Moses proclaims one of his last messages
to his fellow Israelites
When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.-Deuteronomy 17:14-20***Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob (Israel) and his 2nd wife Rachel. Jacob was the youngest fraternal twin son born to Isaac and Rebekah. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and 90-year-old Sarah (Sarai). Canaan was land inhabited by idolaters that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. When Abraham was in a deep sleep, the Lord God told Abraham that Abraham's descendants would be afflicted in a foreign land 400 years and come out of the land with great possessions and live in Canaan. When Joseph was at least 17 years old, his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. The merchants sold Joseph to Potiphar, an Egyptian official. After Potiphar's wife made a false accusation, Potiphar put Joseph in prison. At least 2 years after Joseph explained the meaning of a dream to the imprisoned cupbearer who served Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and explained the meaning of a dream to Pharaoh's imprisoned baker, 30-year-old Joseph explained the meaning of a dream to Pharaoh, and Pharaoh proclaimed Joseph second-in-command. After the 2nd time that Joseph's brothers were in Egypt during a famine to buy corn (grain), Joseph identified himself to them, and told his brothers to move to Egypt with their families, including Jacob. During the journey from Canaan, the Lord God spoke to 130-year-old Jacob. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were from the tribe of Levi, descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to get the Israelites and their animals and go serve the Lord God. Moreover, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to bless him. Before Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur, the Israelites requested and were given an abundance of valuable goods, fulfilling the words that the Lord God spoke to Abraham. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God, the king of the Israelites, made a covenant with the Israelites. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai with the Lord God 40 days and nights, the Lord God described to Moses and showed him the likeness of the tabernacle and the sacred items that the Isralites were to make, and the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. After the tabernacle was made according to the commands of the Lord God, the Lord God told Moses that the other men in the tribe of Levi, the Levites, were to assist the priests at the tabernacle, and the Lord God specified the work that each of the 3 Levite families was to perform. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. Near the Promised Land, Moses began publicly recounting the history of the Israelites, and the commandments, judgments, statutes, and laws, and Moses transcribed the laws and gave the Book of the Law to the priests. The Lord God gave Moses commands for a song, and Moses and Joshua, Moses' aide and successor from the tribe of Ephraim, taught the song to the Israelites, and Moses blessed the Israelites. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died and was divinely buried. The Lord God spoke to Joshua, and Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants. Over 1,300 years after 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites. When Jesus was journeying to Jerusalem before being betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, and returned to heaven less than 3 1/2 years after he was baptized, a multitude of Israelites lined along a street that they spread with garments and branches and cried aloud to Jesus, the King of Israel.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 3:1-4:49, 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26