These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. – Numbers 36:13

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 29, 2012): Numbers 36

Every once in a while when I was at home my mom and dad would go away for the weekend, leaving my sister and I in the house alone. For a while we had someone come over and look after us while they were away, but finally after one bad dose of weekend care my parents finally came to the conclusion that we were probably safer left alone. So after that time, we were left to fend for ourselves. I looked forward to those weekends. It was not that anything exciting ever happened. Mostly our party activity when mom and dad were away consisted of unlimited television and meals eaten while we were watching the square box. But still ... there was a sense of independence in those weekends. It was an independence that I think every teen yearns for.

But, to get to the independent weekend, we had to go through the final conversation. It was the conversation in which we were reminded one more time of the rules of the house and the responsibilities that we needed to take care of while mom and dad were gone. It was all stuff that we already knew, but the older members of the family still felt that we needed to be reminded of the information. Sometimes the conversation came from mom, but other times it came from dad – although I have to admit that often when dad gave us the conversation, it had the “mom wanted me to talk to you about ...” quality to the conversation.

Later, my wife and I had the same conversations with our children as we would leave for a few days. And I admit it sometimes amazed me how often the departure time got delayed because of “one more thing” that had to be communicated to the kids before we drove out of the driveway.

As we reach the end of Numbers, we are told that the last part of the chapter was simply “the conversation” that God needed to have with Israel before they entered into the Promised Land. Israel was in place on the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho. This was to be the entrance spot of the nation into the land that had been promised to them. And these were the things that the people needed to remember before they crossed the river.

The book of Deuteronomy is the same discussion, but this time the conversation would be between Moses and Israel – these are the last things that you need to know so that you can enjoy the land that you are about to enter into – and the presence of the Living God.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 90

The VantagePoint Community Church Sermon "Hope in the Desert" from the series "The Road" is now available on the Vantagepoint Website. You can find the link here http://www.vantagepointcc.org/The_Road___Hope_in_the_Desert.htm