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Joshua 2 | Psalms 123, 124 & 125 | Isaiah 62 | Matthew 10

When Joshua sends two spies into the city of Jericho, the men lodge in the house of Rahab, who was a prostitute (Josh. 2:1), likely in an attempt to stay under the radar of Jericho’s officials. The people of Jericho discover that Israelites have come into their city, but when the king sends a messenger to Rahab, asking her about the location of the spies, she lies to them, telling the king’s officials that they had recently left the city altogether (Josh. 2:3–5). In fact, Rahab had hidden them in stalks of flax on her roof (Josh. 2:6).

Why would this woman turn against her own people and protect the Israelite spies? The answer is simple: she has come to fear Yahweh. The people of Jericho have heard all that Yahweh has done for Israel and a great dread has fallen over them (Josh. 2:8–11). But while this dread could have caused Rahab to betray the spies, she instead chooses to throw her lot in with theirs. She begs, then, that the men would spare the lives of her and her family when the army of Israel comes against Jericho (Josh. 2:12–13).

The spies promise that they will do as she asked, but only on the condition that she hang a scarlet thread outside her window. Just as Yahweh had passed over the Israelite houses with the blood of a lamb smeared on the doorframe, so also Israel would pass over any in the woman’s house when they saw the scarlet thread in her window.

As we will see in Joshua 6, the men of Israel keep their promise to Rahab and her family and spare their lives on the basis of the scarlet thread hanging out of her window—a beautiful picture of how God redeems his people. This story proclaims in advance the fact that King Jesus will one day come again to destroy the wicked from the earth, a fact that should cause dread to fall on the inhabitants of this earth who have rebelled against him. And yet, Jesus provides his own scarlet thread—his shed blood at the cross—so that any who trust in him will be spared from the wrath to come.

But the story doesn’t end there. Because of her faith, Rahab’s story is included in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11:31. And even more than that, Rahab the prostitute married a man named Salmon, the father of Boaz. Boaz married another foreign woman named Ruth, who gave birth to Obed, the father of Jesse. And Jesse was the father of a boy named David, the ancestor (according to the flesh) of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:5–6).

The sovereign grace of God can reach, redeem, and commission even the least deserving of sinners—not only Rahab, but also you and me.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Joshua 1 | Psalms 120, 121 & 122 | Isaiah 61 | Matthew 9

In Joshua 1, we see one of the most extreme transitions in the whole Bible—for the first time since Exodus 1, Israel is without Moses. But at the same time, this first chapter carefully connects the leadership of Joshua back to the leadership of Moses, providing a glimpse into the path Joshua will eventually take to complete the work that God began under Moses.

First, Yahweh transfers the mantle of leadership from Moses to Joshua bluntly in Joshua 1:2: “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.” While Yahweh does not fail to acknowledge that Moses (“my servant”) was special, he doesn’t suggest in the least that losing Moses is going to end the mission. Instead, he tells Joshua exactly what to do to lead Israel into the land of Canaan.

Keep in mind that Israel has been in the wilderness for a full forty years at this point. No one who actually witnessed the signs and wonders that Yahweh had done to bring Israel out of Egypt is alive anymore, aside from Joshua and Caleb (Num. 14:26–38). The people Joshua will lead have known no life other than wandering in the wilderness, but there will be no further delays. Yahweh commands Joshua to lead the people into Canaan immediately.

Second, the watchword for Joshua’s ministry is “Be strong and courageous,” a phrase that occurs four times in this chapter alone (1:6, 7, 9, 18). If you recall, this was the encouragement that Moses had personally spoken to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7, and Yahweh used it to commission Joshua at that point Deut. 31:23)—but now is when the burden of leadership will require Joshua to be strong and courageous.

Third, Yahweh tells Joshua explicitly in Joshua 1:7–8 that he must be careful to obey the law of Moses. This is critical because it demonstrates that the law was not just Moses’s pet project or hobby horse; rather, the law was Yahweh’s law, and Yahweh expects his law to continue governing Israel. The fact that Israel has a new leader does not mean that Israel has a new law. Instead, the ministry of Moses would serve as the foundation for the ministry of Joshua.

Fourth, Joshua reaffirms the decision of Moses (Num. 32) to give the Reubenites and the Gadites the land east of the Jordan, provided that they go to war until Israel gains all the land of their inheritance (Josh. 1:10–18).

