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GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36--- DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES --- PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES --- ISAIAH 1-5 --- 6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 ---
NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6 --- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S LETTERS --- REVELATION
--- THE GOSPELS
Part 1 of the commentary contained the first speech of Moses which proclaimed the recent history of Israel under the hand of Yahweh, demonstrating why they had reason to be grateful to Him, and finishing with a reminder of how gloriously and fearsomely the covenant had been given and an exhortation to keep the covenant requirements and remember Who had given them. From 4.44 to 29.1 this is followed by the central renewal of the covenant in Moses’ second speech, commencing with a renewed description of the giving of the covenant (chapter 5), followed by the basic principles lying behind the covenant (5-11), more detailed regulations (12-26), the requirement that the covenant be recorded in writing at Shechem (where Abraham first built an altar when entering the land and received his first theophany in the land) as confirmed by all the elders (27.1-8), the acknowledgement of it by the priesthood along with Moses as witnesses to it (27.9-10), and the applying to it of curses and blessings (27.11-29.1).
This section of the commentary will cover chapters 5-11, but these chapters must be seen as part of the greater whole to 29.1, as incorporated in the whole book.
The Covenant Stipulations - the Basic Underlying Principles (4.45-11.32).
This introductory section begins the second section of the book which consists mainly of a proclamation of general basic principles related to the fulfilment of the covenant (5-11). This is then followed by a detailed review of the statutes and ordinances which have been spoken of previously, but with special reference to their applicability to the people and mainly ignoring priestly activity (12-26). It is ‘popular’ Law. In this second section Moses once again makes clear the demands that Yahweh is making on His people as a response to what He has done for them. But he will begin it by repeating, with minor alterations, the covenant made at Horeb, at Mount Sinai. Thus he declares that covenant in chapter 5 almost word for word, although slightly revised in order to bring out new emphases. This is then followed chapter by chapter by the requirements that Yahweh is laying on them as a response to His covenant love. In 6-11 he first deals with the basic principles involved, and then in 12-26 moves on to the specific detailed requirements. This is a pattern typical of ancient treaty covenants.
Central to all the chapters are the ideas of how they must obey His commandment, His statutes and His ordinances that He might bless them in all they do (5.1, 29, 31-33; 6.1-3, 6-8, 17-18, 24-25; 7.11-12; 8.1, 6, 11; 10.13; 11.1, 8, 13, 22, 27, 32); of how the reason that they are being blessed is not for their own sakes, but because of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (6.10, 18; 7.8, 13; 8.1, 18; 9.5, 27; 10.15; 11.9); of how they must remember Yahweh their God Who has mightily delivered them from Egypt (5.6, 15; 6.12, 21-23; 7.8, 15, 18; 8.14; 9.26); of how He is bringing them into a good and prosperous land where they will enjoy great blessings (6.10-11, 18; 7.13-16; 8.7-10, 12-13; 11.10-12, 14-15), and of how they must then beware of turning to false gods and false religion once they enter the land, and must rather totally destroy them (5.8-9; 6.14-15; 7.4-5, 25-26; 8.19; 9.12, 16; 11.16, 28).
These are the general emphases, but each chapter also has a particular emphasis.
So throughout these chapters the covenant is constantly stressed, a covenant which is the result of His love for their fathers and for them and is their guarantee of the future as long as their response to it is full and complete.
Chapter 4.45-5.33 The Major Covenant Requirements And The Giving of The Covenant .
After a brief introduction in which they are reminded of how Yahweh has delivered them from Egypt and given them victory over the Amorites (4.45-49), Moses calls on Israel to ensure that they take heed to the words of Yahweh (5.1), recognising that they are a covenant directly spoken by Yahweh to them (5.2-4) ‘out of the midst of the fire’ (compare 5.24, 26). Then having reminded them of the awesome conditions under which they were given (5.4), he proceeds to spell out the detailed terms of the basic covenant (5.5-21), following it up with further reminders of the serious nature of it as revealed in the way in which it was given (5.22) and reminding them expecially how they had pleaded not to have to deal with Yahweh directly because of the dreadful nature of their experience (5.23-27). This is then capped by explaining Yahweh’s response to their plea (5.28-33).
Introduction (4.45-49).
This initial introduction in 4.45-49 may well indicate the beginning of a new tablet, providing an explanation of what is on it. It can be compared with 1.1-5. It also sets the scene for what is to follow, reminding the reader that Israel were now in possession of the extensive lands of two Amorite kings which were their permanent possession.
The introduction may be analysed as follows:
4.45-46 ‘These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt, in Beyond Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, when they came forth out of Egypt.’
These words (verses 44-49) may have been written by Joshua as an introduction to Moses’ words from here to chapter 29.1, although Moses could easily have written them himself. They tell us that these chapters will give the instruction (torah) of Moses, the testimonies (declarations), statutes (written laws/fixed laws) and ordinances (judgments and covenant requirements) that he now expounds in the valley of Baal-peor. Note that the very Baal-peor that had been so disastrous to Israel (Numbers 25.1-5), was now to be a source of great blessing, a blessing which we can even participate in today by a study of this book. The incident of Baal-peor had been dealt with, punished, cleansed and removed, and Yahweh is beginning with them again.
The wider context is Israel’s being delivered out of Egypt by Yahweh’s power and their defeat of the two kings of the Amorites, Sihon and Og. It is against this background of His activity on their behalf that Yahweh claims their allegiance.
‘These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments.’ Compare 4.40; 5.1; 6.2; 11.32; 12.1; 26.16; 30.16. They are a continuation of the statutes and judgments that Moses has already been teaching them (4.14), specifically said to have been taught at the time of the first giving of the covenant. Compare also 4.1, 4, 5, 8.
4.47-49 ‘And they took his land in possession, and the land of Og king of Bashan, the two kings of the Amorites, who were in Beyond Jordan toward the sunrising, from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, even to mount Sion (the same is Hermon), and all the Arabah in Beyond Jordan eastward, even to the sea of the Arabah, under the slopes of the Pisgah.’
The significance of the taking of the land of the Amorites cannot be overemphasised. It was the Amorites who had driven their fathers out of Canaan (1.44), and now they themselves had put the Amorites to flight. And what was more they had taken possession of their land and possessions, and the large dimensions of that possession are clearly stated. They stretched from Mount Hermon in the north, to Aroer on the banks of the Arnon to the south, and included the Arabah, the Jordan rift valley on its eastern banks, from the sea of Chinnereth down to the Dead Sea (the Salt Sea) under the slopes of the Pisgah. Compare 3.17. The previous reverse had been more than compensated for. All this land was east of Jordan.
The deliverance from Egypt together with the taking of these lands was to be seen as proof positive that soon Canaan would be theirs. Yahweh, the great Deliverer from Egypt and conqueror of the Amorite kings, was fighting for them in a holy war, a war which was to fulfil His judgment on the Canaanites/Amorites, and would establish a righteous theocracy in the land. But they had to notice the righteous bit!
We have a reminder here that often when we have faced a defeat in our lives, once we are restored God graciously causes us to face the same enemy again so that we might prove the victor.
Moses Emphasises That The Covenant Was Not Only Given To Their Fathers But Was Given Also Directly To Them Out Of The Midst of The Fire (5.1-5).
Moses now repeats briefly what he has already said in his previous speech. We note here that this directly connects back to 4.10-14, and that Moses wants them to see the covenant words as directly addressed to them.
Analysis.
Note that in ‘a’ that Moses is declaring to them the testimonies, statutes and ordinances of Yahweh, and in the parallel had done so at the Mount, acting as mediator between them and Yahweh, because they had been afraid of the Fire (Yahweh revealed in fire). In ‘b’ he reminds them that Yahweh had made a covenant with them in Horeb (Sinai) and in the parallel that Yahweh had done it speaking fact to face with them from the midst of the Fire. In ‘c’ he declares that the covenant was not to be seen as made with their fathers but as made with him and those who were listening to him.
5.1 ‘And Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your (your) ears this day, that you (ye) may learn them, and observe to do them.’
Moses calls ‘all Israel’ as a nation, but also as a plurality (ye), to hear his proclamation of Yahweh’s statutes and ordinances, so that they may learn them and observe them. This proclamation of the covenant was no doubt required on a regular basis at the different feasts, so that it would come as no surprise. We do not know exactly what was read out at the different feasts, but certainly there would be participation in cult activity and declarations of the Law as well as feasting. In fact Moses will later declare that every seven years the whole law was to be read out to the people at the Feast of Tabernacles (31.9-13 compare Joshua 8.34-35). This proclamation here thus simply follows precedent, and something like it would have been expected before the great move forward, and may well to some extent have previously occurred during their feasting.
‘Observe to do them.’ In New Testament terms they were to be like the wise man who built his house on a rock, depicting the fact that he not only heard God’s words through Jesus but did them (Matthew 7.24). They also were to hear Yahweh’s words and do them, for it is only those who do His word who are truly established on the Rock.
5.2-3 ‘Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Yahweh did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.’
He begins by reminding them of the covenant that Yahweh had made with them. He stresses that the covenant was made with all of them, not just with their fathers. It is personal to them. Indeed they are not to think of it as a covenant made with their fathers at all but as one that has been made with them, that is, ‘with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day’.
‘Yahweh did not make this covenant with our fathers.’ This is not to be seen as a denial that the covenant was made with their fathers. What he is indicating here in a forceful way is that the covenant was not only for their fathers. At this present time it was a covenant made with them. Of course, it had been made with their fathers, but they had failed to obtain its full benefit by refusing to enter the land at Yahweh’s command. Thus in the end there was a sense in which it had not been for them. They had not obtained its full benefit, and in the end had forfeited it. But now that covenant was being renewed with those who were currently listening to Moses and he was calling on them to make it effective. Their fathers had failed to respond to it, but now it was made to them too and open for their response. They must choose whether they will make it their own, and act on it. That is why he will now repeat it almost word for word.
This reflects the important principle that no man is in covenant because his father was. Each must in the end respond for himself. Each succeeding generation must opt to enter into the covenant.
It reminds us that God’s word comes to all of us, both as a church and as individuals, but that if we fail to respond to Him truly and fail to walk in His ways, then He will declare that it is not for us but for others. If we refuse His light shining on our lives in order to reveal what we are and bring us to His Lordship, we will be left in outer darkness (John 3.19-21).
5.4 ‘Yahweh spoke with you (ye) face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,’
Moses now encircles the words of the basic covenant itself with a reminder of the awe-inspiring background against which it was given, and what had been their response to it. He wants them to recognise the seriousness of what he is bringing to their thoughts.
He opens by reminding them of the circumstances of the giving of the covenant, of how Yahweh had spoken with them face to face out of the midst of the raging, savagely burning, resplendent and glorious Fire that had descended on the Mount, the Fire which had made its peak seem alight. Some of them who had been children then would remember it vividly. They could never have forgotten its glory. Others would have been retold the story again and again. The Fire had both laid bare His glory and warned them that He was a consuming fire so that they would take heed to what they heard (4.24).
‘Spoken with them face to face.’ Not strictly of course. They had not seen His face. But it had been a person to person encounter, for they had seen the Fire that signified His presence and personally heard His voice.
‘Talked with you out of the midst of the Fire.’ Compare 4.12, 15, 33, 36; 5.22, 24, 26; 9.10; 10.4 where the same thought is emphasised. Moses clearly saw the voice at Mount Sinai as connected with the God of the burning bush where God ‘in a flame of fire’ (Exodus 3.2) spoke to him ‘out of the (burning) bush’ (Exodus 3.4). He wanted the people to be aware of the source of the commandments, statutes and ordinances, and continually stresses the Fire through which Yahweh revealed Himself (thirteen times in chapter 4-5).
5.5 ‘(I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you the word of Yahweh, for you (ye) were afraid because of the fire, and did not go up into the mount), saying,’
And he reminds them of the fearsome nature of their own experience, and that in the end he alone had been able to go up into the Mount, standing as mediator between Yahweh and the people, and giving them the word of Yahweh. Indeed they had been so full of fear because of the Fire and the Voice, that they had not wanted to go up into the Mount, even though they had previously been able to wander in it freely. And once Yahweh took possession of it they had actually not been able to, for it was forbidden to them. It had become ‘holy’ ground.
‘Saying.’ And this was what Yahweh had said. He will now repeat the ‘ten words’ as given at Mount Sinai with slight changes to suit the present situation.
The Words of the Covenant of Yahweh (5.6-21).
Having provided the context he now expands on the basic covenant. At this point the pronouns change from plural to singular until verse 22. This was so as to emphasise the personal application of what was said to each listener, and also to stress that it applied to the whole nation as one. Here we have a repetition of the giving of the covenant, and of the ten words which it contained, but with slight alterations in order to bring home certain emphases.
Analysis.
“I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (6).
“You (thou) shall have no other gods ‘to my face’.” (And as He sees all things in heaven and earth all such are by this banned) (7).
5.6 ‘Saying, “I am Yahweh your (thy) God, who brought you (thee) out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
First there is the declaration of the maker of the covenant, and the basis on which He can expect their response. This is not an agreement between two equal parties, but the declaration of an Overlord to His subjects because of what He has done for them in delivering them.
He declares that He is ‘Yahweh their God’, the One Who had ‘brought them out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage’ (out of the position of being bondsmen in Egypt, which was the ‘house’ of Pharaoh). That He is their Great Deliverer. He reminds them that they had been an oppressed people, enslaved and restrained by Pharaoh, and that the requirements laid on them then had come from Pharaoh and from Egypt, binding them in a slave contract. And these restrictions had resulted in terrible bondage in ‘the slave house of Pharaoh’. But by His mighty acts He had delivered them and brought them out as free men to this very place (see 4.34). It is because of this therefore that He has the right to state to them His own requirements, His covenant requirements. They had been freed from subjection to Pharaoh and from Egypt, with its bondage, so that they might come within His covenant love, and enjoy the land He would give them, with its freedom.
Furthermore this experience of deliverance had been brought up to date in Chapters 1-4. It had been confirmed by subsequent victories. Thus they could now not only rejoice in their deliverance from Egypt, but could rejoice in those further victories given, and in the part of the land that had already been given to them as an extra and as a kind of firstfruit. And now there they were on the verge of entering into the land under the kingly rule of God in freedom and liberty. But it still all rested on that first deliverance.
The first three commands that next follow are almost word for word as in Exodus 20.3-7, with minimal differences.
5.7 “You (thou) shall have no other gods before me (or ‘in my presence’, literally ‘to (or on) my face’).”
The first requirement was that He was to be pre-eminent in their lives and worship. They were to have nothing to do with any other gods, and certainly none should be allowed in the Central Sanctuary. None must enter His presence, and they must remember in this regard that He ‘walked’ in the camp of Israel (23.14; Leviticus 26.12). Thus other gods were excluded from the whole camp, and indeed as He sees all things everywhere in heaven and earth all such are banned.
We must here bring to mind that the crowd before Him included people of many nations (Exodus 12.38). Thus He spoke to them in terms of their understanding. This is not an admission that there were other genuine gods, but a declaration that all representations of such must be excluded from His presence, because they have no standing before Him, and should have no significance for them. He stands alone there as their God, the unique and only Yahweh. Such gods should not therefore even enter their thoughts or words (which are also ‘before Him’, compare 5.28-29).
They were to recognise that Yahweh was not just one God among many. In the account in Exodus little mention is made of the gods of Egypt (only in Exodus 12.12), or is made of the fact that Pharaoh was seen as a god. They are simply dismissed. The plagues had made nonsense of them. They had revealed that it was Yahweh alone Who controlled Egypt and all that happened to it, just as He controls all things. And his adversary Pharaoh (seen as a god by the Egyptians) was treated by Yahweh very much as a man. In the myths of the nations the gods were constantly at war with one another. But not so in the Bible. The gods did not fight with Yahweh. They were nonentities. They were simply a nuisance and had to be excised because men were deceived about them.
5.8 “You shall not make to yourself a graven image, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth,”
Further, they were not to fashion for themselves, for the purpose of worship or veneration, any engraved image. Such an image must not be fashioned, whether in the likeness of anything in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth. Such were forbidden and if fashioned could result in their expulsion from the land (4.16-19, 25-28).
The representation of gods in animal and bird forms was commonplace in Egypt, representations which linked the gods with creation as being a part of it. In Canaan the bull was extremely popular, as representing Baal, and to a lesser extent the horse. Female human figurines have also been discovered in Judah, representing fertility goddesses. It is interesting though that many figurines discovered in Judah had been purposely destroyed, presumably in the days of a reforming king. But such representations were not allowed to Israel. Any such representations were strictly forbidden.
In Romans 1.18 onwards Paul amplifies on this, pointing out how the worship of beastly forms resulted in beastly behaviour. For what man truly worships he becomes like. Many today would see themselves as released from this proviso. They consider that they worship no images. Instead they have replaced God by ‘society’, by political expression, by credos, by sex, by wealth, by music and by sport. It is not that God is more central to their lives than He was among the Canaanites. They are still idolaters, and equally blameworthy, even though the images be photographs or digital images or notes, instead of gold. And the world still languishes. Their minds are taken up with other than God, and the images that take up their minds are the equivalent of graven images for they have moulded them for themselves.
5.9-10 “You shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh your God, am a jealous (deeply concerned) God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me, and showing lovingkindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
Nor were they to bow down to such images nor serve them. This was because Yahweh is a ‘jealous’ God, that is, He is a deeply concerned God, a God concerned that He should not be demeaned by even being associated with such gods by such acts of worship, a God concerned for truth and for the good of His people. So He and such gods are totally incompatible. They must make their choice. They must either worship Him or them, but they could not worship both, for that would be to lower Him to their level.
And He is a God Who will not permit the worship of any other than Himself because He is the Supreme Creator and Lord of all. This ‘jealousy’ has both a positive and a negative aspect. Positively He knows that it is only when He is central in our hearts that we are what we should be. He knows that our greatest hope of fulfilment lies in knowing Him fully, and that idolatry can only bestialise us. Thus modern idolatry is as harmful to us as the ancient idolatry was to people then. Negatively it is simply because none other are worthy of worship, and to worship them demeans His people.
It is telling us that Yahweh has the deepest concern for what is right at the heart of things, and is thus concerned lest His people worship and serve that which was not worthy of such worship and service. This is because he knows what it will do to them. He knows that it will bestialise them, and this is true whether it be representations of beasts, or distorted music, or overemphasised sport. It concentrates their mind on the flesh. For once they remove themselves from God’s influence it is not long before men and women bestialise everything, especially when what they worship is crude. So He is jealous (deeply concerned) for their right belief and for their right emphases and for their right recognition of His uniqueness, as He still is, because only by that can they escape being bestialised.
‘Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me.’ Thus He tells them (and us) that all should take note of how they behave in this regard, because what they do will affect succeeding generations. Let all recognise that His response reaches down through the generations. He does not do this by personal attack but because He has made the world in such a way that the inevitable consequence of a man’s choosing to sin is that his family become involved and are affected by it. So by copying him they bring themselves under the same judgment, and this tends to affect generation after generation. Indeed the ‘father’ might well still be alive when the third or fourth generation is born, with his pernicious influence as father of the family still affecting the whole. Thus his iniquity is visited on them and they suffer too.
Yet even though this is so, in the end it must be recognised that what they are is by their own choice. No men are forced to follow their fathers (Abraham had not), and there are no examples given in Scripture of righteous men directly suffering under God for the sins of their fathers, although righteous men did suffer because they were associated with unrighteous Israel simply by association. The lesson is that what we are not only affects us but also those who look up to us and associate with us, and that it can go very deep.
‘And showing lovingkindness (covenant love) to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.’ On the other hand to those who love Him and respond to Him, delighting in and keeping His commandment, He declares that He shows lovingkindness and mercy on a constant and overwhelming scale. His delight is to bless His people. And this is offered to ‘thousands’, that is, to large and inexpressible numbers, a multitude which no man can number. For God is a God of lovingkindness.
5.11 “You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.”
The idolatry previously mentioned was a desertion, but to take Yahweh’s name in vain is a positive attack. To take the name of Yahweh in vain means to use it lightly, or to use it for wrong purposes, either in a curse, or a false oath, or casually, or in contempt, or in magic. It is man’s attempt to bring God into trivial matters. Any of these things are blasphemy, and those who behave in such a way will not be found guiltless. For to insult or depreciate or misuse or be casual with His name is to positively insult and depreciate Him, and reveals how they view Him.
In the ancient world the name was seen as highly significant. It was seen as representing what the bearer of that name essentially was. Thus the name of a god revealed the essence of the god. Men felt that they could therefore take that name and utilise it in order to control the power of the god. This was probably what Balak wanted Balaam to do with ‘Yahweh’ (Numbers 22-24). But His people were not to do thus with Yahweh’s name. Such a use would be blasphemy. His Name must be revered and not trespassed on or slighted. To use it wrongly would be to be guilty before God. God is not such that an attempt can be made to control Him.
Even today we may do the same. We may use the name of Jesus in order to manipulate God to give us what we want. That is blasphemy. For prayer ‘in the name of Jesus’ should only be offered for what He wants and what will make us more useful in His service. To ask in His name should mean to want it for His sake, not for our own (compare Matthew 6.8-13). To use His name in order to obtain private and selfish benefits is to break this commandment in an insidious way.
5.12-14 “Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you. Six days shall you labour, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to Yahweh your God, in it you shall not do any work, you, nor you son, nor you daughter, nor your man-servant, nor your maid-servant, nor your ox, nor your ass, nor any of your cattle, nor your foreigner who is within your gates, that your man-servant and your maid-servant may rest as well as you.”
This is the first commandment in which we find Moses making clear and deliberate alterations. There are a number of them. ‘Observe’ is used instead of ‘remember’; ‘as Yahweh your God commanded you’ is added; special mention is made of the ox and the ass, instead of just the general ‘cattle’; and ‘that your man-servant and your maid-servant may rest as well as you’ is tacked on. The first in some ways makes little difference, for to ‘remember’ means to ‘observe’. But perhaps there had been a laxity in keeping the sabbath so that Moses wished to stress that it must not only be perfunctorily remembered but fully observed. All present would notice the change from the usual pattern of words. ‘Observing’ (regarding and carrying out fully) what Yahweh commands is a theme of Deuteronomy. (Six times in chapter 4, five times in chapter 5, five times in chapter 6, four times in chapter 7 and so on).
‘As Yahweh your God commanded you’ refers back to Exodus 20.8 where the command was originally given, and also to Exodus 16.23, 25-26 where it was first instituted. See also Exodus 31.13-16; 35.2-3; Leviticus 19.3, 30; 23.3; 26.2. This added comment demonstrates that this repetition of the covenant is very much in speech form rather than being a solemn declaration of the covenant. It is given with the purpose of pressing home its requirements.
The non-mention of the wife (which occurs often when referring to family) was not because she was not important enough, but because the man and wife were seen as being one and acting together as one flesh (Genesis 2.24). What he did she did. ‘You’ (thou) included both. It was a testimony to the recognition of that principle. It was because to take a man’s wife was to destroy this unity that the punishment for it was death.
‘Your ox and your ass.’ With regard to the special mention of the ass it may be that some had argued that the ass was not included in ‘cattle’ and was thus not to share the sabbath rest. If that was so then that false idea was being put right. But whether that was so or not, the ox and ass were the hardest workers of the domestic animals, and are specifically mentioned with regard to the Sabbath in Exodus 23.12-13. Like the servants they most deserved rest, which was something all must have under the covenant.
‘That your man-servant and your maid-servant may rest as well as you.’ This final tacked item on may also suggest that some had been lax in allowing full rest to men-servants and maid-servants, possibly lightening but not totally suspending their duties. Moses thus stresses that they must have the same rest as everyone else, so that they too may be able to fully rest and focus their minds on God as everyone else did. They especially should enjoy this symbol of the liberty which God gave to man.
The purpose then of these changes was to counter attempts to evade the full impact of the requirements. Additional sub-clauses had been added on the basis of experience.
‘Within your gates.’ This does not necessarily require a reference to city gates. Moses stood in ‘the gate’ of the camp in Exodus 32.26. It refers merely to that which gives entrance into the recognised sphere of habitations, in this case tents. Those within your gates signifies ‘those who are living among you’. All in the camp, and later in cities and towns in the land, were to enjoy this rest. This even included foreigners who came among them, who must also observe the sabbath.
‘Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.’ The sabbath, that is, every seventh day from the first giving of the manna (Exodus 16), was to be kept holy. It was to be treated as a day set apart to Yahweh on which all should rest, from the very highest to the very lowest, including ass and cattle. No work should be done (feeding, milking and watching over beasts would be allowed because these were necessary acts of mercy). It was a day on which men should not do their own will, or seek their own pleasure or speak their own words (Isaiah 58.13). All hearts and thoughts were to be set on Yahweh, and none must be excluded from the Sabbath rest.
The question of the Christian attitude to this cannot be fully dealt with here. Suffice to say that the point was that every seventh day was to be kept as holy to Yahweh (there was at that time no such thing as a ‘week’ and thus it was not the last day of the week). The fact that there are different time zones, which are decided by men and subject to change, brings out that it is the principle that matters not the particular day. Change the time zone and the ‘day of the week’ may change. Paul himself makes clear that what matters is not the keeping of a particular day, but the keeping of a day to the Lord, whether it be one day in seven or every day. We are not to judge one another on the matter. Each stands responsible to the Lord for what he does (Romans 14.5-6; Galatians 4.10; Colossians 2.17 compare Mark 2.27-28). What does matter is that we bring God regularly, or always, into our use of time. Indeed the strict keeping of the sabbath was not feasible for many early Christians. They could not cease work. It was an injunction only possible for a free people with the freedom to choose. For New Testament Christian slaves it was replaced by ‘the rest of faith’ (Hebrews 4). That was the new sabbath which replaced the sabbath which they could not enjoy. It was by their faith in Christ that they found rest in a restless world. Yet they could still have days which they treated as specially devoted to God.
5.15 “And you shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore Yahweh your God commands you to keep the sabbath day.”
The reference to the men-servants and maid-servants leads him on to stress why this is so. It is because they should remember that they too had been ‘servants’ in the land of Egypt until Yahweh delivered them with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm (compare 4.34). They had known what it was to slave without respite. They had known what it was to have no rest. But they had been delivered from this servitude by the hand of Yahweh. And He had exerted Himself that they might have rest. They should therefore have greater respect for their servants and ensure that both they and their servants fully ‘observed’ the sabbath day, and that the servants had full rest on that day.
It will be noted that the reference to creation found in Exodus 20.11 is here omitted. This was presumably because Moses did not see it as necessary in this context when he was placing his emphasis on giving servants full rest. He was concentrating on the purpose in hand. All knew that it was a God-given pattern concerning a day blessed by God. But in mind here was that Israel were now entering into their rest, and it was right therefore that all should enjoy the sabbath rest for that reason. His concern here was that they should learn their lesson from their deliverance. That is why it is their own deliverance that he stresses as the factor to be taken into account and not creation. He is stressing experience over against theory because he feels it will have more impact.
