Today we begin Deuteronomy Chapter Three.
For the Complete Jewish Bible, click here.
For the King James version, click here.
The beginning of Deuteronomy 3 is essentially a retelling of the events that took place in Numbers 21 which was when Israel conquered Og.
Why is Moses going over all of these events again in painstaking detail?
Doesn’t Israel know their own short history of what happened since they left Egypt?
Well…at this point in time…the answer to that question is no.
Again, let me remind you that Moses is here addressing the second AND NEW generation of Hebrews.
It was the first or older generation who had been eyewitnesses to the 10 Plagues, had observed the very first Passover in Egypt, and had walked through the Red Sea when HASHEM split it.
This generation who had witnessed all of these incredible events was now long dead and gone.
In fact, God required that they be dead and gone as a prerequisite BEFORE the 2nd generation would even be allowed to enter the Promised Land.
And now…this younger baby boomer generation needed a history lesson.
A good majority of them were born AFTER the great events of the Exodus took place…
…or they they were too young to grasp the significance of all that happened.
Therefore, while the recounting of what occurred in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers is basically the same as what is being re-told here in Deuteronomy, we’re in for a treat because we’ll be getting some different details, different points of emphasis, and a different perspective (Moses’ perspective) because the situation is now different than it was with the younger generation.
Presenting events as past history also has the advantage of hindsight and can’t be presented in the same manner while in the midst of those very circumstances.
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