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Lesson #3 A Sacred Covenant (4: 1-43) 1 A Sacred Covenant

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Lesson#3ASacredCovenant

(4:1-43)

1ASacredCovenant

InLesson#2wenotedthatinMoses’1stDiscoursehespeakstothe

IsraelitesontheplainsofMoab—thenewgenera>onthatwasbornand

bredinthewilderness—asiftheyhadallbeenpresentinEgypt,hadexperiencedtheExodus,andhadrebelledcon>nuouslyagainstGodand

Mosesduringtheir40-yearjourneytothePromisedLand.

Onexaminingourtextclosely,welearnedthatalthoughMosesmaywell

havewriMenthe“core”ofDeuteronomyinhisday,itemergedin

augmentedformduringthereignofkingJosiah(640-609B.C.)aWeritwas

discoveredinthetemplebythehighpriestHilkiah.

ItsdiscoveryledJosiahtoleadavigorousreligiousrevival,accompaniedby

apublicreaffirma>onofthecovenantestablishedbetweenGodandthe

IsraelitesatMt.Sinai(2Kings22-23).

2ASacredCovenant

Deuteronomythenunderwentaddi>onalrevisionsaWerthe

BabylonianCap>vity(605-539B.C.),emergingasthebookwe

knowtoday,abookwhichspeaksintheipsissimavox,“theveryvoice”ofMoses,aliterary/theologicalpersona.

CraWingDeuteronomyinthiswayenablesittotranscendits

historicalrootsontheplainsofMoabandbecomeauniversal

statement,thenarra>veofalllibera>onstories:theveryarchetypeforthenarra>veofredemp>on.

3ASacredCovenant

InLesson#3weconcludeMoses’1stDiscourse(1:1–4:43)asMoses

emphasizesthesacrednessofGod’scovenantandthemutualobliga>ons

containedwithinit.Assovereign,GodpromisesIsraelland—realestatein

thelandofCanaan—aswellasarich,fulllifeinacovenantrela>onshipwith

him;conversely,Israelpromisesto“fear”theLordandtoobeyhis

commands,commandsthatgoverneveryaspectofhumanlife,fromthe

foodtheIsraeliteseat,tothelandtheyfarm,totherela>onshipstheyhave

withoneanotherandwithoutsiders.

Mostimportantly,theIsraelitesaretoworshipYHWHexclusively.

Iftheydoso,Godwillblessthemabundantlyandtheywilllivelonginthe

land;iftheydonot,Godwillcursethemandtheywilllosetheland—and

theirlives.

4ASacredCovenant

TheconclusionofMoses’1st

Discourseemphasizesthe

enormity,thestaggering,

transcendentnatureofthe

sovereignGodwithwhomtheyare

sharingacovenantrela>onship.

RecalltheIsraelites’firstencounter

withhimatMt.Sinai.AWerthree

daysofprepara>on,threedaysof

washingtheirgarmentsand

sanc>fyingthemselves,God

descendsuponMt.Sinaiinthe

sightofallthepeople:

5ASacredCovenant

6ASacredCovenant

“On the morning of the third day there were peals of thunder and lightning, and a heavy cloud over the mountain, and a very loud blast of the shofar, so that all the people in the camp trembled. But Moses led the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stationed themselves at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the Lord had come down upon it in fire. The smoke rose from it as though from a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled violently. The blast of the shofar grew louder and louder, while Moses was speaking and God was answering him with thunder.”

(Exodus 19: 16-19)

Thisisanawesome,terrifying

moment,amplifiedbythestrict

warningthathadprecededit.

GodhadcommandedMosesto...

“setlimitsforthepeopleallaround,saying:Takecarenottogoupthemountain,oreventotouchitsedge.Allwhotouchthemountainmustbeputtodeath.Nohandshalltouchthem,buttheymustbestonedtodeathorkilledwitharrows.Whetherhumanbeingorbeast,theymustnotbeallowedtolive.”

(Exodus19:12-13a)

7ASacredCovenant

8ASacredCovenant

Aieeeeee!

InDeuteronomyMosesposesa

rhetoricalques>ontothe

Israelites:

“Asknowofthedaysofold,beforeyour>me,eversinceGodcreatedhumankindupontheearth;askfromoneendoftheskytotheother:Didanythingsogreateverhappenbefore?Wasiteverheardof?DidapeopleeverhearthevoiceofGodspeakingfromthemidstoffire,asyoudid,andlive?”

