Day 53 Deuteronomy 11-13 Supplemental Note

Deuteronomy Chapter 11
Over and over, The Lord emphasized to His people, past and present, that obedience to Him is not to His benefit, since The Lord already has everything, but to their benefit - blessings that would come from the natural result of doing things right, as determined by Him who made all things that are good, to even more blessings from The Lord to those who obey Him.

"You shall therefore keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land which you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land which The Lord swore to your fathers to give to them and to their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land which you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it with your feet, like a garden of vegetables; but the land which you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land which The Lord your God cares for; the eyes of The Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year." (Deuteronomy 11:8-12 RSV)

But with the absolutely sure promise of blessings for the truly obedient (see the Fact Finder question below) came also a warning of sure curses upon those who chose (see Damnation to understand how salvation is a personal choice) not to repent and live as best as humanly possible according to The Lord's Way.

"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the Commandments of The Lord your God, which I command you this day, and the curse, if you do not obey the Commandments of The Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known." (Deuteronomy 11:26-28 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 12
Those who choose to obey The Lord must also make a choice to obey Him according to the way that He instructs (see the Fact Finder question below). For example, when The Lord told His people not to use idols to worship Him, He meant exactly what He said (see What Would Mary Really Say About Idolatry?).

"You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree; you shall tear down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; you shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not do so to The Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 12:2-4 RSV) "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here this day, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which The Lord your God gives you." (Deuteronomy 12:8-9 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 13
The Lord commanded the Israelites to completely obliterate the heathen religions out of their land as a simple matter of self-defense. Otherwise, it would surely corrupt the people which would result in their destruction. The Lord provided His people with the knowledge of the way to life; it was up to them to make their choice of life or death for themselves. They were also always to be on guard against false teachers and prophets who would lead people away from what The Lord plainly provided to them, and to us, in writing.

"If a prophet arises among you, or a dreamer of dreams, and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder which he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, 'Let us go after other gods,' which you have not known, 'and let us serve them,' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of dreams; for The Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. You shall walk after The Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His Commandments and obey His voice, and you shall serve Him and cleave to Him." But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to make you leave the way in which The Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from the midst of you." (Deuteronomy 13:1-4 RSV)

Day 52 Deuteronomy 8-10 Supplemental Note

Deuteronomy Chapter 8
As they were nearing the end of their homeward journey, the Israelites were reminded why a trek that could have been easily done in less than a year took them over forty years. It was an irony; The Lord cared very well for the next generation, while awaiting the rebellious ones who refused to enter the promised land, when they had the opportunity to do so, to die off (see A Journey Without A Destination).

"All the commandment which I command you this day you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which The Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember all the way which The Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that He might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His Commandments, or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna {see Christ, The Bread of Life], which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of The Lord. Your clothing did not wear out upon you, and your foot did not swell, these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, The Lord your God disciplines you." (Deuteronomy 8:1-5 RSV)

The promise was clear - obey The Lord, and His people would truly enter a land of blessings.

"So you shall keep the Commandments of The Lord your God, by walking in His ways and by fearing Him. For The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains [see also The Fountains Of The Great Deep] and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills, a land of wheat [see Corn; also The Great Tribulation] and Barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees [see The Olive Tree] and Honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper." (Deuteronomy 8:6-9 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 9
Although the infamous debacle with the "golden calf" is one of the best-known incidents of Bible History, people to this day do the same thing - they turn their back to The Lord and bow before idols (see "Thou shalt not make any graven image").

"And at the end of forty days and forty nights The Lord gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant. Then The Lord said to me, 'Arise, go down quickly from here; for your people whom you have brought from Egypt have acted corruptly; they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molten image.'" (Deuteronomy 9:11-12 RSV) "So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain was burning with fire; and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against The Lord your God; you had made yourselves a molten calf; you had turned aside quickly from the way which The Lord had commanded you. So I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes." (Deuteronomy 9:15-17 RSV)

Moses at that time did something that only two other humans, Elijah and Jesus Christ, are recorded to have done (see The Forty Day Fasts).

