Deuteronomy

Part One: Introduction to Deuteronomy

The Name

"Deuteronomy" comes from the Greek Septuagint, meaning "second law." The title comes from 17:18, where the king is told to write "a copy of this law." Deuteronomy is not a different law but a restatement and application of the law given at Sinai to a new generation about to enter the land. The Hebrew title is Devarim, "words," from the opening line: "These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel" (1:1). The book is mostly preaching: Moses' farewell sermons, full of warmth, warning and appeal.

Author

Moses wrote Deuteronomy. "And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests" (31:9); "Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished" (31:24). The account of Moses' death in chapter 34 was added afterward; Jewish tradition attributes it to Joshua. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy as Scripture to defeat Satan (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10), and treated its commands as from Moses (Matthew 19:7-8; Mark 10:3-5). Peter and Stephen quote 18:15 as the words of Moses (Acts 3:22; 7:37), and Paul writes, "Moses describeth" and "Moses saith" when citing it (Romans 10:5, 19).

Critical scholars have often claimed Deuteronomy was written in the 7th century BC and "found" in the temple under King Josiah (2 Kings 22:8) to support his reforms. But the book is presented as Moses' words, never mentions Jerusalem by name, and its structure closely matches international treaties of the second millennium BC (the time of Moses) better than later treaties.

Date and Setting

Moses delivered these sermons on the plains of Moab, east of the Jordan opposite Jericho, "in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month" (1:3), around 1406 BC. He was 120 years old (31:2; 34:7). The old generation had died in the wilderness (2:14-16). Within weeks, Israel would cross the Jordan under Joshua on the tenth day of the first month (Joshua 4:19). Deuteronomy covers only about a month, but it looks back over forty years and forward to Israel's whole future in the land.

The Treaty Structure

Deuteronomy follows the pattern of ancient suzerain-vassal treaties, in which a great king made a covenant with a lesser people:

The LORD is the great King; Israel is His people bound to Him by covenant. Love and loyalty are the heart of the relationship.

Purpose and Theme

Deuteronomy calls Israel to remember what God has done, to love and obey Him wholeheartedly, and to choose life by keeping His covenant in the land. Key words include "remember" and "forget," "love," "hear" (shema), "keep" and "do," "the land," "today" and "the place which the LORD shall choose." The key verses:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live

Deuteronomy 30:19

Outline of Deuteronomy

Part Two: Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis

Section I: First Sermon — Looking Back (Chapters 1:1-4:43)

Chapter 1 — From Horeb to Kadesh

"There are eleven days' journey from Horeb... unto Kadesh-barnea" (1:2), yet it took forty years. Moses recalled God's command to leave Horeb and take the land (1:6-8), his appointment of judges because he could not bear the people alone (1:9-18; Exodus 18), and the failure at Kadesh (1:19-46). He reminded them that the LORD had carried them "as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went" (1:31), "Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God" (1:32). The new generation needed to learn from their fathers' unbelief (compare 1 Corinthians 10:11).

Chapter 2 — Through Edom, Moab and Ammon

God told Israel not to fight Edom, Moab or Ammon, because He had given those lands to Esau's and Lot's descendants (2:4-5, 9, 19). God is sovereign over all nations' borders (Acts 17:26). The 38 years at Kadesh and in the wilderness passed "until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host" (2:14). Then God gave them Sihon king of Heshbon (2:24-37), whose heart God hardened as He had Pharaoh's (2:30).

Chapter 3 — Victory over Og; Moses' Plea

God also gave them Og king of Bashan, a giant whose iron bedstead was nine cubits long (3:1-11). The land east of the Jordan was given to Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh, who must still help their brothers (3:12-20). Moses pleaded to cross over and see "that goodly mountain, and Lebanon" (3:25), but the LORD said, "Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter" (3:26). Even great saints receive "no" to some prayers (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Moses was to encourage and strengthen Joshua instead (3:28).

Chapter 4 — The Call to Obey and Remember

"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it" (4:2; compare Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19). Obedience would make Israel a witness to the nations: "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?" (4:7). They must not forget and must teach their children and grandchildren (4:9-10).