(Deuteronomy4:32-33)

9ASacredCovenant

Theanswer,ofcourse,is“no.”

Moses’world,aswellastheworldof

Josiahandofthepost-Babylonian

Israelites,wasprofoundlypolytheis>c:

everyonebelievedinmanygods.

TheIsraeliteshadspentthepast400years

inEgypt,andaswenotedearlier,ifthe

IsraelitesknewanythingoftheGodof

Abraham,IsaacandJacob,itwasbutthe

faintechoofafolktalefromalong>me

ago.

Andeventhen,theGodofAbraham,Isaac

andJacobwasnottheonlygod;hewastheirGod.

10ASacredCovenant

AWer400yearsinEgypt,the

IsraelitesknewtheEgyp>angods,godswithstunning

templesandarmiesofpriests,

godsassociatedwiththe

forcesofnature,godswhose

existenceexplainedthe

flawedhumancondi>on,the

baMlebetweengoodandevil,

virtueandsin.

11ASacredCovenant

12ASacredCovenant

Luxor,Egypt

Cairo

400miles

ThestunningTempleofKarnakinLuxor,Egyptisthe2nd-largestancientreligioussiteintheworld,covering

200acres.St.Peter’s,MilanandNotreDameCathedralscouldfitinsideitswalls,allatthesame>me!

PhotographybyAnaMariaVargas

13ASacredCovenant

Karnak’shypostylehallcovers50,000sq.W.Itsroof(nowgone)wassupportedby134massivecolumns

toweringupto80feetinheightand33feetincircumference.Thehallisthecenterpiece

ofthePrecinctofAmunRe,chiefEgyp>andeityoftheThebanTriad:Amun,MutandKhonsu.

PhotographybyAnaMariaVargas

14ASacredCovenant

PhotographybyAnaMariaVargas

15ASacredCovenant

Notme.

ASacredCovenant

Especiallycomparedto

theGodofIsrael,

whomMosesmeton

thebacksideofthe

desertinabush!

Thatisanimpressive

templecomplex!No

wondertheEgyp>angods

wereheldinsuchhigh

esteem.

16

That’scorrect!

ButGodintroduceshimselfto

theIsraelitesdrama>cally

throughthe10plagueshe

bringsonEgypt,tenplagues

hebringsforthreereasons:

17ASacredCovenant

1.   ToshowtheIsraeliteswhoGodis.

“YoumayrecounttoyoursonandgrandsonhowImadeafooloftheEgyp>ansandwhatsignsIdidamongthem,sothatyoumayknowthatIamtheLord”(Exodus10:1-2).

2.   ToshowtheEgyp>answhoGodis.

“AllEgyp>answillknowthatIamtheLord,whenIstretchoutmyhandagainstEgyptandbringtheIsraelitesoutoftheirmidst”(Exodus7:5).

3.   TobringjudgmentonthegodsofEgypt.

“IwillgothroughEgypt,strikingdowneveryfirstbornintheland,humanbeingandbeastalike,andexecu>ngjudgmentonallthegodsofEgypt—I,theLord!”(Exodus12:12).

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19ASacredCovenant

Godisgoingtokick

theirbuMs!

Andthat’spreciselywhatGoddoes:

Plague Egyp>angod

1stPlague,WaterTurnedtoBlood (Osiris)

2ndPlague,Frogs (Heqet)

3rdPlague,Gnats (Geb)

4thPlague,Flies (Khepri)

5thPlague,Pes>lence (Apis)

6thPlague,Boils (ALLthegodsdeprivedoftheirpriests)

7thPlague,Hail&Fire (Nut)

8thPlague,Locusts (coupdegrâce,thedeathblowtoEgypt)

9thPlague,Darkness (Ra)

10thPlague,DeathoftheFirstborn (ALLthegodsplunderedofwhatis

righqullytheirs)

20ASacredCovenant

Asweobserved,theconclusionofMoses’

1stDiscourseemphasizestheenormity,

thenuminous,transcendentnatureofthe

Godofthecovenant.

Allothergodsaredwarfedbycomparison.

ThisisthesovereignLordwhohaschosentoenterintoacovenantrela>onshipwith

theIsraelites;thisistheGodwhowilldefendthem,blessthem,prosperthem

andwatchoverthem;thisistheGodwhoinvitestheIsraelitesintoanin>mate,

spousalrela>onshipwithhim.

Andinreturn,Godexpectsfromthe

Israelitesfidelity,loveandobedience.

