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Week 11  Joshua 6-7

When I finished the Achan story I came away with three questions.
The first was: how could Achan have been so idiotic? He had clearly witnessed miraculous events in Israel. He knew the Lord knew everything. He had heard Joshua explicitly & publicly say ‘don’t steal anything from Jericho’. But he stole some loot. Why would he do that?
The second question was: what did he do after he got caught? Well…he admitted his guilt: I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel. This sounds quite a bit like repentance to me. But it didn’t save him. Maybe he was just admitting his theft since he’d been caught red-handed. So was it fake-repentance? But what if it was real & heart-felt & genuine? Would it have changed things?
The third question was about the execution: who all was executed? Achan and his family were taken to the valley of Achor. One bible that I read says: the Israelites stoned Achan and his family. Another version says: then all Israel stoned him. Another version: all Israel stoned them (but in the margin it says that “them” literally means “him”). So who was executed? Just Achan…or his entire family?
My (hesitant) answers to the questions are:
1) Achan was a person. Doing something crazy & inexplicable wasn’t strange
2) If Achan had genuinely repented it could have changed things
3) If the family colluded then they were guilty…but not otherwise.
But really…I’m pretty much just guessing.

Note: quotes from Joshua 7:20 (NLT) & 7:25 (NLT NIV NASB)

Week 11  Deuteronomy 33

Moses was getting very close to the end of his life so he called the tribes together one last time. He was giving them a final blessing. It reminded me of Jacob. At the end he called his sons and gave them a final blessing too.
Moses went through the tribes in this order: Reuben Judah Levi Benjamin Joseph’s Ephraim & Manasseh Zebulun Issachar Gad Dan Naphtali Asher.
The order of Jacob’s list is different: Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Zebulun Issachar Dan Gad Asher Naphtali Joseph Benjamin.
I wonder why Moses organized the names the way he did (if there’s a plausible explanation I don’t know what it is). Another thing I wonder about is Simeon – he’s not even on Moses’ list. Where is Simeon and why isn’t he here? (I know Ephraim & Manasseh weren’t on Jacob’s list but that’s explainable.)
I notice that in both lists Joseph is given high praise. That’s understandable – he was the best of the bros. But Levi also gets quite a bit of space and commendation which seems like an upgrade.
I’m surprised Judah only got one-verse in Deuteronomy after five in Genesis (since his tribe will eventually dominate).
I’d be interested in comparing the blessings. See what things have changed. Check for adjustments or modifications or additions or amendments. For example Jacob compares Dan to a snake but Moses says he’s like a lion’s cub.
But time is short so I’ll have to let that project slide.

Note: compare Genesis 49 & Deuteronomy 33

Week 11  Deuteronomy 32

Chapter 31 ends with the lead-in to 32: Moses spoke…the words of this song. Two other versions say Moses recited the song. So what Moses didn’t do was sing the song.
It’s a very long song – 43 verses – but I took the time to go back and quickly re-read it. I was looking for structural tips. It’s a song so I wondered if I could break it down. Find verses or a chorus. But no luck.
I realized I was at least three steps removed from making any sense of it. A) Moses composed it in a different language. B) I’m totally out of tune with Hebrew tribal life & art & culture. And C) I know zero about ancient near eastern musicology. Bringing my Canadian assumptions about verses & choruses & bridges to Deuteronomy 32 was basically useless.
I guess someone could compose a long musical line that the words could be sung to (that would take some creativity). Alternately the text could be abbreviated (for instance I could select content and then re-write & format it into short verses and a chorus). And as far as that goes the 43-verses could just be read to a background soundtrack.
Anyway at the end Moses added: take to heart all the words I have given you today…These instructions are not mere words – they are your life!
So not having the musical score isn’t necessarily the end of the world. Not having the words is a different story.

