Sunday, March 16, 2014

Redundant Again
Deuteronomy 4:1-14

Moses, as concise with his verbiage as ever, commands the Israelites to do the things I'm about to tell you.  It would seem like it would be enough to just tell them what to do- wouldn't the actual fulfilling of them be implied?  It's like he's concocted a big game of Simeon Says.  He warns them to obey the rules as is- no adding, no subtracting.

Before telling them these rules they are to fulfill, he sets up reasons why they should fulfill them.  He says, You saw what happened to those folks who followed Baal of Peor?  They aren't great models to emulate- seeing as they're all dead and you're still alive.

Obeying will:  

Show the nations your wisdom and understanding.  So the surrounding nations (at least those you don't kill) will be struck by how smart (and alive) you are by not rebelling.

Show the nations how close to God you are.  This is the coolest of the reasons.  Moses says, it will stand out to these people that you have a God who actually cares about you, who actually listens to you, who actually knows what you're going through.  

Show people how awesome your laws are.  Moses is grasping here.  I'm not sure many people would be watching the invading forces and thinking, man- those are some cool rules they follow.  Hope they don't kill us.

He then tells them to teach the laws to their children and to remember the day the received the ten commandments.  He describes God's voice coming from the fire and His writing the laws on stone.  He then reminds them (in a characteristic moment of self-indulgence) that God commissioned him to teach them to follow the laws.  

The thing most striking to me in this passage is the reminder of how close our God is to us.  He knew the plight of the Israelite- and he knows our's too.  He hears our voices the same way he heard their's.  And even if we've been told over and over- that's a message worth hearing again.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Mo' Problems
Deuteronomy 3: 21-29


As Moses continues recapping the Israelite's tale, he hits a couple of important events.  

First, he shares his pep talk with Joshua.  He tells him, dude- you've seen how God helped us demolish these two kings?  He's totally going to do the same thing as you enter the lands of all these other kings.  Worry not. All will be well. God will fight for you.

Second, Moses segues into self-pity mode.  He tells them how he tried to butter God up.  Hey, God.  Remember all that awesome stuff You've been showing the world.  About how awesome You are and all that?  It would be really amazing if I could, you know, travel into the promised land and see more of that stuff.  Whadda You say?  Let bygones be bygones?

Moses tells the Israelites- because of YOU God was still a bit peeved with me and said.  Look, enough with this whining.  I'm done talking about it.  No go Mo.  You're staying behind.  Hit a mountaintop- you can see the land- but that's all you're getting.  However, you should make sure Joshua is pumped and ready- he'll be leading the people in.

I am amazed at the amount of character insight into Moses we get here.  He's bitter, and really concerned with how he's perceived by the readers of his epic tale.  If it weren't for these pesky Israelites, me and God would still be buds and I'd have all the milk and honey I could consume.   But instead, I'm destined to sit on a mountain by myself, moping and spying on these people I've devoted my life to leading.

It also makes me realize that all scripture is written with perspective.  While these authors were certainly immersed in the story of God, their writing is interwoven with unique insight, distinct agendas, personal stakes, and narrative holes filled in based on their culture's oral tradition.  While believers tend to be dogmatic over detail, we often tend to not factor these kind of considerations into application.  Rob Bell points out that these books are written by real people- and need to be read that way.


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Rand McMoses
Deuteronomy 3:12-20

Moses recaps the occurrences of Numbers 32, but in a much more abbreviated version.  If you don't remember our riveting conversation from last year, you can find it here: http://chiphall.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-sins-of-fathers-numbers-32-so-as.html


Moses tells us in a quite boring fashion how this land was split up and that the folks who were staying to claim it still had to cross over the Jordan and help their brothers claim the rest of the land.  However, they could leave their women, children, and livestock safely behind.

Moe eliminates any detail of the discussion to claim these lands as inheritance and that this was an idea the Israelites pitched to God.  Could this be a separate thread of the oral retelling?  Family stories are told differently by different people who remember different details- or who want to frame stories to make themselves appear more heroically.  Both versions of this tale are ascribed to Moses, but certainly pieces of them (especially this book written after his death) could have been written by others who remembered things with less specificity. 

It's a bit disheartening for us lovers of plot that the part left out was the closest thing to a story that existed here. 

Perhaps the message is to remember that God's story doesn't end with the generation that experienced it.  Retellings keep the story alive from generation to generation.  However, those stories that more blatantly seem to tell us about God and his people are a bit more helpful to relive.


Friday, January 17, 2014

Bashin' Bashan
Deuteronomy 3:1-11

This section greatly mirrors those that came before- more recollection of the good ole days of bloody war.  Here Moses reminds them of the incident where they defeated King Og of Bashan.  God says, don't be afraid- do what you did to the Amorites...no worries.

So they do.  Men, women, and children. Dead.

In return they got 60 cities.

Rob Bell suggests that the people in this time were describing the world they knew, that fighting in the name of their god was natural, expected, and commonplace.  He suggests that these ultra-violent passages may illustrate a people not yet evolved culturally enough to recognize that their God is different, that His expectations and desires don't match up to the whims of the gods surrounding them.

And he stresses that this same God put in us the ability to recognize how foreign this violence is to what His will truly is...but this recognition only comes after a gradual cultural evolution.  God guides the people slowly from that barbaric culture and helps it gradually shift to our slightly less but still somewhat barbaric culture.

But it takes many, many, many small steps.  And an amazing Savior.

Monday, January 06, 2014

Nostalgia To Die For
Deuteronomy 2:24-37

Moses's greatest hits collection reaches the track about the battle of Jabaz.  Remember how God told you to offer King Sihon money for food, drink, and safe passage through his land.  And remember when he said no how I helped you slaughter his people, including the women and children?  However, even though we took his land for ourselves, we were careful not to take any Ammorite land.

This feels like celebration talk: serious reminiscing reminding the troops of great victory.  However, it's hard to stomach the celebration of mass killing; especially when that killing involves women and children.

Rob Bell discusses the violence in the old testament as being natural- as they are stories told through oral tradition in a culture where violence is the norm and as these stories are retold, I wonder how much of the tales are justification for violence in the name of God.  I wrestle with how much perspective comes into play in biblical texts- and I wonder what the detail is included for.  Was it there to remind the people of the potential of the bloodthirstiness of their God?  Or was it there to frame their history in a way that made them look more humane.  This same kind of thinking influences how Americans talk about the first Thanksgiving- or westward expansion.

The same question arises when thinking about the detail of steering clear of Ammorite land.  Moses emphasizes...remember, we didn't go anywhere near it.  Perhaps, this was in case any Ammorites had their own version of the story.  This would document that the Israelites weren't involved in whatever could possibly be pinned on them.

Context seems so central to these stories- but that context is often hard to crack thousands of years later and thousands of miles away.