Chapter 1

 

Deu 1:1  These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan; in the wilderness, in the Arabah, opposite to Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban and Hazeroth, and Dizahab; 

Deu 1:2  eleven days from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 

Deu 1:3  And it happened, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month on the first of the month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all that Jehovah had commanded him concerning them; 

Deu 1:4  after he had stricken Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth in Edrei, 

Deu 1:5  beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, 

Deu 1:6  Jehovah our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have had enough of dwelling in this mountain; 

Deu 1:7  turn and pull up stakes and go into the hills of the Amorites, and to all its neighboring places in the Arabah, in the hills, and in the low country, and in the Negeb, and in the shore of the sea, the land of the Canaanites and of Lebanon, to the great river, the Euphrates River. 

Deu 1:8  Behold! I have given before you the land; go in and possess the land which Jehovah has sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them, and to their seed after them. 

 

Deu 1:9  And I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you by myself. 

Deu 1:10  Jehovah your God has multiplied you, and, behold, today you are as the stars of heaven for multitude. 

Deu 1:11  May Jehovah the God of your fathers add to you a thousand times more than you are, and bless you as He has spoken to you! 

Deu 1:12  How can I by myself bear your pressure and your burden, and your strife? 

Deu 1:13  Give wise and understanding men, and those known to your tribes, and I will appoint them rulers over you. 

Deu 1:14  And you answered me and said, The thing which you have spoken is good to do. 

Deu 1:15  And I took the chiefs of your tribes, wise and noted men, and I gave them to be rulers over you, commanders over thousands, and commanders over hundreds and commanders over fifties, and commanders over tens, and officers, for your tribes. 

Deu 1:16  And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear between your brothers; and judge with righteousness between a man and his brother, and his alien. 

Deu 1:17  You shall not recognize persons in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid because of the face of a man, for the judgment is God's; and the thing too hard for you, you shall bring near to me, and I shall hear it. 

Deu 1:18  And at that time I commanded you all the things which you were to do. 

 

Deu 1:19  And we pulled up stakes from Horeb and went through all that great and fearful wilderness which you have seen, the way of the hills of the Amorites, as Jehovah our God commanded us. And we came into Kadesh-barnea. 

Deu 1:20  And I said to you, You have come into the hills of the Amorites, which Jehovah our God is 
giving to us. 

Deu 1:21  See, Jehovah your God has given the land before you; go up, possess it, as Jehovah the God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be afraid. 

Deu 1:22  And you came near to me, every one of you, and said, Let us send men before us, and they shall search out the land for us, and they shall bring us back word as to the way in which we shall go up, and the cities to which we shall come. 

Deu 1:23  And the thing was good in my eyes, and I took twelve men of you, one man for each tribe. 

Deu 1:24  And they turned and went up to the hills and came into the valley of Eshcol, and searched it. 

Deu 1:25  And they took of the fruit of the land with their hands and brought it down to us, and brought us back word, and said, The land which Jehovah our God has given us is good. 

Deu 1:26  And you were not willing to go up; yea, you rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah your God, 

Deu 1:27  and murmured in your tents, and said, Because of Jehovah's hating of us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us. 

Deu 1:28  Where shall we go up? Our brothers have melted our hearts, saying, We have seen there a people greater and taller than we, cities great and walled up to the heavens, and also the sons of Anak. 

Deu 1:29  And I said to you, do not be terrified; nor be afraid of them; 

Deu 1:30  Jehovah your God who goes before you shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 

Deu 1:31  and in the wilderness, where you have seen how Jehovah your God has borne you as a man bears his son, in all the way which you have gone until you have come to this place. 

Deu 1:32  Yet in this thing you are not believing in Jehovah your God, 

Deu 1:33  who went before you in the way to seek out a place for your camping, in fire by night, to show you the way in which you should go, and in a cloud by the day. 

 

Deu 1:34  And Jehovah heard the sound of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, 

Deu 1:35  Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I have sworn to give to your fathers, 

Deu 1:36  except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, he shall see it, and I shall give the land on which he has walked to him, and to his sons, because he has fully followed Jehovah. 

Deu 1:37  And Jehovah was angry with me for your sake, saying, Also you shall not go in there. 

Deu 1:38  Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there; you shall strengthen him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit. 

Deu 1:39  And your infants, of whom you said, They are a prey, and your sons who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and I will give it to them, and they shall possess it. 

