But the word is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart . . .

Deuteronomy presents a number of challenges, but I found it interesting, if only because of the lofty rhetoric employed to recapitulate (and, in some cases, reformulate) the story of the Israelites, the hardships they faced in Egypt, their escape from the cruel tyranny of the Pharoah, their struggles in the wilderness (always led by God just before them), their various battles with other tribes, their laws, and their eventual deliverance.

The book reads as a series of sermons to rouse the troops and to remind them of the good that will surely be theirs if they obey the law of the LORD, and the curses that will befall them is they do not.  As usual in the Mosaic books, the curses outnumber the blessings by about 4:1, so it was clearly the theory back then that the stick was more effective than the carrot as a motivational tool.

So, as I said, Moses rouses, reminds, reassures and harangues the Israelites in this lengthy valedictory address.  And then, toward the end, in chapter 30, my favorite passage appears:

"For this command which I charge you this day is not too wondrous for you, nor is it distant. It is not in the heavens to say, 'Who will go up for us and take it for us and let us hear it, that we may do it?' And it is not beyond the sea to say, 'Who will cross over for us beyond the sea and take it for us and let us hear it, that we may do it?'  But the word is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it."

Here Moses proclaims that the era of the mythological hero is over.  It's not up to some superhuman to go find that elusive something from the gods that will help us lead our lives and fulfill our destiny.  Rather, the word (the word!) is already with us in our mouths and in our hearts.  And it is up to each of us to live up to it and to live into it.

May it be so!