This would suggest that the reference to creation was seen by him as a secondary subsection and not as the main clause in the covenant. It was after all not a requirement but an explanation. So he considered that to omit it did not lessen the covenant requirement. To have added it on here would in fact have lessened the strength of his argument and blurred his point, while his silence about it drew clear attention to both to it and to the alternative, for all would be waiting for the reference to creation and would be the more struck by its absence and by what he did say.
It should, however, be noted that this ‘addition’ is not strictly ‘new’ external material but is simply incorporating the idea contained in the initial verse of the covenant, that Yahweh had delivered them from bondage. He is not ‘adding’ to the covenant, He is repeating the very basis on which it was founded.
So to ‘observe the sabbath’ was not only in order to remember creation, but also to remember the deliverance. From now on the two went together. It had originally commemorated the giving of the manna (Exodus 16). It had then reminded men of the completeness of creation (Exodus 20). But now it included the deliverance. It celebrated God’s provision of both food, and life, and rest. For Christians every seventh day (which it is, whatever day it is celebrated on) commemorates the giving of the Bread of Life (John 6.35) Who feeds our hearts, and it commemorates our Great Deliverer Who through the cross and resurrection has brought about the greater salvation.
5.16 “Honour your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.”
Here he adds ‘as Yahweh your God commanded you’ and ‘that it may go well with you’. These are the kind of typical asides that might well be made in a speech in order to emphasise the point and in order to wish them well, for he knew that he would not be with them much longer. With the possession of the land now almost on them these promises gained greater meaning. And they were a warning hint that if they were to enjoy the land permanently it could only be by a permanent keeping of the covenant, and that this would partly result from honouring father and mother as they learned from them the instruction of Yahweh. Long life and spiritual and material prosperity in the land would depend on it.
In Israel all authority from the top downwards was placed in the father figure; the father of the clan, the father of the sub-clan, the father of the wider family, the father of the family unit. And in each case the wife was the mother of the clan/family. They ensured the smooth running of each unit, and the teaching of the covenant of Yahweh. Thus to honour them was to honour God. To go against them was to go against God. (Which is why this commandment comes within the first five words, the words with respect to behaviour towards God). To curse them was to undermine the whole of society and to despise the authority given by Yahweh (Exodus 21.17; Leviticus 20.9)
5.17 “You shall not murder.”
The taking of another human life was ever forbidden by God, for men’s lives were sacred to Him and the life that was in them was His. He alone had the right to decide when a man’s life should cease. He alone had given man breath (Genesis 2.7), He alone had the right to take it away again. The only exceptions were genuine self-defence and when carrying out an execution in accordance with Yahweh’s laws, the former because there was no alternative and it was forced upon them, the latter because it was God’s determination. The holy war against Canaan came under the second heading. They were executing the Canaanites at Yahweh’s command. It should, however, be noted that the verb used here is never used of killing in warfare or of execution. It is only used of deliberate killing in day-to-day life, and also of accidental killing, but it is clearly not possible to legislate against the latter.
5.18 “Neither shall you commit adultery.”
Notice the ‘neither’ (or ‘and not’ - waw with lo). The ‘and’ comes here and in the next three commandments but is absent in Exodus 20. It softens the stark statements of Exodus 20 and makes them explanatory, as might be expected when Moses is not making a declaration of the covenant, but is explaining it. He is not giving the injunctions one by one in their starkness, each a direct command to the heart from Yahweh, he is putting them together as a whole depicting the complete picture of God’s requirements. Next to killing a man, to take his wife in adultery was the worst thing that someone could do. Both these crimes carried the death penalty.
The relationship between a man and his wife was sealed by God (Genesis 2.24). It was as such a unique and binding covenant relationship which was essentially intended to be unbreakable. To break it was to seriously interfere in God’s covenant working. To God all covenants are binding (Psalm 15.4), and this one more than all. It was thus uniquely an especially serious breach of God’s covenant. It is equally serious today. Once committed it excluded both parties involved from God’s covenant. That is why they were to be cut off from Israel. They were to be put to death. Yet that mercy could be obtained comes out in the example of David. But the seriousness of it came out in what followed. Deaths were still required (2 Samuel 12.10-14). David died in his son, and others of his sons suffered violent death.
5.19 “Neither shall you steal.”
Stealing covered all aspects of dishonesty, including kidnapping for which the penalty was death (see 24.7), stealing a man’s reputation, and stealing his property. Next to a man’s life, and his wife, his property and his name were the most important things in a man’s estimation, and in God’s, for they had been given to him by God. It was thus an offence against God. To steal them broke the covenant relationship. There were various penalties laid out for dishonesty and stealing. It depended on the nature of the offence. And they all required compensation.
(There could have been added to this commandment, ‘not a man’s son, nor his daughter, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his’. It covered all aspects of life and property. Today we may not be able to steal a man’s cattle, but we can still by manipulation steal his job or position or reputation or possessions).
5.20 “Neither shall you bear false witness against your neighbour.”
The main concern here was the maintenance of justice. To bear false witness in a court was to subvert justice, and thus to render the court unable to fulfil its function under Yahweh (compare 19.15-21). To bear false witness was thus to attempt to prevent Yahweh from carrying out justice. It was to subvert God’s purpose. All must therefore contribute towards maintaining true justice in every way. A man who was shown to have borne false witness had to bear the consequences that fell, or would have fallen, on the person he bore false witness about (19.16-21).
But in principle it includes the spreading of any ‘false witness’ against someone else, and warns us to be careful in what we say about others. Compare ‘you shall not go up and down as a talebearer among your people’ (Leviticus 19.16).
5.21 “Neither shall you covet your neighbour’s wife; neither shall you desire your neighbour’s house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”
The final command is that they were not even to consider such things in their minds. The previous four commandments were widely held in many law codes and systems. In one way or another they were basic to life everywhere, although not always with such intensity. And punishment for them was made clear. But coveting is a thought process. And man could not judge and punish thought processes. Only God could do that.
Yet coveting is at the root of much sin for coveting leads to doing, and the point here is that God can even judge the thought processes before the outward sin itself is committed. Man may not be aware of them, but God is. Wrong thought processes are thus a breach of the covenant. They break essential unity with one’s neighbour. And Yahweh will know. That is why Jesus could stress that to think was to do (Matthew 5.22, 28). As a man thinks in his heart, so is he (Proverbs 23.7). Indeed coveting is the most important of all things to avoid for from it come all the other sins and it takes the heart away from God. It is a form of idolatry, for it means putting what we covet higher than God (Colossians 3.5). If we can avoid coveting we will mainly avoid sin.
This commandment thus lifts the covenant above the level of social law. It brings out that in the end it is something directly between man and God. It is personal.
Note that as compared with Exodus 20.17 Moses here changes the order and puts ‘wife’ before ‘house’, and separates her from the remainder, putting emphasis on her. This fits better with the order above, the forbidding of adultery before the stealing of property. At this stage perhaps, in the close proximity of the camp, there had been too much adultery so that Moses was concerned to emphasise the necessity not to covet other men’s wives. Or it may indicate Moses’ deep awareness of the value and importance of his wife.
He also here included ‘field’. Those in the two and a half tribes who were already settling in would now have fields that could be coveted. So all these changes express Moses’ current concerns. But he would not have made the changes if he had been baldly ‘declaring the covenant’. He felt able to do so because they were part of his speech, so that he could put in the emphases that he wanted. He was wanting to directly sway the people. We may consider that it was only Moses who in those times could have dared to make such alterations to a sacred text.
The Context of the Giving of the Covenant and The People’s Fear (5.22-28).
Having repeated the covenant he now sought to emphasise again the circumstances under which it was given. The twofold repetition of this before and after the basic covenant itself demonstrates how concerned he was to ensure that they recognised the solemnity of the covenant. See also 4.10-24, 33.
(Except when clearly used in words to Moses, when ‘thou, thee’ is used, which may be another reason for the change to ‘ye’, so as to bring out the distinction, all the verbs in this section are ‘ye, your’).
Analysis.
Note that in ‘a’ He had spoken out of the Fire, Cloud and thick darkness with a great Voice and had ceased, and in the parallel He had heard His people’s voice (requesting no more) and responded to it favourably. In ‘b’ He had given His Instruction direct to Moses on two tablets of stone, and in the parallel this was in accordance with the request of the people that in future He alone would receive God’s Instruction. In ‘c’ the head and elders had approached Moses when they heard the Voice from the darkness and the Fire, and in the parallel they asked who of all living flesh had heard such things and lived. In ‘d’ they emphasised they still lived in spite of the greatness and glory and awesomeness of what they had seen, but in the parallel feared greatly that if it continued they would die.
5.22 ‘These words Yahweh spoke to all your (your) assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice, and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone, and gave them to me.’
He draws attention to the fact, firstly that the words had been spoken to the whole assembly (Exodus 20.22), and no one had been omitted. Secondly that they had come from the Fire and Cloud and thick darkness that was on the Mount. They were from the very presence of God, the God of glory, in consuming power and mystery. Thirdly that they had come with a great voice, a voice that had directly spoken to them, and terrified them. Fourthly that nothing was added to the commandments. They stood there stark in all their brevity, and yet it was a brevity that in principle covered all men’s sins and responses. (Alternately the thought may be that He added no more to the people, the remainder coming through Moses). And fifthly they were recorded on stone by the hand of God so as to seal their permanence and importance, and handed over by the covenant Lord to His people through Moses His mediator. The fivefold description emphasises the covenant connection.
‘Fire and cloud and thick darkness.’ God had recently constantly revealed Himself to Israel in fire and cloud, in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night (1.33; Exodus 13.21; 14.19, 24; 40.38; Numbers 10.34; 14.14). Now this experience was deepened. While they regularly used fire they knew also that it was mysterious and dangerous. It was not easily controlled. It lightened darkness, it shone gloriously, it could be awesome. It was here and then it was gone, no one knew where. It could destroy forests and cities. In intensity it was something to fear. It was a reminder of what God is like. The thick darkness emphasised His mystery and unapproachability.
5.23 ‘And it came about, when you (ye) heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you (ye) came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders,’
He stresses the Fire again and that they had heard the voice from within the thick darkness even while they saw the surrounding fire, and had been deeply stirred. But they had not seen Yahweh in His essence. Nor could they. To experience Him in His full essence would have been to die. Yet even the voice had been terrible enough, and they had immediately tried to distance themselves from it.
He reminds them of the effect that this had had on their fathers, and on some of them as children. And how at what they had seen and heard they had been filled with fear and awe, so that they had approached Moses, through all their heads of tribes and their elders, pleading that they wanted no more of it.
5.24 ‘And you said, “Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man, and he lives.”
They had been so moved that they had then spoken to him with awe of how Yahweh their covenant God had revealed to them His glory and His greatness in the Fire. Of course, they had in fact only seen the outskirts of His ways, but to them that had been moving enough, for what they had seen and heard had terrified them. And they had spoken in hushed tones of the voice that had spoken to them. They felt that they had done the impossible, heard the voice of God and lived. In a strange way they appreciated the fact. But it was not something that they wished to experience again. God had never come that close to them before and they thought of it in terms that no man could see God and live, for that was how they felt. To them it was not an experience that they wanted repeating.
Such experiences are the lot of very few. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had experienced the awe of the revelation of God Himself as manifested in theophanies. Moses had experienced them. Now they had experienced them. No wonder they were subdued. But in all these cases none had truly seen God. Such a beatific vision would have destroyed whoever saw it. Even Moses, after pleading to see God in His glory, was only permitted to see the tail end of His glory (Exodus 33.23).
5.25 “Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die.”
Yet limited though their experience had been they had not wanted it repeating. They had felt as though they had almost died. If it happened again they feared that they would die. That terrible Fire that they had seen would surely devour them. The awful voice of God would surely cause them to wither and be annihilated. They could not even bear the thought of it.
5.26 “For who is there of all flesh, who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?”
They had spoken with awe. They did not know of anyone who had ever had the kind of experience that they had had, God speaking to them out of the midst of the Fire, and had lived. It had shaken them to the core. And yet they recognised that it had made them special. Of course, Moses had experienced exactly that at the burning bush. But then he was Moses. They were speaking of ordinary men.
‘Speaking out of the midst of the Fire.’ Compare especially 4.12, 24, 33; 5.4.
5.27 “You go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say, and you speak to us all that Yahweh our God shall say to you, and we will hear it, and do it.”
But the end result was that they had begged Moses to stand in for them, to be their mediator, to go in their place. Would he not approach Yahweh their God, and hear all that He had to say, and then pass on Yahweh’s covenant words to them? They were ready to obey, but let him be to them the voice of God. How like people to want the spiritual benefit without having to undergo the experience. They did not mind if Moses had to bear it, it was just that they could not bear it themselves. But it does demonstrate how they saw Moses as unique in his relationship to God. They were not being deliberately disobedient. They assured him that whatever he told them ‘we will hear it and we will do it’. But they did not covet too close a relationship with God for themselves.
‘Yahweh our God.’ Note the repetition of ‘Yahweh our God’ four times in verses 24-27. This was the name especially associated with the covenant. This term always designates Yahweh in His uniqueness and distinctiveness, the God of special occasions. Compare Exodus 3.18; 5.3; 8.10 etc., where it is used only in solemn declarations to Pharaoh. As the covenant title it occurs nineteen times in the first six chapters of Deuteronomy, in the foundations of the covenant, and then not until 29.15, 8, 29 in Moses’ great covenant speech. It thus stresses His mightiness as their covenant God. Compare its use in Joshua (only in 18.8; 22.19, 29; 24.17, 24) in solemn declarations when the covenant is being emphasised, and its only use in Judges in 11.24; and in 1 Samuel in 7.8 where the same applies. Compare also 1 Kings 8.57, 59, 61. These are all the uses in the Pentateuch and the former prophets (the historical writings up to Kings), save that it is exceptionally used outside of speech in 1 Kings 8.65, but that simply stresses the same significance, for there the covenant emphasis is central and it is actually in the nature of a declaration. It is thus used for a distinct purpose. Jeremiah later uses it more generally.
5.28 ‘And Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me, and Yahweh said to me, “I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They have well said all that they have spoken.” ’
He reminds them that Yahweh had heard their plea. ‘And Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me.’ It was necessarily so, for Yahweh was the all-seeing and the all-hearing. Nothing was hidden from Him. Note the contrast with 4.12. There they had heard the voice of His words. Here it is He Who hears the voice of their words. There is full reciprocation within the covenant. They hear and so He hears.
Yahweh had heard their words. He wanted them to know that the words and thoughts of all men were known to Him. For all things are open to Him with Whom we have to do. And He had approved of what they had requested. He had known full well how little they could bear His presence. Thus He had indicated to Moses that the request met with His approval. He knew that otherwise it might all be too much for them. This was the pattern for the future. God would speak with men through His word passed on through the prophets and Apostles.
Jesus warned us that God hears our words too. ‘For every idle word that a man shall speak, he will give account thereof in the day of judgment’ (Matthew 12.36-37).
Yahweh’s Additional Response (5.29-31).
In His response Yahweh declares His longing that what His people had said might be true, and allows them to return to their tents, but commands that Moses will remain before Him in order to receive His commandment, that is, His statutes and ordinances in order to teach them to them so that they would do them once they had entered the land which Yahweh was giving them as a possession.
Analysis:
5.29 “Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!”
But at the same time He had yearned that their hearts might have been such that they had not requested it, or at least such that they had continued to hear Him and obey Him. If only their hearts had been such that they would fear Him like Moses did, and keep His commandments permanently, and might thus find that all was well with them and with their children for ever. That was His longing for them. He only wished them well. For He knew that the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding (Psalm 111.10 with Job 28.28).
This heart cry reveals that Yahweh was not deceived about this people. Even as He gave His word through Moses He knew what would finally result. Even their behaviour here had revealed the seeds of movement away from God and His covenant. The whole of the Old Testament history is contained within these words. They had found that knowing God was uncomfortable. But God never desires the death of the wicked. He longs that they might turn from their wickedness and live (Ezekiel 33.11). And He therefore longs that people may hear Him and fear Him. We do no good to ourselves when we seek to hide from God.
God cries out in the same way today. He looks at us and says the same, and speaks to us through His word. But He knows what we are, and that therefore we will constantly be totally dependent on His mercy. Yet He longs for those who will be fully taken up with Him, and seek Him more earnestly so as to enter into the deeper things of God.
5.30 “Go, say to them, “Return to your tents.”
So He tells Moses that the people are free to return to their tents (compare 16.7). How sad this was. It was not because they had obtained victory that they returned to them, but because they did not want to have to face up to God as He really was. From now on they would be making do with second hand experience. And the saddest thing was that they were satisfied with it. It was really the beginning of the end for Israel’s hopes of fulfilling God’s purposes through Abraham. It was only through the coming of a greater than Moses that such hope would be restored, when One came Who spoke continually with God face to face, and in Himself revealed the face of God (2 Corinthians 4.4-6). And if we would know God we must not be afraid to face Him.
Yet the returning to their tents also indicated that they must take Yahweh’s instruction into their home lives as in 16.7. The way was open to lives of obedience. We must not overlook the fact that God was giving them the opportunity that they had sought.
5.31 “But as for you (thee), you stand here by me, and I will speak to you all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you (thou) shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.”
The stark contrast between Moses and the people (including initially Aaron) comes out here. This returning to his tent was not for Moses. He could not return to his tent. (How he must have wished sometimes that he could). He must face what his people were unwilling to face. He must constantly ‘face God and live’, as he had at the bush (Exodus 3). He must ‘stand by’ Yahweh and hear Him as He spoke to him ‘all the commandment, and the statutes and the ordinances’. Then he must teach them to the people so that they may fulfil them in the land to which they were going so that they might continue to possess it. See 6.1 which introduces those ‘commandments, statutes and judgments’. This reminds us that the way of Moses was a costly way. It was not easy to be the messenger of God.
Here we learn quite plainly how God intended to teach Moses all that was required of his people. Here was the promise of one large ‘commandment’, of statutes (recorded requirements) and ordinances (judgments), of legislation and instruction, which he would have to pass on as God’s revelation to them. And such revelations from a god were always written down among ancient peoples, just as Moses would ensure that they were written down, sometimes by his own hand, and sometimes by his scribe. Exodus 17.14 would certainly have formed a precedent as Exodus 24.4 reveals. Moses did not need nudging twice on such matters.
Final Comment (5.32-33).
Having fully described what had happened at Sinai/Horeb Moses now adds his own final comments. They are to observe and do what Yahweh has commanded without any diversions from it, and they are to walk in the way in which Yahweh has commanded them to live so that it might be well with them and they might have long life in the land which they will shortly possess (and some already possess).
Analysis.
5.32 ‘You (ye) shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.’
Moses now speaks again to all the people as a group (ye). They are to observe all that Yahweh their God has commanded them. They must turn neither to the right nor to the left in the way of disobedience, but must walk straight forward in the way of obedience without deviation.
Thus they had to have singleness of eye (Matthew 6.22; Luke 11.34), singleness of heart (Acts 2.46; Ephesians 6.5; Colossians 3.22), and singleness of purpose. Those whose eyes are fixed firmly on Christ, and whose hearts are fully taken up with Him, will thereby find the way made easier.
5.33 ‘You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.’
For this was the only way in which they could ensure that they would live and not die. And by it they would ensure not only that they lived, but that they lived so that it would be well with them and so that they would have long lives in the land which they would possess. All depended on hearing and responding to the covenant. That would ensure long life in the land which was only for the righteous. The idea of the ‘walk’ is common in Scripture. It indicated step by step progress forward and revealed that they truly had life.
Chapter 6 The Essence of the Covenant Is That Israel Shall Love Yahweh With All Their Beings And Reveal It In Their Obedience, Keeping Solely To Him As Long As They Lived.
Having reminded them of the awesome experience of the giving of the covenant, and of what it basically contained, Moses now seeks to urge on the people the need for total response and obedience to it. But note that he does it, not in terms of their listing the rules and keeping them, but in terms of a personal response of love, a love that responds to what Yahweh has already done for them. The covenant is not one of bargain, but of grace. Yahweh had graciously delivered them from the suzerainty of Egypt, from slavery and bondage. Now He calls on them to respond to Him in love, trust and obedience. There could be no enjoyment of blessing without that.
This chapter will then be followed by a stern warning of the need to deal severely with idolatry in chapter 7, the need to ensure that they remember and never forget what He has done for them in chapter 8, and a need to recognise the obstinacy of their own hearts in chapter 9. These are the three great enemies of man; things that turn us away from God as He is; unfaithfulness and forgetfulness; and obstinacy. It is these things that prevent us fulfilling His will.
Chapter 10-11 then speak of Yahweh’s positive preparations for His people, and recapitulate all that has already been said, preparatory to the giving of the detailed regulation.
In this we are drawing attention to the particular emphases of the chapters. There is of course much more. But the need to reject idolatry and the need to remember and not forget are constantly mentioned. These are one of the main emphases of these particular chapters.
Yahweh’s Covenant Requirements Are Now To Be Spelled Out (6.1-3).
This opening introduction to Yahweh’s Covenant requirements describes (1) what he is bringing them, Yahweh’s commandment with its statutes and ordinances, (2) what he hopes they will do for them, make them have a reverential fear of Him, and (3) the final aim behind them, the keeping of those statutes and commandments resulting in long life. They are then exhorted (4) to listen well and observe to do them so that it might be well with them and so that they might become numerous, as Yahweh had promised, in the land flowing with milk and honey.
Analysis (expressed in Moses words).
6.1-2 ‘Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you (ye) might do them in the land to which you (ye) go over to possess it, that you (thou) might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you (thee), you, and your son, and your son’s son, all the days of your (thy) life, and that your (thy) days may be prolonged.’
We must beware of seeing this as a new introduction. It rather combines with 5.32-33 to form a connecting link. Both this and 5.31-33 refer to ‘the commandment, the statutes and the judgments (ordinances)’, and both refer to long lives in the land which they will possess. Thus this is to be seen as the carrying forward of the process described in chapter 5. It is entering the heart of the covenant. See also 11.32 which finishes off this section and 12.1 which connects this section to the next. See also 26.16; 30.16 (which also has a prosperous life in mind). It is a theme of Deuteronomy. Note the change from ‘ye’ to ‘thou’. This indicates a heightening of the sense of command and a personalisation to each hearer, especially in view of the singular ‘son’.
‘The statutes and the ordinances’ were mentioned five times in chapter 4 where they were a summary of the covenant stipulations. In 5.33 ‘the commandments, and the statutes and the judgments’ were urged on Israel by Moses as something to be obeyed. Now he will declare them. This is so that they might do them in the land that they are going over to possess. God had given these statutes and judgments (ordinances) so that they and each of their sons and each of their son’s sons might fear Him and keep them. They were not just to be known but to be observed. They laid out the manner of life that was expected of them as His redeemed people.
But note the stress in 6.5 that they were to keep them, not in order to gain merit, but because they loved Yahweh with heart, and soul, and might. He wanted not a servile obedience, but the loving response of a firstborn son to his Father (Exodus 4.22). For this relationship in Deuteronomy see 1.31; 8.5; 14.1.
6.3 ‘Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it, that it may be well with you (thee), and that you (ye) may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, (enjoying) a land flowing with milk and honey.’
So he urges them as one nation, and as individual people, to hear and observe Yahweh’s commandment through these statutes and ordinances, so that it might be well with all of them, and so that they may grow and expand, (as Yahweh had promised to their fathers, and to them), in the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey, the good land, where all was God’s provision and good to partake of. That is what they had promised in 5.27. Now he calls on them to do it.
‘Enjoying’ is included in the English translation in order to indicate the sense.
For us there is no land to enter. But we have a better land, the Jerusalem that is above and all that goes with it (Galatians 4.26). For the land offered by God through Moses was an earthly ‘Kingdom of God’, which was why it failed, but what He was more importantly really offering was life under God’s Kingly Rule. Thus we now enter into the heavenly kingdom of God by coming under ‘the Kingly Rule of God’. And having come under His rule by responding to Christ the King we are to fully keep all His commandments, and especially this commandment, that we love one another.
The Essence Of The Covenant Is Love For Yahweh And They Must Look To No One Else (6.4-15).
For in this is the essence of the covenant, that they might recognise Yahweh as their one God and their one Lord, their only one, so that their worshipping love might be centred totally on Him, and on no one else.
Analysis:
6.4 ‘Hear, O Israel. Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one,’
Note first the use of the covenant name, ‘Yahweh our God’. He is the One Whose covenant this is. It designates Yahweh in His uniqueness and distinctiveness, the God Who has a special relationship with Israel, the One to Whom they look, the God to Whom they have a special responsibility. Compare its use in Exodus (3.18; 5.3; 8.10 etc.) where it is used only in solemn declarations to Pharaoh.
As the covenant title it occurs eleven times in Moses’ first speech, where after its emphatic use as the opening words of Moses, having reference to His speaking to them in Horeb (1.6, compare 5.2), it connects with Yahweh’s personal commands to them (1.19, 41; 2.37), Yahweh’s giving of the land to them (1.20, 25, 2.29), and Yahweh’s power to deliver their enemies into their hands (2.33, 36; 3.3), being finally used to emphasise His special nearness to them (4.7). It occurs nine times in chapter 5-6 at the commencement of his second great speech, again to emphasise His making of a covenant with them (5.2, compare 1.6), His oneness as their God (6.4), the hearing of His voice at Horeb (5.24, 25, 27 (twice)), His direct commands given to them (6.20) and with the need to fear Him and keep His commandments (6.24, 25) and then not until 29.15, 18, 29 in Moses’ third covenant speech where reference is to their standing before Him in making the covenant, a warning against turning away from Him, and to His being the One to Whom secret things are known. It stresses His mightiness and uniqueness and sovereignty as their covenant God.
Compare its use in Joshua (only in 18.8; 22.19, 29; 24.17, 24) in solemn declarations when the covenant is being emphasised, and its only use in Judges in 11.24; and in 1 Samuel in 7.8 where the same applies. Compare also 1 Kings 8.57, 59, 61. These are all the uses in the former prophets (the historical writings up to Kings), save that it is exceptionally used outside of speech in 1 Kings 8.65, but that simply stresses its significance, for there the covenant emphasis is central and it is actually in the nature of a declaration. It is thus used for a distinct purpose and is not simply ‘a mark of style’. It also occurs nine times in the Psalms, and it occurs fifteen times in Jeremiah where it probably indicates the influence that Deuteronomy has had on him.
And He is different from all others. Other gods were spread around the known world, with differing gods in different countries. Their symbols could be found everywhere. They were of all varieties and viewed in all kinds of ways. They were of various levels, intermingled, synthesised, and localised. They fought, they bickered, they rose, they fell, they behaved both well and badly. They had all the good points and bad points of men, only in an exaggerated way. They were a confusing array, with a few the most prominent, and people could pick and choose among them. But men knew that while they might attain what they saw as a satisfactory arrangement with one, they could never be sure of that one, nor of what some other god might do in order to upset life, so some way had to be found of keeping all sweet. For one never knew what they would do next. They were many. But this was not to be so with Israel. Yahweh their God was not like that (compare Exodus 15.11). Yahweh was one, consistent and undivided, and totally reliable.
