HOST: Michael Whitworth

Reading history from a book robs one of an appreciation for the passage of time. The drama of a Civil War battle is usually lost on the casual reader because the result of the battle, much less the war, is already known. Likewise, it is difficult for us to recapture the passion and drama of Deuteronomy, but we can make an attempt. Moses spoke to an assembly of Israelites, the oldest of whom had been mere toddlers during the Exodus. Only Joshua and Caleb knew the crack of the slave-master’s whip and the hot Egyptian sun. The generation of Israelites who had received the law at Sinai with fear and trembling were now buried in the desert sand because of their unfaithfulness. As for Moses, he knew that his end was near and that he had one last opportunity to speak to Israel. This farewell address of sorts forms the book we now know as Deuteronomy. The book itself serves as a link between the wilderness wandering and the campaign for Canaan, and its theology casts an imposing shadow across the rest of the OT; it is often called the “linchpin” of the OT.