THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY

INTRODUCTION:

1.DEUTERONOMY embodies three farewell addresses by Moses, encouraging the people to believe and obey God in order to receive His blessings in the Promised Land; Then there is a brief account of the death of Moses.

2.NAME: The word “Deuteronomy” means “Second Law,” or “Repetition Of The Law.” The Law was given at Sinai to a generation which was now dead; Here, in this Book, the Law is explained to a new generation who are preparing to enter the Land.

3.AUTHOR: Moses (there is much evidence to prove this).

4.DATE: Written in Moses’ 120th year, at the end of the forty years of wandering - 31:2 (about 1405 BC).

5.This is a “stationary book” -- It all takes place on the Plains of Moab, across the Jordan east of Jericho.

6.It is a Book of transition -- TRANSITION TO A NEW:

a.GENERATION: Those who had grown up in the wilderness.

b.POSSESSION: The national occupancy of Canaan.

c.EXPERIENCE: A life of settled habitation in houses instead of tents, as in the Wilderness Wandering.

d.REVELATION: About the LOVE OF GOD.

1)In Genesis through Numbers the LOVE of God is not mentioned.

2)In Deuteronomy, it is spoken of often - 4:37; 7:6-8; 10:15; 23:5.

7.THEME: Divine Faithfulness -- Human Obedience; cf 1Co 1:8-9.

a.The people over and over are told to DO, KEEP, OBSERVE; and all of it is to be practiced from a heart of LOVE.

b.A summary of these appeals - 6:4-12; cf Mt 22:37-38.

c.Their future in Canaan would be a prosperous one if they would remember this lesson - 4:1-2,9-10; 5:29.

8.The Book may be seen in Four Divisions:

1.RETROSPECTIVE: REMEMBRANCES OF THE PAST - CHAPTERS 1-4 (MOSES REMINDS THE PEOPLE THAT THEIR HISTORY SHOWS OBEDIENCE TO GOD BRINGS BLESSING, AND DISOBEDIENCE BRINGS PUNISHMENT; “TAKE HEED LEST THOU FORGET” - 4:9).

A.Ch 1, Their sin of rebellion and failing to trust and obey God caused the trip from Sinai to Canaan to take 40 years.

B.Ch 2, Experiences in the wilderness; God-given victories.

C.Ch 3, More experiences in the wilderness; More victories.

D.Ch 4, Exhortations to obedience and to shun idols; Moses Concluded this speech by setting aside three Cities of Refuge on the east side of the Jordan.

2.INTROSPECTIVE: COMMANDMENTS FOR THE PRESENT - CHAPTERS 5-26 (MOSES RESTATED THE LAW, SETTING IT
FORTH IN FOUR SEGMENTS):

A.CHAPTERS 5-11, Basic commandments and warnings.

1.Ch 5, The New generation was taught the Mosaic Covenant; The Decalogue was repeated; Circumstances of its original giving at Sinai were reviewed.

2.Ch 6, People were to keep the Covenant and teach their children continuously.

a.6:4-5, The BASIC FACT underlying all - cf Mk 12:29-30.

b.6:22-23, The BASIC TRUTH of Deuteronomy: God’s purpose, and God’s faithfulness.

3.Ch 7, Canaanites would be destroyed because of idolatry.

4.Ch 8, Reminders of God’s care in the past; Warning not to forget God by failing to obey His Word.

5.Ch 9, The people were reminded of their sin, and their unworthiness to possess the Land.

6.Ch 10, The second set of tablets of stone.

a.10:12-13, The BASIC REQUIREMENT made of Israel: To Fear, Love, and Serve God; To Walk in His Ways; and To Keep His Commandments.

b.“AND NOW” - Verse 12, These beginning words show this to have been a present need.

7.Ch 11, Great acts of God of the past, present, and future of Israel (IF they chose to obey Him).

B.Ch 12-16, Related Commandments and Ceremonial Laws.

