Notes

CHAPTER 1

1. George Santayana, The Life of Reason, vol. 1, chap. 12.

2. For an exposition of the book of Numbers, see my book Be Counted (David C. Cook).

3. This is the first time the title “the LORD your God” is used in Deuteronomy (v. 10), and you’ll find it used almost 300 times in the book. Moses used it to remind the Jews that they belonged to the Lord and were His special people.

4. When Joshua was conquering Canaan, twice he relied on human information alone, and both times he failed: when he attacked Ai with a small force (Josh. 7) and when he made a covenant with the Gibeonites (Josh. 9). It isn’t sinful to obtain human information, but it is sinful to lean on our own understanding and not seek God’s direction (Prov. 3:5–6). When Israel asked for a king, God gave them one, but they suffered because of it (1 Sam. 8—9).

5. There was more to this judgment on Moses than just personal chastening. Moses represented the law, and God’s people cannot claim their blessings by obeying the law. It’s a matter of faith in God’s promises, claiming the grace of God. Joshua represented Jesus, for both names mean “Jehovah is salvation.” It is by trusting Christ that we enter into our spiritual inheritance, represented by Canaan (Heb. 4:1–8).

6. Numbers 33 lists without comment the places where Israel camped during those sad years.

7. As with Pharaoh, the process of hardening involved Sihon’s personal response to God’s will. The Lord doesn’t assault people and force them to act against their own wills. The news of Israel’s march had reached Sihon long before the Jews arrived on the scene, and the king had already decided to declare war. As he resisted God’s Word, he experienced a hardening of his heart.

CHAPTER 2

1. Abraham Joshua Heschel, I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology, edited by Samuel H. Dresner (New York: Crossroad, 1996), 73.

2. Roy Zuck, Biblical Theology of the Old Testament (Chicago: Moody, 1991), 232. Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes are the leading “wisdom books” in the Old Testament, and James in the New Testament.

3. We must not read into this an assurance that obedient saints today will automatically experience all the special blessings mentioned in God’s covenant with Israel, such as freedom from sickness, guaranteed material wealth, and a long peaceful life (Lev. 26; Deut. 27—30). No such benefits are promised under the new covenant, for our wealth is primarily spiritual and not material (Matt. 5:1–12; Eph. 1:3ff.).

4. God doesn’t judge the children for the sins committed by the parents (Ezek. 18:1–20), but the consequences of those sins can greatly affect the children. Furthermore, children tend to follow the example set at home and will imitate their parents’ sins. But we must also remember that the godliness of grandparents and parents will bring blessing to their descendants (Ps. 90:16; 103:17–18; Gen. 18:17–19).

5. In the tabernacle and the temple, God did permit the Jews to have copies of various things in nature, but these were there to bring beauty to God’s house and not as objects of worship. God doesn’t prohibit the making of artistic things as such, for He’s the Author of beauty, but only prohibits the making of things that become gods to us. See Art and the Bible by Francis A. Schaeffer (InterVarsity Press).

6. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper, 1961), 9, 11.

CHAPTER 3

1. When Korah, Dathan, and Abiram rebelled against God and Moses, they called Egypt “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Num. 16:13 NIV), but God compared Egypt to an iron furnace (Deut. 4:20; 1 Kings 8:51; Jer. 11:4). Israel’s bondage in Egypt helped to refine them (“an iron-smelting furnace,” Deut. 4:20 NIV) and prepare them for their new life as a nation. However, all that the older generation seemed to remember about Egypt was the food they ate so freely (Ex. 16:1–3; Num. 11:4–6). The pain of their slavery in Egypt was overlooked or forgotten.

2. Moses often reminded the people of God’s promises to the patriarchs: Deut. 1:8, 11, 21, 35; 6:3, 10, 19; 7:8, 12; 8:18; 9:5, 27; 11:9; 19:8; 26:3; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4.

3. The Scriptures written on four pieces of parchment and put into the phylacteries are Exodus 13:1–10; 11—16; Deuteronomy 6:4–9; and 11:13–21. The mezuzah contains 6:4–9; 11:13–21, plus the phrase, “The LORD our God is the LORD.”

