Moses teaches the Israelites from the book of Va'ethannan. He discusses pleading with God not to enter the Promised Land, which seems out of character but may have been a way for Moses to gain the people's trust and obedience. Moses explains the importance of strictly following God's commandments and not adding or subtracting from them. While some interpretation is acceptable, major changes would undermine the integrity and authority of God's teachings. Moses reiterates the Ten Commandments, emphasizing observing the Sabbath and not coveting others' possessions. He stresses loving God with full devotion and passing these teachings down to future generations. Prosperity comes from God alone.

1. Va’ethannan
Introduction
I. Read 3:23-26.What do you make of this? I thought God had beenclear
with Moses, and that Moses had courageouslyand dutifully accepted his
fate?
(Moses certainly deeplywanted to go into the land. He had won the victory
in the Transjordan in service of God.That might have encouraged him
further to make the plea. Do we not hold onto hope for a dream we have
even when we know it is no longer achievable, or at least until we’ve done
all we can, and it’s “enough”? Or is he teaching that we all should hold to
hope until it is absolutely clear it will be to no avail, and that payer to God is
always in order until the outcome is absolutely clear?

2. It does seem a bit out of character for him to plea in this fashion. Could
there be a hidden and different reason for his telling us this? Note the
language: Moses is telling us he pleaded with God. And he reports that
God was wrathful with him on the people’s account. His loss of not getting
in surely creates a pathos that makes us care for him more, cherish his
leadership and create a debt toward him and his message to us. If Moses
can’t get in the land because of us, how much more bound we are to listen,
learn, remember, and follow. So, rather than being a sort of sad second try,
Moses’action here might really be a powerful leadership gesture.)
II. Read 4:1-2. Why would Moses’discussionof the mitzvoth begin with
this?
(This could relate narrowly to the teaching that there is just one God and
that nothing should distract from that. Perhaps it simply means that his
focusing on many, but not all, of the mitzvoth should not be misunderstood

3. to suggest that there are a different number than were revealed. Or in the
writing down or in the memoryof them that there not be an error.
But, it likely is much broader. Surely, there’s room for interpretation of the
meaning of the mitzvoth (so long as the criteria are solid and strong), and
changes in interpretation or emphasis have been made over time. Indeed,
as we’ll see later today, Moses does this himself. But this mitzvah contains
a powerful warning against easy or radical change.
I think it goes to what are the “clothes,” what is the “body,” and what is the
“soul” of the mitzvah. The prohibition against adding to or subtracting from
the Instruction goes, I think, to the commitment we have to be extremely
cautious about change that alters the body and certainly the soul of the
mitzvoth. Such change is serious and worrisome enough to merit this early
focus. First, changing suggests that God’s word can be altered, perhaps
even fundamentally. Second, on top of that, it would permit those in power
or fashion to use their strength or influence in their own interest to turn
God’s way into mores or rules that fit their interests, not God’s.
So, instead of the stability and sureness of the way that was revealed to us,
what we would get would be a masked and altered version of it, indeed
something that changes and fundamentally serves the interests of those in

4. power at the time. There’s nothing just, fair, or reliable about such a
system. This is why this is primary in importance.
Yet, what is interpretation and emphasis on the one hand and what is
addition and subtraction on the other, and whether or not and how each
generation should give meaning to these verses have been, are, and will
be a source of continuing debate and difference - to be sure.)
III.Read 4:5-9, 15, 23, 25-31.These verses provide a good summary of
Moses’basic teaching to the people in these orations. Can you identify the
key features?
(A. We are to follow God’s ways. We are bound to the covenant. We cleave
to God.This is proof to the world of this powerful wisdom and discernment.

5. God is foreverclose, responsive to our call, hears our prayers. In return, we
are to be true to God’s expectations in the land. The “land” is ours to serve
God there. We are God’s people, redeemed to be “a nation that is a
heritage.” This is the legacy of the revelation to us at Sinai.
B. Yet, we are prone to forget.Once we go astray, accustom ourselves to
wickedness, we no longer have a claim to the land. God is the Creator, not
the created. We are not to bow down to objects and idols. We stray into
wickedness when we turn from God to an ultimate concern with images
and the material. We forfeit the land when we do.
C. Moses speaks as if this is such a powerful risk that such an eventuality
is perhaps likely. He warns vividly, and will again and again in these
orations that this will lead to destruction. Eerily, he speaks also as if there
will be a remnant, and that the covenant will always be there, the promise
will always be available to the remnant that stays true or returns.

6. Some scholars see pieces of this text coming in during the Assyrian period
or even the exile, which would make these observations more a reflection
of contemporaryrelevance than merely predictive of a future time. This
would put this appeal right in the middle of the prophetic push for return. I
don’t want us to divert to that path, but it’s worth keeping in mind, certainly
for dimension.)
IV. We won’t discuss the rest of chapter 4, but I do commend it to your
attention. It is a powerful account of God’s work in the world and the
extraordinary gifts and blessings God has brought to our lives.
V. Read 5:2-4. What strikes you about these verses?

