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Topic:
The Book Of Deuteronomy -- A Brief Overview, Part 2 Of 2
These farewell addresses of Moses to the tribes of Israel he had so
long led in the wilderness "glow in each line with the emotions of
a great leader recounting to his contemporaries the marvellous story of
their common experience. The enthusiasm they kindle, even to-day, though
obscured by translation, reveals their matchless adaptation to the
circumstances under which they were first spoken. Confidence for the
future is evoked by remembrance of the past. The same God who had done
mighty works for the tribes since the Exodus would cover their head in
the day of battle with the nations of Palestine, soon to be invaded.
Their great lawgiver stands before us, vigorous in his hoary age, stern
in his abhorrence of evil, earnest in his zeal for God, but mellowed in
all relations to earth by his nearness to heaven. The commanding wisdom
of his enactments, the dignity of his position as the founder of the
nation and the first of prophets, enforce his utterances. But he touches
our deepest emotions by the human tenderness that breathes in all his
words. Standing on the verge of life, he speaks as a father giving his
parting counsels to those he loves; willing to depart and be with God he
has served so well, but fondly lengthening out his last farewell to the
dear ones of earth. No book can compare with Deuteronomy in its mingled
sublimity and tenderness." Geikie, Hours, etc. The whole style and
method of this book, its tone and its peculiarities of conception and
expression, show that it must have come from one hand. That the author
was none other than Moses is established by the following
considerations:
(1.) The uniform tradition both of the Jewish and the Christian Church
down to recent times.
(2.) The book professes to have been written by Moses (1:1; 29:1; 31:1,
9-11, etc.), and was obviously intended to be accepted as his work.
(3.) The incontrovertible testimony of our Lord and his apostles (Matt.
19:7, 8; Mark 10:3, 4; John 5:46, 47; Acts 3:22; 7:37; Rom. 10:19)
establishes the same conclusion.
(4.) The frequent references to it in the later books of the canon
(Josh. 8:31; 1 Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chr. 23:18; 25:4; 34:14; Ezra
3:2; 7:6; Neh. 8:1; Dan. 9:11, 13) prove its antiquity; and (5) the
archaisms found in it are in harmony with the age in which Moses lived.
(6.) Its style and allusions are also strikingly consistent with the
circumstances and position of Moses and of the people at that time. This
body of positive evidence cannot be set aside by the conjectures and
reasonings of modern critics, who contended that the book was somewhat
like a forgery, introduced among the Jews some seven or eight centuries
after the Exodus.
References Collection: ; Deut. 32:1-47 ; Deut. ; Deut. 32:48-52 ;
Deut. 1:1 ; Deut. 29:1 ; Deut. 31:1,9-11 ; Matthew 19:7,8 ; Mark 10:3,4
; John 5:46,47 ; Acts 3:22 ; Acts 7:37 ; Romans 10:19 ; Joshua 8:31 ;
1Kings 2:9 ; 2Kings 14:6 ; 2Chron. 23:18 ; 2Chron. 25:4 ; 2Chron. 34:14
; Ezra 3:2 ; Ezra 7:6 ; Neh. 8:1 ; Daniel 9:11,13 ;
From: Easton's Bible Dictionary. Fair Use. Presented for educational
purposes only.
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