|  | Deuteronomy” comes from the Septuagint deuteronomion (meaning “second law |
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| | The covenant of Deuteronomy is different from the Sinai covenant. Deuteronomy itself in 29:1 makes this clear: “These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant he made with them at Horeb |
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| | After many probationary violations, Israel was re-sentenced to forty years of detention and hard labor in the desert. |
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| | In Deuteronomy God retained many of the original terms of Israel’s initial probation. They had to remain under Levitical supervision, while Joshua replaced Moses as Israel’s guardian. |
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| | legal concessions are permission of such things as divorce and remarriage, foreign slave-wives, and genocidal warfare against Canaanites |
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| | priests and Levites had to follow a much stricter marital morality: they were not permitted to marry non-virgins or divorcees, nor presumably was divorce and remarriage allowed. |
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| | ritual stipulations require the sacrificial offering of firstborn from the herds and flocks at a central sanctuary |
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| | The Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) constituted the Law. |
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| | The church at Colossae was composed mostly of Christians of gentile background and had not been founded by Saint Paul himself, but by a disciple of his, Epaphras |
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| | Epaphras reported to the apostle about dangerous doctrines which had recently made their way into the church, threatening both faith and morals. False teachers were introducing a series of outdated Mosaic practices – such as observance of the law of the Sabbath, identification of certain foods as unclean, and an exaggerated emphasis on the role of angels as intermediaries |
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| | Saint Paul uses the occasion to instruct the Colossians and to restate for them the truth about the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ, as beginning and end of all creation. He is the true creator, conserver and redeemer, for He is the Son of God. |
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| | Adam had been created to the image of God (Genesis 1:27) and commissioned to rule over all the earth (Genesis 1:28). The new head of humanity finally accomplishes this mission. |
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| | Saint Paul doesn’t fall into the Arian heresy of claiming Christ was a created creature; He is before all creation; in other words, He exists from all eternity. |
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| | Paul did not say ‘He was made before all things,’ but that ‘He is before all things.’ He is not only the maker of all, but also He manages the care of what He has made and governs the creature, which exists by His wisdom and power |
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| | Yahweh alone is truly wise; His wisdom is exhibited in creation. |
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| | Christ’s own resurrection is the cause of resurrection of those who follow Him. |
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| | The fullness of God – His presence, divinity, and wisdom – is Christ, who shares this with the Church, which in turn affects all humanity. The emphasis is not on God’s immanence, but on the cosmic effect of God’s power working in Christ and in the Church. |
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| | Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross made atonement for all man’s sins (particularly the sin of Adam and the sin of the golden calf) and made it possible for man’s sins to be forgiven and forgotten. |
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| | I shall boldly follow the authority of the Scriptures to higher planes, for the presence of the Lord Jesus and His work benefitted not only what is earthly but also what is heavenly. |
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| | While providing a powerful lesson about mercy toward those in need, it also proclaims that non-Jews can observe the Law and thus enter into eternal life. |
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| | This man would have been a scribe. |
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| | It could be that the priest and the Levite were afraid to approach the man because they thought he was dead and consequently a source of ritual defilement |
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| | In 720 B.C. the northern kingdom was captured by the Mesopotamian King Sargon II and most of the inhabitants were carried off. Those who remained behind intermingled with the people Sargon imported from Babylon, Cutah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim to form a new people. From that time on these people were called Samaritans. |
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| | Don’t ask about who belongs to God’s people and thus is the object of My neighborly attention, but rather ask about the conduct incumbent upon a member of God’s chosen people. |
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| | Because he did the Law, the outcast Samaritan shows that he is a neighbor, a member of God’s people, one who inherits eternal life. |
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