Deuteronomy 19

I've embedded a smattering of Calvin and Hobbes strips in these posts, so you can probably tell that it's my favorite newspaper comic. I started reading it in 2nd grade, when my highly discriminating parents bought the collection Yukon Ho! I enjoyed the adventure, imaginative flights of fancy, and richly realized gems of everyday interactions, joys, and struggles. I especially savored the longer stories--Calvin's exploits with his famed cardboard box, the Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs ordeal, the G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS) fiascos, Calvin's school projects on leaves, bats, insects, and the planet Mercury…. But as I got older, my appreciation of the comic, especially its irony, only increased. And to creator Bill Watterson's credit, he is adamant about protecting the integrity of the comic strip, refusing to license the characters to anyone. (So if you see a shirt, decal, or piece of merchandise with Calvin and Hobbes on it, it's an unofficial product made without Watterson's permission.)

So when I read verse 14, an admonishment forbidding the moving of boundary stones, I could only think of this:

I could go on about the spot-on, hilarious portrayals of the characters' expressions in each panel, but I think I've gone enough off-topic already. Boundaries are important because they establish ownership and responsibility. They can also set apart two vastly different communities. Recall the Berlin Wall, for instance, which separated the more affluent West Germany from the impoverished, Communist-controlled eastern side. As another example, a certain American presidential candidate wants to build a wall between the US and Mexico. But in Deuteronomy, Moses and God emphasize inheritance. When they enter the Promised Land, the various tribes of Israel will each receive their own parcel of land. How petty would it be, then, if they all started squabbling over land after defeating the Canaanites? (Petty? Yes. Improbable? Not at all.)

This chapter's Moses nugget comes in the form of an example Moses uses to clarify the policies for the cities of refuge (already explained in Numbers 35). In verse 5, he offers a situation in which two people are cutting wood in the forest, but then the head of the axe flies off and kills one of them. This morbid tableau has more than a little of a "Final Destination" vibe to it--horrible in its plausibility, yet a little ridiculous in its probability. Moses then says that the accidental killer can flee to the city of refuge before the "avenger of blood" overtakes him. But what if the dead man's brother is chopping wood with them, and the city of refuge is miles away? Nothing would stop the brother from overtaking and having revenge on the accidental killer before he reached the city. Not a perfect system, but I suppose the Israelites were doing the best they could.

Deuteronomy 18

I once read an article by a Christian writer decrying the Harry Potter books because of their glorification of witchcraft. As for myself (and I realize I'm going to make enemies when I say this), I'm not the biggest fan of the Harry Potter books because I find the characters annoying (with the possible exception of Hermione), many of the situations contrived, the humor juvenile, and the tone of the writing subtly but insidiously self-aggrandizing. (It's probably a mistake to spend the first three and a half books talking up how horrible and powerful Voldemort is only to have him turn out to be a figuratively toothless and literally noseless clown with only a modicum of menace.) That's more than enough of a rant, but I do think Harry Potter is, overall, a boon because it gets people to read and serves as a gateway to much better books.

Anyway, I suppose Harry Potter and books with references to the occult could influence kids, but I see far more people passionate about the obvious fantasy stuff: waving wands, Quidditch, all the mythical creatures (though I know few of them are original), and the idea that one could attend a school for magic instead of a school of busywork. I don't think anyone would have the sudden urge to throw his or her kid into the fire after reading Harry Potter. But even if Harry Potter or some other fantasy book makes a kid interested in the occult, I'd hope his or her parents would be sensible enough to talk to the child instead of censoring the book. Because we all know that once books (or films, or songs) are banned, people suddenly become very interested in them. (On the other hand, I wouldn't exactly support parents letting their kindergartener watch something like Requiem for a Dream or A Clockwork Orange.)

But real life witchcraft, as God so emphatically states in verses 9-13, is a no-no. As He specifies in verse 12, He will "drive out" the nations that perform such "detestable practices." Astrology may be bunkum, but spirits do exist. And trying to consult any of them other than God is trying to consult an agent of the devil.

The Moses nugget for chapter 18 involves Moses's diction. When talking about occult practices, he uses the word "detestable" no fewer than three times. I think maybe he's trying to drive home the point of just how baleful witchcraft is. Murder is terrible, stealing is terrible, cutting someone off on the freeway is terrible--we all know this. But witchcraft can seem harmless, just a little avocation to take one's mind off work. Fantasy and magic in fiction is all well and good because it's fiction. But in real life, the only magic one should perform is stage magic.

