For many modern christians, Deuteronomy is seen as either too difficult to understand or too far from teh concerns of our day. It is ancient law, outdated and no longer able to address the complex issues of a modern society. Furthermore, Deuteronomy is "law" -that from wich we in the age of grace have beed delivered, and now that we are saved by grac, we are no longer under the awful law with its strict rules and condemnation.
In Hear My Son, Ralph Smith provides a better reading of deuteronomy wich opens up this book of law as a book of loving instruction from a father who seeks the blessing of his wayward so. He Dwmonstrates that the key to understanding Deuteronomy is found in the repeated references to Yahweh as Isreal's Father and the abundant allusions to the promises of the Fifth Commandment.
Smith's work encourages a fresh reading of the Pentateuch that puts away stale prejudices against a perpetually angry, slave-driving Old Testament God, and awakens the reader to the realkity of Yahweh's Primary identiry as a tender, loving and devoted Father.
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