An imprint of Anglican Youthworks Published August 2016 Copyright © George Athas 2016 This book is copyright. Apart from fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism and review as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without the express permission of the publisher. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc. Scripture quotations marked HCSB®, are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®. Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. HCSB® is a federally registered trademark of Holman Bible Publishers. Other Scripture quotations are the author’s own translation. PO Box A287 Sydney South NSW 1235 Australia Ph: +61 2 8268 3334 Email: sales@cepstore.com.au Website: cepstore.com.au National Library of Australia ISBN 978-1-925041-90-3 Series editor: Paul Barnett Managing editor: Cassandra Cassis Editor and theological editor: Belinda Pollard Cover and typesetting: Andrew Hope
Contents
Foreword vii Preface ix Introduction to Deuteronomy 1 1. Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ 7 (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) 2. Emerging from the desert 24 (Deuteronomy 2:1—3:29) 3. A formative event 37 (Deuteronomy 4:1–43) 4. The Ten Commandments, Part 1: 55 The vertical relationship (Deuteronomy 4:44—5:15) 5. The Ten Commandments, Part 2: 84 The horizontal relationship (Deuteronomy 5:16–33) 6. Listen, love, live 104 (Deuteronomy 6:1–25) 7. The Canaan campaign 123 (Deuteronomy 7:1—11:32) 8. The place of worship 162 (Deuteronomy 12:1–32) 9. A worshipping community 182 (Deuteronomy 13:1—16:17) 10. Leadership and guidance 205 (Deuteronomy 16:18—18:22) 11. Matters of life and death 226 (Deuteronomy 19:1—21:23) 12. Boundaries 253 (Deuteronomy 22:1—26:19) 13. Coming to the end 299 (Deuteronomy 27:1—34:12)
Foreword
The Reading the Bible Today commentaries are designed for ordinary church people to read as individuals but also to study together in small groups. Equally, they are written for busy pastors who are often struggling for time for solid preparation ahead of preaching the word of God. God has blessed us with authors who are experienced and wellqualified biblical scholars. Dr George Athas is just such an author. George is highly qualified with a background in university lecturing prior to joining the staff at Moore Theological College. This commentary represents the fruit of years of study, reflection and teaching on the Old Testament in general, and Deuteronomy in particular. George Athas helpfully points out that Deuteronomy is ‘the theological backbone of the Old Testament’ and ‘theology central’. It is not one book among others, but key to the Old Testament. At the same time he shows how the Deuteronomy text anticipates and illuminates the text and teaching of the New Testament. Thus the resulting commentary is, at the same time, a work of outstanding scholarship and pastorally applicable. Its language is simple and straightforward, with a sparing use of footnotes for those who wish to pursue issues in more detail. Every part of the text is illuminating, but none more so than the section on the ‘ten points’, his way of referring to the Ten Commandments. The author is clear-eyed about Israel’s failure to observe and obey those ‘ten points’. Deuteronomy is known for its teachings on the Lord’s sacred ban on the Canaanites, a controversial and painful issue. George Athas approaches this subject with sensitivity,
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One Nation under God care and insight. The book is worth having just for his insights on the ‘ban’. We are grateful to the author for contributing an outstanding, in fact, world-class addition, to the Reading the Bible Today Series. We pray that many people will be blessed and strengthened in their faith through reading this commentary. Dr Paul Barnett Series Editor
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Introduction to Deuteronomy
WHY READ DEUTERONOMY? At first glance, Deuteronomy doesn’t seem to be an attractive book. It contains chapter after chapter of laws that don’t really look like riveting reading. It’s understandable that readers of the Old Testament gravitate more towards narratives like Genesis, Judges, and 1 and 2 Samuel. However, seeing Deuteronomy simply as a collection of laws is unfortunately narrow. Yes, it does contain legislative material, but theologically it is one of the richest books of the Old Testament. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is the theological backbone of the entire Old Testament. Without a proper understanding of Deuteronomy, one can’t fully appreciate what is going on in the Old Testament. And this ultimately has repercussions for understanding the New Testament. Deuteronomy gives us the principles and standards that God demanded of his covenant people, Israel. It tells who God is and how he relates to Israel in the Old Testament, as well as who Israel is, how they should live, and why. These ideas frame the rest of the Old Testament. It’s also worth reading Deuteronomy to understand the rationale behind many of the principles and standards found in the Bible. This is particularly important in our day, because Western societies are tending to move away from Judeo–Christian ideals. Many today deride the Bible for its laws and values, but do so with only a casual knowledge of why the Bible says what it does. Indeed, even for many Christians today, Deuteronomy presents many laws and standards that are difficult and even embarrassing to defend. 1
One Nation under God So people either refuse to engage with Deuteronomy because they judge it with very little familiarity, or else find it too puzzling or too scary to make sense of. It is imperative, therefore, that we place the ideas of Deuteronomy in their ancient context, so that we may fruitfully come to grips with not just what these laws say, but also why. Of course, for Christians, Deuteronomy is an integral part of Scripture. Jesus quotes Deuteronomy on a number of occasions, showing that he deemed it authoritative and part of his own thought world (e.g. Matthew 4:4, 7, 10; 5:21, 27, 31; 18:16; 19:18; 22:24, 37). Deuteronomy is crucial for understanding Israel and its dealings with God. And since Jesus is the culmination of Israel’s story, we will have a better understanding of him if we understand Deuteronomy.
