ESV Chronological Plan, Day 68 | Deuteronomy 22-24

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 22:1-24:22

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 22-24). Supposedly this section (Deuteronomy 12-26) loosely follows the outline of the Ten Commandments, but there is disagreement and I haven't been able to look further. For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

An interesting mix. When I read the book of Deuteronomy, I am keeping in mind that what I am reading are God's laws. They are given by him, and they reflect his own character. They are a window into his own heart. In the process, I see tensions held together in unity, in God's law, that normally don't coexist elsewhere. On one hand there is a serious concern with preventing harmful social contagion, upholding institutions, and making sharp distinctions between right vs. wrong, holy vs. unholy, clean vs. unclean. These concerns are supported with harsh punishments. On the other hand, there is simultaneously an incredible awareness and value regarding the dignity of those that ancient societies didn't value, specifically the woman and the slave in these chapters. Gary Millar writes that "uniquely in the Ancient Near East, the process in [Deuteronomy 22] 13-19 is designed to protect and exonerate the woman." (Laws which give unique rights to slaves will be mentioned below.) As individuals, we usually tend toward one extreme or the other: either we lift the value of the individual above that of society or institutions, or norms, and we think in simplistic binaries: "people over process," or "love over law," or something similar. Or, other more conservative types will go the other way, and often point out that when we uphold our institutions and rule of law, and protect the sanctity of the family, and control sources of social contagion, we are building a stronger, more functional, more healthy society in which individuals can actually flourish--and then they will describe efforts to care for and value the outsider as some kind of dangerous liberalism. This is not the case in God's law.

The rights of the slave. Today, how the Bible talks about slaves is one of the things that makes people question whether Christianity is good. Shouldn’t the Bible condemn slavery if it’s really from God? When hostile groups attack the Bible on the basis of it not condemning slavery, however, they intentionally leave out a lot of important details. There are some additional facts which are not well known, but which we find a couple of examples of in our reading today. Not only was ancient slavery much different than modern slavery, but Biblical law even undermines the ancient variety. (1) The condition of slavery is consistently portrayed as oppressive, as in Israel’s slavery under Egypt; (2) Most of those who received the NT letters were, themselves, currently slaves; (3) The ideal was presented as the end of slavery—Job notes that in death, “the slave is free from his master” (Job 3:19). (4) If anyone abducted a man to sell him, the one found in possession of him would be put to death, Ex. 21:16, Deut. 24:27; (5) Paul instructs slaves to gain their freedom if they can, 1 Cor. 7:21; (6) The Bible actually forbids returning escaped slaves to their former masters, Deut. 23:15-16. (7) Regarding abuse—The Bible mandates that if anyone was physically harmed by their master, they would automatically be set free, Ex. 21:27; (8) If a man struck a slave and the slave died, the Bible says plainly “he shall be avenged,” Ex. 21:20; (9) In the case of female slaves, the Bible seems to assume the possibility of sexual activity, and so automatically gives the female slave the rights of a wife—and mandates that she not be sold, only divorced and set free.All of this would also make it less likely for a family to sell a daughter into slavery in the first place—not only that, but she has marital rights which if they are not fulfilled would allow her to divorce her master/husband (Ex. 21:7-11). In these ways, Biblical law limits slavery to something that would eventually, and ideally, become more like modern employment today, where a slave is able to voluntarily and suddenly break ties with their master at will, get compensated for mistreatment and injury on the job, and the master would be put to death if he ever killed a slave. In these ways, the Bible's laws regarding slavery undermine and modernize the institution from within.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In my worship, I find myself responding to these laws by, on one hand, realizing that we serve a holy God whose wrath against sin and social contagion is real. And at the same time, I feel invited into his presence, because in his warmth and grace he looks upon even the least of people and feels compassion for them. He understands the messiness of life. In my actions, I can't come away from reading these laws without feeling convicted that if God prescribes kindness and dignity for the "least of these," I should be giving a bigger part of my life to caring for those whom God cares for. In my attitude I want to invite within myself the concerns that coexist within the heart of God. At different times in my life, I have tended towards being more concerned about right and wrong and institutions than I am about people; at other times I feel a pull on the heart strings and I can go the other way. God's law shows me that it's not impossible to deeply care about both at the same time.

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 67 | Deuteronomy 19-21

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 19:1-21:23

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 19-21). Supposedly this section (Deuteronomy 12-26) loosely follows the outline of the Ten Commandments, but there is disagreement and I haven't been able to look further. For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

Divine Law Grounded in Human Reality. Throughout the following laws, we see that this is not an idealistic law which imagines an ideal society: people are complicated, and this law anticipates the messiness of life. Here are a few realities that Moses' law, given by God, had to consider:

(1) At this time there were no large-capacity prisons--which even today present their own sets of problems. Notice that there is never a jail term prescribed for anything in these laws. And if there were a prison, it would not be the place of punishment--it would have been a holding place to keep the accused while those in charge were inquiring into the situation and determing what would actually be the punishment. Pretty much the only way of dealing with a situation was through [A] death; [B] exile; [C] maiming; [D] forced restitution--confiscating belongings and reallocating them; or [E] managing the scope of the situation. So as you read the laws in this section and are having a personal, gut-level discomfort with what you are reading, that is a natural reaction to having to consider the messiness of life and how it is dealt with under these kinds of conditions. Lawyers and cops have a high turnover rate for a reason. 

