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.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 9

Chapter 9
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "Hear, O [people of] Israel, you are to cross the Jordan River today, to go in and conquer nations greater and mightier than yourselves; to possess great cities that are highly fortified; against great tall people, the children of the Anakims - whom you know, and have heard it said 'Who can stand up against the children of Anak!' "Understand that the Lord your God will be with you today, and that he will go before you [in battle], and as a consuming fire he shall destroy [the children of Anak]. He shall bring them before you, so you can drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said unto you. "After the Lord you God has cast them out before you, do not say in your heart that the Lord has brought you in to possess this land because of your righteousness, because it is due to the wickedness of these [heathen] nations that the Lord drove them out before you. You are not possessing this land because of your righteousness, but [again] the Lord is driving out these nations for their wickedness, and so that he may fulfill his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land for being righteous, for you are actually stubborn and unruly people. "Remember, and do not forget, how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from Egypt, until you arrived at this spot today, you have been rebellious against the Lord. In [Mount] Horeb, you provoked the Lord to wrath - so much so, that the Lord was angry enough to have destroyed you all. "When I had went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone containing the covenant which the Lord had made with you, I had stayed in the mountain for forty days and forty nights - during which time I neither ate bread nor drank water. The Lord had delivered to me two stone tablets - written by the finger of God - on which was written, all the words that the Lord had spoken to you in the mountain out of the midst of the fire. On the fortieth day, when the Lord gave me the two stone tablets containing the covenant, he said to me, 'Get back down the mountain quickly, for the people you brought out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They quickly turned aside from the ways which I commanded them and have made themselves a molten image.' "Furthermore, the Lord said to me, 'I have seen these people, and they are a stubborn group of people. Leave me, so that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven, and instead I will make you into a nation mightier and greater than they are.' "So I came back down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire as I held the two tablets of the covenant in my hands. I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had made yourselves a molten calf. You had turned away quickly from the way in which the Lord had commanded you. I took the two tablets and threw them from my hands, breaking them before your eyes. "I again fell down before the Lord, and as I had done before, spent another forty days and forty nights where I did not eat any bread, nor drink any water, because of your sins and in doing wickedness in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger. I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure that the Lord had kindled with wrath against you, for he had wanted to destroy you - however, the Lord listened to my prayers. The Lord was very angry with Aaron and wanted to destroy him as well, so I prayed for him as well. "I took your sin - the calf you had made - and burned it with fire. I stamped it and ground it into a fine powder, and cast the dust into the brook that descended from the mountain. "Again, at Taberah, and then again at Massah, and then even again at Kibrothhattaavah, you provoked the Lord to wrath. Likewise, when the Lord sent you from Kadeshbarnea, saying, 'Go up and possess the land which I have given you,' you still rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and didn't believe him or heed his words. You have rebelled against the Lord from the day that I met you. "Thus I fell down before the Lord for forty days and forty nights, as I had done the first time, because the Lord had said that he would destroy you. So I therefore prayed to the Lord, and said, 'O Lord God, do not destroy your people and their inheritance, whom you had redeemed with your greatness and brought out of Egypt with your mighty hand. Instead, remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; focus not upon the stubbornness, wickedness, and sin of these people, or the land from which you brought us out from will claim, "Because the Lord was unable to bring them into the land which he promised them, he hated them and slayed them out in the wilderness." They are your people, and your inheritance, which you brought out with your mighty power and your outstretched arm.'"