Deu 1:40  And you, turn yourselves and pull up stakes toward the wilderness, the way of the Sea of Reeds. 

Deu 1:41  And you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Jehovah; we shall go up, and we shall fight, according to all that which Jehovah our God has commanded us. And you each one girded on his weapons of war, and you thought it easy to go up to the hill country. 

Deu 1:42  And Jehovah said to me, Say to them, You shall not go up, nor fight, for I am not in your midst; lest you be struck before your enemies.  

Deu 1:43  And I spoke to you, and you did not listen, and rebelled against the mouth of Jehovah, and

acted proudly, and went up into the hills. 

Deu 1:44  And the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out to meet you and they chased you, as the bees do, and struck you in Seir, to Hormah. 

Deu 1:45  And you returned and wept before Jehovah, but Jehovah did not listen to your voice, nor did He give ear to you. 

Deu 1:46  And you lived many days in Kadesh, according to the days that you remained there. 

Main Point(s): Moses dispenses a little history to remind the people how they to where they are. Why would he do that?

1.       How long does it take to go from Mt. Horeb (Sinai) to Kadesh-Barnea, which was the staging location for the spying out of the land with the first generation (Num 13:26)? How long has Israel spent in the wilderness?  
Verse 2 says it takes 11 days. They make it there in Numbers in about 1 year + 1-2 months (the law was dispensed at Sinai during that time) (See Num1 and 10). At the time of Deuteronomy they had been travelling for 39 years 10 months (vs 3)

2.       What is the time marker in verse 3? What is this indicating for Israel’s future?
It is nearing the forty years they were cursed to travel for not believing in God.  Num. 14:34 – God tells them they will wander forty years. One year for every day they spent spying out the land. The fulfillment of promises are at hand                                                                                                                

3.     What is the purpose of the book (3-5)? What is Moses declaring? Is it just a restatement of the laws given in Leviticus and Numbers? Explain.
God told the people who were to fall in the desert …”you will suffer for your sins and know what it is like to have Me against you.”  Now for all this generation has witnessed, Moses is sealing the covenant between man and God. That covenant will also now include a written law AND revelations of God’s sovereignty. Moses is looking to tie the people to God through faith. He accomplishes this task by reminding them of God’s accomplishments through them. He also takes this opportunity to remind them of failures and honest assessments of sins they are capable of. It is a dissertation of the PURPOSE of the law….to lead the subject to God.

4.       What does Moses retell in verses 6-18? What is Moses highlighting?
Exodus 18 – Jethro comes to Moses and advises him to not take on so much. He tells him to delegate the judging of matters among tribe leaders. This happened just before they received the law at Sinai (some 7 weeks after the Exodus (Passover)). After about a year at Sinai, God leads them away from Sinai. This is a starting point. Moses is reminding them of his authority, his care for Israel, his association with God.

5.       What does Moses retell in verses 19-33? What is Moses highlighting about God? What is Moses highlighting about the people?
(Numbers 13) – The spy debacle. It’s interesting to see Moses include them in his description of the story, even when very few of them were of responsible age yet when these things happened. This is a simple reminder of who they were and how they were unacceptable to God because the simply lacked any depth in their faith. …“you did not trust in the Lord your God who went ahead of you on your journey”… Again, a deal breaker for the covenant God is making with them.

1.      What does Moses retell in verses 34-40? What is Moses highlighting? What did God expect from His people?
(Num 14) The people stand condemned before God.  Those men who did not trust God were doomed to die in the desert because of their lack of faith.  Their children would inherit the land, but not them. It’s an interesting  commentary on faith. We see the people crying out to God, knowing He can deliver them. Their faith is assumed by the reader, but it appears to be a faith looking for personal gain only. We also see that God will not always simply hand us everything and remove struggles and pain. He does not wave a magic wand and make everything magical. It takes work, and trust to be His children.

 

       What does Moses retell in verses 41-46? What is Moses highlighting about the people? What is Moses highlighting about God?
When people think/act for themselves without regard to what God wants...watch out! After enraging God, the men look to take up arms against the enemy….almost as if to say, no!, God, we can do this. They go into battle after being warned not to and they are defeated soundly. They still lacked faith, kept relying on themselves, they wouldn’t listen and they suffered for it.

Moses brings this up to say “this is the way that led to disaster….remember that.