Redemption between covenant stages

God is keenly aware that He is bringing out of Egypt an unrighteous people undeserving of his love. They are not an attractive crowd. He will give this nation the land and instruction on how to conduct themselves properly in that Land. But clearly He knows their propensity to behave badly, what will God do each time they offend Him with their unrighteousness, wipe out all of them? God plainly sees that as a dead end and lays out for them a practice known in English as Atonement. Atonement provides for His people a means to recover His friendship when they offend by breaking His law. This is clearly a new covenant coming after Isra’el had been brought out from Egypt, by HaShem/The Name (Yhwh). We could call this new covenant an elaboration of the earlier covenant with Avram, Yitzhak and Yakov, to make for Himself a people, a Great Nation. Because of the former, God brings them out. Because of their nature Yhwh provides the law and atonement.

Introduction

…say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And HaShem/the Name (Yhwh) brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22And Yhwh showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. 23And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.

24And Yhwh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yhwh our God (elOhim) for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before Yhwh our elOhim, as he has commanded us. (esv Deuteronomy 6:21-25)

Thus does Moses define what, in a nutshell, to teach the succeeding generations: “say to your son…” and locates Passover (the means of bringing them out) between what was sworn to the Fathers and the giving of instruction on how to live in The Land. This instruction, if done, will make them righteous.

Patriarchal and Mosaic stages of the covenant – locating Passover

Throughout Deuteronomy, the voice speaking is Moses. D4 begins with Moses urging Isra’el to do the Laws, Rules, Commandments and Statutes they are receiving; given to Moses by Yhwh. By the time we reach D4:1 Isra’el has been wandering around the wilderness, sometime.

From verse 9 onward the source of this law becomes clear, he tells them not to forget what their eyes have seen, again pressing them to pass all this on to their children:

10how on the day that you stood before Yhwh your elOhim at Horeb, Yhwh said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12Then Yhwh spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. 14And Yhwh commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess. (esv D4:)

Announcing His covenant of Law, he instructs them to do His Law in the Land they are going to possess. They have been some years along the way, in the desert already, having first received this covenant of Law at Mount Horeb. A substantial walk for 2.5 million people (plus sheep, goats, cats and dogs) from Egypt deep into the mountains of what is now Sinai Desert.

This Law then is given to the children of Isra’el that Yhwh has already brought out of the land of Egypt before he cuts the Deuteronomical covenant. This is not a new covenant but rather an elaboration or development of the Patriarchal Covenant. This is again a covenant around a conditional oath by Yhwh. The oath was: I will be your ^elOhim (heb: God)and you shall be my people. You will go in and occupy the Land that I gave to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The conditionality is in a) the requirement that they go in and take it from the current occupiers whom they must wipe out, b) that they serve no other el’Ohim, c) that they continue to exist, ie if they avoid producing children then they will not have a population with which to occupy the Land.

The elaboration or development of this form of the Covenant is in its legal content, namely:

1 The Law

2 The Blessings

4 The Curses

5 Atonement

3 Sacrifices that will be made for restoring themselves to Yhwh’s favour after breaking His Law (including atonement for murder).

My assertion is that this is only an elaboration, even though extensive, arises from the purpose of the Covenant, viz the core oath regarding population size and Land which is consistent from the first instruction to Avram: Leave here, go to the land I will show you and I will make you a great population.

12:1 Now the Lord said to Avram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 12:2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 12:3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. Genesis 12:1-3

Conclusion

For my purposes with reference to Passover, the main insight of this brief review of early Deuteronomy is to establish that the bringing out of Isra’el from Egypt comes between the Patriarchal developments of the Covenant (Genesis) and the Mosaic development of the covenant (the remaining torah):

The reason Yhwh brought out Isra’el resides in His oath to the Patriarchs
to make them a great nation of many people and to give them the Land
The purpose of adding to this “The Law”, concerns how He wants Isra’el is to live in the Land and how, Yhwh will be glorified thereby.
Those who dishonour Isra’el will get God’s curses

1“And now, O Isra’el, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that Yhwh, the elOhim of your fathers, is giving you…..7For what great nation is there that has an elOhim so near to it as Yhwh our elOhim is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

(esv Deuteronomy 4)

post script 1

“oath”

6“For you are a people holy to Yhwh your elOhim. Yhwh your elOhim has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7It was not because you were more in number than any other people that Yhwh set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8but it is because Yhwh loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that Yhwh has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9Know therefore that Yhwh your ^elOhim is ^elOhim, the faithful elOhim who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 11You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today. (esv Deuteronomy 7:6-11)

“not deserved”

6“Know, therefore, that Yhwh your elOhim is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stubborn people. (esv Deuteronomy 9:6)

“the Land”

Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours. Your territory shall be from the wilderness to the Lebanon and from the River Euphrates, to the western sea. (esv Deuteronomy 11:24)

post script 2

Isra’el was enslaved in Egypt and had been crying out to their elOhim for rescue and he did. Throughout Deuteronomy Yhwh their elOhim reminds them that he did so because of his oath to their Fathers and not because they were righteous, attractive, numerous or for any other reason. He loves them because of his will to do so.