The original recipients of Deuteronomy, both in its verbal and written presentations, were the second generation of the nation of Israel. All of that generation from 40 to 60 years of age (except Joshua and Caleb, who were older) had been born in Egypt and had participated as children or teens in the Exodus. Those under 40 had been born and reared in the wilderness. Together, they comprised the generation that was on the verge of conquering the land of Canaan under Joshua, 40 years after they had left Egypt (1:34–39).
Historical and Theological Themes
Like Leviticus, Deuteronomy contains much legal detail, but with an emphasis on the people rather than the priests. As Moses called the second generation of Israel to trust the Lord and be obedient to His covenant made at Horeb (Sinai), he illustrated his points with references to Israel’s past history. He reminded Israel of her rebellion against the Lord at Horeb (9:7-10:11) and at Kadesh (1:26-46), which brought devastating consequences. He also reminded her of the Lord’s faithfulness in giving victory over her enemies (2:24-3:11; 29:2, 7, 8). Most importantly, Moses called the people to take the land that God had promised by oath to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (1:8; 6:10; 9:5; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4; cf. Gen. 15:18-21; 26:3-5; 35:12). Moses not only looked back, he also looked ahead and saw that Israel’s future failure to obey God would lead to her being scattered among the nations before the fulfillment of His oath to the patriarchs would be completed (4:25-31; 29:22-30:10; 31:26-29).
The book of Deuteronomy, along with Psalms and Isaiah, reveals much about the attributes of God. Thus, it is directly quoted over 40 times in the NT (exceeded only by Psalms and Isaiah) with many more allusions to its content. Deuteronomy reveals that the Lord is the only God (4:39; 6:4), and that He is jealous (4:24), faithful (7:9), loving (7:13), merciful (4:31), yet angered by sin (6:15). This is the God who called Israel to Himself. Over 250 times, Moses repeated the phrase, “the LORD your God” to Israel. Israel was called to obey (28:2), fear (10:12), love (10:12), and serve (10:12) her God by walking in His ways and keeping His commandments (10:12, 13). By obeying Him, the people of Israel would receive His blessings (28:1–14). Obedience and the pursuit of personal holiness is always based upon the character of God. Because of who He is, His people are to be holy (cf., 7:6–11; 8:6, 11, 18; 10:12, 16, 17; 11:13; 13:3, 4; 14:1, 2).
Interpretive Challenges
Three interpretive challenges face the reader of Deuteronomy. First, is the book a singular record, or is it only a part of the larger literary whole, the Pentateuch? The remainder of the Scripture always views the Pentateuch as a unit, and the ultimate meaning of Deuteronomy cannot be divorced from its context in the Pentateuch. The book also assumes the reader is already familiar with the 4 books that precede it; in fact, Deuteronomy brings into focus all that had been revealed in Genesis to Numbers, as well as its implications for the people as they entered the Land. However, every available Hebrew manuscript divides the Pentateuch in exactly the same way as the present text, indicating that the book is a well defined unit recounting the final speeches of Moses to Israel, so it may also be viewed as a singular record.
Second, is the structure of Deuteronomy based on the secular treaties of Moses’ day? During the last 35 years, many evangelical scholars have supported the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy by appealing to the similarities between the structure of the book and the ancient Near Eastern treaty form of the mid-second millennium B.C. (the approximate time of Moses). These secular suzerainty treaties (i.e., a ruler dictating his will to his vassals) followed a set pattern not used in the mid-first millennium B.C. These treaties usually contained the following elements: 1) preamble—identifying the parties to the covenant; 2) historical prologue—a history of the king’s dealing with his vassals; 3) general and specific stipulations; 4) witnesses; 5) blessings and curses; and 6) oaths and covenant ratification. Deuteronomy, it is believed, approximates this basic structure. While there is agreement that 1:1–5 is a preamble, 1:5—4:43 a historical prologue, and chaps. 27, 28 feature blessings and cursings, there is no consensus as to how the rest of Deuteronomy fits this structure. While there might have been a covenant renewal on the plains of Moab, this is neither clearly explicit nor implicit in Deuteronomy. It is best to take the book for what it claims to be: the explanation of the law given by Moses for the new generation. The structure follows the speeches given by Moses. See Outline.