(2) Civil law can't govern the heart. Bad people will always corrupt good law, and people will convince themselves that another person is a terrible person just so that they can feel justified in harming them. That's why cities of refuge are provided in Deuteronomy 19, to separate an angry vengeful person away from the unintentional killer. It's why Deuteronomy 21 has a law governing marrying female captives, and provides some protection for them in the event that some hard-hearted soldier uses this as a legal excuse to use and discard the enemy ("you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her," Deut. 21:14). 

(3) The character of the populace needs to be protected. This is not so much of a value for modern people, but in the ancient world this would have been the top concern. What makes society work is a social contract where everyone agrees on a shared set of values and commits to upholding them. These values do not get re-negotiated and do not shift around, they are not up for debate, and there are no movements to try to change them. Without this, in the ancient world, the alternative is rioting and chaos and actual fighting and battles in the streets, as some other group within the society fights with the others to achieve supremacy. (We got away from this, the French philosopher Michael Foucault says, by creating a new societal system of total surveillance and mass incarceration--he wasn't convinced that this was an improvement.) In this context, the example of the rebellious son in Deuteronomy 21:18-21 isn't just a terrible situation; it's a threat to the character of the entire society in which the people of God live. In a society without mass taxation and a large-scale adequate police force outfitted with all the things that enable officers to get to a place quickly, with backup, and be well-prepared for whatever they encounter when they arrive, the local leadership fell under the categories of elders of the city or town or village, and governing heads of households, who governed those within their houses. A rebellious, drunk, gluttonous, stubborn, outspoken, and wilful son needs to be dealt with because he's bucking the entire system of how the society functions and creating a likelihood for others to do the same. In a place like that, this is a crisis. Can't throw him in prison. Can't maim him, as that would just make him even less able to be a contributing member of society. Can't confiscate his belongings, he hasn't worked to earn any. You could exile him, but he'll either die in the wilderness or end up in another nation where he will be a black mark on the reputation of what Israelites are like. So what's left?

Uncharacteristic mercy in the ancient world. All of that said, these laws are uncharacteristically merciful for the ancient world. The provision of cities of refuge in Deuteronomy 19, the laws governing -uniquely in the entire world at the time!- the scope of warfare in the ancient world in Deuteronomy 20, and the protection for the first-born children of unloved wives in Deuteronomy 21, all demonstrate a unique amount of care for the manslaughterer, the members of an enemy nation, and the son of the unloved married woman, which just was not present elsewhere in the ancient world. This reveals God's character--the law is more kind than the standard laws of the ancient world, because God himself cares for those who are not cared for.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our worship, I think we can look at these laws and see both God's wisdom and his care. Law is an ugly thing because it deals with ugly realities (yet it holds everything together); and yet God's law consistently points the one who studies it to value the foreigner, the slave, the enemy combatant, the manslaughterer, the falsely accused, and the unloved. This is a law which, the more that you study it, would place in you the conviction that we are to value those whom God values. It demonstrates both wisdom and kindness, and I think that right there leads us into worship. In our attitudes, I think we're supposed to value what God values. Can you look at the person who is working a menial job for low pay (the slave), or the guy who doesn't speak your language with proficiency (the foreigner), or the person working for a cause that you oppose (the enemy combatant), or the person who is being named in the media for terrible things but who everyone around him says didn't do it (possibly falsely accused), or the person whose marriage is struggling (the unloved), or the guy just out of jail through accidentally killing someone through reckless endangerment and negligence (the manslaughterer), and see them as just as valuable, as a person, as you are--worthy of care and consideration? If not, then the laws of Deuteronomy might have some things to teach you about grace. In our actions, maybe we could make a list of people that we find that we struggle to love, and we just pick a couple of people of that list to (a) pray for, (b) show some practical kindness to, and (c) learn something from--with this comes the realization that you are not better than them, and they could even show you a thing or two.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to trust in you, because you are wise and kind. I don't see everything that you see. So as I walk with you, grant me a sense of calm and humility. And give me greater discernment to see things well, as well as compassion for others, so that I can reflect in some small way those aspects of who you are."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 66 | Deuteronomy 15-18

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 15:1-18:32

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 15-18). For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

Keeping Time by Looking to God. It is really interesting to see how the whole structure of Israelite life was centered around their identity as God's people. In Deuteronomy 15 we see the Year of Release, which was practiced every seven years. And then in Deuteronomy 16 we see the pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot (also called Pentecost), and Sukkot (the Feast of Booths). Significant planning had to be done to account for these events. If I am reading this right, there was no way that Israelite society could accomodate something like a 40-year mortgage; the laws of Deuteronomy 15 would not have allowed a creditor to provide a loan that took longer than seven years to pay off (at least not without being severely disappointed when all debts were cleared in the sabbatical year). So at all points, the economical decisions of Israelites had to account for the reality that they lived on time that was structured by God's commands. The same thing was seen in the Jubilee Year (Leviticus 25) and the Sabbath year for the land (Exodus 23). In the case of the pilgrimage festivals, whole features of Israelite society and customs also had to be set up to account for God's command to have all the males gather in Jerusalem for three festivals each year in Deuteronomy 16.  The reminders for the people were constant. Maybe it's worth leaning into some holidays and regular rhythms of life to remind ourselves that we belong to God as well! It is my hope that as we journey through the month of March this year, that we will also have a sense of keeping time marked by our relationship with God, in which we are journeying with Jesus to Jerusalem together, that we are entering through the gates amidst the triumphal entry of Palm Sunday, that we weep at the foot of the cross on Good Friday, and that we celebrate the news of the empty tomb together with the disciples on Easter.

