Obedience to Jehovah's Laws

(Deuteronomy 10:12 - 11:32)
"And now, Israel, what does Jehovah your god demand of you, but to revere Jehovah your god, to live according to his ways, to love him, to worship Jehovah your god with all your heart and soul, and to keep the commandments and decrees that he gives you for your own benefit.  Look, to Jehovah your god belong the heights of the heavens and the earth with all that is on it.  Yet, Jehovah chose your ancestors as the object of his love, and he chose you, their descendants, in preference to all other nations, as we have seen today.  Therefore, purify your mind that you may no longer be so headstrong.  For Jehovah your god is the god of gods, the master of masters, the great and mighty and magnificent god.  He shows no partiality to any person and he accepts no bribes.  He delivers justice to the orphan and the widow.  He is compassionate to the resident alien and provides him with food and clothing.  (So you, too, must show compassion for the resident alien, for you yourself were foreigners in Egypt.)  Revere Jehovah your god and worship him.  Be faithful to him and, when you take an oath, use his name.  He is your glory and he is your god, the one who has performed the marvelous miracles you saw with your own eyes.  When your forefathers emigrated to Egypt, they were but 70 individuals; now Jehovah your god has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.

"You should therefore love Jehovah your god and always do what he requires of you, following his laws, decrees, and commandments.  Keep in mind that today I am not speaking to your children, who did not feel the effect of the discipline dispensed by Jehovah your god or witness his greatness, his might and power.  They did not see the miracles and the acts he performed in Egypt against the Pharaoh and his entire country.  They did not see what Jehovah did to the armies of Egypt, to their horses and chariots, how he made the waters of the Red Sea engulf them when they were pursuing you, and how he destroyed them forever.  Nor did your children see what Jehovah did for you when you were in the desert, before you arrived at this place.  And they didn't see what he did to Dathan and Abiram (sons of Eliab and descendants of Reuben), when the earth opened up in the middle of the Israelite camp and swallowed them, along with their households, tents, and every living thing that was theirs.  But you have seen with your own eyes all these mighty deeds that Jehovah did perform.

"Therefore take care to obey all the commands I am giving you this day so that you will have the strength to invade and conquer the land you are crossing the River Jordan to possess and that you may live long and prosper in the land Jehovah promised your ancestors he would give to them and to their descendants -- a land flowing with milk and honey.  The land you are entering to take possession of is not like the land from which you came, Egypt, where you planted seeds and irrigated them by hand like in a vegetable garden.  But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that soak up the water that falls as rain from the heavens.  It is a land nurtured by Jehovah your god, who watches over it from the beginning of the year till its end.

"And if you will faithfully obey the commands I am giving you here today, to revere Jehovah your god and to worship him with all your heart and soul, then he will send rain for the land in season, the first rain of autumn and later rain in the spring so that you may harvest your grain, new wine, and olive oil.  And he will provide ample pasturage for your livestock.  You will eat and be satisfied.  But take care that your mind be not deceived; don’t be led astray to worship other gods, for then the anger of Jehovah will be aroused; he will close the firmament so that the rain will not fall.  The land then will produce no crops, and you will quickly perish in the good land that Jehovah is giving you.

"Let them be ingrained in your hearts and minds, these words of mine.  Wear them like an armband round your wrist or a headband round your forehead.  Teach them to your children.  Discuss them when you’re sitting at home and when you are walking along the road, before you go to bed and when you get up.  Inscribe them on the door frames of your house and on your gates so that you and your children may live in the land that Jehovah vowed to give to your forefathers as long as the heavens will exist above the earth.

"If you are careful to follow the commandments I am giving to you, to love Jehovah your god, to live according to his laws, and to remain faithful to him, Jehovah will drive out all the nations before you, even though they be stronger and mightier than you; you will then be able to take over their land.  Wherever you set foot, that land will belong to you.  The boundaries of your country will extend from the southern desert north to Lebanon, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.  No one will be able to stand against you, for wherever you may go throughout the land, Jehovah your god will make the people fear and dread you; so is his promise.

