Last Words: a (final) look at Moses’, Jesus’, and Paul’s Farewell Discourses
Introduction to the Topic
As I mentioned in my article in the November newsletter, I’ve been thinking about final words as I prepare for retirement.
You may be aware that George Washington, before leaving office after his second term as president, wrote a famous “valedictory” address to his fellow citizens, helping them see the value and importance of what they’d created and his urging them to keep and preserve it.
In more recent times, President and former commanding General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave a farewell address as president where, among other things, he warned of the strength and corrupting power of “the military-industrial complex.”
Well, the Bible also has a long tradition of Final or Farewell words as well! And, as my final Bible study, I’d like to share with you some of these final words. Two, in fact! (Or maybe three!)
First, we’ll look at a portion of Deuteronomy 30, then at Jesus’ Farewell Discourse in the Gospel of John (chapters 14-17), and, if there’s time and interest, Paul’s farewell speech to the people in Ephesus in Acts 20 (written by Luke, the writer of both Luke and Acts, but in Paul’s “voice.”)
Deuteronomy as Moses’ Final Words
While the whole book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament presents itself as Moses’ last words to God’s people, allowing a “second reading” of the Law (the literal meaning of Deutero-nomy), it’s clear that Deuteronomy in fact dates from long after Moses’ death; probably during or just after the exile in Babylon.
And the gut-wrenching question that lies behind every verse in Deuteronomy (and in the hearts of every single one of God’s people at that time) is, “What do God’s people have when they’ve lost what they previously had considered the bedrock of their identity? What’s left when you’ve lost the Land, the King, the kingdom, and the Temple?
Let’s make sure we all understand this! From the time of Abraham and Sarah, God’s people had been promised a Land. As they understood it, God gave them the land of Canaan. And, as many claim to this day, God gave that to them permanently and perpetually!
Then, under David, God had further promised (or “covenanted”) a Davidic King and “house” (“house” understood both as a kingdom and a Temple). This covenant was also understood as being both permanent and perpetual.
However, in a series of foreign invasions—first by the Assyrians who captured the Northern kingdom and then two hundred years later when the Babylonians invaded and then destroyed the Temple, sending the king and court into exile—all seemed lost. And the gut-wrenching questions people had to ask themselves was, what happened?
Had their God not been powerful enough to keep God’s covenant and promises? How could God’s people remain God’s people when their chief sources of identity—land, king, kingdom, and Temple—had been lost?
The final book of Torah—the one we know as Deuteronomy—answers that by presenting the entire book as Moses’ final speech before God’s people enter the land. In it, Moses gives a recapitulation of the Law—a second telling—which, if carefully compared with earlier parts of Torah, is actually a re-editing.
And, in this re-editing, comes the answer people are straining to hear hundreds of years later at the time of the exile or soon after their return!
What do God’s people when they don’t have land, king, kingdom, and Temple? They have The Law! Torah! God’s Teaching, Instruction, and Ordinances!
So, now let’s turn to the epitome of Moses’ last words in Deuteronomy: chapter 30, verses 11-20.
Deuteronomy 30:11-20 NRSV
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?” No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess. But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
Deuteronomy 30:11-14
The NRSV separates our entire passage (vv 11-20) into two paragraphs. This paragraph (vs. 11-14) asserts the accessibility and knowability of God’s teachings/commandments/instructions/revelation which is “wisdom” itself!
Verse 11
Surely, this commandment that I am commanding you today is not too hard for you, nor is it too far away.
“This commandment” certainly refers to everything Moses has already said in this second giving of the Law (and not to some specific singular commandment). In Hebrew, the word translated as “commandment” here is mitzvoth and it connotes (as we noted above) teaching, instruction, revelation. In fact, the Jewish Publication Society’s translates mitzvoth here as Instruction (with a capital I!).
And, this instruction/commandment/teaching is not hard to grasp or understand! (This contrasts it with “esoteric” knowledge claimed by the “cognoscenti” in other religions! What Moses is sharing with them is knowable and understandable. And it, most certainly, is “obey-able”!
Verse 12
It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up to heaven for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?”
God’s instruction/commandment is not locked up in heaven. Good thing! Since scripture makes clear no human can go on a voyage to heaven!
It also suggests that receiving God’s Instruction is not something someone needs to “get” in a mystical or ecstatic state.
This (and what comes next!) is much more radical and important than may meet the eye! The Jewish Publication Society Commentary on the Torah says,
“The pithy statement that God’s Instruction is not in heaven is invoked in rabbinic literature to express fundamental concepts of Judaism. In the Talmud it is used to represent the idea that the authority for interpreting the Torah is not in God’s hands. Once God gave the Torah to Israel, He gave the authority to decide how it is to be applied entirely to legal scholars, and retained none for Himself. This is a halakhic counterpart of the idea that the intent of the original framers of the Constitution is not determinative for its interpretation. In the midrash the statement is also taken to mean that there is no further Torah in heaven waiting to be revealed in the future.”
