1. At the edge of the Promised Land, Moses begins to outline the full extent of the people's disobedience to God in the wilderness, and the consequences of their choices
2. A journey around the lands close to the Jordan establishes the boundaries of the Promised Land
3. The taking of land on the far side of the Jordan (for the two and a half tribes of Israel not destined to settle the Promised Land) is recounted, and Moses expresses his sadness that he will never cross the Jordan, and his support for Joshua who will lead them after him
4. Moses urges the people to remember God, remember the covenant they have with God, and be faithful to God's commandments always
5. The Ten Commandments are recounted and happy times remembered, when the relationship with God and people was at it's best
6. Listen well, says Moses and remember to love God and keep the Commandments, for God's promise to Israel has been fulfilled
7. Do not fear the nations you will encounter and ultimately conquer; but keep separate from them, or else their idolatrous ways will creep into your homes
8. When you enter this good land and your fortunes increase remember that it came from God, not your own efforts - if you forget God you could lose it all again
9. Moses reminds the people that it is not through their own righteous that they will take the promised land, and that he has had to intercede on their behalf frequently to protect them from God's wrath
10. With the new stone tablets to replace those broken in the time of God's anger with them, and with their hearts dedicated to following God's commands, the people can now enter the promised land confidently
11. Follow God's commands and teach them to your children, says Moses, and you will live well in the land
12. Destroy the altars of false gods and be careful about how and where you make your own offerings to God
13. Be vigilant about being led astray by people from within your own community, and show them no mercy
14. Stick with the dietary rules you have inherited, and use your 10% tithe as an opportunity to feast and to praise God for all that you've been given - and make sure to pay your priests, they depend on you!
15. Be as generous to one another as wish God to be to you, cancelling all debts in the jubilee years, and you will be rich in the land
16. Come together to observe the festivals that help you to remember who you are as a nation and where you've come from
17. When people stray from the commandments or disputes arise, be sure to judge fairly; beware of giving too much authority to a single person, justice is best decided by accord, with the whole community following God's lead
18. God has provided the Levite tribe to lead worship, and will raise up trustworthy prophets; the people should provide for and listen to these servants of God
19. Show mercy to the innocent and unfortunate, but be utterly merciless to any deceivers in your midst
20. Be bold when you go into battle, for God is with you
21. Moses gives some examples of how to respond in a Godly way to the kind of common disputes that arise in the community
22. Be honest, generous and neighbourly in all of your relationships, says Moses, and when you wrong another Israelite, put it right
23. To stay holy before God avoid those actions and people which the community deem to be impure
24. Be generous; remember you were once poor and enslaved
25. Be honest and reasonable in how you live and trade, remember that God does not bless the sneaky
26. When you've settled in the land, remember to thank God for what you have through prayer and by being generous
27. A ceremony is planned where all of the people will agree to follow God's commands - and accept the consequences if they fail
28. Moses promises that following God's commands will result in abundant blessing, and failing to follow them will bring abundant curses
29. This covenant is for the people here now (including the immigrants that live among you) and for future generations says Moses
30. The choice is ever before God's people; to follow God's good ways and be fruitful, or to abandon God on the road to destruction
31. Moses prepares to read an instruction poem to all the leaders, to guide them when he is dead, and he commissions Joshua
32. The poem describes God's vengeful plans for all unfaithful peoples
33. A prayer of blessing for the tribes is recited
34. With this the final instruction of the people is complete, Moses then climbs a mountain for a glimpse of the promised land, and then he dies
I've reached that point in life where the events of my growing up years have become 'history'. I see a mixture of nostalgia and misrepresentation in the media to document a time which is historical to younger generations but I still remember clearly. Deuteronomy has something of that feel about it. The book was clearly written long after the events it tells of, and the nostalgia for the leadership of Moses, who "knew the Lord face-to-face" (34:10) is strong. Deuteronomy has a very strong flavour of Babylon about it, it's set in the context of Israel entering the promised land for the first time, but is full of references to the scattered people returning from exile. There's so much exhortation and reminding of the past to try desperately to keep the people on the right track - the God track. But I feel there's a hopelessness to it even so. In chapter 13 the community is told to execute false prophets, which is not a new idea, but then they are also told to execute anyone who leads the community astray even "your own son or daughter or your dear spouse or best friend" (13:6). For a community built around tight family units this seems both unreasonable and self destructive - could love for the God who led your ancestors out of Egypt survive you executing someone you deeply loved? What kind of people could follow such commandments? I don't believe that such zealousness can be sustained for long, the people would be torn apart by it, emotionally and spiritually. History has shown that such oppressive regimes can become very powerful for a time, but only love is strong enough to endure.
The vulnerability and dependence of women is evident in chapter 22, where the topics of extra material sex and rape are discussed. There is provision in Mosaic law for women who have been the victim of rape, but they need much support to prove their case and if successful, the outcome is that they are dependant on their rapist for the rest of their life. More horror can be found in the warnings in chapter 28 which go into great detail of the horrible things that will happen to Israel if they fail to follow God's commands, with the height of horror being good people eating their own babies to survive. Clearly the author felt that a very big stick was needed to keep Israel on target because it's impossible to imagine such a thing happening in a culture which valued family and abhorred human sacrifice.
A point which I found personally interesting (bracketed in chapter 29), is that the covenant very much included immigrants. There is a requirement for purity of behaviour and of heart, but bloodlines are actually less important. This matters to me because I'm not of Jewish heritage (as far as I know), and yet I claim a connection to this story through Jesus. It's something Paul discussed with all his rhetoric of 'grafted vines' in his epistles, and it's comforting to find it right there 'in the mouth of Moses' so to speak. Immigrants rights are mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament, but this is the first time it really struck me as being relevant to me. Overall I felt that Deuteronomy was not the most interesting, but like all instruction manuals, there was some useful information in it
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