Judges 1-5: Praise God

“When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly offer themselves—praise the LORD!
“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel.
“O LORD, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.
The mountains quaked before the LORD, the One of Sinai, before the LORD, the God of Israel - Judges 5:2-5 NIV

When the princes take the lead, when those in charge seek the Lord and the people follow, it is a glorious thing.  It is something to praise the Lord about.  Praise God when our leaders seek him.  Praise God when the young men follow after him.  Praise God when the elderly look to him.  Praise God when children sing of his faithfulness.

Praise God!  Praise God!  Praise God!  There is nothing that can make the mountains shake like the power of the people praising God.  Circumstances change when the leaders and then the people offer themselves totally up to the Lord, the God of Israel!

Joshua 19-23: Every Promise Was Fulfilled

So the LORD gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. The LORD gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their forefathers. Not one of their enemies withstood them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel failed; every one was fulfilled. - Joshua 21:43-45 NIV

God, our God is a promise keeping God.  He has shown that throughout history.  He keeps his promise.  Men, we are not so faithful.  Imagine what it is like to be the God of the universe, to have all things at your command, to be willing and able to give your people anything they would ask and yet they cannot hold up their end of the bargain.  Their eyes and hearts are always being captured by lesser things.  They offer themselves up to idols which cannot give them anything in return.

How can God hold back his wrath?  Even more so, how can he forgive his people when they repent. Not just once, but over and over and over again., and not only forgive, but keep the promise of heaven before them.  How great it is to serve a God whose promise of paradise is not based on our actions or consistency, but on his faithfulness.  There is no other God that that would be that faithful. There is none like him.  History shows that every promise of God has been and will always be fulfilled.

Joshua 24: Throw Away Your Foreign Gods

Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
But the people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the LORD.”
Then Joshua said, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen to serve the LORD.” “Yes, we are witnesses, ” they replied.
“Now then,” said Joshua, “throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.” - Joshua 24:19-21 NIV

I once had a friend who gave away all of his earthly possessions.  He lived in a studio apartment with only his clothes which he kept in a cardboard Box and a few books.  He was trying to live a godly life and didn't want to be distracted by worldly possessions, much like the early monks who escaped to their caves.

I look around at all of our possessions and think perhaps that is the way to go; that giving up all but the most essential earthly goods is the only way to not slowly succumb to other gods.  The Israelites must have learned that during their years of wandering.  It's hard, and unwise, to accumulate very much when you may have to pack up and move at any minute.  Any of us who have moved a lot know how beneficial and easy it is to get rid of things in anticipation of having to move them.  It is only when we get settled that things start piling up around us and eventually, just like the children of Israel, we start putting more faith in what we own than in the one who owns us.

Perhaps it is time for us to pare down our possessions, to throw away our foreign gods.

Joshua 11-18: How Long Will You Wait?

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? -Joshua 18:3  NIV

The Israelites had fled, wandered, crossed over and conquered.  They were where they were supposed to be.  They were in the promised land.  Yet, perhaps as a result of all their years of wandering, they still could not settle down.  They couldn't make a descision as to where they wanted to settle.  The land was theirs; all they had to do was claim it, take possession of it, and it would be theirs.

Sound familiar?  We follow God.  We ask for him to intervene on our behalf and he does.  He shows us his promises.  All we have to do is claim them, but we fail to do so.  What are we afraid of?  As Moses asked, "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession?"

Joshua 6-10: Devoted to Destruction

The LORD said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.
“Go, consecrate the people. Tell them, ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow; for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: That which is devoted is among you, O Israel. You cannot stand against your enemies until you remove it. - Joshua 7:10-13 NIV

God warned the Children of Israel that they were not to allow anything related to the heathen gods to remain in their presence.  They were not to marry from the people around them.  They were not to worship at their neighbor's sacred sites or worship their gods.  God was serious when he said that they were not to serve other gods and that included allowing any other gods to be in their midst.  God knew that the slightest encounter with other gods could entice his children to abandoning their devotion to him and in doing so, they would forfeit his attention.  As he told them, when he gave them the Ten Commandments:  You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. - Ex. 20:4 NIV

Not only would the children of those who sinned be punished, but the entire population faced God's wrath for violating the sanctity of the relationship.  Achan's sin when he acted on his devotion to the plunder from the city of Jericho caused the Children of Israel to be soundly defeated when they tried to capture the city of Ai.  As Paul told the church at Corinth, "Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough."  1 Cor. 5:6.

