Nor did Israel’s possession of the land ultimately define the nation either, for they are declared to be Yahweh’s people before they conquer the land. So Israel is not ultimately defined by law, but by her free choice of Yahweh out of a motive of love. He desires, therefore, that his people imitate him by loving and choosing him. A clear understanding of the theology of covenant in Deuteronomy begins with recognizing that the covenant exists because Yahweh loves Israel and has freely chosen her ( 4:37 7:6-8). Yahweh’s gracious covenant relationship with Israel was established before he gave the law. Martin Noth has helped us realize that the key to understanding law in OT theology is that law is meaningful only within covenant. Thus understood, “covenant” is the central expression of the distinctive faith of Israel as “the people of Yahweh,” the children of God by adoption and free decision rather than by nature or necessity (pp. The concept of a covenant between Yahweh and Israel is, in terms of “cash value,” the concept that religion is based, not on natural or ontological equivalence between the divine realm and the human, but on choice: God’s choice of his people and their “choice” of him, that is, their free decision to be obedient and faithful to him. This was the chief command and goal of the Mosaic covenant ( 6:4-9).Īfter a comprehensive review of the last one hundred years of research into the significance of covenant for OT theology, Ernest W. The Israelites' obedience to the demands of the covenant was an expression of loving fellowship between God and his people ( 5:10 7:9 10:12 11:1, 13, 22 13:3 19:9 30:16, 20). The purpose of Yahweh’s covenant was to create a holy fellowship. Wesleyan scholarship affirms this vital relational truth. They are Yahweh’s people by choosing his covenant they are not his by necessity or by their own nature. Faithfulness to the covenant will enable them to rise to that ethical-religious imitation of God for which humankind was created. They can be that people if they follow the covenant that Yahweh is offering to them. Yahweh calls Israel to be his unique ethical-religious nation. The “people of God” is a major theological theme here. The literary structure, the historical narrative, and the selection of words are geared to achieve this theological impact upon Israel and all subsequent readers of the book. One of the theological burdens of Deuteronomy, then, is to present to Israel the essence of the kingdom in God’s covenant words which reflect his loving, gracious, merciful character. God encounters his people in his words/deeds. In and through Moses, the kingdom of Yahweh comes to the people of Israel the kingdom becomes a potential reality. The heart of Moses' message is “Seek first the kingdom of Yahweh and his righteousness and all these other things will be added unto you.” This points clearly to the message that the new covenant Mediator, Jesus Christ, would later deliver to the Jews of his day. Through Moses, the mediator of the covenant, Yahweh offers his kingdom to the people of Israel. Their uniqueness lies in this role as Israel’s historians and theologians. The biblical writers first and foremost reported the activity of Yahweh in human history and in divine history. Thus it is a relational document more than a legal document.Īt least four major areas of concern are fused here: (1) the theological, (2) the literary, (3) the historical, and (4) the canonical. However, the book is more than a suzerain-vassal treaty it seeks above all to establish relationships based on an appeal to love, not on the power politics of the ancient Near East. The basic structure of these covenants (called “suzerain-vassal treaties”) is reflected to some degree in the design of Deuteronomy. Many ancient covenants have been unearthed and examined in detail. The research of literary critics into the form and structure of biblical books during the past thirty years has been fruitful for the study of Deuteronomy. Structure, Meaning, And Significance of Deuteronomy
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