There will be no poor... there will never cease to be poor. Deuteronomy 15:4 and 11 shows the difference between realism and idealism, and demonstrates that both have a place within the instructions of God. On the idealistic side, we are told in 15:4 that "there will be no poor" in the land of Israel. But due to human factors and the facts of life, the reality was that according to 15:11 "there will never cease to be poor" in the land. Here we see the groundedness and wisdom of God's law. God's Word avoids both the airy, detached expectation that everything will just go fantastic, while at the same time avoiding cynical defeatism. Sure, there will always be poor in the land--so, it seems to say, we'll just continually work to wipe out poverty. But on the other hand: Sure, we've got a plan to eradicate poverty--but we'll reexamine it every 5 years, because of course there will still be poverty. It's this balance that helps us to swing for the fences without getting crushed when things don't go as far or as fast as we feel like they should. We need the idealists to lead us out to do the impossible, and we need the realists to come along behind to build structures for dealing with the reality that we might fall a bit short of the mark. That's how progress happens.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? In our attitudes, I at least feel pretty convicted of my own tendency to fall into either idealism or cynicism. While we will never reach perfection in ourselves or in society on this side of glory, it's still worth it to head out and see how far we can get towards the goal. In our actions it might be worth it to do little things to make our schedules reflect that we are God's people, like Deuteronomy 15 and 16 portray. One option could be to adopt the Jewish Calendar. But more realistically, we could try other ways. What if we scheduled an hour with God this week the way that we would for a meeting, by putting a place and time into our Google calendars or printed daily planners? What if I could look at my schedule and see by what I've got booked in it that I belong to God's people?

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "I spend my time on so many things, and I schedule myself around other important things in my life. I make time for meetings and shows and books and gatherings. But God, help me to make time to spend in your presence, reflecting on what you are saying to me through your Word."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 65 | Deuteronomy 12-14

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 12:1-14:29

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the specific stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 12-14). For a free and easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

A personal unresolved question. Just for fun, I will share one of the biggest unresolved questions about the Bible that I have--but it's one that I know there is an answer for. In Deuteronomy 12 the people of Israel are told to travel to Jerusalem to where God will "put his name"--and Deuteronomy 16 specifies that this should happen three times a year. These are long festivals, and the closeness of Passover to Shavuot (Pentecost) often meant that the pilgrims would just stay in Jerusalem in the meantime between the two. This strikes me as a huge defensive weakness for Israel. How should all the fighting men of Israel be expected to abandon their homes and families, and withdraw within the territory to Jerusalem, leaving the outer territories undefended, three times per year? Even if there were not times of war, it would be easy for some morally corrupt person to stay behind while everyone else was in Jerusalem, and just rob everyone blind. Now I know that there is an answer, because we know this practice goes back to ancient times and we know that the people of Israel made it work. I just don't know how. So if you can find the solution, extra points for you. (My guess, unconfirmed, is that families and villages eventually defined "all your men" as "a group of men from every family or village, representing the people," who would carry all of the prescribed offerings to Jerusalem on everyone's behalf. After all, in John 7:8, Jesus declines going up to Jerusalem during the festival -though he later goes secretly- so that must have been an option.)

Dealing with false prophets. This passage is helpful even today, when in certain circles people still raise themselves up as prophets, or when other religious groups (like Mormons or Muslims) claim that their leading figure was a true prophet of God. According to this section, to take someone seriously as a prophet, (1) they would have to perform a sign or wonder or make a successful prediction of some specific thing that was going to happen - Deut. 13:1; (2) even if they do this, their revelation would still have to line up with the truth that God has already laid out - Deut. 13:2-4; (3) if they can't do this, they shouldn't be listened to (13:3) and in ancient Israel the community would have even stoned them to death (13:5). Maybe it is just because I spent a lot of time in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles, but I have actually encountered someone trying to claim this kind of prophetic position or authority over other people many times. For the more savvy among them, the claim would be that the New Covenant prophetic office is different from the Old Covenant prophetic office, and so the standards no longer apply. This convenient interesting argument strikes me as odd, though: why would a New Covenant prophet, who operates under a greater covenant, be held to a lesser standard? For Mormons and Muslims and other groups with similar claims, this passage is helpful in putting their prophets (Muhammad and Joseph Smith) to the test.

Categories. The ancient Israelites had different categories for things than we do. Sometimes, for example, we may have a problem with Jonah having been swallowed by a whale, because we would describe that as a mammal and not a "fish," as Jonah 1 and 2 describes. However, in Deuteronomy 14:11-18 under the category of birds, one of the animals included is "the bat." I once told a Bible study group that it makes sense if you understand that the categories were created by men who had other things to do: "it has wings and it flies and it's not an insect, we'll call that one a bird, this other thing swims in the ocean and has a tail, that's a fish. Now let's get back to work and get this house built by sundown."

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I'll try my best here: In our worship we could look at God's prescription for worshiping him in a specific location and bringing people to himself a few times a year, and we could God's desire that as we draw near to him, he will bring us closer to each other. In our attitude we could look at the test for a false prophet, and say that we want to be able to know God's Word well so that we can discern what is from him and what isn't. In our actions we can feed our attitude and our worship through doing what we are doing now -reading through God's Word- so that internally we are changed in all kinds of ways that will play out in our daily lives.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, thank you for giving me your Word. I don't always understand all of it, but I know that you have given it to me for my good. Help me to joyfully obey you where your Word is clear, to seek you where I have trouble understanding, and to draw near to others who are also seeking you, as we draw near to you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 64 | Deuteronomy 9-11

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 9:1-11:32

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the general stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 9-11). For an easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