"Then I lay prostrate before The Lord as before, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all the sin which you had committed, in doing what was evil in the sight of The Lord, to provoke him to anger.For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure which The Lord bore against you, so that he was ready to destroy you. But The Lord hearkened to me that time also. And The Lord was so angry with Aaron that he was ready to destroy him; and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. Then I took the sinful thing, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw the dust of it into the brook that descended out of the mountain." (Deuteronomy 9:18-21 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 10
Moses then made a replacement set of stone tablets, upon which The Lord re-wrote The Ten Commandments. The Lord also at that time instructed Moses to make a container, The Ark Of The Covenant (see also Raiders Of The Lost Ark), to provide a secure carrying device for the "breakable" (as the Israelites did many times spiritually) covenant stones.

"At that time The Lord said to me [see also Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?], 'Hew two tables of stone like the first, and come up to me on the mountain, and make an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.' So I made an ark of acacia wood, and hewed two tables of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tables in my hand. And He wrote on the tables, as at the first writing, the Ten Commandments which The Lord had spoken to you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly; and The Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they are, as The Lord commanded me." (Deuteronomy 10:1-5 RSV)

The Lord provided His Law to His people, not to limit them, but to set them free from a dead-end world.

"And now, Israel, what does The Lord your God require of you, but to fear The Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve The Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Commandments and statutes of The Lord, which I command you this day for your good? Behold, to The Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it; yet The Lord set His heart in love upon your fathers and chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as at this day." (Deuteronomy 10:12-15 RSV)

Day 51 Deuteronomy 5-7 Supplemental Note

Deuteronomy Chapter 5
Moses then reiterated The Lord's Ten Commandments that had been given to God's people at the time forty years earlier, for all time (see The Ten Commandments Before Sinai? and the Fact Finder question below).

"I am The Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I The Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Commandments.
You shall not take The Name of The Lord your God in vain: for The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as The Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to The Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, or your manservant, or your maidservant, or your ox, or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your manservant and your maidservant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and The Lord your God brought you out thence with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore The Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Honor your father and your mother, as The Lord your God commanded you; that your days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with you, in the land which The Lord your God gives you.
You shall not kill.
Neither shall you commit adultery.
Neither shall you steal.
Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbor.
Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's.'" (Deuteronomy 5:6-21 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 6
Although the people of Judah adopted a tradition for themselves (the other tribes of Israel didn't) to use Frontlets and Phylacteries, The Lord wasn't referring merely to the symbolism; He was talking about actually living according to God's Way (ironically, people wearing phylacteries were among those who rejected the Author of them when He came i.e. "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach, but do not practice. They bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by men; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long," Matthew 23:2-5 RSV).

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. And you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 RSV)

Jesus Christ repeated His own words centuries later to emphasize their timeless implementation (see the Fact Finder question below):

"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And He said to him, "You shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:36-37 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 7
The Israelites were to respect the legal sovereignty of other nations (see Landmark), but they were at the same time to take total control of their own sovereignty within their own God-defined borders. Otherwise, they would know much trouble and corruption from the hostile aliens in their midst.

"When The Lord your God brings you into the land which you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites [see The Land Of Canaan], the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than yourselves, and when The Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them; then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and show no mercy to them. You shall not make marriages with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons. For they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods; then the anger of The Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. "For you are a people holy to The Lord your God; The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession, out of all the peoples that are on the face of the earth." (Deuteronomy 7:1-6 RSV)

Day 50 Deuteronomy 2-4 Supplemental Note

Deuteronomy Chapter 2
The book of Deuteronomy summarizes the approximate forty years of Bible History from the Exodus to the time just before the Israelites entered their promised land i.e. Deuteronomy reviews, and in some cases elaborates upon, information originally written in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers (see The Deuteronomy of Moses).

