An Old Story That Is Our Story

Deuteronomy 10:12-18

By Rev. T. J. Malinoski

The opening line in the book of Deuteronomy begins, “These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel beyond the Jordan – in the wilderness.” From his viewpoint above the tree line, Moses can see the terrain the Israelites have wandered and conquered over the previous forty years. His garments rustle from the winds blowing from the Dead Sea below onto the high plain where he is standing. Scanning the topography, he envisions cities and towns the Israelites both passed through and conquered. He sees the mountainous regions both climbed and skirted. He feels the current of the Jordan River, cutting and carving a path through stone, clay, and dirt. Moses also sees a land his feet will never touch. He sees fruits, vegetables, and livestock he will neither raise nor taste. He sees promise he will neither inherit nor claim. This land has been covenanted by God to a people who knew life as slaves, as dusty nomads, and as a scrappy tribe which now has grown into a great nation. Before this great nation enters the Promised Land, the unlikely orator and leader has words to impart upon his people. Clearing his throat, Moses finds his speaking voice once more to tell them a story.

A story can evoke emotions and stir the consciousness to recall forgotten experiences. For the listeners gathered around him, this is Moses’ intent. He tells them a familiar story about a forty-year journey. He deeply desires the Israelites to remember both their fear and excitement in their newfound freedom from slavery. He presses them to remember the desert dust that caked eyelids and plugged ears. He insists they remember the stone tablets, etched with guidance, being broken and then written again. He challenges them to remember their grumbling, joys, obedience, and rebellion.

Leafing through the first ten chapters of Deuteronomy, a reader could insert the phrase “Remember when…” before most paragraphs. “Remember when…you sat and grumbled in your tents.” “Remember when…you traveled circles in the desert wastelands.” Remember when…you defeated the Amorites and took the territories east of the Jordan.” Remember when…you made an idol for yourselves in the shape of a calf.” Before entering the land promised to them by God, Moses is resolved for the Israelites to remember.

Moses also invites his listeners to remember the presence of God. Amid their trials and tribulations, wanderings and growth into a great nation, God was among them. Moses recalls times when their disobedience even angered God. Yet, while the relationship was strained, stretched taut like the cord around a tunic, God continued to love and care for them. Along their entire forty-year journey, Moses emphasizes God has neither forsaken nor forgotten them.

A good story also asks something of its listener, and this is what Moses does. Like a skillful orator, he may have paused for good measure while asking, “So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you?” (Deuteronomy 10:12). He answers his own question saying, “Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own wellbeing” (vs. 12-13). It is in this moment that Moses calls the Israelites to ground their very being to the creative, redemptive essence of God. He continues, “For this God is the God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who carries out justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing” (vs. 17-18).

Moses’ story in Deuteronomy continues to have great value. God continues to call persons to receive the covenant of restoration and healing and become engrafted into a community that is defined by its worship, compassion, and witness of its Creator. This community of faith, illuminated with God’s own Spirit, responds with joy as living witnesses to God who is “mighty and awesome” yet still brings “justice to the parentless, the widow(er), and loves the strangers.”

Reflection questions –

What does the scripture passage in Deuteronomy 10:12-18 say about God and who God is?

How might the Israelites hear the words spoken by Moses?

How do you hear these words now?

Closing prayer:

Thank you, O God, for calling me to walk in your ways to love and serve you. May I do so with all my heart and soul. Amen.