The Book of Deuteronomy

​The Book of Deuteronomy 

Deuteronomy is a set of sermons, preached by Moses to all of Israel, shortly before his death, urging Israel's faithful obedience, to the covenant laws, given 40 years previously at Sinai.

The name Deuteronomy comes from the Greek title for the book, deuteronomion, meaning “second law” or “repeated law,” a name attributed to one of the Hebrew Scripture books, from the Mishneh Torah.

God’s promise, to Israel, in Deuteronomy, is that  the LORD your God will bless you in the land He is giving you. 

The LORD will establish you, as His holy people… because He promised you on oath… that if you keep the commands of the LORD your God and walk in His ways… then, all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they will respect you.

This is the core of Deuteronomy -  the covenant that binds Yahweh and Israel, by an oath of fidelity and obedience.

God will give Israel blessings of land, fertility, and prosperity …so long as Israel is faithful to God's teaching …but, disobedience will lead to punishment.

Still, Israel's recurring sin is a lack of faith (or apostasy), which is the abandonment or renunciation of trust in the Lord… It is the disobedience of the first commandment, of the law… 

("Thou shalt have no other gods before Me")

… but, the people have entered into relations with other gods.

The book of Deuteronomy, and thus of the Torah  - the five Books of Moses… ends with Moses' ascent to the top of Mt. Pisgah.

There, Yahweh shows him the Promised Land …and then Moses dies, there in the land of Moab, and is buried by God …in an unknown grave… and as we learn later (in the letter of Jude), it is so that Satan might not find his body. 

…and although Moses is not “taken up to heaven” by God, as  Elijah was… we do see Moses at the Mount of Transfiguration with Elijah and Jesus… Interesting, huh! 

From the Holy Scriptures…

Praise be to God!


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