The unmerited grace of God. We ended with a note yesterday about how God did not choose Israel because it was the mightiest of all nations (for it was the least), and Israel did not accumulate wealth by its own strength (for God enabled them to gain it). But now in Deuteronomy 9, we see that Israel was not even considered a particularly righteous nation, either: 

"Do not say in your heart, after the LORD your God has thrust [the Canaanites] out before you, ‘It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ whereas it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is driving them out before you. Not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart are you going in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations the LORD your God is driving them out from before you, and that he may confirm the word that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Deut. 9:4-5)

Why is God telling them this? Because as fallen people, we are quick to look at ourselves in a positive light, and to become proud, and that turns our focus away from God's goodness and towards ours. So humbling ourselves like this is important for us to do to. If you spend a lot of time around people, you will know that there's a difference between a righteous person who is still humbly aware of their many faults, and a righteous person who struggles to think of any faults that they might have. There's a difference between someone who has found peace in Jesus, and someone who is constantly defending their own identity as a good person. There's a difference between someone who gives because they are aware that they, themselves, are in need, and they want others to be blessed as they have been blessed--and someone who can barely conceal their belief that they, themselves, are a blessing to be received by others. Pride is destructive. It's the original sin. It's the most subtle deception.

Call to mind where God has blessed you. Deuteronomy 10:22 says "Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven." It's often worth it to take a look at where God has brought you. I have so far left to go, and yet I've come a long way from being the son of a stripper, repeatedly kicked out of school, growing up in a crummy apartment in downtown Toronto. Just re-reading that last sentence, and it's clear that something changed! I could continue to recount my blessings here: I have two wonderful daughters. I belong to an amazing church. Although I am aware that there is a loneliness epidemic in many areas of the country, I myself have not experienced it. We continue to see God's favor on the things that we are doing, in such a way that we can see that we are not the ones doing it. Is there also a lot of difficulty and hardship? Yes--continually. But just like Israel could look back and remember when they were only 70 people, we can also look back and see that God has already brought us so far. The same God is still at work in you and me.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our attitudes, I think the things above would make us more humble, kind, gentle people if we carried them in our hearts. It is possible that we might often feel the opposite: that we are pretty good people, and that despite what God has done in our lives, we feel like we were expecting more. Those two attitudes together are like a quick and easy, two-step, no-bake recipe for lifelong bitterness. We could find so much healing just by reversing them and replacing them with the takeaways described above. In our worship we can become more God-centered, seeing him as the main character in our stories. Come to think of it, for all the famous people in the Bible, God is the main character in their stories. Without God, Abraham is just a guy wandering around in Canaan who did well for himself. David is just a rags-to-royalty story that ends with a descent into corruption. Job is just a guy who lost everything and then recovered and then died eventually. But their lives take on a special, important meaning because their lives pointed to God as the central character of their stories. In our actions we might benefit from prayers or practices designed to call to mind how (a) we have been blessed by God, and (b) performing an examen each week in our personal journaling time--a spiritual examination of our conscience and of how we are on our knees before God asking him to transform us into Christlikeness.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, please help me to put my focus on you. Show me your goodness and glory. Make me willing to be considered small in my sight and in the sight of others, so that you might be glorified."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 63 | Deuteronomy 4-8

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Deuteronomy 4:1-8:20

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Today's readings are from the historical prologue in Moses' first speech (Deuteronomy 4) and the general stipulations in Moses' second speech (Deuteronomy 5-8). There is a lot of reading today! There is actually so much good material worth commenting on that it almost hurts not to address so much of it. For an easily accessible, modern, online commentary from a trustworthy and reputable resource, The Gospel Coalition Commentaries are once again a good resource--specifically this commentary written by J. Gary Millar.

The Shema. According to GotQuestions.org, the Shema (Hebrew for the word "hear") is the beginning of the most important daily prayer in Judaism, and it is found in Deuteronomy 6:4. It says "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). Jesus referred to this passage as the greatest commandment of the Law in Mark 12:28-30. Here we see a call to worship ("Hear"), a taking on of identity as God's people ("O Israel"), a recognition of God as he truly is ("the LORD our God, the LORD is one"), a response to God's revelation of Himself ("You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might"), a command to make God's identity and prescribed way of living the center of our own lives ("And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart"), and then finally a command to continually remember and pass these things down ("You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way...").

We are not the point. God says that Israel should not think that they were somehow good enough for God to rescue them. Moses says "It was not because you were more in number than any other people... for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers" (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).  Then when it comes to their own success in Deuteronomy 8, the people have to be told, "Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day" (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). We like to think that our success and our relationship with God are due to our own efforts. In reality, we have these things because of God's saving, effective, unmerited, unconditional love.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship, we see a mix of healthy fear of God (Deuteronomy 4-5) mixed with the grace of God that I mentioned above. If we tend to focus on God's holiness and justice, then we likely need a bigger picture of God's grace. And if we tend to major on God's giving and kindness, then we need to remember God as a powerful king who holds not the sword in his hands in vain. Both lead us nearer to God out of respect and gratitude. In our attitudes the Shema is a call to meditate and think upon the nature of God, and to consider him in our waking up and lying down. Maybe we can even build things into our day to help with this: one of my best spiritual seasons was a point where I had to walk 30 minutes to work early in the morning every day, and so I would pray and talk and thing and sing songs as the sun came up, every day for 8 months. Maybe just by ditching the car we could improve both our physical and spiritual health. In our actions -- well, I think I may have suggested a possible action in the last point. Got ahead of myself.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "Father, you are so amazing that I could ponder your nature and your goodness forever. Do not let me grow to be self-centered, but instead give me the grace to allow myself to become small, and to focus on you, so that you would be magnified in my life."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 62 | Deuteronomy 1:1-3:29

