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Finding reminders in the book of Deuteronomy

Last time we looked at Numbers. Now we’re up to Deuteronomy, a book filled with familiar content, because it covers the trek of the Israelites led by Moses.

Remember the bike ride?

I haven’t mentioned the bike ride I went on in the last few posts, so I’ll remind you about it now. Last I spoke of it I was riding through a 1.661 mile tunnel that was pitch black save the lights on each person’s helmet. Does that ring a bell?

What we’ve covered so far

Do you remember what we’ve covered so far? Deuteronomy is the book of remembrance. The fifth book of the Pentateuch, the books of the Law or the books of Moses. Don’t worry about remembering all that but do consider noting a few details.

How Deuteronomy begins

Deuteronomy begins, “These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan…” (Deuteronomy 1:1a)

Moses is the one speaking

It’s helpful to remember that Moses is the one speaking throughout most of the book of Deuteronomy, reminding the Israelites of all that has transpired up to this point. You see, the Israelites will soon enter the Promised Land but Moses won’t be going with them. This is his speech to the people before they depart without him.

What Moses highlights

With that in mind, here is some of what Moses highlights:

Ch 1 -3 A bit of a travel log, the good, bad, and the ugly.

 – How far they’ve traveled, where they are going, and where God is leading them; who is to lead; their travels and what they’ve encountered along the way.

Key verses are Deuteronomy 1:34-38 to see who actually gets to enter the Promised Land and who doesn’t.

Ch 4-26 The bulk of this book is a reminder of the commands, instructions and regulations God has given the Israelites.

Ch 18:1-2 References the inheritance of the Levites.

Ch 28 – 30 Blessings, covenant, and curses.

Ch 31 The passing of the baton to Joshua. Notice which book follows Deuteronomy?

Reminders to the Israelites

As you peruse the book of Deuteronomy, keep in mind these are reminders to the Israelites. Moses reminds them what God has done and what they have been taught. He also gives them instructions for the next phase of their journey.

Context

To help bring context and tie this book into the four that preceded it, look for familiar names or situations that appeared in one of the earlier books of the Bible, for instance, the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20) or the incident with the Golden Calf (Deuteronomy 9:7-21 and Exodus 32).

Don’t get bogged down in the details of this book, but do let it be a reminder of what came before.

How to find knowledge in the narrative of Numbers

Finding knowledge in Numbers

Ok, so Numbers, like Leviticus, is another one of those books of the Bible people prefer to skip. Those lists of names at the beginning, like the genealogy chapter in Matthew, can trip us up and cause us to avoid reading. But if we do, we miss part of the narrative of Numbers as well. If we look close enough, we’ll see the significance of those names, and we just might recognize a few.

The names

Let’s see if we can anchor into some of the names in chapter one. Starting at verse 5, do you see the first name in each verse? These are the sons of Jacob. See Exodus 1:1-5 for a concise list.

Trivia question: Which name is missing from the list in Numbers?

See Numbers 1:47-49 for the answer. Read the rest of chapter one to see why.

The census

The first four chapters of Numbers focuses on the census, hence the name of the book, Numbers.

Read Numbers 3:1-13 for some information about the Levites.

Chapters 5 and 6 provide regulations for the camp.

Chapter 7 speaks of the offerings. Remember those from the book of Leviticus?

The narrative of Numbers

Chapter nine continues the narrative of the Israelites and by chapter eleven the people are mumbling about manna. So skim or skip the front of Numbers if you must, but do consider reading the story that unfolds in chapter eleven. Chapters thirteen and fourteen give insight and backstory to another book of the Bible, Joshua.

Instructions

In the next several chapters, God gives more instructions for Moses and the Israelites, and the narrative continues as the Israelites continue their journey. By chapter twenty-six, God commands Moses to take another census.

You can treat this book of the Bible like Leviticus. Skim it if you need to, but watch for narrative sections that add to the story, and look for offering references that add to the depth and significance of the material.