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“Now therefore, Israel, hear the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to observe, that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you. In your observance of the commandments of the Lord, your God which I am commanding you, you shall not add to what I command you nor subtract from it. You have seen with your own eyes what the Lord did at Baal-peor; the Lord, your God, destroyed from your midst everyone who followed the Baal of Peor; but you, who held fast to the Lord, your God, are all alive today.

(Deuteronomy 4: 1-4)

“Now, therefore, Israel, hear the statutes . . .” TheHebrewtextreadssimply“Andnow,”theusualwayoftransi>oningfromtheelementsofan

argumenttoitsconclusion,asourtransla>on

indicatesbysupplying“therefore.”Atthesame>me,

however,star>ngthesentencewith“Now”suddenlyshiWsouraMen>onfromrecallingpasteventsatMt.

Sinaitotheimmediatepresent,stressingurgency.

AsRobertAlterobserves,theverb“tohear”(shema’)isasignatureterminDeuteronomy.Throughout,it

carriesthesenseoflistening,absorbing,

understanding,andobeying.Afundamentallydidac>c

work,DeuteronomyurgestheIsraelitestopaycareful

aMen>ontotheexhorta>onsandlawsthatMoses

deliverstothem.1

1RobertAlternotesbothobserva>onsinTheFiveBooksofMoses,aTransla>onwithCommentary(NewYork:W.W.Norton&Company,2004),p.897.Asusual,heisrightontarget.

23ASacredCovenant

“. . . that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.”

Theland—realestate—isanessen>al

componentofthecovenantthatGodmakeswith

Israel.AswelearnedinourstudyofLevi>cus,

thelandbelongstoGod,andtheIsraeliteswill

bemerelystewardsofGod’sland.

IntheNewTestamentJesusunderstandsthis

quitewell,whenintheparableofthetenant

farmershesays:“Amanplantedavineyard,leasedittotenantfarmers,andthenwentonajourney...”(Luke20:9-18).Likethetenantfarmers,iftheIsraelitesfailtobefaithfultothe

landownerandresponsiblestewards,Godwill

evictthemfromthelandandhanditoverto

someoneelse.

24ASacredCovenant

Br.Nicholas.“ParableoftheTenantFarmers,”

SpeculumHumanaeSalva>onis(illumina>ononparchment),c.1450.

Na>onalLibraryoftheNetherlands.

25ASacredCovenant

Notme.

ASacredCovenant

AndGodevictstheIsraelitesfor

athird>mewhentheRomans

takethelandinA.D.70,and

theIsraelitesdon’treturnun>l

May14,1948!

AndhedoesjustthattotheIsraelites

inthenorthernkingdomwhenthe

Assyrianstakethelandin722B.C.and

withthesouthernkingdomwhenthe

Babylonianstaketheland

in586B.C.TheIsraelitesdon’treturn

un>l539B.C.

26

27ASacredCovenant

Hummm!

28ASacredCovenant

“See, I am teaching you the statutes and ordinances as the Lord, my God, has commanded me, that you may observe them in the land you are entering to possess. Observe them carefully, for this is your wisdom and discernment in the sight of the peoples, who will hear of all these statutes and say, ‘This nation is truly a wise and discerning people.’ For what great nation is there that has gods so close to it as the Lord, our God, is to us whenever we call upon him? Or what great nation has statutes and ordinances that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?”

(Deuteronomy 4: 5-8)

Godrequiresfaithfulnesstothe

covenantiftheIsraelitesareto

enjoythelandandlivelifeinit

abundantly,blessedbyGod.

Butthecovenantcarrieswithit

fargreaterimplica>ons.

InExodus,whenGodreaffirms

withthepeoplethecovenanthe

madewithAbraham,Isaacand

Jacob,hesaystothem:“Youwillbetomeakingdomofpriests,aholyna>on”(Exodus19:6).

29ASacredCovenant

TheIsraelitesaretobeashining

light,anexampleforallof

humanity.AsIsaiahsays:“Iwillmakeyoualighttothena>ons,thatmysalva>onmayreachtheendsoftheearth”(49:6).

AndMalachiensuresthe

Israelites:“Yourowneyeswillseeit,andyouwillsay,‘GreatistheLord,evenbeyondtheterritoryofIsrael’”(1:6).

30ASacredCovenant

Honoringthecovenantandbeing

faithfultoGodhasprofound

implica>ons,notjustforIsrael,but

forallofhumanity.

WesawinLesson#2how

Deuteronomytranscendsits

historicalrootsontheplainsof

Moab,becomingauniversal

statement,thenarra>veof

redemp>onforallofhumanity.

