Article written by Sombra Wilson Moses begins to write Deuteronomy, and by the end of it, Moses has died and the Children of Israel need to continue on into the Promised Land without Him.The Greek word Deuteronomy means Second Law or a repetition of the law. In Hebrew this book is called Devarim, which means “Words”. These are the final words of Moses, the final speeches he makes to Israel that they may keep the commandments of Yehovah. Last week we mentioned inheritance, and how the children of the concubine do not get an inheritance, how a woman without a covenant has no protection or provision in the case of the man’s death or if he leaves her. In Deuteronomy 1, the children of Israel are being offered their inheritance following their receiving the covenant at Mount Sinai. Moses is speaking to the Young Nation of Israel on the East side of the Jordan. They are about to enter and take possession of their inheritance, but Moses reminds them of what happened over the last 40 years and reminds them to trust their Bridegroom and not fear, not fail to keep the covenant. Deuteronomy 1:1-8 The Command to Leave Horeb [1] These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. [2] It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. [3] 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, [4] 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. [5] Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, [6] “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. [7] 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. [8] See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’All that you see in this map was supposed to be the inheritance for the Nation of Israel, from the where they were in the South near the Red Sea, to the Mediteranean sea on the west all the way to the Euphrates in the east, to the mountains in Lebanon in the north. It should have taken them only 11 days to journey to their inheritance, but because the spies brought back a bad report, and they trusted in the evil report rather than in Yehovah’s word, they were then given a consequence of 40 years in the wilderness for this lack of faith. They would die in the wilderness, but their children would still gain an inheritance. Number 14:20-23 Then the LORD said, “I have pardoned, according to your word. 21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, 22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, 23 shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. Number 14:28-35 28 Say to them, ‘As I live, declares the LORD, what you have said in my hearing I will do to you: 29 your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness, and of all your number, listed in the census from twenty years old and upward, who have grumbled against me, 30 not one shall come into the land where I swore that I would make you dwell, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. 31 But your little ones, who you said would become a prey, I will bring in, and they shall know the land that you have rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. 33 And your children shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years and shall suffer for your faithlessness, until the last of your dead bodies lies in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, a year for each day, you shall bear your iniquity forty years, and you shall know my displeasure.’ 35 I, the LORD, have spoken. Surely this will I do to all this wicked congregation who are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall come to a full end, and there they shall die.” This inheritance of land symbolizes God’s covenant. He is faithful and gives good gifts, a tangible blessing that will be a home, in perpetuity, enduring provision. It is a home where Yehovah can continue their relationship with His people. It’s a sign of God’s love and promise, but requires obedience for the fulfillment of the covenant; we forfeit this inheritance when we are unfaithful, including the ultimate inheritance which is eternal life with Him. Leviticus 25:23-24 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me. 24 And in all the country you possess, you shall allow a redemption of the land. We could have inherited all this land from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates, and today we fight to keep the land wedged between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, every day we are threatened with wicked men trying to take our inheritance from us. Let’s keep reading Deuteronomy 1:9-11 [9] “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. [10] The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. [11] May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! At the time Moses was to take the Children of Israel into the Promised Land at the end of the 40 years there were approximately 2 -3 Million in the camp of Israel. Moses prays that there would be 1000 times as many. In 2026, there are about 15.7 Million Jews world wide, about half living in the State of Israel. But what of the others – the rest of the tribes of Israel, those who went into the Assyrian exile and never came back? They have scattered around the world, and there’s no real way to count them. But Christians are part of Greater Israel, and there are an estimated 2.6 Billion Christians. I would say Yehovah has answered Moses prayer. Deuteronomy 1:12-18[12] How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? [13] Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ [14] And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ [15] So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. [16] And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. [17] You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ [18] And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. I have recently been in the situation that I have had trouble with a brother. I have not been able to bear the trouble myself. I could not defend myself from the assault and instead of going to God with my troubles I began to comfort myself with food. This is the sin of gluttony. The food is not the sin, the eating is not the sin, rather, the comforting myself with food rather than comforting myself by seeking Yehovah to be my defender, my protector, my comforter; that was the sin. Moses is telling of how he could not bear the weigh of all the troubles between the brethren, and Jethro, his Father in Law, advised him to set up judges to over see courts beneath him to support him. There are definitely times we need others to help us resolve our troubles, advisors, intermediaries, judges. But the best and first solution should always be to seek Yehovah’s face regarding the troubles you are in, for Yehovah is never overburdened like Moses was with our troubles. Rather, He longs for us to run to Him, especially for the little troubles, for if we did that with the little things, there would be far fewer big things that we would need to stand before a human Judge for. Because of the corruption in the world we live in, we fear the courts. The courts are supposed to be there to protect us, to discern right from wrong, to restore justice and order. But corruption in our world has made everyone feel the victim, feel oppressed and feel there is no trust for the system. Both the plaintif and the defendant feel they are the victim and feel victimized by the courts. This is why we fear to come before Yehovah – we feel we are the victim and rarely want to face that we are guilty of sin, even the smallest sin. Scripture gives us a pattern that we are to come before Yehovah and bring our sacrifices twice daily – whether it be sacrifices in the temple, or the sacrifice of prayer. If we were in the habit of doing this, with true humility, with the soul searching done to recognize our responsibility in a trouble with another – with reverence asking forgiveness, and doing the work to change what ever it is that caused us to do this part in the trouble with our brother, then we would have a much more peaceful society and the troubles would be resolved without needing the cou