At Horeb, "ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude" (4:12). Because God revealed Himself by His Word and not in a visible form, they must make no image of Him (4:15-19). "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God" (4:24; Hebrews 12:29). Moses foretold that if they corrupted themselves, they would be scattered among the nations (4:25-28), yet:

But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Deuteronomy 4:29

"For the LORD thy God is a merciful God; he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers" (4:31). No other god has ever spoken from fire or taken a nation out of another nation (4:32-34). "The LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else" (4:39; quoted in Mark 12:32). Moses set apart three cities of refuge east of the Jordan: Bezer, Ramoth and Golan (4:41-43).

Section II: Second Sermon — The Great Commandment (Chapters 4:44-11:32)

Chapter 5 — The Ten Commandments Repeated

"The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us" (5:2-3): each generation must own the covenant personally. The Ten Commandments are repeated (5:6-21) with small differences from Exodus 20. The Sabbath command is grounded not in creation (as in Exodus 20:11) but in redemption: "remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence" (5:15). The people's fear at Sinai is recalled, and God's longing: "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" (5:29). The problem was not the law but the heart (Romans 8:3), which only God could change (30:6; Jeremiah 31:33).

Chapter 6 — The Shema

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deuteronomy 6:4-5

These verses, called the Shema (from its first word, "Hear"), are the central confession of Israel's faith, recited by devout Jews twice daily. Jesus called 6:5 "the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38; Mark 12:29-30). "One LORD" affirms there is only one God, against all polytheism. The Hebrew word for "one" (echad) can describe a compound unity ("one flesh," Genesis 2:24; "one cluster," Numbers 13:23), which fits the later revelation of one God in three persons (Matthew 28:19).

God's Word must be in the heart and passed on in daily life:

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7

They were to bind them on their hands and between their eyes and write them on their doorposts (6:8-9). Later Jews took this literally with phylacteries (tefillin) and the mezuzah; Jesus rebuked those who made their phylacteries broad for show (Matthew 23:5). Moses warned that prosperity in the land, with houses they did not build and wells they did not dig, could make them forget the LORD (6:10-12). "Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him" (6:13) and "Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah" (6:16) are two of the three verses Jesus used against Satan (Matthew 4:7, 10). When children asked what the laws meant, parents were to tell the story of redemption from Egypt (6:20-25): the gospel comes before the law.

Chapter 7 — A Chosen and Holy People

Israel was to utterly destroy the seven nations of Canaan, make no covenants with them, and not intermarry with them, "For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods" (7:1-5). Why did God choose Israel?

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

Deuteronomy 7:7-8

God's choice was an act of free love, not based on merit (compare Ephesians 1:4-5; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29). "Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him" (7:9). God would drive out the nations "by little and little" (7:22), and Israel was to burn their idols and not covet the silver and gold on them (7:25).

Chapter 8 — Remember the Wilderness; Beware of Pride

God led them forty years in the wilderness "to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart" (8:2).

And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna... 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.

Deuteronomy 8:3

Jesus quoted this as His first answer to Satan (Matthew 4:4). Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell (8:4). "As a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee" (8:5; Hebrews 12:5-11). Canaan was "a good land" of brooks, wheat, barley, vines, figs, pomegranates, olive oil, honey, iron and copper (8:7-9). The danger of prosperity is pride:

And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth

Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Chapter 9 — Not Because of Your Righteousness

God would drive out the nations, but not because of Israel's righteousness: "for thou art a stiffnecked people" (9:4-6). The nations were judged for their wickedness (9:4-5; Genesis 15:16). Moses recalled their rebellions: the golden calf at Horeb (9:7-21), Taberah, Massah, Kibroth-hattaavah and Kadesh (9:22-24). "Ye have been rebellious against the LORD from the day that I knew you" (9:24). Only Moses' forty days of intercession saved them (9:25-29). Salvation is "not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:9; Titus 3:5).

Chapter 10 — What Does the LORD Require?

God wrote the commandments on new tablets, which Moses put in the ark (10:1-5). The tribe of Levi was set apart to carry the ark and minister, with the LORD as their inheritance (10:8-9).

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

Deuteronomy 10:12

"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked" (10:16; compare Jeremiah 4:4; Romans 2:28-29). God is "God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward" (10:17; Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11). He loves the stranger, so Israel must too, "for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt" (10:18-19).

Chapter 11 — Love and Obey, and Teach Your Children

Moses appealed to those who had personally seen God's mighty acts (11:2-7). Canaan was not like Egypt, watered by human irrigation, but "a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it" (11:11-12). Israel would depend daily on God for rain, which He would give or withhold according to their obedience (11:13-17). They were again told to lay up God's words in their hearts and teach their children (11:18-21). "I set before you this day a blessing and a curse" (11:26), to be proclaimed from Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal (11:29; 27).

