Deuteronomy - Moses speaks one last time

It's a recap...and a warning...and a goodbye.

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and spent the next forty years wandering in the desert with them.  He knew he was leading a messed up group who, despite being God's chosen people, truly did not understand the significance of this journey.  They complained and whined and worried about the future.  They reverted to the old ways whenever things got tough.  In other words, they were a lot like us.

Moses knew he would not enter the promised land, but his people would.

So he gave them a point by point history of the journey.  Moses reminded the Israelites of everything that had happened over the last forty years.  He reminded them of how and why they left Egypt.  He reminded them of God's law and promises.  He reiterated, many times, not to make idols to God.  He recapped the commandments several times.  He reminded them they were not chosen because of their righteousness, but because of the wickedness of others.  He repeated, over and over, the most important commandment; love God with all your heart, soul, and strength. He reminded the people they are commanded to defend the fatherless, the widows and the foreigners living among them. (Jesus said basically said the same thing when he spoke of the greatest commandment:  Love God with all your heart and soul and mind.  Love your neighbor as yourself.)  I like that.

Moses was not happy he had to stay behind.

He complained, several times, that he would not be allowed to enter the promised land because of the Israelites.  How quickly he forgot.  He would not cross the Jordan because he angered God.  It was Moses and Aaron who messed up at the water rock, not the complaining Israelites.  Moses was supposed to just speak to the rock and know God would produce water.  Instead Moses pounded his staff on the rock and said, Must WE bring you water?  Not God, but Moses and Aaron.  That was why the two of them would never see the promised land.  We see Moses was clearly not perfect.

Moses was worried about the Israelites.

He continually warns them to obey God.  He reminds them that they saw all this personally, but their children did not.  That they must teach their children this history and make sure they understand the law.  He repeats this over and over again.  Why?  Because Moses will not be there to intervene and he is worried with a capital W.  The Israelite's do not have a great track record of obeying - remember the golden calf after only forty days on their own?  Moses even has the people recite the curses of not following God's law, tell them the blessings of obedience and again the curses for disobedience.  He is afraid for them.

Sadly, God tells Moses the Israelites will fail to follow his warnings.

Moses again reads the laws and gives the warnings, even though he knows it is vain.  He knows the Israelites will worship other gods, despite all the consequences Moses laid out in detail, numerous times.  Yet, he still has hope.  Maybe they will remember, he must think.  He finds a small comfort knowing God will redeem the Israelites in the future despite their wicked behavior, but only after being punished over and over again and only after they have lost everything.  This he cannot change.

It is time for Moses to say goodbye.

Joshua is to be his replacement.  Moses will never cross the Jordan into the promised land.  Despite this, he takes time to bless all the tribes of Israel, talking about their strengths and duties.  He blesses them as a group, reminding them they were saved by the Lord and that great things lie ahead.  Then Moses goes onto the mountain where he looks over all the lands promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  God has let him see the land, even though he cannot cross over into it.  Moses dies on that mountain.

Moses dies and Joshua is left to lead the Israelites into the next chapter of their story.

Harry Potter and the Old Testament

Reading the Old Testament is a lot like reading Harry Potter.

They both have interesting - sometimes confusing, sometimes wacky - story lines, flawed main characters who are put in positions they never asked to be in, and some crazy stories filled with imaginative creatures and frightening situations.  There is an abundance of self pity and whining.  Harry Potter takes place in a land of magic.  The Bible takes place in a time and place where magical events were, well, normal.

Take Balaam and the Donkey from the book of Numbers, for instance.

It is the proverbial elephant in the room.  First, Balaam was just plain mean to his donkey, beating him three times for not following commands.  But, when the donkey speaks to Balaam, asking why he keeps beating him, Balaam never bats an eye.  He just answers the donkey.  Now, I don't know about you, but a talking donkey would at least cause me a double take.  But not Balaam, he takes it all in stride.  Then Balaam sees an angel and has a conversation with him.  Again, I am not sure I would be as calm and believing as Balaam seems to be. 

Unexpected, magical events happen all the time.

Since Harry Potter is a wizard, there is magic all around.  There are magic wands, magic potions, capes that make you invisible, trains that only wizards can see and board, rooms that change in size and appearance and so much more.  In the land of the Old Testament there are plagues created by God that only affect select people, seas that open to allow the Israelite's to cross through them, animals that talk, manna appearing from nowhere, water coming from rocks, angels stopping people on the road and more examples that I simply can't remember.  In both places, no one seems to think any of these events are unusual.

Moses and Harry have more in common than you might think.

They were both raised by someone other than their parents and never seemed to quite fit in.  Moses was an Israelite being raised by Egyptians; Harry was a wizard being raised by muggles.  They both were thrown into positions of power they really didn't want.  Moses had to lead the Israelite's out of Egypt when he did not believe he had the skills to do so; Harry had to lead the fight against Lord Voldemort when all he wanted was to be a normal, wizard kid.  They both have powers given to them by someone else.  Harry was able to hear snakes talk because of the scar left by Voldemort and Moses was given powers by God when he needed them.

Both are stories of good versus evil.

Harry and friends are on a constant battle against evil.  It is very clear who are the good guys and who are the bad guys.  Moses and the Israelite's are constantly battling the evil in themselves.  Moses tries to lead them on the path to God's plan and the people are always doubting, doing foolish things which only makes their situation worse in many cases.  The Israelite's are fighting the evil within themselves and also the temptations around them.

There are physical battles in both stories.

Harry and company fight Voldemort's followers in both small battles and a climatic finish.  The Israelite's are preparing battle with the people who get in the way of the promised land.  The battles in both the imaginary land of Harry Potter and the Bible are ruthless, take no prisoners, violent and bloody events.

The books parallel in many ways, but they are not the same.

