NARRATIVE INTERLUDE THE EXODUS, WANDERING, AND CONQUEST REVIEWED THE PRESENT COVENANT SETTING THE RESULTS OF DISOBEDIENCE DEUTERONOMY 29:1-29

Transcription

1 1 NARRATIVE INTERLUDE THE EXODUS, WANDERING, AND CONQUEST REVIEWED THE PRESENT COVENANT SETTING THE RESULTS OF DISOBEDIENCE DEUTERONOMY 29:1-29

2 2 Text: NARRATIVE INTERLUDE THE EXODUS, WANDERING, AND CONQUEST REVIEWED THE PRESENT COVENANT SETTING THE RESULTS OF DISOBEDIENCE Deuteronomy 29:1-29, 1. These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. 2. Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. 3. Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. 4. But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! 5. I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out nor have your sandals deteriorated. 6. You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer all so that you might know that I am the Lord your God!

3 When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. 8. Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. 9. Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. 10. You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, 11. your infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water 12. so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. 13. Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14. It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, 15. but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. 16. (For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. 17. You have seen their detestable things and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) 18. Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit.

4 When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit. This will destroy the watered ground with the parched. 20. The Lord will be unwilling to forgive him, and his intense anger will rage against that man; all the curses written in this scroll will fall upon him and the Lord will obliterate his name from memory. 21. The Lord will single him out for judgment from all the tribes of Israel according to all the curses of the covenant written in this scroll of the law. 22. The generation to come your descendants who will rise up after you, as well as the foreigner who will come from distant places will see the afflictions of that land and the illnesses that the Lord has brought on it. 23. The whole land will be covered with brimstone, salt, and burning debris; it will not be planted nor will it sprout or produce grass. It will resemble the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord destroyed in his intense anger. 24. Then all the nations will ask, Why has the Lord done all this to this land? What is this fierce, heated display of anger all about? 25. Then people will say, Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt. 26. They went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods they did not know and that he did not permit them to worship. 27. That is why the Lord s anger erupted against this land, bringing on it all the curses written in this scroll.

5 So the Lord has uprooted them from their land in anger, wrath, and great rage and has deported them to another land, as is clear today. 29. Secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those that are revealed belong to us and our descendants forever, so that we might obey all the words of this law. (NET) Introduction: I. Hamilton, following the Narrative Interlude of verse 1 and The Exodus, Wandering and Conquest reviews of verses 2-8, viewed the remainder of the chapter as falling into the following sections; viz.,... A. Deuteronomy 29:9-15,... B. Deuteronomy 29:16-21,... C. Deuteronomy 29:22-28, and... D. Deuteronomy 29:29. II. Smith viewed Deuteronomy 29:1 30:20 as being Moses last sermon. It was delivered in the plains of Moab. A. On this occasion the Sinai covenant was renewed. 1. This was a momentous occasion with the imminent death of Moses rapidly approaching. B. This sermon consists of six (6) parts; viz.,...

6 Deuteronomy 29:1-8, Deuteronomy 29:9-15, Deuteronomy 29:18-29, Deuteronomy 30:1-10, Deuteronomy 30:11-14, and Deuteronomy 30: NOTE: Parts 1, 2 and 3 above will be addressed in this lesson. For a commentary on Deuteronomy 30, see the next lesson in this series. III. Chapters constitute Moses third and last formal speech, Hall wrote, the purpose of which was to call all Israel to ratify the covenant that had just been presented in chapters A. Blessings were assured to the faithful. B. Punishments were assured to the unfaithful. C. The section concludes with a clear call to decision: Israel had to choose life or death. (See Hall.) 1. Deuteronomy 30:15-20, Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. What

7 7 I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are about to possess. However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, I declare to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Today I invoke heaven and earth as a witness against you that I have set life and death, blessing and curse, before you. Therefore choose life so that you and your descendants may live! I also call on you to love the Lord your God, to obey him and be loyal to him, for he gives you life and enables you to live continually in the land the Lord promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (NET) 2. This call to decision continues even today and will continue to be made until Christ returns. IV. Coffman wrote, Both this and the following chapters are part of the ratification of the Sinai Covenant that took place on the plains of Moab, shortly before Israel would enter Canaan, the purpose being that of securing the succession to leadership in the person of Joshua. A great part of the ceremony was already completed in the previous two chapters.