WRITING AND READING DEUTERONOMY Deuteronomy is set in the time after Israel’s exodus from Egypt and their 40-year wandering through the desert. Israel is poised on the border of the land promised to their ancestors. But before they enter, their human leader, Moses addresses them, laying down the principles and standards that are to govern Israel’s life after they cross into the land. This is the second time Moses does this, the first being at Mount Sinai in the book of Exodus. Indeed, the word ‘Deuteronomy’ is taken from a Greek term meaning ‘second law’. The date of the Exodus and desert wandering has been disputed for a long time. The most commonly proposed dates are the mid-fifteenth century BC or the mid-thirteenth century BC. Biblical chronology is notoriously difficult to untangle, especially when numbers are used symbolically, and when genealogies might not contain all the information that we would like. Coordinating the figures with sources of information from Canaan itself also proves difficult. Most historians are, however, content to say that Israel seems to be in the land of Canaan by the end of the thirteenth
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Introduction to Deuteronomy century BC, because of external references to Israel.1 On that basis, the Exodus and desert wandering must have occurred sometime before that, but exactly when is still a matter of debate. Moses is the dominant voice throughout Deuteronomy. The memory that Moses was Israel’s first prophet and the one who began the law tradition in Israel is quite strong (cf. Deuteronomy 1:5). We also see how some of the contents of Deuteronomy influenced other books, especially Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. These books are replete with the theological ideas that come from Deuteronomy, including the way these ideas are phrased. For example, the characterisation of Israel’s God, Yahweh, as ‘the one who brought Israel up out of Egypt’ (e.g. Joshua 24:17; Judges 2:1; 1 Samuel 10:18; 2 Kings 17:7), and the evaluation that people did ‘what was evil in the eyes of Yahweh’ (e.g. Judges 2:11; 1 Samuel 15:19; 1 Kings 14:22; 2 Kings 17:17) are phrases taken from Deuteronomy (see 4:25; 20:1). We begin to see, therefore, just how influential Deuteronomy was over the Old Testament. Yet, there is material in the book that comes from later periods. For example, there are passages that reflect the realities of Israel’s life in the land as established fact (e.g. Deuteronomy 33:4, 18–23, 28). The book also has an editor who lived quite some time after Moses and his successor, Joshua. He was able to assert that no-one knew where Moses’ grave was (34:6), and also how Israel had responded to Joshua’s leadership (34:9). He knew the region to the immediate east of the Jordan, where Moses addressed Israel in Deuteronomy, as ‘Moab’ (1:5). This region, which Israel had once claimed as the tribal territory of Reuben (Joshua 13:16–23), only became a permanent part of Moab’s territory in the late ninth century BC.2 It’s even possible the editor
1. The earliest agreed reference to Israel is in an Egyptian text of Pharaoh Merneptah dated to c. 1205 BC. 2. An ancient inscription by King Mesha of Moab describes in great detail how Moab took over this territory in the late ninth century BC (cf. 2 Kings
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One Nation under God lived sometime after the sixth century BC when the people of Judah experienced God’s judgement in exile. Deuteronomy 32:15–27 views God’s rejection of his people as a past event (see especially 32:15–19). While some see these verses referring to God’s judgement on Israel for worshipping the golden calf in the desert (cf. Exodus 32), the judgement described includes Israelites being attacked in their cities and being subsequently scattered (32:25–26). These reflect a situation after Israel’s settlement in the land and alludes to their exile. The editor, then, seems to have had considerable hindsight. He could scan the broad sweep of Israel’s history and make evaluations about Moses’ lasting legacy, affirming that no person quite like Moses had arisen within the covenant community in all of Israel’s history (34:10–12). Therefore, Deuteronomy seems to have developed over a period of many centuries. It had almost certainly reached its current form by the time of Ezra (458 BC), who re-established the law as authoritative in Jerusalem (see Ezra 7). By that time, Deuteronomy seems to have been firmly associated with Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers as an integral part of ‘the Law’ (the Pentateuch), and functioned as something of a bridge into the books of Joshua through to 2 Kings.3 This kind of long-term development might initially seem strange to us today, since we are used to books being published in a final form. However, the ancient world, which did not have our modern levels of literacy, let alone the printing press, did not really have ‘books’ as we know them today. Rather, it’s better to think of the ancient world having what we would call ‘documents’. These were copied by hand and often updated for later audiences, especially if
1:1; 3:4–5). In the sixth century BC, this area was still in Moab’s possession (see Jeremiah 48.1–47; Ezekiel 25:8–9). 3. The Hebrew canon does not place Ruth in this collection from Joshua to 2 Kings. Rather, the Hebrew canon places Ruth in another section, called the Writings.
