The five books of Moses were collectively called the Pentateuch, a word of Greek origin meaning ‘the five-fold book.’ It’s probable that the division of the Torah into five books proceeded from the Greek translators of the Old Testament.
The names by which these several books are generally known are Greek. Genesis through to Deuteronomy is known as the Torah, which means Law. In Greek, the word Pentateuch is ‘Pente,’ which means five and ‘uch’, which means Law.
In the Book of Deuteronomy, we read about God’s plan of redemption not only for His people but also for all of mankind. It points to the ultimate Redeemer of the world, Jesus, the Messiah. We read about principles concerning how the nation of Israel should live and the ultimate fulfilment of those principles being set forth by Jesus Himself.
The name ‘Deuteronomy’ means ‘second law’, but it wasn’t a new law for Israel, but a repetition of the laws that were given at Mount Sinai, Exodus 19-24. However, in the repetition of the law, Moses explains and amplifies various portions of the laws that were given about forty years before.
We know this is an important book because it is quoted eighty-five times within the New Testament. Only six books within the New Testament don’t have any quotes from Deuteronomy.
Many scholars believe that the key verse within the book is ‘Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength,’ Deuteronomy 6:5.
Moses writes, “Thirty-eight years passed from the time we left Kadesh Barnea until we crossed the Zered Valley. By then, that entire generation of fighting men had perished from the camp, as the LORD had sworn to them. The LORD’s hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp,” Deuteronomy 2:14-15.
The crossing of the brook Zered brought Israel to the borders of Ammon. It also marked the separation of the unfaithful Israelites who faltered at the first visit to Kadesh.
Note that Moses marks a thirty-eight-year time frame in which Israel left Kadesh-Barnea, following the coming over the brook Zered that the rebellious generation was done away with.
In Deuteronomy 1:3, Moses marks the eleventh month of the fortieth year as the time from leaving Egypt to their current place in Moab. They had spent three months getting to Sinai from Egypt, Exodus 12:2 to Exodus 19:1.
Israel spent approximately twelve months at Sinai receiving the law, Numbers 10:11-13. Thirty-eight years later, Israel finds itself in the plains of Moab, Numbers 33:38 / Deuteronomy 2:14, yet to have entered Canaan.
Deuteronomy opens in the fortieth year and eleventh month. Smith and Fields date the book of Deuteronomy to the year 1407 B.C. ‘Old Testament History’. The message of Moses to the people lasted about thirty days, Deuteronomy 1:3 / Deuteronomy 34:8 / Joshua 2:22 / Joshua 4:19.
We know that Moses wrote the book as his farewell speech to Israel, Deuteronomy 1:1 / Deuteronomy 1:5 / Deuteronomy 4:44-45 / Deuteronomy 31:24-26. Jesus Himself, on many occasions, quotes from the book and accredits the writing to Moses, Matthew 4:4 / Matthew 4:7 / Matthew 4:10 / Matthew 5:21 / Matthew 5:27 / Matthew 5:31 / Matthew 5:38 / Matthew 15:4 / Matthew 18:16 / Matthew 19:7 / Matthew 22:24 / Matthew 22:37 / Mark 7:10 / Mark 10:4 / Mark 12:19 / Mark 12:29-30 / Luke 4:4 / Luke 4:8 / Luke 4:12 / Luke 10:27 / Luke 18:20 / Luke 20:28.
The book begins by telling us that Moses spoke these words to Israel ‘in the wilderness east of the Jordan’, Deuteronomy 1:1. Although we can’t be sure, the wilderness may possibly be referring to any area from Mount Sinai to the valley just east of the Jordan before Israel crossed over into Canaan. Moses does refer to the wilderness of Arabah as ‘the valley near Beth Peor’, Deuteronomy 4:46.
No one really knows the exact location of ‘Suph, Deuteronomy 1:1 / Numbers 21:4, Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, Deuteronomy 1:1 / Numbers 12:1-15, and Dizahab, Deuteronomy 1:1, but we do know that Moses was in the land of Moab.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘Tophel is identified with Tufileh, the Tafyle of Burckhardt, still a considerable place, some little distance southeast of the Dead Sea. Paran is probably ‘Mount Paran’, Deuteronomy 33:2, or a city of the same name near the mountain, Genesis 14:6. Laban is generally identified with Libnah, Numbers 33:20, and Hazeroth with Ain Hadherah, Numbers 11:34, but the position of Dizahab is uncertain.’