8 8 Commentary: Narrative Interlude Deuteronomy 29:1, These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb. (NET) NOTE: Hall wrote that this verse is transitional. Some regard it as the conclusion of chapter 28 while others regard it as the introduction to chapter 29. English translations follow the LXX rather than the Hebrew text. The Septuagint views this verse as the introduction to chapter 29. Clarke and Hall viewed this verse as the conclusion to chapter 28 according to the Hebrew text. Coffman viewed the verse as being the first verse of chapter 29. I. *These are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab,... A. *NET Footnote: From Deuteronomy 29:1-29:29 the verse numbers in the English Bible differ from the verse numbers in the Hebrew text, with 29:1 ET = 28:69 HT, etc. B. Hamilton wrote that this paragraph, verses 1-9, marks a transition to the final exhortations of the book of Deuteronomy. II. in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.* A. *NET Footnote: Horeb is another name for Mount Sinai.

9 9 B. Coffman wrote, This was a repetition of the Sinai regulations with certain explanations and amplifications. D. The Pulpit Commentary states that sacrifices were offered upon the ratification, institution of this covenant at Sinai, Horeb, but no sacrifices attended the reaffirmation of the covenant on the plains of Moab. 1. Exodus 24:1-18, But to Moses the Lord said, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from a distance. Moses alone may come near the Lord, but the others must not come near, nor may the people go up with him. Moses came and told the people all the Lord s words and all the decisions. All the people answered together, We are willing to do all the words that the Lord has said, and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain and arranged twelve standing stones according to the twelve tribes of Israel. He sent young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls for peace offerings to the Lord. Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and half of the blood he splashed on the altar. He took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people, and they said, We are willing to do and obey all that the Lord has spoken. So Moses took the blood and splashed it on the people and said, This is the blood of

10 10 the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself. But he did not lay a hand on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, and they ate and they drank. The Lord said to Moses, Come up to me on the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandments that I have written, so that you may teach them. So Moses set out with Joshua his attendant, and Moses went up the mountain of God. He told the elders, Wait for us in this place until we return to you. Here are Aaron and Hur with you. Whoever has any matters of dispute can approach them. Moses went up the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the Lord resided on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day he called to Moses from within the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in plain view of the people. Moses went into the cloud when he went up the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. (NET) 2. Psalm 1:5, For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly. (NET)

11 11 The Exodus, Wandering, and Conquest Reviewed Deuteronomy 29:2-8, Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out nor have your sandals deteriorated. You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer all so that you might know that I am the Lord your God! When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. (NET) Deuteronomy 29:2, Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows: You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land. (NET) I. Moses proclaimed to all Israel as follows:... A. The nation had gathered in the plains of Moab to hear the words of their beloved leader whose death was approaching. B. Moses proclaimed to them the word of the Lord with all his heart, strength, mind, spirit and soul. II. You have seen all that the Lord did in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, all his servants, and his land.

12 12 A. Moses, Hamilton wrote, in verses 2-8 urges the people of Israel to obey the Torah because: God delivered Israel from Egypt, God provided for them in the wilderness, and God dispossessed their enemies. B. Here Moses reminded Israel of the mighty works God had performed in Egypt to facilitate their deliverance from slavery. (See Smith.) Deuteronomy 29:3, Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. (NET) I. Your eyes have seen the great judgments, those signs and mighty wonders. A. The Israelites had personally witnessed the mighty acts of God! Deuteronomy 29:4, But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears! (NET) I. But to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!

13 13 A. Hall explained, God grants insight in conjunction with the seeking heart, but he withholds it from the non-seeking heart. 1. Isaiah 6:9-10, He said, Go and tell these people: Listen continually, but don t understand! Look continually, but don t perceive! Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed. (NET) 2. God gives an understanding heart, perceptive eyes and discerning ears only to sincere seekers. 3. God would have given them an understanding heart if they had truly sought perceptive eyes and discerning ears Corinthians 2:14, The unbeliever does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. (NET) 5. Proverbs 20:12, The ear that hears and the eye that sees the Lord has made them both. (NET) 6. Jeremiah 31:33, But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land, says the Lord. I

