Why, why, why..?

Why is it, do you think, that they closed the Pentateuch (i.e. the first unit of the Bible that is comprised of the first five books) with the death of Moses? It’s kind of a let down, no? (3) In the chapters from Joshua and Judges that we read, we seem to enter a new golden age of conquest. But … things are not so simple. Yes Joshua is much like Moses. (Can you see how?) Nevertheless, a shadow hangs over the whole of what he does. How might the closing passage of Deuteronomy 34 guide our reading of all that takes place in the book of Joshua? What does the text really mean to say about the events of his generation?

The people of Israel do not have a real home, for they move from place to place with the aim of being able to someday get to the promised land… They undergo many tragic stories that could even be considered catastrophes, and it is not for anything else that the support and love of God that one day they are sent Moses. He is one of the most important prophets of all, if not the most important one. To him there has been no other prophet that really compares, and although he is an excellent leader, he is not able to take the people of Israel into the promised land.

After him came Joshua, who was very much like Moses, but very very different as well. Nevertheless, Joshua was the prophet that was able to bring all the people of Israel into the promised land and aided them on their terrible and stressful journey. Yet, the Deuteronomy 34 exclaims that even though Joshua was great, there was never a prophet like Moses that got to know God “face to face.”Moreover, there are several other biblical figures that are alluded to on the journey, and there are several hidden messages as well that must be very carefully interpreted.

For this reason, although it may seem as if the Old Testament is stopped in a sudden manner, it is very much just continued in the New Testament, for everything on it refers back to the old one.

Personally, I really like how there are so many connections between the New Testament and the old one, and am very excited to keep being able to make these connections in class.