Let them hear now what he is saying. Yahweh is one, one in behaviour, one in action, one in being. He is not to be found in every nook and corner. He is not divided. He is not to be synthesised. He does not act contrary to Himself. He does not vary from place to place. He is not inconsistent. And while He is the Creator of all things, rules the heavens, and can act anywhere He pleases, as He has demonstrated, and can respond to prayers made anywhere by His own, and can manifest Himself in various ways, He is to be approached for atonement at the one Central Sanctuary and no other (chapter 12 - see the treatment of this subject in the introduction). He is perfect oneness, undivided, perfect and complete, and totally reliable. This is the recognition of Yahweh that flows from the first two commandments. Yahweh is one and alone.
Yet throughout the Old Testament a threeness is revealed. For He manifests Himself as the Almighty God, as the Angel of Yahweh and as the Spirit of God. And yet all three act as one in essential unity. The interpersonality within God comes out most clearly in Zechariah 1.12, but underneath it is always there. And it was always necessary. God is love and love demands reciprocation. God must have in Himself all that is required for perfect expression of Himself, and that is expressed in this threeness.
6.5 ‘And you (thou) shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.’
For these words compare 11.13, 18-22. The same thoughts begin the section here and end the section in chapter 11, demonstrating their centrality. As Yahweh is one so they are to be one in their love (‘thou’) for Him. And in that oneness they are to respond totally to Him, so being one with Him in the covenant. They are to love Him with their whole being, and respond by keeping His commandments.
(From here to verse 13 ‘you’ is ‘thou’ It is in the singular. Again this heightens and individualises the idea of command. Each one is to respond, and all are to respond as one nation).
Love was a covenant word. A similar word was used in treaties of the attitude a subject should have towards his suzerain, for men like to be loved as well as feared. Thus it involved covenant response. (‘Hated’ indicated the opposite). And such love and loyalty were always rewarded. Compare 1 Kings 5.1 which has in mind covenant loyalty. But love is also a relationship word. Israel were His son, His firstborn (Exodus 4.22 compare 14.1) the closest of covenant situations. As sons He had borne them in the wilderness and had chastened them (1.31; 8.5; compare 14.1). He looked therefore for the loyalty of a firstborn son to his Father, as well as the loyalty of a subject to his Suzerain.
And their response to Him must be total. They must love Him in the covenant relationship with their whole being, and no other. They must love Him with heart, and with soul and with might, both in inward thought and life and will, and in outward action. As far as the ultimate in life was concerned He must be their all. There was and must be no room for any other (compare 10.12).
Jesus pointed out that this was the first and great commandment required of all of us, for it was the commandment that by being obeyed would result in the keeping of all other commandments (Matthew 22.37; Mark 12.30; Luke 10.27).
So Yahweh could not be treated as one among many. Such a Yahweh would not be the true Yahweh. Once men did that they would have lost what He essentially was. He could only be known as He really was by those who responded to Him fully. His love reached out to them (7.7-8) and required love in return. Even the thought of all other gods must be excluded. None other must even be acknowledged.
Both Moses and the prophets make clear that it is not a question of Him just being Israel’s God, the reality is that no other can even be compared with Him. There are none like Him (3.24; 10.14, 17; Exodus 15.11; 1 Samuel 2.2). They are nonentities, they are powerless, they are a mockery. They can be swept aside with Yahweh’s powerful arm. His activity is universal. Both history and the future are totally controlled by Him. He can give lands as He will (compare 2.5, 9, 19). He sets the bounds of the nations (32.8). The heaven of heavens is His and the world is at His disposal (10.14). Yahweh is supreme. He is the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18.25). Whether in Egypt or in Mesopotamia He brought about His will, and none could say Him nay. None could oppose Him. History moved at His will. The future was in His hands. Moses and the prophets were essentially, if not always philosophically (they probably never philosophised about the question), monotheistic, as were all those who loved Him fully. It was not so much a question of definition, as of reality. He alone was God. None other counted or came into the reckoning.
Jesus made this verse central to His teaching. He spoke of it as the first and great commandment (Matthew 22.38), and He spoke of the man as not far from the Kingly Rule of God who in response to Him said, ‘to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices’ (Mark 12.33).
6.6-7 ‘And these words, which I command you (thee) this day, shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.’
And because they loved Him each of them was to take His words to their hearts in such a way that they would also teach them diligently to their children (compare 4.9b; 11.18-22; 32.46). Note how both passages which deal with this in detail also emphasise the need to love Him (6.5-7; 11.18-22), and both commence and end this section. They embrace all that is said in it. For this was not to be a series of dull lessons given to unwilling children, but a glowing testimony from a heart filled with love.
The need to pass His words on to their children is a constant Biblical theme (compare 4.9b; 6.6-7, 20-24; 11.18-22; 32.7, 46; Exodus 12.26-27; 13.8-9, 14; Joshua 4.6, 21). They were also to talk of them when they were sat in their houses, and when they walked in the way, and when they lay down and when they arose. In other words His words were to pervade every part of their lives. In a day when books were not freely available, this was the only way in which such teaching could be passed on. What was remembered from the reading aloud of God’s instruction at the feasts was to be conveyed at the breakfast table, and at every opportunity (Malachi 3.16), and used as a direction in their lives, until all knew it by heart and understood it and lived by it.
6.8-9 ‘And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your residence, and on your gates (entry points).’
It is questionable whether this was intended to be taken literally (compare Exodus 13.16), although it was later so taken by the Pharisees and many others. They would wear small pouches containing Scripture on their persons during the time of morning prayer and fasten them to their doors. Such pouches containing small scrolls have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. That was good when it meant something genuine, but the danger came when it became a formality, a show, producing self-righteousness and vanity.
The verses are really simply emphasising that God’s instruction was to be kept available in their minds and constantly thought of, and was to control the use of the hand, being considered when they entered and left their tents and later their houses, and when they entered and left their tent-encampments and cities. It was not to be left behind and forgotten. It was always to be in mind. However, no doubt many did leave signs and notes around, and even carry them or fasten them to their tents, and later their houses, which would remind them of their covenant responsibilities, as we might leave notes today or carry portions of His word. And while that was their true purpose it could only be encouraged.
While they were living in an encampment, that was their ‘city’ (a word actually used of tent encampments in Numbers 13.19), their tents were their ‘residences’ and their ‘gates’ were the entry points of the camp (Exodus 32.26). ‘Doorposts’ were their tent posts. The Hebrew words expanded their meaning when they arrived in built up cities.
6.10-12 ‘And it shall be, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you,
then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.’
Even greater reminders of God’s goodness to them would be the cities which they would capture (and had already captured in Transjordan) which they did not have to build, and the houses full of spoils for them to enjoy, and the cysterns which were already there and full of water, and the vineyards and olive trees which they would take over, and the fruit that came from it which they would eat. They would enjoy the good things of the land for which they had not laboured.
Let them not then be lulled into forgetting that it was Yahweh Who had brought them into this land of freedom and plenty in accordance with the promise sworn to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and that it was He Who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, a land for them of non-freedom and non-plenty, and out of the house of bondage, and had brought them under His watchful care so that they could be free and live under His Lordship.
This verse possibly contains a brief extract from a poem written by someone as they looked forward in hope to the coming land, possibly one regularly recited in the camp in order to encourage each other (possibly written by Moses or by Miriam - compare Exodus 15.21). Well and good, says Moses, but make sure that prosperity acts as a reminder of Yahweh’s goodness, and does not lead to forgetfulness. The general lack of such poetic prophecy is a sign of the early date of Deuteronomy, for from Hosea onwards it was common for prophets to prophesy in poetic metre.
For us too it is important that we do not forget the Lord’s mercies. Then we will not forget Him. And we have so much to give thanks for, especially for His unspeakable gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6.13 ‘You (thou) shall fear Yahweh your God, and him shall you (thou) serve, and shall swear by his name.’
Thus they must each (thou) be sure that they reverentially fear Yahweh their God, and serve Him and swear by His name. Men swore by the name of those who ruled over them and whom they feared, by the name of those who were most important to them as in authority over them. This was the place that Yahweh should take in each of their lives, but in their case not with a slavish fear of what He might decide to do on a whim, but with a godly fear of One whom they knew would deal justly. It was in itself a kind of reverential love. The reference to ‘swear by His name’ may be to an oath of allegiance.
The fact that they were to ‘swear by His Name’ indicated that as far as they were to be concerned He alone was God and there was no other.
Note the play on words. They had been delivered from the house of bondage (‘abadim) that they might serve (ta‘abod) Yahweh.
6.14 ‘You (ye) shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples that are round about you,’
Thus none of them were to go after other gods which are like those of the peoples round about them. This would always be the temptation and the danger, especially when they were assured (by the Canaanites who should not have been there) that it was the only way to ensure rain and the fruitfulness of the land. In times of testing the words of such people would be traps and snares. It would be so easy to take their eyes off Yahweh. But this would be the opposite of loving Yahweh. It would be to forsake and despise Him. Thus the exhortation to love is followed by the warning of other lovers who will clamour for their attention.
6.15 ‘For Yahweh your (thy) God in the midst of you (thee) is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.’
But none of them (thou) were to yield to them because Yahweh their God, the One who had delivered them and brought them to the land, and Who owned it, was there among them, and He is a jealous God, that is a God Who could not allow unworthy ‘rivals’, not so much for His sake as for theirs. (It would destroy their recognition of His uniqueness). Otherwise His anger would be kindled against them like a flame, and He would destroy them off the face of the earth (adamah).
They Must Not Put Yahweh To The Test For He Requires A Loving and Righteous Response (6.16-19).
Analysis.
Note that in ‘a’ they are not to test out Yahweh and in the parallel they are therefore to thrust out their enemies from the land (so that they will not be a test to them and cause them to test Yahweh). In ‘b’ they must keep all His covenant stipulations, and in the parallel do what He requires.
6.16 ‘You (ye) shall not test out Yahweh your God, as you tested him out in Massah.’
Let them remember the lesson of Massah (‘place of testing’). There as a group they had tested out Yahweh when there was a shortage of water and they had been ready to kill Moses because of their deep anger, for they had blamed him for their predicament. But then Yahweh had provided them with water from a rock (Exodus 17.1-7). Thus should they recognise that He can and will always provide water, and indeed, anything that they really need, if they but trust Him and obey Him. They must therefore look to Him in faith and not test Him out. They do not need to turn to anyone else for their sustenance.
In verse 19 he will point out that that is why the Canaanites must be driven out. Otherwise they will be a snare and a trap to them causing them to ‘test Yahweh’.
These words were utilised by Jesus when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. They speak to us all. ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’. To do that is to lack true faith.
6.17-18 ‘You (ye) shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you (thee), and you (thou) shall do that which is right and good in the sight of Yahweh, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers.’
What they must each (thou) and all of them (ye) rather do is diligently keep Yahweh’s covenant stipulations, the commandments of Yahweh their God, and His testimonies and statutes which He has commanded each of them (or has commanded Israel as a nation), and do what is right and good in His sight. Then it will be well with them, and then they will be able to go in and possess the good land that Yahweh swore to their fathers. Such possession of the land constantly demanded righteousness (see verse 25), because the land belonged to the Righteous One. Indeed Yahweh had promised it to their fathers so that He might establish a righteous land. While they would receive it because of the faith and faithfulness of others, they must fit into what it was, His land, the land of the Righteous One, and demonstrate that they deserved it by doing what was right and good in His sight (as we also must).
‘Thou’ is used from here to the end of the chapter.
6.19 ‘To thrust out all your enemies from before you (thee), as Yahweh has spoken.’
And one of the ways in which they would do this was by thrusting out all their enemies from before them, as Yahweh has commanded. In order that the land may be righteous it was essential that the evil inhabitants were driven out. Otherwise they would only test out Israel and cause them harm and would continue to defile the land with their idolatries and perversions, and would in the end make them test Yahweh. If the kingdom of Yahweh was ever to be set up the land must be cleared of those who would do evil and would not respond to the covenant. In the same way can none enter Heaven who have not been prepared for it by God. ‘Thee’ here clearly means the whole nation as one.
The lesson for us of this constant repetition of the need to clear the land of Canaanites is that we too must clear our lives of all that could lead us astray. Whatever might lead us to lessen our devotion and dedication to Jesus Christ must be thrust from us. We must show it no mercy. We must not put the Lord to the test. We should also take heed that our hearts are set, not on the land, but on the Kingly Rule of God. We have a greater land on which to set our hearts.
And What They Know For Themselves They Must Explain To Their Children So That Righteousness Might Prevail In The Land (6.20-25).
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ the children question what the statutes and judgments are telling them, and in the parallel they learn that they are telling them of the righteousness that must be theirs if they are to dwell in the land that belongs to their covenant Overlord. In ‘b they are to tell them that they had been Pharaoh’s bondmen, and in the parallel that they are now Yahweh’s freemen. In ‘c’ we have described how Yahweh did His great wonders against Pharaoh and Egypt, and in the parallel how He brought them out from Egypt in order to give them His land which He had promised to their fathers.
6.20 ‘When your (thy) son asks you in time to come, saying, “What do the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you, mean?” ’
So when their children in the future asked each of them concerning the testimonies, and the statutes and the ordinances, which ‘Yahweh our God’ (their covenant God) had commanded them, and what they meant, they would be able to point to the faithfulness and goodness of the God of the covenant, and stress that they were His commands which he had a right to require of them because He was their overlord and Deliverer.
‘Thy’ clearly mainly has in mind here each individual to whom he is speaking.
6.21-24 ‘Then you shall say to your son, “We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt, and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and Yahweh showed signs and wonders, great and sore, on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes, and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers. And Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.’
They will then be able to explain to their children that they had been Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt, and how they had been bound to him by a kind of covenant, a slave covenant, and had suffered sore. And how Yahweh had delivered them out of Egypt with a mighty hand. How He had freed them from their bondage and from the covenant that bound them. And how He had shown signs and wonders, which had proved great and sore for Egypt, and these had come on Pharaoh and all his house in front of their very eyes, so that he had released them. And God had then brought them out from there so that He might bring them to the land which He had sworn to their fathers. And it was He Who had commanded them to do all these statutes, and to fear Yahweh their covenant God, and it was for their permanent good so that He might preserve them alive to that day and bless them.
Here once again we have repeated the important theological lessons on which the covenant was based. It is a partial covenant in brief.
This last was always how it was always intended to be.
For us there is an even greater reason for our worship. For we know that we were bound by sin and in bondage to our selfishness, but have been delivered from both by the mighty hand of God through the offering of His Son, Jesus Christ, on our behalf, once for all, revealed through greater wonders than those of Egypt. By this we have therefore come under the Kingly Rule of God, and He has been established as our Lord so that we might obey His will, awaiting our entry into His heavenly kingdom.
And the statutes were always an important part of this, for they alone could ensure that His people in the land remained just, and right, and prosperous. Only by a people obedient to these could the kingdom of God be established, with themselves as priests to the nations and a holy nation (7.6; Exodus 19.6). Without them they would simply sink once more to the level of other nations (as in fact they did).
‘And Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.’ The principle here is that life and death are in His hands. Their fathers had died in the wilderness because, as a result of their disobedience, that had been their sentence. But God did not seek men’s deaths, He sought that they might live. Thus all who were now alive at this time could give thanks for life and credit it to the goodness of Yahweh. But continuing to live was based for Israel on fearing God and living according to His will. That was the only guarantee of life. And it was on that that they should set their hearts. It is the nation as a whole that is in view, not the individual, although the individuals make up the nation.
Of course men would die. It was happening constantly, and sometimes the good died young and the wicked lived long. This problem is dealt with elsewhere by looking at God’s further purposes (see Psalm 73). But here the principle is being established that on the whole fearing God will result in continuing life, blatantly disobeying God will tend towards death. They had already learned this from what had happened to their fathers. Thus the statutes which encouraged them to fear God are seen as for man’s good always.
6.25 ‘And it shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.’
For if they observed to do all this commandment before Yahweh their covenant God it would be righteousness for them. By it they would be acceptable to Him and vindicated before Him, because it would reveal that they truly loved Him. The thought was not of what they would earn by it, but that being seen as righteous would be the consequence of their vindication as a result of being delivered and made a righteous people. And it would result in God’s continual blessing.
Elsewhere ‘before Yahweh’ signifies the court of the tabernacle and its surrounds, but here it possibly refers to the whole country, stressing the holiness of the whole land.
‘It shall be righteousness to us.’ This may mean it would be counted as righteousness to them so that they would retain possession of the land, or it may mean that it would be a vindication for them with the same result. Compare 24.13 where ‘it will be righteousness to you’ means that a man will be pleasing to God and seen as having done the right. In Genesis 15.6 we are told of Abraham, ‘he believed in Yahweh and He counted it to him for righteousness’, that is, He accepted him as fully righteous before Him in spite of his failings. Thus the principle idea is of being acceptable to God as a result of a response of faith to His activity.
Chapter 7 They Must Remove The Canaanites From The Land, Having No Truck With Them And Must Go Forward With Confidence In The Deliverer From Egypt, For He Has Set His Love On Them And Will Do Them Good .
Having emphasised the need to love Yahweh wholly, and to respond to Him totally in chapter 6, this chapter begins and ends with the instruction that they must have nothing to do with the corrupt Canaanites, whom He will drive out before them, but must destroy their graven images and their gods. And this is because He Himself has set His love on them, and will prosper them in their ways, but will deal harshly with those who ‘hate’ Him, that is, who rebel against Him.
The chapter includes a testimony of His sovereign love for them for their fathers’ sakes, the promise of future blessing in the land and the assurance of victory over all their enemies through Yahweh’s help. But the corollary is that they must remove all trace of idolatry from the land. No rival to Him must be allowed to remain. Thus they must diligently rid the land of them so that nothing is left in their land to rival Yahweh, or to turn them from His ways.
This emphasis on the destruction of the Canaanites and their gods and religious paraphernalia appears at the beginning of the chapter (verses 1-5), in the middle (verse 16) and then at the end (verses 25-26). It is seen as important that they are removed for they are an insult to His name and an abomination and if not removed could sadly be rivals for their hand, acting as a snare to them .
But this emphasis is overridden by the glowing description of Yahweh’s election and love of His people, and of the great blessings that can be theirs through obedience, and the certainty of His powerful activity on Israel’s behalf. It is very emphatic. For this was one reason why His people had been chosen, in order to purge the land of false gods, so that truth may triumph there. This was one reason why He had set His love on them. So that they might punish the wickedness of the land, and establish there His righteous rule. Until idolatry was dealt with His sole rule could not begin.
It must therefore be recognised that here they were entering on a genuine holy war, one that had been determined by God to rid the land of Canaan of its corruption, in order to establish a righteous kingdom. It was unique in history. Such a holy war is impossible today because the unique conditions of a promised land holy to God, and a deeply corrupt people possessing it who need to be expelled, can no longer apply. Today all are being offered His mercy. Those who still look to a land to fight for are living in a backwater and misunderstanding the Old Testament. The kingly rule of God is now spiritual and entered by those who come to Him through Jesus Christ, looking for their hope in Heaven. The fact is that the only holy war now is with Satan.
The chapter varies between ‘thou’ and ‘ye’, with ‘thou’ preponderating. Some verses include both, see verses 4, 12, 14, 25. Where the ‘ye’ use is not indicated read ‘thou’. Often there is a subtle difference in nuance when the change takes place.
The Command To Rid The Land Of The Canaanites Along With Their Way of Life Because They Are A Holy People (7.1-6).
Of parallel importance with the keeping of Yahweh’s statutes and ordinances was the destruction of all that went against it. While fairly sophisticated culturally the Canaanites were particularly depraved in their manner of life and religion as the discoveries at Ugarit have confirmed. It was these things that God was determined to root out, both because of the effect that they could have on His people, and because of the abomination that they were to Him.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ Yahweh will bring them into the land and deliver up the enemy, and they must then smite them and utterly destroy them, and in the parallel this is because they themselves are a holy people, His treasured possession. In ‘b’ they are neither to make covenant with them or engage in intermarriage, and in the parallel are rather to deal with them by destroying all that pertains to their religion. In ‘c’ the reason for ‘a’ and ‘b’ is because the Canaanites will turn their sons from following Yahweh, and in the parallel will thus bring Yahweh’s anger down on them so that they will destroy them all.
7.1-2 ‘When Yahweh your (thy) God shall bring you into the land to which you are going to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you, and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall smite them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.’
Moses speaks with confident assurance. He has no doubt that they will be able to possess the land, and that Yahweh will cast out many nations before them. And the important thing is what they should do when they had done so.
He lists seven of those nations. Seven is the number of divine perfection and here is basically indicating ‘all the nations in the land’ and the divine completeness of the intended destruction of them. ‘The Canaanites’ and ‘the Amorites’ were often terms for the general population of the country, so that the terms were often interchangeable. Each could be used for the inhabitants of the whole country. However there was sometimes some distinction, as here, in that often ‘the Canaanites’ was the term for those occupying the coastlands and the Jordan valley while ‘the Amorites’ could be seen as dwelling in the hill country east and west of Jordan.
The Hittites (hatti) may have been settlers who had come from the Hittite Empire further north and had settled in Canaan, although many had been there a long time (Genesis 23.3, 5), but they might equally have been an ancient people who had been in Palestine almost from the beginning (Genesis 10.15). With regard to the Girgashites, persons with the names grgs and ben-grgs are known from the Ugaritic records. Some have connected them with the Karkisa in the Hittite literature and the krks in Egyptian records, but this must be considered doubtful. They were probably just another of the small groups of peoples who had long inhabited Canaan and Lebanon. They are mentioned in Genesis 15.21 but not in the four similar lists in Exodus (3.8, 13: 13.5; 23.23), thus they were not prominent. The Perizzites were hill dwellers (Joshua 11.3; Judges 1.4 on) and possibly country peasantry, their name being taken from ‘peraza’ = hamlet. This status is supported by the fact that they were not named as Canaan’s sons in Genesis 10.15 on. They are, however, mentioned in Exodus 3.8, 13; 23.23. The Hivites may have been the equivalent of the Horites (see on Genesis 36). Their principal location was in the Lebanese hills (Judges 3.3) and the Hermon range (Joshua 11.3; 2 Samuel 24.7), but there were some in Edom in the time of Esau (Genesis 36) and in Shechem (Genesis 34). The Jebusites were the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the hills round about (Numbers 13.29; Joshua 11.3; 15.8; 18.16). Thus the population was very mixed and open to invasion and infiltration.
‘Seven nations greater and mightier than you’ probably means greater and mightier as a whole, as ‘the seven nations’. Some on their own need not have been so. But the point is being made that Israel will need Yahweh’s help in order to overcome them.
‘And when Yahweh your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall smite them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them.’ These peoples were to be smitten and utterly destroyed. No treaty was to be made with them, and no mercy shown to them. This harsh requirement arose firstly because of their evil and irreversible ways, which God had passed judgment on and had determined to punish (contrast Genesis 15.16), secondly because the holy land needed to be purged of the sins that they had committed there, and to be made a pure place for God’s people, and thirdly because they could prove a snare to His people who were a holy people to Him and His treasured possession (verse 6). The sin of the Canaanites was so deep that it could only be purged by the shedding of their blood, and He knew (as proved to be the case once Israel disobeyed Him) that their presence there would make it certain that His people would fail to maintain the covenant.
It should, however, be noted that if they truly responded to Yahweh mercy was still available for the Canaanites. Consider for example Rahab and her family as in Joshua 6.25; see also Judges 1.25-26.
7.3-4 ‘Nor shall you (thou) make marriages with them. Your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to your son. For he will turn away your (thy) son from following me, that they may serve other gods. So will the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you (ye all), and he will destroy you (thee, as a nation) quickly.’
They were not to intermarry with them, neither by giving their daughters as wives to Canaanites or taking Canaanite wives for their sons. Thus all were to be slain or driven out, and none spared as captives or used for marriage purposes.
The possibility of such a situation would partly arise because the process of conquest would not reach its final climax immediately (verse 22). Until that had happened there would be Canaanites in the land. But there was to be no fraternisation with them. They must be as if in quarantine. Intermarrying was a symbol of friendly relationships. Such intermarrying could often be the basis of a treaty (compare Genesis 34). It must not be considered with Canaanites.
It should be noted that this is not a forbidding of interracial marriage. Moses married interracially, and there would be many interracial marriages among the Israelites who included the ‘mixed multitude’ among them. It was inter-religious marriage that was in mind, for such could draw a person away from the true God (compare Numbers 25.1-3 for the dangers). Marriage with someone who is not in covenant with God is always frowned on in Scripture. In the same way a Christian must not marry an unbeliever, any more than light can wed darkness (2 Corinthians 6.14).
7.5 ‘But thus shall you (all of ye) deal with them. You (all of ye) shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire.’
They were to destroy all the religious paraphernalia of the Canaanites. They must break down their altars, dash in pieces their pillars, hew down their Asherim and burn their graven images with fire. The pillars were stones set up to represent gods for worship purposes. These were not for the same purpose as Jacob had in mind when he set up a pillar in honour of Yahweh as a memorial (Genesis 28.18, 22), or like the memorial pillar mentioned by Isaiah 19.19, which was a symbol of belonging to Yahweh. They were seen as distinctly ‘divine’, the equivalent of graven images. The Asherim were either wooden poles or wooden images to represent the goddess Asherah. All were to be destroyed, removing all temptation to make use of them.
It should be noted here that there is no mention of Baal. The total lack of mention of Baal in the Pentateuch, apart from in the names of places, is quite remarkable. The only acceptable explanation of the total non-mention is that its books were written before contact with the land had brought home the predominance of Baal. Molech is mentioned in Leviticus 18 and 20 but not Baal. It appears to us very unlikely that later writers, had they had a hand in influencing the Pentateuch, would not have invoked Baalism when inveighing against the religion of the land. But it is quite understandable why for Moses and Israel at this time it had not become the major issue that it became once Israel were settled in the land in the book of Judges. Where they were at that time Molech was more predominant.
(The mention of Molech demonstrates that the name Baal is not excluded simply for theological reasons. If it had been surely Molech would have been excluded as well. ‘Baal’ (lord) and ‘Molech’ (king) could be equally confusing).
7.6 ‘For you (thou) are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own treasured possession, above all peoples that are on the face of the earth.’
And the reason why they must not fraternise with the Canaanites, but must destroy them or drive them out, was because they themselves were a holy people, a people set apart to Yahweh, a chosen people, chosen by God to be a people for His own treasured possession, in His eyes a people above all peoples which are on the face of the earth, a people on whom He had set His love (compare Exodus 19.5-6; Psalm 135.4.) It was for this purpose that Yahweh had delivered them.
Here we have the first specific mention in the book of the fact that they were a ‘chosen’ people, elect as a people at the hand of God for the fulfilment of His purposes (compare 4.37; 14.2; Genesis 12.1-3; Psalm 33.12; 105.43; 135.4; Isaiah 41.8, 9; 43.10; Ezekiel 20.5). It was for this reason that He would endure with them to the end until He had formed a greater Israel through the message of His Son. But their being chosen originally began not with them, but with God choosing Abraham.