4. In verse 5, the “groves” (KJV) or “wooden images” (NKJV) were “Asherah poles” (NIV) dedicated to the goddess Asherah, the consort of Baal. The poles were designed to be phallic symbols, and her worship was associated with grossly immoral practices. The word translated “destroy” is a Hebrew word (herem) that means “to be devoted to God, to be under a ban.” When Joshua conquered Jericho (Josh. 6—7), the city was put under a ban and nothing could be taken as spoils of war. Because Achan took some of the spoils, he robbed God and led the nation into defeat at Ai.

5. We must remind ourselves that the promise of health and material blessing belonged only to Israel under law; it is not promised to the church under the new covenant. Nor should we conclude that the absence of health and material blessing is an evidence of God’s displeasure. This was the error Job’s friends committed when they tried to explain his suffering, and their suggestion was, “Get right with God and He will restore all your blessings.” Of course, that was also Satan’s philosophy (Job 1—2), a philosophy I call “commercial Christianity.” “Commercial Christians” worship and obey God only because He rewards it. In the childhood of the Jewish nation, God used rewards and punishments to teach them obedience, and then He sought to lift them to a higher level.

6. Deuteronomy 20 is the key chapter on Israel’s conduct of war. In verses 10–15, Moses deals with how Israel should attack cities outside the land of Canaan, and verses 16–18 apply to cities in the land of Canaan.

CHAPTER 4

1. Horace Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting in England, vol. 3, chap. 1.

2. In His sermon on the Bread of Life (John 6), Jesus pointed out that, like the manna, He came down from heaven, but that He came to give life while the manna only sustained life. God sent the manna to Israel alone, but He sent His Son to the whole world. Unless we receive Jesus within our hearts, just as the body receives bread, we are not saved. Our Lord’s sermon in John 6 has nothing to do with the Lord’s Supper (Eucharist) or any other religious ceremony. It focuses entirely on having a personal relationship with Jesus through faith. “Eating His flesh and drinking His blood” is metaphorical language for receiving Him personally within.

3. However there are many recorded incidents of God’s provisions for His people in ways that are just as miraculous as anything He did for Israel. For more than thirty years, George Mueller of Bristol, England, trusted God to feed thousands of orphans, and he was never disappointed. Without promoting for funds, J. Hudson Taylor trusted God to provide support for the missionaries of the China Inland Mission, and the Lord was faithful.

4. Hebrews 12:1–15 is the classic text on God’s disciplining of the believer. For an exposition, see chapter 11 of my book Be Confident (David C. Cook).

5. “The outskirts of the camp” was where the “mixed multitude” lived, the non-Jewish people who had left Egypt with Israel (Ex. 12:38). According to Numbers 11:4, it was this crowd that caused the problem, just as unsaved people and carnal believers create problems in churches today. However, the Jews shouldn’t have listened to them and joined them in their complaining.

6. “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” by Isaac Watts.

7. The persons in Jacob’s family are listed in Genesis 46:8–25 according to his wives: Leah—33; Zilpah—16; Rachel—14; Bilhah—7, which totals seventy persons. But Er and Onan were dead (v. 12), so we have a total of sixty-eight, and Joseph was already in Egypt with his two sons, which gives us sixty-five. Adding the daughter, Dinah, gives us sixty-six persons who went to Egypt with Jacob, as stated in 46:26. When you add Jacob and Joseph and Joseph’s two sons, you have a total of seventy persons (Deut. 10:22). Stephen used the number seventy-five (Acts 7:14), which was taken from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which was popular among the Hellenistic Jews. The Septuagint number includes the five grandsons of Joseph (Num. 26:28–37; 1 Chron. 7:14–15, 20–25).

8. Dathan and Abiram lost their lives, their families, and their possessions; but Numbers 26:8–11 indicates that the family of Korah wasn’t judged. The sons of Korah served as Levites and are credited with writing at least eleven psalms (42; 44—49; 84—85; 87—88).