Section III: Second Sermon — The Statutes and Judgments (Chapters 12-26)

Chapter 12 — One Place of Worship

Israel was to destroy every Canaanite place of worship, altar, pillar, grove and image (12:2-3) and worship only "unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there" (12:5, 11, 14). This place was first Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:12) and later Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36; 2 Chronicles 6:6). In the wilderness "every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes" (12:8), a phrase that would describe the chaos of Judges (Judges 21:25). Meat could be eaten anywhere, but not the blood (12:15-16, 23-25). They must not inquire how the nations served their gods in order to copy them (12:30-32). Jesus later taught that true worship is no longer tied to one location but is "in spirit and in truth" through Him (John 4:21-24).

Chapter 13 — False Prophets and Enticers

If a prophet gives a sign that comes to pass but then says "Let us go after other gods... Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet" (13:1-3). Signs alone do not prove a message is from God; the test is faithfulness to God's Word (Matthew 24:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Galatians 1:8). "For the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart" (13:3). Even a family member or close friend who enticed others to idolatry was to be exposed (13:6-11), and an apostate city destroyed (13:12-18). Loyalty to God comes above every human relationship (Matthew 10:37).

Chapter 14 — Children of God: Holy Food and Tithes

"Ye are the children of the LORD your God: ye shall not cut yourselves... for the dead" (14:1). Clean and unclean animals are listed again (14:3-21; Leviticus 11). The tithe of crops and herds was to be eaten in celebration at God's chosen place, "that thou mayest learn to fear the LORD thy God always" (14:22-27). Every third year the tithe was stored locally for "the Levite... and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow" (14:28-29). Giving to God and caring for the needy go together (James 1:27).

Chapter 15 — The Year of Release

Every seventh year debts owed by fellow Israelites were cancelled (15:1-6). Generosity was commanded: "thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him" (15:7-8). "For the poor shall never cease out of the land" (15:11); Jesus echoed this in Matthew 26:11. A Hebrew slave went free in the seventh year and was sent away with generous provision, "because thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee" (15:12-15). A servant who loved his master could choose lifelong service, his ear bored at the door (15:16-17; Exodus 21:5-6), a picture of Christ the willing Servant (Psalm 40:6-8). Firstborn animals were sanctified to the LORD (15:19-23).

Chapter 16 — The Three Pilgrim Feasts and Justice

Israel was to keep Passover, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles at God's chosen place (16:1-17), rejoicing with their families, servants, Levites, strangers, orphans and widows (16:11, 14). "Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD... and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Every man shall give as he is able" (16:16-17; compare 2 Corinthians 8:12). Judges were to be appointed in every city, take no bribes, and judge righteously: "That which is altogether just shalt thou follow" (16:18-20). No groves or pillars near God's altar (16:21-22).

Chapter 17 — Courts and the Law of the King

Sacrifices must be without blemish (17:1). An idolater could be executed only "at the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses... but at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death" (17:6). This principle is repeated throughout the New Testament (Matthew 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28). Difficult cases went to the priests and judge at the central place (17:8-13).

God anticipated that Israel would ask for a king "like as all the nations that are about me" (17:14), as they did in 1 Samuel 8:5. The king must be God's choice, an Israelite (17:15), and must not:

• multiply horses, or send people back to Egypt for them (military self-reliance);
• multiply wives, "that his heart turn not away";
• greatly multiply silver and gold (17:16-17).

He must write his own copy of the law, "and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God" (17:18-19). Solomon broke all three prohibitions (1 Kings 10:14-11:8), and his heart turned away (1 Kings 11:4). Only Christ, the perfect King, perfectly kept the law of God (Psalm 40:8; John 8:29).