7. (Most of these people were NOT physically at the mountain; their parents
were, yes. But they (and we) were not. Yet, Moses is saying the covenant
was not made with our fathers (at least not with them alone), but with us!
Meaning?
It’s for each generation! It’s always current, and it always binds and
supports the people who are “here today.” God speaks face to face to YOU
on the mountain out of the fire! This brings the instruction and God’s
expectations directly to us.)
VI. All of that sets the table for another discussionof the Decalogue. We
won’t study it in detail again here. But I do want us to look at a few new
emphases here and think about why the differences.

8. A. Read 12. Do you see a differencefrom the earlier text on the sabbath.
(Here it is more about observing or safeguarding, as opposed to
remembering. Any significance?
(This portion is a lot about doing, experiencing, observing, and going
deeper. The details of the spiritual and joyful elements as well as the
negative (the avoiding of the ordinary on the day) - all these call for verbs
that are more descriptive than “remember.” Some have concluded there’s a
dual duty - both to remember and observe. Indeed a traditional view is that
actually both were said at Sinai.
Note, too, that Moses links the duty to the sabbath to God the Redeemer,
as opposed to God the Creator. That would create a different or additional
sense of meaning in the day, would it not?)
B. Read 16. Any differences?

9. (A phrase has been added to the idea that honoring one’s father and
mother will yield length of days in the land. Here it’s also that “it will be
good for you” upon the land. Meaning?
Length of days conveys either long life, long tenure in the land, or perhaps
even eternal life, all of which are very good.But the new phrase adds a
sense of quality, does it not, that however long it will be, it will be good in
the moments in between, in addition to its quantity.)
C. Read 17. Note the forbiddentestimony is that which is “unfounded,” as
opposed to false in the Exodus account. Meaning?

10. (More inclusive. Without foundation or grounding, perhaps misleading,
which is more than outright false. A bit of a hedge against testimony that
does not serve a just result.)
D. Also note in 18 that we may not desire or crave that which belongs to
others, as well as covet, which was prohibited in the Exodus text. Moses
seems to be going deeperhere, to prevent something of the thinking and
desiring phase that comes beforecoveting. Also, the wife of your fellow is
mentioned first here, whereas the property was mentioned first in Exodus. I
don’t think the reason for this requires explanation, right?
Moses taught that we were not to add or subtract from the Instruction, as
we learned earlier today. If that’s so, what has he just been doing?
(I would say interpreting, getting to a deeperunderstanding, finding a way
to see the teaching in ways that bestfits the needs of the people he sees
before him, the current generation. This, I think, is a great model for how
we ourselves can look at the text, and benefitfrom our own study of the
mitzvoth for our own lives in our own times, while being true to the core of
the whole text itself.)

11. VII.Read 6:4-9. A. This is the watchword of Judaism, leading into one of
the main prayers of Jewish worship. Any thoughts about why this text is so
significant?
(The Oneness and the sovereignty of God. Love of God with great depth
(with all our heart, that is, with understanding and feeling, or
wholeheartedly; with all our soul (or each and every breath), that is, with
one’s deepest, mosteternal part, one’s life force,indeed from many places
that are untapped but could and should be tapped; with all our might, that
is, with strength and wealth) for that love. The acts of listening,
acknowledgement through faith, loving with commitment, and passing on to
children and to all whom we can lead or teach. At all times, and in all
places. In our mind, our sight, and in our action. And in our habitations.)
B. Crucially, we are to love God. What does all this teach us about what it
means to love God? (Also, can love be commanded?Or, as Rosenzweig
suggests, could it be that, in the form of command, this really is the Lover
calling out in love to us, “Love Me?”)

12. (Follow God’s instructions, indeed in love. Living as God expects and in
ways that encourage God to be beloved by others.
A deep and committed yearning that comes from the deepest places. It
entails following God in a way akin to cleaving. It’s commanded, taught,
and, yet, crucially, natural. Importantly, it comes, in part, from thinking,
studying, and teaching God’s word. It calls upon our strength. It has a basis
in loyalty and trust. It’s not a part time activity done only in certain places.
Rather it should be with us at all times and in all places, as much as we
can. It is something that’s important to teach and pass on. Following God’s
ways and being true to God in love helps us face life’s challenges. And, as
we studied, loving God entails, and helps us in, loving our fellows.
VIII.Read 6:10-12.What’s the basic message here, and its importance?

13. (Our blessings comefrom God! We should never succumb to prosperityas
if it was our doing and merits our devotion or faith.)
Conclusion