifetime. Gideon had 70 sons by his many wives and a son named Abimelech by his concubine.

My comments on Gideon. There are a lot of heroic leaders of Israel and heroic judges like Deborah, but Gideon is the reluctant, fearful judge. He is beating out his wheat in a winepress in fear of the Midianites. He said the Lord had abandoned Israel, citing the oppression of the Midianites and the lack of current miracles. He makes an excuse that he is too young to lead Israel. He asks for a sign from the angel talking to him and the angel consumes his offering with fire. He obeys God by destroying his father’s altars to Baal and Asherah but he does so at night out of fear of being caught. He twice asks for more signs with the fleece. He had to be terrified when God reduced his army of 32,000 to 300 to go against 135,000 Midianites. God tells him that if he is still afraid to go down to the Midianite camp for another sign which was a dream a Midianite man had predicting the defeat of the Midianites. Maybe Gideon is finally ready to trust God! 7:¹⁵When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the camp of Midian into your hands.” He has gone from a reluctant, fearful, doubting potential leader to a courageous leader who defeats 135,000 Midianites with 300 men. I thought these AI comments were good: Divine Patience: Instead of rebuking Gideon for his skepticism, God gently met him in his fear and provided the confirmation he needed to transition from paralyzing anxiety to obedient action. Grace for Weak Faith: The narrative illustrates that God is willing to work through deeply flawed, frightened individuals, transforming their reluctant obedience into strength.”

Life Lesson: I can relate to Gideon. I have always been a fearful person. I blame it on my mom’s fearful disposition. I went to a school of preaching b/c I was afraid of going to Vietnam (I did think I would still have to go after my 2 years at the SOP, but I really was afraid to go to Vietnam). I was afraid when we went to Trinidad to do mission work, but I went b/c I always tried to obey God even if I was afraid. I was afraid of so many challenges in my 37 years of Christian education. Someone would threaten me with a lawsuit (as did happen) and I would fall apart. I almost had a nervous breakdown over an incident at a school where I was principal of the school. I could go on! But I say this not to brag, but to give God the glory. God has used fearful me and my wife to do many good things for His cause. God took me, a fearful, reluctant young man with an engineering degree and used me. I am so thankful for that. I could have possibly spent working for Alabama Power for 40 years and retired nicely but I would have missed all those wonderful opportunities to serve God and convert several people, train leaders in Trinidad, and establish relationships with young people through Christian education. Praise God. What about you? What are your fears? How do you think that God is calling you to do battle for him? Have you ever asked for signs to confirm God’s plans for you? Do you truly believe that God will answer you and show you His will for you? Does the story of Gideon help you find the courage to step out in faith to lead others? Do you feel, like Gideon did, unworthy to lead? I hope this story of Gideon will help you find courage.

Judges 9 Abimelech. Back to Gideon’s son Abimelech by his concubine. Abimelech was not one of the judges. He was an usurper who made himself ruler. Here is a good summary of Abimelech from AI:

Abimelech was an ambitious and ruthless son of the Bible judge Gideon who violently seized power and served as a self-proclaimed king over Shechem for three years. His tragic and bloody story is recorded in Judges Chapter 9.

Rise to Power

Appealing to family: After Gideon died, Abimelech went to his mother’s relatives in Shechem. He asked if they wanted to be ruled by all seventy of Gideon’s sons or by just one man who was their own flesh and blood.
Slaughtering his brothers: The leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech seventy pieces of silver from a pagan temple. He used the money to hire reckless men, went to his father’s house in Ophrah, and murdered sixty-nine of his half-brothers on a single stone.
Jotham’s escape: Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, escaped the massacre by hiding. Jotham mocked the people of Shechem with a prophetic parable about trees foolishly choosing a useless, destructive bramble (Abimelech) to reign over them. The olive and fig trees and grape vines had refused to let Abimelech rule over them.

Conflict and Downfall

Rebellion in Shechem: God sent an evil spirit to stir up division between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Tired of his rule, the citizens turned against him and supported a new leader named Gaal.
Destruction of the city: Abimelech discovered the revolt, attacked Shechem, captured the city, slaughtered its people, and burned down its tower where people had taken refuge, killing 1,000 men and women.
Death at Thebez: While attacking a nearby tower at Thebez, an anonymous woman dropped a heavy millstone from the roof, fracturing Abimelech’s skull. To avoid the shame of dying by a woman’s hand, he quickly ordered his armor-bearer to run him through with a sword.

On a side note, Jotham’s Parable of the Bramble was one of my mom’s favorite parables in the Bible. I have no idea why she like it so much, but she was a great student of the Old Testament. The story of Abimelech ends: 9:⁵⁵When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home. ⁵⁶Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. ⁵⁷Also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.” A sad story about a murderous usurper. Sometimes God lets us have bad leaders. But remember that it was the men of Shechem who chose him to lead. Often we elect people to rule over us who are not godly people, and often we pay the price later on.

Nice place to stop before going on to the next judge in chapter 10.

OCT 7 READ JOSHUA 24; JUDGES 1-4

On September 30, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Joshua 24. Ch 23 and 24 are Joshua’s farewell address. He is in his late 80’s and will die soon. In chapter 24 Joshua revews the history of Israel from Abraham to the conquest of Canaan. ¹³I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you have lived in them; you are eating of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.’ Joshua told them to choose whom they would serve, either Yahweh or the gods of the Canaanites. They said, “We will only serve Yahweh”. Joshua, said, “No you won’t!” I think he knew that down deep the people were still not completely committed to following Yahweh, and that prediction came true shortly after Joshua died. Joshua set up a stone at an ok by the tabernacle as a witness to their promise. Joshua made his personal pledge, “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (24:15). Joshua died at the age of 110 so he still lived several years after his farewell address. 24:³¹Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the Lord which He had done for Israel.” They buried the bones of Joseph in the cave of Machpelah just as Joseph had made them swear to do. Thus we end the book of Joshua.

We now enter the 7th period of Old Testament history, the period of the Judges.

Judges 1 describes the capture of several cites but also names the cities they failed to conquer.

Judges 2. An angel rebukes Israel for not driving out and destroying all the Canaanites as God had commanded. So now they will become as thorns in your sides and their gods will be a snare to you.’ (2:3). ⁷The people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, who had seen all the great work of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Joshua died. 2:¹⁰All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.” Joshua then describes the vicious cycle repeated over and over in the period of the judges.