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Introduction to Deuteronomy the document was deemed to be as important as something like Deuteronomy was. After all, even today important books often undergo further development and are reissued in new editions. The updating of books, therefore, is testament to both their importance and currency. Furthermore, during the Old Testament period, God was still in the process of revealing himself to Israel, and so he continued to inspire authors by his Spirit to keep imparting this revelation through their documents. So, just as God inspired Moses, Israel’s first prophet, he also inspired a later editor, who put the finishing touches on the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy outlines the principles and standards by which Yahweh and Israel will relate as God and people within a particular land. Attention is often drawn to the similarities between the content of Deuteronomy and some Ancient Near Eastern treaties. These treaties are between a powerful king (a suzerain) and a vassal king.4 They include a preamble about the circumstances that gave rise to the treaty, the laws and stipulations of the treaty, an appeal to witnesses, blessings for meeting the treaty’s obligations, as well as curses and consequences for failure. Yet, there are also similarities with legal codes, such as the Code of Hammurabi of Babylon (c. 1750 BC), which follows a very similar structure. What this shows us is that Deuteronomy functions as a covenant (treaty) document that brings into existence a new kind of relationship, as well as a legal code designed to order a particular society in a particular land. On the surface of it, Deuteronomy is structured as a set of speeches by Moses. These speeches contain all the various elements expected in treaties and legal codes just mentioned. There is debate as to exactly how many distinct speeches of Moses Deuteronomy contains, mainly because it’s difficult to know whether some of the editor’s comments 4. Prime examples are Hittite Treaties of the Late Bronze Age (1500–1200 BC), and the treaties made by Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (681–669 BC).
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One Nation under God towards the end of the book are separating out the speeches, or simply adding narrative within them. Since these editorial comments tend to come at transitions in the content, I understand them as organising the various speeches. On that basis, we can see four speeches of Moses within Deuteronomy, and an extra section related to Moses’ farewell, which contains various kinds of material. With this in mind, we can outline the book’s structure as follows: 1:1–5 Introduction 1:6—4:43 Moses’ first speech: Preamble to the covenant 4:44—26:19 Moses’ second speech: The law 27:1—28:68 Moses’ third speech: Covenant blessings and curses 29:1—30:20 Moses’ fourth speech: Exhortation 31:1—34:12 Moses’ farewell. As we look at each of these sections, we will see how the content moves between various subjects. But throughout the entire book we will see a concern for setting up an ancient society with God as its head of state. Not only will this give us understanding of God and his old covenant people, it will give us the right platform from which to see the development of a new covenant that God brings about through Jesus Christ. Deuteronomy is of crucial importance, then, for understanding not just the Old Testament, but also the New Testament.
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Chapter 1
Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46)
STRUCTURE This opening section of Deuteronomy introduces us to the three main parties involved in the book. First, it introduces us to Moses, the central human figure who will do most of the speaking for the remainder of the book. Second, it introduces us to the nation of Israel, of whom Moses has been the leader, and whom he now addresses as they stand on the wrong side (the east) of the Jordan in Moab, poised to enter the Promised Land. And third, the section introduces us to God—Yahweh—whom Moses represents to Israel, and who owns the land Israel is about to enter. In 1:1–5, an editor locates Deuteronomy geographically, historically and theologically. Thus these verses function as a brief preface for the book as a whole. Then from 1:6 Moses begins to speak. His first speech runs from 1:6 to 4:40, and functions as a kind of preamble to the laws and standards that will follow. Moses recalls here the history of God’s dealings with Israel during their 40 years of wandering through the desert, and uses that as a basis for urging Israel’s obedience to God. The editor then rounds out Moses’ speech with a brief description in 4:41–43 of Moses designating three cities of refuge in the territories east of the Jordan River. The preliminaries of Israel’s life before entering the Promised Land are thus dealt with before Moses begins his second speech in Chapter 5. 7
One Nation under God In this first chapter, we will consider Deuteronomy 1, which we can divide up as follows: 1:1–5 Introduction 1:6–8 God’s instructions to Israel at Horeb 1:9–18 Moses recalls the burden of leadership 1:19–31 Israel at Kadesh Barnea 1:32–46 The consequences of Israel’s distrust.
