The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 78: The Song of Moses (2023)

Episode Date: March 19, 2023

In today's readings, we trace the route of the Israelites in Numbers and hear the song of Moses in Deuteronomy. Fr. Mike reflects on a hard lesson from these passages; that God will allow us to choose something other than him, even though it hurts us. The readings are Numbers 33, Deuteronomy 32, and Psalm 118. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. Today is day 78, and we have only three days, including today. We have only three days left in Numbers and Deuteronomy. We have only three days left of the desert wanderings. And on the fourth day, we begin Joshua and conquest and

judges. It is a great time. So day 78, we're reading Numbers chapter 33, Deuteronomy chapter 32, the song of Moses we heard about yesterday that was going to be proclaimed and sung again and again so the people of Israel would not forget. And we're also praying Psalm 118. As always, I'm reading from the Revised Standard Version, the Second Catholic Edition of the Bible, and using the Great Dimensional Bible. If you want to download your own Bible in a Year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. You can also subscribe to this podcast and your podcast app to receive daily episodes. As I said, today is day 78. We're reading Numbers chapter 33, Deuteronomy chapter 32, and Psalm 118.

The book of Numbers chapter 33, the stages of Israel's journey from Egypt. These are the stages of the sons of Israel. When they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote down their starting places, stage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. They set out from Ramses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the sons of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them. Upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments. So the sons of Israel set out from Ramses and encamped at Sukkoth. And they set out

from Sukkoth and encamped at Etham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. And they set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-haharath, which is east of Baal-zaphon. And they encamped before Migdal. And they set out from before Haharath and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness. And they went a three days journey in the wilderness of Etham and encamped in Marah. And they set out from Marah and came to Elim. At Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. And they set out from Elim and encamped by the Red Sea. And they set out from the Red Sea and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.

And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and encamped at Dovkah. And they set out from Dovkah and encamped at Alush. And they set out from Alush and encamped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. And they set out from Rephidim and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and encamped at Kibrof Hatava. And they set out from Kibrof Hatava and encamped at Hazeroth. And they set out from Hazeroth Hathavah, and encamped at Hazeroth. And they set out from Hazeroth, and encamped at Rithma.

And they set out from Rithma, and encamped at Ramon Perez. And they set out from Ramon Perez, and encamped at Libna. And they set out from Libna, and encamped at Risa. And they set out from Risa, and encamped at Kehalatha. And they set out from Kehalatha, and encamped at Mount Shephar. And they set out from Mount Shephar, and encamped at Kehalatha. And they set out from Kehalatha and encamped at Mount Shephar. And they set out from Mount Shephar and encamped at Haradah. And they set out from Haradah and encamped at Mechaloth. And they set out from Mechaloth and encamped at Tahath. And they set out from Tahath and encamped at Terah. And they set out from Terah and encamped at Mithkah and they set out from Mithkah and encamped at Hashmonah

and they set out from Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth and they set out from Moseroth and encamped at Bnei Jachan and they set out from Bnei Jachan and encamped at Hor Hagidad and they set out from Hor Hagidad and encamped at Jat Bethah and they set out from Jat Bethah and encamped at Abra Nah. And they set out from Abra Nah and encamped at Ezean Geber. And they set out from Ezean Geber and encamped in the wilderness of Zin, that is, Kadesh. And they set out from Kadesh and encamped at Mount Hor on the edge of the land of Edom.

And Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the sons of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month. And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor. And the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the sons of Israel. And they set out from Mount Hor, and encamped at Zalmonah. And they set out from Zalmonah, and encamped at Punan. And they set out from Punan, and encamped at Oboth. And they set out from Oboth, and encamped at Eyi-Abarim, in the territory of Moab. And they set out from Eim and encamped at Dibon Gad.