Thoughts:	Moses's speech continues, and he prepares the Israelites for their task of crossing the Jordan River and conquering the "promised land" and the giants - the sons of Anak - dwelling in their fortified cities. He tells the Israelites that God will destroy the giants, but that they are not to confuse the reason why God is allowing them to take their land. Moses insists that God's reasoning for driving the giants out the land is solely because of the "wickedness" of the giants, and not because the Israelites are righteous in any way. In fact, Moses tells the Israelites that they are actually stubborn and unruly people. He recounts to the Israelites the story of Exodus: Chapter 24 when God instructed him to ascend Mount Sinai, wait around for 40 days and 40 nights without eating and drinking, in order to receive the "ten commandments" carved onto two stone tablets, by the "finger of God". When Moses did this of course, fearing that Moses had gone missing, Moses' brother Aaron forged the Israelites a "golden calf" for them to worship. God's response naturally, is to get angry and decide to commit genocide upon the Israelites. Moses recounts how God had told him to get down there and put a stop to all this "golden calf" worshiping, and how he himself became so angry that he broke the two tablets containing the "ten commandments". Moses states that he became afraid of God's threats to kill off all of the Israelites and prayed for them; in turn he also prayed for Aaron who God also was angry with and wanted to destroy as well. Moses tells how he destroyed the "golden calf", ground it up into fine powder, and tossed it into the stream. (Although Moses stops his story short of where he forced the Israelites to drink from the water, and ordering the Levites to slaughter the Israelites who wouldn't with their swords, regardless of their family relations.) Moses then brings up more instances, such as the people whining about eating "manna" from Numbers: Chapter 11; the people whining about not having any water to drink from Exodus: Chapter 17; as well as the people gluttonously dining on the quails God gave them, also from Numbers: Chapter 11 - the bottom line being, God hates complainers. Moses then caps it off with the Israelites fear of the facing giants living in the "promised land" from Numbers: Chapter 14. Moses then basically says that the Israelites have always been a whiny ungrateful bunch of sods for as long as he can remember. Moses closes out the chapter by telling the people that he had to talk God out of committing mass genocide against the Israelites, and God's desire of making Moses' descendants become the "chosen people", by convincing him that this would look bad to the Egyptians, and that if he killed everyone off, he would be breaking his promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 8

Chapter 8
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "All the commandments which I give to you this day, you shall obey, so that you may live and multiply in the land which the Lord promised to your forefathers. "You shall remember how the Lord your God led you these forty years through the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove to you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. He humbled you, causing you to suffer hunger before he fed you with 'manna' - a food that you had never seen, nor had your ancestors - so that he could teach you that man does not live by bread alone, but that he lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothes haven't grown old, nor have your feet swollen throughout these past forty years. You should realize that just as a man punishes his son, so the Lord your God punishes you. Therefore you shall obey the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land: a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of hills and valleys; a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where food will not be scarce, and you will not lack a thing in it; a land where iron is as common as stones, and whose hills you will be able to mine for brass. When you have eaten and you are full, you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which he has given you. Beware that you don't forget the Lord your God, in not keeping his commandments, judgments, and statutes, which I command to you this day. "When you have eaten your fill, and have built goodly houses to live in; when your herds and flocks have multiplied; your silver and gold has multiplied; and your heart be lifted up, - lest you forget the Lord your God which brought you out from your slavery in Egypt; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, where there were "fiery serpents", scorpions, and drought; where there was no water, brought forth water out of a rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna - a food that your ancestors had never seen - so that he might humble you and prove to you, to do good to you later on. "When you say in your heart, 'It was my power and my own will that has given me everything I have', you should instead remember the Lord your God, for it is he that gave you the power to acquire that wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto your forefathers, as it is this day. "It shall be, that if you forget the Lord your God, and walk after other gods, and serve and worship them, I promise you this day that you shall surely perish. Like the nations which the Lord destroys before your eyes, so shall you perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the Lord your God."
Thoughts:	Moses's speech continues, this time focusing primarily on God's "testing" of the Israelites. Moses begins by once again dangling the carrot of increased fertility over the heads of the Israelites, providing they obey all of God's commandments. He then states that this whole trek through the wilderness for forty years was actually a "test" to humble the Israelites - instead of God's originally stated intentions of waiting until the previous generation had died out. Moses claims that God had deliberately let the Israelites go hungry, so that he could feed them "manna" - a previously unheard of food - so that they could be taught that "man does not live by bread alone". While perhaps one could argue some plausibility about God's intentions with the "manna", clearly Moses is trying to be a revisionist in regards to God's intentions regarding why he had made the Israelites wander around in the desert for forty years. Moses then asserts that none of the Israelites clothes have worn out, nor have their feet blistered from their forty year hike through the desert. He then compares God's punishments of the Israelites to the discipline a father shows his son - however, most fathers generally don't set their children on fire and infect them with plagues for complaining about the food, set them on fire for not lighting incense properly, or unleash poisonous snakes upon them for complaining about their hardships. Moses states that for this reason, people should obey God's commandments, but follows it up with a more convincing reason - fearing God. Moses then boasts about how wonderful the "promised land" will be: that it will have plenty of water; the crops will be plentiful; it will be rich with olive oil and honey; iron will be as common as stones and rocks; and the hills will be able to be mined for brass. However, Moses warns, the people are not to forget that once they're accustomed to this wealth, they are not to forget that if it weren't for God taking them out of their slavery in Egypt and helping them commit genocide against the former inhabitants of this land, they wouldn't have any of these nice things, so therefore they have to obey God's commandments, judgments, and statutes. Moses tries to rub it in further, by mentioning that God protected them through the wilderness from "fiery serpents" (although he fails to mention that God sent them down there himself in the first place as a punishment), scorpions, and satiated their thirst by bringing forth water out of a rock. Moses warns the people not to take credit for anything that they have acquired, and that they are solely to accredit God, or else they will somehow find the tendency to begin worshiping other gods - and if that happens, God will destroy them just the same as he had caused the destruction of all the "heathen" nations that formerly inhabited the "promised land".