Note: quotes from Deuteronomy 31:20 (NASB NIV NLT) & 32:46-47 (NIV)

Week 10  Psalm 69

Unexpectedly I thought about Judas today. I thought about him because last year when I was reading about his suicide in Acts 1 I made a note to myself to look at Acts 1 the next time I read Psalm 69. And I read Psalm 69 today.
The connection is that in Acts Peter told the disciples that they needed to replace Judas: it was necessary for the Scriptures to be fulfilled concerning Judas…This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David…in the book of Psalms, where it says, “Let his home become desolate, with no one living in it”.
And today I read David’s quote: may their homes become desolate and their tents become deserted.
Reading psalm 69 today I wasn’t think about Judas. I was thinking about David’s opponents (the people he’d been talking about in verses 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 14 18 19 20 & 21). And David hoped & prayed that his enemies’ homes would become desolate.
So then hundreds of years later Peter is saying that that verse applied to Judas…that it was a direct prediction about Judas.
I’m pretty sure that as far as David was concerned the ‘desolated houses’ referred to his preferred outcome for his own contemporary opponents. But now Peter says it also had an unexpected and unanticipated application to Judas.
But I’ll admit that reading psalm 69 today I never would have guessed it.

Note: quotes from Acts 1:20 & Psalm 69:25 (NLT)

Week 10  Deuteronomy 22-25

They likely begin in chapter 21 but I really start noticing them in 22. In 22 they’re getting pretty obvious and stay pretty obvious for the next four chapters.
In those four chapters – 96-verses in all – there’s about 34 different regulations laid out (maybe more…but at least 34). So that means one law / regulation every 2.8 verses.
That’s not a huge problem (after all the Ten Commandments only take up 16-verses – one commandment every 1.6 verses). A bigger problem is that the 34-rules are all-over-the-map. It’d be one thing if they were topically consistent – for instance 34-Domestic-Rules or 34-Community-Rules. But they’re rules about everything imaginable. (It’s a guess but I feel pretty confident saying that content classification was not on the writer’s mind.)
But even that’s not the most perplexing thing. What’s surprising is that a) some of the rules actually make pretty good sense but b) other rules sound absolutely wacky. Example a) if I build a flat-roofed house I need to install a guard rail so no one falls off. Example b) if two men are fighting and the wife of one of them grabs the opponents genitals then…she has her hand cut off.
One way to manage the diversity is to selectively categorize the rules according to (let’s say) contemporary Alberta standards (e.g. humane vs. inhumane rules). But I’m not sure how much that helps. So for now my preference is to look for absolutely universal laws…Permanent Fixtures. The rest will land wherever they land.

Note: see Deuteronomy 22:8 & 25:11

Week 10  Deuteronomy 19

There’s quite a bit of death & dying going on and it’s hard to figure out how all the pieces – murder & guilt & revenge & punishment & like that – fit together. But the Cities of Refuge (CoR) are a small part of that whole mix.
Before Israel ever got to the Promised Land Moses was making plans for three CoR. CoR were necessary because people killed other people. And these CoR catered specifically to people who killed someone unintentionally.
Moses gives the example of a couple of friends chopping down trees. Guy #1 swings his axe. The axe head flies off the handle…sails through the air…strikes and kills Guy #2. A tragic fluke. But Guy #2 is dead. So now his brother will be looking for revenge. Guy #1’s only option is to run to the closest City of Refuge – a safe haven from Guy #2’s brother.
But even though he’s safe Guy #1 is also stuck. The city really doubles as a kind of spacious & livable penitentiary. Guy #1 – even with his freedom – can never leave.
Moses admits that the death of Guy #2: had been an accident.  Guy #1 was not guilty. But the CoR were created to prevent revenge killings: that way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
There’s lots of death & dying going on. And this is one of the mechanisms to manage and contain them.

Note: quotes from Deuteronomy 19:6 10 (NLT)

Week 10  Deuteronomy 17

Moses is talking about Israel’s leaders – the priests and judges – but he suddenly looks forward and predicts that Israel-in-the-Promised-Land will decide they want a king.
Wanting a king is okay. And it’s maybe inevitable. But the Lord has some guidelines. A future king is supposed to:
Be chosen by the Lord
Be a native-born Hebrew
Not collect a lot of horses
Not have a lot of wives
Not use his position to gain personal wealth
Keep a copy of the law on hand
Read that law…and obey it…and fear the Lord
Not be proud or arrogant.
Since I’ve read about the kings I know there’ll be trouble ahead. I think about the Big Three only – Saul-David-Solomon. They check the first two boxes. But look at the three “NOT” guidelines. David and Solomon had a bunch of wives. Solomon collected stables full of horses. And I don’t know how much wealth the others acquired but Solomon had buckets of cash. Fearing the Lord and not being arrogant are harder to assess. But it’s safe to say that Saul & Solomon fell seriously short in those categories.
So even in this short list it’s really only David who makes the cut (and I know the big majority of kings after Saul-David-Solomon fail too).
But the guidelines are there. And like all the other regulations it’s a matter of watching to see who pays attention to them.