14 14 will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. (NET) 7. Jeremiah 32:39, I will give them a singleminded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. (NET) 8. Deuteronomy 30:6, The Lord your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your mind and being and so that you may live. (NET) B. It is perplexing to observe the lack of understanding of the Israelites who had experienced God s blessings and providential care through forty years in the wilderness. 1. The Pulpit Commentary states that the people themselves, not God, were responsible for their lack of an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, and discerning ears. a. Matthew 13:13-17, For this reason I speak to them in parables: Although they see they do not see, and although they hear they do not hear nor do they understand. And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: You will listen carefully yet will never understand, you will look

15 15 closely yet will never comprehend. For the heart of this people has become dull; they are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes, so that they would not see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. But your eyes are blessed because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. (NET) Deuteronomy 29:5, I have led you through the desert for forty years. Your clothing has not worn out nor have your sandals deteriorated. (NET) I have led you through the desert for forty (40) years. A. While Joshua and Caleb were the only living adults who had seen God s wonders in Egypt, all had seen God s wondrous miracles during their wilderness wanderings. B. Moses introduces God here as the speaker and true leader of Israel from Egypt and through the wilderness. 1. Deuteronomy 11:14, then he promises, I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil. (NET)

16 Deuteronomy 8:3-4, So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord s mouth. Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. (NET) II. Your clothing has not worn out nor have your sandals deteriorated. A. This was definitely miraculous. Think about wearing the same clothes for forty (40) years and having them as good as new at the end of all that time. 1. Deuteronomy 8:4, Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years. (NET) Deuteronomy 29:6, You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer all so that you might know that I am the Lord your God! (NET) I. You have eaten no bread and drunk no wine or beer all so that you might know that I am the Lord your God! A. By these experiences they came to know God. 1. Exodus 6:7, I will take you to myself for a people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought

17 17 you out from your enslavement to the Egyptians. (NET) 2. Exodus 7:5, 17, Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I extend my hand over Egypt and bring the Israelites out from among them. Thus says the Lord: By this you will know that I am the Lord: I am going to strike the water of the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be turned into blood. (NET) 3. Exodus 8:10, 22, He said, Tomorrow. And Moses said, It will be as you say, so that you may know that there is no one like the Lord our God. But on that day I will mark off the land of Goshen, where my people are staying, so that no swarms of flies will be there, that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of this land. (NET) 4. Exodus 9:14, For this time I will send all my plagues on your very self and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like me in all the earth. (NET) 5. Exodus 10:2, and in order that in the hearing of your son and your grandson you may tell how I made fools of the Egyptians and about my signs that I displayed among them, so that you may know that I am the Lord. (NET)

18 Exodus 14:4, I will harden Pharaoh s heart, and he will chase after them. I will gain honor because of Pharaoh and because of all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. So this is what they did. (NET) 7. 1 Kings 20:14, Ahab asked, By whom will this be accomplished? He answered, This is what the Lord says, By the servants of the district governors. Ahab asked, Who will launch the attack? He answered, You will. (NET) 8. Ezekiel 6:7, 10, 13-14, The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord. They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty. Then you will know that I am the Lord when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak, the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Riblah, in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord! (NET) B. They had eaten manna that God provided regularly without fail. Their minds had not been dulled by wine and beer.

19 They could have clearly seen the majesty of the Lord. 2. Deuteronomy 5:29, If only it would really be their desire to fear me and obey all my commandments in the future, so that it may go well with them and their descendants forever. (NET) 3. 2 Corinthians 6:1, Now because we are fellow workers, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain. (NET) Deuteronomy 29:7, When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. (NET) I. When you came to this place King Sihon of Heshbon and King Og of Bashan came out to make war and we defeated them. A. God gave Israel victory over Sihon and Og. Their land was given to Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh. (See Smith.) B. The generation to which Moses spoke had only recently experienced these victories and had seen again the Lord s providential care and unspeakable blessings. (See Hall.) 1. Numbers 21:21-31, Then Israel sent messengers to King Sihon of the Amorites, saying, Let us pass through your land; we will not turn aside into the fields or into the

