Strong and Courageous

Deuteronomy 31-32

            Taken together, chapters 31 and 32 can seem a little inconsistent. On the one hand, Joshua is told to be strong and courageous—no less than three times in chapter 31! On the other hand, the song of chapter 32 warns of the dire consequences when Israel becomes strong and starts to trust in her own strength. How are God’s people to live?

            First, we are not to trust our own strength and resources. We’ve seen this a number of times already, as, for instance, in chapter 18, when the king was not supposed to accumulate horses. Horses were a measure of military power, and Israel’s king was supposed to rely on the Lord to deliver. We’ll see examples of this in the books of Judges and Samuel.

            But relying on the Lord does not mean that we are to be fearful and quaking. It takes a different kind of strength to trust the Lord, especially when your strength seems insufficient. Can you imagine the knot in Joshua’s stomach when his only weapon against the walls of Jericho was a set of trumpets? That takes courage, too. I’m reminded of scene in the last Harry Potter book, where Harry walks through the Forbidden Forest alone, approaching his own death. (Apparently, J.K. Rowling is a Christian, and the echoes of the story of Jesus approaching His own death are pretty strong.)

            I have come to look at Ephesians 6 differently than I did was I was young. Ephesians 6 contains the famous passage about putting on the whole armor of God. It’s a very martial image, very military. But I’ve come to realize that all the armor is defensive, and the only weapon assigned is the sword, which is the Word of God. Then there’s this sentence: “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). We’re not called to charge the field, to engage the enemy, to cast him down. No, we are called (twice) to stand. Consider this from Exodus 14:13-14, “Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” You need only be still. The Lord has got this.

            Strong and courageous, not in our own strength, but in the Lord’s.

God Keeps His Promises

Deuteronomy 30

            The other day, I railed quite a bit about Deuteronomy 28 with all of its covenantal curses. I suppose Deuteronomy 30 is the counterpoint to that because it is a promise of restoration. The Lord will always be faithful to His promises. All those times in Exodus and Numbers, when the Lord was on His last nerve with Israel, when He threatened to destroy them and start over with Moses, Moses reminded the Lord, “You promised.” I suspect that those instances, it was more of a test for Moses than a serious proposal for the Lord. He keeps His promises. It’s His hallmark. Israel might (and, in actuality, did) face exile for her unfaithfulness, but the Lord will (and did) preserve a remnant so that His promise of salvation through Abraham’s descendants would be fulfilled.

            The wrath of God is real, and we do well to take Him seriously when He demands and threatens. However, I find great comfort in Lamentations 3: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³ They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness… ³¹ For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. ³² Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. ³³ For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone (vv. 22-23, 32-33).

A Tangent

Deuteronomy 29

            I’m going on a bit of a tangent today, but I think it’s helpful to understand one of the ways that a passage like Deuteronomy 29 is misunderstood and misused. Sometimes American Christians read this chapter and apply it as if the Lord was making His covenant with the United States. They read about national judgments—disaster on a watered land and calamities—and they read verse 25, “It is because the people abandoned the Lord.” They conclude, “That’s what’s happening to the US!” and their prescription is a widespread return to the Lord.

            There are a couple of problems with that view from a historical perspective. For example, although the US has historically been a country with a population that predominantly identifies as Christian, there are some real questions about what that actually means. I forget the exact numbers but something like 70% of Americans still identify as Christians, while only about 25% of Americans are actually in church any given weekend. If you claim to be a follower of Jesus but don’t engage the most basic practice of the faith, there’s some real question about your self-identification. I’m not sure there ever was widespread dedication to the Lord to return to.

            Another historical problem is seeing the problems of today as the worst in history. The problem there is that that view usually sees US history through the lens of a supposed golden era, usually in the 1940s and 1950s, but social upheaval, political turmoil, and economic displacement are woven into US history from before the founding of the republic. I’m not sure today’s calamities are that much different from yesterday’s.

