The video version is available at: https://youtu.be/g9AjA47sB68
Reading
– Deuteronomy chapter 1
By
Dan & Brenda Cathcart
As
the children of Israel are on the brink of entering the Promised Land, Moses
prepares to deliver his final instructions to them. The name Deuteronomy is of
Greek origin and means second law or instruction. The Hebrew name, Devarim, simply
means “words.” As they stood before the Jordan River, about to enter the
promised land, Moses delivers his final words to a new generation of the
Children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 1:1-2 MKJV 1 These are the
words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond Jordan in the wilderness, in the
plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and
Dizahab, 2 eleven days from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.
This
place, across the Jordan from Jericho, is a place of significance. It was in
this place that Balaam and Balak tried to curse Israel and were unsuccessful.
It was in this place where the children of Israel were seduced into worship of
Baal Peor and were saved by Phineas’ swift action. Why did Moses choose to speak
these words at this time?
The
generation which Moses addressed in the plains of Moab, with some exceptions such
as those under twenty years old at the time of the exodus, were not those who
actually came out of Egypt. Those who came out of slavery in Egypt died in the
wilderness as a result of their sin and unbelief. This generation of Israelites
were born or grew up in the camp. They were not those who stood at Mt. Sinai
and pledged to God that they would hear and obey all that God said. They would
have heard the stories about the plagues in Egypt and the blood of the Passover
Lamb, the death of all the firstborn not protected by the blood, and their
flight from Egypt in haste. They would have heard about the thunderings and
lightnings at Mt. Sinai, and how God’s voice spoke from out of the mountain
with the words of the covenant. They had access to these words which Moses
wrote down. But this generation did not personally experience these events.
Moses
knew that he would not enter the Promised Land. He knew that he was going to
die within sight of it. He wanted to make sure that the people were prepared to
go into the Promised Land and take hold of their inheritance. So, he took the
last month of his life to pass on as much of his knowledge and experience as he
could. He began by summarizing the events of the past forty years and the
commandments that God gave them to live by. Moses called the people together to
tell them all that God had said.
Deuteronomy 1:3 MKJV 3 And it
happened, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the
month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all that Jehovah had
commanded him concerning them;
These
words were not just to be heard and understood and become head knowledge; they
were to be taken as heart knowledge, and ingrained into their souls to become a
part of who they were! These words were so important that they were to become
the foundation and the very fabric of their everyday lives!
To
this day many of the Jewish people understand this concept and portions of the
book of Deuteronomy are central to their daily practices and prayer rituals.
They recite the Sh’ma, as we do as well, which includes three passages of
Deuteronomy. By this constant repetition, they put these words in their hearts
and souls!
Jeremiah
tells us that, in the New Covenant, God’s words would be placed in their souls
and written on the hearts of His people.
Jeremiah 31:33 MKJV 33 but this shall
be the covenant that I will cut with the house of Israel: After those days,
says the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
The
word “put” is the Hebrew word Naw-than’, #5414 meaning to give. The Torah is a
gift that God gives them! God told the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai that He
was their God, and they were His people, a special treasure to Him. He spoke
the words of the Torah and wrote the summary on the tablets of stone. In this
New Covenant, of which Jeremiah is speaking, God said that He is still their
God, and they are still His people, but this time He will write His Torah on
their hearts and gift it to them to be an integral part of their being!
The
book of Deuteronomy is a type of contract. It reads like a suzerain treaty
following the common pattern of treaties found in the ancient world between
kingdoms. In a suzerain treaty, one kingdom is the suzerain or “father” nation,
while the other is the vassal or “son.” The “son” nations owes obedience to the
“father” kingdom. In this case Deuteronomy is a treaty, or covenant between God
the Father and the nation of Israel as God’s son. When God redeemed Israel from
Egypt, He called Israel His firstborn son.
Exodus 4:22-23 NKJV 22 "Then you
shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD: "Israel is My son, My
firstborn. 23 "So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if
you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn."'"
