Notes Regarding Key Exegetical, Theological and Pastoral … · 2019-05-15 · 1 Reading the Book...

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Reading the Book Jesus Read Preaching from Deuteronomy

Harold Shank

May 20-23, 2019

Notes Regarding Key Exegetical, Theological and Pastoral Insights and Implications for

Teaching and Preaching from Deuteronomy

The following notes rely on Harold Shank, Deuteronomy--Truth for Today Commentary (Searcy, Arkansas: Resource Publications, in

process) and are copyrighted and cannot be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.

Three Sermons

Deuteronomy revolves around three sermons by Moses.1 They are the first sermons found in the Bible. Three times a third person

voice, called the narrator for convenience, announces a speech: Deut. 1:1-5; 4:44-5:1a; 29:1, 2a. Moses follows each one with a

sermon. The speeches occasionally have additional lines from the narrator including geographical notes (Deut. 2:10-12; 20-23; 3:9,

11, 13, 14; 4:41-43), introductions (Deut. 27:1; 31 and the record of Moses’ death (Deut. 34). The third sermon includes non-sermonic

material from Moses such as the Song of Moses (Deut. 32) and the Blessing of Moses (Deut. 33).

Thus, the broad outline of Deuteronomy unfolds in this way:

Speech 1—1:1-4:43

i. Narrator (1:1-5; 2:10-12; 20-23; 3:9, 11, 13, 14)

ii. Moses

iii. Narrator (4:41-43)

Speech 2—4:44-28:68

i. Narrator (4:45-5:1)

ii. Moses

Speech 3 and concluding matters—29:1-34:122

i. Narrator

ii. Moses

iii. Narrator

The Refrains Deuteronomy regularly repeats the same concepts which serve as refrains. Moses uses these refrains to encourage the people, to

remind Israel of what the LORD has done and to keep the LORD’s objectives for Israel in front of them. Since Deuteronomy claims to

be verbal before it was written and a sermon before it was Scripture, verbal discourse tends toward repetition more than written

material. The following summary of each refrain opens with a typical example and then a list of where the refrain occurs:

Obedience Refrain: Deut. 27:10: "You shall therefore obey the LORD your God, and do His commandments and His statutes which I

command you today." Over 130 verses reflect the obedience refrain including Deut. 1:3, 18, 19, 26, 41, 43; 2:4, 37; 3:18, 21; 4:1, 2, 5,

6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 23, 30, 40, 45; 5:1, 10, 12, 15, 16, 27, 29, 31-33; 6:1-3, 6, 17, 18, 20, 24, 25; 7:9, 11; 8:1, 2, 6, 11, 20; 9:12, 16, 23;

10:4, 5, 12, 13; 11:1, 8, 13, 22, 26-28, 32; 12:1,11, 14, 21, 28, 32; 13:4, 5, 18; 15:5, 11, 15; 17:3, 11, 19, 20; 18:18-20; 19:7, 9; 20:17;

24:8, 18, 22; 26:13, 14, 16-19; 27:1, 4, 10; 28:1, 2, 8, 9, 13-15, 45, 58, 62; 29:1; 30:2, 8, 10-20; 31:5, 10, 12, 25, 29; 32:46; 33:10;

34:9.

Gift of Land Refrain: Deut. 26:1: "Then it shall be, when you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and

you possess it and live in it….” Just over 100 verses in Deuteronomy refer to the gift of land, including Deut. 1:8, 20-22, 25, 27, 35-39;

2:19, 24, 29, 31; 3:2, 12, 13, 18, 20; 4:1, 5, 14, 21, 22, 26, 38, 40; 5:31; 6:1, 3, 10, 18, 23; 7:1; 8:7-10; 9:1, 4-6, 23; 10:11; 11:8-12, 17,

21, 23, 25, 29, 31; 12:1, 9, 10, 29; 15:4, 7; 16:5, 20; 17:14; 18:9; 19:1-3, 8, 10, 14; 20:13, 14, 16; 21:1, 23; 23:20; 24:4; 25:15, 19; 26:1-

3, 9, 15; 27:2, 3; 28:8, 11,12, 21, 52, 63; 29:8; 30:5, 18, 20; 31:7, 13, 20, 21, 23; 32:47, 49, 52; 33:23; 34:1-4.

Out of Egypt Refrain: Deut. 5:6, “I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Nearly fifty verses in Deuteronomy fall into the category of the out of Egypt refrain including Deut. 1:27, 30; 4:20, 34, 37, 45, 46; 5:6,

15; 6:12, 21-23; 7:8; 8:14; 9:7, 12, 26; 10:19, 22; 11:3, 4, 10; 13:5, 10; 15:15; 16:1, 3, 6, 12; 17:16; 20:1; 23:4; 24:9, 18, 22; 25:17;

26:5-8; 28:68; 29:2, 16, 25; 34:11.

1 This outline appears in Miller, Deuteronomy, pp. ix-xii; and Wright, Deuteronomy, p. 2. 2 Some assign 29:1 as the narrator’s conclusion to the second speech and 29:2 as the beginning of the third speech. In that case the

second speech includes the “narrator-Moses-narrator” sequence.

2

Fathers Refrain: Deut. 1:11 “May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand-fold more than you are and bless you,

just as He has promised you!” The fathers or the names of the fathers appear in Deuteronomy nearly 50 times including these

passages: Deut. 1:8, 11, 21, 35; 4:1, 31, 37; 5:3; 6:3, 10, 18, 23; 7:8, 12; 8:1, 3, 16, 18; 9:5, 27; 10:11, 15, 22; 11:9, 21; 12:1; 13:6, 17;

19:8; 26:3, 5, 7, 15; 27:3; 28:11, 36, 64; 29:13, 25; 30:5, 9, 20; 31:7, 16, 20; 32:17; 34:4.

Blessing Refrain: Deut. 7:14: "You shall be blessed above all peoples; there will be no male or female barren among you or among

your cattle.” The blessing refrain appears about forty times including Deut. 1:11; 2:7; 7:13, 14; 8:10; 10:8; 11:26-29; 12:7, 15; 14:24,

29; 15:4, 6, 10, 14, 18; 16:10, 15, 17; 23:20; 24:19; 26:15; 27:12; 28:2-6, 8, 12; 30:1, 16, 19; 33:1, 11, 13, 20, 23, 24, 29.

Good Life Refrain: Deut. 32:47: "For it is not an idle word for you; indeed, it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your

days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess." The good life refrain appears just over twenty times in Deut. 4:1,

9, 40; 5:16, 33; 6:2; 8:1, 3; 11:9, 21; 16:3, 20; 19:13; 25:15; 30:6, 16, 19, 20; 32:47.

Multiply Refrain: Deut. 1:10: “The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in

number.” Nearly a dozen verses in Deuteronomy feature some element of the multiply refrain including Deut. 1:10; 6:3; 7:13; 8:1, 13;

11:21; 28:63; 30:5, 9, 16.

Sermon One (Deut. 1:1-4:43) The opening sermon has two parts. It changes focus at the beginning of Deut. 4. Deut. 1:6-3:29 centers on what the LORD has

done in the immediate past while Deut. 4:1-40 looks to the future. After the first sermon tells what God has done (the grace of Deut. 1-

3), “so now” (4:1) live this way (Deut. 4). The “words which Moses spoke” (1: 1) aim to “expound this law” (1:5) initially through a

review of ten past events that prepare the Israelites for the coming invasion of the Promised Land.

Ten Events that Expound the Law—Deut. 1-3. Deut. 1-3 appears as a travelogue which centers not on the journey, but a select number of specific historical events that take

place on the trip including:

1. Choosing leaders to assist Moses—1:9-18

2. Failed invasion from Kadesh-barnea—1:19-46

3. Encountering Esau—2:1-8a

4. Encountering Moab—2:8b-15

5. Encountering Ammon—2:16-23

6. Victory over Sihon king of Heshbon—2:24-37

7. Victory over Og king of Bashan—3:1-11

8. Distribution of the land across the Jordan—3:12-17

9. East Jordan tribes to assist with the invasion west of the Jordan—3:18-22

10. Instructions to Joshua and forbidding Moses to enter the land—3:23-29

The selectivity of the travelogue and of the specific details recalled about these events reflects Moses’ intent to “expound this law”

(1:5) by embedding in the story of the journey five critical doctrinal points that give foundation to the law. Those five points include:

1. the LORD guides history

2. the LORD will enable Israel to take the Promised Land

3. faith in the LORD must be passed on to the new generation

4. the LORD wishes to build an ideal community in the land

5. the LORD guides the leadership transfer from Moses to Joshua

Implications for Teaching and Preaching:

Deut. 1 wrestles with the relevant question of “Who is in control of our world?” Every age and culture must weigh the truth

of the competing voices that claim, “We are in charge.” Most people hear multiple answers to the issue of authority. The most

successful lives settle the issue of control early on. Moses prepares for the future by looking to the past. He argues that when the

people recognize the authority of the LORD, life goes better. When they listened to the LORD, they escaped Egypt. When they accepted

other authorities, they died in the wilderness. Christians and congregations must decide on the issue of authority. In every age and

culture, those following Christ will meet others claiming authority. Just as Moses viewed the past as their guide for the future, in a

similar way Christians can look to the past in the Bible as a guide for their present and future. Biddle mentions the “crisis of

leadership” being experienced by Israel as they enter the Promised Land and leave behind the only leader they have ever known. They

must go on without Moses’ direct communication with God and knowledge of God’s will. In many ways, Deuteronomy becomes the

response to this crisis—Moses may not be able to continue with them into the land, but he leaves them with the teaching of

Deuteronomy, his extensive insight into the Law.3 Vogt notes, “Deuteronomy represents Moses’ last, best chance to tell the people

3Biddle, Deuteronomy, p. 73.

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what they need to know in order to survive and thrive in the land and in being the people of God.”4 Moses’ lesson recalls Israel’s lack

of trust and the LORD’s trustworthiness as a means of encouraging Joshua and his leadership of the people to do what God asks.

In Deut. 2, Moses dictates public policy for the nation of Israel. They must not attack Esau, Moab or Ammon. They must

attack the Amorites under Sihon. Moses knows that the LORD not only rules over individual humans, but over nations; not only over

Israel, but over Esau, Moab, Ammon and the Amorites. Moses saw no distinction between faith and public policy. In much of the

contemporary world, the secular worldviews disconnect faith and public policy. These worldviews argue that people of faith must

confine their beliefs to their church buildings and that such views cannot affect public policy in general or how people of faith

approach public policies. Moses moves in a different direction by integrating faith and public policy because the LORD creates and

owns both faith and public policy. Both arenas are His. Contemporary worldviews separate what God unites. Paul makes the same

point in the hymn-like treatment of Jesus in Col. 1:15-20 which concludes that “in Him all things hold together” (1:17, the “Him”

refers to Jesus).

In Deut. 3, Moses prays to be allowed to enter the Promised Land. The Bible never gives an exact reason for Moses’

exclusion from entering Canaan. His prayer illustrates several significant aspects of prayer. Despite the previous prohibitions about

entering the land, he continues to pray. Only at this point does the LORD tell him not to make the request. Determining how often and

how long to make a request in prayer apparently was not clear to Moses. If the process remained unclear to a man who spent

considerable time in God’s presence, such questions remain unclear to others who follow. Agonizing over how often to pray and how

long to make a request likely has no answer. The LORD’s command for him to no longer make the request is striking by its rarity in

Scripture. Although Moses did not get the answer that he wanted to his prayer, the LORD did answer. He permitted Moses to seek the

land, but not enter it. He allowed Moses to train the man that would take his place and lead the people into the land. His long quest to

see the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob fulfilled came to pass. The struggles of Moses with his own destiny should encourage

other leaders who have similar issues. Moses fulfilled the purpose for which the LORD had created him. Few men in history have such

a long and distinguished career. Few have accomplished so much. Few have led so many. Few have left such a lasting legacy. Along

the way, Moses decided he wanted more. Moses’ story reveals that such struggles typify all people of faith even the most talented and

successful. For contemporary leaders to be free of such struggles is unlikely in light of Moses’ story of a life-long wrestling with those

issues.

Stay Close to the LORD —Deut. 4

The second part of Moses’ first sermon calls the people to stay close to the LORD who had guided them on the journey (see Deut.

1-3). The chapter lays out how staying close to God involved his commandments. The terms “commandments” (4:2, 12, 40),

“statutes” (vv. 1, 5, 6, 8), “judgments” (vv. 1, 5, 8) and “law” (v. 8) take on a variety of ancient and recent definitions. Even in

Deuteronomy “law” refers to individual commands, the Ten Commandments, and the whole corpus of the book.5 Contemporary

readers often use the definition of law as legislation adopted by a governing authority such as a state or nation, but most of the

material in Deuteronomy bears little resemblance to modern jurisprudence. Or readers of the NT may be inclined to use one of Paul’s

definitions for law (cf. Rom 7:10; 10:5; Gal 3) which referred to how sects of the Jews in his time had constructed extensive legalistic

codes and structures. Paul rejected their legalistic recasting of the OT material. Jesus (Matt. 19:17) and Paul (Rom. 3:31) both

affirmed the value of the Mosaic Law itself. The material in Deuteronomy referred to as “commandments,” “statutes,” “judgments”

and “law” aimed to allow the people live well and in a healthy community within the land. Repeatedly in the book, Moses will stress

the health and success that will come by following the LORD’s guidance in what He says. Wright notes, “The link between law and life

is an authentic OT vision (cf. Lev 18:5; Psa. 1; 19; 119; Ezek. 18) that Jesus Himself endorsed in conversation with the rich young

man (Matt. 19:16ff).”6

Deut. 4:7, 8 deals with the LORD’S presence. God was near at Horeb (4:9-14), both in response to prayer “whenever we call on

Him,” and through His word (cf. Deut. 30:14). Deut. 4:7-8 shows the LORD remains near to Israel through His commandments. The

thoughts that originated in the mind and heart of God now dwell in the mind and hearts of the people. Through the words from Horeb

(vv. 9-14) and the teaching of Moses (vv. 1-8), the LORD maintains a nearness to His people. His commandments reflect Him as God.

Rather than being represented by a form or image, the words of the LORD serve as His representative.

Although Israel had not “seen” God with their “eyes”, they had witnessed His great works (Deut. 4:9, 10). They are to take what

they heard to heart. Moses insists that the people not forget the Horeb experience. He means they should internalize its message

implicit in the commands to “give heed to yourself” and “keep your soul diligently” and “remember the day.” In Deuteronomy, the

relationship with the LORD is not just a matter of law keeping, but of internalizing the core relationship with the LORD.

Deut. 4:13 notes God declared His “covenant” and wrote the “Ten Commandments.” The critical word “covenant” occurs 3 times

in the chapter (13, 23, 31; 28 times in Deuteronomy) and appears here in Deuteronomy for the first time. Here Moses clearly states

that the covenant is the Ten Commandments (cf. 9:9-11; 10:8) although in other places the covenant describes the totality of the

relationship between the LORD and Israel (4:31). No other issue violates the covenant with God more than idol worship.


4 Vogt, Interpreting Deuteronomy, pp. 137-38. 5 McConville, Deuteronomy, pp. 102-03 provides more material on this subject. Even commentators define these words differently.

McConville’s definitions differ from those in Block, Deuteronomy, pp. 116-17. 6 Wright, Deuteronomy, pp. 45-46.

4

The core theme of Deut. 4 “Stay Close to the LORD” unfolds in seven ways: Stay Close to the LORD

1—by following what you hear from the LORD not what you see in the land. God is heard but not seen.

2—in the land through obedience. Obedience maintains the relationship between God and Israel.

3—because God is near and cares enough to instruct. Deut. 4:7 indicates God is near. He is near through His teaching.

4—by keeping the first two of the Ten Commandments. Deuteronomy makes loyalty to one God the core of faith.

5—because the relationship of the LORD and Israel is unique. Out of that relationship life goes well and the watching world sees

and is drawn near.

6—who holds grace and obedience together. Deut. 4 reflects a set of tensions: Obedience (1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 14, 23, 30, 40) and

disobedience (2, 3, 16); remembering (10) and forgetting (9, 23); the LORD (4, 7, 10, 12, 15, 19, 23-25, 29-30, 32, 34-36, 38)

and idols (16-19, 23, 25, 28); and Israelite law (1, 2, 5, 8, 13, 14) and covenant (13, 23, 31) and other laws (implied).

Furthermore, the bright light of the fire at Horeb stood in contrast to the gloom and darkness of Horeb (11) just as the

jealousy of the LORD (24) stood in contrast to His great compassion (31). Grace makes sense of the tensions. Moses forbids

Israel to make idols under the threat of total destruction (15-20, 26), but when it occurs the threat of destruction is removed

(31) out of His great compassion (31) all underlined by grace. Obedience (1, 5, 21-23, 26, 40) to the law is essential for

keeping the land and for living well, but that obedience is dependent on the grace of God. These tensions and the concept of

grace will recur throughout Deuteronomy, the OT, the NT, and contemporary life.

7—because there is no other God. Since He alone is god, they should stay close to the LORD by following what they hear from

the LORD not what they see in the land. They should stay close to the LORD in the land through obedience because the LORD

God is near and cares enough to instruct. All of this becomes the basis of the first two of the Ten Commandments. They

should stay close to the LORD because the relationship of the LORD and Israel is unique, because He holds grace and

obedience together. Indeed, stay close to the LORD because there is no other God. Perhaps no other critical truth pervades all

of Scripture like this one. Perhaps no other truth is more often challenged throughout history and in culture than the reality of

one God.

Sermon Two (Deut. 4:44-28:68) The second sermon covers most of the book and divides into two large parts:

1. 5:1b-11:32—General Teaching on the Law which includes the Ten Commandments, the people’s response, and then

reflections on the first four commandments.

2. 12:1-28:68—Specific Teaching on the Law which includes detailed descriptions of how the people should live in community.

The specific teaching reflects the last seven commandments (Sabbath is on both lists).

The Ten Commandments—Deut. 5. Numbering

Command

Number

Josephus, Jerome, Church

Fathers, Hellenistic Judaism,

Protestants7

Talmud/Jewish Augustine, Catholic,

Lutheran8

1 Other gods I am God/out of Egypt Other gods/ idols

2 Idols Other gods/idols Name

3 Name Name Sabbath

4 Sabbath Sabbath Parents

5 Parents Parents Murder

6 Murder Murder Adultery

7 Adultery Adultery Theft

8 Theft Theft False witness

9 False witness False witness Coveting wife

10 Coveting Coveting Coveting property


As a whole, the Ten Commandments reflect several significant points:

1. There is only one God.

2. He orders all relationships

3. Relationships among people affect the human relationship with God;

4. Righteousness and justice characterize relationships

5. Adhering to the ways of God creates an alternative community within the larger world.

6. God at Horeb is a theophany. The biblical word for such appearances is glory (5:24)

7. The revelation at Horeb came from the LORD Himself.

7 Many commentators follow this numbering including Christensen, Deuteronomy, p. 106. 8 Block, Deuteronomy, pp. 162-68 follows this enumeration.

5

8. The revelation at Horeb came verbally.

9. The LORD’s revelation at Horeb was public.

10. The revelation at Horeb was complete.

11. Israel received the LORD’s revelation with fear.

The Great Commandment—Deut. 6 Children become a clear focus of Deut. 6 (cf. vv. 2, 7, 25). As the children see the LORD’s commands being obeyed by the people

in 5:31-6:1, they learn to “fear” the LORD. Moses expresses regular concern for the next generation in Deuteronomy (1:39; 4:9; 5:14,

29; 6:7, 20, 21; 7:4; 11:2; 11:19, 21; 12:12, 18 , 25, 28; 13:6; 16:11, 14; 17:20; 18:10; 29:22, 29; 30:2; 32:46).

The Great Commandment concerns children and radiates to all of life (6:4-9). This passage is cited in Deut. 10:12; 11:13; 13:3;

30:6; Josh. 22:5; 2 Kings 23:25; Zech. 14:9; Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke. 10:27; 1 Cor. 8:1-6 with a strong echo in Prov. 6:20-22.

One of the world’s oldest extant biblical manuscripts, the Nash Papyrus includes this passage. Jesus echoes Deuteronomy 6 when He

says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

The core teaching about the LORD comes in four Hebrew words (dx'(a, hw"ïhy> WnyheÞl{a/ hw"ïhy>))): “the LORD,” “our God,” “the LORD,”

“one”. Simple Hebrew sentences such as this one often omit the verb, but the missing “to be” verb is required by other languages such

as English. The NAS puts the verb “is” between the first two words and the last two words. There are four possible ways to translate

the passage depending on the insertion of the word “is.” These are from McConville, Deuteronomy, pp. 140-41:

1. “The LORD is our God, the LORD alone,”

2. “The LORD our God, the LORD is one,”

3. “The LORD is our God, the LORD is one,”

4. “The LORD our god is one LORD.”

The last of the four words (dx'a, echad) can mean

1. “one” (using it as an adjective as in Gen. 1:5, 9; 2:21) . The translation of echad as “one” stresses the unity of the LORD. The

LORD who brought them out of Egypt is the same as the one who brings them into the Promised Land. Wright argues that

this translation refutes the popular proposal of all religions worshipping the same God just with different names. He notes,

“There is no divine schizophrenia.”9

2. “alone” (using it as an adverb as in Josh. 22:20; 1 Chron. 29:1; Eccles. 4:11, 12). It might be translated “The LORD is our

God, the LORD alone.” This translation points to the uniqueness of the LORD. The LORD who brought them out of Egypt is the

only god like Him. There are no others. Such a translation fits well with the emphasis in Deut. 4:25-28, 35, 39 and 5:7-8 on

Israel serving no other gods and is the positive restatement of the first two commandments. In the ancient Near East most

cultures had a pantheon of gods of which one was chief among the others. The uniqueness of the LORD contradicts that

paradigm. He is not the chief of the gods, He is the only God.

3. Although English translations must opt for one meaning or the other, the Hebrew text seems to teach both truths, that God is

a unity and that He is unique. This view finds support in the event in Mark 12 when a scribe asks Jesus to cite the great

commandment. After Jesus quotes Deut. 6:4-5, the scribe agrees by saying, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is

one, and there is no one else besides Him” (Mark 12:32). The scribe understood Deut. 6:4 to mean both that the LORD is one

and that He is God alone, stressing both the unity and uniqueness of the LORD.


The chapter unfolds challenges to the Great Commandment including: 10-12—affluence and the misunderstanding grace; 13-

15—other gods; 16—deprivation; 17, 18—lack of diligence; 19—difficulties of life; and 20-25—the next generation

misunderstanding grace. Deut. 6 provides a teaching foundation for monotheism, loving God in all areas of life, and teaching children

about the love of God.