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Deuteronomy 1:1-3:29

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Structure of Deuteronomy. According to the ESV Study Bible, the book of Deuteronomy is structured like an ancient treaty document, given over the course of three speeches. There is Moses' first speech which includes the preamble (1:1-5) and historical prologue (1:6-4:49). Then we have Moses' second speech where Israel is given general stipulations (5:1-11:32) and specific stipulations (12:1-26:19). Finally in Moses' third speech we have blessings and curses (27:1-28:68), followed by a couple of things unique to Deuteronomy: covenant renewal (29:1-29), a description of future covenant forgiveness (30:1-10), and an exhortation to choose the way of life over the way of death (30:11-20). Then there is the succession from Moses to Joshua (31:1-8), followed by the document clause (31:9-29), and witnesses (32:1-47)--followed by blessings from and the death of Moses (32:48-34:12). That seems like a lot of detail, and it is, but the basic takeaway from it is this: Deuteronomy is the ancient treaty document between a greater power (God) and a lesser power (Israel). But it is one that has grace and forgiveness at the center, and culminates in an echo of the description of the Promised Deliverer from Genesis 49 and Numbers 24, right near as the treaty document is ready to close (Deuteronomy 32-33). It is a familiar form, changed and altered at specific points to make us see Jesus.

Jesus' personal reading material. As we read the early chapters of Deuteronomy, we are privileged to be meditating on the same material that Jesus meditated on while he was being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, alone for 40 days and 40 nights. In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, all of Jesus' responses to Satan are taken from these early chapters of Deuteronomy.

The destruction of the original inhabitants. In the WhatsApp group devoted to this reading plan, I've noticed that there has been some difficulty with the violence in these and other passages towards the original(?) inhabitants of the land. Here is some detail that might go a little ways towards helping. (1) According to the information in Genesis 10-11, the land of Israel was originally given to the descendants of Shem, not Ham (father of the Canaanites). That we find Abram, an Aramean descendant of Shem, displaced and living in Ur, while the land of Shem is overrun with people of Canaan, suggests that the Canaanites were the original invaders who went outside of their prescribed boundaries and took the land. (2) Despite this breach, God allowed this and waited hundreds of years, putting his own chosen people through slavery because Canaanite society had still not reached the point of deserving judgment--"the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete" (Genesis 15:16). (3) By the time that Israel did end up taking land, God had already driven away many of the people. Exodus 23:28 and Deuteronomy 7:20 both mention that God sent hornets (amongst other things) against the inhabitants to drive out many of the poeple, emptying the land of many of the people beforehand. The period of wandering in the wilderness also gave the people of the land enough time and notice to reconsider their living situation, as Rahab noted, "I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you" (Joshua 2:9-10). (4) Those who came to make peace with Israel beforehand were shown great mercy. The nation of Israel had an international flavor from the beginning. Moses, the leader of Israel, took a Cushite wife (Numbers 12:1); a mixed multitude of peoples went up along with Israel from Egypt (Exodus 12:37-38); Rahab -a Canaanite- herself asked for and was given mercy (Joshua 2 and 6), and went on to become not just a Canaanite in the land of Israel, but was married into the leading house of the tribe of Judah and went on to become one of the ancestors of King David and Jesus (Ruth 4). (5) With very few exceptions, made because of the sensitivity of establishing a new country devoted to godly principles (necessitating a complete cleansing away of the old order), Israel was the first country in the world to have something like a Genevan Conventions code of warfare. In Deuteronomy 20, these rules govern the treatment of people during war, give the people of Israel the astonishing -for the ancient world- opportunity to refuse military service, prescribe conditions for making peace, and even give conditions for the peaceful treatment of the plant life in the war zone ("are the trees of the field human, that they should be besieged by you?" - Deut. 20:19).

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

The writing of this post is already going late, but I think in our worship we would begin to see God as a powerful, superior, ruling King--and yet one who is surprisingly giving and gracious, and concerned with the welfare even of those who rebel against him (remember the surprising bits of Deuteronomy that are unusual for ancient treaties). This causes us to approach God with the awe and respect that an ancient king would command from a subject nation, but also to feel some measure of comfort in his presence. In our attitudes this should give us a healthy respect for terms of various relationships, whether our relationship with God, or each other, or within a society to make things work. We all sacrifice some things in order to make the whole work together. In our actions - this is always the hardest part for me to write because in many ways these are specific to each person. I suppose that if God makes treaties with us, and yet includes provisions for grace, then we are free to enter into relationships with others and to establish our own personal boundaries--and yet, it would be wise for us to do what God does here, and to decide beforehand to extend grace in times when these boundaries are overstepped. If God forgives us when we step on his toes, then we should be able to follow his example and extend some grace when someone slips up and steps on ours.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to enter into a renewed relationship with you today -and every day!-, and to be at peace with God and man. Help me to joyfully fulfill my obligations and duties to others, and to be a person whose life is marked out by sincere devotion to your ways. Help me to be willing to give, and ask for, forgiveness when there has been a breach of relationship; and yet to also be wise regarding those who might try to take advantage of this to cause harm. God, thank you that you establish a relationship with me. Thank you for your grace, and provision, and kindness."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 61 | Numbers 34-36

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 34:1-36:13

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "Hope" (Numbers 32-36).