Judge 3. The unconquered nations were a “test” to see if Israel would obey God. Just as Joshua predicted, they did not obey God. They lived among the Canaanites, intermarried with them, and served the Baals and Ascheroth. Judges 3 then gives the first three judges.

No need to tell all the stories of each judge. Ehud is memorable b/c he stabbed a “very fat” Moabite King Eglon with a two-edged 18 inch long sword and Eglon was so fat that his fat completely covered the whole sword! Ehud just left the sword in him and fled. Shamgar is memorable b/c he killed 600 Philistines with an oxgoad.

Judges 4. Deborah and Barak defeat Jabin and Sisera of the Canaanites. Deborah was the only woman judge. Apparently no men were stepping up to bed judges at that time and deliver Israel from the 20 year long oppression of the Canaanites. Barak reluctantly agreed to help her. Sisera had 900 iron chariots and Israel would have had none. But the Lord took care of that. He sent rain to flood the River Kishon and the chariots mired in the mud and could not move any further. Israel routed Sisera army and Barak chased Sisera. He came to what he thought was an ally in Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite. She tricked him into going to sleep in her tent and then drove a tent peg through his temple into the ground. Ouch! So now we have two heroic women, Deborah and Jael. We don’t know why Jael turned on Sisera since they were supposed to be allies.

Life Lesson: Of course I am going to discuss the role of female leadership. It is obvious that God expected the men to take the lead in Israel and in the church today. Elders were to be the “husbands of one wife”. But that didn’t mean that women could not use the gifts God gave them to edify the church. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul told the women that they could pray (out loud) and prophesy in the midst of men as long as they wore a veil (a custom back then to show submission to the men). I’m sure the early church assemblies were full of both men and women speaking in tongues and prophesying. The women were told not to “usurp authority or teach over the men” (1 Timothy 2:12) but that command did not keep them from using their gifts in a mixed gender assembly. Yes the women were told to “keep silent” in the churches (1 Corinthians 14:34) but that command can’t contradict that they were allowed to speak as long as they veiled (1 Corinthians 11). So Paul must have been speaking to some unruly women who were usurping the authority of the male leaders and causing a disturbance in the assemblies. Some have tried to make that a general rule that women cannot pray in a mixed gender assembly and I think that is sad b/c it limits us from being edified by the beautiful, heart-felt prayers of the ladies. I would be against having women elders and preachers b/c elders and preachers will sometimes need to rebuke men in the congregation and thus “usurp authority” over the men. The qualifications for elders are for men only. I believe women should be allowed to lead prayers, lead songs, read Scriptures, and give short teachings in the assemblies. Often churches allow those things in Bible classes and small groups but forbid them in the “worship assembly”, but there are not different rules for small groups vs big assemblies. Also, women can step up to lead if the men won’t (as with Deborah). It was both Aquila and his wife Priscilla who taught Apollos about correct baptism. I’m sure many women took the lead in house churches when no men were stepping up. Nympha hosted a house church in her home (Colossians 4:15). Phoebe was a “deaconness” (Romans 16:1). Junia is described by Paul in Romans 16:7 as “outstanding among the apostles,” indicating a high-level commissioning in the early movement.

The Judges cycle will be repeated many times.

OCT 6. READ JOSHUA 19-23

On September 29, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Chapter 19 continues with the last allotment of land portions to the tribes. Here again is the map.

Chapter 20 gives the 6 cities of refuge. Someone guilty of manslaughter (not premeditated murder) could go to a city of refute for protection from the blood avenger of the person he/she killed. He/she would have to live in that city until the high priest died and then he could go back to his home city.

Chapter 21 is the 48 Levitical cities. AI: “They were distributed across the nation so Levites could teach God’s laws and assist with worship. Each city included surrounding common land measured out 1,000 cubits from the city wall for livestock and herds. Larger tribes provided more cities and smaller tribes gave fewer, averaging about 4 cities contributed by each of the 12 tribes.”

Chapter 21 ends with a very important statement. 21:⁴³So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. ⁴⁴And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.” God made the original promise to give Abraham the land while he was in Ur. God repeated the land promise to Abraham while he was in Haran (Genesis 12:1-3). He affirmed that promise to Isaac and Jacob. These verses say that Israel received all the land that God had promised them. AI: “Many biblical scholars and theologians state that ancient Israel never fully occupied or controlled all the territory described in the biblical promises made to Abraham. According to passages like Genesis 15:18, the Promised Land stretched from the “river of Egypt” (often identified as the Wadi of Egypt or Nile region) to the Euphrates River, encompassing vast territories well beyond modern borders. Historians and biblical scholars note that even at the height of the united monarchy under David and Solomon, Israel’s actual political control and military occupation covered a much smaller geographic area. They never ruled the entire expanse from the Nile to the Euphrates, Many evangelical and literalist theologians believe the unfulfilled boundaries mean the promise remains valid and will be completely fulfilled in a future prophetic or millennial reign.” But regardless of those points, 21:43-45 states clearly that Israel got all the land the God promised them. Not one of the. promises failed to come to pass. Period. Case closed. Now the bigger discussion will come later when the prophets predict that Israel will be restored to the land in the Messianic Age. Is that literal or figurative? We will save that discussion for later when we read the prophets. But don’t let anyone tell you Israel never got the promised land.

Chapter 22 is mainly about an altar that the 2 1/2 tribes who settled east of the Jordan built. The 9 1/2 tribes west of the Jordan were so angry that they gathered at Shiloh to attack the 2 1/2 tribes. The 9 1/2 tribes were afraid that the Lord would get angry with all 12 tribes b/c of the altar and punish them at at Peor or as He did with Achan. They accused the 2 1/2 tribes of rebelling against the Lord. The 2 1/2 tribes explained to them that they were not building the altar to offer sacrifices, which would have been a sin since all sacrifices were only to be made at the tabernacle in Shloh. They said they were just building the altar as a “witness” to future generations that they were following Yahweh just like the 9 1/2 tribes, a witness that they were still part of the nation. Phinehas the high priest and the elders of the 9 1/2 tribes were satisfied with that explanation and called off the attack plans. Civil war averted!

Chapter 23 Joshua’s farewell address. It’s too bad we have to break up the two chapters, 23 and 24, that contain Joshua’s farewell address. Joshua is in his upper 80’s at this time. He warns Israel to finish the job of conquering the rest of the land in Canaan that they had not yet conquered. If they did not finish the conquest, “they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.” 23:¹⁴“Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed; all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed.” (the same as 21:43-45).

