DAY 70    Read Deuteronomy 8 through 10.

Today's reading:  Moses recalls the worship of the golden calf and the breaking of the stone tablets at Sinai almost forty years earlier.

Memory gem:  "The Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward"  (Deuteronomy 10:17).

Thought for today:
After the people had gone through their purification, and the sacrifices had been offered in their behalf for the sin of worshipping the golden calf, what did the Lord tell Moses to do?  He instructed Moses to make two new tables of stone.  God had made the first tables, but Moses made the second tables.

Moses cut out of stone two tables, just like the first, and took them up to God on the mountain.  There God wrote on them the words that were on the first tables.

Friend, did you ever stop to think what Moses had to do?  He had to hew out two tables like the first.  Suppose you had been in Moses' place, with broken and crushed pieces of stone lying at your feet, and God should say: "Now, you must cut out two tables of stone just like the first."  What would you have to do first of all?  You would have to get down on your knees and pick up those pieces, wouldn't you?  You would have to pick up all the pieces and put them together in order to get the proper and exact dimensions--the length, width, thickness, and shape.  Oh, I imagine Moses spent a good deal of time down here on his knees, bending over, poking around, picking up those broken pieces, and fitting them together.  It was a big task.  It was a humble work, humiliating work, back-breaking work; it was knee work.  But he finally got the pieces together and the measurements taken.  Then he had to find some stone, like the stone of the first tables, and go to work with a chisel and hammer and cut it out from the ledge. smooth it off, and prepare it.  I often think what a job that was, carrying these heavy tables of stone to the top of Mount Sinai.  It wasn't a notebook job; it was a great burden to be carried up that mountain.  And there in the cloud and fire and glory, God wrote the words again.

DAY 69    Read Deuteronomy 5 through 7.

Today's reading includes a repetition of the Ten Commandments and gives some good advice to parents.

Memory gem:  "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations"  (Deuteronomy 7:9).

Thought for today:
In 1 John 3:4 we read that "sin is the transgression of the law."  But Jesus came to save us from our sins--in other words, our transgression of the law.  This shows His relationship to God's law, or the Ten Commandments.  If Christ did not consider the law of God to be the very character of God Himself, He would not have come to this world to die for the sins of men.  It is good for us to remember that the cross of Jesus is the absolute proof of the eternal validity of the Ten Commandments.

In Christ's time there were people who hated the Ten Commandments, just as there are today.  One modern writer and would-be political aspirant in the United States said some time ago: "There is no law save the law of man's own being; no check upon his will save that which he himself imposes.  True pleasure is the end of being."

On the other hand, it is written in the Scriptures: "It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law"  (Psalm 119:126).

One of the latest of these godless theories comes from the realm of science.  A professor of an institute of scientific learning diagnosis the whole thing this way: "Crime is simply the result of too much pyruvic acid in one's thalamus cells; or it may be from no cocarboxylase operating in the thalamus and not enough acetylchlorine being delivered to the midbrain."  But the apostle said: "Sin is the transgression of the law," not a physical defect.

The Lord never says "must not" about anything that is harmless or good.  But He has put up some warning signs which are like lighthouses.  These signs say: "This is a bad place--keep out.  Danger--you will wreck your ship."  The Ten Commandments are God's lighthouse.  They help us to sail our bark past places that would wreck our lives.

DAY 68    Read Deuteronomy 3 and 4.

Today's reading gives us an insight into the close relationship between Moses and the Lord.  Tucked in between military records and solemn warnings is a pathetic prayer and the Lord's response.

Memory gem:  "I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon"  (Deuteronomy 3:25).

Thought for today:
Poor Moses!  He was human.  Like so many of us, he spoke "unadvisedly with his lips"  (Psalm 106:33).  Someone says, "Well, Moses had enough to provoke him."  Yes, he did indeed--more than enough--but that was no excuse for sin.  "Ye rebels," he said.  Well, they were rebels; but it was God's authority, not his, to say it.  Even truth is not be spoken in passion and impatience.

"Must we fetch you water out of this rock?"  Moses asked?  Numbers 20:10.  Here he failed to give glory to God, who alone could give water in the wilderness; and, by smiting the rock the second time, Moses took away the force of the lesson which the Lord designed to teach His people.  Christ is the true Rock.  And the rock, being a symbol of Christ, had been smitten once, just as Christ was to be offered only once.  The second time it was necessary only to speak to the rock, as we too have only to ask for blessings in the name of Jesus.  So you see, by smiting the rock twice, Moses marred the symbolism representing Christ.

