Valuable background to Deuteronomy

The Harper Collins Study Bible/New Revised Standard Version, which I think is the one Madelon Maupin* favours, has excellent notes. It has introductions to each book and notes on verses. The notes are at the bottom of the text so are very much to hand.

So, in the Introduction to Deuteronomy I found a definition of Torah or Pentateuch: “… the sense of comprehensive and divinely sanctioned instruction.” It carries on: “In the context of the book, it may be characterized as the authoritative, inspired “polity” (or, “political constitution”) that Moses, unable himself to lead Israel across the Jordan, enacts for the people as a normative guide to their corporate existence in the land they are about to occupy.”

A little further along I find: “...as Mosaic instruction par excellence Deuteronomy is the interpretative key to the Pentateuch understood as a whole to mediate the abiding revelation of God’s will for the ongoing life of the covenant people.”

And: “In its dual character of both remembering Israel’s past and anticipating its future, the book occupies a pivotal position, both literarily and theologically, in the canon of the Hebrew Bible.”

Maybe it could be called a textbook!

This brings to mind the fact that Moses was prohibited from crossing the Jordan into the promised land with the Exodus crowd because he had disobeyed God. –

From Classroom: “Moses’ sin is detailed in Numbers 20:2-12. While wandering in the desert lands of Zin, the Israelites needed water, so God instructed Moses to gather the people and then to speak to the rock. Instead, Moses struck the rock twice with his staff. God’s response to Moses was immediate: "Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them." It was both a literal act of disobedience, by disobeying God's instructions, and a symbolic one involving the rock (foundation of faith) and water (source of life).”

I thought he had been in trouble for breaking the Ten Commandment tablets.

This Introduction is very valuable for the scholar. I mustn’t quote the whole thing!

Joyce Voysey

* Bible Roads.com: Madelon’s goal is to help others unlock the Bible in a non-denominational way so that they can discover the Scriptures’ spiritual meaning and application to their lives. By delving into the history, politics, geography, customs, and culture of all the Biblical periods and books, she aims to enable readers and listeners to dive deep into these subjects themselves so they can find their own spiritual answers.

Go north?

 Deuteronomy 2: 3 says: "You have compassed this mountain long enough : go toward the north" (Douay-Rheims 1889 American Edition).

I am reminded of the passage in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy that says: "There is but one real attraction, that of Spirit. The pointing of the needle to the pole symbolizes this all-embracing power or the attraction of God, divine Mind" (p. 102: 9).

Was it now time for the children of Israel to get off the merry-go-round of fear, procrastination and grumbling, and enter the Promised Land, not so much a physical move so much as a mental shift towards obedience, gratitude, and grace? 

Peter Henniker-Heaton had a nice grasp on compass points:

We cannot turn away from God / Because, whichever way we face, / Spirit is there. In every place, / Every direction, everywhere, / Spirit is there.

Whether we turn to left or right, / To north or south or east or west, / We meet with Love—and we are blessed. / Upward or down, below, above, / We meet with Love.
(Christian Science Hymnal, No. 591:1, 2)

Julie Swannell

Why read Deuteronomy?

Thinking about this month's book, I asked myself: Why is the study of Deuteronomy a good idea in February 2022? My answer: I don't know. I had better start reading and find out.

Having chosen to read from the Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition, I am transported to the seventh century BCE where the children of Israel are about to enter the Promised Land after 40 years of trekking in the wilderness following their escape from slavery in Egypt. Moses has been their leader and encourager. God has directed, guided and fed them despite their grumbling.

The book is a recollection of events*, like when Moses recalls that he  "took ... men wise and honourable, and appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions and officers over fifties. and over tens, who might teach you all things" (Deut. 1: 15) when he needed help to carry out his mission.

There is a tender word-picture in verse 31 "And in the wilderness ... the Lord thy God hath carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way that you have come."

So, I am left wondering what further word-pictures await the reader!

Julie Swannell

*For some background I checked Britannica's article on Deuteronomy It begins: 

Deuteronomy, Hebrew Devarim, (“Words”), fifth book of the Old Testament, written in the form of a farewell address by Moses to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land of Canaan. The speeches that constitute this address recall Israel’s past, reiterate laws that Moses had communicated to the people at Horeb (Sinai), and emphasize that observance of these laws is essential for the well-being of the people in the land they are about to possess. The title Deuteronomy, derived from Greek, thus means a “copy,” or a “repetition,” of the law rather than “second law,” as the word’s etymology seems to suggest.