MEANING Introduction (1:1–5) In these first five verses, an editor gives us a time and a place for Moses’ first speech to Israel (1:6—4:40). Since this is the opening of the book, this introduction also serves as a preface for all of Deuteronomy. No absolute date is given for Moses’ address that might allow us to assign a year in history to this speech. There is no reference to any other persons or events that we know from external history outside the Bible. Instead, the editor gives us a relative date that locates Moses’ speech simply within the experience of Israel: Moses addressed Israel on the first day of the eleventh month of the fortieth year after their exodus from Egypt (1:3), after they had defeated Sihon, King of the Amorites, and Og, King of Bashan. Israel now stands poised to enter the Promised Land. While this might seem like mundane historical information, its full impact can be discerned when read after the information given in 1:1–2. The journey from the mountain where God met with Israel, Horeb (also known as Mount Sinai), to Kadesh Barnea at the southern edge of the Promised Land takes about 11 days on foot. Yet Moses and Israel are not at Kadesh Barnea anymore. They are, instead, east of the Jordan River Valley (the Arabah) in the country of Moab.5
5.
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Technically, the Arabah includes not just the Jordan River Valley, but also the entire Rift Valley that extends from the Dead Sea south, all the way to the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba.
Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) Even if we allow a generous 14 days for Israel to travel from Kadesh Barnea to the Arabah, the implication is that Israel is at most a few weeks’ journey away from Horeb. Yet 40 years have passed! ‘Late’ does not even begin to describe this kind of delay. We do not know the location of all of the places named in 1:1, but we do know that at least some of them were staging posts for the Israelites during their time in the desert. Paran, for example, was the desert area in which Kadesh Barnea is situated (see Numbers 10:12), and Hazeroth is a location nearby (see Numbers 11:35; 12:16). These places, therefore, seem to be on the desert fringes south of the Promised Land in the northern part of what we today call the Sinai Peninsula, and the region just to the east, close to the Dead Sea. Perhaps these are all places along a route through the desert. In any case, these locations are not in the Arabah in the country of Moab. So how can Moses and the Israelites be ‘opposite’ these places when they are not actually immediately close by? We can get a better understanding if we imagine the editor standing on a large virtual map of the region. The editor seems to be standing in the far south at the point where Horeb is located (though the exact location of Horeb is unknown). From there, the most direct route into the Promised Land is via Kadesh Barnea. However, as the editor speaks, he points over to where Moses and the Israelites are, which is in the Arabah of Moab, just east of the Jordan River. As such, from the editor’s standpoint, Moses and the Israelites are ‘beyond’ or ‘on the other side of’ the intervening desert localities listed in 1:1. This is probably what is meant by the word ‘opposite’ in relation to these places. Of course all of this begs a few major questions. Why did Israel take such an inordinately long time to get from Horeb to the Promised Land? What are they doing all the way over in the Arabah of Moab, east of the Jordan River, when they could have entered the Promised Land using the most direct route via Kadesh Barnea? And who are Sihon and Og, the two kings mentioned as defeated in 1:4? The rest of 9
One Nation under God
Important sites in Deuteronomy
• Dan BASHAN River Jordan
Mt Ebal
GILEAD
Mt Gerizim
AMMON
Shiloh • Bethel •
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Jerusalem
•
Mt Pisgah (Nebo)
MOAB NEGEV PARAN
SEIR
• Kadesh Barnea ARABAH
Mt Horeb?
MIDIAN
EGYPT
Mt Horeb? Mt Horeb?
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Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) Chapters 1–3 go about answering these questions. As we will see, the answers are riddled with Israel’s failure.
