DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 10

Chapter 10
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "At that time, the Lord said to me, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the first pair, and come back up the mountain. Also you are to make an ark of wood. I will write upon the tablets the words that were written on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them into the ark.' "So I made an ark from shittim wood, and cut two tablets of stone like the first, and went up into the mountain carrying the two tablets. He wrote on the tablets, the same as he had written before, the ten commandments - which the Lord dictated to you in the mountain out of the midst of fire - and gave them to me. I came down the mountain and put the tablets into the ark which I had made; and there they are, as the Lord commanded me. "The people of Israel took their journey from Beeroth (of the children of Jaakan) to Mosera, and there Aaron died. After he was buried, his son Eleazar ministered as the head priest in his place. "From there, the people journeyed to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbath, a land with many rivers. It was at this time that the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant, to stand before the Lord, to minister to him, and to bless in his name, unto this day. While the Levites do not receive an inheritance like their brethren tribes do, the Lord is their inheritance - as the Lord your God promised them. "I stayed up in the mountain, like the first time, for forty days and forty nights. The Lord listened to me up there, and would not destroy you all. The Lord then said to me, 'Take your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I had sworn unto their forefathers, to give to them.' "And now, people of Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all of his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and soul, to keep his commandments and statutes, which I command you this day for your own good? Behold, the sky and the heavens above is the Lord's, as is the earth and therein. The Lord loved your forefathers and chose their descendants above all people, as he continues to this day. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and don't act stubborn. "The Lord your God is God above all gods, the Lord of lords, a great God, mighty and terrible, which has no regard for any person, nor can he be bribed. He executes judgment of orphans and widows, and loves foreigners, giving them food and clothing. Therefore, you too are to love foreigners, as you were foreigners yourselves in the land of Egypt. "You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, cling to him, and swear by his name. He is your praise, and he is your God, that has done for you all these great and terrible things, which you have seen with your own eyes. When your forefathers arrived in Egypt there were only seventy of them in number, now the Lord has made your population as numerous as the stars in the sky."
Thoughts:	Moses's speech continues, and he recounts the tale of receiving the second set of stone tablets containing the "ten commandments". as originally told in Exodus: Chapter 34. Although Moses' speech claims that God also asked Moses to build the "ark of the covenant" at the same time, this contradicts the book of Exodus which has this event occurring in Exodus: Chapter 25 prior to the writing of the first set of tablets containing the "ten commandments". Moses (again, self described as the "meekest man on earth") also contradicts the book of Exodus by taking credit for having built the ark of the covenant, when Exodus: Chapter 37 clearly credits Bezaleel for this task. He then restates that God wrote the "ten commandments" upon the new stone tablets and that Moses placed them into the "ark of the covenant". Moses next states that the Israelites then traveled from Beeroth to Mosera, where Aaron died (it's unclear whether Mosera is an alternate name for Mount Hor or an encampment nearby) and his son Eleazar took over as the head priest. Moses then states that the Israelites journeyed from Mosera to Gudgodah, and from there to Jotbath, where he states that God appointed the Levites to 'minister' under him. Moses then returns back to his story of staying up in the mountains for forty days and forty nights, and once again tells the people of Israel that he managed to talk God out of killing them all, as well as God's command for the Israelites to go take the "promised land". He then tells the Israelites that the only things they are required to do, is to fear God, to "walk in all of his ways", to love him, to serve him with all your heart and soul, and to obey all of his laws and commands. Moses states that God owns the heavens and the earth, and because he "loved" Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Israelites should stop being such a stubborn group of people - in which he makes a rather humorous analogy to circumcising the foreskin off of one's heart in order to remove their stubbornness. Moses continues, stating that God is the god above all gods; the ruler of all rulers; and is great, mighty, and terrible. He adds that God also cannot be reasoned with nor bribed, and favors the underdogs (orphans, widows, and foreigners) whom he loves - except for these foreigners. Moses states that they are to be loving towards foreigners, stating that the Israelites themselves were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Moses concludes that the Israelites are to obey God and to swear by his name, because of all the great and terrible things he has done. He adds that when their forefathers arrived in Egypt, that there were only seventy of them, but now they are as numerous as the stars in the sky.