Immerse: Bible Reading Experience - NLT Daily Bible In A Year

Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience - Day 159: Moses' Covenant and Joshua's Leadership

In this episode of Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience, we delve into Day 159, focusing on the terms of the covenant the Lord commanded Moses to establish with the Israelites in the land of Moab. We recount Moses' reflection on the great wonders performed by God in Egypt, the trials faced during the wilderness journey, and the covenant's significance for future generations. The importance of obedience, the blessings of fidelity to God's commands, and dire warnings against idolatry and disobedience are highlighted. Moses' final instructions to the Israelites include reading this covenant every seven years and the commissioning of Joshua as his successor. God predicts future rebellions but assures His enduring presence and guidance through Joshua. Moses writes a song to serve as a testimony against future disobedience and reiterates the necessity of adhering to God's laws to ensure prosperity and divine favor.

00:00 Introduction to the Covenant
00:04 Moses Summons the Israelites
01:11 Obeying the Covenant
02:26 Consequences of Disobedience
03:18 Future Generations and the Covenant
04:48 Return to the Lord
07:04 Choosing Life or Death
08:23 Moses' Final Instructions
10:46 Joshua's Commissioning
11:44 Moses' Song and Final Words
13:44 Conclusion


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2. Was there anything confusing or troubling?
3. Did anything make you think differently about God?
4. How might this change the way we live?

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  1. Use Immerse: Beginnings instead of your regular chapter and verse Bible. This special reader’s edition restores the Bible to its natural simplicity and beauty by removing chapter and verse numbers and other historical additions. Letters look like letters, songs look like songs, and the original literary structures are visible in each book.
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  3. Aim to understand the big story. Read through “The Stories and the Story” (p. 483) to see how the books of the Bible work together to tell God’s story of his creation’s restoration. As you read through Immerse: Beginnings, rather than ask, “How do I fit God into my busy life?” begin asking, “How can I join in God’s great plan by living out my part in his story?”

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Nancy: Welcome To Immerse: The
Daily Bible Reading Experience.

Day 100 and 59

these are the terms of the covenant the
Lord commanded Moses to make with the

Israelites while they were in the land
of Moab, in addition to the covenant

he had made with them at Mount Sinai,
Moses summoned all the Israelites and

said to them, you have seen with your
own eyes, everything the Lord did in

the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to all
his servants and to his whole country.

All the great tests of strength.

The miraculous signs and the amazing
wonders, but to this day, the Lord has

not given you minds that understand
nor eyes that see nor ears that hear.

For 40 years I led you through
the wilderness, yet your clothes

and sandals did not wear out.

You ate no bread and drank no
wine or other alcoholic drink, but

he provided for you so you would
know that he's the Lord your God.

When we came here, king Sahan of
Heshbon and King OG Abian came out to

fight against us, but we defeated them.

We took their land and gave it to the
tribes of Reuben and Gadd and to the half

tribe of Manassa as their grant of land.

Therefore, obey the terms of
this covenant so that you will

prosper in everything you do.

All of you tribal leaders,
elders, officers, all the men of

Israel are standing today in the
presence of the Lord your God.

Your little ones and your wives
are with you as well as the

foreigners living among you who
chop your wood and carry your water.

You are standing here today to enter
into the covenant of the Lord your God.

The Lord is making this
covenant, including the curses.

By entering into the covenant today,
he will establish you as his people and

confirm that he's your God, just as He
promised you and as he swore to your

ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But you are not the only ones with whom I
am making this covenant with its curses.

I am making this covenant both with
you who stand here today in the

presence of the Lord our God, and
also with the future generations

who are not standing here today.

You remember how we lived in the
land of Egypt and how we traveled

through the lands of enemy nations.

As we left, you have seen their
detestable practices and their idols

made of wood, stone, silver, and gold.

I am making this covenant with you
so that no one among you, no man,

woman, clan or tribe will turn away
from the Lord our God, to worship

these gods of other nations and so
that no root among you bears bitter.

And poisonous fruit.