The
book of Deuteronomy can be divided into six distinct sections following this
ancient pattern. The book opens with a preamble in verses 1-5. Then there is an
historical prologue, 1:6 through 3:39. Next are the stipulations of the
contract, 4:1 through 26:19. Sanctions, that is blessings and cursing, are
given in chapters 27 and 28. A summary is contained in chapters 29 and 30, and
the book ends with the provisions for continuity and disposition in chapters 31
through 34.[i]
Deuteronomy
is also a cornerstone of the teachings of Yeshua and the apostles. Yeshua
quotes passages from Deuteronomy more than any other book of the Tanach or Old
Testament. When Yeshua was tempted by Satan in the wilderness following his
baptism in the Jordan, He quotes from Deuteronomy three times. We find the
first example in Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew 4:1-4 NKJV 1 Then Jesus was
led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when
He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when
the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that
these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is
written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
Deuteronomy
contains certain key words that are important to pay attention to as we examine
the text. The first is, of course, the word covenant. The term covenant is used
27 times throughout Deuteronomy. The English word covenant is from the Hebrew
brit, number 1285, literally meaning a contract between two parties. In this
covenant between God and His people, He made specific promises to bless His
people if they would obey His commandments.
Deuteronomy 11:13-15 NKJV 13 'And it
shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today,
to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your
soul, 14 'then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early
rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and
your oil. 15 'And I will send grass in your fields for your livestock, that you
may eat and be filled.'
As
do all suzerain covenants, the covenant between God and Israel also contains
the promise of exile for disobedience. However, at the same time, the covenant
also states God will not permanently abandon them and that He will bring them
back to their land.
Today
we see the children of Israel returning to the land in greater and greater
numbers, far greater than in previous returns. From this, we can be assured
that the covenant provisions spelled out in Deuteronomy are still in effect today
and just as valid. Other key words to watch for as we study Deuteronomy are
love, listen, obey, and remember.
The
preamble of the contract is contained in chapter 1, verses 1 through 5 where
the parties are identified, as well as who is speaking, and the time and place
where the contract is to be ratified.
The
historical prologue takes the bulk of the volume of this portion, Devarim, from
chapter 1 verse 6 through chapter 3 verse 22. It is interesting to note that
this historical review does not begin back in Egypt. Moses starts with the
people’s initial rejection of the land and their 40 years of wandering.
Deuteronomy 1:6 NKJV 6 "The LORD
our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying: 'You have dwelt long enough at this
mountain.
It
appears that Moses wanted to draw on events that were most significant to the
current generation of the Israelites. He wanted them to see that God was acting
in their lives, and on their behalf, and not just in past generations or in
some distant way. God determined that this generation was now ready to possess
the Promised Land.
Deuteronomy 1:8 NKJV 8 'See, I have
set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to
your fathers-to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob-to give to them and their descendants
after them.'
God
is telling them to take the land! Here it is. My gift to you and your
descendants just as I promised. To receive the blessing of the land all that the
people had to do was to trust that God would keep His promises. The people of
the previous generation failed in their faith in God and only saw the “giants”
of the land. They could not believe that they, or God, was capable of winning
the battles against the inhabitants of the land!
Numbers 13:30-33 NKJV 30 Then Caleb
quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take
possession, for we are well able to overcome it." 31 But the men who had
gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for
they are stronger than we." 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad
report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through
which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the
people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 "There we saw the
giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like
grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."
So,
this new generation is now given the opportunity that the previous generation
rejected to finally possess the Promised Land!
Another
specific promise, dating back to Abraham, that they could surely see for
themselves, was that they now numbered as the stars of heaven! He reminds them
of how they came into Egypt as a family of only seventy men, and came out as a
large army, and continue to be a large army.
Deuteronomy 1:10-11 NKJV 10 'The LORD
your God has multiplied you, and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in
multitude. 11 'May the LORD God of your fathers make you a thousand times more
numerous than you are, and bless you as He has promised you!
The
children of Israel, men who were twenty years old and older who were able to go
to war, numbered greater than 600,000. This is in addition to the Levites who
were counted separately, the women and children, and, probably, the mixed
multitude.
Moses
realized that this multitude of people would need strong leadership in his
absence. He reminded them that he instructed the people to choose capable men
from among each tribe to assist him in with leadership and guidance.
Deuteronomy 1:12-13 NKJV 12 'How can I
alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? 13 'Choose wise,
understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make
them heads over you.'
Years
before, Moses’ father-in-law Jethro had recommended a certain type of man to be
appointed as a judge. Jethro recommended men with three specific
characteristics: Men who fear God, men of integrity, and men who hate dishonest
gain.
