Deuteronomy

 

The name Deuteronomy literally means the second law. This book actually gets its title from a mistranslation of the Septuagint which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures of the OT which was translated around 2 or 3 BC. The mistranslation came form Deut 17:18 and was rendered “And he shall write for himself this repetition of the law” In later versions is was correctly translated as “ And he shall write for him a copy of this law” So you see it is not a second law but just restatement of the law with a strong emphasis for the children of Israel to keep the law and to teach it to their children.

 

Key Words

Remember, obey and covenant

 

Key Verses

 

Deuteronomy 5:29 'Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

 

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 " And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,  13 "and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?

 

Deuteronomy 29: 29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

 

Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;  20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."

 

Key phrase

Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God…

 

Key Chapters 27 – 29

 

Chapter 27 is the formal ratification of law of Moses which marks the renewal of the covenant to this younger generation of Jews who were about to enter into the promise land.

 

Deuteronomy 27:9  "Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the LORD your God.

 

We also learn that the curse of disobedience was to be setup on Mt. Ebal and the blessing of obedience was to be set up on Mt. Gerazim. In chapter 28 and 29 Moses appeals to Israel to chose the way of obedience and blessing and warns them of fearful consequences of disobedience.

 

Theme and purpose

Deuteronomy is book of remembrance. Moses who is now 120 years old is reminding this new generations the importance of obeying Gods law.

 

Deuteronomy 6:5   "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

 

This verse also describes the overall theme of this book. Jesus called this verse the first and great commandment in Mat. 22:38 and said it summarized the old covenant along with loving your neighbor as yourself. The purpose of this book was to prepare the children of Israel on how to keep the law as the entered into the promise land. There are 2 main points that were taught to this new generation.

 

1. They were taught to remember

 

Deuteronomy 8:2 "And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.  3 "So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.

 

2. They were taught to be obedient and warned against disobedience.

 

Deuteronomy 11: 26 " Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse:  27 "the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you today;  28 "and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I command you today, to go after other gods which you have not known.  29 "Now it shall be, when the LORD your God has brought you into the land which you go to possess, that you shall put the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.  30 "Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, toward the setting sun, in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the plain opposite Gilgal, beside the terebinth trees of Moreh?  31 "For you will cross over the Jordan and go in to possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and you will possess it and dwell in it.  32 "And you shall be careful to observe all the statutes and judgments which I set before you today. 

 

             once again is Moses. This book records the last words and actions of Moses. Moses was a very faithful servant to God and even talked to God face to face which means he talked to him directly. However, Moses fell short of the glory of God when he struck the rock to bring forth water instead of speaking to the rock as instructed by God. Because of his disobedience he was not allowed to enter into the promise land. We learn several things about Moses in the last chapter.

 

Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan,  2 all Naphtali and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea,  3 the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar.  4 Then the LORD said to him, "This is the land of which I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."  5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.  6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.  7 Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.

 

We learn that God himself buried Moses and no one knows where except for God. After Moses died Joshua took his place but the Bible goes on to say this.

 

Deuteronomy 34: 10 But since then there has not arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,  11 in all the signs and wonders which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land,  12 and by all that mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

 

What wonderful tribute to man who went through a great deal of hardship as a leader and mediator for the children of Israel. In this last chapter from verse 5 and on could not of been penned by Moses as it speaks of his death and what happens afterwards so another author possible Joshua wrote the last few verses of the tremendous book.

 

Deuteronomy also shows the love of God.

 

In this book God reveals his love by giving a new dimension for law and obedience.

In chapter 1 – 4 we learn of Gods love in the past, 5-26 we see God love of the present and in 27-34 we see the assurance of  his love for his people in the future as they enter the promise land. God gives us laws to go by because he loves and we in turn show that we love God by obeying his commands.

 

John 14:15  15 " If you love Me, keep My commandments.

1 John 5:3   3 For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.

 

Lets take a look at how Deuteronomy relates to the other books we have already looked at.

 

In Genesis the main thought is man’s choice and his sin

Exodus deals with God’s deliverance of his people

Leviticus key thought is holiness and Numbers is guidance and Deuteronomy is obedience.

 

Deuteronomy makes at least 259 references to the first 4 books and the rest of the OT makes about 359 references to the book of Deuteronomy. The NT makes around 96 references to this book. Another interesting thing about this book is that when Jesus was rebuke the devil with scriptures after his 40 days of fasting he quoted all 3 scriptures from this book.

 

Now lets take a look at the basic outline of this book.

 

1-4 Moses reminds the children of Israel about their journey from Egypt and exhorts them to be obedient to Gods law. It also deals with 3 cities of refuge that are to be set up.

 

5 -26 Moses reminds this new Generations of all the laws that have to do religion, civil life, social life and domestic relations. These laws are giving specifically in the way the children of Israel are to use them as they enter into the promise land. They were going to be facing new temptations that they had not been around in a long time.

 

27 – 30 The future of Israel is foretold and the law is to be written on memorial tablets of stone and set up on Mt. Ebal. It also talks about blessing and cursing and life and death.

 

31-34 These chapters deals with Moses last days on this earth and his charge to Joshua to be the next leader of these people. We have song of Moses and his farewell blessing to Israel and his death.

 

There are several great lesson that we learn from the Book of Deuteronomy that we can apply to our lives today.

 

1. The first lesson we learn is the importance of Love. There are many passages that speak of Gods love for his people. For instance

 

Deuteronomy 4:37 "And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty power,

 

God has always had a love for his people and he has always required them to love him back with all their heart and all their soul. In many places God says, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God” (11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9). This same thing is true for us today we must love God and put him first in our life and take comfort in knowing that he has always loved us.

2. The second lesson we learn is the importance of keeping Gods law and teaching it to our children.

 

Deuteronomy 6:1 "Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,  2 "that you may fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.  3 "Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your fathers has promised you -- 'a land flowing with milk and honey.'  4 " Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!  5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  6 " And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

 

This something that God desires all his people to do to keep his commandments and to teach them to your children. If you fail to teach your children about God you are doing them a great disservice and are disobeying a direct command from God. Under the NT he specifically tells us.

 

Ephesians 6:4 And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

 

3. The third lesson we learn is the rewards for obedience and the consequences for disobedience. In fact no other book contrast obedience and disobedience quit like Deuteronomy does. Chapter 28 is great example of this. The first part talks about blessing of obeying.

 

Deuteronomy 28:1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.  2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:  3 "Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.  4 "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.  5 "Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  6 "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

 

It continues on through verse 14 talking about all the blessing of being obedient to God. But the rest of the chapter talks about what will happen if they disobedience which by the way is proof of the inspiration of word of God because this chapter foretells what happens to the Jews latter on because of their disobedience. Lets take a look a just a small portion of these verses.

 

Deuteronomy 28:15 " But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:  16 "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.  17 "Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.  18 "Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.  19 "Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.

 

This continues on all the way through verse 68. We learn from verses that there are dire consequences when it comes to disobeying the commandments of God. The NT warns us over and over again that we must be obedient to God or we will face the consequences.

 

James 1:22  22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

 

2 John 1:9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God.

 

2 Thessalonians 1:7  when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,  8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,  10 when He comes, in that Day

 

It very important that we take the lesson from Deuteronomy to heart and do our best to obey God commands because we love him with all our heart soul and mind.