We will finish Joshua’s farewell address tomorrow with chapter 24, the last chapter of Joshua.

OCT 5 READ JOSHUA 14-18

On September 29, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Joshua 14. Caleb, the other of the two spies who gave a good report in Numbers 14 when they spied out the land of Canaan (the other was Joshua), was 85 at this time and till very strong and fit. He asked to be given the hill country where the Anakim giants lived. So Joshua gave Hebron, where the Anakim lived, to Caleb. Caleb then drove out the Anakim. He offered his daughter to be the wife of anyone who could conquer another city of the Anakim, Kiriath-sepher, and Othniel did that. “A small group of survivors escaped to coastal Philistine cities like Gaza, Gath, and Ashdod. Many biblical scholars believe later giants mentioned in Scripture, such as Goliath of Gath, descended from these surviving Anakim.”

Joshua 15-18 describes the dividing of Canaan among the 12 tribes so you can skim through those chapters. The Levites received 48 cities scattered throughout the land but did not receive a land portion like the other tribes. Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manassseh, got a land portion so that makes up the 12 land portions. Here is a map that shows the division of the land.

Wow, getting close to the end of Joshua.

OCT 4 READ JOSHUA 9-13

On September 28, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Joshua 9. Do you remember in Deuteronomy that God told Israel to totally annihilate all the inhabitants of all the cities in Canaan but they could make a peace treaty with cities outside of Canaan, letting them live if they would become servants to Israel. So the Gibeonites came to Joshua with worn out sandals and clothes, telling him they were from far off and wanted to make a peace treay. Joshua agreed and only 3 days later found out they had deceived him. Gibeon was very close to Gilgal where Israel camped. But Joshua said that he would keep his word and not destroy the Gibeonites, only make them servants.

Joshua 10. Five of the Canaanite kings attacked Gibeon for making this peace treaty with Israel b/c they thought it would weaken the coalition of Canaanite kings willing to fight Israel. They didn’t know that the Gibeonites had deceived Israel. So Joshua marched all night with his army to rescue the Gibeonites. The armies of the 5 kings were slaughtered with the Lord killing many with hailstones (more than the Israelites killed). Joshua needed more time to finish chasing down and killing the Canaanites, so he asked God to make the sun and moon stand still until they finished teh slaughter, and God did so. 9:13 Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. ¹⁴There was no day like that before it or after it, when the Lord listened to the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. I do believe that this happened. I can’t explain how it happened. I know that scientifically the sun doesn’t even really move across the sky although it looks that way to us and the Bible speaks of it that way in accommodation language. But the Lord who made the sun from nothing and set in motion the laws of planetary orbits could make it stay daylight for an extra day. They finish the slaughter and Joshua killed the 5 Canaanite kings.

Life Lesson: If you were Joshua and you needed more hours of daylight to finish a complete slaughter of the Canaanites, would you have ever thought to ask God to make the sun stand still and give you an extra day of daylight? Have you ever asked God for something really crazy, something really out of the ordinary, something almost miraculous if not miraculous? Don’t be afraid to ask. James says “you have not b/c you ask not”. Think of something that you would really like God to do. Maybe it’s helping you find a mate. Maybe it’s working out a big issue in your marriage. Maybe it’s a major illness or injury that your loved one is facing. Mabye it’s a career change. I’m thinking of something that I want to see happen but there will need to be some big changes first. I’m going to ask God to make it happen and then trust Him, His will be done.

Chapter 10 then describes the conquest of southern Palestine. Chapter 11 describes the conquest of northern Palestine. Chapter 12 names the 31 kings that Joshua and the Israelites defeated and killed.

Chapter 13 begins: 13:1 “Now Joshua was old and advanced in years when the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years (probably in his late 80’s), and very much of the land remains to be possessed.” He is told to give the land of Canaan west of the Jordan River to the 9 1/2 tribes (the half of the tribe of Manasseh) and to give the land east of the Jordan to the 2 1//2 tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Here is a great map of the land that Israel had not yet conquered as Joshua neared the end of his life. As you can see, there was still a lot of land to be conquered. Unfortunately, they did not finish conquering those lands. Notice they did not conqueer the Philistines and the Philistines will be a major thorn in their side in the future just as God predicted.

The next thing will be the actual division of the parts of Canaan that they did conquer.

OCT 3. READ JOSHUA 4-8

On September 28, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Here is a map of the land of Canaan at the time of Joshua to help see where the different cities are.

Joshua 4 The memorial stones from the crossing of the Jordan River. That crossing with the ark held by the. priests in the middle while the waters were held back and all Israel crossed over cand best be summed up by Joshua 4:¹⁴On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; so that they revered him, just as they had revered Moses all the days of his life.” Moses had brought the Israelites out of Egypt with miraculous signs and wonders, had parted the Red Sea and drowned the Egyptian chariots, and had led Israel 40 years in the wilderness. It was important for God to confirm that Joshua had been appointed by God to take Moses’ place and lead the people to conquer Canaan. So they took 12 stones from Jordan River bed, one for each tribe, and made a memorial so they could tell their children that God had dried up the water of the Jordan just like God parted the Red Sea. Life Lesson: If you have children, are you teaching your children the Bible stories about the amazing acts of God in history? It is our responsibility as parents to teach our children what God has done. Don’t leave it to the Sunday school teachers at church, although that is a great supplement. You should teach them at home. Read Bible stories and pray with them. I am so thrilled to hear about Eastern European Mission printing hundreds of thousands of children’s Bible story books and giving them out all across eastern Europe and to the Ukraine. I hear so man wonderful stories of children so excited about getting one of the books. Praise God for the work of EEM. $5 can print and distribute one children’s Bible story books. That’s a cup of coffee at Star Bucks!

Joshua 5 Circumcision and Passover. When the Canaanite kings heard how God dried up the Jordan and thatBut Israel had crossed over the Jordan, their hearts melted with fear. But there was something that Israel needed to do before beginning the conquest of Canaan. Apparently they had not circumcised any of the male babies born during the 40 years in the wilderness, so they had a mass circumcision. This was risky. Do you remember when Simeon and Levi convinced all the men of Shechem to be circumcised so they could presuamably marry into Jacob’s family? It was a cunning, deceptive plot. When the circumcised men of Shechem were “laid up” after the circumcisions, they were unable to fight and Simeon and Levi came in and killed them all as revenge for the ruler Shechem raping their sister Dinah. So Israel was taking a big risk by getting circumcised. The Canaanite kings could have heard about that and attacked the newly circumcised Israelite men while they were weak from the circumcision. 5:⁹Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal (which means “rolling”) to this day.” The place was also called Gibeath-haaraloth (which means “hill of foreskins”). You can imagine the mound of foreskins from 600,000 men! Gross.

While camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month of the Hebrew calendar. This was a big deal. Apparently they had not celebrated the Passover since they were at Sinai in the 2nd year after coming out of Egypt. That’s 39 years of no Passover. Those born during that 39 years were never circumcised and you couldn’t eat the Passover if you weren’t circumcised. Those over 20 were destined to die in the wilderness and probably didn’t even care if they did the Passover. Not only that, but Acts 7 tells us, 7:⁴²But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, ‘It was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O house of Israel? ⁴³You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha, the images which you made to worship.’ The Israelites over 20 who were destined to die in the 40 years were worshipping false gods so they would not have been interested in keeping the Passover.

The “captain of the Lord’s hosts” came as a man to meet Joshua. He told Joshua to take off his sandals b/c he was standing on holy ground, i.e. in the presence of the Lord Himself in the form of a man, possibly the pre-incarnate Jesus. Do you remember that Moses was told the same thing at the burning bush in Exodus 3:5? This man is the one doing the speaking in chapter 6.

Joshua 6. It is the captain of the Lord’s host who is still speaking to Joshua, and yet it says “The Lord said to Joshua…” So the man was the Lord himself, God taking the form of a man to give Joshua the battle plan for taking Jericho. Think about how crazy this battle plan sounded to Joshua and the fighting men of Israel. March around the city once a day without saying word for 6 days and then march around the city on the 7th day, blow the trumpet, and shout and the walls will come tumbling down! It would take about an hour for the 40,000 men to walk around Jericho. Everyone in the city would have heard the continuous blowing of the trumpets as they marched, which was probably eerie. But then on the 7th day, up to 7 hours of non stop trumpet had to be rattling for the people in the city, as if they knew something big was about to happen. Imagine their horror as they heard this loud shout of 40,000 men and the walls start tumbling down all around the perimeter of the city. That is, all but the part of the wall with Rahab’s house. The 2 spies were told to go rescue Rahab and her family, and they did. A ban was put on taking anything from the city as spoils or booty (remember that). Everyone and everything in the city was to be destroyed and the city burned. A curse was put on anyone rebuilding the city with the loss of his oldest and youngest sons. Hiel of Bethel attempted and completed the rebuilding of Jericho during the reign of King Ahab, according to the biblical account in 1 Kings 16:34. According to the text, Hiel laid the foundation at the cost of his oldest son, Abiram, and set up the gates at the cost of his youngest son, Segub, fulfilling Joshua’s warning. This may interest your from AI:

Archaeologists have found collapsed ancient fortification walls at the site of Tell es-Sultan (ancient Jericho), but how those findings connect to the biblical account remains a subject of ongoing scholarly debate. What Archaeologists Discovered:

Excavations led by figures like John Garstang, Kathleen Kenyon, and more recently Lorenzo Nigro have uncovered extensive ruins at Jericho, revealing a history of massive defensive walls and violent destruction: Scholars debate if these ruins are the actual ruins of the fall of the walls under Joshua.

Collapsed Bricks: Excavations found fallen piles of mud-brick retaining walls at the base of the mound, which researchers noted had collapsed outward.
Burn Layers: Archaeologists identified a thick layer of ash and burn debris, indicating the city met its end in a massive fire.
Stored Provisions: Large jars filled with charred grain were discovered intact, suggesting the city was conquered rapidly rather than starved out during a long siege.

Joshua 7. Chapter 7 is difficult to discuss. Achan violated the ban on Jericho and took gold, silver, and valuable mantle from Jericho and buried them in his tent. B/c of that, Israel was defeated when they sent 3,000 men to take the small city of Ai. At least 36 Israelites were killed and the Israelite force was routed by the man of Ai. Joshua started questioning God about why He had let them lose the battle, how the other Canaanites would hear about the defeat and take courage to fight Israel. God told him there was sin in the camp. Joshua went tribe by tribe, family by family, down to individuals until he found the guilty party, Achan, who confessed. So they took Achan, his sons, his daughters, his livestock, and all his possessions and stoned them to death and burned them. They raised over them a heap of stones and called it the valley of Achor (which means trouble).

BTW there might be a little Life Lesson here. Don’t take success for granted. Joshua was relying on his own knowledge and military reasoning. He thought 3,000 men would be plenty to take Ai, but he never consulted with the Lord, “Lord should we take Ai now?” If he had, the Lord would have told him to deal with the sin in the camp first and then go take Ai. James warned us about that: James 4:¹³Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” ¹⁶But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.” Always consult God before decisions.

But what bothers me are 2 nagging questions. 1) Why was all Israel punished by the defeat at Ai when it was just one man who violated the ban? There doesn’t seem to be any indication that anyone else knew about what Achan did. I really can’t answer my own question! I read where scholars try to explain it as “corporate personality”, i.e. a group stands or falls together as one. All I can say is that God wanted to make an example to Israel of what happens when someone disobeys Him. It is sad that at least 36 innocent men died to make that example. Maybe God is saying that Israel should have been more careful to make sure no one took anything from the city. They could have placed more guards to watch for anyone coming from the city with valuables. What I do know is that God’s people must purge the corporate body of anyone who sins repeatedly and will not repent. In 1 Corinthians 5 Paul tells the church to withdraw fellowship from unrepentant church members, to quit eating and fellowshipping them. 2) Why were Achan’s sons and daughters stoned to death along with Achan for his sin? There is no indication they had anything to do with his sin. Of course if they did know, they should have reported it to Joshua. Deuteronomy 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.” So it looks like a complete violation of that verse to kill his children, which is why some scholars say that the children must have known about his sin but didn’t report it. Maybe so. For sure, it shows how much responsibility God puts on fathers to lead their families in the right way. I guess I need to quit asking questions that I can’t satisfactorily answer. I wish I could hear your comments as you study this dilemma.

The preacher where I was raised preached a sermon “Sin in the Camp” when I was about 14. He got up and just said “there is sin in the camp here at this church”, and then he sat down. They sang another song and he got back up and finished the sermon, telling about the story of the sin of Achan. That kinda shook us all up a little and I got baptized that morning! Some others came forward also to confess sins. Looking back I totally disagree with what the preacher did but it got me in the water! Of course, I think I was baptize with one thing in mind, “to not go to hell”. I was baptized again at age 21!