"For The Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands; He knows your going through this great wilderness [see also The Wilderness of Sin]; these forty years The Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.'" (Deuteronomy 2:7 RSV) "And the time from our leaving Kadesh-Barnea until we crossed the brook Zered was thirty-eight years, until the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as The Lord had sworn to them. For indeed the hand of The Lord was against them, to destroy them from The Camp, until they had perished [see A Journey Without A Destination].
So when all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, The Lord said to me, 'This day you are to pass over the boundary of Moab at Ar; and when you approach the frontier of the sons of Ammon, do not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the sons of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to the sons of Lot for a possession.'" (Deuteronomy 2:14-19 RSV) [see Landmark]
'Rise up, take your journey, and go over the valley of the Arnon; behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to take possession, and contend with him in battle. This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.'" (Deuteronomy 2:24-25 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 3
The land of Israel included tribal areas east of the Jordan, which are today occupied by the people of Syria and Jordan (see Eastern Tribal Lands).

"When we took possession of this land at that time, I gave to the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities; the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. The whole of that Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day. To Machir I gave Gilead, and to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory from Gilead as far as the valley of the Arnon, with the middle of the valley as a boundary, as far over as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites; the Arabah also, with the Jordan as the boundary, from Chinnereth [i.e. The Sea Of Galilee] as far as the sea of the Arabah, The Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah on the east." (Deuteronomy 3:12-17 RSV)

Although Moses was closer to The Lord than anyone (see The Trysting Tent), he was not above the Law; when Moses violated The Lord's instructions before the people, it cost Moses his own entry into the promised land (although Moses will be in the ultimate Promised Land, the future Kingdom of God - see Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?). Moses asked The Lord to change His mind on the decision, as he had successfully done at times before (e.g. "But Moses besought The Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why does Thy wrath burn hot against Thy people, whom Thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Exodus 32:11 RSV), but this time, the answer remained "No" (Abraham was another who was close enough to The Lord to ask Him to change His mind - see "Jehovah" and Abraham).

""And I besought The Lord at that time, saying, 'O Lord God, Thou hast only begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness and Thy mighty hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Thine? Let me go over, I pray, and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that goodly hill country, and Lebanon.' But The Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not hearken to me; and The Lord said to me, 'Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and behold it with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him; for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land which you shall see.' So we remained in the valley [see also The Valley of Moses' Grave] opposite Beth-peor." (Deuteronomy 3:23-29 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 4
The Israelites had witnessed idol worship during their time in Egypt (their infamous making of the golden calf was likely based upon the Egyptian bull "god" - see notes for Exodus 32) and among the surrounding nations, but God's people, ancient or modern, were not to worship, bow to and pray to idols of anything or anyone ("beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female," see below), a Commandment (see "Thou shalt not make any graven image") that is still widely ignored to this day, even among those who claim to be Christian e.g. see What Would Mary Really Say About Idolatry?

"Therefore take good heed to yourselves. Since you saw no form on the day that The Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, beware lest you act corruptly by making a graven image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. And beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and worship them and serve them, things which The Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. But The Lord has taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own possession, as at this day." (Deuteronomy 4:15-20 RSV)

The Lord (see the Fact Finder below) is the Creator of all. Humans are to worship The Creator, not mere created things.

"For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that The Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?" (Deuteronomy 4:32-34 RSV)

Day 49 Numbers 34-36, Deuteronomy 1 Supplemental Note

Numbers Chapter 34
Even before they actually entered their physical promised land, The Lord gave the Israelites the legal boundaries of the country that their nation (see Country and Nation) would inhabit; they knew exactly "how far they could go" from and within their own sovereignty. No one was to violate their territory, nor were they to violate any other people's territory. As with everything else that is good, The Lord was the Creator of property rights, national and personal (see Landmark and Out Of Line).

