Deuteronomy 27-30

Moses gathers the people together to give his final words before they cross the Jordan into the land that God has promised them, the land of milk and honey. Moses powerfully lays before them the stark choice they have going forward: they may heed the voice of the Lord and observe His commandments, or they may turn away from Him and ignore His laws. The consequences of that choice are immense. God promises that obedience will result in many blessings for the Israelites and their descendants--victories, prosperity, and fruitfulness. Indeed, among the blessings promised are the words that will later be spoken of the Mother of Jesus: "Blessed be the fruit of your womb." But woe to Israel if they do not heed the commandments, statutes, and decrees, for the ramifications are dire: sickness, invasion, defeat, plagues, famine, and exile. The Lord will "scatter you among all the nations from one end of the earth to the other." The famine will be so great that fathers will eat heir children and mothers will consume newborn babies. This parade of horribles is truly frightening. I had a difficult time reading it all the way through. Yet God still leaves the door open for salvation. If at some point this suffering nation ponders these things in their hearts, and returns to the Lord and heeds His voice, He will have pity on them, gather them back together, and once again make them prosperous and numerous, as He once promised their fathers. He will again open their hearts so that they "may love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and all your soul, and so may live." 

Here, God is terrifying. He is demanding and jealous. Yet in the end, He is merciful and patient. He waits (although not always patiently, Moses suggests) for us to turn back and come home to Him. This section ends with these powerful words from God regarding the choice He has put before the Israelites:

I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.  Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live, by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.

I love the image of "holding fast to him." Sometimes, I am afraid. I must learn to cling to him then especially.

Deuteronomy 18-26

The Lord's instructions to the Israelites, through Moses, cover much ground in this section--ground that was largely covered in earlier books as well.  In the context of reminding them about the Lord's decrees, statutes and commandments, Moses exhorts the people to "be altogether sincere toward the Lord, your God." Near the end of this section, Moses restates this idea: "Be careful, then, to observe [God's statutes and decrees] with all your heart and with all your soul." It is not nearly enough to simply follow the rules, but I must do so with a sincere and loving heart. 

Moses predicts the future coming of a greater prophet, Jesus. On God's behalf, Moses repeats to the Israelites words that God spoke to him:

I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him.

God's tenderness and fidelity toward the Israelites is in stark contrast to the very harsh treatment God reserves for those who do not follow his commands, and for those nations who stand between the Israelites and the Promised Land. For the unjust, there awaits "life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." For those cities in the land that God has promised to the Israelites, there is to be the slaughter of every soul. For the incorrigible son, the cheating spouse, and the rapist, they shall be stoned to death. Very intimidating and, frankly, frightening.  

But the discussion turns back to the many blessings the Israelites have from the Lord.  Moses directs the Israelites to celebrate a thanksgiving feast when they enter the Promised Land. A key to this feast is the retelling of the story of the Israelites, from the settlement and eventual slavery in Egypt to their deliverance into "the land of milk and honey." Celebrating the story of God's goodness is integral to the social and religious fabric of the community. The Israelites are told to "make merry over all these good things which the Lord, your God, has given you." 

Indeed, for me, when following God seems complicated, I try to fall back on thankfulness. It is easy to see that He has given me so very much, and the simplest (although not always easiest) thing for me to do is to thank Him for it.

Numbers 13-15:21

At God's command, Moses sends twelve men to scout the land of Canaan, the land of milk and honey, the promised land, and the people dwelling there. Upon their return, the scouts confirm the goodness and fruitfulness of the land. But ten of the twelve stir up the Israelites to grumble against Moses and God, convincing them that the Israelites that God cannot keep His promises--that He cannot guide them to triumph over the residents of Canaan and give the Israelites the land He has promised them. Only Caleb and Joshua of the twelve remain faithful and confident in God and His promises. The others, and the rest of the Israelites, grumble and complain and long to return to Egypt as slaves rather than (as they see the alternative) to die in the desert. This moves the Lord to anger. After Moses attempts to intercede for the people, the Lord relents somewhat. But the punishment is that the Israelites must wander the desert for forty years--one year for each day the twelve spent scouting Canaan--until the last of the ten scouts and others who spurned the Lord are dead. On reflection, the people feel "great remorse"--but even then they cannot obey the Lord.  Instead, they set off for battle to take Canaan despite Moses' warning: "Why are you again disobeying the Lord's orders? This cannot succeed." And, of course, without the Lord, it does not succeed and they are defeated. One recurring theme here is that the Israelites repeatedly "spurn" or "reject" the Lord, and even when they have remorse they are so strong willed that they feel compelled to decide how they themselves will "make things right"--even when God, through Moses, instructs them differently. 

How often do I do the same? I grumble and complain, even tough God has given me so much! I am incredibly fortunate and blessed--with health, with a beautiful family, with a job--and yet there are times when I grumble against the Lord.  I want something more, or something different, or I want something when I want it. Then, when I am struck by how much God has already given me, I too have remorse. 

Exodus 33-35:29

This is an incredibly rich section of Exodus.  The Lord promises that Moses and the people will be led to a "land of milk and honey" in fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet God tells Moses that He Himself will not accompany them, because they are such a "stiff-necked people" He might otherwise "exterminate them" along the way. I find that profoundly frightening. Yet Moses prevails upon God, Who seems to change His mind and agrees to accompany them. God attributes His change of mind to the fact that "you [Moses] have found favor with me and you are my intimate friend." Wow--how amazing to have God call you His intimate friend. And yet aren't we all called to that? I think so. But how do we get there? How do we make that highly personal journey? How can we have such a relationship with a God Who goes on to say "no man sees me and still lives"? The God Who  fears that He may exterminate His own people soon after tells Moses: The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin".  Incredibly beautiful and comforting words, words that soothe me in the night when I consider how short I have fallen of what He wants me to be and do. But God continues to Moses: yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness. The first part of the quoted passage sounds like the crux of Christ's message, but I don't know what to make of the second. Is it an admonition that we are part of a community and have responsibilities to others--that our relationship with God cannot be purely "vertical"? Or are we meant to take it more literally? Is it a truth that only Christ's sacrifice can undo?