Notice if Israel had walked from Horeb, Exodus 3:1, that is Mount Sinai, to Kadesh, Numbers 13:26, it would have taken just eleven days, Deuteronomy 1:2 / Numbers 21:4.
However, because they initially refused to take the land as God commanded, they ended up wandering around for thirty-eight years in the wilderness, Hebrews 11:1-11. Thirty-eight years later, Israel finds itself in the plains of Moab, Numbers 33:38 / Deuteronomy 2:14, yet to have entered Canaan.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The Israelites were eleven days in going from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea, where they were near the verge of the promised land; after which they were thirty-eight years wandering up and down in the vicinity of this place, not being permitted, because of their rebellions, to enter into the promised rest, though they were the whole of that time within a few miles of the land of Canaan!’
The fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Deuteronomy 1:3, represented the time from leaving Egypt to their current place in Moab. They had spent three months getting to Sinai from Egypt, Exodus 12:2-19:1. This means that Israel spent approximately twelve months at Sinai receiving the law, Numbers 10:11-13.
Clarke, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This was a melancholy year to the Hebrews in different respects; in the first month of this year Miriam died, Numbers 20:1, on the first day of the fifth month Aaron died, Numbers 33:38, and about the conclusion of it, Moses himself died.’
He tells us that great victories had been won by Israel over the Amorites and Bashan, Deuteronomy 1:4. When Israel had an opportunity the take the Promised Land, they were afraid of the power of the Canaanites, but this new generation of Israelites, trust God and so, God gave them the victory over these two pagan kings, Sihon and Og, Deuteronomy 1:4.
Before Moses dies and the children of Israel enter Canaan, he has some final words for the people. Moses begins the first of three sermons east of the Jordan in the territory of Moab, Deuteronomy 1:5.
It’s at this point that Moses now expounds the law, that is, ‘Torah’. The word is used here to refer to the total law of God which came through Moses, and or it can refer to some specific teachings, Proverbs 1:8.
Over a period of several years, the name ‘Torah’ became the name that was given by the Jews to the first five books of the Bible, known as the Pentateuch, Ezra 7:6.
The background to these verses is found in Exodus 18:18-26. God told Israel they had stayed long enough, at Sinai, Deuteronomy 1:6. The ‘long enough’ Deuteronomy 1:6, time at Sinai was a twelve-month period of time in which Israel received the law of God, Exodus 19:1-2. Moses reminds the people of the day that they were told to leave Sinai for the Promised Land of Canaan.
The Amorites were a great nation of people who came into the area of Canaan from the north and settled primarily on the eastern side of the Jordan. Because they were seen as a great nation, when Israel conquered them, it gave them even more confidence to conquer any of the tribes of the Canaanites, Deuteronomy 1:7.
Canaan was the land promised to Abraham as God’s gift that Israel might grow into a mighty nation, Genesis 12:1-9. The Canaanites were living in the land at the time of the arrival of Israel and had been there since the days of Abraham.
It was God who gave them the land as a gift, and all Israel had to do was take it by faith, Hebrews 11:1. The land already had inhabitants, that is, the Canaanites, but God’s gift of the land was conditioned upon the people going in and ‘possessing’ it, Deuteronomy 1:8.
The ‘possessing’ of Canaan is where Israel found their trouble. It would have been nice to simply walk into Canaan without any resistance, but Israel, however, needed to learn to trust in God and His protection.
Some believe the background to these verses is found in Exodus 18:13-26, where we find Moses sitting from morning till evening judging the people, and so, his father-in-law Jethro tells him that the task is too much for one person; he needs to appoint judges, which he did, Acts 6:1-6.
Others believe the background to these verses is found in Numbers 11:16-17, where God instructs Moses to appoint elders to share the burden of responsibility.
Moses tells Israel that they are too heavy a burden for him to carry alone, Deuteronomy 1:9. Israel had grown numerically by the time they stood east of the Jordan, but eventually, they would grow numerically as the stars in the heavens, Deuteronomy 1:10-11. This was the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham that He would make of his seed a great nation, Genesis 15:5-6.
Moses asks, how can he bear their problems and their burdens and their disputes all by himself, Deuteronomy 1:12. And so, he tells them to choose some wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and he will set them over them, Deuteronomy 1:13.
They told Moses that what he proposed to do is good, Deuteronomy 1:14. Moses took the leading men of their tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them to have authority over them as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens and as tribal officials, Deuteronomy 1:15 / Exodus 18:21.