"The Lord said to Moses, "Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter The Land Of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan in its full extent, your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin [see also The Wilderness of Sin] along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary shall be from the end of The Salt Sea on the east; and your boundary shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its end shall be south of Kadesh-barnea [see Kadesh-Barnea]; then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon; and the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at the sea. "For the western boundary, you shall have the Great Sea [i.e. The Mediterranean Sea] and its coast; this shall be your western boundary.
"This shall be your northern boundary: from the Great Sea you shall mark out your line to Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall mark it out to the entrance of Hamath, and the end of the boundary shall be at Zeded; then the boundary shall extend to Ziphron, and its end shall be at Hazar-enan; this shall be your northern boundary.
"You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; and the boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain; and the boundary shall go down, and reach to the shoulder of the sea of Chinnereth [i.e. The Sea Of Galilee] on the east; and the boundary shall go down to the Jordan [see The Jordan Valley], and its end shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its boundaries all round." (Numbers 34:1-12 RSV)

The tribal lands (see Children of Jacob) within the land of Israel (see map) were also determined with precision.

"Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, "This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which The Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe; for the tribe of the sons of Reuben by fathers' houses and the tribe of the sons of Gad by their fathers' houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh; the two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise." (Numbers 34:13-15 RSV)

Numbers Chapter 35
The Levites had no tribal territory of their own, primarily because, as the priesthood, they lived and worked throughout the entire land of Israel. They were nevertheless given towns of their own that made them self-sufficient if need be - an old and wise principle that insured that those who preached and taught the Word of God could not be financially pressured into preaching anything other than the pure Word of God.

"The Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, "Command the people of Israel, that they give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands round about the cities. The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all round. And you shall measure, outside the city, for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle; this shall belong to them as pasture land for their cities." (Numbers 35:1-5 RSV)

Some of the Levite towns were also designated as "cities of refuge" for those accused of murder - not to protect them from justice, but to insure that justice was done i.e. they would be protected from vigilantism until they faced their accusers at a properly authorized trial.

"The cities which you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee" (Numbers 35:6 RSV) "And The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the people of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. And the cities which you give shall be your six cities of refuge. You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that any one who kills any person without intent may flee there." (Numbers 35:9-15 RSV)

Numbers Chapter 36
The matter of Zelophehad's Daughters was reiterated (see notes for Numbers 27).

"And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of The Lord, saying, "The tribe of the sons of Joseph is right. This is what The Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, 'Let them marry whom they think best; only, they shall marry within the family of the tribe of their father. The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another; for every one of the people of Israel shall cleave to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall cleave to its own inheritance.'" The daughters of Zelophehad did as The Lord commanded Moses; for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father." (Numbers 36:5-12 RSV)

Deuteronomy Chapter 1
On the eve of their entering their physical promised land, Moses gave the Israelites a review of their history, their rights, their obligations, and their future (see the Fact Finder question below for the meaning of "deuteronomy").

"And in the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that The Lord had given him in commandment to them, after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, "The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain; turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland, and in the Negeb, and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and take possession of the land which The Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their descendants after them.'" (Deuteronomy 1:3-8 RSV)

Moses then reminded them why a few months' journey had taken them over forty years - that this was the second time in their history that they were being given the opportunity to go home (see A Journey Without A Destination).

Day 48 Numbers 31-33 Supplemental Note

Numbers Chapter 31
Israel was about to be established as a country; they already existed as a nation (see Country and Nation). Like any country, Israel sought peace with their neignbors, by making peace, peace through victory - a principle that Jesus Christ will Himself apply at His return (see Christ the Conqueror For Peace), a principle that He also commanded the Israelites to do back then (i.e. "I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same supernatural food and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ," 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 RSV).
From their base just across The Jordan River from Jericho (see also Jesus In Jericho), the Israelites rendered the Midianites into peaceful neighbors. It would be one of the last leadership duties of Moses before he would die, east of the Jordan.

"The Lord said to Moses, "Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you shall be gathered to your people." And Moses said to the people, "Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute The Lord's vengeance on Midian. You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war." So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.
They warred against Midian, as The Lord commanded Moses, and slew every male. They slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian; and they also slew Balaam the son of Beor with the sword [see notes for Numbers 22-24]. And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and they took as booty all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. All their cities in the places where they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, and took all the spoil and all the booty, both of man and of beast. Then they brought the captives and the booty and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho." (Numbers 31:1-12 RSV)

How many troops did Israel lose in the battle? None. It was a total victory.

"Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, came near to Moses, and said to Moses, "Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us." (Numbers 31:48-49 RSV)

Numbers Chapter 32
The promised land of Israel was actually much more than just west of the Jordan River; two tribes, and part of another, at their own request, settled east of the Jordan River. All of the tribes fought together however; the western tribes helped the eastern tribes to secure their land as they passed through, then warriors from the eastern tribes crossed the Jordan to help the western tribes to secure their lands.

"Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle; and they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for cattle. So the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land which The Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle." And they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; do not take us across the Jordan." (Numbers 32:1-5 RSV)

Moses agreed to the request. Perhaps he was even a little relieved, since he knew that he would himself not cross the Jordan (see Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?); he may have been comforted to know that he would at least, even east of the Jordan, be buried near, or within, territory held by Israelites (see also The Valley of Moses' Grave).

"So Moses said to them, "If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before The Lord for the war, and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before The Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him and the land is subdued before The Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to The Lord and to Israel; and this land shall be your possession before The Lord. But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against The Lord; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do what you have promised."
And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben said to Moses, "Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall remain there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before The Lord to battle, as my lord orders." (Numbers 32:20-27 RSV)

Numbers Chapter 33
The journey from Egypt had been a very long one; instead of a matter of months, it took them over forty years, because of their rebellion (see A Journey Without A Destination). The beginning of the journey:

"These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of The Lord; and these are their stages according to their starting places. They set out from Rameses [see In The Land of Rameses] in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after the passover the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their first-born, whom The Lord had struck down among them; upon their gods also The Lord executed judgments. So the people of Israel set out from Ram'eses, and encamped at Succoth." (Numbers 33:1-5 RSV)

The end of the journey, over forty years later, with insructions and a warning:

"And The Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, "Say to the people of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan [see the fact Finder question below], then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places; and you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance; wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them." (Numbers 33:50-56 RSV)

Day 47 Numbers 28-30 Supplemental Note

Numbers Chapter 28
The significance of burnt offerings (see the Fact Finder below) includes that the object being offered is used wholly for that purpose (interestingly, wholly means totally or exclusively, while holy means set apart), that the sacrificed object ceases to exist as a physical entity and that the result rises to heaven (in its symbolic form, to the first heaven, the atmosphere - see Heavens Below, Heavens Above). In that pre-Christian Christian era (not a contradiction - see Christ The Creator), burnt offerings were done daily, during the weekly Sabbath, monthly, and during each of the annual Sabbaths / Holy Days.
Daily:

"The Lord said to Moses [to understand who was The Lord that spoke to Moses, see Why Did Christ Put Moses To Death?], "Command the people of Israel, and say to them, 'My offering, my food for my offerings by fire, my pleasing odor, you shall take heed to offer to me in its due season.' And you shall say to them, This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to The Lord: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a continual offering." (Numbers 28:1-3 RSV)

During the weekly Sabbath (see "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it Holy"):

"On the Sabbath day two male lambs a year old without blemish, and two tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, and its drink offering: this is the burnt offering of every sabbath, besides the continual burnt offering and its drink offering." (Numbers 28:9-10 RSV)

On the first day of each month (see Bible Calendar and Bible Months):

"At the beginnings of your months you shall offer a burnt offering to The Lord: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; also three tenths of an ephah of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenths of fine flour for a cereal offering, mixed with oil, for the one ram; and a tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a cereal offering for every lamb; for a burnt offering of pleasing odor, an offering by fire to The Lord." (Numbers 28:11-13 RSV)

At the Passover (see Christ's Passover and Christ's Feast of Unleavened Bread):