‘His own treasured possession.’ Segulla means ‘prized highly’. See its use in 1 Chronicles 29.3; Ecclesiastes 2.8. Its Akkadian equivalent sikiltu was used in treaty seals to describe kings as special possessions of their gods. Compare here Exodus 19.5. Israel were His own special possession set apart for His own special purpose to be priests to the nations. They were to teach the nations wisdom by their manner of life in the land, and one day by taking His word to the nations (Isaiah 2.3).
So this special regard for His people partly resulted from His purpose for them. Their preservation in holiness was essential for His future purposes for the world. It was this that justified the violent action against the Canaanites. His people must be preserved pure at any cost, and only a totally righteous land could act as a witness beacon to the world.
The Reason For Doing This Is because In Compassion and Mercy He Has Chosen Them To The End That They Are His Holy (Set Apart For Himself) People And Has Set His Love On Them (7.7-11).
In this passage the love and faithfulness of God is accentuated, and it is stressed that He loves them, not because they deserve it or were worthy, but simply because He has sovereignly set His love on them and also for their fathers’ sakes. Thus they can be sure that He will reveal His faithfulness by responding to those who are faithful to Him while repaying those who become unfaithful.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
We note in ‘a’ that Yahweh showed great favour to them by setting His love on them so that in the parallel they are to respond by keeping His commandments give to them this day, and doing them. In ‘b’ Yahweh loves them and because He would keep His oath to their fathers has delivered them from bondage in Egypt, but in the parallel those who hate Him He repays to their face. In ‘c’, because He is Yahweh, the faithful God, in the parallel He is faithful to His covenant and reveals His covenant love to His people permanently as long as they too are faithful.
7.7 ‘Yahweh did not set his love on you (ye all), nor choose you (ye), because you (ye) were more in number than any people, for you (ye) were the fewest of all peoples,’
Here we have emphasised that Yahweh has set His love on them. And note that Moses expects them to be aware of that fact. They have good reason to know that they are the beloved of Yahweh.
He stresses that Yahweh did not set His love on them or choose them because they were so many, or because they were a more numerous people than others, for they were not. That was the way men looked at things. When He had first chosen them they had been the fewest of all peoples, wandering through Canaan with their herds and flocks, seen as strangers passing by, and then settling in Egypt as a band of resident aliens. They were the weak, the foolish, the despised (compare 1 Corinthians 1.27-29). It was nothing in them that had occasioned His love and choosing. It was rather an act of divine grace, of unmerited goodness and power, because they were descendants of, or had become connected with the descendants of, His faithful and beloved servant Abraham.
7.8 ‘But because Yahweh loves you (ye all), and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your (your) fathers, has Yahweh brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you (ye) out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.’
Rather, therefore, Yahweh chose them because He loved them. The final reason for that is unstated. It was simply the determined act of God. It was true that it was for their father’s sakes, and then for their own sake because of their response to Him in the covenant, and because He was determined to keep His oath to their fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But over and above it all it was because He had chosen for His love to reach out to them. And that was why He had redeemed them out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
Here in this verse we have important theological overtones. Firstly that Yahweh loved His people. They were chosen because He loved them, and they were chosen because of the oath that He had sworn to their fathers. And secondly that it was because of these things that He had bought them, He had ‘redeemed’ them, a piteous people, out from under bondage, delivering them from the hand of Pharaoh. The connection of ‘redeemed’ with ‘bondmen in bondage’ supports the idea that we see it as the paying of a price, even if that price was the exertion of His power to bring Pharaoh in submission to His will.
And we too, if we are Christ’s, are chosen in His love. The thought that God has set His love on us from all eternity (Ephesians 1.4) can only humble us and yet flood our hearts with praise and gratitude. For we are God’s true Israel, being the continuation of the old spiritual Israel (Galatians 3.29; Ephesians 2.11-22; Romans 11.17-24). And the Scripture makes quite plain that having chosen us and loved us He has justified us in Christ, and will raise us to final glorification (Romans 8.29-30). How then can we also fail to seek to fulfil all His commandments and rid ourselves of all that is displeasing to Him?
7.9-10 ‘Know therefore that Yahweh your (thy) God, he is God, the faithful God (El), who keeps covenant and lovingkindness with those who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations, and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him, he will repay him to his face.’
By consideration of this (‘therefore’) they could know that Yahweh is God (He defeated Pharaoh, god of Egypt, and all his supporting gods, treating them as nothings), that He is the faithful God, faithful to His past covenants and to those on whom He has set His love in the past, and that He keeps covenant with and shows gracious mercy towards those who love Him and keep His commandments. Note that loving Him comes prior to the keeping of His commandments. The keeping of the commandments results from that love. This is not to be seen as abiding by strict rules out of fear of the consequences, but as lovingly responding to Yahweh’s requirements because they love Him for what He has done for them. (Compare Luke 7.41-42).
‘To a thousand generations.’ That is, to numberless generations. His faithfulness, love and compassion go on and on. (Compare how ‘a thousand years’ means numberless years - Psalm 90.4; Ecclesiastes 6.6).
‘And repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him who hates him, he will repay him to his face.’ But while on the one hand there is love and compassion, on the other there is aversion to sin and to those who reject His covenant, those who thus show that they ‘hate’ Him. These, such as the Canaanites, He will destroy. This fact is stressed. He is not slack and slovenly about dealing with sin, He does it openly and readily in the face of the sinner. Therefore let all who would sin beware. There is no room in His land for sin.
7.11 ‘You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them.’
Because of that (‘therefore’), because he is compassionate and merciful to those who look to Him, and harsh with sinners, they are to keep His commandment, and the statutes and ordinances that He commands them this very day, as they will shortly be unfolded.
Their Reward For Faithfulness And Obedience To His Covenant Will Be Multiplied Blessing (7.12-15).
7.12 ‘And it shall come about that because you (ye all) listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Yahweh your (thy) God will keep with you (thee) the covenant and the lovingkindness which he swore to your (thy) fathers,’
And the result of their listening to His ordinances and keeping them in their hearts, and doing them, will be that He, Yahweh their God, will keep His covenant with them, and will maintain the covenant love (chesed), the warm, responsive, gracious love, which He swore to their fathers. With God relationship is always two way. Receiving mercy and love, must result in responding with love and obedience. The two go together. One cannot exist without the other. The person who does not seek to serve Him has not experienced His love and mercy, for His love and mercy would have changed their hearts so that they did love and obey Him.
7.13 ‘And he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you, he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.’
And He will not only keep covenant, but He will truly love them, and bless them, and multiply them. He first made the covenant because He wanted to pour out His love. But He will also bless both the fruit of their bodies, in healthy and numerous offspring, and the fruit of their ground in abundant harvests. Healthy offspring were necessary both in order to increase the number of hands available for work (compare Genesis 5.29) and in order to make the nation more powerful. He will also bless their crops and their fruit trees, their grain, and their new wine, and their olive oil. He will bless the young that their cattle produce, and the same with their flocks. They too will prosper and be fruitful and multiply and bring forth in abundance. And all this in the land which He swore to their fathers to give them, the chosen land, the land intended for the righteous, the land watched over by Yahweh, the potential kingdom of Yahweh.
7.14 ‘You (thou) shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you (ye), or among your (your) cattle.’
Indeed they would be blessed more than all others. Not a single male or female would be barren, not one of their cattle would fail to produce in abundance. Their numbers and their prosperity would continue to grow and grow. All would be perfect. Here is the picture of abundant blessing, had they been fully faithful. But its final fulfilment would actually await the afterlife, for none in this world could live up to it.
7.15 ‘And Yahweh will take away from you (thee) all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will he put on you, but will lay them on all them who hate you.’
And they would suffer no sickness or disease. All the sickness that they had experienced and witnessed in Egypt would not trouble them. He will not put it on them, He will put it on those who hate them. ‘Which you know’ - from bitter experience. One of the plagues involved painful boils which were prevalent in Egypt, along with afflictions of the eyes and bowels, to say nothing of more severe diseases. The fact that such diseases was for their enemies stresses that Yahweh also saw Egypt as their enemy and under judgment. For we may assume that the indication is that they had these diseases for that reason.
This deliverance from the ills of Egypt is stressed right from the beginning of their deliverance (Exodus 15.26; 23.25). It suggests that such ills were one of the downsides of life in Egypt.
All these descriptions point to the perfect state. This was their hope. Here was to be established heaven on earth. It was the picture which would again be presented eschatologically by the prophets, but here in Deuteronomy its fulfilment was theoretically to be expected fairly soon in the land. This in itself places Deuteronomy timewise before the prophets. It was a vision that could only be held while the prospect of possessing the land in this way in the near future was still expected.
But what is finally in mind is not the literal fulfilment, which could never happen because of man’s sinfulness, but the final fulfilment when Christ submits all things to the Father and God is all in all (1 Corinthians 15.24-28). But they would not have understood that. Such thoughts would have been beyond them. It was therefore put in this way.
They Must Thoroughly Cleanse The Land of Both Its Peoples and Its Idolatry, And He Himself Will Be With Them To Enable Them To Do It (7.16-26).
This reference to their enemies who hate them leads back to the subject of the destruction of their enemies in the land. The land must be thoroughly cleansed of them. And they need not be afraid of them because Yahweh Himself will be with them to deliver them.
(In this passage it is ‘thou’ (the nation as a whole) all the way through except once in verse 25).
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ they were to consume all the peoples whom Yahweh their God delivered to them without pity (because they had been ‘devoted’ to Yahweh), nor were they to serve their gods, for that would be a snare to them, and in the parallel it is stressed that they are to destroy those gods in the form of graven images and not bring ‘devoted’ things which are an abomination into their houses otherwise they too would become ‘devoted’ to Yahweh because they had turned to idolatry (‘devoted’ means ‘devoted to destruction). In ‘b’ they begin to fear in their hearts saying, “These nations are more than I. How can I dispossess them?” But they are not to be afraid of them, for in the parallel He will deliver their kings into their hand, and they will thus make their name perish from under heaven. No man will be able to stand before them until they have destroyed them. In ‘c’ they are to well remember what Yahweh their God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt, and recognise that so would Yahweh their God do to all the peoples of whom they were afraid, and in the parallel they are to be sure that Yahweh their God will deliver them up before them, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they are destroyed. In ‘d’ Yahweh their God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before them, while in the parallel, while in the parallel Yahweh their God will cast out those nations before them little by little. They may not consume them at once, lest wild beasts increase in their vicinity. In ‘e’ they are not to be frightened at them, for in the parallel Yahweh their God is in the midst of them, a great God and a terrible.
7.16 ‘And you shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them, nor shall you serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.’
He repeats again the command in verses 2-4, which will further be repeated in verses 22-26. All this repetition is in order to drive it deep into their heads and hearts so that it becomes second nature to them (which sadly for their future it did not). Positive living was to be accompanied by a resolute turning from sin. They were to consume all the peoples whom Yahweh delivered up to them. They were not to spare them. They were not to have compassion on them. Nor were they to spare their gods. For this was Yahweh’s land, and only what was responsive to Him could be allowed to live there. If they failed in all this it would be a snare to them, a trap that would entice them to their own destruction. It is this that is one of the basic themes of the chapter, with Yahweh’s choice of Israel, and His promise to fight on their behalf being the supports and encouragements which make it both the divine will and possible of fulfilment. For if they failed in this the dream would collapse. Unless the land was purged the blessed future would not be capable of fulfilment. Sin must be fully dealt with if righteousness is to prosper.
There is the warning here that we too should continually search our hearts in order to ensure that no idol has possessed them and limited our love for Christ. It is true of us also that if sin is not dealt with, righteousness will not prosper. If it was so important that the land should be cleansed from all that was corrupt, how much more important is it for us that we too should remove from our lives all that corrupts. It is not enough to be positive. We must also root out all that is negative.
7.17-19 ‘If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I. How can I dispossess them? You shall not be afraid of them. You shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt, the great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which Yahweh your God brought you out. So shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.’
He now makes allowance for their possible fears, for he is aware of their weaknesses that so often reveal themselves. He acknowledges that they might well begin to fear, and ask how they can hope to cope with peoples more numerous than themselves, and better armed. But he assures them that it is not a problem. They are not to be afraid. They are to remember what Yahweh did in Egypt to Pharaoh and to all Egypt, and the great trials and tests that their eyes saw, for Yahweh tried Pharaoh until Pharaoh broke and gave way. And they are to remember the signs and wonders, and the mighty hand and outstretched arm (also working through Moses’ outstretched arm), Yahweh’s arm laid bare, by all of which Yahweh brought them out of Egypt. So will He do to all who oppose them, and all the people whom they have to meet, and of whom they are afraid.
7.20 ‘Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you.’
For Yahweh will fight for them. He will send on their enemies all kinds of catastrophes, natural and otherwise, like the descent of hornets on unsuspecting people (compare Exodus 23.28; Joshua 24.12). It is possible that ‘send the hornet’ was a saying which signified promised catastrophe. Nothing was more fearful than a swarm of hornets. The result would be that those who were left would hide themselves, but it would do them no good. Their enemies would perish from before them. This promise was important. The point was that Yahweh had all kinds of ‘secret weapons’ that He could release which were not the normal weapons of warfare.
‘Hornet’ (tsi‘rah). The word only occurs here, and in Exodus 23.28 and Joshua 24.12. Some would translate as ‘depression, discouragement’ but a more positive foe appears to be in mind. It comes from the root word which means being ‘struck with a skin disease’. Hornets viciously attack the skin. This promise may have been in mind in Revelation 9.1-11.
But the context may suggest that the description has the Angel of Yahweh in mind, pictured in terms of the fearsome hornet, swarming down on the enemy and causing them to flee in terror. The Israelite attacks in all quarters may well have seemed like swarms of hornets, coming from nowhere and buzzing round their cities and towns. Compare how the Amorites had come down on their fathers like bees (1.44).
All knew, or had heard and been warned, of what happened when a swarm of hornets descended. Woe betide whatever was beneath. The bravest of armies would desperately run for cover before such a foe, for there was no fighting them. Then they would cower and hope that they did not select them as their target. All they could do was run, and hide, and hope, and seek to cover themselves, while aware that the hornets would seek many of them out. (Compare 1.44, but there they were only bees, here they are hornets). So would God use His own weapons as though they were hornets, to seek out their enemies. The hornet in mind may even have been of thoughts buzzing in the mind which frightened their foes to death (compare 2.25; 11.25; Exodus 15.14-16; 23.27).
7.21 ‘You shall not be frightened at them, for Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great God and a terrible.’
If their foe seemed terrible, let them consider their great and terrible God, the One from Whom they had withdrawn when the covenant was given (5.5, 25). There will be no need then to be frightened, for their great and terrible God Who is among them would come and give them victory, in the same way as He had revealed His greatness and His terribleness in Egypt.
7.22 ‘And Yahweh your God will cast out those nations before you by little and little. You may not consume them at once, lest the beasts of the field increase upon you.’
Yahweh is not unaware of the problems before them. He will certainly cast out the nations from before them. But He will not destroy these nations all at once. He will do it little by little. This is so that the land may not become unoccupied, and thus be taken over by a multitude of wild beasts. While initially the first thrust would be devastating, settlement of the whole land would take considerably longer, as the book of Joshua makes apparent. It could not just happen overnight. Settlement took time and effort. Of course, His people were not intended during this process to live among the Canaanites. Once they occupied each area of land, where ‘their feet stepped’, it had to be cleared of Canaanites. But it would take time. Meanwhile Canaanites would be allowed to live where Israel had not yet settled (but not, of course, associated with - verses 1-5).
Thus God even had a purpose in delaying the driving out of the Canaanites. This question is a complicated one. The delay was partly due to lethargy, disobedience and unbelief. But God turned it also to good purposes. It would teach them war (Judges 3.2), it would test whether they were willing to obey His commandments (Judges 3.4), and as here it would keep the land in good condition until they possessed it. And we must remember that Canaan was not just all open country. It was not easy to settle. The settling of a land like Canaan with its forests, and mountains, and plains and multiplicity of cities would take a great deal of effort and time. Israel had to learn how to live there gradually. Doing too much too soon would have been fatal.
Why then did God not simply keep the wild beasts out? Had not Leviticus 26.6 said that He would remove savage beasts from the land? One answer is that He tends not to interfere in the workings of nature where it is not necessary. Men learn from facing the problems of life. Too easy a settlement would have led to sin all the quicker. And besides the land would not stay still. Even without wild beasts it would become overgrown and return to the wild. But as with the Canaanites, he would remove savage beasts from the land gradually. And their arrival in too large numbers was meanwhile being hindered by the presence of the Canaanites. he was not giving them a wild and barren land, but a cultivated one and one good to live in.
7.23 ‘But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you, and will discomfit them with a great discomfiture, until they are destroyed.’
Nevertheless in the end He would deliver all their enemies up to them. He would discomfit them with great discomfiture until they were destroyed. He would ensure the eradication of evil from the land as long as they remained faithful.
7.24 ‘And he will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name to perish from under heaven. There shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.’
Their kings would be able to do nothing about it. They might seem to Israel to be important and powerful but before Yahweh they would be helpless. They would be delivered into their hands. And their names would perish and be forgotten in the world of their day. ‘From under heaven’ simply means ‘from the world’. None would be able to stand against Israel, until all were destroyed. It is difficult to see how God could have made it more clear that while He was fighting for them they would be invincible.
7.25 ‘The graven images of their gods you (ye) shall burn with fire. You (thou) shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it to you, lest you be snared in it, for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God.’
But in receiving all this help they must remember His instructions. They were to burn their graven images with fire, totally and completely. They were not to look at the silver and gold on them, or covet it, or seek to take it for themselves. For it could become a snare to them as they remembered where it came from. And it was an abomination to Yahweh. The idea of idolatry as an abomination is constant in Scripture, as is Yahweh’s abomination of anything that keeps us from Him.
We too must remember that gold and silver might seem desirable, but if it comes at the cost of our love for God or makes us compromise it is too costly.
7.26 ‘And you shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it, for it is a devoted thing.’
Thus they must not bring such an abomination into their residences. It was devoted to destruction. And were they to do so let them recognise that they might themselves become a ‘devoted’ thing, themselves being devoted to destruction, because they had taken what was ‘devoted to Yahweh’ (see Joshua 7) into their residence. Rather they were to detest and abhor any such thing. Here we are reminded that as with holiness the contact with a ‘devoted’ thing can cause the contacter to be ‘devoted’ to destruction.
If only we would take these severe instructions to heart we might be more severe with sin in our own lives. It reminds us that sin must not be tolerated. It has to be rooted out. It has to be driven out. It has to be destroyed. Whenever we see anything in our lives that is interfering with His pre-eminence in our hearts we must not spare it. We must rid ourselves of it completely. Only then can Christ reign truly in our lives.
Chapter 8 They Must Remember That Yahweh Is Their Provider and Observe His Instruction And Not Forget His Commandments.
In the previous chapters Moses has constantly reminded them of how Yahweh delivered them from Egypt and from bondage (see especially the details in 7.19, compare 4.20; 6.12, 21-23), now he calls on them to remember how He had also delivered them in the wilderness (compare 2.7) and the lessons that they learned there. For he has begun to be aware of the danger that when they are comfortably settled in the land, in complete contrast to the wilderness experience, and all their wars were over, they might easily forget Yahweh and settle into the former ways of the land. (‘Thou is used all the way through apart from the first and last verses, in each of which both thou and ye are used).
We should note the parallels between this chapter and 32.10-18 where the same themes are in mind. Some of the actual language of both passages, as well as the ideas, were also used by Hosea in Hosea 13.4-8, e.g. ‘from Egypt’, ‘satisfied’, ‘hearts lifted up’, ‘forgetting’. Hosea is full of echoes of Deuteronomy.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ They are commanded to observe to do all Yahweh’s commandment, and in the parallel they are to keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, to walk in His ways, and to fear him. In ‘b’ Yahweh had led them in the wilderness in order to prove them and in the parallel He will chasten them as sons. In ‘c’ He humbled them and fed them with manna, and in the parallel He watched over their clothing and their ability to go on trekking.
8.1 ‘All the commandment which I command you (thee) this day shall you (ye) observe to do, that you (ye) may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your (your) fathers.’
The problem with our chapter divisions is that because of them we can disconnect verses from each other. This verse is to be seen as continuing on from the last, as well as looking forward. Thus it may be seen as including the injunction to avoid graven images and not to take them into their houses, as well as being a general command to observe His other commandments. And this is so that they might live and not die, and so that they might multiply their families, and as they did so, expand and possess the land which Yahweh swore to their fathers. This last emphasis is continually repeated. All was based on the promises to the patriarchs, and therefore was unfailingly sure of performance.
‘That you may live.’ Constantly before him was the fact that their fathers had perished in the wilderness, excluded from the land. They had died because they were disobedient to Yahweh. If these who now listen to Him wished to live and not die they must now ensure that they were obedient. And it is not just a matter of life, but of having a good life, a life of abounding and flourishing and possessing the land. All these were dependent on obedience to Yahweh’s overall commandment as revealed in His statutes and ordinances.
For those who would enjoy fullness of life must listen to God’s requirement (‘commandment’) as He speaks to them through His word. Only in this way will they come into possession of what He has for His own.
8.2-3 ‘And you shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. And he did humble you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, nor did you fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every thing (or ‘word’) that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live.’
Obedience to Yahweh’s commandments would be helped by remembering their time in the wilderness, so as they moved on they were to keep in mind the wilderness experience. In seeking to observe His commandment it was important that they remember all the way in which Yahweh their God had led them in the forty years in the wilderness. They needed to learn its lessons. How He had done this in such a way as to humble them and bring home to them how they were in fact constantly failing. How He had done it in order to test out their hearts, to see if in spite of all they would continue to keep His commandments. How He had done this in order that they might recognise that whatever they received, it would be from His mouth. It would be as a result of His promises and His provision. For God’s testings always have a purpose, even though they might appear bitter at the time. He had tested them because He had wanted to know what was really in their hearts and had wanted them to look to Him, and when necessary He had chastened them (verse 5).
Let them then remember how they had previously been on the very verge of the promised land, and how it had resulted in forty years in the wilderness. That had been a huge disappointment. But they should also remember that in His graciousness He had not totally finished with them then because of their failure. He had stood by them. He had put them on probation, ready for the achieving of maturity of the next generation, so that His purposes for them might still go forward. And He had sought to bring home to them important lessons.
Indeed in their whole experience in the wilderness after leaving Egypt, even before His judgment on them because of their failure to enter the land, He had been humbling them. From the beginning He had allowed them to hunger. And then He had fed them, not with bread, but with something that neither they nor their fathers had previously known, the manna, something for which they had had to depend on Him day by day. They had had to forget what they had done in the past and look to Him for their provision. They had had to depend daily on what He had promised to give them, what came ‘from His mouth’. And He had done this in order that they might recognise that life is not dependent only on bread. They had to learn that bread is not everything. His purpose was that they might learn that they must receive their provision from His mouth. They must recognise that all that they had came from Him and resulted from His promises.
He had wanted them to recognise that it is what Yahweh says and what Yahweh commands and what Yahweh promises that is the basis of life, so that they might recognise that obedience to Him is all. His aim was that they learn the vital lesson of hearing God and trusting Him in all circumstances.
When the manna had been first provided it was said at the time that it would be a test of their willingness to obey Him (Exodus 16.4). The test lay in the fact that it was to be a daily provision, so that they were not to hoard it but to wait for it each day from Yahweh’s hand. They had constantly to look to Him and to trust Him. So were they to learn the lesson of the wilderness and now wait each day on God in the same way.
There have been a number of suggestions as to what the Manna consisted of. The sweet juice of the Tarfa which exudes from the tree and forms small white grains has been suggested, but the quantity required is against this, as are the other descriptions. The same applies to the honeydew excretions on tamarisk twigs produced by certain plant lice and scale insects which at night drop from the trees onto the ground where they remain until the heat of the sun brings out the ants which remove them. In favour is the fact that the Arabic word for plant lice is ‘man’, equivalent to the Hebrew for Manna. But these are seasonal and do not fit all the criteria. We are not told whether the Manna was seasonal or not, although many consider it was permanent in all seasons.
More pertinently examples have also been cited of an unidentified white substance which one morning covered a fairly large area of ground in Natal and was eaten by the natives, and also of falls of whitish, odourless, tasteless matter in Southern Algeria which, at a time of unusual weather conditions, covered tents and vegetation each morning. While not being the same as the Manna, or lasting over so long a period, these do indicate the kind of natural phenomena which God may have used to bring about His miracle, for it was clearly a time of extremely unusual weather conditions as demonstrated by the plagues of Egypt. But we must remember that the Manna lasted for forty years (16.35; Joshua 5.12), did not arrive on the seventh day, and continued from the Wilderness of Sin to the entry into Canaan in all manner of environments. It was God arranged.
8.4 ‘Your clothes did not grow old on you, nor did your foot swell, these forty years.’
They were to remember how, while they wandered in that wilderness, they were fully provided for. They did not live in poverty so that their clothes grew old and ragged. Rather they had had sufficient so that they could afford to renew their clothing. Nor had they suffered from debilitating feet problems. This may have been seen as because they had abundance of oils to soothe them. They had been short of nothing. They had always been able to clothe themselves well and keep their feet in good condition and go forward. Yahweh had watched over both their wardrobe and their health, as a father sees to the needs of his children.
The word translated ‘swell’ is rare. LXX has the sense of callused. The point is as much that Yahweh supplied the means to keep their feet healthy as that He worked a constant miracle. His care was over them constantly. They had lacked nothing (compare 2.7).
8.5 ‘And you shall consider in your heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so Yahweh your God chastens you.’
Furthermore when they are tested, as they were then and will be, they must consider in their hearts that just as a man chastens his children for their good, so does Yahweh chasten them, His children. Here again He emphasises that He is to them as a father. Remembering the lesson of God’s provision of the manna when all seemed hopeless, and the chastening that a good father always gives to his children, they should then be enabled to walk into the future with confidence, even in the face of adversities.
This is the second clear indication in Deuteronomy that they are His sons and daughters. Previously He had been pictured as like a father carrying His son on His shoulders through the wilderness (1.31). Now He is like a father chastening them for their good. In all this His fatherly care is revealed to His son, His firstborn (Exodus 4.22). He was depicting Himself as their Father (compare 14.1 where he says ‘you are the sons of Yahweh your God’).
8.6 ‘And you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.’
So with this in mind they must truly continue to keep the commandments of Yahweh their God, to walk constantly in His ways, and to fear Him. As a son listens to his father, so must they listen to Him.
Yahweh Purposes To Make Wonderful Provision For Them (8.7-10).
In these verses we have a glowing picture of all the good things which Yahweh has ahead for His covenant people.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ Yahweh their God is bringing them into a good land, and in the parallel they will bless Yahweh their God for the good land which He has given them. In ‘b’ it is a land in which they will eat bread without scarceness and not lack anything and in the parallel it is a land in which they will eat and be full. The idea is presumably that the iron and copper will make them wealthy and thus able to buy even more food.