He had charged their judges at that time, and said, hear the disputes between their people and judge fairly, whether the case is between two Israelites or between an Israelite and a foreigner residing among them, Deuteronomy 1:16.
Moses gives sound advice to the wise men who would serve as judges, first of all, they should respect persons in judgment, Deuteronomy 1:16. In other words, to judge in favour of a rich man or friend was to pervert judgment, Exodus 18:21. These judges were to examine the facts of each case and make a judgment based on the facts given.
Secondly, the judges were to give careful attention to the rich, poor, high-ranking officials, and lowly citizens, Deuteronomy 1:16. No man is to be preferred above others. Let the facts be what the judge is interested in.
They are to bring to Moses any case too hard for them, and he will hear it, Deuteronomy 1:17. There would be times when the judge was threatened to give a favourable judgment to the perverted.
These threats may come in the form of verbal threats or hard looks. Moses commands the judges not to be afraid but to make the right judgments in the courts, for this is God’s will, Deuteronomy 1:17. At that time, Moses told them everything they were to do, Deuteronomy 1:18.
The main qualification of a leader is to be fair in all judgments. Bribes distort justice and so disqualify one from being a leader. For this reason, those who are greedy for money can never be leaders for God, for their judgments are tainted with the love of money.
The background to these verses is found in Numbers 13-14. Notice that the journey was made ‘as the Lord our God commanded us’, Deuteronomy 1:19. In other words, the journey wasn’t only commanded by God, but the taking possession of the land was also commanded by God, Numbers 32:23.
Moses reminds the people of the hard journey through the wilderness to reach Canaan from Kadesh, Deuteronomy 1:19 / Deuteronomy 8:15, where God fed them with manna from heaven and gave them water to drink, Exodus 15:22-16:36.
Because God had led them through the vast and terrible wilderness, that is, the land of the Amorites, Deuteronomy 1:20, Moses was now prepared to lead Israel into Canaan.
As Moses stood at Kadesh-Barnea, the people had at long last come to the moment of their deepest desire, a land of their own given to them by God, Deuteronomy 1:20. He encouraged them not to be afraid, and not to be discouraged, Deuteronomy 1:21.
The land was there, and all they had to do was take it by faith. God had commanded them to take the journey from Sinai to Kadesh-Barnea, possess the land that God had given them, and not be afraid or discouraged, Deuteronomy 1:21.
Israel did the first command, yet when they saw that difficulties were involved in completing the second, they became fearful and were dismayed. Israel thereby failed to complete the second and third commands of God regarding taking Canaan.
Notice it was the Israelites who came up with the plan to send men to spy out the land, Deuteronomy 1:22 / Numbers 13:1-3; this wasn’t part of God’s plan. It appears that Moses expected that they would go up against the Canaanites without any report from spies, Deuteronomy 1:23, but the plan seemed good to him, and so he went along with it, Deuteronomy 1:24.
When the spies came back with some of the fruit of the land, they said, ‘it is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us’, Deuteronomy 1:25. It appears that Moses only considers Joshua and Caleb’s words, Deuteronomy 1:25 / Numbers 13:27, even though the other ten spies brought back an ‘evil report’, Numbers 13:28-29, which caused all the congregation to murmur, Numbers 13:30-14:1.
The background to these verses is found in Numbers 13:1-14:45. They rebelled against God’s command when they didn’t enter the land because of their lack of faith in God, Deuteronomy 1:26-27. Their lack of faith to trust in God, that He would be with them in their confrontation with the Canaanites, was considered rebellion.
With the events at Egypt, Sinai, and the provisional care of God through the wilderness fresh upon their minds the people, had at that time disobeyed God’s commands regarding not fearing the enemy, Deuteronomy 1:26 / Deuteronomy 1:21.
They said the people were stronger and taller than they were, this report of the spies was correct, Deuteronomy 1:28 / Numbers 13:28. However, the fact that the Canaanites were stronger and taller would have been the opportunity for God to prove that He was with His people when they conquered them, which they eventually did thirty-eight years later.
Moses tells the people to not fear for ‘He will fight for you’, Deuteronomy 1:30. They were to believe based upon God ‘as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place’, Deuteronomy 1:31 / Exodus 19:4.
Israel’s faith was to be founded on the evidence of God’s care that had taken place in their lives. They still didn’t trust in God, and they were to remember God’s guidance by fire in the night and a cloud during the day, Deuteronomy 1:33 / Numbers 14:14.