20 20 vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well, but we will go along the King s Highway until we pass your borders. But Sihon did not permit Israel to pass through his border; he gathered all his forces together and went out against Israel into the wilderness. When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. But the Israelites defeated him in battle and took possession of his land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, as far as the Ammonites, for the border of the Ammonites was strongly defended. So Israel took all these cities; and Israel settled in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all its villages. For Heshbon was the city of King Sihon of the Amorites. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, as far as the Arnon. That is why those who speak in proverbs say, Come to Heshbon, let it be built. Let the city of Sihon be established! For fire went out from Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon. It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon. Woe to you, Moab. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites. We have overpowered them; Heshbon has perished as far as Dibon. We have shattered them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba. So the Israelites lived in the land of the Amorites. (NET)

21 Deuteronomy 2:24-37, Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your approach. Then I sent messengers from the Kedemoth Desert to King Sihon of Heshbon with an offer of peace: Let me pass through your land; I will keep strictly to the roadway. I will not turn aside to the right or the left. Sell me food for cash so that I can eat and sell me water to drink. Just allow me to go through on foot, just as the descendants of Esau who live at Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I cross the Jordan to the land the Lord our God is giving us. But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day. The Lord said to me, Look! I have already begun to give over Sihon and his land to you. Start right now to take his land as your possession. When Sihon and all his troops emerged to encounter us in battle at Jahaz, the Lord our God delivered him over to us and we struck him down, along with his sons and everyone else. At that time we seized all his cities and put every one of them under divine judgment, including even the women and

22 22 children; we left no survivors. We kept only the livestock and plunder from the cities for ourselves. From Aroer, which is at the edge of Wadi Arnon (it is the city in the wadi), all the way to Gilead there was not a town able to resist us the Lord our God gave them all to us. However, you did not approach the land of the Ammonites, the Wadi Jabbok, the cities of the hill country, or any place else forbidden by the Lord our God. (NET) 3. Deuteronomy 3:1-11, Next we set out on the route to Bashan, but King Og of Bashan and his whole army came out to meet us in battle at Edrei. The Lord, however, said to me, Don t be afraid of him because I have already given him, his whole army, and his land to you. You will do to him exactly what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites who lived in Heshbon. So the Lord our God did indeed give over to us King Og of Bashan and his whole army and we struck them down until not a single survivor was left. We captured all his cities at that time there was not a town we did not take from them sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the dominion of Og in Bashan. All of these cities were fortified by high walls, gates, and locking bars; in addition there were a great many open villages. We put all of these under divine judgment just as we had done to King Sihon of Heshbon every occupied city, including women and children. But all the livestock and plunder from the cities we kept for

23 23 ourselves. So at that time we took the land of the two Amorite kings in the Transjordan from Wadi Arnon to Mount Hermon (the Sidonians call Hermon Sirion and the Amorites call it Senir), all the cities of the plateau, all of Gilead and Bashan as far as Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaites. (It is noteworthy that his sarcophagus was made of iron. Does it not, indeed, still remain in Rabbath of the Ammonites? It is thirteen and a half feet long and six feet wide according to standard measure.) (NET) 4. Deuteronomy 31:4, The Lord will do to them just what he did to Sihon and Og, the Amorite kings, and to their land, which he destroyed. (NET) Deuteronomy 29:8, Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. (NET) I. Then we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. A. God gave Israel victory over Sihon and Og and gave their land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. B. God had certainly cared for Israel. What behooved these people to rebel against their divine benefactor?

24 24 The Present Covenant Setting Deuteronomy 29:9-15, Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, your infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. (NET) Deuteronomy 29:9, Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. (NET) I. Therefore keep the terms of this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do. A. Hall wrote, This passage does not suggest specific material prosperity, but general success in life from paying attention to God-given wisdom, understanding, prudence, and insight. God s law provided the parameters for a full life under God in every aspect of life spiritually, emotionally, relationally, psychologically, and materially. God naturally

25 25 knows the deepest human needs of his people and how they can be met. 1. Jeremiah 9:23, The Lord says, Wise people should not boast that they are wise. Powerful people should not boast that they are powerful. Rich people should not boast that they are rich. (NET) 2. Proverbs 1:3, To receive moral instruction in skillful living, in righteousness, justice, and equity. (NET) 3. Proverbs 21:11, When a scorner is punished, the naive becomes wise; when a wise person is instructed, he gains knowledge. (NET) 4. Proverbs 16:23, A wise person s heart makes his speech wise and it adds persuasiveness to his words. (NET) 5. Proverbs 10:5, 19, The one who gathers crops in the summer is a wise son, but the one who sleeps during the harvest is a son who brings shame to himself. When words abound, transgression is inevitable, but the one who restrains his words is wise. (NET) 6. Daniel 1:17, Now as for these four young men, God endowed them with knowledge and skill in all sorts of literature and wisdom and Daniel

