11-Deuteronomy 1-20
Mark. 7, 2009
This week we will begin the Book of Deuteronomy. The name of the book in the English language Bible comes from the Greek Septuagint. The name means “second law giving”. This was a mistranslation of Deuteronomy 17:18, which actually reads “a copy of this law”. The Hebrew name, “Words”, comes from the first verse of the book. The Book of Deuteronomy follows the pattern of a suzerainty treaty. This was an ancient treaty form that was used between a strong powerful ruler, and his servant subjects. This type of treaty would first have an historical section. Next it would have a section devoted to rules and laws. It would then follow with a section on the rewards and penalties for obeying or disobeying the treaty, finishing up with some instruction on how the people were to follow the treaty. The Book of Deuteronomy is a treaty between the all-powerful God of creation, and his chosen people, Israel. Chapters 1 through 3, and most of 4 covers a review , by Moses of Israel’s history from when they left Egypt until they were camped in the Plain of Moab. This is where we had left Israel at the end of the Book of Numbers. Moses reminded the people of the time when he needed them to select men from among themselves to act as judges, because he could not bear the burden they had caused him alone. Moses also reminded them of the incident with the spies, and how he had agreed with the people that the spies were a good idea. He also told them that the bad report from those spies they had wanted caused them to wander through the wilderness the past forty years. We learn that all those forty years of wandering in the desert by the children of Israel were spent in one area, not all over the entire area of desert lands. Chapter 2:1 tells us that most of the time was spent circling Mt. Seir in the territory of Edom. After the last of the men numbered by Moses and Aaron in the beginning of the Book of Numbers had died, the Lord had Israel stop circling Mt. Seir and head towards the Promised Land. The people were told to pass through the territory of Edom and Ammon without disturbing anything. These people were not to be harmed because they were related to the Israelites through their father Abraham, and his nephew Lot. We spoke of the trouble the King of Edom gave to Israel about passing through his land last week, and also the battles Israel had with Sihon and the Amorites, and Og of Bashan. We learn here in Deuteronomy that King Og was the last of the Rephaim, the giants. His bedstead, or actually his iron trimmed coffin, is described in the text as being measured at 13 1/2 feet by 6 feet. Moses then spoke of the allotment of the Transjordan to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. Moses tells the people of his plea to the Lord to allow him to see the Promised Land. He said that although God did let him see the land, he was told to charge Joshua with the task of going in and possessing the land promised to the people. Moses was also told to strengthen and encourage Joshua before he died. In Chapter 4, Moses told the people to listen to all the laws that he would teach them, so they would be able to go into the land and possess it. They were warned not to add or take away from God’s law that they were given. Moses reminded them of the 24,000 people who had died for their disobedience by serving other gods at Baal-Peor. Moses continued to warn and encourage the people on what the Lord required of them. Moses stressed to the people that God’s law was not to be broken. The people were told in Chapter 4:24 “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” Moses then prophesied that Israel would be removed from the land if they were disobedient to God. This prophecy did come to pass when Israel was taken into captivity to Babylon, and also in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem. Moses then set apart three cities of refuge in the Transjordan. The cities were Bezer, in the wilderness for the children of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead for Gad, and Golan in Bashan for Manasseh. Moses then recited to Israel the Ten Commandments the Lord gave to him on the tablets of stone on Mt. Sinai. Only one change was made to the commandments at this time. The people were also told that they shall not covet their neighbors’ field in the tenth commandment. This was added because the people were soon going to stop being nomads and become land holders. From Chapter 5:22-33 we are told of the awesome appearance of God on the mountain at Sinai, and how Israel feared the Lord and asked Moses to go and find out what He had to say to them. The Lord’s desire for His people is stated in verse 29 “Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!”
Included in Chapter 6 are the passages in the Bible that are known by Israel as the Shema. The first portion of the Shema consists of Verses 4-9, and it reads: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” The other passages that are included in the Shema are Deuteronomy 11:13-21, and Numbers 15:37-41. Originally the Shema contained only Deuteronomy 6:4. God’s greatest desire is for His people to love Him, and keep and remember His commandments.