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "When the Lord your God brings you into the land and you go to possess it, he will cast out many nations before you: the Hitites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites - seven* nations greater and mightier than you. When the Lord your God delivers them before you, you shall kill them and utterly destroy them - you are not to make any covenant with them, nor show them any mercy. "Neither shall you make any marriages with them - your daughters are not to be given to their sons, nor are their daughters to be taken by your sons. For they will turn your son away from following me, so that they may serve other gods, so the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you and will destroy you suddenly. Instead, the only manner in which to deal with them is to destroy their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. "For you are a holy people unto the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a special people to himself, above all other people on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any [other] people - for you were the fewest of all people - but because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your forefathers, and brought you out with his mighty hand, out of your enslavement by the hand of the Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Therefore, know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, which keeps his covenant and mercy with those who love him and keep his commandments for a thousand generations, and repays those that despise him by destroying them. He will not be lenient towards those who despise him, and will retaliate personally. You shall therefore keep these commandments, statutes, and judgments which I command to you today, and obey them. "If you heed these judgments and obey them, the Lord your God shall keep his covenant and mercy that he swore unto your forefathers. He will love and bless you all, blessing you with fertility so that you may multiply. He will also bless the fruit of the land: your corn, your wine, your oil, as well as the increase of your cattle and sheep, in the land which he promised to your forefathers. "You shall be blessed above all people - there shall not be male or female barren among you, or your cattle. The Lord will take away all of your illnesses, and will put none of the evil diseases that you saw in Egypt upon you, but will instead lay them upon all that despise him. "You shall execute all the people whom the Lord thy God delivers to you; you shall have no pity upon them. Neither shall you serve their gods, for that will be a [deadly] trap for you. If you say in your heart 'These nations are greater than us. How can we defeat them?' You should not be afraid of them, but shall remember what the Lord your God did unto the Pharaoh, and unto all of Egypt. The great temptations which you saw with your very eyes, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand and the outstretched arm, with which the Lord your God brought you out [of Egypt]; so shall the Lord your God do to all the people of whom you fear. Moreover, the Lord your God will send hornets amongst them, until even those that are left and attempt to hide from you, shall be destroyed. You shall not be frightened of them, for the Lord your God is amongst you - a mighty and terrible God. "The Lord your God will cast out those nations before you, little by little, for you are not to destroy them all at once, lest the wild animals of the fields multiply too rapidly. But the Lord your God will deliver them to you, and shall destroy them with a mighty destruction, until they are utterly destroyed. He shall deliver their kings into your hands, and you shall wipe their names from under heaven. There shall be no man to be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. "The graven images of their gods are to be burned with fire. You are not to desire the silver or gold that they are made of, not are you to take it, lest you are ensnared by this trap - for it is an abomination to the Lord your God. "Nor shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you become cursed like it; but you shall utterly detest it, and shall utterly abhor it, for it is a cursed thing."
Notes:	1.) Yet another reference to the number seven in the bible.