9. The phrase in verse 10 (“watered it with thy foot”) suggests that one of the tasks of the enslaved Jews in Egypt was to keep the irrigation ditches open so the water flowed into the fields. There’s no evidence that the Egyptians had foot-powered irrigation equipment that lifted water from the Nile and distributed it in the fields.

10. Dr. and Mrs. Howard Taylor, Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret (China Inland Mission, 1949), 114. Every believer should read this classic book on faith and spiritual victory.

11. Since Mount Ebal was the mount of cursing, the altar was needed there for sacrifices that could bring forgiveness and restore fellowship with God. The Old Testament sacrifices speak of the work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Heb. 10:1–18), and He bore the curse of the law for us (Gal. 3:10–14).

CHAPTER 5

1. The phrase “in the land” is used five times in chapter 12 (vv. 1, 10, 19, 29). In verses 1 and 19, it’s translated “upon the earth” in the KJV, but “in the land” is the better translation.

2. See Leviticus 1—7 for a description of the various sacrifices the Lord ordained for His people to bring. All of these sacrifices and the rituals connected with them point to Jesus Christ and various aspects of His person and atoning work (Heb. 10:1–18). For an explanation of these sacrifices, see chapter 2 of my book Be Holy (David C. Cook).

3. These laws explain the meaning of Jewish “kosher meats” (also spelled “kasher”), from a Hebrew word that means “fit, right.” The meat is soaked in water for at least half an hour, then covered with salt and allowed to drain on a grate for at least an hour. After the salt is washed away, the meat is ready to be eaten. Obeying the dietary laws in Leviticus 11 is also a part of maintaining a kosher home.

4. Andrew A. Bonar, The Memoirs and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne (London: Banner of Truth, 1966), 29.

5. Bible students don’t agree on whether this man was a true prophet who turned false or a false prophet from the beginning. If he were known to be a false prophet, he would have been killed, but the Jews didn’t always obey the laws involving capital punishment. I take it from 13:1 that the man was a true prophet, which would make the temptation even more insidious.

6. Not everything published about demonism is biblical and dependable, but you may want to read some of these studies: Demons in the World Today, by Merrill F. Unger (Tyndale); The Invisible War, by Donald Grey Barnhouse (Zondervan); The Adversary and Overcoming the Adversary, by Mark I. Bubeck (Moody); Spiritual Warfare, by Timothy M. Warner (Crossway); Powers of Evil, by Sidney H. T. Page (Baker); and The Bondage Breaker, by Neil T. Anderson (Harvest House).

7. For a vivid description of false teachers and their methods, read 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Peter 2; and the epistle of Jude. The closer we come to the return of Christ, the more false prophets and false teachers will appear on the scene (Matt. 24:3–5, 23–27).

CHAPTER 6

1. God had promised that if the people obeyed Him, He would keep from them the diseases they had seen in Egypt (7:15; Ex. 15:26), so perhaps the diet was related to this promise. Common sense tells us that if people have allergies and become ill from eating certain foods, they ought to avoid them. But to find hidden mystical meanings in the cloven hooves, chewing the cud, fins and scales, and the other distinctives in this list is to get more out of the text than the Holy Spirit put into it.

2. The law prohibited Jews from charging interest when they loaned money to fellow Jews (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:37; Deut. 23:19), but the NIV margin translates Exodus 22:25 “excessive interest.” Apparently this law wasn’t always obeyed (Neh. 5:10–12; Ezek. 18:8, 13, 17).

3. On the day after the Sabbath following Passover, which would be the first day of the week, the Jews celebrated the Feast of Firstfruits (Lev. 23:9–14). The priest went into the harvest field and waved a sheaf of the grain before the Lord, indicating that the entire harvest belonged to Him. Passover pictures Christ in His death, but the Feast of Firstfruits pictures Christ in His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20–24). He was the “grain of wheat” that was planted in the ground and produced much fruit (John 12:24). Because Christ is risen from the dead, His people will be raised from the dead and be like Him (1 Thess. 4:13–18; 1 John 3:1–3). The sheaf was waved on the first day of the week, and Jesus arose from the dead and appeared to His disciples on the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1–8; John 20:19ff.). This is one reason why Christians gather together for worship on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1–2).

