The Earth is the Lords   

DEUTERONOMY

Updated: August 6, 2007

DEUTERONOMY


[C]2000-07 by Richard L Zorek

Deuteronomy stands in relation to the four preceeding books as much as John's Gospel does to the Synoptic Records. The Synoptic Gospels give us certain historical facts, and John shows the spiritual significance of these facts. In the like manner the spiritual significance of the other books is given in Deuteronomy. Genesis, to Numbers gives us the facts of Israel's history, and Deuteronomy gives us the philosophy of it.

The Book of Deuteronomy (meaning literally "second law") contains principally the farewell address of Moses to the people whom he had led out of bondage in Egypt. Together he and the people had suffered many hardships. But the lack of food and water as hardships were not to be compared to the lack of faith that the people exhibited at times. The English title comes from the Greek title "Deueteronomion", which means "Second Law." Deuteronomy has also been called "The Book of Remembrance."

  • Deut 1:1: "These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth and Dizahab." Moses was addressing "all Israel." God was developing a relationship with the people that will influence nations and generations to come.

  • Deut 1:3: "And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them;" At the close of their wandering, Moses delivers his first oration to them. Moses was the spokesman who gave the oration, yet he makes it clear that this was given him by the Lord.

  • Deut 1:8: "Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and their seed after them. The land was already set before them, they just had to go and take it.
  • Deut 1:13: "Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you." The word for "men" chosen by the Holy Spirit in this text is the Hebrew word for a man, i.e, a male as opposed to a female.
  • Deut 1:17 Do not show partiality in judging; hear both small and great alike. Do not be afraid of any man, for judgment belongs to God. Bring me any case too hard for you, and I will hear it. Notice it says "do not show partiality" and "do not be afraid..." Partiality in judgments is often a product of our own fears.

  • Deut 1:21: "Behold, the Lord they God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged." We need to enter the land and do boldy what God has called us to do. He hsa it sitting before it...we just need to go and possess it.
  • Deut 1:29-30: Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God...shall fight for you according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes. Moses reminded them that in every trial God had shown Himself to be their deliverer.
  • Deut 1:31: In the wilderness...thou hast seen how the Lord they God bear thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place Right up to this moment, God has not failed you. Why won't you trust Him to deliver you? Yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you Though we have seen His miracles and deliverance....we cannot trust Him in our current trial????
  • Deut 1:36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly." How much reward is there in following the Lord half-heartedly?

  • Deut 1:38: But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it. Joshua is the man who is to become the leader to succeed Moses. He is a man of experience, and he is a man who wholly followed God. He and Caleb brought back the good report because they believed God. Faith was the essential thing. They believed God and were willing to step out in faith.

  • Deut 1:43: So I spoke to you; yet you would not listen, but rebelled against the command of the LORD, and presumptuously went up into the mountain. There is a difference between faith and presumption. Faith knows Gods word. Presumption assumes it.

  • Deut 2:7: The LORD your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He has watched over your journey through this vast desert. These forty years the LORD your God has been with you, and you have not lacked anything. I have heard people mention their "wanderings" in life, and they have compared it to this "wandering," and even I have done it. Even through the wandering, God was with them.....and they lacked nothing. God did not forsake them even when they wandered.

  • Deut 2:9: Then the LORD said to me, "Do not harass the Moabites or provoke them to war, for I will not give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as a possession." So, what do you suppose the consequences would have been had they provoked the Moabites? Defeat?

  • Deut 2:24: "Set out now and cross the Arnon Gorge. See, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country. Begin to take possession of it and engage him in battle. They had traveled peacefully through other territories and wer commanded to not provoke anyone to battle. Now they were coming onto the land that was promised, and the Lord was telling them to "engage" in battle. God's provision is not always just handed to us. Sometimes it has to be fought for. The world has laid hold of our "promise" and laid claim to it.

  • Deut 3:22: Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you We wrestle not with flesh and blood.

  • Deut 4:1: "Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgements, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you." There is "life" in following wise instruction. But it is more than just knowing them, it is doing them.

  • Deut 4:2: "Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord yur God which I command you" The meaning clearly is that of all scripture, law, prophets, and gospels, is one word. Words can be added, until the close of revelation, when even the addition (or subtraction) of words is forbidden (Rev 22:18-19). There can be no arbitrary separation of the law from the gospel: one God means one word. To divide the word of God is to deny God. Thus, the Scripture, in both Old and New testaments, has one law with respect to various issues. There is no "Old vs New" lawbooks.

