Deuteronomy’s Amazing Promise
If you’ll remember, at the beginning of summer, I expressed my plans to read the entire Bible before my school semester starts in August. Right now I am to the end of 2 Samuel. Yes, I am really behind. Yes, it’s because I’m lazy.
Anyway, a few books ago, I had a personal observation while reading Deuteronomy. It’s just one of those little things one encounters so often that testify to the divine design of the Bible. “For prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
In the midst of biblical criticism and heated debates over the authenticity of God’s Word, I think it is easy for many of us to lose sight of the big picture. We can become obsessed with trying to defend ourselves against “scientists,” infidels for that matter, who think they’ve gotten something big whenever they find some small phrase in the Bible they feel goes against scientific understanding (cf. 1 Timothy 6:4). To support a scientifically valid Bible, we may resort to endless scientific analysis of the Bible. Many points brought up by Christian scientists are profitable, but some of them are so minuscule and vague they only serve to bring us down to the same level as the infidels. Also, when we share Christianity with others, we should remember that no one’s faith is based on a few little scientific facts in the Bible. My belief in the Bible as God’s Word to all mankind is not based on the fact that Job 26:7 alludes to gravity or that Ecclesiastes 1:7 explains the hydrological cycle. It is based on the larger truths and prophecies contained in the messages.
Which brings me to my point about Deuteronomy. This book, written and delivered by Moses in the 13th century B.C., contains a bold and confident message. In it, the Lord, through Moses, tells the Israelites that if they will stay loyal to the Lord and shun the idols of the nations around them, they would live at peace in their land. However, if they play the harlot with other gods, they will be delivered into the hands of pagans. God, knowing the children of Israel would go astray, made a covenant with them. Moses said,
All of you stand today before the LORD your God…that you may enter into covenant with the LORD your God…so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations….And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law….Then people would say: “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them….And the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 29:10-28).
God made this promise more that 700 years before the prophet Daniel, under captivity with Israel, prayed, “Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him” (Daniel 9:11).
We all know now about the captivities of Israel under the Babylonians and the Assyrians. They are the subject of many topics addressed in the books of the Old Testament, with God promising to restore Israel through the Messiah. But Moses delivered his last message to the Israelites before all of that. When you think about it, it is a daring thing to say that whenever Israel leaves God, they will be captured by another kingdom. Let’s say Moses wasn’t really a prophet and Deuteronomy is a bunch of rhetorical hogwash. It would have been very possible for the Israelites to turn from God and still have military and political success. In fact, many of the great nations of the ancients were filled with idolatrous and adulterous people. We could probably say the same thing today. Furthermore, in history classes of public schools and universities, you usually don’t hear any scholars teach that the strength of a nation lies in its faith and morals. We usually measure the strength of a nation by its level of military and economic might, which is often achieved by hatred, corruption and violence. Some scholars today might even say that you’re stupid if you believe the United States (or any country) should adhere to the Word of God.
Yet Moses foolishly asserts that Israel would be powerless without their God, “because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25).
June 23, 2008 at 3:41 am
I really enjoy these glimpses from your reading. This post adds to what is becoming a context for which to discuss Christianity.
June 24, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Matt, you are dancing around the edge of a fact that will stagger you when you understand the full implications. Moses not only predicted the Babylonian exile, he predicts the whole program God has envisioned for the Israelites and the rest of the world.
Here is a very, very important clue to complete the puzzle. Though the Israelites returned to Israel after 70 years as Jeremiah predicted, most first century Jews realized that the exile was not really over.
Daniel had predicted that the exile would last 70 x 7 years or 490 years until the Messiah came. His incarnation would result in the ingathering of the Jews.
Paul realized that the proclamation of the Gospel was resulting in this ingathering of the Jews. In fact, he quoted Deuteronomy 30:11-14 to show how this was taking place by confession of faith in Jesus Christ.
When we consider the very strong Exodus motif presented in John’s Gospel, we begin to see that Jesus was leading the true return from exile.
THIS is the ingathering of the Jews and it has been going on for roughly 2000 years!
June 24, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Very good point, Russell. I tried to hint at this fact when I said, “[The captivities] are the subject of many topics addressed in the books of the Old Testament, with God promising to restore Israel through the Messiah.” Even in Deuteronomy 18, Moses promises the children of Israel another intercessor.
I looked up your Deuteronomy 30 reference, and it reminds me of the teaching that Christianity is one of the only religions, if not the only religion, in the world where God seeks out man instead of man seeking out God.
July 13, 2008 at 4:14 am
Christianity should not be contingent upon the Bible. As I oft say, the Bible should compliment the Christian, not lead the way. The Bible is a very, VERY, profitable book; but it needs to stop being the be-all-end-all of Christianity. Instead of trying to defend an antiquated notion that the Bible is the “word” of God, we should be largely indifferent to the notion that perhaps the Bible isn’t the word of God. Is the Bible perfect? There are questionable parts within it, but the message contained within it is what is most important, not the historical or scientific accuracy, and in that sense, if it is to be regarded by its message, it is perfect. Of course the Bible is going to contain historic and scientific errors, but these are insignificant. The Bible is a spiritual book (not so much the Old Testament, but especially the New Testament), and nothing else.
Is it inspired? Only insofar that (some) of its writers experienced the mystery of God and recorded it down for us. As long as this is remembered, we can keep the Bible and our minds.
July 16, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Erik, I think you are a little off on this one. I’m not sure what your background is, but this is a fallacy that arises from some people who look at Sola Scriptura and decide that all the different interpretations make it impossible to understand what the Bible is saying. You would probably answer the same way I would and argue that we have no proof of the Bible’s inspiration (except in some cases). That being said, the rich tradition of the Church has always held the Bible to be fully inspired and to guide our actions along with sacred Tradition. Maybe we agree that the Bible isn’t the only guide, but it details very exceptionally the beliefs and practices of the early Church and how they went about doing things. The problem is that, left to our own devices, we will come up with different interpretations about what these early Christians did.
July 16, 2008 at 7:17 pm
“…the message contained within it is what is most important, not the historical or scientific accuracy…”
Christianity is a religion grounded in history. That’s what separates it from many other religions. The Bible has to be historically correct. Muhammad brought a message, and Muslims will tell you that the beauty of the message proves the religion. But the Quran is historically inaccurate. You can’t get away from that fact. When speaking within the context of the Bible, importance must be placed on history as well as the message (because the message is largely historical).
July 17, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Well here I might somewhat disagree as well. I think there are times when the Bible uses allegory, parable, even historical fact to prove a point where as the history itself might be a little off. Overall, I agree with you that it is very historically accurate, but unless it is a book that’s sole purpose is to report history, there will be differences. A point in case is Matthew’s genealogy of Christ versus Luke’s. I don’t think this discrepancy can truly be understood unless we understand the theological point Matthew is trying to make, and try as we might our “harmonies” are just extra-biblical thinking.