Thoughts:	Moses's speech continues, this time focusing on how to deal with the seven nations (the Hitites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) inhabiting the "promised land". It should come as no surprise that it isn't anything pleasant, but Moses specifically states: 7:2 "...thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them" He also forbids them from intermarrying, claiming that these "heathen" daughters will corrupt the Israelite males, turning them away from God, and causing them to worship pagan gods. When you deal in terms of absolutes like this, you're accepting broad sweeping generalizations - saying that marrying a non-Israelite woman will cause you to worship other gods is no different than claiming that marrying an Italian woman will cause you to eat pizza, marrying a black woman will cause you listen to rap music, or that marrying a Japanese woman will cause you become a Buddhist. The apologist can't even argue that this sort of stereotyping is somehow justified by the smaller populations of people, because the first verse describes these seven nations as "greater and mightier than" the Israelites. Again with Moses' last census count of men fit for the military totaling at 601,730, we can extrapolate that there's at least one million Israelites. With seven surrounding "heathen" nations that are greater and mightier than the Israelites, it's safe to estimate that we're at least dealing with ten million other people. How accurate could a blanket statement be that could encompass every individual in a population of 10 million? This is roughly equivalent to the current population of Ohio, and would be akin to claiming that marrying an Ohio woman would cause you to become a Christian. It is thinking like this that makes religion such a dangerous tool to justify committing acts of violence and injustice towards others based on prejudice and stereotyping. When you reduce a group of millions of individual people down to a single subset of a subhuman characteristic, it becomes a lot easier to not see them as a fellow human being unworthy of redemption. While the Israelites rebel against God numerous times throughout the bible, we simply assume that the "heathens" are fiercely loyal to their gods and wouldn't rebel and choose to serve Yahweh instead. Moses explains that if the Israelites did intermarry and therefore begin worshiping other gods, then God would become angry and have to destroy them. Instead Moses posits that the best course of action is to simply destroy all of their religious items, breaking their altars, and setting fire to their graven images. He tells the Israelites that they are God's chosen people and God, that God likes them better than everyone else on the earth. He states that God didn't choose to favor them due to their population - where Moses states here that 600,000+ Israelites were in fact the least populated group of people(!) - but simply because God loved them better than other people, and had already made a promise to their forefathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). Moses states that God is merciful to those who love and obey him, but will retaliate against the people who despise him by destroying them outright - so therefore, it's the Israelites duty to follow God's laws and not be destroyed. In an attempt to sweeten the deal, Moses adds that if the people obey God's laws, then God will in turn bless them with increased fertility - that none, even the Israelite animals, will become barren, and that the crops will flourish. Moses claims that God will even take away everyone's illnesses - like the "evil diseases" they apparently encountered in Egypt - and will instead infect everyone who "despises" God with these "evil diseases". Moses again tells the Israelites that they are to destroy every last "heathen" whom God delivers to them, and they are not to show any mercy or sympathy towards their victims (which further dehumanizes them). He reminds the Israelites that should they doubt their ability to win a battle against these mightier "heathen" nations, they are to recall how God had taken them out of Egypt and remember the "signs and wonders" they saw (or at least that their parents saw, considering the original generation had since died off out in the desert). Moses also adds that God will send hornets to seek out any surviving "heathen" who manages to survive the Israelite's genocidal rampages and attempt to hide. Moses states that God will drive out these "heathens" little by little, explaining that if they were driven out all at once, the land would become infested with wild animals. Once again, the point is driven home that the Israelites are to completely destroy these "heathen" nations and are to blot their names out from history. Again, Moses repeats that their idols are to be burned with fire, and he warns the Israelites not to be tempted by the gold or silver they are made of, and commands that they are not to take these golden or silver idols, lest they become contaminated by them - as God considers these idols "abominations". An "abomination" is never to be brought into one's house, or you will become cursed just like it. Instead one is to utterly despise and detest any "abominable" thing, for it is a cursed thing.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 6

Chapter 6
Summary:	Moses addresses the Israelites, saying, "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, for you to obey in the land you are to possess - that you might fear the Lord thy God and obey all of his statutes and commandments, which I command you, your sons, and your grandsons, all the days of your life, that your days may be prolonged. Therefore, people of Israel, listen and obey these commandments, that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as the Lord God of your forefathers had promised, in the land of milk and honey. "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord - and you shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your might. These words that I command you on this day, shall be in your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall speak these laws you are sitting at home, when out for a walk, when you go to sleep, and when you awaken. You should write them onto a sign bound to your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them upon the posts of your house, and upon your gates. "It shall be, when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which he promised to your forefathers - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - to give to you great and goodly cities, which you would not have to build yourselves; houses full of good things, which you didn't have to furnish yourselves; wells digged, which you did not have to dig; vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't have to plant. When you have eaten until you are full, then beware lest you forget the Lord, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, from your slavery. "You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name. You shall not worship other gods, of the gods of the [heathen] people which are around you - for the Lord your God is jealous, lest the anger of the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he destroys you from off the face of the earth. You are not to tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in Massah. "You shall diligently keep the commandments, testimonies, and statutes of the Lord your God, which he has commanded you. You shall do what is right and good in the eyes of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which the Lord swore unto your forefathers, to cast out all of your enemies from before you, as the Lord has spoken. "When your son asks you later on in the time to come, 'What do these testimonies, statutes and judgments mean?' You shall answer your son, 'We were the Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. The Lord showed us signs and wonders, great and terrible, upon Egypt, upon the Pharaoh, and upon all the Egyptian people, before our very eyes. He brought us here from out of there, that he might bring us here to give us the land which he had sworn to our forefathers. The Lord commanded us to fear the Lord our God, for our own good, so that we may remain alive, as we are today. It shall be our righteousness if we obey these commandments before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us."
