Welcome to the Pauline Family's "Year of the Bible"! I'm reading the Bible clear through this year, and I invite you to read along with me. But first, let us pray:
I praise you, my God, with all people.
May they thank and adore you!
You have written your greatness in creation,
your Law in consciences,
your eternal promises in the Bible.
You are eternally faithful and always lovable!
As I read Sacred Scripture today, open my mind to hear your voice and understand your loving message.
Amen.
Today's chapters are Deuteronomy 26-28.
Chapter 28 invites the people to enjoy abundant blessings, but also holds out the threat of unimaginable curses, some of which may appear to be fulfilled in the later historical books of the Bible. An uncritical reading of these words may lead to the conclusion that since some of the kinds of events written about in Deuteronomy occurred in Israel's history, it must have been the result of an actual curse. This can result in a naive anti-semistism. Here is a scholarly article that considers the most horrific of the curses in Deuteronomy 28 and the history of its interpretation.
I think the real point is that we focus on the blessings that God wants us to enjoy, for which he made such a beautiful world (and us!). As the Book of Deuteronomy insists (and as we will read tomorrow), "Choose life!"
If you are looking for a solid but approachable companion to the Bible, I can wholeheartedly recommend A Catholic Introduction to the Bible: The Old Testament by Brant Pitre and John Bergsma. Although the authors are top-level Scripture scholars, they write for "real" readers. Notes include recent findings from archaeology and ancient manuscripts.
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