Revelation - 2000 The
fifth book of Moses: Deuteronomy
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In the fortieth year, on the
first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all
that the LORD had commanded him concerning them. Before ending his life Moses discloses step by step the complete spiritual
way the people of Israel made with the Lord as it left Egypt. Moses told
the Israeli people the commands the Lord had told Moses in His last words.
Moses along with Israeli people made a long spiritual way, which had never
been done by any person – neither before him, nor after him. Moses looked
back and being spiritual father and teacher tried to show the experience
he had and to demonstrate the errors the people had made, warning about
future errors and prophesizing the future of the Israeli people. The Israeli community passed by their brothers, the descendants of Esau,
Moab and other peoples.
"Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given
into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin
to take possession of it and engage him in battle. The Lord gave Sihon and "all his sons and all his army", and all the lands of Amorites into hands of Israel people and then the Lord gave them Og king of Bashan. And Moses said to Joshua, son of Nun: "You have seen with your own eyes all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings. The LORD will do the same to all the kingdoms over there where you are going". At that time I pleaded with the LORD : "O Sovereign LORD,
you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong
hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds
and mighty works you do? Let me go over and see the good land beyond the
Jordan-that fine hill country and Lebanon." But because of you the
LORD was angry with me and would not listen to me. "That is enough,"
the LORD said. "Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. The key moments of lives and fates of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as well
as the life of Moses were defined not only by their deeds during the time
of their lives, but by the fact of their lives chosen by the Lord. They
had to meet the requirements of the future spiritual leaders and they
were anticipating them. The past, the present and the future are interconnected.
The lives of Moses and Aaron were defined not only by errors they made,
they showed combined the past and the future of mankind on wish of the
Lord. Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach
you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession
of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. Do
not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the
commands of the LORD your God that I give you. We may note the order of the Lord's commandments. The Lord gave the following order: commandments, laws and decrees. But Moses used another order: decrees, laws and commandments, as the man applied the order natural for man as he was moving towards the Lord. The difference of order chosen by man and the Lord proves that the sequence is of great importance. The three entrances between the four posts supporting the curtain at the courtyard (if looked from the Most Holy Place) are equal to commandments, laws and decrees (from left to right). As the man is moving toward the Lord the order is different. See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded
me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession
of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding
to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely
this great nation is a wise and understanding people." Then the LORD spoke to you out of the fire. You heard the sound
of words but saw no form; there was only a voice. He declared to you his
covenant, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded you to follow and then
wrote them on two stone tablets. The Lord declared the ten commandments to the people of Israel. The Lord Himself declared all the commandments to all the people standing at the foot of the mountain. Moses once again repeated that people couldn't see the form of the Lord as Moses knew the weak nature of people, who were inclined to worship any image of God. You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at
Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that
you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of
any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman… Moses said it one more time that worshipping any image was the violation of the covenant with the Lord, it undermined the relations of Israeli people to God. The LORD our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. It was not
with our fathers that the LORD made this covenant, but with us, with all
of us who are alive here today. The LORD spoke to you face to face out
of the fire on the mountain. At that time I stood between the LORD and
you to declare to you the word of the LORD, because you were afraid of
the fire and did not go up the mountain.
The LORD heard you when you spoke to me and the LORD said to
me, "I have heard what this people said to you. Everything they said
was good. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep
all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children
forever!
