Study Focus: Deut. 10:1–19, Ps. 146:5–10, Matt. 7:12, James 1:27–2:11.
Part I: Overview
The story of God rewriting His law on new tables is a story of God’s grace and patient love for Israel. In ancient times, when a covenant was broken, the renewal of the covenant involved the preparation of new treaty documents. It is against the backdrop of the shameful event of Horeb that Moses urges Israel to renew its covenant and to prepare a new oath of allegiance in which God’s requirement for His people is specified. These verses bring together various themes around the principle of love, namely, love for the Lord (the first commandment), love as a response to God’s love and forgiveness, love for one’s neighbor, and more specifically love for the stranger (the second commandment), because God loved him or her.
Lesson Themes:
• The new covenant. Although the covenant is everlasting, there is always the need to renew it (circumcise the heart).
• The circumcision of the heart. The imagery, a kind of mixture of metaphors, reveals a crucial theological truth.
• To love the stranger. Loving your neighbor is one thing. But the strangers as well?
Part II: Commentary
The New Covenant
There is a paradox in the renewal of a covenant that is everlasting. Logically, an everlasting covenant does not need to be renewed. The lesson that is learned from this paradox has to do with God’s faithfulness versus His people’s unfaithfulness. Note that the “new covenant” does not imply a new law. It is the same law that is rewritten on the new tables. What God requires now is simply an internalization of the law. The law that is written on the stone tables must be written in the hearts of the people. The renewal of the covenant is the renewal of the heart. The mechanism of this process is love. Jeremiah, who uses for the first time the expression “new covenant,” defines it in the following terms: “ ‘Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people’ ” (Jer. 31:32, 33 NKJV). Interestingly, the same experience of a broken-covenant document is recorded in Jeremiah. The prophet, like Moses, also had to rewrite his book (Jer. 36:27, 28). Likewise, when the apostle Paul refers to the “new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:6), he understands it as a spiritual covenant that is written “not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3, NKJV).
Discussion and Thought Questions: How does the biblical notion of “new covenant” in the book of Deuteronomy apply to our understanding of the relation between the Old Testament and the New Testament? Why does the “new covenant” imply the same law? Why did God write the law on stones rather than in the hearts of the people?
The Circumcision of the Heart
God’s demand to Israel to circumcise their hearts is, of course, not to be taken literally. Moses’ reference to the uncircumcision of the lips (Exod. 6:12, 30) suggests that his lips are closed and that he cannot speak fluently. Jeremiah deplores that Israel has uncircumcised ears, meaning that they cannot hear the Word of the Lord (Jer. 6:10). Because circumcision is the sign of the covenant (Gen. 17:10–13), the circumcision of the heart is an image that symbolizes the inner circumcision that Paul will describe later as the conversion of the Christian (Rom. 2:28, 29). This is a procedure that only God can perform (Deut. 30:6). Moses does not suggest that the circumcision of the flesh was wrong. Before entering the country of Canaan, the men of Israel will have to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant (Josh. 5:2). The circumcision of the heart concerns those who already are circumcised of the flesh, those who are under the covenant. After the circumcision of the flesh, the renewal of covenant is not a new circumcision that would annul the preceding one—but a deepening of the same covenant and of its laws. After having received the letter of the law, they are now called to root their commitment in their heart. This entails not just refraining from doing wrong, but, more important, not desiring to do wrong. Not just refraining from doing wrong, but engaging one’s whole life in doing good. Only love will make this commitment possible. This is why God’s requirement at this stage is a covenant based on love and is, therefore, more demanding and more thorough.
Discussion and Thought Questions: What makes a covenant based on love more demanding than a covenant based on law? At the same time, what are the risks of an emphasis on love at the expense of the rigor of justice? How does the image of the circumcision of the heart relate to the image of a stiff neck?
To Love the Stranger
What is intriguing is that the first application of the commandment to love the Lord is to love the stranger. Why did God require Israel to love the stranger? Two sets of reasons may be listed here. Discuss and meditate on these in class: (1) reasons to justify this requirement and (2) reasons to prepare them for holiness.
Why Love the Stranger?
• Because God loves the stranger (Deut. 10:18). This reason is rooted in the faith in the Creator, who owns heavens and earth (Deut. 10:14). Two principles are implied in this reason. First, there is the principle that God has created the stranger in His image (imago Dei). The second principle derives from the first one: it is the principle of the imitation of God (imitatio Dei) by His servants.
• Because Israel used to be a stranger (Deut. 10:19). This reason is based on the principle “ ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Lev. 19:18, NKJV).
• To prepare to meet God. God belongs to another order (Deut. 10:17). He is the Holy One, who is essentially different from us humans. The best pedagogy in how to love God could be to learn to love the one who is different, the stranger.