Deuteronomy 17

It's difficult to discuss masterful fantasy author Brandon Sanderson's works without venturing into spoiler territory--and his twists, unlike those in M. Night Shyamalan's later films and 90% of modern young adult literature, arise organically from the characters' decisions. (Sanderson also creates complex, consistent, almost scientific magic systems and pens intriguing, believable characters who are flawed yet not annoying--call him the anti-J. K. Rowling, if you will.) Anyway, in one of his books, The Way of Kings, King Elhokar Kholin, just a young man, rules the kingdom after his father is assassinated. (Not really a spoiler; that happens in the prologue.) While Elhokar has good intentions (and just what is the road to hell paved with again?), he's somewhat crippled by paranoia, fearing that he'll be assassinated like his father. He also proves very susceptible to the wiles of the older "Highprinces" ostensibly under his authority--and as you might guess, one of the book's conflicts involves a noble Highprince and a more nefarious Highprince trying to vie for the favor of King Elhokar. (How this conflict plays out, though, is anything but expected.)

Basically, it might not be so good to be the king after all, especially if your name isn't Mel Brooks. The Israelite king rules the whole nation, sure, but he also has enormous responsibilities--not just to his country, but also to God. God forbids the king from acquiring too many horses (verse 16), which seems a rather odd stipulation. Yes, I get that the king isn't supposed to amass too much wealth, but why specify horses? Why single out a creature beloved by rough-and-tumble cowboys and little girls alike? In verse 17, God does say not to hoard up too much silver and gold or take "many wives" (how many is "many"?), but if you've read ahead, you know all too well that the Israelite kings quickly stray from God's path.

God also says that when a king ascends to the throne, "he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests" (verse 18). If I'm interpreting this verse correctly, it's saying that the king basically has to copy by hand the whole book of Leviticus. OK, ancient Hebrew had no vowels, but that's still a relatively hefty amount of words to copy out--on top of the king's other responsibilities to boot. However, copying a document word for word does help one remember and think about its contents. I remember that, as a kid, I developed my typing skills by typing out J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. I didn't get very far, but I did get to know the first few chapters of that book intimately.

This chapter's Moses nugget isn't a personal commentary, but rather a repetition of language. Moses uses the phrase "purge the evil" in verses 7 and 12. "Purge" has a harsh, even violent connotation, and indeed Moses uses the word to refer to some pretty stringent regulations. Anyone who thumbs his or her nose at a judge or priest must die. Anyone who worships other gods must die. Anyone who kills Inigo Montoya's father must prepare to die. Anyway, there's no two ways about it--Moses and God are dead serious about keeping Israel a virtuous society. Wonder how long that will last?

Deuteronomy 16

I've been called to jury duty three times in the brief time I've been eligible as a juror. Once, I was notified online that my juror group was not needed. Another time, we sat in the waiting room the whole business day before getting dismissed. Finally, I got to sit through two days of jury selection before once again being dismissed. As you can see, I haven't had a whole lot of exposure to the legal system (and I hope that jury duty is the only real exposure I'll ever get), but I do have an interest in seeing justice meted out properly.

It's all the more infuriating, then, when justice seems perverted or judges seem to show partiality--which verse 19 admonishes against. You'd think that judges in America wouldn't take bribes, but you don't have to look any further than the heinous "kids for cash" atrocity--in which now ex-judges Mark Ciaverella and Michael Conahan accepted kickbacks from juvenile detention centers in return for handing minors outrageously unconscionable sentences. The recent Stanford rape case doesn't involve corruption (at least as far as we know), but it's still ridiculous that the perpetrator (whose name shall not sully this post) only got six months. Little wonder, then, that Judge Aaron Persky, who presided over the case, recently got removed from another sexual assault case.

It's disheartening that, after thousands of years, unscrupulousness and venality still exist in a system that's supposed to be a bastion of morality, but we're all human. Doesn't excuse anything, I know, but it puts into relief how much we need God. I mean, I'm guessing that most people wouldn't disagree with God's tenets of justice in verses 18-20, but unfortunately, selfish desires sometimes get the better of us. I know I should treat everyone with impartial kindness, but sometimes my egocentric tendencies force my irritation to manifest itself.

The Moses nugget in chapter 16 is a little aside he makes in verse 3 when he refers to the unleavened bread as "the bread of affliction." (Technically, the grammatical term for this is an "appositive," a noun that immediately follows and renames/describes another noun.) On one hand, this descriptor is apt because the bread reminds the Israelites of their plight in Egypt and the haste in which they fled. On the other hand, could this be a subtle indication of what Moses thought about the unleavened bread itself? I have had matzah myself, and though I thought it was fine, I can see how one would find it dry and insipid. Better bland than gag-inducing, though.