Chapter 18 — Priests, the Occult and the Prophet Like Moses

The priests and Levites had no inheritance: "the LORD is their inheritance" (18:2). Israel was forbidden every occult practice of the Canaanites:

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD

Deuteronomy 18:10-12

This covers child sacrifice, fortune-telling, astrology, sorcery, spells, mediums and contacting the dead (compare Isaiah 8:19-20; Acts 16:16-18; 19:19; Galatians 5:20). "Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God" (18:13). Instead of seeking hidden knowledge from spirits, Israel would hear God through His prophets:

The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken

Deuteronomy 18:15

God said, "I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And... whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him" (18:18-19). This promise had an immediate application to the line of prophets God would send, but it was ultimately a promise of one unique Prophet. Deuteronomy 34:10 notes that no prophet like Moses had yet arisen. By Jesus' day the Jews were waiting for "that prophet" (John 1:21, 25; 6:14; 7:40). Peter and Stephen both identified Him as Jesus (Acts 3:22-26; 7:37). The test of a false prophet is simple: "if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken" (18:22).

Chapter 19 — Cities of Refuge, Landmarks and Witnesses

Three cities of refuge were to be set apart west of the Jordan, with roads prepared to them, and three more added if the land grew (19:1-10; Numbers 35). Murderers were not protected (19:11-13). "Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark" (19:14; Proverbs 22:28). At least two or three witnesses were required for any conviction (19:15), and a false witness received the punishment he intended for the accused (19:16-21), the principle behind "life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" (19:21).

Chapter 20 — Laws of Warfare

Before battle, the priest was to encourage the army: "fear not... For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you" (20:3-4). Men who had built a new house, planted a new vineyard, or become engaged were sent home, as was anyone "fearful and fainthearted, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart" (20:5-8). In Jesus' parable of the great supper, people use very similar excuses to refuse God's invitation (Luke 14:18-20). Distant cities were first offered peace (20:10-15). The cities of Canaan were to be completely destroyed, "That they teach you not to do after all their abominations" (20:16-18). Fruit trees were not to be cut down in a siege (20:19-20).

Chapter 21 — Unsolved Murder, Family Laws and the Hanged Man

For an unsolved murder, the elders of the nearest city sacrificed a heifer and declared their innocence, so innocent blood would not remain on the land (21:1-9). Laws protected a captive woman taken as wife (21:10-14) and the firstborn son of an unloved wife (21:15-17). A persistently rebellious son, "a glutton, and a drunkard," was to be judged by the elders (21:18-21). Then:

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

This is why the Jews asked Pilate to have the bodies taken down before the Sabbath (John 19:31). Paul explains its meaning: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree" (Galatians 3:13). The cross was the place of the curse, and Jesus bore it for us (Acts 5:30; 10:39; 1 Peter 2:24).

Chapter 22 — Neighbourly Care and Purity

Return a neighbour's lost animal or property; do not "hide thyself" from his need (22:1-4). "The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment" (22:5): God's design for distinct male and female identity. Let the mother bird go when taking eggs (22:6-7). Build a parapet around a flat roof "that thou bring not blood upon thine house" (22:8): responsibility for others' safety. No mixing of seeds, animals or fabrics (22:9-11), tassels on garments (22:12), and laws protecting marriage, virginity and women from false accusation and violence (22:13-30).

Chapter 23 — The Assembly of the LORD and Daily Holiness

Certain persons were excluded from "the congregation of the LORD": eunuchs by mutilation, those of illegitimate birth, and Ammonites and Moabites to the tenth generation, because they hired Balaam against Israel (23:1-6; Nehemiah 13:1-2). Yet Ruth the Moabitess became the ancestor of David by grace (Ruth 4:13-22), and Isaiah 56:3-7 promises that faithful eunuchs and foreigners will be welcomed, fulfilled in the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:27-39). Grace overcomes the barriers of the law. Edomites and Egyptians could enter in the third generation (23:7-8). The camp must be kept clean, "For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp" (23:14). A runaway slave was not to be returned to his master (23:15-16). No interest on loans to fellow Israelites (23:19-20). Vows must be paid promptly (23:21-23; Ecclesiastes 5:4-5). A traveller could eat grapes or pluck grain in a neighbour's field but not carry it away (23:24-25), the law that permitted the disciples to pluck ears of corn (Matthew 12:1).

Chapter 24 — Divorce, Compassion and Individual Responsibility

A man who divorced his wife with a "bill of divorcement" could not remarry her after she married another (24:1-4). This regulated an existing practice to protect women. Jesus explained, "Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so" (Matthew 19:8; 5:31-32). A newly married man was free from military service for a year, "and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken" (24:5). Laws protected the poor: no taking a millstone in pledge (24:6), no keeping a poor man's garment overnight (24:12-13), wages paid the same day (24:14-15). "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin" (24:16; 2 Kings 14:6; Ezekiel 18:20). Forgotten sheaves and leftover olives and grapes belonged to the stranger, fatherless and widow (24:19-22), "And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt."