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength. It's the basic idea of relations to the Lord, the basic criteria for the righteous Way of Return: as the man gains closer spiritual positions to the Lord he increasingly comprehends the unity of the Lord. And vice versa, if the Image of the Lord is split into a number of images and people are inclined to attribute the Lord's qualities to all those images, it means the people are going along the wrong way away from God. It should be noted that census of Israeli people was carried only on command of the Lord, but speaking about the Lord the word unified instead the word "one" should be applied. When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering
to possess and drives out before you many nations-the Hittites, Girgashites,
Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations
larger and stronger than you… It was noted that number seven, which was equal to seven days of Creation, is a kind of period in Holy Script depicting either very good or very bad qualities. The seven peoples the Lord used to tell about Abraham degraded spiritually and they reached the lowest level of heathenism making human offerings. They were condemned for extermination and for banishment from their lands. Moses told the people the command of the Lord not to make a union with those people, not to take their women as it was required to save the Israeli people. When Israelites came to the promised land they had to clean it: to destroy the altars, to eliminate post and to cut of the sacred woods, to burn down alien gods. If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow
them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you,
as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase
your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your
land-your grain, new wine and oil-the calves of your herds and the lambs
of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. Listening means accepting and keeping means remembering: nothing should
be added or deducted. Those commandments should be followed and used as
a guidance in life. The Lord ordered to keep the commandments and mercy.
This commandment shows the values of man's relations to God. There are
no other most important relations as the love of the Lord to man and the
love of man to the Lord. But these relations can be established as people
listen, keep and follow the laws given to them by the Lord. And they do
it with sincere desire and open heart. The Lord blesses these people in
all their deeds, the Lord gives numerous descendants and will bless them.
As the children are blessed the Lord blessed the fruit of the land, as
the vegetable world is more important than the animal world. The fruit
of the land produces bread, wine and oil – all these items are brought
to the Holy Place. Then the Lord blesses the fruit of the animal world:
the calves of herds and the lambs of flocks. Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert
these forty years, to humble you and to 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 fathers 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. Your
clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty
years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the
LORD your God disciplines you. Moses called the Israelites to remember the way they passed to understand their mistakes not to allow those mistake happen in the future. The Lord taught the people forty years, the Lord taught the Israelites as they were separated from other peoples. The Lord disciplined His people making it humble and creating the unity of the people. What was the meaning of those trials sent for the whole people in forty years? The people had to remember the word of the Lord, to submit to His wish and to carry the truth about the Way of Return in thousands of years without any additions or deductions. The people had to start to go along the Way of Return and to become the keeper of the Lord's commandments. If the word of the Lord was so important for man as bread the future of the people had to be defined by the spiritual position of the people. After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not
say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession
of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of
the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out
before you. It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity
that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account
of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them
out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. Moses warned that the people of Israel had not deserved that land, he
said it to show the Israelites not to become proud of their deeds in the
future as it was not the merit of the Israeli people but it was the guilt
of other peoples living in that land. The people of Israel was "hardhearted",
it always opposed the Lord starting from the exit from Egypt and the Lord
wanted to destroy that people many times. We may note that people of Israel
was created to bring the Truth into the future, but the goal was not to
punish heathen nations which began to make human offerings. The Lord used
to tell Moses He would destroy the Israeli people and create a new people
from Moses. The Lord promised to create stronger people as the Lord was
frustrated with the Israeli people who had to carry the mission. It was
not a matter of time for the Lord. And the LORD was angry enough with Aaron to destroy him, but
at that time I prayed for Aaron too. The other time the people would not trust the Lord and refused to go and to take the land the Lord was giving to Israelites. Moses again had to preach to the Lord asking Him to forgive the people. The people was condemned to wander in desert numerous years. And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but
to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve
the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe
the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own
good? The Lord created the Israeli people for assigned service. Still the relation of the Lord to His people depends upon the commitment of the Israeli people, the obedience to follow all the commands of the Lord. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked
any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the
great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no
bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves
the alien, giving him food and clothing. Moses again repeated the necessary conditions for life and prosperity of the people: the Israelites had to follow the commands of the Lord. People had to follow all the decrees, laws and commandments – the sequence given for man moving towards the Lord. See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse –
the blessing if you obey the commands of the LORD your God that I am giving
you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the LORD your God
and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods,
which you have not known. As the people of Israel crossed the new lands from two mountains they would be followed by the blessing and the curse, so the people would remember it and select the ways of the Lord. It would allow the Israelites to avoid the curse as they turned from the way the Lord commanded them. The people of Israel would move to the west and would pass the woods of Moreh where Abraham lived, to the promised land. On their way to the new land they would find numerous places where the local nations worshipped idols. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.
