Lord’s Day, Vol. 12 No. 16
Opening the Book of Deuteronomy
It was the 40th year, on he 1st day of the 11th month when Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 1:3; 34:8, Josh. 5:10) at the plain of Moab (Deut. 1:1, 29:1; Josh. 1:2). The word “Deuteronomy” in Greek comes from “deuteron” which means “two or second” and “nomos” or law, “The Second Giving of the Law”.
It was addressed to a new generation of Israelites who were born and grew up in the wilderness in preparation for the possession of the Promised Land.
Moses, the writer at 120 years old (Deut. 34:7), at the ebb of life, rehearsed God’s law, first given in Mount Sinai, and explained it clearly with illustrations to the new generation who would soon inherit the land.
He reminded Israel of (1) The Past – Failures (Deut. 1-4) (2) The Present – Covenantal Faithfulness of God (Deut. 4-26) (3) The Future – Blessings and Admonitions as a Nation Under God (Deut. 27-34), in three discourses.
Moses seemed to be repeating himself again and again, the Spirit of God deemed it necessary, as biblical history reveals, God’s people were a forgetful people.
(1) The Past – Failures (Deut. 1-4)
Learning from the mistakes of the past was the focus of the beginning of Moses’ exhortation for the older generation had languished in the wilderness the past 40 years. Hard life lessons, failing to possess the land, still unsettled. Matthew Henry observed well, “An unbelieving heart was at the bottom of all this. All disobedience to God’s laws, and distrust of His power and goodness, flow from disbelief of His word, as all true obedience springs from faith.” For Israel to fulfil the will of God as a full-fledged witnessing nation to the nations of the world, with a people and a constitution (God’s laws), they needed to trust God and courageously possess the land of Canaan.
The journey from Mount Sinai to Kardeshbarnea where Israel spied on the land and instructed to possess it, was just 11 days journey (Deut. 1:2). Due to their unbelief, the entry to the Promised Land will delay 40 years..
Deuteronomy 1:25-27 (KJV) And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
The word “rebel” is the Hebrew “marah” which means “to be disobedient”. And the word “murmur” is the Hebrew word “ragan” which means “to whisper, bickbite, slander, rebel”.
The conquest of Sihon, the Amorite kingdom in Heshbon and Og, the Ammonite kingdom in Bashan east of the Jordan River was a demonstration of God’s power and goodness to fulfil His promise to Israel (Deut. 2:30-31; 3:1-11; Num. 21:21-15, 33-35). These lands were given to the tribe of Reuben, Gad and half tribe of Manasseh (Deut. 3:12-20).
Deuteronomy 2:30-31 (KJV) But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.
Israel trusted the LORD, He gave them the victory – Deuteronomy 1:30 (KJV) The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
The LORD cared for His people each step of their way – Deuteronomy 1:31 (KJV) And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
Joshua, the faithful spy will lead the new generation to inherit the Promised Land – Deuteronomy 3:28 (KJV) But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see. … Deuteronomy 31:7 (KJV) And Moses called unto Joshua, and said unto him in the sight of all Israel, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou must go with this people unto the land which the LORD hath sworn unto their fathers to give them; and thou shalt cause them to inherit it.
(2) The Present – Covenantal Faithfulness of God (Deut. 4-26)
Moses testified in Deuteronomy 4:4 (KJV) But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
“To cleave”, “dabeq” in Hebrew, means “cling to, holding on”, and speaks of faithfulness to the LORD. God’s people are exhorted to cleave unto the LORD by loving and obeying Him wholeheartedly. It is illustrated by the steadfast companionship of an intimate friend (Prov. 18:24).
Israel’s intimate relationship with the LORD individually and collectively as a nation distinguishes them from the other nations. The LORD imparts true wisdom and understanding (application of the truth – comprehension, discernment, righteous action) to His people to guide them to be His witness to the nations of the world for His glory. That these nations may come to the only living and true God – Deuteronomy 4:5-10 (KJV) Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.
Moses rehearsed the Ten Commandments and reaffirmed God’s covenant (Deut. 5) to this new generation. He highlighted that the family unit is the basic unit for instructions (Deut. 6). Parents are to equip themselves and teach their children. This is the prayer of every father of an Israelite home – Let me be a stable and mature man of God who orders my family rightly and my work honourably. Help me grow to maturity so that I may be a blessing to others (Deut. 6:17-18).
From Deuteronomy 6-26, Moses taught the laws of God to the people and applied them to their everyday lives. Moses reminded Israel that they are the special, chosen people of God whom God loves with everlasting love and would fulfil His pledge to love them, to be their faithful God, exhorting them to faithfulness by being obedient to His commandments.
Deuteronomy 7:6 (KJV) For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 7:7-10 (KJV) The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
Why did the LORD allow Israel to be so tried in
the wilderness? Deuteronomy 8:2-3 (KJV) And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.
Moses reminded them again of their rebellion in the golden calf incident (Deut. 9-10) and what the LORD requires of them.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (KJV) And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?
“To fear” and “to love” speaks of heart attitudes of “respect, honour” and “affection, adoration” towards God. “To walk” and “to serve” speak of the outworking of devotion toward God in obeying God’s will according to the imperatives of His Word that encompasses service toward God and men.
Moses rehearsed and applied God’s law in mutifacted areas in the life of the nation – The law of the place of worship and idolatry (Deut. 12), false prophets (Deut. 13), food and tithes (Deut. 14), debts and slaves (Deut. 15), feasts, judges and kings (Deut. 16-17), priest and prophet (Deut. 18), cities of refuge (Deut. 19), warfare (Deut. 20), murder, marriage and family, admission into the congregation (Deut. 21-25), tithe and vow (Deut. 26).
(3) The Future – Blessings and Admonitions as a Nation Under God (Deut. 27-34)
Moses charged Israel to set God’s laws in written record by great stone altars when they entered the Promised Land (Deut. 27:1-8) and the book of the law kept in the ark (Deut. 31:26). The blessings for obedience (Deut. 28:1-14) and the admonitions of promised curses for disobedience (Deut. 28:15-68), giving the prophetic future of the nation, by song (Deut. 32) and blessings for the tribes (Deut. 33). The promise of God’s protection undergirds their future – Deuteronomy 33:27 (KJV) The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them. Amen.
Yours lovingly,
Pastor Lek Aik Wee