Day 16, Deuteronomy 8-19

Today's reading includes the rest of Moses's second discourse to the Israelites, which is mostly a summary of the journey to the promised land along with an assortment of laws, most of which we've already heard.

Chapter 8 opens with Moses's imploration (yes that's a word I looked it up on thesaurus.com!) that the Israelites remain loyal to their God even as they enjoy the fruits of Canaan. He reminds them of when they were hungry in the wilderness and God provided them with manna, "to teach [them] that people cannot live on bread alone, but that they live on every word that comes from the mouth of God" (Deut 8:3). Spoiler alert: Jesus says this later, when he meets the devil in the wilderness. What the fuck, man, I thought he made it up! I am really pissed about this, it was such a bomb line for the situation. I guess academic integrity isn't one of the ten commandments!! You copycat, Jesus!

Moses also lets the Israelites know that while God's actions may have seemed at times cruel and unprecedented, he was actually "disciplining [them] as a father disciplines his son" (Deut 8:5). Ah yes. How this hearkens to the days of my youth, when my father set me on fire and caused the earth to open up and swallow me, in the name of discipline. Spare the rod and spoil the child, as they say!

In chapter 9, Moses talks about the current inhabitants of Canaan, "a great and tall people, the descendants of the Anakim" (9:2). Anakim Skywalker? Wow! Awesome! Moses tells the Jews that they will be able to conquer these people, but as they eagerly reach for their light sabers, he bids them to remember "it is not because of your merit or your integrity that you are entering their land to occupy it; it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you" (Deut 9:5). Moses goes on to elaborate on how whiny and stubborn the Israelites have been to further emphasize that they are no great shakes themselves. These reminiscences last for a few chapters, since Moses has a lot of quality examples of the Jews's inappropriate behavior over the past forty years. As he reminisces, he simultaneously urges the Israelites to conduct themselves better and to "love the Lord your God and keep for all time the charge he laid upon you" (Deut 11:1).

Chapter 12 contains another reiteration of the countless laws we've learned throughout Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Most of this is old hat for us diligent readers, but this section is notable for some amusing phrasing: "When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he has promised, and you say to yourselves, 'I should like to eat meat,' because you have a craving for it, then you may freely eat it." (Deut 12:20). I just love the NARRATIVE STRUCTURE. It's like Moses is trying to make his laws more lively because he knows we're getting bored. Look, there's dialogue! There's motivation! And a happy ending! What a great law this is.

Moses also warns the Israelites not to partake in human sacrifice like the other tribes inhabiting Canaan, who burn "even their sons and their daughters...in honor of their gods" (Deut 12:31). Intense!

Chapter 13 is about prophets, and I thought it was great. Basically, God warns against false prophets and diviners, saying "Should a prophet or a pedlar of dreams appear among you and offer you a sign or a portent, and call on you to go after other gods whom you have not known and to worship them, even if the sign or portent should come true do not heed the words of that prophet or dreamer" (Deut 13:1-3). In other words, don't accept proof! God explains that these phenomena are just tests through which God will discover "whether you love him with all your heart and soul" (Deut 13:3), and the false prophet "must be put to death for preaching rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from that land of slavery" (Deut 13:5). Geez God, can you stop bringing up that you brought the Jews out of Egypt every other sentence? Got a little inferiority complex going on there?

The reason I loved this section so much is because it totally sets a precedent for religious whackjobs that persists into the modern day. Evolution? Psh, it's just one of God's tests!

Chapter 14 talks about conduct for mourning -- Jews are not to "gash [themselves] or shave [their] forelocks...for the dead" (Deut 14:1) -- and also repeats an assortment of dietary laws. Chapter 15 concerns the "jubilee" or sabbath year for the land, and provides guidelines on how to treat the poor. Moses begins this chapter by declaring that "there will never be any poor among you if only you obey the Lord your God" (Deut 15:4), then goes on a few lines later to say "the poor will always be with you in your land" (Deut 15:11). Evidently, Moses is either getting senile or has very little faith in the Jews's ability to be obedient!

Chapter 16 is about holidays, and since it is rather uninteresting I will take this moment to share a fun fact about Passover I learned from one of my textbooks! The traditional Passover rites were in fact very different from the Passover we celebrate today, with the holiday originally focused on the sacrifice of a ram. Today, Passover centers around a feast called a seder, which has its origins during the period of Hellenization and is actually quite reminiscent of a Greek symposium! It is likely that the traditions shifted as Jews became more dispersed throughout Europe and the Middle East, and it became impossible for them to make yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

The more you know!

Chapter 17 talks about stoning wicked people to death and not to sacrifice rams with blemishes, basically the same old stuff we've seen over and over. It also addresses the issue of kings, stating that human kings must always be appointed by and subservient to God.

Chapter 18 returns to the subject of prophets. Moses explains that sometimes God will select someone to serve as his mouthpiece, and this person must be obeyed. On how to recognize a prophet, he says, "When a word spoken by a prophet in the name of the Lord is not fulfilled and does not come true, it is not a word spoken by the Lord. The prophet has spoken presumptuously; have no fear of him" (Deut 18:22). But what if it does come true and is a test?! What the hell kind of useless information is this, Moses?

Chapter 19 restates the rules about cities of refuge and elaborates a bit on how the judicial system is to work. In order for someone to be convicted, there must be evidence from more than one witness, and if someone is caught giving false evidence he must be "treat[ed]...as he intended to treat his fellow" (Deut 19:19). According to Moses, we "must show no mercy" (Deut 19:21)! Okay! Good to know!

That just about wraps things up. Tomorrow takes us almost to the end of Deuteronomy, and on Wednesday we will embark on the Book of Joshua. Hopefully after this, we will get more storytime and less law!

I wanted to thank everyone who has been reading along and leaving comments. Blogger doesn't let me reply to them directly, which is annoying, but I wanted everyone to know that I read them all and I really appreciate getting them! You guys are the best!