Deuteronomy 1
This is a review of the 12 men who spied out the land of Canaan. There they saw the ancestors of Goliath, called the Anakim there. These were the giants who were described in Genesis 6.
One thing to note...when a word has the "im" ending to it, that means the plural of the noun. For instance in Hebrew, a cherub is a high angel, and a group of them are called cherubim.
Deuteronomy 2
(v.10) The Anakim are mentioned again, as well as in (v.20)
(vv.26-37) Here we have a tough part of the Bible where God orders the Jews to kill every man, woman and child of a tribe. God ordered this because they were families who had giants amongst them, and their DNA was corrupted by Satan.
Deuteronomy 3
(v.11) We see that the king of Bashan was spared, and his bed was nearly 8 feet wide and almost 18 feet long! These were big and scary men, who had supernatural power, and were against God's people...God had to deal with them.
Deuteronomy 4
Moses reminds the people of God's commands and warns of idolatry.
Deuteronomy 5
Moses reminds the people of the Law that God gave them...the 10 Commandments.
Deuteronomy 6
(v.4) This is what is know as the Sh'ma or Shema, since the first word is "hear" and that's what Sh'ma means.
The word for God used here is Elohim, which is a singular noun in the plural tense...indicating the Holy Trinity!
Also, the Hebrew word for "one" is echad, which also indicates a compound unity...the Trinity!
(v.7) This verse is one of the reasons I created this blog...God commands His believers to teach their children about God. We need to do this daily, and in all things. I often point out the presence of God in the weather, in the complexity of our bodies, in nature and its animals. Doing one prayer at night as our "God time" with our kids is not enough...we need to stay consistent and have them know that God is real, and He loves them, by using the things around us to prove that point!
Deuteronomy 7
The Jews are called "God's Chosen People" and we must teach our kids to love and respect the Jews. God did not choose them because they were more righteous and good than all on earth, in fact, in some ways, they were worse than the pagans! God chose the tiny nation of Israel to reveal Himself to the world. If He did it with Rome, then people would fear Rome because of its immense size and power. But tiny Israel has grown mighty, and the only explanation is that God was with them!
Deuteronomy 8
God reminds the Jews that He provided for them for 40 years! They didn't go without food or drink, and amazingly, their sandals never wore out! I remind my kids that they wear out their sandals twice a year, and they aren't traveling many miles for 40 years like the Jews did!
Deuteronomy 9
God reminds the Jews that they failed 40 years earlier, because they feared the giants more than they feared Him. Now, God is reassuring them that He is with them, and they will conquer these giants, and dwell in the land that God gave them!
I take this time to discuss "giants" that we face in this life with my kids:
~finances
~peer pressure
~sickness
~pride
We usually go through a big list, and it changes according to what's happening in their lives at the time. But no matter what makes us fearful, we need to remember that God is with us and we are His. I quote this to make the point:
"What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? ~ Rom 8:31
Deuteronomy 10
God reminds the people that He loves them and gave them the Law to show them that they need God to provide for them. As the Apostle Paul writes in Hebrews 7:7, that he wouldn't have known he was a sinner unless he knew the Law.
Deuteronomy 11
I often hear that the Old Testament God is harsh, and the New Testament God is merciful. This just reveals to me that they don't know the God of the OT...He is loving and merciful, and He reminds us to do the same just as Jesus did in the NT. This is the same loving God in both Covenants!!!
Deuteronomy 12
God tells the people that one day, there will be a special place that is permanent (Temple) that will be much like the Tabernacle.
Also, God reminds the people to stay away from the pagan practices...it leads to idolatry and adultery.
(v.32) The last verse of this chapter reminds us what the Church has been fighting for centuries...the addition and subtraction to God's Word
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