Year 1, Week 20, Day 3 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 20, Day 3

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of Deuteronomy 3-4.

Today’s reading completes Moses’ review of Israel’s history and begins unpacking the truths that the new generation would need to embrace concerning the terms of the covenant. Deuteronomy 3 reviews the defeat of Og, king of Bashan: “But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not fear him, for I have given him and all his people and his land into your hand. And you shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” (Deuteronomy 3:2). Moses has reviewed Israel’s history in order to help them face the present: “And I commanded Joshua at that time, ‘Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. So will the LORD do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them, for it is the LORD your God who fights for you.” (Deuteronomy 3:21). Deuteronomy 4 begins the main unit of the Book as it orients Israel to the terms of the Covenant that the LORD has made with Israel: “And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:1-2).

One of the things that struck me in today’s reading was how the Law reveals the LORD’s goodness: “You are good and do good; teach me your statutes.” (Psalm 119:68). The goodness of the LORD was displayed in His Hand of deliverance: “But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.” (Deuteronomy 4:20). The LORD had revealed Himself to Israel and made them His Covenant people: “To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.” (Deuteronomy 4:35). But the goodness of the LORD was also displayed in the giving of the Law as a part of the Covenant arrangements: “Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.” (Deuteronomy 4:40). The LORD expressed His goodness through the goodness revealed in the Law itself: “He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 147:19-20).

The goodness of the Law is seen in the superior wisdom that it provided those who heed it: “Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” (Deuteronomy 4:6). Israel was in need of wisdom so that they would know how to practically and fruitfully live in the Promised Land. Such wisdom would be found in the Laws that God provided: "the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple” (Psalm 19:7b). There is a good reason to know the Law and to do it. Wisdom is at stake. Without the Law there is no acquisition of wisdom. Thus, the Law would need to be known and passed on: “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children” (Deuteronomy 4:9).

As Moses begins to orient Israel to the goodness of the Law for supplying them with the wisdom that they need to live will in the Land, he begins with the first concern of the Law: “Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:23-24). Idolatry will prove devastating: “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed.” (Deuteronomy 4:26). If Israel was to operate wisely in the Land, the LORD alone would need to be their God: "And because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power…know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (Deuteronomy 3:37,39). Idolatry will never produce anything other than moral foolishness. True wisdom begins in relationship with the LORD: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7a).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe