Week 9 Deuteronomy 1-3
For one thing the bible is a book of history. It’s also a book of other things – legal and moral codes & prophetic content with current and future events & artistic/musical/poetic material & religious regulations & like that. But quite a bit of history.
The first three chapters of Deuteronomy are a kind of abbreviated Reminder History. Moses is retelling events from the Hebrew past. I remember a couple of years ago wondering why Moses omitted so many key events. The Exodus. Mount Sinai. The 10 Commandments. The Sea of Reeds. Manna. The Golden Calf. Nadab & Abihu.
It finally occurred to me this year that Moses was only going back 40 years – not all the way back. Just back as far as the (disastrous) Twelve Spies story and what happened since then. So it’s a very selective Reminder History with Moses mentioning The Spies & the Wilderness Years & Sihon & Og (plus a couple of other things). So I learned something. But I wonder about Korah Dathan and Abiram. And Balaam. I thought they were pretty important but they’re not even mentioned.
I wonder why Moses chose what he did and didn’t choose what he didn’t. I wonder about his selection criteria. Wonder if I’ll figure it out. Wonder if it matters very much.
Note: end of February reading report: 156 chapters in Moses + 60 psalms = 216 chapters. That’s ~18% of the bible read in ~17% of the year. So…I’m staying ahead. That’s better than lagging (no knowing what’s up ahead).