CHAPTER 7

1. Israel’s social structure was very masculine, as were the societies of most if not all the nations in the ancient world. However, God’s law gave great protection and special care to women and children so that they couldn’t easily be abused and treated like helpless slaves. Moses’ sister, Miriam, was a leader in Israel (Ex. 15:20–21) and Deborah was a famous judge (Judg. 4—5).

2. Isaiah 59 gives a graphic picture of judicial corruption in Judah, and it looks very contemporary!

3. Doing away with idols is one aspect of devotion to the Lord, but giving Him our best is also important (Deut. 17:1). If we truly love the Lord, we will bring Him the very best that we have and not settle for whatever is left over. See Malachi 1:6–14.

4. Quoted in Gwynn McLendon Day, The Wonder of the Word (Fleming H. Revell, 1957), 165–66.

5. Ibid., 170.

6. The description of Solomon’s kingdom in 1 Kings 10 makes it look like a paradise, but it was decaying from within. After Solomon’s death, the people cried out for relief from the heavy burdens they had to carry in order to support Solomon’s luxurious way of life (1 Kings 12). There are hints in the book of Ecclesiastes that, no matter how glorious the kingdom appeared to visitors, there was corruption among the officials, injustice in the courts, and a facade of success that was soon to crumble.

7. Deuteronomy 17:20 suggests that the king was to be “first among equals” and not elevated above his brothers. This was true of Saul in the early days of his reign. After he was anointed king, he returned to his home to help his father (1 Sam. 10:26). When news came to him of the invasion of the Ammonites, Saul was plowing with the oxen (11:4ff.). Unfortunately, Saul became proud and defensive, disobeyed God’s command, and lost his crown. Deuteronomy 17:20 also states that the king would establish a dynasty (see NIV), and if he obeyed God, his descendants would reign after him. Saul’s sons, including Jonathan, were slain on the battlefield (1 Sam. 31; 2 Sam. 1). God had chosen David as the new king (1 Sam. 16; Ps. 78:70–72) and with him established the dynasty through which Jesus Christ came into the world.

CHAPTER 8

1. The priests marched with the Jewish army around Jericho and blew trumpets (Josh. 6:4–21), and a Levite named Jahaziel gave a message of encouragement to King Jehoshaphat before the king went out to battle (2 Chron. 20:14–19). Benaiah, son of Jehoiada the priest (1 Chron. 27:5), one of David’s mighty men, was leader of the king’s bodyguards (1 Kings 1:38) and succeeded Joab as captain of the army when Solomon became king (2:35; 4:4). Priests could become soldiers!

2. The NIV reads, “Are the trees of the field people, that you should besiege them?” God permitted the Jews to wage war against rebellious people but not against His creation.

3. For a man, the shaving of the head and beard would be a humiliating experience (Isa. 7:20; 2 Sam. 10:4–5), and it would certainly be for a woman (1 Cor. 11:15). While in mourning, Jewish men were not allowed to imitate the pagans by shaving their heads and cutting their beards (Lev. 19:27–28), and this especially applied to the priests (21:1–5).

4. The verb translated “let her go” is translated “put her away” (divorce) in 22:19 and 29. Since the marriage had been consummated, they were man and wife, and the marriage could be legally dissolved only by divorce (24:1–4).

5. Some commentators suggest that the husband divorced her because she wouldn’t accept the religion of the Israelites and worship the true and living God. However, nothing in the text suggests this.

6. The fact that a certain city was the nearest to the corpse didn’t mean that one of its citizens was guilty of the crime. It was necessary to involve the leaders of a neighboring city because the elders there knew the terrain and would represent the local citizens. The sanctuary court was in charge, but they respected the local authorities.

CHAPTER 9

1. What the rebellious son did to his parents, the nation of Israel did to the Lord. They disobeyed His law and turned to idols, they wasted the good gifts He gave them, and they hardened their hearts against His chastening. Instead of destroying them, the Lord exiled them in Babylon, allowed them to return to their land, and ultimately sent them His own Son.