 Allowing sin into a nation, permeates it until finally God removes his presence.  Devotion to anything of the world becomes devotion to destruction.

Joshua 1-5: Going Out and Comng In

So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground. - Josh. 3:14-17 NIV

The entire journey of the Children of Israel, from captivity in Egypt to entering the land promised to their forefathers, was bookmarked by two identical events:  the crossing over of vast bodies of water on dry land.  First God parted the Red Sea as they were fleeing Egypt, then God parted the Jordan river when it was running at high tide so they could cross over into Canaan.  The mighty hand of God preserved their leaving and entering, just as the Psalmist noted in Psalms 121:  The LORD shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth.  Ps. 121:8 KJV

God has not changed.  He still preserves our going out and coming in.  He dictates and even reveals when it is time for us to leave any given situation, whether it be a bad relationship, a bad job, a toxic family situation, or the wrong neighborhood.  He tells us when it is time to go and leads us to our next destination.  That doesn't mean that every time we get frustrated with a situation, we should pack up and leave.  In fact, it is usually the opposite.  We are not to run willy nilly from one bad situation to the next.  We are to wait on him.  When he tells us to move, we are to move, not before.  If we fail to wait for him, we cannot trust that he will be there in our going out and coming in.

Deuteronomy 27-34: A Glorious Sword

Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.” - Deut. 33:29

The Children of Israel had it.  They had it all.  They had Moses and Joshua, great men, committed to leading an unruly, stubborn nation.  They had the promised land laid out before them.  They had God's blessing and his promise.  They had an unbreakable covenant with the God of creation.  Not only would the God of heaven and earth protect them, he would fight for them.  He would be their shield and helper. They did not have to rely on their own power, the power of God was enough.  He would slice their enemies to pieces.  He would be their glorious sword.

Deuteronomy 21-26: Be Generous

When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the alien, the fatherless and the widow.  -Deut.  24:19-21 NIV

Being generous is more than giving, it implies leaving as well; leaving enough from what we harvest so that those less fortunate have something for themselves.  Notice that leaving a remnant behind does not rob the poor of their dignity.  These scriptures imply that the poor and less fortunate are still able bodied and ambitious enough to harvest the remains from the fields, trees, and vines that were left behind in the harvest.  Scripture does not say, go through the fields and harvest what was left behind to give to the poor so that you will show your generosity and make them ashamed of their situation.  It says, let them take the initiative to take care of themselves so they will be able to retain their pride.

These scriptures imply anonymous giving where the giver never knows the recipient of the gift and as a result is not able to lord themselves over the more unfortunate.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of our giving were so generous and free?

Deuteronomy 16-20: Don't Panic!

When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you. When you are about to go into battle, the priest shall come forward and address the army. He shall say: “Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” - Deut. 20:1-4 NIV

It was the priest who was to send the army into battle.  He was the one tasked with assuring them that they were not going to fight alone.  The Lord God was with them.

Whatever the battle, how can we be faint hearted or afraid?  The Lord God is on our side.  There is no enemy that is greater than him.  There is no one:  no terrorist, no gang member, no rouge suicide bomber, no disease, no financial calamity, that can not be subdued by the power of God.

We spend so much of our lives living in fear...to what end?  Fear conquers us, but it can not conquer our enemies.  Only the Lord God can do that and if he is on our side, we have nothing to fear.  God will go with us.  Don't panic!

Deuteronomy 11-15: Give Generously

Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. -Deut. 15:10-11 NIV

Where would society be today if we all obeyed this command to give generously?  Would politicians view their responsibility to the citizenry differently if they were concerned about giving generously rather than increasing their war chest?  Would televangelists live such a high and exalted life if they obeyed this command?  Would we have all of the societal problems:  drugs, broken families, abandoned children gangs, terrorists, and overcrowded prisons if everyone gave generously?

