Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20130113.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Deuteronomy: Moses' Great Appeal For Israel To Obey God For Blessing
Part I: Prelude: An Apologetic Of Deuteronomy Versus Liberal Theology
(Deuteronomy 1:1a)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    At our daughter's recent wedding, a pastor in attendance shared with me that a lady in his Congregational church had told him: "Since you preach from the Bible, I will have to leave the Church!"

    This statement reflects the view of many who think the Bible is the product only of errant men so that Biblical Christianity is false, a view that arises from what is known today as "Liberal Theology."

    Well, Liberal Theology largely grew out of the claim that the book of Deuteronomy, the book we are about to study, was a forgery:

    (1) Around 1876, theologian Julius Wellhausen borrowed (in part) from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution to claim that Israel's monotheism, belief in one God, evolved from pagan polytheism, belief in many gods. He held this occurred through the forging of the book of Deuteronomy by seventh century B. C. monotheistic prophets who then "hid" it in the Jerusalem temple so it could be "found" by Hilkiah in 2 Kings 22:8-13 and read to a monotheistic-leaning king Josiah. (Z. P. E. B., v. One, p. 584-585; v. Two, p. 112) These prophets allegedly made their forgery appear to be a second millennium (1410 B. C.) work by Moses (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 272) to give it authority. (Ibid., Z. P. E. B., v. Two, p. 112) Wellhausen next defined what he held to be five telltale signs in the Pentateuch of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, five pillars of evidence that works of various editors from separate documents had been blended together to form the present Pentateuch, the theory known as Liberal Theology's "Documentary Hypothesis," Ibid., v. One, p. 584-585.

    (2) This theory led to the "Traditio-Critico Hypothesis" that Old Testament stories arose from campfire tales that made the rounds.

    (3) That in turn led to the "Form-Critico Hypothesis" that these stories were embellished over time to form an errant Old Testament.

    (4) With an Old Testament considered to be full of errors, faith in the divine inspiration of the Old Testament was sabotaged for many.

    (5) These views led to theories countering belief in the divine inspiration of the New Testament, so many doubt its credibility, also.

    (6) Thus, with a Bible they no longer trust to be God's inspired Word, the Biblical Christian faith has been sabotaged for many people.

    So, in starting a study of Deuteronomy, we ask, "If denying Moses wrote it is basic to Liberal Theology and its denials of God's inspiration of the Bible, did Moses write it, and how do we know?"

    Need: "If denying that Moses wrote Deuteronomy is foundational to Liberal Theology, did Moses write the book, and how do we know?!"

