We be Googlin’ today, folks! This chapter sets up the boundaries for the Promised Land, which Moses will never see, but nevertheless, God explains them to him in detail anyway. And Moses does a great job in describing the boundaries in text. That’s hard to do! [Enter mapping experts and people who know how to read compasses and coordinates.] Not this girl. But I do love maps. My job requires lots of map research, and I admit I get a little lost in daydreamy travel land at work on occasion. I don’t have to explain whole territories, but sometimes I do have to give directions in written form. That can get interesting, and I’ve learned that less is more when it comes to directions. In Oklahoma, we just gave directions by landmark: “It’s a block west of the Mini-Mart offices, catty-corner from the bar.” Anyone reading this from my hometown will know exactly what can be found there – some good food that I miss very much! Some folks will tell you also, though, that they remember when the cafe that is there now used to be the front office of the lumber yard. And for those who don’t remember that little tidbit, you can bet it is recorded in a public document, much like the one we’ve just read, which from the Israelites’ point of view is a VERY legal document. If you traced around the borders Moses described, you’ll see that the Promised Land took up most of present-day Israel but also draped over into parts of Lebanon, Jordan and possibly Syria (the northern boundaries are hard to pinpoint). While these chapters are kind of tough to read, when we look at some of the details, we can see how they still affect us today.
Writing prompt: borders
What is it about borders and territories that make humans so possessive? Write about borders, whether physically or metaphorically, today.
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