God’s instructions to Israel at Horeb (1:6–8) Moses begins his speech by recalling God’s encouraging instruction to Israel 40 years earlier. After forging the covenant with the nation at Horeb, Yahweh became Israel’s head of state. Then, in fulfilment of his promises to Israel’s ancestors, Yahweh urged the nation to take over the land he was giving them. The land earmarked for possession was quite large, extending from the Negev region in the south all the way up through the hills, valleys, plains and coasts to the Euphrates River. Israel, however, would eventually occupy only a smaller portion of this land, namely the area ‘from Dan to Beersheba’ (see 1 Kings 4:25). When Deuteronomy talks about ‘the land’, it usually refers to this smaller unit, rather than the larger unit mentioned in 1:7. It was the smaller unit that was considered the specific territory of Yahweh. The connection between God and the land is very significant. God was not merely picking a random piece of land to give to the Israelites. He was giving them the land that was specifically considered his own. In the Ancient Near East people generally associated particular territories with particular gods. For example, the land of Babylon was regarded as the specific territory of Marduk, chief god of the Babylonians; the land of Assyria was regarded as the domain of Asshur, chief god of the Assyrians; the territories of Syria were regarded as the realm of Baal Hadad, chief god of the Arameans; and so forth. This is similar to the way we today think of monetary currencies. Each country has its own currency that you need to use when you are within that country’s borders. Using other currencies is not permitted and, therefore, is largely useless. In the same way, ancient countries each had their own particular god or set of gods. When countries went to war with each other, the conflict was also seen as a clash of their respective gods. This is why many armies carried symbols of their gods into war, and 11
One Nation under God why the victorious country usually plundered their defeated enemy’s temples and carried off their idols. This way of looking at countries and gods seems very strange to us as well as theologically incorrect, but it was the common world view of the Ancient Near East for a very long time. As Yahweh revealed himself to Israel, he did so as the specific deity of the land he was granting them under the terms of his covenant. This is also why he interacted with Israel specifically in relation to this land, and why it was such an important idea throughout the whole Old Testament. However, here in 1:6–8, we see Yahweh talking about a larger territory than the smaller unit with which he came to be associated. Here, then, we see a subtle claim that Yahweh, the God of Israel, was not confined to the borders of the territory that Israel would occupy. Rather, we see here a glimpse of Yahweh’s expansive power, even if it is a glimpse on a smaller level. Other people groups already occupied this land. Therefore, God’s instructions to Israel in 1:6–8 signal the need for Israel to conquer the land. This obviously raises ethical questions in our mind about the legitimacy of such a command that would displace or eliminate thousands of inhabitants who already lived in this land. We will consider some of these issues in more detail when we look at Deuteronomy 7. For now, it suffices to realise that the world into which God spoke this command was one in which territories and gods were inextricably connected. It is evident from the tone in which God urged Israel to leave Horeb and take possession of the land that he was encouraging them to march out with confidence. God implicitly guaranteed the success of this endeavour, for it was his land to give. He had set it before the Israelites (1:8) and now commanded them to take possession of it.
Moses recalls the burden of leadership (1:9–18) Before recalling the journey from Horeb, Moses explains the burden he felt in his leadership at that time. The Israelites were expanding in number, they needed efficient 12
Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) and effective leadership, and there was just not enough of Moses to go around. This prompted Moses to appoint trustworthy tribal leaders as ‘judges’ (1:16) for Israel. For us today, the term ‘judge’ evokes the image of a learned official who presides over cases in court. In the Bible, the term has a wider application. A judge ensured justice for the people in his tribe by settling disputes, negotiating with other tribal leaders, and also leading his people out to war when it was necessary to defend against aggressors. There was no ‘separation of powers’ in the ancient world that kept judicial authority separate from governmental and military power, as is the case in most Western countries today. All these roles were often bundled into a single position of authority. Moses appointed a number of such leaders for Israel.
Israel at Kadesh Barnea (1:19–31) Moses now relates how the Israelites left Horeb all those years before and headed for the most logical staging post for entering the Promised Land: Kadesh Barnea. This was a site in the desert just short of the southern border of Canaan. In preparation for conquering the land, Moses sent twelve scouts on a reconnaissance mission. On their return, they brought with them some of the fruits of the land. This should have encouraged the Israelites who had been making their way through the desert for some months now: ahead of them lay a land of fertility and abundance that was favourable for settlement. Yet they also brought news that made the Israelites cower: between them and possession of this promising land lay imposing fortified cities and people of overwhelming stature. Among these people were the fearsome Anakites who lived in and around the highland city of Hebron (Joshua 15:13–14).6 From Moses’ recollection we get a sense of the exaggeration that the scouts employed: ‘large cities fortified
6. While the Anakites were said to be the descendants of an ancient man named Anak, the term itself means ‘long-necked’ people, perhaps hinting at their impressively tall stature.
