{"id":49306,"date":"2019-02-12T20:26:40","date_gmt":"2019-02-12T18:26:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=49306"},"modified":"2022-09-07T18:02:18","modified_gmt":"2022-09-07T15:02:18","slug":"understanding-moses-address","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/understanding-moses-address\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding Moses\u2019 Address"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Today we begin Deuteronomy\u2019s account of Moses’ address to the people at the closing end of their journey. One could imagine focusing on Moses’ retelling of the laws. In that case, one would read at most to the middle of verse 1:5 and would then skip to a later chapter – 4 or 5 – \u00a0that begins discussing the laws. One could also imagine following the model that we saw in Exodus. One could precede the repetition of the laws with an account of setting up honest and righteous courts that would enforce the good laws. In that case, one would also read 1:12-18. <\/span><\/p>\n

One could even imagine preceding and supplementing that account by explaining why laws and courts are needed. One could speak of how the people cannot always be in direct dialogue with God as it was at Horeb, especially since they will increase and spread out over a larger area. In that case, one would further include the second half of 1:5 through 1:11 and then would skip from 1:18 to chapters 2-3. As we will see, those chapters present a history of the boundaries of the country and some of its critical internal arrangements. <\/span><\/p>\n

However, 1:19-46 seems out of place. Why insert the story of the Israelites\u2019 refusal to obey God\u2019s directive to enter the land and subsequent refusal to obey God\u2019s directive to desist from trying to enter the land? One could include that story in later chapters, as are other stories of the Israelites sinning in the desert.<\/span><\/p>\n

One explanation for this insertion is that it completes the picture of establishing a good society. In the opening words of this chapter, we saw that we must have good laws. Subsequently, we saw that we cannot live in an ideal of God\u2019s direct revelation and must compromise by having as good a judiciary as possible. This insertion now shows that we cannot function if we are reactive rather than responsibly active. \u00a0It shows that the Israelites failed to set up a stable country because they feared losing their lives. It shows that the Israelites then recklessly sacrificed their lives because they feared being stranded to die in the desert while preparing the next generation to set up the country. <\/span><\/p>\n

We now see that people must make hard realistic choices rather than act reactively. If we do so, we can hear Moses’ address.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":52059,"id":52059,"title":"dt30-choice","filename":"dt30-choice.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/dt30-choice.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-choice-is-ours\/dt30-choice\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"dt30-choice","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":52058,"date":"2019-03-25 18:05:54","modified":"2022-09-07 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