Summary #11

Weekly Summary
Deut 3 to Deut 23

Right back where we started from, it seems... last week we left the Israelites ready to enter the promised land, Moses had anointed his successor, and we were ready to move in. But now we pause. After starting the last three books with "And", the book of Deuteronomy takes a different turn: it is an address by Moses to the people, reminding them of where they had been and what God had told them. A little pep talk before the battle, if you will.

Eventually, after recounting the wandering and the ill-advised battles, Moses goes over the laws and decrees that God has given to the Israelites. More than just going over the laws, though, he stresses what following these commands will mean to them, laying out the covenant relationship between God and the people. First of all, God is the only god - no others are to be worshiped, no idols made. The covenant is with the people that stand on the edge of the promised land, not just their fathers, and with their children.

Covenant is not small thing: the people are to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind and strength; they are to keep the commandments, laws, decrees and statutes, and they are to faithfully pass them on to their descendants. God promises the people that he will be their strength and their righteousness - he warns the people not forget that it is his power that will gain them the land, not their own. One command is repeated over and over: Do not forget! Do not forget the Lord your God, do not forget his laws, do not forget what God has done for you.

Against the backdrop of the kinds of rituals that the people all around them are doing, God reiterates that they are to lead a different life, not taking up the routines and rites of those who serve other gods, but to follow the commands that God has given them. They are to eat what God has deemed holy, they are to tithe, and offer very specific offerings. They have a sabbatical year / year of Jubilee, and they observe the festivals and holy days that they have been given. Even the kings that they do not yet have are to be different than the kings around them. In every way they are to be set apart, a people devoted to the Lord, and the Lord only.


Perhaps the biggest news in Moses' address to the Israelites is that God will raise up more prophets like Moses, and God will speak through them to his people. Based on their history of listening to Moses himself, you have to be a little skeptical that they'll listen like they should, but it's a testament to the grace and love of God that he keeps his part of the covenant. Always.

So, not a lot of movement in our story - this is a recap of Moses' recap -- but a good reminder that as the people of Israel approach the promised land, they have no excuse -- they know exactly what the Lord is asking of them, and what he promises. As do we. Tune in next week as the people take their first steps into the land they've been approaching for a long time!