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One Nation under God to the sky’ (Deuteronomy 1:28). And so, despite God’s initial encouraging words, and Moses’ attempts to raise the morale of the Israelites, the scouts’ report broke the nation’s resolve. Instead of steeling themselves for the conquest ahead, they retreated to their tents and complained that God had led them out of Egypt to die (1:27)—ominous words that would foreshadow the fate of this ‘Exodus generation’ that had come out of slavery in Egypt. Moses describes their actions as rebellion against God (1:26). Considering that the covenant forged at Horeb had placed Yahweh as Israel’s head of state, this was no small charge. The Israelites were effectively engaging in treason. They imputed motives of hate to God (1:27)—something that Moses would later explicitly counter (4:37). Not even Moses’ appeal to God’s track record of care and provision, and the Lord’s promise to fight on the nation’s behalf, was enough to move them from their recalcitrance. We may be quick to point the finger at the Israelites in their stubborn refusal to mobilise and take the land of Canaan. However, we must realise the difficulty of their situation. Here they were, a group of nomadic tribes roving through the desert, without real combat experience, being asked to invade and overpower a whole country of large and well-defended urban settlements, populated by people with militias or standing armies. This must have been very daunting to them. Remember, this was not a world governed by international conventions regulating the ‘rules of war’ or how prisoners of war and civilians in warzones should be treated. The prospects of injury, capture, separation from family, mistreatment, torture, rape, slavery or death, were all very real. So Israel’s reticence is easily understandable. But there were three things that should have given them enough confidence to overcome their fears. First, God’s track record was impressive. He had already shown his power and might in freeing the Israelites from their Egyptian overlords. He had also defeated Pharaoh’s pursuing army at the Red Sea in a most impressive way. God had treated the nation as a loving father treats his little 14
Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) child (1:31), and there was no indication that he was now about to abandon them. Second, God had forged a covenant with Israel at Horeb, which meant that he had committed himself to the nation long term. This was simply God acting upon his commitment to Israel’s forefathers made centuries before. He did not take his relationship with Israel lightly. If he had delivered on his promises in the past, he could be trusted to deliver on them again in the future. And third, the land that Yahweh was giving the Israelites was his land. It was his to give. He was evicting the Amorites who now occupied it with the intent of installing Israel as his own particular people.
The consequences of Israel’s distrust (1:32–46) These three facts called upon Israel to step out in trust. Instead, they stepped back into their tents in fear. They let the task before them overwhelm them. God’s credentials and trustworthiness were crowded out by their own fears. They filled their horizon with anxiety, and left no place for God to act. They were denying God’s faithfulness and ability—a slap in the face of their sovereign head. God’s anger was roused at this denial of his character, actions and intentions. Consequently, he determined that the Israelites would die in the desert. Yet, he also promised to bring the next generation, who were either unborn at the time or just toddlers, into his good land. Only two men who belonged to the first generation would be permitted to enter the land: Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, son of Nun. Moses says here that Caleb had followed Yahweh wholeheartedly (1:36). While the particulars of Caleb’s commendable actions are not related here, we know from Numbers 13–14, where we find the larger narrative of this incident, that Caleb and Joshua were two of the twelve scouts whom Moses had sent into the land. Upon their return, they were the only scouts who had tried to encourage the Israelites to launch a campaign to take the land, believing that God would fight for them and give them success. Their 15
One Nation under God trust in God would, therefore, be rewarded with successful entry into the land. Unfortunately for Moses, God’s judgement upon Israel’s first generation would also fall upon him. He too would die and not enter the land of Canaan (1:37). Leadership of the nation would then pass to Joshua, his deputy and adjutant (1:38). And so as Moses relates this sorry incident to the new generation on the verge of entering God’s good land, we understand that Moses’ own death is imminent. The fate that the Israelites feared—death without gaining the Promised Land—was now their sentence. God condemned them to wander the wilderness outside the land until the first generation had died off. Considering the promise with which they had exited Egypt just a few months earlier, this was obviously a massive blow. This now prompted a change of heart from the Israelites. They acknowledged their mistake and resolved to obey God’s command to mobilise and head into the land of Canaan (1:41). While this sounds positive, it was motivated by a very common but mistaken approach to life: that past mistakes can be outweighed or even annulled by good acts. This karma-like philosophy, however, does not really engender true repentance, which acknowledges one’s own wrongdoing as well as the detrimental impact it has on others, and then submits to God’s verdict over it. Rather, this approach at best engenders regret—an expression of dislike for the way something has ‘backfired’—and tries to evade the consequences. The Israelites, refusing to accept God’s verdict on the situation, strapped on their weapons and got ready for war, figuring that their actions now might cancel out their prior disobedience. Yet God would have none of it. Through Moses, he warned the Israelites that he did not sanction their enterprise, and would not go with them or fight for them. They would, therefore, lack the crucial element that would have granted them success. Even though they were now taking the course of action they should have taken originally, this did not nullify their previous sin. 16
Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) Despite all this, the Israelites ignored God’s warning through his prophet, and acted presumptuously. The result was a dismal failure. The Amorites routed the Israelites, scattering them across a front of some 70 kilometres from Seir (Edom) in the south-east to Hormah in the Negev (southern fringe of Canaan).