            Now, of course, one could say a lot more on all of these topics. I don’t want to minimize today’s upheavals. I just want to introduce a certain amount of perspective to these conversations.

            The real problem, though, is not historical but theological: The Lord is explicitly renewing His covenant with OT Israel. Israel was the people in whom He had embedded His promise of a Savior. Israel needed to stay loyal, holy, free from idolatry so that that promise could set down roots, grow, thrive, and produce the fruit that is the Messiah. As Paul puts it in Romans 9:4-5, “Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” And, as I have said over and over in this blog, this covenant, this Mosaic covenant, was fulfilled in the work of Jesus and therefore is no longer binding (cf. Galatian 3-4).

            So, how would a contemporary Christian appropriately bring Deuteronomy 29 forward? How shall we understand its implications for us? The Church is the correct successor for OT Israel, not any nation of the world. So, in order to understand this chapter, we have to see the Church’s call to faithfulness, and we would have to see that, when churches fall on hard times, they should reflect hard on whether they have been loyal to the Lord and His words.

            Again, there’s a lot more that could be said, but I thought it was at least important to say what I’ve said.

Blessings and Curses

Deuteronomy 28

            Woof. That’s a hard chapter. I struggle because the blessings for faithfulness occupy 14 verses, but the curses for unfaithfulness take up the remaining 54, and the curses are listed in excruciating detail. If I had presented this as a sermon in seminary, my preaching professors would have flunked me. They would have said my balance of Law and Gospel was way off. Last month, I had a chance to preach (through an interpreter) to the students at the seminary in the Dominican Republic, and I told them to concentrate on preaching the Gospel. I told them the Law was easy, but the Law can’t save. I had Paul on my side. “For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law” (Galatians 3:21). “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

            I suppose it is helpful to be reminded once again that this passage is about Israel’s obedience under the covenant of Moses, which is a covenant of the law, based on obedience, on performance, and under which Israel lived for a time until her purpose, namely, the coming of the Messiah, was fulfilled. The covenant of Abraham, which Paul says is that one that really matters in terms of God’s plans for humanity, is a covenant of grace, which leads us to Christ (Galatians 3:16). In that light, we can appreciate how this phase of Israel’s existence was ushered in by the Exodus and so we can appreciate how the Lord threatens to bring Egypt’s plagues on Israel is she proves faithless. In that light, we can appreciate that the promise of the land is only necessary until the Messiah comes and we can appreciate the glimmer of hope is that Israel will be greatly reduced and exiled, but that the possibility exists she will come home. We actually see this as Israel’s history plays out. This mighty people peaks with David, but then it’s one loss after another until finally 10 of the tribes disappear from history altogether. Then, the exile of the remaining tribes and the tiny remnant that returns so that the Lord can fulfill His promise of a Savior (Isaiah 6:13).

            We can appreciate the lessons: that God’s wrath is terrifying, that He will keep His promises, that He has kept His promise of a Savior. But for all of that, I still find this a hard chapter.

Renewal at Ebal and Gerizim

Deuteronomy 27

            Deuteronomy 27-30 give credence to the theory that Deuteronomy is just an extended covenantal document. There’s an historical preamble (1-4), a statement of general stipulations (4-11), more specific stipulations (12-26), and now a ratification ceremony focusing on the blessings if the vassal is faithful and curses if they are not.

            Israel is supposed to set up a standing stone as a testimony of the covenant they are agreeing to. (See picture of a similar stone of Assyrian origin.) Then Moses stipulates how the ratification ceremony is supposed to go: half of the Israel on Mt. Ebal, the other half of Mt. Gerizim, the Levites in the middle reciting the curses of covenant unfaithfulness to the people. (In the picture, Gerizim is on the left and Ebal is on the right.)

            I suspect I’ll say this several times this week, but it’s important to understand: these blessings and curses are attached to the Mosaic covenant, which, as St. Paul argues in Galatians 4, was specifically for Old Testament Israel until such a time as the Lord fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant by sending the One who would be a blessing for all the nations of the earth, namely, Jesus. Now that Jesus is come we are not bound the Mosaic covenant.

