Seder 133: Deuteronomy 1---Learning from History

 In the book of Deuteronomy Moses preaches his final sermons to the people of Israel at the end of the fortieth year of the Exodus.  Commentator Daniel I. Block calls this book "the gospel according to Moses."  It is a book often quoted by both Jesus and Paul.  

Deuteronomy belongs to a couple of different genres.  It is a farewell address, with Chapter 33 paralleling Jacob's blessings to his children in Genesis 49.  Jesus' upper room discourse (John 13-16)  is a New Testament farewell address.

Deuteronomy is also a document of covenant renewal, with a structure similar to ancient Hittite suzerain-vassal treaties.  At the end of the 40 years in the wilderness, it is time for the children of the Exodus generation to embrace the covenant for themselves.  The members of the new generation were either young children, or not yet born, when the covenant was ratiifed at Mt Sinai.  

In addressing this generation of Israelites, Moses highlights a few key lessons from the first 39 years of the nation's journey.  First he recalls when they left Mt Horeb (a.k.a. Mt Sinai) in the second month of the second year of the Exodus.  At that point God charged them to go and conquer the Promised Land, whose borders had the potential to extend all the way from the Nile to the Euphrates as they carried out their mission to bless all nations (vv 6-8).

By that point they had grown from an extended family to a small nation, too big for Moses to govern on his own (see Ex 18; Num 11), as God carried out his promise to give Abraham many descendants.  Moses needed a group of godly assistants to serve as judges under him then, and the same thing would be true in the Promised Land.

The Israelites were just a few weeks' journey from their destination when they left Mt Horeb, and Moses had encouraged them to take courage and carry out their mission (vv 19-21).  At that point Moses was asked to send a group of men to scout out the land (v 22).  Such a strategy certainly was not necessary, but it had the potential to get the Israelites excited about the land they would be invading.  (For more discussion, see my post on Numbers 13.)   

The fact-finding trip ended up revealing that the Israelites were not ready to conquer the land.  Instead they would remain in the wilderness for another 38 years, until all who had been counted in the military census of Numbers 1, except Joshua and Caleb, had died (Num 14:29).  

This episode in Israel's history continued to haunt Moses 40 years later.  The sequence of events begun by Israel's rebellion eventually led to Moses himself losing a chance to enter the Promised Land (Deut 1:37).   

Seder 111: Numbers 11---Support for Moses

 In response to Moses' plea for help, God directed Moses to gather "seventy men of the elders of Israel" who would be empowered to provide extra support for Moses (Num 11:16).   

"I will take some of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them," God told Moses.  Some have actually seen this as a punishment to Moses, as if the Spirit were some subtance that he possessed in a finite quantity and would subsequently possess in a lesser quantity.  Instead, as Jewish commentator Joseph H. Hertz has observed, the situation can be likened to a candle, which can be used to ignite other candles and continue to burn as brightly as before.  

When these elders received the Spirit, they prophesied (v. 25).  The end of verse 25 has been translated in two different ways.  Most translations say that the elders "did not continue doing it" (ESV).  Others---KJV, Targums, Vulgate, Martin Luther---say instead that the elders did not cease prophesying.  In any case, the elders were equipped to assist Moses.  

The names of two who were not standing with Moses and also prophesied were given in verse 26---Eldad and Medad.  Opinions differ as to whether Eldad and Medad were among the 70 or were in addition to the 70.  One tradition proposes that six elders were chosen from each tribe, and that then 70 were chosen from those 72.  In this scenario, Eldad and Medad were the two "extras."  

Joshua expressed concern to Moses about what Eldad and Medad were doing.  Apparently he was worried that they were undermining Moses' authority. Moses, however, was not concerned.  He knew that the more people who were led by the Spirit, the better.  In his wish that all of the Israelites could be led by the Spirit, he anticipated events prophesied later ( Deut 30:6; Jer 31:33-34; Ezek 11:19-20; Joel 2:28-29).

There is a parallel event in the ministry of Jesus, where Jesus' disciples worried about the fact that someone outside of their group was casting out demons in the name of Jesus (Luke 9:49).  Jesus' response was, "Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you: (v 50).  

Because of Joshua's concern about Eldad and Medad, there has been much speculation about the content of the prophecy of Eldad and Medad.  For example, there is a (now lost) book called the Book of Eldad and Modad (Medad was also known in Greek as "Modad") that apparently discussed what they prophesied.  We know about this book from the Shepherd of Hermas, a Christian work from the second century AD, which gives a quote from it:  "The Lord is near to those who turn to him."  This thought is similar to James 4:8:  "Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."  

We do know some Jewish traditions about what Eldad and Medad prophesied.  One says that they called upon Israelites to repent of their gluttony.  Another says that they were talking about Gog and Magog (i.e., end-time prophecy).  A third tradition says that they predicted Moses would die before the Israelites reached the Promised Land and Joshua would be the one to lead them there.  This third one is meant to explain why Joshua was upset.  

If Eldad and Medad were calling for repentance, not everyone listened.  God sent judgment against those consumed by gluttony (vv 31-35).  

Seder 110: Num 10-11---Moses' Anticipation, Israel's Lusts

 After almost a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites broke camp and resumed their journey to the Promised Land on the twentieth day of the second month of the second year of the Exodus.  

Moses was looking forward to the journey with eager anticipation.  We catch a glimpse of his excitement when he invites one of his in-laws, Hobab, to accompany them (Num 10:29-32).  He emphasizes the good things that lie ahead:  "Come with us, and we will do good to you, for the Lord has promised good to Israel" (v 29).  

Hobab initially declines, but he may have finally agreed.  We do know that the Kenites, the branch of the Midianite family to which Hobab belonged, did settle in the Promised Land (Judges 1:16; 4:11).  

Incidentally, there are two main views on Hobab's identity.  If we take Reuel (Exod 2:28) to be another name for Jethro (Exod 3:1), then Hobab was Moses' brother-in-law.  On the other hand, if Reuel was Jethro's father, then Hobab is another name for Jethro.  

Sadly, not all of the Israelites had caught Moses' optimistic vision.  This quickly became apparent when people started complaining (Num 11:1-3).  

A year earlier, at the beginning of the Exodus, there had also been lots of complaining, and God had dealt with it patiently (Ex 15-17). The Israelites had just been uprooted from their homes and routines and were disoriented and afraid.  But in the time at Sinai, God had provided plenty of structure and order to help the people feel secure.  This new round of complaining had a different motivation, and God acted decisively to correct it, sending a message with fire (Num 11:1).  

Some of the complaints reflected boredom with Israel's menu, which was based on the manna that God provided daily (vv 4-6).  If the Food Network had existed in those days, there might have been one main program, with it a title like "Make It With Manna."  But there would have been many, many episodes, given how versatile manna was (vv 7-9).  Since manna was "the bread of the angels" (Ps 78:25), the program could have had special guest appearances from angels who could demonstrate advanced manna preparation.  

We do not have much sympathy with this round of complaints.  The complainers had lost sight of the big picture and were being driven by lusts.  

We do understand, though, that lust is a problem to which none of us is immune.  Paul admonished early Christ-followers at Corinth to learn the lessons contained in these accounts (1 Cor 10:11-12). "Therefore let anyone that thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall," he concluded. 

Moses apparently was blindsided by the attitudes that Israelites were displaying.  These developments were very discouraging to him.  He felt that he had failed as a leader, and he poured out his heart to God, airing his frustrations (Num 11:11-15).