Deuteronomy is fun to say!

And it means "second law" but apparently what that really means in context is that Deuteronomy is like a reiteration of THE law which is the ten commandments. Anyway, I read the first chapter of it just now. What's going on is the Israelites have left Egypt and are on their way to the Promised Land. Apparently it was a super long journey. Deuteronomy starts when they are in their fortieth year.

Here are some selections:

17 In rendering judgment, do not consider who a person is: give ear to the lowly and to the great alike, fearing no man, for judgment is God's.

21 The Lord, your God, has given this land over to you. Go up and occupy it, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, commands you. Do not fear or lose heart.

25 ... The land which the Lord, our God, gives us is good.

29 ... Have no dread or fear of them. 30 The Lord, your God, who goes before you, will himself fight for you, just as he took your part before your very eyes in Egypt, 31 as well as in the desert, where you saw how the Lord, your God, carried you, as a man carries his child, all along your journey until you arrived at this place.

35 Not one man of this evil generation shall look upon the good land I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb... because he has followed the Lord unreservedly.

39 ...your children, who as yet do not know good from bad - they shall enter... 40 But as for yourselves, turn about and proceed into the desert on the Red Sea road.

I like the comparison in verse 31 of God to a man carrying his child. God gave his people everything good that they have and he has promised to protect them as long as they obey him. If they don't obey him, verses 35 through 39 happen.

It seems throughout the chapter like God directly told Moses what the Israelites should do next, and it was when they didn't do what he commanded that God "was angered" and called them "this evil generation". That is some pretty straight-forward justice. But verses 17 and 39 are more interesting.

In Verse 17 Moses advocates equality under the law. He actually says, "administer true justice to both parties even if one of them is an alien". Assuming alien means somebody outside of the "Chosen People", this makes me question how the Israelites are supposed to know what true justice considering how God's Angel of Death killed all those first-born Egyptian children before.

Then verse 39 states that the children cannot be charged with disobeying God's commandment because they don't yet understand right from wrong. But I'm thinking aren't children at least capable of following rules? Can't they still be held accountable for disobeying a commandment even if they don't really understand why the commanded action is what they should do morally anyway? If the children are not guilty, I feel like it should be because they pretty much have to do what their "evil" parents tell them to do. What I am hoping though, is that this verse is actually implying that God's commandments to his people were not actually as direct as a voice from the sky telling Moses what they should do.

Apart from the justice thing, I also noticed that it is reiterated several times in the chapter that God's people should not "fear or lose heart" because if they trust in God and obey him there is nothing to fear. It's nice how God slash the author of this book, Moses, recognizes that this is something we need to be reminded of a lot.

Also, it's crazy-insane that at the end of this chapter, when the Israelites are so close to the Promised Land after 40 years of journeying, God gets so angry at them that he commands them to turn around and head back into the desert toward the Red Sea. THAT WOULD SUCK. But I looked ahead to the next chapter and it turns out that God sort of did the same thing here that he did to Abraham when he commanded him to kill Isaac. After the Israelites have followed his commandment and turned back into the desert, he tells them "you have wandered round these highlands long enough; turn and go north." Now I just can't decide whether this nifty tactic is fatherly or mean. What do you guys think?

Anyway, right now I am packing to leave for Grand Rapids tomorrow. I am starting at my internship on Tuesday and I am excited slash scared to be independent. Also looking forward to going out to eat with Amanda there at some point!

I made martha stewart brownies a few days ago (I'm going to eat one right after this). And let's see, I am reading a book called Speaking of Faith by Krista Tippett. She hosts a program on NPR called the same thing, Speaking of Faith, which my sister Miriam is obsessed with. It's super good, and I think I will write an entry here about it when I am finished.