GET READY
Moses used his last opportunity to speak to the Israelites to give them another look at their relationship with God and the covenant that makes the relationship possible. “Deuteronomy” means “second statement” or repetition of the law that God gave the people at Sinai thirty-eight years earlier.
Author
“These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan,” [Deut 1:1]. Most scholars accept this opening statement at face value. Deuteronomy is Moses’ last chance to give the Israelites the direction and guidance they so obviously need. In fact he directs the people to re-read “this law before all Israel in their hearing,” [31:12] every seven years, so the children “may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing over the Jordan to possess,” [31:13].
Interestingly, a copy of this book was discovered 800 years later when King Josiah ordered repairs to the temple in Jerusalem. The discovery fueled a reformation and (unfortunately brief) return to following the law during the remainder of Josiah’s reign. The discovery also leads some modern scholars to propose the book was written by an unknown reformer to initiate Josiah’s reforms—clearly an answer to a question that does not need asking.
Context
The Israelites have arrived at the plain on the east side of the Jordan River after wandering in the “wilderness” for 38 years [check Lesson 12 for the background]. , Except Joshua and Caleb, all of the men who walked out of Egypt have died and Moses knows he is about to die—without crossing into the Promised Land. God has appointed Joshua as Moses’ successor who will lead the actual conquest of Canaan.
The people who are about to enter the land God promised Abraham were not alive when God rescued the Israelites from their Egyptian slavery, or when he gave them the Ten Commandments and all the other laws governing their relationship with him and with each other as his holy people. So Moses uses this series of speeches to review the Israelites’ history and their relationship with the Lord.
Structure
Deuteronomy is a set of three speeches plus a concluding narrative. The speeches deal with:
- The primary events during the Israelites’ forty-year trek from Egypt to Palestine [chapters 1-4].
- God’s law – Moses restates all the major components of the law that God had delivered to the people [chapters 5-26].
- The consequences of following the law: blessings; or not following the law: curses and punishment [chapters 27-30].
The short narrative at the end includes a song, Moses’ blessings on each of the tribes, and an account of Moses’ death and burial.
Major Themes
The book seems to be almost entirely about the law: how it came to the Israelites, what it commands, and what happens when the people follow—or don’t follow—it.
But the law is not an end in itself. In Deuteronomy Moses is telling the people the purpose of the law: to establish and maintain the covenant between God and his chosen people, Israel; and why it is important for the people to follow the law: so they will be successful and prosperous in the land God is giving them: to set you high above all nations that he has made, in praise and in fame and in honor; and for you to be a people holy to the Lord your God, [26:19].
Moses also makes it clear that the Israelites are “special” only because God has called them: It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors . . . Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
[7:6-9].
Deuteronomy is mentioned several times in other parts of the Bible. The Old Testament refers to it in the historical books [check Josh 8:31; 1 Kings 2:9; 2 Kings 14:6; 2 Chron 23:18; 25:4; 34:14; Ezra 3:2; 7:6; Neh 8:1; Dan 9:11,13], while Peter and Paul mention it in the New Testament [Acts 3:22 and Rom 10:19]. Jesus used quotations to refute Satan [Matt 4:4; Luke 4:4–Deut 8:3; Matt 4:7; Luke 4:12–Deut 6:16; Matt 4:10; Luke 4:8–Deut 6:13), and to identify the Great Commandment [Matt 22:37, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27].
GET INTO THE WORD
1. Who is generally accepted as the author of this book? What evidence points in this direction? What other possible writers do some suggest wrote Deuteronomy?
2. What is the historical setting? Where are the Israelites now? How are they different than the situation with the other books of the Torah? Why is this important to understanding the book?
3. Who is the primary person in the book? What does he talk about in the book? Why is this message important to the Israelites at this time in their history?
4. What are the major parts of Deuteronomy? What does each part discuss? How do you suppose the people reacted to these lengthy lessons on the law? How might you have responded if you had been there?
5. What are the primary themes of the book? What does it say about the law? About God’s relationship with the Israelites? Why is it important for the people to know and follow the law?
6. What does Moses say about the Israelites’ status with God? What makes them a “special” people?
7. What makes Deuteronomy a “foundational” book in the Bible? Who refers to it in the New Testament? What does this say about God’s plan for his creation? For the Israelites? For Christians?
Moses was a shadow or “preview” of Christ: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command, [Deut 18:15-19].
Doctrine Notes . . .
The Torah presents the foundation for our knowledge of God and his plan for his creation.
- Yahweh—the Lord—is God alone: he is the creator of all that exists.
- God created humans to be like him—capable of choosing to be in a relationship with him.
- Humans used their ability to make decisions to choose their own way, not God’s way.
- God wants humans to be in relationship with him and he continues to act to make this possible.
- God chose the family of Abraham to be his people, set apart to represent his kingdom in this world.