"How would that make a difference?" you ask.  Giving generously reduces our self absorption.  It causes us to see ourselves as part of the whole, not the center, of the universe.  Giving opens us up.  It breaks down the fences we erect for protection.    It frees us to experience the blessings of God.  It has the power to change us and in turn change the whole tenor of society.

Deuteronomy 5-10: How Can the Simple Be So Hard?

Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name.   He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. - Deut. 10:20-21 NIV

The book of Deuteronomy is Moses' recitation of the events of the Children of Israel from their plight  in, and then subsequent flight from, Egypt to the edge of the promised land. It is the story of a faithful God and his not so faithful chosen people.  God did not choose them because of their faithfulness.  As a people they had none, but their ancestor, Abraham who heard the voice of God, who trusted God and walked with him.

Generations later, Moses has the same kind of relationship with God.  He hears his voice, he trusts him and God presents himself to him.  Moses certainly was not perfect.  He could get angry.  In fact, his anger resulted in his not being able to enter the promised land.  He could only view it from afar. But that did not change his relationship with God.  It did not change his walk with God.

Sometimes, we make something that is so simple, so difficult.  We put so many hindrances and requirements on salvation, when those who truly see God know that all he requires is that we hold fast to him.  That we fear him and serve him.  That's it.  Any other requirements are man made. The prophet Micah echoes this truth.  "He hath shown thee, O man, what is good: and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" - Micah 6:8 KJV

 How can anything so simple be so hard?

Deuteronomy 1-4: Sound Familiar

See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it.  
Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”  
What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him?  
And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?  
Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. - Deuteronomy 4:5-9 NIV

As with any great nation that has been blessed by God, there is a tendency to forget, or as Moses told the Children of Israel, "let them slip from your hearts as long as you live," God's commands.  Israel was told not to forget that it was God's blessings that brought them to where they were.  They were not to forget that it was because of his love that they prospered.  They were not to forget to pass this wisdom on to their children.  They were warned not to think that it was all their own doing or they would be doomed.

In spite of Moses' commands, the righteous decrees and laws that were established would soon be forgotten.  Generations would grow up that didn't understand why they were born into such fortunate circumstances.  They would take all of God's blessings for granted until one day it would be too late, and their great nation would be lost.

Sound familiar?

Numbers 32-36: Polluting the Land

 “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.  Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.’” -Num. 35:33-34 NIV.

We have become so accustomed to bloodshed, so used to the nightly press reports of war, murder, school shootings, bombings and suicide, that we don't realize what a stench, what an anathema it is in God's sight.  Bloodshed does polite the land.  The corpses of the innocent cry out for revenge and only God is able to heal those broken and hurt.  None of us are immune.  I've lost more than my share of friends and even family to war, suicide, and murder.  The hurt never goes away.  What does God want from us on this issue?  Can we expect his presence to continue to dwell with us in the midst of the violence perpetuated on this land?

Numbers 25- 31: On the Edge of God's Promise

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate and bowed down before these gods. So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor. And the LORD’s anger burned against them. -Num 25:1-3 NIV

Even while the hand of God was protecting them, the Israelites were enticed by their neighbors to go against God's commands.  This is a new generation; the children of those who refused to enter the promised land.  They're camped on the outskirts of the land that will be theirs, yet that promise is not enough to keep them from turning to other gods and pleasures.  How did all of this come about?  Perhaps it is revealed in the following words of Moses.

“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD’s people.  - Num 31:15-16 NIV

Baalam, just like Satan is wont to do, saw their vulnerability.  He was unable to get God to curse the Israelites, so his second attempt would be to entice them away from their God.  God is constant.  His people are not.  They were caught up in sin even as they were standing on the edge of God's promise. Perhaps the closer we get to all that God has created us for, all of his promises, the more vulnerable we become to the tempting lies of the enemy.

