Deuteronomy 33:8-11 Levi’s Scattering

 8Concerning Levi he said:

“Give Your Thummim to Levi

and Your Urim to Your godly one,

whom You tested at Massah

and contested at the waters of Meribah.

9He said of his father and mother,

‘I do not consider them.’

He disregarded his brothers

and did not know his own sons,

for he kept Your word

and maintained Your covenant.

10He will teach Your ordinances to Jacob

and Your law to Israel;

he will set incense before You

and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.

11Bless his substance, O LORD,

and accept the work of his hands.

Smash the loins of those who rise against him,

and of his foes so they can rise no more.”

“Because of this, Levi had a blessed place among the tribes of Israel. Moses prayed that the substance of Levi would be blessed and that their enemies would be defeated.” (Guzik)

Genesis 49: 7Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

Levi’s scattering in Israel was a good thing so they could teach Israel the word of God.

Likewise with Christianity, Paul’s persecution led the gospel to be preached in Rome. Nero’s persecution of the Christians led to a dispersion (scattering) of Christianity throughout the region.

Mark 16:15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Are you preaching the gospel to those who will listen?

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 33:7 Judah and the Messiah!

 7And concerning Judah he said:

“O LORD, hear the cry of Judah

and bring him to his people.

With his own hands he defends his cause,

but may You be a help against his foes.”

Genesis 49:

8Judah, your brothers shall praise you.

Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies;

your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

9Judah is a young lion—

my son, you return from the prey.

Like a lion he crouches and lies down;

like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?

10The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the staff from between his feet,

until Shiloh comes

and the allegiance of the nations is his.

10: AMP “The scepter [of royalty] shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes, And to Him shall bethe obedience of the peoples.

11He ties his donkey to the vine,

his colt to the choicest branch.

He washes his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

12His eyes are darker than wine,

and his teeth are whiter than milk.

“Essentially, Moses prayed for the blessing and sustaining of the tribe of Judah, no doubt until it could fulfill its prophetic destiny to bring forth the Messiah.” (Guzik)

Jesus came forth from the tribe of Judah as prophesied in Genesis 49 verse 10. 

As Christmas draws near remember, Jesus is the reason for the season.

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 33:6 Tepid

 6Let Reuben live and not die,

nore his men be few.”

Why a tepid blessing?

Genesis 49: 3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might,

and the beginning of my strength,

excelling in honor,

excelling in power.

4Uncontrolled as the waters,

you will no longer excel,

because you went up to your father’s bed,

onto my couch, and defiled it.

“The tribe of Reuben never did excel; as far as we know, there never came a prophet, a judge, or a king from the tribe of Reuben.” (Guzik)

Let this be a lesson for us. Our relationship to King Jesus is important, it can’t be tepid! You have to be committed and all in!

Are you living for HIS kingdom, are you praying daily for others, does the world know you are HIS?

Your answers are your testimony!

Blessings 

Deuteronomy 33:1-5 Blessing

 1This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

“As he looked at Israel with a shepherd’s heart, he could not leave them without blessing them. It must be this way. Moses could not leave this earth without a final blessing of the people he has loved and served in the LORD for these 40 years.” (Guzik)

2He said:

“The LORD came from Sinai

and dawned upon us from Seir;

He shone forth from Mount Paran

and came with myriads of holy ones,

with flaming fire at His right hand.

3Surely You love the people;

all the holy ones are in Your hand,

and they sit down at Your feet;

each receives Your words—

4the law that Moses gave us,

the possession of the assembly of Jacob.

5So the LORD became King in Jeshurun

when the leaders of the people gathered,

when the tribes of Israel came together.

Has anyone pronounced a blessing over you, your family and your loved ones? If not maybe you can set an example and start a new tradition in your family?

When we adopted our son our pastor performed a dedication and prayed over our family.

What are you waiting for?

Numbers 6: 24‘May the LORD bless you

and keep you;

25may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you

and be gracious to you;

26may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you

and give you peace.’

Blessings 

Count Your Blessings

 Count Your Blessings 

Genesis 1: 31God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good and He validated it completely. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.

Yesterday was a milestone for us. In all our years of marriage we’ve never gone to a tree farm for a Christmas tree. We drove to a local farm and I commented I was Linus and she was Charlie Brown. We searched, decided and harvested a 7’ live tree. After I cut it down she says, that’s not one of those trees that looses all of it needles is it? A line from Christmas Story, lol.

Yesterday we setup and decorated the tree 🌲.

Deuteronomy 28: 8The LORD will decree a blessing on your barns and on everything to which you put your hand; the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you.

Praise the Lord, count your blessings and thank Him for them.

Psalms 37: 4Delight yourself in the LORD,

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Many blessings to all that read this.

Deuteronomy 32:48-52 Judged More Strictly

 48On that same day the LORD said to Moses, 49“Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo, in the land of Moab across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites as their own possession.

50And there on the mountain that you climb, you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

51For at the waters of Meribah-kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you broke faith with Me among the Israelites by failing to treat Me as holy in their presence. 52Although you shall see from a distance the land that I am giving the Israelites, you shall not enter it.”

Judged More Strictly 

“Moses, as the last act of his 120 years, will climb Mount Nebo, and die at the summit of the mountain.” (Guzik)

The Lords priests, preachers, ministers, teachers and overseers are held to a higher standard than the congregation.

James 3: 1Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 

Is it a wonder then that Moses and Aaron wouldn’t step foot into the promised land?

They led the Israelites and disobeyed the Lord so they were judged more strictly.

1 Timothy 3: 2An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife,a temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.

4An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity. 5For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how can he care for the church of God? 6He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same condemnation as the devil. 7Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil.

Do school teachers fall under this biblical standard and will they be judged more strictly?

Blessings 

https://www.gotquestions.org/teachers-judged-more-strictly.html

Deuteronomy 32:44-47 Take to heart all these words

  44Then Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45When Moses had finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46he said to them, “Take to heart all these words I testify among you today, so that you may command your children to carefully follow all the words of this law. 47For they are not idle words to you, because they are your life, and by them you will live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

“Take to heart all these words”

“One of Satan’s great lies to us is that it is a futile thing to serve God and obey His word. It often seems that those who are against God prosper more than those who are for Him. Yet, we need to see and understand - from an eternal perspective - that it is not a futile thing to love and obey God.” (Guzik)

John 3:36 (Amp) He who believes and trusts in the Son and accepts Him [as Savior] has eternal life [that is, already possesses it]; but he who does not believe the Son and chooses to reject Him, [disobeying Him and denying Him as Savior] will not see [eternal] life, but [instead] the wrath of God hangs over him continually.”

Most people live for the here and now and refuse to consider the eternal perspective, that is eternal life. They consider it foolishness, nonsense to believe in God and in the Son who gave us grace and salvation. They refuse to believe that every person has a soul, and as the actors line in a movie said, “when you die there’s a big black nothing”.

But like the rich man and poor man in the Bible you have been warned! 

There’s heaven and hell, which do you choose?

I beg you, “Take to heart all these words” and choose life!

Blessings