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Be Prepared to Stop

     Now we’ve all heard different people debate if YHVH is a male or a female, silly argument, but then again people can be silly sometimes. But one thing we know in this week’s lesson is, Moshe was a male, no doubt about it. This is because he begins telling everyone in hearing range how old he is. A woman would NEVER do thatJ . He was a hundred and twenty years old that day. How do you know that? It says so in the scripture! Deu. 31:2…He said to them, “I am a hundred and twenty years old TODAY.” If I came up to you and said, I’m 30 years old “today”, wouldn’t you assume that I meant today was my birthday? Whereas, if I said, I’m 30 years old, or even if I said, I’m 30 years old now, neither would make you think today was my birthday. But if I said, I’m 30 years old today, you would probably reply back, happy birthday, or in my case, why are you lying like that, you know betterJ . So they did keep track of their birthdays!

    Now Moshe also says here, he can no longer go out and come in. Now the scriptures tell us that Moshe was in great physical shape when he died (34:7), so what gives here? He only means he can no longer lead them, he cannot lead them across the Jordon and he can no longer go out and in from the wars that will be fought in the new land. But he comforts the people and tells them all is well, YHVH will be with them.

     He then calls for Joshua to transfer the authority over to him in front of all Israel. Moshe wanted to keep things in order, thereby keeping the people in order after his death. He gives a copy of the Torah to the Kohanim, the sons of Levi, and to the elders of Israel. He instructed them at the end of every seven years at Sukkot, when they would assemble themselves together for the feast, the Torah should be read to the people that seventh year. This would be an affirmation that the people still thought the Torah was their foundation and their splendor. Small children were not left at home with a babysitter if you notice. YHVH wanted everyone, including the children, to hear the words of Torah. Children absorb more than you think they can, even when they appear not to be listening. Moshe then instructs the Torah scroll to be laid next to the ark, as a testimony of Israel’s roots.

     As Moshe’s time was running out, YHVH had him summon Joshua and himself to the Tent of Meeting to give them a command. There YHVH appeared to them in a pillar of cloud. It says this pillar of cloud “stood” over the door of the Tabernacle. Now let me ask you something, when was the last time you saw a cloud “stand?” I’ve seen them move and maybe dangle, and appear to float, but I never saw one stand. What would they stand on, cloud feet? So this makes me believe they saw Yeshua incarnate standing there in the door of the Tabernacle in a cloud. He begins to tell them exactly what the people are going to do in the future, and the future isn’t looking too bright. We must remember that YHVH knows the end from the beginning.

     YHVH then told Moshe what would happen. He even wrote it in the form of a song. YHVH knew that we seem to remember things better if we have a tune to go with it. Sometimes we get certain tunes that just pop into our heads from nowhere, and we find ourselves going around the house singing something silly, like the lyrics from an old Conway Twitty song, no, well how about the commercial jingle from Oscar Mayer wieners? Oh pleaasseee, everyone has gotten the Oscar Mayer jingle stuck in their head at one time or anotherJ . But the point is, a song will sometimes be remembered more than a written script. So Moshe wrote the song that day and taught it to the children of Israel. Then Moshe gave it to the Leviim, in order to put the scroll inside the ark as a witness against His people in the future.

     In 31: 29, it states that evil will befall them in the “latter days”, we know back then when this was spoken it was not the latter days, or even close to them. So what generation was this song referring to, humm? Then he called the leaders of the tribes and went over it again in their hearing. YHVH said he would call heaven and earth as a witness (must have 2 witnesses) to record it against them. That famous song was Deuteronomy chapter 32.

     Lately, YHVH has called my attention to signs as I’m driving from place to place. I saw one the other day in the middle of some road construction that read, be prepared to stop (road construction, now there’s something new for Michigan). I thought of all kinds of things connected to that saying, other than what it was there for. Are we prepared to stop doing the worldly ways when we begin walking in the Torah? How willing are we to be open to new revelation truths when we hear it, or are we like a dog on a bone letting go of those old traditions? Are we prepared to stop using every minute of the day as “we please”, as if we owned our own time here? Are we prepared to stop running our own lives? Moshe was prepared to stop when the time came. I’m sure he wanted to live longer, but he was prepared to stop anything when YHVH said it was time. If today YHVH told you to be prepared to stop going some place or doing something in your life you really enjoyed, could you say, ok, no problem? These are all tough questions. Sometimes YHVH calls us to stop doing something that is not a bad thing, it’s a good thing we are doing, but He wants to do a different work with us now and it’s time to stop the present one. He told the children of Israel be prepared to stop relying on Pharaoh and Egypt for your lives now. How much do we rely on YHVH for our every need, our every breath of life? This is not your life, your ministry, your family, your job, or your anything else, it all belongs to YHVH. If you believe any other way and want to walk in YHVH’S Torah, then you’d better be prepared for lots of construction, or should I say, lots of instruction!