Chapter 25 — Justice, the Ox and the Levirate Law

Beatings were limited to forty stripes (25:1-3); Paul received "forty stripes save one" five times (2 Corinthians 11:24). "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn" (25:4). Paul twice applies this to supporting gospel ministers (1 Corinthians 9:9-11; 1 Timothy 5:18). If a man died childless, his brother was to marry the widow and raise up a son to carry on his name (25:5-10), the law behind Ruth 4 and the Sadducees' question to Jesus about the resurrection (Matthew 22:23-33). Honest weights and measures were required (25:13-16). Israel was to remember Amalek's cowardly attack on the weak and blot out its memory (25:17-19; Exodus 17).

Chapter 26 — Firstfruits and the Covenant Confession

When Israel brought their firstfruits to the LORD, each worshipper recited a confession of God's grace:

A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation... And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand... And he hath brought us into this place, and hath given us this land

Deuteronomy 26:5-9

Worship begins by remembering the story of redemption. The third-year tithe was accompanied by a declaration of obedience and a prayer for blessing (26:12-15). The section closes with mutual commitment: "Thou hast avouched the LORD this day to be thy God... And the LORD hath avouched thee this day to be his peculiar people" (26:17-18; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9).

Section IV: Third Sermon — Blessing and Cursing (Chapters 27-30)

Chapter 27 — The Ceremony at Ebal and Gerizim

After crossing the Jordan, Israel was to set up great stones plastered over, write all the law on them, and build an altar of whole stones on Mount Ebal (27:1-8). Six tribes would stand on Mount Gerizim to bless and six on Mount Ebal to curse (27:11-13). The Levites would pronounce twelve curses on secret sins, and all the people would answer "Amen" (27:14-26). The last curse summarises them all:

Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.

Deuteronomy 27:26

Paul quotes this to show that no one can be justified by the law: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Galatians 3:10). Joshua carried out this ceremony (Joshua 8:30-35). Notice that the blessings in this ceremony are not listed; only the curses are. The law, on its own, can only condemn.

Chapter 28 — Blessings and Curses

If Israel obeyed, blessings would come on every area of life: city and field, children, crops and herds, coming in and going out, victory, rain, prosperity and respect among the nations (28:1-14). "And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail" (28:13). If Israel disobeyed, curses would come, and they occupy four times as much space (28:15-68):

• Disease, drought and crop failure (28:21-24, 38-42). "Thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass" (28:23).
• Defeat and oppression (28:25-34).
• Exile to a foreign nation "which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone" (28:36).
• A distant, fierce nation "as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand" (28:49-52).
• Siege and starvation so terrible that parents would eat their children (28:53-57). This happened in the siege of Samaria (2 Kings 6:28-29), in the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem (Lamentations 2:20; 4:10), and in the Roman siege of AD 70 as recorded by Josephus.
• Worldwide dispersion:

And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other... And among these nations shalt thou find no ease... and the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart

Deuteronomy 28:64-65

• Becoming "an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword" among the nations (28:37).
• Being sold back to Egypt in ships as slaves (28:68), which happened after AD 70, when Roman markets were flooded with Jewish captives.

This chapter is one of the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible. It describes in advance the history of the Jewish people over more than three thousand years.

Chapter 29 — The Covenant in Moab

Moses renewed the covenant with the new generation, including "him that is not here with us this day" (29:14-15), their future descendants. They had seen God's wonders, "Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day" (29:4; Romans 11:8). He warned against "a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (29:18; Hebrews 12:15), a person who hears the curse but says, "I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart" (29:19). Future generations and foreigners would ask why the land was devastated, and the answer would be: "Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers" (29:24-28; 1 Kings 9:8-9; Jeremiah 22:8-9).

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

Deuteronomy 29:29

Chapter 30 — Restoration and the Call to Choose Life

Moses looked beyond the curses to a future restoration. When Israel, scattered among the nations, returns to the LORD with all their heart, God will "turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations... If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee" (30:1-5). God Himself will do the work of renewal:

And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.

