When I read this chapter, I’ve been struggling to explain how to write this. I don’t know what to do! For Moses doesn’t applaud Israel’s successes in defeating and humiliating Midian even though nothing else was needed after all the guys were killed in combat (including Balaam; see verse 8), as verses 14-15 explain in versions like the VOICE translation. Indeed, Jesus never delighted in anyone’s demise (Ezekiel 18:32), so it’s good that His love for them was mentioned several centuries before He came to Earth. This chapter is found in pages 98-99 of the NKJV Bible I have for this four-translation project, pages 125-127 of the NASB Bible (Old Testament), pages 198-199 of my VOICE copy, and pages 202-204 of my Amplified Bible (Classic Edition) copy.
I also looked into my Life Application Study Bible for a good explanation of this, which I’ve long since left unused (for I discovered about two years after I had bought it in college that the commentators don’t believe in God’s salvation even being possible for everyone, and after trying to find if they had left any good words there, I left empty-handed, for it’s not about “getting serious about sin” but believing Jesus does His work still today, whether through you, the reader, or someone else) — there’s no helpful commentary among the staff. But corruption does indeed start at the top and works its way down, the VOICE copy says in a later page. Yet the guy who wrote that other comment in the Life Application Study Bible — they’re the same people who berate us and say, “You are Jesus’ disciple, but we are disciples of Moses” (John 9:28) 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️ these enemies of the Lord are extremists, rapists who target people and animals without respect to age, boastful about things that don’t even matter, corrupt, vile, hateful, loveless, unforgiving, unable to have mercy on others, and their hearts can’t help but rejoice in the demise of the good so that they cannot leave their sins behind. Indeed, their cursed souls can only fall in love with each and every single one of the above things between the last emoji I put before this sentence and this line of the post, giving only these things the highest praise and worship. God will never welcome them.
Now, let’s get to the actual chapter: verses 1-11 are about Moses’ final conquest before he is to join his ancestors in death on Mount Nebo in Deuteronomy 34; that was a success. This was judgment from Heaven (which, again, God didn’t enjoy and never will) for what had happened at Peor (read Numbers 25:1-9). I guess that was a continuation from where verses 17-18 had left off from that chapter 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️ they also left Midian broke, but sadly, they’d seize Israel’s food in Judges 6, quite a bit later, due to their unfaithfulness… however, I do pray reprieve for those suffering conflict and loss of loved ones in countries like Ukraine 🇺🇦 I’m sorry that Russia 🇷🇺 had started this nightmare 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 Ethiopia 🇪🇹 also needs healing, but thank God they were never colonised 😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼 and again, God doesn’t command war today, for what was for one season isn’t for all seasons. Indeed, we live in Jesus’ new covenant, now, because of what He had announced in Luke 4:18-21.
I can only think of so much as I write this down, so with Moses’ unnecessary fury with the people of Israel for leaving the women alive in verses 14-15 and God not commanding them to take them out anywhere in this chapter, not to mention the contents of the next one, it’s safe to say Moses has, by this time, become so spiritually minded that he’s no earthly good. From there, sin is called to rememberance more than anything else until he dies, and I’ve never enjoyed that the Church here always uses this to harp on anything enough to lose an entire generation or two to atheism and unending failure. And when someone good DOES preach a life-changing message, someone (or something) instantly begins to yap about that speaker being loose in the head, calls them humanist, socialist, communist, brain-dead, promiscuous, retarded, even — these accusers speak abusively so that God will judge them in the last day (Matthew 5:22). They’d even use AI to smear their character with images like public nudity, sex with animals, bloody and gory incidents, and claim it all to be of Jesus, all being deep fakes! But social media requires us to label our content as AI if it is indeed AI, which I’m OK with, to be honest. However, they can bypass that one day with a private network, if they haven’t already. I wish hateful stuff never existed…
Verses 21-54 are of the plunder the Israelites grab from Midian, and I like to think that God is at work taking back what is rightfully yours that you’ve lost to the evil one (like in Joel 2:25). I don’t know what your journey is, but hopefully you can enjoy yourself 😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇😇🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰 I know I don’t have much to my name, and I don’t think I can make it grow any faster, since I may get conceited or begin to lose myself in my assets, not to mention life often deals cruel hands to those who want what’s good. Indeed, with what Moses had said in this chapter, I don’t think he did what was right. I know I don’t want to follow that pattern… when I notice someone actively deceiving any human at my job, something snaps. The same thing occurs whenever I encounter someone being hateful or abusive about anything, parent or otherwise. As a result, because of what I’ve learned from the Holy Spirit through many online posts about needing to be safe when we were younger, I’m convinced parenthood in the U.S. is a sham, and no one can raise a kid and expect them to be safe here, for the evil one has the upper hand against this generation 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I have four nieces, and just the fact someone says they want more in life, knowing they don’t have what they need, yet that someone is berated into oblivion in lieu of “good behaviour” because they want to find Jesus — we all were made to pursue pleasure, but there’s no pleasure under the sun that can bring any real satisfaction. And when someone in the Church asks the deeper things, the children of the devil, who are sadly more abundant and powerful in the church than outside of it, seize their souls so that they can’t get the good answers they deserve and they leave empty-handed, often causing them to question if God is even worth it 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 we need wisdom from the Church ⛪️ but most of the time, it doesn’t even exist!
And speaking of not repeating sinful patterns, I don’t want to be like Moses here, often remembering others’ sins and not celebrating the good, like when Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh decide to settle east of the Jordan River because of the good land for their livestock. Also, I have a feeling that if Moses wanted to, he would’ve encouraged the Israelites to constantly say, “Don’t ask questions.” Why do you think Jesus says of His countrymen, “Your accuser is Moses, in whom you have set your hope”? (See John 5:45.) And wouldn’t it be good for me to say that we can’t find Him in very many places in Deuteronomy? Indeed, I’m surprised that book has anything about restoration. But that’s what the U.S. has done with the Scriptures: make a worthless and loveless religion out of that book and claim that anything else in the Scriptures is heresy. These NPCs (non-player characters in a video game) are Moses and the Pharisees, though God didn’t enjoy the Pharisees’ words. And who knows what Moses had been thinking when he wrote these latter portions of the Pentateuch? But it’s more important to gauge Jesus’ opinions concerning this. Indeed, He’s greater than Moses ever will be, but thankfully, Moses was forgiven of his sins, for he trusted in Jesus and was repentant of each error. But it was because of his sins that he died on Mount Nebo… and in the meantime, we need to heed Proverbs 19:19, which says, “A man of great anger will pay the penalty, for if you rescue him, you will only have to do it again” (NASB). Too bad the country hates this verse and wants to curse it until everyone’s hearts can no longer embrace peace 😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓😓 there’s another proverb that says, “Make no friends with a hot-tempered man,” but I don’t know where it is. Can someone in the comments help a brother out, please? For I think my time at work is exposing me to too many evil men, for I’m in a public environment. Indeed, I don’t think I can be much of a safe human being… and that’s really heartbreaking for me 💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 I wish I could actually believe stillness deserves a chance to be sovereign… as it is, I feel I don’t stand a chance.
The next chapter is Moses complaining again about his people, this time because of the good the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh had wanted for themselves and to help their brethren remember Jesus with them (see also Joshua 22:10-34 for a similar story) — it was a misunderstanding for both Moses and Joshua, which, if God wills, I’ll get to eventually, but I pray God helps me be like Jesus here… and I’m surprised to find that later books of the Bible don’t harp on sin too much upon finishing the next one. I need some professional help for this…
In Christ,
Ron Outland
Ron And His Stories 