Third, what was the covenant made in the land of Moab (29:1)? The majority opinion posits this covenant as a renewal of the Sinaitic Covenant made nearly 40 years before with the first generation. Here, Moses supposedly updated and renewed this same covenant with the second generation of Israel. The second view sees this covenant as a Palestinian Covenant which guarantees the nation of Israel’s right to the land, both at that time and in the future. A third position is that Moses in chaps. 29, 30 anticipated the New Covenant, since he knew Israel would fail to keep the Sinaitic Covenant. The third view seems the best.
Outline
I. Introduction: The Historical Setting of Moses’ Speeches (1:1-4)
II. The First Address by Moses: A Historical Prologue (1:5-4:43)
A. A Historical Review of God’s Gracious Acts from Horeb to Beth Peor (1:5-3:29)
B. An Exhortation to Obey the Law (4:1-40)
C. The Setting Apart of Three Cities of Refuge (4:41-43)
III. The Second Address by Moses: The Stipulations of the Sinaitic Covenant (4:44-28:68)
A. Introduction (4:44-49)
B. The Basic Elements of Israel’s Relationship with the Lord (5:1-11:32)
1. The Ten Commandments (5:1–33)
2. The total commitment to the Lord (6:1–25)
3. Separation from the gods of other nations (7:1–26)
4. A warning against forgetting the Lord (8:1–20)
5. Illustrations of Israel’s rebellion in the past (9:1—10:11)
6. An admonition to fear and love the Lord and obey His will (10:12—11:32)
C. The Specific Stipulations for Life in the New Land (12:1-26:19)
1. Instructions for the life of worship (12:1—16:17)
2. Instructions for leadership (16:18—18:22)
3. Instructions for societal order (19:1—23:14)
4. Instructions from miscellaneous laws (23:15—25:19)
5. The firstfruits and tithes in the land (26:1–15)
6. The affirmation of obedience (26:16–19)
D. The Blessings and Curses of the Covenant (27:1-28:68)
IV. The Third Address by Moses: Another Covenant (29:1-30:20)
V. The Concluding Events (31:1-34:12)
A. The Change of Leadership (31:1-8)
B. The Future Reading of the Law (31:9-13)
C. The Song of Moses (31:14-32:47)
1. The anticipation of Israel’s failure (31:14–29)
2. The witness of Moses’ song (31:30—32:43)
3. The communicating of Moses’ song (32:44–47)
D. The Final Events of Moses’ Life (32:48-34:12)
1. The directives for Moses’ death (32:48–52)
2. The blessing of Moses (33:1–29)
3. The death of Moses (34:1–12)
The Fifth Book of Moses Called
DEUTERONOMY
Deuteronomy 1
The Previous Command to Enter Canaan
1These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel aon this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the 1plain opposite 2Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
2It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir bto Kadesh Barnea.
3Now it came to pass cin the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him as commandments to them,
4dafter he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth ein3 Edrei.
5On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, M
oses began to explain this law, saying,
6“The LORD our God spoke to us fin Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long genough at this mountain.
7‘Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the 4plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates.
8‘See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD 5swore to your fathers—to hAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’
Tribal Leaders Appointed
(Ex. 18:13–27)
9“And iI spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I 6alone am not able to bear you.
10‘The LORD your God has multiplied you, jand here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude.
11k‘May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you las He has promised you!
12m‘How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints?
13‘Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them 7heads over you.’
14“And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’
15“So I took nthe heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and 8made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.
16“Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and ojudge righteously between a man and his pbrother or the stranger who is with him.
17q‘You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for rthe judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, sbring to me, and I will hear it.’
18“And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.
Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land
(Num. 13:1–33)
19“So we departed from Horeb, tand went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the LORD our God had commanded us. Then uwe came to Kadesh Barnea.
20“And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
21‘Look, the LORD your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has spoken to you; vdo not fear or be discouraged.’
22“And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’
23“The plan pleased me well; so wI took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe.
24x“And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.
25“They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a ygood land which the LORD our God is giving us.’
26z“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God;
27“and you acomplained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the LORD bhates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
28‘Where can we go up? Our brethren have 9discouraged our hearts, saying, c“The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the dAnakim there.” ’
29“Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, eor afraid of them.