And they set out from Dibon Gad and encamped at Alman Dablethem. And they set out from Alman Diblethem and encamped in the mountains of Abirim before Nebo. And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. They encamped by the Jordan from Beth-Jeshimoth as far as Abel-Shittim in the plains of Moab. Instructions for the Conquest of Canaan And the Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, Say to the sons of Israel, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the. When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their molten images and demolish all their high places. And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it. For I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families. To a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. And I will do to you as I thought to do to them. The Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, The Song of Moses Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished in the ears of all the assembly of Israel. Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak,

and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as the gentle rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness to our God. The rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and right is he. They have dealt corruptly with

him. They are no longer his children because of their blemish. They are a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Is not he your father who created you, who made you and established you? Remember the days of old. Consider the years of many generations. Ask your father and he will show you, your elders and they will tell you. When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness he encircled him, he cared for him.

He kept him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. The Lord alone did lead them, and there was no foreign god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, and he ate the produce of the field. And he made him suck honey out of the rock and oil out of the flinty rock, curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with fat of lambs and rams, herds of Bashan and goats, with the finest of wheat and of the blood of the grape you drank wine. But Jerushan waxed fat and kicked. You waxed fat, you grew thick, you became sleek.

Then he forsook God who made him and scoffed at the rock of his salvation. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods. With abominable practices, they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, which were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come in of late, whom your fathers had never dreaded. You were unmindful of the rock that begot you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw it and spurned them because of the provocation of his sons and his daughters.

And he said, I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. They have stirred me to jealousy with what is no God. They have provoked me with their idols. So I will stir them to jealousy with those who are no people. I will provoke them with a foolish nation. For if fire is kindled by my anger and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains, and I will heap evils upon them. I will spend my arrows upon them. They shall be wasted with hunger and devoured with burning heat and poisonous pestilence. And I will send the teeth of beasts against them with venom of crawling things of the dust.

In the open, the sword shall be wreath, and in the chambers shall be terror, destroying both young man and virgin, the sucking child and the man of gray hairs. I would have said, I will scatter them afar. I will make the remembrance of them cease from among men, had I not feared provocation by the enemy, lest their adversaries should judge amiss, lest they should say, our hand is triumphant. The Lord has not wrought all this. For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them. If they were wise, they would understand this, they would discern their latter end.

How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had given them up? For their rock is not as our rock, even our enemies themselves being judges. For the vine comes from the vine of Sodom, and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of poison, their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries? Vengeance is mine and recompense for the time when their foot shall slip for the day of their calamity is at hand and their doom comes swiftly. For the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on their servants when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then he will say, where are their gods?

The rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings. Let them rise up and help you. Let them be your protection. See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no God beside me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, as I live forever,

if I sharpen my glittering sword and my hand takes hold of judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh, with the blood of the slain and the captives from the long-haired heads of the enemy. Praise his people, O you nations, for he avenges the blood of his servants and take vengeance on his adversaries and makes expiation for the land of his people. Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua, the son of Nun. And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, he said to them, Lay to heart all the words which I enjoin on you

this day, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no trifle for you, but it is your life, and thereby you shall live long in the land which you are going over the Jordan to possess. Moses' death foretold. And the Lord said to Moses that very day, Ascend this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab opposite Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I give to the sons of Israel for possession, and die on the mountain which you ascend. And be gathered to your people as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor and was gathered to his people people because you broke faith with me in the midst of the sons of Israel at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin because you did not revere me as holy in

the midst of the sons of Israel. For you shall see the land before you, but you shall not go there into the land which I give to the sons of Israel. Psalm 118, a song of victory. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His mercy endures forever. Let Israel say his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Aaron say his mercy endures forever. Let the house of Aaron say, His mercy endures forever. Let those who fear the Lord say, His mercy endures forever. Out of my distress, I called on the Lord. The Lord answered me and set me free. With the Lord on my side, I do not fear.

What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me. I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations surround me. In the name of the Lord, I cut them off. They surrounded me.

Surrounded me on every side. In the name of the Lord, I cut them off. They surrounded me like bees. They blazed like a fire among thorns. In the name of the Lord, I cut them off. I was pushed hard so that I was falling, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song.

He has become my salvation. Listen, glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. I shall not die, but I shall live and recount the deeds of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. The Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord has made.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beg you, O Lord. O Lord, we beg you, give us success. Blessed be he who enters in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. The Lord is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.

