Bible Challenge Week X

This week we enter the book of Deuteronomy and pick back up with the story of Israel's journey from slavery in Egypt to its entrance into the land of Canaan, which God promised to Abraham in the twelfth chapter of Genesis.

Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and is by tradition accredited to Moses. It is also the last book of the "Pentateuch," the first five books of the Bible. The Pentateuch is also commonly called  "Torah," which means "instruction" or "teaching."

The name "Deuteronomy" is fitting, because it means "second law."  It describes the law given by Moses in the plains of Moab just before Israel's crossing into the Promised Land. Or more accurately, it is a second giving of that law which had first been given on Mt Sinai as the terms of the covenant between the Lord and the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy remains an essential book, not just for scholars, but for everyday Christians as well. There are many allusions and citations from Deuteronomy found in the New Testament. Its frequent use makes it clear...
...that Deuteronomy was a formative text that shaped the minds and practices of first century Jewish people. When Jesus taught about the first and greatest commandment he was drawing from Deuteronomy 6:4-5, and when he was in the wilderness he used Deuteronomy as his sword to defeat the temptations of Satan.

However, it's not just in key moments like these that Deuteronomy shows its influence. Its interpretation of "divine torah," or teaching, unifies religious, ethical and social concerns. "It is the inwardness of faith, the emphasis on attitude beside action, and the focus on love, obedience, and gratitude that have made the deuteronomic teaching so fundamental to New Testament faith," remarked one scholar.

As you wade deeper and deeper into this text, and read the Gospel of Luke along with it, how might God be using it in the ministry and mission of Jesus?  How did Jesus' understanding of Deuteronomy support him in his conflicts with the religious leaders? And how might it continue to support us as we, by faith, hold together religion, ethics, and action as one in our life of grace?


Peace, blessings, and happy reading!
Drew+