Exodus 18:21 NKJV 21 "Moreover
you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth,
hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers
of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
This
appointment of men of integrity as judges over a congregation is a Biblical
mandate. The early believers in Yeshua appointed elders to guide and judge the assemblies.
Paul spoke of these in his first epistle to Timothy.
1 Timothy 3:2-7 NKJV 2 A bishop then
must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good
behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not
greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules
his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for
if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the
church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into
the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony
among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the
devil.
Moses
warned the judges not to show partiality in their decisions. He told them that
the rich and the poor were to be treated equally, and to fear no man because the
ultimate judge is God.
As
if warning the people not to make the same mistake as their father’s did, Moses
reminds them again of the complaints that their fathers made in the wilderness.
Deuteronomy 1:27-30 NKJV 27 "and
you complained in your tents, and said, 'Because the LORD hates us, He has
brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the
Amorites, to destroy us. 28 'Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged
our hearts, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities
are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the
Anakim there."' 29 "Then I said to you, 'Do not be terrified, or
afraid of them. 30 'The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for
you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
Because
of their complaints and their lack of faith, that generation did not receive
the inheritance of the land. They all died in the wilderness. In spite of this,
God did not cast off His people. Although that generation didn’t go into the
Promised Land, their children, those whom Moses was speaking to in Deuteronomy,
would go into the land.
The
remainder of Deuteronomy chapter 1 continues with Moses driving home the point
of God’s faithfulness to the covenant and His love He showed for them in spite
of their continual disobedience to His commandments. But at the same time affirming
His judgments against their disobedience.
Deuteronomy 1:31-35 NKJV 31 'and in
the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man
carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.' 32
"Yet, for all that, you did not believe the LORD your God, 33 "who
went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents,
to show you the way you should go, in the fire by night and in the cloud by
day. 34 "And the LORD heard the sound of your words, and was angry, and
took an oath, saying, 35 'Surely not one of these men of this evil generation
shall see that good land of which I swore to give to your fathers,
The
Bible is a constant reminder that God loves us even when we don’t show or speak
of our love for God. This is proven time and again throughout the scriptures.
Yeshua was the personification of God’s unconditional love.
1 John 4:9-10 NKJV 9 In this the love
of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into
the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins.
As
the Children of Israel stand on the banks of the Jordan, bound for the glory of
the Promised Land, Moses chose this time to speak these words recorded in
Deuteronomy because he knew they would be facing many battles to take the Land,
and that he wouldn’t be there to lead them. There on the banks of the Jordan River,
the people needed to be prepared for what was to come as they took possession
of the land.
Once
they crossed the Jordan and entered the land, they would not experience God’s
constant presence as they did in the wilderness. The manna would cease, and
they would have to plow, plant, and harvest their own food. In the absence of
Moses, they would look to their appointed judges and form new governments. God
would be with them though; in ways they could not yet imagine! Their faith and
reliance on God would need to be strong in the face of the many temptations and
enemies they were to meet as they took possession of the Promised Land. Moses
set about to give them these words because they needed to understand for
themselves the covenant that God made with them at Mount Sinai.
Study
Questions:
2.
In a suzerain treaty, the vassal kingdom
is called the “son.” In Exodus 4:22, God calls Israel His firstborn son. Does
that mean God has other “sons,” that is other vassal kingdoms? If so, who are
they?
3.
In Deuteronomy, Moses is giving
instructions for the future generations of Israel, specifically, the current
generation who is entering the land. In this Torah portion, he recites the
events of the past. How is this summary, also, instructions for the future? How
is our past instruction for the future?
General
Portion Questions
4.
In the teaching, we reference Matthew
4:1-4 as one of the times Yeshua quotes Deuteronomy when tested in the
wilderness for forty days. What are the other two quotes? How do these three
quotes summarize the entire book of Deuteronomy?
5.
Deuteronomy 2:1-15 describes the
thirty-eight years that the children of Israel wandered in the desert after
they rejected the land. How does Moses summarize these years? Even though the
generation that came out of Egypt rejected the land, did God reject that
generation?
6.
What other insights did you gain from this teaching? What indicators are there in
this Torah Portion that point to Messiah Yeshua?
©
2023 Moed Ministries International. All rights reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment
You must include your name, city and state at the end of your comment. I do not accept comments from any one who identifies themselves as anonymous. All comments are moderated prior to appearing on this blog.