I am halfway done Deuteronomy and am finding it less stimulating than the other books. I think it is because the book is a reminder for Israel about the lessons it has learned, it is less full of the drama of the learning of the lessons! So maybe I am compensating for the absence of ups and downs in the lives of Israel by creating ups and downs in my own life... there's some food for thought (and prayer).
Moses explains the law to Israel in Moab in the 11th month of the 40th year of wandering, just before the new generation of Israel is to enter Canaan. He retells the story of their journey from Mt. Horeb to Canaan, the appointing of the judges to help Moses rule Israel with the Word and the refusal of the Israelites to enter Canaan after the scouts returned. What is the purpose of retelling the story of their journey? It seems twofold. The first reason is that it is a completely new Israel, the new generation that survived the 40 years of wandering is a new nation that is entering Canaan. Israel needs to know its history, to understand that their way of life and the traditions they have come from their dynamic relationship with God (ie. Sleeping in Booths for 8 days during the Feast of Booths is because when God freed the people from Egypt they slept in booths in their first encampments). Understanding that history and the present are cause and effect is important for the new generation of Israel that they may carry the laws and traditions forward in their truest sense, as sacred acts of praise in recognition of God’s faithfulness to His chosen. The second reason for the retelling, I think, is to warn Israel against making the same mistakes once Moses is gone. Moses has always been a generous and dedicated servant of the people and of God. Moses on many occasions pleaded with God to be forgiving and lenient with Israel, Moses was a peacemaking intermediary; perhaps he is worried that without his presence the people of Israel will slide backward under the rule of Joshua of Nun and anger the Lord. I can see how Moses would fear this, in my own mind I would be worried that the new Israelites would repeat the same mistakes on the verge of entering Canaan and be forced to wander again for another 40 years or have plagues sent down that wipe them out just when they are on the verge of realizing God’s will and returning to their Promised Land. Deuteronomy may be Moses’ way of letting go of his service to Israel after so many years; with advice, warning and suggestions.
Deuteronomy 1:31 “and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place”. Such a powerful message! This reminds me of Psalm in which God knits us together in our mothers’ wombs, that he brings us to where we are, that he knows us through and through and that he will remain with us as we walk ahead. In times of trial God is with us as a loving father, God carries us through times of joy and success also, lifting us up in our everyday lives. In the context of the journey of the Israelites, God as a loving and chastising father had brought them to the borders of Canaan through the exodus from Egypt and from the darkness they had there. They were brought to the point of realizing God’s will for their lives but balked because their faith wavered and fear won out. They then wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, balking and grumbling all along the way; learning painfully and slowly to trust God as a nation. In my own life, I have taken leaps of faith, trusting that God had a plan for my life, that the Lord carries my all the way until I reach the present moment. It is my duty as His daughter to pursue His will for me regardless of my fears, it is my responsibility to rely on Him and my faith to guide me rather than the fears that always present themselves at the brink of change. With these moments I should look to my past and trust that the Lord has guided me gently and persistently to each moment and to let that cement further my trust in Him that He will guide me on ever growing closer to Him. My question at these times of fearful doubt then changes from “Should I do this?” to “How can I do this to the best of my ability?”. In reflecting back to Numbers and the discipline shot through with love, it is a comfort and a confirmation of God’s grace to see here in the retelling that the Lord is indeed a loving father, not bloodthirsty, not unreasonable.
In Deuteronomy 3 Moses talks about his own feelings about being forbidden to cross the Jordan into Canaan. So interesting that this comes up here, in the speaking of one human being to other human beings while in the first instance there was no account of Moses' feelings (perhaps because at that time it was a human being speaking with God). He talks about pleading with God for his own life, for the opportunity to cross in to Canaan and guide the people in the Promised Land. Moses explicitly says that the Lord refused him because He was angry with Moses because of the behaviour and grumbling of the Israelites. In the first version of these events, Moses simply states the facts; it is written as receiving instructions and cause and effect. Here Moses lets the people know he was deeply saddened and affected by having to bear the consequence of their actions. Moses plead with God for his own life and was refused, and yet he continues to serve Israel until his dying day. It makes me sad thinking that Moses is so disappointed to not be able to cross into the Promised Land. I suppose he will be able to see the Israelites enjoying the land of milk and honey, but I do wish that there was a Hollywood ending for Moses on some level. That the orchestra would crescendo with trumpets and high-pitched strings as he sets his foot on the long-awaited soil of Canaan, that he is laid down on soft moss and blossoms in his very old age to die under the sky of a covenant fulfilled surrounded by the grateful and free nation of Israel. However, I guess it's good that God is far more concerned with keeping His promises and justice than with neatly packaged dramatic endings or else we may have been wiped out long ago!
Moses warns Israel against straying from God’s law. They are to add nothing, take nothing away and ensure that they are passed down from generation to generation. Moses warns that they must be vigilant or they will not be allowed to cross into Canaan nor will they be allowed to live and prosper there. Moses reiterates the importance of the Ten Commandments and the memory of a God that is so devoted to them and loves them so much that He descended Himself to a mountain shrouded in cloud and fire to deliver them to His chosen people. It is incredible that God descended HIMSELF to guide his people both on the mountain and in pillars of fire and smoke. Do any of these new Israelites remember that day? Had any of these Israelites been alive? Did they hear the story from their parents and grandparents and chalk it up to a fabulous yet abstract event? Moses is trying to make this real again for people who did not witness it. Moses is trying to convey the immensity of the Ten Commandments and how they were given to the people. We would do well today to remember the lengths to which God went to love and guide his people, but we should remember it in a real and practical way. The heat, sound and smell of the fire and smoke, the anticipation waiting for Moses to return with the sacred tablets, the texture and weight of the tablets and the texture and weight of the commandments they held. Real events that real people beheld in awe and wonder. Also, real events that some of the people failed to recognize as sacred and who suffered retribution for it; so Moses is concerned for his Israelite brothers that without bearing witness to the physical event, they again will fail to see the importance of the Commandments and suffer for it.