This land is my land, this land is your land. On the surface of it, it seems like today we are just reading about how the land in Israel is going to be divided up. And--well, we are! But this is incredible. Think about what this represents. (1) The journey's basically over, we made it through the wilderness. The first bit of land is being settled, and the rest of the land is being portioned out, and we're even figuring out what to do if a daughter of a family inherits land and then goes and gets married to someone from a different tribe (answer: she can't). God's people made it, everyone! And in God's strength, whatever wilderness you're in the middle of, you can make it too. (2) The faithfulness of God is real. God really could have, by all rights, been done with Israel at any time in the wilderness. But he is a God who keeps steadfast, covenant love. If he did not give up on the Israelites in the wilderness, neither will he give up on his people now. (3) There's a foretaste of the Promised Land in the midst of the wilderness. Before the people are led up into the Promised Land, he gives them a little bit of inheritance in the wilderness. Before they march in to Jericho, he describes the boundaries of the land that they are about to receive. We might spend a lot of time wandering in the wilderness that we find ourselves in, and yet in that time there may be little tastes of glory. Those are reminders of God's faithfulness--a taste of what's to come.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? I think seeing God's faithfulness here is a good opportunity to remember other examples of his faithfulness, and to glorify him. And in our attitude, we could emulate this kind of steadfast love for the unlovables in our life. In actions, we can take time to learn about the promises that God makes to us in his word--this is like our version of the land boundaries that God gave to Israel: we can open up the record and see where God is taking you and me.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, help me to finish up my time well in the wilderness. Help me to see ways that you are already bringing your promises to fruition. Help me to believe every promise that you have made to your people, so that my faith will increase and so that I will find my joy in you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 60 | Numbers 31-33

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 31:1-33:56

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31).

The End of the Balaam Conspiracy. In Numbers 31 the conspiracy of Balaam is finally put down, as Balaam is killed with the sword (Numbers 31:8). The Moabites and Midianites "on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD" (Numbers 31:15). Balaam was the kind of figure who Israel would come to know quite well in the future: a seemingly pious and God-honoring individual who, drawn away after bribes and dishonest gain, would become perfectly willing to corrupt justice and lead the people of God astray. The dangerous plan that Balaam suggested to defeat Israel would also become a familiar theme: in the wilderness, Balaam's conspiracy showed the people of God that the most significant danger would not come from experiencing conflict with the world, but rather through experiencing their acceptance along with the pressure to integrate with worldly ways of life, their values, the things that they worship, and the moral system to which they hold. The same is still true today! So before Israel could actually settle the land that they had won back in Numbers 21, they had to walk through the events of the Balaam Conspiracy to learn this lesson. If they had fully learned it, the Promised Land would never have been lost, and the Jewish people would never have been spread among the nations.

End of the Wilderness Journey. Starting in Numbers 32, Israel finally settles in the land and they recount their wilderness journey (implying, accurately enough, that it is over). Israel has learned all the lessons of the wilderness--40 years of God's direct instruction has brought them to the point where they are ready to enter in.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship we can see the faithfulness of God to have brought Israel through its wilderness journey to the point where they were ready to enter the Promised Land. In our attitude we should be willing to do whatever it takes to focus ourselves completely on God and resist the pull of the world. This is the last thing that Israel had to learn before they could enter into the Promised Land. In our actions we can spend time in reflection as we read our Bibles, asking if we are ready to follow God even when he asks us difficult things, and spending extra time where we might feel most uncomfortable or the most resistant--often those "pressure points" reveal a place where God wants to transform us and bring us into greater fruitfulness and joy.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "I ask you, God, to give me a willing heart to follow you wherever you lead. Don't allow me to get pulled into a comfortable, acceptable life in a land whose people do not know you. Give me the courage to stand out--not by being foolish or brash, but just through following a steady, principled desire to do what you call me to do through your Word. Help me to be one of the ones who finds rest in the land of your promise on the other side of the wilderness."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 58 | Numbers 25-27

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 25:1-27:23

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31).

Falling apart at the finish line. Numbers 25 starts by mentioning that the following bit took place "While Israel lived in Shittim." This was right next to the Jordan, in fact it's the place from which Joshua would have the camp set out from the wilderness to enter into the Promised Land (Joshua 3:1). And it is here, within reach of the end of the journey, where the Moabites "invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods" (Numbers 25:2). How often have we fallen apart spiritually, personally, right when God was just beginning to bring blessing into our lives? So we should always be on guard so that we don't fall. Just because we're doing well now, or life is going good, doesn't mean that we should relax our discipline or casually neglect our walk with God. It is possible to fall apart at the finish line.

A provoked fall is still a fall. To be fair--it's not as if Israel sinned without being provoked. The Midianites led them into it. Or, wait, the Moabites led them into it. Wait--if the Moabites are the ones leading Israel astray in Numbers 25:2, why is there all of a sudden a Midianite woman in the camp in Numbers 25:6? And not just any woman--but a Midianite princess, the daughter of the chief of Midian (Numbers 25:16)? The last time that we saw the Midianites and the Moabites together, weren't they heading out to hire Balaam to lay a curse upon Israel (Numbers 22:7)? And now they've partnered together to lie down with the enemy? Something doesn't add up. I won't keep you in suspense for as long as the book does, though: Numbers 31:16 says "these, on Balaam's advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor... so the plague came upon the congregation of the LORD." Having failed to curse the people of Israel, Balaam conspired to have the people remove themselves from God's blessing. It's like he took a page straight out of Satan's playbook. This incident was an attack on the people of Israel. But it's one that was still Israel's responsibility. Sometimes when we stumble and fall, we blame other people. But the truth is that, even if we were provoked or tricked to act that way, our actions are still our own responsibility. No one can make us think, or do, anything. We are completely responsible for ourselves.