Living in a culture hostile to the faith—Deut. 7 Belief in and obedience to the one God dominate the sermons of Moses in Deuteronomy. In Deut. 7, Moses deals with the threat

that the nations in Canaan posed to belief and obedience to one God. The nations in the land threaten Israel’s belief and obedience to

the LORD so Moses opened and closed chapter 7 with a call to eliminate those nations. In between, Moses made one of the clearest

statements in his three sermons on why the LORD chose Israel and the benefits of obedience to Him. The other nations in the land must

be eliminated because they hate the LORD and because they will turn Israel away from its service to the one God. After Moses called

for “utter destruction,” he described the specific actions for Israel to take which can be understood as his definition of “utter

destruction” including: no covenants; no favor (7:2); no intermarriage (7:3, 4); and destruction of their religious places and objects

(7:5, 25, 26). Moses called for the destruction of the nations in the land because those nations would turn Israel from following the

LORD (7:4), be a snare to them (7:16, 25) and because the nations hated the LORD (7:10). Moses had dealt with these nations earlier in

his life and would continue to explain their status later in Deuteronomy. Indeed, clarifying statements appear in the Pentateuch about

these nations including the following points:

1. Israel would not be given the land until the iniquity of the people who lived there was complete (Gen. 15:13-15).

2. God used Israel to remove these nations because they had defiled themselves and the land (Lev. 18:24, 25, 28).

9 Wright, Deuteronomy, pp. 96-97.

6

3. God abhorred the practices of the nations who lived in the land (Lev. 20:23).

4. The nations lost their land because of their wickedness (Deut. 9:4, 5) and abominable practices (Deut. 18:12).


Deut. 7:1-5 describes the seven nations not chosen while Deut. 7:6-11 takes up the nation of Israel that is chosen. Deut. 7

addresses the issue of how to be a people of faith in a world that rejects or contradicts that faith. When the surrounding world holds to

many biblical beliefs and standards, there may be little perceived difference between faith and God and the world. However, when the

surrounding world rejects biblical beliefs and standards, people of faith must find a way to maintain their faith in a world that

challenges or rejects that faith. Deut. 7 takes up the issue of how alien cultures become a snare for a biblical worldview. The opening

and closing call to eliminate elements of the seven nations shows how dangerous cultural worldviews are to biblical faith. The chapter

alerts all people of faith to guard critical entry points, including making agreements with people who hold opposing worldviews,

intermarriage, engaging in local religion and bringing symbols of the alien culture into the home. The dangerous culture does not

necessarily announce the end of biblical faith, but mixes elements of belief in the LORD with the local worldview to the point that the

biblical faith is diluted. Deut. 7 underlines the deadliness of this mix by calling for extermination of the people and of their cultural

symbols.

In short, Deut. 7 calls into question: a permissive attitude toward viewing, buying, accepting and engaging with cultural and

religious symbols that contradict biblical faith; an ignorance of how the alien worldview infiltrates the confines of biblical faith

through relationships, products, media and technology; a cavalier attitude toward small steps of accommodation that thinks “it can’t

happen to me;” a failure to recognize how the faith is passed on to the next generation and how to prevent the new generation from

jettisoning the biblical in preference for the popular and ubiquitous non biblical worldviews; and setting aside the memories, teaching,

practices, and symbols of the biblical worldview as outdated and unimportant, while simultaneously giving attention to and

participating in the inviting aspects of the alien culture.

The biblical world view is rooted in an in-depth understanding of love. The two words love and hate have a variety of

contemporary meanings. It is common to hear people say that they love their mate, their dog and hot dogs as if one word accurately

described each of these relationships. Deut. 7 uses six different words that give helpful definition to the love-hate spectrum and create

deeper insight into our relationships.

1. Loving kindness (ds,x, chesed) in Deut. 7:9 describes the LORD’s intentions toward Israel. In a world that reduces love to an

emotion, this word raises love to a willful intention.

2. Favor (!n"x' chanan) in Deut. 7:2 describes what Israel must withhold from the seven nations.

3. Love (qv;x' chashaq) in Deut. 7:7 describes the LORD’s attraction to Israel. Elsewhere this word expresses the desire of a man

for a woman (Gen. 34:8; Deut. 21:11), but its use here as the LORD’s attraction to Israel comes in a context that says that

Israel has few attractive qualities.

4. Love (bhea' aheb) in Deut. 7:8, 9 describes the motive for the LORD choosing Israel (v 8) and what He expects in return from

Israel (v 9). It is the mutual loyalty love of families and ancient covenants.

5. Pity (sWx chus) in Deut. 7:16 describes what Israel must withhold from the seven nations because of their covenant with God.

6. Hate (anEf' sane) in Deut. 7:10 describes the state of the disobedient and the LORD’s response to them.

Understanding the love-hate spectrum prepares people of all ages to maintain faith in a world that seeks to destroy that faith and forms

a foundation on which to believe, live and act.

When it all depends on God—Deut. 8 Deut. 8 is structured around four calls to keep the commandments (8:1, 6, 11, 18-20, all echoing 7:11). The rationale for

keeping the commandments rests on what the LORD did in the Wilderness (Deut. 8:2-5; 15-16) and what He will do in the land (8:7-

14). The key verse of Deut. 8:19 calls Israel to not forget the LORD by serving other gods. In effect Deut. 8:19 repeats the teaching of

the first two commandments and the Great Commandment.

The chapter unfolds in three sections:

1. 8:1-6—keep the commandments because of what the LORD did in the Wilderness

2. 8:7-14—keep the commandments because of what the LORD does in the land

3. 8:15-20—keep the commandments because of what the LORD did in the Wilderness

Moses used the past in Deut. 1-3 to find truths for the present. He returns to that method here by drawing on the events of the

Wilderness to prepare the people for living in the land.


Reflection on the Wilderness represents a common biblical focus. In the historical review of the past in Psa. 105-106, 14 OT

events are mentioned of which 8 occur in the Wilderness. In the Psa. 136 treatment of Israel’s history, of the 5 events, one is

Wilderness. The prayer in Neh. 9 mentions 18 different events from Israelite history including 8 from the Wilderness. In the NT,

Stephen cites 7 OT events in his Acts 7 sermon, one of which is Wilderness.

Generally, the OT takes two different approaches to the Wilderness period. In Deut. 8, the Wilderness provides a context for

God’s test of Israel. Num. 14:22; Psa. 81:10-16 and Jesus’ experience in the Wilderness (Matt. 4, Luke 4) reflect this perspective.

Isolated in the Wilderness with no outside temptations from other human cultures or systems of belief, the tests pose the core question:

What would the people do if totally supported in a protected environment?

7

Other passages understand the Wilderness as Israel’s test of God. Deut. 6:16; Psa. 95:8, 9, Ezek. 20 and Hebrews 3, 4. These

passages raise the issue: How far can Israel push God before He gives up on them?

Moses reminds the people of five expressions of God’s grace: the good land (vv. 7-9), bringing them out of slavery (v. 14),

leadership in the Wilderness (v. 15), water in the Wilderness (v. 15), and manna in the Wilderness (v. 16). Deut. 8 explores the effect

of want and plenty on faith. Israel’s past included times of want: they were slaves in Egypt wanting their freedom. God set them free.

They wandered in the Wilderness which had few sources of water, food, clothing and health care. God fed them, gave them water,

gave them extended wear clothing and kept them well. Times of scarcity sometimes prompt people to turn to God. People often come

to faith more readily in underdeveloped countries than in developed nations, more often in the inner city than in the suburb, and more

often in the hospital than on vacation. Dependent children more often embrace God than independent adults. Times of plenty often

prevent people from turning to God. When people have food in abundance, they seem less likely to thank God for their daily bread.

Those who trust in themselves for the necessities of life and who enjoy the bounties of wealth often find it more difficult to trust their

lives to an unseen God.

The Golden Calf—It is not because you are good enough—Deut. 9-10 Deut. 7-10 reflects in different ways on Israel’s status with God in light of the Promised Land. Deut. 7 takes up how the peoples

of the soon to be conquered land would challenge those core beliefs while Deut. 8 teaches that the economic bounty of the land would

prompt Israel to serve other gods and forget these first four commandments. Deut. 9-10 considers how the successful conquest might

turn their hearts away from the LORD just as it did at the making of the Golden Calf. The beginning of chapter 9 reflects on Israel’s

misinterpretation of its own heart, “do not say in your heart” (9:4) and calls them not to depend on the “uprightness of your heart”

(9:5) while chapter 10 concludes with the LORD’s hopes for Israel’s heart in His call to “circumcise your heart” (10:16). The recall of

the Golden Calf story confirms Israel’s self-misunderstanding and lays the foundation for God’s hopes. The Golden Calf episode

reflects Israel’s stubbornness (9:6, 13, 27), repeated times of provoking the LORD to wrath and anger (9:7, 8, 18, 22), rebellion (9:7,

23, 24), and sin (9:18, 27).

Moses anticipated that when the land fell to Israel that they would assume that the victory established their superior morality:

“Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land” (9:4). Moses sought to nullify this incorrect

understanding with two potent points: First, the nations who lost their land in the conquest forfeited it because of their wickedness.

The loss of their land was not an arbitrary decision by the LORD. Second, Israel’s claim that the conquest of the land was due to their

righteousness did not take into account Israel’s history of stubbornness (Deut. 9:6, 13, 27; 10:16), rebellion (9:7, 23, 24) and

corruption (9:12). These verses repeat the same concept three times: Israel’s successful conquest did not result from their

righteousness, but from the wickedness of the nations.10

Implications for Teaching and Preaching in Deut. 9:

The words of Moses’ prayer of intercession come in vv. 26-29 (cf. Psa. 106:19-23). Moses called the LORD not to destroy Israel

by not looking at their sin, but at His investment. Moses’s prayer revolved around three issues: relationship, relatives and reputation.

Moses used weighted words to describe the relationship between the LORD and Israel: “your inheritance,” “you redeemed” them from

slavery, and “you brought them out of Egypt.” For the second time in the chapter, Moses listed the relatives recalling the promises the

LORD made to the patriarchs. God’s faithfulness to the promise to the fathers contrasts with Israel’s unfaithfulness to God. Finally,

Moses appealed to the LORD’s reputation among the nations (cf. Num. 14:15-19). In the process, Moses referred to several qualities of

God including His greatness and strength. The LORD’s response to the prayer comes in Deut. 10, but the prayer serves to remind Israel

that they are not righteous since Moses had to pray for their deliverance from destruction due to their rebellious, wickedness and sin.

Moses used the Golden Calf story to teach the next generation about the power of intercessory prayer.

Deut. 9, 10 centered on Israel’s claim that the successful land conquest would come because of their righteousness. Moses denied

that claim. The weightiest evidence of Israel’s unrighteousness came in the retelling of the Golden Calf story in which the rebellion of

Israel nearly cost them not only the land, but their existence. The crucial turning point in that rebellion story occurred in the

intercessory prayer of Moses at the top of the mountain. At a critical moment the prayer in Deut. 9:25-29 illustrated profound truths

that characterize the entire story: Prayer effectively changed the actions of the LORD. The prayer involved an issue of highest priority

for Israel. The LORD has power to change history. The prayer reminded the LORD that it was not His intent to destroy Israel.

Moses prayed several times in Exodus and Numbers (Exod. 10:17, 18; Num. 11:2; 12:13; 21:7), but his face to face encounters

(Exod. 33:11) and numerous experiences with the LORD on the mountain (including the recall of those experiences in Deut. 9, 10) are

not called prayers. Prayer appears in a crucial place in the rebellion story. As Moses instructs the next generation this crucial use of

prayer underlines the important role of intercessory prayer.11

Implications for Teaching and Preaching in Deut. 10:

What the LORD requires (Deut. 10:12-22). Since Israel’s history showed stubbornness rather than righteousness, Moses now

instructed the next generation what the LORD required for the relationship between the LORD and Israel to continue. The section

10 Wright links the three chapters in Deut. 7-9 by the appearances of three kinds of pride: national pride which leads to racism in Deut.

7; economical pride which prompts materialism in Deut. 8, and moral pride which ends in militarism in Deut. 9. Wright,

Deuteronomy, p. 130. 11 Patrick Miller, They Cried to the Lord: The Form and Theology of Biblical Prayer (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1994), pp. 270-74.

8

explains how to love God and calls Israel to total commitment. These words summarize the core teaching of the entire book of

Deuteronomy (and indeed the entire Bible). The Golden Calf story provided a clear contrast between Israel’s initial response to the

LORD‘s covenant (Deut. 5:27) and what the LORD expected over the long term.

After highlighting the contrast between their hoped-for righteousness and their practiced stubbornness and rebellion, Moses

asked, “What does the LORD your God require of you?” (10:12). Ten verbs with their objects express what the LORD expects (listed

here with references to other appearances of the same requirement in Deuteronomy):

1. Fear the LORD (twice in 10:12, 20, mentioned earlier in 4:10; 6:2, 13, 24; 5:29).

2. Walk in His ways (10:12, mentioned earlier in 5:33; 6:14 and later in 11:22).

3. Love the LORD (10:12, mentioned earlier at 6:5 and later in 11:1, 13, 22).

4. Serve the LORD (twice in 10:12, 20, mentioned earlier in 6:13; 10:8 and later in 11:13).

5. Keep the commandments and statutes (10:13, mentioned earlier in 4:6, 40; 6:1; 8:6, 11 and later in 11:1, 8, 13, 22).

6. Circumcise their hearts (10:16).

7. No longer stiffen your neck (10:16).

8. Love the alien (10:19).

9. Cling to the LORD (10:20, mentioned later in 13:4).

10. Swear by his name (10:20, mentioned earlier in 6:13).

While much of Deuteronomy focuses on the commandments of the covenant (Deut. 5) and the statutes and ordinances (Deut. 12-26),

this passage reflects on the core components of the covenant. There is no tension between loving God and keeping His

commandments. They go together perfectly. Of the ten requirements, two appear twice (“fear” appears in vv. 12 and 20; “serve” in vv.

12 and 20). Of the ten, nine are positive (the negative calls for them to cease their stubbornness). Of the ten, eight reflect on their

relationship with the LORD (fear [twice], walk, love, serve [twice], cling, swear). Of the ten concepts, seven are mentioned elsewhere

in Deuteronomy. In a volume filled with detailed instructions and laws, the sermon in Deut. 9-10 provides a foundation for what lies at

the core of the teaching of Deuteronomy. Moses made it clear here that the LORD seeks their hearts to be right with Him. He seeks

them to fear Him and walk in His ways, to love and serve Him, to cut away the stubbornness in their hearts that keeps them away, to

keep His laws especially about the most vulnerable, and to cleave and swear by the LORD.

Deut. chapters 4-8 stressed the LORD’s core concerns expressed in the first two commandments that there must be no other gods

and no images of Him or any other deity. The Golden Calf story shows how Israel challenged that core concern. They were “rebellious

against the LORD” (Deut. 9:7) and made a “molten image” (9:12).

After the Golden Calf episode as recorded in Exodus, the LORD described Himself in remarkable terms (Exod. 34:5-7). In

Deuteronomy Moses described the LORD in an equally significant way (10:12-20).12 Moses defined the LORD as:

1. Owner of heaven, the highest heavens, the earth and all its contents (Deut. 10:14).

2. One who set His heart in love upon the fathers (10:15).

3. One who chose Israel above all peoples (10:15).

4. God of gods (10:17).

5. Lord of lords (10:17).

6. Great (10:17).

7. Mighty (10:17).

8. Awesome (10:17).

9. Not partial (10:17).

10. Takes no bribe (10:17).

11. Executes justice for the orphan (10:18).

12. Executes justice for the widow (10:18).

13. Loves the alien (10:18).

14. Done great and awesome things for Israel (10:21).

15. Made Israel into a multitude (10:22).

This passage (along with Exod. 34:5-7) provides the biblical vocabulary by which we talk of God and supplies the words for our

hymns. These qualities include the transcendent (vv. 14, 17) and the immanent (vv. 15, 17, 18, 21, 22). His power extended over all

heaven and earth, but He gave attention to the most vulnerable of human society. No god or lord measured up to Him. Of the 15

definitions of the LORD, four of them concern Israel (set His love on the fathers, chose Israel, did great and awesome things for Israel,

made Israel into a multitude). In that context, the heart of the LORD stood in contrast to the heart of Israel which at the beginning of

the story claimed a righteousness not its own (9:4, 5) and at the end needed circumcised (10:16) so that they would be free to serve the

LORD with “all your heart and all your soul” (10:12). Clearly Moses intended to say that the LORD who can forgive Israel for the

Golden Calf, who owns heaven and earth, who will shortly deliver them into the land, can call Israel to a new heart. This remarkable

passage also links the vertical relationship with God to the horizontal relationships with other people. They work together as John says

“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot

love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). Both passages reflect the same teaching.

12 Achiemeier calls the passage the best summary of the message of Deuteronomy in the book. Elizabeth Achiemeier, “Plumbing the

Riches: Deuteronomy for the Preacher,” Interpretation 41 (July 1987): 273.

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“Fear” has the same wide range of meanings in Hebrew as in English. The command to “fear the LORD” recurs throughout

the OT (cf. Deut. 6:2; Prov. 1:7). This fear tends to prompt obedience over apprehension, refers to respect more than fright, enhances

the relationship rather than destroying it.

The similarly majestic summary of the human response to God in Micah 6:8 urged “walk humbly with your God.” Both

Deut. 10 and Micah 6 use the metaphor of walking in the sense of moral obedience. From Enoch (Gen. 5:24) and Noah (Gen. 6:10)

walking with God to Peter’s call “to follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21), walking conveys an intimacy and relationship between the

divine and the human.

The Deuteronomic concept for love is almost completely foreign to the modern emotion denoting passion. In Deuteronomy,

love frequently is mentioned alongside obedience, service, and respect. To love the Lord is to respect the Lord, and so frequently

“love” is seen as walking with the Lord and serving Him. This passage echoes the Great Commandment in Deut. 6:4-9; Matt. 22:36-

38 and is linked to the obedience refrain discussed in the general introduction.

Deut. 10:13. Obedience to the commandments does not earn salvation, but is the human means of loving and serving God (v.

12). The commandments were not arbitrary or capricious, but when followed lead to a “good” life. The use of “today” reminded the

listeners that the LORD had renewed the covenant with both its promises and demands.

Deut. 10:16. The Hebrew language often uses body parts to convey abstract human attributes. The human heart, neck and

circumcision are in view here. The Hebrew word for “heart” in this instance refers not to the human organ that pumps blood but to the

inner person or the mind and will. The word appears in 9:4, 5, 10:12, 16. See similar thoughts in Lev. 26:41; Jer. 9:25-26. The English

phrase “change of heart” echoes the thought here. The Hebrew word for “neck” refers not to the base of the human head, but to the

human will. “Neck” and various forms of “stiff” appear in 9:6, 13; 10:16. The NAS translates the appearances of the two words

differently (as “stubborn” in 9:6, 13 or literally “hard necked” and as “stiffen your neck” in 10:16). A stiff neck prevents a person

from turning their head. Here the hardness of the neck, understood as stubbornness, prevented Israel from turning toward the LORD.

Circumcision of the male sexual organ was long associated with an outward symbol of the relationship between Abraham/Israel and

God (Gen. 17:9-14; Exod. 12:44, 48; Josh. 5:2-8) just as the rainbow was an outward symbol of the post-flood relationship between

Noah and God. The changed heart now becomes a symbol of the divine-human relationship. Paul built on this text in Rom. 2:25-29.

See similar metaphorical uses in Exod. 6:12, 30; Deut. 30:6; Jer. 4:4; 6:10; Ezek. 44:7-9. To further develop Moses’ own metaphor,

the sermon reflects surgery in which the Golden Calf story serves as the scalpel by which the LORD removed the stubbornness that

insists on their own righteousness which then allowed the healed of Israel to actually serve the LORD with all their heart.

Deut. 10:17. Moses raised the issue of power. Humans continually promote a variety of gods and follow a long list of human

masters or lords. The LORD is God of all those gods and master of all those lords. The Jewish Publication Society Tanakh Translation

renders the lines “God supreme and Lord supreme.” The LORD dominated both the divine world (“God of gods”) and the sphere of

human authority (“Lord of lords”). Josh. 22:22; Neh. 9:32; Psa. 24:8; 95:3; 136:2, 3; Isa 42:13 and Rev. 17:14; 19:16 along with the

poetry of a variety of more contemporary song writers build on Moses’ description of the LORD. The LORD is described in a triad of

terms: “great, mighty and awesome.” “Great” is the common Hebrew word appearing almost 550 times in the OT. “Mighty” means

“hero or mighty warrior.” “Awesome” comes from the root for “fear” and is also used in 10:12, 20, 21. See similar uses in Deut. 7:21;

Psa. 24:8; 48:3; Isa. 42:13; Neh. 9:32. The same words are applied to kings (2 Kings 18:28; Ezra 5:1; Dan. 2:10). The phrase “show

partiality” is literally “lift up faces” perhaps in the sense of the contemporary idiom “looks out for himself.” Many powerfu l people

use their resources for their own benefit, but the LORD behaves like an impartial judge. He is not corrupt nor does He seek gifts for the

use of His power. Bribery apparently posed a significant problem in the world of the OT given that it occurs 23 times in the Hebrew

text.

Deut. 10:18. The LORD’s concerns reach to the level of the most vulnerable members of the community. The OT describes

orphaned children as fatherless. The word usually translated as “fatherless” comes from a root that means “to be alone or sad or

helpless.” It is often thought that these children lost a father to war. Imagine, for example, the number of eighth-century Jerusalem

children left fatherless after the North Israelite king Pekah killed 120,000 Judeans in battle (2 Chron. 28:6). Children who lost their

fathers in the present war, whose mothers were then solely responsible with their upbringing, are called by this term. Deuteronomy

will return to their concerns (Deut. 10:18; 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12, 13; 27:19). Equally vulnerable was the “widow”

often rendered such status by the same wars that created the orphans. The widow is likewise subject to much attention in Deuteronomy

(Deut. 10:18; 14:29; 16:11, 14; 24:17, 19-21; 26:12, 13; 27:19; the orphans and widows are generally treated together). James 1:27

echoes this passage. The “alien” (cf. 1:16; 5:14) or “sojourner” is used in two senses in Deuteronomy. It described Israel’s status in

Egypt (v. 19) and designated a special protected population within the new nation of Israel. In Western thought, to “execute justice”

for someone conjures legal penalties and punishments brought against someone who has done wrong. The biblical connotation of

justice here occurs outside the legal code. Widows, orphans, and aliens had done nothing wrong—they had encountered their

circumstances involuntarily.

