2. There are many, many Christians who have been long enough, and far too long, in the mount, and it would be welt for themselves if they could hear this voice summoning them to go forward. Far from being done with, we know from the word of God that He will maintain the sabbatical rest strictly, and enforce it in the days of the kingdom; so that, if a man does not bow to His authority, he will assuredly come under divine judgment: so much does Jehovah make of it in itself, and so much will He make of it for the obedience of others in the day that is coming. The fixed use of the name Horeb to designate the mountain group in general, instead of the special name Sinai, which is given to the particular mountain upon which the law was given, is in keeping with the rhetorical style of the book. They possess that inimitable solemnity which cannot be so much uttered in words as felt in the general bearing of the book. Accordingly this is the solemn and central truth that is brought in here. For their lives are spent in seeking to satisfy their physical appetites and needs. Consequently there is here a heavy blow struck at the tendency towards idolatry. *See Dr. Lightfoot's Works, ii. Hence there is a tone of exceeding seriousness, as well as of chastened affection; there is a solemnity founded on the grand dealings of a God whose faithful and holy hand was now ushering them into His land. Types are but sparsely presented over the great bulk of the instruction which crowds its pages. There is the peril of religion becoming a species of enjoyment. The time was near the end of the fortieth year since they came out of Egypt. Covenant favour would surely do as much for Israel as providence had done for Moab and Ammon! Is this what you feel? Prayer Point #2: For The Body of Christ To Be In Unity and Walk In Love. Taking the passage in this light, and reading the wider truth into it, we get the idea of a land which is: 1. And Jehovah spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words" because they were called to obey "but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice. It reminds them of his gracious acts on their behalf and calls from them a fitting response of covenant loyalty. THE CHURCH'S DESTINY - to possess the land. "Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction; for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life." God had cared for them throughout the long and weary journey from Mount Sinai (Horeb), carrying them as a father carries his young son who has become too tired to walk. It's yours." Here then we have all laid bare. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children;" and they were to bind them for a sign; they were to make much of them at all points outside the house and inside, and always. Surely this is highly significant. Was there any reason in this why the children of Israel should have wars with them now? Now wherein lay this fitness not only in the words that were cited, but in the particular book from which they were extracted? Israel was called in everything to confide in Jehovah and obey. The "Lord our God," "Jehovah our Elohim," is the watchword of the whole book. It is as true for us as for them, though not shown in the same legal way or outward manner. God wants to bring you on into the walk of the spirit and the life of the spirit and a life that is dominated by the spirit. In Deuteronomy 8:1-20 we have quite a different character. This then is the leading truth of Deuteronomy. It seems just a parenthesis, and not a question of chronology.*. II. The reason is obvious. So it is that the New Testament gives us the failure of the apostle Peter, not merely at the beginning but in the very midst of his career. So the commandment of God; "you've been here long enough, you've circled this mountain long enough". Conceive the state of mind which could say that "in Deuteronomy Moses repeatedly lays the blame of his expulsion on the people (Deuteronomy 1:37; Deuteronomy 3:26; Deuteronomy 4:21); but according toNumbers 20:12; Numbers 20:12 God punished him thus for not believing Him, while inNumbers 27:14; Numbers 27:14 his punishment was occasioned by the legislator's own disobedience"! The quotation is from Dennis Baly, The Geography of the Bible.]. THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY. Such conversion does not suit God, who must have His own. I pray that by Your grace, I would choose to live a victorious life that trusts Your Word, submits to Your will, and honours Your name in every eventuality of life. A Summons To Advance . I dare say we have almost all done so, without referring to any particular mode; for alas! 3. 8-10. May I not venture to think that other considerations entered, and that His citation of Deuteronomy only is in no way meant to disparage fitting words found elsewhere? Meanwhile they were not to meddle with their kindred, even though jealous and unkind. They were the dues He demanded in virtue of His position as landlord of the people in the land. I`m blessed into my down sitting and I`m blessed into my uprising! They knew no reason why weary wastes of disappointing years should stretch between Bethel and Peniel, between the Cross and Pentecost. 