Between the Lines

Deuteronomy

v. 22 “who sent the 12?”

Numbers 13:2 states "Send out for yourself men that they may spy out the land...." but in this verse it is said that the people themselves were the ones that requested the mission. Is this some sort of mix up? What may be the case was that it was the people who requested the mission and God ‘ordered’ it following their request.

For example a patient might complain of a headache and turn to a doctor for medication from which the doctor ‘orders’ a remedy. Or another example – God told Moses to go to Egypt, but he argued the point and finally God allowed Aaron to go with him and be a mouthpiece. God allows and accommodates our desires, but that does not mean it is His best for us.

vs. 23-27 “pleading with God”

Sometimes we fail to accept when God’s decision is final and Moses here begs God to let him enter into the Promised Land. God, however, refuses his request and only allows him to view it from afar. This was a meeting of justice with mercy: The justice of course was that he could not pass over, but the mercy that God did allow him a view of the land.

Moses blames his sin on the people as he claimed that it was they who caused him to sin (Numbers 20:10; Psalm 106:32-33). As shown in the Genesis story, however, laying the blame on someone else does not alleviate your own sin.

Another view is that he does not hide his sin from the people. It was on their account that he lost control, but God was angry and refused to allow him entrance into the Promised Land. There is a humbling confession of what he did wrong and also the judgement/punishment for his sin (always of which the wages are death). It’s hard to admit we were wrong, make mistakes, and have failures. The Leader here confesses to the assembly, publicly, without price of jealousy.

v. 4 “no minor miracle!”

It’s a pretty amazing miracle to think that for 40 years, the Israelites did not need to worry about shoes or clothes because the ones they had never wore out. No matter what claims the detergent companies claim, they could never pull this one off.

vs. 4-5 “wickedness = destruction”

It’s often wondered why God was so willing to destroy whole nations in order to establish Israel. The answer is found here. The people of this time were evil and child sacrifices for one thing was not uncommon. By destroying them, God removed temptation from the Israelites (Deuteronomy 20:16-18). God did not destroy all of them, as in some cases there were exceptions (Joshua 2 + 5).

“Every landlord has a right to evict bad tenants.” These not only failed to pay rent, but also injured and defiled the property. God had borne their wickedness to a point now insufferable. The land is God’s and He gives it to whomever He will. The Glory of God is involved and Israel was in the world for this, just as the church is today.

v. 29 “the blessings and the curses”

This particular command was for half of the Israelites to stand on Mount Gerizim and the other half on Mount Ebal. The blessings curses were then required to be read out to the whole community (Deuteronomy 27:9-26). This was later carried out by Joshua in Joshua 8:30-35. Blessing is linked to obedience and curse to disobedience. Ebal = barrenness and Gerizim = fruitfulness.

vs. 4+11 “a contradiction?”

It seems here that there is a contradiction as in verse 4 is says that there should be no poor among them. In verse 11, however, it states that there will always be poor in the land. The key here is the word ‘should’ in verse four and verse 11 recognizes that verse 4 will never be the case as it is an ideal rather than a possibility with sin in the world. Jesus also recognized that the poor would always be present in Matthew 26:11.

This did not need occur because God would have blessed if they had hearkened to His Word and obeyed His commands. Also within the context of the 7^th year when there should be no poor amongst them, but there were because of their infidelity. If Israel had kept their part they would have no poor and known blessings in abundance.

vs. 14-20 “a king”

It’s interesting to note that although the Israelites did not have a king for a long time after this God knew what would happen and therefore lay down the ground rules for selecting a king.

v. 2 “cities of refuge”

There seems to be some sort of contradiction as in Numbers 35:6 there were to be 6 cities set aside for the refuge of the unintentional murderer. The answer appears in vs. 8-9 when the people are commanded to increase the number of cities if the territory is enlarged. Numbers 35:14 provide further details to the location of the cities of refuge. Three cities were placed on each side of the Jordan.

vs. 5-9 “unconventional military practice”

Although unheard of in today’s military, the officers in the Israelite army weeded out those that did not wish to be there either because of their homes, family or fear were permitted to leave. This actually allowed those that were prepared for war to fight without deserters and those who quite simply had no heart for it.

It’s worth noting as well that an offer of peace was made prior to any combat (v. 10) on the condition that they did not belong to the territory that God had set aside for the Israelites as an inheritance (v. 16). There is always God’s grace towards sinners.

vs. 17-21 “proof of virginity”

It’s interesting to note that in those times virginity had to be proven whereas now the opposite occurs and infidelity must be proved.

vs. 5-10 “family of the unsandaled”

This custom was used in defence of the widow to publicly display her contempt for the brother who refused to marry her. By removing the sandal it was publicly shown that the brother was declaring his adamant intention not to marry the widow and the removal of a sandal also signified his reduced status in the community (Isaiah, 20:2,4). By spitting in his face, the widow shows her contempt for him (Numbers 12:14; Matthew 26:67; 27:30). Further examples are found in Exodus 38: 6 – 11 and Ruth 4:7.

vs. 49-52 “nation from afar”

The nation mentioned is either considered to be either the Babylonians or Romans. Babylon is compared to an eagle in Jeremiah 4:13, Ezekiel 17:3 and Daniel 7:4. The Babylonians did not come from afar, however, so it may be more likely that these verses refer to the Romans as they did come afar and used an eagle as their ensign.

v. 14 “Bashan”

Bashan was known for its excellent cattle (Numbers 32:4,33).