The Forgotten Book, the Changing Torah, and the Heart God Wants

Found in the Temple Under Josiah

The book of Deuteronomy was unknown for most of Israel's history. During the entire period of the Judges, nobody seemed to have known it. During the period of the Kings — all the way until Josiah in the 7th century BC. It was rediscovered when Hilkiah the priest found a book in the Temple and brought it to Shaphan the scribe, who brought it to King Josiah. They didn't know what to do with it. They went to Huldah the prophetess — the wife of Shallum, the keeper of the wardrobe — who lived in the second quarter of Jerusalem. She confirmed its authority and confirmed the coming wrath.

Josiah then carried out one of the most sweeping religious reforms in Israel's history. The major change was the centralization of worship in Jerusalem only, and the destruction and defiling of every other place in the land used for worship of the God of Israel. Just about every religious practice was changed according to this book that had been sitting forgotten somewhere in the Temple.

This happened because the book is genuinely different from everything that came before it. Not one commandment in Deuteronomy is exactly the same as in Exodus, Leviticus, or Numbers. Not even the Ten Commandments are exactly the same. The Jewish people noticed this discrepancy in the Sabbath commandment — one book says "keep" the Sabbath, and the other says "remember" the Sabbath. So in the prayers for Shabbat, they synchronize the two and say: "To keep and to remember" in one command. A beautiful rabbinic solution to a real textual tension.

Why the Laws Had to Change

There are good reasons for all these changes. Moses is giving a reinterpretation of the law for an entirely different situation. For 40 years the Tabernacle of God was right in the center of the camp. God actually dwelled with the people — the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night — for 38 years. They had daily guidance from God and their leaders. Moses and Aaron spoke to God regularly and had divine solutions for all their problems. Now things are about to be completely different.

They are changing from nomads wandering in the wilderness to city-dwellers. The Tabernacle will be stationary. They will have to go to it only three times per year. They will be landowners for the first time ever — farming the land, keeping livestock on private property, dealing with defense issues and neighboring nations. The type of government will change from Moses and Aaron and tribal leadership to national leadership, and eventually to a king like the nations around them.

These sociological and political changes require corresponding changes in the law. And one of the most important additions that appears in Deuteronomy but nowhere in the other books of the Torah is the circumcision of the heart. It appears twice here:

The only other occurrence is in Jeremiah 4:4. God can change His Torah — and He does. The Torah is deposited in our hands, but it is God's Torah and He can change things any time He wants.

In fact, Jeremiah changes one of the Torah's important laws just before he announces the New Covenant. In Jeremiah 31:28-30, God declares that the fathers eating sour grapes shall no longer set the children's teeth on edge — each person shall die for his own iniquity. God changes the law of inter-generational punishment. And only then does He announce:

It is not accidental that the New Covenant is preceded by a change in the law.

What Isaiah Says About All Our Beautiful Buildings

There is a reading that accompanies Parashat Devarim every year — Isaiah chapter 1 — and it is one of the most important chapters in all of the prophets. What God says in Isaiah 1 is essentially this: everything that synagogues and churches like to invest in and believe pleases God — the beautiful buildings, the appointed "holy men," the worship shows with wonderfully talented musicians and perfect sound systems — not worth a hill of beans if the intention and the heart and the faith and the charity to your fellow man are not there.

The easiest thing to do for God and for our faith is to build buildings, temples, places of worship, "holy places." The second easiest thing is to appoint a "holy man," "rabbi," "pastor," "juju man" — spiritual leaders of every possible kind — and place these men in the position of Moses or King David, endowed with the authority of the apostles. The third easy thing is to create semi-professional worship leaders who know how to put on a wonderful show. These are the things that religious institutions love to invest in.

But God doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He is not worshiped with men's hands as though He needed anything — "since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." — Acts 17:25 [NKJV].

Yeshua, Paul, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Hosea all say the same thing. Yet, what command of Yeshua is the church actually keeping in the way our Lord commanded? The Great Commission to go to the whole world and preach the good news is waved around like a flag — but how much stock and effort and money are churches giving from their budgets to do mission work these days? How much money is given to orphanages, or for the widows of the community?

I will say it more directly: God is not a prostitute that can be purchased with money, or beautiful buildings, or gifts of gold or silver. Please forgive me for my crudeness — but this is what these great prophets and apostles are actually saying. I am just interpreting it in a language that the common man can understand.

What He needs and wants from us is very simple and not expensive at all. It is our hearts, our life of faith, and our obedience to His commandments. If your prayers feel like they are not rising above the ceiling, ask yourself what you can do to change and improve your relationship with the Almighty God of Israel and with Yeshua our Messiah. Through prayer and reading the word of God you will find the answer.