Sin is sin, and God does not play favorites.  He is "no respecter of persons"  (Acts 10:34).  In his life and death, Moses teaches us that no transgression escapes its appropriate punishment.  "The wages of sin is death"  (Romans 6:23).  The loftiest saint who disobeys does not escape the law of retribution.

Friend, let us learn from the story of Moses that sin is sin; that God's law is immutable; but that, through Christ's atoning blood shed for us upon the cross, God's grace is greater than all our sin; that we may find forgiveness and eternal salvation in Him.

DAY 67    Read Deuteronomy 1 and 2.

Today's reading:  The book of Deuteronomy records Moses' farewell to his people.  Imagine the old leader--twice as old as the "elders" of the people (except two, Joshua and Caleb)--as he pours out his heart to them.  He wants them to remember the lessons of the past.

Memory gem:  "The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing"  (Deuteronomy 2:7).

Thought for today:
As a leader appointed by God, Moses had led the host of Israel ``out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage"  (Exodus 20:2).  To deliver more than two million slaves from the oppression of the strongest military power on earth was a deed to be remembered as long as time should last.  It took courage, intelligence, wisdom, humility, and, above all, faith--faith in the living God.  Moses had all these virtues and more.  He was a prophet of God and wrote the first five books of the Bible as he was moved by the Holy Ghost (see 2 Peter 1:21).  Through him mighty miracles of divine power were performed.  The Ten Commandments, written on two tables of stone by the finger of God Himself, were handed to Moses on Mount Sinai.  He was God's appointed leader of God's people, at God's appointed time.

      Note:  The Four Orations of Deuteronomy

      I.  Chapters 1:6 to 4:43.
      III. Chapters 5 through 26.
      IV. Chapters 27 and 28.
      V.  Chapters 29 and 30.

(The last four chapters of Deuteronomy concern the transfer of leadership from Moses to Joshua, Moses' song of victory, his words of farewell, and an epilogue, probably written by Joshua.)

DAY 66    Read Numbers 35 and 36.

Today's reading gives instructions for providing forty-eight cities for the Levites, six of them cities of refuge.  We also read the conclusion to the interesting story about five unmarried girls and their father's inheritance.

Memory gem:  "The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;...he is my...refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence"  (2 Samuel 22:3).

Thought for today:
We read the story of the cities of refuge in three chapters of the Bible--Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19, and Joshua 20.  These cities were necessary because of the ancient custom of private vengeance, by which the nearest relative of a slain person took the responsibility of punishing the murderer.  The original law, found in Genesis 9:6, decreed that "whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed"; and it was considered in ancient times in the East, and in some places even to this day, that the nearest kin should avenge the deceased.  As many rash executions of this law might take place in the heat of anger, and because a careful distinction between intentional and unintentional killing was not always made, these cities of refuge were instituted to provide for the proper administration of justice.

The cities of refuge were so located as to be within half a day's journey from every part of the land.  That is, no one lived more than a half-day's journey from at least one of them.  There were six cities of refuge--three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west side.  Open roads leading to them were always kept in repair and were posted with signs bearing in plain, bold letters the one word "REFUGE" so that a man fleeing for his life would not miss the way nor be delayed for even a moment.

Brother man, flee now to Jesus, the City of Refuge; for the avenger of blood seeks your soul.  Don't walk--run, flee, seek refuge now.  As the old spiritual puts it, "You better run, you better run to the city of refuge."

DAY 65    Read Numbers 33 and 34.

Today's reading gives a stage-by-stage account of the Israelite campsites during their wanderings.  Unfortunately, most of the locations cannot now be identified.

Memory gem:  "We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness"  (2 Peter 3:13).

Thought for today:
As we go on our pilgrimage in this earth just as God's children of old, we know that someday it will belong to His people.  Someday they will enjoy it; someday it will be purified and redeemed; someday it will be restored to its Edenic beauty.  We are told in plain words of Scripture that this earth, renewed by the hand of God, will be pure and holy.  We are told that He Himself will be their God.  We also read that "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away"  (Revelation 21:4).

This is something to look forward to, isn't it?  This is the end of our pilgrimage, the land where dreams come true.  And the Holy City, the New Jerusalem which comes down from God out of heaven, will be the capital of the redeemed world--the real, actual, deathless, sinless, immortal world!

Friend, soon the present weary land will be past, our desert wanderings will be over, and all the pilgrims of earth will be home, safe at last.

DAY 64  Read Numbers 31 and 32.

Today's reading demonstrates the sad results of the persisting in an evil course.  Another episode shows how easy it is to misjudge motives.

Memory gem:  "As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do"  (Numbers 32:31).