Deuteronomy 30:6

This promise of a new heart is developed into the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26-27) and fulfilled by the Spirit (Romans 2:29; Colossians 2:11). God's Word was not far off: "it is not in heaven... Neither is it beyond the sea... But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it" (30:11-14). Paul applies this to the gospel: "The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans 10:6-9). Christ came down from heaven and rose from the deep, so salvation is near to every believer.

Moses closed with the great appeal:

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Section V: Moses' Final Days (Chapters 31-34)

Chapter 31 — Joshua Commissioned; the Law Written and Read

Moses, 120 years old, announced he would not cross the Jordan; the LORD Himself and Joshua would lead them (31:1-3).

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Deuteronomy 31:6

This promise is applied to all believers: "for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). Moses charged Joshua publicly (31:7-8), and God commissioned him at the tabernacle (31:14-15, 23). Moses wrote the law and gave it to the priests, to be read to the whole nation, "men, and women, and children, and thy stranger," every seventh year at the Feast of Tabernacles (31:9-13; compare Nehemiah 8). God told Moses that after his death Israel would "go a whoring after the gods of the strangers" and break the covenant (31:16-18), fulfilled in Judges 2:10-13. God therefore gave Moses a song to teach them as a witness (31:19-22). The book of the law was placed beside the ark (31:24-26).

Chapter 32 — The Song of Moses

"Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth" (32:1). The song is a covenant lawsuit in poetry, summarising Israel's history and future.

He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Deuteronomy 32:4

God is called "the Rock" five times in the song (32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31); Paul identifies the Rock as Christ (1 Corinthians 10:4). God chose Israel as His portion (32:8-9), found him in a desert land and "kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings" (32:10-11). But "Jeshurun [Israel] waxed fat, and kicked... then he forsook God which made him" (32:15). "They sacrificed unto devils, not to God" (32:17; 1 Corinthians 10:20).

God would respond: "they have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God... and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people" (32:21). Paul quotes this of the Gentiles' salvation provoking Israel (Romans 10:19; 11:11). "To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence" (32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30). "For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants" (32:36; Hebrews 10:30). "See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal" (32:39). The song ends in hope: "Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people" (32:43; Romans 15:10), and God "will be merciful unto his land, and to his people." In the Septuagint, 32:43 includes "let all the angels of God worship him," quoted of Christ in Hebrews 1:6. In Revelation 15:3, the redeemed sing "the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb." Moses told Israel these words were "not a vain thing for you; because it is your life" (32:47). God then told Moses to climb Mount Nebo to view the land and die (32:48-52).

Chapter 33 — The Blessing of Moses

Like Jacob in Genesis 49, Moses blessed the tribes before his death. "Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand" (33:3). Reuben would live (33:6); Judah would be helped against enemies (33:7); Levi was blessed for faithfulness, to teach Israel the law (33:8-11); "The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him" (Benjamin, 33:12); Joseph received rich blessings of the land (33:13-17); and Asher, "as thy days, so shall thy strength be" (33:25). Simeon is not mentioned, consistent with its absorption into Judah (Joshua 19:1-9). The blessing ends with two of the most comforting verses in Scripture:

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms

Deuteronomy 33:27

Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency!

Deuteronomy 33:29

Chapter 34 — The Death of Moses

Moses climbed Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, and the LORD showed him the whole land from Dan to the Negev (34:1-3). "This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob... I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither" (34:4). Moses died there "according to the word of the LORD" (34:5). God Himself buried him in a valley in Moab, "but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day" (34:6). Jude 9 records that Michael the archangel disputed with the devil about the body of Moses. "Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated" (34:7). Israel mourned thirty days (34:8). Joshua was "full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him" (34:9).

And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face

Deuteronomy 34:10

This verse looks forward: the Prophet "like unto me" (18:15) had not yet come. Moses never entered the land under the law, but centuries later he stood in the land with Elijah, talking with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration about His coming death at Jerusalem (Matthew 17:3; Luke 9:30-31). The law could not bring Moses into the land; grace brought him there in the presence of Christ.

Part Three: Christ in Deuteronomy

The Prophet Like Moses

Jesus, the True Israel, in the Wilderness

Israel was God's "son" (Exodus 4:22), tested forty years in the wilderness, and failed. Jesus, the Son of God, was led into the wilderness for forty days, was tested in the same three areas, and answered each temptation from Deuteronomy 6-8, the very chapters that describe Israel's testing.