In Joshua 1, we see God’s relentless, eternal focus. God continues to bury his workmen, while continuing his work—and not only after the death of Moses, but in our lives and churches also until the day that Jesus Christ returns to lead his people forever into their inheritance.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 33–34 | Psalm 119:145–176 | Isaiah 60 | Matthew 8

The shadow of Moses’s impending death hangs over the entire book of Deuteronomy. But, as the people move on into the Promised Land after the death of Moses (which we finally read about here in Deuteronomy 34), it will not only be Joshua who will lead the people. Additionally, the priests and the Levites will also begin to take a more prominent role in the spiritual leadership of Israel. Therefore, in Deuteronomy 33:8–11, Moses lays out the three primary duties that the tribe of Levi will take up.1

First, the chief duty of the priests and the Levites would be to teach the law to the rest of Israel: “They shall teach Jacob your rules and Israel your law” (Deut. 33:10). Where Moses had played the role of lawgiver and chief teacher in Israel, it becomes the responsibility of the Levites to ensure that the entire nation knows and understands Yahweh’s law as Moses goes to his death.

One of the greatest fulfillments of this responsibility comes in Nehemiah 8, where we see the priest Ezra reading from the Book of the Law to the people of Israel, while the Levites “helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading” (Neh. 8:7–8).

Second, the priests were called to intercessory prayer for Israel. To get at this idea, Moses says, “they shall put incense before you” (Deut. 33:10). The smoke of the incense symbolized the priests’ prayers ascending as a pleasing aroma to Yahweh. In Revelation 5:8, this becomes explicit. There, we see the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders falling down before the Lamb, “each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.”

Third, the priests were called to make atoning sacrifices on behalf of the people: “they shall put…whole burnt offerings on your altar” (Deut. 33:10). Without atonement, the people of Israel could not retain their standing before Yahweh. The burnt offerings had to die—the lives of the bulls, goats, and lambs in exchange for the lives of Israelites—and it was the sole responsibility of the priests to offer those sacrifices.

In the new covenant, we have only one high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 8:1–6), but all of us are called to be a holy priesthood as we minister to one another and worship the Lord (1 Pet. 2:5). Therefore, Jesus has commanded his church to continue teaching and preaching his word, to pray for one another, and to point one another back again and again to his once-for-all sacrifice.

To what extent are you fulfilling your priestly duties in ministry to fellow believers and in worship?

1 Allen P. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2006), 212–13.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 32 | Psalm 119:121–144 | Isaiah 59 | Matthew 7

Moses has given the entire law to the people of Israel, but in Deuteronomy 32, he takes a different approach to impress upon his people the necessity of obeying Yahweh: he sings to them a song. In this song, Moses acts out the story of Israel’s history with Yahweh and then he warns them of the dangers of departing from their covenant.

To begin, Moses calls heaven and earth to give ear to the words of his mouth (Deut. 32:1)—possibly to bear witness against Israel if they violated the covenant of which he was singing, as in Deuteronomy 30:19. He praises Yahweh as the eternal Rock, whose work in creation is perfect, even though humankind rebelled against him, dealing corruptly because of the blemish of the fall (Deut. 32:4–8).

But Yahweh, Moses sings, nevertheless extended free grace to Jeshurun (i.e., to Jacob and Jacob’s descendants; Deut. 32:9), calling his people out of the desert wilderness, feeding him with the finest foods and foaming wine (Deut. 32:9–14). And when Jeshurun grew fat under the blessings of Yahweh, he did not praise God with gratitude but instead sought out false gods. Because of this false worship, Moses sings of the curses that Yahweh sends against Jeshurun (Deut. 32:15–42).

While some of what Moses sings here might represent key sins that have already happened—for example, the incident with the golden calf (Ex. 32) or the Baal worship at Peor (Num. 25)—the primary purpose is to be a warning to the people of Israel not to rebel. So, Moses solemnly charges them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess” (Deut. 32:46–47).

Singing is an important part of the worship of God’s people. When we sing the story of creation, sin, redemption, and the hope of glory, we engage with the story in a different way than when we simply read it or listen to it—by singing it, we engage with the story personally.

So, we are commanded to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Col. 3:16). Just as Moses commanded the people of Israel to take to heart all his words, so we are commanded to let Christ’s word dwell in us richly.

“Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” (Psalm 95:1).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 31 | Psalm 119:97–120 | Isaiah 58 | Matthew 6

There is an engraved marble memorial at Westminster Abbey in London dedicated to John and Charles Wesley, the great leaders of the Methodist movement in the eighteenth century. At the base of the monument are the words of Charles: “God buries his workmen, but carries on his work.” In Deuteronomy 31, we are rapidly approaching the burial of one of God’s greatest workmen, Moses, and we begin to see how God will carry on his work.

Moses, because of his failure at Meribah to uphold Yahweh as holy (Num. 20:10–13), is not allowed to enter into the Promised Land, despite the fact that he had led Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness for forty years. Instead, Yahweh here commissions Joshua to take over the leadership of Israel and to bring them into the land (Deut. 31:14–15, 23), since Joshua had been the faithful servant of Moses and had been one of the two spies who believed that Yahweh would give the land of Canaan to Israel (Num. 14:6–9). So at this point, Moses can only prepare the people who will enter the Promised Land without him.

This is a theme that will come up again and again through the Old Testament—that no leader of God’s people can bring total, lasting salvation. Moses does far more than anyone before him has done to shepherd Israel by leading them out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and into the wilderness, but even he is not allowed to enter into Israel’s inheritance.

After him, Joshua will lead Israel to a complete conquest of Canaan, so that at the end of his life he can claim that “not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you” (Josh. 23:14), but after he dies, Israel quickly falls into idolatry and sin. Later, King David brings peace to Israel by defeating all their enemies, but he is not allowed to build the temple. David’s son Solomon builds the temple, but he himself falls into idolatry because of his many foreign wives.

The whole Old Testament, then, points forward longingly to a savior who would be capable of bringing total, lasting salvation to God’s people. Only Jesus fulfilled his mission without stumbling at any point, and only Jesus could say at the end of his life, “It is finished” (John 19:30). But even now, those of us who live on this side of the coming of Jesus must wait until he comes again to enter into our everlasting inheritance.

Until then, God will continue burying his workmen but carrying on his work.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 30 | Psalm 119:73–96 | Isaiah 57 | Matthew 5

Back in Deuteronomy 10:16, Moses had commanded the people of Israel to circumcise the foreskin of their hearts, and here in Deuteronomy 30, heart circumcision appears again as the key to unlocking the meaning of the entire Mosaic covenant.

Moses first instructs Israel about what they should do after they are scattered among the nations for disobeying the covenant (Deut. 30:1–10). If Israel begins to obey Yahweh’s commandments, then Yahweh will restore his people. But when Yahweh brings his people back after their exile, things would be different: “And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deut. 30:6).

The commandment Yahweh has given Israel, Moses insists, is not too hard for them (Deut. 30:11)—it is not as though Moses has asked them to ascend into heaven or to cross the wide oceans in order to discern Yahweh’s will (Deut. 30:12–13). Rather, “the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it” (Deut. 30:14). “Therefore,” Moses pleads, “choose life, that you and your offspring may live” (Deut. 30:19).

On the one hand, Moses is correct—Yahweh graciously unveiled his entire law through Moses at Mount Sinai, keeping nothing back. But on the other hand, obedience is not simple—not because the law is difficult, but because our hearts are sinful. For this reason, Israel ultimately failed to keep Yahweh’s covenant.

This is why the promise that Yahweh would circumcise his people’s hearts is so critical. If Israel must circumcise their own hearts, they will fail, but if Yahweh himself, by the work of his Holy Spirit, gives his people new life so that they love Yahweh and want to keep his commandments, then the commandments are no longer burdensome.

In the New Testament, we discover how Yahweh fulfilled this promise. First, God sent his Son Jesus Christ not only to cancel the debt of the law that we owed through the cross (Col. 2:14) but also to fulfill every aspect of the law’s demands in our place (Matt. 5:17–20). Second, God circumcised the hearts of all who trust in Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 2:29; Col. 2:11–12). Third, because of the heart circumcision that the Spirit has worked into our hearts, the Apostle John tells us that finally God’s commandments are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).