Numbers 19-24: Balak and Balaam

From the rocky peaks I see them, from the heights I view them. I see a people who live apart and do not consider themselves one of the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!” -Num. 23:9-10 NIV

When most people think of Baalam, they remember the story of his donkey speaking to him, but that is a minor story compared to his response to when Balak summoned him to curse Israel.

The Children of Israel had been wandering, waiting in the desert for forty years, until all of the rebellious elders had died, in order to enter the promised land.  This was not a small crowd, but they had been quiet and kept to themselves so they were not a threat to the others until they started to move.  That is when Balak started to get worried and he summoned Balaam to head them off at the pass.  Balaam may have been a pagan seer, but he saw things in the spiritual realm.


God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?
I have received a command to bless; he has blessed, and I cannot change it.
“No misfortune is seen in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel. The LORD their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them. - Num. 23:19-21 NIV

No matter how much Balak threatened Balaam, he would not, could not change his pronouncements. All he could do was bless the very people that Balak commanded him to curse.


When Balaam looked out and saw Israel encamped tribe by tribe, the Spirit of God came upon him and he uttered his oracle: “The oracle of Balaam son of Beor, the oracle of one whose eye sees clearly,the oracle of one who hears the words of God, who sees a vision from the Almighty, who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
“How beautiful are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!
“Like valleys they spread out, like gardens beside a river, like aloes planted by the LORD, like cedars beside the waters.
Water will flow from their buckets; their seed will have abundant water. “Their king will be greater than Agag; their kingdom will be exalted. -Num. 24:2-7 NIV

 While the Israelites may have grumbled and rebelled, paying the price for their actions with plagues and sometimes even sudden death, they were still God's chosen people.  The Lord their God was with them.  The shout of the king was in their midst.  God's plan was going to be fulfilled and there was nothing that Balak or Balaam could do to stop it.  

Numbers 16-18: Offenses Against the Priesthood

Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and certain Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—became insolentand rose up against Moses. With them were 250 Israelite men, well–known community leaders who had been appointed members of the council.  
They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD ’s assembly?” - Num. 16:2-3  NIV

Why is it so easy and common to complain about those that the Lord has chosen to be his representatives.  Just like the Children of Israel, we complain about those that are in positions of leadership:  the pastors, televangelists, Christian writers, and Sunday School teachers.  We move from church to church looking for the perfect leader.  Do we ever consider how offensive this must be to God.  He puts people in their place. He is the one who chooses.  He is the one who exalts, so why do we think we know better.  The church today is strewn with the bodies of those who once felt they heard the call of God, but have become disillusioned and discouraged to the point where they leave ministry all together.  That is not what God designed.  I say this when I have often been as guilty as anyone else.

Rather than tearing our leaders down, we should be building them up.  Since, as the Apostle Paul says, all we, as believers, are now the priesthood, we should be carrying the weight of that responsibility and lifting up those who are in formal positions of leadership.  As God told Aaron, we should bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood.

The LORD said to Aaron, “You, your sons and your father’s family are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood. - Num. 18:1 NIV

Numbers 13-15: In the Land of Giants

The LORD replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times—not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the valleys, turn back tomorrow and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea.”  - Num. 14:20-25 NIV

It was just a little sin.  The Israelites were only trying to protect themselves and their children from the threat of others bigger and stronger than themselves.  So, they decided not to trust God any more, the God who led them out of Egypt, who parted the Red Sea, who gave them manna and quail and water from the rock.

Somewhere along the line, they got it in their heads that they were responsible for their own safekeeping.  They took matters into their own hands and all of a sudden, God's promises seemed impossible.  All the good things that God promised were at hand; they were even visible in the grapes and fruit that the spies brought back, but the threat of a few giants erased all hope.

Nothing has changed today.  We know God has kept his promises in the past, but now, now there are giants in the land:  fearsome, awful, ungodly, giants and our knees quake at the thought.  We'll not go there.  We'll not confront the enemy.  We'll not claim what is ours.

God's response has not changed either.  He forgives us, but we will not see the land he promised us.  Only the faithful  ones, the ones who take him at his word, will see all he has in store for us.  Only the faithful ones will dwell in peace in the land of giants.