1.Ch 12, Israel was to destroy idolatry and idolaters; A discussion of Dietary Laws; Note the sober words of Verse 32.

a.12:10-14, The BASIC PLACE (Jerusalem): The Temple and its service gave the people a sense of National Unity.

b.In the New Testament emphasis is transferred from a Place (Jerusalem) to a Person (the Son of God) - Jn 4:20-26.

2.Ch 13, A test for false prophets; The doom of false prophets and idolaters among Israel.

3.Ch 14, Clean and unclean animals; Dietary laws; Tithes.

4.Ch 15, Sabbatic year; Treatment of the poor and servants; Firstborn animals to be sanctified to the Lord.

5.Ch 16, 3 annual feasts; Bribery and idolatry forbidden.

C.Ch 17-20, Civil Laws.

1.Ch 17, Death to idolaters; Respect for judges and priests; A prophecy that the people would ask for a king; Duties of a king.

2.Ch 18, Support for priests and Levites; People were to AVOID the occult; Note Verses 15-19; Death to false prophets.

3.Ch 19, Three Cities of Refuge and regulations concerning their use; Landmarks, False witnesses.

4.Ch 20, Laws in time of war; Canaanites to be destroyed; Fruit-bearing trees to be spared.

D.Ch 21-26, Social Laws.

1.Ch 21, Inquest for the slain; Forgiveness for the nearest city; Family relations; A rebellious son to be stoned.

2.Ch 22, The Law of Brotherhood; Other Social Laws; Matters concerning virginity and pure marriages.

3.Ch 23, Various Other Laws concerning: Foreigners; Personal purity; Usury; Vows; Gleaning a neighbor’s crops.

4.Ch 24, Marriage and divorce; Miscellaneous regulations.

5.Ch 25, Punishment for the guilty; A man’s duty to marry his brother’s widow; Honest weights and measures; The Nation of Amalek to be utterly destroyed.

6.Ch 26, Laws of firstfruits and tithes; Obedience to God, and the worship of God.

3.PROSPECTIVE: OPTIONS AFFECTING THE FUTURE - CHAPTERS
27-30 (HISTORY IN ADVANCE AS MOSES PREDICTED ISRAEL’S FUTURE; TERMS OF THE COVENANT WHICH WAS ABOUT TO BE RATIFIED BY THE PEOPLE).

A.Ch 27, When Israel entered Canaan they were to assemble in the valley between Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim, to write the law on stones, and pledge themselves to the Covenant (the Levites read the terms, and the people answered “Amen”).

1.Beginning here, and continuing through Ch 30, are BASIC CHOICES (Hearken to God’s Voice and Do His Will).

2.A Curse proclaimed against the disobedient - cf Gal 3:11.

B.Ch 28, Blessings would follow obedience; Curses would follow disobedience; An amazing outline of the Nation’s entire future history -- The writer had to be inspired!

C.Ch 29, Further covenant between God and Israel; See v29.

D.Ch 30, Some of Moses’ final exhortation to faithfulness; But the choice had to be made by the people - vv19-20.

4.FAREWELL AND DEATH OF MOSES - CHAPTERS 31-34.

A.Ch 31, The CHARGE of Moses to the people, to Joshua, and to the Levites.

1.31:1,5-6, He exhorted the people to be strong.

2.31:7-8, Exhorted Joshua to be strong.

3.31:9-13, Moses wrote the Law, gave it to the Levites, and instructed them to read it to the people every seven years.

4.31:14-30, God appeared; He told Moses the people would sin; He taught Moses a song; Moses wrote the song and taught it to the people.

B.Ch 32, The SONG of Moses about God and Israel; God summoned Moses to Mt. Nebo to die - Verses 51-52.

C.Ch 33, The BLESSING of Moses upon the tribes, with some predictions about each tribe’s future; Note Verse 27.

D.Ch 34, The DEATH of Moses upon Mt. Nebo at age 120, after he sees the Land; Epitaph of this great man - Verses 10-12.