Here,Deuteronomy4:5-8illustrates

thisexplicitly.

31ASacredCovenant

32ASacredCovenant

“However, be on your guard and be very careful not to forget the things your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart as long as you live, but make them known to your children and to your children’s children, that day you stood before the Lord your God, at Horeb, when the Lord said to me: Assemble the people for me, that I may let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me as long as they live in the land and may so teach their children.”

(Deuteronomy 4: 9-10)

“However, be on your guard and be very careful not to forget the things your own eyes have seen, nor let them slip from your heart as long as you live . . .”

TheIsraeliteswhostoodatMt.Sinaiandheardthe

voiceofGodasthemountainquaked,belching

smokeandfire,hadanextraordinary,transforma>ve

experience.Nonetheless,inshortordertheyforgot

theintensity—andperhapsthereality—ofthe

experienceastheirfeetached,theirstomachs

growledandtheirfrustra>ons,discouragementsand

angersimmeredanderuptedduringtheir40-year

journeythroughthewilderness.

Bythe>metheyreachtheplainsofMoab,Mt.Sinai

hadbecomebutaparent’smemory,ataletoldlate

atnightaroundacampfire.

Andmemoryhasawayofdimmingandofbecoming

personalmythology.

33ASacredCovenant

“. . . but make them known to your children and to your children’s children, that day you stood before the Lord your God, . . .”

GodhadwarnedtheIsraelites,saying:“Iamcommandingyou,youshallnotaddtowhatIcommandyounorsubtractfromit”(4:2).AlthoughpersonalmemorydimsandoWen

morphsintopersonalmythology,thewordsof

MosesontheplainsofMoab,asrecordedin

Deuteronomy,aremeantemblazonthe

covenantinvividdetailontheheartsand

mindsofeachgenera>on.

Itisimpera>vethateachgenera>onpassthosewordsonaccuratelyandfully—aswriaeninthebook—lesttheybelost,astheywereun>l

Hilkiahre-discoveredthemintheTemple.

34ASacredCovenant

“Assemble the people for me, that I may let them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me as long as they live in the land and may so teach their children.”

AsStephenL.Cookpointsout,“thelanguageof

4:10ispregnantwithmeaning,extending

dynamicallyoutintoIsrael’sfuture.”

WelearninDeuteronomy31:10-13thatthisis

preciselywhatistohappeneverysevenyears

onthefeastofBooths[or“Tabernacles”]atthe

singularplace[theTempleinJerusalem]which

Godwillchoose.TheHebrewword“assemble”

isqahalinboth4:10and31:12,averbalechothatisnotcoincidental.2

2ReadingDeuteronomy,aLiteraryandTheologicalCommentary(Macon,Georgia:Smyth&HelwysPublishers,Inc.,2015),p.52.

35ASacredCovenant

36ASacredCovenant

“Moses commanded them, saying, On the feast of Booths, at the prescribed time in the year for remission which comes at the end of every seven-year period, when all Israel goes to appear before the Lord, your God, in the place which he will choose, you shall read this law aloud in the presence of all Israel. Assemble the people—men, women and children, as well as the resident aliens who live in your communities—that they may hear and so learn to fear the Lord, your God, and to observe carefully all the words of this law. Their children also, who do not know it yet, shall hear and learn to fear the Lord, your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.”

(Deuteronomy 31: 10-13)

No>cethatMoses

emphasizesthatthe

commandtoassemblethe

peopleandteachthemis

firmlyrootedinthevivid,

visceralexperienceofMt.

Sinai.

37ASacredCovenant

38ASacredCovenant

“You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain blazed to the heart of the heavens with fire and was enveloped in a dense black cloud. Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. He proclaimed to you his covenant, which he commanded you to keep; the ten words, which he wrote on two stone tablets. At that time the Lord charged me to teach you the statues and ordinances for you to observe in the land you are about to cross into and possess.”

(Deuteronomy 4: 11-14)

“Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; there was only a voice.”

Indeed,inExodus19:21theLordtoldMosesto“godownandwarnthepeoplenottobreakthroughtotheLordinordertoseehim;otherwisemanyofthemwillbestruckdown.”

Andtheydon’t.