Sometimes God's judgment is to let people wander over a cliff. You have to wonder at the mindset of the people who grumbled in the midst of God's provision, or joined in Korah's rebellion, or hooked themselves up with Moab and Midian right when they were in sight of the Promised Land. Couldn't they see the pillar of cloud and fire watching over the camp, and look at the manna provided in the wilderness, and see that something amazing was going on here? In each of these cases, the people involved thought they knew best and that others were being strange or restrictive or unfair by holding them to account. But their actions invited God's judgment, and they were wiped out in several waves over many years--due to the consequences of their own actions (though they didn't see anything wrong with them). In Numbers 26:64, after counting all the people who were left of Israel after the latest incident, it says "among these there was not one of those listed by Moses and Aaron.... in the wilderness of Sinai... except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun." God's passive judgment was to allow these people to have their grumbling hearts, their short-sightedness, their pigheaded determination to do what they want to do, and their sense that they know how things should be done, all leading them to stop listening and to rebel. And God gave them over to the consequences, so that after 40 years of this he could bring in a new generation who he could lead into the place of God's promise. We should pray that God would reveal to us where we are hard-hearted -not whether we are hard-hearted- so that we could be convicted and respond and be transformed. This is God's grace. There will always be places where sin is crouched at the door of our hearts, waiting to rise up and take its opportunity (Genesis 4:7). The first thing that we need to do is to acknowledge that this is a reality: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). Then as God reveals bits and pieces to us, we can ask for his help to grow and change.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

How can we respond in our worship, attitude, and actions? These are just a few scrambled thoughts--each day, I am conscious that I am only ever touching on a tiny sliver of what could be said about the assigned readings. In our worship I think we should be reminded that God is to be revered--we are dealing with the holy, completely other, Creator of the universe who in his graciousness has decided to concern himself with us and is therefore active in human history. Whenever even the angels appear before people in the Bible, people fall down before them in fear as if dead, so they have to keep saying to them, "fear not." That isn't because that's a common saying on the streets of New Jerusalem ("Hey Michael, fear not!" "Gabriel, great to see you, fear not.")--they're saying it because even to be in the presence of an angel is terrifying; how much more so to be in the presence of God? In our attitude we should be on high alert for signs of a hard heart before God. We should be like detectives, tracking down the sinful motivations and rebelliousness of our own hearts (not the hearts of others). This will cause us to be kinder and gentler people, and more softened to the leading of God in our lives.  In our actions both of these last two items can be accomplished through our time in prayer, even as we are out on a walk or driving in the car. We should always be working these things out. We never get past the need to repent and get a picture of God's holiness in our lives--we either grow in our awareness of that need, or we become less aware.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "Father God, bring me to an awareness of where you want to work on my heart in this season. I know that you are slowly allowing me to circle around, increasingly leaning on your grace, relying on your spiritual provision, in this life before you lead me into the Promised Land. Do not allow my heart to be hardened on the journey. Holy Spirit, come into my life and convict me of sinful thoughts or attitudes or actions, and make me more aware of your awesomeness and holiness. And Jesus, please graciously intercede for me, and be the appearance of God to me, covering me in your kindness and grace--so that I might one day cross over the Jordan to look upon the face of God."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 57 | Numbers 22-24

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 22:1-24:25

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are in the section of Numbers that I've called "The Balaam Conspiracy" (Numbers 22-31). Israel has won their first bit of land (in chapter 21), but they have to wait through this section of the book before they can finally start settling in it and portioning it out in chapter 32. There's a mysterious figure named Balaam who arises, who three times tries to curse Israel--and then finds a new strategy to bring misfortune on the people, which actually succeeds. In this section, Balaam appears to be one way but really is another. Even when we don't see him, he's in the background. And only with the defeat of Balaam are the people of Israel finally able to move forward into the Promised Land.

Balaam son of Beor in Archaeology. We have, not only proof of Balaam's existence, but also an independent (pagan) prophecy of his that has been discovered through archaeology.

Echoes of the Promised Deliverer from Genesis 49. Balaam's prophecy, for the first time since Genesis 49, brings up the subject of the Promised Deliverer of the Old Testament, the one who will come through the line of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah to restore humankind to the peace with God that we enjoyed in the Garden of Eden. This is the one who will crush the head of the serpent, be slain in the process, and yet go on to rule eternally over a worldwide kingdom without end. Jacob prophesied over the descendant, the Messiah, who would come through Judah: "Judah is a young lion... He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness--who dares to rouse him?" (Genesis 49:9). Balaam says of him, "He crouches, he lies down like a lion or a lioness--who dares to rouse him?" (Numbers 24:9). Jacob had said "The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until He comes to whom it belongs* and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him" (Genesis 49:10). Balaam says of Him, "a scepter will arise from Israel" (Numbers 24:17).