1.This remarkable life was lived in 3 distinct periods:

a.Forty years as Prince in Egypt - Ex 2:11; Ac 7:23.

b.Forty years as Refugee in Midian - Ex 7:7; Ac 7:29-30.

c.Forty years as Leader of Israel - Ac 7:31-36; Deu 34:7.

2.God buried him in an unknown place (perhaps to prevent idolatry). The only person we know of whom God Himself buried.

3.If he was not physically resurrected to appear in Mt 17, then apparently his body still rests in that unknown grave - Verse 6.

4.My Grandmother Viola Busby taught Deuteronomy 34 this way:

“By Nebo’s lonely mountain, On this side Jordan’s wave,

In a vale in the Land of Moab, There lies a silent grave.

No man knows the sepulchre, No eye has seen it e’er;

The Hand of God upturned the sod, And laid the dead man there.”

(The original poem, by an author named Alexander, is below)

THE BURIAL OF MOSES

(Slightly changed from Alexander’s original)

By Nebo's lonely mountain,

On this side Jordan's wave,

In a vale in the land of Moab

There lies a lonely grave,

And no man knows that sepulcher,

No eye has seen it e'er;

For the Hand of God upturned the sod

And laid the dead man there.

In that strange grave without a name,

Whence his uncoffined clay

Shall break again--O wondrous thought!--

Before the judgment day,

And stand, with glory wrapped around,

On the hills he never trod,

And speak of the strife that won our life

With the incarnate Son of God.

O lonely grave in Moab's land!

O dark Beth-peor's hill!

Speak to these curious hearts of ours,

And teach them to be still.

God hath His mysteries of grace,

Ways that we cannot tell,

He hides them deep, like the hidden sleep

of Moses, whom He loved so well.

CONTRIBUTION OF THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY TO THE BIBLE:

1.Deuteronomy gives the spiritual significance of the history written in the first four Books of Moses - (Gen, Ex, Lev, Num).

2.Genesis -- Numbers portrays God’s WAYS; Deuteronomy emphasizes God’s LOVE.

3.Deuteronomy is the Conclusion to the Pentateuch (Five Books).

a.These Five Books must be kept in mind as the background to the entire body of Scriptures (they make up One-Fourth of the Old Testament; And together they are almost as large as the entire New Testament).

b.Israel was to enter a great new period in their history as Nation went into Canaan.

4.The Doctrine of “GOD” in Deuteronomy:

a.He alone is worthy of worship - 6:4-9; cf 1Co 8:5-6.

b.Need for dependence on Him - 8:17-18; 33:27a.

5.Shows a need for adversity - 8:2-3; cf Book of Job; 1Pe 1:6-7.

6.Shows that God blesses those who obey Him, and punishes those who refuse to obey Him - 30:15-18; cf Jas 1:22.

CHRIST IN THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY:

1.Moses was Prophet - Lawgiver - Deliverer - Intercessor: Surely a type or figure of Christ, Who is ALL OF THAT to Christians.

2.Jesus Christ is seen in the portrait of a New Prophet for all nations - 18:15-19; cf Ac 3:22-23; 7:37.

DEUTERONOMY IN EIGHT WORDS (Easy to memorize):

CH 1-4 CH 5-26 CH 27-30 CH 31-34

PAST PRESENT FUTURE MOSES’

HISTORY DUTIES OPTIONS FAREWELL

GOD ALLOWS US TO CHOOSE LIFE / DEATH -- WHICH WILL IT BE?

NOTE: The following alternate outline is by J. Sidlow Baxter:

THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY -- THE DIVINE FAITHFULNESS

1.LOOKING BACKWARD, 1-11.

a.Review of the way since Sinai, 1-3.

b.Review of the Law from Sinai, 4-11.

2.LOOKING FORWARD, 12-34.

a.Final rules and warning to Israel, before entering the earthly inheritance, 12-30.

b.Final words and actions of Moses, before entering heavenly inheritance, 31-34.