Those who hear the warnings of
this curse should not congratulate

themselves thinking, I am safe,
even though I am following the

desires of my own stubborn heart.

This would lead to utter ruin.

The Lord will never pardon such people.

Instead, his anger and jealousy
will burn against them.

All the curses written in this book will
come down on them, and the Lord will

erase their names from under heaven.

The Lord will separate them from all
the tribes of Israel to pour out on

them all the curses of the covenant
recorded in this book of instruction.

Then the generations to come.

Both your own descendants and the
foreigners who come from distant

lands will see the devastation
of the land and the diseases.

The Lord inflicts on it.

They will exclaim the whole land
is devastated by sulfur and salt.

It is a wasteland with nothing
planted and nothing growing,

not even a blade of grass.

It is like the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah, AMA and Zeum, which the

Lord destroyed in his intense anger.

And all the surrounding nations will ask,
why has the Lord done this to this land?

Why was he so angry?

The answer will be, this happened
because the people of the land abandoned

the covenant that the Lord, the God of
their ancestors made with them when he

brought them outta the land of Egypt.

Instead, they turned away to serve and
worship gods they had not known before.

Gods that were not from the Lord.

That is why the Lord's anger
has burned against this land.

Bringing down on at every curse Recorded
in this book, in Great Anger and Fury,

the Lord uprooted his people from
their land and banished them to another

land where they still live today.

The Lord, our God has
secrets known to no one.

We are not accountable for them, but
we and our children are accountable

forever for all that he has revealed
to us, so that we may obey all

the terms of these instructions.

In the future, when you experience
all these blessings and curses I

have listed for you, and when you
are living among the nations to which

the Lord your God has exiled, you
take to heart all these instructions.

If at that time you and your children
return to the Lord your God, and

if you obey with all your heart and
all your soul, all the commands I

have given you today, then the Lord
your God will restore your fortunes.

He will have mercy on you and
gather you back from all the

nations where he has scattered you.

Even though you are banished to
the ends of the earth, the Lord,

your God will gather you from
there and bring you back again.

The Lord your God will return you to the
land that belonged to your ancestors,

and you will possess that land again.

Then He will make you even more prosperous
and numerous than your ancestors.

The Lord your God will change your heart
and the hearts of all your descendants so

that you will love him with all your heart
and soul, and so you may live the Lord.

Your God will inflict all these
curses on your enemies and on

those who hate and persecute you.

Then you will again obey the
Lord and keep all his commands

that I am giving you today.

The Lord your God will then make
you successful in everything you do.

He will give you many children and
numerous livestock, and he'll cause your

fields to produce abundant harvests.

For the Lord will again delight in being
good to you as he was to your ancestors.

The Lord your God will delight in
you if you obey his voice and keep

the commands and decrees written
in this book of instruction.

And if you turn to the Lord your
God with all your heart and soul.

This command I am giving you
today is not too difficult for you

and it is not beyond your reach.

It is not kept in heaven so distant that
you must ask who will go up to heaven and

bring it down so we can hear it and obey.

It is not kept beyond the sea so
far away that you must ask who

will cross the sea to bring it
to us so we can hear it and obey.

No, the message is very close at hand.

It is on your lips and in your
heart so that you can obey it.

Now, listen, today I'm giving you
a choice between life and death,

between prosperity and disaster.

For I command you this day to
love the Lord your God, and to

keep his commands, decrees and
regulations by walking in his ways.

If you do this, you will live and
multiply, and the Lord your God

will bless you in the land you
are about to enter and occupy.

But if your heart turns away and
you refuse to listen, and if you

are drawn away to serve and worship
other gods, then I warn you now that

you will certainly be destroyed.

You will not live a long
good life in the land.

You are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

Today, I have given you the
choice between life and death,

between blessings and curses.

Now I call on heaven and earth
to witness the choice you make.

Oh, that you would choose life so that
you and your descendants might live.

You can make this choice by loving
the Lord your God, obeying him and

committing yourself firmly to him.

This is the key to your life.

If you love and obey the Lord,
you will live long in the land.

