August 11 ▪ Day 223

Scripture Readings

Proverbs 21:6
Deuteronomy 33–34
Mark 3
Psalms 39

Verse Focus (Proverbs 21:6)

A fortune made by a lying tongue
     is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.

Meditation

Proverbs 21:6 says, “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.” Yowsa! Wealth achieved through deceit or wrongdoing is an illusion because it will quickly disappear. But it is also a snare — the very means of your downfall. Such ill-gotten gains are not only a trap, but they are a deadly trap. If the lying doesn’t lead directly to death, it will lead there indirectly. Perhaps you will not see the consequences until the day of judgment; but God does not forget. He sees those whom you have wronged in your quest for money.

The NKJV translates this proverb a bit differently. “Getting treasures by a lying tongue is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.” Again, yowsa! Those who seek death have a temporary dream of obtaining wealth through fraud. I’m not sure if the goal is fleeting because the people are really seeking death, or if the goal is some kind of last wish to be wealthy before they die.

It also occurs to me that the fraudulent wealth could be a vapor simply because it does not truly satisfy the ungodly. For the greedy, no amount they obtain will ever be “enough.” So there is no pleasure in the money; they only want more than what they have.

Father God, give us contentment with the material goods you have given us. Do not let us hunger for more wealth or be tempted to gain it by fraudulent means. Help us to remember that things obtained through deceit are but a mist. Keep us far from lying tongues! By the grace of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Today we read the final two chapters of Deuteronomy, and we complete the portion of the Old Testament known as the Torah, or the Law. Moses gives his blessing on Israel in chapter 33. Chapter 34 is a brief chapter that speaks of the death of Moses. Although Moses is credited with writing all the books of the Pentateuch, presumably this final chapter was written by Joshua (although Moses could have written it as prophecy).

The blessings that Moses gives to Israel in Deuteronomy 33 will inevitably draw comparisons to the blessings that Jacob bestowed on his sons in Genesis 49. But there are some peculiarities about Moses’ blessings. When the tribes of Israel are listed in the Old Testament, usually they are listed in birth order, as it was in Genesis 49. Sometimes, Judah is listed first because of the kingly role that would fall to Judah (at the same time, not listing Reuben first is meant to remind us that Reuben lost his birthright — and his leadership role — for sleeping with his father’s concubine).

But the order in which Moses blesses the tribes does not match any known pattern that I can recognize. Moses blesses Reuben first, then Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph (also mentioning Ephraim and Manasseh), Zebulon and Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali, and Asher. They are not listed in birth order, not listed according to their mothers, not listed in by the relative sizes of the tribes, not ordered by their camp formation lists, and not listed by according to who would give blessings and who would give curses when they enter the Promised Land. Furthermore, Simeon is not called out by name during the blessings. He is omitted from Moses’ list (although there are blessings for the entire nation of Israel which would also fall on Simeon).

Perhaps you recall when we studied Revelation 7 (on June 24th, Day 175) we found out that the tribe of Dan was missing from the list of tribes of Israel. Ephraim was also missing from the Revelation 7 list. At that time, I referred those who were interested to an explanation on the Internet (Verse by Verse Ministry: Why is the Tribe of Dan missing in Revelation 7?). This article points out that it was not unusual for an Old Testament list of tribes to omit one or more of the tribes. Frequently, Levi was the one being omitted since their tribe would not receive an inheritance of land. The article argues that the omission of Dan and Ephraim in the Revelation 7 list is meant to draw our attention to the idolatry of those two tribes as noted in the book of Judges.

Some of the explanations as to why Simeon is missing from Moses’ list come to a similar conclusion. By the time the tribes were about to enter the Promised Land, Simeon was the smallest of all the tribes. They lost 63% of their numbers between the first census and the second census. Many believe that this was due to the incident of idolatry at Peor (Numbers 25). It was a Simeonite man who was killed with his Midanite mistress by Aaron’s grandson Phinehas; 24,000 Israelites died in the plague that God sent because of the idolatry. Although the Scripture doesn’t note a specific tribe as being more involved in the Baal worship than other tribes, there is a theory that the tribe of Simeon was particularly affected (accounting for their dramatic decrease in size by the second census). Thus, some interpret that Simeon was specifically not listed in Moses’ blessing as a way to draw attention to their idolatry.

Others point out that Simeon’s inheritance of land ended up being taken from inside of Judah’s allotment. Thus they see Simeon as sharing in the blessing being given to Judah.

Finally, others believe that Simeon was not listed in order to make a total number of 12 tribes. Of course, to make the count come out to 12 tribes, you ignore the mention of Joseph but count the two sons Ephraim and Manasseh (v. 13-17). But frequently the list of tribes includes only 12 names, to go along with the 12 sons of Jacob — even though Jacob took Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh in place of Joseph. So, even though there are actually 13 tribes, many of these lists will give only 12 names — and that’s why some believe that Simeon was omitted — simply to make the listing conform to a pattern of symmetry.

Moses’ blessing for Reuben is not particularly effusive. “Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few,” Moses says in verse 6. Wow! Reuben gets to continue to exist. Generous. Perhaps this meager blessing is meant to remind us that it was two Reubenite men who challenged Moses for the leadership of Israel in Korah’s rebellion (Numbers 16).