Note: Moses’ guidelines for kings are in Deuteronomy 17:15-20.

 

Week 9  Deuteronomy 1-3

For one thing the bible is a book of history. It’s also a book of other things – legal and moral codes & prophetic content with current and future events & artistic/musical/poetic material & religious regulations & like that. But quite a bit of history.
The first three chapters of Deuteronomy are a kind of abbreviated Reminder History. Moses is retelling events from the Hebrew past. I remember a couple of years ago wondering why Moses omitted so many key events. The Exodus. Mount Sinai. The 10 Commandments. The Sea of Reeds. Manna. The Golden Calf. Nadab & Abihu.
It finally occurred to me this year that Moses was only going back 40 years – not all the way back. Just back as far as the (disastrous) Twelve Spies story and what happened since then. So it’s a very selective Reminder History with Moses mentioning The Spies & the Wilderness Years & Sihon & Og (plus a couple of other things). So I learned something. But I wonder about Korah Dathan and Abiram. And Balaam. I thought they were pretty important but they’re not even mentioned.
I wonder why Moses chose what he did and didn’t choose what he didn’t. I wonder about his selection criteria. Wonder if I’ll figure it out. Wonder if it matters very much.

Note: end of February reading report: 156 chapters in Moses + 60 psalms = 216 chapters. That’s ~18% of the bible read in ~17% of the year. So…I’m staying ahead. That’s better than lagging (no knowing what’s up ahead).

Week 8  Numbers 22-24

Balaam is the enigmatic shaman who ghosts into the book of Numbers and then ghosts back out again. Mystery Man or not I’m glad to find his little gem-of-a-story here in the middle of censuses & regulations & travelogues.
On the surface it looks like Balaam was the Lord’s Man of the Hour. The Lord communicated directly with him and then Balaam relayed four specific messages from the Lord to king Balak. He looks quite a bit like an real OT prophet. He comes. He speaks the Lord’s message. He leaves. Seven chapters later I find out about the real Balaam.
Israel had a battle with the five kings of Midian. They killed all five and in the process: they also killed Balaam son of Beor. It turns out that this wasn’t a case of poor-Balaam – a good guy caught in the crossfire. Balaam was executed because the Midianites had followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the Lord at Mount Peor.
Reading this is a bit of a shock. Balaam seemed like an okay-guy. But it turns out that he conspired with Balak – gave him advice on how to poison Israel.
I’ve had to read 210 verses before I find this sequel. The main story seemed to end with Balaam going home in the last verse of Numbers 24. But that wasn’t the end and I’d been left with a completely wrong impression.

Note: quotes from Numbers 31:8 16 (NLT)

Week 8  Numbers 21

If there’s an ordered list somewhere where someone ranks all the chapters of the bible from Most Subject Diversity (top) to Most Uniformity (bottom) I figure chapter 21 would be near the top. It ricochets all over the place – almost like the writer just jammed together a bunch of ideas he wasn’t sure where else to include. Not exactly a dog’s breakfast…but lots of diversity:
The account of King Arad
The bronze serpent
Wilderness campsites
A reference to The Book of the Wars of the Lord
The verse of a song
Sihon’s defeat
Og’s defeat
A short proverb
I wondered about the quotation from The Book of the Wars of the Lord. It said: the town of Waheb in the area of Suphah, and the ravines; and the Arnon River and its ravines, which extend as far as the settlement of Ar on the border of Moab. The writer had already said the tribes had trekked out of the Sinai Peninsula as far north as the Arnon River: the Arnon is the boundary line between the Moabites and the Ammonites – then added the quote.
I look at a map. The Arnon River is east of the Dead Sea – Moab to the south. Ammon north.
But I don’t find out anything about The Book of the Wars of the Lord. Looks like maybe it’s a lost book. One item from the Number’s bibliography. But now gone forever.

Note: quotes from Numbers 21:14-15 31 (NLT)