  • As a "tribal" commonwealth, the ancient Hebrew state was distinctly anti-internationalist. Its divinely revealed objective was not the domination of other nations, but the worship of and obedience to God within a specifically circumcised territory. It was to be a light to the other nations, who would recognize in Israel God's sovereignly chosen people to whom He had committed His glorious law (Dt 4:6-8). The Hebrew commonwealth and its law structure was a highly centralized political system. God's plan for Israel's political dimension was strong household authority with an appellate system consisting of representatives chosen from families (Dt 1:13-18).

  • Deut 4:3: "Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you." They were witnesses to the consequences of others actions.

  • Deut 4:4: "But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day." There is security in the Lord.

  • Deut 4:5: "Behold I have taught you my statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it." The lessons we learn are not just for now...they are forever.

  • Deut 4:6: "Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall surely hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." Wisdom that is done can be seen by others.

  • Deut 4:9: "Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life; but teach them thy sons, and thy sons sons;" The people's confidence and trust in God and their obedience to Him are alike rooted in truth that is historical and observable. Therefore, the historical records are subject to factual study; the historical records are not only open to verification but to falsification as well. The relationship between God and His people was not based on an inward experience inside their own heads, but upon a reality which was seen and heard. They were called to obey God not because of a leap of faith, but because of God's real acts in history. For, as Franky Schaeffer wrote in "Whatever Happened to the Human Race?":
    "...God is the living God. The universe which man lives not a "closed" system of natural causes. The universe is God's creation and it is "open" to Him. God has acted into history, into a history which is seeable."
    Christianity is rooted in history. To say that separates the Judeo-Christian world view from almost all other religious thought. It is rooted in history.

  • Deut 4:15-19: Idolatry, in any form, does not have God's approval, and justification and rationalization of such is presumption.
  • Deut 4:20: But the Lord hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day Their affliction and bondage in Egypt was part of their purification process.
  • Deut 4:24: While the Torah, as in other parts of the Old Testament, does tell us that God is love, we are also told that God is "a consuming fire" (Deut 4:24)

  • Deut 4:25: After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time-if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God and provoking him to anger," There are conditions for living once we have obtained the blessing: Thou shalt love the Lord they God with all they mind, heart and soul.

  • Deut 4:29: But if from thense thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." You have to determine in your heart that you want Him to lead and guide you. Verse 36 goes on to say "..he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee..."

    Deut 4: 30-31: When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him. For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath. No matter what you are going through, do not murmur or complain. Don't turn to man or flesh. Turn to the Lord and seek Him in prayer.

  • Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else The Lord has not abdicated his authority over the earth.
  • Deut 4:49: "and included all the Arabah east of the Jordan, as far as the Sea of the Arabah, below the slopes of Pisgah." The land the Lord had them possess had boundaries.

  • Deut 5:1: "And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them."

  • Deut 5:2: "The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb"

  • Deut 5:16: The Christian family is an insitution of dominion specifically because it is under God's authority, with the parents accepting all the governing responsibilties. As parents govern and rule under God's authority, children learn how to honor and respect them and submit willingly to the parents authority, which sets the stage for a long and prosperous life for them.

  • Deut 6:1: "Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgements, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: God wants to establish His order......a wise order....one that aids to a full life.

  • Deut 6:2: "That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged." Living wisely prolongs lifespan. It means knowing how to live, the purpose and meaning of our life.

  • Deut 6:3: "Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey." The reason for the giving of these commandments is to awaken the fear of God, and that fear might prompt obedience. Because God is God, the absolute lord and law-giver, fear of God is the essence of sanity and common sense. To depart from a fear of God is to lack any sense of reality. Second, "The maintenance of the fear of God would bring prosperity, and increase of the nation promised to the fathers.....The increase of the nation had been promised to the patriarchs from the very first." It is therefore necessary to maintain this fear and obedience from generation to generation.

  • Deut 6:4: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:" The Bible reveals just one true God in whom alone justice and mercy meet. He establishes His monotheistic nature, His absolute oneness. Literally, in the Hebrew it states, "Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah." In other words: the only Lord (there is no other).

  • Deut 6:5: "And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." This is what was to be impressed upon the children, to be talked about day and night, in all opportunities. When Christ was asked which was the greatest commandment, this is what he quoted. This is the beginning of any understanding of love. We begin with a love of God which we seek to increase. Loving God with out mind requires that we try to understand His will with more than emotion. It is not unjust for God to claim this from His own works and gifts, Why should not the creature love his creator who gave him the power to love at all?

  • Deut 6:6: "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart." There must be heart reality, not mere external conformity or ceremony.