Deuteronomy 6 is all about the greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6:5 – “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might”. Moses reminds the people to stay faithful to the Lord and to the commandments when they are comfortable in the Promised Land. He reminds them to fear God when they are enjoying the luxuries of ready-built and fortified cities, homes and agricultural lands; for these gifts all come from God. Moses also asks the Israelites to teach their children about the history behind all of their traditions and statutes so that they will maintain reverence throughout their generations. This is scripture telling us about our own natures, that we rely on God when we are uncomfortable, distressed or in danger and we grow complacent when we are content. God is asking us to steel against that dynamic, Moses is warning us that it is a dangerous to turn away from God once our prayers have been answered. This is echoed in Deuteronomy 11; Moses warns his people not to turn away from the Lord and not to ignore His commandments lest they perish in the land. God will send rain when rain is needed, with make the land fertile and productive and will ensure they thrive in the new land. Coming from a farming family I can see how this would be an incredible promise of security. Too much rain, too little rain, rain at the wrong time can all destroy yields and entire crops. For us in the 21st century we can go to the grocery store for food and the bank for a loan, the Israelites have no such luxury. Their livelihoods, food security and the strength of their nation (both in cohesion of the tribes and the nation and Israel’s ability to fend off attack from other nations) depends on the productivity of the land. A few bad years of weather and a prosperous nation can be destroyed. God himself gives evidence of this in the book of Exodus when He sends Jacob the dreams about how to prepare the land and people of Egypt for the seven years of famine. Without that preparation, Egypt would have perished long before the seven years were over. Moses emphasizes the importance of the commandment to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to serve Him; this is important above all else for the nation of Israel.
Deuteronomy 12 Moses instructs Israel about the manners and places in which Israel is to worship God. God will choose a place for them to worship once they cross over the Jordan into Canaan. As Israel moves into the Promised Land they are to destroy every altar of worship there, Moses goes so far to stipulate that they must find every altar under every tree and wipe them out. At the beginning of the chapter Moses states that once Israel reaches the Promised Land they can no longer each do as they please in worship, but that they must all follow the same worship rules and worship and sacrifice in the same place. The theme of setting aside the holy as separate has been strong throughout the first five books of the Bible and these instructions about worship seem to be in line with it. However, I wonder if it has another more pressing motive. The Israelites will finally be moving into their own land where they alone will live, worship and thrive. Do they need to be set apart from others while in this new land? Probably not. What is most important now is that a nation that has been wandering and displaced for more than a generation come together to settle down in a land that will pose very different challenges to the community. Nearly all of the generation that new a stationary life before the exodus is dead, the people that remain have only known migration and war, they have only known the life of a refugee challenged by other nations and chastised often by God. It will be, I think, exceptionally challenging for these nomadic people to settle down into a calm life of harvest, prosperity and the multiplying of the nation. How will God prevent his resistant grumbling children from fighting over their inheritance? From wanting to expand the borders of the Promised Land through further wandering and war? The combination of the human tendencies of wanting more and doing what one knows best is a real and tangible threat to Israel’s success in the Promised Land. God has stipulated borders to the new land, He has stipulated who shall inherit and how much, He has stipulated laws regarding worship and conduct. If Israel falls out of God’s stipulations into it’s own human hands (as it often does), they would be turning away from Him again, putting their own desires before His. This would undo the 40 years of learning in the wilderness, this would put the nation and the Promised Land in jeopardy. Recalling from an earlier chapter Moses teaching that if Israel turned away from God in the Promised Land that they would be destroyed and enslaved by other nations, they would perish and be driven from the land where the Land would enjoy a Sabbath in their absence. Worshipping and sacrificing in the places that God stipulates is the hub of building community with reverence for the Lord and for each other. Coming together on a regular basis in praise and remembrance of their journey to the promised land, their trials along the way and the lessons they’ve learned is a far better prophylaxis against disobedience, idolatry and resistance than any fiery snake or threats of future discipline could be.
Moses also teaches that the people should all come to offer and worship in the same place, but if it is too far for them, they may choose another place. God gives them an alternative to create communal worship centers if they must. He knows that without special provisions for people who cannot make it to worship He will lose some of His chosen people. God also allows hunting of deer and gazelle and that all, clean and unclean alike, may eat of it. This is a breakthrough as well, He knows His people crave meat (recall the quail meat and the plague at the grave of craving) and that while someone is unclean the inability to eat meat after so many years of manna may cause more grumbling. He is not willing to risk losing His nation over something so small as a meat craving. People remain clean often for 7 days, women who have just given birth remain unclean for 30 or 60 days. At last these people can eat meat while they are unclean; imagine the importance of venison to a nursing mother! Again we see God loving His children in a practical way, and caring for their daily particular struggles.
May we always hold sacred the real experiences we and our brothers and sisters have with God, May we share them with one another in community through praise, worship and honest conversation, May we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul that we may serve Him in times of doubt, fear and frustration. Amen.
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