Why did God command the offering of sacrifices?

(1) I have already said much about sacrifice in my writings against the Greeks and the heretics, and, especially in my work against the Persian magi, as well as in my expositions of the Old Testament prophets, and in my commentaries on the epistles of the apostle.¹ Nevertheless, I shall provide a brief treatment of this subject here as well.

I suppose not even a fool would deny that God is without need. Indeed, through the majority of the Old Testament prophets, he taught that he does not approve of these sacrifices....

Why did God order a census of the nation?^a

To demonstrate the realization of his promise. He had promised Abraham: “Indeed, I shall make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand on the seashore.”^b And he gave proof of the realization of his promise, since, though only seventy-five had gone down into Egypt,^c they were numbered at 603,650 men of combat age,^d not to mention those who were too young or too old, as well as the women and the tribe of Levi, which was not numbered with the others.¹^e Setting forth his power, the...

Why is the lawgiver’s fifth book called “Deuteronomy”?

(1)When the Lord God had led the people out of Egypt, he gave them on Mt. Sinai the Law by which they were to live.^a Then, in the second year, he ordered them to take possession of the land he had promised to give their ancestors.^b But when they opposed him and were unwilling to do this,^c he swore he would not give that land to any of those included in the census of the lawgiver but would destroy them all in the wilderness.^d So, when forty years had passed, and all...

“After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, assistant to Moses, ‘Moses my servant is dead; so rise up now, you and all this people, and cross the Jordan into the land I am giving them.’”^a Paul, the all wise, has taught us that the Old Testament was a type of the New: “All this” he declared, “happened to them in types and was written to instruct us, on whom the end of the ages has come.”^b And in his letter to the Galatians he said, “Scripture tells us...

Why is the book called “Judges”?

As the book of Kings contains many different narratives and yet is called “Kings,” because it treats the history of the people at the time of the kings, so the present book is called “Judges,” because it recounts what happened at the time of popular government. But, in my view, the beginning of this narrative is a summary of the achievements of Joshua, son of Nun. Indeed, it mentions Adonibezek and the war against him, his defeat, and death.^b It mentions Hebron as an allotment to Caleb and the slaying of the three giants...

Why was the story of Ruth composed?¹

(1) First, on account of the Lord Christ, who drew his bodily descent from Ruth. Hence, when he was composing the genealogy, St. Matthew passed over women such as Sarah, Rebekah, and the others, who were celebrated for their virtue, but mentioned Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and even the wife of Uriah,^a to teach us that God’s only-begotten became man for the sake of all human beings: both Jews and gentiles, sinners and saints. Ruth was a Moabite;^b Bathsheba was unlawfully joined to the king;^c Rahab was a prostitute,^d but gained salvation through faith;...