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- [00:02]
Tara Leigh Cobble
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Leigh Cobble, and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. As of today, we've read six books of the Bible together. Congratulations. Not only that, but in finishing Deuteronomy today, we've also finished the whole Torah, which is what the Jews call the first five books of the Bible written by Moses. For most people, the Torah is where Bible reading plans go to die. So the fact that you're still here is huge. God has drawn you into something here, and I'm praying for you that he will continue to carve out time for himself in your schedule, to give you wisdom, knowledge and understanding and humility as you read, to keep showing you new things about Himself, to correct any lies you believe about him or anything you misunderstand, and to help these truths take root in your heart in a way that is transformative. I bet you've already seen that happening in your life, and maybe others have even taken notice, too. When we fix our eyes on who God is, real change takes place. Yesterday, as we wrapped up our reading, God told Moses to write a song about the Israelites, past, present, and future. It would serve as a reminder to them when they recalled this song after rebelling against God at some point in the days to come. And it's a lengthy song, lots of lyrics. The song starts out by calling Israel to pay attention as he proclaims God's greatness, which is what comes next. And just like with most songs in poetry, we see some poetic devices used here. Similes, metaphors, personification, anthropomorphizing, hyperbole. So don't panic when you read phrases like, they are no longer his children because they are blemished. They are a crooked and twisted generation. God hasn't cast them off forever. This kind of hyperbole emphasizes the weight of what has happened. The context helps clarify terrifying verses like that. The storyline of the song should be familiar to you. God created Israel. He blessed them and increased them. They turned their back on him to pursue idols and demon gods. And he grew angry and promises to discipline them in a plan to make Israel jealous. He will even lavish affection on other nations. And that's good news for those of us who aren't of Jewish descent. Anytime Israel rejects God, he always uses it as a part of his plan to integrate other nations into his family as well. Part of that plan involves sending Israel into disaster. But he's measured in all of that, never wanting the enemy to get credit for their victory over Israel. The only way to gain victory over God's people is if God allows it. But God will have compassion on Israel in their weakness and defeat, and he will bring about justice. By the way, the word Yesheron that appears three times in this song is a reference to the Israelites. Outside of this song, it only appears one other time in scripture. It means upright ones, and it's used almost ironically in this song, since it's a song about how they aren't upright. This is the song God wants the people to remember when they're at the beginning of the story about to turn to idols. He wants to stop them before they fall away into apostasy. And if they refuse to listen at that point, then he wants them to remember it when they're halfway through the story it tells. He wants them to remember that he's still there, loving them. Then, after Moses sings this song to them, God tells him which mountain to go to die on. From the top of that mountain, he'll be able to see the promised land before he dies. Before he goes up to die, he offers a final blessing to 11 of the 12 tribes. You may have noticed that the tribe of Simeon isn't mentioned here. Did Moses just forget them because he's super old? You know, all the Simeonites were probably standing around going, excuse me, what about us? This probably wasn't forgetfulness on Moses part. It was probably a prophetic move on his part, delivering an indication of what God had in store. The Simeonites would eventually be dispersed and the tribe of Judah would absorb them. This hasn't happened yet in our story, but Jacob also prophesied along these same lines in Genesis 49:7. After Moses blessed them, he went up to the mountain God directed him to, saw the promised land, and died old and strong. Then we see something kind of strange and beautiful. Scripture says God buried Moses not on Mount Nebo where he died, but in the valley. We have no idea what that looked like. Maybe there was a theophany and God took on the form of man to bury him. Or something else I don't even have the brain power to think of. Regardless, God buried him in a different spot than the spot where he died. And no one knows where that spot is. Exactly. This probably served to prevent them from building a shrine on his grave. That could have led to idolatry in the future. Israel mourned for him for 30 days. Then we end Deuteronomy with the encouraging reminder that Joshua, their new leader, is filled with the spirit of wisdom. God knows they need that. Then we moved on to Psalm 91. It's very similar to what we just read in Deuteronomy 32 and 33, even though most of it wasn't originally written to be a song. It seems that one of the psalmists set Moses words to music so they could be sung and remembered. It's a sweet reminder for the Israelites of who God is and what he has brought them through. I also know lots of people who pray this psalm aloud every night before they go to bed, especially people who suffer from nightmares and night terrors. And this chapter is also where my God shot came from. Today I spent about 20 minutes meditating on the implications of verse 14, which says, because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him. I will protect him because he knows My name. The Hebrew words used here are so potent. The word used for holds fast in the phrase he holds fast to me indicates a longing and desire. And in the phrase he knows my name, the word used for know is the same word used to say things like Adam knew his wife. It indicates intimate knowledge. And since name indicates character, then to say he knows my name means God would be saying something like he is intimately acquainted with who I truly am. You know that's what we're doing here, right? Unless you're playing some kind of weird game where you're pouring yourself into studying Scripture but completely disconnecting it from your heart and your life, then there's a good chance that you're actually falling more in love with God through this. Your heart is being knit to him in a way that is like longing and desire. You probably find yourself wanting to read your Bible sometimes, and maybe that feeling has taken you by surprise. Maybe it's altogether new and unfamiliar to you. Through this, he's teaching you to hold fast to Himself. He's showing you who he is, teaching you to know his name. I believe there's deliverance and protection for us in this. Deliverance from the world and from ourselves. Deliverance into greater freedom and joy and into him, because he's where the joy is. We're starting a new book tomorrow, and we've got a short video overview linked for you in the show notes today. Check that out if you have an extra eight minutes to spare. We think it will really set you up for success. Regardless, I'll see you back here tomorrow. As we start the Book of Joshua, we know lots of you are fans of the Chosen, so if that's you, we have great news. We have a sneak peek of Season 5, which premieres in theaters on March 28. This scene depicts a tense moment among the religious leaders of Jesus Day. We'll link to the full clip in our show Notes.
- [07:27]
Religious Leader
We have a common problem. Jesus the Nazarene operates entirely outside our jurisdiction. Dismissive of tradition and precedent, he pushes the people's attitudes toward an uncharted realm of thought alien to both our interpretations of Torah.
- [07:49]
Tara Leigh Cobble
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