In Chapter 7 Moses told the people how they were to possess the land when they go in to it. The people were told that there were seven separate nations living in the land that were stronger than they were. God wanted the people to not be afraid, that He promised to deliver their enemies into their hand, if His people would obey Him and completely destroy the inhabitants when they were given to them. The people were told that if they would keep the Lord’s commands they would be blessed. Moses then told the people, in Chapter 8, that God wanted them to remember what He had done for them in the past. Verse 3 contains the well-known response of Jesus to the first temptation by Satan in the wilderness revealed in the Book of Matthew Chapter 4. The text in Deuteronomy 8:3b reads “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.” The responses of Jesus to the other two temptations are also taken from the Book of Deuteronomy in Chapter 6:13, and 6:16. Moses also reminded the people on how their clothing had not worn out during the past forty years and that the Lord had kept them free from harm. God wanted the people to realize that all their strength, wealth, and power came only from Him. God wanted the people to know, in Chapter 9 that they have nothing to fear from the inhabitants of the Promised Land, and that even the once feared Anakim were no match for the Lord. He also wanted the children of Israel to know that He was driving the people from their land because of their wickedness, not because of the righteousness of His people. Moses continued to remind Israel of their past disobedience, and told them of the greatness of their God. Moses reminded them that God has kept His covenant with His people. In Chapter 10:20-22 Moses told Israel “You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.” Again and again Moses contrasted God’s blessings for obedience with His penalties for being disobedient. He exhorted Israel to love the Lord and keep and remember His commandments. In Chapter 12 Moses told the people to not be like the people who were living in the land. God’s people were to have only one single sanctuary to worship God, not the many high places and ceremonial pillars the people that lived in the land used to worship their gods. God also warned Israel about something that did come to pass during the time recorded in the Book of Judges. This warning was in Chapter 12:8 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes.”
The children of Israel were told, in Chapter 13, to kill any false prophets that were found among them. They were also told to destroy an entire city if any men there had seduced the inhabitants to serve other gods. This was necessary for the Israelites to do to keep God’s people pure.
Chapter 14 covers God’s dietary laws that were first given to Moses in the Book of Leviticus 11:1-30. Deuteronomy Chapter 15 is about the sabbatical year. At the end of each seven year period the children of Israel were to grant all debtors a release from their debt. This was to keep things equal between the people. The Lord had promised to bless all who kept His commandments, so that no one would lack anything. Commands concerning the festivals to God were covered in the first part of Chapter 16. The last part of the chapter goes over the commands to the men who were selected to judge the people. An important rule of God concerning judgment is covered in Chapter 17. Guilt could not be proven on the testimony of only one witness. God required the testimony of at least two or three witnesses to for the judges to render a guilty verdict. The accurate determination of a guilty verdict was critical because the penalty was death by stoning. The incentive for the witnesses to be truthful and accurate in their testimony was that if their testimony was found to be false they would receive the same death penalty as the accused. Also the accuser was to be the first to carry out the sentence on the guilty party. He would throw the first stone. Jesus used this principle to teach the people in the Temple in Jerusalem about their own guilt as sinners and that they were unqualified to judge anyone in the story told in the Gospel of John 8:1-11. The entire town was also required to participate in the stoning. It was their hands that caused the death of a fellow citizen. This is different from our justice system today. Capital punishment has been taken away from the hands of the people and is hidden from view by the justice system. I do not believe we all feel the same level of deterrent as the people of Israel had to feel when deciding to commit a capital crime. God’s justice was harsh, but completely fair. In Chapter 18 the Lord promised to raise up a prophet for the people who would speak His words to them and to lead His children. This was a prophecy that predicted the advent of Jesus Christ. The Lord had Moses tell the people, in Chapter 19 to build roads between the cities of refuge when they settled in the land. The Promised Land was originally settled by separate groups of people. God wanted His people to be united, even though they were to be allotted specific areas in which to live according to their family lineage. These were three additional cities of refuge to be added to Israel’s territory on the western side of the Jordan River. The people were also told not to steal land from their neighbors. Moses repeated God’s instructions concerning witnesses again at this time. We will finish up our study for this week in Chapter 20. This chapter covers the instructions to the people on conducting warfare. The priests were told to select the men for battle, and only let the brave fight. The women, children, and animals were to be spared as a spoil of war if the fight was in a far off city. But if the city was close by and belonged to the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perrizites, the Hivites, or the Jebusites, the Israelites were to utterly destroy them and their city. God knew that it was these people who would corrupt Israel. At the end of the chapter the people were told not to cut down any fruit trees during a battle. Their wood was not to be used in the siege of a city because they would be needed for food after the battle. This ends our study for this week. Next week we will finish up the Book of Deuteronomy and begin the Book of Joshua where the children of Israel finally go to battle with the cities of God’s Promised Land.