Week 36 - beginning of Deuteronomy

Boxset Binge the Bible

Bern Leckie and Owen Lynch share thoughts and feelings about the first 19 chapters of the book of Deuteronomy.

This name means that it’s a repeat of the law described in the first few books of the Bible. Why is it there? The perspective isn’t quite the same as the first time this law was described, and seeing something from more than angle can make a huge difference to how we understand what it is, how it works and how it fits into people’s lives.

The Jewish law is part of a bigger social order which helps set people’s expectations of how to deal with each other and progress through life. Rules can be interpreted in different ways, so understanding how a society works turns out to be essential to know what a rule means to people - Bern has a good example from his recent holiday!

To understand Deuteronomy, it’s also useful to consider when, how and why it was written. Scholars’ views range from traditional - that it’s all from Moses exactly as presented - to more common current views that it was, at least partly, written or refined much later to help reform God’s people in a time of crisis. Can allowing for fresh interpretation like this strengthen our connection with God?

In next part of our boxset, we finish Deuteronomy and the final five chapters of Proverbs. Listen along at your own pace at severnvineyard.org/bible.