2. The main thrust of these verses is that the woman couldn’t return to her first husband. “If a man marries a woman … if he finds some uncleanness in her … if he gives her a certificate of divorce … if she marries another man who subsequently divorces her, THEN she may not return to the first husband.” Moses is assuming that a policy of divorce had been a part of Israel’s life for a long time, and he did not rescind it. This law was given to protect the woman, not to make it easy for the man to divorce her.

3. Under the Jewish law, a woman could not divorce her husband, but in Mark 10:11, Jesus lifted that ban. Mark was writing especially to Gentiles in the Roman world.

4. For example, Jesus and the apostles used principles from the creation account (Gen. 1—3) to explain the relationship of male and female in marriage, in the home, and in the church (Matt. 19:1–12; Mark 10:1–12; 1 Cor. 11:1–16; 1 Tim. 2:9–15).

5. C. F. Keil and F. Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 3, 409.

6. Why would a man pay the bride price (v. 29) and then later try to get rid of his wife? Apparently he had quickly grown to dislike her and wanted to get his money back. Perhaps his wife had discovered something about him that he didn’t want known, and he hoped to get her out of the way. But surely he knew that the marriage cloth would prove him to be a liar. However, when love turns to hatred, people do strange things. See 2 Samuel 13:1–22.

7. Verse 10 describes something unforeseen that happened at night over which the man had no control, but it made the man unclean. It could have been a bodily emission (Lev. 15:16) or defilement from touching something unclean (22:4–9).

CHAPTER 10

1. How much of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy Moses included in “all the words of this law” is not stated. Certainly the Ten Commandments would be written on the stones as well as the “book of the covenant” (Ex. 20:22—24:8).

2. The predictions of the curses God threatened to send on His disobedient people are given in 28:15–68. When God sent judgment to His people for their sins, He was only doing what they agreed for Him to do.

3. “The just shall live by faith” is one of the pivotal verses in Scripture (Hab. 2:4). It’s quoted in the New Testament in Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; and Hebrews 10:38. Romans explains “the just,” Galatians tells us how they “live,” and Hebrews expounds “by faith.”

4. The minimizing of God’s holy law today has produced a shallow evangelism and brought into the churches “religious sinners” who have never repented of their sins because they’ve never felt conviction for their sins. “The person who will not repent still has his or her back turned on God” (A. W. Tozer, Men Who Met God, 45).

5. “Observe and to do” (KJV) is translated “carefully follow” in the NIV and is found also in 16:12; 17:19; 19:9; 24:8; 28:1, 13, 15, 58; 29:9; 31:12.

6. God hasn’t promised to make His spiritual children wealthy, but He has blessed His church with “all the blessings of the Spirit” (Eph. 1:3), and in Christ He has lifted us up “far above all” (vv. 20–23). We must not apply to the church today the covenant promises God gave only to Israel.

7. Job’s friends criticized him because their theology said, “God always blesses the obedient and curses the disobedient.” Since Job had lost his wealth, family, and health, he had to be a disobedient man, for God was punishing him. They didn’t see that God might also be perfecting him. Even our Lord’s disciples thought that if anybody would be saved, it would be the rich people (Matt. 19:16–30). Jesus became poor to make us rich (2 Cor. 8:9), and He promised to bless the poor in spirit (Matt. 5:3; see 2 Cor. 6:10; Rev. 2:9; 3:17).

8. We must not assume that the children’s clothing “grew” with them. God kept the garments from wearing out so that the children coming along had something suitable to wear. The clothing of the adults wouldn’t require that much alteration since the nation was on a simple diet.

CHAPTER 11

1. Idolatry was described as prostitution because Israel had been “married” to Jehovah when she accepted the covenant at Mount Sinai. When condemning idol worship, the prophets often compared the nation to an unfaithful wife. See Hos. 1—2; Isaiah 54:5; Jeremiah 2:1–3; 3:14; 31:32. The New Testament equivalent is loving the world (James 4:4).