Joshua 8. The conquest of Ai. Having dealt with Achan, Joshua set up a plan to ambush the men of Ai and destroyed 12,000 “men and women” in Ai and burned the city. He hanged the king of Ai. So things are back on track to conquer Canaan. Then Joshua had half the 12 tribes stand on Mt Ebal and half on Mt Gerizim. He read the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 27-28 just as Moses had told the people to do when they entered Canaan. Locate Jericho, Ai, and Gilgal on the map.

OCT 2 READ DEUTERONOMY 33-34; JOSHUA 1-3

On September 26, 2026September 27, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Deuteronomy 33: Moses gives a blessing to each of the 12 tribes.

Deuteronomy 34: The death of Moses. In Deuteronomy 32 Moses was told to go up on Mt Nebo to die, but here he goes to the top of Pisgah. Mount Pisgah and Mount Nebo are closely connected in the Bible, but scholars debate whether they are the exact same peak or two different peaks on the same ridge. Either way, it would have been high enough to see much of the Promised Land since Mt Nebo has an elevation of 3300 feet. 34:1 Now Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land,⁵So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. ⁶And He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-peor; but no man knows his burial place to this day.” AI: “Known locally by its Arabic name, Siyagha, Mt. Nebo began attracting Christian worshipers in the early fourth century, when Christianity was acknowledged in the Roman Empire as a lawful religion. Its connection to Moses and the Exodus narrative brought in Christian monks, who wanted to live and pray near where Moses was buried, as well as pilgrims, who wished to commemorate the prophet and contemplate God’s promises to his people.” (Biblical Archaeology Society article).

An interessting verse in Jude 1:⁹But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” We don’t know why the devil wanted the body of Moses. AI: “Many scholars suggest that Satan wanted to reveal the location of Moses’ grave so the Israelites would turn his remains into an object of worship or an idolatrous shrine. Another view, supported by scholars like Richard Bauckham, is that Satan laid a legal claim to Moses because Moses was a sinner and a murderer (having killed an Egyptian in Exodus 2:12). Under this theory, Satan argued that Moses stood condemned under the law, giving the devil a rightful claim over his body and soul.” We don’t know why the devil wanted the body of Moses. But Michael rebuked him. Moses was the only man God spoke face to face with. He had his weaknesses, but he ended up serving God for 120 years. The grace of God that saved Abraham and David (Romans 4) would save Moses in spite of his sin at Meribah. He would appear with Elijah on the Mt of Transfiguration making it even clearer that he was in a good place after he died and was not with the devil.

What a great complement is paid to Moses. 34:¹⁰Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, ¹¹for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, ¹²and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.” He was also the great lawgiver. John 1:¹⁷For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.” He was the great deliverer of God’s people from slavery, a type of Jesu, the even greater deliverer of God’s people from spiritual slavery (Hebrews 3:1-4).

THE CONQUEST OF CANAAN PERIOD. The 6th period of Old Testament history.

THE BOOK OF JOSHUA

Joshua 1: Still camped on the plains of Moab 3 days before entering Canaan, God tells Joshua 3 times “Be strong and courageous”. He has faith that God will give Israel victory over the fortified cities and stron armies of the Canaanite nations, but he will need courage. He and his Israelires army will be fighting for 7 1/2 years, conquering 31 Canaanite kings.

Joshua 2: Jericho sent 2 spies out “secretly” to spy out Canaan, especially Jericho. That was pretty smart. I’m sure he wanted to avoid what happened when the 12 spies went out 40 years ago and caused a rebellion against Moses and God. Most of us know the story of Rahab hiding the 2 spies and then helping them escape the city through a window in her house which was on the outer wall. I want to focus on what made her decide to start following Yahweh, the God of the Israelites. Joshua 1: ⁹and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you. ¹⁰For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. ¹¹When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. ” The spies came back to Joshua with a different report than the 10 spies did 40 years ago when they spied out the same land. “They said to Joshua, “Surely the Lord has given all the land into our hands; moreover, all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before us.”

Observation: Not just Rahab but all the inhabitants of the land of Canaan heard about the 10 plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the defeat of Og and Sihon. They all could have converted to follow Yahweh just like Rahab did. So don’t feel like God is being too harsh in commanding the Israelites to totally destroy all the Canaanite pagan nations. They worshipped other gods for a long time. They had heard of the God of Israel back in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God even sent Melchizadek as a priest and king of Salem (later Jerusalem) to try to convert some of them but we don’t know if he had any success. An interesting verse, God told Abraham in Genesis 15:¹⁶Then in the fourth generation (of being slaves in Egypt) they (Israel) will return here (to Canaan), for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” God was patient with pagan nations up to a certain point. When He decided that a nation was “past the point of no return” He would destroy that nation. “The cup of God’s wrath” would become full and He would exercise justice, which He the just judge of the world has the right and obligation to do.

Joshua 3: The crossing of the Jordan was an important step in showing that God had chosen Joshua to lead the people in the conquest of Canaan. It was what the parting of the Red Sea was to confirm Moses as God’s leader. This of course was not a “parting of the Jordan” but the backing up of a river since it was a river and not a sea. The ark, carried by the priests, would remain in the bed of the Jordan until everyone had crossed over, which would take a long time since there were probably over 1 1/2 million Israelites. As each person crossed over and saw the ark standing by the waters held back, it would have reminded them that their God Yahweh was all powerful. 3:¹⁰Joshua said, “By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will assuredly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite.”

OCT 1. READ DEUTERONOMY 28-32

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Deuteronomy 28: The list of blessings for obeying God that was to be read on Mt Gerizim and the curses for not obeying God that was to be read on Mt Ebal when they entered Canaan. Deuteronomy 27 gave the reading of the curses for disobeying God to be read from Mt Ebal, and Deuteronomy 28 gives more curses to be read. Half the tribes gathered on Mt Ebal and half on Mt Gerizim. The priests and Levites stood between the mountains with the Ark of the Covenant to read the laws, blessings, and curses.Mount Gerizim was historically lush and green, symbolizing life and the rewards of obedience. Mount Ebal was rocky and barren, symbolizing the severe consequences and desolation of turning away from the commandments. Notice how all the blessings and curses were physical in nature. That is the way it was in the old covenant. The new covenant is not like that. In the new covenant believers in Jesus are promised primarily spiritual blessings (the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, spiritual peace, etc.) When you read the Old Testament you have to remember that. If you read the New Testament thinking that we are promised the same physical blessings as in the Old Testament then you will be disappointed in Christianity. Many Christians have died violently at the hands of their enemies in the history of the church.

