The Israelites were concerned primarily with worldly gains

“Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey…” - Deuteronomy 6:3

“Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land…” - Deuteronomy 6:18

“He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land – your grain, new wine and oil – the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.” - Deuteronomy 7:13-15

These excerpts from Deuteronomy show Moses explaining to the Israelites the wonders and the benefits of their relationship with God. But interestingly, everything that Moses promises the Israelites is worldly! Indeed, the only mentions of heaven thus far are vague references to “the heavens.”

“To the Lord belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.” - Moses, Deuteronomy 10:14

There has been no mention of a heaven as an afterlife. In fact, there’s been absolutely NO emphasis on an afterlife at all! One of the charges often leveled against Christianity is that it promises rewards only in a posited afterlife. Ironically, the Old Testament has made no such promises whatsoever! Everything the Lord has promised man has been of a worldly nature.

What motivation did the Israelites have for following the Lord? Surely none of them had any reason to believe that the Lord would provide for them in an afterlife; He makes no mention about one. I am vaguely familiar with the notion of Sheol, does the Old Testament ever allude to an afterlife? Do the Israelites (or modern Jews?) have any reason to follow the Lord other than for earthly gain?

If not, then what does that suggest about the notion of the immortality of the soul? Christians are especially worried (and rightfully so) about the conditions that their eternal soul meet with after their temporal existence terminates. But what basis does Christianity have for positing a heaven when it does not receive mention within the vastness that is the Old Testament? I have heard it said that many readers are struck by a seeming difference in the Lord’s personality between the old and new testaments. But all this is deserves further consideration later.

Right now, the most pertinent question is this: Are the Israelites of the Old Testament concerned only with worldly gain? Or is there reason to believe that they are also concerned with the immortal future of their souls?

Religious zealotry and vigilante justice in the Old Testament

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the Bible makes note that the Israelites began to indulge in sexual immorality with the Moabite women. The men went to Moabite sacrifices and bowed down before their gods, such as the Baal of Peor. As should be expected, this angers the Lord (Numbers 25:3). One day an Israelite man brings a Moabite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the entire assembly of Israel as they are weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. This thoughtless and brazenly insulting action prompts a particular Israelite to jump into action:

When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear through both of them – through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. - Numbers 25:7-8

Interestingly, this action causes the plague against the Israelites to cease. The Lord then comments explicitly on Phinehas’ vigilantism.

“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honor among them, so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. Therefore tell him that I am making my covenant of peace with him.” - Numbers 25:11-12

The Lord condoned Phinehas’ action of vigilantism! It is an oft repeated phrase that one should, “judge not, lest ye be judged.” Here we have a man who judges and sentences to death! Phinehas was a part of the assembly, and as a descendant of Aaron, perhaps he had some priestly authority, but certainly there was no court or ordered judgment that was passed down!

Clearly, the Lord approves of when his people do his work. Accordingly, the Lord has granted his people the right to cast judgment:

So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor.” – Numbers 25:5

“…the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.” – Numbers 35:24

It’s amazing how often that tired old phrase, “judge not, lest ye be judged,” is thrown around! How often have you been told not to judge someone, or not to be judgmental? Clearly the Lord here grants man the right to judge. Judge not, lest ye be judged. And should your conscience be clear, fear not such judgment, and judge with a clear and clean mind.

Additionally, Phinehas’ act of violence suggests a sort of condoning towards religious zealotry. I recall when the movie “The Boondock Saints,” became popular, it was a charge that was regularly leveled against the movie that it condoned religious fanaticism and zealotry. If you truly follow the Lord, then surely his law is above any law that is man-made, yes? When the Israelite man offended the Lord, Phinehas took up his Lord’s honor in righteous wrath.

The Lord gave a commandment against murder, not against all forms of killing. There are (according to the Bible so far) righteous reasons to kill another. Numbers certainly defends the notion of killing in the name of the Lord, as well as righteous vigilante justice.

Does the Bible speak in riddles, or does it show us the form of the Lord?

“When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord.” - Numbers 12:6-8

This is a remarkably interesting passage. God states that with many prophets, he merely reveals himself only partially, or in disguises. However, with Moses, God states that he reveals himself fully. Is this merely an allegory to express the notion that Moses gives completely accurate and divine revelation? Were the Lord to have only stated that the second part, whereby I mean the 12:8, where he states that with Moses he speaks face to face, then I could more easily accept the idea of this as mere allegory. But 12:8 is drawn in sharp contrast to 12:6, which shows the Lord revealing himself to others only in visions and dreams.

This contrast is, I suspect, very important. If 12:8 were merely allegorical, then it would suggest that an abstract God, which Moses divines fully, rather than a concrete God, which actually shows himself face to face as a literal reading might suggest. However, the contrast is important. If the contrast were merely to suggest that Moses reveals accurately whereas other prophets reveal only partial or incomplete truths, then I think there would be more emphasis on suggesting that, rather than suggesting that the Lord reveals himself in “visions” and “dreams.”

I really feel like this passage almost explicitly denies the notion of the stories of the Bible as allegory. I think this passage suggests that the Lord actually reveals himself to Moses. Moses is not merely a man who gained renown for accurately divining the nature of the Logos, Moses was actually spoken to by a deity, Yahweh.

An allegorical and non-literal reading of the Bible lends credence to a view of the Bible as being an accurate divination the Logos, but when the Bible itself seems to suggest that this is a non-faithful reading of the text, then I can’t help but feel like the reading becomes a practice of eisegesis, rather than exegesis, that is, it becomes a practice of injecting one’s own meaning into the text rather than divining it’s true meaning.

I can fully appreciate an allegorical and non-literal reading of the Bible, and I can see some of the pragmatic benefits, but is this something one can be comfortable with? Either way, I believe this passage suggests a literal interpretation of the Bible, but is a literal interpretation of the Bible feasible? Very few Christians even assert that the Bible should be read literally…