Where Israel failed, Christ succeeded. He is the obedient Son who loved God with all His heart, soul and might, and His obedience is credited to all who believe (Romans 5:19).

Other Pictures of Christ in Deuteronomy

• The Rock (32:4, 15, 18). "That Rock was Christ" (1 Corinthians 10:4).
• The one hanged on a tree (21:22-23). Christ made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13).
• The city of refuge (19). Christ our refuge (Hebrews 6:18).
• The kinsman who raises up a name for the dead (25:5-10). Christ our Redeemer-Kinsman (Ruth 4).
• The servant with the bored ear (15:16-17). The willing Servant (Psalm 40:6-8; Hebrews 10:5-7).
• The true King (17:14-20). The King who kept God's law perfectly (Psalm 40:8; John 8:29).
• The Word that is near (30:11-14). Christ, the Word of faith (Romans 10:6-9).
• The everlasting arms (33:27). The Good Shepherd who carries His sheep (Isaiah 40:11; John 10:28).

Part Four: Fulfilled Prophecies

Part Five: Key Passages in Depth

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 — The Shema

The Shema contains the whole of biblical religion in seed form:

• Doctrine: "The LORD our God is one LORD." There is one true God, personal and covenantal ("our God"). Jesus affirmed it (Mark 12:29), and Paul built on it (1 Corinthians 8:4-6), while the New Testament reveals that this one God exists as Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
• Devotion: "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God." The heart of God's law is love, not mere outward conformity. Love involves the heart (affections and will), soul (life) and might (strength and resources).
• Discipleship: "These words... shall be in thine heart." God's Word must first be internalised.
• Duty to the next generation: "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children." Faith is passed on in ordinary daily life, at home, on the road, at bedtime and at breakfast (6:7; Ephesians 6:4; 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:15).
• Display: "Write them upon the posts of thy house." A home publicly marked by God's Word.

Deuteronomy 18:15-22 — The Prophet and the Test of Prophecy

The passage arose from Israel's request at Sinai for a mediator (18:16-17; 5:23-27). It gives two tests: a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods is false (13:1-5; 18:20), and a prophet whose prediction fails is false (18:22). Together they require both doctrinal faithfulness and accuracy. The passage is fulfilled ultimately in Christ, whose words carry final authority: "This is my beloved Son... hear ye him" (Matthew 17:5; compare "unto him ye shall hearken," 18:15).

Deuteronomy 28 — History Written in Advance

The covenant curses read like a summary of Israel's history: drought under Ahab (1 Kings 17), invasions and oppression throughout Judges, exile under Assyria and Babylon, the horrors of the sieges, and the worldwide scattering after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. Daniel's prayer confesses, "therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses" (Daniel 9:11). Yet the same Moses who predicted the scattering also predicted the regathering (30:1-5), and God's covenant with Israel stands (Romans 11:1-2, 28-29).

Deuteronomy 30:11-20 — The Word Is Near; Choose Life

Moses insisted that God's Word was clear and accessible, not hidden in heaven or across the sea. Paul's use of this passage in Romans 10 shows its deepest meaning: the righteousness of faith does not require climbing to heaven to bring Christ down or descending to the deep to bring Him up; He has come and has risen. The word of faith is near: confess Jesus as Lord and believe God raised Him from the dead (Romans 10:6-10). The call "choose life" (30:19) becomes the gospel call: "he that hath the Son hath life" (1 John 5:12).

Part Six: The Major Teachings of Deuteronomy

1. The One True God

There is one LORD, "there is none else beside him" (4:35, 39; 6:4; 32:39). He is faithful (7:9), a consuming fire (4:24), merciful (4:31), "God of gods, and Lord of lords" (10:17), the Rock (32:4) and the eternal refuge (33:27).

2. Love as the Heart of Obedience

Deuteronomy uses the language of love more than any other book of the law. God loved Israel freely (7:7-8; 10:15; 23:5), and Israel was to love Him with the whole heart (6:5; 10:12; 11:1, 13; 30:6, 16, 20). Obedience flows from love: "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).

3. Remember and Do Not Forget

"Remember" and "forget" occur again and again (4:9, 23; 5:15; 6:12; 8:2, 11, 18; 9:7; 15:15; 16:12; 24:18; 32:7). Spiritual decline begins with forgetting what God has done. The Lord's Supper is the Christian's great act of remembrance (1 Corinthians 11:24-26).

