“Words” – such is the shortened Jewish title for the biblical book we know as Deuteronomy. “Deuteronomy” comes from the Latin translation, the Vulgate, from 17:18 where the king is commanded to “write for himself a copy of this law.” The theme of the Bible is the salvation of man through Jesus Christ to the glory of God. Where does Deuteronomy fit in?

We observe in Numbers that the Israelites lacked faith in the trustworthiness of God. In chapters 13-14, when they were to invade and occupy the Promised Land, they chose to turn in fear. For their disobedience, God caused them to wander in the wilderness for forty years – one year for each day the spies were in the land. Forty years. Long enough for all the adults to die, except the two faithful spies – Joshua and Caleb.

On the plains of Moab now, Moses stands ready for the Israelites to inherit the land promised them centuries before. The land in which the Messiah would be born. Moses, himself, cannot enter for his own lack of faithful obedience. So he here gives three lengthy sermons to the Israelites.

His first speech runs from 1:1-4:43. It reviews the history of Israel from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab. The second speech covers 4:44-26:19. In this “sermon”, Moses reviews the Laws previously given in Exodus-Leviticus. Thus the “copy” or “second” giving of the Law. He hits the highlights, this time concentrating on the application of the law to the Israelites dwelling in a settled land. The third speech (27:1-31:30) encourages obedience and ensuing blessings and discourages disobedience with attendant curses. The book ends with three appendixes: the “Song of Moses” (chapter 32), the “Blessing of Moses” (chapter 33) and the death and burial of Moses (chapter 34).

Deuteronomy is a pivotal book in the Old Testament. From there, we leave the books of Law and enter the books of history. So intertwined are the historical books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) with Deuteronomy that they are referred to as the “Deuteronomistic History” by some scholars. Liberal scholars deny Moses’ authorship of Deuteronomy and claim that it was written after the historical books in order to put the history into a theological context. The truth is, however, that Moses, inspired by God, knew what would happen to Israel if they disobeyed. He warned them. They disobeyed and Deuteronomy was fulfilled.

Let us study the past and learn from their mistakes.

Paul Holland