Deuteronomy 15

I know most of the posts I write here are rather frivolous in nature, but one serious issue that nettles me is student debt. Colleges and universities charge ever more exorbitant prices for tuition, much of it used to fund bloated, ineffective administration departments, leaving many students in a hole they'll never be able to dig themselves out of--eventually leading an unacceptably large number of them to default on their loans.

I'm sure banks, credit card companies, college administration departments, and creditors far and wide would vehemently decry the canceling of debts every seven years (as well as in the Year of Jubilee, as Leviticus 25 states)--as much as debt sucks, canceling all debts unilaterally every seven years probably isn't a good tenet for a modern economy.

However, God does know that some will take advantage of debt cancellation (people are people, after all), so He says through Moses, "Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,' so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin" (verse 9). If you have the mind of a credit card company, of course you'd want borrowers to rack up as much debt as possible, which they can't do if their debts will be canceled soon. But while selfishly withholding resources may not have led to punishment, God knows that such avaricious intentions are sinful. This reminds me of the following Calvin and Hobbes comic:

This chapter's nugget isn't really specific to Moses but to Israelite society. Servants are to be set free after seven years, but if the servant wants to stay, they receive the distinct pleasure of having an awl plunged through their earlobes and into the house's door (verses 16-17). I suppose that's one way to have your ear pierced.

Deuteronomy 14

Until I was well into my teenage years, I believe the only meats I had eaten were beef, pork, chicken, turkey, duck, and fish. It wasn't until my adolescence that I discovered the delectable delights of lamb, lobster, crab, clams, and especially shrimp and calamari. If I had been an Israelite in the Old Testament times, however, I would never have been able to eat pork, bivalves, shrimp, and Admiral Ackbar's brethren. (I still find it funny that in Return of the Jedi, George Lucas went all out and called Admiral Ackbar's species "Mon Calamari." I mean, he didn't even try to disguise it.) As I probably mentioned before, I'm someone who eats to live rather than lives to eat, so a life without bacon, carnitas, al pastor, pulled pork sandwiches, clam chowder, fried calamari, and tempura shrimp would be a little less tasty, but I could live with it. And if you never eat it in the first place, how can you know what you're missing?

Moses also reminds the Israelites: "Do not eat anything you find already dead" (verse 21). Although the purpose for this stipulation was probably to prevent the Israelites from accidentally consuming blood or some other unclean part of the animal, this rule has hygienic benefits as well. Many animals (particularly lobsters and crabs, though the Israelites didn't have to worry about those) contract germs soon after they die as their bodies begin to decompose. The Israelites probably didn't know the scientific reasons for this phenomenon, but I'm sure more than a few found out the hard way after eating a dead animal they had found just lying there.

Moses then moves on to tithing. I find it interesting that not all of the tithed offerings went to the Levites or the poor. Sure, some of it did (verses 27 and 29), but some of it was also meant to be eaten by the offerer as a celebration in the presence of God (verse 26). When Christians tithe today, many do so by offering monetary funds. I don't know about you, but I don't much fancy the idea of eating bills, coins, or checks. They also don't get their tithes back (which would be pointless). However, I do believe that God rewards tithing in other ways, sometimes in ways that we may not perceive or discern right away--and sometimes not until after we "shuffle off this mortal coil," to quote Shakespeare's indecisive prince.

Moses is basically reiterating a lot of the Leviticus laws in this chapter, so he doesn't utter a whole lot, if any, personal nuggets. However, I do find the end of verse 21 strange. He seemingly concludes the section on clean and unclean food, saying "you are a people holy to the LORD your God." Strong, robust conclusion, right? However, he then adds on, "Do not cook a young goat in its mother's milk." If I were proofreading Moses's speech, I would ask him, "Why did you put that dangling at the end there? Why don't you move it to earlier, or at least add a more emphatic conclusion after?" Then again, I'm sure rhetoric was much different thousands of years ago. Especially because many people in Western society now have the attention span of a gnat.