26 26 had insight into all kinds of visions and dreams. (NET) 7. Daniel 9:22, He spoke with me, instructing me as follows: Daniel, I have now come to impart understanding to you. (NET) 8. Psalm 32:8, I will instruct and teach you about how you should live. I will advise you as I look you in the eye. (NET) 9. Psalm 64:9, 10, and all people will fear. They will proclaim what God has done, and reflect on his deeds. The godly will rejoice in the Lord and take shelter in him. All the morally upright will boast. (NET) 10. Psalm 106:7, Our ancestors in Egypt failed to appreciate your miraculous deeds, they failed to remember your many acts of loyal love, and they rebelled at the sea, by the Red Sea. (NET) 11. Joshua 1:7-8, Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. (NET)

27 Samuel 18:14, 30, Now David achieved success in all he did, for the Lord was with him. Then the leaders of the Philistines would march out, and as often as they did so, David achieved more success than all of Saul s servants. His name was held in high esteem. (NET) 13. It is the prosperity which comes from wise and prudent action that God commends to his people, The Pulpit Commentary states. Deuteronomy 29:10, You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite man, (NET) I. You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God the heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite man,... A. That day on the plains of Moab was a monumentous occasion. (See Smith.) 1. All Israel, both nationally and individually, even aliens, would there swear allegiance to God and pledge themselves and their descendants to faithfully observe the Lord s covenant. (Hall) 2. They stood before the all powerful God, creator of heaven and earth.

28 28 B. This was an awesome occasion! Israel and God would renew, reconfirm their covenantal agreement, contract. (See Clarke.) 1. Israel was summoned to enter into this covenant of the Lord with fresh ardor and cordiality, The Pulpit Commentary states. Deuteronomy 29:11, your infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water (NET) I. your infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who chop wood and those who carry water- A. Hamilton stated the covenant (Torah) embraced all the members of the Israelite community, even aliens who lived and worked among them at menial tasks. B. Godly parents then and now are to dedicate their children to the Lord and prayerfully resolve to rear them in the way of righteousness. 1. Other servants of God are to encourage godly parents and set Christian examples for children to follow. 2. Everyone, people of all socio-economic levels, were to be equal before God and equal participants in the covenant.

29 29 Deuteronomy 29:12, so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. (NET) I. so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. A. Hall observed that the word oath is used only three (3) times in the book of Deuteronomy, all of them being in this chapter. 1. Deuteronomy 29:12, 14, 19, so that you may enter by oath into the covenant the Lord your God is making with you today. It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit. This will destroy the watered ground with the parched. (NET) 2. The oath placed the people under a curse if they violated the terms of the covenant. a. Genesis 26:28, They replied, We could plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be a pact between us between us and you. Allow us to make a treaty with you (NET) b. Hebrews 6:17, In the same way God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the

30 30 heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, and so he intervened with an oath, (NET) 3. The oath promised blessings to those who faithfully observed the covenant s conditions. Deuteronomy 29:13, Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God, just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (NET) I. Today he will affirm that you are his people and that he is your God,... A. This covenant comprehensively encompassed the entire relationship between God and Israel, Hall wrote. B. Clarke wrote, An oath is taken by the parties (here God and Israel) that they shall punctually and faithfully perform their respective obligations under this covenant. 1. Jeremiah 34:18-19, I will punish those people who have violated their covenant with me. I will make them like the calf they cut in two and passed between its pieces. I will do so because they did not keep the terms of the covenant they made in my presence. I will punish the leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests, and all the other people of the land who passed between the pieces of the calf. (NET)