Thoughts:	Moses addresses the Israelites again to enforce the importance of obeying God's commandments. He stresses that people's fear of God should motivate them to obey his laws. Basically Moses is stating that you must obey God if you want to live, even if it means doing something immoral, such as committing mass genocide upon a nation of people - except for the virgin daughters which can be 'kept for yourselves'. Incredibly, some believers would argue that if the command was issued from God, then that alone makes it a moral act - no matter how heinous of an act it may be. If God told you to rape your grandmother and kill your grandfather, then it would be morally correct for you to do so. In response to this, the believer might insist that God would never command such a thing, but in the Old Testament outside of the countless genocides he's commanded, he also commanded Abraham to sacrifice his own son - which he was ready, willing, and able to do, and he attempted to do so before God stopped him. While the apologist will argue that this was "just a test" of Abraham's faith, this completely sidesteps the fact that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his own child simply because God told him to do so. Abraham didn't argue or plead with God, nor did he question him, he simply tricked his son into going on an errand with him alone, and after building an altar with Isaac's help, he then ties the boy to the altar and prepares to plunge a knife into his own son. The apologist tends to be quick to point out that God didn't allow Abraham to go through with this human sacrifice, however, that's not the point - if God commanded someone to rape their grandmother, and the man ties her to a bed, rips her clothes off, and is prepared to do the deed until God tells him to stop, he has still acted immorally. The act of attempting to murder or rape another human being is immoral, demanding that someone perform a heinous task is immoral as well - regardless of what the motivation might be. Just because the command to do something evil came from God and not a mortal man does not suddenly make it moral. Moses then tells the people to love God will all of their hearts, which I simply find an impossible request. One simply cannot be commanded to love - love is something that usually must be earned, nurtured, and maintained to sustain itself. If you do not love someone or something, someone else requesting for you to do so isn't going to accomplish anything sincere. Moses instructs the people that they are to also "love" God's laws, and are to be taught to their children, as well as repeated where ever they may be, from dawn to dusk, and that they are to be written down on a card and tied to their hands, as well as written on the posts of their gates and houses. This may mean to be taken for the people to simply memorize and live the commandments, but doubtless it has been taken literally by some. Moses then tells the people to be grateful to God since he has brought them into a land where there would be no need to build cities, houses, wells, vineyards, and plants - even though God didn't build these things either. Simply put, he let the "heathens" stay in the land long enough to build "great and goodly cities" and then let the Israelites ransack and loot the place. Moses also makes sure to remind the Israelites yet again that God brought them out of their slavery in Egypt. Moses' next commands the Israelites to fear God, serve him, and swear by his name, but warns them not to worship other gods - like the "heathens" that surround them do - or God will destroy the Israelites from the face of the earth. He tells the Israelites not to tempt God, like they had done in Exodus: Chapter 17 when they first whined about not having any water to drink. He again restates that the Israelites are to keep the commandments and teach them to their future generations.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Summary:	Moses gathers the people of Israel and said to them, "Hear, the people of Israel, the laws and judgment which I speak to you on this day, that you learn and obey them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Mount Horeb, and he made this covenant not with our forefathers, but with us who all of us are here alive to this day. "The Lord talked with you face to face from the mountain out of the midst of the fire. I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid of the fire, and did not go up the mountain." Moses then restates the ten commandments: I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work , thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Honour thy father and thy mother , as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's. Moses continues, "These words the Lord spoke to all of you at the mountain, from the midst of fire, from the cloud, and in thick darkness with a great voice - he added no more, but wrote them down onto two tablets of stone, and delivered them to me. "It came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness - for the mountain did burn with fire - that the heads of your tribes and your elders came before me saying, 'Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen a day where God has talked with man, and man survived, but why should we [tempt] death [again]? This great fire could consume us, and if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore we could die. For what mortal has ever heard the voice of God speaking out the fire, as we have, and lived? 'Go hear all that the Lord has to say and speak it to us afterward, and we will listen and obey.' "The Lord heard your words when you said this to me, and the Lord said to me, 'I have heard the words of the people, and they have spoken wisely. They have a great heart in them, that they would fear me, and always keep all my commandments. If they obey, all will be good for them and their children throughout their generations. 'Tell the people to return to their tents, but when you return, stand here and I will speak to you all the commandments, statutes, and judgments for you to teach them, that they may follow in the land which I give them to possess.' "You are to obey exactly as the Lord your God has commanded you, you are not to deviate from his law in either direction. You shall walk in all the ways that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that all may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess."