  • Deut 6:7: "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." The training of children should take place in real-life situations and settings. The goal of education is to prepare the child to glorify God in reali life, so the setting for education ought to be real life. Most modern education departs from the Biblical model in that it seeks to teach children in the artifical environment of a school surrounded by the peers.

  • Deut 6:8: "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes."

  • Deut 6:9: "And thou shalt write them upon the posts of they house, and on thy gates." God's truth needs to govern our lives both privately and publicly.

    10 When the LORD your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you-a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build,

    11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant-then when you eat and are satisfied,

  • 12 be careful that you do not forget the LORD , who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

    13 Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name.

  • 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you;

    15 for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

    16 Do not test the LORD your God as you did at Massah.

  • 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the LORD your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you.

    18 Do what is right and good in the LORD's sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land that the LORD promised on oath to your forefathers,

  • 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the LORD said.

  • Deut 6:20: "And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God commanded you?" Notice it says when and not if. Every child has a right to ask questions about his parents faith.

    21 tell him: "We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.

  • 22 Before our eyes the LORD sent miraculous signs and wonders-great and terrible-upon Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household.

  • 23 But he brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers.

    24 The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today.

  • Deut 6:25: And if we are careful to obey all this law before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us, that will be our righteousness."

  • Deut 7:1: "When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Cannanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;" It is the Lord who will bring them in...and the Lord who will cast out the "mightier than thou."

  • Deut 7:2: "And when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:" The people of God cannot make a covenant with those who break God's covenant. Those who wander after other gods and covenant themselves to them shall inherit all the curses of the law. Death is their destiny.

  • Deut 7:3: "Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son."

  • Deut 7:4: "For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly."

  • Deut 7:5: "But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire."

  • Deut 7:6: "....the Lord thy God hath chosen thee (Israel) to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth." "Election" is used in the sense of God taking a whole nation into covenant with Himself.

  • Deut 7:7: "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people." The teaching of the Scripture proves that God loved Israel with an everlasting love. God's choice is never based on our worthiness or attractiveness, but on God's own mysterious love.

  • Deut 7:8: "But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt."

  • Deut 7:9: "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepteh covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations." In His mercy, God allows the blessings of obedience to be operative for a thousand generations.

  • Deut 7:10: "And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face." They will know that it is He who is repaying them.

  • Deut 7:11: "Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgements, which I commanded thee this day, to do them"

  • Deut 7:12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers.. No one is bound to follow them. Every man is given the choice. But if one does, then He has promised His "covenant of love" toward you.

  • Deut 7:13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land-your grain, new wine and oil-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. No stone is left unturned when it comes to got meting out His blessings. You will be blesssed in all things.

  • Deut 7:14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. How is that for a blessing? "More than any other people..."

  • Deut 7:15 The LORD will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. The best health plan available!!!

  • Deut 7:16 You must destroy all the peoples the LORD your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you. Looking on with pity upon those who have made their choice as to which God they will serve can be a snare to you. Do not do it. There is a false compassion and empathy which is not godly.

  • Deut 7:17 You may say to yourselves, "These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out?" You may realize the reality of how things look.

  • Deut 7:18 But do not be afraid of them; remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. But do not be overwhelmed by the way things look.

  • Deut 7:19 You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm, with which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. The testimony of these events is right here in the written word of God.

  • Deut 7:20 Moreover, the LORD your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.
  • Deut 7:21 Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. You have nothing to fear.

  • Deut 7:22 The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. It may seem to take a little bit of time, but there is a reason for it. Anything removed has to be replaced.

  • Deut 7:23 But the LORD your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. Confusion is often a predecessor to destruction. Running is circles is not healthy.

  • Deut 7:24 He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you; you will destroy them. No one will be able to stand up against you.

  • Deut 7:25 The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the LORD your God. Do not covet what they percieve as riches. It is a snare.

  • Deut 7:26 Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction. Set yourself apart from it. Have nothing to do with it. Destroy it!!

  • Deut 8:1: "All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers" The commandments were intended to bring "life." They were a way to live safely, in a way that we were designed to do.

  • Deut 8:2: "And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no."

  • Deut 8:3: "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." The temptation of Christ cannot be understood apart from the law. The temptations offered by Satan required a declaration of independence from God and His law and the choice of the creature's will as ultimate law. The answer of Christ to each temptation was a quotation from the law. The direction for history had to be derived not from man's will but from God's law.

  • Deut 8:5: "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." When we undergo God's discipline, it is a sign of our legitimacy.

  • Deut 8:6: "Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him." Keeping his commandments and walking in his way is the same thing.

  • Deut 8:7: "For the Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks and water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills." Fountains of life that spring out of our low and high places.

