If you are following The Plan you should be through the end of the Book of Joshua today.

When we last left off, Moses was preparing Israel to take possession of the land that God had promised them, reminded the people of all that God has done for them.  Moses offers this:

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But then God prepares the people of Israel ...through Moses ...one last time - for what will come of the people of Israel.   Oh, and its not good.

And the LORD said to Moses: "You are going to rest with your fathers, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. On that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and difficulties will come upon them, and on that day they will ask, 'Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is not with us?'  And I will certainly hide my face on that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

So even as Moses is preparing the people to cross into the promised land and inhabit it as their inheritance, God is working through Moses and preparing the people of Israel for their eventual rebellion.  Gee, I wonder where that idea would come from (http://sothchairman.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!F60CA4E01EE9BA02!204.entry)?.   He instructs Moses to write a poem - Deuteronomy 32 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Deuteronomy%2032-34&version=31;) - as a witness of God against the Children of Israel.

It was interesting to read through these stories over Easter week.  We have read over and over of God's righteous anger at the Children of Israel for their constant rebellion against him.  Despite providing for every need and leading them towards a land of abundance,  they denied him, lost faith, turned towards other gods, and generally complained the entire way. 

Fast forward a bit (well, more than a bit, but you know what I mean) to Easter week and particularly Good Friday.   Jesus is crucified and is subjected to all of that righteous anger - God's wrath - for all of mankind, for all of their sins against him in the past and in the future. 

It is unimaginable.

It is awe inspiring.

Jesus humbling himself as a blood sacrifice for all this rebellion.   Wave after wave of God's anger poured out against Jesus - and he accepts it all - for you and for me.   Then the famous words - "It is Finished." 

It sure is.

So as you are reading through the Old Testament - following The Plan - and you come to those passages when the children of Israel are rebelling against God (and there's lots more of that to come) and wondering about Gods anger and wrath and how that affects us today - remember Good Friday.  Remember Easter.   It is Finished.

Blessings.

Keep Reading.

Pray.