Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today, Moses continues revisiting the history of the Israelites to the younger generation, making sure they remember where they came from. He's giving Cliff's notes of things we've read about at length. Yesterday, he mostly touched on things this generation hadn't personally experienced, but today he's touching on more recent history, stuff they've lived through,
Since it's not our first trip through these stories, try to look for something new about God's character than what you learned the first time we read them. Moses begins by recounting their victories over King Og of Bashan and King Sihon of the Amorites. The cities of Bashan were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars, but God granted them victory. God is bigger than what keeps us from what he has called us to.
And here we also learn that King Og was a Rephiat, a giant, perhaps of demonic origin, and Israel defeated him. He had a bed that was 13 and a half feet long and six feet wide, and it was made of iron because apparently that was the only thing strong enough to hold him up. If this guy was as tall as his bed was long, he would dwarf Shaquille O'Neal. He would be almost twice his height. That's bonkers.
After Israel defeated Kings Og and Sihon, they acquired the Transjordan land that God gave to the 2.5 tribes, Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. Remember how Moses repeatedly appealed to God to retract punishment for the Israelites, and God did? Moses also appeals to God to retract the punishment for striking the rock twice when God told him to speak to it, but God doesn't. We don't know why, but it probably has something to do with the leaders being held to a higher standard.
We've also seen Moses reframing this incident in a way that paints himself as innocent and passes the blame off on the people. We saw it yesterday in 127, and we see it again today in 326 and 421 when he says, The Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. So maybe that's why God doesn't relent.
God tells Moses to appoint, encourage, and strengthen Joshua for the task ahead of him, because Joshua, not Moses, will be the one who takes the people into the promised land. This has to feel a bit like being the best man for a groom who's marrying the woman you're in love with. I can't imagine how hard it was for Moses to encourage and strengthen Joshua. Appointing him is a pretty straightforward job, but encouraging and strengthening him has some emotion involved in it.
Moses has to die to self yet again, and it's one of his final roles as a leader. Then Moses turns from focusing on their past to focusing on their future. He calls them to obey God's laws, to be set apart in the midst of the wicked nation so that they see their distinctness and that it points to God. He tells them to practice remembering what the Lord has done. Keep your soul diligently, is how he puts it.
Moses also points out that their habitation in the land is contingent on worshiping the one true God alone. He repeatedly warns them not to create idols, repeating it at length and giving lots of different examples of what forms the idols might take in their lives—men, women, animals, fish, sun, moon, stars. Then he follows it with a warning about what will happen if they do fall into idolatry of any kind.
They will die or be scattered out of the land into exile, where they will worship the gods they sought out, but who will be impotent to help them. But even if this worst-case scenario happens, even if they sin by way of idolatry, even if they're driven into exile, God still won't cast them off as his people. And in fact, he promises to turn their hearts back to himself. In 4.30-31, Moses says,
When you are in tribulation and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey His voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them. Chapter 4 verses 32 through 40 are a pep rally-like call to remember all God has done and praise Him for it. I got so happy reading it that I had to stand up.
Today, we ended our reading with Moses establishing three cities of refuge in the Transjordan areas that are already set aside for Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, followed by a short introduction to what we'll be reading tomorrow. What was your God shot today? I love seeing how he is patient with our tiny faith, growing it to be stronger over time as we see his character proven over and over again. As he's telling the Israelites about the giants and the battles they'll face—
He reminds them that he's already given them victory in other battles and over at least one other giant so far. He doesn't force them to go from zero to 100 without getting to know him first. He gives us training wheels. Deuteronomy 3.21 says it like this, "'Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings. So will the Lord your God do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the Lord your God who fights for you.'"
He's patient with us while we learn His character. And as we learn it, we find out more and more that trusting Him is where the joy is because He's where the joy is. ♪
The Bible Recap is hitting the road again in 2025. That's right, TBR Live is back for even more stops this year. What is TBR Live? It's our chance to see and hang out with you in person. The TBR family has a big night of fun and Bible. We play games, give out prizes, host a Q&R, and dig into God's Word together. So get out your calendars. In June, you can find us in Houston and Dallas.
In August, we're planning to be in Oklahoma City and Little Rock. Then in October, I hope you'll meet me in Atlanta and upstate South Carolina. Get the details at thebiblerecap.com forward slash live or click the link in the show notes. See you on the road.