  • Deut 8:9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. There will always be an abundance of food, both material and spiritual.

  • Deut 8:10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. Why eat and thank for the land? The food is the fruit of the place God has brought you to.

  • Deut 8:11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

  • Deut 8:14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. We may remember God in our minds and thank him for His blessings, yet, if we no longer oberve His commands, we have just as well have forgotten Him. We were given the blessing for our obedience.

  • Deut 8:15 He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock He brought you life out of a hard rock. The rock would seem the most improbable place for water to come out of. Yet, the Lord brought it from it.

  • Deut 8: 16 He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. He was faithful to provide even as we wandered....all along we were being proved and humbled...so that when it was over all would go well with us.

  • Deut 8:17 You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." You may say that, but you would be very wrong. Such an easy conclusion when we are on our deserts. I have done it many times, but then, in retrospect, realize quite the opposite happened. I did not survive the trips through the desert based on my own "cunning and wit." God was there.

    Deut 8:18: But remember the Lord your God is the one who makes you wealthy. He's confirming the promise which He swore to your ancestors. It is still in effect today" But this wealth is simply not for the sake of our being rich, for this verse continues "that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers...."

  • Deuteronomy 8:19-20: "And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As nations which the Lord destroyeth before you face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the Lord your God." When God speaks, we had better listen and obey.

  • Deut 9:1 Hear, O Israel. You are now about to cross the Jordan to go in and dispossess nations greater and stronger than you, with large cities that have walls up to the sky.

  • 2 The people are strong and tall-Anakites! You know about them and have heard it said: "Who can stand up against the Anakites?"
  • 3 But be assured today that the LORD your God is the one who goes across ahead of you like a devouring fire. He will destroy them; he will subdue them before you. And you will drive them out and annihilate them quickly, as the LORD has promised you.

  • Deut 9:4 After the LORD your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, "The LORD has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness." No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is going to drive them out before you. You will inherit some of the spoils of warfare foughtin the heavenlies. You are just forntunate enough to have chose to be on the right side.

  • 5 It is not because of your righteousness or your integrity that you are going in to take possession of their land; but on account of the wickedness of these nations, the LORD your God will drive them out before you, to accomplish what he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

  • Deut 9:6 Understand, then, that it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stiff-necked people. Stiff-necked is often the same as rebellious or not willing. It isn;t a healthy thing to do in the long run spritually or physically

    Deuteronomy Chapter Ten

    Deuteronomy Chapter Fourteen

    Deuteronomy Chapter Sixteen

  • Dt 17:14-20Former President Clinton, with accounts of extramatrital affairs in the white house (i.e., Monica Lewinsky), has chiseled ot a gaping chasm between so-called "private" morality and "public" performance. He did not accomplish this all by himself, of course, because without the eager assistance of an amoral consumerism, there is no way he could have pulled this off. Almost the entire culture has shed the Biblical requirement of God-fearing morality in its political leaders and has replaced it with the model of the smooth, corporate executive, about whose personal depravity we needn't trifle.
  • Deut 17:18-19: And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book...and he shall read therin all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them Every king was to constantly feed his soul and mind on Gods record of past dealings with Israel.

  • Deut 18:1: "The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and his inheritance."

  • Deut 18:2: "Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the Lord is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them."

  • Deut 18:13: "Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God." The law begins by banning certain forms of idolatry which are unlawful means of communication with the unseen world. No trick or magic, nor any kind of ritual can coerce God. Instead of turning to these "abominations" we are instructed "to be perfect".

  • Deut 18:20-22: But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD ?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him. The age we live in is full of false prophets. A book that I once read was very inspiring, in a fearful kind of way, in bringing me to the Lord or His knowledge. That was Hal Lindsays "The Late Great Planet Earth." Obviously, his prophecy didn't come true. It scared some people into church, but probably not into heaven.

    Deuteronomy Chapter Twenty

    Deuteronomy Chapter Twenty One

    • Deut 24:1: "The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin." This passage is clear about its implications for the question about abortions for rape and incest. The sin of a father, mother, or an attacker does not allow for the killing (murder) of the child concieved in these unlawful acts. The criminal should be civilly dealt with and punished, not the unborn, judically innocent child.

    • Deut 24:5: When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. The family has priority over warfare. Continuity of life was more important than defense.
    • Deut 24:4: The main point of this legislation stated in the "then" clause, relates to a particular case of remarriage. Moses declares that a man may not remarry his former wife if she has in the meantime been married to another man. Even though her second husband should divorce her or die, she must not return to her first husband.