Thoughts:	Moses gathers the Israelites and prepares them to listen to his retelling of the "ten commandments" that we first encountered in Exodus: Chapter 20. Moses tells the people that these commandments differ from most of God's covenants, since the people this covenant was made with are still alive and listening to Moses' speech this day. However, this couldn't be possible considering that this speech occurs after the last generation of Israelites - the one who were present in Mount Horeb - were made to wander around the desert for forty years, and they had all died out since then. Moses states that God spoke to the Israelites "face to face" from the midst of fire upon the mountain, and also claims that he served as an intermediary between God and the people, because they were afraid of the fire, and did not go up the mountain - which might very well have something to do with the fact that they were threatened with death if they were to attempt to approach the mountain. Moses then retells the ten commandments, which is almost identical to how they appear in Exodus: Chapter 20 with only some slight differences to the wording of the fourth commandment, with an additional reminder of God's rescue of the people from slavery in Egypt. Moses tells the people that these commandments were written by God onto two stone tablets that were delivered to Moses. He then mentions that the people were frightened of hearing God's voice and somehow couldn't shake the apparently common superstitious fear of the time, being that you apparently are not supposed to be able to hear the voice of God and live. The Israelites, according to Moses, asked Moses to be their middle man, delivering God's message to them, so that they would not have to fear God's voice speaking out of the flames again. Obviously this sets Moses up in a position of power that is easily abused - as now anything that Moses claims is "God's word" is to be believed as such, without any way of discerning whether what is being said is in fact "God's word" or Moses' own personal agenda. The Israelites aren't even allowed to venture up near the foot of the mountain, nor are they allowed within the tabernacle, both under the penalty of death. Thereby creating a "man behind the curtain" facade in which Moses and the priests can take advantage of the blind trust the people have in that the edicts they receive are the "word of God", the privacy they are afforded by having areas that are off limits to the public - enforced with capital punishment, and very little recourse for anyone to dispute their leadership. The biggest problem with religion is that it discourages critical thinking, that people are not to question authority for any reason, and that laws are not to be amended or adapted to evolve alongside of societal changes. Over time we find that many laws simply serve no function to us any longer, or were unjust from the very beginning (such as slavery) but were kept on the books to avoid civil unrest between proponents and the opposition. As we discover new technologies that alter the way we live - such as the automobile, radio, telephone, and the internet - we need new laws to regulate the usage of these technologies to protect people's safety. We simply can't rely upon the laws that were in effect in 1776 to govern the modern world in 2009. It's even more unfathomable to attempt to live as people did in the bronze age over 3000 years ago did, yet that is exactly what religion attempts to encourage. The Catholic church is against the use of contraception and carries this message even when dealing with HIV stricken countries like Africa where condom usage would better help contain the further spread of the disease than simply telling people to practice abstinence - which obviously doesn't work very well with their own priests and their ensuing sexual abuse scandals. Moses tells the Israelites that even God himself approves of the Israelites suggestion of having Moses play middleman, and says that life will be peachy and keen so long as they follow all of God's commandments. God tells Moses to send the congregation of people back to their tents so that he can speak with Moses alone and give him all the commandments, statutes and judgments for him to teach the Israelites. Moses finishes off the chapter by stating that these laws are to be obeyed exactly as God commanded them, and not to be added to or subtracted from, or altered in any way.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 4

Chapter 4
Summary:	Moses continues his speech to the Israelites, saying, "Now therefore heed, O Israel, to the laws and judgments which I teach you. Obey them so that you may live and enter the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you. You are not to add to or subtract from the laws which I command you. You are to keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. "Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor. God had destroyed all the men who followed Baalpeor from among you, but those that followed the Lord your God are still alive to this day. "Behold, I have taught you laws and judgments as the Lord my God has commanded me, that you shall do in the land when you arrive to possess it. Keep these laws and obey them, for this is your wisdom and understanding in the sight of [other] nations, which will hear these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation are wise and understanding people.' For what nation is there so great, who has God amongst them, and that the Lord our God is in all things that we can call upon him for? What nation is there so great that has laws and judgments so righteous as this law, which I set before you this day? "Take heed of yourselves, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things you have seen, and lest they depart from your heart for the rest of your life - teach them to your sons and grandsons; especially the day that you stood before God on Mount Horeb, when the Lord said to me, 'Gather the people together before me and they shall hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.' "And you came near and stood under the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire into the heavens, and was covered in dark clouds and thick darkness. When the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire, you heard his voice, yet did not see him. He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to