Deuteronomy 13

The Pied Piper of Hamelin is often portrayed as a cheery, ebullient kids' story--after all, who doesn't love a guy who can rid a town of a rat infestation?--but, as with many fairy tales, it's actually rather depressing and creepy. After the Piper rids the town of the pests, the villagers refuse to render the garishly dressed Piper payment for his services. In response, the Pied Piper does what any sensible, spurned man would do: he merrily absconds with the townspeople's children, who are never seen again. Except for a lame kid, a deaf kid, and a blind kid, who are left behind because their ailments prevent them from keeping up with their mirthful friends. In one version, the door to the mountain "refuge" the Piper lures the kids to closes right in the lame kid's sorry face. I don't know whether that's heartrendingly sad or absurdly hilarious. Probably both.

Ray Bradbury's short story "Zero Hour" also features an entity spiriting away kids, though this time for overtly nefarious purposes. (The ABC TV show The Whispers was loosely based on this story). Both the Piper and the being(s) in Bradbury's story misled people to a point of no return, which can also happen when one listens to those advocating worship of false gods. (I realize this comparison is a stretch, but I can't help the sinuous avenues my mind often embarks upon.)

Moses takes a two-pronged approach. First, he mentions prophets who, either by coincidence or by humbug, make predictions that happen to come true. I suppose it can be tempting to listen more closely to one whose prognostications are always correct--if not for the glaring truth that no one outside of God's prophets has predicted the future with 100% accuracy. I'm reminded of all those studies disproving astrology. My favorite is the one in which scientist Michael Gauquelin provided astrologers with a chart--and 95% of the astrologers said that the chart matched their own personality. Problem was, it turned out that the chart was for a serial killer named Marcel Petiot. (See http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/living/the-scientific-case-against-astrology#all)

Next, Moses addresses a very touchy issue: What if your siblings, kids, or spouse lure you away from God in order to worship false gods? Moses says that they must be put to death--by stoning, no less (verses 9-10). I'm sure such a harsh sentence wouldn't be applicable today, but it's still troubling to think about a loved one seducing you into an ungodly lifestyle.

That's a rather wretched note to end on, so I'll attempt to lighten the mood with this chapter's Moses nugget. Actually, this nugget is more like the continuation of a trend I've been noticing. In verse 14, Moses says, "Then you must inquire, probe, and investigate it thoroughly." These three words have different shades of meaning and connotations, but their definitions are all very similar. Moses did something similar in Deuteronomy 6:1, using the words, "commands, decrees, and laws." This not only demonstrated Moses' varied vocabulary, but it also sears these key words into his listeners' minds. ("Maybe they won't know what 'inquire' and 'probe' mean, but they darn well better know what 'investigate' means!")

Deuteronomy 12

If any of you still play Pokemon, you know that as time has passed, the creatures have gotten more convoluted names and their appearances have grown weirder. In fact, some of them look disturbingly like rather inappropriate body parts. (I'm looking at you, Castform.) I grew up playing the original Red version, but anyone who's played any of the versions knows that as you travel further away from your home, the wild Pokemon get more resilient (and cooler) and the trainers you fight get tougher. Which is rather unrealistic, but I suppose it gives the game a more linear flow. As you approach the final bosses (the Elite Four), you're not going to find some pathetic Level 2 Pidgey. Similarly, if you're exploring outside your hometown, you're not going to run into a horde of wild Mewtwos.

If the foregoing makes absolutely no sense, don't worry--my point is just that certain locations have certain purposes. Perhaps a less nerdy example is zoning--sure, there are mixed-use properties, but you're still rarely going to find oil refineries directly abutting condominium complexes. (Disneyland is a bit of an exception; unlike Walt Disney World, which has square miles of greenery surrounding its parks, the California parks have houses, hotels, and restaurants across the street because Walt Disney was too slow to buy all that property up).

Likewise, God reminds His people through Moses that sacrificial offerings can't just be done in any old alley. These sacred offerings must be proffered in "the place the LORD will choose" (verse 26). Nowadays, we don't need to make sacrificial offerings at all, and we no longer are required to worship in a specific place. In fact, some folks have the opposite problem, only worshipping God at church yet living the rest of their lives as if they were secular. I often run into this problem myself, perhaps not acting as Christ-like as I could be. I have to remember to treat every location and every interaction with the reverence of an ancient Israelite offering a sacrifice to God.

Moses utters this chapter's nugget in verse 20: "When the LORD your God has enlarged your territory as he promised you, and you crave meat and say, 'I would like some meat,' then you may eat as much of it as you want." Out of context, this verse sounds like it's sanctioning gluttony (which it's not), but I do like the language Moses uses here. After all, what non-vegetarian out there hasn't, at some point in their life, stopped in the middle of whatever they were doing, looked up, and said to himself or herself, "I would like some meat"? Far from a modern quirk of behavior, this phrase has been a part of human nature since at least the time of Moses. I wish I could say that I would like some meat right now, but I just ate and thus would not particularly like some meat at the moment.