All Israel had to do was believe based on what they had experienced in Egypt. Despite encouraging Israel to think back on the things God had done for them in the past, they still didn’t believe the LORD; they still didn’t trust Him.
This is the very reason why the Israelites were disciplined for thirty-eight years in the wilderness. However, regardless of their lack of faith, God treated the people as a father who would carry his son, Deuteronomy 1:31. He carried them across the wilderness, choosing where they would camp throughout their thirty-eight years of wilderness living.
When Israel rejected, through a spirit of rebellion, these commands, God didn’t allow that evil generation to have His gift of Canaan, Deuteronomy 1:34-35 / Psalm 95:11.
God says, Caleb, son of Jephunneh, will be given some land and his descendants because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly, Deuteronomy 1:36 / Numbers 14:24.
Even Moses himself wouldn’t enter the Promised Land, Deuteronomy 1:37 / Numbers 20:10-12 / Psalm 106:32-33. However, Joshua, who was his assistant, would, Deuteronomy 1:37.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The sentence on Moses was not passed when the people rebelled during their first encampment at Kadesh, but some 37 years later, when they had re-assembled in the same neighbourhood at Meribah, Numbers 20:13. He alludes to it here as having happened not many months previously, bearing on the facts which were for his purpose in pricking the conscience of the people.’
Joshua was to be encouraged because he would lead Israel to inherit it, Deuteronomy 1:38. The only exceptions were Caleb and Joshua, who were the only faithful spies, out of the twelve, who came back with a good report concerning the Promised Land, Numbers 14:6-10.
Numbers 14:6-19 records only Joshua and Caleb pleading for the people’s faithful obedience, yet here we find that Moses too did so. Caleb eventually received the portion that he had surveyed as one of the spies, Joshua 14:9-12, and Joshua was given the privilege of leading the Israelites into Canaan in the place of Moses.
The other exceptions were the younger ones, Deuteronomy 1:39, the next generation of Israelites, who would be permitted to enter the land. The generation that came out of Egypt disinherited themselves because they didn’t obey the command to go up and take the land, Deuteronomy 1:39. They had experienced the great wonders of God, the plagues of Egypt, and the crossing of the Red Sea, yet they still didn’t trust God, 1 Corinthians 10:11.
Israel were told to turn around and set out toward the desert along the route to the Red Sea, Deuteronomy 1:40. They then said, they have sinned against the LORD and so, they will go up and fight, as the LORD our God commanded them and so, every one of them put on their weapons, thinking it easy to go up into the hill country, Deuteronomy 1:41.
Morris, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The people’s sin in failing to enter the land was not just underestimating God’s power. They could have blamed themselves for their weak faith. Instead, they blamed God and imputed to Him the worst of motives toward them. God loved them, but they claimed He hated them, Deuteronomy 1:27. In covenant terminology, to love means to choose, and to hate means to reject, Genesis 25:23 / Malachi 1:2-3 / Romans 9:10-13.’
When the Israelites realised that they were prohibited from entering the land, they again rebelled against God, Deuteronomy 1:42 / Hebrews 3:8-4:8. They decided to enter the land on their own strength, for God said He wouldn’t be with them, Deuteronomy 1:42-43.
They paid the price for their disobedience by the loss of many lives, for the Amorites chased them as if they were bees chasing after them, Deuteronomy 1:44 / Numbers 14:40. The names ‘Amorites’ and ‘Canaanites’ are sometimes used interchangeably, Numbers 14:45.
When Israel cried out to God in a state of rebellious disbelief, ‘the Lord turned a deaf ear to them,’ Deuteronomy 1:45 / Psalm 34:15-16 / Psalm 66:18 / Psalm 109:7 / Proverbs 15:29 / Proverbs 28:9 / Isaiah 1:11-15 / John 9:31 / John 16:23-27 / 1 John. 3:21-22.
Their weeping, Deuteronomy 1:45, was more about remorse over their loss than true repentance, 2 Corinthians 7:10. They wept over their own failures, not over the fact that the Lord was not with them. They stayed in Kadesh many days; all the time they spent there, Deuteronomy 1:46 / Numbers 13:27 / Numbers 20:1 / Numbers 20:14 / Numbers 20:21.
God said that the reason Israel didn’t believe was that they were unwilling to follow His commands. The people were too lazy, afraid and hard-hearted to follow through with God’s commandments, Exodus 9:34 / Exodus 10:3.