Levi and Joseph both receive more elaborate blessings. Since Levi is Moses’ own tribe, and since they would not receive an inheritance of land, it makes sense to me that Moses is more effusive about this particular tribe. The blessing on Joseph, and on Manasseh and Ephraim (the younger son of Joseph, who was indeed blessed numerically far beyond his elder brother), is the most lengthy of all the blessings. Perhaps this is a bit of prophecy since much of the Northern Kingdom was dominated by Ephraim (even though officially it was made up out of ten of the 12 tribes of Israel). Indeed, the first king of the Northern Kingdom — later known as Samaria — was from the tribe of Ephraim.

I particularly like Naphtali’s blessing — “sated with favor, and full of the blessing of the LORD (v. 23),” as well as Asher’s blessing — “as your days, so shall your strength be (v. 25).” And I also like what Moses says about Israel in verse 27, “The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Apparently, revocalization of verse 27 yields the translation, “He subdues the ancient gods, and shatters the forces of old.”

Moses dies in Deuteronomy 34, after seeing the length and breadth of the Promised Land from Mount Nebo in Moab. Verse 6 tells us that God Himself buries Moses in the valley of Beth-Peor, although no one knows the exact location of his resting place. Even though Moses was 120 years old when he died, verse 7 tells us, “His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.” This sounds like a very good death to me — Moses did not suffer from diminished physical strength or from any of the senile dementias that affect so many of the elderly in our society. And it was apparently quick. God was merciful. And so Israel mourned for Moses for 30 days in the “plains of Moab” in the Jordan valley (v. 8).

Mark chapter 3 begins with the incident where Jesus heals a man with a withered hand in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. The others in the synagogue were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. But Jesus asks them in verse 4, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But no one answers Jesus. They are silent, refusing to reply. This makes Jesus angry, says verse 5. He also grieves at their stubbornness and the hardness of their hearts. So Jesus heals the man. And the Pharisees start plotting with the Herodians as to how they might be able to “destroy” Jesus (v. 6).

Anger and grief. What does this teach us about God? Is He always angered at our stubbornness? Does He always grieve when our hearts are hard? I think He must.

The Pharisees and others in the synagogue refused to even engage with Jesus. They did not speak — perhaps because they knew their dislike of Jesus was completely unreasonable. Even though they looked to find ways to accuse Jesus, the reasons they eventually came up with were only camouflage for their illogical hostility. So they could not discuss Sabbath observance rationally.

Jesus’ reaction to these men is more complex than I would have guessed. I might have thought either anger or grief, but not both of them together. Indeed, when the Old Testament writes about times that God gets angry with the Israelites, it seems like that’s all He feels at that time. The Israelites provoke Him, His patience comes to an end, and He is ready to pour out His wrath. But even when God is angry, He stays reasonable. Moses was able to talk God out of destroying the Israelites on more than one occasion (Exodus 32, Numbers 14). So even though what we hear about in these Old Testament passages is the wrath, God’s compassion and mercy and lovingkindness are still very much a part of the picture as to what God chooses to do.

Even in our chapter today, we hear of Jesus’ anger and grief. But his mercy and compassion are also in play — Jesus heals the man’s hand. And if he did not love us, he wouldn’t have come in the first place or suffered through all these small indignities during his ministry — not to mention dying on the cross for us.

At the end of Mark 3, Jesus says in verse 35, “For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” This is key to understanding what God wants from us, and how we connect with Him. Those who do God’s will are his family members. So, what is family? Connection and love, of course. But isn’t there also a like-mindedness that is often true of families? They share values and experiences. They have ways of doing things, and ways of reacting to things. If we do God’s will, we are becoming like-minded with Him. We do His will because of our love for Him.

Doing God’s will allows us to live in harmony with Him. But in order to do His will, we have to know Him. We have to know His word, and His priorities. We have to pray — communicate with Him. All of this — intimate knowledge, harmony, communication — that sounds like family to me. Or at least what family should be (I know that many of us have dysfunctional families in our background).

In Psalm 39, David resolves not to sin by what he says. So he holds his tongue, but soon finds it increasingly difficult to remain silent. “The fire burned,” says David in verse 3, “then I spoke with my tongue.”

Based on what David actually says in verses 4 and 5, it’s not clear to me if these words are meant to be sinful or not. I don’t see anything wrong with what’s he’s saying, but it may not be the words so much as where his heart is. Is David complaining? When he says “my lifetime is as nothing before you (v. 5)” is that meant as a criticism? Or is it a form of worship — a recognition of how much vaster God is than humankind?

Judging by his words at the very end of the psalm, David is feeling bitter and stressed. “Remove your stroke from me; I am spent by the hostility of your hand,” he says in verse 10. As much as we might feel like God is against us, faith tells us that He is not. Faith teaches us that God loves us, and even when He disciplines us with circumstances it is for our benefit.

So perhaps David did not succeed in not sinning with his mouth — especially since it’s clear that his heart is grieved and hurting. But it’s always good to have a conversation with God, even if what you’re saying is how you feel forgotten. How we feel may often contradict the reality of God’s goodness. But how can God comfort us unless we turn to Him? As David says in verse 7, “My hope is in you.”

Father God, thank you that you accept us and love us and comfort us, even when our heart believes things about you that are contrary to your character. Thank you that we can always pray about the things that hurt us, worry us, and confuse us. Thank you for the things I learned today from your word. Thank you for your mercy to Moses, and for using him to teach us. Continue to open our eyes, and reveal your heart to us. Help me not to grieve you by having a hard heart. Enable me to do your will. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, Amen.