Love the Lord with all our heart, mind, strength and soul
During this episode of The Berean Academy, we move on to the book of Deuteronomy. Pastor Joe Goodson of Temple, TX, leads us in the beginning and then Bobby Lopez talks about the several points from Deuteronomy.
The importance of repetition: The Book of Deuteronomy repeats much of the history and laws from earlier books. It is the second reading of the law given to Moses for the purposes of instructing the generation that is ready to enter the promised land. It shows that God emphasizes the importance of reinforcement of principles. To teach people is never to tell them something once; it is always a process that requires that you add to, enhance, and reiterate the principles.
The importance of sharing principles, even across long distances. In Deuteronomy 3, the Israelites are split because one set of tribes will live on the east side of the Jordan. The text acknowledges that circumstances in our real lives displace us from others who have received the same instruction, but there must still be unity in the art of carrying on principles. And this is an important task borne by educators.
The role of the future "promise": In Deuteronomy 3, Moses is forbidden from entering the promised land. We discussed this somewhat last week in the forum on Numbers--the fact that teachers must follow Moses' lead and accept that they will often not see the fulfillment of educational promises because students will only realize what teachers gave them when they are much older and out of contact.
But in a larger sense, Deuteronomy focuses a great deal on the promise, on managing the "great expectations" after which Charles Dickens named his famous novels. This is an important thing to consider in education as well. In Deuteronomy 7, the promise is not entirely cheerful; the Israelites are warned that to have God's promise fulfilled they will have to fight against and drive out the people living in Canaan. And in Deuteronomy 11, we are reminded that blessings can be curses if we fail to honor the obligations that come with them.
Is Deuteronomy 6 perhaps the most important chapter about education in the whole Bible? It is in this chapter that we get the "highest command" -- to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, strength, and soul -- followed by the famous instructions to teach children all day every day about the Lord's words.
Why are new stone tablets carved out in Deuteronomy 10? In perhaps the first case of republication in the Bible, we see that reiteration and reinforcement means literally republishing the principles. There is something valuable about old ideas being presented in a fresh artifact.
Deuteronomy 17 has an essential text for political science teachers: God tells us how a king should act.
Lastly, Deuteronomy 25 is vital for educators to consider because it reminds us never to pick favorites. God hates unequal weights and measures.
And as a bonus, we talked about the song of Moses and what it tells us about the goals of teaching Christians music.
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