ExodusislessexplicitaboutthisthanDeuteronomy,

buteveninExodus“allthepeoplewitnessedthethunderandlightning,theblastoftheshofarandthemountainsmoking...”(20:18).AsRobertAlterpointsout,thegreatJewishpoetandscholar,AbrahamIbn

Ezra(A.D.1089-1164),reads“Youheardthesoundofthewords,butsawnoform”as“allthepeoplesawthesounds,”ingeniouslysynchronizingExodus20:18withDeuteronomy4:12.3

3TheFiveBooksofMoses,aTransla>onandCommentary(NewYork:W.W.Norton&Company,2004),p.899.

39ASacredCovenant

Notme.

ASacredCovenant

Andmaybethat’swhyMoses

vanishesattheendof

Deuteronomy.TheIsraelites

wouldhaveendedup

worshipinghiminsteadofGod!

That’sreallyinteres>ng!Perhapsthis

providesthecontextforthe2nd

commandment:“Youshallnotmakeforyourselfanidolorlikeness[ofGod]...”(Exodus20:4).Godis

transcendent,beyondourabilityto

“see,”inallofitsvariousmeanings.

40

Ithinkyou’reontosomethinghere!

RecallthatJohnfallstohiskneesto

worshiptheangelicmessengerin

Revela>ontwice(Revela>on19:9-10a;22:8-9),andtheangelinstantlyandsternly

correctshim:“No!WorshipGod.”

Thecommandmentnottomake“idols”

foryourselvescountermandsourbasic

humandesiretomaketheabstract

concrete;theineffable,tac>le.

Iconography[eijkovn,“image”;gravfein,“towrite,”or“wri>nginimages”]istheartformthatexpressessuchdesire.

Egyp>an,Assyrian,Babylonian,Greekand

Romangodswereallembodied

iconographically.

41ASacredCovenant

FriezeinthetombofPharaohHoremheb(c.1319-1292B.C.)

depic>ngthegodsOsiris,AnubisandHorus(KN57).

ValleyoftheKings,Egypt.

42ASacredCovenant

Yet,Godissofarbeyondourabilityto

capturehiminconcrete,tac>leformthat

hecommandstheIsraelitesnottomake

anyimageofhim.

Iconographyisawindowthroughwhich

weseetheineffable,andfrequentlythe

windowbecomesopaqueandpeopleend

upworshipingtheimage,ratherthanthe

realitybeyondtheimage.

Thishappenedwiththe“serpentofbrass”

thatMosesmadeinthewildernesswhen

theIsraeliteswerebeingbiMenbyvipers.

RecallNumbers21:4-9—

43ASacredCovenant

44ASacredCovenant

“The people’s patience was worn out by the journey; so the people complained against God and Moses . . . so the Lord sent among the people seraph serpents, which bit the people so that many of the Israelites died. Then the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned in complaining against the Lord and you. Pray to the Lord to take the serpents from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people and the Lord said to Moses: Make a seraph and mount it on a pole and everyone who has been bitten will look at it and recover. Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.”

(Numbers 21: 4-9)

BenjaminWest.TheBrazenSerpent(oiloncanvas),c.1790.BJUMuseumandGallery,Greenville,SouthCarolina.

45ASacredCovenant

Notme.

ASacredCovenant

Iwonderwhatever

happenedtothatserpentof

brass.Diditbecomean

ar>fact,likeOg’sironbed?

That’saveryinteres>ngepisode!Inourstudy

ofNumberswelearnedthattheserpentof

brassforeshadowsthesacrificeofChristonthe

cross.AsJesussaidtoNicodemus:“JustasMoseslifeduptheserpentinthedesert,

somusttheSonofManbelifedup,sothateveryonewhobelievesinhimmay

haveeternallife”(John314).

46

No,itdidn’t.Somethingmuchworse

happenedtoit.WhenyoungHezekiah

becomeskingsevencenturiesaWertheExodus,weread:

“InthethirdyearofHoshea,sonofElah,kingofIsrael,Hezekiah,sonofAhaz,kingofJudah,becameking.Hewastwenty-fiveyearsoldwhenhebecameking,andhereignedtwenty-nineyearsinJerusalem[715-686B.C.].Hismother’snamewasAbi,daughterofZechariah.HedidwhatwasrightintheLord’ssight,justasDavidhisfatherhaddone.Itwashewhoremovedthehighplaces,shaaeredthepillars,cutdowntheasherah,andsmashedthebronzeserpentMoseshadmade,becauseuptothat>metheIsraeliteswereburningincensetoit.(ItwascalledNehushtan.)”

(2Kings18:1-4)

47ASacredCovenant

48ASacredCovenant

Yikes!