“The Torah is not in God’s hands!” say the Rabbis! And, as we’ll see in a minute, this will be reinforced (in their minds) by some following verses!
“There is no further Torah in heaven waiting to be revealed in the future,” is another claim or teaching from the Rabbis in this verse! Probably Christian claims about Jesus coming down from heaven to reveal God in himself is what is being denied by this interpretation.
Verse 13
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will cross to the other side of the sea for us, and get it for us so that we may hear it and observe it?”
Ancient people considered “the sea” as dangerous, mysterious, and unfathomable (literally!). Most had mythic stories of gods and goddesses battling the sea.
The medieval Jewish sage Sforno taught, “Neither is it beyond the sea” means, “You will need no distant sage to explain how to return” (to God).”
Verse 14
No, the word is very near to you; it is in your mouth and in your heart for you to observe.
The Jewish Publication Society Commentary on the Torah writes:
In your mouth. It is readily accessible to you, you know it by heart. Compare Hebrew be-ꜥal peh, “by mouth,” the equivalent of English “by heart,” “from memory.”
Carlson notes: Reminds me of Rob Bell saying it was standard practice for kids to know the Torah by heart as their basic, fundamental education!
The Commentary continues. “This manner of speaking reflects a predominantly oral culture in which learning and review are accomplished primarily by oral recitation
“Compare Deut 31:19, 21, “Write down this poem and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths‚ . . . it will never be lost from the mouth of their offspring,” and
Joshua 1:8, “Let not this Book of the Teaching cease from your mouth, but recite it day and night, so that you may observe faithfully all that is written in it.”
“Since Moses taught the Instruction to the people by heart, that—and not writing the copy that he gave to the priests and elders (Deut 31:9)—constituted its publication.”
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Verse 15
See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, death and adversity.
We need to imagine the “visuals” here. The whole of Deuteronomy depicts Moses and God’s people literally standing on the brink of the entrance to the Holy Land! Moses will not be able to lead them there; as the very next chapter makes clear, it is Joshua (the same Hebrew name as Jesus) who will lead the people into the Land. So, with the Land before them, Moses’ speech reaches its pinnacle as he offers them a moral choice between “life and prosperity” on the one hand and “death and adversity” on the other.
But get this! The “you” in that charge is singular! Moses—then and now—is speaking, not to a “group,” but to each individual! Each one must make this choice individually!
The Jewish Publication Study Bible notes, “By providing a clear statement of the consequences that follow upon the responsibility of each individual to decide, this v. becomes a major source for the later Jewish doctrine of free will, as expressed in the idea that humans are free to choose between good and evil.”
Verse 16
If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I am commanding you today, by loving the LORD your God, walking in his ways, and observing his commandments, decrees, and ordinances, then you shall live and become numerous, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to possess.
Just as in the previous verse where the covenant is “set before” each individual—not to simply “accept” but to obey—so here obeying the commandments and “loving” the LORD is simply another way to say “obey”!
“Love … walk in His ways: In the technical language of Near Eastern treaties, “love” means to act loyally and to honor the commitments of the treaty.
Verse 17-18
But if your heart turns away and you do not hear, but are led astray to bow down to other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish; you shall not live long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
This is all pretty traditional (and widely repeated) language.
The JPS Torah Commentary mentions, for instance, that the sins are described in terms that echo, for example, Deuteronomy 4:19; 7:14.
It also points out that, at the time of the writing of Deuteronomy, the phrase “you shall not long endure on the soil” would be heard as implying “But shall go into exile.” This warnings is echoed in Deuteronomy 4:26; 8:19.
Verse 19-20
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the LORD swore to give to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
The medieval Jewish rabbi Nahmanides writes, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day.” For a second time; see 4:26. It is like having witnesses sign at the end of the document.
Choose life. Moses is telling them, “Heaven and earth are my witnesses that I have advised you to choose life, so that you and your offspring may live.”
This language has appeared already several times in Deuteronomy. Here it serves as the “capstone.”
Conclusion
What do you think? In Deuteronomy’s “second reading” on the Law, “Moses” has given God’s people another—new?—way to establish who and what they are. When Land, King, Kingdom, and Temple are gone they still have the covenant God made with them with Moses on Sinai (and now restated and reinterpreted in Deuteronomy).
Whereas, before, the “nation” fell because of the actions of king and country, now each individual is charged to keep the covenant.
Furthermore, God can be “known” and obeyed confidently and certainly in “this commandment.” It can be kept in the “mouth” through memorization and expressed in the “heart” through obedience.
As we move next to Jesus’ Last Words, we’ll see how Jesus further reinterprets the meaning of this covenant and of obedience
