Deuteronomy, Listen!

Finally the Israelites have arrived at the Promised Land. They are camped on the east side of the Jordan River, waiting for God's command to conquer Canaan. The thing is this isn't the same group of people as before. With the exception of two men, Joshua and Caleb, this is a new generation of Israelites. This is a generation who was probably born during the forty years of wandering, so very few of them would have witnessed the Exodus or the events at Mt. Sinai.

Moses, now very old, is at the end of his life. He will not lead the people into the Promised Land, Joshua will do that. But Moses saw a need in the nation of Israel; a need to hear God's Law anew. So, in his final act as God's prophet, Moses gathered the congregation of Israel and reiterated the importance of following God. This is what we now call the book of Deuteronomy.

Background

The book of Deuteronomy is a set of speeches Moses gave to the people of Israel just before they entered Canaan. As such it simply records the words of Moses. The book is essentially a retelling of the Law that they already received, which is why a lot of the book is repetitive. But there are also some new laws and some extremely important lessons to be learned. 

The name Deuteronomy literally means "second law" in Greek. It was so chosen because it is, like I just said, the second giving of the Law. In Hebrew the name comes from the first words of the book. The Hebrew name is "These are the Words." This is one of those cases where the Greek name is more precise than the Hebrew name.

Themes

"Hear, O Israel; YHWH your God, YHWH is one. You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates." Deuteronomy 6:4-9

The big theme of Deuteronomy is that when God, or the one he has sent, speaks you listen. As Moses teaches the Israelites the Law he expects them to pay attention. They were not to ignore these words, because they were of the utmost importance. The verse above, known as the shema, is a central verse to the whole Bible. Jesus refers to it as the single greatest command.

Theological Point

The Word of God is important. When God speaks, be it through Scripture or whatever other way he chooses, we should listen. While the entire Bible stresses this point, few do so quite like Deuteronomy. Moses repeatedly calls upon the Israelites to listen. We too are called to listen to God.

Conclusion

Deuteronomy is, sadly, one of those books that gets ignored because people see it as redundant. They see it as a repeat of Leviticus, so what's the point? How many times does Paul repeat himself in the New Testament? All the time. He makes the same points in multiple letters over and over again. While Moses may not bring up anything super new in Deuteronomy, he does teach something important.

Deuteronomy has a different style and context than Leviticus. Both are equally valuable for study, as both highlight different nuances of God's character. The lessons learned in Deuteronomy very much apply to us today. Maybe if we stopped arguing amongst ourselves and listened for God we might actually hear him.