Summary

After Israel dedicated the Tabernacle, they began to prepare to conquer the Promised Land when they left Mt. Sinai. They counted their warriors, arranged their camp, assigned moving duties for the Tabernacle and the camp, and gave out some initial instructions to maintain godliness and the Law. The people celebrated their first Passover, or anniversary and remembrance of their rescue from Egypt, as God had commanded exactly one year after the night they left Egypt. The next month, the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, and the people set out from Mt. Sinai for the land promised to their forefathers - moving when the cloud of God's presence moved and staying when the cloud did not move.

The people began to complain about having nothing but manna to eat. Moses was so discouraged and upset he said he'd rather die than keep leading them (Numbers 11:10-15). God gave him some other men to help him then sent quail to the camp. The people acted so greedy over the quail, God punished them with a great plague. Miriam and Aaron even complained against Moses about his wife and his special position of leadership and fellowship with God. As a result, Miriam contracted leprosy and had to stay outside the camp a week before God healed her. Then the people moved camp again.

When they reached the Promied Land, God told Moses to send 12 spies, one from each tribe, to spy out the area (Number 13). The spies returned saying the land was just as God has promised - "flowing with milk and honey". But....ten of the spies said it was inhabited with people Israel could not conquer, people so big it made them look like grasshoppers. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, believed God would give them victory over the people. The people started complaining again and tried to stone those who said the Lord was with them and would give them victory over the land.

As a result, God sent the people back into the wilderness for 40 years and said none of the people over 20 years old would enter the Promised Land except Joshua and Caleb. When they tried to enter the Promised Land on their own, they were defeated and retreated back into the desert.

Over the next 40 years, God continued to teach and train His people how to live set apart and wholly devoted to Him. They saw the seriousness of God's law when He punished those who broke the Law or told them punish someone who broke the Law such as when He told them to stone someone who had broken the Sabbath. They saw the ground open and swallow entire families (Numbers 16) when their leaders were jealous of the position of others despite their own positions of leadership or were jealous when encouraged by other leaders to seek such positions. The people complained, so God showed them He had chosen the tribe of Levi to be His priests and proceeded to give instructions for their work.

The people also complained about a lack of water at Meribah, and, when Moses struck the rock instead of talking to the rock, God said Moses would not enter the Promised Land either. Israel had to deal with their relatives, the Edomites, refusing to allow them passage through their land. They dealt with the death of Aaron, one of their leaders. When they became impatient, tired of life in the desert, and complained again, God sent serpents to bite the people then told Moses to make serpent on a pole the people to which they could look for healing.

As God eventually set His people back on a path to the Promised Land, they defeated the nations before them. God's power was so strong among them even the sorcerer Balaam hired again them could not speak a curse upon them. Nevertheless, when Balaam encourage the local women to seduce the the men of Israel and entice them to worship their gods, some of the men turned from God. One even brought a non-Israelite into his tent in the sight of everyone. Phinehas, a priest, killed both of them in his zeal for the Lord.

Moses then took a census of the new generation - those under 20 the first time they approached the Promised Land. God appointed Joshua to take Moses position of leadership as the people entered the Promised Land and reviewed the offerings the people were to bring to Go and the Feasts they were to celebrate. God told Moses to go to battle against the Midianites, distribute the plunder, and then he would die. God also told Moses how to divide up the Promised Land among the tribes. He allowed the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh to stay on the east side of the Jordan, but their men had to go with into battle with the rest of the people before they could return to their land and settle down.

Before Moses went to be with the Lord, he gave final instructions to the people of Israel. The book of Deuteronomy is basically his farewell sermons to the people as their reminder of what had happened over the last 40 years and how it should impact the way they live in the Promised Land. He told them they must obey God to take possession of Promised Land before them and reminded them how their God is unlike any other god. After repeating the Ten Commandments, Moses summed it all up by telling them to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5) and admonished them "them to your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deuteronomy 6:7). He reminded Israel God chose them, and they are to keep the Covenant and worship only Him if they wanted success across the Jordan. If they ever wondered how they should proceed, he told them to remember all God had done over the past 40 years despite what they and their parents had done.

Moses reminded the people of the Law they received at Mt. Sinai - the Law they should live by in their new land - laws concerning worship, tithing, keeping the Feasts, their leaders, staying clean and pure, valuing life and property, marriage, and more. Moses gave instructions for the day they entered the Promised Land. There should offer sacrifices to God, build an alter, and write the Law upon the alter. He told them to divide the camp in two with half on Mount Ebal to recite the curses for breaking the Covenant and the other half on Mount Gerizim to recite the blessings of keeping Covenant. Then Moses and the people renewed the same Covenant their parents made with God at Mount Sinai, and Moses reminded them to return to God,or repent, when they had broken the Covenant, and He would remain faithful to His part of the Covenant. He told them God had set "life and good, death and evil" before them (Deuteronomy 30:15), and they should choose life by choosing to obey Him.

Moses them commissioned Joshua and wrote out the Law for the priest for them to read every seven years at the Feast of Booths so they could teach the Law to the coming generations. Moses told the people he knew what was coming - he knew they would rebel and provoke the Lord. He taught them a song to remind them their coming troubles were because of their unfaithfulness and NOT God's. God had been faithful and would always be faithful. God said the song would be a witness against them when troubles came. Moses gave a final blessing to the people and to each tribe then went up to Mount Nebo where God showed Him the Promised Land. God buried him there, and the people mourned for 30 days.

