Day 51: Deuteronomy 1-3

(The Book of Deuteronomy was the fifth and final book written by Moses. This book covered divine government. It documented the events that occurred immediately preceding Israel's entry into the Promised Land. Deuteronomy meant "second law." The Book of Leviticus (third book of Moses) documented Moses' giving the Law to the priests (leadership). This fifth book of the Torah documented that Moses gave the Law again to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land with Joshua. Remember, by this time the first generation was dead. The remaining Israelites were all under twenty years old when Moses gave the Law the first time. Joshua and Caleb were the only two alive from the first generation. Also, the 5th Dispensation was according to the Law. The 4th Dispensation was according to the nation (patriarchs). Notice, with the Law anyone who followed the Law was seen as one of God's people, even non-Israelites. Also, just because a person was from Israel did not make them one of God's people. If someone willfully chose not to follow the Law, they were no longer one of God's people.)

Deuteronomy 1
¹ These are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab.
² It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadesh-barnea.
³ 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 unto all that Jehovah had given him in commandment unto them;

(It had been forty years and eleven months since the exodus from Egypt.)

⁴ after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.
⁵ Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
⁶ Jehovah our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain:

(Moses began retelling the story of the events that took place before the Israelites took possession of their inheritance. This chapter covered the start of the journey through the wilderness and finished with God's judgment against the first generation after the evil report from the spies.)

⁷ turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.
⁸ Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Jehovah sware unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.
⁹ And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:
¹⁰ Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.

(Moses reminded them that God was the cause of their growth as a nation.)

¹¹ Jehovah, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as ye are, and bless you, as he hath promised you!
¹² How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?
¹³ Take you wise men, and understanding, and known, according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
¹⁴ And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.

(The people were reminded of the agreement they made with Moses regarding helping Moses bear the burden of leadership.)

¹⁵ So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.
¹⁶ And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the sojourner that is with him.

(The leaders were called "judges." The purpose of these judges was to hear the causes between the Israelites. They did not judge people, they judged causes between people. God was the leader and He worked through judges to lead Israel.)

¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.

(These judges were to treat every case with respect. They could trust that judging the causes between the people was right because judgment belongs to God. Moses also reminded them that he was there to help with any causes that were too hard for them to hear.)

¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.
¹⁹ And we journeyed from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea.
²⁰ And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God giveth unto us.
²¹ Behold, Jehovah thy God hath set the land before thee: go up, take possession, as Jehovah, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.
²² And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.

(Moses began telling the story of the "grasshopper report" from Numbers 13...)

²³ And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:
²⁴ and they turned and went up into the hill-country, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.
²⁵ And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Jehovah our God giveth unto us.
²⁶ Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah your God:
²⁷ and ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because Jehovah hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
²⁸ Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.
²⁹ Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
³⁰ Jehovah your God who goeth before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,
³¹ and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that Jehovah thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place.
³² Yet in this thing ye did not believe Jehovah your God,
³³ who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.
³⁴ And Jehovah heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying,
³⁵ Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers,
³⁶ save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed Jehovah.

(Notice, Caleb and Joshua were the Two Witnesses to that second generation.)

³⁷ Also Jehovah was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither:
³⁸ Joshua the son of Nun, who standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage thou him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.
³⁹ Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

(Only those who were under twenty years old of the first generation would go into the Promised Land, except Joshua and Caleb.)

⁴⁰ But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.
⁴¹ Then ye answered and said unto me, We have sinned against Jehovah, we will go up and fight, according to all that Jehovah our God commanded us. And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill-country.
⁴² And Jehovah said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.
⁴³ So I spake unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of Jehovah, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country.
⁴⁴ And the Amorites, that dwelt in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah.
⁴⁵ And ye returned and wept before Jehovah; but Jehovah hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you.

(Notice, God did not hear their cry after they intentionally disobeyed Him.)

⁴⁶ So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.




Deuteronomy 2

(This chapter continued Moses remembering the march through the wilderness, specifically the dealings with other nations.)

¹ Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Jehovah spake unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days.
² And Jehovah spake unto me, saying,
³ Ye have compassed this mountain long enough: turn you northward.
⁴ And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore;
⁵ contend not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

(They could not take mount Seir because God gave it to Esau (the Edomites).)

