Deuteronomy 28-- Filled with dread

Scripture: Deuteronomy 28 (especially verses 64-68)

When we started on this journey through Deuteronomy, I figured I might come to a section or chapter that is difficult to write about. An offensive command or a gory bloodbath. Here in chapter 28, in Moses' closing thoughts after re-giving the Law, we may have reached just that type of section.

Moses has given the Law, and the people have declared that they will obey it. Moses tells them to commemorate this by making an altar and writing down God's words. And now, he goes to the greatest lengths possible to persuade them to make good on their word and obey their God.

There are two easy ways to motivate obedience-- to promise reward for compliance and to threaten punishment for defiance. I'm sure psychological theories abound on these methods, not to mention old adages about catching flies with honey and vinegar. All that aside, Moses (and through him, God) uses both methods in this chapter to, at all costs, convince Israel to be in a right relationship with God.

If they will just follow Him, blessings will visit them in all areas of life: agriculture, military, possessions, children, reputation... an amazing picture is painted of a nation obedient to God's will.

However, in case that's not motivation enough, Moses employs a heavy dose of vinegar. If they turn their backs on God, the curses, plagues, and destruction they will experience will be even more widespread than the promised blessings. At one point in this chapter, Moses envisions a horrifying potential future in which besieged Israelites will be forced to eat their young to survive. It is a truly revolting and terrifying scene, as I'm sure it was meant to be.

And while this portrait may seem to indicate Moses is taking things "a step too far," is he? Can someone really go too far in expressing the downfalls of rejecting a right relationship with God? While those who reject God may be spared the external curses of siege and starvation, they will exist in spiritual death, separated from their Creator and Savior. 

They also might not be spared the inward calamities of life apart from God:

"...an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart... filled with dread both day and night, never sure of your life" (28:65b-66).

Sure, today there are more acceptable forms of warning and imploring than listing off blessings and curses. But Moses' point remains: woe to us if we turn our backs on God.

Decalogue, part 5 (Deuteronomy 16:18-18:22)

Scripture: Deuteronomy 16:18-18:22 (especially 16:18-20 and 17:14-20)

We are moving through Moses' delivery of the Law to Israel just before they finally enter the promised land. Each section generally corresponds to one of the Ten Commandments, in order, and today we've come to the section related to #5:

Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you...

Decalogue, part 1 (Deuteronomy 6-11)

Scripture: Deuteronomy 11 (especially verses 13-17, and also chapters 6-10)

If you've been reading through Deuteronomy with me, you'll notice something's different. As the title suggests, we're changing up the structure of working through the book. This simply reflects the change in the text itself; we're transitioning from Moses' introductory exhortations to his recapitulation of God's law. 

One fascinating observation, made by Walton and Hill in their textbook Old Testament Today, is that Moses' entire presentation, covering chapters 6 to 26, is a detailed exposition of the Ten Commandments (also called the Decalogue)! That all of the law really serves to further these ten core instructions.

Deut. 5-- That it may be well with you

Scripture: Deuteronomy 5 (especially verses 28-33)

Moses is still transitioning from retelling Israel's history in the wilderness to reissuing God's Law to them to prepare them to enter the promised land. In the first half of the chapter, he goes over "the Ten Commandments," and in the second he recounts their initial response to the Ten and God's response to their response. (There are a lot of responses happening. If I didn't sense that my readership for this blog is of an older generation, I'd make a joke here about response-ception.)

1 John 5:1-5-- This Is Love For God

Scripture: 1 John 5:1-5

Different types of relationships create different expressions of love. Love between spouses looks different from siblings' bond of love, and both of those are distinct from, say, a grandparent's love for a child.

The million dollar question answered in today's passage is this: what does love look like from a person to God?

1 John 2-- Those Who Are Trying to Lead You Astray

Scripture: 1 John 2

It's always nice when the writer of an ancient text, like a Bible epistle, states his reason for writing. It takes away some of the interpretive work, work which could cause anxiety since we grew up taking standardized tests that asked, "Which of the following best summarizes the author's reason for writing this?" (For some reason, there was always either 0 or 2 answers that felt right.)

Fortunately, John does this for us in 1 John. The less fortunate thing is, he does it a bunch of times and thus gives us many different reasons.