Becauseofthistendencyto

maketheabstractconcrete;

theineffable,tac>leandto

endupworshipingtheimage

ratherthanthereality,Moses

warnstheIsraelitestoavoid

makinganyimagesofGod

whatsoever,andtoshun

thosewhodo.

49ASacredCovenant

50ASacredCovenant

“Because you saw no form at all on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire, be strictly on your guard not to act corruptly by fashioning an idol for yourselves to represent any figure, whether it be the form of a man or a woman, the form of any animal on the earth, the form of any bird that flies in the sky, the form of anything that crawls on the ground, or the form of any fish in the waters under the earth. And when you look up to the heavens and behold the sun or the moon or the stars, the whole heavenly host, do not be led astray into bowing down to them and serving them.”

(4: 15-19a)

51ASacredCovenant

That’spreciselywhy

therearenoimagesof

God,peopleoranimalsin

asynagogue—orina

mosque.

52ASacredCovenant

Properlyunderstood,Chris>anart

playsaprofoundroleinour

understandingofGod,butthe

Churchalsowentthroughaperiod

ofabolishingallimages,the

“Iconoclas>c”eraini>atedbythe

Byzan>neEmperorLeoIII(A.D.

686-741),duringwhich>memany

Chris>an“images”weredefaced

ordestroyed.

Iconoclasmemergedagainduring

the16th-centuryProtestant

Reforma>on,especiallyunder

thoseinfluencedbyJohnCalvin.

ChludovPsalter(illuminatedMs.D.129,fol.67r),c.850.

StateHistoricalMuseum,Moscow.

[Oneofonly3Psalterstosurvivefromthe9thcenturytheclandes>nemanuscriptprotestsiconoclasm.]

53ASacredCovenant

Mosesthenstressesthe

importanceofthisprohibi>on

against“gravenimages”and

theimportanceofremaining

faithfulandobedienttoGod

inthemostseriousofterms:

54ASacredCovenant

55ASacredCovenant

“When you have children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, should you them act corruptly by fashioning an idol in the form of anything, and by this evil done in his sight provoke the Lord, your God, I call heaven and earth this day to witness against you, that you shall all quickly perish from the land which you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You shall not live in it for any length of time but shall be utterly wiped out.”

(4: 25-26)

Sevenhundredyearslatertheprophet

Isaiah(740-686B.C.)producesacourtroom

dramainwhichGodsitsasjudge,withIsrael

inthedocket,andheissuesthisaccusa>on

againsthispeople:

“Hear,Oheavens,andlisten,Oearth,fortheLordspeaks:SonshaveIraisedandreared,buttheyhaverebelledagainstme!Anoxknowsitsowner,andanass,itsmaster’smanger:butIsraeldoesnotknow,mypeoplehasnotunderstood.”

Towhichthewitnesses—theheavensandtheearth—tes>fy:

“Ah!Sinfulna>on,peopleladenwithwickedness,eviloffspring,corruptchildren!TheyhaveforsakentheLord,spurnedtheHolyOneofIsrael...”

(Isaiah1:1-4)

56ASacredCovenant

ThecourtroomdramaspansIsaiah1-35,

whereinGodfindsIsraelguiltyoftotal

apostasy,offorsakinghimandturningto

othergods,“godsthatareworksofhumanhands,ofwoodandstone,godswhichcanneitherseenorhear,neithereatnorsmell”(Deuteronomy4:28).

Thepunishment?Israellosestheland.

Asweknow,in722B.C.theAssyrians

conquerthenorthernkingdomofIsrael,

takingthesurvivorscap>vetoAssyria;

andin686B.C.theBabyloniansconquer

thesouthernkingdomofJudah,taking

thesurvivorscap>vetoBabylon.

As1Chronicles9:1rightlyconcludes:

“JudahhadbeenexiledtoBabylonbecauseofitstreachery.”

57ASacredCovenant

1.   WhydoesMoses1stDiscourseinDeuteronomy

men>onthattheIsraelitesonlyhearGodatMount

Sinai,notseehim?

2.   John’sgospelclaimsthat“NoonehaseverseenGod”(John1:18),sowhatdoesitmeanthattheLord

knewMoses“facetoface”(Deuteronomy34:10)?

3.   HowdoesMosespresenttheGodofIsraelasbeing

superiortothegodsofEgypt?

4.   WhydoesGodprohibittheIsraelitesfrommakingany

“images”ofhim?

5.   WhydoourchurchestodayoWencontainimagesof

peoplefromScripture,andevenimagesofGod

himself?

58ASacredCovenant

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