Deuteronomy 11

Are there any historical events that you would have been overjoyed to witness in person? Perhaps the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the premiere of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, or Napoleon's 35,642nd sneeze? I would have liked to be in the recording studio when John Williams conducted the orchestra for his masterful score for Star Wars in 1977. While I can't say that I've been an eyewitness to any momentous events (unless you count seeing Hugh Hefner eating at a Disneyland restaurant as momentous), I also can't deny that my life has been affected by many events that kids in the future will suffer through having to learn about and memorize in history class. Sure, 9/11 was horrendous, but I can also say that I lived to see the first African-American president of the United States, the advent of computer animation, and the unprecedented dominance of the Golden State Warriors.

Moses makes a similar point: the Israelites have witnessed God's miracles to an extent that few will ever see again. The plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Sea of Reeds, the provision of manna and quail, a flaming mountain with the voice of God, the opening of the earth to swallow a crowd of recalcitrants--the list goes on and on (which is another way of saying that I'm too lazy to list any more examples). "It was your own eyes that saw all these great things the LORD has done," Moses says in verse 7. He wants to impart upon the Israelites just how significant these events are, and how privileged they are to be on the same side as the God who precipitated all these events.

At the same time, one has to remember that most of these Israelites were kids when many of these miracles shattered the laws of nature. When I was a kid, some of the 1994 World Cup games played not too far from my house. I didn't realize how awesome this actually was; I just thought it was one of those annual soccer championships that would come back next year. Only when I got older did I recognize that it was the World Cup. Maybe as kids, these Israelites thought that water turned to blood and manna rained down from the heavens as a matter of course.

The Moses nugget in this chapter isn't a specific verse, but rather how much Moses is repeating what he said earlier, even using some of the same language. Verses 18-21 recall Deuteronomy 6 as Moses again reiterates that the Israelites must teach God's values to their children and write it down so that they remember. However, judicious repetition, especially in oral speeches, definitely helps drive points home, searing them into the listener's mind. And seeing how obdurate the Israelites had proven to be a times, I'm sure a little reiteration didn't hurt.

Deuteronomy 10

There's been a lot of contentious talk about foreigners, refugees, and non-white people lately. I don't want to get too into that serious issue right here, so I'll instead use a relevant example from the first specimen of media that comes to mind (which is really all that I do in these posts anyway).

In the Japanese TV drama Our House, a Japanese saxophonist's wife dies a few years after bearing their fourth child. Less than six months later, the man brings home a woman from America named Alice with the intent of marrying her, much to the consternation of his oldest daughter, Sakurako (who seems to be the only person in the family with a spine). Outside of Sakurako and, in the later episodes, Alice, the characters are just as silly and frothy as they look in the image below, but the point is that some of the strife stems from Alice's status as an interloping foreigner in Sakurako's eyes. It doesn't help that Alice used to work at a casino in America, helping to confirm Sakurako's assumption that Alice is a woman of easy virtue.

One of Moses's many perspicacious exhortations in this chapter is to "love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt" (verse 19). At first brush, this seems at odds with God's intention for the Israelites to wipe out the immoral inhabitants of Canaan. But I don't think God is saying to approve of everyone, foreigner or not, if they're unscrupulous reprobates. He's saying to conquer the Canaanites because of their wicked acts, not because they look funny by Israelite standards. Just as blackguards and miscreants can come from any race, righteousness isn't just limited to the Israelites.

One could say that verses 12-22 are a string of Moses nuggets--we've hit the pay lode here--but the one that jumps out to me is verse 14: "To the LORD your God belongs the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it." I know the heavens and earth belong to God, but what I find intriguing is Moses's use of the term "highest heavens"--which implies that heaven has several levels. I don't know if "heaven" just means "sky and space" and "highest heavens" means the heaven where God and the angels reside--or if heaven does really resemble the Paradiso of Dante's The Divine Comedy with nine spheres and the Empyrean. Thinking about the geography of a spiritual plane just makes my head hurt, so I think it would be sensible to stop here.

Deuteronomy 9

I'm a fan of most of director Quentin Tarantino's films. Brimming with energy, coarse language, over-the-top violence, crackling wit, and various naughty bits, most of his films nevertheless contain characters trying to find redemption in a twisted world. His most recent film, The Hateful Eight, is an exception, featuring characters who truly live up to the film's moniker. I don't want to spoil anything here, but the even the characters who seem likable at first end up performing truly despicable deeds. (OK, there are a few more "upright" characters, but they don't last very long.) If you end up rooting for any character at all, it's for the character who's the least horrible.