8.7-9 ‘For Yahweh your God is bringing you into a good land,
For God’s intentions were good. Let them recognise what kind of a land it is that Yahweh is leading them into. It is in complete contrast with the wilderness that they have known for so long. It is a good land. It is a land of wadis (streams produced by plenteous rain) of water, made full by refreshing rain, a land of gushers and springs flowing forth in its valleys and hills, it is a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig trees and pomegranates. It is a land of olive tress and honey. It is a land of bread without shortage, so that they will lack nothing in it.
Moreover it is a land ‘whose stones are iron’. This indicates a plentiful supply of meteorites from which men had always been able to obtain useful iron. To come across a meteorite was considered a boon. Metorites were always seen as one of God’s special gifts. They came from heaven to provide, with their fused iron content, a useful material to men. And from the hills of the land they will be able to dig copper. Copper mining had been know for over a thousand years before this time, being well attested elsewhere. So every provision is there. They will go short of nothing, and they will have valuable metals to trade..
Water was the thing above all others that ancient man gloried in for it was the very basis of life. It was essential both for drinking and for growing food. Agricultural abundance was also necessary, for it provided full bellies for all. And recent excavations in the Arabah have revealed copper mines and smelting equipment there, while surveys have demonstrated the abundance of veins of copper ores in the hills. These were necessary for the provision of everyday utensils. Such a description of the assets of a land were often included in covenants to demonstrate how good the suzerain was being to his subjects.
But this was not a time when iron was in regular use in most places. The ‘land whose stones are iron’ must therefore probably have in mind meteorites which had landed and which were seen as a special treasure to man, for from the most ancient times they could provide easily usable iron for men to make use of (Genesis 4.22). The way it is described confirms this. It came ‘from stones’.
Alternately it may have been a way of stressing the amazing goodness of the land. Iron was a rare material whose secrets were mainly only known to the Hittites, and which everyone dreamed of being able to possess. The idea in Moses’ mind may have been that the land would be so good that they would even find iron there in such a form that they did not need the secrets of the Hittites, and thus they would be independent of the Hittites, which in those days would be like finding large supplies of oil would be for many countries today. In the event, of course, as God knew, iron was there, but they would only be able to benefit from it for themselves when they did learn the secrets of producing and working iron, although they could still have traded the iron ore.
This may be another example of a poem or song which was popular in the camp to keep their spirits up, taken up and used by Moses as they chanted it along with his speech (compare 6.11).
8.10 ‘And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which he has given you.’
Once in the land they would eat and be full, and would bless Yahweh for the good land which He had given them. They would not be dependent on God’s provision of the manna, and of water from unusual sources, but would have food and drink in abundance. One thing, however, would still keep their thoughts on Him, the need for the provision of rain (which would become an important aspect of the feast of tabernacles).
The Warning Lest When They are Blessed They Forget Who Has Blessed Them (8.11-20).
Knowing the hearts of the people Moses now saw fit to gave them a severe warning. He recognised that there was a danger that when they became prosperous they would forget Who had given them all these blessings, and would begin rather to commend themselves. He therefore seeks to prepare for such an eventuality.
Analysis in the words of Moses.
Note that in ‘a’ the warning is lest they forget Yahweh their God, and in the parallel the warning of what will result from doing so is given. In ‘b’ their wealth is multiplied, and in the parallel they are warned to remember that it is Yahweh their God who has given them power to obtain their wealth. In ‘c’ the fear is that their heart will be lifted up and they forget Yahweh their God, and the parallel fears lest they see the wealth as self-acquired. In ‘d’ He led them through the terrible and dry wilderness, and in the parallel He provided food and water.
8.11 ‘Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day,’
But Moses had led men, and especially these men, for too long not to be aware that times of plenty could pose a danger so he adds a further warning. They must beware lest in all their plenty they forget Yahweh. The point was not that men would forget altogether, for that was unlikely, but that they would forget their covenant responsibility. Their ‘forgetfulness’ would be revealed by their not keeping His commandments, and His statutes and His ordinances. We too may still regularly enjoy our attendance at worship, but the test of the genuineness of our faith is whether we still remember Him by the way we live our lives in the daily grind.
8.12-14 ‘Lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and dwelt in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart is lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.’
Compare here Hosea 13.6. ‘According to their pasture so were they filled, they were filled and their heart was exalted, therefore have they forgotten me’. The danger was lest, when they were full and satisfied, and had their own splendid homes, and large flocks, and great wealth, and when it all continued to multiply seemingly endlessly, they forgot the One Who had given it to them, the One Who brought them to this wealth and freedom by bringing them out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. It is one of the strange quirks of man that when God is too good to him he revels in it and tends to overlook God. It was in recognising this that the writer in Proverbs, while not wanting to be poor, also did not want to be too rich (Proverbs 30.9). Let them not then, says Moses, be like those who remember Him when they are in slavery but forget Him when they are free.
8.15-16 ‘Who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where was no water, who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint, who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers knew not; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end,’
Let them remember that it was He Who had watched over them in the wilderness. Compare for this 32.10, ‘Who found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness, He compassed him about, He cared for him’, and Hosea 13.5. ‘I knew you (and therefore cared for you) in the wilderness in the land of great drought’. The wilderness period was ever seen as a time of God’s constant care.
So let them think what Yahweh had done for them. He had led them through a great and terrible wilderness, stretching mile after mile, with water short and food scarce, and the way rough, in the burning sun. It was a wilderness where there were fiery snakes and scorpions waiting to bite and sting, and inject with venom, where the ground was thirsty and waterless. But He had supplied them with water from the flinty rocks (Exodus 17.6; Numbers 20.8), and had given them the wonderful provision of the manna for food, that manna which was unknown to their fathers (compare 2.7). And He had brought them through all this in order to humble them, and as a test to them, so that finally He might do them good.
It was during those experiences that they had been forced to look to Yahweh, for they had had nowhere else to look. And He had been the author and file-leader of their deliverance (compare Hebrews 2.10; 12.2). In a way it had been much easier to trust under those conditions, simply because they had had to, even though their trust had been a very wavering trust (it had been as much in Moses as in God). But once life was safe and placid forgetfulness would come easily.
‘Fiery serpents.’ This may refer to the result of their venom as seeming to set men on fire, or refer to the dazzling sun shining on their skins, or it may simply signify ‘venomous’.
But note here the vivid contrast between this and verses 7-10. In those verses there was plenteous water with which the ground was satiated (verse 7), there was fruitfulness in abundance (verses 8-9), there were no creatures needing to be avoided, but here in the wilderness the ground had been thirsty with no water, they had had to rely on the manna, and snakes and scorpions abounded. Thus the danger now was that they would begin to think that they did not need to rely on Yahweh any more.
8.17 ‘And lest you say in your heart, “My power and the might of my hand has obtained for me this wealth.’
An equal danger was that when they prospered they might then say within their hearts, ‘I have achieved this by myself. It is my power and the might of my hand that has obtained all this wealth for me’. Certain conditions lead men to trust God, but conditions that are too good tend to make men forget God and depend only on themselves. We need to be most concerned about our spiritual lives when we prosper most, for it can make us foolish so that we forget that behind all is God.
We have here the idea of a subtle form of idolatry which does not involve graven images, it is the idolatry of man’s worship of himself, man placing himself and his society in the place of God.
8.18 ‘But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to obtain wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day.’
So at that time they must ensure that they remembered Yahweh their God, and that it was He who had given them power to obtain wealth. And that He had done it in order to establish His covenant at that time, the covenant by which He had promised to bring prosperity to His own, the very covenant that He had sworn to their fathers whom He had also prospered most of the time. It was important that the covenant be established in their hearts. Then all he had been warning against would not prevail against them. It is by remembering our vows made in the hard times that we can ensure that we remain constant.
8.19-20 ‘And it shall be, if you (thou) shall forget Yahweh your (thy) God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you (ye) this day that you (ye) shall surely perish. As the nations that Yahweh causes to perish before you (ye), so shall you (ye) perish, because you (ye) would not listen to the voice of Yahweh your (your) God.’
Let them, however, beware of the alternative route, the route of idolatry and flagrant disobedience. This warning may seem to come somewhat abruptly, but not if we see it in the context of the whole speech, and in the light of the fact that in those days men would always worship something, so that if they forgot Yahweh they would soon turn to other gods. The danger of succumbing to the gods of the land was ever present in Moses’ mind, and he came back to it constantly. When they were at ease it would be so easy to relax their rigid obedience to Yahweh and find the easygoing gods of the land preferable (man loves to have something to worship. That is how he is made, but he prefers it not to be too demanding). For they offered lustful pleasure rather than stern demands, and when all was well nothing was required of them.
Moses now cites himself as a witness, as earlier he had called on heaven and earth as witnesses (4.26), to the fact that if they forgot Him, if they walked after other gods and served them, and worshipped them, gods who would undoubtedly enable them to satisfy their deepest lusts, then let them know that Yahweh would ensure that they surely perished. In the same way as they will see the nations of the land perish when they put them to the sword, so would they perish because they refused to listen to Yahweh’s voice, the voice of ‘Yahweh their God’.
In the Western world today people have never had it so good. Even the poorest are comparatively wealthy and possess things that their forebears never dreamed of. And the result has not been gratitude to God, but greed for more, and a readiness to seek entertainment and satisfaction for their lustful natures regardless of righteous living. They too have succumbed to idols. Their gods are idols of music and sport and entertainment, but these, which can be good in themselves, are equally destroying their souls, and the souls of others, because they have become the be all and end all of their lives, and lead them into behaviour which is displeasing to God and harmful to themselves.
Chapter 9 Let Them Not Become Self-righteous, for They Are A Very Stubborn People.
The thought of their forgetting Yahweh and taking the credit for themselves about their possession of the land and its wealth (8.17) and turning to graven images is now taken up. He fears lest when they have taken possession of the land they will convince themselves that it was because of their own righteousness that they had received the land, and become self-satisfied and heedless of God’s voice. Thus let them ‘Hear, O Israel’ and take note of what the real truth is.
‘Hear O Israel’ always signals something of special importance. Compare 5.1 where they were to ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and keep, and do them,’ that is, they were to respond wholly to the covenant, and 6.4 where they were to ‘Hear, O Israel, Yahweh our God, Yahweh is one, and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.’ It introduces subjects of great importance to which he wants to draw attention.
Here it is because having brought to them again the details of Yahweh’s declaration of His covenant in chapter 5; and having stressed their need to love their covenant God with their whole being, and having warned them against forgetting how He delivered them from Egypt, and against submission to false gods, in chapter 6; and having confirmed His elective love and warned them again against forgetting His goodness and turning to false gods, reminding them also again of His deliverance from Egypt, in chapter 7; and having reminded them of how He had cared for them in the wilderness in chapter 8, again with a warning against turning to graven images; and having stressed all through that all that they are to receive has come to them because of His sworn promise to Abraham (6.10, 18; 7.8, 13; 8.1, 18), he is now bringing them to the crunch moment when they are about to enter the land, and warns them not to take any credit for their coming victory to themselves. For he stresses that they are to remember how truly unworthy they are (verses 5-6), as revealed in that same wilderness (verses 7-24), and that it is Yahweh their covenant God Who alone can give them victory (verse 3), and that this will not be for their sakes, but for their fathers’ sakes (verses 5, 27; 10.15), and because of the need for judgment on the people of the land. Thus no credit belongs to them. This is the essence of this chapter, which centres on their stubbornness.
(‘Thou’ is used in the first seven verses being directed at the nation as a whole. From then on when speaking of Israel ‘ye’ is used to indicate combined action).
The Real Reason Why Yahweh Is Taking Them In To Possess The Land (9.1-7).
The real reason why Yahweh is giving the land to Israel is not because of their righteousness, but because of the wickedness of the nations who are living there.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ they are going in to dispossess a mighty people, even the Anakim, while in the parallel they are to recognise that while Yahweh is giving them the good land it is not because of their righteousness, for they are stiffnecked (a theme now to be taken up). In ‘b’ it is Yahweh Who is going before them a a devouring fire to destroy those enemies, so that they will drive them out, and in the parallel it is so that He might establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. In ‘c’ they must not say that it is because of their righteousness that Yahweh has done this for it is because of the wickedness of the nations that He is driving out, and in the parallel the though is repeated.
9.1-2 ‘Hear, O Israel, you (thou) are to pass over the Jordan this day, to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you have heard say, “Who can stand before the sons of Anak?” ’
Israel must listen well. As they know, they are passing over Jordan in the near future (‘this yom’ - ‘this day, at this time’), and it is in order that they might dispossess nations greater and mightier than themselves, that they might face cities great and fortified up to heaven (with high walls), and that they might face the spooky Anakim, a people great and tall of whom they have heard the proverb, ‘who can stand against the Anakim?’
Note how Moses boasts about the difficulties. They bring no concern to his heart, for He knows the might of Yahweh. And he has already pointed out how both the Moabites and the Ammonites have already defeated the equivalent of the Anakim because their land was given to them by Yahweh because they were the sons of Lot (2.10, 21). Why then should Israel fear who have the promises made to their fathers to rely on?
9.3 ‘Know therefore this day, that Yahweh your God is he who goes over before you as a devouring fire. He will destroy them, and he will bring them down before you. So shall you drive them out, and make them to perish quickly, as Yahweh has spoken to you.’
Therefore this day they were to know and recognise that it was Yahweh their God Who would go before them as a devouring fire. All will be burned up before Him. He Who had put His pillar of fire between them and the mighty Egyptian army, will send the same fire before them (compare Numbers 10.35). He had spoken to them from the midst of fire (4.12 and often). And this time it will be a devouring fire (compare 4.24). This vivid illustration would speak vividly to them. All had experienced the sudden fires that could arise in the wilderness and rapidly devastate an area.
Note the favourite literary device of repetition, ‘He will destroy them and He will bring them down before you’ and ‘So shall you drive them out and make them to perish quickly’, both stressing the certainty of the actions described by repetitive phrases. He will destroy their enemy and drive them out. He will bring them down and make them perish quickly. Note also that on the one hand the action is Yahweh’s, on the other it is theirs. Their total success in ridding the land of their foes will be because Yahweh goes before them, but they would have to play their part in it. Yahweh rarely does His work without us.
9.4 ‘Do not speak in your heart, after Yahweh your God has thrust them out from before you, saying, “For my righteousness Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land,” whereas for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh drives them out from before you.’
And once this has happened they must not say within their hearts, ‘Yahweh has brought me in to possess this land because of my righteousness.’ The reason that He is intending to drive them out is not because of their righteousness, but because of the Canaanites’ extreme wickedness. Yahweh alone is deserving of the land. It is of His graciousness that they will be allowed possession so that they can prove whether they will be faithful or not. Indeed if they become self-righteous they will shortly be heading for expulsion. Both God and Moses were well aware of the dangers of self-satisfaction. All needed to constantly recognise that their dependence was on God.
9.5 ‘Not for your righteousness, or for the uprightness of your heart, do you go in to possess their land, but for the wickedness of these nations Yahweh your God drives them out from before you, and that he may establish the word which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.’
Indeed this fact is stressed in the repetition typical of many ancient narratives, intended to drive home the point. It is not because of their righteousness and their uprightness of heart that Yahweh is doing this, it is 1). because of the depraved lives and idolatry of the inhabitants, and 2). so that He might establish His word given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
This revelation is important. In what He is doing He is acting as both moral Judge and faithful covenant God, punishing the evil and responding to the good. It was not an act of favouritism against an innocent people, but a revelation of both the righteousness of God in the face of evil and the faithfulness of God to those who had faithfully followed Him.
So let them be aware that all this is not because of their righteousness. They enter the land, not as those who have achieved righteousness, but as those who, having been delivered from bondage, must begin to reveal righteousness in their lives, by obeying His statutes and ordinances. They must seek righteousness. If they seek first the kingly rule of God and His righteousness all things will be added to them (Matthew 6.33). But if they become self-righteous they will be lost.
The idea behind this is not that they were being given permission to be unrighteous. They were expected to be righteous (6.25). But the point is that their required righteousness could only come from the Righteous One. They must not look to themselves for righteousness, for it was not there in them as their past makes clear, they could only look to Him. It was only by response to Him through the way provided through sacrifices and the shedding of blood, and through continual dependence on Him, that they could hope to fulfil the righteousness that was required of those who would dwell permanently in the land. Yes, He did require them to be righteous if they wished to remain in the land, but let them recognise that this would not come from what they were in themselves. It would come as they looked in faith and trust to Yahweh and as they obeyed Him fully.
To be righteous in these terms is to be ‘in the right’, to be seen as acceptable to God. Abraham had believed God and it had been counted to him for righteousness (Genesis 15.6). It was his trust in God that was important, a trust that resulted on obedience. If they are to be in the right that too will only be through their believing God and responding to His call. It is He Who puts men in the right, judicially through the sacrificial system, and practically through His working in their hearts. Repentance is therefore needed, a circumcision (total change) of the heart (10.16). Then they may have hope. This moral lesson is then reinforced in no uncertain way.
9.6 ‘Know therefore, that Yahweh your God does not give you this good land to possess it for your righteousness, for you are a stiffnecked people.’
Note the repetition of ‘know therefore’ (compare verse 3). Two things they were to understand, firstly that it is Yahweh who will give success (verse 3), and secondly that it is not because of their own righteousness (as here). Yahweh their God is not giving them this good land as a possession because they are so righteous and have deserved it. Indeed that is far from the truth, for they are a stiff-necked (obstinate and arrogant) people, a people who are stubborn in their refusal to obey Yahweh. They may seem willing now but God had no illusions about them.
What He is doing is offering them a new kind of deliverance, a deliverance from the slavery of sin and obstinacy. Moses thus brings out what God was planning for them. It was a transformation of His people within the land as they responded to the covenant to which they had bound themselves. God had provided the means, they must respond to it and cease being stiffnecked.
The implications of this statement are huge. It is saying that it is not anything in them that brings them within Yahweh’s purposes, it is all of His mercy. He has chosen them because of His love for their fathers (4.37; 10.15), and because of His sovereign love (7.8) and that is why they are acceptable before Him, and that is why He is bringing them into the land. It is all of His grace, His positive and unmerited love in action towards the undeserving. They have been delivered from Egypt by His gracious act, and they are entering the land by His gracious act. All He requires of them is the faith to respond. Nevertheless the result must be that they become righteous in response to His love That is the purpose of His bringing them into the land, and if they do not they will be thrust out of the land.
We too must recognise that if we are to experience His saving work it will not be by our claiming to be righteous, but by admitting that we are aware of just how unrighteous we are. Then He can supply us with the righteousness of Christ and begin to work righteousness within us as a result of His grace, His undeserved love in action. But the result must then be obedience to Him, for that will be the evidence of the work that God has wrought in us (Philippians 2.13).
Calling them ‘stiffnecked’, which signified the unwillingness to turn the head, the unwillingness to deviate from their own chosen path, probably seemed to them a harsh way of speaking, so he spells it out in detail.
The Evidence Is Now Given That They Are A Stiffnecked People (9.7-29).
Taking up from verse 6 he now establishes that they are a stiffnecked people. It may be argued that the sins which will now be described were mainly of their parents, and that is true, but some of them were certainly willingly involved as youngsters, and they would not have denied their collective responsibility for the sins of their fathers, which tended to be reproduced in themselves. Furthermore they knew that they were just as capable of grumbling themselves, and behaving in the same way as their fathers had, as the two incidents at places given the nickname ‘Meribah’ make clear, for one was at the beginning and resulted from the attitude of the first generation and one was at the end of the forty years when the first generation had nearly died out (Exodus 17.1-7; Numbers 20.1-13).
There are many parallels between the following words, Exodus 24.12-18; 32.7 onwards and Exodus 34, and Moses expected Israel to be aware of them. He was speaking of things that they were well aware of. That was what gave extra force to his arguments. But he necessarily abbreviates the narrative. This is a speech not a history. He is calling to mind, not making a record of events.
Moses Reminds Them of The Incident of The Molten Calf And How They Had Broken the covenant Even Before They Had Received It (9.7-12).
Moses now reminds them of the incident of the molten calf, and of how Yahweh had determined to destroy them, at the time when he went up to collect the completed covenant from Yahweh. For even when they were on the very point of receiving the confirmation of the covenant in stone they had rebelled against Yahweh.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
In ‘a’ He reminds them how they continually provoked Yahweh to wrath from the day that He brought them out of the land of Egypt and especially at Horeb where Yahweh determined to destroy them, and in the parallel the words of Yahweh resulting from that incident at Horeb are supplied, indicating that they have provoked Him to wrath, and reference is made to the fact that Yahweh had brought them out of Egypt. In ‘b’ Moses describes how he went into the Mount to receive the tablets and was there for forty days and nights, and then how Yahweh delivered the tablets to him at the end of the forty days and forty nights.
9.7 ‘Remember, do not forget, how you (thou - you as a nation) provoked Yahweh your (thy) God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you thou) went forth out of the land of Egypt, until you (ye - you as a number of people, the children of Israel) came to this place, you (ye - most of you) have been rebellious against Yahweh.’
(Note the change to ‘ye’. When speaking of Israel it is now ‘ye’ from here to the end of the chapter. The change in pronouns here may be intended to bring out how they set out from Egypt as one people, bound together by their shared experience, and then subsequently how most of them (but not the whole people) proved themselves to be rebellious against Yahweh).
Let them then remember, let them not forget, (a double warning), how from day one they had provoked Yahweh their God to anger in the wilderness. Why, from the day when they left Egypt to this very day they had continually been rebellious against Him. For the sad story of this see Exodus 20 onwards and Numbers.
The need to remember and not forget in the light of the great experience described in chapter 5 and what it spoke of (deliverance, mercy and a new opportunity) has been the emphasis from chapter 6 onwards (6.12; 7.12; 8.2, 5, 11, 14, 19). But the bad side had to be remembered too (9.7). Learning the lessons of the past would be essential for the future. That is why we too must constantly study His word, for it keeps us in remembrance of what we are and what He is.
9.8 ‘Also in Horeb you (ye all) provoked Yahweh to wrath, and Yahweh was angry with you to destroy you.’
Yes, they had even provoked Yahweh to wrath in Horeb, before the very mountain where they had trembled before His revelation of Himself and had pleaded to be hidden from it. Even there they had deliberately and almost unbelievably quickly (except to those who know peoples’ hearts) disobeyed the covenant, so quickly had they forgotten what they had seen. They had worshipped a graven image. Those who cling to experiences forget that the effect of them soon passes away. It is the heart set on God that perseveres.
9.9 ‘When I had gone up into the mount to receive the tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant which Yahweh made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water.’
He reminds them that this was when he had gone up into the mountain to meet with God (as they had requested) in order to receive the tablets of stone containing the covenant, the very covenant that Yahweh had so recently made with them, and to which they had promised obedience. And he had remained there for ‘forty days and forty nights’ (Exodus 24.18) neither eating bread nor drinking water. (We can compare here Exodus 34.28 where it was, however, another visit to the Mount. But Yahweh’s presence was clearly such that Moses was in this state each time he went up, and no one knew better than him). He had endured the hardship of that period but it was they who had been worn down by it, for they had had little to occupy themselves with and their faith was small.
As often ‘forty days and forty nights’ is probably an approximation for ‘just over a moon period’. But he had been quite remarkably sustained during that period, for he had not even had anything to drink. Going without food was one thing, but going so long without drink was another. It is clear that he saw himself each time as having been sustained in the presence of Yahweh. His body may well have been in a suspended state because of the experience he was going through. Experiencing what he had experienced is something beyond our understanding and beyond man’s present experience.
9.10 ‘And Yahweh delivered to me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them was written according to all the words, which Yahweh spoke with you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.’
And during that time Yahweh had given him the two tablets of stone on which had been written by ‘the finger of God’ the very words which Yahweh had spoken to them on the mount out of the midst of the burning fire in the day when they had assembled before the mountain. Note how he tries to emphasise the whole of the experience. He wants the whole scene to come back to them.
‘Written with the finger of God’ (not ‘of Yahweh’) may suggest mysterious writing as in Daniel (Daniel 5.5, 24). Compare Exodus 24.12; 31.18; 32.16 and also Exodus 8.19 where the Egyptians described evidence of God’s activity in this way. Or it may mean that Moses had inscribed them while under inspiration but that they had come from God Himself, because Moses was under divine constraint being the finger of God in action. (Compare Exodus 31.18).
9.11 ‘And it came about at the end of forty days and forty nights, that Yahweh gave me the two tablets of stone, even the tablets of the covenant.’
At the end of this period of waiting on Yahweh, God had given him the tablets to take with him. Here was a precious gift from God indeed. Here were two permanent ‘witnesses’ guaranteeing the fact and certainty of the covenant, and that it was now ratified and witnessed. How grateful the people would be, he must have thought.
9.12 ‘And Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves. They are speedily turned aside out of the way which I commanded them. They have made them a molten image.” ’
But the news that was given to him at the same time was not good. It was that the people that he had brought forth from Egypt had corrupted themselves already (compare Exodus 32.7). With almost unbelievable speed they had turned aside (Exodus 32.8) from the way that God had commanded them to walk in. They had made themselves a molten image (in Exodus 32.8 a molten calf, but Moses is here concerned to connect it with the previous forbidding of images - 5.8; 7.5, 25. See, however, verse 16 where the golden calf is mentioned). All that Yahweh had done for them was forgotten. They had so quickly turned from obedience to His words.
‘Your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt.’ This either indicated that Yahweh had disowned them, or was intending to move his heart by linking them closely with him. The former seems more probable in the light of what followed (see verse 13), although both implications may be included.
Note that while Moses was there in all innocence Yahweh was perfectly aware of what was going on. While the people thought that He had forgotten them He was remembering them, only too well for their own good. God does not forget us. Whatever our feelings He is very well aware of us. It is we who forget Him.
Perhaps a word should be said here about the molten calf. It is doubtful if Aaron would have made it if he had seen it as an image of another god. Indeed the people at this stage probably did not want another god. What they wanted was the Yahweh Who had delivered them from Egypt brought down to earth, and not in that dreadful Mount. We know from elsewhere that bulls and other animals were often seen as the pedestal that supported the god. Hadad, Canaanite god of storm, is depicted as standing on a bull. Thus the idea may have been that here was the place where they could visualise the presence of their invisible God. But many, if not all, probably did see the calf as representing Yahweh, and that was always the danger.
However, Yahweh had forbidden the making of a molten image before which men bowed, for such an image regularly did indicate a god. Baal was regularly depicted as a bull. Thus what possibly began as a pedestal containing an invisible god would soon become a representation of God Himself. And that was unthinkable. Such blurring of the truth is always dangerous. It is very possible that much later worship of Baal by the Israelites began with their calling Yahweh ‘baali’, ‘my Lord’. Then they may have persuaded themselves, or each other, that they could see Baal images as Yahweh’s throne. It was not then long before many went the whole way and worshipped Baal.
This is probably also the explanation for the golden calves that Jeroboam would later make and set up in Bethel and Dan when he was desperate to prevent the people from seeking to Yahweh in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12.26-30).
Moses Now Reminds Them Of How Serious The Situation Had Been And How His Intercession Had Saved Them (9.13-19).