  1. Liberal Theology's Documentary Hypothesis denies the claim of Deuteronomy 1:1a that Moses authored the words of Deuteronomy.
  2. However, Deuteronomy's literary structure in light of Ancient Near Eastern literature COUNTERS the Documentary Hypothesis:
    1. In the second millennium B. C., a lord would make a treaty with a vassal people to protect it if it obeyed him, B. K. C., O. T., p. 260.
    2. Such a treaty had (1) a preamble, (2) a prologue on the lord's dealings with the vassal, (3) a general stipulation where the lord urged full allegiance from the vassal, (4) special stipulations to show allegiance, (5) a call for gods as witnesses and (6) blessings and cursings, Ibid.
    3. Well, Deuteronomy "approximates" this treaty format with one huge exception: (1) Deuteronomy 1:1-4 is the preamble, (2) Deuteronomy 1:5-4:43 the prologue, (3) Deuteronomy 4:44-11:32 the general stipulation, (4) Deuteronomy 12-26 the specific stipulations and (6) Deuteronomy 27-28 the blessings and curses, Ibid. However, as Jahweh was Israel's only God, (5) no other gods are called to witness the establishment of the treaty between Jahweh and Israel! (Ibid.)
    4. Thus, (1) Deuteronomy's literary structure shows it originated in the second millennium B. C., NOT in the seventh century B. C., and (2) Israel, monotheistic in the second millennium B. C., did NOT see her MONOTHEISM EVOLVE out of PAGAN POLYTHEISM!
  3. Also, events in his life make it likely Moses authored Deuteronomy:
    1. Moses' sin of striking versus speaking to the rock in Numbers 20:7-13 led God to judge him to die before entering the Promised Land.
    2. Moses begged God to change His mind on this issue, but He refused, letting Moses see the land, but not enter it, Deut. 3:23-27; 34:1-5.
    3. Thus, Moses would be motivated to make an effective address to Israel using a powerful suzerain-vassal treaty format to URGE Israel to heed Israel's Lord, Jahweh for blessing versus disobeying Him like Moses had and thus bitterly fail as Moses himself had failed!
  4. Besides, key history factors counter the Documentary Hypothesis:
    1. The book of the Law found by Hilkiah in 2 Kings 22:8-13 was quickly recognized as an ancient code where many Hebrews into polytheism would have quickly exposed it as a late forgery if it were possible to stick to their polytheism, Ibid., Zon. Pic. Ency. Bible, v. Two, p. 112.
    2. There are no post-Mosaic elements in Deuteronomy, what would be nearly impossible if it were a seventh century B. C. forgery, Ibid.
    3. Deuteronomy's author had "oratorical and spiritual power" as seen in the book's contents, so he would not forge and hide the book to be found by others when he could preach its contents to his fame! (Ibid.)
  5. Then, the CONTEXT of 2 Kings 22 COUNTERS the Documentary Hypothesis on the DIRECTION of Israel's SPIRITUAL HISTORY:
    1. Before Josiah's time, 2 Kings 18:1-5 reports Hezekiah held to Jahweh and destroyed polytheistic articles to a great degree as did Josiah.
    2. Then, 2 Kings 21:1-18 records Manasseh's flagrant polytheism before Josiah's day that led God to decide to judge Judah, 2 Kings 21:10-16.
    3. Even after Josiah, God still wanted to judge Judah with captivity due to her ages-long pursuit of polytheism, 2 Kings 22:8-20; 23:22-27.
    4. Thus, the 2 Kings 22 context teaches Judah fell from monotheism to polytheism, NOT evolved from polytheism to monotheism!
  6. Also, Jesus held Moses wrote Deuteronomy 24 in Matthew 19:7-8.
  7. Last, the five pillars of the Documentary Hypothesis itself ALL ERR:
    1. Pillar One, the use of the names Jahweh and Elohim for God to argue for editors J and E, is countered by the find of ancient Ugaritic works that use multiple names for one god, Ibid., Z. P. E. B., v. Four, p. 677.
    2. Pillar Two, the claim of the presence of continuous narratives by each Pentateuch editor routinely fails: for example, the Genesis 6-9 Flood story attributed to P omits any reason for the Flood, Ibid., p. 677-678.
    3. Pillar Three, the presence of parallel passages to argue for multiple editors [as Genesis 1 by E and Genesis 2 by J], for these are explained in the context [as Genesis 2 only expands on Genesis 1], Ibid., p. 678.
    4. Pillar Four, that the Pentateuch is divisible into editorships via style variations fails, for writers today vary their own styles, Ibid., p. 678.
    5. Pillar Five, the alleged seventh century B. C. date for Deuteronomy (Ibid., 678-680), is answered in section "II" above in these notes.
Application: (1) May we hold the Bible to be God's inspired Word, and (2) heed its Gospel of salvation by faith in Christ to be saved, John 3:16. (3) May we also obey Scripture for blessing in line with Moses' appeal to Israel when he wrote the book of Deuteronomy!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 (1) A formidable critique Liberal Theology advocates have made of the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy is the Deuteronomy 34 chapter on Moses' death.

However, instead of countering Moses' authorship of the book, in view of Ancient Near Eastern literary practice, it rather supports it: a work by a great author often had an honorary obituary of the author added to it by one of his followers. (Gleason L. Archer, Jr., A Survey of O. T. Intro., p. 244) The Holy Spirit could have led Joshua to add this final honorary obituary to his master Moses in line with typical custom, thus certifying Moses' authorship of the book as a whole!

(2) Likely anticipating the Documentary Hypothesis claim that Deuteronomy was a seventh century forgery, Jesus cited from that book exclusively when tempted by Satan:

(a) In Matthew 4:1-4 when Satan urged Jesus to turn stones into bread, Jesus cited Deuteronomy 8:3: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Matthew 4:4)

(b) In Matthew 4:5-7 when Satan tempted Jesus to cast Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple, Jesus cited Deuteronomy 6:16: "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God." (Ibid., ftn. to Matthew 4:7)

(c) In Matthew 4:8-10 when Satan offered to give Jesus the world's kingdoms if He fell down and worshiped him, Jesus used Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20 to say: "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou worship." (Ibid., ftn. to Matthew 4:10)

The Bible then records that Satan reacted to this use of Deuteronomy by LEAVING Jesus as a DEFEATED FOE, Matthew 4:11! That would NOT be possible were Deuteronomy a forgery, for then it would not be God's inspired, authoritative Word, and Satan would not have been defeated.

The Documentary Hypothesis fails at its most basic level, its errant view of the authorship of Deuteronomy, so the theories based on it that have caused so many to distrust the Bible are false.

May we then believe the divine inspiration of the Bible, believing its Gospel of salvation by faith through Christ. Then, may we heed the Bible's God for blessing in life, the REASON Moses WROTE the book of Deuteronomy for the people of Israel!