• To prepare to meet with other people. As former slaves, Israel had to learn to see others, not just as cruel masters they hated, but as “neighbors” to commune with and to share with and to love. The experience of love gets richer and stronger when it is lived between two different people.
• To prepare to shape and fulfill their own destiny as strangers. As former nomads in the wilderness, the Israelites had to learn the way of holiness and the value of living with different people without compromising with their own holy identity. In the same way, Abraham, Joseph, and Daniel had to learn how to live with the tension of reconciling the duty of holiness with the duty of love.
Discussion and Thought Questions: How and why does the principle of imago Dei help us to understand the importance of loving the stranger and help us to love the stranger? Why does the experience of loving a stranger strengthen and enrich the quality of love? Why does the communion of, and the living with, people of other faiths strengthen your own faith?
To Love the Fatherless and the Widow
The covenant treaty of Deuteronomy does not define “love,” but it makes it clear that love is a divine category. It is only through God that Israel may understand and fulfill the commandment of love. On the other hand, it is significant that the only time love is described, it is in action through God’s administration of justice on behalf of the fatherless and the widow (Deut. 10:18; compare Deut. 24:17–22).
Discussion and Thought Questions: Why is the requirement to love the fatherless and the widow associated with the requirement to love the stranger? What do the stranger, the widow, and the orphan have in common?
Part III: Life Application
In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, the thief Jean Valjean finally understands the value of forgiveness and mercy when his host gives him the silver he had stolen; otherwise, he would have been thrown in prison. Please consider and discuss the following cases:
• You are the elder or the pastor of a church. One young woman of your church had a child following an extramarital affair. Several years later the couple comes to you and asks you to perform their marriage ceremony (they are both Adventists). How are you going to handle this case?
• What are the motivations that guide your political choices? Do you choose your political party on the basis of a nationalistic agenda, selfish interests, or more on the basis of social justice and care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan?
• A drunk beggar asks you for some money because he says he is hungry and has not had a real meal for many days. How are you going to respond to his request, having no guarantee that he will not use the money to buy alcohol?
• What would you say to a woman of your faith community who tells you that she does not like you but, because of God, she will force herself to love you? How do you respond?
Notes
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Key Text: Deuteronomy 10:1
Study Focus: Deut. 10:1–19, Ps. 146:5–10, Matt. 7:12, James 1:27–2:11.
Part I: Overview
The story of God rewriting His law on new tables is a story of God’s grace and patient love for Israel. In ancient times, when a covenant was broken, the renewal of the covenant involved the preparation of new treaty documents. It is against the backdrop of the shameful event of Horeb that Moses urges Israel to renew its covenant and to prepare a new oath of allegiance in which God’s requirement for His people is specified. These verses bring together various themes around the principle of love, namely, love for the Lord (the first commandment), love as a response to God’s love and forgiveness, love for one’s neighbor, and more specifically love for the stranger (the second commandment), because God loved him or her.
Lesson Themes:
• The new covenant. Although the covenant is everlasting, there is always the need to renew it (circumcise the heart).
• The circumcision of the heart. The imagery, a kind of mixture of metaphors, reveals a crucial theological truth.
• To love the stranger. Loving your neighbor is one thing. But the strangers as well?
Part II: Commentary
The New Covenant
There is a paradox in the renewal of a covenant that is everlasting. Logically, an everlasting covenant does not need to be renewed. The lesson that is learned from this paradox has to do with God’s faithfulness versus His people’s unfaithfulness. Note that the “new covenant” does not imply a new law. It is the same law that is rewritten on the new tables. What God requires now is simply an internalization of the law. The law that is written on the stone tables must be written in the hearts of the people. The renewal of the covenant is the renewal of the heart. The mechanism of this process is love. Jeremiah, who uses for the first time the expression “new covenant,” defines it in the following terms: “ ‘Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people’ ” (Jer. 31:32, 33 NKJV). Interestingly, the same experience of a broken-covenant document is recorded in Jeremiah. The prophet, like Moses, also had to rewrite his book (Jer. 36:27, 28). Likewise, when the apostle Paul refers to the “new covenant” (2 Cor. 3:6), he understands it as a spiritual covenant that is written “not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3, NKJV).
Discussion and Thought Questions: How does the biblical notion of “new covenant” in the book of Deuteronomy apply to our understanding of the relation between the Old Testament and the New Testament? Why does the “new covenant” imply the same law? Why did God write the law on stones rather than in the hearts of the people?
