How Things Work: A Brief History of Reality
BOOK II: The Power of Three (Science & Religion) – Consideration #94. "Entering the Promised Land"
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Tuesday August 1, 2023
“Discouraged not by difficulties without, or the anguish of ages within, the heart listens to a secret voice that whispers: Be not dismayed; in the future lies the Promised Land.”
– Helen Keller
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
According to Jewish tradition the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land on the tenth day of the month of Nissan, one month and three days after Moses last spoke to the people from Mt. Nebo. God replaces Moses with Joshua, who is tasked with leading the people into the Promised Land. However, other than Joshua and Caleb, no other men who left Egypt at the age of twenty years old or older are allowed to enter.
“And Moses called unto Joshua and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.”
Deuteronomy 31:7
“Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.”
Numbers 32:11-12
According to the Bible (Numbers 26:5) 601,730 men who left Egypt under twenty-years of age entered into the Promised Land. However, the total population including women and children has been estimated to be closer to at least two and a half million people.
CONSIDERATION
By the final chapters of this story, God has re-established his relationship with human beings, fulfilled His original promise to Abraham, created a new nation under The Law, and established that the God of Israel was the One and Only True God. The proof of God’s authority was displayed through the awesome wonders He demonstrated in the completion of the prophecy. God’s covenant with Abraham was finally complete; the long Exodus of the Israelites was over. The history of the “Jewish” people was now beginning.
“Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time.”
Deuteronomy 4:32-40
In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses tells the Israelites to tell their future children about why God gave them The Law to follow and obey. Here, Moses clarifies that the law is not meant to restrict and subjugate the people, but to bring them the gifts of life and righteousness.
The Lord commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the Lord our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today. And if we are careful to obey all this law before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness.”
Deuteronomy 6:24-25
Before his death, Moses acknowledges God’s love as the reason and necessity for His severe strictness in leading them to the freedom of the Promised Land. Then reinforces the importance of listening to God.
“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord... Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.”
Deuteronomy h 8:2-5
In the end, God Himself buries Moses. In an unmarked grave, in the desert of Moab. Just as God had prophesied.
And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over…
Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt – to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Deuteronomy 34: 5-12
This Biblical concept of “the law,” which is applicable to every person in a society equally, would transcend the Jewish Tradition and become a main component of Western society. This is why the Enlightenment philosopher, John Locke, promoted the advantages of this concept in 1689 when he wrote his Second Treatise on Civil Government, which highly influenced the founders of the United States; becoming the bedrock foundation behind the concept of a “nation of laws” that apply not only to its citizens, but to the government as well. The legal mechanism for this new form of government was called a Constitution.
…the end (purpose) of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom: for in all the states of created beings capable of laws, where there is no law, there is no freedom: for liberty is, to be free from restraint and violence from others; which cannot be, where there is no law…
John Locke
Second Treatise on Civil Government – 1689
POSTSCRIPT
In the end, the Israelites reach the Promised Land. However, despite God’s respect, Moses is not allowed to go with them because of his previous lack of faith. However, God instructs Moses to go to the top of the mountain and see the Promised Land that Moses had so steadfastly led them to. A final reward for his life’s work.
On that same day the Lord told Moses, “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Deuteronomy 32:48-52
It is this verse that is referenced by Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. in the last speech before his death, the very next day. Not only was it an analogy for the slavery of his people, but also an analogy, and perhaps even eulogy, for himself.
“Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”
I’ve Been to the Mountaintop – Reverend (Dr.) Martin Luther King Jr. (April 3, 1968)
The story of Exodus is about overcoming bondage, and more importantly overcoming the bondage of ourselves. It offers the possibility of finding comfort, understanding, and freedom through faith and the grace of God. It is a story that has brought millions comfort, understanding, and freedom midst overwhelming circumstances for over four thousand years.
In Judaism, Moses would be remembered as the greatest prophet of God. The Jewish tradition would become the expression and fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham and the Exodus of the Israelites with Moses. However, for a future Jewish sect known as Christians, there would be an even greater Jewish prophet yet to come. A prophet they believed to be the prophesied Messiah. The third, and final, key factor of the Biblical tradition.
Jesus of Nazareth would reinterpret The Law of Moses and inspire a New Testament of God’s love and promise to human beings.
Next week we connect the dots of the Old Testament…
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