*A note on the text in Genesis 49:10 - This is taken from a sermon manuscript that I wrote on this passage: 'Now depending on what different translations you have with you this morning, they might say different things [in Genesis 49:10]. And what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to make sense of what the word ‘Shiloh’ means—maybe it’s a town called Shiloh, maybe it’s a word that means “that which belongs to him” or “to whom it belongs.” Just to run through these all really quickly and get them all out of the way; the town Shiloh and this word here are spelled differently, so that’s not it. A tribute in the sense of, the scepter won’t depart from him until he gets shiloh, “that which belongs to him,” doesn’t make much sense. His scepter belongs to him. It wouldn’t depart from him once he got what belonged to him; the scepter is his. So that’s not it either. The last option is the one that most translations side with now, which is “the ruler’s staff will not depart from between [Judah’s] feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come.” That’s a prediction of the Promised Deliverer. There is one final king from the line of Judah, and the scepter of royal authority truly belongs to him. And he will hold it forever—He is truly the Promised Deliverer; the coming King. The Jewish people who lived before and after Jesus interpreted this passage the same way. So one ancient Jewish translation in Aramaic [Targum Pseudo-Jonathan] puts it, “the ruler’s staff will not depart… until the King Messiah shall come.” A group of ancient documents found in Judea called The Dead Sea Scrolls, they say, “until the coming of the Messiah of righteousness.” So we’ve seen that this is a king, and we’ve seen that this is a specific king, and we’ve seen that he comes from the line of Judah, and we see that he holds an eternal throne. And then the last line says, “to him shall be the obedience of the nations.” So this is a future king of Israel, from the line of Judah, who will be king over not just Israel but all the nations of the earth.'

Pushing for God to support our desires. Balaam puts a godly-sounding spin on it, but the truth is that he continues to try to push after God has said no. If this doesn't sound like a bad thing, then you've never had to go shopping with a toddler at a grocery store. But the truth is that we continue to do this all the time. We ask that God would make some sort of way for us to abandon our responsibilities, chase after what is foolish, skirt the limits of what we know is right, and then we ask for blessing instead of brokenness to be the result of that. But God's rules aren't there to be shackles for us. They're there because the alternative to following them is brokenness. We are free to go our own way but we will only find ourselves running face-first into the brick wall of how God created the world to function--when we go astray, we don't so much break God's commandments as we break ourselves against them. (In fact, if you want a more immediate physical experience of how this works, try going up to your second story window some time, and try to break the law of gravity.) The truth is that God's "no" is often a grace to us. We don't always have to understand it, but it is better to trust him.

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

On this last one about Balaam pushing for his plan, I think, I often believe that I see the big picture better than I really do. I believe that if all of my plans were carried out, everything would be in good shape. But sometimes God puts a block in place and I can't go forward. If this is situational, I can pray for God to remove the barrier, even if being a follower of Christ means I can't do anything to solve the problem on my own (Example: if I want to go on a nice vacation, but the cost of fixing a sudden breakdown in my car prevents it, I can ask God to provide some side-work to make up for the cost, but I can't go and go and rob a bank). If this is related to God's commands, then I just need to accept that there are responsibilities on my life that I can't abandon, and courses of action that God tells me are dead ends, and I have to actively trust him and walk forward. I can tell you, out of 20 years of being a Christian, that to the extent that I have followed him, he's never failed me yet (and He's not going to). So when when we get a "no" from God, let's trust that it comes from a place of love.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Here is a suggested prayer prompt: "God, give me the patience to wait for you, and the sensitivity to discern what you are saying to me right now. I want to trust you--not just that you exist, but that you are good and that you would not withhold even one thing from me except for that you care about my joy. So help me to respond to you as a trusting child. If you say not today, I'll wait. If you say no, I will be fine with that. If you say go, God I will go where you lead. Because I know that my joy is in you."

ESV Chronological Plan, Day 56 | Numbers 19-21

LOOK | WHAT DOES IT SAY?

Read Numbers 19:1-21:35

THINK | WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

According to the outline laid out on Day #52, we are just finishing up the "wandering" section (Numbers 16-21) of the book.

Numbers 19 seems out of place at first, but remember that this is paired together with chapter 18--it reaffirms the partnership of Aaron's sons and the Levites after Korah's rebellion in yesterday's reading. This is God rebuilding an understanding between them.

Numbers 20 shows a series of losses among the senior leadership of Israel. Miriam and Aaron both die, Moses disqualifies himself from entering the Promised Land out of frustration with his people, and to make things worse Edom (a people descended from Jacob's brother Esau) refuses to let Israel pass along the standard travel route in the area called The King's Highway--the same route which was used by the Kings of the North in Genesis 14, during the episode where Abram rescued his nephew Lot.

Numbers 21 contains a few stories of God's grace. Israel begins to conquer land starting with Arad, and then the land of King Sihon of the Amorites, and then there is a "mini-Conquest" complete with spies being sent out, a military victory, and the possession of land. The actual Promised Land still lies over the Jordan. But for the first time in human history, Israel is a country that has its own land. It's a taste of what's to come. Also: note, the episode with the bronze snake in this chapter points forward to Jesus. Jesus himself said in John 3:14-16, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

RESPOND | WHAT IS OUR PART?

- Look to Jesus, like Israel looked to the bronze serpent in the wilderness. Whoever puts their trust in him is rescued! Our eyes tend to drift from time to time, so we must focus them again.

- It is possible to be provoked into doing the wrong thing, as Moses was in Numbers 20, and yet still be guilty. If someone "makes you" lose your temper, it's still important to own up to it.

- Setbacks don't mean that hope is lost. Israel encounters a series of important setbacks in Numbers 20, and yet this causes them to go down a path that God ultimately uses to give Israel the first taste of possession of the Promised Land in Numbers 21. I have often seen that the biggest breakthroughs come after persevering through the biggest setbacks. So let's persevere.

PRAY | HOW DOES THIS BRING US CLOSER TO GOD?

Rather than write a scripted prayer, I think it might be good to pray in general terms for God to lead us through difficult circumstances like Israel encountered in Numbers 20. And, to show us amazing new opportunities like we see in Numbers 21. And to help us look to Jesus, who was the fulfillment of the sign of the bronze serpent in Numbers 21 as well.