MY TASKING TO STUDY ASSISTANT: Give me an outline of Deuteronomy 29 for teaching. Not too in-depth, but just a good outline to lead into Chapter 30.
***
ONE OF STUDY ASSISTANT'S RESPONSES:
Historical Reflection
"Moses recounts the nation’s journey, addressing people who were children or teenagers during the wilderness wanderings. Only Joshua and Caleb remained from the original generation that left Egypt [emphasis mine]."
***
MY RESPONSE: This is not true: "Moses recounts the nation’s journey, addressing people who were children or teenagers during the wilderness wanderings. Only Joshua and Caleb remained from the original generation that left Egypt."
At the time of God's judgment that all persons 20 years of age and older who were part of the census would not see the Promised Land, those who were 19 and younger were part of the group that once resided in Egypt.
***
STUDY ASSISTANT'S RESPONSE: You’re absolutely correct, and I apologize for my previous inaccurate statement. Let me revise that section with a more precise description: These people would have been children and teenagers when they witnessed the events in Egypt. The oldest people in the nation would have been about sixty years old after wandering through the wilderness since the failure at Kadesh-barnea. Only Joshua and Caleb remained of the old generation. 1
To clarify further, at this point, the generation that was 20 years and older at the time of the exodus had died during the 40 years of wilderness wandering, as a result of God’s judgment following the people’s lack of faith at Kadesh-barnea. The group Moses is addressing consists of those who were younger than 20 at the time of the exodus – those who were children or teenagers during the initial departure from Egypt and who had grown up during the wilderness years.
Thank you for helping me maintain accuracy in the interpretation of the biblical text. 1
J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary: The Law (Deuteronomy) (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 175–176.