31 Genesis 6:18, but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will enter the ark you, your sons, your wife, and your sons wives with you. (NET) 3. Genesis 15:18, That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River (NET) 4. Exodus 29:45, I will reside among the Israelites, and I will be their God, (NET) II. just as he promised you and as he swore by oath to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A. The covenant placed the Israelites in agreement with the terms of the covenant, contract and its blessings for compliance and its curses for non-compliance. (See Hall.) 1. Deuteronomy 28:1-68, If you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above all the nations of the earth. All these blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God: You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the field. Your children will be blessed, as well as the produce of your soil, the offspring of your livestock, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be blessed. You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

32 32 The Lord will cause your enemies who attack you to be struck down before you; they will attack you from one direction but flee from you in seven different directions. The Lord will decree blessing for you with respect to your barns and in everything you do yes, he will bless you in the land he is giving you. The Lord will designate you as his holy people just as he promised you, if you keep his commandments and obey him. Then all the peoples of the earth will see that you belong to the Lord, and they will respect you. The Lord will greatly multiply your children, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your soil in the land which he promised your ancestors he would give you. The Lord will open for you his good treasure house, the heavens, to give you rain for the land in its season and to bless all you do; you will lend to many nations but you will not borrow from any. The Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you will always end up at the top and not at the bottom, if you obey his commandments which I am urging you today to be careful to do. But you must not turn away from all the commandments I am giving you today, to either the right or left, nor pursue other gods and worship them. But if you ignore the Lord your God and are not careful to keep all his commandments and statutes I am giving you today, then all these curses will come upon you in full force: You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the field. Your basket and your mixing bowl will be cursed. Your children will be

33 33 cursed, as well as the produce of your soil, the calves of your herds, and the lambs of your flocks. You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out. The Lord will send on you a curse, confusing you and opposing you in everything you undertake until you are destroyed and quickly perish because of the evil of your deeds, in that you have forsaken me. The Lord will plague you with deadly diseases until he has completely removed you from the land you are about to possess. He will afflict you with weakness, fever, inflammation, infection, sword, blight, and mildew; these will attack you until you perish. The sky above your heads will be bronze and the earth beneath you iron. The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; it will come down on you from the sky until you are destroyed. The Lord will allow you to be struck down before your enemies; you will attack them from one direction but flee from them in seven directions and will become an object of terror to all the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses will be food for every bird of the sky and wild animal of the earth, and there will be no one to chase them off. The Lord will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, eczema, and scabies, all of which cannot be healed. The Lord will also subject you to madness, blindness, and confusion of mind. You will feel your way along at noon like the blind person does in darkness and you will not succeed in anything you do; you will be

34 34 constantly oppressed and continually robbed, with no one to save you. You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it. Your ox will be slaughtered before your very eyes but you will not eat of it. Your donkey will be stolen from you as you watch and will not be returned to you. Your flock of sheep will be given to your enemies and there will be no one to save you. Your sons and daughters will be given to another people while you look on in vain all day, and you will be powerless to do anything about it. As for the produce of your land and all your labor, a people you do not know will consume it, and you will be nothing but oppressed and crushed for the rest of your lives. You will go insane from seeing all this. The Lord will afflict you in your knees and on your legs with painful, incurable boils from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. The Lord will force you and your king whom you will appoint over you to go away to a people whom you and your ancestors have not known, and you will serve other gods of wood and stone there. You will become an occasion of horror, a proverb, and an object of ridicule to all the peoples to whom the Lord will drive you. You will take much seed to the field but gather little harvest, because locusts will consume it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them, but you will not drink wine or gather in grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive

35 35 trees throughout your territory but you will not anoint yourself with olive oil, because the olives will drop off the trees while still unripe. You will bear sons and daughters but not keep them, because they will be taken into captivity. Whirring locusts will take over every tree and all the produce of your soil. The foreigners who reside among you will become higher and higher over you and you will become lower and lower. They will lend to you but you will not lend to them; they will become the head and you will become the tail! All these curses will fall on you, pursuing and overtaking you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping his commandments and statutes that he has given you. These curses will be a perpetual sign and wonder with reference to you and your descendants. Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have, instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and poverty you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the elderly or pity for the young. They will devour the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed.

