How God Led the Israelites Into the Promised Land

Deuteronomy

How does the general structure of Deuteronomy as a covenant help us to understand the message of the book? Identify the structural framework and discuss how it shapes the way we read and understand Deuteronomy.

The structure of Deuteronomy is based in large part on the thoughts and words of Moses. Jesus, Peter, and Paul attributed Deuteronomy 32:21 to Moses, although the author of the conclusion of the book is not known, according to Biblica. But the structure technically is the handing off of responsibility from Moses to Joshua, as the Israelites are about to cross the Jordan River into the "promised land." That's what this book of the Bible is all about.

The book structurally is set in the scene where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea; Moses and the Israelites are in the territory of Moab, and Moses is preparing to transfer the leadership to Joshua; he is preparing Joshua to get the Israelites safely into Canaan. He gives his last speech and makes mention of how important it is to follow the laws that he has distributed to them. Moses tells his people: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you" (Deuteronomy 31:6).

According to Biblica, between Genesis and Numbers the story of the Israelites moving toward Canaan is continuing until the reader gets to Deuteronomy, which is a "massive interruption" in the telling of this story. After Numbers, the Israeli people are on the plains " ... of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho" (Numbers 36:13). However, after a reader finished reading Deuteronomy, the Israelites are still there, and waiting to cross the Jordan River (Biblica, p. 2).

All that really happened in a physical sense in Deuteronomy is that Moses has passed his ministry (as God's spokesman) on to Joshua, but in the meantime, Deuteronomy has created " ... a long pause in the advancement of the story of redemption" (Biblica, p. 2). Moses has delivered the Israelites from being slaves in Egypt to a land where they can be free and follow the " ... rule of God" (Biblica, p. 2). This is going to be the "promised land" for the Israelites, and it is a welcoming site because they have spent years in Egypt, a "post-Babel" world.

The style of Deuteronomy has an " ... interpretive, repetitious, reminiscent and somewhat irregular style," which can be explained because it is a series of speeches that do not necessarily dovetail seamlessly as a text (Biblica, p. 2). Some of the speeches in the book are not necessarily in chronological order.

The book depicts speeches and activities that cover about two months' time in 1406 B.C.; it ends with the death of Moses and there is a 30-day mourning period for Moses before the people cross the Jordan River. Some scholars have argued that Deuteronomy is actually a " ... covenant renewal document which in its total structure exhibits the classical legal form of the suzerainty treaties of the Mosaic age" (bible.org). Hence, if this date is true, it does represent the time frame when the Israeli people are about to cross the Jordan River, from the east bank to the west bank.

The original covenant had been broken by the Exodus generation, and so part of the structure of Deuteronomy included the renewal of the covenant; but that renewal cannot happen until the people get across the Jordan River. The previous book in the Bible, Numbers, depicts the Israelites living a "nomadic life for some 38 years," as they wandered around in the wilderness.