13: The Great Commandment — Deuteronomy 6:1-25
GET READY
How do you generally respond to orders or directions? Are you the type that just goes ahead and does it? Or do you ask questions until you understand the reason for the direction or order? Or do you try to figure out the rationale by yourself or by talking with a third person?
THE WORD
6Now this is the commandment — the statutes and the ordinances — that the Lord your God charged me to teach you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy, 2 so that you and your children and your children’s children may fear the Lord your God all the days of your life, and keep all his decrees and his commandments that I am commanding you, so that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe them diligently, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may multiply greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. 6Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. 8 Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Caution against Disobedience
10 When the Lord your God has brought you into the land that he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you — a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, 11 houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant — and when you have eaten your fill, 12 take care that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 13 The Lord your God you shall fear; him you shall serve, and by his name alone you shall swear. 14 Do not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who are all around you, 15 because the Lord your God, who is present with you, is a jealous God. The anger of the Lord your God would be kindled against you and he would destroy you from the face of the earth.
16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah. 17 You must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and his decrees, and his statutes that he has commanded you. 18 Do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, so that it may go well with you, and so that you may go in and occupy the good land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give you, thrusting out all your enemies from before you, as the Lord has promised.
20 When your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” 21then you shall say to your children, “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 The Lord displayed before our eyes great and awesome signs and wonders against Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his household. 23 He brought us out from there in order to bring us in, to give us the land that he promised on oath to our ancestors. 24 Then the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our lasting good, so as to keep us alive, as is now the case. 25 If we diligently observe this entire commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us, we will be in the right.” NRSV
GET INTO THE WORD
1. Who is speaking in this chapter? Who is his audience? What is he talking about? What reasons does he give for the commandments? How do you think the people felt about his speech?
2. What does Moses say about God? How should the people respond to God? How should they keep the commandments in the future?
3. How does Moses describe the land God is going to give the Israelites? What warning does he give the people about this gift? What are the people to do about the Canaanite gods? What could happen if they disobey this statute?
4. What does Moses tell the Israelites to avoid doing? What happened in that incident [see Notes]? How should the people respond to the law?
5. What does Moses tell the people to do in the future? How should they respond to questions about the commandments? Why should they “diligently observe” the commandments?
GET PERSONAL
How would you describe your relationship with God? How does he help you to remember his expectations for your life?
NOTES . . .
6:2-3. So that . . .— Moses gives the Israelites three outcomes from following the law: the life of the people will be long, things will go well for them, and they will “multiply greatly.” Jesus told the disciples: Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them, [John 14:21].
6:4. Hear, O Israel— Jews call this verse the “Shema,” which is the Hebrew word for “Hear.” It is the foundation of Jewish belief: Yahweh is the only God. When the Pharisees asked Jesus “which command-ment in the law was the greatest,” he quoted this verse along with verse 5 [Matt 22:39, Mark 12:31, Luke 10:27]. Jesus also added the “second like it:” You shall love your neighbor as yourself,
[Lev 19:18].
6:5. Love . . . with all . . .— God wants the people’s relationship with him to be complete and comprehensive; every aspect of our life should be dedicated to God. You might say Moses is fixated on loving God [check v. 5; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20].
6:6. Keep these words . . . in your heart— God intends the commandments to be
a living sign of the people’s relationship with him. Later he will tell Jeremiah he will make a “new covenant” and put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, [Jer 31:33].
6:7-9. Recite – talk about – bind – fix – write— Moses urges the people to make the laws part of their daily lives in as many ways as possible. By Jesus’ time the Pharisees wore a head band with a small “box” on the forehead with these verses on a parchment inside (“phylacteries” in Matt 23:5).
6:10-11. Take care that you do not forget— Moses knew that remembering what God has done is most difficult when things are going well; we tend to forget the source of all our blessings when it seems we are successful [check Proverbs 30:7-9 to understand “just enough”].
6:13. By his name alone— even though God was giving the Israelites the land, cities, homes and crops of the Canaanites, the people were not to follow or swear by their false gods.
6:16. Massah— the place where the Israelites complained to Moses about the lack of water and wanted to know if God was with them or not, (God did provide water) [Exodus 17:1-7.
Memory Verse
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might, [Deut 6:5].
Next Lesson
Joshua 6:1-27: Jericho
Comment . . .
If you are reading this you have finished the Torah, first major chunk of God’s Big Book of Faith. For many folks this is one of the most important chunks because it gives us an image of who God is and what he has in mind for his creation in general and for us individually.
If you have been following this journey you also know there hasn’t been much comment or interaction about any of the lessons. In my own joyful journey I have learned best from hearing how other folks are experiencing and learning from God. If I rely on my personal experience God is pretty one-dimensional. When I hear others’ stories of their adventures following Jesus Christ, I can learn about the multiple dimensions of God.
So please let us know how you are learning from or reacting to this Bible study. Especially let us know how we can improve God’s Big Book of Faith to enhance your joyful journey. If you would prefer to keep your name and email address to yourself, just create a “display name” when you register and all your comments will appear with that.
Thanks for journeying with us. Rich