4. Grace Before Law

God redeemed Israel before giving the law (5:6), chose them out of love and not merit (7:7-8), and gave them the land not for their righteousness (9:4-6). Law in Deuteronomy is the grateful response of a redeemed people, not a means of earning salvation.

5. The Danger of Prosperity

The greatest threat in the land would not be giants but comfort: full houses and full stomachs leading to forgotten hearts (6:10-12; 8:10-20; 31:20; 32:15). Compare Jesus' warnings about riches (Luke 12:15-21; 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17).

6. Teaching the Next Generation

Parents are responsible to pass faith to their children (4:9-10; 6:6-7, 20-25; 11:19; 31:12-13; 32:46). A generation that does not know the LORD soon follows (Judges 2:10).

7. Choosing Between Two Ways

Blessing or curse, life or death, obedience or disobedience (11:26-28; 30:15-20). Every person stands before the same choice (Joshua 24:15; Matthew 7:13-14).

8. Justice and Compassion

Deuteronomy is full of concern for the vulnerable: the poor, widows, orphans, foreigners, servants, Levites and even animals (10:18-19; 14:29; 15:7-11; 24:10-22; 25:4). God's people must reflect His character (James 1:27).

9. Holiness and Separation

Israel was to be "an holy people unto the LORD" (7:6; 14:2, 21), separate from Canaanite idolatry, occultism and immorality (7:1-5; 12:29-32; 18:9-14).

10. The Authority and Sufficiency of God's Word

Nothing must be added or taken away (4:2; 12:32). The king must read it daily (17:18-19). It is "your life" (32:47). True prophets are tested by it (13:1-5; 18:20-22). "The secret things belong unto the LORD... but those things which are revealed belong unto us" (29:29).

11. The Heart Problem and God's Solution

Israel lacked the heart to obey (5:29; 29:4), and Moses predicted their failure (31:16-29). Yet God promised to circumcise their hearts (30:6), pointing to the new covenant and the work of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26-27; 2 Corinthians 3:3).

12. God's Faithfulness to His Covenant

Even after the curses and scattering, God will restore His repentant people (4:29-31; 30:1-10; 32:36-43). "He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee" (31:6, 8).

Part Seven: Connections — How Deuteronomy Links to the Rest of the Bible

Deuteronomy Quoted and Cited in the New Testament

Deuteronomy is one of the most-quoted Old Testament books in the New Testament, alongside Psalms, Isaiah, Genesis and Exodus.

Deuteronomy in the Old Testament

Themes That Run from Deuteronomy Through Scripture

Part Eight: Practical Lessons

• Learn from the past. The new generation had to learn from their parents' failure at Kadesh (1).
• Accept God's "no." Moses asked to enter the land and was told, "Let it suffice thee" (3:26).
• Love God with everything. Heart, soul and strength (6:5).
• Make your home a place of God's Word. Talk of it at home, on the road, at bedtime and in the morning (6:7).
• Beware of comfort. Prosperity tempts us to forget God (6:10-12; 8:11-18).
• Live by every word of God. Answer temptation with Scripture, as Jesus did (8:3; Matthew 4:4).
• Remember that you were saved by grace. Not for your righteousness (9:4-6).
• Test every teacher by Scripture, not by signs. (13:1-5).
• Avoid every form of the occult. (18:9-14).
• Be generous to the poor. Open your hand wide (15:7-11).
• Treat the vulnerable with justice. Widows, orphans and foreigners (24:17-22).
• Support those who teach God's Word. Muzzle not the ox (25:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9).
• Choose life every day. (30:19).
• Be strong and courageous. He will not fail you nor forsake you (31:6).
• Rest in the everlasting arms. (33:27).

Part Nine: Key Verses to Memorize

Conclusion

Deuteronomy is Moses' farewell: the heart-cry of an old shepherd to a people he had carried for forty years. He reminds them of God's love and faithfulness, calls them to love Him in return with all their heart, sets before them blessing and curse, and warns them of the danger of forgetting. He foresees their failure, their scattering and their final restoration through a circumcised heart. Above all, Deuteronomy points beyond Moses to the Prophet like him, Jesus Christ, who lived by every word of God where Israel failed, bore the curse of the tree for us, and gives the new heart that loves God. The appeal of Moses still stands:

Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life

Deuteronomy 30:19-20