Deuteronomy30 Mar
Deuteronomy was written by Moses as a preparation for the second generation to face the decision of entering the promised land. They would need to know how to conduct themselves, and know how to live in relationship to Yahweh. The name of the book is “second law” because it is a restatement to the people, what they have already received. Does that mean that much of what you read will be familiar…yes. But like the gospels that tell the same story with different details because of the needs of the audience…this restatement of the law will help us know why the Lord desires certain things of us.
Key themes of the book are:
Choosing Obedience
The inevitable Fall into Sin
The great love of the lord for his people
The offer for Life in the Lord
A simple outline of the Book in seven divisions:
- Summary of the history of Israel in the wilderness, 1:1-3:29
- A restatement of the Law, with warnings and exhortations, 4:1 -11:32,
- Instructions, Warnings, and Predictions, 12:1-27:26,
- The great closing prophecies summarizing the history of Israel to the second coming of Christ, and containing the Palestinian Covenant, 28:1-30:20,
- Last counsels to Priests, Levites, and to Joshua, 31,
- The Song of Moses and his parting blessings, 32,33,
- The Death of Moses, 34.
6 Responses to “Deuteronomy”
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Pastor I have some questions: In Deu, 2:11, 2:20, and 3:13 speak of giants in the land. The king of the giants, Og had the bed size of 16’x 6′. (Something my son-in law would love.) Obviously they were not your average Hebrew in statue. What was the average height of a Hebrew back in the days of Moses or Jesus? Also by trying to track the Israelites conquest, it seems to me that they originally came around from the south on the south eastern side of the Jordan. I cannot find any accurate maps to track their campaigns. Any help?
The average height of an ancient Greek was about 5’7″ Assuming that the Hebrew diet was less than desirable in Egypt, it would be safe to say that they were closer to 5’6″, since human height (aside from a few genetic factors) is most closely linked to diet. It is not likely that more than a handful of Canaanites were huge.
As for the path of the Hebrews, you are on the right track. lol
Deu.12:31 speaks of the hatred the Lord had towards every abomination the heathens have done; specifically sacrificing their children by burning them to death to their pagan gods. The Lord institutes laws and regulations concerning clean and unclean animals which can or cannot be eaten. The Lord made it very clear not to drink the blood of an animal, for life is in the blood. I think some of these laws were more for the health of the Hebrews. If the blood of an animal was diseased then it could have infected them. The brutality of killing the heathens, men, women, children, livestock and all, who served other gods, was really the mercy of the Lord. The wages of sin is death. It’s infectious and its curse is felt through every possible avenue of the human experience. A little leaven, leavens the whole lump. In the New Testament God in His longsuffering and patience sanctifies us as he sheds His light on areas of our lives He wants to change. If He shed His light on our sinfulness all at once, it would most likely traumatize us and swallow us up into deep despair and condemnation. For the heart of man is deceitfully wicked and who could know it but the Lord? Jesus said, “I have many things to tell you but you cannot bear them now”. We are justified immediately after we receive Christ but complete sanctification can take a lifetime.
The reading in 21-22 has some great stuff in it today, very practical:
21:1-God cares about justice, even in the Cold Cases
:10-God cares about women that you have captured, giving them certain rights (though we would look on it as a lot of rights, mind you…still more than an arrogant human would grant.)
:15 Read Leah and Rachel, God cares about the unloved
:18 God cares about family structure
:22 Read Jesus became the curse for me!!!!!!
22:1 You are your brother’s keeper…and are responsible for his things to the best of your ability.
:5 XX or XY, not X-dressing
:6 Better to have multiple breakfasts than one dinner!
:8 Protect your family and friends from stupid accidents by being proactive.
:9 God cares about purity, remind yourself of that.
:12 God cares about fashion. no actually it is from Num 15:37–41, Create visual reminders to be obedient to the Lord.
:13 God cares about sexual purity.
:23 It takes two to tango. but…
:25 If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to hear it…it DOES make a sound before the Lord. This applies to women too.
:28 God still cares about sexual purity!
:30 This is a helpful deterrent. Sleeping with your dad’s wife is like sleeping with him. Guess God knew about emotional and physical STDs long before the rest of us.
On your brother’s animals:
http://www.tothesource.org/4_7_2010/4_7_2010.htm
Wow alot of information in Deut 23-24 so much to dissect from these two verses.