Deut. 10:19. Israel must love the “alien” for three reasons: concern for the vulnerable reflects a circumcised heart, the LORD

loves the alien and Israel had been the alien. Perhaps if all Israel had been orphaned and widowed, that command would have been

included here, but the LORD commanded them to act toward the aliens just as He had acted toward Israel when they were aliens.

Loving the alien suggests that the promise to Abram did indeed include all the world (Gen. 12:3). Rather than being an isolated ethnic

group God intended His people to be priests to those they encountered (Exod. 19:6) and to love the aliens in their midst.

Deut. 10:21. The root for the word “praise” is often transliterated in the word “hallel” or “hallelujah” (that is, “praise the

LORD”). According to Christensen the phrase “He is your praise” (cf. 26:19) “shows that it refers to the fame or glory of Israel because

10

of what Yahweh has done for them.”13 The LORD is our song, our worship. The word appears here for the second time in the Bible (cf.

Exod. 15:11).

Summary—Deut. 11 Chapter 11 concludes the first part of the second sermon by repeating and summarizing the major concepts developed in

Deut. 4:44-10:22. The core concern of keeping Commandment One surfaces again in 11:16, 28. Echoes of the Great Commandment to

love the LORD appear in 11:1, 13, and 22. Indeed, the chapter repeats seven times that loving the LORD means obedience to the

commandments (11:1, 8, 13, 18, 22, 27, and 32). After each appearance of the first six of these refrains, Moses motivates the listener

to keep the commandments by an appeal to something the LORD has or will do: The LORD’s work in history (11:2-7), His coming gift

of the Promised Land (11:9-12), His provisions for harvest (11:14-17), His instructions about family (11:18-21), His power over the

nations (11:23-25), and His promise to bless and curse (11:26-32).


The chapter provides an extensive statement of how the divine-human relationship functions. This understanding of the God-

human relationship runs through both the old covenant and new covenant. God forms covenant or creates a relationship between

Himself and humanity out of His love and grace. Part of that love and grace involves providing guidance (the word of God) for how

humanity properly responds to His love and grace. Through an appropriate response to God’s love and grace, humans experience

blessing. Blessing means life to the fullest in terms of both quantity of years (11:9) and quality of existence (11:15). God’s first words

to the human race contain His blessing (Gen. 1:28). The Psalter opens with an explanation of the blessed life (Psa. 1). Jesus’ first great

sermon opened with an explanation of blessing (Matt. 5:1-9). In His last words prior to ascending into heaven Jesus blessed those He

left behind (Luke 24:50-51). The Bible closes with words of blessing (Rev. 22:7, 14). Living otherwise results in what Deut.11 calls

the curse. Life does not go well. The covenant between God and humanity is not honored. The curse of living outside the covenant

includes crop failure (11:17), loss of land (11:17), and more as Deuteronomy will later explain. The image of blessings and curse is

echoed in Jesus’ illustrations of the productive and pruned vines (John 15) and the sheep and goats (Matt. 25).

The contrast between blessing and curse runs through the entire chapter: the blessing of the LORD’s triumph over Pharaoh (v.

3) but contrasts with the curse on Dathan (v. 6); the blessing of a good harvest (v. 15) and the curse of a bad one (v. 17); and the

blessing of taking the land (vv. 23-25) and the curse of losing it (v. 17). Good choices lead to reward; poor choices lead to catastrophe.

Blessed is the man who walks with God, cursed is the man who rejects God’s way (Psa. 1). Blessed is the one who is poor in spirit

(Matt. 5:3), but woe to the hypocrite (Matt. 23:15).

The teaching of Deuteronomy defines this process of blessing and cursing in several ways: First, the success and prosperity

of the blessing does not necessarily imply righteousness. Deut. 9 argued that Israel could not claim that the blessing of the land came

because of their righteousness. Obedience leads to blessing. Blessing does not necessarily imply past obedience. Second, obedience

does not guarantee blessing or perhaps better stated, obedience does not guarantee a humanly defined blessing. Many of the Psalms,

for example, note that not all obedient people live wildly successful lives. Third, obedience does not earn blessing. The harvest

illustration in 11:12-14 reminded Israel that they did not make it rain due to their obedience, but the rain came as a gift of God.

Moses called the people to love the LORD by keeping His commandments. Jesus echoed the same point when he said, "If you

love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15; cf. 23-24; 15:10).

Moses regularly confronts the tendency to reduce the covenant to a matter of externals as if the law said “do these external

actions and regardless of what you think or regardless of your heart, you are obedient.” Instead, the covenant relationship with the

LORD called for an internal affirmation of the heart and soul. Keeping a set of external rules with a heart out of relationship with the

LORD threatened the rain along with the covenant. Seven times in the chapter Moses called for obedience (11:1, 8, 13, 18, 22, 27, and

32). Now halfway through the seven, at the core of the refrains, Moses moved to the core of the covenant by repeating the Great

Commandment from Deut. 6:2-9. The Great Commandment itself included a mixture of the internal and the external. The internals

included the heart, soul and might. The externals included written reminders on the hands and forehead, teaching the children, signs on

the doorways and gates (both are merisms). The externals were not “works” to be accomplished to satisfy some check list, but were

the means to keep the relationship in the heart and the soul. A human marriage revolves around love and commitment. In many

cultures, each party wears a wedding band. The external ring reminds both of the internal love. The Christian faith revolves around

external events such as baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Christians participate in both external functions. The externals remind

Christians of the internal heart and soul of individuals aligned with a savior on a cross. When the externals get separated from the

internals, legalism results. Without the externals, the internals suffer from distraction and temptation.

Much of this restatement of the Great Commandment revolves around the family unit. The adults use the external words to

remind them of their internal commitment. The children see the external and witness evidence of the internal in the daily activities of

the home. The family even fills the house and land with reminders of the matters of the heart and soul. As Moses passed on the faith to

the next generation of Israel standing before him on the edge of the Promised Land, he instructed them on how to convey that faith to

their offspring when they conquer the land and live without his leadership.

The second sermon of Moses runs from Deut. 4:44-28:68. These verses mark the transition from the first part of the lesson

which explores the first two commandments and the Great Commandment to second part which treats the statutes, ordinances and

judgements in Deut. 12:1-28:68. In the first part of the sermon, Moses laid the foundation of the relationship between the LORD and

13 Christensen, Deuteronomy, p. 201.

11

Israel on having no other gods, making in no images and on loving the LORD with all their heart. The covenant relationship centers on

the love between the LORD and Israel and not on Israel and the statutes and ordinances. The current passage takes up the results of

keeping covenant and maintaining the relationships versus not keeping covenant and violating relationships. The language used to

describe these results is blessing and curse. The sermons of Deuteronomy repeatedly offer not only the description of the covenant but

reasons for keeping the covenant. The sermons encourage the obedience of Israel. In effect, the blessings and curses predict the future.

The blessings describe the likely outcomes of an obedient life. The curses define the future possibilities for those who disobey the

covenant relationship. Just as loving God had its external reminders in 11:18-21 of signs on the hands, frontals on the forehead and

written reminders on parts of their houses, and just as the cross of Christ has baptism and the Lord’s Supper to keep Christians

anchored in the core of the Christian faith, so Moses pointed to a ceremony at two mountains to rehearse the likely outcomes to

obedience and disobedience.

The many roles of Moses include liberator, guide, leader, judge, and mediator, but none seems more significant than Moses

the teacher. The large book of Deuteronomy contains the words he preached or taught to Israel. Not only did his words endure since

millions carry his lessons to church every Sunday, but he also illustrates several qualities of a good teacher.

In a book of immense amount of details, Moses never forgets the core issues. When they asked Jesus, which were the most

important commandments, He cited two verses from Moses including Deut. 6:4, 5. Moses stated in a concise way the Great

Commandment of the entire Bible. In another sense, all of his teaching from Deut. 4-11 centers on an exposition of that central truth.

Teachers of all time do well to imitate the work of Moses. Although all biblical details must be taught, the core truths must stand out.

Staying on mission, keeping the central issues the main thing, and never forgetting what was most important marked the teaching of

Moses and all great teachers since him. Moses repeated core truths. In this chapter, he reframes the obedience refrain in seven

different ways. For Moses, the core truths could not simply be stated once and then forgotten nor could the core truths be buried in the

mass of statutes and ordinances to follow. Moses repeatedly pointed to what was important. Indeed, Deut. 11 might be called a review

of all that he had previously said. Not only does Moses teach the truths of God, but in a sense, he teaches others how to teach.

Contemporary teachers and students should pay attention not only to what Moses taught, but how he taught it.

Worship—Deut. 12 Deut. 12 begins the second part of the second sermon which treats the statutes, ordinances and judgements in Deut. 12:1-

28:68. The OT contains several sections that might be called law codes including the Covenant Code (Exod. 20:22-23:19); the

Holiness Code (Lev. 17-25) and Deut. 12-26. Not all the laws in each collection are found in the others. Throughout Deut. 1-11 the

text refers to the commandments, statutes, ordinances, words, covenant, ways, charges, testimonies and judgments. Deut. 12-28 is that

collection.

Law Codes often follow certain categories or order. Several outlines of Deut. 12-26 exist. Some propose that Deut. 12-26

follows the order of the Ten Commandments. The proposals vary, but one follows this outline:14

Introduction—Deut. 11:26-32

Commandments 1 & 2 (no other gods, no image)—Deut. 12:1-13:19—worship at the central place

Commandment 3 (no name in vain)—Deut. 14:1-21—holy people with a holy God

Commandment 4 (Sabbath)—Deut. 14:22-16:17—sacred and secular issues

Commandment 5 (parents)—Deut. 16:18-18:22—authority in ancient Israel

Commandment 6 (no kill)—Deut. 19:1-21:9—murder, justice, war

Commandment 7 (no adultery)—Deut. 21:10-24:4—marriage, family, sex, mixtures

Commandments 8-10 (no theft, false witness, coveting)—Deut. 24:5-25:16—humanitarian concerns

Additions—Deut. 25:17-19

Deuteronomy records three sermons preached by Moses “across the Jordan in the land of Moab” (Deut. 1:5). The second of

those sermons appears in Deut. 4:44-28:68. The first part (4:44-11:32) urges Israel to keep the first two commandments and their

corollary in the Great Commandment. The second part (12:1-28:68) explains how the individual statutes and judgments guide the

relationship between the LORD and Israel and relationships within the community of Israel. In that larger section, Deut. 12:1-14:29

takes up the subject of worship.

Moses preached about worship by revealing the commands of God and then by encouraging their obedience. If the material

included only commands, it would most closely resemble a law code, but the style of encouragement makes it a sermon that includes

doctrine followed by exhortation. The commands alternate between the positive and the negative: keep the LORD’s commandments

and destroy the worship places of the nations (vv. 1-3); do not worship the way the nations worship (v. 4) but do worship at the place

the LORD chooses (v. 5); worship in the way He wants to be worshipped (vv. 5-7), do not worship the way you have been worshipping

(vv. 8, 9); do worship at the place the LORD wants to be worshipped (vv. 10-12) but do not worship where you want to worship (v.

13); and worship God’s way and eat meat God’s way (vv. 14, 15) but do not eat the blood or eat foods at home that are dedicated to

worship (vv. 16, 17). The same alternation between the positive and the negative continues throughout the chapter: they are told to

worship at the place the LORD wants to be worshipped (v. 18), not to exclude the Levite (v. 19), to eat meat God’s way (vv. 20-22),

not to eat foods at home that are dedicated to worship (vv. 23-25), to worship the LORD’s way and to do all He commands (vv. 26-28),

not to imitate the nations they are dispossessing (vv. 29-31), to do what the LORD commands (v. 32a), and to not add or subtract (v.

14 Christensen, Deuteronomy, p. 221.

12

32b). The contrast between the positive and the negative commands reflects the difference between “doing what is right in the sight of

the LORD” and “every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes.”

Moses repeatedly refers to the land that the LORD gave to Israel to possess. The repetition reminds Israel and the readers of

the book that the conquest of the land is at hand. His sermons prepare the people for what they will encounter. The successful invasion

of the land seems an accomplished fact, but removing the pagan worship places (7:5; 12:2-4) appears far less certain. Moses knows

that Israel will either see these pagan sites prior to their destruction or see them as they co-exist with the Israelite occupation. He urges

them not to imitate what they see. Instead what the LORD required in terms of worship (Deut. 12:5-28) is sufficient. They should not

add to the worship of the LORD anything they see at the pagan shrines, nor should they fail to do what the LORD requires by replacing

it with something they see locally.


People of faith often live in a time when the culture around them embraces the core structures and values of their belief system. In

other circumstances, the faithful find themselves at odds with the environment in which they live. Others, such as Israel, faced

transition in the culture around them. They were about to enter a culture that offered worship options which they had not seen before.

Moses calls them to be faithful in the time of transition and warns about the hostile environment which they enter. In the process,

Moses explains how the faithful behave when the new culture exhibits qualities that challenge their faith. Thus, Moses presents a case

study in a classic time of transition. As Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land, they left behind the wilderness with its isolation

where they depended on God for all their needs and prepared to live in a land filled with religious practices and dogma that ran

counter to their worldview and challenged their cherished values. In the transition facing the Israelites, Moses’ instructions suggest

four key principles that fit their time and place. These same principles may have application beyond the move of Israel from the

wilderness to the Promised Land.

First, the new culture entices the faithful to give up their old ways. Moses called for the total destruction of the pagan shrines

because they would tempt Israel. The faithful would see and hear new things that attracted them (vv. 2-4). These attractions cause

faithful people to believe they must do what is right in their own eyes (v. 8). New ways make the faithful want to “do likewise” (v.

30). Even in matters of keeping the faith, the presence of alternative ways of thinking cause people to accept alternative ways more

easily (v. 13). Living alongside alternative faiths creates one set of issues, but the transition from a culture that embraces faith to one

that challenges faith can be enticing.

Second, the new culture offers to mix its ways with their old ways. Israel moved into a nation who embraced a permissive culture.

This new culture did not speak with one voice, nor did it embrace a singular set of beliefs. The new culture apparently did not have

barriers which Israel would have to cross (vv. 2-3, 31). Syncretism describes what happens when one faith system partially merges

with another. Doctrines of both systems remain. According to Exod. 32:1-5, Aaron made an idol, but worshipped it as the LORD. The

culture of the nations did not object to the worship of LORD. When a people practice multiple ways of belief, most other beliefs can be

equally adopted.

Third, the new culture may call for appropriate changes in the old ways. Moses had written the instructions in Leviticus 17 about

slaughtering all animals in front of the Tabernacle. However, in the new environment of the Promised Land, the reasons for those

instructions paled in comparison to new demands. Deut. 12 provides that alternative plan with an affirmation of sacrifice at the place

God chose, but permission to slaughter non sacrificial animals in their towns. Not every situation offered by the new culture opposes

the core of the faith. Adaptations must be made on occasion.

Fourth, resisting the unacceptable parts of the new culture will be difficult. Moses repeatedly tells the people, “be careful” and

“beware” and do not get “ensnared.” Cultural change brings surprises. Cultural change catches people of faith unprepared. New

cultures are alluring and temping. The transition from a culture that embraces faith to one that does not offers many kinds of dangers.

Some parts of the new culture must be fully rejected. In a pluralistic culture such as the one that nations developed in the

Promised Land accept more practices and beliefs than a monotheistic one. Included in that easy acceptance of widely divergent

practices are activities that are offensive, brutal, unkind, and run against the grain of the core of monotheistic faiths. In a culture of

acceptance, the faithful must firmly reject what cannot be accepted. As Jesus said, we cannot serve both God and mammon. In this

respect, the people of faith must be easily distinguished from the new culture.

Moving into a new culture calls for a return to the core issues of the faith. Times of transition must prompt the faithful to a

reexamination of basic issues of the faith. Multiple times in Deuteronomy Moses draws the people back to the covenant between the

LORD and Israel, to the first two of the Ten Commandments, to the Great Commandment, to the non-negotiable issues of the faith. The

people must know where they cannot compromise. The basic issues must be constantly rehearsed when moving into a new culture so

that as change accelerates the people know what they believe.

Idolatry—Deut. 13 Deut. 13 links the two parts of the second sermon. The first part of the sermon (4:44-11:32) expounds on how Israel must

keep the first two commandments not to have other gods before the LORD and to make no images and the Great Commandment to

love the LORD with all their heart, soul and might. Deut. 13 takes up both of those issues. The second part of Moses’s second sermon

(12:1-28:68) shows how the individual statutes and judgments complete the relationship between the LORD and Israel and

relationships within the community of Israel. Deut. 13 reviews those concerns. The bond between the LORD and Israel includes the

topic of worship discussed in Deut. 12:1-14:29. Deut. 13 considers three threats to that worship with a fourth appearing in 17:2-7.

13

The chapter explores threats to idolatry that might arise from prophets (13:1-5), from personal friends and family (13:6-11) or

from the public (13:12-18). Each exploration follows the same pattern: he identifies the source of the threat to idolatry, he explains the

nature of the threat, he repeats the call to serve one God, he announces the response to the threat, and he describes the result. Each

threat is introduced by the word “if” (vv. 1, 6, 12). The nature of the threat uses the same language each time (vv. 2, 6, 7, 13). In each

case, the perpetrators of idolatry receive the death sentence (vv. 5, 9, 10, 15).

Although crimes calling for capital punishment exist in the ancient and contemporary world, the demand of the death penalty

for those promoting idolatry proves exceptional in several ways. First, capital punishment for advocating the worship of gods other

than the LORD stands out as unique among crimes usually associated with the death penalty. Baker notes that fewer OT laws

demanded capital punishment than other known legal codes of the time.15 Despite the less frequent use of capital punishment in the

OT, this law moves in the opposite direction by imposing the death penalty on a “crime” that is often not considered a capital offense.

Second, despite the call to kill those leaders who advocated idolatry, OT history provides few cases of the law put into effect. The

Golden Calf idolatry and the false worship at Shittim both end with deaths (Exod. 32:28, 35; Num. 25:9-14). Num. 21:34 seems to

reflect certain aspects especially of Deut. 13:1-6. The book of Judges repeatedly reports cases of idolatry (Judg. 2:12, 17, 19; 10:13),

but no cases of capital punishment. Numerous Israelite kings promoted idolatry (e.g. 1 Kings 11:4, 8, 10, 12:28; 14:9; 16:31,32; 2

Kings 3:2; 10:18 21:3-9;) but none were put to death. Third, putting to death those promoting idolatry places more emphasis on

monotheism, that is, biblical monotheism, than contemporary religions including Christianity. Deut. 13 clearly indicates that the LORD

hates idolatry (13:17), but few of His followers despise it as much as He does based the high stakes of this chapter. Each of these

issues poses the question of how to apply this text to either the ancient or the contemporary world.

The first case study identifies a prophet as the one promoting idolatry. As a religious authority, with access to special

knowledge and with a reputation for speaking on God’s behalf, the prophet could easily sway others to idolatry. In addition, the

prophet might give a sign or wonder that seemingly confirmed his call to serve other gods. Despite his position and in the face of his

additional evidence, his call to serve other gods has no basis because it contradicts the First Commandment. Those hearing his words

must not listen, but must view the threat as a test to see if they indeed love the LORD.

The second case study intensifies the possible situations that would raise the issue of idolatry. This case concerns the

potential temptation that might confront an individual Israelite. In this case, a relative or a friend promotes idolatry. They do it by

violating the personal relationship through enticement. The focal point of the temptation moves from religious authority and public

authenticating events of the prophet or dreamer of dreams (13:1-5) to private, personal relationships and common life journeys (13:6-

11). The blood lines and sense of friendship do not count more than the First Commandment. Although the enticement took place in

secret, the temptation is exposed and punished publicly. The walk with these seductive kin and friends pales in comparison to the

LORD’s journey with Israel. Such drastic personal steps keep idolatry at bay.

Pressure from the authoritative prophet in the first case study gave way to peer pressure from those personal relationships in

the second case study, now move to the force of public opinion. Now the temptation is not one against one, but one against the many.

Challenging public opinion provides its own set of issues that prompt a process of investigation. Seduction at this level turns into

abomination and leads to violent reprisal in military like fashion. Not only are the citizens put to the sword but the city and its contents

are burned to the ground.


Most people, who hold a biblical faith, in moments of honesty, can cite a handful of passages where the demands exceed their

ability or willingness to comply. These passages call figuratively for leaping a high wall (cf. 2 Sam. 22:30; Psa. 18:29). For some, the

high wall passage may be Gal. 1:6-9 with its demand to curse those who chose to alter the Gospel. They may willingly challenge,

correct, and call to account, but some find it impossible to curse such people. For others the story of the rich young ruler in Matt.

19:16-22 poses the same difficulty. The dialogue between the young man and Jesus revealed his obedient life. Yet the young man

pressed for something else to do. Jesus told him to sell all he had in order to give it to the poor. The young man could not comply and

most who read the story cannot comply either. Few follow the instructions of Jesus in Luke 14:26 (cf. Matt. 10:37-39; Mark 3:31-35).

Jesus claims that following Him means hating father, mother, wife and children. Most insist that “hate” means “love less” instead of

“hate.” Some biblical commands are high walls.

Fortunately, biblical faith relies on the grace of God. Fellowship with Him depends on Him taking away what gets in the way

of our unity with Him (mercy) and Him giving us what we could never produce on our own (grace). Leaping the highest wall may be a

response to that mercy and grace, but never a requirement to receive them.

The demands of Deut. 13 make it one of the “high wall” passages. Even Moses did not do what he preached. Aaron, a

prophet and Moses’ blood brother, led the nation in idolatry. Moses did not pick up the stone to kill Aaron. The OT tells only of rare

times when people obeyed these statutes, but multiple times when they failed to do what God required of Israel and revealed through

Moses.

Yet the principle behind the text reveals a core truth about the LORD God of both testaments. He refused then and He refuses

now to share the glory with any other being. Whether stated as “you shall have no other gods before me” or “You cannot serve God

and wealth” (Matt. 6:24), the core business of Deut. 13 remains a constant concern of biblical faith. Wright observes, “The death

penalty for incitement to idolatry…needs to be seen, not as a vestige of religious fanaticism or primitive barbarism, but as a measure

15David L. Baker. Tight Fists or Open Hands? Wealth and Poverty in Old Testament Law (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009) p. 27.

