April 10

OT -- Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24
Moses died and God buried him. Here is Bible trivia for you. God buries no one else in the Bible. He takes a few up to heaven without dying but nobody gets buried by God.
There is tremendous significance in that. God clearly had such great respect for Moses. And Moses really, really, really wanted to go to The Promised Land. God refused to relent. It really seemed sort of trivial to me, the whole whapping of the rod on the stone when he was supposed to just tap. And Moses gave up so much to be God's mouthpiece. Rashi says Moses gave up sex with his oh so beautiful Midian wife, Zipporah. And think of the squabbles the man had to listen to and judge.
Even at the end, when God took Moses up to Mt Nebo and showed him it all, and Moses was still strong, but he didn't get to go. I feel sorry for Moses. One of the medieval rabbis Or HaChaim says that this is not a sacrifice on Moses' part. According to rabbinic tradition, all souls must go through Israel before they can ascend to heaven. Moses was so great, he did not need to pass through Israel in order to ascend. I leave you to decide which one you agree with.

NT -- Luke 13:22-14:6
Why, after they have spent 10 or so chapters questioning Jesus trying to get him to trip up, are the Pharisees silent? Surely, they aren't getting smarter?

Proverbs 12:26
You do have to be careful in friendships. People will definitely lead you astray or down paths you would not have trod. And don't get me started on group mentality. With prom for Matthew this week, I am just in the hold on and pray mode. Then the following week is Cole's. Yes, there is a bunch of wicked involved in this season.

Blessings on you and your meditations. May your readings be illuminated by the Holy Spirit.