Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked. (Deuteronomy 10:16 KJV)

The Lord made the Israelites wander forty years in the desert just to teach you a lesson. Back then, that’s two generations. He was testing them to make sure they would be faithful and true, and would trust him. They never did (as Moses points out many times), but they get to go to the promised land anyway. They get to take it from the wicked people who live there already. No one ever tells us what they did wrong. Other than being not chosen.

Most of these three chapters, Moses is retelling stories of how disobedient the Israelites had been, and how The Lord got mad, and Moses had to talk him down several times. And don’t forget that he can still get mad.

So far, God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden, drowned the world, destroyed two cities of His people, and at least twice threatened to kill everyone and start over fresh with Moses’ descendants. He’s a real psychopath, and Moses is using His insanity.

Next: Deuteronomy 11-13