Some thoughts on Deuteronomy

[Fenris]

Deuteronomy is, I feel, the most "Jewish" of the Five Books of Moses. Even more so than Leviticus in fact. And the reason I feel this way is because it places front and center what God's covenant with the Jewish people is and how important it is that those conditions be followed. In short, the observance of God's laws, imparted at Sinai and thereafter in the journey to the Holy Land.


To wit-

It begins

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on that side of the Jordan in the desert

observing

The Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance.

With a recounting of all the journeys after the Exodus from Egypt.

And then we get to the heart of the matter.

Moses explains to the Israelites what God expects from them.

Deut 4: "And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you to do, in order that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord, God of your forefathers, is giving you. Do not add to the word which I command you, nor diminish from it, to observe the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you....you who cleave to the Lord your God are alive, all of you, this day. Behold, I have taught you statutes and ordinances, as the Lord, my God, commanded me, to do so in the midst of the land to which you are coming to possess.  And you shall keep them and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples, who will hear all these statutes and say, "Only this great nation is a wise and understanding people. "

And furthermore not to worship anything corporeal-

And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, so that you should do them in the land to which you are crossing, to possess. And you shall watch yourselves very well, for you did not see any image on the day that the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. Lest you become corrupt and make for yourselves a graven image, the representation of any form, the likeness of male or female...


That idolatry may be ok for other nations, but not for you

And lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, and see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, which the Lord your God assigned to all peoples under the entire heaven, and be drawn away to prostrate yourselves before them and worship them.

And explains the uniqueness of the Jewish experience

For ask now regarding the early days that were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there was anything like this great thing, or was the likes of it heard? Did ever a people hear God's voice speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard, and live? Or has any god performed miracles to come and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great awesome deeds, as all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

And importantly

You have been shown, in order to know that the Lord He is God; there is none else besides Him.

And why they were chosen:

because He loved your forefathers and chose their seed after them, and He brought you out of Egypt before Him with His great strength...

And reiterating the central point

And you shall observe His statutes and His commandments, which I command you this day, that it may be well with you and your children after you, and that you may prolong your days upon the earth which the Lord your God gives you forever.




The next chapter reiterates this again

And Moses called all Israel and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, and learn them, and observe them to do them."

And stresses that the covenant was not just with that generation

The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Not with our forefathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, we, all of whom are here alive today.

And then at the end of the chapter, reitirates again

Keep them to perform them as the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside either to the right or to the left. In all the way which the Lord, your God, has commanded you, you shall go...

Chapter 6 begins

This is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances that the Lord, your God, commanded to teach you, to perform in the land into which you are about to pass, to possess it. In order that you fear the Lord, your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments that I command you, you, your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life, and in order that your days may be lengthened.

And then comes the Shema prayer, which was on the lips of the countless Jews who were martyred through the ages

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them to your children and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk on the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes. And you shall inscribe them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.

And again

Diligently keep the commandments of the Lord, your God, and His testimonies. and His statutes, which He has commanded you.

and again

the Lord commanded us to perform all these statutes, to fear the Lord, our God, for our good all the days, to keep us alive, as of this day. And it will be for our merit that we keep to observe all these commandments before the Lord, our God, as He has commanded us.

Chapter 7 again mentions the uniqueness of the Jewish mission

For you are a holy people to the Lord, your God: the Lord your God has chosen you to be His treasured people, out of all the peoples upon the face of the earth. Not because you are more numerous than any people did the Lord delight in you and choose you, for you are the least of all the peoples. But because of the Lord's love for you, and because He keeps the oath He swore to your forefathers, the Lord took you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Know, therefore, that the Lord, your God He is God, the faithful God, Who keeps the covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.

and again

You shall therefore, observe the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day to do.

chapter 8 starts

Every commandment that I command you this day you shall keep to do, that you may live and multiply, and come and possess the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers.

and espouses

You shall know in your heart, that just as a man chastises his son, so does the Lord, your God, chastise you. And you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to go in His ways, and to fear Him.

and a warning

Beware that you do not forget the Lord, your God, by not keeping His commandments, His ordinances, and His statutes, which I command you this day, ...you must remember the Lord your God, for it is He that gives you strength to make wealth, in order to establish His covenant which He swore to your forefathers, as it is this day.