READING DEUTERONOMY 1:1–46 IN THE OLD TESTAMENT CONTEXT ‘All Israel’ It is important to stress that the editor has Moses speaking to ‘all Israel’ (1:1). On the surface of it, this sounds like a simple historical statement: Moses addressed the Israelites who stood before him at a particular time when they were poised on the edge of the Promised Land. However, in Deuteronomy Israel is seen as a singular entity throughout its generations—one nation under God. As such, the singular covenant that God makes with Israel at Horeb is binding on all generations of Israelites as a singular people. Thus when Moses speaks to ‘all Israel’, it is not merely the generation of his own day that he addresses. It is as though all Israelites of all generations are there present in the Arabah east of the Jordan River to hear him. The picture the editor gives, therefore, is not a simple historical recollection. It is a deeply theological picture of multiple generations of Israelites being called to sit at the feet of Moses, as it were, and listen to the broker of God’s covenant, so that they might learn the lessons of the past and obey their God. This notion of ‘all Israel’, then, transcends any single moment of history. What later Israelites would have heard in these introductory words was not just the story of a one-off event, but also a spiritual event that spoke to them across time. Moses’ words and the authority of the covenant he relates were, therefore, not fossilised in the past. They were imbued with relevance and authority for all stages of Israel’s national history.
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One Nation under God This also helps us understand why the editor states that Moses ‘began to expound this law’ (1:5). The editor is not merely saying something like ‘Moses’ speech begins now’. He is, rather, acknowledging Moses as the one who began the tradition of interpreting and applying the covenantal relationship between Yahweh and Israel. Moses was Israel’s first prophet.7 As we will see in 18:15–22, God would raise up other prophets like Moses to guide the nation of Israel in its covenantal relationship with him.8 The job of understanding, explaining, and applying God’s laws and standards did not finish with Moses. Indeed, as Israel faced new situations and challenges throughout its history, this had to keep happening over and over. This role was taken up by prophetic figures such as Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Hosea, Isaiah and Jeremiah (to name but a few). Moses, therefore, was merely the initiator of Israel’s prophetic tradition.
Judges In appointing judges for Israel (1:9–18), Moses set in motion a pattern of leadership for the nation. Israel’s leaders were to be committed to the Mosaic ideals of wisdom, understanding and integrity. This résumé, then, becomes a way of evaluating subsequent leaders in the history of Israel. We are thus able to recognise the standout leaders in the nation’s history—people like Joshua (Joshua 23:1–16), Samuel (1 Samuel 12:1–5), David (2 Samuel 8:15), Josiah (2 Kings 22:1–2), and Nehemiah (Nehemiah 5:15). Yet it also helps us to see some of the lamentable leaders of Israel— people like Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas (1 Samuel 2:12; 3:11–14), Saul, Rehoboam, Ahab and
7. While Abraham is called a prophet in Genesis 20:7, he was not, strictly speaking, within the nation of Israel. He stood in a time before the national covenant with Israel forged at Horeb/Sinai. 8. Deuteronomy 18:15–22 does look forward to the coming of one particular prophet par excellence, but it also provides a paradigm for acknowledging any true prophet of God, such as those mentioned in other books of the Old Testament.
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Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) Manasseh. Indeed, as we continue to read the Old Testament beyond Deuteronomy, we realise just how many poor leaders Israel had—people who were foolish, lacking in perception and integrity, who failed to live up to God’s standards. The example of good leadership that Moses initiated was generally not followed. Later Jewish readers of Deuteronomy would have looked forward to effective leadership of the nation that enshrined justice as the norm, rather than the exception. They would have looked forward to a leader like Moses.
Trusting Yahweh The incident at Kadesh Barnea was not the only time that Israel was called to trust God against seemingly overwhelming odds. After Moses’ death, God commanded Joshua to lead the Israelites into the land and conquer it. The inhabitants of the land had not grown any weaker in the intervening 40 years. And yet Joshua and the nation trusted God to deliver victory to them. This is precisely what he did. Trust brought about success and security. Centuries later, King Ahaz of Judah refused to trust the prophet Isaiah’s guarantee that God would deliver him from an alliance of nations threatening to dethrone him (Isaiah 7). Instead, Ahaz called upon the king of Assyria to come to his aid. While this move worked in countering the alliance, it also unleashed the ambitions of Assyria in the region. By failing to trust Yahweh, Ahaz had compromised the nation’s security. Ahaz’s son, Hezekiah, faced the invasion of a later Assyrian king, Sennacherib (Isaiah 36–37), who defeated all of Judah’s armies, as well as the Egyptian army that had come to aid them. Eventually nothing but the walls of Jerusalem stood between him and Hezekiah. In this seemingly helpless situation, Isaiah called on Hezekiah to trust that Yahweh would bring victory. Unlike his father, Hezekiah heeded the call, and against all the odds, God turned the Assyrians back. Trusting God’s word delivered through the prophet was integral to the nation’s wellbeing. 19
One Nation under God
READING DEUTERONOMY 1:1–46 IN LIGHT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT Spiritually present with the new Moses We have seen in the opening of Deuteronomy how Moses spoke to Israel at the beginning of a new era. Furthermore, we observed that ‘all Israel’ was spiritually present to hear him. These are just two of the many ways in which Moses provides precedents for understanding Jesus and his ministry. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus is portrayed as the New Moses. As he sits down and delivers his ‘Sermon on the Mount’ (Matthew 5:1–12), Jesus emulates Moses by imparting God’s standards to God’s people with prophetic authority at the dawn of a new era— just as Moses does at the beginning of Deuteronomy. And while Christians today were not historically present to hear Jesus back then, Christians are even now spiritually present, sitting at Jesus’ feet, as it were, listening to his voice. As Moses spoke from God, authoritatively shaping the life of Israel, so Jesus spoke from God and still shapes the life of the Church. The Church today cannot leave Jesus’ words behind and expect to live fruitfully, any more than Israel could leave Moses’ words behind and expect to obey God’s covenant. For Christians, therefore, the Gospels are not just interesting accounts about events in the past. They are also the spiritual ground on which we stand, as the life, words, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus shape our very identity and life. As Deuteronomy transported Israelite readers back to the Arabah of Moab to listen to Moses, so the Gospels take Christians back to Jesus to hear his words, and experience his ministry. Reading the Gospels is, therefore, a very significant theological act for the Christian.