Glance at Numbers

Any glance at Numbers will provide you with more data, details, insight, and knowledge for the journey. I find this gives me greater understanding and more chance that I will remember what is in this fourth book of the Bible.

And if nothing else, receive this blessing from the book of Numbers:

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NIV

Find Your Stride – How to Navigate Exodus

Find your stride as you navigate Exodus

The bike ride didn’t get any easier, but I started to find my stride in a clunky, awkward sort of way. As you read through these first five books of the Bible, see if you can find your own stride as you navigate Exodus.

Moving from Genesis to Exodus

As I rode through the tunnel, pedaling, praying, focusing on the path, avoiding the other bikes, I started to settle into the journey, well, as much as I could under the circumstances. Though the situation was not any easier, I became accustomed to my environment and how to move in it. As we move from Genesis to Exodus in these first few books of the Old Testament, we can use some of the processes we developed in Genesis to navigate our way through Exodus, mainly looking for people or points of recognition in the contents of the book.

Exodus focuses on Moses and the Israelites

Where Genesis can be identified by recognizing who is in the storyline, Exodus focuses on Moses and the Israelites. If we remember what is happening in the storyline with Moses, we have a way to keep track of what’s in the book of Exodus.

Connection between Genesis and Exodus

Did you read Genesis? The first few verses of Exodus tie in the connection between Genesis and Exodus, setting up the story of what is coming. The rest of Exodus tells the story of Moses and the Israelites.

The story of Moses and the Israelites

Ch 1 The oppression of the Israelites

Ch 2 Moses’ birth (the baby in the basket, Exodus 2:1-10) backstory chapter 1.

Ch 3-4 Moses’ encounter with God, God’s instructions to Moses

Ch 5 Resistance from Pharaoh

Ch 6 God’s Promise

Ch 7-11 The Plagues

Ch 12 The Passover, Exodus out of Egypt

Ch 14 The parting of the Red Sea

Ch 16 Manna (Remember the reference? Now you’re in the know.)

Ch 19-20 Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments

The next chapters include the laws and the building of the Tabernacle and instructions for the High Priest, plus the people’s big guffaw (the Golden Calf – a demonstration of impatience).

This may seem like a lot of information, but this is the kind of material that carries great significance in other areas of the Bible, especially where Jesus is concerned.

Exodus summarized

In summary:

Moses’ encounter with God

Plagues

Passover

Parting of the Red Sea

God’s instructions for laws (Ten Commandments)

The Tabernacle

The Golden Calf (the people’s mess up)

Instructions take two

See how this works? In no time you can navigate Exodus with ease.

Through Genesis – shedding light on the journey

Riding in the dark

Why am I still reporting on the ride through the ominous tunnel? Because it took forever to ride through it! But I had to go through it to reach the rest of the route. And I eventually discovered that the rest of the route was worth the inconvenience, hassle, and distress of riding through the tunnel. Reading through Genesis provides insights on other areas of the Bible, so let’s shed some light on this first book of the Old Testament.

Attempted a Bible read through?

Ever tried to read through the Bible? Or even just the first few books of the Bible? Many a good intention has begun at, “In the beginning,” and stalled out before the Israelites reached the Promised Land. If that’s you, too, don’t feel bad, even the Israelites grew impatient and grumbled at the length of time their journey took and the meager fast food offerings along the way. More manna anyone? (See Exodus chapter 16 to be in the know on this heaven sent bread).

Permissions when reading the Bible

Remember as we begin, we gave ourselves some permissions on reading the Bible. Here’s a quick review:

Don’t worry about not understanding everything the first time you read it – learn in layers

Review a children’s version for a simple summary of a Bible story

Read at your own pace, also, know it is OK to read quickly to catch a glimpse of what’s going on

Ask Jesus to help you – yes, that simple, “Jesus, help,” prayer can also be applied to seek understanding of what we are reading

At the beginning

Let’s take a look at the first book of the Bible, Genesis, which means “beginning.” Much of the info we read in Genesis will come up again somewhere else in the Bible. Like reading the first of a trilogy, if you know what’s in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, you’ll have a better chance of recognizing the references along the way.

