It’s utterly wild to think that entire populations were defeated (a note 📝 📋 in this chapter that the VOICE editorial staff had written talks about this), but we need to remember that God never wanted death for anyone (Ezekiel 18:32, 33:11) and that this was a result of perpetual dishonour against Him so that this would happen… I hate talking about this because passages like this can make atheists out of everyone, and killing someone in God’s Name is never OK. Maybe it was God’s conflict… I don’t know all the details, and indeed, Moses wanted tons of blessings for Israel in Deuteronomy 1:11. The VOICE translation puts it in wish form, and I’m not sure what the translators were thinking concerning other versions. But there’s some history with Edom’s and Moab’s actions concerning their neighbours in Deuteronomy 2:11-12 concerning the giants outside Canaan (verse 10). I hope there’s mutual love and understanding between you and me, since I don’t want to make it so that war is what God had ever been interested in (see ancient Israel’s confession in Psalm 20:7). But I think it’s weird that many people promise peace but are all bark and no bite. This chapter is found in page 104 of the NKJV Bible I have for this four-translation project, pages 133-134 of the NASB Bible (Old Testament) pages 209-210 of my VOICE copy, and pages 213-215 of my Amplified Bible (Classic Edition) copy.
It’s worth it to talk about any Bible passage, but remember always that what God commands for one season He doesn’t command in other seasons. I know, for my part, that I’ve been watching Mario videos a whole lot more often since I went back to my mom’s place after I left the mental hospital (they had forced me out of the Tempe apartment I was living in because they had kept me there too long and I couldn’t find work), and I’ve been doing this for 12 years, sometimes playing a game from the series on hi-tech Nintendo consoles. I even played Mario Kart 64 and completed it 100% on my N64 library on the Nintendo Switch one season a year and a half ago at Richard’s place when I lived with him. I’ve thought it would be good to entertain myself in lovely games like that, and with all the old-school classics like Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and in 2021-2022, I played Super Mario 64 in Super Mario 3D All-Stars (I still have a copy of the game several years later). I even played Super Mario Sunshine in that same game, too, though I haven’t finished it yet; it’s just really hard (there was simply too much rushed development and the game’s glitchy enough for A+Start to do a video 📹 on over 50 massive glitches there, not to mention many players probably gave up halfway through). I’ve also played Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii (that game’s also on 3D All-Stars, but I haven’t played that version yet) and finished it several times. Truly a good idea from Nintendo. However, I don’t think I should substitute that for godliness, and even if any of the main protagonists are Christian, it’s not as though Japan 🇯🇵 actually has a bunch of Christians, is it? (Fewer than 1% of the Japanese people love Jesus.) The good news is, though, getting a missionary visa, I heard, is more accepting there than in most other countries. I’m heavily foggy on the details; I don’t really know the mechanisms there. Whatever the case, I pray for hope in Japan 🇯🇵 🙏🏼 🛐
I don’t want to talk about any battles this chapter illustrates, and I want to skip ahead to many of the psalms like no. 46 which reverses the possibility of nuclear war, since it can and probably will destroy the world and all civilisations. The 24 elders said in Revelation 11:18 that God will destroy those who destroy the earth, and it doesn’t have to be cataclysmic in how they do this, for it can be as simple as wiping out an entire species of ants 🐜 or ladybugs 🐞 or worst of all, devouring entire dog 🐶🐕🦮🐕🦺🐩 breeds. My apologies for scaring and/or disturbing you… I don’t want for any puppy to perish 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭💔💔💔💔💔💔💔💔 I heard about this one guy in Mexico who snuck out to feed a stray dog and her puppies, and he rescued them, and eventually, all the dogs, when they were old enough, were adopted! I pray for love for the doggies and their humans… you can click here for the video. But any species being eliminated is awful, and even for plants 🪴 if no one restores them, or if a forest is wiped out, it’ll be hard for us to breathe, and God will be offended with those doing this. Indeed, for any plant 🪴 species being eliminated, there will be a total reckoning for those who do that, and poachers deserve to go to Hell, too, for they think they can hunt for rhinos 🦏 and elephants 🐘 ‼️ I do think it’s good to eat sausage and beef, though. I don’t know much about farming, but we should give our livestock good lives before turning them into food (but don’t do that too soon 😅😅 it would suck if someone abuses them). Of course, God spells out what His people could and couldn’t eat in their land, which, if He wills, I’ll cover later. But for now, I’ll need to finish this post pronto, for I have food waiting for me at California Fish Grill, yea, that which I had ordered this morning. Read the intro to Deuteronomy for the app where I got that from. There’s only a 30-minute windows for me to get it, and it starts in about 15 minutes, so I’ll see you in the next one!
In Christ,
Ron Outland
Ron And His Stories 