Heart circumcision was always the lynchpin. Without it, the law could only incite us to further sin (Rom. 7:7–24). But, because God kept his promise to circumcise his people’s hearts through Christ, we have come to enjoy the blessings of God’s covenant, now and forevermore.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 29 | Psalm 119:49–72 | Isaiah 56 | Matthew 4

In Deuteronomy 29–30, Moses renews Israel’s covenant with Yahweh one final time before his death. First, just as he had done at the beginning of Deuteronomy, Moses recounts the gracious provisions of Yahweh through Israel’s history in Deuteronomy 29:2–9. This historical prologue sets the context of Yahweh’s covenant by reminding Israel once again that grace—not law—came first.

Second, Moses points out the fullness of the congregation standing before him: “You are standing today all of you before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp…” (Deut. 29:10–11). No one was excluded from this covenant, so it would be everyone’s responsibility to watch vigilantly for any tribe or even any person whose heart began to turn from worshiping Yahweh to worshiping other gods (Deut. 29:18). Such people were bitter roots whose influence would bear poisonous fruit for the nation of Israel (Deut. 29:18), leading the entire nation into the covenant curses (Deut. 29:20–28).

Third, Yahweh’s covenant extended beyond that first generation. Moses explains, “It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today” (Deut. 29:14–15). Just as that generation was inheriting the covenant promises that Yahweh had sworn to their fathers (Deut. 29:13), so the generations after them would inherit the covenant too.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed, he prayed something similar by asking his Father to bless not only his disciples but future generations as well: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” (John 17:20). The covenant he was making through his broken body and shed blood was not for his disciples alone but also for subsequent generations who believed in him through their eyewitness accounts of his crucifixion, death, resurrection, and ascension.

Passing down God’s covenant to our children is perhaps our most urgent task in this world. Even though we know that Jesus has taken our covenant curses so that we might receive his covenant blessings, it is nevertheless the case that anyone who spurns God’s covenant by spurning the Son of God will face a more severe punishment (Heb. 10:26–31).

Let us therefore keep vigilant watch among ourselves, and among those in our midst, exhorting anyone who says in his heart, “I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” since “This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike” (Deut. 29:19). May God have mercy on us and on our children for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 28 | Psalm 119:25–48 | Isaiah 55 | Matthew 3

Deuteronomy 28 is at the same time an inspiring and a horrific chapter in the Bible, laying out Yahweh’s covenant blessings and his covenant curses. These two lists were so important that they would be used again later in a larger ceremony that would come after Moses’s death. Just as Moses had mentioned briefly back in Deuteronomy 11:26–32, Israel was to remind one another of these blessings and curses after they took possession of the land of Canaan.

In that ceremony, six of the tribes were to stand on Mount Gerizim for the covenant blessings: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin (Deut. 27:12). Then, the other six tribes were to stand on Mount Ebal for the covenant curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali (Deut. 27:13). In Joshua 8:30–35, Israel fulfills this commandment, gathering on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal to announce the blessings and the curses to one another.

The striking feature of these blessings and curses is that they correspond to one another. If Israel obeys, Yahweh promises to give Israel fruitfulness in their fields, wombs, and flocks (Deut. 28:3–4), to provide plenty of food (Deut. 28:5), to protect Israel from their enemies (Deut. 28:7), and to bless Israel with unbounded prosperity (Deut. 28:8–14). On the other hand, if Israel disobeys, Yahweh promises to curse their fields, wombs, and flocks (Deut. 28:16–18), to hand them over to their enemies (Deut. 28:25–51), and to bring devastating poverty upon them (Deut. 28:52–68).

One of the most graphic curses promised here is that Yahweh would send Israel such desperate starvation in the midst of a military siege that even the most refined woman among them would eat her own children (Deut. 28:56–57). Sickeningly, we read twice in the book of Lamentations that the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem accomplished exactly that result (Lam. 2:20, 4:10).

Deuteronomy 28 is not a pleasant chapter to read, but the theological principle that we should glean from this is that Yahweh is a faithful God who keeps his covenant. So, when his people disobey and he sends his curses upon them, he is doing so not out of spite but because he is faithful to keep his word.

But at the same time, Yahweh remains faithful to his people even when they do break his covenant. In order to be faithful in both directions—executing his curses and extending his blessings—Yahweh sends his Son to bridge the gap, taking upon himself our curses so that we might receive the covenant blessings that Jesus Christ alone merited.

