01/22/2020 RE-EXAMINING SALT
Deuteronomy 29: 22-23: Then your children and the generations to come and the foreigners that pass by from distant lands shall see the devastation of the land and the diseases the Lord will have sent upon it. They will see that the whole land is alkali and salt, a burned over wasteland, unsown, without crops, without a shred of vegetation---just like Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, destroyed by the Lord in his anger. [Living Bible translation]
“re”-a prefix, occurring originally words from Latin, used with the meaning “again” or “again and again or meaning “back” or “backward” to indicate or backward motion.
BIBLICAL COMMENTS
The book of Deuteronomy derives its name from “deuteros” meaning second and “nomos” meaning law. “Deuteronomy” means “second law,” because the book is Moses’ proclamation of GOD’s divine law to the people a second time. The book repeats the recitation of the civil and moral law. It is also a rededication of the people to GOD through the renewal of the covenant between GOD and the people of Israel. It is the repeating of the law and the people’s vows to GOD.
Moses knew that some things were so important they needed to be repeated again and again. Moses also knew that sometimes it is important to just stop and look back---for re-examination, reaffirmation, for reflection and to ensure the people were still following GOD’s law.