June 2008

A word
on the Word

A monthly series on the Bible — by guest columnist, the Rev. Cn. Victoria Heard, Canon Missioner for Church Planting

Deuteronomy

hen I was a rector, occasionally on the first Sunday of January, someone would proudly announce at coffee hour, “This year, I am going to read the Bible cover to cover.” I would try not to smile too openly while cheering the intention and then strongly suggesting he or she do so with a modern version and extensive footnotes. Usually by March, the earnest parishioner had marched steadily through Genesis and Exodus and then reached an impasse in Leviticus or Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy is not easy reading for a 21st century Christian. Its structure is alien: it divides into three addresses from Moses to the Israelites. Much of it repeats commandments already in Exodus or Leviticus and it lacks even the occasional narrative passages of Numbers. The name, Deuteronomy, means “Second Law” in Latin. The Jewish title is, “The Words,” taken from its first sentence, “These are the words that Moses spoke.” A superficial reader may find the book to be a bewildering array of prohibitions against idolatry and commandments that would have little interest to anyone other than a Talmudic scholar. A hasty reader may be tempted to leapfrog over it to the thrills of Joshua crossing the Jordan and circling the walls of Jericho.

Before flipping through to the next book of Joshua, stop and ponder this: Jesus found power and guidance in the words of Deuteronomy. He used three quotations from Deuteronomy as shields against Satan’s assaults in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), and He referred to Deuteronomy often in his teaching. St. Paul invoked this book in Galatians and Romans, and it shaped the theology of Hebrews.

Traditionally, scholars have considered Moses to be Deuteronomy’s author with the caveat that Joshua, Caleb, or one of his followers added the final chapter (34) that recounts Moses’ death and burial. Since the
18th century, some have speculated that some part or all of Deuteronomy was the “Book of the Law” scroll that King Josiah discovered during repairs of the Temple in the seventh century B.C. (see 2 Kings 22:8-20).

Clearly, the reforms Josiah undertook in Judea — destroying local hill shrines, centering worship in the Temple, and understanding the Torah as God’s gift — find clear voice in Deuteronomy. Scholarly discussions have advanced various dates for authorship, but they do not detract from the belief by both Jews and Christians that Deuteronomy is a Spirit-breathed book in which God’s people have found His word and guidance for thousands of years.

Deuteronomy is full of deep theological insight into the life of Israel in relationship with its God. God loved the people of Israel when they were insignificant and undeserving. He took them out of slavery in Egypt and forged a relationship with them in the wilderness.

The author sees God’s choice of Israel as unique in the world’s history (4:34). The Shema sums up the keynote of that relationship. “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:4-5).

In view of this relationship, Moses, describes how God’s people should respond in love and obedience. He rehearses the Ten Commandments and then explains the details of the spiritual, social, and liturgical life of Israel, emphasizing a passionate hatred of slavery, bias for the people at the margins of power, and love of justice. His instructions about justice include an insistence that Israel’s leaders must not decide death-penalty cases based on a single witness’ word and a prohibition against the common practice of bribes.

Justice in Deuteronomy advocates limited vengeance by setting apart cities of refuge to which someone could flee who had killed by accident. It even protects a mother bird in her nest, as well as the olive and fruit trees
of enemies.

A modern reader may find Deuteronomy’s clear hatred of idolatry the hardest to understand. With uneasy memories of religious wars, western Christians tend to prefer a tolerant attitude toward other religions and the worship of other gods. We forget that the peoples who surrounded Israel practiced human sacrifice, such as cutting children’s throats under the foundation stones of city gates (see 1 Kings 16:34). In modern terms, Deuteronomy explains that holding some other god as the focal point of one’s life leads to evil behavior and
the destruction of human relationships, but following God and his teaching preserves both the individual
and society.

Deuteronomy is remarkable in its concern for women, the poor, and foreigners, especially in light of the domination owners held over slaves and men maintained over women in biblical eras. The book reminds Israel to welcome and provide shelter for strangers, “for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (10:19). Slavery was a universal fact in the time of Deuteronomy’s composition, but its author seeks to mitigate the institution within the covenant community. The law does not permit anyone to sell an Israelite into permanent slavery — seven years is the maximum term. Israelites are not to return runaway slaves to their owners (23:16), and anyone who kidnaps people into slavery faces the death penalty (24:7). Underneath the provisions concerning slavery is a conviction that to serve God is to be free. As a result, God’s people are to hate slavery as a perversion of His will for all human beings, not just the people of Israel.

Deuteronomic law gives certain rights to women whose husbands — and thus legal representatives — have died, and God promises good things to those who remember the widow and the fatherless. It also commands Israel to leave enough food unharvested in the fields so that widows, orphans, and the poor can gather it. Employers are to pay day-laborers before sundown (24:15), and the rich are not to oppress the poor or take a workman’s tools as collateral for a loan.

Deuteronomy’s structure has a brief preface in chapter 1, followed by Moses’ three addresses to Israel. The first address in chapters 1-4 sums up the 40 years of Israel’s wilderness wandering from the time of their covenant encounter with God at Mount Sinai (which Deuteronomy calls “Mount Horeb”). Moses reminds them that God had told them to take possession of the Promised Land 40 years earlier but they had refused out of fear, which they stated in false pious terms of concern for their babies. God then swears that those same babies will be the ones who will conquer the land under Joshua’s leadership. The first address ends with a passionate call to serve God alone and eschew worship of any other being. It points to God’s holiness and uniqueness and reminds the people of His great love and its demonstration in all the powerful ways He had cared for them in the wilderness.

Moses’ second address covers chapters 5-26. It takes the form of a covenant renewal ceremony, beginning with a full recitation of the Ten Commandments. The author then lyrically celebrates the goodness of the land of promise (8:7-10). The address divides into two sections. Chapters 5-11 include an ethical call to a full relationship with the holy God who has saved Israel, and chapters 11-26 cover a series of commandments, from the establishment of a central sanctuary and liturgical calendar to rules for warfare, slavery, and marriage. It ends with a creedal statement that Israel’s people were to say at the altar when offering a thanksgiving to God (26:5-15).

Moses’ third address (chapters 29-33) is set on the slopes of Mt. Pisgah where the aged Moses tells Israel to follow the Torah, chants a blessing on the tribes, and sings a last passionate song over his people, warning them of the terrible things that will happen if they abandon their faith in God. He reminds Israel that, if they forget God and his teachings of justice and mercy, they will lose themselves and the beautiful land into which they are about to come.

Read and re-read this fifth book of the Torah. Some things in it will need the help of a commentary, but it contains commandments that both breathe of the highest ethical demands and seem unbearably harsh. In it are passages of great theological poetry set next to those that, at first read, appear to contain pitiless ferocity. Reading Deuteronomy is like traveling in a land with high sheer cliffs and breathtaking views. Christ himself found the words of this book to be better than bread in a time of temptation. The book of “Words” accentuates a care for love and justice in a world still hungry for all that points to God.