Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Alliance and society with the enemies of God » Are ensnaring
"If your brother, the son of your mother or your son or your daughter {or your wife whom you embrace} or {your intimate friend} in secrecy {says}, 'Let us go and let us serve other gods!' [gods] that you and your ancestors have not known,
They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.'"
because they [were] attacking you with their deception, [with] which they have deceived you on the matter of Peor and on the matter of Cozbi the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was struck on the day of the plague because of the matter of Peor."
{take care} so that you are not ensnared {into imitating them} after their being destroyed from {before you}, and so that you not enquire concerning their gods, {saying}, 'How did these nations serve their gods, and [thus] {I myself} want to do also.'
journey of israel through the Desert » Marked by constant murmurings and rebellions
For forty years I loathed [that] generation, and said, '[They are] a people [whose] heart wanders. And my ways they do not know.'
How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and vexed him in [the] wasteland!
Our ancestors in Egypt did not understand your wonderful works. They did not remember your many acts of loyal love, and [so] they rebelled by [the] sea at {the Red Sea}. Yet he saved them for the sake of his name, to make known his might. So he rebuked {the Red Sea}, and it dried up, and he led them through the deep as [through] a desert. read more.
Thus he saved them from [the] hand of [the] hater and redeemed them from [the] hand of [the] enemy. But waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. They quickly forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. And they {craved intensely} in the wilderness, and tested God in [the] desert. So he gave to them their request, but he sent leanness into their souls. And they were jealous of Moses in the camp, [and] of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh. [The] earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and it covered over the gang of Abiram. Also fire burned in their assembly; [the] flame devoured [the] wicked. They made a calf at Horeb and bowed down to a cast image. And [so] they exchanged their glory for an image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wonders in the land of Ham, awesome deeds by {the Red Sea}. So he said he would exterminate them, had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to reverse his wrath from destroying [them]. Then they refused the desirable land; they did not believe his word, but grumbled in their tents. They did not obey the voice of Yahweh. So {he made an oath} against them, to make them drop in the wilderness, and to disperse their {descendants} among the nations and to scatter them among the lands. They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor, and they ate sacrifices offered to [the] dead. Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and [so] the plague was stopped, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness {throughout all generations}. They also angered [God] at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses on account of them, because they rebelled against his Spirit, and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips. They did not exterminate the peoples, as Yahweh had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, and served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and [so] the land was defiled with the blood. And they became unclean by their works, and were unfaithful in their deeds.
Thus he saved them from [the] hand of [the] hater and redeemed them from [the] hand of [the] enemy. But waters covered their adversaries; not one of them survived. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise. They quickly forgot his works; they did not wait for his counsel. And they {craved intensely} in the wilderness, and tested God in [the] desert. So he gave to them their request, but he sent leanness into their souls. And they were jealous of Moses in the camp, [and] of Aaron, the holy one of Yahweh. [The] earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and it covered over the gang of Abiram. Also fire burned in their assembly; [the] flame devoured [the] wicked. They made a calf at Horeb and bowed down to a cast image. And [so] they exchanged their glory for an image of an ox that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior, who had done great things in Egypt, wonders in the land of Ham, awesome deeds by {the Red Sea}. So he said he would exterminate them, had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to reverse his wrath from destroying [them]. Then they refused the desirable land; they did not believe his word, but grumbled in their tents. They did not obey the voice of Yahweh. So {he made an oath} against them, to make them drop in the wilderness, and to disperse their {descendants} among the nations and to scatter them among the lands. They also attached themselves to Baal of Peor, and they ate sacrifices offered to [the] dead. Thus they provoked to anger by their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, and [so] the plague was stopped, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness {throughout all generations}. They also angered [God] at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses on account of them, because they rebelled against his Spirit, and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips. They did not exterminate the peoples, as Yahweh had commanded them, but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, and served their idols, which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons, and they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and [so] the land was defiled with the blood. And they became unclean by their works, and were unfaithful in their deeds.
Learning » The reward for learning the works of the heathen
but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.
Snares » What is a snare
The lips of a fool will bring strife, and his mouth calls out for a flogging. The mouth of a fool [is] ruin to him, and his lips [are] a snare to his soul.
And the angel of Yahweh went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, "I brought you up from Egypt, and I brought you to the land that I had promised to your ancestors. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you. And [as for] you, do not {make a covenant} with the inhabitants of this land; break down their altars.' But you did not listen to my voice. {Why would you do such a thing}? Now I say, I will not drive them out from before you; they will {become as thorns} for you, and their gods will be a trap for you."
but they mingled with the nations and learned their works, and served their idols, which became a snare to them.
And you shall devour all of the peoples [that] Yahweh your God [is] giving to you; {you shall not pity them}, and you shall not serve their gods, [which] will be a snare for you.
" 'And I will set your boundary from the {Red Sea} and up to the sea of the Philistines and from [the] desert up to the river, because I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out from before you. You will not make a covenant with them and with their gods. They will not live in your land, lest they cause you to sin against me when you serve their gods, for it will be a snare to you.'"
"Keep for yourself what I myself have commanded you today. Look, I [am about to] drive from before you the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. Be careful for yourself, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you are going, lest it be a snare among you.
Take utmost care for [the sake of] your life to love Yahweh your God, for if indeed you turn back and join these remaining nations {among you}, and you intermarry with them, {marrying their women and they yours}, know for certain that Yahweh your God {will not continue to drive out} these nations from before you; they will be for you a snare and a trap, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land that Yahweh your God has given to you.
[It is] a snare to humankind to say rashly "[It is] holy," and after vows, to scrutinize.