Be careful not to sacrifice your burnt offerings anywhere you
please. Offer them only at the place the LORD will choose in one of your
tribes, and there observe everything I command you. Moses gave the commands of the Lord about the tithe and offerings, he
warned about the inclination for worshipping alien gods in the new land
and about the punishment if the people turned away from the Lord and started
to worship other gods. Moses paid special attention to justice and mercy
– Israeli people had always to remember it, to follow the command of the
Lord to forgive the debts and to release the Hebrews servants on the seventh
year. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their
brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything
I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet
speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. It was the only time the Lord said He would send a prophet like Moses,
i.e. the prophet would be a man and he would fulfill the same mission:
he would open the people the way to new spiritual stage. It's clear that
those words of the Lord were said about Jesus Christ. You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that
you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and
laws, and that you will obey him. The meaning of the covenant with the Lord is unveiled in these words.
The people of Israel made the covenant with the Lord, the people was obliged
to follow the teaching of the Lord represented by decrees, laws and commands.
The people had to listen to the Lord and the Lord would deliver His word
through Moses, priests or through prophets. Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach
you. Follow them so that you may live… Moses began his address to people from the most important commands (follow
them so that you may live…): the command was to follow. Moses cited the
decrees and the laws and then he mentioned the commandments. If the people of Israel followed to the full extent, keep and understand the Teaching given by the Lord, the Lord would give His mercy to the people of Israel to the full extent of His power. One more provision was added, it was of higher level: If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all
his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above
all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany
you if you obey the LORD your God… I.e. in future as the spiritual position of the people reaches the prescribed
height and people are guided by their spiritual laws, which are based
on commandments and voice of the Lord God, the necessity in decrees and
laws will be unnecessary. The voice of the Lord God is understood in two
meanings: the word of the Lord given through the prophets and the direct
comprehension by the Lord of the deeds and words of men. On the same day Moses commanded the people: When you have crossed
the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people:
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph and Benjamin. And these tribes shall
stand on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun,
Dan and Naphtali. The last words of the curses from the mount Ebal were as following: Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law
by carrying them out. If the people of Israel followed the ways of the Lord and followed the decrees, laws and commands of the Lord in the new land, the Lord would put the Israeli people above all other nations and it would get all the blessings: in any place the Israeli people would be blessed before all other peoples getting the fruit of the land, being prosperous and being strong to the enemies. So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the
sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to
all the elders of Israel. The Lord gave Moses the words of the song about the future of Israel and ordered Moses to teach that song to the people as it would be the witness against the sons of Israel when they left their God in future. After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law
from beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried
the ark of the covenant of the LORD: "Take this Book of the Law and
place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it
will remain as a witness against you. Time would pass and the Israelites would turn away from the Lord, Who gave them the land and they would follow other gods. The Lord would forget them and His anger would be aimed at them: "See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me.
"Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to
you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully
all the words of this law. They are not just idle words for you-they are
your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the
Jordan to possess." Moses blessed the Israeli people, he blessed each tribe from Reuben to Asher. That was the beginning of his blessing: He said: "The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them
from Seir; Before his death Moses pronounced the words directed not only for the
people of Israel, but for the mankind. The Lord appeared to people on
Sinai mount for the first time. The Lord gave the commandments, laws and
decrees to Israeli people. The second stage of the Return was related
to the name of Jesus Christ as the Lord showed the way to a new spiritual
stage not only to Israelites, but to heathens. Esau, brother of Jacob,
was the symbol of the heathens, he lived at Seir mount. The return of
the heathens to the Lord was proclaimed in the Book of Genesis a thousand
and a half years prior to the advent of Jesus Christ. Moses proclaimed
that Ishmael descendants, living in Paran desert, would be entered to
the assembly of the Lord. Those were the three flocks, which expected
Jacob at the well as he went to Laban.
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| The First Gospel | |||
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| Christianity | |||
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| Afterword | |||