Yahweh had been so affected by their sin that He had wanted to destroy them, and he offered instead to fulfil His promise to Abraham to give the land to his seed by raising up descendants to Moses. But Moses interceded for the people and Yahweh spared them for his sake.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ Yahweh was angry and wanted to destroy the people and blot out their name from under heaven, and replace them with Moses’ descendants, and in the parallel Yahweh was angry and wanted to destroy them, and it was Moses’ intercession that saved the day. In ‘b’ he came down from the Mount with the two stone covenant tablets in his hand, and in the parallel he threw down the tablets and broke them. In ‘c’ they had sinned against Yahweh their God and had made themselves a molten calf, and in the parallel they had turned aside speedily out of the way which Yahweh had commanded them (by worshipping the molten calf).
9.13-14 ‘Furthermore Yahweh spoke to me, saying, “I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people, let me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.” ’
Indeed Yahweh had been so angry that He had spoken of them as a stiffnecked people (Exodus 32.9) and had suggested that He destroy them and blot their name from under heaven (compare Exodus 32.33), that is blot them from the record of the living who were in the camp. Then He would make from Moses a nation ‘mightier and greater than they’, a deliberate contrast with the ‘greater and mightier’ in 9.1 (compare Exodus 32.10), thus producing children through whom He could fulfil His promise to Abraham. In the parallel this stands against the fact that Moses intercession saved the. Moses was not self-seeking, but had a heart that was determined to help the people for whom he had been given responsibility.
Note how Moses part in pleading for them at this time is here played down. That the effort was great comes out in verse 18, but his actual intercession is only obliquely mentioned in verse 19 (contrast Exodus 32.11-14). A later writer would have made the most of it. The only indication that we have here of his intercessory intervention is Yahweh’s ‘Let me alone that I may destroy them’ (verse 14, compare Exodus 32.10), and the ‘Yahweh listened to me’ (verse 19). Only Moses himself was likely to have omitted the detail of what followed. Contrast verses 26-29 which contain his intercession when he returned to the Mount for the new tablets.
(The idea that in the light of God’s words Moses could have said nothing, and instead have gone down to see for himself, can be rejected immediately. That would be to see Moses as having failed in his obvious duty and as insulting God’s awareness. He knew how quickly God could act in such circumstances and he would hardly doubt the word of Yahweh. Thus the intercession can be assumed, even though not stated. That after all was why God said, ‘let Me alone’. Moses did not need to mention it here. His listeners were already aware of it. He is not reciting history but building up his argument).
It will be noted that if interpreted strictly according to Exodus some events seem out of order, namely the mention of blotting out and of not eating and drinking, both of which occurred later. But this is more apparent than real. There is no reason to doubt that both times that he was in the Mount Moses had gone without food and water during his forty day stint, compare verse 18, and blotting out was a regular description of the destruction of people (compare 29.20). When men died their names were blotted out of the camp roll (compare Isaiah 4.3). Nor do we have full details in Exodus of all that Yahweh did say at this point. Moses was not citing Exodus here, he was describing what he remembered as actually happening (this pouring out of things in a disordered state is an indication of someone bringing it quickly back in his memory. An inventor would have been more careful to ensure that he had things in ‘the right order’).
9.15-16 ‘So I turned and came down from the mount, and the mount was burning with fire, and the two tables of the covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and, behold, you had sinned against Yahweh your God. You had made yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside speedily out of the way which Yahweh had commanded you.’
The description is very much abbreviated and he passes over the danger to his own life as though it had not existed. Rather he contrasts the two scenes, on the one hand the mountain still burning with holy fire (a personal reminiscence not previously mentioned) and the two tables of the covenant in his hands, and on the other the molten calf and their turning aside to their own way. The mountain was afire continually with the living presence of Yahweh, a fire that they dared not approach, while in contrast the molten calf having been shaped in fire, was now void of fire, and was nothing to be afraid of. It was a hollow pretence. Yahweh was where He chose, on the Mount, not on the calf which was where the people chose (compare 12.5). And while the tablets had been in process of preparation in the Mount in order to finally seal the covenant, the people had been in the process of rebelling against it. Note his emphasis on how quickly they had turned away from the way demanded in the covenant.
9.17 ‘And I took hold of the two tables, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them before your eyes.’
All this had been too much for Moses and he had hurled the tablets to the ground and smashed them in front of their very eyes. No better way could have been found of indicating that their actions had made void the covenant. The destruction of a treaty document regularly followed severe breaches of a treaty. Thus this act now invalidated the treaty. Let them see what they had done. They had invalidated the covenant that they had so recently confirmed. It would humanly speaking take the intercession of Moses to bring about the establishment of a new treaty.
He makes no mention of the trials he went through as the people faced up to him. He is prepared not to bring that against them, even though it would have strengthened his argument. (These small touches are the proper evidence that these really are the words of Moses). Rather he moves straight on to what a dangerous position the people had been in.
9.18 ‘And I fell down before Yahweh, as at the first, forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you sinned, in doing that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh, to provoke him to anger.’
For in order to spare them from the destruction that they had deserved and to avert the Overlord’s anger, he had gone back into the Mount to plead with God. Indeed he had done what he had previously done on the earlier time of forty days and forty nights in the Mount. He had not eaten bread or drunk water. And he had fallen down before Yahweh and pleaded for them, because of all their sin which they had sinned in doing what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, provoking Him to anger.
Note the strong threefold phrase, ‘the sin that they had sinned in doing evil’. He wanted them to realise the grossness of their sin. (And many of his listeners as children and young ‘adults’ (over thirteen) had actually been involved, including the elders who would be gathered at the front of the crowd). They had broken the terms of the covenant, and the Covenanter was angry. (As a treaty king would be ‘angry’ when his people broke the treaty). Exodus 32.30 also stressed that ‘they had sinned a great sin’.
9.19 ‘For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure, with which Yahweh was angry against you to destroy you. But Yahweh listened to me that time also.’
Indeed Moses had recognised the depths of Yahweh’s anger, and so was filled with a great fear. He had been afraid of what Yahweh would do. He had been sure that Yahweh had intended to destroy them. And so, he says, he had pleaded, and Yahweh had listened to him that time as well, and had spared the people as a whole, although some had been smitten (Exodus 32.28, 35). For Moses had gathered that originally Yahweh had been determined to destroy every man of them apart possibly from the few who had come to Moses’ aid. ‘That time also’ stresses to the people how often he has had to intercede for them.
So the people should realise that far from entering the land as a deserving people, they were only there because God had spared them at Moses’ request.
The Consequences of the Molten Calf Incident (20-29).
The molten calf incident had nearly been catastrophic both for the people and for Aaron. But Moses had acted swiftly to deal suitably with the molten calf and the people in the camp, and then he had gone up the Mount and pleaded for them and for Aaron with Yahweh. And he had prevailed.
We may analyse this in the words of Moses as follows:
Note that in ‘a’ Yahweh was very angry with Aaron to destroy him, and Moses prayed for Aaron also at the same time, while in the parallel we have the prayer that prevailed for both the people and Aaron. In ‘b’ we have the action that he took among the people to avert Yahweh’s anger, and in the parallel we have the strenuous action that he took in the Mount before Yahweh. In ‘c’ we are reminded that they provoked Yahweh to wrath at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, and in the parallel he simply declares that they have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that he knew them. In ‘d’ he describes how Yahweh sent them from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you” and in the parallel we learn that once again they rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh their God, and did not believe Him, nor listen to His voice.
9.20 ‘And Yahweh was very angry with Aaron to destroy him, and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time.’
And Yahweh had also been very angry at Aaron as well, and had intended to destroy him. But by his intercession (verses 26-29) Moses had averted both the sentence on the people and that sentence as well. This occurrence is not mentioned in Exodus, but a little thought will reveal that it was inevitable. What Aaron had done was ‘unforgivable’. The wonder is not that we find it here, but that we do not find it in Exodus. It suggests that that section of Exodus was written when Aaron was still alive so that Moses had wanted to spare his brother the agony of knowing that he was going down in history as a renegade. But it does serve to explain the severity of Aaron’s punishment later when Moses was spared over the incident at Meribah. For Aaron it had been one grave sin too many, and he had to die.
9.21 ‘And I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burnt it with fire, and stamped it, grinding it very small, until it was as fine as dust, and I cast its dust into the brook that descended out of the mount.’
And Moses had taken ‘their sin’, the calf, and burned it with fire, and had then taken the resulting gold, and had stamped on it and ground it very small ‘until it was as fine as dust’. Then he had cast the gold dust into the mountain beck that came down from the Mount. See for this Exodus 32.20 where the description is very similar, but there he also made them drink of the water. They were drinking their god! The point, however, here is that sin had soured the blessing that came from God’s mountain.
Perhaps the tossing of it in the water from the Mount was a kind of ‘devoting’ of it to Yahweh Who was still seen as on the Mount. It would hardly be welcome in the actual Mount itself except as something ‘devoted’. The stamping on it may have been in order to assist in the process of turning it to dust, but it may equally have been a deliberate slight on the remains of the calf and what it represented. It was of earth and it was forcefully returned to the earth.
The fact that in the analysis this item is parallel with his intercession for them in the Mount confirms that by this action he was seeking to avert the anger of Yahweh (His aversion to their sin).
This destruction of the calf was exactly what Moses had also told the people they must do to the gods of Canaan (7.5, 25; 12.3). Thus they had in this a practical example arising out of their own folly.
9.22 ‘And at Taberah, and at Massah, and at Kibroth-hattaavah, you provoked Yahweh to wrath.’
Then Moses briefly reminds them of other incidents where they had been stiffnecked, at Taberah when the fire of Yahweh burnt among them because of their complaining (Numbers 11.1-3), at Massah when they became belligerent at the lack of water (6.16; Exodus 17.1-7; compare Numbers 20.10-13), at Kibroth-hattavah where the people failed to restrain themselves and revealed their greed in gathering too many quails which had died, thus eating some when they had gone bad (Number 11.31-34). In all these places they had ‘provoked Yahweh to anger/wrath’ by their behaviour (compare 4.25; 9.7, 8, 18; 31.29; 32.16, 21).
9.23 And when Yahweh sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, “Go up and possess the land which I have given you.” Then you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God, and you did not believe him, nor did you listen to his voice.’
And the same had been fatally true at Kadesh-barnea when they had refused to obey Yahweh’s command to go up and possess the land because they were afraid at the report of the scouts. They had rebelled against His command, an unforgivable crime for soldiers. It was mutiny. And they had refused to believe Him and would not listen to His promises. That was sacrilege.
9.24 ‘You have been rebellious against Yahweh from the day that I knew you.’
Indeed Moses sums it all up in one sentence. There had never been a time when they had not been rebellious, from the first moment when he had arrived in Egypt. Ever since he had known them they had been continually open to being rebellious.
9.25-28 ‘So I fell down before Yahweh the forty days and forty nights that I fell down, because Yahweh had said he would destroy you. And I prayed to Yahweh, and said, O Lord Yahweh, do not destroy your people and your inheritance, which you have redeemed through your greatness, that you have brought forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Do not look at the stubbornness of this people, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin, lest the land from where you brought us out say, “Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land which he promised to them, and because he hated them, he has brought them out to slay them in the wilderness.” ’
Note how the analysis reveals that he saw this prayer as one whole. It was so serious that it could not be used in order to follow a literary method. Every phrase was telling in his battle for their lives.
So he reminded them again how it was only through his intercession that God had not destroyed every last man of them, Aaron included, man, woman and child. He had had to deeply humiliate himself. Note the repetition of the verb. ‘I fell down - the forty days and nights that I fell down’. It had been a long and persistent and costly intercession. And what had been the basis of his prayer? Not the deserving of the people, that was certain. He was praying that they would not get what they deserved. No, the basis had been twofold, the maintenance of Yahweh’s reputation among the Egyptians and all who knew of these events, and for the sake of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
He had reminded Yahweh that they were His people and His inheritance because they were descended from the patriarchs, that He had used His own greatness in order to redeem them from Egypt, and that He had exerted His mighty hand to that end. So He must remember that they were the people whom He had delivered. Furthermore he had pictured Egypt who had suffered under His activities as interested in their progress and waiting to gloat, and he had pointed out that if news came back that Israel had perished in the wilderness it would redound on Him. They would have impugned both His ability and might (‘Yahweh was not able’), and His covenant loyalty (‘it was because He hated them’). They would have deemed all His actions a mean-spirited trick, and a sign of Someone who had promised more than He could perform.
He has no false conceptions about Israel, and does not hold his punches. He prays, ‘Do not look at their stubbornness, nor to their wickedness, nor to their sin’. He does not question that they deserved to be destroyed. Indeed he painted them as black as could be. He was concerned only for God’s holiness. Nothing could have more brought out to them that they were far from righteous (verses 4-5).
(When compared with Exodus 32.11-13 it will be seen that this is a paraphrase of the prayer there with the points in inverted order. This is a speech and here he wishes the emphasis to be on God’s faithfulness to His promises to the patriarchs as the main reason why they should not be destroyed so as to demonstrate that their entry has nothing to do with their own righteousness).
9.29 ‘Yet they are your people and your inheritance, which you brought out by your great power and by your outstretched arm.’
And his final plea was again that they were His people and His inheritance, and that He had demonstrated this when He had exerted His great power and His outstretched arm (4.34; 5.15; 7.19; 11.2; 26.8; Exodus 6.6) in order to bring them out. Whatever they had done, he had pleaded, surely He must be faithful to what He had promised to Abraham, for it was because they were Abraham’s descendants, at least in principle (members of his ‘household’ by birth or choice), that they were His people and His inheritance.
What no doubt pleased God was the heart of Moses. Here was one whose sole concern was Yahweh’s honour and glory. It was doubtful if He Himself was too bothered about His reputation for doing what was absolutely just as far as the Egyptians were concerned. But He was delighted that Moses cared so much. We are left to recognise that Moses’ prayer was successful. But the point of bringing all this out here was to disillusion the people about their own righteousness. Through God’s grace He had accepted them as His people. But it was not because they deserved it. If it had been left to their righteousness they would not be there. Let them then take to heart that they deserved nothing. They were not worthy. It was all of grace.
Chapter 10 The Renewing of the Covenant and The Priesthood and the Servants of the Tabernacle.
The covenant having been broken we come now to the renewing of the broken covenant, followed by the renewal of the priesthood and the replacing of the firstborn sons of failed Israel with the Levites who had proved their worth. The first part of the chapter is a miscellany of different activities importantly involved in the renewing of the broken covenant and the provision for its protection once renewed. It includes the renewing of the priesthood and the appointment of the Levites, put together in no particular chronological order in a typical speech approach. The purpose was to indicate that the renewed covenant was finally prepared, sealed, delivered and put under the direct protection of Yahweh with the priesthood renewed and new servants appointed for the Tabernacle. he is concerned with what happened, not the order in which it happened.
These activities had involved the command to cut two tablets of stone like the first which had been broken; the command to make the Ark for the purpose of receiving the covenant so that it was under Yahweh’s watchful eye; the fulfilling of these commands; Moses’ entry into ‘the Mount’ (which was how Mount Sinai was now spoken of); Yahweh rewriting ‘the ten words’ of the covenant; and Moses return to Israel and the placing of the tablets in the Ark. This was then followed by the dedication of Eliezer to minister before it and the appointment of the Levites as its protectors. As a result of these things all would now be secure for the future. It was the factual fulfilment which was important. The chronology of when these things took place was irrelevant.
The total disregard for chronology comes out in that in verse 1 the command to make the ark comes after the entry into the mount while in verse 3 it comes before, and in verse 5 Moses returns from the Mount while in verse 10 he is still there. This is typical of a speech when information from various sources is being briefly amassed because of its content, and commented on, when it is the total picture that matters. This is then followed by an exhortation, which includes a call to prepare their hearts and a description of the greatness of Yahweh.
It will immediately be noted that in verses 1-3 certain extracts from Exodus 32.1-4 are included, some cited exactly, and some paraphrased, with additional comments made as Moses now felt appropriate so as to introduce the fact of the Ark. Exodus 32.1 reads as follows, with the words cited here in Deuteronomy in italics.. ‘Cut yourself two tablets of stone like to the first, and I will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you broke --- and come up in the morning into Mount Sinai ---and he cut two tablets of stone like to the first --- and he went up into Mount Sinai --- and he took in his hand two tablets of stone.’ (The words in italics are cited exactly in Deuteronomy, but with change of person between he and I in the last phrases).
The Re-establishing of the Covenant (10.1-5).
We may analyse this in the words of Moses as follows:
Note that in ‘a’ he makes two tablets and a wooden chest as Yahweh tells him to, and goes up into the Mount, and in the parallel he comes down from the Mount and puts the tablets in the chest as Yahweh had commanded. In ‘b’ Yahweh says that He will write on the tablets what was on the first tablets, and in the parallel He does so. In ‘c’ he makes the chest and the two tablets, and in the parallel he takes the two tablets which he has made up into the Mount.
10.1-2 ‘At that time Yahweh said to me, “Cut yourself two tablets of stone like to the first, and come up to me into the mount, and make yourself an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words which were on the first tablets which you broke, and you shall put them in the ark.’
Moses describes how Yahweh told him (at two different times here conjoined to prevent the need for complicated explanations) to cut two tablets of stone (Exodus 32.1) and to make an ark (chest) of wood (Exodus 25.10). This was so that He might rewrite the ten words on the tablets, and so that Moses might put them in the ark. In response to Moses’ intercession Yahweh was re-establishing the covenant, and was writing it Himself as a personal assurance to both Moses and Israel. Treaties that were made were always put in a sanctuary, often in a chest, in order that they might be watched over by the gods. Here the covenant was to be watched over by the cherubim.
10.3 ‘So I made an ark of acacia wood, and cut two tablets of stone like to the first, and I went up into the mount, having the two tablets in my hand.’
He then explains that he had done exactly as Yahweh commanded. He had made the Ark (that is, arranged for it to be made by Bezalel while he was in the Mount the second time - Exodus 37.1), and had cut the two tablets of stone similar to the first (note the different order from verse 2. There is no attempt at chronological exactness. He did not consider that important. It was what happened, not when it happened, that mattered). Then he had gone up into the Mount with the two tablets in his hand.
The Exodus narrative never explains when exactly the Ark was made or how it fitted in with Moses’ different visits to the Mount, but we may presumably assume that it commenced on Moses coming down from the Mount the first time, which was when he had received the instructions for it.
There were less than ten months from the first arrival at Sinai (Exodus 19.1) to the erection of the tabernacle with all the furniture completed (on the first day of the first month of the second year - Exodus 40.17) and nearly two months, and possibly more, had passed between the arrival and Moses’ first descent from the Mount. Thus that left less than eight months for all the complicated work involved, including the planning. It must therefore have been begun almost immediately.
This rare mention of the Ark in Deuteronomy stresses how much the speeches concentrate on the entry into the land and the keeping of the covenant. Matters peripheral to these are not dealt with, even though they are clearly known about, for there is little emphasis on cultic matters. But here it was important because he wanted the people to be aware that the tablets were still among them in the Ark. All this would be unlikely in a manufactured speech and confirms that here we have actual speeches by Moses which are the products of the urgency of the moment. To some extent he deliberately had tunnel vision.
10.4 ‘And he wrote on the tablets, in accordance with the first writing, the ten commandments, which Yahweh spoke to you (ye all) in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the gathering, and Yahweh gave them to me.’
The covenant was to be renewed on exactly the same terms as the first. Yahweh wrote (He may have done it using Moses as His scribe, Exodus 34.28c is ambiguous, but the impression is that the inscribing was done by Yahweh Himself) ‘in accordance with the first writing’ and in accordance with all that Yahweh had spoken from the Mount out of the midst of the fire on the day of the gathering. Yahweh then solemnly handed the finished covenant to Moses to indicate the renewal of the covenant.
We note here how Moses constantly brings ‘the fire’ to mind (4.12, 15, 33, 36; 5.4, 5, 22, 24,26; 9.10). It was vivid in his mind and probably connected in his mind with his first call at the burning bush, and it emphasised the unique presence of the living God revealed in glorious display, and His glory and holiness.
10.5 ‘And I turned and came down from the mount, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made, and there they are as Yahweh commanded me.’
Moses had then turned and come down from the Mount and once the Ark was completed (and it was probably the first thing made as it was of such importance) had put the tablets in it, which, as he points out, is where they still were, just as Yahweh had commanded. The covenant had been finally solemnised.
‘And there they are as Yahweh commanded me.’ This personal note confirms that this information comes direct from Moses.
There is no necessity for Moses to expand here on the whole significance of the Ark. By this time this was well known to them all. His concern here was to demonstrate the final sealing and guarantee of the second covenant. Whether the tablets were put in the Ark immediately on the Ark being made (which could well have been during the forty days while Moses was in the Mount), being then taken out while it was later moved into the tabernacle when that was erected, and then placed in it again (Exodus 40.20) we do not know, but they must have been kept somewhere suitable for such sacred objects.
The Establishment of a New Priest for Israel, of the Levites, And The Renewal of the Journey With The People Mainly Still; Alive (10.6-11).
This summary section covers the replacement of Aaron, on his dying respectably, death by Eliezer, his son, which is shown to be a new and refreshing new start for Israel, the appointment of the Levites to bear the Ark of the covenant, the priestly Levites to bless in His name and of both to serve before Yahweh in their different ways, the final confirmation that they will not be destroyed, and their going forth on their journey towards the promised land.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ the journey that might not have taken place (because of the destruction of the Israelites) begins, and in the parallel they are commanded by Yahweh to journey on towards the land (the journey is not in doubt). In ‘b’ one of the supreme duo dies (but respectably and in the favour of Yahweh) because of his failures, he had needed to be interceded for, and in the parallel the other more senior member of the duo goes into the Mount to carry out his intercession. In ‘c’ the Levites (the whole tribe of Levi including the priests) are set apart for Yahweh’s service, and in the parallel it is pointed out that Yahweh is their inheritance.
10.6-7 ‘And the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth (the wells of) Bene-jaakan to Moserah (chastisement). There Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his stead. From there they journeyed to Gudgodah; and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of brooks of water.’
With the renewal of the covenant came the requirement for a new representative for Israel before Yahweh. Chronologically it did not happen immediately. One importance of these verses lies in their indication that Aaron still continued in the Priest’s office until he died, and that his son then carried on as Priest. It was an indication that Moses’ prayer for Aaron had been heard. He was probably quoting from a historical source so that he himself was not seen as justifying Aaron. But they also suggest that his replacement was seen as inevitable in preparing for entry into the land (verse 11).
It is indeed probable that the progress from ‘the wells of the sons of Jaakan’, through Moserah (chastisement) to the ‘land of brooks of water’ is intended to be seen as an indication of the extra blessing that would follow on the consecration of Eleazar. Wells are replaced by rivers. We can compare this with Numbers where the death of Aaron (20.22-29) also leads on to abundance of water (21.13-18). The point was that while Aaron had been a well to the people, even though he had needed to be chastised, Eliezer would be a flowing water source. This would further explain why this itinerary is mentioned here. Along with the renewed covenant it was a new beginning. Aaron’s death had been a punishment for his failures as all well knew. But Eleazar was unblemished in any serious way.
There is here an apparent difference with the list of places visited on their journeys by Numbers. Numbers 33.31-34 reads, ‘And they journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-jaakan, and they journeyed from Bene-jaakan and pitched in Hor-haggidgad, and they journeyed from Hor-haggidgad and pitched in Jotbathah.’ Hor-haggidgad is possibly the same as Gudgodah. (Look at the final consonants - ‘gidgad’ with ‘gudgod’. It has been suggested that it means ‘the cave (hor) of the crickets’). But it should be noted that the journey in Numbers was a different journey on the way to Ezion-geber on the Reed Sea. In Numbers 33.37-38 Aaron is said to have died in Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom, which they reached after leaving Kadesh. There is no problem with that. It was presumably near Moserah.
In this regard we must recognise that this was a time of wandering, and that some places would be visited twice, especially if they were sources of water. And movement was not always in a straight line. This was a wilderness, not a motorway. It may be that Moserah (‘chastisement’) was visited twice. They may have arrived at Moseroth (plural of Moserah), experienced chastisements by extreme shortage of water, and thus have been driven off-track to find water, which they did at the wells of the sons of Jaakan. Later they may have returned to Moserah (singular of Moseroth; the chastisement having now lessened) and gone on to Hor-haggidgad. On the other hand it could well be that Moseroth and Moserah were different places of chastisement given similar names with the former being more severe chastisement for all (plural) connected with severe shortage of water, which caused the seeking out of the wells, and the latter indicating the later place of Aaron’s chastisement (singular) where he died, a name suggested by the previous place that they had visited. The ancients loved playing with names.
In some cases they gave the places names as they went along and were clearly not above giving the same name to different places in similar circumstances (e.g. Meribah in Exodus 17.7 and Numbers 20.13). Certainly the death of Aaron was to be seen as a further chastisement, but not as a judgment. The suggestion would also seem to be that this Moserah was near Mount Hor. This could well be. After the visit to Kadesh they may well have come back on their tracks. Despite brave attempts we can neither identify these sites specifically nor be dogmatic about their names or whereabouts with relation to each other. The Numbers itinerary probably makes simple a journey that was quite complicated. The search for water would be almost continual, and would cause deviations, for they were a sizeable group.
The Setting Aside of The Tribe of Levi And the Command To Go Forward (10.8-10).
The chronological movement is now back to Horeb, but this is placed here in order to follow the replacement of the Levite Aaron by Eliezer. Also replaced are the firstborn sons of Israel by the other families of Levites (Numbers 1.47-53; 3.39-51). Along with the new covenant are a new High Priest and new servants for the Tabernacle. This is the nearest we come to being told that the appointment of the other Levites was because of Israel’s failure at the Mount.
10.8-9 ‘At that time Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi, to bear the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to him, and to bless in his name, to this day. For that reason Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brothers. Yahweh is his inheritance, just as Yahweh your (thy) God spoke to him.’
‘At that time’ is a vague connecting reference to the whole process of establishing the covenant after it had been broken at Mount Sinai and the replacement of Aaron thirty eight years later which is simply saying ‘not quite at the same time, but in connection with them’. Chronologically it happened after the renewal of the covenant but before the death of Aaron (Numbers 1.47-53). But it comes in here in order to show that their position still remained firm. Here it comes third in importance of the three renewals: the renewal of the covenant, the renewal of Aaron and the people, and now in a sense the renewal of the priesthood and the Levites.
It was at that time that Yahweh set apart the tribe of Levi ‘to bear the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to Him, and to bless in His name’. The first description fits the Levites as such, for the Levites bore the Ark and the Tabernacle with its furniture in the ordinary course of events (Numbers 1.47-53; 4.4). The second, ‘standing before Yahweh to serve Him’ could fit both, for ‘standing before Yahweh’ only necessarily includes entering the court of the Tabernacle, which both could do. The third fits only the levitical priests who alone could give an official blessing (Numbers 6.23-24). All were, of course, of the tribe of Levi. For ‘ministering to (serving) Yahweh’ and ‘ministering to His name’ compare 18.5; 21.5, but there were many types of service.
