God’s blessings for the tribes of Israel reach down through time, though apostasy and repentance. These are blessings for all Israel, all those who put their trust in the LORD God, the Creator.
Author: Richard
Moses, “the man of God,” passes along cryptic blessings to each tribe of Israel — well, almost all of them. These blessings reach down through time to be still in our future and not possible to be fulfilled without all the tribes united, including Yehudah (Judah, a.k.a. the Jews).
This chapter points out that the “New Covenant,” or “New Testament,” isn’t so new and doesn’t replace deals cut between God and Adam, Noach (Noah), Abraham, Moshe (Moses), David, etc. The LORD intended the Torah from the very beginning to be “written” on the hearts (emotions) and minds (reason) of His people.
In this passage, Moshe (Moses) reminds the people of Israel that God will bless them if they follow His Torah but he will have to curse them if they do not. He also reminds the people they have the duty to enforce God’s Torah in the land as well. It really is a Tale of Two Mountains.
Honesty in business dealings and setting aside for the LORD the first and a 10th of what He has blessed us with seem like straightforward teachings from these two chapters for modern times. However, what do we do with teachings in this passage about men temporarily marrying their sisters-in-law to perpetuate the name of her dead husband and amputation as punishment for women who “fight dirty” seem way out of step with modern culture? Richard Agee explores what God is trying to show us about Himself with these teachings.
The seeming prohibition against emasculated men and illegitimate children in God’s “assembly” in this chapter have been used widely to discredit His word. Explore whether God is being capricious and cruel with such proclamations, or whether He wants His people to avoid the pitfall of mixing evil worship practices with worship of the LORD.
Much has been lost in modern society has been lost by treating divorce and kidnapping as less serious matters than God does in Deuteronomy 24. Richard Agee explores a key question in this chapter: Why does God forbid remarriage to the first husband after a second marriage? The answer is clear in the original Hebrew text.