30f‘The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
31‘and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a gman carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.’
32“Yet, for all that, hyou did not believe the LORD your God,
33i“who went in the way before you jto search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by day.
The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion
(Num. 14:20–45)
34“And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, kand took an oath, saying,
35l‘Surely not one of these men of this evil generation shall see that good land of which I 10swore to give to your fathers,
36m‘except Caleb the son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him and his children I am giving the land on which he walked, because nhe 11wholly followed the LORD.’
37o“The LORD was also angry with me for your sakes, saying, ‘Even you shall not go in there.
38p‘Joshua the son of Nun, qwho stands before you, he shall go in there. rEncourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
39s‘Moreover your little ones and your children, who tyou say will be victims, who today uhave no knowledge of good and evil, they shall go in there; to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.
40v‘But as for you, turn and take your journey into the wilderness by the Way of the Red Sea.’
41“Then you answered and said to me, w‘We have sinned against the LORD; we will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And when everyone of you had girded on his weapons of war, you were ready to go up into the mountain.
42“And the LORD said to me, ‘Tell them, x“Do not go up nor fight, for I am not among you; lest you be defeated before your enemies.” ’
43“So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but yrebelled against the command of the LORD, and zpresumptuously12 went up into the mountain.
44“And the Amorites who dwelt in that mountain came out against you and chased you aas bees do, and drove you back from Seir to Hormah.
45“Then you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD would not listen to your voice nor give ear to you.
46b“So you remained in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you spent there.
Deuteronomy 2
The Desert Years
1“Then we turned and ajourneyed into the wilderness of the Way of the Red Sea, bas the LORD spoke to me, and we 1skirted Mount Seir for many days.
2“And the LORD spoke to me, saying:
3‘You have skirted this mountain clong enough; turn northward.
4‘And command the people, saying, d“You are about to pass through the territory of eyour brethren, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir; and they will be afraid of you. Therefore watch yourselves carefully.
5“Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep, fbecause I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.
6“You shall buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.
7“For the LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand. He knows your 2trudging through this great wilderness. gThese forty years the LORD your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” ’
8“And when we passed beyond our brethren, the descendants of Esau who dwell in Seir, away from the road of the plain, away from hElath and Ezion Geber, we iturned and passed by way of the Wilderness of Moab.
9“Then the LORD said to me, ‘Do not harass Moab, nor contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land as a possession, because I have given jAr to kthe descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”
10l(The Emim had dwelt there in times past, a people as great and numerous and tall as mthe Anakim.
11They were also regarded as 3giants, like the Anakim, but the Moabites call them Emim.
12nThe Horites formerly dwelt in Seir, but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed
them from before them, and dwelt in their 4place, just as Israel did to the land of their possession which the LORD gave them.)
13“ ‘Now rise and cross over othe 5Valley of the Zered.’ So we crossed over the Valley of the Zered.
14“And the time we took to come pfrom Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the Valley of the Zered was thirty-eight years, quntil all the generation of the men of war 6was consumed from the midst of the camp, rjust as the LORD had sworn to them.
15“For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp until they 7were consumed.
16“So it was, when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people,
17“that the LORD spoke to me, saying:
18‘This day you are to cross over at Ar, the boundary of Moab.
19‘And when you come near the people of Ammon, do not harass them or meddle with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to sthe descendants of Lot as a possession.’ ”
20(That was also regarded as a land of 8giants; giants formerly dwelt there. But the Ammonites call them tZamzummim,
21ua people as great and numerous and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed them before them, and they dispossessed them and dwelt in their place,
22just as He had done for the descendants of Esau, vwho dwelt in Seir, when He destroyed wthe Horites from before them. They dispossessed them and dwelt in their place, even to this day.
23And xthe Avim, who dwelt in villages as far as Gaza—ythe Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and dwelt in their place.)
24“ ‘Rise, take your journey, and zcross over the River Arnon. Look, I have given into your hand aSihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin 9to possess it, and engage him in battle.
25b‘This day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the nations 10under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you, and shall ctremble and be in anguish because of you.’
The MacArthur Study Bible, NKJV Page 91