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Word in the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. Join from anywhere and enjoy a fun, rewarding, and doable 12-month journey through the Bible where you read it from cover to cover and understand it. It’s not a devotional or recap. It’s a guide by your side through God’s Word. With support from a weekly podcast and an online community of fellow travelers, this is the year when you finally explore the Bible in its own words and on its own terms for yourself.
INTRO
This is Word and the Wild...a one year Bible adventure with friends. My name is Owen. I'm your host and your guide, and together we are on a 12 month journey as a podcast plus community...where we read the Bible for ourselves, but not by ourselves.
We are here in WEEK 12... Moses and the Israelites' wilderness wanderings come to an end... with a warning: God wants his people to remember what they would rather forget. It's key to straightening out the loop they've been walking into a bee line out of the wilderness.
So... hello and welcome in to this chronological journey where we watch the story the Bible unfold like the epic movie it is... So, subscribe here on your favorite podcast plant form and share with a friend.
And, a special welcome to our Word and the Wild PLUS community members. Their support of this non-profit endeavor is making space for all of us on this Bible reading adventure. They enjoy access to our private, safe online space where no honest question is a dumb question... along with a weekly livestream Q&A, and bonus content like articles, interactions, meet-ups, and even some livestream teaching gatherings with yours truly.
If any of that sounds like your jam, then check the show notes for how to become a member yourself. Or get all the details over at wordandthewild.com.
Ok... with that, let's take a look back at where we've been in the story this week...
REMEMBER
It's not deja vu... it's Deuteronomy.
The name "Deuteronomy" means "second law." As we've been moving through the story this week, we can easily understand how this section of the Bible got it's name. It's a restatement of the law... for a second time.
And, while much of the content in this week and last week's reading has been a re-run, there has been some new information hidden inside it that actually gives us a big clue as to why God decided it was essential for his people to hear all these guidelines for a good life with him all over again.
It's all about memory.
For God's people, memory is essential to survival -- both from the internal pull they feel to walk away from God's path and from the external pressure they'll experience of the culture of Canaan.
For 40 years, the wilderness has been a workshop... shaping and refining the Israelites... preparing them to cross the border and step into the promised land... But what good is it if their experiences evaporate from their memory? And the lessons learned are swept away like so many footprints in the desert wind?
The saying goes: "history repeats itself." The actual quote comes from George Santayana who said: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
And so, Deuteronomy. The law...again. God repeats himself so that history won't repeat itself.
God wants his people to remember what they would rather forget. Because an accurate memory is essential to humility. And humility is essential to survival. An accurate memory can straighten out their path. They'll go from walking in circles in the wilderness to stepping in a direct line toward the good life God has for them... if only they will remember what they want to forget.
God keeps his promises. And that means he will lead them into the Promised Land. Life will be good there. And... As Moses explains in Deut. 8, that good life will come with great risk"
““But that is the time to be careful! Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the LORD your God and disobey his commands, regulations, and decrees that I am giving you today.
For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful!
Do not become proud at that time and forget the LORD your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt. Do not forget that he led you through the great and terrifying wilderness with its poisonous snakes and scorpions, where it was so hot and dry. He gave you water from the rock! He fed you with manna in the wilderness, a food unknown to your ancestors. He did this to humble you and test you for your own good. He did all this so you would never say to yourself, ‘I have achieved this wealth with my own strength and energy.’ Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.”
(Deuteronomy 8:11–18 NLT)
God wants his people to remember what they would rather forget. The hard times. The discouraging times. The missteps and mistakes. The snakes and scorpions. The "terrifying wilderness." The grumbling and complaining. The doubts and embarrassments. The enslavements. The rescue and redemption of God. Time and again.
Honest history keeps us humble. That's a theme through the book of Deuteronomy. The word "remember" comes up 23 times in Deuteronomy. "Forget" -- the opposite -- comes up a dozen more.
Our memory is what mines the wilderness for the gems of humility, honesty, and clarity. Our memory brings into this present moment the truth about ourselves, our creator God, and the purpose for which we have been made.
We are proud. Stubborn. And very, very limited. And yet, God loves us, chooses us, rescues us, walks with us. Why? So that God will keep his promises and we can fulfill our purpose -- to love and represent him inside a world gone wrong.
That's why Deuteronomy is littered with reminders like this one from 4:9:
““...watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”
(Deuteronomy 4:9 NLT)
HOME
This week in the story, we're in a time of transition. Moses, a gifted and godly leader, fades from view. Joshua takes his place and moves the Israelites across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. We'll visit some people and places you may recognize like Rahab and Jericho.
But for me, this week, the most poignant moment on the trail will be in some of our final moments with Moses. Now, 120 years old, he climbs Mount Nebo and looks out across the land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants more than 500 years ago. Soon, the people of Israel will have a place of their own.
And there, we will hear the bittersweet reflections of this man of God about "home."
The man who was born to an enslaved family... floated down a river in a basket. Raised in a palace. Ran as a fugitive. And lived in a tent in a hot and windy wilderness for decades following pillars of cloud and fire... It's been a lifetime ago since Moses felt the stability and comfort a steady place to call his own. To call home. And yet... his rugged, nomadic life has given him an insight few ever gain.
Moses has come to understand that home is not a place. Home is a person. A strong, steady, powerful person who shelters him no matter where he happens to sleep. No matter where the journey takes him. Moses writes:
“Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!
Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to the earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.
You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”
For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.
You sweep people away like dreams that disappear. They are like grass that springs up in the morning.
In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered....
“Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away....
Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom...”
“Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good.
Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory.”
(selections from Psalm 90)
Home. Wherever we wander. Wherever we settle down. Take it from Moses...Home is not a place... it's a person.
God is where we live. God is where we belong.
OUTRO
You, my friend, are set to roll. Enjoy the journey this week.
Word and the Wild is a one year Bible adventure with friends. I'm loving it and I hope you are, too.
All you Word and the Wild PLUS community members, I'll be seeing you in THE WILD... our private online community space. Everyone else, don't be a stranger. Subscribe to this podcast and follow Word and the Wild on Facebook for some interaction there.
Word and the Wild is a LineHouse Community. It's part of the LineHouse Community Network, a nonprofit organization with a mission to bring neighbors together to promote awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the Bible.
Because friendship and God's Word change lives and change cities.
And... presented by the LumaVoz podcast network.
And with that, we're out. I'm Owen, I'm your host and your guide. Until next time, I'll see you out there on the trail in the Word and the Wild.