Deuteronomy - Introduction

Introduction

Author

DEUTERONOMY 1:1 TESTIFIES that the book’s recorded words were spoken by Moses. Moreover, later biblical books quote from Deuteronomy and attribute the words to Moses (see Matt 19:7; Acts 3:22; Rom 10:19). Surely a final editor added some things, like the account of Moses’s death in Deuteronomy 34:5-12, but since Moses was Israel’s God-appointed leader who wrote things down at God’s command (see Num 33:2), we have no reason to doubt the traditional Jewish and Christian position that Moses is the author of this book.

Historical Background

After the Lord delivered the nation of Israel from Egyptian slavery, he led them to the Sinai Wilderness, entered into a covenant with them, and gave them his law. One year later, they departed Sinai, and God led them to the edge of the promised land. However, because the people feared the inhabitants of Canaan, they refused to take possession of it. Therefore, God caused the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for forty years as punishment for their unbelief in his ability to provide—until every Israelite from that generation had died. At the end of the book of Numbers and the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy, Israel was once again on the edge of the promised land. They were encamped across the Jordan River, not far from the Canaanite city of Jericho. Here Moses reviewed the Lord’s covenant and laws with the new generation. The title of the book comes from the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint). Deuteronomy means “second law” (deutero nomos) or “repetition of the law.”

Message and Purpose

This fifth and final book of the Pentateuch is Moses’s farewell address to the second generation of Israelites, those whose once enslaved parents came out of Egypt on their way to the promised land of Canaan. Deuteronomy is structured like the treaties of that day, in which a king would spell out the laws, standards, and stipulations by which he would rule the vassals, or servants, who made up his nation. God was (in a very real sense) Israel’s King, the people of Israel were his servants, and the standards of his kingdom had been spelled out in the covenant he made with them at Sinai.

Moses’s message to this new generation of Israelites was that their choice to obey or disobey God’s law—to submit to their King or not—would determine the kind of life they would have once they entered Canaan. In fact, the people’s obedience to God would be the very thing to bring them the blessings of the covenant that stretched all the way back to Abraham—land, national identity, and a promise of bringing blessing to the other nations. But tied to the choice they faced were curses for disobedience, too. Deuteronomy is thus a covenantal book. Through it, God tells his people that he will bond with them based on their adherence to the covenant of his kingdom.

VIDEO INTRO

Outline

1. The First Address by Moses —Historical Recap (1:1–4:43)
2. The Second Address by Moses —Covenant Obligations (4:44–26:19)
   1. The Ten Commandments and the Greatest Command (4:44–6:25)
   2. Remember God’s Faithfulness and Obey Him (7:1–11:32)
   3. True Worship and False Worship (12:1–13:18)
   4. Food, Tithes, the Sabbath Year, and Pilgrim Festivals (14:1–16:17)
   5. Leaders (16:18–18:22)
   6. Relationships and Daily Life (19:1–26:19)
3. The Third Address by Moses—Blessings, Curses, and Final Exhortation (27:1–30:20)
4. The Transition from Moses to Joshua (31:1–34:12)