Deuteronomy 29: While camped on the plains of Moab, Moses renews the same covenant as made at Mt Sinai 40 years earlier. He gives a warning that the nation will scattered if they disobey God.

Deuteronomy 30: God promised to restore the nation back to the Promised Land if they are ever scattered due to disobedience and if they repent. An interesting conclusion after giving all these laws. Someone might say that the requirements of keeping the Law was not possible so why try. 30:¹¹“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. ¹²It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ ¹³Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ ¹⁴But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.” In other words, keeping the Law is “doable” Sure, they would sin but there were sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins that would keep them in good standing with the Law. Someone could actually be called “blameless”, as Paul described himself in Philippians 3:6. Psalm 119:1: “Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.” Under the new covenant that righteousness by Law keeping could not save someone eternally. Righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus is required for salvation. Paul in Romans 10 contrasts the righteousness that came from the Law with the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus. The righteousness that come through faith in Jesus is also “doable”. He quotes Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and applies that to the righteousness that comes by faith which is given to believers through simple faith and not strict obedience to even new covenant laws. Romans 10: ⁵For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live ^[c]by that righteousness. ⁶But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), ⁷or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, ⁹that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. ” Salvation is really simple faith in Jesus. It is not something you have to go up into heaven or down into the abyss to find. It is all right there is the simply proclamation of the gospel. There are new covenant commands that we must obey to be saved, but obedience to those commands is not the basis of our salvation, which is grace through faith in Jesus. We get what Paul called “imputed righteousness” (the righteousness of Jesus put in our spiritual account).

Then follows a great principle of God: 30:¹⁵“See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; ¹⁹I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, ²⁰by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him.” God has given all men freedom of choice in matters of belief and obedience to God. He doesn’t always allow you to choose your circumstances but He always allows you to choose how to respond to your circumstances. God could have made us as programmed robots that are programmed to believe and love him without giving us freedom of choice, but He didn’t. He wanted our love to be voluntary. BTW Calvinism’s doctrine of unconditional predestination of the elect and those to be sentenced to hell does not allow that freedom of choice. Under Calvinism those predestined to hell cannot simply choose to believe and be saved b/c they are “totally depraved”. That is a doctrine that would make us question the love of God. If I could just arbitrarily choose which of my 3 children were going to be saved and which were going to be lost, why wouldn’t I choose all 3 to be saved? Why would I choose any of the 3 to be lost if it was totally up to me and not them? Calvinism would make God like a parent who arbitrarily chooses some of his children to be lost, not giving them a choice.

Deuteronomy 31: Moses gives his last words of warning. He charges his replacement, Joshua, to be “strong and courageous”. God even told Moses that Israel would worship other gods and fall away when they enter the land. The book of all God’s laws was to be kept beside the ark of the covenant in the most holy place in the tabernacle. It contained the final instructions, covenant responsibilities, and warnings delivered by Moses to the Israelites. Moses was told to write a “song” and teach it to Israel. The song, found in Deuteronomy 32, would be a testimony against Israel when they would disobey God in the future after Moses’ death.

Deuteronomy 32: The song.

While Deuteronomy 31 introduces and commands the song, the actual lyrics in chapter 32 outline a “prophetic lawsuit” and history lesson:

God’s Faithfulness: Praises God as the perfect, upright, and protective “Rock” who cared for Israel in the wilderness.
Israel’s Corruption: Contrasts God’s goodness with Israel’s unfaithfulness, pride, and turning to idolatry once they grew prosperous.
Judgment and Mercy: Predicts the natural consequences and disasters brought on by their sin, but concludes with a promise of God’s ultimate compassion and vindication for His people.

Moses is told to go up on Mt Nebo and die! ⁴⁸The Lord spoke to Moses that very same day, saying, ⁴⁹“Go up to this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and look at the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the sons of Israel for a possession. ⁵⁰Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, ⁵¹because you broke faith with Me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah-kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, because you did not treat Me as holy in the midst of the sons of Israel. ⁵²For you shall see the land at a distance, but you shall not go there, into the land which I am giving the sons of Israel.” Kinda sad being told “go die”. He would be able to see Canaan at a distance as Mt Nebo is just across the Jordan River from Jericho and about 3,300 feet high. From an elevation of 3,300 feet, the naked eye can see a maximum distance of approximately 70.4 miles. Mt Nebo is about 16 miles from Jericho, so Moses could see Jericho and a lot more of Canaan from Mt Nebo even if he wasn’t at the very peak. Is it sad that he won’t be able to enter Canaan? Probably so, but God is doing him a favor. Joshua will lead the Israelite armies to conquer 31 kings over the next 7 years. Is that the way the 120 year old Moses would want to end his years?

We are about to finish Deuteronomy, which might have been a struggle to read at times, but I hope you have found some valuable lessons.

SEPT 30. READ DEUTERONOMY 23-27

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Deuteronomy 23: Various laws. 1) Persons to be excluded from the assembly including Moabites. Life Lesson: Balak the king of Moab had hired Balaam to curse Israel as they passed by Mob land, but “the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you.” Often bad things will happen to us and we will say, “I’m cursed!” But God can turn those bad things into blessings. Think back at the times God has done that in your life. Someone I love recently said that she was so disappointed with something that had happened, but that now she can see that it might turn out to be the best thing and she loves how it turned out. We just have to trust God. Romans 8:²⁸And we know that God causes all things (the good and the bad) to work together for good to those who love God.” 2) Burying your excrement outside the camp. That is a sanitation law that prevents diseases like cholera and typhoid. 3) Cult prostitute harlots and male cult “dogs” are an abomination to God. Jews could not charge interest on fellow Jews (they could charge interest on foreigners). That seems strange to us today when we are all about how much interest we can get on our savings or on money we loan out to others, but giving an interest free loan was an act of love to help a fellow Jews who was having tough financial times. As discussed earlier, they might even lose some of that loan money in the sabbatical year or year of Jubilee. Nehemiah was very upset with the Jews who were charging interest on fellow Jews when he made his return to Palestine to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 5). He made those guilty to stop that and repay any interest they had collected. Do not delay in keeping your vows that you make to God.