36 36 They will not leave you with any grain, new wine, olive oil, calves of your herds, or lambs of your flocks until they have destroyed you. They will besiege all of your villages until all of your high and fortified walls collapse those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will besiege all your villages throughout the land the Lord your God has given you. You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the severity of the siege by which your enemies will constrict you. The man among you who is by nature tender and sensitive will turn against his brother, his beloved wife, and his remaining children. He will withhold from all of them his children s flesh that he is eating (since there is nothing else left), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages. Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters, and will secretly eat her afterbirth and her newborn children (since she has nothing else), because of the severity of the siege by which your enemy will constrict you in your villages. If you refuse to obey all the words of this law, the things written in this scroll, and refuse to fear this glorious and awesome name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will increase your punishments and those of

37 37 your descendants great and long-lasting afflictions and severe, enduring illnesses. He will infect you with all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will persistently afflict you. Moreover, the Lord will bring upon you every kind of sickness and plague not mentioned in this scroll of commandments, until you have perished. There will be very few of you left, though at one time you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you will have disobeyed the Lord your God. This is what will happen: Just as the Lord delighted to do good for you and make you numerous, he will take delight in destroying and decimating you. You will be uprooted from the land you are about to possess. The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day to the next. In the morning you will say, If only it were evening! And in the evening you will say, I wish it were morning! because of the things you will fear and the things you will see. Then the Lord will make you return to Egypt by ship, over a route I said to you that you would never see

38 38 again. There you will sell yourselves to your enemies as male and female slaves, but no one will buy you. (NET) B. Hall wrote, God s promise to the forefathers is a central theme in Deuteronomy. 1. Deuteronomy 7:8-9, Rather it is because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the promise he solemnly vowed to your ancestors that the Lord brought you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So realize that the Lord your God is the true God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, (NET) 2. Deuteronomy 8:1, You must keep carefully all these commandments I am giving you today so that you may live, increase in number, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. (NET) 3. Deuteronomy 9:5, It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, that you have come here to possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is driving them out ahead of you in order to confirm the promise he

39 39 made on oath to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (NET) 4. Deuteronomy 10:11, Then he said to me, Get up, set out leading the people so they may go and possess the land I promised to give to their ancestors. (NET) 5. As a result, God expected and deserved total, exclusive, unreserved loyalty from Israel. C. God vowed to faithfully keep his obligations to Israel as stipulated in the covenant. 1. Hall wrote, The covenant was a bedrock commitment from God on which Israel could stake her present and her future. Deuteronomy 29:14, It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath, (NET) I. It is not with you alone that I am making this covenant by oath,... A. This covenant was not just for the current generation, but for all generations, Hall wrote. 1. Each generation would need to commit themselves to comply with the terms of this covenant. (See Hall.)

40 40 Deuteronomy 29:15, but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. (NET) I. but with whoever stands with us here today before the Lord our God as well as those not with us here today. A. Deuteronomy, Hamilton noted, does not address a single generation, but all generations. The covenant was not limited to a single time or place. B. Those not with us here today would include all future generations of Israelites. 1. God is faithful to extend his mercies to thousands of generations of those who love him, Coffman wrote quoting Kline. The Result of Disobedience Deuteronomy 29:16-29, (For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. You have seen their detestable things and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) Beware that the heart of no man, woman, clan, or tribe among you turns away from the Lord our God today to pursue and serve the gods of those nations; beware that there is among you no root producing poisonous and bitter fruit. When such a person hears the words of this oath he secretly blesses himself and says, I will have peace though I continue to walk with a stubborn spirit. This will destroy the watered ground with the parched. (NET)

41 41 NOTE: Hall wrote, This section is a pessimistic conclusion to the covenant ratification procedure that warns against idolatry and anticipates God s punishment for disregarding the warning. Deuteronomy 29:16, (For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. (NET) I. (For you know how we lived in the land of Egypt and how we crossed through the nations as we traveled. A. National commitment to observe the terms of the covenant did not excuse individual disobedience. Saying the right things did not negate violating the covenant. (See Hall.) Deuteronomy 29:17, You have seen their detestable things and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) (NET) I. You have seen their detestable things and idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold.) A. All idols and foreign gods were detestable, disgusting regardless of the material of which they were constructed. 1. All foreign gods were to be strictly avoided! 2. Only Jehovah was to be worshiped by Israel. 3. Regrettably idol worship to which Israel was exposed in Egypt, the wilderness and later in Canaan became a