The One Year Bible TLB (66 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The good man can look forward to happiness, while the wicked can expect only wrath.
March 23Then the heads of the subclan of Gilead (of the clan of Machir, of the tribe of Manasseh, one of the sons of Joseph) came to Moses and the leaders of Israel with a petition: “The Lord instructed you to divide the land by lot among the people of Israel,” they reminded Moses, “and to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
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But if they marry into another tribe, their land will go with them to the tribe into which they marry. In this way the total area of our tribe will be reduced
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and will not be returned at the Year of Jubilee.”
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Then Moses replied publicly, giving them these instructions from the Lord: “The men of the tribe of Joseph have a proper complaint.
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This is what the Lord has further commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them be married to anyone they like, so long as it is within their own tribe.
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In this way none of the land of the tribe will shift to any other tribe, for the inheritance of every tribe is to remain permanently as it was first allotted.
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The girls throughout the tribes of Israel who are heiresses must marry within their own tribe, so that their land won’t leave the tribe.
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In this way no inheritance shall move from one tribe to another.’”
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The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses.
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These girls, Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, were married to men in their own tribe of Manasseh (son of Joseph); so their inheritance remained in their tribe.
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These are the commandments and ordinances that the Lord gave to the people of Israel through Moses, while they were camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
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This book records Moses’ address to the people of Israel when they were camped in the valley of the Arabah in the wilderness of Moab, east of the Jordan River. (Cities in the area included Suph, Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.) The speech was given on February 15,
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forty years after the people of Israel left Mount Horeb—though it takes only eleven days to travel by foot from Mount Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, going by way of Mount Seir! At the time of this address, King Sihon of the Amorites had already been defeated at Heshbon, and King Og of Bashan had been defeated at Ashtaroth, near Edrei. Here, then, is Moses’ address to Israel, stating all the laws God had commanded him to pass on to them:
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“It was forty years ago, at Mount Horeb, that Jehovah our God told us, ‘You have stayed here long enough.
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Now go and occupy the hill country of the Amorites, the valley of the Arabah, and the Negeb, and all the land of Canaan and Lebanon—the entire area from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the Euphrates River.
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I am giving all of it to you! Go in and possess it, for it is the land the Lord promised to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all of their descendants.’
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“At that time I told the people, ‘I need help! You are a great burden for me to carry all by myself,
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for the Lord has multiplied you to become as many as the stars!
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And may he multiply you a thousand times more and bless you as he promised,
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but what can one man do to settle all your quarrels and problems?
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So choose some men from each tribe who are wise, experienced, and understanding, and I will appoint them as your leaders.’
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“They agreed to this;
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I took the men they selected, some from every tribe, and appointed them as administrative assistants in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens to decide their quarrels and assist them in every way.
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I instructed them to be perfectly fair at all times, even to foreigners.
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‘When giving your decisions,’ I told them, ‘never favor a man because he is rich; be fair to great and small alike. Don’t fear their displeasure, for you are judging in the place of God. Bring me any cases too difficult for you, and I will handle them.’
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And I gave them other instructions at that time also.
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“Then we left Mount Horeb and traveled through the great and terrible desert, finally arriving among the Amorite hills to which the Lord our God had directed us. We were then at Kadesh-barnea on the border of the Promised Land
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and I said to the people, ‘The Lord God has given us this land. Go and possess it as he told us to. Don’t be afraid! Don’t even doubt!’
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“But they replied, ‘First let’s send out spies to discover the best route of entry, and to decide which cities we should capture first.’
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“This seemed like a good idea, so I chose twelve spies, one from each tribe.
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They crossed into the hills and came to the valley of Eshcol, and returned with samples of the local fruit. One look was enough to convince us that it was indeed a good land the Lord our God had given us.
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But the people refused to go in and rebelled against the Lord’s command.
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“They murmured and complained in their tents and said, ‘The Lord must hate us, bringing us here from Egypt to be slaughtered by these Amorites.
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What are we getting into? Our brothers who spied out the land have frightened us with their report. They say that the people of the land are tall and powerful, and that the walls of their cities rise high into the sky! They have even seen giants there—the descendants of the Anakim!’
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“But I said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid!
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The Lord God is your leader, and he will fight for you with his mighty miracles, just as you saw him do in Egypt.
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And you know how he has cared for you again and again here in the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child!’
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But nothing I said did any good.
“They refused to believe the Lord our God
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who had led them all the way, and had selected the best places for them to camp, and had guided them by a pillar of fire at night and a pillar of cloud during the day.
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“Well, the Lord heard their complaining and was very angry. He vowed that not one person in that entire generation would live to see the good land he had promised their fathers,
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except Caleb (the son of Jephunneh), who, because he had wholly followed the Lord, would receive as his personal inheritance some of the land he had walked over.