"On the fourteenth day of the first month is The Lord's passover. And on the fifteenth day of this month is a feast; seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten. On the first day there shall be a holy convocation: you shall do no laborious work, but offer an offering by fire, a burnt offering to The Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old; see that they are without blemish; also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths of an ephah shall you offer for a bull, and two tenths for a ram; a tenth shall you offer for each of the seven lambs; also one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these besides the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering." (Numbers 28:16-23 RSV)

At the Feast of Firstfruits (see Christ's Pentecost):

"On the day of the first fruits, when you offer a cereal offering of new grain to The Lord at your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, but offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to The Lord; two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each bull, two tenths for one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs; with one male goat, to make atonement for you." (Numbers 28:26-30 RSV)

Numbers Chapter 29
Interestingly, the European and English printers who divided the Holy Scriptures into chapters (there were no chapters in the original Hebrew or Greek Scriptures) listed the spring Holy Days in the previous chapter and the autumn Holy Days in this one. Whether they realized it or not, doing so was appropriate for more reasons than a printer alone would appreciate - the spring and autumn Holy Days portray the first and second comings of the Messiah (see God's Holy Days and Seasons Of The Harvest). As with The Lord's spring Holy Days, burnt offerings were back then included in the observance of The Lord's autumn Holy Days.
The Feast of Trumpets (see Christ's Feast of Trumpets):

"On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets, and you shall offer a burnt offering, a pleasing odor to The Lord: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish; also their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for each of the seven lambs; with one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; besides the burnt offering of the new moon, and its cereal offering, and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offering, according to the ordinance for them, a pleasing odor, an offering by fire to The Lord." (Numbers 29:1-6 RSV)

The Day of Atonement (see Christ's Day Of Atonement):

"On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation, and afflict yourselves; you shall do no work, but you shall offer a burnt offering to The Lord, a pleasing odor: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; they shall be to you without blemish; and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, a tenth for each of the seven lambs: also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering, and their drink offerings." (Numbers 29:7-11 RSV)

The Feast of Tabernacles (see Christ's Feast of Tabernacles and Christ's Eighth Day):

"On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no laborious work, and you shall keep a feast to The Lord seven days; and you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to The Lord, thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old; they shall be without blemish; and their cereal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths of an ephah for each of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each of the two rams, and a tenth for each of the fourteen lambs; also one male goat for a sin offering, besides the continual burnt offering, its cereal offering and its drink offering." (Numbers 29:12-16 RSV) "On the eighth day you shall have a solemn assembly: you shall do no laborious work, but you shall offer a burnt offering, an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to The Lord: one bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without blemish, and the cereal offering and the drink offerings for the bull, for the ram, and for the lambs, by number, according to the ordinance; also one male goat for a sin offering; besides the continual burnt offering and its cereal offering and its drink offering." (Numbers 29:35-38 RSV)

Numbers Chapter 30
Vows among family members were regarded as sacred because the family itself is a living portrait of the family that God is creating i.e. God is our Father ("Our Father who art in heaven," Matthew 6:9 RSV), Christ is our firstborn brother ("But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at His coming those who belong to Christ," 1 Corinthians 15:23 RSV), the Church is the woman (see Daughter of Zion) who will give birth to the children of God when they are truly born again (see Born Again, How and When?).
Men had no "out" for any vow or pledge that they made. Vows or pledges made by a never-married or married woman could be over-ruled by her father or husband respectively, but a widow or divorced woman was personally responsible for her vow or pledge, the same as a man (see also Zelophehad's Daughters). Examples:

"Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the people of Israel, "This is what The Lord has commanded. When a man vows a vow to The Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth." (Numbers 30:1-2 RSV) But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it, no vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand; and The Lord will forgive her, because her father opposed her. And if she is married to a husband, while under her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it, and says nothing to her on the day that he hears; then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if, on the day that her husband comes to hear of it, he expresses disapproval, then he shall make void her vow which was on her, and the thoughtless utterance of her lips, by which she bound herself; and The Lord will forgive her.
But any vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, anything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her." (Numbers 30:1-9 RSV)