The Lord swore to give your
ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

When Moses had finished giving these
instructions to all the people of

Israel, he said, I am now 120 years old
and I am no longer able to lead you.

The Lord has told me you will not cross
the Jordan River but the Lord your God

himself will cross over ahead of you.

He will destroy the nation's
living there, and you will

take possession of their land.

Joshua will lead you across the river.

Just as the Lord promised, the Lord will
destroy the nation's living in the land.

Just as he destroyed Saan and
og, the kings of the Amorites.

The Lord will hand over to you the
people who live there, and you must

deal with them as I have commanded you.

So be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid and do
not panic before them.

For the Lord your God will
personally go ahead of you.

He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

Then Moses called for Joshua, and as
all Israel watched, he said to him,

be strong and courageous for you will
lead these people into the land that

the Lord swore to their ancestors.

He would give them.

You are the one who will divide it
among them as their grants of land.

Do not be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord will
personally go ahead of you.

He will be with you.

He will neither fail you nor abandon you.

So Moses wrote this entire body of
instruction in a book and gave it to the

priests who carried the Ark of the Lord's
covenant and to the elders of Israel.

Then Moses gave them this command.

At the end of every seventh year, the
year of release during the Festival

of Shelters, you must read this book
of instruction to all the people of

Israel when they assemble before the
Lord your God, at the place he chooses.

Call them all together, men,
women, children, and the

foreigners living in your towns.

So they may hear this book of
instruction and learn to fear the

Lord your God, and carefully obey
all the terms of these instructions.

Do this so that your children who have not
known these instructions will hear them

and will learn to fear the Lord your God.

Do this.

As long as you live in the land, you
are crossing the Jordan to occupy.

Then the Lord said to Moses, the
time has come for you to die.

Call Joshua and present yourselves
at the tabernacle so that

I may commission him there.

So Moses and Joshua went and presented
themselves at the Tabernacle.

The Lord appeared to them in a
pillar of cloud that stood at

the entrance to the sacred tent.

The Lord said to Moses, you
are about to die and join your

ancestors after you are gone.

These people will begin to
worship foreign gods, the gods

of the land where they are going.

They will abandon me and break my
covenant that I have made with them.

Then my anger will blaze
forth against them.

I will abandon them, hiding my face
from them, and they will be devoured.

Terrible trouble will come down on
them and on that day they will say,

these disasters have come down on us.

Because God is no longer among us at
that time, I will hide my face from

them on account of all the evil they
commit by worshiping other gods.

So write down the words of this song
and teach it to the people of Israel.

Help them learn it.

So it may serve as a
witness for me against them.

For, I will bring them into the land.

I swore to give their ancestors a
land flowing with milk and honey.

There they will become prosperous, eat
all the food they want, and become fat,

but they will begin to worship other gods.

They will despise me
and break my covenant.

And when great disasters come down
on them, this song will stand as

evidence against them for it will never
be forgotten by their descendants.

I know the intentions of these people
even now before they have entered

the land I swore to give them.

So that very day Moses wrote
down the words of the song and

taught it to the Israelites.

Then the Lord commissioned
Joshua, son of none.

With these words, be strong and courageous
for you must bring the people of Israel

into the land I swore to give them.

I will be with you.

When Moses had finished writing this
entire body of instruction in a book,

he gave this command to the Levites who
carried the Ark of the Lord's covenant.

Take this book of instruction and
place it beside the Ark of the

Covenant of the Lord your God.

So it may remain there as a witness
against the people of Israel for I know

how rebellious and stubborn you are.

Even now, while I am still
alive and I'm here with you, you

have rebelled against the Lord.

How much more rebellious will you be?

After my death now summon all the elders
and officials of your tribes so that

I can speak to them directly and call
heaven and Earth to witness against them.

I know that after my death, you will
become utterly corrupt and will turn from

the way I have commanded you to follow.

In the days to come, disaster will
come down on you for you will do what

is evil in the Lord's sight, making
him very angry with your actions.

This concludes today's
immerse reading experience.

Thank you for joining us.