Joshua took command of the people of Israel and prepared to conquer the land promised to their forefathers.

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The Facts

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Numbers - ESV - KJV - NIV
Deuteronomy - ESV - KJV - NIV

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Important People

God, Moses, Aaron, Hebrew people

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Major Events/Accounts

Leaving Mt. Sinai
Refusing to enter the Promised Land
40 years in the desert
Renewing the Covenant
Moses's death

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Key Words/Repeated Phrases

The LORD spoke to Moses
Moses did as the LORD commanded him

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Hide the Word in Your Heart

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Verses from the Account

Deuteronomy 6:5

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

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Deuteronomy 6:7

And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

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Deuteronomy 30:19

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

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Deuteronomy 30:19

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

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Deuteronomy 31:12-13

12 Gather the people together, men and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: 13 And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it.

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Verses to Share the Truths Taught through the Account

Matthew 22:36-40

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

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Mark 12:28-34

Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

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Luke 10:27

And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

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Jesus in the Account

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Moses wished everyone had God's Spirit like he did.

God's Spirit did come to all people just as Moses wished. When Moses cried out to God for help in dealing with the people and their complaining, God told him to bring 70 elders to the tent of meeting, and He gave some of His spirit to them (Numbers 11). The Spirit even rested on two of the chosen 70 who where not even in tent at the time. When the people told Moses about it, he said he wished the Lord would put His spirit on every single one of them (11:29). When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, God's Spirit did indeed rest upon each believer - made possible only through the saving death and resurrection of Jesus.

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Looking to the serpent on the pole for healing in Numbers 21 foreshadowed Jesus' death on the cross and eternal life available through looking to Him.

Jesus shared this truth with Nicodemus in John 3:14-15 - the two verses directly before John 3:16!

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The whole book of Deuteronomy points to our need for a Saviorr.

Moses reminded the people of what God had done for them over the last 40 in the book of Deuteronomy - including how many times they had already turned against him - and reminded them God is faithful and worthy of their obedience, worship, and devotion as well as their only Hope for salvation. The same is true for us - God is faithful and worthy of their obedience, worship, and devotion. He is our only Hope for salvation.

The layout of the book of Deuteronomy resembles an ancient treaty.

Moses begins with a preamble, or introduction, and a brief recap of the history between the two parties - God and the people of Israel. He proceeded with the stipulations of the treaty, God's Law, the blessings, what happens when the Covenant is kept, and the curses, what happens when it is broken. He closed by telling them he knows they will eventually break the Covenant and gives them a song to serve as a witness against them when it happens.

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Did You Know?

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The people of Israel stayed at Mt. Sinai for a whole year.

It took them about two months to reach Mt. Sinai when they left Egypt. They did not leave until after celebrating their first Passover in the desert one year later.

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The people always set and broke down camp the same way and traveled in the same order.

Their order points to the order of God and how His ways are specific and purposeful.

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The people's shoes and clothes did not wear out for 40 years.

Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet - Deuteronomy 29:5 NIV.

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The Bible often uses desert imagery. Check out these interesting facts:

God taught His people to trust and obey Him in the desert. They learned to be His sheep and follow His voice.

The pastures of the desert region around Sinai where God led His people for 40 years are not like the typical grazing lands many Westerners imagine - lush green pastures. Instead, these pastures have sparsely growing vegetation spread over the hills of the desert. The sheep cannot stay in one place very long and survive. They follow ancient paths, grazing along both sides of the path as they walk, continually listen for their shepherd's voice as he leads them to where he knows, from experience, there is vegetation.

In other words, the sheep must listen to and follow their shepherd to survive. In a similar fashion, Christians must listen and follow the Word of God rather than staying in one place. The Christian life is a journey.....led by the Good Shepherd.

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Tree planted by streams of living water (Psalms 1:3) do not always grow beside a river.

Living water is running water not gathered rain water. It's called living because it is safe to drink and provides life for those in the desert. Running water in the desert is usually a small stream flowing out of a rock from an underground water source or a "flash flood" the happens only periodically as rain gathers and rushes along dry river beds. Trees growing beside these river beds must have deep roots to reach the water.

In the same manner, the "blessed man" of Psalms 1 must either be planted near the Rock (Jesus) or have deep roots such as strong faith in the Living Water.

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Tamarisk trees take decades to grow.

When someone plants a tamarisk tree, they plant it for their children and grandchildren. When you read about someone planting such a tree in the Bible, you can know they are planting it in faith for their offspring to enjoy. In others words, when Abram planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba (Genesis 21:33-34), he planted it in faith, knowing his offspring would someday possess the land and enjoy the shade of the tree he planted for them.

God often works in one generation for the benefit of coming generations. On the other hand, when one generation fails to obey God, we can be sure coming generations will reap those consequences as well they strive to obey God without the shade or protection from the evil one their ancestors could have provided if they had planted in faith.

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Discuss It

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1. What is the most interesting thing or something new you learned from reading and studying this account?
2. Summarize the account and its message in your own words.
3. What did you learn about God from reading and studying this account?
4. How does this account point to God's plan to redeem this world through the sacrifice and obedience of Jesus?
5. How can you apply the truth of what you learned from reading and studying this account in your own life?

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Teach It

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Coming in 2021!

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Share It

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Coming in 2021!

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Celebrate It

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Coming in 2021!

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