INTRODUCTION
TO DEUTERONOMY
Why
Read Deuteronomy: In
this book we find Moses speaking a number of times to Israel on
the Plains of Moab. It is perhaps one of the most dense, compact
and repetitive sets of writings in the whole Bible. Why? Because
Moses is aware that his time on earth is rapidly coming to an
end and he is about to hand over the baton of leadership to Joshua
who is going to have to lead the people into battle to take the
Promised Land. It brings together the previous three books of
Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, reiterating the laws and the events
and the commands we find in those books.
Characteristics:
There are several very clear characteristics we should
note:
1.
Goal Centred: The goal ahead of them, that was first
seen in the early chapters of Exodus, was to take the Promised
Land and he reminds them of that again and again.
2.
God Focused & Testimony Empowered: Above all else,
Moses reminds the nation that that goal has been God -initiated
and God-enabled so far and must be God-enabled in the future if
it is to be successfully accomplished. Now to achieve this God-awareness,
if we may call it that, Moses reminds them again and again of
their recent past and God's role in it, (i.e. their Testimony)
that goes back to Horeb (Sinai) – 4:10, after having been released
from slavery in Egypt – 5:17, 15:15,16:12,24:18,22, where God
dealt with Pharaoh – 7:18, delivered them – 16:3, and led them
in the desert – 8:2, even when they were rebellious there – 9:7.
Yes, the word ‘remember' occurs a number of times. But those verses
are complemented by verses calling on Israel not to “forget” their
past [4:9,23, 6:12, 8:11,14,19, 9:7, 25:19) All of these many
calls to remember the past was because ALL of these things involved
the Lord and what He had done for them.
3.
Obedience-commanded: Put another way, the call to ‘remember'
and ‘not forget' is linked to a call to obey all the laws and
commands that God puts before them. Indeed their success in taking
the Promised Land is conditional upon them obeying them.
Note
the use of the following:
‘Follow
these commands': 4:1,5,13,14, 5:1,31, 7:11,12 8:1, 11:11, 12:1,
15:5, 16:12, 17:19, 19:9, 24:8, 26:16, 27:10, 28:1,13,15,58, 29:9,39,
30:8, 31:12 (26 times)
‘Obey':
6:3,24,25, 8:20, 11:13, 27,32, 12:28, 13:14,18, 15:5, 21:18, 27:10,
28:1,2, 15,45,62, 30:2,8,10, 32:46 (21 times)
‘Walk
in obedience': 5:33, 8:6, 10:12, 11:22, 19:9, 26:17, 28:9, 30:16
(8)
Structure:
The book comprises 34 chapters, the vast majority of which comprise
four talks or addresses that Moses gave the nation while they
were on the Plains of Moab before crossing the River Jordan and
entering the Land to take Jericho.
The
following imply indicate divisions and new starts of four talks
or addresses :
“These
are the words Moses spoke to all Israel…” (1:1)
“Moses
summoned all Israel and said…” (5:1)
“Moses
summoned all the Israelites and said to them…” (29:2)
“Then
Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel…” (31:1)
Contents:
The following indicate those ‘talk divisions' and a suggested
chapter grouping as well as individual chapter contents. If you
wish to go directly to these chapters, simply click on the chapter
numbers. Each grouping will be shown at the top of each chapter
of text in order to remind the reader of the Context.
As
usual with the Frameworks, we have reformatted each chapter, providing
subheadings and additional notes as we thought appropriate in
order to help the reader take in the text more easily.
TALK
ONE
Part
1: Ch.1-4 Moses Reminds Israel how they got here
[the
reminders seek to bring a desired conclusion – obedience.]
Ch.1 - Reminders of Failure at Kadesh
Ch.2
- Reminders of Guidance to get to this point
Ch.3
- Reminders of Triumphs & Direction
Ch.4
- Encouragements to Obedience
TALK
TWO
Part
2: Ch.5-11 Moses brings Encouragements
[A
Mixture of more reminders and encouragements to aid obedience.]
Ch.5
- Reminders of the Ten Commandments
Ch.6
- Remember & Keep the Commands
Ch.7
- Make Sure you Clear the Land
Ch.8 - Helps to Remember the Lord
Ch.9
- Recognise your Vulnerability
Ch.10
- Reassurances
Ch.11
- More Encouragements
Part
3: Ch.12-20 Moses reminds them of Stipulations for a Holy Nation
Ch.12
-The One Place of Worship
Ch.13
- Beware Deception
Ch.14
- Food & Tithing
Ch.15
- Year Seven Changes & Firstborn Animals
Ch.16
- Festivals, Justice & Worship
Ch.17
- Worship, Justice & any Future King
Ch.18
- Maintain Right Spiritual Practices
Ch.19
- Rules for Cities of Refuge
Ch.20
- Rules for Going to War
Part
4: Ch.21-25 Moses lays out Relational Laws
Ch.21
- Misc. Administrative Laws
Ch.22
- Civil Laws, Marriage Laws & Abuse Laws
Ch.23
- Holiness & Righteousness in the Nation
Ch.24
- Relational Laws for a Holy Community
Ch.25
- Sentencing, Succession, Misc. Laws
Part
5: Ch.26-30 Preparing to Enter Commitment Issues
Ch.26
- First-Fruits, Tithes & Covenant
Ch.27
- Ceremonies of Blessing & Cursing
Ch.28
- The Blessings & Curses
TALK
THREE
Ch.29
- Renewal of the Covenant
Ch.30
- Choices for Now & the Future
TALK
FOUR
Part
6: Ch.31-34 Moses Finale
Ch.31
- Succession, the Law & Warning
Ch.32
- The Song of Moses
Ch.33
- Moses blesses the tribes
Ch.34
- The Death of Moses