The Story

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers; there is one more book of Moses, Deuteronomy. There is a very tender spirit in this book. It is filled largely with the last talks of Moses with the people before his death, as they were camped in the plain by the Jordan. He reminds them of the Lord's mercies in the hard experiences which they have come through together, and appeals to them to be obedient to the Lord in the land which they are about to enter. The name Deuteronomy comes from the 17th chapter and 18th verse of the book, where in the old Greek version the phrase "a copy of this law" is wrongly translated, "this copy or repetition of the law." The name is not, however, inappropriate, for Deuteronomy does repeat the Ten Commandments and other laws, and rehearses again the story that we have read elsewhere.

We must think of the children of Israel camping in the meadow by the Jordan, looking across at the hills of the promised land; and must think of Moses, now a hundred and twenty years old, their wise and faithful leader many years, talking to them as to his little children, charging them earnestly to obey the Lord. And if Moses longed to have them good children and obedient, much more did the Lord Who gave the laws long to have them so; and He longs to have us learn and keep them and find them the way to heaven.

Listen, Moses is speaking. (Deut. 6:1-5) Do these last words sound familiar? They are the first great commandment, almost as we recite it together.

Listen again. (Verses 6-9) Mothers and fathers must talk with the children about the Lord and His laws, that make life good and beautiful. We can talk of them at home and when we walk among beautiful things in the country. "For a sign upon thine hand," etc. How ought this rule to be kept? The Jews wrote words of the law on parchment and put them in little boxes which they bound on the forehead and arm at times of prayer. Is this what the Lord really wants us to do?

Moses is speaking again. (Verses 10-15) It was truly a beautiful land that they were soon to enter, all the more so in contrast with the wilderness in which they had been living. How easy it is, when beautiful things are plenty and we have all that we want, to forget that the Lord is giving us these things and to be grateful to Him.

Verse 16, the tempting at Massah, was when the people wanted water and doubted the Lord's good care. (Exod. 17:7) They must not do so again. (Verses 17-19)

It would be useful, also, and help them to be humble and faithful to remember the hard experiences in which the Lord had helped them in Egypt and in their desert journey. Children may learn much from what older people can tell them of the trials that they have had in which the Lord has helped them, and we can all learn from the story of trials and help which the Lord has given us in these books of Moses. (Verses 20-25)

We must get the picture of the children of Israel in the plains by the Jordan where Balaam saw them "abiding according to their tribes," and of the old leader Moses giving them his last earnest charges to be obedient to the Lord. It was the eleventh month of the fortieth year since the people came out of Egypt. (Deut. 1:1-5) In a few weeks they would cross the Jordan and keep the Passover in the promised land. Before that, Moses would die. Listen to Moses speaking, reading a few verses at a time.

In the 5th chapter we read the Ten Commandments as Moses repeated them again to the people and reminded them how they had heard them at Mount Sinai, with signs of power, and how the Lord wrote them on tables of stone. If only the people will remember and obey!

As we read of binding the law upon the hand and between the eyes, and writing it upon the posts of the house, perhaps someone can show you one of the phylacteries, or at least a picture of one, in which the Jews wrote extracts of the law, to be worn upon the arm and forehead. They were little square black boxes, a larger one for the forehead and a smaller one for the left arm. They were made most carefully according to rules, and tied on with their long straps exactly so. In compartments in these little boxes were strips of parchment carefully folded up, on which were written words from the law. (Deut. 6:4-9; 11:13-21) They were the verses which speak of binding the law upon the hands. Some of the verses you see are in this very chapter that we are reading today. The charge to write upon the door posts was kept by putting a parchment in a little cylinder which was nailed at the side of the door. What does the Lord say in the Gospels about the phylacteries worn by the Pharisees? (Matt. 23:5) How ought the law to be written on our hands and foreheads and door posts?

The chapter speaks of commandments, statutes, judgments and testimonies. You find these several words in the Psalms describing the Lord's laws; as, for example, in the 19th Psalm and in the 119th Psalm. Commandments and testimonies mean especially the Ten Commandments and other laws of life. Statutes were especially laws which taught forms of worship which it was important for the children of Israel to keep because they all represented holy things. Judgments in passages like those in our chapter are civil laws which also reflect the laws of heaven. (A. 8972)

What in general is pictured by the story that we have been studying in Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy? What by Egypt and its bondage? What by the wilderness journey? And now what is represented by the beautiful and fruitful land just across the river? Will the laws learned at Sinai still be needed? How may the memories of Egypt and the wilderness still be useful?

1. Where were the children of Israel at the time that the words of Deuteronomy were spoken?

2. Who is reminding the people of the Lord's commandments, and charging them to keep them?

3. Of what danger do we especially need to beware in prosperity?

Spiritual Study

The name "Deuteronomy," "copy of the law," is from verse 18 of chapter 17, where in the old Greek translation, the words "copy of this law" were wrongly rendered "this copy of the law," "this deuteronomy." This book is the last of the five books of Moses. Can you name them in their order? What name is sometimes given to these five books together - a name which means "the five books"?

Commandments, statutes, judgments, testimonies. Commandments or testimonies were the Ten Commandments and other laws of life. Statutes were laws which taught the forms of worship, which were all representative of heavenly things. Judgments, in passages like those in our lesson, are civil laws, also representative of heavenly things. (A. 8972) Can you find examples of each?

"That thy days may be prolonged." Will people who keep the Commandments necessarily live long in this world? They may not live long in years, but their lives will be full in usefulness and happiness. (Compare Deut. 11:21; Ps. 55:23.)

The Lord's commands are bound upon our hands and between our eyes when they are made the guide of all our acts and thoughts. They are written on our door posts and gates when they guard the door of the mind to prevent evil things from entering in, or from going forth in words and deeds. (A. 7847, 9936)

Verses 10, 11. In what a beautiful sense it is true of the blessings of heavenly life that we have not prepared them and cannot prepare them for ourselves! Who can see what spiritual blessing is meant by any one of the good things named? (E. 617, 638)

"Thou shalt fear the Lord." What kind of fear should we have toward the Lord? The fear of love, which will not do anything to grieve Him. (A. 3718)

"And shalt swear by His name." Swearing with the Jews was the most solemn way of affirming a truth. To swear by the Lord's name meant to believe His words because He spoke them. Our Lord said, "Swear not at all," for in the Christian Church truth is not to be taken merely on authority but can be understood. (A. 2842, 9166)

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