The cross, then, fulfills not only Deuteronomy 28 but also Lamentations 3:22–23: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 27 | Psalm 119:1–24 | Isaiah 54 | Matthew 2

At the end of Deuteronomy 26, Moses concludes his second giving of the law. Through the entire book of Deuteronomy, Moses had been giving an extended sermon to exhort Israel to abide in God’s law. But after proclaiming the whole law to Israel, Moses now—before he dies—explains to Israel the covenant renewal process in which they would partake as they entered into the Promised Land.

So, Moses first insists that, after the people have entered into the land, they should write the law on large stones in plaster as a permanent memorial (Deut. 27:1–4). Then, Moses commands Israel to build an altar of uncut stones, where they would sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings, rejoicing before Yahweh.

This ceremony, then, with the proclamation of the law, the burnt offerings, and the peace offerings, would resemble the feast that Israel enjoyed in the presence of Yahweh at the ratification of their covenant on Mount Sinai back in Exodus 24. At that feast, Israel’s chief men saw God as they ate and drank, but God did not lay his hand on them (Ex. 24:11). But sadly they would feast with Yahweh on that day without Moses.

On that day, Yahweh would guide his people Israel according to their covenant law and by their covenant sacrifices but without Israel’s great covenant mediator. Israel would have other covenant mediators—other prophets, priests, and kings who would intercede with Yahweh on behalf of Israel—but never again would a great mediator arise like Moses, whom Yahweh knew face to face (Deut. 34:10).

This creates a great tension through the rest of the Old Testament, where Israel wanders about like sheep without a shepherd. Moses was the greatest hope that Israel would see, but even he could not accompany Israel into the Promised Land.

This tension does not resolve until we read about the coming of the Good Shepherd, who takes compassion on the lost sheep of Israel. But Jesus, the new prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15), did not merely ratify again the old covenant that Yahweh had made with Israel at Mount Sinai—instead, he came to be the mediator of a new covenant, a covenant sealed with his own broken body and shed blood (Matt. 26:26–29) as he spoke his own commandments to his people (John 13:31–35).

Moses’s dying plea points forward to covenant fellowship with God—at first, through the temporary covenant that God’s people would break, but ultimately through the eternal covenant ratified with the precious blood of our great shepherd of the sheep. And according to this covenant, may the God of peace now “equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:21).

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Deuteronomy 26 | Psalms 117–118 | Isaiah 53 | Matthew 1

For the people of God, giving is never meant to be a burdensome task. Deuteronomy 26 teaches us why we ought to give, using two events that were to happen when Israel took possession of the Promised Land: the offering of the firstfruits (Deut. 26:1–11) and the third-year tithe (Deut. 26:12–15).1

First, upon moving into the land—a land that came prepopulated with vineyards and olive trees that Israel did not plant (Deut. 6:11)—Yahweh commanded Israel not to eat of the first year’s crop that they would harvest. Instead, they were to offer as a tithe the firstfruits of the land that Yahweh had given them out of his free grace and mercy.

As Israel brought their offering to the place Yahweh would choose, they were to repeat the story of how Yahweh had brought them into this good land, a story that concluded with this line: “And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me” (Deut. 26:10).

Second, at the end of every third year, Yahweh had commanded Israel to give generously to the poor in their midst—that is, to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow—as well as to the Levites, who did not receive an inheritance of their own (Deut. 26:12). Moses had explained this requirement earlier in Deuteronomy 14:28–29, but he adds here another liturgy to repeat during that tithe, where the worshiper would swear that he had obeyed all the voice of Yahweh in regard to his tithe (Deut. 26:13–14). Then, the worshiper would pray, asking Yahweh to bless his people Israel (Deut. 26:15).

These two ceremonies illustrate two principles surrounding our giving. The first reminds us that everything we receive comes to us as a gift from the hand of our gracious God, a principle underscored in James 1:17: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” The second points us back to our calling, that we who have been blessed ought to be a blessing to others. As Jesus reminded us, “You received without paying; give without pay” (Matt. 10:8).

How do you approach giving? With joy, gratitude, and a sense of calling as you freely pass on what you have freely received, or begrudgingly?

The way to change your heart is not to heap upon yourself more law, duty, and shame but to preach to yourself the story as you give, especially since we have an even greater story than did Israel: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

1 P. C. Craigie, The Book of Deuteronomy, NICOT (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976), 318–24.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.