⁶ Ye shall purchase food of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink.
⁷ For Jehovah thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; he hath known thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Jehovah thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

(God was with them those forty years and they lacked nothing.)

⁸ So we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion-geber. And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.
⁹ And Jehovah said unto me, Vex not Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.
¹⁰ (The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim:
¹¹ these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.
¹² The Horites also dwelt in Seir aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which Jehovah gave unto them.)

(The Moabites' land was given to Lot by God.)

¹³ Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered. And we went over the brook Zered.
¹⁴ And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Jehovah sware unto them.
¹⁵ Moreover the hand of Jehovah was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.
¹⁶ So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,
¹⁷ that Jehovah spake unto me, saying,
¹⁸ Thou art this day to pass over Ar, the border of Moab:
¹⁹ and when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, vex them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.
²⁰ (That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,
²¹ a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Jehovah destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead;
²² as he did for the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day:
²³ and the Avvim, that dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, that came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)

(The Ammonites' land was given to Lot by God. Ammon and Moab were Lot's sons by his daughters.)

²⁴ Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.
²⁵ This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of thee, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.

(God gave Sihon into their hands so the nations under the whole heaven would tremble and cause anguish in them.)

²⁶ And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,
²⁷ Let me pass through thy land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither unto the right hand nor to the left.
²⁸ Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet,
²⁹ as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Jehovah our God giveth us.
³⁰ But Sihon 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 at this day.
³¹ And Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.
³² Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Jahaz.
³³ And Jehovah our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

(God delivered Sihon, the King of Heshbon, into the hands of the Israelites.)

³⁴ And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining:
³⁵ only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken.
³⁶ From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even unto Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Jehovah our God delivered up all before us:
³⁷ only to the land of the children of Ammon thou camest not near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill-country, and wheresoever Jehovah our God forbade us.

(They only took the cities that God delivered to them. They did not go near the cities that God forbade them to take.)




Deuteronomy 3

(This chapter continued Moses remembering the dealings with other nations and ended with Joshua's appointment.)

¹ Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edrei.
² And Jehovah said unto me, Fear him not; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.
³ So Jehovah our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.

(God delivered Og, the King of Bashan, and all his people into the hands of the Israelites. Remember, Numbers 31:8 stated Balaam was among the people of Bashan when God delivered them into Israel's hand.)

⁴ And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them; threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
⁵ All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many.
⁶ And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones.

(Even cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars were not strong enough to withstand God and the Israelites.)

⁷ But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves.
⁸ And we took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon unto mount Hermon;
⁹ (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir;)
¹⁰ all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, unto Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
¹¹ (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.)
¹² And this land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites:

(Moses began retelling the events of the inheritance of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.)

¹³ and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim.
¹⁴ Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.)
¹⁵ And I gave Gilead unto Machir.
¹⁶ And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border thereof, even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
¹⁷ the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border thereof, from Chinnereth even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward.
¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time, saying, Jehovah your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of valor.
¹⁹ But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you,
²⁰ until Jehovah give rest unto your brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land which Jehovah your God giveth them beyond the Jordan: then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you.
²¹ And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that Jehovah your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall Jehovah do unto all the kingdoms whither thou goest over.

(Joshua’s faith was increased.)

²² Ye shall not fear them; for Jehovah your God, he it is that fighteth for you.

(Joshua was told not to fear because the Lord would fight the battles for them.)

²³ And I besought Jehovah at that time, saying,
²⁴ O Lord Jehovah, thou hast begun to show thy servant thy greatness, and thy strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy mighty acts?
²⁵ Let me go over, I pray thee, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.
²⁶ But Jehovah was wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto me; and Jehovah said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.

(Moses prayed that God would let him enter the Promised Land but God told him to no longer speak of this matter.)

²⁷ Get thee up unto the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.

(God did let Moses see the Promised Land but not enter it.)

²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

(God told Moses to charge, encourage, and strengthen Joshua. This would be Moses facilitating Joshua’s purpose and progress (leadership). Moses did not benefit from this. Actually, God told Moses to do this right after denying Moses’ request to enter the land. Moses was told to help the man who would take his place.)

²⁹ So we abode in the valley over against Beth-peor.

(This post documented Moses retelling the story of Israel's forty years and eleven months since their deliverance from Egypt.)

Day 52