The purpose of this first pass through Genesis will be to provide just enough info for us to have a reference point, kind of like knowing where the trailhead is or where we parked our car in the parking lot. Knowing where we are gives us something we can come back to.

Flip and find through Genesis

So if you have your Bible handy, flip through the chapters in Genesis to make a tangible connection to where these stories and people are physically located in your Bible. Doing this simple flip and find can provide us with one layer of information retention. So find Genesis and let’s begin.

Genesis 1-5 Creation, Adam and Eve, the Fall (the first big mess up), Cain and Abel (sibling rivalry), all in the family line

Genesis 6-9 Noah, the flood, the family

Genesis 10-11 More relatives and the Tower of Babel

Genesis 12-20 Abram, his nephew Lot, Abraham (name change Genesis 17:5)

Genesis 21-36 Isaac, Jacob (one of Isaac’s sons)

Genesis 37-50 Joseph (one of Jacob’s many sons)

Whew, that’s a bunch of names. One way to categorize the information in Genesis is to remember who’s in the storyline in the passage we are reading. This also gives us a way to tackle sections of Genesis. If you want to read related sections of the book, you can skim or focus on a main character. (And trust me, many of these players are quite the characters).

Recall Genesis

In summary, we can recall Genesis based on some of the main people who are in it:

Adam and Eve, and their descendants

Noah and his descendants

Abram/Abraham and his descendants, which includes:

Isaac, his son Jacob, and one of his sons Joseph

Is this making sense? Welcome to the beginning of Bible comprehension.

Recognizing the first five books of the Bible

Beginning a journey into the Old Testament can feel like a ride into a dark tunnel. However, recognizing the first five books of the Bible sheds some light on the path.

How much longer in this dark tunnel?

Riding through the tunnel alternately pedaling and praying, I scooted to the side and wondered how much longer we would be traveling in darkness.

I was so grateful for the other riders, even if the sheer numbers and chaos was unsettling. I certainly benefited from the additional light in the tunnel and was grateful I was not alone.

The return journey

Some people were headed in the opposite direction up through the tunnel, as it was the only way back to the parking lot. Did I mention the return journey? At the end of the trail, riders caught a shuttle bus back to the entrance of the tunnel, but they still had to ride back through the tunnel in the opposite direction to arrive once again at the trail head and the parking lot.

So this crazy ride through the tunnel would happen one more time! I’m so glad I developed some coping skills to make it through the first time.

Whether this is your first time through the Bible or another pass through, I’d like to provide some big picture references along the way to help us with perspective, retention, and comprehension.

Old and New Testament

The Bible is divided into two main parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus arrives in the flesh in the New Testament, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t in the Old Testament. Huh? We can let this concept remain unsettled for now.

The idea that Jesus is in the Old Testament even though he doesn’t arrive on scene until the New Testament is one of the amazing aspects of the Bible. The more we familiarize ourselves with the contents of the Bible, the more we will start to see some of these really cool references.

First five books of the Old Testament

For now, we can orient ourselves to the first five books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, or the books of Moses. These are also referred to as the books of the Law. Don’t worry if any or all of these terms is confusing. They’ll make sense later in the process.

Genesis – Exodus – Leviticus – Numbers – Deuteronomy

Memorize the names of these five books in order. Review the “Books of the Old Testament” from Wee Sing Bible Songs if you need to. Knowing these five by name will help us find some solid ground in the Old Testament.

Old Testament key players

Soon we’ll go deeper into the details of Genesis, but for now, here is a high level overview of the first five books of the Bible, based on key players in these books:

Genesis – God and Creation, Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph

Exodus – God and Moses

Leviticus – God, Moses, and the Israelites

Numbers – God, Moses and the Israelites

Deuteronomy – God, Moses, and the Israelites

Are you still with me? We will dive into more details in subsequent posts. For now, familiarize yourself with the names of the first five. I think you’ll find it useful.