    • Deut 24:14: " Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin." The command not to steal carries over into dealing quickly and fairly for anyone working for us. We are to be sensitive to their needs and not make the person with less than we have wait for their payment. To withhold what is due rather than give it immediately is linked with the act of stealing.

    • Deut 25:4: "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. When the oxen were threshing grain they were not allowed to be muzzled. Rather they were allowed to eat their fill of the crop which they had plowed, planted, cultivated, and harvested. This was an act of kindness to creatures who had shared men's labors, but it was much more. Paul asked (I Cor 9:9-10, 13-14), "Doth God take care for the oxen?" RCH Lenski translates it literally as "Is it care of oxen to God?" Were the oxen God's only concern? Rather, says Paul, he said "altogether," or as some commentators prefer to translate it "assuredly" for our sakes. He even repeats the phrase "for our sake" twice.
      Because Paul here uses Biblical law regarding rewards due to oxen for their labor, a number of commentators over the years have seen Paul as using the law to create an allegory to make his point regarding wages. But he is doing far more. Paul says the law pertains to "he that ploweth" and "he that thresheth." Paul looks at the law regading rewards to oxen as a fundamental principle we are to apply to work animals and workmen. "Oxen cannot read, " said Luther. The law was thus never for them even if it worked to their benefit. Oxen cannot be sustained in "the object hoped for." The worker is to partake of the increase his labor made possible. This is true of an ox, an apostle, and all laborers in between. The law said this for our account. Therefore, says Paul, we must understand what it means for us.
      F. Godet points out in his commentary that plowing and treading out are not parrallel examples of work done in the expectation of reward. Rather, plowing is a hard and painful work in which man must be encouraged by the hope of a bountiful harvest. Threshing, on the other hand, was not such a painful task, especially when the labor was supplied by oxen (threshing could also be done by hand). Threshing was part of the harvest and was thus a time of celebration. The entire harvest process was thus the reward hoped for by the plowman all season long. This is in agreement with Psalm 126:5-6: "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves." The plowman sowed in tears because much of the remainder of his grain had to be cast onto the ground. If the weather or insects destroyed his crop, the bulk of his remaining food was also lost. The oxen, however, could not partake in the joy of harvest. Therefore, they were to be guaranteed their fill of its fruit.
      Paul had plowed and sowed at Corinth to establish the church there. He was entitled to partake of the harvest at least in the form of salary. For his own reasons Paul had decided not to accept his due. There were, however, elements in the church who sought to deny Paul not only of his position as a faithful worker but also his very apostlehood. He thus referred to this Mosaic law to remind the church that it had an obligation to remember him as the one who had plowed and planted the seeds of their faith.

    • Deut 25:11: "When men shall strive together one with another, and the wife of the one draweth near for to deliver her husband ot of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets" This comment was written by a female, Dorothy Rushdoony, wife of the late R.J. Rushdoony, "The text tells us that a woman cannot transcend her boundaries without sin. A woman's weapons are the weapons of weakness; she is not a fair fighter. She cannot help her husband by demeaning him. She must respect the manhood of all men. Her strength is to know her place, to be a woman."

    • Deut 25:12: "Then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her." Since the executioner will be a man, and since men are basically tender toward women, God found it necessary to say, "thine eye shall not pity," in order to ensure that the punishment would be meted out.

    • Deut 26:20: The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do...because of the wickedness of they doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me."
      It is not a Democrat or Republican problem--it is a sin problem, which besets America.

    • Deut 28 affirms God's providential involvement in war, sometimes for the purpose of blessing His people with victory (v7) and sometimes for the purpose of judgment (v 25) because of disobedience to His commandments.
      As men are covenentally faithful, God blesses them (Dt 28:1-14). As God blesses them, they are given greater areas of responsibility (Lk 16:10), and subordinate larger areas of society to the will of Jesus Christ the King (Mt 13:31-33).
    • Deut 28: 47-48: Because thou servest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in the want of all things Be glad an rejoice in what the Lord has done for you. If you go around moping, murmuring, and complaining, you will remain spiritually starved and naked, and a prey to your enemies.

    • Deut 29:29: "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law" For the things we dont understand: the secret things belong to the Lord.

    • Deuteronomy 30:19: "Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live" Life in time and eternity, true life, in and under God, is the promise for obedience to the law and unity in the Lord.

    • Deuteronomy 33:21: "And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel." This refers to God as the one who executed the righteousness of the Lord. Rather than "a portion of the lawgiver", the rendering should be "a commander's portion," referring to God's military skills in battle during the holy wars against the Cannanites.

      This page was first created on February 25, 2001.

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