"Take note that I am bringing you a blessing and a curse -- a blessing, if you will obey the commandments of Jehovah your god that I am giving you here today, a curse, if you disobey the commandments of Jehovah your god and reject him by worshiping foreign gods formerly unknown to you.  When Jehovah your god brings you into the land and helps you to occupy it, you must pronounce the blessing at Mount Gerizim and the curse at Mount Ebal.  (These two mountains are west of the River Jordan in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Jordan River Valley, near the town of Gilgal and the oak grove of Moreh.)  You are about to cross the Jordan to enter and occupy the land Jehovah your god is giving you.  When you have conquered it and are settled there, be sure to obey all the decrees and laws I am giving you today."

Notes
1. Again, Moses is speaking to the generation of the Exodus and not to their children. But Jehovah caused that generation to pass away so that no member of it (save Joshua and Caleb) would set foot on the Promised Land -- at least according to Numbers.  There seems to be a gross incompatibility between the narrative of Numbers and that of Deuteronomy, where most of this generation is still alive to hear Moses' sermon.

2. The multiplication of Israel's population during their time in bondage in Israel that is cited here is not even remotely plausible.  Even if every man has ten children, the resultant population after five generations is well under a million.  Jehovah, while bragging about how he has spurred the Israelites growth rate, concedes that the enemy nations are more populous.  He extols the strength of Israel and then portrays them as underdogs, thus having it both ways.

3. Jehovah professes compassion for the resident alien, yet he orders the extermination of every foreign country Israel is to come into contact with.  Where are these foreign residents to come from when the population of foreign countries is to be exterminated?

4. Jehovah, who claims to be the Creator, the universal God, makes the Israelites his Chosen People, from among all the peoples in the world, yet he never says why.  Indeed, he never refers to any Israelite virtues, only their faults, mostly their obstinacy and disobedience.  A list of ancient peoples who believed they were divine favorites would be a long one.

5. The Promised Land is praised as being more fertile than Egypt, which must rely upon irrigation from the Nile.  Palestine is in fact quite arid and today only 17% of land in modern Israel is arable (although this would included the Negev desert.)   In ancient times it was probably more fertile and was in fact famous for its olive groves and fruit trees.  Save for rare occasions when the Nile floods did not come, Egypt, though, could boast of a tremendous agricultural output supporting a large population.  Advanced methods of basin irrigation and horticulture, which Jehovah belittles, contributed to that output.  During Roman times Egypt was not only the richest province, it was the breadbasket of the empire.  Few would have regarded Canaan as preferable from an agrarian standpoint.

6. One presumes the command to write Jehovah's commandments on doorposts and gates is figurative.  Who among the population would actually be literate?  And, at that time, literate in what language, when Hebrew had not yet been developed and there were no alphabets?

7. The boundaries given for the Promised Land are those given to Abraham.  However, they would seem to include land Jehovah had earlier conceded to Moab and Ammon.  The extension of the eastern border all the way to the Euphrates River is not consistent with the eastern boundary given in Numbers and includes land that would never be occupied by the Israelites (save perhaps during the days of King Solomon) or considered by later generations to be part of the Promised Land.

8. Jehovah's gifts always come with strings attached, his blessings, conditional.  Obedience is always coerced with threats.  The Israelites are not only blessed by Jehovah, but also cursed.  If the Israelites are disobedient, then he will stop the rain from falling.  He will do this by closing the firmament, the dome the encloses the flat earth and separates it and the sky from the ocean above that is the source of rain water.  (Jehovah hasn’t figured out evaporation and condensation and is ignorant as to the origin of rainfall.)  Therefore, if there is a drought, the ancient Israelite would naturally conclude it to be an act of Jehovah intended to punish sin.  Thus everything in the natural world becomes, at least potentially, not only an act of God, but an expression of divine pleasure or displeasure.