And because of this they had no portion or inheritance among their fellow-tribesmen (Numbers 18.24). Rather the tithe was their inheritance (Numbers 18.26). They would receive no land as their own possession. And even more importantly Yahweh was their inheritance, and their joy should be to serve Him only. They enjoyed the greatest inheritance of all. And this is just as Yahweh had spoken to them. He was faithful in all His dealings.
‘The Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh’ is the full name for ‘the Ark’ mentioned in verse 1, although it is fairly often referred to in shortened forms.
Excursus on The Levites.
The Levites.
It is often claimed that the Book of Deuteronomy knows nothing of Levites as separate from the priests, but only of ‘levitical priests’ (‘the priests, the Levites’) but 18.6 clearly differentiates ‘the Levites’, who have a lesser ministry than the priests. It also constantly demands that concern be shown for the welfare of the Levites who dwelt among the people within their gates (Deuteronomy 12.12, 18, 19; 14.27, 29; 16.11, 14; 18.6; 26.11-13), because they had no inheritance in Israel. God was their inheritance. We should note that the levitical priests are never stated to be ‘within their gates’. They lived in the few priestly cities, although admittedly among non-priests.
The phrase ‘levitical priests’ (‘the priests, the levites), found regularly in Deuteronomy (17.9, 18; 18.1; 24.8; 27.9) is elsewhere used regularly even by those who certainly separate between priests and levites (2 Chronicles 23.18; 30.27; Ezekiel 43.19; 44.15; 48.13). It is also found in Jeremiah 33.18; Joshua 3.3; 8.33.
‘Within their gates’ may indicate Levites who were not living in the levitical cities, like the Levite of ‘Bethlehem-judah of the family of Judah’ (Judges 17.7) and the Levite who sojourned on the farther side of the hill country of Ephraim (Judges 19.1). These could be Levites who were travelling around the cities in their duty of supervising and assessing tithes, and would thus sojourn in different towns for a considerable period of time, and Levites who were moving around as advisers in the Law, often taking up residence in a city (compare Judges 19.29 where the Levite has his own house). They were like lay helpers, doing what the priests did not have time for.
Much depends on the interpretation of the phrase ‘the priests the levites all the tribe of Levi’ in Deuteronomy 18.1. The Hebrew appears to be ambiguous. It could in general at first sight indicate that ‘the priests the levites’ comprised the whole tribe of Levi, or it could indicate that the whole tribe of Levi was an expansion on the idea of ‘the priests the levites’. However, usage of clauses in apposition elsewhere in Deuteronomy makes the position quite clear. It abundantly confirms the latter. See 3.4-5; 15.21; 16.21; 17.1; 23.19; 25.16 where in all cases one clause in apposition is not just declaring similarity but is an expansion on the idea contained in the other, compare also 3.18 where there is a reduction in the idea. This would stress that here ‘the whole tribe of Levi’ is an expansion on the priests the levites and not just parallel with it. In 2.37; 3.13; 4.19; 5.8; 20.14; 29.10 the clauses in apposition are always of one against a number and therefore not strictly comparable.
Furthermore while ‘to minister in the name of Yahweh’ and to ‘stand there before Yahweh’ (in 18.7) could be used of priestly activity, they could also be used of lesser Levite activity. Thus in Deuteronomy 19.17 even litigants are described as ‘standing before Yahweh’ (compare 1 Kings 17.1). There is no exact parallel to ‘minister in the name of Yahweh’. The priests ‘stand to minister before Yahweh’ in Deuteronomy 17.12, ‘stand to minister in the name of Yahweh’ in 18.5, and ‘minister to Him and bless in the name of Yahweh’ in 21.5. But in 10.8 ‘Yahweh separated the tribe of Levi to bear the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh, to stand before Yahweh to minister to Him, and to bless in His name’. In Numbers 3.31 the bearing of the Ark was a levitical activity, while in Numbers 6.23 blessing in His name was a priestly prerogative. Thus in 10.8 to ‘stand before Yahweh to minister to Him’ could be a collective activity of both.
In 2 Chronicles 29 ‘you Levites’ (which includes both priests and Levites specifically distinguished - verses 4-5) are chosen to ‘stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be his ministers, and to burn incense’, again a mixing of levitical and priestly duties. In 1 Samuel 2.11 the child Samuel ‘did minister to Yahweh before Eli the Priest’. At his young age this could not include direct priestly ministry. In Numbers 8.25-26 the Levites ‘minister with their brothers in the tent of meeting’. To be in the Tabernacle courtyard (Leviticus 1.3, 5, 11 and often, see 4.15), or even gathered round it (Exodus 34.23-24), was always to be ‘before Yahweh’. (See also Numbers 7.3; 8.10; 14.37; 15.15; 32.21-22 etc; Deuteronomy 1.45; 4.10; 6.25; 12.7, 12, 18; 16.16 etc). In Numbers 16.9 the Levites ‘do the service of the Tabernacle of Yahweh’. The phrases would therefore seem to cover a wide variety of possible ministries, and to be largely applicable to both Levitical priests and to non-priestly Levites.
The Levites in the Wilderness.
The task of the Levites in the wilderness was mainly that of backroom boys. They were the porters who carried (but did not pack) the tabernacle and its equipment and furniture (Numbers 1.50-53; 4.15). It would be quite extraordinary for this to be so continually emphasised if in fact it had never happened. In Numbers 3.19 they were ‘given’ to Aaron and his sons. Thus they were servants to the priesthood. In relation to the Tabernacle they clearly did some kind of service with regard to it, probably that of repair and maintenance within the limits of where they were allowed to go and making replacements for worn out sections of the Tabernacle (compare Exodus 38.21), organisation of visitors who came to the Tabernacle and general guardianship (Numbers 1.53), assisting those who found difficulty in slaying their sacrifices (compare Ezekiel 44.11), assisting with sanctifying the house of Yahweh (2 Chronicles 29.16) and certainly later singing and music. Thus they ‘ministered before Yahweh’. (The total lack of mention of singers in the Pentateuch in connection with the Tabernacle is a strong argument for it being an early writing. It is extremely unlikely that later inventors would not have included singers when they were such an important part of later worship).
They would also oversee and monitor the collection of tithes, of which they gave one tenth to the priests (Numbers 18.23-30). Once in the land this would be a huge task and would require constant inspection of crops and herds, collection, storage and disbursement as required. During this activity they would no doubt act as general advisers on the Law, which they would have to know well in order to deal with collecting the tithes (compare 2 Chronicles 17.7-9; Nehemiah 8.7-9). That is why they were scattered among Israel in levitical cities. There was therefore no reason for Moses to refer to them in detail in his speeches. But what do the records actually tell us about them?
There can be no doubt that the term Levites could simply be used to describe the ‘descendants’ of Levi, the son of Jacob. They are often addressed as ‘the sons of Levi’ (Numbers 4.2; 16.7, 8, 10), a phrase which can also refer to the priests (Deuteronomy 21.5; 31.9). They are also described as ‘the tribe of Levi’ (Numbers 1.49; 3.6; 18.2; Deuteronomy 10.8; 18.1; Joshua 13.14, 33). However, in Exodus 4.14 Aaron is called ‘your brother, the Levite’. This would probably suggest that Aaron was at that time head of the family, and therefore seen as ‘the Levite’. When the tribe had to be consulted it was to Aaron that men went. Or it could possibly suggest in context that ‘the Levite’ indicated something special other than just being a descendant of Levi, indicating that members of the tribe were seen as especially skilled at public relations or something similar. While Moses was of the tribe of Levi, his life had taken him far from that sphere. Either way the description indicates Aaron’s suitability to act as a front man. Thus it may well be that the tribe of Levi had among them those who were well known for specialising in public relations so that ‘the Levite’ had become synonymous with Levites who performed such activity. This would then explain why they were selected out to serve the tabernacle by collecting its dues and watching over its guardianship. But the fact that Aaron was also a Levite by descent must be included in the explanation (compare Exodus 6.25). It is too much of a coincidence otherwise, and ties in with the other references to ‘the tribe of Levi’ and ‘the sons of Levi’ above.
The appointment of the Levites is never said to have been due to their defence of Moses at the incident of the molten calf, although that may have had some influence, but is more probably connected with their relationship with Moses and Aaron. The sense of tribal unity was strong, and it would be appropriate, especially if combined with the special skills hinted at above. They performed a service for the whole of Israel in that they performed the duties that would otherwise have fallen to the firstborn sons, ‘redeeming’ the sons so that they could live normal lives (Numbers 3.12, 40-43, 45). They were therefore very much seen as ‘holy’ to Yahweh.
Their inheritance in Israel included their right to tithes and other gifts (Numbers 18.31), although this becomes less absolute in Deuteronomy; the right to dwell in the levitical cities in perpetuity; and the right to harvest the land around those cities (Numbers 35.2), as well as a right to consideration when they were sojourning in other cities. But in fact every Levite was a ‘sojourner’ for his true home was ‘the place which Yahweh chose out of all the tribes of Israel to set His Name there’ (Deuteronomy 12.5). Yahweh was his inheritance (Numbers 18.20; Deuteronomy 10.9; 18.2; Joshua 13.33; 18.7; compare Deuteronomy 12.12; 14.27-29; 18.1; Numbers 18.23-26).
One problem that we have is that ‘the Levites’ could sometimes mean the whole tribe of Levi and therefore include the priests (2 Chronicles 29.4-5). Compare 1 Samuel 6.15 where Bethshemesh was a priestly city (Joshua 21.13, 16). All priests were Levites even though not all Levites were priests. Thus some tasks spoken of as to be done by ‘the Levites’ were to be done by the priestly Levites with the ordinary Levites playing such a part as they could (see 2 Chronicles 29.12-16). It may also be that due to the shortage of mature members of priestly families (they had been decimated at Nob and would often be the target of invaders) the services performed by the Levites were extended during the monarchy to assist in every way possible in excess of what was previously allowed in spite of the strict injunctions of the Law (compare Ezekiel 44.9-14; 1 Chronicles 23.28-31). It is in fact strictly stated to be because they no longer had porterage duties (1 Chronicles 23.26). This lowering of the barriers would tie in with Ahimelech’s and David’s attitude to the shewbread (1 Samuel 21.4-6). It does not mean that the laws were not there, only that they were allowed to be stretched because it was felt necessary.
For the fact is that no theory about the Levites can be acceptable which does not explain why they were seen as rewarded with their major nine tenths share in the tithes, and other privileges, something not likely to have happened if they were separated as Levites much later as a result of being degraded. Such generosity to the demoted would have been unprecedented. It can only be explained by the fact that they were numerous and had heavy duties early on. Any theory must also explain the great stress in Numbers on their being mere porters of holy things (once they had been packed by the priests), with a sentence of death on them if they touched the holy things. These things are unlikely to have been inventions of a later date when they had wider, even though limited duties, which included contact with holy things. Nor at a time when they were comparatively few in number. But they do very much indicate wilderness conditions, the latter because transportation was constantly required, and the former because the overall level of tithes in the wilderness would be comparatively limited, and therefore they would need all in order to be able to enjoy life reasonably. This serves to confirm that the picture drawn in the Pentateuch of the Levites in contrast with the priests is the true one. Once they entered the land and there was an expectation of larger tithes, the use of these tithes was also expanded (Deuteronomy 12.17-19; 14.22-29) although they still remained ‘sanctified’ to Yahweh. But even here a large portion of the tithes would go to the Levites for there was no way in which all the tithes could be conveyed to the Central Sanctuary, and even if turned into money could be eaten in one short week. Thus there would be much left for the Levites (Deuteronomy 14.27) and every third year for others as well (verse 29). That being so we can accept the picture drawn in the Pentateuch as the accurate one from the beginning.
End of Excursus.
The renewal of the covenant, the High Priesthood, and the service of the Tabernacle being settled and described discreetly in order to cause the least offence, Moses reminds them that their own destruction had only been prevented by his intercession.
10.10 ‘And I stayed in the mount, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and Yahweh listened to me that time also. Yahweh would not destroy you (thee).’
The reference to forty days and forty nights was obviously important to Moses for this is the fifth time that he has stressed it (compare 9.9, 11, 18, 25) (five regularly signifies covenant connection). He clearly saw it as a complete period which was necessary in His dealings with Yahweh. It stressed that His dealings with Yahweh had been lengthy and considered, not just of the pop-in pop-out variety. The same would be true of Elijah (1 Kings 19.8). Compare for the phrase Genesis 7.4, 12 where it spoke of a lengthy period of Yahweh’s activity in judgment. But as a result of his continual intercession over that period Yahweh had ‘listened to’ him. That was why Yahweh had not destroyed the covenant-breaking nation of Israel.
10.11 ‘And Yahweh said to me, “Arise, take your journey before the people, and they shall go in and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers to give to them.” ’
Thus it was as a result of Moses’ intercession that they had been spared to begin their journey, and now that they had been commanded to continue their journey.
“Arise, take your journey.” Compare 2.24 where similar words are used of their present going forward; and 1.6 with 2.3 where the departure from Horeb and the departure after the wilderness wandering was described in similar terms. The command to go forward can thus be seen as indicating the command given at Horeb, and also indicating the recent command, which was a renewal of the first command.
For as a result of the renewal of the covenant Yahweh had called on him to take the people forward (Exodus 2.34; 33.1-2). The covenant had been made safe. There is a contrast here with 9.12, ‘Arise, get down quickly--.’ Then the covenant had been in jeopardy. Now that is seen to be behind them and he can ‘arise’ for another purpose,. so as to begin the successful carrying out of the covenant.
But the phraseology also parallels 2.24, ‘Rise up, take your journey --’ referring to their going forward to defeat Sihon, king of the Amorites. There is the same certainty of victory here. So Moses may well have intended the comparison of these two verses, missing out the sad episodes in between. In the first instance they were to leave Sinai/Horeb, and journey on so as to go in and possess the land, which Yahweh had sworn to their fathers to give them, just as they had possessed Sihon’s land. The promises were secure, and they could go forward with confidence. Yet there had been a loss of privilege. Yahweh’s angel would go with them rather than Yahweh Himself (Exodus 33.1-6). In some way His presence among them was to be lessened after this. But in the second instance they had to go forward from where they now, confident on the back of their victories over Sihon and Og, so as to take possession of the land.
Back to the Present And The Greatness of Yahweh (10.12-22).
In view of the command to go forward Moses now draws attention to what Yahweh requires of them, followed by a description of the glory of Who and What He is. He wants the people to have a full appreciation of what God requires of them, and a full appreciation of the God Whom they serve, and He wants them to have a full confidence in Him.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ Yahweh their God requires of them that they fear Yahweh their God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve Yahweh their God with all their heart and with all their soul, to keep the commandments of Yahweh, and His statutes (note the threefold reference to Yahweh their God), and in the parallel Yahweh has multiplied them from small beginnings so that they are as the stars in heaven for multitude. This is poignant for it contrasts with the situation that had been a real possibility that they would be few in number indeed through Yahweh’s judgment. But having renewed the covenant and having accepted them again as His blessed people He can now make His requirement of them. In ‘b’ to Yahweh their God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is in it, and in the parallel He is their praise, and He is their God, Who has done for them these great and terrible things, which their eyes have seen. In ‘c’ Yahweh had a delight in their fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even them above all peoples, and in the parallel they must fear Yahweh their God; Him shall they serve; and to Him shall they cleave, and by His name shall they swear demonstrating that they recognise that they are chosen and delighted in. In ‘d’ they are to circumcise the foreskin of their heart, and be no more stiffnecked, and in the parallel one of the results of this will be that they love the resident alien, for they had been resident aliens in the land of Egypt. In ‘e’ Yahweh your God, is the God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, Who does not regard people with favouritism (literally ‘does not lift up faces’), nor takes reward, that is, He is the great Judge of all, and in the parallel He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the resident alien, in giving him food and clothing as would be expected of such a great Judge.
What God Requires of Them (10.12-13).
10.12-13 ‘And now, Israel, what does Yahweh your God require of you (thee), but to fear Yahweh your (thy) God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul, to keep the commandments of Yahweh, and his statutes, which I command you this day for your good?’
Note that ‘thee, thy’ is used throughout the verse. They are to go forward in obedience as one nation, and each one individually.
‘And now, Israel.’ Moses has reached the point of summing up the first part of his speech, and has come to the point of decision. They must now face up to what God has demanded of them. Compare ‘this day’ (verse 13), ‘as at this time’ (verse 15), With the command to go forward came the requirement. What did He require of them as a result of the renewal of the covenant and His not decimating them? (Compare verse 22). That they should fear Yahweh their God, walk in all His ways, love Him, and serve Him with all their heart and soul, keeping His commandments and the statutes that he was about to set before them. This sums up much of what has gone before. It is very possible that Micah 6.8, where Yahweh’s requirement are described as being to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God, echoes this passage.
Note the two twofold injunctions, ‘fear Him -- love Him’ (compare 5.26; 6.2, 5, 13, 24; 10.20; 11.1, 13, 22), followed by the need to, ‘walk in all His ways -- serve Him with all their heart and soul’ (5.33; 8.6; 11.22; 13.4; 19.9; 26.17; 28.9; 30.16; 6.5; 11.13; 30.6). Fear (awe of the Overlord) was to be balanced by love (genuine response to and affection for the Overlord). Both had to be from the heart. For what He sought was a pouring out of their hearts, a devotion to Him that would do anything. This was then to result in a step by step obedience to His ways as they feared Him and walked in them, and wholehearted service with heart and soul because they loved Him. And this in accordance with the stipulations laid down in the covenant. Their service was not to be in order to obtain favour, but because they acknowledged Yahweh as their God, were in awe of Him and loved Him, and therefore were filled with a desire to please Him.
What God Is And Why He Has Chosen Them (10.14-15).
10.14 ‘Behold, to Yahweh your God belongs heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that is in it.’
For it was necessary for them to recognise Him for what He is. Look! he says, Let them now consider Yahweh. They must recognise His greatness, the greatness of Yahweh, their God and their Overlord. He is the One Who not only possesses the heavens that they can see, the heavens that declare the glory of God, but also the heaven of heavens, that which is beyond all that they can see and know, the Great Unknown. Nothing is outside His scope. The whole of what others speak of as the dwellingplace of the gods actually belongs to Him. He alone is Lord in the heavens. And He owns the earth also. He owns and controls all that is in them. He is supreme and over all (compare 4.35-36). And He is their praise and their God for He has done great and terrible things on their behalf (verse 21).
10.15 ‘Only Yahweh had a delight in your (thy) fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you (ye) above all peoples, as at this day.’
And yet in spite of this greatness, or possibly because of it, this is the remarkable fact, that He had delighted in their fathers, so that He had loved them. Here is a remarkable thing indeed. This great and wondrous and mighty God had set His love on their fathers, as they trudged as wandering Aramaeans along the dusty ways with staff in hand, together with their households, their family tribe. This was because He had delighted in them when He had called them, and had the same delight in them as they had walked before Him in faith, and love, and obedience. In this was love, not that they loved Him, but that He loved them, with the kind of love that was possible only to such a God. That is why He had said of Abraham, ‘For I have known (yatha‘) him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do justice and judgment, to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him’ (Genesis 18.18-19).
So it was because of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that He had ‘chosen’ their seed after them with His elective love (compare 7.6-11). They must think of that! They too stood there, having been chosen by Yahweh, for their fathers’ sakes, even them. They had been chosen above all peoples to be His, so that they stood there this very day as the chosen of Yahweh.
But the reason why they were His people above all peoples, was not because of their doing or deserving. It was because of Yahweh’s love. And because of others who had faithfully responded to that love. It was because of their fathers, and what they meant to Yahweh. Nevertheless they too would have their full part in it and could gain comfort from the fact that God was blessing them for the sake of others, and not for a righteousness of their own which might easily fail. Thus are they to fear Him, serve Him, cleave to Him and swear by His name (because He is their sole God - verse 20).
We also are loved by Him (John 3.16; Ephesians 2.4; 5.2, 25; 2 Thessalonians 2.16; 1 John 4.10, 11), not for our own sakes but for the sake of Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2.20), and we too therefore in the same way have our full part in Him, and should fear Him, serve Him, cleave to Him and swear by His name (because He is our sole God - verse 20)..
Their Required Response In The Light of What He Is, Is Now Expanded On (10.16-22)
10.16 ‘Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your (of ye) heart, and be no more stiffnecked.’
In lieu of this, therefore, they, as a gathering of people, were all to circumcise the foreskins of their hearts, putting aside their obstinacy and stubbornness. They had to cast it from them. In other words just as the covering of their foreskin was removed in circumcision, so their obstinacy was to be seen as a covering that had to be cut out and removed, so that they no more hid behind it. All barriers that separated their hearts from God and from their fellowmen must be incisively removed. Thus they must also love the resident alien (verse 19).
Alternately he may be referring to the fact that circumcision would soon be required as a seal of the covenant (Genesis 17.9-12), but that what they must do even more importantly was ensure that the covenant was cut into their hearts. The making of a covenant was often spoken of as ‘cutting a covenant’, for it was sealed by blood, and circumcision involved the shedding of blood (compare Exodus 4.24-26 where this is stressed). Either way the idea is the same. They must become responsive to the covenant from their hearts.
10.17 ‘For Yahweh your God, he is the God of gods, and Lord of lords, the great God, the mighty, and the terrible, who does not regard people with favouritism (literally ‘does not lift up faces’), nor takes reward.’
And this was because they must recognise Who they were dealing with. They must acknowledge Who Yahweh is, that He is their God. But not only is He their God, they must recognise that He is more than that. They must recognise that He is the God of all gods, God over all spiritual beings (the elohim), and He is the Lord of all lords. All gods and all lords, whether superhuman or human, are therefore under His rule and judgment. He is the great God, the mighty, the terrible. Note the threefoldness, great, mighty and terrible; great on behalf of the righteous, mighty on behalf of His own people, a terror to the sinful. The picture gains added significance in the light of their experiences of His power in Egypt. Their God is over all.
Alternately we may take ‘God of Gods’ and ‘Lord of Lords’ as expressing the superlative. Compare ‘Holy of Holies’, which mean the ‘most Holy’, the Holiest of All. In the same way God of Gods can mean ‘Supremely God’, ‘uniquely God above all’. And similarly Lord of Lords can mean ‘the Supreme Lord’. The latter is especially significant in the terms of the covenant where He is the Supreme Overlord.
‘Who does not regard people with favouritism (literally ‘does not lift up faces’), nor takes reward.’ He is the One Who judges all equally. He does not regard anyone with favouritism or accept bribes and softeners, putting one in a favoured position against another. He is absolutely just and fair, for He is the One Who is above all. Having spoke of the superlative greatness of God, this now emphasises that as such He is so great that He has dealings with men, with all men, on a totally fair basis. He is the Judge of all the earth (Genesis 18.25). And in those dealings all His judgments are based on His commandment, His statutes and ordinances as they were revealed to His people, and as they were to be fulfilled by them in love and godly fear. There is no varying from truth with Him.
‘The great God, the mighty, and the terrible.’ In ancient days the supreme ruler was often called ‘the Great King’ (compare this of Yahweh in Psalm 48.2; see also Ezekiel 26.7; Ezra 7.12. It was a title known at Ugarit and in Akkadian records). But Yahweh is even greater, He is ‘the Great God’. What is more He is the Mighty One (see Psalm 24.8; Isaiah 42.13), the great warrior (compare 1 Samuel 2.4; 2 Samuel 10.7), and the terrible One, feared by His opponents. The point that is being stressed is that He is invincible and far above all.
10.18 ‘He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and loves the resident alien, in giving him food and clothing.’
And this comes out in that He especially ensures that justice is found for those who are the least important in society, those who are unable to help themselves and have no one to defend them, those who have no fathers, those who are widows and those who are resident aliens, those who have no one to protect them (24.17; 27.19; Exodus 22.22). But He watches over such. As we will see later, among other things He demonstrates His love for orphans, widows and resident aliens by the way He seeks to ensure for them sufficient food and clothing (14.29; 16.14; 24.19-21; 26.12-13).
This trait was often spoken of as being the sign of a great king in ancient records, including the law code of Hammurabi and at Ugarit in the second millennium BC. No king was greater than the one who could even watch over the weak because all was completely under his control and he did not need favours (compare Psalm 72.11-15; 146.7-10).
10.19 ‘You, therefore, love the resident alien, for you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.’
And He not only does this but He exhorts His people to do as He does and be the same as He is. Let them bring to mind in this regard that they had been resident aliens in Egypt, and remember how it was then, how they had been treated as strangers, and subjected to forced labour, and how they had groaned. And they must remember how He had loved them and delivered them And with that to spur them on they are to love the resident aliens, both those among them now and when they are in their own land, His land, and act towards them with compassion (compare Leviticus 19.34).
10.20 ‘You shall fear Yahweh your God; him shall you serve; and to him shall you cleave, and by his name shall you swear.’
They were also to fear Yahweh their God, ‘for the fear of Yahweh, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil that is understanding’ (Job 28.28). And as a result of fearing Him with a godly fear and love they must serve Him, must cleave to Him faithfully, and swear by His name. For it is how men respond that reveals what they see to be real. Note the threefold ‘serve -- cleave -- swear’. Serving includes both worship and obedience. Cleaving involves loyalty, commitment and integrity. Swearing by His name means acknowledging Him above all. Swearing was done in the name of the highest sole authority. This latter may refer to dedication to the covenant, or it may indicate a determination to be as true as He is in matters of justice. So He requires dedication, love and submission to His authority, and true justice in all things.
The word ‘cleave’ is a powerful one. It is used of a man ‘cleaving’ to his wife when they become one flesh (Genesis 2.24), and of bones cleaving to the skin (Job 19.20).
10.21-22 ‘He is your praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great and terrible things, which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now Yahweh your God has made you as the stars of heaven for multitude.’
But He is also the One fitted for praise. He is totally praiseworthy, and is to be the object of their worship. And the reason that they should praise Him is because He is their God, the very God Who has done great and terrible things for them which their eyes have seen. Many of the oldest had been in Egypt as small children and had seen His power revealed there, and the great and terrible things that He had done, and even more of them had seen what He had done since in the wilderness, including especially the defeat of the Amorite kings, Sihon and Og, and their territories.
Their fathers had gone down into Egypt few in number, and here they now were as the result of His watch over them, as the stars of heaven for multitude, just as Yahweh had promised. It is hard to believe, he says, that when they went down into Egypt they had been comparatively few, seventy males with their households (and thus a few hundred, or even one or two thousands). It demonstrated how Yahweh had blessed them in spite of all attempts to decimate them. And it was mind-boggling to consider that they had all almost been destroyed.
‘Seventy’ indicates divine perfection intensified. An examination of the seventy described in Genesis 46.8-27 makes clear that the number has been artificially made up to seventy in order to bring out this point. This was one way in which the ancients used numbers. Their question was not ‘how many’, but ‘of what quality?’ Joseph and his sons, for example, were already in Egypt. It is saying that the party that went down to Egypt in one way or another (Joseph’s sons ‘in his loins’) was the perfect group from which Yahweh would produce His holy people. And now here they were, multiplied in numbers because of His working.