Deuteronomy 24 begins with a strange law about divorce. 24:1“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, ²and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, ³and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, ⁴then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled.” Observation: the “indecency” used for the first divorce can’t be adultery. If it was, the first husband could have just had her stoned to death. Instead he gives her a certificate of divorce, something never authorized by God in the Law. The 2nd divorce (or even death of the 2nd husband) was not for adultery either for the same reasons. So technically, the woman was still married to the first husband even though she had married the 2nd husband. So why does this law in chapter 24 say that she can’t remarry the first husband if the 2nd husband divorces her or dies. We need to go to Matthew to clear this up. Matthew 19:³Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” ⁴And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, ⁵and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? ⁶So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” ⁷They *said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸He *said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. ⁹And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” Observations: 1) The Pharisees said that Moses “commanded to give her a certificate of divorce” but Jesus said that Moses only “permitted you to divorce your wives”. Chapter 22 had pretty much said, “no divorces”. If adultery is involved, the guilty will be stoned. If premarital sex is involved, marry and never divorce. But no divorce. But now in chapter 24 there is a law for a special situation involving divorce. 2) Jesus clarified that the “indecency” cause for divorce in 24:1 could not be used for divorce unless it was adultery. The only acceptable cause for divorce under the Law was adultery, and that called for stoning not divorce, but it did free the guilty party to remarry. 3) Jesus clarified that from the beginning with the first marriage of Adam and Eve that marriage was supposed to be one man, one woman becoming one flesh (the sexual consummation). BTW how much clearer could Jesus and God be that marriage is only for a man and a woman. It is such an abomination to God to see homosexual marriages in our country that was founded on Judeo-Christian teachings from the Bible. 4) The only reason the special divorce situation was given in Deuteronomy 24 was to protect wives from husbands who would divorce their wives for some other cause than adultery. Instead of loving their wives as God commanded them to do, they wanted to get rid of their wives but they didn’t have a scriptural cause. So they would just give a man-made certificate of divorce not even authorized by the Law. But they couldn’t remarry her if her 2nd husband died or divorced her in the same way. Why? Jesus is saying that this law might make the first husband think twice before divorcing his wife for some cause other than adultery. It might protect the wives from unscriptural divorces by hard hearted Jewish husbands.

The rest of the various laws in Deuteronomy are easy to understand. Question: What do you see is the emphasis in most of these laws in 24:6-21. Answer: Most of them protect the poor, widows, orphans, and strangers from other nations, God has always given special emphasis on not neglecting the care of widows, orphans, aliens, and the poor! James comments on this: James 1:²⁷Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Romans 12:13: “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” Galatians 2:10: “All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor. Luke 14:13–14: “When you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.” The early church had a special ministry of providing food for needy widows (Acts 6).

Deuteronomy 25 has more various laws. 1) No more than 40 stripes as punishment for a crime. AI: To ensure they never accidentally broke the biblical law by miscounting in the heat of the moment, Jewish courts and synagogue tribunals capped the actual punishment at 39.” I wonder how many stripes Jesus was given. 2) The law for Levirate marriage: the brother has to marry the widow of his deceased brother and bear a child for his deceased brother to continue his deceased brother’s name and inheritance. If the brother refused to do this, the widow was to take off his sandal and spit in his face in front of the elders! Do you remember the case of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38? Judah’s son refused to marry Tamar after his brother, her husband, died, and God killed him for refusing. A 3rd son was too young and Judah promised to give that son to Tamar (Levirate marriage) when he grew up, but he Judah failed to keep his promise. So Tamar dresses up like a prostitute and Judah unknowingly goes in to her and has sex. Later they bring Tamar to Judah to pronounce her punishment for harlotry, and she tells Judah that it is his child! She has twins and one of them, Perez, is in the seed line of Jesus! The Bible has a lot of dysfunctional family stories! 3) No cheating people by using dishonest weighing of goods. 4) A command to totally destroy all the Amalekites b/c they attacked Israel from the rear as they were coming around their territory. King Saul would be told to do this task but spared some of the animals and the king of Amalek and the kingdom was taken from Saul b/c of that.

Deuteronomy 26. Israelites were commanded to bring the first fruits of their crops as an offering to God to be shared with the Levites in each town. Tithing laws under the Law of Moses can be a little confusing, so here is a good explanation from AI: Under the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were commanded to give three distinct tithes, which totaled roughly 23% of their agricultural produce and livestock each year when averaged out.Most scholars and theologians outline these three separate tithes from the Hebrew Bible as follows:

The Poor (or Third / Welfare) Tithe: An extra 10% given every third and sixth year of the seven-year agricultural cycle. Instead of going to the temple, this was stored locally in the towns to support the Levites, strangers, orphans, and widows (Deuteronomy 14:28–29). Averaged annually, this amounted to about 3.3% per year.

The Levitical (or First) Tithe: A yearly 10% levy on crops and livestock given to the Levites (Numbers 18:21–24) because they did not receive a land inheritance like the other tribes. In turn, the Levites gave a tenth of what they received to the Aaronic priests (Numbers 18:26).

The Festival (or Second) Tithe: An additional 10% set aside each year by the Israelites, which they brought to Jerusalem to consume during the holy pilgrim feasts and national celebrations (Deuteronomy 12:17–18, 14:22–27).

Deuteronomy 27 gives the curses for disobeying God that the Levites were to read to the people from Mt Ebal when they entered Canaan. A wide variety of sins that would cause one to be cursed by God. They fulfill this command when Joshua has the curses and blessings read from Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim (Joshua 8).

SEPT 29. READ DEUTERONOMY 18-22

On September 24, 2026 By nrfaughtLeave a comment

Deuteronomy 18: The Levites had no land, only 48 cities and the pasture around those cities, and were to be fed by portions of the offerings that the people made or gave them. All “spiritism” was forbidden. 18:⁹“When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. ¹⁰There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, ¹¹or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. Passing a child through the fire was especially common as worship to the god Molech of the Moabites. King Manasseh of Judah even did that! He also practiced sorcery, divination, witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. Such things are practiced by millions today across the world, especially in Africa and Brazil. Mediums who claim to contact the dead are relatively common and popular in the United States. Psychic mediums operate across the country through private practices, online readings. Modern witchcraft and Wicca have become increasingly common and mainstream in the United States, with estimates suggesting there are over a million practicing adherents.” Combine all that with the LGBTQ heresy, and we begin to wonder if the United States is becoming one of those pagan nations or becoming like Sodom that God destroyed? In case you are interested, the Salem witch trials that began in 1692 showed the Puritans’ belief that the devil lived in witches who caused natural disasters and illnesses. Unfortunately, they were out of control and used unreliable evidence and killed a lot of innocent people.

