The Law

From “Very good” to “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.” () **HEARTBREAK**

Heartbreak.

Flood and repopulation with Noah.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Tower of Babel- dispersion, language, separation, Theme of divine power

2. The Patriarchs-

Strikingly narrow focus now. Cosmic to personal.

Abraham covenant- Land, Kingship, fellowship with God for him and descendants

Isaac- Not a whole lot.

Jacob/Israel- Gains covenant onto his.

Ends with the people not in their land, but holding a promise.

3. The Liberation from Egypt-

Form a family to a people

Focus’ on Moses leading specific people

The three foci- Deity, Nation, Man are complexly weaved together to be independent

Nation:

Freed slaves

Whining, unsure of how to live now

Moses:

Chosen from among the people, set apart, performs miracles.

Deals with complaints and whining

Deity

Frees the slaves

Reveals his power to all (miracles, plagues)

Even Moses’ father-in-law Jethro/Reuel, a Midianite priest, acknowledges, “Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all the gods” (18:11).

Friedman, R. E. (1992). Torah (Pentateuch). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 6, p. 607). New York: Doubleday.

4. Stay at Sinai/Horeb- , Leviticus

Theme: Yahweh is becoming known.

God speaks, some people envision him

God reveals Himself and out of the interactions come :

The Ark, the Tabernacle, the priesthood, and the Sabbath

All things we struggle to really see in our lives

Tabernacle: Actually is the culmination of this section of the book: consecration of the tabernacle

Exodus notes explicitly that the function of the tabernacle is: “I shall be known there to the children of Israel …” (). Specifically he refers to the 10 commandments and says “I shall be known to you there” ()

Friedman, R. E. (1992). Torah (Pentateuch). In D. N. Freedman (Ed.), The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (Vol. 6, p. 607). New York: Doubleday.

FINALLY a place where God is back among His creation. And they know how to interact with him. But, it isn’t fully right. Not as it fully should be.

The very existence of the law reminds everyone that things aren’t perfect, let alone when they break the law and need to find forgiveness (even though He set up a system to do that).

Mosaic Covenant/10 Commandments

This one is a promise based on what God has already done- “I rescued you from slavery and now you will live as my people in this way.” (Before it was “I will do such and such”)

A large section of Exodus and most of Leviticus give laws about all aspects of life. Many without specific “reason” but we can deduce their value usually.

All the laws end up pointing to loving God and loving one’s neighbor, as well as bound by the idea of a covenant— that is the ultimate reason for obeying.

5. The Journey- Numbers

Chronological story.

Get ready to go, set out on the trip, problems and miracles to provide for them, arrive to the promise land but fear to go in, spend 40 years in the desert as a consequence

Theme: incubation of the people to be a free nation living in the promises of God

Incubation: closeness and reliance on God (literally daily miracles- manna, fire/smoke), “forced” lifestyle.

6. Moses’ Farewell- Deuteronomy

Picture Moses making a long speech

Content

History, Admonishes their past failing, encourages them to fulfill their covenant, gives some more law, writes out the whole torah, gives power to Joshua, writes two songs

The Songs end with “Happy are you, Israel. Who is like you, a people redeemed by God?” ()

This ending is a theme— All that has happened is leading up to them entering into many of the promises God has been making. Who else has this relationship with God? Who has been rescued and chosen?

He climbs up the mountain, could see the promise land, and dies.

The whole book reiterates much of the other 4 books:

Re-emphasizes covenant

Builds up the important purpose of the Law: Know God and His ideal world.

Conclusion

So many types of writing, form, artistry all combine.

Cosmic large stories blend with small,individual events of people living over centuries to create something bigger than the sum of its parts.

Basically a work of combination

A record of human history set against the backdrop of cosmic reality.

God created mankind and has acted graciously again and again to save them from themselves and the punishment they deserve.

Here we leave the story, slaves freed into the promised land, with promises of God in their pockets, free to live as they should. But will they? It seems that humans have a problem trusting God’s promises and going to live in the strength that they provide.