Chapter 11 They Face The Final Choice.
This chapter continues the themes of the previous chapters and brings this section to a close. In it Moses summarises what has gone before and lays emphasis on the past history which they have experienced, both of deliverance and judgment. On the basis of this he is concerned that they respond fully to the covenant, for if they do they will know the full blessing of the land and God’s fullness of provision for it, and will be able to drive out its inhabitants. This is then expounded in vivid pictures of the abundance of that provision. Thus if they would enjoy His blessing they must take His words to their hearts and apply them in every part of their lives. For if they keep His covenant then they will be blessed and will be victorious in what lies ahead, while if they turn to idolatry then only judgment will await them.
The choice is therefore with them as to whether they experience blessing or cursing, and once they are in the land they must ensure that they seal this very fact at the place that He has chosen by the oaks of Moreh, the place where He had first revealed Himself to Abraham, and where Abraham first worshipped Him, on entering the land, at Shechem (compare Genesis 12.6).
Let Them Consider Their Past, Recognising God’s Activity In It, and Respond To It (11.1-9).
Moses reminds them of different ways in which they have seen Yahweh at work, against Egypt, against rebels, and even against themselves, in all cases because of sin. But now that is behind them and they must therefore love Him and go forward in obedience to His commands and covenant stipulations.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ it commences ‘therefore (and) you shall love’ and requires the keeping of His commandments, and in the parallel it begins ‘therefore (and) you shall keep’ and promises rewards for keeping His commandment. In ‘b’ he reminds them that they have seen the great works that Yahweh has done in Egypt, and in the parallel refers to their eyes having seen all the great work of Yahweh which He did. In ‘c’ he refers to what He did to the Egyptians who were enemies of Israel and in the parallel to what He did to Dathan and Abiram who were (internal) enemies of Israel. And in ‘d’ he refers centrally to what He did to Israel in the wilderness.
11.1 ‘Therefore you (thou) shall love Yahweh your God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his ordinances, and his commandments, always.’
Therefore, because of what he has been saying in the previous chapters, and especially what He has declared about Yahweh’s superlative greatness in chapter 10, and because He has demonstrated His love by multiplying them like the stars of heaven, they, as a nation and as responsible individuals (thou), are to recognise His great sovereignty and graciousness and love Him, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His ordinances, and His commandments always.
Once again we see that loving response and appreciation comes first, to be followed by obedience (compare 6.5; 10.12). Unless there is that personal relationship with Yahweh the remainder will not happen. Love must come first. But then it must be followed by responsive action. And that responsive action is to be revealed by keeping His charge (compare Leviticus 8.35), in this case to possess the land, to destroy its inhabitants and to keep His commandments. This is the only use of the noun ‘charge’ in Deuteronomy. That charge is now to be described in some detail in the following chapters.
We can compare this verse with 8.1, although the pronoun is there ‘ye’, which warns us about making too much of a distinction between ‘ye children of Israel’ and ‘thou nation of Israel’, while noting the distinction.
11.2-3 ‘And know you (ye mature Israelites) this day, for I speak not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of Yahweh your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his outstretched arm, and his signs, and his works, which he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and to all his land,’
He calls on the mature among them to recall on this day what wondrous things Yahweh has done for them in the past. For they are not like their children who have not seen His ‘chastening’ as in 8.5 (chastening is suffering which was intended to bring about a change of heart by a combination of love and punishment), or known in experience His greatness, His mighty hand and His outstretched arm (a sign of His personal involvement), and His signs and His works which He did in the midst of Egypt to the mighty Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to the whole of Egypt. No, they have seen it for themselves, as young men in their teens and as children.
There is a roughness of grammar in the reference to their children which springs out of the oratorical nature of the words, another evidence that we have here a genuine speech of Moses.
11.4 ‘And what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses, and to their chariots; how he made the water of the Reed Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you (ye), and how Yahweh has destroyed them to this day.’
(The pronouns are ‘ye, your’ up to verse 9)
They know too how He humiliated and destroyed the army of Egypt, their horses and their chariots (compare Exodus 15.1, 4, 21). How He had made the Reed Sea overflow them when they were in pursuit of Israel, and how He had totally destroyed them. Thus can they be confident that He can deal so with all their enemies.
This is the only mention of this great incident in Deuteronomy, for Moses has concentrated more on the whole panorama of the mighty acts of God in Egypt as in verse 3, but it comes out here as an outstanding individual example. The general is followed by the particular. In the same way He will now speak of God’s general activities in the wilderness, followed by a particular example. In both examples their enemies were destroyed.
11.5-6 ‘And what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel,’
And they know too all that happened in general in the wilderness up to this time, both good and bad, and especially what happened in particular to Dathan and Abiram when the earth opened up its mouth and swallowed them up, together with their households and all their possessions (Numbers 16.30-32), and that it was done in the midst of all Israel. And they would remember that this had happened because they had challenged Yahweh’s ordinances. The result had been immediate and catastrophic death. So they have seen both the positive and the negative. They have seen what happens when they obey Him, and they have seen what happens when men disobey Him.
The non-mention of Korah, the co-conspirator with Dathan and Abiram, may be due to his not having been specifically mentioned as coming out to the door of the tent, a picture rooted in Moses’ memory, and thus not being seen as openly consumed (Numbers 16.27), or may be out of delicacy for the feelings of descendants of Korah who were present, or may be because his name was not to be mentioned (note how his death is not even mentioned in Numbers 16, possibly because his name was seen as blotted out).
11.7 ‘And your eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which he did.’
For their eyes have seen all the great work of Yahweh which He had done in defence of His covenant, destroying those in the wrong, whether outside oppressors or internal troublemakers, and in supporting His people. They are eyewitnesses! And the point he is making is that Yahweh does not change. He can and will do it again.
11.8-9 ‘Therefore shall you keep all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may be strong, and go in and possess the land, to which you go over to possess it, and that you may prolong your days in the land, which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give to them and to their seed, a land flowing with milk and honey.’
So knowing that His hand is so with them, they must observe all that He commands this day, so that they may be strong and go in and possess the land, and so that they may prolong their days in the land. Both their victory and their continual presence in the land will be dependent on willingness to be obedient to His requirements. They cannot remain in His land and under His rule, if they are disobedient.
And this land is the land which Yahweh swore to give to their fathers and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. For Yahweh’s gifts are subject to true response. But they may be assured that if they do respond Yahweh will fulfil His promises and give them the land, a land which is a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey (compare 6.3; 26.9, 15; 27.3; 31.20; Joshua 5.6; Exodus 3.8, 17 etc.), God’s adequate provision for man’s need. Milk was man’s staple requirement, honey pleasant to man’s taste. Such a land promised all that was good.
And we too should look back on all that God has done, the death of His Son and His glorious resurrection and work amongst men, and should rejoice in it, and as a result of it commit ourselves fully to him revealing our confidence in Him (Romans 12.1-2).
The Land To Which They Are Going Is An Abundant Land. It Is Watered By God And Is Dependent On His Care, A Care Dependent On Their Obedience To The Covenant Requirements (11.10-17).
Note that in ‘a’ the land that they are going over to possess is not a land which they will have to toil hard on, for in the parallel it is one on which Yahweh’s eyes are permanently set, from the beginning to the end of the year. In ‘b’ it is a land fed by wateer from heaven, and in the parallel is a land that Yahweh their God cares for.
11.10 ‘For the land, to which you (thou) are going in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from where you (ye) came out, where you (thou) sowed your (thy) seed, and watered it with your foot, as a garden of herbs,’
For they were going to a far, far better land than the one from which they had come out. The land to which they are going is not like Egypt, the land which they had left. That was a flat land, and there they sowed their seed, and then had to keep it watered by building irrigation channels, and laboriously working equipment with their feet to bring the water to the land, as they would water a garden of herbs. They would then use their feet again to open and block small channels around their land. It all required constant effort. ‘A garden of herbs’ stressed the effort that had to be put in, and the fruitful result that followed, for the maintenance of such gardens required great effort.
Egypt enjoyed the blessing that the Nile rose and covered parts of their land every year, renewing the land, but it then fell, and they had to work hard to ensure that they made the best use of its waters. It required constant effort. The point is being made that the watering there was a result of man’s physical activity and exertions. They would remember only too well those activities and exertions in which they had had to engage, no doubt even as children.
11.11-12 ‘But the land to which you (ye) are going over to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinks water of the rain of heaven, a land which Yahweh your (thy) God cares for. The eyes of Yahweh your (thy) God are always on it, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year.’
But in the land to which they were now going, where water would be provided by God, it was not like that. It was to be a land of hills and valleys, a land that drank water that came from above (it did not need to be force fed), even the rain of heaven. It would receive water that fell where it was wanted, or flowed down to where it was wanted. And it was a land which Yahweh their God cared for continually, for His eyes were always on it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. So those who lived in it depended on His goodness for the provision of water, and when they were right with Him could be sure of that provision (except for occasional times of testing). Thus while Egypt depended on the Nile, they would rather depend directly on God, and while Egypt laboured to spread their waters Israel would receive God’s blessing with joy.
And what was more God cared for this land especially, because it was the land that He had promised to Abraham, and He was keeping it for his descendants. It does not mean that God did not care for other lands, only that they did not come under His special care. Here God was intimately concerned for the sake of His people.
Their Blessing And Fruitfulness Will Depend On Whom They Serve (11.13-18a).
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ they are to listen carefully to Yahweh’s commandments and to love and serve Him with all their heart and soul, and in the parallel they are to lay up His words in their heart and soul. In ‘b’ if they do so they will receive abundant rain from heaven and the earth will be fruitful, but in the parallel if they seek to other gods the heavens will be closed and there will be no rain, and their land will not be fruitful.
11.13-15 ‘And it shall come about, that if you (ye) shall listen diligently to my commandments which I command you (ye) this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give the rain of your land in its season, the former rain and the latter rain, that you (thou) may gather in your (thy) grain, and your new wine, and your oil. And I will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you (thou) shall eat and be full.’
Note that the words now suddenly become a citation of Yahweh’s. Moses continues the revelation as though it was spoken by Him. Here Yahweh Himself is seen as speaking. The promises are personalised.
And what does the future hold when they have possessed the land? That if they diligently obey God’s command which He is giving through Moses this day, the command to love Him and serve Him with all their heart and soul, He will give the rain for the land, as it is required, in its season, both the early, pre-ploughing and pre-sowing rain, coming in October or sometimes a little later, the continuing rain showers necessary for the fruitfulness of the land, and the late rain in around April which consisted of the final showers of the rainy season, all of which watered the land and made it productive.
The result will be that they will be able to gather in their grain, and their new wine, and their olive oil, and their fields will be full of grass for the cattle, and they will themselves eat and be full.
For this stress on loving God we can compare 6.5. So after the repeat of the covenant word for word in chapter 5 this whole section from chapters 6-11 is seen as beginning and ending with the same emphasis, the requirement to love God totally, and the need to bind His words in their hearts and minds and lives (see verses 18-21 below and compare 6.6-9).
So the lesson is clear. To live in that land, which was God’s land, was to be dependent on God, and the provision of all they needed would depend on His supply. But they need not fear, for it was His land for which He cared. And if they loved and feared Him, and lived rightly before Him, they could then be sure of His full provision.
This idea of who provided the rain was all important. For Baal, a main god of the Canaanites, whose worship was widespread in Canaan and even beyond, was seen by the present inhabitants of Canaan as the means by which the rain was provided in its season. According to them it was Baal, the god of storm and rain, who had to be stirred into action by their religious rites, which included sexual activities of a gross and immoral kind. Moses makes quite clear that this was not so. Baal had nothing to do with it. There was in fact only One provider of rain (as Elijah will reveal after him - 1 Kings 17.1; 18.41), and that was Yahweh.
11.16-17 ‘Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you (ye) turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them, and the anger of Yahweh be kindled against you, and he shut up the heavens, so that there shall be no rain, and the land shall not yield its fruit, and you (ye) perish quickly from off the good land which Yahweh gives you.’
Thus when they entered the land they must not allow themselves to be deceived. Let them not turn aside to worshipping and serving the gods of the land, thinking that such gods could help them. For if they did God’s anger would be ‘set alight’ against them, and He would shut up the heavens so that there was no rain, and so that the land would not yield its fruit. And they would soon perish from the land which He had given them. Trusting Canaan’s rain gods might seem attractive for a while, but they could be sure that it would end disastrously.
So the stress here is on the fact that their continual presence in the land, and their continual provision, will be dependent on true obedience to the covenant. This is all part of His covenant. For the land was for the righteous, with full provision made, as long as they served Him faithfully, and repented when they slipped up.
11.18 ‘Therefore shall you (ye) lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul.’
So with these promises and warnings in mind they must lay His words up in their hearts. Thus will they take heed to them and respond to them, being faithful to the covenant with Yahweh.
They Must Therefore Keep The Covenant Requirement Before Their Thoughts Always (11.18b-21).
What follows brings out the care that they must take to constantly remind themselves of these facts. It is almost a repeat of 6.6-9, with the ideas in a slightly different order, giving a different emphasis, and stressing the importance of keeping His words ever in their thoughts. For if they were to prosper in the land they and their children must be fully aware of His commandments. So this section of the covenant opens and closes with similar thoughts.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note that in ‘a’ they are to apply His word to hand and eye, and the result in the parallel is that their days will be long in the land which Yahweh gives them (they will not be thrown out) and their days will be as the days of the heavens above the earth. This suggests that heavenly days are seen as longer than earthly days. It may be that hand and eye relates to earth and heaven, for with the hands man toils (Genesis 5.29), and with his eyes uplifted he beholds the heavens (Psalm 8.3) he beholds the glory and righteousness of God (19.1; 97.6). In ‘b’ they are to teach their children constantly and in the parallel they are to proclaim the truth to teach outsiders.
11.18b ‘And you (ye) shall bind them for a sign on your (of ye) hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.’
Compare and contrast 6.8 where ‘thou’ is used. Each is to do it, every person is to do it, the whole nation must do it. The thought is symbolic and spiritual rather than literal. The word of God is to affect what they do with their hands and what they look at with their eyes.
Here a new phrase comes first in order to emphasise the spiritual nature of the requirement. They must lay up His words deep within them, in their hearts and souls. They must bind them on their hands and between their eyes. That is, they must ensure that His word sinks into their hearts and allow His word to determine what they do and what they look at. They were to be a people active in knowing and understanding and responding to God’s word.
It is questionable whether the last part was intended to be taken literally, although it was later so taken by the Pharisees and many others. They would wear small pouches containing Scripture on their persons during the time of morning prayer, on their foreheads and arms, and fasten them to their doors. Such pouches containing small scrolls have been discovered in the Dead Sea area. That was fine when it meant something genuine, but the danger came when it became a formality producing self-righteousness and vanity.
11.19 ‘And you (ye) shall teach them to your (of ye) children, talking of them, when you (thou) sit in your house, and when you (thou) walk by the way, and when you (thou) lie down, and when you (thou) rise up.’
Compare and contrast 6.7 where ‘thou, thee’ is used all the way through. There the thought was of one nation doing it, here it is of all of them doing it.
They must also teach them to their children by day and by night. Most of the children would be sleeping in the same place as their parents (compare Luke 11.7). Thus they must talk of such things under all circumstances, whether in the house, on their excursions, at breakfast time and at bed time, and in bed, so that all may know, and continually be reminded of, God’s covenant. The atmosphere was to be one where God’s covenant was ever seen as important. Today we would see this in terms of good reading matter with spiritual lessons suitable for children. But we should ever be willing to talk about such things with our children, and give them good guidance, and let them see that we talk about such things too.
11.20-21 ‘And you (thou) shall write them on the doorposts of your (thy) house, and on your gates, that your (of ye) days may be multiplied, and the days of your (of ye) children, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give them, as the days of the heavens above the earth.’
This may be intended both outwardly, as a testimony that the inhabitants were people of the covenant, and as a witness to all who visited them that they were so, and inwardly as a reminder to them as they went in and out of the requirements of God’s covenant. Their presumed response to this would ensure that they lived long lives in the land, and their children after them.
‘As the days of the heavens above the earth’, that is, continually all the while that the heavens were still above the earth. This would indicate for them everlastingness. Had they been obedient Israel would have enjoyed the everlasting kingdom on earth (the only promise for the future that they would be able at this stage to understand).
Alternately the idea may be that heavenly days are longer than earthly days, so that their children will enjoy longer lives just as the heavens have longer days.
All these things remind us that we too must make an effort to ensure by the reading of His word that we too ever keep before our thoughts what the Lord requires of us and offers us. If we disobediently neglect such matters we should not be surprised to find our spiritual lives waning.
The Result Of This Will Be That Their Way Will Prosper Before Them (11.22-25).
Note that love for Yahweh commenced chapter 6 and now ends chapter 11 of the general stipulations of the covenant. And if they do love Him and obey Him then their success in conquering the land is guaranteed.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note than in ‘a’ they are to diligently keep His commandments and love Yahweh their God, and walk in His ways, and cleave to Him, and the result is that their enemies will fear them (in contrast to Yahweh loving them) and all the land that they tread on (in contrast with walking in it) will be filled with dread because of God’s powerful word. In ‘b’ Yahweh will drive out nations more powerful than themselves, and they will dispossess them, and in the parallel they will take possession on any land on which the sole of their foot treads within the area of the promised land.
11.22-23 ‘For if you will diligently keep all this commandment which I command you, to do it, to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave to him, then will Yahweh drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves.’
Compare 10.12; 11.13. The dispossessing of the nations and Israel’s love for Yahweh, their walking in His ways, and their cleaving to Him had to go in tandem. If they looked to Yahweh for their victory, it must be because they loved Him and were genuinely in covenant with Him, and sought diligently to keep the totality of what He has commanded because of that love. Then would they drive out the nations mightier than themselves. The corollary is that if they did not have this covenant response then the covenant would not be valid, and they would not receive Yahweh’s assistance, in the same way that their fathers had not received His assistance (1.44). Then He would have to wait for another generation and begin again.
11.24-25 ‘Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread will be yours, from the wilderness, and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even to the hinder sea shall be your border. There shall no man be able to stand before you. Yahweh your God will lay the fear of you and the dread of you on all the land that you shall tread on, as he has spoken to you.’
But if they do love Him and walk in His ways, cleaving to Him, and keeping all He has commanded, then every place on which the sole of their foot treads (see 2.5; Joshua 1.3; 14.9) within the land promised to them will be theirs. They will take it and possess it. They will possess ‘from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the Euphrates to the western sea’ (the Mediterranean). Note how Lebanon here possibly represents both a part of Canaan and the land to the north, which also belonged to Canaanites whom we know as Phoenicians, (compare Isaiah 23.11). The wilderness lay to the south, the western sea lay to the west, the Euphrates lay to the ‘north’ (1.7; Genesis 15.18; Exodus 23.31; Joshua 1.4). It was to the north that they always went to reach the River Euphrates. The eastern border did not need to be mentioned because they were standing on it and possessed it, again evidence that this was spoken at the time when Moses was east of Jordan.
Indeed none would be able to stand against them for Yahweh would fill their enemies with fear at the very thought of them. Wherever they trod, those who were there would be terrified, just as he had always promised.
Blessing and Cursing (11.26-32).
Most suzerainty treaties and some law codes had cursings against those who disobeyed their requirements, and many had both blessings and cursings. This was especially true of second millennium BC Hittite treaties and the great law codes (1st century BC treaties stress the cursing). In the same way therefore, having laid out the general principles of their response to their Overlord, Moses introduces blessing and cursing here depending on how they carry them out.
Analysis in the words of Moses:
Note than in ‘a’ the blessing is to be given if they obey His commandments, and the curse if they do not as a result of going after other gods. In the parallel they are to obey all His statutes and ordinances which Moses has at that time set before them. In ‘b’ there is reference to their going into the land to possess it and in the parallel they are going over Jordan in order to possess the land and dwell in it. In ‘c’ the blessing is on Mount Gerizim and the cursing on Mount Ebal, and in the parallel the siting of these mountains is described.
11.26-27 ‘Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse, the blessing, if you will listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day.’
In true covenant fashion and in the same way as some law codes, including that of Hammurabi (2nd millennium BC), the choice is laid by Moses before those to whom the covenant is directed as to whether they will be blessed or cursed. To listen to the commandments of Yahweh their God and to obey will bring abundance of blessing.
11.28 ‘And the curse, if you will not listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.’
But if they refuse to obey they will receive only cursing. For if they will not listen to the commandments of Yahweh their God, but turn aside from the way that Moses commands them that day, to go after other gods which they have not known, then they will surely be cursed.
The Sealing Of The Covenant At Mounts Gerizim and Ebal.
That is why when they enter into the land successfully they must gather at the place appointed and chosen by Yahweh, and call on themselves both the blessing and the cursing, an acknowledgement by them that they subscribe to the covenant, seeking the blessing that it offers and confirming that if they fail to keep it they will only deserve cursing.
11.29-30 ‘And it shall come about that when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land to which you are going to possess it, you will set the blessing on mount Gerizim, and the curse on mount Ebal. Are they not in Beyond Jordan, behind the way of the going down of the sun, in the land of the Canaanites that dwell in the Arabah, over against Gilgal, beside the oaks of Moreh?’
Confirmation is now given of the certainty of success in the invasion by announcing that once they are established in the land they are to perform a covenant ceremony in the very land in a place connected with the two large mountains between which lies the valley in which is Shechem, the mountains of Gerizim and Ebal. Some will stand on one mountain, and some on the other (27.11-14), with the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh in the valley in between (Joshua 8.30-35). This is the place that Yahweh their God has chosen for such a ceremony. The blessing will be declared from Mount Gerizim, and the cursing from Mount Ebal.
The very general geographical position of the mountains is then described. They are in Beyond Jordan, behind ‘the way of the going down of the sun’, (the road to the west?), in the land of the Canaanites who dwell in the Jordan rift valley on the western side of Jordan, over against Gilgal, by the oaks of Moreh (Genesis 12.6; 35.4). The situation of this ‘Gilgal’ is disputed. There were a number of Gilgals (Joshua 12.23; 15.7), for the name refers to stone circles, and there were many of them, and there was quite possibly one near Shechem. Or it may simply mean ‘beyond Gilgal’ (referring to the well known Gilgal of Joshua 4.19), i.e. in that direction. (We must remember in this regard that our understanding of the ancient technical terms used in describing geographical position is limited, for we do not have enough examples from the most ancient times by which to work them out). The description is, in the final analysis, for those who are listening. He may simply be saying in a grand manner ‘over there beyond the river on the other side of Jordan’.
The mention of the oaks of Moreh, (known to them from their traditions), which were at Shechem, is partly in order to recall God’s dealings with Abraham and Jacob, for this was the first place that Abraham built an altar to Yahweh when he received his first theophany in the land (Genesis 12.6), and was later where Jacob bought land (Genesis 33.18-20). This probably largely explains why the area of Shechem was chosen for the purpose of establishing the covenant in the land.
It appears to have been a regular practise for godly men to copy past events. Thus when Samuel/Saul was re-establishing the Tabernacle worship he did so at Gilgal (1 Samuel 13,4, 7-14) where the Tabernacle was first sited when Joshua entered the land over the Jordan. And both Elijah and Elisha follow the invasion trail, crossing the Jordan, Jericho, Bethel (Elijah in reverse order - 2 Kings 2.2-8, 13-23).
The statement here is only a pause in the detailing of the covenant, for this reference to a covenant ceremony incorporating blessing and cursing will be expanded on in chapter 27. Meanwhile the detailed stipulations of the covenant are to be declared in 12-26 (this chapter 27 is a necessary follow-up to this).
11.31 ‘For you are to pass over the Jordan to go in to possess the land which Yahweh your God gives you, and you shall possess it, and dwell in it.’
For the truth is that they are to pass over Jordan in order to go in and possess the land which Yahweh their God is giving them. And they can be sure that they will possess it, and dwell in it. They have Yahweh’s assurance of that.
11.32 ‘And you shall observe to do all the statutes and the ordinances which I set before you this day.’
And when they do they must ‘observe to do’ all the statutes and ordinance set before them that day. They must fully obey Yahweh’s commands. For that is what is required if they would possess this land which belongs to Yahweh.
Summary.
Having laid out the basic principles of their position before their Overlord, the more general part of Moses’s speech is now ended and he is about to enter into the more detailed regulations of the covenant. At this point therefore let us reconsider what lessons he has stressed.
Central to all the chapters from 5-11 have been the ideas of how they must obey His commandment, His statutes and His ordinances that He might bless them in all they do (5.1, 29, 31-33; 6.1-3, 6-8, 17-18, 24-25; 7.11-12; 8.1, 6, 11; 10.13; 11.1, 8, 13, 22, 27, 32);
of how they are being blessed because of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (6.10, 18; 7.8, 13; 8.1, 18; 9.5, 27; 10.15; 11.9); of how they must remember their God Who delivered them from Egypt (5.6, 15; 6.12, 21-23; 7.8, 15, 18; 8.14; 9.26); of how He is bringing them into a good and blessed land (6.10-11, 18; 7.13-16; 8.7-10, 12-13; 11.10-12, 14-15), and of how they must beware of turning to false gods and false religion once they enter the land and must totally destroy them (5.8-9; 6.14-15; 7.4-5, 25-26; 8.19; 9.12, 16; 11.16, 28). They must remember what their Overlord has done for them, must remember the promises that He has made to bless them for their forefathers’ sakes, must recognise the goodness of the land that He is providing for them, and recognise that they must not enter into association with His enemies.
However each chapter has developed a different theme around the central thesis. Thus the foundations having been laid for the covenant, he next turns to the detailed regulations which are required under the covenant.
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GENESIS ---EXODUS--- LEVITICUS 1.1-7.38 --- 8.1-11.47 --- 12.1-16.34--- 17.1-27.34--- NUMBERS 1-10--- 11-19--- 20-36---
DEUTERONOMY 1.1-4.44 --- 4.45-11.32 --- 12.1-29.1--- 29.2-34.12 --- THE BOOK OF JOSHUA --- THE BOOK OF JUDGES ---
PSALMS 1-17--- ECCLESIASTES
--- ISAIAH 1-5 ---
6-12 --- 13-23 --- 24-27 --- 28-35 --- 36-39 --- 40-48 --- 49-55--- 56-66--- EZEKIEL --- DANIEL 1-7 ---DANIEL 8-12 --- NAHUM--- HABAKKUK---ZEPHANIAH ---ZECHARIAH --- THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW ---THE GOSPEL OF MARK--- THE GOSPEL OF LUKE --- THE GOSPEL OF JOHN --- THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES --- 1
CORINTHIANS 1-7 --- 8-16 --- 2 CORINTHIANS
1-7 ---
8-13 -- -GALATIANS --- EPHESIANS --- COLOSSIANS --- 1 THESSALONIANS --- 2 THESSALONIANS --- 1 TIMOTHY --- 2 TIMOTHY --- TITUS --- HEBREWS 1-6
--- 7-10 --- 11-13 --- JAMES --- JOHN'S
LETTERS --- REVELATION
--- THE GOSPELS
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