14

of the seriousness with which the covenant was taken.”16 For the LORD God, the matter exceeds human life in importance. It surpasses

blood kin and bosom friends. It outstrips all religious authorities. It is more significant that the right of a city to exist. Even if one

cannot put an idolater to death, one must leave this text with the sobering reality that one of the core truths of life demands that

response despite our inability or unwillingness to carry it out. Wright’s view summarizes this point: “We respond to idolatrous,

blasphemous evil not with a curse, but a shrug, and then have the gall to claim morally higher ground than ancient Israel.”17

The Identity of the People of God—Deut. 14.

Deut. 14:1-29 takes up the relationship between the LORD and Israel in vv. 1-21 and relationships in the community in vv.

22-29. The section in Deut. 12:1-16:17 deals with worship. Chapter 12 took up the object and place of worship; Deut. 13 considered

the challenges to the object of worship. Deut. 14:1-21 deals with the people who come to worship. Deut.14:22-29 takes up core

relationships among the worshippers.

Deut. 14:1-2, 21 address the relationship between the LORD and His people by a fourfold introduction that defines the identity

of Israel based on their connection with the LORD: The people of Israel are the “sons of the LORD” (14:1), “a holy people” (14:2, 21),

“chosen” (14:2), and “His own possession” (14:2). As the result of this identity Israel must act in an appropriate way. The family

metaphor conveys the intimacy of the relationship. Holiness underlined the distinctiveness of God’s people. Election referred to

Israel’s special status. Possession pointed to the protection of the LORD. As a result of this identity Israel could not cut themselves or

eat detestable things. Eating is mentioned 17 times in the chapter in 15 different verses (vv. 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21, 23,

26, 29).


Those who read this passage often find it objectionable by wondering how the lofty relationship between the LORD and Israel

should include a list of clean and unclean animals. Objectors say the passage poses an awkward connection between divinity and diet

or the passage leads to a heartless legalism. Since Moses and his listeners apparently harbored no such objections gives pause to later

readers and perhaps incentive to find the reasons that the text made sense in its time.

Moses provided the context of the food laws with his fourfold introduction. First, just as parents determine the menu for their

children, does not the LORD decide the acceptable foods for His children? Children in all cultures depend on the guidance of their

parents in the crucial matter of food. If left to their own devices, children might well eat mud. Second, Deuteronomy stresses the

uniqueness of the LORD and permits no imitators. The term “holy” (see commentary at 7:6, 7) demands that Israel be separate from the

nations and be a unique people. Clearly the unique God defines how His people imitate His uniqueness. Third, the One who did the

choosing of Israel sets the parameters for those who are chosen. Fourth, just as individuals dictate the nature of their possessions, so

God decides the qualities of those who are His possessions. Thus, the disconnect some see between deity and diet dissipates in light of

the fourfold description of their relationship. Although any set of demands can become a legalistic system, the call to eat clean foods

does not fulfill some list of demands in order to be the sons of God, but rather those who eat this way reflect the character and

guidance of their parent.

Deut. 14 lays out the practical implications of being a holy people. Wrapped in the context of being children of God, set apart

as distinct in a pagan world, chosen by God as His special possession, Deut. 14 takes up a specific agenda of handling blood,

appropriate foods to eat, setting aside a portion of one’s income and caring for the needy. The NT guides the contemporary reader in

finding both the continuities between ancient Israel, Jesus and the church, and the contemporary world along with identifying the

discontinuities in the way God works in different times. Clearly the NT continues the metaphor of being children of God. Christians

with no blood kinship regard others as brothers and sisters. The language of adoption figures in the Christian identity (Rom 8:15, 23;

9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5). The call to be holy, to be separate from the world plays a prominent role in NT thought (Eph. 1:4; 2:21; 5:27;

Col. 1:22; 3:12; Heb. 3:1; 7:26; 1 Peter 1:15, 16; 2:5, 9). God continues to choose people in the Christian world (Acts 10:41; Col.

3:12; 2 Thess. 2:13; Titus 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1; 2:9). God treasures His people as His possession (Eph. 1:14; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter 2:9). The

framework used in Deuteronomy continues to frame practice in the Christian era. In a sense, Deuteronomy provides the language of

the relationship between God and His people that spans the entire Bible. The treatment of Israel offers a clear case of what it meant to

be children of God, separated from the world as His chosen possessions. Although the frame in which Deuteronomy and the Bible

works remains constant, the specifics of the painting change. Jesus set aside the clean and unclean distinctions (Mark 7:18-23) as Peter

realized in his Joppa dream (Acts 10:10-16; chapter 15). Paul reflects on clean and unclean in Rom. 14:14 and gives new definitions of

what it means to be holy (Rom. 12:1-2; Eph. 4:22-24). The OT makes the same demand placing the great issues of righteousness and

justice over the ritual rules (1 Sam. 15:22; Hos. 6:6; Psa. 51:16-18) as Jesus does in Matt. 23:23. Jesus condemned those that carried

out the tithe in an extreme way but forgot the broad issues of justice and mercy (Matt. 23:23). Paul talked extensively about giving but

never called for a tithe (Rom. 15:25-28; 1 Cor. 9:6-18; 16:1-3; 2 Cor. 8-9). The discontinuities are expected but operate within the

great continuities that span the entire Bible.

God’s Ideal Community—Deut. 15 Deut. 15 comes in the midst of the long second sermon which runs from Deut. 4:44-28:68. The second part (12:1-28:68) of

this second sermon deals both with the particular standards for the vertical relationship between the LORD and Israel and the horizontal

16Wright, Deuteronomy, p. 173. 17Wright, Deuteronomy, pp. 177-78.

15

relationships within the community of Israel. In the midst of the opening section on worship (12:1-16:17), Moses interrupts his

treatment of worship (the vertical) to raise the issue of relationships (the horizontal) in the community. Those horizontal relationships

emerge in 14:22-15:18. Then he renews the discussion of worship in 15:19-16:17. Relationships in the community include help for the

Levites, aliens, orphans and widows (14:28-29), the debtors (15:1-6), the poor (15:7-11) and the slaves (15:12-18). Moses thus

explained how the Israelite community in the new land will deal with its poorest and weakest members. Deut. 15 takes up limits on

loans (vv. 1-11), limits on slavery (vv. 12-18) and limits on the use of the first-born animals (vv. 19-23). Each limit drew on the

Israelite financial capacity. Forgiving a loan, freeing a slave and offering the best and first born of the domesticated animals framed

the response of Israel to the gifts of the LORD.


Taking up community relationships in the midst of a section on worship may seem to be a tangent in the sermon. However,

Moses had considerable reason for connecting worship with community concerns. First, he had been among the weakest members of

the community himself. The Moses who first encountered the LORD found himself an outcast from Egyptian society (Exod. 2:22).

Moses met God as a sojourner and in the sermon called for sharing the third-year tithe with those who continued to fall into that status.

Second, his first encounter with God at the burning bush involved both worship and community concern. When Moses saw the bush,

the LORD indicated that Moses stood on holy ground (a worship concern). Then the LORD turned immediately to the slaves in Egypt (a

community concern): The LORD called Moses to lead His needy people out of slavery. In the midst of worship came a concern for the

community. Third, the Ten Commandments link the vertical relationship with the LORD to the horizontal concerns in the community.

Fourth, in Deut. 10:12-22 Moses brilliantly summarized the call to fear and serve the LORD describing Him as “the God of gods and

the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God” (Deut. 10:17) and in the same breath explained "He executes justice

for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing” (v. 18). Thus, for preacher Moses,

the vertical relationship between the LORD and Israel described in the worship passages found constant connection with the standards

of the community, especially concerns for the weakest members.

The juxtaposition of the worship passages with the concern for the community’s weakest members underlines several core

issues of the book of Deuteronomy. First, obedience to the commandments lies at the core of loving and serving God. The people

cannot claim to love and worship God while intentionally rejecting His commandments. Second, the concerns of Israel must reflect

the concerns of the LORD. They cannot claim to be in a covenant with the LORD who expressed concern for the most vulnerable if they

themselves do not express the same concern for the vulnerable. Third, the concern for the weakest members of the community is

grounded theologically not economically. Setting aside ten percent of the nation’s gross domestic product for the Levite, alien, orphan

and widow (14:28, 29), forgiving debts every seven years (15:1), giving freely to the poor (15:11), and freeing slaves after 6 years

(15:12) comes not from an economic textbook or a class on national economy, but emerges from a sermon on the edge of the Promised

Land. Moses sets public policy based on divine commands (15:5, 6). Taking care of the poor reflects a central concern of the LORD

and is done as service to Him, not as a law of a secular government. The early church continued this practice to the point that it was

said, “For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the

proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need” (Acts 4:34, 35). Fourth,

the concern with the poor comes in a context of blessing (15:4, 6, 10, 14, and 18). The word “blessing” often appears in a worship

context (Gen. 14:20; Josh. 22:33; Psa. 28:6) but here refers to the way in which the LORD will prosper those who keep His commands

regarding community relationships with the weakest among them. Serving the poor is service to God. Jesus surely had this in mind

when He said, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works [service to the poor], and glorify

your Father [service to God] who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16).

Showing mercy to the needy and helping the vulnerable continues to be a contemporary need and frequent effort of those

who hold to biblical truth. The continuities between this foundational passage about the vulnerable and the rest of the Bible are often

noted. Deuteronomy anticipates the breakdown in the treatment of the vulnerable during the kings (2 Kings 4:1-7) concern for the

poor in the prophets (e.g. Isa. 3:14, 15; 5:8; 10:1, 2; 58:6, 7; Jer. 34:12-22; Ezek. 18:11, 12; 22:29; Amos 2:6-8; 8:4-6; Mic. 2:8, 9;

3:1-4; Zech. 7:8-12), Psalms (10; 68:5, 6), Proverbs (e.g. 14:31; 17:5; 22:22), Gospels (Mark 14:7; Luke 4:18), Acts (2:44; 4:34-37),

and the epistles (Gal. 6:10; James; 1 John 3:17-18). This foundational passage on helping the poor provides several ongoing points of

guidance.

Helping the poor is not just a matter of law but of the human heart. This material underlines the heart’s role in the core of the

law. The intimate terms of heart, hands, eye, brother, kinsman seek to overcome a class-based society or a set of bureaucratic rules.

Moses preached not bare legalism but called for community policies that kept relationships at the center.

Helping the poor places emphasis on community relationships. Deut. 15 offers a clear statement of public policy which stands

behind all government social programs, the focus of many nonprofits and the benevolent work of the church. In God’s ideal

community, brothers were expected to look out for brothers. Acts 2-4 clearly echoes this ideal. The intimate language used to describe

the relationships between the poor and those helping them underline the community focus of this passage. The seven-year cycles

suggest that every community have limits on poverty. Deut. 15 roots helping the poor in theology not in popularity. They cannot claim

to be in a covenant with the LORD who expressed concern for the most vulnerable if they themselves do not express the same concern

for the vulnerable. How they treat the weakest members of their community becomes a measurement of how adequately they reflect

the concerns of the LORD.

Festivals and Leadership—Deut. 16

16

Deut. 16 takes up two topics. It opens with a treatment of the festivals in Deut. 16:1-17 and then at v. 18 begins coverage of

four leaders in the community which concludes at the end of Deut. 18.

In the midst of a sustained sermon (Deut. 12:1-29:1) on the commandments, statutes and ordinances of the LORD, the feast

days reflect a time of enjoyment, refreshment and community. The command to take holiday time redefines the general focus of the

commandments in the entire book of Deuteronomy. The book is not all stern restrictions on life by a God who never smiles and

considers fun to be ungodly, but in the discussion of the feast days offers ways to experience life fully. The use of the word “law”

often reminds many contemporary people of the dictates of dictators and the policies of police, while the law of the LORD aims to

guide the people to form a just and fair community that benefits all who participate. The line “…you shall celebrate a feast to the

LORD your God” (Deut. 16:15) expresses a command, but a command to celebrate a holiday, to enjoy fellowship meals and to get

away from the weariness of work. In the opening section of the second sermon, Moses interwove material about the community into

the discussion of worship. In this final section on worship, that trend continues as the presentation of the festivals emphasizes the

community dimensions. Strikingly every verse in Deut. 16 contains multiple uses of a form of the second person pronoun (e.g. “you”

in the plural) which occurs about 91 total times in the chapter. To “bless” appears 50 times in Deuteronomy and must be given serious

theological consideration (16:10, 15, 17).

The concluding two verses (16:16-17) of this section on Festivals at first seems to be primarily concerned about the male

role, but the explanation may provide connection with all those at the feast. Moses calls each Israelite man to “appear before the

LORD” three times a year and to “give as he is able.” Earlier verses indicate that the invitation list for the festivals is inclusive (vv. 4,

11, 14) so that the Israelite celebrations include more than just males. Although all enjoy the festivals, the male landowners pay for the

activities so requiring them to attend makes the celebrations possible. Moses levies no fee or tax, but connects the support of the

festivals with appearing before and the recognizing the blessings of the LORD. He urges that no male come expecting to provide

nothing, but to give out of what he has been given.


Three ideas dominate the treatment of the festivals that provide an enduring biblical foundation for the people of God.

First, God’s people must regularly attend to the worship of the LORD. Making pilgrimages to the central meeting place took

time, energy, money and distracted from the agricultural work and domestic chores. Yet without regular rest on the Sabbath and the

intense worship of the festivals, the relationship between God and His people begins to wither and decline. Without regular times of

worship, without times of instruction, without times of deep reflection on the larger realities of the world, belief in God can falter and

decline.

Second, God’s people live in community. The festivals not only called for the people of God to worship, but they were also a

time for the people of God to gather. With multitudes of people descending on a central location, with the gathering of Israelites from

all corners of the land in the solemn assemblies of the feasts, the people experience a kind of community impossible to achieve in their

isolated homes and towns. Such gatherings created identify, reinforced the value of the individuals and the nation, and created

relationship networks. The striking reference to the most isolated and vulnerable people—the strangers, orphans and widows—

underlines the significance of an inclusive community. Because of the feasts those who live alone have a larger community in which

they live.

Third, God’s people must enjoy worship and life. The regular reference to celebration and rejoicing creates a powerful

framework not only for the feast days, but also for the entire covenant relationship. Solemn assemblies must be balanced with joyful

celebration. The high and rigid demands of the Ten Commandments must be balanced with the warmth of the Great Commandment

and the calls for joyful celebration. Spirituality must not be regarded as a dry, unenjoyable, drudgery, but a discipline that includes

rich relationships and times of incredible rejoicing.

Introduction to Community Leaders (Deut. 16:18-18:22)

Moses takes up the community leadership in Deut. 16:18-18:22. He speaks about judges (16:18-17:13), the king (17:14-20),

priests (18:1-8) and the prophet (18:9-22). The first two positions addressed secular concerns while the last two roles focused on the

spiritual, but all Israelite leaders worked under the laws of God, not the practices of the people of the Promised Land. Each of the

leaders receives instruction about their relationship to the law and God’s intent. In a sense, these roles replace the leadership of Moses.

The people appointed judges.18 The prophets anointed the king (although the final verse of Deut. 17 mentions royal dynasties). The

priesthood was hereditary. God appointed the prophets. Deuteronomy makes the LORD the ultimate leader and final authority for

Israel. Commandment Five gives certain leadership and authority roles to parents and the passage at hand further extends that sharing

of leadership and authority. This section on leadership outlines the Israelite public policy, how the larger society works, how they exist

in community and how they govern themselves, all as an extension of the rule of the LORD. It links faith with public power and says

that how people treat each other in the community concerns God.


The section opens with the lofty expectations of leaders: "Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and

possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you” (16:20). This call for just and fair treatment of all in the community guides

18 The judges described here with their responsibility for maintaining fairness and equity in the community should not necessarily be

equated with contemporary judges who administer civil law or with the military leaders in the book of Judges.

17

the leaders. Two Hebrew words dominate the opening verses: the Hebrew root jp;v' shaphat appears in several forms here translated as

"judges" (v. 18), “judge” (v. 18), “judgment” (v. 18), “justice” (v. 19) while the Hebrew root qd,c, tsedeq appears in several forms as

“righteous” (v. 18), “righteous” (v. 19), and “justice” (v. 20 twice). Hebrew often pairs two words (called a hendiadys) together to

form a single concept. These two words appear together in the OT about one hundred times to describe the kind of society the LORD

seeks from His people. The first word tends to express legal fairness and justice while the second word conveys equity among friends

and neighbors. In a sense, the two words express the concept of the Golden Rule from Matt. 7:12.

Judges and Kings—Deut. 17 The material on the judges begins with the appointment and qualities of judges (16:18-21) and then moves on to the cases

handled by the local courts (16:21-17:7) followed by the cases handled by the central court (17:8-13).

The material about the king falls into three sections: the appointment and qualities of the king (17:14-15), the conduct the

king should not pursue (17:16-17) and the behavior he should practice (17:18-20). The king is subject to restrictions: he cannot

multiply horses, wives or wealth (vv. 16, 17) and his rule is not “for himself” (vv. 16, 17). The king is given three tasks to do with the

law including write, keep it with him and read it (vv. 18, 19); and the king receives three benefits from the law including he may learn

to fear, his heart may not be lifted up, and he may not turn aside (v. 19, 20).19


All leaders face temptations but perhaps no one office faces a greater enticement to power, lust, wealth than the king. The

warnings about the issues that distract kings should remind all leaders and those they serve of the same potential disastrous attractions.

The taste of power often unleashes a demand for more power. People elevated to positions of authority in a Bible classroom, in the

church, in the family or in the community must be aware of the limits on their position and the reality that only God has clear and

unquestioned authority. Those placing these people in those positions must also be advised of the dangers. Leaders are not immune

from using their position or power to satisfy their lust for relationships that are not theirs to have. Those who admire leaders from a

distance must be aware of leaders who go beyond what is acceptable. Those around the leaders must encourage purity. Leaders must

regularly remind themselves that they serve God and not their own lusts. Leaders face the temptations of wealth. Families, churches

and communities appoint leaders to supervise the finances of their group. People who manage their own money well face the

temptation of access to funds that belong to the community and not to them. These temptations often lead to unfortunate results

including pilfering, embezzlement, fraud, deception, stealing and the like. Those with access to ways to increase their own wealth can

become insensitive to the communities they were called to serve. Leaders must be aware of these temptations and those around them

must insist on safeguards to prevent abuse.

Priests, False Sources of Spirituality and Prophets--Deut. 18 Moses addresses four groups of leaders: judges (16:18-17:13), the king (17:14-20), priests (18:1-8) and the prophet (18:9-22).

Both the priests and prophet bear responsibility for teaching the people. In a sense, Deut. 18 focuses on the need in post-Mosaic times

for others to carry on his responsibility as those who represent the LORD in the community. Both the priests (vv. 1-8) and the prophet

(vv. 15-22) operate in a world where others often lay claim to offering spiritual truth and direction (vv. 9-14). Instead of listening to

these “detestable things” (18:12), the people must recognize the roles of the Levites who are the inheritance of the LORD (v. 2) and the

prophet who is raised up by the LORD (vv. 15, 18).

The priests represented the people before the LORD in several different ways. They offered the sacrifices (18:1, 3; 26:4),

“stand and serve in the name of the LORD” (10:7-8; 18:5; 31:9, 25), but also teach the law (Deut. 10:8; 17:18; 27:9-10; 31:9-11, 24-26;

33:10; cf. Lev 10:11; 2 Chron. 15:3; 17:8, 9; 35:3; Neh. 8:7-9), serve in the judicial system (17:9, 12; 19:17; 20:2; 21:5; 24:8), and

play a role in military affairs (20:2-4). The Levites received no land inheritance. Instead the Levites inheritance is the LORD which

includes two sources of support: “the LORD’s offering by fire and His portion.” The “offering by fire” refers to the sacrifices which

were not totally consumed in the fire (including the burnt offering of Lev. 2, the peace offering of Lev. 3 and the guilt offering of Lev.

5:14-6:7). The share they receive is explained in vv. 3-4. “His portion” likely refers to the 48 cities and surrounding pasturelands

assigned to the tribe of Levi in Lev. 25:32-34; Num. 35:1-8.

The last of the four leadership roles among the Israelites in the land is the prophet. The section opens with a rejection of nine

different detestable practices in the land (vv. 9-14) whose activities contrast with the priests who stand and serve the LORD (VV. 1-8)

and differ from the prophet who speaks what the LORD commands (vv. 15-22). Given that the nine practices tend to be forbidden ways

of determining the divine will and the future they seem to fit better with the discussion of the prophet than the priests.

When Israel entered the Promised Land they had to decide about what authorities and voices to listen to and obey. They

would hear new voices calling them away from the teachings (or worldview) of the LORD. Some of those voices came from “those

nations” (v. 9) while others came from Israelites speaking “presumptuously in My name” (v. 20). Both were forbidden. Additionally,

entrance into the land meant an absence of the voice of Moses, so the passage aims to provide a succession plan for another leader to

guide the way with instructions about which voices to ignore and which to heed. Moses could not himself judge all the people (Deut.

1:9-18) so now the time is quickly coming when he will not be there to teach them.

Two other passages in Deuteronomy take up prophets: Deut. 13:1-5 establishes that not even a prophet who does signs and

who announces events that come true should be permitted to lead the people into idolatry while Deut. 34:10 concludes that no prophet

19 Block, Deuteronomy, pp. 416-17.

18

like Moses had arisen in Israel. The coming prophet will be “like me,” that is do the same work Moses did in communicating the

commands of God to the people (cf. v. 18 below). In contrast to the nine detestable practices of the nations which involve spiritual

leaders not authorized by God, the prophet’s work is initiated by God. Just as the LORD chose Israel (Deut. 7), now he will “raise up” a

prophet.


God’s plans for the Israelite community included leaders in the secular (judges and kings) and spiritual realms (priests and

prophets). God recognized that an ideal human community required spiritual leadership, people who had enough freedom from the

need to sustain life to deal with the spiritual lives of those around them. Any society that neglects the spiritual cuts itself off from the

high standards that God imagined.

The spiritual leaders included those who represented the people before God and those who represented God before the

people. Although the spiritual leaders outlined in the NT differ from the ones here, the need for spiritual leaders in every culture

continues in all ages with responsibilities to look out for the souls of the spiritual community, to lead prayers, to speak on behalf of the

people in times of bereavement and national calamity, and to lead the people in worship. No age outlives the need for those who

convey the word of God, who teach people, who show the relevance of the ancient words for contemporary times. No wonder in

ancient Israel that the ultimate authority was the prophet not the king.