2. It isn’t easy to minister when you know that people will reject your messages, but we must be faithful to the end. Years before, Moses knew that Pharaoh would harden his heart (Ex. 7:1–7). Isaiah knew that the nation would become more blind and deaf (Isa. 6), and Jeremiah understood that calamity and captivity would come in spite of his ministry (Jer. 1:13–19).

3. At the end of the apostolic age, several of the churches addressed in Rev. 2—3 were already infected with false doctrine, idol worship, unspiritual leadership, and immorality. By the time you get to the church at Laodicea, Jesus is outside the church trying to get in (3:20)!

4. Modern educational philosophy advises us to use an age-graded approach, but there are times when the whole church needs to be together to hear the Word of God. If the Word is presented with clarity and simplicity, even the children can understand it and learn something from it, and it’s good for families to worship together. The church today needs a John the Baptist who will “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children” and unite our homes and our churches (Luke 1:17).

5. The verb “write” in verse 19 is plural. Both men were involved.

6. In a society that didn’t have printed books or convenient writing materials, a good memory was essential to success. Unlike people in our modern digital age, the Israelites knew how to listen carefully and remember accurately what they heard.

7. A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (Harper, 1961), 9.

8. Ibid., 12.

9. The Lord isn’t called “Father” too often in the Old Testament: Deuteronomy 32:6, [18–19]; Isaiah 63:16; 64:8; Malachi 2:10. See also Exodus 4:22.

10. It’s not likely that verse 8 refers to Genesis 10 and the seventy nations that came from Shem (v. 21ff.), Ham (v. 6ff.) and Japheth (vv. 2–5), and the seventy in Jacob’s family who traveled to Egypt (Gen. 46). Throughout history, nations have come and gone and their number changed.

11. Literally it says, “The little man of the eye,” that is, the reflection of someone who is looking into another person’s eye. The Hebrew word implies “something precious and irreplaceable that must be guarded jealously.” The English word “pupil” comes from the Latin pupillam, which means “apple.” When the word was coined, people thought that part of the eye was a sphere like an apple.

12. “Fat of kidneys of wheat” (v. 14 KJV) simply means “the very finest wheat.” In the sacrifices, the fat of the kidney was a choice part (Ex. 29:13, 22; Lev. 3:3–4, 9–10, 14–15). “Blood of grapes” refers to the richness of the grape juice and the wine (Gen. 49:11).

13. Verse 36 is quoted in Hebrews 10:30 and applied to God’s new covenant people. The phrase in verse 35, “Their foot shall slide in due time,” is the text of Jonathan Edwards’ famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”

CHAPTER 12

1. Genesis 49:28 calls Jacob’s speech a “blessing,” but the only son to whom the word was applied was Joseph (vv. 25–26). Jacob saw his words as a prophecy (v. 1), and he had some hard things to say to and about his sons.

2. The tribe of Simeon was later absorbed into Judah (Josh. 19:1–9). Jacob had exposed the anger of Simeon and Levi and announced that they would be scattered among the tribes (Gen. 49:7).

3. While angels were involved in the giving of the law (Gal. 3:19), the text indicates that the Lord came from the angelic hosts (Dan. 7:10) to Mount Sinai. See NIV margin.

4. Some translate the last clause “between his weapons,” suggesting that God would protect Benjamin in their battles for the Lord.

CHAPTER 13

1. One of the paradoxes of Jewish history is that the Jewish scribes honored the Scriptures and studied them meticulously and yet failed to recognize their Messiah when He appeared. Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39 NKJV). The old hymn said it best: “Beyond the sacred page / I seek thee, Lord / My spirit pants for Thee / O living Word.” (“Break Thou the Bread of Life” by Mary A. Lathbury.)

2. Moses’ first wife had died and he took another wife. “Ethiopian” means “Cushite” and need not be seen as a woman of the black race, although the Bible doesn’t prohibit such marriages (Acts 17:26). Miriam saw the new wife as a competitor to fear instead of a sister-in-law to love.