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Thursday 30 March 2023

Deuteronomy 1:9-18 - You are too heavy a burden

1:9-14

Moses found the task of leading the people too onerous. There were two major reasons for this, one was the sheer number of people, the other, and probably the more serious, was their rebelliousness. I have sometimes heard people talk about the “children of Israel”. This all sounds very nice, but in reality they were a bunch of whingers. They complained their way through the desert. Moses still wanted the people to increase all the more in numbers, knowing that that was God’s purpose, but he needed help in order to do this. So he instructed each tribe to choose some wise and respected men to assist in leadership (Ex 18:25). The people agreed that this was a good idea.


1:15-18

So Moses took the leading men and appointed them as leaders over groups of various sizes. These leaders were to judge all but the most difficult cases between Israelites, and also between Israelites and foreigners. They were to do so fairly, and without fear, “without fear or favour”. It is also notable that the case between an Israelite and a foreigner and one between two Israelites were to be judged in the same way. Moses instructed them how to carry out their tasks.


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