Just as the LORD planned ways to support the Levites in ancient Israel, He continued that provision in the NT. Passages such

as Gal. 6:6; 1 Cor. 9:13; 1Tim. 5:17, 18 tend to the same concerns. Communities must not be reluctant to make allowances and offer

support for those who provide spiritual leadership.

Deut. 18 surrounds the ungodly local culture in vv. 9-14 with the leadership of the priests (vv. 1-8) and prophet (vv. 15-22)

which serves as a constant reminder about the differences between the human culture and the kind of community God imagines. The

recently coined phrase, “worldview,” captures the difference. The detestable practices of vv. 9-14 reflect a cultural perspective that

discarded the biblical worldview. Their attempts to satisfy other gods, to manipulate the future, to exert control over the forces around

them stand in contrast to the worldview of Deuteronomy that a good and loving God controls history and works for the benefit of His

people. Any age in which the current worldview counters the biblical worldview can recall the directives here about how the faithful

remain connected to the LORD in circumstances that pressure them to go in another direction.

Faithful teaching and preaching of the word of God serves as a central pillar in maintaining a biblical worldview in the midst

of a non-biblical or even anti-biblical worldview culture. The LORD realized that after Moses another spiritual leader must arise to

continue that role. In cultures with a distracting array of conflicting voices, the community of faith must have a trustworthy

spokesperson to whom leaders can say, “you shall listen to him” (18:15). The early church found itself in that situation when the local

religious authorities formed a public policy that called for the suppression of the voices God had sent (cf. Acts 4, 5). The book of

Colossians addressed the issue of other authorities, principalities, and philosophies that made prey of the early Christians. In the midst

of that array of confusing voices, Paul urged them to look only to Jesus (Col. 1:15-22). Deuteronomy 18 provides a fundamental

means for any community of faith seeking to navigate the confusing waters of conflicting and alien worldviews.

Dealing with Violence—Deut. 19 Human violence and the godly response dominate the concerns of Deut. 19-21. Deut. 19 takes up three topics: cities of refuge

(19:1-13), boundary markers (19:14) and regulations about witnesses to wrongdoing (19:15-21). In a sense, the current chapter

provides more development of four of the last six of the Ten Commandments.20

Additionally, the chapter takes up a concern with the innocent or vulnerable. Just as Deut. 15 offered protection for those

burdened with debt, so this chapter offers the innocent a shield against intentional violence, theft and false witness. A variety of people

come up in this chapter: the manslayer who accidently kills another (vv. 4, 5), the friend who dies (vv. 4, 5), the innocent victim (v.

13), the neighboring land owner (v. 14), the brother charged with wrongdoing (vv. 18, 19) and the generic “the rest” of Israel (v. 20)

all in some way find protection under these public policies through access to the cities of refuge, land security and fair trials.

Moses addressed leadership in the community in Deut. 16:18-18:22. To some extent that discussion continues with a focus on

local leaders. They include those who set aside the cities and prepare the roads to them (v. 3), the elders of cities (v. 12), and

additional treatment of priests and judges (vv. 17, 18). These leaders continue to pursue the high standard set out at the beginning of

the section in Deut. 16:20: "Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the LORD your

God is giving you.”

Finally, the chapter takes up the issue of death. Concern with blood (19:6, 10, 12, 13; cf. 21:7, 8, 9; 22:8) and death (19:5, 6,

11, 12) recurs in the chapter. Accidental and intentional violence occurs in most human communities. Moses outlines policies to

minimize the damage. The policies on the cities of refuge both protect the accidental manslayer and avenge the intentional murder

(19:1-13). Since Israel’s economy rested on agriculture, loss of land through moving a boundary mark threatened life itself (19:14).

Trials involved the potential punishment of “life for life” (19:21) so policies against insufficient witnesses or malicious witness

preserved the innocent life (19:15-21).


20McConville is among those who note that the tone of the book changes in Deut. 19-25 with fewer words of encouragement

and fewer motivational clauses. McConville, Deuteronomy, p. 308.

19

Humanity continues to struggle with the value of human life as reflected in laws, culture and practice. The lives of those

without power who find themselves vulnerable and weak are often at risk whether from war, crime, abuse, or neglect. Although the

peculiar instructions of this chapter may not fix contemporary situations, they remind people of all times of the need to build into the

fabric of any community the need for equity, fairness and justice. This chapter underlines the role of whole community in establishing

that justice. Whether it involves making or keeping civil laws for a state or guiding a directing a congregation or family, the concerns

of the marginal must be kept in mind.

Humanity tends toward barbarism and the philosophy that “might makes right.” This chapter limits revenge, and builds a case

that vengeance is regulated by God and belongs to God leading to the statement by Paul in Rom. 12:14-21. Unrestrained violence

cannot be tolerated by people who believe in the LORD. Whether it is limited by personal restraint or by civil authorities, such

restrictions find foundation in Deut. 19.

Dealing with the Violence of War—Deut. 20. Deut. 20 takes up the topic of war. The discussion provides another reminder that Moses preaches on the eve of the invasion

of the Promised Land (cf. 1:6-8). After reviewing the conquest of the area east of the Jordan in Deut. 2:26-3:11, and after giving a

theological explanation of the coming war west of the Jordan in Deut. 7:1-26, Moses now instructs on the conduct of war. Moses will

take up other issues revolving around war in Deut. 21:10-14; 23:9-14; 24:5; 25:17-19.

This treatment comes in the middle of his long second sermon (Deut. 4:44-28:68). The sermon tends to group certain topics

together so that the materials on war reflect definitions of public policy (16:18-21:23), concerns with leaders and authority (16:18-

21:9), and laws about violence and the taking of human life (16:18-21:9). The limits imposed on the court system in Deut. 19:21 carry

on with limits imposed on war (Deut. 20:1-20; cf. 21:10-14; 23:9-14; 24:5). The concern for the vulnerable and innocent in Deut.

19:4-7 continues in the screening of potential soldiers (20:5-8) and the possible victims in enemy cities (20:13-15).

In regard to the latter theme, the concerns of war expand on Commandment Six (Deut. 5:17) about killing (although the word

for killing from that commandment does not appear in Deut. 20). In another sense, the chapter takes up spiritual concerns. Victory

depends on the LORD not superior armies or strategy (vv. 1-4, 13, 16). Fighting involves faith not fear (vv. 1, 3, 4, 8, 18). The LORD as

warrior stands behind the entire presentation and reflects other descriptions of the LORD’s role in battle (Exod. 14:14, 25; 15:1-4;

Deut. 9:3; 31:3-6).


Most nations and peoples experience some exposure to war. In many cases, the military establishment makes the rules about

war which often leads to exploitation and intensifies human suffering. The principles of conducting war outlined in Deut. 20 suggest

three broader contexts in which wars should be fought.

First, Deuteronomy gives clear indications of how a covenant relationship with God plays out in a broken world where

violence and war seem unceasing. A person who serves this same God may be a citizen of a nation at war, but they have a prior

allegiance to the covenant-making God. Regardless of patriotism or the beat of the drums of war, the Great Commandment cannot

ever be set aside. Moses showed Israel how they could love the LORD their God and still fight a war.

Second, Deuteronomy places domestic life above military conscription. Few military organizations in contemporary society

would grant exemptions to service as the ones outlined here. Deuteronomy aims to outline an ideal human community where the weak

and vulnerable find protection and where the core domestic roles of life rank superior to military service. The concern in Deut. 20 for

the environment offers ways to protect the elements of nature often needlessly destroyed in war. In some ways, the cryptic end to

verse 19 might be paraphrased as “the plants and animals do not declare war on humans, so why do humans so easily destroy them

with their violence?”

Third, Deut. 20 does not authorize any kind of holy war. In Scripture, God repeatedly reserves the right to punish humanity

for wrongdoing. No one today may destroy the earth by water, fire, brimstone or invasion and claim the authority of God for such

actions. God will punish today’s atrocities. The NT regularly speaks of a coming destruction of the wicked of the earth and their

assignment to eternal hell. Only God can exert such punishment. His decisions cannot be questioned. In the meantime, no human

community can claim authority for exacting punishment that only God Himself can institute.

Making the Best of the Human Mess—Deut. 21 The long second sermon of Moses (Deut. 4:44-28:68) takes up three broad categories of teaching: an exposition of

Commandments One-Three in chapters 5-12, an in-depth treatment of policies which regulate community life in chapters 13-20 and

shorter treatments of a variety of topics in chapters 21-25. Topics change with frequency even within these chapters making it difficult

to find a common theme. Miller calls Deut. 21-25 “Some Spheres for Moral Direction” while others simply describe the material as

“Miscellaneous Laws.”21 In these chapters, Moses explores ways in which to redeem extreme human situations by offering a way out

of dilemmas where human activity creates chaos. In short, the chapters offer ways to make the best of a human mess.

Deut. 21-25 also continue themes treated in earlier material. In some ways, the treatment of the loss of life through

manslaughter (Deut. 19) and war (Deut. 20) also address the theme of making the best of chaotic situations. Dependence on local

21 Miller, Deuteronomy, p. 160. See Christensen, Deuteronomy, p. 464. Mark Hamilton describes the section as “Laws on

Interpersonal Relationships.” The Transforming Word (Abilene: ACU Press, 2009), p. 224. The Harper Study Bible labels Deut. 21-26

as “Sundry laws.” Harold Lindsell, ed., Harper Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1964.

20

leadership for authority in these chaotic situations discussed in Deut. 21-25 continues the concerns with leaders and authority that

dominated 16:18-21:23. The focus on death (vv. 1-10), war (vv. 11, 13), end of life concerns (v. 16) and executions (vv. 21, 22, 23) in

Deut. 21 expand on Commandment Six (Deut. 5:17) about killing (although the word for killing from that commandment does not

appear in Deut. 21). Two treatments of parents and children reflect on Commandment Five (Deut. 5:16).

Deut. 21 begins with five independent units treating unrelated matters. The repeated use of the Hebrew word translated as

“if” (vv. 1, 15, 18, 22) and “when” (v. 10) points to the five “messes” that call for the best kind of response: an unsolved homicide (vv.

1-9), a female prisoner of war (10-14), a polygamist’s progeny (vv. 15-17), a rebellious son (vv. 18-21), and a public execution (vv.

22, 23). Each section raises a dilemma caused by human actions that must be addressed. The treatment of these chaotic situations

acknowledges but does not offer approval of the human actions. Just because the chapter treats how to make the best of an unsolved

homicide, it implies no approval of murder. In the same sense, Moses does not approve of taking a woman captive in war, polygamy,

stubborn children or public executions, but having acknowledged that these human situations occur, he gives the community a way to

respond with best practices.


Throughout this section of Deuteronomy, Moses lays out the qualities of an ideal human community, one which takes care of

its poor (Deut. 15) and deals with its failures (murder in Deut. 19). The community bears certain responsibilities for the individuals

within it. The concept continues in Acts 2-7 where the early church community immediately cared for the poor and disciplined those

who brought reproach. Passages on church discipline (Matt. 18; 1 Cor. 5 and 2 Thess. 3 for example) call for congregations to address

unrepentant sinful behavior in their midst. Although many contemporary societies maintain that individual’s behavior is not their

responsibility, God's intent seems clear.

After battles in distant lands, Israel made the captives do forced labor (Deut. 20:11) yet spared the women and children

(20:14). The chaos and lawlessness that accompany war then and now often place women and children in vulnerable positions. Earlier

Moses refused to allow Israelite men to marry the women in the Promised Land (who somehow survived the utter destruction, cf. 7:3)

because these women would lead Israelites into idolatry (7:4). Moses raises the issue of an Israelite soldier who wants one of these

women, a prisoner of war. Just as the discovery of a slain person (cf. v 1) does not indicate approval of such unsolved murders, neither

does an Israelite soldier seeking to marry a captive girl presume approval. Instead this situation poses another dilemma (or mess) to be

addressed. The procedures outlined protect the vulnerable woman, provide a means of transition from her native culture (and faith?) to

the Israelite community, and offers a way to end the relationship. If the man becomes a polygamist by adding the captive wife, the

passage then expands on Commandment Seven about adultery (Deut. 5:18). The procedure seeks the best way to deal with the mess.

In setting up a community centered on the worship of one God who seeks that community to be a place of long and good life,

Moses in Deuteronomy does not ignore the potential less-than-perfect situations. Sins and mistakes can shortcut the long life and take

the “good” out of much existence. He does not address every less than perfect situation, but gives a series of examples of how the

community must be prepared to respond. Those who serve the same God as Moses did must also be aware of the imperfections of life

and be ready to meet the challenges that come. To deny the reality of these situations or to ignore them when they occur fails to follow

the best practices illustrated here.

The overarching story of Scripture maintains that although God created a good (Gen. 1:31) and blessed (Gen. 1:28) world,

human activity has fractured the blessing and broken the good. In response, God gave Scripture and sent prophets, priests, kings,

apostles and ultimately Jesus to deal with the human brokenness. Those who follow God cannot simply point out the sins and

brokenness, but must be part of showing people how to find forgiveness and healing.

Rather than faulting Deuteronomy for its tough stance, for instance, on how to deal with a soldier who wants a female captive

prisoner of war as his own only then to reject her, there is more profit in seeing the wisdom of Deuteronomy in addressing the issue in

the most equitable and positive way, and then in preparing to perform in similar ways when people in our own community make

similar mistakes. Deuteronomy’s concern that these public sins and mistakes be addressed fairly and quickly discourages others from

following the same negative paths. Unaddressed public sins and mistakes can lead the unsuspecting and uninformed to improperly

imitate them. Many congregations face situations where members make mistakes in business or relationships or family. Those

communities seeking to provide a good and blessed environment find ways, using the pattern of Moses, to address those issues.

Putting Everything in its Place—Deut. 22 The common theme of Deut. 22 centers on putting the pieces of life in their proper places. Just as God had created an orderly

world with darkness and light, evening and morning, heavens and earth and “plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing

fruit with seed in them, after their kind” (Gen. 1:12), so Israel should imitate that orderliness in their new society. If the world with

everything in its proper place made the earth “very good” (Gen. 1:31), so imitating that and creating a society where all items find

their proper place creates a society where “it may be well with you” (Deut. 22:7). Moses called them to continue to keep separate what

God had made separate and to maintain distinctions for the good of the whole community.

The chapter takes up distinctions between property of self and neighbor (22:1-4), clothing of men and women (5), the lives of

mother and child among birds (6-7), safe and dangerous building practices (8), two kinds of seed (9), the ox and donkey (10), wool

and linen (11), Israelites and non-Israelites (12), and sexual relationships between men and women (13-30). Just as the community

made distinctions between clean and unclean foods (Deut. 14:1-21), so now the call for items to have their proper place continues.

The brevity of most of these laws reveals that Moses’ teaching did not cover every event or situation in life, but offered

examples of how the community could function so that its members received the blessings of life and lived long and fulfilled in the

21

Promised Land. It should not be implied that an Israelite could build a house with dangerous hazards as long as the roof had a railing.

Instead, the instruction about the roof railing served as an example of the kind of construction that protected all people. Moses builds

his instructions around the Ten Commandments and the Great Commandment which explain the broad outlines of the covenant

between the LORD and Israel (the vertical axis) and the kind of community within Israel (the horizontal axis). A legalistic system

places the emphasis on keeping the exact laws over the spirit of those laws. Moses places the emphasis on loving God and living as He

commanded over legislating for every potential issue that the people might face. Christianity follows the same pattern when Jesus cites

the two Great Commandments as the core of His teaching and when Paul stresses what was of first importance. Christianity follows

the same pattern when Jesus indicates what His followers should “seek first” and when James reveals the content of “pure religion.”

The directive about clothing (22:5) seems unrelated to the lost domestic livestock of vv. 1-4 or the concern for wild animals

in vv. 6, 7 except that all three topics revolve around the theme of putting things in the right place or order. The division of the world

into categories according to their own kind (Gen. 1:25) lies rooted in the creation itself. Just as God created darkness and light,

evening and morning, heavens and earth, so He created male and female (the distinction plays a major role in Gen. 1:27; 2:21-24; 5:2;

6:19; 7:2, 3, 9, 16; cf. Matt. 19:4; Mark 10:6; Gal. 3:28). The distinctions initiated by God must be continued by His creation. Moses

does not explain the directive which may have had implications clearer to his audience than to contemporary readers but several

interpretations are possible: Some texts use clothing as a euphemism for sexual activity (e.g. Deut. 22:30) in which case the verse

anticipates maintaining the sexual separations of Deut. 22:13-30. Other texts associate clothing with idol worship (Gen. 35:2) which

may restrict dress as a means of avoiding idolatry. Transvestitism and cross dressing which blur the lines between men and women

falls into the restriction mentioned here (cf. Rom. 1:24-27).


The concern for the proper place includes two subsidiary themes. First, keeping the small things in life in their proper places

makes a big difference in the whole of life. The call for everything to have its place uses the apodictic language of the Ten

Commandments. The NAS of Deut. 22 has “you shall” sixteen times and “you shall not” six times (concentrated in vv. 1-12, 21-30).

The return to the strong apodictic language indicates the stress on proper place of even the small things in life. After dealing with the

life and death issues of the previous chapters, this section includes the lost animal, the bird’s nest and the roof of the house. In short,

“it may go well with you” (v. 7) if you pay attention to the small things of life.

Second, individual life goes better in a healthy community. Throughout the chapter personal choice takes a subsidiary role to

what helps the whole community. Personal decisions about a lost and found situation (vv.1-4) or one’s clothing choices (v.5) or even

how to deal with the discovery of a bird’s nest (vv. 6-7) call for acting for the common good not necessarily for one’s immediate best

interest. Thus, the individual flourishes not because they get ahead of the others, but because the entire community flourishes.

Contemporary readers living in societies that prize individual choice find a substantially different formula here for personal

satisfaction. Those who elevate personal choice and immediate gratification above working toward building a flourishing human

community will find these passages wanting. Ultimately the small things that benefit the whole community grow out of the concern of

the LORD who has chosen these people (Deut. 7) and made an exclusive (Deut. 9-12) covenant with them (Deut. 4) for their good

(Deut. 8) which offers clear mandates (Deut. 5) for living life well that includes creating an ideal human community (Deut. 13-25).

The first four Ten Commandments take up the relationship between the LORD and Israel while the last seven (Sabbath touching on

both) deal with life in the community. The two parts of the Ten Commandments find expression in the two great commandments

(Matt. 22:36-39, Mark 12:30, 31; cf. Luke 10:27) with Ten Commandments 1-4 summarized by “love the LORD” and Commandments

6-10 reflected in “love your neighbor.” Deut. 22 gives substance to what it means to love one’s neighbor. Additionally, Deut. 22 calls

for putting the concern of the whole community over the desires of any one individual. Although some contemporary cultures place

substantial emphasis on each person getting their own way, seeking their own fulfillment, making their own rules, the teaching here of

Moses describes a community where individual rule setting and desires are set aside for the benefit of the larger circle of people. Deut.

15 made the same case with regard to the poor. Such a shift in emphasis comes only when the community lives in light of the

connection between community and God. The community keeps the last seven commandments as a means of maintaining the

relationship with God outlined in the first four commandments (Sabbath commandment doing double duty). Individuals “love their

neighbor as themselves” because they “love the LORD with all their heart, soul and might.”

These principles find many points of application. Drunk driving puts personal preferences above the health of others;

abortion places personal issues over the lives of others; hoarding wealth places an individual’s desires above the economic well-being

of others; insisting on one’s own way in a church disagreement places that person’s demands over the peace of the whole

congregation. Although the specific issues addressed in Deut. 22 such as a mother and the baby bird may play little role in

contemporary society, the foundational principles at work here pervade all of biblical literature.

Marriage practices and sexual restrictions vary by culture. For instance, betrothal or engagement reflected in Deut. 22 appears

much more binding and irreversible than in some contemporary cultures. The well-being of the wife in the Israelite community

involved a commitment to her economic security that is not part of many contemporary cultures. Israelite culture placed great

emphasis on the centrality of the father (his responsibility and not just his authority) as opposed to many current traditions that make

the family revolve around the adolescent children. Israelite values demanded that every new bride be a virgin, a restriction that is not

widely found in many places currently, and insisted that there be no doubt about the identity of a child’s parents. These standards

protected the purity of marriage. It concerned character. The directives call for a proper ordering of the existing standards and

additionally demand other practices that go beyond what was acceptable culturally. One significant difference between the directives

here and contemporary practice involves placing the good of the community over an individual’s preference or pleasure. Those who

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expect the world to revolve around their personal satisfaction will find some of these directives wanting. The material here takes issue

with the concept that events done in private do not hurt anyone else. Indeed, statistics about the vulnerability of single parents,

abortions, and sexually transmitted diseases, all supposedly conceived in private, reflect costs borne by all of society. Paul reflects on

some of this same material in 1 Cor. 6:9-11.

In societies where the first sexual encounter occurs outside marriage and where the wedding night concerns no one but the

new husband and wife, the directives here appear restrictive and intrusive. The passage insists on four fundamental principles: A

woman must be a virgin on her wedding night; verification of her virginity concerns the whole community, every woman must have

economic security, and the males bear responsibility for ensuring compliance. Violations of these standards tore at the fabric of a

healthy, sustainable community and called for severe penalties.

Covenant loyalty and community well-being stand behind this brief extension of Commandment Seven on adultery (Deut.

5:18). Israel maintained high standards for the covenant between the LORD and Israel (detailed in Deut. 4-11) and the marriage

covenant between a married man and woman (Deut. 5:18). All societies count on the irrevocable and exclusive nature of certain

financial and social relationships. Contemporary societies who do not regard marriage with the same irrevocable and exclusive

standard may find this passage difficult to understand. Additionally, marriage and family formed the basis of social and financial

security in Israel. As Moses unfolds the directives in Deuteronomy, he does so with the regular reminder that living by these standards

will give them long and good lives in the land. Thus, a man who cohabits with the wife of another man violates a covenant and rips

away at the foundation of a flourishing society. Adultery involves a married man and a married woman engaging in sexual activity

with a partner to whom they are not married.

Although some cultures assume that sexual activity among consenting adults remains a private not public matter, Israelite

society held to a different set of social structures perhaps because of the nature of Israelite homes and villages lacked privacy, but

more concretely as a result of their high view of keeping covenants and agreements and due to their stress that individual satisfaction

depended on the well-being of the whole community. The chapter begins with concern about the well-being of the whole community

since even when one Israelite found the property of one countryman that they somehow did not know, the high value placed on

returning the property reflected the importance of community standards (cf. Deut. 22:1-4). In this case of sexual activity between a

man and an engaged woman, one man, in effect, takes what belongs to another man thus violating the agreed upon covenant of the

engaged couple and placing his own sexual concerns above the sexual standards of the community.

