Reading the Bible Through

Deuteronomy 9 - 13   I heard recently that Deuteronomy expounds on each of the ten commandments, in order, after they are stated. So far, this seems to be the case. We have generally been looking at the one and only God. Today, we are reminded of the golden calf idol and the possibility of worshipping as the people they are about to conquer do.  In the age of diversity that I find myself living in, being put to death for suggesting to see how others worship seems quite harsh. However, it also likely cuts down on people suggesting looking at how others worship. 

Numbers 22 - 26   "Moabites  said to the elders of Midian" I thought Moses' father-in-law was a priest of Midian. Would he have been among them? Or maybe Moses' father-in-law was still hanging out with the Israelites.  The Moabites take the divination fee to Balaam hoping that a curse will help them to defeat the Israelites. It strikes me how seriously these cultures must have taken the power of a curse.  Why does God tell Balaam to go with the Moabites (the second time) but then God is angry that Balaam goes? The talking donkey reminds me to the talking animals in C.S. Lewis' Narnia series.  This donkey makes a lot of sense. If something around us is suddenly acting very differently to us, it would be good to look into the reason.  So, in Balaam's third message, it says that he did not resort to divination as he had at the other times. But the 1st 2 times, it says that Balaam spoke to the Lord. Balaam told Balak that Balaam could only speak what the Lord h...