Thought for today:
"God had sent judgments upon Israel for yielding to the enticements of the Midianites; but the tempters were not to escape the wrath of divine justice.  The Amalekites, who had attacked Israel at Rephidim, falling upon those who were faint and weary behind the host, were not punished till long after; but the Midianites who seduced them into sin were speedily made to feel God's judgments, as being more dangerous enemies.  'Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites' (Numbers 31:2), was the command of God to Moses; 'afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.'  This mandate was immediately obeyed.  One thousand men were chosen from each of the tribes and sent out under the leadership of Phinehas.  'And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses.....And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain;...five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.'  Verses 7, 8.  The women also, who had been made captives by the attacking army, were put to death at the command of Moses, as the most guilty and most dangerous of the foes of Israel.

"Such was the end of them that devised mischief against God's people.  Says the psalmist: 'The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.'  Psalm 9:15.  'For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.  But judgment shall return unto righteousness.'  When men 'gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous,' the Lord 'shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness.'  Psalm 94:14, 25, 21, 23."--Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 456.

DAY 63    Read Numbers 28 through 30.

Today's reading returns to the theme of prescribed sacrifices in the ceremonial services.  Let us remember that all this shed blood symbolized and pointed forward to that of Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Memory gem:  "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins"  (Matthew 26:28).

Thought for today:
Christ is our High Priest now in the presence of God for us, not in "the holy places made with hands,...but into heaven itself"  (Hebrews 9:24), where He still pleads His blood in our behalf.  Some people do not like to hear about the blood of Christ.  They resent it.  They do not want anyone to die for them.  They want to work their own way to heaven; they want to make themselves good enough to be there; they want to make themselves moral enough to be saved.  But there is the word of God in Hebrews 9:12: "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Jesus is our High Priest of good things to come.  My friend, do you not wish to share these good things--cleansing from your sins, the blotting out of your sins, a part in the full atoning sacrifice of the cross, peace which passeth understanding, the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit, the resurrection from the dead, a place with Christ forever?  The apsotolic writer tells us that if the blood of the animal sacrifice in the temple of old sanctified to the purifying of the flesh in the symbolic service, "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  (Hebrews 9:14).

Will you today accept this blood-bought salvation?

DAY 62    Read Numbers 26 and 27.

Today's reading includes the appointment of a new leader for God's people.  He was a man who had proved his worth and received the reward for faithful service.

Memory gem:  "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much"  (Luke 16:10).

Thought for today:
One day while Napoleon Bonaparte was riding before his troops in grand review, his horse suddenly reared, pitched, and charged.  He was about to lose control of his steed when a burly private leaped out from the lines, ran up, grabbed the horse's reins near his mouth, and stopped him in his mad dash.

The emperor showed hearty appreciation of this heroism by saluting and saying, "Thank you, captain!"

The private was quick in response.  He returned the salute and inquired simply, "Of what company sir?"

The emperor, highly pleased with this full faith and sincerity, resaluted and said, "Of my bodyguard."

The newly made captain walked over in the uniform of a private to the officers of the bodyguard and said as he saluted, "Your captain!"

The officers in charge returned the salute and asked, "By whose authority?"

Pointing to the emperor, the young captain answered, "By his--he said it."

The event was then closed.  The whole transaction hinged upon faith in a man's word, and see what a change resulted.  But, friend, it was not nearly so great a change as that which comes to our lives when we simply, sweetly trust our Prince, our Captain, our General, our divine Leader, the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is not how we feel, but what He says.

DAY 61    Read Numbers 23 through 25.

Today's reading continues the remarkable story of a man who professed to be a prophet of God while he stubbornly tried to work against God's will.  Such a course could lead only to a tragic end.

Memory gem:  "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them"  (Numbers 23:21).

Thought for today:
Think of Balaam the compromising prophet.  He prophesied for God and the people who worshiped Him, but he was not ready to become an out-and-out supporter either of the man who hired him or of the Lord who warned him.  He tried to combine the ways of the heathen with the ways of the Lord.  He was a fence walker, a balancer.  He wanted the best part of both--the good and the evil.

Balaam symbolizes the so-called broad-minded--yes, the very broad-minded.  Philosophically he was a syncretist.  He tried to mix everything up together and make it look good.  But such a thing would have meant the end of the faith of Israel, and it will mean the end of Christianity today.  As someone has said, "The modern follower of Balaam has an air of urbanity."  He looks very modern, very sophisticated.  He is the cosmopolitan who become spiritually a jellyfish.  In it all "he betrays the integrity of his own soul and the integrity of" the Christianity "religion"--Interpreter's Bible, vol. 12, p. 386.

What multitudes of people need to hear today is the call of Joshua, who said to the people of his time: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve;...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord"  (Joshua 24:15).