There are common themes, but one is fictional entertainment and one is a historical record of peoples lives.  While I may believe some Bible stories have been exaggerated as they were told from person to person, I do believe in the historical concept that Moses led people out of Egypt to live in Canaan.  And that the Israelite's were messed up, just like we are today.  And that they kept being forgiven, afforded second chances, despite their flaws.  So there is hope for us.

That is the final parallel, I think.  Hope.  There is always hope.

I Finished Numbers!

It took longer than I thought it would, but I finally finished Numbers!

As the name suggests, Numbers is definitely about counting.  Counting all the first born sons over age twenty to build an army.  Counting all the first born sons older than one month to establish how much of an offering must be brought to God.  And then, after some time, another census of adult males to form an army again.  God is moving the Israelite's to the promised land and no one will stop them.

But, Numbers is about more than just taking a census.

Numbers is the story of the Israelite's continued journey to the promised land.  Unfortunately, the Israelite's are kind of whiny and this frequently makes God mad.  The pattern seems to be simple.  People complain. God gets mad and punishes them.  Moses steps in to ask forgiveness.  God stops whatever he was doing to punish the complainers.  Repeat.

For example...

The people complain they are tired and this journey is too hard.  God is angry and sends fire to burn throughout the camp.  Moses prays to God and the fires stop, but only after the outskirts of the camp were burned.

God provides food every day in the form of manna and the Israelite's complain they don't have meat to eat.  They are sick of manna!  They want meat!  (Ironically, there is meat around.  There are regular animal sacrifices that Aaron and his family get to eat.)  The complaining makes God mad.  Moses tries to reason with God, doubting that God can bring meat to the people in the abundance needed.  So, God sends more quail than the people can possibly need and while they are eating, God sends a plague to kill all the people as they take their first bite.  If you didn't eat the meat, you were saved.

An exploration party is sent out to see what is in Canaan.  They see many strong people who already live there and become afraid.  They want to stay where they are or go back to Egypt.  (How soon they forget they were slaves in Egypt.)  God is frustrated and wants to kill them all.  Moses talks Him down and so God sends the complainers to the wilderness saying they will never see the promised land.  He strikes them down with a plague and now the wait begins before God will move the surviving people to the new lands.

God even gets angry at Aaron and Moses for not giving God credit for making water flow from a rock, so God tells them both they will never see the promised land either.  There are many more examples of God's frustration and punishments, but I won't review them all here. Suffice to say, the Israelite's have a tough time obeying, believing, and not complaining despite all that God does to and for them.

The Israelite's go to war.

On the way to Canaan, there is much destruction.  God's people are ruthless.  They take everything in their way.  Destruction is rampant. God divides the future land of Canaan to all the people of Israel by tribe.  (Interestingly, He did agree that the daughters of Zelophehad would be allotted a share of the land since there were no first born sons.  There were stipulations, of course, but they were acknowledged.)

As I read this, I thought that the God of Numbers was not the God I know.

I picture God as a loving father, guiding his children, forgiving mistakes, and helping them to make good choices.  He is someone we come to in times of need.  But this Old Testament God gives detailed rules and expects them to be followed to the letter.  He doesn't like being questioned.  He gets angry and is scary.

What gives?

It helps if I picture God as a new father with young children.  He has to set strict rules and make sure they are obeyed or his children may be hurt.  The children are easily distracted.  The Israelite's are like young children.  They are new to this worship of one God.  They are learning the rules and pushing them.  God has to put his foot down, again and again.  But, typically, as children get older, they start to need less rules and more guidance. The father can be a little more relaxed in how he handles mistakes as he sees his children grow and remember.  He is a little tired, but still present.  He hopes his children will want to follow his example and be good people, but he can't lead their lives for them.  Maybe that is why Jesus came when he did.

For now, though, God's people still need to follow his instructions to the letter, or else.

On to Deuteronomy...

     

Patience

My word is Patience.

I kept reading about people picking their word of the year.  It popped up on Instagram, Facebook, even my work newsletter.  Honestly, I thought it was kind of silly.  But, as the year progresses, I realize I actually do have a word.  And, I find I need to go back to my word more and more often.

I did not read anything from the Bible last week.  (Insert sad face here.)

Last week I spend my free time reading my book club book (our meeting was Thursday night - I finished on Wednesday!), watching too much Netflix while my husband was out of town for the weekend (stay away from The Good Place - it is silly, but sucked me in again and again), and starting a new craft project (my inner artist needs nurturing too!).  

I need to be patient with myself when I don't live up to my self imposed expectations.

I started a new craft project this week.  I am trying to quilt.  Talk about teaching me patience!  Making a quilt, even a small beginner project, is very meticulous and time consuming.  I don't know how people do projects with little tiny pieces making a bedspread size quilt.  A tiny, simple beginner piece is hard enough!  Patience. Cutting accurately takes time; sewing precise quarter inch seams takes concentration; ironing without pulling is hard.  Patience.  Next weekend I will try to do the actual quilting...more taking things slow and easy.  Patience.

My ear is healing very slowly.

I ruptured my eardrum about three weeks ago now and am tired of waiting for it to heal!  It is getting better, but so much slower than I wanted.  Patience.  My hearing is starting to come back (yeah!) but it still feels...wrong, plugged up.  Patience.  I had a hearing test scheduled for Tuesday, but it just got rescheduled for Thursday.  Patience.

It's time to get back to my normal routine.

I finally went back to Pilates class and it was tougher than I thought it would be.  I was not at the same ability level as when I last went.  Patience.  This week I am back to Orange Theory after a two week hiatus and I am nervous.  What if I can't do everything I used to do?  What if I can't hear well enough to keep up?  Patience.  It will all be okay.

I do plan to read the rest of Numbers this week.  Just be patient with me, please.