Bible Stories for the Young
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After 40 years of wandering around the wilderness, the whining, crying, panicking, pouting, unbelieving generation of people who came out of Egypt had all died. Now it was only their grown up children, and Joshua, Caleb, and Moses.
Moses knew his time of leading the people was almost up. He could see the Promised Land from the mountaintop. Moses had finally delivered the people to the Door of the Promised Land. Now Moses wanted to speak to God’s Family one last time.
He said, “Watch yourselves closely so that you don’t forget the things your eyes have seen. Don’t let the things God has shown you fade away from your heart. Hold on to them your whole life! Teach these things to your children and to their children after them.
“Remember when you were young children and stood at the foot of the mountain when God came and told us His Deal of Rules? Don’t forget those. Obey those.
“Remember how your parents made that false-god golden cow? Don’t let that happen again.
“O, hear me, all Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Remind your children often. Talk about them when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. Put little reminders on your hands and foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your fence gates. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord who brought you out of slavery to this land flowing with milk and honey!
“And once you get into that land and have eaten and have plenty of everything, praise, praise, praise the Lord your God for the good land He has given you. If you don’t praise Him for it, then when you have plenty of food and land and stuff, then your heart will become proud. You will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Don’t ever forget! Remember, remember, remember!
“God led you through the desert, that thirsty and dry land. He brought you water out of a hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness. Remember the Lord your God!
“If you do, the Lord will send blessings on everything you do. God will bless you in the land He is giving you. He will establish you as His holy people, just as He promised you, if you just keep His commands and walk in obedience to Him. Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord.
“They’ll say, ‘Woah! This is a great nation of wise, understanding people. What other nation is so great as to have a God that stays so close to them?’
“The Lord will open the heavens to send rain on your land and to bless all the work of your hands. Do not turn aside from any of the commands I give you today, to the right or to the left. Stay straight! Stick with God! Don’t follow after the false gods of this world.
“Now what I am commanding you today is not too hard for you or beyond your reach!
“It is not up in Heaven, so that you have to say, ‘Who will go up into Heaven and get it and teach it to us so we may obey?’
“And it is not way out beyond the sea, so that you have to say, ‘Who will cross the sea to get it and teach it to us so that we may obey?’
“No, the word of God is very close to you; it is right in your mouth and right in your heart so that you may obey it.
“The secret things belong to God, but the things He’s made known to us belong to us and to our children, forever.
“See, today I’m showing you the difference between life and blessings, or death and curses. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, and to keep His commands and laws; then you will live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in this new land.
“But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you bow down to false gods and worship them, you will certainly be destroyed. You will have come all this way and crossed the Jordan into a beautiful land, but you won’t live there very long — if you disobey.
“Today I am making clear to you, your choice — life or death, blessings or curses. It’s your choice.
“Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life; choose Him, and He will give you many years in the land He promised your fathers.”
After saying all these things, Moses taught everyone a long song to help them remember everything he had told them.
Then he blessed each one of the 12 tribes of Israel, promising wonderful things for their futures!
