Background of the Deuteronomy

1. Background of the Deuteronomy • Who: Moses is the author (1:1,5;31:9,22,24) and is instructing the nation of Israel to remember/renew the covenant that God made with the nation at Mt. Sinai. Israel has wandered in the wilderness for 40 years after failing to obey God’s command to enter the promise land – the unbelieving generation has died off (except Caleb and Joshua). • What: Need to teach and train a new generation (focus on the people rather than priests). God has commanded Moses to pass on to the new generation the statutes and judgments of the Mosaic covenant (the 10 commandments are reiterated from Exodus 20 in Deuteronomy 5) and teach the overall commandment to love God from the heart (Deuteronomy 6:5). Deutero (2nd giving) nomos (law) = 2nd giving of the law. This book recounts the final speeches/teachings of Moses to the nation of Israel. • When: End of Moses life (1405 B.C.) he was disobedient at Mt. Horeb for striking the rock and will only see the promised land from Mt. Nebo. Joshua will succeed Moses as Israel’s leader. • Where: Israel in now near Mt. Nebo, east of the Jordan River, has had recent military success (2 kings of the Amorites), and is now ready to cross the Jordan and begin the conquest of the promise land. • Why: Before they cross the Jordan and conquer and occupy the Promised Land - they need to be taught that they are to fear, obey, listen, love, and proclaim God in the promise land because He is their God, He is the only God, and He is the source of their success and blessing.

2. Background of the Deuteronomy • Importance of the book – Quoted or alluded to over 100 times in the NT, Jesus affirmed Mosaic authorship (Mt. 19:7-8, Mark 10:3-5, John 5:46-47). • Theological Teaching: “The love relationship with the Lord to His people and that of the people to the Lord as the sovereign God pervade the whole book. Deuteronomy’s spiritual emphasis and its call to total commitment to the Lord in worship and obedience inspired references to its message through the rest of Scripture.” (NASB Study Bible, 228) • Foundational: Critical to understanding the NT as the NT is build on the foundation of the OT. • Summary: Call to be obedient (fear, obey, hear, love and serve/proclaim God) to the Mosaic covenant (250X “the Lord your God”) and warning/prediction (4:25-31, 29:22-30:30, 31:26-29) of rebellion/breaking it. It looks back to the Lord’s faithfulness and promises and looks forward. • Theme of the Book: This book reveals the character of God and His call for his people to be holy (7:6-11, 8:6-18, 10:12-17,11:13, 13:3-4, 14:1-2) • History: Interesting parallels to the “Suzerain/ Vassal treaties/covenant structure which was common in the mid-first millennium B.C. 1) Preamble – identifying the parties of the covenant 2) historical prologue – a history of the king’s dealing with his vassals, 3) general and specific stipulations of the covenant, 4) witnesses, 5) blessings and cursing for obeying or breaking the covenant, 6) oaths and covenant ratification. Deuteronomy loosely has these components 1:1-5 preamble, 1:5-4:43 a historical prologue, and chapters 27-28 contain blessings and cursings.

