Wow this stuff sounds really familiar! Moses is giving us a recap of the events that we have been reading about over the last few months. I am not going to rehash things I have already talked about, so I'll just pick out the nuggets that I really like. Feel free to do the same...whatever jumps out at you, leave as a comment.
2:25 - This says that God began to put the fear of the Israelites into people all over the world. They were becoming a feared nation because of God's protection. I think this may have something to do with the persecution the Jews have experienced over the years. People do not like to fear - have you ever noticed that. Many times the human reaction to fear is wanting to get rid of or destroy whatever has made them fearful. If the people's of the world began to see that God was protecting the Jews and that they were a force to be reckoned with...there was probably some hatred that built up that was passed down generation after generation. When the Jews later began to stray from their covenant and from God's protection...their bitter enemies jumped at the chance to make them pay for the fear they had instilled.
3:28 - I am in a mentoring class at Fuller right now and I have discipleship on the brain. What God is telling Moses to do here is to mentor Joshua. His instructions are a great picture of what discipleship is supposed to look like. Moses is supposed to charge Joshua, which means to give him a challenge or a mission to live out. That is a key ingredient to discipleship - giving a younger leader goals to run towards...a picture of what they can be in the future. God tells Moses to encourage Joshua. I would hope encouragement is going on in mentoring relationships. Young leaders need to be told when they are doing things well...they need to be encouraged so they don't lose their nerve to live for God before they ever really started living it out! Finally God tells Moses to strengthen Joshua. Again, this is something that has to take place is discipleship situations. Are the mentors giving the mentees the tools they need to lead. Are they strengthening their wisdom, their faith, their leadership. I hope so. God lays out a great picture of what discipleship should look like for us.
3 comments:
I'm a day late on this comment because i wanted to read the whole of Deuteronomy and not miss the first three chapters :D ... I mean can you blame me.
My thoughts: Chapters 1-3 were like brandon said a recap of most of the stuff that had previously happened... but one thing that has never really set well with my Theology is the clearing of the Promised Land. We have an all loving God, yet at the same time I find it difficult to read Deut 2:30 through that lens. God is said to harden the heart of the king of Sihon, in what appears to be an attempt to display his power or bless more richly the nation of Israel. My theological boat is "rocked" every time I encounter a passage like this. Where i see the blessing being given to Israel, but what about the freedom of Choice? Does it not seem be taken away from the kings Sihon and Og? And if that is taken away, does that not put God outside of our all loving catagory? and how do we explain that?
Another thing that hurts to read is the fact that Israel left NO SURVIVORS; meaning they killed all the men, women, and CHILDREN (2:34, 3:3, 6). That seems harsh, but at the same time necessary in order to accomplish God's commands and purposes. In this case one can see that later in the story, if the people of the promised land are not totally wiped out, those children grow up and their later generations end up being accomplices in the exile of Israel. Can anyone back be up on that (Brandon)?
Jonny - you should check my comments about Numbers 31...I addressed the issue you bring up there. These passages are always really tough for me too, but in the end, as a man of faith, I am going to side with God's judgment as opposed to my own flawed opinion. When I see God hardening people's hearts, I see it as a timing thing and not a lack of choice thing. I believe that these men have made their choice to be anti-God and so to fit on His schedule...God speeds up the rate at which their heart hardens. Their lives have already brought judgment on themselves and God just works it into His plan.
Brandon, thanks.
Your post about Numbers 31 was really insightful, and I agree with your thoughts there. It makes more sense to think about it like you said: Israel being used by God as an instrument of His judgment.
good stuff
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