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 gives the Messianic prophecy about the Prophet Jesus. 18:¹⁵“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him. ¹⁸I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him.” AI: “Acts 3:22–23: The Apostle Peter quotes Moses’ promise during his sermon at Solomon’s Portico, explicitly identifying Jesus as the promised prophet whom the people must obey. Acts 7:37: Stephen references the prophecy just before his martyrdom, linking the heritage of Moses directly to Jesus.” Perhaps this is part of what Jesus was referring to in John 5:46 when He said that “Moses wrote about Me”. Perhaps this is the prophecy that made the Jews ask John, “Are you the Prophet?” in John 1:21. John told them that he was not. Jesus was indeed a prophet, the greatest of all the prophets. He was a spokesman for God, which was the main work of a prophet. He also predicted several future events, including his death, burial, and resurrection, Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Romans (which happened in 70 AD). We must stress that Jesus was more than just a prophet. He was the Son of God. Muslims teach that Jesus was indeed a prophet just like Moses and Muhammed, but that he was only a purely human prophet just like those men. Muhammed said that God cannot have a Son. This teaching of Islam is enough to totally reject the Muslim faith.

Deuteronomy 18 also gives the test for a false prophet. 18:21 You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ ²²When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.” The predictions of true prophets had to come true with 100% accuracy. The gift of prophecy ended in the 1st century along with other miraculous gifts. “The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit, which began in the 1980s, heavily emphasized the restoration of modern prophetic and apostolic offices.” The First Wave was classical Pentecostalism and Second Wave was the Charismatic movement of tongue speaking. The Vineyard Church and the Bethel movement in California came out of this third wave. Their “prophets” however could not predict the future with 100% accuracy. One of the Bethel “prophets” predicted that my sister would be healed of her lung disease. She died of her lung disease shortly thereafter. There are no prophets today who can predict the future with 100% accuracy, so don’t listen to those who claim to be modern day prophets.

Deuteronomy 19 gives same laws for using the 6 cities of refuge as Numbers 35. A person guilty of accidental manslaughter (but not premeditated murder) could stay as in a city of refute safe from the blood avenger of the person he killed as long as the current high priest lived. After the high priest died, he could leave. The chapter also gives laws forbidding moving land boundary marks and the requirement to have at least two witnesses to convict someone. If a person proved to be a false witness, he got the penalty that he was trying to make the accused suffer with the false testimony.

Deuteronomy 20: Laws of warfare. There were several exemptions to military duty going into a battle given: new homeowners, new vineyard owners, men engaged to a woman, and the fearful and fainthearted (like the 22,00 who left Joshua army). Cities “far off” from Canaan could ask for a peace treaty whereby their people would become forced labor for Israel. The Gibeonites tricked Joshua into making a peace treaty with them, giving false evidence that they were from a far off city when actually they were from a city very close by. Then Joshus, b/c he had given his word to the Gibeonites, had to march all night with his men to rescue the Gibeonites when they were attacked by 5 Canaanite kings. The people of the specifically named pagan nations in Canaan were to be totally destroyed and were not allowed to sue for a peace treaty.

Deuteronomy 21 gives a test washing their hands over a slain heifer for elders in a city to show they did not kill someone who was found dead. That would be a neat method of determining who is guilty or innocent of a crime today, wouldn’t it? An Israelite man could take a beautiful woman captive for his wife if he desired. A man could have two wives, one he loved and one he did not loved, but he had to give the firstborn inheritance to the firstborn even if it was from the unloved wife. Yes, God tolerated polygamy! I don’t understand why, but He did. Even King David, the man after God’s own heart, had 8 wives and was not condemned for that. A stubborn, rebellious, glutton, and drunkard son was to be carried to th elders and stoned to death! What if we practiced that today? The body of a man hung on a tree for a crime he committed must be taken down before nightfall. That practice is quoted by Paul in Galatians 3:¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” Jesus was not cursed for his own sins but for our sins.

Deuteronomy 22 gives a wide range of various laws, but some are really interesting. 22:⁵“A woman shall not wear man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing.” That verse kept a lot of women from wearing women’s pants to church back in old days. 22:11 “You shall not wear a material mixed of wool and linen together.” My shirts and pants are all mixed polyester and cotton and would be forbidden. But we have to wonder, “What is wrong with wearing such material?” AI: “In Jewish tradition, sha’atnez is often categorized as a chok—a statute given by God that has no rational or logical human explanation, designed simply to test obedience and devotion to the covenant.” I think I agree with that opinion. Such laws might have some spiritual significance such as emphasizing hearts unmixed with worldly pagan elements, but ultimately they test obedience.

Deuteronomy 22 gives several laws on morality.

Accusations of Marital Deception: If a newly married man falsely accuses his bride of not being a virgin, her parents can present evidence to city elders; the husband faces a fine, public whipping, and permanent marriage retention. If the accusation is true, the woman faces severe punishment. AI: “A father could produce the blood-stained cloth or garment (often interpreted as the wedding night bedsheet) from the couple’s first night together as physical proof of his daughter’s virginity. Ancient societies assumed that the first time a woman had sexual intercourse, the tearing of the hymen would reliably cause bleeding. The bride’s family or attendants presumably kept a garment, bedsheet, or cloth from the wedding night to collect and preserve this blood stain.” God gave a lot of laws to protect women from men with hard hearts and this was one of them.

Adultery: Both a man and a married or betrothed woman involved in voluntary adultery are subject to the death penalty.

Assault vs. Consent in Betrothal: If a betrothed virgin is assaulted in a city where she could scream for help but didn’t, both are held accountable; if it occurs in an isolated open field, only the man is punished because the woman is presumed innocent and unable to get help.

Unbetrothed Assault: If a man violates an unbetrothed virgin, he must pay a financial penalty to her father and marry her without the right to ever divorce her. Perhaps this law is why it was pretty much expected that a young man had to marry a girl if he got her pregnant back in the old days! God hated divorce (Malachi 2:16) so in these cases it was either get stoned to death or get married and never divorce! No divorces for mental cruelty or incompatibility.