You are my God. I will extol you. I'll give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever Father in heaven we do give you praise your mercy does endure forever and we love you we love you for that

we love you for who you are we love you for all your blessings we love you for your true fatherhood help us to be true sons and daughters of such a good dad. We make this prayer in Jesus's name. Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. So Numbers 33, little recap of all the journeys, which is great. If you ever have a map, this is one of the reasons why we know what the journey of the children of Israel was like in the wilderness from Egypt all the way to the promised land, because in chapter 33 of Numbers, we have the recap of where they journeyed.

But then we also have Deuteronomy 32 and the song of Moses. Now, we heard yesterday that God had said, this is the song that Moses, you're going to get all the children of Israel together and you're going to teach them this song. They need to know this song. And then we heard it today and you're like, wow, that's a harsh song. That is a, that's an intense song. It is a song that is given by the Lord through Moses to the people, which speaks of gosh, well, nothing other than their faithlessness. It speaks that word of prophecy, essentially almost saying that I know what's going to happen. What's going to happen is you're going to be faithless. And when you are faithless, I will let you get what you've chosen.

And I think sometimes this is really, really hard for us to understand that when you're faithless, I will let you get what you've chosen. When you choose other gods that don't exist, other gods you don't know, other gods who have never fought for you, that have never called you by name, that they don't love you, I'll let you have them. Now, the remarkable part about this, well, it's all remarkable, but the thing we need to remember is then when we heard from Psalm 118, we prayed Psalm 118, and there are so many incredible lines of Psalm 118, but even maybe some lines that hopefully interpret

or become the interpretive keys for what we've heard. We have, gosh, his mercy endures forever. We have that line, so powerful. We have, out of my distress, I called on the Lord and he answered me and set me free. With the Lord on my side, I do not fear. What can man do to me? So powerful to be able to have that courage

and confidence in the Lord, just like God spoke to Moses, be strong and of good courage. Like Moses spoke to Joshua, be strong and courageous. And what we're going to hear in the book of Joshua, be strong and courageous. But also we have this, the words of God in Psalm 118 saying that God has fought on my behalf when all the world raged against me. And it's so powerful to pray Psalm 118 because they surrounded me like bees. They blaze like fire among thorns, but in the name of the Lord, I cut them off. So good.

But then we have some harder lines. And the line of 118, verse 18 says, the Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to death. So what is God doing in the song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32? What's he promising him? He's saying, I promise you, I'll let you have what you've chosen. He's chastened me sorely, but I'm not going to abandon you. I will let you get the fact that you want something other than me. I'll let you have that. And you'll see that that

something, anything other than me will let you down. It will actually cause you pain. And I'm going to allow you to experience that pain so that you can know how good I am. So you can know that you actually don't want this brokenness. What you want is me. And this is like, basically, you know, like that can be, that can be a hard lesson, but it's a lesson that every one of us has to learn. I mean, think about any human relationship where there's exclusivity, right? Because God says, I'm a jealous God. There's exclusivity like a husband and wife, for example, where it's like, no, if you're a wife, you get to be jealous of your husband in the sense that like, no, you're mine. And if you're a husband and you get to be jealous of your wife, like, no, you're not

other men's wives. You're my wife. And here's God who says, I get to be jealous of your wife, like, no, you're not other men's wives. You're my wife. And here's God who says, I get to be jealous of you because you don't belong to other gods. You're mine. You're my people. That you are my beloved. And when you give your heart to other things, it breaks my heart. But here's God who says, I'll let you have other things so that you learn.

So that you learn that I truly love you. And maybe I'm the only one who ever has. That's what it means in there. Psalm 118 to hear the words, the Lord has chastened me sorely, but he's not given me over to death. He's allowed me to have what I've chosen, but he has not abandoned any of us. When we are faithless, he remains faithful. Hear these words. When we are faithless, he remains faithful, just like we heard yesterday. This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we beg you, O Lord. O Lord, we beg you, give us success. This is our prayer today. It's our continual prayer that when we encounter in our hearts what was in the hearts of the people of Israel, in the heart of every human being, which is so fickle and faithless.

Lord, make us new this day. Give us your love this day. Bring us home this day. And be a good father to us this day. Praying for you. Please pray for me. Please pray for each other. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.