Dealing with anxiety The prospect of having to capture large fortified cities, with all the associated dangers, was crippling for the Israelites. For many people today, anxiety and fear are 20
Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) realities that can also be seriously debilitating. The New Testament tells us that Christians are now no longer condemned for their sin because they are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). There need be no fear whatsoever of God’s condemnation now, for Jesus has completely absorbed God’s wrath in himself. This does not, however, mean that Christians are now free from such things as anxiety and depression. In fact, these are ever-present realities for many people through no fault of their own. For such people, getting through a single day might seem like being asked to conquer Canaan. Yet, we need to realise that people who experience anxieties of this sort are in different circumstances to the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea. The Israelites were not suffering from a recurring clinical condition when they responded to the report of the men who had scouted out the land. On the contrary, they seem to have been in control of their faculties, and wilfully chose to defy God’s instructions. They left no room for God to act on their behalf, and instead brought judgement on themselves. Those who experience anxiety and depression do not bring it upon themselves. In fact, unlike the Israelites, they would probably do anything to avoid it or prevent it. We must, therefore, be careful not to liken people who experience anxieties to the disobedient Israelites. The Christian can be assured that God has already acted in the past. Through Jesus he has dealt with sin, and he promises to remove all tears and all burdens in the age to come (Revelation 21:3–4). We might say that for Christians the cross of Christ and his empty tomb stand permanently on the horizon as signs of God’s decisive action, despite the storms of anxiety that might come our way. The Gospel does not remove our experience of such anxieties in this present life, but it does tell us that God has acted decisively in the past and will do so again in the future. Accordingly, he is a God on whom we can cast all our anxieties, because he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7).
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One Nation under God
Dealing with sin Israel believed that by trying to perform a seemingly good and obedient act they could nullify their previous disobedience. Yet this was shown to be patently false. All our actions have consequences, whether small or great, and cannot be undone. But what God has done is not turn back the clock to give us a second chance; that would be useless, for as imperfect and sinful human beings, we would either do exactly the same as the first time, or else find other opportunities for disobedience. Yet neither has God turned a blind eye towards our sin; that would be a miscarriage of justice, and God is not corrupt. Rather, through Jesus, God has effectively dealt with our sin. While our actions continue to have natural consequences, since we live in a natural world with cause and effect, the punitive consequences of our sin have been exhausted. Note, they have not been removed—they have been exhausted. God’s punitive wrath at human sin was not held back, but rather poured out in full at the cross of Christ. Jesus, as the perfect and sinless human being, stood as our substitute. As God, his infinite life was enough to cover all human sin. Justice has thus been served. The Christian response to God’s justice demonstrated through Christ is gratitude and loving service. We must not think that we could ever make up for past wrongs, as though we could ever sever the consequences of our actions from the actions themselves. But thanks be to God that he himself has done what we could never do in dealing with our sin.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. Moses sets a precedent for Jesus in many ways. Compare the following passages and think about the ways Matthew presents Jesus as the New Moses: a. Exodus 1:15—2:10 and Matthew 2:13–18 b. Exodus 2 and Matthew 2:14–15 c. Deuteronomy 1:3 and Matthew 4:1–2 d. Exodus 19:3–8 and Matthew 5–7.
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Moses addresses ‘all Israel’ (Deuteronomy 1:1–46) 2. Do the songs we sing during our church services, or the liturgies we use, reflect the notion of being spiritually present with Christ? 3. Where in society can we observe the notion that good acts can make up for past wrongs? How might Christians speak effectively to counter this?
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