obey - the ten commandments - which he wrote upon two stone tablets. "The Lord commanded me at that time to teach you laws and judgments for you to obey when you arrive in the land you are going to possess. Therefore take heed - as you had not seen any manner of image [of God] on the day that the Lord spoke to you in Mount Horeb from out of the midst of the fire - lest you corrupt yourselves by creating any graven image, the likeness of any figure, male or female, the likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl that flies in the air, the likeness of anything that creeps along the ground, or the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth. "Lest you look up into the heavens, and when you see the sun, the moon, and the stars - all that appear in the heavens - should you be driven to worship and serve them, which the Lord your God has commanded against - to separate you from the other nations under the heavens. The Lord has taken you and brought you out from the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as you are this very day. "The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I shall not cross the Jordan River, nor may I enter the land which the Lord your God has given you for an inheritance. I must die here in this land instead, but you shall go over without me and posses that good land. "Take heed of yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and create a graven image, or the likeness of anything which the Lord your God has forbidden you - for the Lord your God is a consuming fire and a jealous God. When you have resided in the land long enough to produce children and grandchildren, and corrupt yourselves by creating a graven image - or the likeness of anything [forbidden by God] - and thereby do evil in the sight of the Lord your God, provoking his anger, I shall call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that you will soon after utterly perish from the land where you are headed. You will not live any longer in the land, but shall be utterly destroyed. The Lord will scatter you amongst the nations, and you will be left few in number amongst the heathens, where the Lord will lead you. There you will serve gods created by men from wood and stone, which neither see, hear, eat, or smell. "But if from then you you shall seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things have come upon you, even in the latter days, if you turn to the Lord your God, and shall be obedient to his voice - for the Lord your God is a merciful God - then he will neither forsake you, nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your forefathers which he promised unto them. "Ask now, even since the beginning of time, since the day that God created man upon the earth, in all of heaven from one side to another, whether there has ever been - or has ever been heard of - any such thing as great as people hearing the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you [all] have heard, and lived [to tell of it]? Or has anyone heard of God having taken our nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, signs, and wonders, as well as by war, his mighty hand, his outstretched arm, and by great terrors, such as the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? "This was shown to you so that you would know that the Lord he is God, and that there is no other beside him. Out of the heaven he made you hear his voice so that he could instruct you, and upon the earth he showed you his great fire - and you heard his words from out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved your forefathers, he therefore kept his covenant with their offspring and brought them out of Egypt using his mighty powers. He drove out nations greater and mightier than you are, to give to you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. Know therefore this day, and know in your heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath - there is none else. You shall therefore obey his laws which I command to you today, that you and your children after you may prolong your days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God has given thee forever." Moses then set aside three cities on the east side of the Jordan River to be used as "cities of refuge". He picked Bezer (a city in the wilderness in the plain country, given to the Reubenites), Ramoth (a city in Gilead given to the Gadites), and Golan (a city in Bashan given to the Manassites). Moses set the law before the people of Israel, on the east side of the Jordan River, in the valley near Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon - king of the Amorites - whom Moses and the Israelites had slain. They possessed this land, as well as the land of Og - king of Bashan. They had destroyed the two kings of the Amorites on the east side of the Jordan River, and occupied the land from Aroer - which is by the bank of the Arnon River - to Mount Sion (which is also called Mount Hermon), and the plains on the east side of the Jordan River, even unto the sea, under the springs of Pisgah.
Thoughts:	Moses' speech continues taking on less of an air of recounting specific events and more of an establishment of God's law. He tells the Israelites that they are to obey the laws and judgments which Moses taught them and to practice them in the "promised land". Moses specifically states that God's laws are not to be changed in anyway - they are not to be added to, nor are any laws to be subtracted, which seems to be in contrast with modern religious practice, else we would see a lot more public stonings. Moses then mentions the Moabite/Midianite conflict in Mount Peor from Numbers: Chapter 25, reminding the people about God's wrath over the situation, and claims that every person who behaved themselves during that time is still alive today. Moses then states that if the people obey these laws, he believes that they will impress other nations with their wisdom and understanding(!) I don't think Moses could be more off the mark as he is here. Stoning unruly children, accusing your wife of unfaithfulness and making her participate in a magic ritual to prove her innocence, stoning people to death for picking up sticks on a Saturday, and justifying the fatal beating of a slave - providing he survives longer than two days after the beating are not ethical, moral, wise, "righteous", or "understanding" by