The seemingly private matter of the wedding night problem becomes public because the new husband’s actions put the young

bride’s future economic security in jeopardy. In other societies, a new husband can discard his new wife or sexual partner often

without economic repercussions, but not so in Israel. The transfer of the responsibility for the support of the young woman from her

father to husband here faces a significant disruption. A society built around integrity and chastity in forming marriages must maintain

that standard and penalize those who challenge it. Whether a society such as the one described in Deuteronomy that provides

economic security for an unloved woman sets a higher standard than many contemporary practices which provide neither security nor

love for the rejected wife must vary from case to case.

A Community of Wholeness—Deut. 23 Deut. 21, 22 offered ways to make the best of a human mess. Deut. 23 takes up the focus of the previous chapters in a new

direction with a common theme of a community of wholeness. It described the kinds of people, actions, and practices that make a

human society complete. In a sense the concept of hospitality (or lack of hospitality) runs through most of the chapter evidenced by

concern over who can enter (vv. 1, 2, 3, 8, 24, 25), offering of food and water (v. 4), relationships characterized by a curse (v. 4),

concern for peace and prosperity (v. 6), foreigners (v. 20), being outside the camp (vv. 10, 12, 13), reentering the camp (vv. 10, 11),

walking in the camp (v. 14), living with others (16), living “in your midst” (v. 16), living “in the place” (v. 16), bringing money into

the house of the LORD (v. 18), the contrast between countrymen and foreigners (vv. 19, 20), and neighbor (vv. 24, 25). Of the topics

raised in the chapter all have some direct connection to hospitality except the discussion of vows in vv. 21-23. Yet even in the

discussion of vows, the emphasis falls on a best practice for the whole community, i.e. how the community views the matter of vows.

Not every person or group contributes to a whole, hospitable society so the chapter speaks of inclusion and exclusion. While

not every contemporary societal view might agree with the particular list of those permitted or not permitted to participate in Israelite

culture, every reader must recognize that all societies exclude or reject some individuals or groups. Sometimes the exclusion comes

due to language or religious barriers, because of dress or customs or as the result of actions, illness or crimes. Cultures which prize

individual choice above the common good will find some of the concern in this chapter for the common good to be too restrictive for

their personal choice. As in the standards regarding human sexuality presumed in the previous chapter, some of the cultural concerns

of Deut. 23 reflect the standards of a different time and age.

Deut. 23:1-8 dictates who could “enter the assembly” (vv. 1, 2, 3, 8).22 Deut. 23:9-14 describes the circumstances under

which the LORD can “walk in the midst of your camp” (v. 14). With Him present in the camp, the LORD will “deliver” them and

“defeat” their enemies (v. 14). The chapter adds two more pieces to the discussion of Israel as a military force. The first six come in

Deut. 20: battle with a stronger enemy—20:1; battle exhortations and exemptions—20:2-8; battle command structure—20:9; battle

strategy (distant)—20:10-15; battle strategy (close)—20:16-18; and battle limits—20:19, 20. Now Deut. 23 adds two additional

pieces: qualities of those who can enter the assembly of the LORD—23:1-8; and ways to keep the LORD in the military camp—23:9-

14. Clean and unclean do not necessarily reflect a sinful situation, but rather a state that bars one from the presence in a holy place or

22 This treatment assumes that the “assembly of the LORD” refers to the Israelite army.

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as in the case here from the presence of the LORD. The detailed attention to the process of human elimination echoes the attention to

small matters in Deut. 22:1-8 suggesting that the divine human relationship and the LORD’s interest in forming an ideal human

community include the details of life (cf. Prov. 30:12; Isa. 4:4; Mark 7:14-23).

The chapter concludes with five financial issues that affect life in the Promised Land. Rather than being a comprehensive

financial plan, the directives only indicate the kinds of standards that contribute to a healthy community life where people can live

together in harmony with each other and with God. These pieces speak to the welcome offered to runaway slaves which has financial

implications (vv. 15, 16); restrict the kind of funds that can be brought into the “house of God” (vv. 17, 18); limit charging interest to

fellow Israelites, but permits it for foreigners (vv. 19, 20); urge the timely payment of vows (vv. 21-23); and provides welcome into a

neighbor’s vineyard or field but with restrictions (vv. 24, 25). Given the financial connection, these verses extend the thrust of

Commandment Eight about theft (5:19).


Deut. 7 urged the Israelites to not welcome the people of the Promised Land into their midst because they would bring their

idolatry and abhorrent customs into Israel in violation of the first four Ten Commandments and the Great Commandment while Deut.

15 is another text that urges Israel to openly share with others and to welcome them into their homes and hearts. Deut. 23 continues

the focus on hospitality by pointing to people and practices that cannot be welcomed in the Israelite army but people and practices that

must be part of the Israelite community.

Contemporary communities and congregations do well to reflect on their own practices with regard to unwarranted

acceptance of culture into their community and to the areas where they do well to express hospitality. Just as Deuteronomy does not

anticipate every issue on which Israel will need to reject or accept, but rather gives clear examples of how these practices protect and

bless the community, so contemporary groups must constantly reflect on who and what they reject or accept.

The world outside any spiritual community promotes practices and standards about which godly people must be aware. They

must identify those practices which clearly fall short of any biblical standard, teach people of all ages about those practices, and seek

to make sure their spiritual community serves as an alternative to the cultural world.

One example might be sexual practices. Deut. 22 and its examples of sexual improprieties for Israel, reminds congregations

of the need to identify sexual practices promoted by the culture that fall short of the biblical standard. These passages also encourage

people of faith to teach and encourage living by the biblical standard and provide ways for those seeking the biblical standard to find

hospitality in the alternative community offered by the congregation. Yet the hospitality of Deut. 23 reminds congregations of the

need to be open to people who wish to leave the worldly standards behind and seek a higher calling.

The examples of hospitality in this chapter underline the importance of any spiritual community offering ways in which those

who make up the community can become interdependent economically and socially. Cultural standards of hospitality must not be

allowed to dictate how congregations practice biblical hospitality. The “one another” passages in the NT along with the numerous

commands and examples about hospitality provide substantial material to guide congregations in becoming biblical in their practice of

who enters and who does not enter and in their offer of hospitality to all.

Give and Take in the Community—Deut. 24 Deut. 24 continues the focus on the LORD’s dream of an ideal human community. It comes near the end of the long section in

Deut. 12-25 that explores the implications of Commandments Four through Ten. The material centers on the horizontal relationships

in the community. Deut. 21- 24 offers ways to make the best of a human mess. The LORD does not intend for the people to murder

each other, end marriages in divorce, get diseases, or push people into poverty. Accepting the inevitability of these tragedies and

inappropriate behaviors, these laws instruct Israel on how to respond to these failures in the community. He gives directives to curb

human self-centeredness and greed with acts that benefit others. In a sense Deut. 21-24 expands on Commandment Ten on coveting

(Deut. 5:21) and on loving one’s neighbor as oneself (Lev. 19:18).

Deut. 21-24 differs from earlier material in its frequent change in topics. Most contemporary law codes stress order and

comprehensiveness. This order and comprehensiveness occur in the written rules of groups as widely separated as sports conferences

to guides for writers. Whether the by-laws of a basketball conference or a publisher’s style sheet, the rules attempt to address every

possibility in orderly detail. In contrast, Deuteronomy contains a smaller number of rules or laws intended to state broader principles

that illustrate the kind of structure and relationships present in an ideal community. Rather than cover every situation that might arise,

the dictates of Deuteronomy illustrate how a community might make the best of the messes created by the individuals within that

system.

Deut. 24 takes up nine topics loosely arranged around the theme of “give and take” within the community. One Hebrew word

appears six times as "take" (several forms in English) and once as "get" (v. 19). The NAS translates another Hebrew word as "take"

(actually “take a pledge” in vv. 10 and 17). Other verbs (some in the negative) that involve some detailed kind of "taking" include

"kidnapping" (v. 7), "deal violently" (v. 7), "oppress" (v. 14), "put to death" (v. 15), "prevent justice" (v. 16), “go back” (v. 19) and

"go over" (vv. 20, 21). Typically, the people with more power, wealth and ability take from those who do not have those qualities. In

response, the directives call for the “haves” to give to the “have nots.” Just as Lev. 19 explores its central dictum of “love your

neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), Deut. 24 echoes that same pattern. The nine topics of Deut. 24 gather around three themes:

concerns for the wife (vv. 1-5), for life (vv. 6-9) and for the right (vv.10-22).

Events in life often interrupt the responsibility of the man to care for his wife. Of the variety of situations that might prompt

the interruption of this responsibility, two receive attention here: First, divorce and taking a wife twice (vv. 1-4) and, second, taking a

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new wife (v. 5). Although the male responsibility might be interrupted by illness, death, travel, work, or a number of other

possibilities, the people must extrapolate how to respond to those situations based on the two case studies detailed here. The Ten

Commandments used an apodictic form (“you shall…”) while here the weight falls on two case studies. The first case study raises a

complex set of issues and served as a basis for five subsequent in-depth reflections in Scripture (Isa. 50:1; Jer. 2-3; Hos. 1-3; Matt.

5:31; 19:3-12; Mark 10:2-12). Since these five other Biblical texts provide an inspired commentary on Deut. 24, any understanding of

Moses’ case study must attend to these later uses of Deut. 24:1-4.

In this passage, the first husband marries a woman and receives the marriage price from her father (Deut. 22:19, 29). The

second husband marries the same woman and receives the marriage price from her father. Since the father bore the economic

responsibility for the future of his daughter, he paid the marriage price in both marriages in order to ensure her financial security.

Moses objects to the first man then entering into a second marriage expecting to receive the marriage price again. His directive negates

any attempt to use marriage as a way of economic gain and protects the wife from being stock traded at the city gate for the economic

benefit of the men. As such it joins Deut. 21:10-14 in protecting women in vulnerable circumstances. Other passages about marriage

include Exod. 21:10-11; Deut. 22:13-30; 1 Cor. 7:8-16.

After dealing with how divorce and death can interrupt the responsibility of the man to care for his wife (vv. 1-4), Moses

turns to war (v. 5). Men called to war risk not being able to care for their wives. Moses does not legislate about all men going off to

war, only the newly married man. The sin of divorce puts women at risk as does husbands off in war. Both cases deal with a negative

situation (divorce and or death and war with the potential of death) and provide ways to protect the economically vulnerable wife.

The opening issue in Deut. 24 took up the protection of the wife. The next three directives protect human life each in a

different way. The three sections concern taking a pledge, part 1 (v. 6), taking a man (v. 7), and taking care of disease (vv. 8, 9). At

first glance the material on the pledge in v. 6 fits better with the directives about the pledges in vv. 10-13 and v. 17. However, the

misuse of the pledge here verges on “taking a life” which aligns it with the life-threatening concerns of kidnapping (v. 7) and disease

(vv. 8, 9) while the later pledges have to do with human rights. Seeking personal advantage in these three situations must be placed

aside to protect the lives of others in the community. These three directives do not exhaust the situations in which personal benefit

must be secondary to the life and death concerns of others, but they serve to express the kind of community Israel should form in the

land.

After offering ways to safeguard the wife and raising concerns about protecting human life, the remainder of the chapter

insists on the rights of the vulnerable. The material concerns the “neighbor” (v. 10), the “poor man” (v. 12), the “hired servant” who is

“poor and needy” (v. 14), the “fathers” and “sons” of those who have done wrong (v. 16), the “alien” (vv. 17, 19, 20, 21), the “orphan”

(vv. 17, 19, 20, 21), and the “widow” (vv. 17, 19, 20, 21), a striking list of the vulnerable living in the Promised Land. Moses does not

advocate divorce or illness or poverty, but calls the community to the proper responses to these human messes. The material takes on

several important qualities: Addressing the needs of the vulnerable fall on the individuals in the community not on the government.

Those who have money, position and power must share what they have. Not helping the vulnerable leads to sin, to oppression, to cries

from the poor to the LORD, and amnesia about one’s own past vulnerabilities and redemption. The well-being of weakest in Israel

affects the quality of life in the entire community. The way a community treats its weakest member becomes the standard by which

that community is evaluated and viewed. Addressing the needs of the vulnerable includes financial arrangements (vv. 10, 11), the

workplace (v. 14), payroll (v. 15), the courtroom (v. 16), clothing (vv. 13, 17) and the fields (vv. 19-22). The material unfolds in four

areas: taking a pledge, part 2 (vv. 10-13), taking advantage of hired workers (vv. 14, 15), taking responsibility (v. 16) and taking care

of the vulnerable (vv. 17-22).


Due partly to the lack of a comprehensive system and the brevity of these laws, and partly due to different assumptions about

human community imbedded in the laws, some contemporary readers find the directives here less than satisfying. Israelite society held

the men economically and morally responsible for everybody in the community. On one hand, such an assumption assigns less power

and responsibility to women, but on the other hand it avoids creating a social disorder such as many contemporary western societies

have where women and children live in poverty because the people do not hold the men (mates and fathers) economically and morally

responsible. Israelite society acted for the benefit of the whole placing community concerns over individual choice. Such a view

contrasts with a consumeristic culture where individual choice often weighs more heavily than the benefit of the entire community.

This perspective finds support in the eight motive clauses in the chapter. Moses does not pronounce the laws from on high without

regard for the people who hear, but rather as a shepherd of the people he regularly grounds the directives with lines that give them a

broader context in which they can see the benefit of the laws. They should not do things that are abominations to the LORD (v. 4) or

that bring sin into the land (vv. 4, 15), reminding them that they received the land as a gift and inheritance (v. 4), telling them to recall

the effects of disease on the disobedient in the past (v. 9), pointing out the blessing and righteousness in the directives (v. 12, 19),

alerting them to the LORD that listens to the cries of His people (v. 15), and recalling their own slavery and redemption (vv. 18, 22).

They do not exist for themselves, but benefit from those who have gone before and must live lives that help those around them and

those who follow them.

Excess and Limits—Deut. 25 Chapters 21-25 of Deuteronomy offer directives on how to deal with the failings of the nation of Israel. Human actions,

despite the high ideals of the LORD, often result in crime (25:1-3), cruelty (v. 4), confusion (vv. 5-10), conflict (vv. 11, 12), cheating

(vv. 13-16) and harassment (vv. 17-19). In a sense, these laws seek to make the best of the human mess. Deut. 21 took up threats to

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peace in the community. Deut. 22 called for keeping all the pieces of the community life in their proper places. Deut. 23 explored how

the failed human community can express hospitality. After dealing with taking and giving in Deut. 24, Moses takes up excess and

limits in Deut. 25.

The concern with excess and limits expands on the Tenth Commandment (Deut. 5:21). Wanting more than is due, refusing to

accept the limits of life, seeking to advance one’s own cause at the expense of others all receive further definition in this chapter.

Covetousness prevents one from acting for the good of the whole community and violates the covenant with the LORD to serve only

Him and not self.

In light of Commandment Ten, human courts must have limits or the punishment will exceed the crime (25:1-3). Harvesters

seeking the most efficient crop must not treat their animals with excess demands (v. 4). The death of a man who has no male heir

creates a potential for desire (vv. 5-10). Even a physical struggle can pose potential doing more harm than good (vv. 11, 12). Cheating

in commercial transactions can result from a covetous heart (vv. 13-16). A nation where people take advantage of another’s weakness

to covet what other people have (vv. 17-19) falls below the standards set by the LORD.

Deut. 25 unfolds in six sections that each focuses on a different action: beating the wicked (vv. 1-3); threshing the grain (v.

4), handling the affairs of the dead (vv. 5-10), fighting with fairness (vv. 11, 12), selling with justice (vv. 13-16) and blotting out the

Amalekites (vv. 17-19). The directives thus cover the courts (vv. 1-3), the threshing floor (v. 4), the family (vv. 5-11), the marketplace

(vv. 13-16) and the international scene (vv. 17-19).

Deut. 21-25 builds on the common assumptions that individual lives go better in a community that experiences wholeness;

that certain tragedies and failures come, but an ideal community responds with best practices; that directives must be in place to curb

human self-centeredness and covetousness with acts that benefit others; that laws cannot be written for every failure so Israel must

reason from the directives given to deal with the situations not specifically covered; and that the men bear responsibility for protecting

their families and the vulnerable.

The opening case deals with punishment going too far. The restriction aims to limit the degradation involved in punishment

to what is appropriate for the crime, and perhaps (as with laws about the poor) leave the one punished with the ability to reenter

community life (on parallel with the freed slave in Deut. 15:12-18).23 The LORD expected life in the land to reflect people treating each

other in the right way including commerce in the market place.

The short treatment of the Amalekites signals a transition in the book of Deuteronomy. Along with Deut. 26 it signals a clear

end to the statutes and ordinances that concern Deut. 12-25. The placement of the instruction about Amalek here may have

chronological implications. The previous encounter between Israel and Amalek occurred at the beginning of the Exodus (cf. Exod.

17:8-16) while the command here requires Israel to act at the end of the Conquest.24 Moses deals with one incomplete piece of the past

by addressing the atrocities of the Amalekites which occurred forty years previously. The material on Amalek may occur here due to

its link with the theme of covetousness in Deut. 25. Amalek’s atrocities reflected covetousness and excess. Excesses in crime (25:1-3),

cruelty (v. 4), inheritance (vv. 5-10), conflict (vv. 11, 12), the market place (vv. 13-16) also took place on the battlefield (vv. 17-19.


Many economic systems encourage greed and covetousness. These systems often urge individual consumption and

satisfaction over the general public good. The general good might include all the members of a congregation, or every member of a

local town or city, and even entire world community. Deut. 25 explores practical ways in Israelite society of keeping the high

standards of Commandment Ten. Although the specific ways Commandment Ten plays out in Deut. 25 may change in contemporary

culture, attention to covetousness and greed remains a relevant and contemporary issue. Paul addressed the issue in 1 Cor. 11 over the

inequities within the Corinthian congregation and in 2 Cor. 8, 9 with regard to all the congregations in the western Mediterranean.

Many of the parables of Jesus addressed the same issues of greed, covetousness and inequity. Identification of excesses and discussion

of limits on personal greed and covetousness continue the concerns raised in this chapter. Ron Sider’s volume, Rich Christians in an

Age of Hunger addresses the issue on a global basis.25

Worship—Deut. 26. Moses’ second sermon (Deut. 4:44-28:68) includes a long section of statutes and ordinances (Deut. 12:1-26:19). The

presentation of these laws opens with a section of directives about worship in Deut. 12-14 and closes with three final instructions

about worship in Deut. 26. These three laws in Deut. 26 center around five speeches that take place on three different occasions in

three different places. The five speeches take up three themes. The first two speeches revolve around the LORD, Israel, and the land

(26:1-11). This section highlights the grace of the LORD in guiding their history and giving them the land. The worship includes the

offering of “the first of all the produce of the ground” (vv. 2, 10). The middle speech takes up the LORD, Israel and others, specifically

the Levite, alien (or “stranger”), orphan and widow (26:12-15). This portion of the chapter stresses obedience. The worship follows

the paying of the third-year tithe (v. 12). The final two speeches center on the LORD, Israel and the nations (26:16-19). Here the

speeches stress the heart of the relationship between the LORD and Israel including how He plans to use Israel to accomplish His

purposes.

23McConville, Deuteronomy, p. 373. 24McConville, Deuteronomy, p. 373. 25Ron Sider, Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, 6th edition, (Nashville, Nelson, 2005).

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Two sections of Deuteronomy take up worship including Deut. 12-14 and Deut. 26. Although significant discontinuities exist

between the worship planned for the Promised Land and contemporary worship, the latter chapter offers some striking continuit ies in

worship. The dominance of speaking verbs in the chapter, and the five speeches which unfold here remind contemporary worshippers

of the importance of speaking. By reading Scripture and through preaching, God continues to speak to those who worship Him just as

they did in this chapter. Through prayers and hymns of praise worshippers use their voices in contemporary culture just as the

Israelites did in theirs to address the LORD. Worship thus involves God speaking to His people and His people speaking to him. Just as

the LORD made declarations of ownership to Israel, so He continues to express His close association with those who worship Him. Just

as Israel declared its love and obedience to the LORD so those who worship the same LORD continue to express their affection and

affirmation of Him. These worship experiences were so critical that God Himself provided the words to be used reminding all those

who follow to carefully choose their words as they address God. The multiple sites of worship in Deut. 26 (in the central place, in their

towns, and on the plains of Moab) underline the universality of the LORD who can be in all places where men and women seek to

worship Him.

Moses’ dictates on worship also warn about the danger of covetousness. He calls for first fruits for the LORD and for concern

for others. Whether the contemporary worshipper begrudges the time spent in worship or restricts the energy it takes to worship or

withholds gifts involved in worship, the call to worship with heart and soul and not with covetousness and selfishness continues to

ring true. Indeed, worship includes awareness and appreciation for fellow worshippers, especially the vulnerable. When worshippers

sing teaching songs to one another, and greet and love one another they continue the principles that undergird this chapter. Throughout

scripture, the funds collected in worship regularly address the needs of the fellow worshippers most at risk. Just as the worship in

Deut. 26 concludes with a concern for the nations so contemporary worshippers leave the services on a mission to the world on behalf

of the LORD. Worship celebrates what God has done in the world and prepares the worshipper to leave to engage the world again.

Moses regularly repeats himself in the book of Deuteronomy even in the material on worship. That repetition reminds all

believers that worship consistently points to the crucial parts of biblical faith. Those who grow from singing the same songs, reading

the same Scriptures and remembering the critical pieces of personal and faith history join a long line of the faithful, including Moses,

who come before God in worship.

Covenant--Deut. 27. The end of the Moses’ second sermon (Deut. 4:44-28:68) comes in Deut. 27, 28. Four third person statements in Deut. 27

indicate “Moses and the elders of Israel” spoke (27:1), “Moses and the Levitical priests” addressed the people (v. 9), “Moses also

charged” (v. 11), and “the Levites shall then answer” (v. 14). In the first three cases, the text speaks about Moses rather than recording

the words of Moses. This appearance of the third person signals the beginning of the end of the second sermon of Moses with

instructions that conclude the second sermon and prepare for his final lesson.

In the larger picture of Deuteronomy, the “statutes and ordinances” section of Moses’ second sermon run from Deut. 12-26.

The guidelines for Israel at Ebal and Gerizim appear twice, first in Deut. 11 and then again in Deut. 27. Thus, the Ebal and Gerizim

instructions bracket the “statutes and ordinances” section. Deut. 27 offers conclusion to the intervening legal material.

