Jeremy Thompson Catholic PhD in Biblical Languages, Programmer, Runner

Yesterday there was a post on the Desiring God blog about “boring” passages in the Bible (why they put boring in quotes I don’t know; I would just call them boring), especially the Pentateuch.  There is so much wrong with the particular details of this post that it is difficult to really know where to go with this.  Do you deal with the fundamentalism or the anachronism or both?  I’ll try both.  I’ll just say a brief word about the fundamentalism.  Moses wrote the Pentateuch?  Really?  I’ll provide two quotes from the post, though there are a number:

For example, when listing out the instructions for how to build the tabernacle, Moses goes into great detail about all the materials and measurements. Did he intend for the reader of Exodus to actually build a tabernacle? No! That was Bezalel and Oholiab’s job (Exodus 31:1-11).

Rather, it appears that Moses included the full set of blueprints in order to convey to us, as we literally labor to read them, a greater sense of the weight and worth of God.

I thought that even the most conservative scholars that I respect were past this.  If you still think this, I recommend you read all of  Introduction to Reading the Pentateuch by Jean-Louis Ska.    Or, you should at the very, very least read chapter 3 of the book free HERE (or as much as you can free it’s probably my favorite book on the Pentateuch).  This is the best advice that I can give since most people who still believe Moses wrote the Pentateuch may take a lot of convincing otherwise.

Okay. Now, for anachronism.  How about this quote:

Consider this: Why does the Pentateuch contain so much material that describes the old covenant and its laws? One reason is that Moses wanted to increase our anticipation and appreciation of a new covenant.

Really?  Moses wanted to do that.  The covenant wasn’t even “old” yet; It was just the covenant.  Unless “Moses” was going 007, I really, really doubt this is what was going on.  “Okay I’m going to write down these laws, so that these people will think they are for them.  But, what I’m really doing is writing them to increase the anticipation and appreciation of some people over 3000 years from now.”  Maybe that’s being a little unfair, but that is literally what the post says is one thing that “Moses” wanted to do.  Do you truly think that “Moses” had anything to do with a “new” covenant in mind before the covenant was even “old.”

Today’s lectionary reading (Deut. 34) involves Moses dying in the land of Moab before reaching the Promised Land.  There are two elements of this story that to me add to the drama and make for quite a depressing tale, even though one does find the positive statements about Moses at the end.

1. Notice where Moses dies – Moses dies in Moab.  For those unfamiliar with the Bible’s claims about the origin of the Moabites this may not really strike a cord.  However, when one realizes that the Moabites are supposedly the descendants of Lot by his oldest daughter (Gen. 19.30ff), it changes things a bit.  Amy-Jill Levine (if you are interested in Levine’s audio course on the Old Testament get a discount HERE)  says that this story in Genesis was the Ancient Israelite way of saying the Moabites were “incestuous bastards.”  Moab is not really the ideal place for an Old Testament figure to die.  It is not like being buried in the Cave of Machpelah or your bones being brought back down to the land of promise.  But, Moab is not only where Moses dies, but also where he is buried (verse 6 – though the exact location is unspecified).
2. It also appears that Moses is dying before his time.  Of course, the story says that Moses is 120 years old.  That does not really sound like a person dying before his time; however, when one reads the description of his physical state, the point is clearer.  Verse 7 relates, “His eyes had noted faded (were not dim) and his strength had not fled.”  We get the image of 120 year old Moses as “bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.”  So, what happens?  God commands that he be dead, and he is dead (verse 6).  Perhaps I am taking the idiom in verse 7 too far, but the incongruence does seem real enough to inspire later traditions like that found in the Assumption of Moses.

Of course, if I had been Moses, I might have been happy to have died before the conquest narratives of Joshua (or is it Judges?).  Considering all the slaughtering of man, woman, and child, perhaps God is sparing him further bloodshed.  Yet I doubt that is the point of Deuteronomy.  Rather, severe is the penalty penalty for disobeying the Lord.  You will meet your end before your time in the land of incest.

God sometimes gets a bad rap for his actions in the Old Testament. If you want to see this in practice, just go on over to Yahoo! Answers and search “Old Testament.” You can bet that many of the results will be questions like “Why is God so great and wonderful in the New Testament and so horrifically evil in the Old Testament?” For those who study the Old Testament, these types of questions can get a bit wearisome (SEE THIS POST).

First, the questions assume there is nothing difficult about God in the New Testament. I can only assume that those who ask these questions have never read the Book of Revelation or thought deeply about the concept of an eternal hell. Second, these questions miss a great deal in the Old Testament about the love of God. Don’t get me wrong. There are some verses/passages in the Old Testament that absolutely do give me a bit of trouble (like 1 Sam. 15.3). And, this is not to say that the depiction of the love of God in the Old Testament is not in some ways difficult (he delivers his people from Egypt [a good thing] by killing Egyptian babies [a bad thing]?) But, to make it out like God is completely and thoroughly wicked in the Old Testament is a serious misreading. Sometimes there are different voices in the Old Testament that are saying different things. With that said, today I am providing a list of seven verses from the Old Testament that pertain to the love of God. If you have any other favorites feel free to comment below.

1. For love of your fathers he chose their descendants and personally led you out of Egypt by his great power… (Deut 4.37 – from today’s lectionary reading).
2. When Israel was a child I loved him, out of Egypt I called my son (Hos 11.1 – God depicted as father. Sound familiar?)
3. As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you; in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort (Is 66.13 – God depicted as a mother comforting her child).
4. I will heal their defection, I will love them freely; for my wrath is turned away from them (Hos 14.5 – God depicted as a healer who loves freely).
5. It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the LORD set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations (Deut 7.7 God’s reasoning for choosing Israel).
6. …the LORD appears to him from afar: With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you (Jer 31.3).
7. The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you,… (Zeph 3.17).