Week 12 - Deuteronomy 18 - Joshua 8

I hope that you are all staying steady as we continue to move through the Old Testament and see how God continues to work through his people.

Deuteronomy 18-21

Speaking through Moses, God says that He will raise up a prophet from

among the people of Israel, and it was this prophecy that Israel was looking to be

fulfilled in the days of Jesus (John 1:21). In Acts 3 Peter tells the people that

Jesus was this prophet Who they missed and rejected. Even today Israel is

looking for this prophet, who they believe will be their messiah, as they do not

believe He is God, but will be just a man like Moses.

God commands three cities of refuge be established in the land for men to

flee who are accused of murder, but innocent of ill intent. Three also were

commanded on the east side of the Jordan, which had already been given to

Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh.

God commands the rules of war and plunder, but also making clear HIs

expectations in how the Amorites, Canaanites, Perrizites, Hivites, and Jebusites

are to be dealt with, who are sworn enemies of God.

Deuteronomy 22-25

Various rules pertaining to civil discourse and commerce between Israelites.

Mercy and grace demanded upon those who cannot help themselves.

Chapter 25 details the law of the levirate marriage, which is designed to

provide a legacy for a man who dies childless, as it was God’s command that the

land each family inherited would remain in that same family going forward. The

story of Ruth and Boaz provides an example of this, where Boaz married Ruth in

order to raise up children in the name of Elimelech, and is a picture of Christ and

His gentile bride.

Deuteronomy 26-28

The law of first fruits defined, where the new fruit of the harvest is given to the

Lord, and in certain years with Levites and even strangers.

God commands that all the people plan to gather at Mount Ebal and Mount

Garazim after going into the promised land, and call out in detail all the blessings

that God will pour out on them when they obey His laws, and all the curses He

will afflict upon them when they refuse to obey His laws. Joshua, and all the

people did this in Joshua chapter 8.

Deuteronomy 29-31:29

The Lord also tells the people that when they pervasively disobey, He will

allow their enemies to take them captive in foreign lands, and when they later

repent He will bring them back to the good land He is giving them.

Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV -  I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against

you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore

choose life, that both you and your descendants may live

It is this same call today for every person, who is able to choose between life

and death - choose life!

Moses is 120 years old, and God calls him and Joshua to appear before His

Presence, where Joshua is inaugurated to succeed Moses in leading the nation

of Israel. Moses also gives to the Levites the written book of the law, which was

the Pentateuch, or the first 5 books of the Bible. God then gives Moses a song,

with instructions for him to give that song to all of Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:30-34

As God commanded, Moses taught that song to the people, so that they

would remember it in years to come when they find themselves abandoned in

slavery among foreign nations, and God would hear them and answer.

Moses also declares his blessings upon the tribes of Israel, and then goes up

to Mount Nebo, where the Lord shows him the promised land from afar. Moses

dies at 120 years of age, and the Lord Himself buries Moses near that place.

Joshua is presumed to have penned the final 2 chapters of this book,

declaring the final words of Moses, and recounting his death.

Joshua 1-4

God ordains Joshua to lead Israel in place of Moses. Joshua shares the

name of Jesus in the Hebrew, which means Jahweh is Salvation, and is a

foreshadowing of Christ, Who will save His people when the law proves

incapable.

Joshua sends two unnamed spies to Jericho, but their primary

accomplishment will be to save Rahab, who marries into the tribe of Judah, and

becomes an ancestor of both David and Jesus. Rahab is instructed to hang a

blood red rope out of her window, and the whole house will be protected, just like

the homes in Egypt were protected behind the blood of the Passover lamb.

God divides the Jordan river, so that the nation crosses over on dry ground,

and monuments of 12 stones are set up in the middle of the river, and on the

western side of the river to commemorate God’s work in bringing them in.

Joshua 5-8

After crossing the Jordan God commands that all the men be circumcised, as

circumcision had not been practiced during the 40+ years since coming out of

Egypt. It’s interesting that God commands this after crossing the Jordan, where

they are camping outside the walls of Jericho, and now 600,000 men are

essentially disabled until they are healed. God will demonstrate through this first

encounter with Jericho that He is in complete charge of the care of His people,

and the destruction of His enemies. Circumcision was the covenant God made

with Abraham, and those descendants who would inherit Canaan land must be

identified as his children through that rite.

Joshua meets Jesus, the commander of the Lord’s armies, Who tells him to

remove his sandals because he was standing on holy ground. The Lord

proceeds to give Joshua the battle plan for the destruction of Jericho, which will

be God’s victory alone. Following the Lord’s battle plan, the walls fell down when

the people shouted on the last day of circling the walls (except for that part of the

wall where Rahab lived), and the city completely wiped out. Rahab and her

family were rescued.

God commanded that everything in Jericho be killed, and all plunder belonged

to the Lord alone, but Achan took some of the plunder, and Israel was routed in

their next attempt to take the small city of Ai. Once the sin of Achan was

exposed and purged, Ai was destroyed according to the battle plan given from

God, and then the people were allowed to take plunder.

After these initial victories Joshua took all the people to Mount Ebal and

Mount Gerizim, where the laws of God were read aloud, and the people declared

the cursings and blessings that would befall Israel for either disobeying, or

obeying God’s laws. This fulfilled what Moses had commanded just before he

died.