Likewise, God lets the Israelites know that He didn't choose them because of their overwhelming virtuosity. As He explains in verses 4-6, everyone else is even more horrible than the Israelites. Therefore, God is using the Israelites to purge the legitimately wicked people from the land. I wonder just how deflating this was to the Israelites, or if they even recognized how special their relationship to God--the one true God--was.

I don't profess to be a peerlessly paragon of moral rectitude. I try to do the right thing, but just like most people (I suspect), I screw up and act selfishly from time to time. I have to keep in mind that whatever boons God provides me, He does so not because of my righteousness. And perhaps keeping that mindset will prevent me from depending on my own efforts, spurring me to instead rely on and listen to God.

This chapter's Moses nugget comes early on in verse 2 when he says about the residents of Canaan, "The people are strong and tall--Anakites!" Notwithstanding that "Anakite" sounds an awful lot like "Anakin," that statement doesn't mean a whole lot to anyone unfamiliar with ancient Near Eastern history--but that exclamation point lets us know that they're formidable enough to ruffle Moses's plumage. Perhaps we'd get a better sense of what Moses is talking about if we change the phrase to this: "The people are strong and tall--NBA players!" I mean, when Stephen Curry, who's 6'3", is considered a short player (and indeed he looks diminutive on the court), you have an idea of just how colossal these basketball players are. (As Curry so explosively proves, though, size isn't everything.)

Deuteronomy 8

A couple weeks or so ago, I visited Yosemite National Park for the first time (ever, not in forever), taking the Four Mile Trail from Glacier Point down to the valley floor. Most of the trail consists of a fairly steady slope--it has to be, as it covers a 3,200-foot elevation change in those 4.8 miles--with spectacular views of Yosemite Falls along the way.

You'd think that after running a couple of half-marathons, 4.8 miles would be easy, and though the trail is nowhere near as grueling as running 13.1 miles, each mile on the trail seemed to take waaaaaay longer than a mile on flat land. By the end of the trail, my feet were a little weary.

It's remarkable, then, that during the Israelites' 40-year trek in the desert, Moses says that "Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell" (verse 4). Now, the Israelites' feet were probably a whole lot more hardy and callused than my tender tootsies, but still--trudging for 40 years without having your feet swell is rather extraordinary.

Of course, these non-distending feet just prove further God's gracious provision for the Israelites. And now, He has brought them to a land fecund with verdant fields, scrumptious crops, and even metals such as iron and copper (verse 9). But, as Moses admonishes, they must never forget that all that they have comes not from their own hands, but is given to them by God. Something God keeps reminding me of as well. Just when I think I can crow over my inestimable achievements, God invariably knocks my pride down a notch or too.

This chapter's Moses nugget is a little trivial, but many personal quirks are trivial, aren't they? In verse 15, Moses uses some choice words to describe the desert they've been wandering in for 40 years, describing it as "the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions." Even he wasn't such a big fan of the wasteland they had to travel through on the way to the Promised Land, though I suppose few people would be.

Deuteronomy 7

If you ask someone, "Is the majority correct?" hopefully, you'll get an answer along the lines of "Well, it depends on what issue you're talking about." I'll use some extreme examples so I don't offend anyone. The vast majority of the population think that jumping off the Empire State Building without a parachute or any safety device is stupid--and they'd be correct. On the other hand, at one point in history, most people thought that time and space were two completely unrelated phenomena--and those people were incorrect. Having numbers on your side can feel comforting, though--you know that you have support from others.

However, numbers have nothing to do with why God chose the Israelites. In verse 7, Moses explains, "The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other people, for you were the fewest of all peoples." From a human point of view, if you were trying to create a movement to change the world, you'd logically start with the most prolific group of people, wouldn't you? That way, you'd have less work to do and more resources to spread whatever harebrained idea that sprang from your noggin.

But God eschews such a strategy, instead choosing the Israelites because He loves them and because He doesn't break His word (verse 8). And now that Jesus died for our sins, were are all God's chosen people. Sure, once we turn to God, we may not become as ridiculously prosperous as Joel Osteen would have us believe. Unlike the Israelites, we still get sick, our businesses fail, and some couples remain barren (verses 13-15). But infinitely better than any earthly success is the treasure that awaits us in heaven. Platitudinous, I know, especially since I myself do get caught up with worldly concerns and pursuits.

