Deuteronomy 16: Three festivals: feast of Passover and unleavened bread, feast of weeks, and feast of booths. Pretty interesting note from the CEB study bible on the first one:
Continue reading “9/9 Reading (Deuteronomy 16-18; Psalms 32-34)”
9/8 Reading (Deuteronomy 13-15; Acts 26)
Deuteronomy 13: Chapter deals with the danger of false prophets and false gods. Three scenarios are given. First, a false prophet. The people are told to kill them. Second, a relative. The people are told to kill any relative that tries to lead them away from God. Third, an entire city. The people are told they have to destroy every person, animal, etc in the city as well as the city itself.
All of these seem to be pretty harsh.
Deuteronomy 14: Reminder of the dietary laws that were introduced in Leviticus 11. Also a reminder of saving a 10th of whatever your fields produce each year for God. The people are told at the end of this chapter that they need to put a 10th of their crops at the city gates every third year so the Levites, immigrants, orphans, and widows will have food.
So, is this all that they have to do for these other groups? Thankfully I read in the notes that these different groups are addressed later in Deuteronomy (24.17-22). Thatās a relief.
Deuteronomy 15: Every seven years debts are cancelled and slaves released. The following passage resonated with me:
Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, donāt be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. 8 To the contrary! Open your hand wide to them. You must generously lend them whatever they need. 9 But watch yourself! Make sure no wicked thought crosses your mind, such as, The seventh year is comingāthe year of debt cancellationāso that you resent your poor fellow Israelites and donāt give them anything. If you do that, they will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 10 No, give generously to needy persons. Donāt resent giving to them because it is this very thing that will lead to the Lord your Godās blessing you in all you do and work at. 11 Poor persons will never disappear from the earth. Thatās why Iām giving you this command: you must open your hand generously to your fellow Israelites, to the needy among you, and to the poor who live with you in your land. (CEB Study Bible p. 289 OT; Deut. 15.7-11)
I like that there is emphasis on how to treat poor people, but find it interesting that this is just for Israelites. How to treat poor non-Israelites is addressed earlier, but not much details are provided.
We then learn how they are to treat Israelite slaves every 7 years and how to treat them if they want to stay on as slaves.
Notes from the NRSV version say the following about the forgiveness of debt: āOn accession to the throne, ancient Near Eastern rulers would sometimes grant one-time cancellation of debts, return land confiscated by the crown, and free indentured slavesā (p. 274). Interesting!!!!
Oldest male animals were set aside for the festivals that are addressed in the next chapter.
Acts 26: Paul’s fifth defense speech, this time in front of King Agrippa 2, his sister Bernice, Roman governor Porcius Festus, and other military and public officials in Caesarea. Paul goes into more detail here about his journey. This retelling of his story reminds me of how incredible his journey has been. Even the King agrees at the end that Paul has done nothing wrong. The King even says that if he had not appealed to Caesar, then he would have already been released.
The one thing that does stand out to me is this following statement: āAt this point in Paulās defense, Festus declared with a loud voice, āYouāve lost your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you mad!āā (CEB study bible, p. 269 NT; Acts 26.24) Hmmm…too much learning! Say what? Makes me think about experiences Iāve had in the past when some people have said to me that Iāve spent too much time learning throughout my life. Again, say what?
9/7 Reading (Deuteronomy 10-12; Acts 25)
Deuteronomy 10: Moses retells when he had to do the ten commandments for the second time after the Golden Calf incident.
9/6 Reading (Deuteronomy 7-9; Acts 24)
Deuteronomy 7: More on case laws. This time the focus is on the importance of removing any idols related to the canaanite gods and completely destroying the Canaanites. God also warns the people not to intermarry. He promises that if you have faith and not fear, he will be there to protect and defend you. All God asks is for them to NOT worship other gods.
9/5 Reading (Deuteronomy 4-6; Acts 23)
Deuteronomy 4: Moses uses the history he gave in the first three chapters to explain to the next generation why they must follow the rules and regulations that God set forth in exodus and leviticus. Moses reminds them of what happens when you donāt follow these rules/regulations: the generation that left Egypt are all dead and even he will not enter the promised land. He reminds them that God is the only true God and he is the only true God in heaven and on earth.
9/4 Reading (Deuteronomy 1-3; Acts 22)
Deuteronomy 1-3: I decided to combine these three here since it is all the same narrative. Moses gives a synopsis of their 40 year journey in these three chapters. This is his first of three speeches in this book. Nice little summary here and it ends with Moses reminding everyone that he too will not be allowed to enter the promised land.
Introduction to Deuteronomy
Introduction to Deuteronomy: Iām always fascinated by the introduction section to each book. Even if I donāt have much to say about what Iāve read, I still find it very interesting. The NRSV study bible provides extensive detail about each book in the introduction. Discussion of authorship, date, and historical context always intrigue me. It makes me want to read more about each book in the Bible. Just to better understand all of this stuff is really interesting to me. For example, itās really interesting that the structure and messages in Deuteronomy match other historical documents from other cultures, such as the Vassal Treaty of Esarhaddon (672 bce) (p. 248).
9/2 Reading (Numbers 36; Psalms 28-31)
NOTE: I’m still having a hard time with the Psalms. I can’t really explain why and I’m not really sure what to do.Ā
Numbers 36: Back to Zelophehadās daughters. I was happy with the decision made to give them land in chapter 27. Definitely pretty cool. Then…we get to this chapter. Other elders worry that if they marry into a different tribe, their land will go to their husbands and that tribe instead of staying with their ancestral tribe. Moses and God agree this is a problem, God rules that their land must stay with their ancestral tribe. So…if they want to keep the land, they have to marry within their tribe. The women agree and marry first cousins.
9/1 Reading (Numbers 33-35; Acts 21)
Numbers 33: Chapter is a retelling of the journey up to this point. Nothing much to add…just that theyāve walked a long way and have been traveling for a long time. Although, at the end God made it clear that they must drive out all the people who currently live in Canaan. If not, they will continue to be a problem for the Israelites.
8/31 Reading (Numbers 30-32; Acts 20)
Numbers 30: Now we get into the importance of making vows and what that means. A fitting read considering how much all of us make and eventually break some of our vows/promises. I do think itās interesting that it takes just one verse to address menās vows, but 13 verses to address womenās vows.