What role did Moses play in ensuring the law's transmission to future generations? Setting the Scene (Deuteronomy 31:9) “ So Moses wrote down this law and delivered 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.” Moses Writes the Law • Moses personally “wrote down this law.” – Exodus 17:14 – the first command to write. – Exodus 24:3-7 – he records and reads “the Book of the Covenant.” – Deuteronomy 31:24 – he finishes writing and hands the completed scroll to the Levites. • Writing transformed oral commands into a permanent, unchanging witness. Moses Entrusts the Law to Qualified Custodians • The “priests, the sons of Levi” bore the ark and guarded the sanctuary (Numbers 4:5-15). • By giving them the scroll: – The law remained near the presence of God, placed “beside the ark” (Deuteronomy 31:26). – Priests became the daily teachers and judges (Deuteronomy 17:8-11; Malachi 2:7). Moses Involves the Elders • Elders represented every tribe (Exodus 18:21; Deuteronomy 29:10-11). • Handing the law to them embedded responsibility for local instruction and enforcement. • This two-tier stewardship—priests and elders—ensured nationwide coverage. Moses Institutes Regular Public Reading (Expanded in Deuteronomy 31:10-13.) • Every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles the entire law was to be read aloud. • Purpose: – “So that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord.” – Children who “have not known” would hear it firsthand. • Joshua 8:34-35 and Nehemiah 8:1-8 show later generations following this pattern. Moses Provides a Covenant Witness • Deuteronomy 31:27-29 – the written law stands as testimony against rebellion. • The song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32) further fixes the covenant in cultural memory. Ripple Effects Through Later Scripture • Joshua 1:8 – Joshua commanded to meditate on the book “day and night.” • 1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 22 – kings required to rule by the written Torah; discovery of the law sparks revival under Josiah. • Psalm 1; Psalm 119 – blessedness tied to delight in the written law. • Ezra 7:10 – Ezra “set his heart to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach.” Summary of Moses’ Role • He authored the law under divine inspiration. • He preserved it in writing, an enduring, objective standard. • He deposited it with priests and elders, ensuring both sacred custody and practical governance. • He mandated cyclical public readings, weaving the law into Israel’s national life. Through these actions, Moses secured the faithful transmission of God’s law to every generation that followed. |
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