3. Outline of Deuteronomy Outline I.Introduction: The Historical Setting of Moses’ Speeches (1:1–4) II. The First Address by Moses: A Historical Prologue (1:5–4:43) A. A Historical Review of God’s Gracious Acts from Horeb to Beth Peor (1:5–3:29) B. An Exhortation to Obey the Law (4:1–40) C. The Setting Apart of Three Cities of Refuge (4:41–43) III. The Second Address by Moses: The Stipulations of the Sinaitic Covenant (4:44–28:68) A. Introduction (4:44–49) B. The Basic Elements of Israel’s Relationship with the Lord (5:1–11:32) 1. The Ten Commandments (5:1–33) 2. The total commitment to the Lord (6:1–25) 3. Separation from the gods of other nations (7:1–26) 4. A warning against forgetting the Lord (8:1–20) 5. Illustrations of Israel’s rebellion in the past (9:1–10:11) 6. An admonition to fear and love the Lord and obey His will (10:12–11:32) C. The Specific Stipulations for Life in the New Land (12:1–26:19) 1. Instructions for the life of worship (12:1–16:17) 2. Instructions for leadership (16:18–18:22) 3. Instructions for societal order (19:1–23:14) 4. Instructions from miscellaneous laws (23:15–25:19) 5. The firstfruits and tithes in the land (26:1–15) 6. The affirmation of obedience (26:16–19) D. The Blessings and Curses of the Covenant (27:1–28:68) IV. The Third Address by Moses: Another Covenant (29:1–30:20) V. The Concluding Events (31:1–34:12) A. The Change of Leadership (31:1–8) B. The Future Reading of the Law (31:9–13) C. The Song of Moses (31:14–32:47) 1. The anticipation of Israel’s failure (31:14–29) 2. The witness of Moses’ song (31:30–32:43) 3. The communicating of Moses’ song (32:44–47) D. The Final Events of Moses’ Life (32:48–34:12) 1. The directives for Moses’ death (32:48–52) 2. The blessing of Moses (33:1–29) 3. The death of Moses (34:1–12) John Jr MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed. (Nashville: Word Pub., 1997, c1997), Dt 1:1.

4. Historical Prologue 1:5-4:43 Outline • Marching orders – Mt. Sinai to Canaan (1:6-8) • Need/Appointment of Leaders (1:9-18) • Leadership Failure/Spying out the Land (1:19-33) • God’s Judgment – Disobedient would all die except Caleb and Joshua through 40 Years of Wandering (1:34-42) • Israel fights without God and fails (1:43-46) • God’s provision in the Wilderness (food, safety, intelligence (2:1-15) • Marching Orders – Conquest of the Amorites – Sihon (2:16-2:37) and Og (3:1-11) • Distribution of the Amorite land to Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh (3:12-17) • Commands to the 3 tribes – help take the land (3:18-20) • Commands to Joshua – do not fear God fights for you (3:21-22) • Moses’ prayer to the Lord for mercy and God’s response (3:23-29) • Moses’ charge to the nation of Israel to obey (4:1-8), remember (4:9-14), and watch carefully (4:15-20) • Qualities of God: Anger (4:21-23) Jealous (4:24-25) Future Judgment (4:26-30) Compassion and Exclusivity (4:31-44) • God’s law/10 Commandments (4:45-5:21) • Intercession of Moses (5:22-27) • God’s commandments, statues, and judgments (5:28-6:25)

5. Review of Deuteronomy 6:1-9 • Fear God (6:2) yare (to fear/be afraid/revere & respect God’s awesomeness) • Obey God (6:2-3) shamar (to keep, watch, preserve) • Hear God (6:3-4) shama (to hear, listen, understand) • Love God (6:5-6) aheb (affection, friendship, desire) • All Your heart (levab) totality of your being • All Your soul (nephesh) desire / from “throat” • All Your Might (meod) energy, effort, strength • Proclaim God (6:7-9) to your children and grandchildren • Teach (shanan) to whet/inculcate • Sit in your house • Walk by the way • Lie Down • Rise Up • Bind (qashar) to bind/league together • Write (kathab) to write/inscribe

6. Deuteronomy 6:10-25 • The goodness of God (6:10-11) • Command and Warning: watch/preserve yourself (shamar) do not forget (shakach) (6:12) • 2 You shalls (6:13) • You shall fear (yare) • You shall worship (abad) to work or serve • Swear (shaba) adjure, oath, promise having to do with covenants • Two You shall nots (6:14-16) • Follow other Gods (halak) to walk, go, come, (idea of fellowship) or else anger (nostril) kindle (fire) wipe (destroy) • Put the Lord your God to the test (nasah) to try • Two You shalls (6:17-18) • Diligently keep (shamar) the commandments (ch 5), testimonies, and statutes (ch6-26) • Do (asah – do/make) what is right and good in the sight (ayin – eye) of the Lord • Promise (6:18b-19) be well (yatab – good, well, pleasing, glad) with you, possession of the good land • Command (6:19) Drive out ALL (kol – all, whole) your enemies • Dialogue with children (6:20-25) • Question from your son (6:20) • Answer to your son (6:21-25)