This chapter's Moses nugget comes in the form of a neat little couplet that he apparently composes on the fly in verse 10: "those who hate him [God] he will repay to their face by destruction; / he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him." Moses basically says that if you spurn God, you're going to get yours, but I'm a little amused that Moses decided to use poetry to convey that little tidbit. I suppose the use of meter and rhythm does draw attention to this warning in case any of the Israelites were nodding off at this point. However, Moses has also made some equally important points without feeling the need to slip into poetry, so I wonder why he decided to do it here. Maybe his muse (which I suppose would be God) just decided to strike him here.

Deuteronomy 6

In the film Memento, directed by Christopher Nolan (who would go on to direct the Dark Knight trilogy and Inception, among other films), the main character, Leonard, is unable to form new memories after he receives a head injury. He can't really write stuff down in a notebook because he'll forget where he put the notebook. His solution is to tattoo important information on his body so that he has constant reminders of what he has to do. (I'm deliberately being vague here as one of the many pleasures of the film is witnessing how the puzzle of a plot unfolds, everything clicking neatly and dramatically into place. In fact, I think Nolan has yet to make a better film.)

As you might suspect, I don't have short-term memory loss, but I have trouble remembering stuff, especially if it's spoken and not written. (I'll use that as an excuse for why I'm bad with names of people I've just met.) Writing notes down helps me immensely--and Moses knows that reminders, even if they're not in written form, will help the Israelites immeasurably in keeping God's decrees.

In verses 6-9, Moses enumerates some ways that the Israelites can remind themselves of God's commandments: writing them on doorframes, tying them to their heads, talking about them with others. Moses emphasizes how imperative it is to pass this information on to children, using delightfully domestic, everyday imagery in verse 7: "Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." Children, especially in their formative years, prove remarkably malleable, which is why they need to learn values of respect, generosity, selflessness, and industriousness. In my experience, if I see a kid behaving badly, chances are it's because of poor parenting.

The Moses nugget here is the oft-quoted verse 5: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Even Jesus, the ultimate luminary, quotes this verse when asked about the greatest commandment. At the risk of sounding anal, I'll take a crack at parsing this key verse.

Loving with one's heart means that one should absolutely adore God with unrestrained emotion. When I interact with God, I should do so with a passion that far transcends my love for anything or even anyone else.

Loving with one's soul means that one's self, one's spirit, one's very identity should be aligned with God. While I don't need to be completely abstemious, I must open my eyes to the concerns that touch God's heart and allow those issues to touch my own heart.

And loving with one's strength means that one should put every last effort into loving God. I need to stop using my efforts to chase ungodly or harmful pursuits and instead devote my exertions into chasing after God--who, after all, doesn't run away from us. In fact, He actively runs toward us.

Easier said than done, of course. But I know that I shouldn't need a tattoo to remind myself of God's inimitable grace.

Deuteronomy 5

If you visited Disneyland anytime between 1956 and 1994, you might remember the Skyway between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. These gondolas (basically big buckets) traveled 60 feet in the air under a suspended cable, passing through the Matterhorn Bobsleds attraction. (According to Mouse Tales by David Koenig, when someone asked Walt Disney why the Matterhorn had two gaping holes in it, Uncle Walt replied, "Because it is a Swiss mountain.")

Anyway, the ride had a speaker system (which you can see in the image above) that allowed the attraction hosts to speak to all riders. Known as the "God Switch," cast members only used the speakers in dire emergencies, because, to paraphrase Mouse Tales, hearing a resonant voice booming out of the sky tends to make people freeze in alarm.

As God spoke the Ten Commandments out of a flaming mountain, the Israelites weren't just alarmed--they were petrified, fearing for their lives. After hearing God's voice, much more stentorian and authoritative than that of any Disney employee, the elders can hardly believe that they've heard God's voice and lived: "For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?" (verse 26). Well, Moses has, but the elders don't want to push their luck, asking if they can hear the rest of God's decrees through Moses.

God is impressed by His people's respect for His power and authority, saying, "Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" (verse 29). In the subtext of this wish lies a lament, for God knows only too well how ornery the Israelites will soon become.

Moses' nugget in this chapter comes in verse 3-4. Knowing that no one except Joshua and Caleb was alive during the giving of the Ten Commandments, Moses stresses the immediacy and relevance of God's decrees to this new generation. God's covenant wasn't just with this generation's parents, but with them--in Moses's words, "with all of us who are alive here today" (verse 3). Even though I've never heard God audibly speak out of a blazing cloud, I must remember that His promises, His words, and His directives are meant for me as well.

(Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d8/DisneylandSkyway.jpg/640px-DisneylandSkyway.jpg) Public domain

Deuteronomy 4

As you might be able to tell from some of my past posts, I'm a fan of the films of Pixar Animation Studios. After years of struggling making commercials and money-losing shorts, the studio finally released Toy Story, the first full-length computer-animated film, in 1995. (Just think: No one who's in high school right now could have seen that movie in theaters when it first came out. Boy, that makes me feel old). A commercial, critical, and popular success, the film was the only the start of a jaw-dropping succession of masterpieces or near-masterpieces from Pixar: A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and my personal favorite, The Incredibles.

At that point, the studio was seen as the golden standard that no other American animation studio and few other filmmakers period could reach. But there were always some curmudgeons (i.e., DreamWorks Animation fans) who groused that the studio would release a stinker eventually. And sure enough, along came Cars in 2006. While not a bad film (as Cars 2 was), it certainly wasn't up to the lofty heights of its predecessors. Nevertheless, the curmudgeons gleefully pounced on the film as if it were the worst movie ever.

I could see the same psychological effect applying to the Israelites. God holds His people to a higher standard, saying that if they follow His decrees, "this will show wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear these decrees and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'" (verse 6). Just as the filmmaking community looked up to Pixar for its deft, organic storytelling and appealing, believable characters, the nations would look to Israel as an example of sagacity and rectitude. But just as a few Cars films (and an over-reliance on sequels) can tarnish a studio's reputation, God warns His people in verse 9 to watch themselves. Because if the Israelites start screwing around, then they're no better than any other nation.

Two Moses nuggets in this chapter. One is his heartfelt, vivid, almost scintillating description of God's awesomeness and sovereignty in verses 32-34. I don't think I can add anything to Moses's little encomium here. But the second Moses nugget again circles back to Moses's bitter feelings about not being able to enter the Promised Land. After blaming the Israelites once again, he utters the poignant sentence in verse 22: "I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are able to cross over and take possession of that good land." Yet even in that poignancy, one can see Moses's mood in that single verse gradually transition to the forbearance that helped make him such an exemplary (if flawed) man of God: He won't enter the Promised Land, but he exhorts his people to enter the land and remain obedient to God. Moses shows that although we may always harbor selfish feelings, but that shouldn't keep us from following God's will and wishing for the well being of others.

Deuteronomy 3

Laying siege to a fortified city is no mean feat--which is probably why siege sequences in films can be so spectacular. The first siege sequence that awed me was the Battle of Helm's Deep in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Helm's Deep is basically located right up against a mountain, making it a dead end for the besieged people of Rohan (and lending more tension to the scene--because what drama would there be if they could just sneak out and go somewhere else?) Of course, the subsequent The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King had to one-up its progenitor with an even more overwhelmingly massive siege sequence that expands into a spectacularly massive field battle.

I'm sure the fortified cities of Bashan weren't quite as "impenetrable" as the ones in Peter Jackson's films--verse 5 just mentions "high walls…with gates and bars," which, while troublesome, don't sound nearly as insurmountable as, say, a city with seven levels, with each level 100 feet higher than the one below it. Still, the Israelites had to conquer 60 fortified cities (verse 4), and yet they washed over them like some sort of tsunami. Although I'm sure the Israelites were reasonably competent warriors, the real reason for their staggering successes in battle was God. He was completely behind Israel in their rout of Bashan, bolstering them with words of comfort and encouragement.

The Moses nugget for this chapter actually reveals new information not recorded anywhere in Numbers. Moses makes one final entreaty to God, asking if he can enter the Promised Land. In verse 24, Moses says, "Sovereign LORD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand." Begun to show. Moses knows that for all the wonders and miracles he's seen--from the plagues to the parting of the Sea of Reeds to the weird bronze snake thing--he has tasted just a bare tincture of God's ineffable power and glory.

But God tells Moses off like you might do to a child: "That is enough… Do not speak to me anymore about the matter" (verse 26). Again, Moses blames the Israelites for making God so angry that He won't listen to Moses's plea. Most humans are inquisitive by nature, wanting to know why things are the way they are. "Why is the sky blue?" kids always ask. That's a fairly easy question to answer, especially compared with questions about people's motivations. And God is so much more unfathomable than the most complex human personality. When He doesn't provide explanations, it can be confounding. I must remember to trust that He has a plan and still acknowledge that I will always struggle with certain aspects of God's nature.