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“And the Lord was even angry with me because of them and said to me, ‘You shall not enter the Promised Land!
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Instead, your assistant, Joshua (the son of Nun), shall lead the people. Encourage him as he prepares to take over the leadership.
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I will give the land to the children they said would die in the wilderness.
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But as for you of the older generation, turn around now and go on back across the desert toward the Red Sea.’
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“Then they confessed, ‘We have sinned! We will go into the land and fight for it as the Lord our God has told us to.’ So they strapped on their weapons and thought it would be easy to conquer the whole area.
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“But the Lord said to me, ‘Tell them not to do it, for I will not go with them; they will be struck down before their enemies.’
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“I told them, but they wouldn’t listen. Instead, they rebelled again against the Lord’s commandment and went on up into the hill country to fight.
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But the Amorites who lived there came out against them and chased them like bees and killed them from Seir to Hormah.
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Then they returned and wept before the Lord, but he wouldn’t listen.
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So they stayed there at Kadesh for a long time.”
Soon Levi held a reception in his home with Jesus as the guest of honor. Many of Levi’s fellow tax collectors and other guests were there.
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But the Pharisees and teachers of the Law complained bitterly to Jesus’ disciples about his eating with such notorious sinners.
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Jesus answered them,
“It is the sick who need a doctor, not those in good health.
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My purpose is to invite sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think themselves already good enough.”
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Their next complaint was that Jesus’ disciples were feasting instead of fasting. “John the Baptist’s disciples are constantly going without food and praying,” they declared, “and so do the disciples of the Pharisees. Why are yours wining and dining?”
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Jesus asked,
“Do happy men fast? Do wedding guests go hungry while celebrating with the groom?
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But the time will come when the bridegroom will be killed;
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then they won’t want to eat.”
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Then Jesus used this illustration:
“No one tears off a piece of a new garment to make a patch for an old one. Not only will the new garment be ruined, but the old garment will look worse with a new patch on it!
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And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, for the new wine bursts the old skins, ruining the skins and spilling the wine.
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New wine must be put into new wineskins.
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But no one after drinking the old wine seems to want the fresh and the new. ‘The old ways are best,’ they say.”
6:
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One Sabbath as Jesus and his disciples were walking through some grainfields, they were breaking off the heads of wheat, rubbing off the husks in their hands and eating the grains.
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But some Pharisees said, “That’s illegal! Your disciples are harvesting grain, and it’s against the Jewish law to work on the Sabbath.”
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Jesus replied,
“Don’t you read the Scriptures? Haven’t you ever read what King David did when he and his men were hungry?
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He went into the Temple and took the shewbread, the special bread that was placed before the Lord, and ate it—illegal as this was—and shared it with others.”
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And Jesus added,
“I am
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master even of the Sabbath.”
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On another Sabbath he was in the synagogue teaching, and a man was present whose right hand was deformed.
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The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees watched closely to see whether he would heal the man that day, since it was the Sabbath. For they were eager to find some charge to bring against him.
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How well he knew their thoughts! But he said to the man with the deformed hand,
“Come and stand here where everyone can see.”
So he did.
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Then Jesus said to the Pharisees and teachers of the Law,
“I have a question for you. Is it right to do good on the Sabbath day, or to do harm? To save life, or to destroy it?”
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He looked around at them one by one and then said to the man,
“Reach out your hand.”
And as he did, it became completely normal again.
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At this, the enemies of Jesus were wild with rage and began to plot his murder.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
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Sing of his glorious name! Tell the world how wonderful he is.
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How awe-inspiring are your deeds, O God! How great your power! No wonder your enemies surrender!
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All the earth shall worship you and sing of your glories.
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Come, see the glorious things God has done. What marvelous miracles happen to his people!
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He made a dry road through the sea for them. They went across on foot. What excitement and joy there was that day!
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Because of his great power he rules forever. He watches every movement of the nations. O rebel lands, he will deflate your pride.
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Let everyone bless God and sing his praises;
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for he holds our lives in his hands, and he holds our feet to the path.
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You have purified us with fire,
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O Lord, like silver in a crucible.
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You captured us in your net and laid great burdens on our backs.
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You sent troops to ride across our broken bodies.
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We went through fire and flood. But in the end, you brought us into wealth and great abundance.
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Now I have come to your Temple with burnt offerings to pay my vows.
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For when I was in trouble, I promised you many offerings.
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That is why I am bringing you these fat male goats, rams, and calves. The smoke of their sacrifice shall rise before you.
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Come and hear, all of you who reverence the Lord, and I will tell you what he did for me:
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For I cried to him for help with praises ready on my tongue.
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He would not have listened if I had not confessed my sins.
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But he listened! He heard my prayer! He paid attention to it!
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Blessed be God, who didn’t turn away when I was praying and didn’t refuse me his kindness and love.