Deuteronomy 5-7
NOTE: I’ll be blogging—AND WE’LL BE READING—EACH DAY this weekend!
So, what portion of today’s reading is MOST revered by Jewish people everywhere?
Could it be the Ten Commandments? We read them in Deuteronomy 5, an almost a word-for-word repetition of their first appearance in Exodus 20. There’s just one difference. Where the command to remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy is, in Exodus, rooted in creation and God’s resting from it on the Seventh Day, here in Deuteronomy, the Sabbath command is connected to their fading memory of slavery in Egypt, where they were allowed no days of rest.
No, as important as the Decalogue is, it is NOT the most revered Hebrew scripture.
Could it be Deuteronomy 7, where God promises to help them claim the Land of Promise? Obey the commandments, Moses said, and the Lord your God will drive out the nations before you! (see Deuteronomy 7:12, 22)
No, as important as the Promised Land is to Jews, even today, Deuteronomy 7 is NOT the most revered Hebrew scripture.
What’s left? We turn to Deuteronomy 6, especially verses 4-9. These words are called the Shemah, after the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4, Hear! These six verses comprise the Jewish “confession of faith,” and, to this day, are placed in “phylacteries” and “mezuzahs.” The former help very literal minded Jews bind God’s word on their hands and foreheads; the latter enable a wide variety of Jews to write them on the doorframes of their homes.
The upshot is simple: God is very interested in giving His people a variety of tools for passing along the truths of the word from one generation to the next! How good a job are we doing at that?
Until tomorrow,
Pastor Gary
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