12). We need not dilate on the beautiful detail but at the same time simple truth of this chapter. Deuteronomy 1:6-9. . His brother was the political head of that community in Alexandria, and he himself on one occasion represented his co-religionists, Although no creature can define what God is, because he is incomprehensible (Psal. In comparing the allegorical Canons of Philo with those of Jewish traditionalism, we think first of all of the seven exegetical canons which are ascribed to Hillel. "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. The Israelites thought to settle the whole matter with God by saying, "We have sinned;" but then they proved that there was nothing settled, nothing right; because what really pleases God is this the acceptance of His good will, whatever it be. 10. "But Sihon," it is said, "king of Heshbon, would not let us pass by him: for Jehovah thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day. Thus, after God's controversy with them on account of the golden calf, the first and surest sign of God's being reconciled to them was the renewing of the tables. At the same time we are told how the tribe of Levi was separated, after having brought in (in an episodical way) an allusion to Aaron's death. ( Romans 7:24 ). If truth be abandoned, it indicates the power of Satan as the source, and not the true God. 4. It is possible, however, that the ipsissima verba may be in one or other. And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them ( Deuteronomy 1:2-3 ); So, there's an eleven-day journey from Horeb to Kadeshbarnea to the beginning of entering into the Promised Land, but they have been journeying for forty years and eleven months on an eleven-day journey. So Jehovah our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people." We are to observe the statutes and to do them. About a hundred and twenty-six miles from Mount Horeb to Kadeshbarnea. 30.) He that believes may calmly confide in God under all circumstances. There is a warfare that goes on in our lives; the flesh warring against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh and these two are contrary. The first thing introduced here is the fact that Jehovah had spoken to them in Horeb, saying, "Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. And so they departed from Horeb. It is strange how little we know of the personal history of the greatest of uninspired Jewish writers of old, though he occupied so prominent a position in his time. So, after it has been brought before us from the first, we find their failure to trust Jehovah leads to a fresh command. All this was now closed. Here then they are called to action. This men forget. Now Israel had totally failed in their place. I have no hesitation in subscribing the opinion that our Lord Jesus chose them not only because they were in themselves exactly such as met and confronted Satan's temptations perfectly, but because there was a moral suitability in the fact that they were the words addressed to the people when ruin had already come in when nothing but the grace of God was afresh appealing to them before they were brought into the holy land. He has given no title to adopt doctrines, practices, ways, government, or any one thing that is not His expressed will for His children. Was anything like this the rule where man even took up the Bible for his own ends? Because he hath wholly followed the Lord. Such then is the early and remarkably striking introduction to the book. As God loved Moses, so Moses confided in God. Deuteronomy 31:6 - Prayer Points For Protection From Fear/Failure. Edomites or Moabites or Ammonites, unfeeling and disposed to injure Israel, still God would educate His people in remembering whatever bond of nature there was: if blows came, God would not forget the delinquent. They would have further proof of Gods unfailing goodness when they saw the rich land God was giving them. The section summarizes events recorded in greater detail in Numbers 10:11-42. In such a case there is no room for will, nor sparing of the heart. He was a descendant of Aaron, and belonged to one of the wealthiest and most influential families among the Jewish merchant-princes of Egypt. 5, 6; 1 Tim. Jehovah had blessed Israel, and would have them content and thankful instead of coveting their neighbour's goods. Oh, I'm getting close because I realize now I can't deliver myself. Then in Deuteronomy 2:1-37 the law-giver reminds them how they took their weary journey. Many count it buried in Christ's grave, but it is not. Some wonder why it should be joined with the other commandments; but the sabbath is so much the more important here, because it is not strictly a moral command. And that which I could not do because of the weakness of my flesh I find that God has done for me and has made provision for me through the power of the Holy Spirit. 11). "Oh, this might be dangerous, and that were presumptuous;" and so men talk on that is, the moment it becomes a real living truth, and not words on paper. He wanted to leave them his blessing nay, he wanted them to have the best blessing that God could give them. "Hearken" and "do," that ye may "live" and "possess.". Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land whither ye go to possess it; and that ye may prolong your days in the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey" (ver. It extends to Deuteronomy 4:40; and is divided from the second discourse by the Deu 1:4 :41-49. 