Chapter 4 of Deuteronomy and Moses is retelling the story of the Ten Commandments which God gave to the people of Israel to follow and in particular the first and second Commandments.
Chapter 5 of Deuteronomy Moses knew he would not enter into the Promised Land and now as the time approached he repeated once again the commandments which must be kept at all times in all places through the generations beginning thus.
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before[b] me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
Continuing to read and Chapter 9 details the consequences of rebelling against God. Moses again reminds the people of Israel that it is the wickedness of the nations that they are to displace because God is fulfilling his oath to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob their direct ancestors. All of the children of Israel are descendant of Jacob (God changed Jacob's name to Israel).
These are stories I have heard and read so many times as a child and a young adult without really understanding I am thinking. At 80 plus I am reading once again the words of God as told by the writers of the Old Testament. As I looked at the news today there was an interesting article talking about "the Great Filter" and where Homo sapiens is with regard to existence in the universe. Scientists querying why we do not see other life forms like our own in the universe. Coming from a science background I am always mystified by stories like this as I always felt that the Bible clearly explained why we exist. To me it is a plausible story and the mystery that surrounds the first peoples of the world as told by word of mouth and later written down is exactly that a mystery to us that is solved as we read the words of the Bible. Belief in the Creator God has been for all time a lamp in the wilderness beckoning us back to the rules which God gave to the Israelis. The simplified story of Creation in Genesis was written to make us understand that we did have a beginning; the time frame totally unknown but is it something that can be reduced to a scientific explanation. Atheism is foreign to mankind as it blots out God and the words of our ancestors and must be avoided in my humble opinion.
Yesterday I finished the cleaning and the basement is ready to go once again. Some shopping done and then a walk on the beach and kayaking completed the day. Dinner was late but greatly enjoyed as once again cold chicken and two salads to complete the meal. Summer is an interesting time with all the freshness around us. Because we live in a northern climate we really appreciate summer when it arrives although a lot of us have air conditioning which makes a huge difference.
Solitaire puzzles to do. I did complete the Blake Newsletter yesterday and will submit it for review today.
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