The actions prescribed for Ebal and Gerizim divide into a visual section (27:1-8) and a verbal section (27:9-26). The visual

includes making “stone” objects including a monument on which to write “all the words of this law” (vv. 2-4, 8) and an altar at which

to offer “burnt offerings” and “peace offerings” (vv. 5-7). The verbal calls for the blessings and curses to be read on Ebal and Gerizim

(vv. 11-13). The chapter concludes with the reading of twelve curses for secret sins (vv. 14-26).

The blessings and curses in Deut. 27-28 continue the focus on exhortation found throughout Deuteronomy. The worship of

only one God lies at the core of blessings and curses. Blessing reflects a life with God; curses describe a life without God. The

blessings and curses provide motivation for proper living. The blessings and curses point to the benevolence and positive intention of

the law. Rather than a trap set by a capricious deity, the law offered a map for navigating personal life and community relat ionships

with a minimum of pain and disruption. The blessings and curses do not operate on a strict cause and effect basis. The blessings come

to those who live a certain way, but ultimately the blessings come from God, not the keeping of the law. Curses come to those who

take certain actions, but the curses emanate from God not from the action. Clearly certain actions contain consequences but the

blessing or curse is not inevitable as if the world were deterministic. Scripture rather speaks of a correspondence between action and

consequence. Proverbs talks about the results of drunkenness or promiscuity or not taking care of one’s house. God remains free to do

as He wishes. Deuteronomy takes a high view of God and allegiance to Him. Nothing is outside His control. He rules over natural law

and is not ruled by natural law. He rules over evil, but is not ruled by evil. Not every blessing or curse will take place. They represent

possible actions God can take. Curses do not have the last word. God has the last word in each specific case.


Deut. 27 prepares the people for an ongoing relationship with the LORD by providing the visual markers of the relationship

between God and His people including stones inscribed with the laws of God and the altar which the people surrounded to seek

atonement and offer their worship. In addition, the chapter offers a set of verbal markers by calling for the community to gather to

rehearse illustrative examples (the curses) of how individual violations of God’s standards affect the whole community.

Maintaining the relationship between the LORD and His people continues throughout the centuries. Every generation must

seek both visual and verbal markers to preserve the covenant. One significant visual marker for Christians is the Lord’s Supper which

rehearses the core of the Christian faith by celebrating the broken body of Jesus on the cross and the shedding of His blood for human

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sin. The physical feast points beyond the literal bread and juice to more significant spiritual issues just as the letters on the rock and

the animal roasting on the fire atop the pile of stones pointed to more significant spiritual issues for the Israelites. Another significant

visual marker for Christians is the act of baptism. Whether one recalls their own baptism or witnesses the baptism of another person,

baptism represents visible marker of deeper spiritual reality.

Christian worship provides verbal markers that also have profound spiritual significance. Those who read Scripture for the

assembled community or preach a sermon reflecting the laws of God use words that can be traced back to the LORD Himself. Those

verbal markers can rehearse the whole range of faith concerns from exploring the creator God, to the redeeming God, to a call to

recommit to the high standards of His instructions for His people. The “one another” passages in the NT depend on verbal

communication as a means of one Christian offering words of encouragement, greeting, love, and even discipline to another Christian.

All these verbal markers provide means for the LORD and His community to strengthen their bonds and renew their covenant.

Although the specific visual and verbal markers explained by Moses no longer serve God and His people, the fundamental

principles of maintaining the divine-human relationship continue and benefit contemporary believers in God just as the ones in Deut.

27 benefited the Israelites as they settled in their Promised Land.

Blessings and Curses—Deut. 28 The blessing section runs from vv. 1-14 while the curses take up vv. 15-68. These blessings and curses intend to grab

attention with an overwhelming, loud, forceful, memorable presentation. The numerous superlatives in the chapter add to this feature

(“all His commandments” in vv. 1, 15; “all the peoples of the earth” in v. 10; “all these blessings” in v. 2; “all these curses” in v. 15;

“all you put your hand to” in v. 8; and “all you undertake” in v. 20). This longest chapter in Deuteronomy expresses and illustrates a

fundamental biblical worldview. That worldview states that the LORD God controls the entire world, both the blessings and the curses.

Additionally, human effort must focus on obedience to God and not on an independent achievement of the blessings or on autonomous

attempts to build a protective shield against the curses. The chapter multiplies the examples of blessings and curses to show that no

blessings accrue outside of the will of the LORD and that no immunity from the curses comes independent of the work of the LORD.


The material on blessings and curses forms a foundation that continues throughout the Bible. God blesses the obedient. Jesus

reflects God’s intent by saying, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). The most beneficial and

satisfying life comes from living with the LORD. On the other side, the curses in Deuteronomy eventually lead to Paul saying, “For the

wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). Living outside of a relationship with God leads to misery and personal destruction.

The material in Deut. 28 joins with the promise of Jesus and the warning of Paul to motivate believers to keep their faith in

the “honored and awesome name, the LORD your God” (Deut.28:58). Although the blessings and curses do not operate on a strict

cause and effect relationship, since the Psalms, Job and Jesus all reflect on the bad things that happen to good people and the good

things that happen to bad people, the general truth of this reality prompts serious thought to where believers place their allegiance and

worship. Moses, in providing motivation for obedience, sets a powerful example of how all communities of faith should imitate his

general approach. Sermons, classes, parental instruction and spiritual literature do well to observe both the foundational truths and the

technique of Moses.

Moses in effect teaches that human choices about their ultimate worship play a crucial role in dictating their future. Despite

cultural voices that urge people to follow their desires or to listen to an ever-present group of conflicting and distracting voices, Moses

repeatedly calls for worship and obedience to the one God. That decision determines much of the future. Just as the Israelites were free

to accept or reject the teaching of Moses about the obedience to one God, so all who follow face the same choice. Once the choice is

made, the future begins to fall into place. Choices have consequences and rewards. There is no other way.

Sermon Three (Deut. 29:1-34:12) Moses preaches three sermons on the Plains of Moab prior to the Invasion of the Promised Land. The third sermon begins

with the narrator speaking in the third person giving the context of the last lesson (Deut. 29:1, 2a). Moses takes up the covenant and

related matters in his third lesson which he speaks in the first person (Deut. 29:2b-33:29). The narrator speaking in the third person

concludes the book by recounting the last acts of Moses and the transfer of leadership to Joshua (Deut. 34). This final sermon of

Moses includes a covenant renewal on the Plains of Moab (Deut. 29), teaching on apostasy and return (Deut. 30), preparations for the

preservation and use of the law and the transfer of leadership to Joshua (Deut. 31), the Song of Moses (Deut. 32) and the final

Blessing of Moses (Deut. 33).

Covenant Renewal—Deut. 29 The word “covenant” appears 27 times in Deuteronomy. In the long section of stipulations in the second sermon, the word

“covenant” appears only once (17:2), but in this covenant renewal ceremony in Deut. 29 it appears 7 times (vv. 1 twice, 9, 12, 14, 21,

and 25). The OT speaks of the covenants with Noah (Gen. 6:18; etc.), Abram (Gen 15:18; etc.), and with Israel through Moses (Exod.

6:4, 24:7, etc.). Other covenant passages renew those covenants or speak of a new one to come. Covenant represents the relationship

between two parties, here the LORD and Israel.

As the chapter unfolds the covenant rests on the grace of the LORD illustrated in the wonders in Egypt (v. 2), the care in the

Wilderness (vv. 5, 6), and the conquest of Transjordan (vv. 7, 8). The LORD did those acts for Israel prior to this covenant and forms

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the foundation on which the covenant rests. The core issue in the covenant centers on the worship of one God (vv. 6, 12, 13) and

absolutely no worship of other gods (vv. 18, 26). The LORD commits Himself to be Israel’s God (vv. 12, 13), initiates the covenant,

and calls for Israel’s obedience (vv. 9, 29). The covenant making involves all the people of Israel (vv. 10, 11) including future

generations (vv. 14, 15). Individual Israelites who become idol worshippers violate the covenant and infect others bringing curses,

destruction and exile (vv. 16-28). The chapter explores both how covenant violations begin (vv. 18-20) and where they end (vv. 21-

28). The covenant includes a call to obey the commands. Although the LORD does not make everything clear (vv. 4, 29) enough clarity

exists for Israel to obey (vv. 1, 12, 29). The covenant-making process takes place in Moab in the presence of Moses.


The inclusiveness of the covenant discussed in Deut. 29 forms a foundation for believers of all time. The chapter mentions

past, present and future participants in the covenant, speaks about the young and the old, the leaders and the followers, the citizens and

the foreigners, those who make the covenant and those in the nations who observe the covenant-making process.

Contemporary believers depend on those who came before. Every member of every congregation depends on those who first

established that community of believers. Every believer looks back on those who taught them and helped them come to faith. Each

community has stories of great events in the past when the people saw God at work. Current believers stand on the shoulders of those

who came before.

Contemporary believers must realize that the decisions they make affect the ongoing nature of the faith. Those who fall away,

like the idolater in Deut. 29, forfeit their responsibility to be a conduit of the faith and instead become a broken pipe that interrupts the

passing on of core beliefs. Decisions and activities of individuals and congregations make a difference in the lives of people not yet

born. Selfish and shortsighted judgments can hinder the passing on of the faith to the next generation.

Each person in the congregation must be treated with value. Leaders and non-leaders share in the destiny of their community.

Even the youngest babies and the oldest seniors depend on others for health and warmth of the spiritual family. Just as Moses insisted

that all be present for the making of the covenant, contemporary communities must be as inclusive and respect all people who form

the assemblies.

Life: Choices and Choosing—Deut. 30. Deut. 30 continues with issues raised in chapter 29 of Israel’s potential apostasy. Deut. 29 ended with His anger (Deut. 29:20,

23, 24, 27, and 28) which would bring on exile (29:28). In light of their leaving the LORD, Moses now addresses Israel’s return to the

LORD (30:2) and speaks of how the LORD will give Israel a new heart (30:6) and bring them back to prosperity in the land (30:3, 5, 9).

The idolatry Israel witnessed in other nations (29:16, 17) and the influence of a single idolater (29:18, 19) does not take away the

potential for the rest of Israel to make the right choice (30:15, 19). As a result of addressing the concerns of Deut. 29, the present

chapter offers hope of blessings (vv. 1, 16), a return to the land (v. 2, 4), restoration (v. 3), compassion (v. 4), being gathered home

(vv. 3, 4), possessing the land (vv. 5, 16), prosperity (vv. 5, 9, 15), multiplying in the land (vv. 5, 16), having circumcised hearts (v. 6),

life (vv. 6, 15, 16, 19, 20), cursing their enemies (v. 7), prosperity of body and agriculture (v. 9), subjects of joy and good (v. 9), being

near to God’s word (v. 14) and long days (v. 20).

Israel turns to the LORD and the LORD turns toward Israel. The LORD brings His Word near to them in which He explains life

with Him and life without Him. Israel then chooses which way they will respond to God. If they choose to turn against the LORD, the

LORD waits for them to seek Him. When Israel turns away from their bad decisions, the LORD turns back to them. Deut. 30:6 repeats

the substance of Deut. 10:16, “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer" and Deut. 6:5 "You shall love the LORD

your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Perhaps the writer of the NT book of Hebrews had this

passage in mind when he makes a similar point in Heb. 4:12. The word of God is the knife used to circumcise the human heart.

Deut. 30:11-14 present two qualities of the commandments. First, they can understand them. Although some things of God

are secret (Deut. 29:29) and some aspects of God beyond human understanding (Isa. 40:13-31), the instructions given in Deuteronomy

can be comprehended. Second, the commandments are not too difficult to obey. The repeated admonition to "obey" carries the

implication that they can be obeyed. Although popular opinion says that no one could keep the laws of the Old Testament, that claim

does not come from the OT itself. Deuteronomy readily admits that Israel will not obey the laws, but never implies that Israel is not

able to keep the laws because they are beyond their ability. After entering into a covenant with them, He expected them to live by the

commandments of that covenant. His commands are not impossible (cf. 2 Sam. 13:2; Zech. 8:6). The commandments come from the

LORD who lives in the heavens, but humans do not have to travel there to obtain them. In a second image, he suggests that one does

not need a ship and crew to travel to another place on the earth where the commandments are kept. The verse makes the point that the

commandments are local not on the other side of nearest body of water. In Paul's use of Deuteronomy 30 in Rom. 10, he uses the

image to "descend into the deep" as if the commandments are at the bottom of a deep well or in the depths of the ocean. God (in

Christ) has come to us; we need not go to Him. Paul uses Deuteronomy to oppose Judaizers who insist on works righteousness and

ignore the grace of God.


From the time God visited the Garden of Eden to Jesus’ birth as a baby in Bethlehem, God has consistently come into the

world and made Himself and His will known. The work of Moses marks the beginning of putting his will into written form. Few

worldviews find such widespread saturation of the world’s people as the one contained in the Bible. Contemporary believers stand in a

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long line of people who have ready access to the word of God. Those who teach and preach the word of God follow in the steps of

Moses as those who convey this remarkable truth to others.

Jesus stressed that He came to help people draw closer to God (Matt. 11:28-30). In this statement, Jesus continues the

fundamental principle of Deut. 30 that the word of God is doable. Jesus says, “You will find rest” and although He compares

following His teaching to a “yoke” it is “easy” and while it can be a “burden” the load is “light.” Neither Moses nor Jesus demand

perfect obedience as they provide ways to return and ways to be forgiven, but they do demand total allegiance. Yet even when

individuals fail, there is always a way back. Moses and Jesus, and all other biblical teachers hold the standards high but offer

forgiveness and an offer to be restored.

Succession—Deut. 31. In Deut. 31, 32, Moses turns to the question of succession. Deut. 31 alternates between comments by the narrator and

speeches by Moses and the LORD creating a complex chapter characterized by significant amounts of repetition. The chapter contains

eight speeches. All the speeches include introductions by the narrator in addition to the speaker’s words. In the speech of the LORD in

v. 17, He cites the words of apostatized Israel which would bring the number of speeches to nine.

The chapter never explains the reason for eight speeches which seem to repeat the same material. No clarification appears for

why so many topics and phrases reappear throughout the chapter. However, the larger context of this chapter points to the underlying

concern. The opening verse in the chapter in effect announces the end of the forty-year ministry of Moses. Moses returned to Egypt at

age 80 to lead the people out of Egyptian slavery (Acts 7:23, 30). Having brought them to the edge of the Promised Land, Moses

stands before them as a 120-year-old man. For nearly all the Israelites gathered at Moab, they knew no other leader besides Moses.

Moses had led the nation all of their lives. On behalf of the nation as a servant of the LORD, Moses had faced Pharaoh, split the Red

Sea, climbed Sinai, served them food and water in the Wilderness, and stood at the front of their successful conquest of Transjordan.

Now the nation must cross the Jordan, conquer the land, and set up life in the land of milk and honey, all without Moses. The situation

no doubt created uncertainty, confusion, and fear. Most communities and organizations experience some level of trauma during

leadership transitions.

In response to this difficult period of transition, the chapter through repetition emphasizes the presence of the LORD. The

LORD commissions Joshua. Although the actual commission may have occurred only once, the chapter repeatedly reassures Israel that

their new leadership rests firmly in the will of the LORD. Additionally, the LORD pledges to the people that although Moses will not

cross Jordan, the LORD will remain with the people as they move. The repeated words of assurance seek to ease the trauma and retain

the confidence of the people. Strikingly, in an effort to remove all doubts, the LORD Himself comes to the earth to meet with both

Moses and Joshua at the Tent of the Meeting. The leadership transfer need not create a problem because the LORD Himself handles the

change. Even with Moses gone, the law which he taught the people will remain physically with Israel. Every Israelite will know where

the documents containing the written law are kept, when they can expect to hear them read and who maintains custody of the words

they heard at Moab. The repeated references to apostasy repeat earlier warnings about serving other gods, but in this context these

warnings emphasize that if any disruption occurs it will not stem from the departure of Moses, or the lack of leadership of the LORD,

but it will rest squarely on Israel’s own refusal and rebellion. All Israel knows of the succession plans. The process takes place in full

view of all the people. Through the promise that the LORD will go with them, that Joshua will lead, that the written words of the law

will be available, the chapter addresses the unease caused by the transfer of leadership.


Leadership changes often prompt chaos. Whether a national election, the selection of a new corporate president, or the

appointment of elders in a local church, these times of transition often generate debate, uncertainty, and discussion. The repetition and

some level of confusion in this chapter reflect the chaos of leadership change, but strikingly in the midst of the repetition and

confusion, three truths are eternal and have implications beyond the periodic changes in leadership. First, God’s word does not

change. Second, God is with us. Third, God has witnesses. Moses cites three different witnesses in Deut. 31 reminding Israel that

their actions would not go unnoticed, that they did not live in a vacuum, and that their deeds had consequences. Contemporary culture

often claims that any behavior is acceptable if done in private and if it does not hurt another. That contemporary point of view ignores

the ever-present witnesses to human behavior. Like the “song,” Scripture itself is a witness. Paul argues in Rom. 2 that even without

Scripture humans have an embedded conscience that knows the fundamentals of right and wrong. All around us the heavens and earth

view what we do in private or public, what we say in a whisper or shout for all to hear, even what we think in our hearts or express

with our pens. We do not live alone. Our deeds do not escape notice. We are watched by witnesses.

Song of Moses—Deut. 32. Deut. 32 falls into two parts: the poetic Song of Moses in Deut. 32:1-43 and two prose reports. The first prose report reflects

on the Song (32:44-47) and the other on Moses’ death (32:48-52). The Song of Moses presents the first Hebrew poetry in the book of

Deuteronomy. Statements in the Song of Moses show that the poem functions in several ways. The Song serves as “teaching” (31:19,

30; 32:2), as worship (“proclaim” in 32:3 and the command to “rejoice” in 32:43), and as a “witness” (cf. 31:19, 21, and 28). The

latter use suggests that the Song portrays a potential trial or lawsuit. Trial elements include an accusation (vv. 4-6), submission of

evidence (vv. 8-14), indictment (vv. 15-18) and sentence or punishment (vv. 19-29).

The constant change of person in the Song points to different speakers and hearers who play a role in the trial recorded by the

Song. The change in speakers and audience provides an outline of the chapter. After Moses teaches the people the Song, another voice

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(or group of voices) replaces Moses. This outline identifies that voice as “the Singer of Israel.” Based on the use of pronouns, the Song

reflects two speakers: the Singer of Israel and the LORD. They speak either to all the witnesses to the trial or directly to Israel. The

Song features seven different addresses that vary with speaker and audience. This outline assigns antecedents to each pronoun with the

understanding that other antecedents may be possible. Four of the addresses are by the Singer of Israel (32:1-20a; 28-31; 36, 37a; 43)

while the LORD speaks in the other three (32:20b-27; 32-35; 37b-42). To summarize, the poetic Song follows this outline: Deut. 32:1-

20a—Address One: the Singer of Israel (1-5—Part 1 addresses all the witnesses; 6, 7—Part 2 addresses Israel; 8-14a—Part 3

addresses all the witnesses.; 14b, 15a—Part 4 addresses Israel; 15b-17a—Part 5 addresses all the witnesses; 17b, 18—Part 6 addresses

Israel; 19, 20a—Part 7 addresses all the witnesses). Deut. 32:20b-27—Address Two: the LORD addresses all the witnesses. Deut.

32:28-31—Address Three: the Singer of Israel addresses all the witnesses. Deut. 32:32-35—Address Four: the LORD addresses all the

witnesses. Deut. 32:36, 37a—Address Five: the Singer of Israel addresses all the witnesses. Deut. 32:37b-42—Address Six: the

LORD addresses all the witnesses. Deut. 32:43—Address Seven: the Singer of Israel addresses all the witnesses.

Although Moses makes arrangements for the storage and reading of the Book of Deuteronomy, in addition he calls the people

to memorize the Song (Deut. 31:19, 21). Stories and poetry may be the literary forms most easily memorized. Most people can retell a

story they have heard. The vast majority of people know a substantial number of poems and songs from memory. Although the Song

in Deut. 32 may be one of the most difficult parts of the book for non-Hebrew speakers, people in the time of Moses may have found

it easier to recall than the statutes and ordinances in Deut. 12-26.


The book of Deuteronomy provides substantial insight into the nature of God. Just as Deut. 5-13 repeatedly took up the issue

of only one God and total rejection of any kind of idolatry, so this song focuses on the one God and issues strong condemnation of any

worship of any other god. This Song provides the vocabulary by which believers of all time speak about our LORD. He is great, our

Rock, perfect, just, and faithful. He is without injustice, righteous, upright, Father, maker, and Most High. He finds us, encircles us,

cares for us, guards us, hoovers over us, spreads His wings over us, catches and carries us, guides us, rides in the high places, provides

nourishment, saves us, gives us birth, and vindicates us. He is compassionate, the I am, and He gives life, heals, administers justice,

and atones. Yet at the same time He is jealous, provoked to anger, spurs idolaters, hides His face, burns and consumes the earth, sets

fire to the earth, heaps misfortunes on unbelievers, and uses His arrows against them. He sends famine, plague, bitter destruction, teeth

of beasts, and venom of crawling things. He wields the sword, causes bereavement and terror, cuts them to pieces, removes their

memory, takes vengeance and retribution, causes their foot to slip, sends a day of calamity, puts to death and wounds, sharpens His

flashing sword, repays those who hate Him, sends arrows drunk with blood, and avenges the blood of His servants. The song stresses

the positive reasons to obey this God much like most contemporary poems and music, but also amplifies the wrathful side of God

often neglected in the hymnology of some traditions. Both the hopeful and the wrathful prompt obedience and faithfulness.

This Song sets a pattern that continues in the great Christ hymn in Col. 1:15-20. Just as the Song here uses pronouns which

forces the reader to identify the antecedent, so the lines that Paul preserves in Colossians repeatedly use the third masculine singular

pronouns, all of which refer to Jesus Christ. Both songs use figures of speech to communicate their message. In just a few lines in Col.

1, most major doctrinal points about Jesus receive expression. Both songs convey the gist of the biblical faith. Both songs suggest that

the hymns used by the believing community which focus on the core issues of faith bear singing repeatedly to the point that they are

memorized. Although some may tend to stress the hymns that present the positive attributes of our Lord, communities of faith do well

to imitate the Song of Moses and include in their repertoire hymns that speak of the complete nature of our God.

