Reminding Ourselves Why

From the This-was-there-all-the-time? department, while reading Deuteronomy this morning, I was startled when I read the following:

Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying,… (Deut 1:5)

I had understood that Deuteronomy is a restating of the Law: Now these are the words Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the desert,… Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all the Lord gave him as commandments to them,… (Deut 1:1, 3); however, the fifth verse tells us that Moses began explaining what had been previously commanded. I was startled by this insertion because even though there was an entirely new generation that had grown up in the desert wandering, there would have been an ongoing application of the Law as the old generation died off and the new matured. In light of this, the entire recounting makes sense. An entire generation was going through the motions and probably had a reasonable understanding of what the commandments intended, but there needed to be a review of God’s commandments with a full explanation so that this new generation understood the covenant made with them and the expectations.

When God’s Word is not continually reinforced, negligence and apathy spread throughout. When this malaise occurred in the reign of kings Manasseh and Amon, the temple—and the nation by extension—became damaged; and during repair under Josiah (2 Kings 22), the Book of the Law was found and read resulting in a national revival. Decades later, the people of Israel returned from Babylonian exile and are explained the Law by Ezra and Levite helpers (Nehemiah 8). Finally, the priests had become so lax and lackadaisical (Malachi) that God will personally deal with the situation leaving a searing reminder found in the last chapter:

Be in remembrance of the Law of Moses My servant as I commanded him, with its statutes and judgments, at Horeb for all Israel.

The need for diligence is no less for the Church. We, being grafted into God’s chosen vine, are also responsible to continue the process from one generation to another.