DECEMBER 1, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:13 Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you. Where Israel is concerned, the selection of leaders was to be based on integrity. In other words, it was never to be a popularity contest but a selection of men who had proven […]
NOVEMBER 30, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:9-10 And I spoke to you at that time, saying: “I alone am not able to bear you. The Lord your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.” There are two things that merit mentioning as we look at these verses. First, Moses acknowledged that God had blessed Israel in […]
NOVEMBER 29, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:6-7 The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the […]
NOVEMBER 28, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:6-7 The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: “You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the […]
NOVEMBER 27, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:5 On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law. It has always intrigued me that, as a nation, Israel didn’t grow and multiply while in the land of Canaan but always outside of the land, in fact, in the land of their […]
The LORD revealed the vision of the ladder to Jacob as he slept. In his sleep angels ascended and descended upon him. God confirmed the covenant with him while he slumbered with his head upon a stone. In the morning he erected the same stone as a monument and anointed it with oil.
Sleep represents death. Just as Jacob slept at Bethel, Messiah slept the sleep of death and rested upon the stone. Through the “slumber” of the Messiah, the LORD revealed the ladder to heaven, which is Messiah’s atoning suffering and death (the descent) and His triumphant resurrection (the ascent). Angels ascended and descended upon Him, and when He rose up, He moved the stone from before His tomb.
The stone on which Jacob’s dreaming head rested became the token of the promises bestowed in the dream. Jacob set up the stone to mark the spot where his encounter with God had occurred. To consecrate the stone as a sacred site, Jacob poured out a libation of oil over the top. He intended to return there and worship God in the future. Later in the Torah, Moses consecrated every implement and furnishing of the Tabernacle through anointing: “And you shall anoint it, to consecrate it” (Exodus 29:36).
This is the first anointing ceremony in the Torah, and it alludes to Messiah, the Anointed One. The Midrash says Jacob anointed the stone with oil to indicate that in the future his descendants would be anointed to priesthood and kingship.
Where did Jacob procure this anointing oil? According to his own testimony, when he left the land of Canaan he had nothing with him except the staff in his hand (Genesis 32:10). The Midrash Rabbah explains that he received the anointing oil directly from heaven:
The oil was supplied to him from heaven in abundance, as though from a cruse full to the very top. (Genesis Rabbah 69:8)
Vayetze – ×•×™×¦× : “And he went out” Torah : Genesis 28:10-32:3 Haftarah : Hosea 12:12-14:10 Gospel : Matthew 3:13-4:11
NOVEMBER 26, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. Two hundred years ago, before the invention of automobiles and other modern modes of transportation, a pilgrim to the Holy Land decided to make the journey from Horeb to the south of Israel riding a camel; it took him […]
NOVEMBER 25, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them. In addition to the points we have made thus far about the purpose of Deuteronomy — […]
NOVEMBER 24, 2022 Deuteronomy 1:3 Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them. Building on the issue we discussed in the previous devotion — the idea that Israel would […]
NOVEMBER 27, 2022
Deuteronomy 1:5
On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law.
It has always intrigued me that, as a nation, Israel didn't grow and multiply while in the land of Canaan but always outside of the land, in fact, in the land of their enemies. Likewise, it has always struck me as interesting and important that, through Moses, God gave instructions for living to His people while they wandered through a wilderness. In fact, this book opens with, “These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel … in the wilderness.
The Hebrew word translated as “wilderness” is midbar — spelled with the letters mem, dalet, beit and reish). This same spelling could also be rendered as m’daber – a phrase that means “to speak.” In other words, very often in our life, God chooses to speak to us in an environment that doesn't offer too much luxury and prosperity. To the contrary, it is an environment that puts every man and woman to the test to see whether they possess the spiritual mettle to continue on having only the Word of God to sustain them. Of course, He gave them bread and water for their daily physical needs but that was also intended to teach them about what they need in a spiritual sense — “Man does not live by bread alone….”
How many of us have wondered why it is that God often leads (or prods) us into what seems to be a wilderness experience? Within our hearts we know why it must be, however, it is our flesh that is quick to resist (and sometimes resent) the experience. But the One who knows what is in our best interests guides us into that place and that season whereby we have nothing else to rely upon save Him and His Word to us. As it written, “He made His own people go forth like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock; and He led them on safely, so that they did not fear” (Psalm 78:52-53). So just like Israel of old, we too must traverse the wilderness of life, sustained by His Hand of provision, but ever needful to hear Him speak His Word into depths of our soul.
