Illustrating Deuteronomy

I attend a local Bible Study Fellowship on Wednesday mornings with my little boys. If you are looking for a bible study with depth, look no further. We studied the life of Moses last year and covered and uncovered so much in Exodus through Deuteronomy. Time after time I saw myself in the stubborn, ungrateful Israelites wandering in the desert because of a stupid choice THEY made. 

Deuteromony, though not action packed with its regurgitation of the law, is not without morsels of goodness. Even Jesus quoted it more than any other book. So hey if it's good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us to learn from as well! 

You are today numerous as the stars of heaven. Deuteronomy 1:10

Living with and caring for full time a 3 1/2 year old and 20 month old, they are bound to leave their marks in my bible. Instead of fretting about it. I slap their name on it and know one day it will be a treasured piece to come across, knowing that they saw from an early age that the bible was open in their home, it was something mommy set aside time for, it was a priority and I pray a priority in their life as they grow.

"Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot," Deuteronomy 2:27-28

 

This verse couldn't help but conjure up images in my mind of lynchings in the South during and after slavery when countless innocent black men were hanged without a trial and left all night. 21:22-23 reads that "If someone is guilty of a sin worthy of death, he must be put to death and his body displayed on a tree. But don’t leave his body hanging on the tree overnight; be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own." Which made me 

Could you imagine if families actually did this? You shall not charge interest on loans to your brother. 23:

I thought this verse was rather sweet that the Lord allotted a "honeymoon" period for a newlyweds. 

When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army, he shall be free at home one year to be happy with his wife. Deuteronomy 24:5

This was an acrylic vs. water color study. 

And a realization that when you put brown, yellow and green down in an abstract way....you get camoflauge lol no worries though, each page just as each day is a learning experience.

The last two pages of Deuteronomy are Moses blessing all the tribes and passing the torch onto Joshua. I can't imagine leading the nation of Israel for 40 years, only to get a glimpse of the promised land. But maybe after 40 years of putting up with such stubbornness he was more than happy to just get a glimpse before he was taken up to glory land!

My last page I posed the question to myself: 

Am I carrying a torch that is worth passing on? 

Is my torch burning for the glory of God or the glory of myself? 

Is it shining a light in dark places or being comfortable around other torchbearers? 

Is it leading others to the promised land or destruction?