The Circumcision of the Heart
God’s demand to Israel to circumcise their hearts is, of course, not to be taken literally. Moses’ reference to the uncircumcision of the lips (Exod. 6:12, 30) suggests that his lips are closed and that he cannot speak fluently. Jeremiah deplores that Israel has uncircumcised ears, meaning that they cannot hear the Word of the Lord (Jer. 6:10). Because circumcision is the sign of the covenant (Gen. 17:10–13), the circumcision of the heart is an image that symbolizes the inner circumcision that Paul will describe later as the conversion of the Christian (Rom. 2:28, 29). This is a procedure that only God can perform (Deut. 30:6). Moses does not suggest that the circumcision of the flesh was wrong. Before entering the country of Canaan, the men of Israel will have to be circumcised as a sign of the covenant (Josh. 5:2). The circumcision of the heart concerns those who already are circumcised of the flesh, those who are under the covenant. After the circumcision of the flesh, the renewal of covenant is not a new circumcision that would annul the preceding one—but a deepening of the same covenant and of its laws. After having received the letter of the law, they are now called to root their commitment in their heart. This entails not just refraining from doing wrong, but, more important, not desiring to do wrong. Not just refraining from doing wrong, but engaging one’s whole life in doing good. Only love will make this commitment possible. This is why God’s requirement at this stage is a covenant based on love and is, therefore, more demanding and more thorough.
Discussion and Thought Questions: What makes a covenant based on love more demanding than a covenant based on law? At the same time, what are the risks of an emphasis on love at the expense of the rigor of justice? How does the image of the circumcision of the heart relate to the image of a stiff neck?
To Love the Stranger
What is intriguing is that the first application of the commandment to love the Lord is to love the stranger. Why did God require Israel to love the stranger? Two sets of reasons may be listed here. Discuss and meditate on these in class: (1) reasons to justify this requirement and (2) reasons to prepare them for holiness.
Why Love the Stranger?
• Because God loves the stranger (Deut. 10:18). This reason is rooted in the faith in the Creator, who owns heavens and earth (Deut. 10:14). Two principles are implied in this reason. First, there is the principle that God has created the stranger in His image (imago Dei). The second principle derives from the first one: it is the principle of the imitation of God (imitatio Dei) by His servants.
• Because Israel used to be a stranger (Deut. 10:19). This reason is based on the principle “ ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’ ” (Lev. 19:18, NKJV).
• To prepare to meet God. God belongs to another order (Deut. 10:17). He is the Holy One, who is essentially different from us humans. The best pedagogy in how to love God could be to learn to love the one who is different, the stranger.
• To prepare to meet with other people. As former slaves, Israel had to learn to see others, not just as cruel masters they hated, but as “neighbors” to commune with and to share with and to love. The experience of love gets richer and stronger when it is lived between two different people.
• To prepare to shape and fulfill their own destiny as strangers. As former nomads in the wilderness, the Israelites had to learn the way of holiness and the value of living with different people without compromising with their own holy identity. In the same way, Abraham, Joseph, and Daniel had to learn how to live with the tension of reconciling the duty of holiness with the duty of love.
Discussion and Thought Questions: How and why does the principle of imago Dei help us to understand the importance of loving the stranger and help us to love the stranger? Why does the experience of loving a stranger strengthen and enrich the quality of love? Why does the communion of, and the living with, people of other faiths strengthen your own faith?
To Love the Fatherless and the Widow
The covenant treaty of Deuteronomy does not define “love,” but it makes it clear that love is a divine category. It is only through God that Israel may understand and fulfill the commandment of love. On the other hand, it is significant that the only time love is described, it is in action through God’s administration of justice on behalf of the fatherless and the widow (Deut. 10:18; compare Deut. 24:17–22).
Discussion and Thought Questions: Why is the requirement to love the fatherless and the widow associated with the requirement to love the stranger? What do the stranger, the widow, and the orphan have in common?
Part III: Life Application
In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, the thief Jean Valjean finally understands the value of forgiveness and mercy when his host gives him the silver he had stolen; otherwise, he would have been thrown in prison. Please consider and discuss the following cases:
• You are the elder or the pastor of a church. One young woman of your church had a child following an extramarital affair. Several years later the couple comes to you and asks you to perform their marriage ceremony (they are both Adventists). How are you going to handle this case?
• What are the motivations that guide your political choices? Do you choose your political party on the basis of a nationalistic agenda, selfish interests, or more on the basis of social justice and care for the poor, the widow, and the orphan?
• A drunk beggar asks you for some money because he says he is hungry and has not had a real meal for many days. How are you going to respond to his request, having no guarantee that he will not use the money to buy alcohol?
• What would you say to a woman of your faith community who tells you that she does not like you but, because of God, she will force herself to love you? How do you respond?
Notes