Research Paper on "Old Testament Deuteronomy CHP 10"

Research Paper 5 pages (1933 words) Sources: 8

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Deuteronomy, Chapter 10

According to biblical scholars, chapter 10 of the Book of Deuteronomy was written on the fortieth year of the exile of the people of Israel. The chapter is also one of the most important parts of the book, and the Bible in general, for it emphasizes the importance of Mosaic Law, God's Love, Grace, and Forgiveness. Scholars also divide this chapter into two sections, the first (1-11) referring to God's mercies upon the people of Israel after their numerous rebellions (especially with the case of golden calf); the second part (12-22) referring to Moses' exhortations and pleas to the people of Israel, where he reminds the importance of the law, the importance of loving God and following the Covenant, urging humility and obedience, and offering hope, while admonishing not to rebel against the laws of God again. The first section describes God's plans of recovery for children of Israel after they rebelled at Mount Sinai, and the second section discusses what God requires of the people of Israel (Guzik, n.d.). The chapter also explores several themes such as faith and love, forgiveness and second chance, obedience and humility, and may allegorically refer to the growth of Christ.

According to Blacketer (2006), the medieval exegetical tradition of interpreting the Bible was fourfold. For example, St. Augustine argued that the Bible could be interpreted according to history, etiology, analogy, and allegory. It is history because it is transmitted from mouth and to mouth and in written forms; it is etiology because the Bible discusses for what cause anything was done; it is analogy, when it is shown that the Old and New Testaments do not contradict each other; and it is allegory, when things written in the Bible need not to be taken in a literal sense, "but are to be understood in a figure" (p. 205). Of these modes of interpretation, history and allegory are especially important, as history explains Biblical verses in their historical context, while allegory leads to different kinds of interpretations. The opportunities offered by allegorical interpretation explains why there are so many ways of interpreting the Bible and why authors sometimes give conflicting opinions on the meanings of Biblical verses. This is certainly the case with the tenth chapter of Deuteronomy.

Tanner (2001) interprets the chapter as the demonstration of God's Love and Forgiveness. As she explains, addressing people caught between a doubtful past and a promising future in this passage may refer to "the literary community standing between the wilderness and the promised land; or the historical community that after years of Assyrian domination has the opportunity to return to self-rule; or a post-exilic people beginning to rebuild a life (p. 60). Tanner further explains that the message may be addressed to any community, including our own today, that stands in between a past of doubt and a future of hope. The passage is a powerful statement, as it stresses God's mercy and His ability to forgive the children of Israel again and again. God's Love is also demonstrated by the difference of tone expressed in this passage, as compared to verses in the Exodus. God is not making harsh demands here, but is pleading with people, reminding of all the good things He has given to them, that He has kept his promises, and that following the Covenant will be for people's own good.

Deut 10:12, Tanner writes, starts with "So now," reminding the reader of what has come before and also indicating a new beginning. That is, the description of God's forgiveness in 1-11 is followed by the theme of the second chance. The second chance is full of promises and hope. God made promises to children of Israel's ancestors and He has kept them. There is also hope in the future not only because God is forgiving, but also because God exercises justice with all his majesty and power, cares for righteousness and for the weakest of society. He "is not partial and takes no bribe (17), and executes justice for the orphan, the widow, and the strangers (18), urging His followers to do the same. But alongside the expression of Love, promise and hope, God also admonishes Israel. In 10:16, God says, "Circumcise, then the foreskin of your heart," which emphasizes that circumcision also refers to an inner act of the heart, for external ritual of circumcision is meaningless without the inward act of the heart. God also says "do not be stubborn any longer," which may also be translated as "do not stiffen your necks" because Israelites at the time were referred to as "a stiff necked people." Here, God is reminding people of their past sins and urging them to stop committing them again (Tanner, 2001, pp. 61-62).

A somewhat similar interpretation is given by Mann (1995), but he comes to different conclusions in explaining the meaning of the message. Interpreting Deut 10:1 ("Carve out two tablets of stone like the former ones"), he says that God is speaking differently from the way he spoke in Exodus, not meting out any punishment. The renewal and reinstatement of the Covenant, he says, is the demonstration of God's forgiveness. Likewise, the law is given to children of Israel's own benefit, and therefore the law itself is an expression of divine grace. As shown in Deut 10:10, Mann says, God is also unwilling to destroy Israel despite rebellions and their sins. But Mann also points out the importance of Moses as the intercessor (Miller [1990] also sees the theme of intercessor as an important observation). Reconciliation between Israel and God, he says, "happen only through Moses." Therefore, Mann sees a sign of warning in the message, as it is also revealed that Moses will be no more as people enter the Promised Land. What will happen to children of Israel if they rebel again and there is no intercessor to atone for their sins? "Despite the emphasis on the grace of God," Mann says about chapter 10, "both sections are intended as a note of warning. Deuteronomy holds together the threat of divine wrath and that strange, inconceivable fact of divine grace, 'amazing grace'" (p. 100).

A starkly different interpretation is given in Richard Nelson's Deuteronomy. A Commentary (2003). Nelson interprets the verses from a secular perspective, looking at it as a historical document rather than a message from God. He argues that Deuteronomy was a covert attempt by dissident religious authorities and men of wisdom to start a program of religious, social, and political reform. Nelson sees in Deuteronomy a call for systems of checks and balances, regulated by the priesthood, that subordinate the king and the government to law. As Nicholson (2004) says, "the Deuteronomic reformers intended to reduce the power and role of the king in favor of a new polity directed by checks and balances" (p. 608). While Nelson's interpretation is useful in placing the origins of Deuteronomy in a historical context, his rejection of the theological meaning attached to the book by generations of scholars somewhat distorts the original message of Deuteronomy. Nelson's is of a typical secular approach. Von Rad (1966), for example, also by looking at only linguistic aspects of Deut 10:6-7, says that "these verses are a secondary interpolation, and indeed one that has been inserted into the text rather clumsily" (p. 79).

The theological context of the message is well explained Spero (2008). Interpreting 10:12-13, where God urges children of Israel "to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees," Spero says that these "five requirements listed by Moses follow a particular sequence which in terms of psychology of religious experience is both chronological and connected causally" (p. 154). The first exhortation is to fear, and this is important, Spero says, because there must be a feeling of "ultimate concern" before one can worship God. Then the next step is walking in God's way, which is "not only 'the ways in which the Lord wishes man to walk,' but also 'the ways in which the Lord Himself walks,' particularly actions and attitudes that are of moral value" (pp. 154-155). Worshipping is meaningless unless the object of worship symbolizes moral way of life.

Walking in God's way, that is, realization "that these values are indeed in some sense part of God's essence" makes us "ready for the next step which is to love Him." Our object of awe and fear can develop into love because the object represents the ultimate Good. And when the feeling of "ultimate concern" is "saturated with love," we then may "be called upon to serve God in a manner befitting the overwhelming nature of his experience; that is, to serve God with all your heart and with all your soul" (p. 155; emphasis original). But because of human fallibility, one may not be… READ MORE

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