any means. Anyone who admires such ridiculous laws are as amoral as those who follow them. Moses continues to boast about the nation of Israel, stating that it's better than other nations since God doesn't live amongst and speak to the other nations. He also boasts again about God's laws calling them "righteous", and stating that other nations don't have these "righteous" laws that the Israelites do. He then tells the people to remember the events of the exodus (especially everything that occurred at Mount Horeb, and to retell these tales to their children and grandchildren, lest they become forgotten. He tells the people most of all to remember the day God appeared as a cloud of flaming smoke upon the mountain (which seems more probable that this was most likely a volcano erupting), and begins to recount this event. Moses remind the people that while they heard God's voice bellowing from the fire on the mountain, they did not see him. Moses continues and recalls that God made his covenant with the people of Israel there upon that mountain and gave it to the people written on two stone tablets - the ten commandments. Since the people had not seen God's image, Moses sternly warns them never to make any graven image of anything in heaven, as well as on earth, male or female, beast or fowl, insect or fish. Moses states that worshiping the sun, moon, or stars - like he asserts that other nations do - is also forbidden, as God doesn't want his "chosen people" acting like the heathens in other nations. Moses again rubs it in that he believes it is the Israelites fault that God got angry with him for striking a rock with a stick instead of speaking to the rock, thereby God refuses to let Moses cross the Jordan River enter the "promised land". Once again this seems a bit at odds with the book of Numbers claiming Moses to be the "meekest man on earth", when Moses can't even seem to accept responsibility for his own mistakes, and preferring to blame others. Moses returns to his topic against creating graven images, stating that God is a "consuming fire" as well as a jealous god. Moses' tone then becomes a bit ambigious as to whether he is making a prophesy or a supposition about the Israelites creating graven images within the "promised land" - promising that if the people do such in the land, they will utterly perish and will be destroyed, with any survivors being scattered across the surrounding "heathen" nations - where they'll be forced to worship false gods made from wood and stone, that don't see, hear, eat, or smell as apparently God (Yahweh) is able to do. However, if after God has doled out all these brutal punishments, Moses adds, if you seek God out with all your heart you will find him. Moses claims that this is because God is in fact a "merciful" god. This method of thinking is simply not rational and has always personally bothered me. If a parent severely beats a child for breaking a rule, and the beatings and punishments continue until the child has sincerely apologized, we would not consider the parent a "merciful" parent simply because they stopped beating their child after receiving an apology. Most rational people would not be calling that parent "merciful" for stopping the beating, rather they would most likely call them sadistic for beating their child in the first place. Yet when we substitute God into the analogy instead of the parent suddenly the rules change and the believer justifies behavior such as setting priests on fire for using the wrong fire to light incense, and threatening their surviving family not to grieve over their deaths or they'll be killed as well. It simply does not matter what rule was broken - even if the child pushed his sister down the stairs - the appropriate response is never non-stop continual violence until an apology is made, this simply is not justifiable as "mercy" in any way, shape, or form. Moses now challenges the Israelites to think of whether anyone in the history of the earth has ever experience or heard of a nation of people hearing the voice of God speaking out of the midst of fire as they had, and lived to tell about it. He also posits that no other nation had escaped the oppression of another nation by the manner of "temptations, signs, and wonders" in addition to God's might and his "great terrors", such as how God freed them from their slavery in Egypt. However, many religions posit that their "chosen people" have direct contact with god(s) and have many incredulous myths which they assert are true despite credible evidence. Moses now states that the whole exodus was a display of God's powers to the Israelites to prove that God is the almighty god, and that there are no other gods beside him. Moses states that God had driven out nations of people mightier than the Israelites (such as the "giants" Moses discussed at length in Deuteronomy Chapter 2 and Chapter 3) and gave their land to the Israelites, so therefore God's laws are to be obeyed. Again, this is an argument I simply cannot understand. Moses is stating here that because God rescued the Israelites from slavery, helped them destroy other nations in battle, and allowed them to take the land, that these three conditions justify unwavering and unquestioning obedience. Basically what Moses has argued is that "might makes right", meaning that God's powerful actions for Israel's benefit mandate obedience in return. If you were wrongly imprisoned in jail and a heavily armed vigilante militia came to your aid, broke you out of jail by overpowering the police, and then gave you a home to live in by forcefully removing the occupants, this does not mean by any stretch that you must be obedient and condone the actions of the militia. While the militia may have had sincere and honorable intentions, they also broke the law and displaced an innocent bystander out their home in accomplishing their task. While your freedom was deserved for being wrongfully imprisoned, this obviously is not the right or proper way to go about vindicating yourself. The chapter then sees Moses picking out three "cities of refuge" outside of the "promised land". He picks one city from the possessions of each of the tribes living outside the "promised land" - Bezer (Reuben), Ramoth (Gad), and Golan (Manasseh). It's now noted that two of the Amorite kings had been slain, and the chapter close out with Moses setting God's law before the Israelites.