-In G.K. Beale's book We Become What We Worship , he says this early about us being image bearers. "...we should ask ourselves whether we reflect anything similar in our culture today. ...It's not possible to be neutral on this issue: we either reflect the Creator or something in creation. " [1] [1] G.K. Beale, We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry, 16.

Deut 1:7-8“Virtually all the blessings of Deuteronomy have to do with the land. … Land and life depend on firm adherence to justice and righteousness . … (Deut 1:7-8, where the boundaries detailed by Moses are substantially those of Gen. 15:18-21). [1] [1] Dumbrell, Faith of Israel, 64.

Deut 6:24 Everything He Commands Is For Our Good- “… all the commands of the law in the Old Testament (were) for the good of Israel. They were not a cruel burden. They were the loving guidelines of an infinitely wise heavenly Father for the good of his people. … When the Bible tells us that God takes pleasure in obedience we should rejoice, because that means the doctor cares whether we get well. If he took no pleasure in our doing the tasks assigned to make us well, he would not be a God of love. So it is good news indeed, not only that he has given us commandments for our good, but also that he rejoices to see them done.” [1] [1] Piper, Pleasures of God, 242.

“We have to remember that man is not the measure of his Maker , and that when the language of human personal life is use of God, none of the limitations of human creaturehood are thereby being implied- limited knowledge, or power, or foresight, or are thereby being implied- limited knowledge , or power, or power, or foresight, or strength, or consistency, or anything of that kind. … (thus) God’s jealousy is not a compound of frustration, envy and spite, as human jealousy so often is, but appears instead as a (literally) praiseworthy zeal to preserve something supremely precious . [1] [1] Packer, Knowing God, 169-170.

Deut 4- The Only True God “In Deut 4, Moses himself expounds the prohibition of images in worship along exactly these lines, setting the making of images in opposition to the heeding of God’s word and commandments as if these two things were completely exclusive of each other. He reminds the people that at Sinai, though they saw tokens of God’s presence, they saw no visible representation of God himself, but only heard his word, and with God’s own word ringing in their ears to direct them and no supposed image of God before their eyes to distract them. The point is clear . God did not show them a visible symbol of himself, but spoke to them; therefore they are not now to seek visible symbols of God, but simply to obey His Word. … To make an image of God is to take one’s thoughts of him from a human source, rather than from God himself, and this is precisely what is wrong with image making .” [1] [1] Packer, Knowing God, 49.

Constitutional Center Dumbrell on Deut 5-11- "Dean McBride (1987) has suggested that the purpose of Israel's law expounded in this section was to provide a constitutional center for her life and administration." [1] “This concern for Israel’s moral government is basic to Deuteronomy as a whole reflected in the provision for levels of leadership and governance and then in instructions about the responsibilities of leaders, all of which contribute to a theology of leadership.” [2] [1] Dumbrell, Faith of Israel, 58. [2] Ibid., 59.

Deut 4:37-39 Israel Elect from all the peoples and for all the peoples- “The Old Testament teaches repeatedly that Israel became God’s people because he chose her freely from all the peoples of the world. Israel did not compete with others and win. God chose her unconditionally and made her his special possession.” … Thus the Scripture can speak of God’s electing the people of Israel by freely loving and choosing Abraham at the beginning , or by freely choosing to take the entire people from Egypt in fulfillment of the promises made to the elect Abraham. In either case the people should ‘lay it to heart,’ and stand in awe that the Lord alone is God.” [1] “In other words, don’t ever think that God is obliged to choose you because of some human distinctive like you physical descent from Abraham. If God needs descendants from Abraham to fulfill the promises of election, he can create them out of stones. He is not boxed in. He is not limited to you. Beware of presuming on his electing gr...

Finding Meaning in the Pentateuch Christianity Today A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Sailhamer- The Meaning of the Pentateuch Introduction (pp. 34-37) Poems in the Pentateuch • The poems are something like the songs in a Hollywood musical. They thematize what the author intends the reader to draw from the narratives. The epilogues return the narrative to its status quo.” (34) • “The focal point of each of these major poems is the promise of a coming messianic king. The three poems in Genesis 49:1, Numbers 24:14, and Deuteronomy 31:29 have an almost identical introduction. In each introduction the central narrative figure (Jacob, Balaam, Moses) calls an audience together ‘in the last days.’ The phrase ‘in the last days’ is found only one other place in the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy 4:40.” (36) • “The phrase ‘in the last days’ occurs fourteen times in the Hebrew Bible… It is about the days of the coming messianic king. The same three poems (Gen 48-49; Num 23-24; Deut 32-33) also have considerable cross-referencing between them.” (36) • “What is said about the king in N...