MOSES’ FINAL blessing on Israel was in the form of prophecies over the tribes, along with a reminder that when God led the people from Sinai, He was accompanied by “ten thousands of holy ones.”

“Holy ones” is a term used elsewhere in the Old Testament, always in reference to angelic beings. Yahweh’s “march from the south” is a theme also noted in Habakkuk 3:3–7 and Judges 5:4–5. The references to Edom in those passages hint that Mount Sinai is located farther north than most people think.

We also discuss the prophecy over the tribe of Dan (“a lion’s cub that leaps from Bashan”), the absence of Simeon from the tribes blessed by Moses, and the odd reference in Jude to the dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses.

MOSES’ LAST message was a warning—not just to the Israelites, but to the lesser elohim who’d rebelled against the authority of God.

We discuss Moses’ warning to the people against disobeying the commandments of God, the commissioning of Joshua, and the Song of Moses, which lays out the consequences of following other gods.

Deuteronomy 32 makes it clear that these small-G “gods” are real and that not all of them are faithful. We explain why Deuteronomy 32:8 should read “sons of God” and not “sons of Israel,” and share some background of the “demons” (Hebrew shedim) in Deut. 32:17.

Interestingly, Deut. 32:24 suggests that two entities known as deities in ancient Canaan may have been agents of God’s judgment for disobedience—Qeteb (“pestilence”) and Resheph (“plague”), who was later known to the Greeks and Romans as Apollo.

GOD’S COVENANT with Israel was conditional, with blessings for obedience to His commandments and curses for disobedience.

Disobedience can be summarized as serving other elohim. The promises of harsh punishment for worshiping other gods may seem extreme to us, but the consequences of following those entities are actually worse than the awful things that God warned would befall Israel if the people failed to heed His warning—because those consequences are eternal.

GOD’S INSTRUCTIONS to the Israelites were surprisingly progressive for the time, prohibiting His people from engaging in predatory lending practices and providing for the poor, widows, and orphans (without a government agency to collect and redistribute wealth!).

We discuss God’s command that oxen not be muzzled while they’re treading out grain and its interesting connection to the war of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39. And we talk about God’s command to build an altar on Mount Ebal, overlooking Shechem, when the Israelites came into the land. We’ll have more on the significance of Shechem when we get to the Book of Joshua.

We also explain why Deut. 26:14 includes a command not to take any of the firstfruits and tithes of the produce of the land as offerings to the dead. It’s another clue that the pagan cult of the dead (i.e., the Rephaim/Nephilim) was a powerful influence on the ancient Canaanites.

Take advantage of Aaron Lipkin’s online seminars about the altar of Joshua at www.AltarofJoshua.com.

HALLOWEEN CELEBRATES death and the dead. Today, we set aside our schedule of scripture to discuss the spirits and how they’ve convinced humanity that engaging in practices forbidden by God is not only harmless, but profitable and fun.

We discuss Santa Muerte’s rise to prominence in Mexico, California’s schools embracing Aztec death cults as “ethnic studies,” and the spiritual and symbolic links between ancient Mesopotamia and the present day.

THE PUNISHMENT God ordered for a number of sins, ranging from sexual relations before marriage (for women) to rebelling against one’s parents (for sons), seems harsh by today’s standards.

We discuss the cultural and spiritual contexts for a number of things declared sin by God. Many of these things make no sense to us today because we don’t understand the world of the prophets and apostles or how these behaviors were connected to pagan religions of the day.

THE PEOPLE in Canaan engaged in what God called “abominable practices”: First, burning a child as an offering to Molech, followed by divination, reading omens, augury, sorcery, enchantment, consulting mediums, necromancy, and inquiring of the dead.

Derek argues in his forthcoming that these seven acts, which all involve contacting the spirit realm to gain influence or information, are connected to the worship of Molech, which was another name for the creator-god of the Canaanites El—also known as Dagon, Enlil, Kronos, and Saturn.

We believe this Watcher-class elohim is Shemihazah, leader of the rebels on Mount Hermon in the days of Jared, and is “the Destroyer” (Abaddon, or Apollyon), the king of those in the bottomless pit (Revelation 9).

GOD NEVER intended for us to be in perpetual debt. Our modern banking system is a reversal of God’s will and the fulfillment of prophecy—the work of the rider on the black horse (Rev. 6:5–6).

Financial servitude is not how God intended us to live. In our modern age of seven-year auto loans, twenty-year student loans, thirty-year mortgages, and perpetual credit card debt, the concept is almost unimaginable.

We also discuss the three main feasts required of Israel by God: Unleavened Bread, Weeks, and Booths (or Tabernacles, called Sukkot in Hebrew), and how the Feast of Booths connects to the Transfiguration, Mount Hermon, and the seventy “sons of El” who are probably the lesser elohim judged by God in Psalm 82.

Here is the link to the Institute of Biblical Anthropology, with courses taught by Dr. Judd Burton: www.tioba.org.

THE PUNISHMENT for an Israelite who led people to worship other gods was harsh: Death by stoning.

We explain why God was so insistent that His people followed His commands, especially the first commandment about not worshiping other gods—because those gods are real entities bent on destroying what God created and called good, including humankind.

OUR GOD is “God of gods and Lord of lords.” This isn’t just hyperbole; it means that Yahweh is supreme among the denizens of the spirit realm.

This week, we discuss Moses’ admonitions to the Israelites before they crossed the Jordan to dispossess the nations of Canaan, why Moses singled out the Anakim, and his warning to remember that God didn’t choose the Israelites as His inheritance because of their righteousness.