Reading: Deuteronomy 10-12, Psalm 56
Yesterday we read how Moses told the people of Israel something shocking: God has chosen them, not for their greatness, but for their lack of it. God’s primary cause of favoring Israel is his own choice, not qualities inherent in them. He has used, and is continuing to use, an argument through the story so far. Israel has been repeatedly faithless, God has been repeatedly faithful. The story left off yesterday with Moses begging for mercy after the people’s rejection of their covenant with God by making a golden calf to worship.
Today’s story begins with a retelling of Moses’ second trip onto the mountain. It bears observation that this is not an exact replaying of the narrative in Exodus. Moses is telling this story in a particular way for a reason. He says here that God called him up onto the mountain at Sinai, telling him to bring stone tablets and make an ark of wood. In Exodus the command to make the ark is buried in the tabernacle instructions. Is Moses contradicting himself? I would say no, he is telling the story this way to remind the people (and the readers) about that whole tabernacle narrative. It is a signpost. The ark is standing in for the whole priest-tabernacle-sacrifice system that God put in place to allow the people to interact with him. God’s call to Moses to come up, his gift of repeating the covenant commandments on new tablets, and his provision for the ark- which will hold the conditions of the covenant in it- and his call of the Levites as teachers and priests, are all examples of God’s faithfulness to a faithless people. Moses is telling the story in a way that emphasizes the love of God for this people, despite their failure to live up to their commitments.
Consider who is listening to this story. They were the children of the first generation who left Egypt. The trip from Egypt to Sinai and to the promised land, where their parents rebelled and refused to enter the land, was only a couple of years. So the older among them were living witnesses who saw the plagues in Egypt, the giving of the law at Sinai, the building of the tabernacle, and it’s occupation by the glory of God. Even the younger ones had lived through the victories over the Moabites, Amorites, and Midianites. They had seen amazing things. They knew the power of their God.
Now Moses turns from the story to his great call- practically begging- for these people to listen and obey their God. His call is for them to circumcise their hearts, an allusion to the identifying mark of the family of Abraham. Remember the greatest commandment? Moses is once again calling for the people to pull the commandments into their hearts, to become obedient not just in actions, but in the core of their beings. Because only by letting the commandments circumcise their hearts will they be able to fulfill them. Because the human problem is a heart problem. Because God looks at the heart. He continues this through the next chapter, telling the people that their obedience will lead to great prosperity, while their disobedience will lead to disasters for them. This is not a repudiation of God’s faithfulness. It is rather a confirmation of it. God’s intention is to create the holy people, the kingdom of priests of Exodus 19. It was his promise to Abraham to bless all the families of the Earth through his descendants, and one way or the other, he will accomplish it. Moses is begging his people to make it one way rather than the other.
The last chapter in today’s reading turns to events once they have taken control of the land of Canaan. First, he reaffirms the command to wipe out the current inhabitants and their worship practices, which are really contrary to the commands of God and respect for the human person. Then he starts talking about centralized worship. God is going to select a single place for the tabernacle worship to take place. Once he has done this, all the people are to bring their offerings there, and celebrate the festivals there. God is preparing the people to focus their worship on a single place. Why? Well, as we have seen, the Canaanite religions tended to believe there were gods connected to geography. Also, they were really into merging their gods with those of people who moved into the area. God is putting in place a safeguard against this tendency.
Two other things appear in today’s reading which will be important as the story goes on. First, Moses’ statement that he is placing before the people a blessing and a curse. The people will literally stand on two mountains before entering the promised land and pronounce blessings and curses over themselves later in Deuteronomy. These blessings and curses are the foundation of the messages of the prophets who show up later in Israel. Second, the admonishment to the people to obedience contains a statement that everyone shall not “do what is right in their own eyes.” This phrase will appears extensively in the book of Judges, signaling disaster for the people of Israel. Statements like these, while they are easy to read past, are signposts of the story we are hearing told. And as anyone who has ever traveled will tell you, signposts are worth reading.