            That’s not to say there’s no value here. Our Baptism is a sort of covenantal form and often at the Vigil of Easter (which Divine Savior celebrates as part of its sunrise service) we do a Baptismal renewal. It’s not the same “if-then” format as Deuteronomy, and it’s not filled with curses. But it does say: here’s what God gave in Baptism. Do you still value the gift? Will you live as one who has received such a gift (cf. Ephesians 4:1)? And we don’t need to wait for Easter to do it. The Small Catechism’s section on Daily Prayers is essentially about reminding yourself of God’s baptismal blessing every day, beginning and ending the day with the sign of the cross and the baptismal formula, “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Wrapping Up the Laws

Deuteronomy 24-26

            Friday and Saturday’s readings mark the last of the laws! Yay! We still have some hard things to deal with in Deuteronomy, but this is the last of Moses’ legislation. Let me highlight three things for the end of this week.

            First, in Friday’s reading we read again about the Lord’s concern for marriage. The first thing to note is that Jesus’ interpretation (Matthew 19), that divorce is only allowed for sexual immorality is pretty close to the original command. Moses says a man can divorce a woman when “he finds something indecent in her,” but the word for indecency usually means “nakedness.” Although the later rabbis took a pretty broad view of reasons a man could divorce his wife, Moses seems to have something narrower in mind.

            Pastorally, I find the whole conversation convicting. In our era, we tolerate divorce for a lot of reasons. Now, to be fair, the New Testament adds an element and allows divorce for “malicious desertion,” which offers more cases in which divorce is allowed. (I can’t think of the reference right off hand, but it might be in 2 Corinthians.) For example, a lot of pastors consider spousal abuse justified grounds for divorce, because the abuser has, in some way, deserted the marriage. Still, reading Moses reminds me that marriage is sacred and it makes me wonder if the Church treats it so in our day…

            The second thing I’d highlight is also in Friday’s reading and that is the repeated concern for the poor and the marginalized—leaving some of the crop behind for the poor, refusing to take a pledge that would hurt the poor, letting the poor retain their dignity by not entering their houses to demand a pledge. We’ve seen it before in these laws, but it bears repeating: the poor are a cause for compassion, not scorn.

            Finally, let me just direct your attention to the “tithe speech” in chapter 26. When they bring their tithes in, they rehearse their history—from Jacob, the wandering Aramean, to the slavery in Egypt, to the Exodus and Conquest. I think this is of a piece with Paul’s statement that the Lord loves a cheerful giver (2 Corinthians 9:7) Maybe we should train ourselves when we make our offerings to recount the same thing: “My father, Adam, was banished from God’s presence, but the Lord had mercy and sent His Son to die for me. He has blessed me spiritually and materially, and now I bring my offering to Him.”

More Laws

Deuteronomy 22-23

            I don’t know about you, but I’ve had about enough of laws!

            What can we say that we haven’t said? There’s concern here for Israel being a holy society, one uniquely dedicated to the Lord. Therefore, some things that we would consider ‘normal’ can make you unclean and exclude you at least temporarily from the assembly. There is a concern for wholeness. Therefore, anything that suggests that something is less than whole is excluded. There is a concern for justice. Therefore, there are regulations that are meant to protect the innocent or the falsely accused.

            The lesson from all of this is that the Church is also supposed to be holy, distinctive, and uniquely dedicated to the Lord. Therefore, the New Testament is filled with exhortations to sexual purity, to well-regulated mouths, to generosity, and to the right use of power.

            Ultimately, these laws draw us to Jesus, who alone does all things well. He is faithful and obedient to His Father, even to death. Ironically, His death—undeserved though it is—makes Him unclean; His cry of dereliction, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” demonstrates how completely cut off He was, not just from the assembly, but from God Himself. His resurrection demonstrates His restoration, His vindication; His resurrection is, at least in part, a demonstration that His was, indeed, innocent of all charges.