Deuteronomy 3 recounts the conquests of Israel up to the plains of Moab, especially those of Og and Sihon. I don’t think we realize how many fortified cities they conquered. AI: “Israel conquered 60 fortified cities belonging to King Og of Bashan, alongside all the towns and cities in King Sihon’s territory (which included his capital, Heshbon, and neighboring towns like Jazer).” Og was the last surviving giant of the remnant of Rephaim (an ancient group of giants like the Anakim). Deuteronomy 3:11 notes that his massive iron bedstead measured nine cubits long and four cubits wide—roughly 13.5 feet long and 6 feet wide, so he was indeed a giant. There are a lot of unanswered questions about giants in the Bible. If the flood destroyed all mankind but 8 people, then where did giants come from after the flood? Where did Goliath the Philistine giant come from, along with his giant brothers? Some think that the Noah flood was a local flood only killing those living in the Mesopotamian valley and only sparing Noah and his family who lived in that valley. If pangea occurred at the time of the flood, then there would have been people living in the continents that separated after the flood who survived the flood which could include many races of people and giants. Others argue that the language in Genesis about the flood state that all mankind was destroyed in the flood except for 8 people. Others argue that language can be interpreted otherwise to not include all mankind. The debate goes on if you care to research that.
A very interesting comment in Deuteronomy 3. Moses begged God to let him enter the Promised Land, but God reminded him that his sin at Meribah would not allow him to enter. The Lord said to Moses, “Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter. 27Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, and see it with your eyes, for you shall not cross over this Jordan. 28But charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he will give them as an inheritance the land which you will see.’” God always listened to Moses and even changed His mind on what He was planning to do at times b/c of Moses’ intercession, but this time, “Enough. Don’t bring this up again.” Our prayers can change God’s mind, but there comes a time when we just accept God’s will and leave it be!
Deuteronomy 4: Moses urges the people to obey all of God’s laws. He reminds them of the original giving of the 10 commandments and laws at Mt Sinai and especially warns them against making idols of any kind. He reminds that that there is no God who “took for himself a nation from within another nation by trials, by signs and wonders and by war and by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm and by great terrors, as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him.” 39Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other.”
Deuteronomy 5: Moses recounts the 10 commandments that God gave Israel 40 years earlier at Mt Sinai. The name Deuteronomy comes from the Greek word deuteronomion, which means “second law”, but it only refers to Moses recounting the Law to this new generation. He reminded the new generation of how terrifying it was to be at Mt Sinai 40 years earlier.
Deuteronnomy 6: God has always commanded his people to teach their “son and their grandson” (6:2) God’s laws. Then comes the Shema: 6:4“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! 5You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” The word Shema means “hear” or “listen,” implying active obedience and covenant faithfulness. While God might not have demanded it, the Jews actually put the Shema in little scripture boxes on their forearms and foreheads. The scripture boxes are called tefillin (also known as phylacteries in English). Tefillin shel Yad (Arm Box): Placed on the bicep of the non-dominant arm (pointing toward the heart). The leather strap is then wrapped down the forearm and around the hand and fingers. Tefillin shel Rosh (Head Box): Placed on the forehead, centered just above the hairline between the eyes, with straps hanging down over the shoulders. Observant Jews recite the Shema twice every single day—once in the morning (Shacharit) and once in the evening (Maariv).
Then 6:20“When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What do the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments mean which the Lord our God commanded you?’ it says that you should remind your children of all of God’s miraculous wonders in the 10 plagues, etc. We Gentiles can’t possibly appreciate all of that like a Jew could, but it might be conparable to telling our children about how our nation in the US came about, reviewing the wars with England and the stories of God’s providence in forming this nation.
Life Lesson: I had an atheist respond to my blog telling me that I was brainwashing children with all the Bible teaching, not allowing them to think critically on their own later about belief in God and religion. If Yahweh is not the only true God, then I guess that I am. But if Yahweh is the only true God, then I must teach others that, and teach His laws. It starts in the home with my children and extends to my grandchildren and relatives. I have done mission work in several countries, but there is no greater mission than teaching my children about the Bible, Yahweh, and Jesus Christ who died for our sins. Sure they might choose to leave faith in God when they grow up, but I have done my part in teaching them. It’s not just taking them to church and “Sunday school”. It’s talking about God at every opportunity. It’s about talking about God when you are out enjoying God’s amazing nature with your family. It’s about telling them a Bible story at night and praying with them in their beds. It’s about telling them to trust in God when they have problems and to not be afraid b/c God is with them. It’s about exposing all the sinful things in our culture, including the lates LGBTQ heresy that they are constantly exposed to by media and friends. It’s about them seeing a genuine active working faith in you. It’s about connecting them with other believers. Ephesians 6:4Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” The Greek word for “discipline” is paideia: Discipline, instruction, training, education (including punishment if necessary for disobedience to parents). The Greek word for “instruction” is nouthesia: Admonition, instruction, warning.” nouthesía (“warning through teaching”) improves a person’s reasoning so they can reach God’s solution – i.e. by going through His thought-process.” We are reminded of what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:14You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Timothy had been taught the Old Testament Scriptures as a child by his Jewish mother and grandmother, but of course the New Testament is Scripture also. Timothy, even though he had a Greek father of whom we know nothing about, saw the “sincere faith of his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois (2 Timothy 1:5). Teach your children about God and His Word, and live it sincerely in front of them. If so, you have a promises. Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” That is not always the case but is generally true. I thank God that our 3 children all became sincere believers and have taught their children about God. I feel sorry for people who were not raised in Christian, God believing, Bible believing homes. Like Moses urged Israel to obey God, I urge you to obey God in this matter.
Deuteronomy 7: Moses warns the Israelites to totally destroy the pagan Canaanites when they enter the Promised Land and to not worship their gods or intermarry with them. Of course, the book of Judges shows that they did not follow God’s warnings and the nations that they did not completely destroy became a snare to them, oppressing them. He reminded them that they were no chosen b/c of how great they were, but simply b/c God loved them. That reminds me of 1 John 4:10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” God made many promises of physical bleessings if they would obey God: fruitful child bearing, fruitful crops and herds, no diseases or plagues, and protection from all enemies. We must realize that these promises were for the old covenant Israelites. The new covenant of Jesus is not about physical blessings. It is about spiritual blessings and eternal life. Many believers in Jesus have died horrible deaths at the hands of their enemies, but God will take care of them in eternity. As Paul said, 2 Corinthians 4:16Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 5:7for we walk by faith, not by sight.”