Chapter 10, again

And now, O Israel, what does the Lord, your God, ask of you? Only to fear the Lord, your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which I command you this day, for your good.

chapter 11 begins

you shall love the Lord, your God, keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments, all the days.

and ends

And you shall keep to perform all the statutes and ordinances that I am setting before you today.

chapter 12 begins

These are the statutes and ordinances that you shall keep to perform in the land which the Lord God of your fathers gives you to possess all the days that you live on the earth.

and

Keep and hearken to all these words that I command you

chapter 13 begins

Everything I command you that you shall be careful to do it. You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.

and

You shall follow the Lord, your God, fear Him, keep His commandments, heed His voice, worship Him, and cleave to Him

and ends

you shall hearken to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you this day, to do that which is proper in the eyes of the Lord, your God.

chapter 14 again with the uniqueness

you are a holy people to the Lord, your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a treasured people for Him, out of all the nations that are upon the earth.

chapter 15 again contains warnings

if you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, to be careful to do all this commandment, which I am commanding you today.

chapter 16 contains the more general command of "Justice, justice shall you pursue"

chapter 17 even applies this to Jewish kings, who are commanded to write and keep a Torah scroll with them so that "he shall read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord, his God, to keep all the words of this Torah and these statutes, to perform them".

The next several chapters have various laws, commands and ordinances.

Coming to chapter 26, we have again an exhortation to follow the law and the uniqueness of the Jewish mission.

This day, the Lord, your God, is commanding you to fulfill these statutes and ordinances, and you will observe and fulfill them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have selected the Lord this day, to be your God, and to walk in His ways, and to observe His statutes, His commandments and His ordinances, and to obey Him. And the Lord has selected you this day to be His treasured people, as He spoke to you, and so that you shall observe all His commandments, and to make you supreme, above all the nations that He made, so that you will have praise, a distinguished name and glory; and so that you will be a holy people to the Lord, your God, as He spoke.

and again in chapter 27

You shall therefore obey the Lord, your God, and fulfill His commandments and His statutes, which I command you this day.

chapter 28 begins with blessings for obedience

it will be if you obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments which I command you this day, the Lord, your God, will place you supreme above all the nations of the earth....The Lord will establish you as His holy people as He swore to you, if you observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and walk in His ways.

and curses for disobedience

And it will be, if you do not obey the Lord, your God, to observe to fulfill all His commandments and statutes which I am commanding you this day...All these curses will befall you, pursuing you and overtaking you to destroy you because you did not obey the Lord, your God, to observe His commandments and statutes which He commanded you.

chapter 29, again

And you shall observe the words of this covenant and fulfill them, in order that you will succeed in all that you do.

and reiterates the permanence
But not only with you am I making this covenant and this oath, but with those standing here with us today before the Lord, our God, and also with those who are not here with us, this day.


That is to say, future generations.

and ends with

The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah.

Chapter 30 with the promised redemption from exile:

And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you, and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day you and your children, then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you.

and

when you obey the Lord, your God, to observe His commandments and His statutes written in this Torah scroll, and when you return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.

and

I command you this day to love the Lord, your God, to walk in His ways, and to observe His commandments, His statutes, and His ordinances, so that you will live and increase, and the Lord, your God, will bless you in the land to which you are coming to take possession of it.

and Moses last words to the people in chapter 32

And Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel. And he said to them, "Set your hearts to all of the words which I bear witness for you this day, so that you may command your children to observe to do all the words of this Torah.


Is it any wonder that God's Laws are so central to Judaism?