Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and is Moses' final teaching given to the Israelites as they are on the verge of entering into the good land that was promised them. The theme of Deuteronomy is clear: God has freed them from bondage and chosen the Hebrews as a special people who are to honor and serve him and to never worship or serve any other god. If they honor God, they will be blessed. If they dishonor God by worshipping other gods or violating the holy laws, then they will be cursed.
In the books that follow Deuteronomy, a history is told about how the Israelites obeyed God at times but so often fell away into idolatry and violation of the holy law. And, the history beginning with Joshua and ending with Ezra and Nehemiah shows the blessings and curses that follow from obedience and disobedience. Of course, not all things work out that way in human life and history. Sometimes, a person obeys and follows the ways of God but suffers terribly. Since life doesn't always fit the pattern of history previewed in Deuteronomy, the Bible also contains wisdom literature like Ecclesiastes and Job and the Psalms as well other books and certainly portions of the prophetic books that acknowledge that there is a good bit of injustice that is just a part of life, even and sometimes especially affecting the lives of those who are devoted to God.
In the next post I will review the harsh judgments that are reported around the formation of Israel after the Exodus, and I will reflect on what we are to make of passages where God is presented as wiping out thousands in an outbreaking of wrath against the Israelites for their idolatry.
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