The Blessing of Moses—Deut. 33: Most of the book contains the words of the LORD conveyed by Moses to the people while the blessings reflect the final

personal message of a man inspired by God. The blessing poem continues the central features of the book. In giving the blessing,

Moses continues his book-long concern for Israel. As Moses draws his last breaths, he addresses his people for the last time, prepares

to climb up Mt. Nebo and weighs his impending death. The blessings include the hope of future children, prosperity and security.

Moses has no time to edit his last words, to tighten the poetry, or to tie together all the loose ends but rather he allows his thoughts to

cover a wide range of topics and material all focused on leaving his people in secure and protective hands. He blesses his people (v.

1). He begins with a song about the LORD (vv. 2-5), then offers his blessing on the tribes (vv. 6-25) and concludes with another verse

of the song about the LORD (vv. 26-29). With these blessings in mind Moses moves on to his death and the people begin the invasion

to the Promised Land.


No community can neglect teaching about the LORD God. Leaders and teachers who follow in the footsteps of Moses must

not neglect careful consideration of the biblical claims about the LORD. Just as Moses repeatedly teaches about His unique qualities,

His central concerns, and His desire for exclusive worship, teachers must continually return to this subject in detail and clarity. Moses

opens and closes the blessings with attention to the nature of the LORD. He uses extravagant language and striking images to help the

tribes see and understand Who they worship. Only when people understand His nature, His intent, and His character can they properly

reject other gods and fully worship Him as the one eternal being. The subject of the LORD must never be neglected, or treated

minimally or thought to be “finished.” Every community must insist that its teachers reflect the pattern and model of Moses and return

repeatedly to the God who comes from Sinai to be king riding the heavens to bless and protect His people. As Moses prepares to

depart, in a poetic flourish, he helps the people imagine how they can live in the soon to be conquered land in a way that brings value

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and significance to each member of their community and allows them to live long and prosper under the substantial blessings of God.

Those who aspire to be teachers like Moses, those whom God has called to lead His people, must be the ones who undertake the same

task which Moses so nobly concludes in his blessing of the people.

Death of Moses—Deut. 34. Deut. 34 gives closure to at least four different parts of the Bible’s opening pages: the life of Moses, the land promise, the

Pentateuch and the book of Deuteronomy.


Moses provides a model for how people of faith engage with the promises of God. Moses’ example reminds believers that

not all people live long enough to personally witness the fulfillment of God’s promises. Moses believed that God would fulfill the

promise to give the descendants of Abraham the land of Canaan even though he knew he would not personally participate in that

fulfillment. Moses reminds all believers of their brief appearance in God’s much longer timeline and that belief in the promise does

not demand participation in its fulfillment. The example of Moses reveals that believers can believe in things not yet possessed and in

promises not seen close up.

Moses also sets a standard for leaders in the spiritual community. Keeping those who believe in God focused on the promises

of God requires someone to teach and rehearse those promises, to lead toward the promised destination, to strategize on how to

achieve that goal, and to continue that effort until the day of their death. In a culture that stresses immediate gratification, such leaders

must promote the advantages of delayed rewards. In a society that believes that retirement is a right, such leaders must never cease to

work toward the fulfillment of these promises. Moses plays a critical role of one leading God’s people toward the fulfillment of His

promises.

Moses also models faithfulness. Despite Moses’ several attempts to alter God’s decision not to allow him to enter the land,

Moses continues to engage with God’s promises. He believed in the goal to the extent that he provided military leadership, served as

the nation’s most visible cheerleader, and outlined a succession program to continue the faithful on to their journey. His example

reminds us that those who believe in the promises of God often die before they are achieved, but that belief even in those

circumstances is possible.

Sample Sermon Outlines or Manuscripts

When a Child Asks—Deuteronomy 6:4-8 Introduction

1. Statistics about children growing up in church but leaving as adults (e.g., Stan Granberg, “A Case Study of Growth and Decline;

the Churches of Christ 2006-2016,” Great Commission Research Journal. 10:1 [Fall 2018]: 90-113).

2. Stories about children who give up their faith as adults.

3. Does the Bible have anything to say about these situations?

Body

1. Longest text in the Bible about passing on faith to the next generation is Deut. 6.

2. Background to Deuteronomy.

a. Three sermons Moses preaches on one day, day he died.

b. Nearly all the people who left Egypt as adults forty years later are dead.

c. Most of the people in the crowd are under forty.

d. One of the key issues in the book is how to pass on the faith to the next generation.

3. Deuteronomy 6 lists five principles for passing on the faith to the next generation.

a. Principle #1—In order to have a lasting faith young people must see the faith being lived out (6:1-3).

i. Moses tells the people to keep the commandments.

ii. These three verses center on the benefits of keeping the commandments: you will get to possess the land,

your days may be prolonged, it may go well with you, you will multiply.

iii. But the key is verse 2—When the children and grandchildren see the adults living in obedience to God,

they will learn to fear God. Fear in Deuteronomy is associated with following and serving God.

b. Principle #2—In order to have a lasting faith young people must be taught to love God (6:4-9).

i. This passage is one of the key verses in all the Bible.

ii. Jesus called it the great commandment in Matt. 22 and the way to eternal life in Luke 10.

iii. Children must be taught diligently to love God.

iv. When the religion of Judaism began in exile, Jews began to read this passage every day as a core principle

in passing on the faith.

c. Principle #3—In order to have a lasting faith young people must be warned about the dangers of affluence (6:10-15).

i. When they enter the land, they will have things they never had before (see list in v. 10).

ii. When people have many gifts, they tend to forget the giver.

iii. Affluence causes spiritual amnesia (Brueggemann).

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iv. This condition will affect young people so they must be warned in advance about how to face it.

d. Principle #4—In order to have a lasting faith young people must be warned about how the problems of life affect

faith (6:16-20).

i. Moses takes the crowd back to Massah where they had no water. Humans cannot survive long without

water. They lost their faith because they had no water.

ii. The tragedies, suffering, problems and dysfunctions of life wear on faith.

iii. Young people must be prepared for those times when their faith is tried.

e. Principle #5—In order to have a lasting faith young people must be taught about grace (6:20-25).

i. A child comes before the faith community with a question. Children then and now ask good questions—

it’s the reason we have Sunday school and VBS.

ii. This child wants to know why they have all the commandments. Those who read Deuteronomy know that’s

a good question.

iii. Moses does not give us the expected answer: do these things and you’ll be saved.

iv. Instead he tells a three-part story:

1. We were slaves in Egypt and God gave us freedom. We did not earn it, it was by grace.

2. We were homeless in the wilderness and God gave us a land. We did not earn it, it was by grace.

3. We were clueless about how to live so God gave us instructions. We did not earn it, it was by

grace.

v. Children must understand that faith is based on grace.

4. What do these five principles mean to us? Two thoughts.

a. #1—This passage gives us hope.

i. Most people are discouraged about the state of our culture.

1. They bemoan the media and entertainment.

2. They complain about government and politics.

3. They don’t see much good in the next generation.

ii. If you visit most neighborhoods where the children are out playing you will find that most of those children

don’t go to church. They may not have Bibles and may be learning swear words and questionable habits.

1. Deut. 6 reminds us of the power of teaching.

2. Tell a story about a child whose life was changed when they learned about God.

iii. Every time we preach there are little boys and girls less than a mile from the church building.

1. They are not atheists or agnostics nor do they have philosophical objections to our faith.

2. They are just empty fields waiting to be planted.

3. Those little boys could grow up to be our next preacher or elder or they could grow up to be a drug

dealer and inmate.

4. Those little girls could grow up to be the mayor of our city or a teacher in our Sunday school or

they could grow up to be street walkers or a person who gets drunk and kills a friend.

5. One thing is absolutely for sure about that little boy and girl not far from where we sit. They will

be taught. They will be taught by movies, popular music and drug dealers or by a godly coach or

by a Sunday school teacher. They will be taught by an ex-con or by somebody like you.

b. #2—It takes a whole community to raise up a child.

i. See the Larry Crab story in Leadership Magazine, Summer 2001, p. 79.

ii. Tell a story about a child who benefited from the work of a whole community

iii. In some of our churches we have people who think they have retired from ministry. They said, “I did my

stint in Sunday school or the nursery. It’s somebody else’s turn now. That is unscriptural thinking. You

serve God until the day you die. You do not retire from ministry.

iv. Tell the story Sen. Sam Nun told about Sarajevo at the 1996 National Prayer Breakfast in D.C.

5. Conclusion: Deuteronomy 6:4-7 4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; 5 and you shall love the LORD your

God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6 And these words which I command you this day

shall be upon your heart; 7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children…

The Lord Set His Heart—Deuteronomy 10:12-22 a. Peter Singer, prof at University of Melbourne, is a well-known secularist.

b. He opens his book The Life You Can Save (2009) with two stories:

i. A fictitious story about a man seeing a child about to drown in a pond

ii. A true story about Jordan and Bethany Lyon drowning in a pond in 2007

c. Singer asks, why should someone rescue a child?

i. He says we do it out of self-interest.

ii. We would want somebody to rescue us if we were drowning.

iii. He never seems convinced that is a good enough reason or that it will convince many people.

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d. He reports on research studies on the topic (pages 46ff) in which two groups are told about children starving in Malawi.

i. Group 1 is shown only statistics and are asked to give.

ii. Group 2 is shown a picture of one child and asked to give.

iii. Group 2 gives twice as much.

iv. It is called the identifiable victim.

2. Singer raises good questions.

a. Why do we rescue a child from a pond?

b. Why do we help starving children in Africa?

c. Why do we send missionaries?

d. Why do we have a benevolent ministry?

3. Deuteronomy does not tell of a child drowning in a pond or starving children in Africa

a. It deals with the poor and marginal.

b. It takes up orphans, widows and aliens.

c. Deut. 15 may be the longest chapter in the Bible about the poor.

d. Deut. 15:7-8 sounds similar to Singer’s self-interest argument.

e. But Deuteronomy goes further.

f. We must understand how Deuteronomy works.

4. Three circles of Deuteronomy:

a. Double sided coin.

i. Deut. 5—no other gods, no idols, no vain.

ii. Deut. 6—love with all you have.

iii. Same point, one negative, one positive.

b. Wooden Wagon Wheel.

i. Hub: God loves us (Dt. 7); we love God (D.t 6); so we should love each other (point of laws in Dt. 12-26)

ii. Spokes: How do we love.

1. Love God—Commandments 1-4 (Dt 5).

2. Love each other—Commandments 4-10 (Dt 5; commandment 4 goes both ways).

iii. Rim: Need examples of how to love.

1. Over 600 laws are case studies in loving God and loving each other.

c. Smiley Face.

i. Deuteronomy’s theme is how to have a good life (cf. Dt. 30).

ii. Refrains: that it may go well with you, that you may live long, that you may inherit the land of milk and honey,

that you may have many children.

5. All of Deuteronomy comes to a key point n Deut. 10.

a. Deut. 9-10 retells the story of the Golden Calf.

b. It is originally told in Exod. 32-33.

c. After both stories there is a major passage about God: Exod. 34:5-7; Deut. 10:12-22.

6. It begins with Deut. 10:12: What does the Lord require of you?

a. He lists ten items (summarize them).

b. They generally equate to Jesus’ call for discipleship or total commitment.

c. Dt. 10:12 summarizes it: love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

7. So why do we do what God requires?

a. Why do we jump in the pond to save the child?

b. Why do we send money to help starving children?

c. Why do we do benevolence and evangelism?

8. Deut. 10:14-20 lists 15 qualities of God.

a. V. 14: He is owner of heaven & highest heaven.

b. He made everything we know about & also what we don’t know about.

c. He has deed to all land we know, land we don’t know.

9. V. 17

a. He is God of gods.

b. He is Lord of lords.

c. He is great, mighty and awesome.

10. We know that language!

a. It is the vocabulary we use for God. It comes from Deuteronomy. It is the language our song writers use.

b. Handel composed 260 pages of Messiah in 24 days. He wrote without much sleep, hardly ate any food. After he wrote

Hallelujah chorus said “I did think I did see all Heaven before me & the great G himself seated on His throne with his

company of angels.” Then he wrote, King of kings, Lord of lords, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. His music inspired millions.

The root of his language goes back to Dt.10. V. 21 is second time in the Bible that the root of Halleluiah is used.

11. Moses answers the “WHY” questions by pointing to God.

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a. Why do we serve?

b. Because of God who owns the heavens and highest heavens.

c. Think of any group of gods, he is God of all those gods.

d. Think of any group of kings, premiers, presidents and lords, he is Lord of all those lords.

e. No wonder Handel said “Hallelujah” 167 times in the Hallelujah chorus.

12. But that’s not all. Read vv. 17-18

a. When we go deep into the heart of god.

b. When we probe the mind of the Lord of lords.

c. When we explore the God of gods.

d. We find he cares about the vulnerable.

13. The Lord of lords and God of gods cares about those at risk.

a. The great God cares about the orphan.

b. The mighty God has concern for the widows.

c. The awesome God looks after the alien.

14. When we walk by a pond and see a toddler drowning.

a. We help because we would want somebody to help us if we were drowning.

b. But ultimately, we help because that’s what God would do.

15. When we hear about starving children in Malawi.

a. We help because we would want somebody to help us if we were hungry.

b. But ultimately, we help because God would help.

16. Australian Peter Singer raises a good question.

a. As a secularist he can go only so far.

b. Help others because you want to be helped.

c. Australia is a secular nation.

17. There’s another Peter in Australia, Peter Tickner.

a. He preaches for the Macquarie Church of Christ in Sydney.

b. He has a teenage daughter named Laura.

c. She attends a public high school: Cheltenham Girls High School.

d. Fr the past 30 years the girls chorus of 1400 voices does a musical performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House.

e. Every year they sing the same song at the end.

f. People come from all over to hear this one song.

g. The girls sing it with all their hearts.

h. The song they sing is the Hallelujah Chorus.

i. He’s Lord of lords and King of kings, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

18. Ultimately all humans are moved by the heart of God.

a. He is God of gods, Lord of lords, King of kings.

b. He is great, mighty and awesome.

c. He cares about the orphan, the widow and the alien.

d. And so should we.

The LORD’S Ideal Community—Deuteronomy 24:16-22 1. Opening illustration of the quest for efficiency and effectiveness based on data.

a. See a good example in David Larson and Bryon Johnson, “Religion the Forgotten Factor in Cutting Youth Crime

and Saving At-Risk Urban Youth,” https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/religion-forgotten-factor-cutting-

youth-crime-and-saving-risk-urban-youth-5880.html.

b. Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save gives several examples (pp. 81-84).

c. We are all on a quest for efficiency.

i. Super highways to improve fuel economy.

ii. Programmable thermostats.

iii. Accountants to save us money.

2. How does this passage fit into that kind of culture: Deut. 24:19-21?

a. The passage runs counter to our data driven, efficiently prizing society.

b. We wonder if they had 200 sheaves and missed 10, what would be the return on the investment to get the other 5%?

c. If we spend 10 minutes and get 85% of the olives, what if we spent 11 minutes?

d. If we had 4 workers in the vineyard and get 90% of the grapes, what would be the result of using 5 workers?

3. When I was a teenager, I worked for a potato farmer.

a. They had a harvester machine which dug up the potatoes, shook them off the vine, separated out the clods and rocks

and put the potatoes in the truck

b. Yet each vine pushed out back into the field still had 1 or 2 potatoes clinging to it.

c. They hired teenagers to walk behind the harvester and pull those potatoes off manually and put them in the truck.

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/religion-forgotten-factor-cutting-youth-crime-and-saving-risk-urban-youth-5880.html

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/religion-forgotten-factor-cutting-youth-crime-and-saving-risk-urban-youth-5880.html

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d. Efficiency!

4. Why does the Bible tell the Israelite farmers not to seek a 100% harvest?

a. Is God against efficiency?

b. Is the data not important?

c. Should they not want the best harvest?

d. Three thoughts:

5. #1—Deuteronomy places emphasis on the whole community.

a. Deut. 10:17 describes the transcendent God who created the heavens and is God of gods.

b. Deut. 10:18 describes the immanent God who cares about orphans, widows and aliens.

c. That lays the foundation for a concern in Deuteronomy for the weakest members of the community.

d. Deal with Deut. 14:28-29; 15:7, 8; 16:11, 14; 25:17-18.

e. God in Deuteronomy looks at the human community like a chain. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.

f. God evaluates the community by how it treats its weakest members.

6. Our society puts the individual over the community

a. Abortion is based on the right of one individual over the fabric of life in the community.

b. Consumerism says I want what I want regardless of the community cost.

7. When the Israelite farmer went to the field.

a. They were not just after a harvest percentage, but the whole community.

b. The most vulnerable were more important than 100% efficiency.

8. #2—Deuteronomy links how we treat others to our relationship with God.

a. The Ten Commandments reflect this point.

i. The first four commandments (no other gods, no images, no name in vain, keep day holy) describe our

relationship with God.

ii. The last seven commandments (rest for all, honor parents, kill, steal, adultery, false witness, covet) describe

our relationship with each other [Sabbath commandment goes both ways as the hinge].

iii. If a person murders does that effect his relationship with God? Yes.

iv. The way we keep the last 7 determines how well we honor the first 4.

b. Jesus makes the same point in Matthew 25.

i. The people are concerned about if they will have an eternal relationship with God.

ii. Jesus divides them into the sheep and goats.

iii. The criteria are how well they treat each other. Did you give food, drink, clothing, and visit?

c. 1 John 4:20 makes this same point.

9. Our society keeps God separate from the public square.

a. What we do in business has no effect on our divine relationship.

b. I can live the way I want as long as I visit God on occasion.

10. #3—Deuteronomy places emphasis on human dignity.

a. One of the themes in Deuteronomy is how to make the best of a human mess.

i. When a parent loves one child more than another (mess), here’s how you make the best—Deut. 21:15ff.

ii. When there is a murder (mess), here’s how you make the best—Deut. 19

b. Many of the examples are concerned about dignity.

i. When a soldier is attracted to a prisoner of war (mess), there is a best way to allow her dignity in her

grief—Deut. 21:10.

ii. When a farmer can’t pay back his loan (mess), there is a best way to allow him dignity—Deut. 15.

c. The gleaning passage is about dignity.

i. The orphan, widow and alien may not own the field, orchard or vineyard, but they must work to bring in

their harvest.

ii. They get self-respect by providing for themselves.

iii. It also ends up with a high efficiency harvest.

11. Ultimately Deuteronomy is not against efficiency.

a. It is for community.

b. It is for good relationships.

c. It is for dignity.

12. Conclude with a story of a successful ministry that is not about data or return on investment, but a concern for people and their

relationship with God.

a. Consider Ken and Pat Beckloff at https://christianchronicle.org/church-members-receive-blessing-on-netflixs-

kindness-diaries/

b. Consider Vivian at http://blog.christianrelieffund.org/the-first-miracle/

https://christianchronicle.org/church-members-receive-blessing-on-netflixs-kindness-diaries/

https://christianchronicle.org/church-members-receive-blessing-on-netflixs-kindness-diaries/

http://blog.christianrelieffund.org/the-first-miracle/

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Selected Bibliography on Preaching from Deuteronomy

Achiemeier, Elizabeth. Deuteronomy, Jeremiah. Proclamation Commentary. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978.

Biddle, Mark A. Deuteronomy. Macon: Smyth & Helwys, 2003.

Block, Daniel. Deuteronomy, The NIV Application Commentary. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

Braulik, George. The Sequence of the Laws in Deuteronomy 12-26 and in the Decalogue. A Song of Power and the Power of Song.

Duane L. Christensen, ed. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1993.

Christensen, Duane. Deuteronomy 1:1-21:9, Revised. Word Biblical Commentary. Nashville: Nelson, 2001.

Craigie, Peter C. The Book of Deuteronomy. New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976.

Driver, S. R. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1895.

Dyrness, William A. Themes in Old Testament Theology. Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1977.

Hall, Gary. Deuteronomy, The College Press NIV Commentary. Joplin: College Press, 2000.

Hofreiter, Christian. “Genocide in Deuteronomy and Christian Interpretation” in Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches.

David G. Firth and Philip S. Johnston eds. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Johnston, Philip. “Civil Leadership in Deuteronomy” in Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches. David Firth and Philip

Johnston eds. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Kitchen, K. A. Ancient Orient and the Old Testament. Chicago: InterVarsity, 1966.

Kline, Meredith G. The Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1963.

Krahmalkov, Charles R. “Exodus Itinerary Confirmed by Egyptian Evidence” Biblical Archaeology Review 20, 1994: 55-62.

Maxwell, John C. Deuteronomy, The Communicator’s Commentary. Waco: Word, 1987.

McBride, Dean. S. v. “Book of Deuteronomy,” The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Nashville: Abingdon, 2007.

McCarthy, D. J. Old Testament Covenant: A Survey of Current Opinions. Oxford: Blackwell, 1972.

McConville, Gordon. Deuteronomy. Apollos Old Testament Commentary. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2002.

McConville, Gordon. Grace in the End. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1993.

McKim, Donald. ed. Historical Handbook of Major Biblical Interpreters. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 298-302.

Mendenhall, George. “Covenant Forms in Israelite Tradition.” Biblical Archaeologist 17:3: 1954, 50-76.

Miller, Patrick D. Deuteronomy, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching. Louisville: John Knox, 1990.

Miller, Patrick. “The Way of Torah,” Princeton Seminary Bulletin 1987: 20-22.

Noth, Martin. The Deuteronomistic History, 2nd ed., JSOT supplement, Book 15 Sheffield: Academic Press, 2002.

Olson, Dennis. “How Does Deuteronomy do Theology” in A God So Near: Essays on Old Testament Theology in Honor of Patrick D

Miller, ed. by Brent A. Strawn and Nancy R. Bowen. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2003.

Rofe’, Alexander. “The Arrangement of the Laws in Deuteronomy” Ephemerides Theologicae Lovaniensis 64, 1988: 265-287.

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Thomas, Heath. “Life and Death in Deuteronomy,” in Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches, edited by David Firth and

Philip Johnston. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Vogt, Peter T. “Centralization and decentralization in Deuteronomy,” in Interpreting Deuteronomy: Issues and Approaches, edited by

David Firth and Philip Johnston. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Von Rad, Gerhard. Deuteronomy. London: SCM, 1966.

Walker, L. L. S. v. “Deuteronomy.” The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975.

Weinfeld, Moshe. Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomic School. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1972.

Westermann, Claus. What Does the Old Testament Say about God? Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1979.

Wilburn, James R. Faith and Public Policy. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2002.

Wright, Christopher J. H. Deuteronomy, Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1996.

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