45, was edited and abbreviated somewhat. Both were powerful motives not to dread the Canaanite races, who were destined to extirpation. God always holds to His own principles, and He teaches us to respect them in others. Psalm 138:1-2. The discourse itself. saying, ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: or near it; for hither they came on the first day of the third month from their departure out of Egypt, and they did not remove from thence until the twentieth day of the second month in the second year, Exodus 19:1 so that they were here a year wanting ten days; in which space of time the law was given them, the tabernacle and all things appertaining to it were made by them, rulers both ecclesiastical and civil were appointed over them, and they were numbered and marshalled in order under four standards, and so ready to march; and all this being done, they must stay no longer, but set forward for the land of Canaan. "Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of Egypt." Deuteronomy 14:1-29 insists on what became the children of Jehovah their God in abstaining from unseemly maimings or disfigurements for the dead, as well as from any food which He, who knew better than they, pronounced abominable. Consequently it is not an isolated fact that they wished spies, or that Jehovah acceded to their desire to have them (this we have already seen), but here "Ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come." In short how could it be respected as it deserves, if regarded as an almost garrulous repetition of the law? In Deuteronomy 5:14 is the addition, 'thine ox nor thine ass,' as well as the clause, 'that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou.' Surely this is very significant, and points out a manifest difference in the character and scope and design of the book of Deuteronomy as compared with Exodus. In the very first place is laid down utter destruction of the high places. But God wants us to not be governed by the flesh but to be governed by the spirit; and thus, there is this spiritual warfare seeking the dominancy in your life. None ever honoured God's word as Christ did. All is perfect in its own place, and the imputation of self-contradiction as baseless as it is malicious and irreverent. It seems needless to say that this is altogether short of Christianity; and as we have referred to the difference of a Jew and a Christian as to the sabbath-day and the first day of the week, so as to this. This seems to me put to the test in the question of the land of Edom. Who shall deliver me from this bondage to my flesh?" "The saying pleased me well, and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: and they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eschol, and searched it out. But inasmuch as the Lord's three answers are taken from the early portion of Deuteronomy, which comes before us on this occasion, I have at once referred to this patent fact. If we have seen the object of all this part of Deuteronomy to be the enforcement of obedience, there is nothing which maintains obedience so much as redemption; and if that were the case when it was only an outward deliverance, how much more when it is eternal? Pray it during the day too. I do not dwell on this. Prayer Point #1: Pray for a Great Awakening and for Salvations. THE CHURCH'S DANGER - to abide at the mount, to settle down into a state of apathy or simple receptivity. It is the due conduct of a people in relationship with Jehovah; no longer the bringing out of typical institutions, but the development of the moral ways which become the people with whom Jehovah had a present connection and intercourse on earth. The trip from Egypt to Sinai was only preparation for the giving of the covenant. It is a call to obedience. Yet in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God, who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day." Nevertheless the circumstance that he too had failed to sanctify Jehovah their God in his heart as he ought that even he had misrepresented Him when it was above all due to God that His grace should be clearly seen, all this added gravity to the appeals and style of the departing man of God. So, they are words of encouragement as he is recounting that which God has done. How good is the Lord! "Can you call Him Father?" 11). Accordingly the majority of expositors take the record in Exodus for the exact one, supposing that, as Moses was speaking to the people in the latter case, he recited from memory, not from the tables of stone, and therefore there is some variation of terms. Many of them did not see the miracle of the Red Sea being parted. ^D John VII. So this is where the word Deuteronomy comes from "Moses began to declare this law". Hence Moses says, "These words Jehovah spake unto all 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. By whom? The Lord puts no weapon of a kind to injure any into our hands; but bids us leave vengeance with himself. But Satan as usual tampered with the plain written word, alike with its letter and its spirit; for after "to keep thee" he omitted "in all thy ways." "Jehovah our God made a covenant with us at Horeb." O. T. p. 65) says: "From Deuteronomy 10:8 it is plain that the Levites were not appointed at Sinai but later; whereas we learn fromNumbers 8:1-26; Numbers 8:1-26. that their institution took place at Sinai." As true for us as for them, though not shown in the words that were,. 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