About the Book:
The last of the books in the Pentateuch, Deuteronomy is a second version of the Law.
About the Reading:
We start out by hearing the final instructions from Moses to the people. We also read of the ending of their long journey
My Thoughts and Notes:
How frustrating it must have been for all these people to have been traveling for 40 years in the desert. God had a purpose in this journey and lessons were learned throughout this time as the people multiplied and became great in number.
I wonder if any of them thought, as they were ending this journey, “yeah, He says it’s the end…but is it really? Where will be go next?”
What are your thoughts on the reading?
Since the Israelites had been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, those who are adults at this point were babies or not born when God punished them by making them stay in the wilderness all those years. Therefore, Moses is recapping all that went on before coming to the Jordan the first time and what transpired while they wandered for the past 40 years. Now, the time has come to cross over and possess the land God had promised Abraham, Isaac and Israel.
ReplyDeleteThe fifth and last book of the Pentateuch is called Deuteronomy meaning “second law”. In reality, what it contains is not a new law but a partial repetition, completion and explanation of the law proclaimed on Mount Sinai. The historical portions of the book are also a ‘resume’ of what is related elsewhere in Pentateuch. The chief characteristic of this book is its vigorous oratorical style. In a series of eloquent discourses Moses presents the theme of the covenant renewal in a vital religious framework. He exhorts, corrects and threatens his people, appealing to their past glory, their historic mission and the promise of future triumph. His aim is to enforce among the Israelites the Lord’s claim to their obedience, loyalty and love. The events contained in the Book of Deuteronomy took place in the plains of Moab (Dt 1, 5) between the end of the wanderings in the desert (Dt 1, 3) and crossing of the Jordan River (Jos 4, 19) a period of no more the forty days. The Book of Deuteronomy, written after the Israelites had for centuries been resident in the Land of Promise, takes the form of a testament of Moses, the great leader and legislator, to his people on the eve of his death. At the time of our Lord’s coming, it shared with the Psalms a preeminent religious influence among Old Testament books.
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