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The Story of the Book of Deuteronomy - The People of Israel and Their Critical Decisions · truthunedited

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Speaker 1: The sun was setting over the plains of Moab, painting
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Speaker 1: the sky with shades of orange and purple. In the distance,
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Speaker 1: beyond the Jordan River, the silhouettes of Canaan's mountains stood
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Speaker 1: against the horizon. A collective sigh seemed to hover over
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Speaker 1: the tents scattered across the plain. After forty years of
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Speaker 1: wandering in the wilderness, the people of Israel were finally
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Speaker 1: at the threshold of the promised land. Now before them
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Speaker 1: stood one hundred and twenty year old man, his hair
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Speaker 1: and beard as white as snow. He was Moses, the
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Speaker 1: man who had confronted Pharaoh, parted the Red Sea, and
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Speaker 1: received God's law on Mount Sinai. His eyes, though aged,
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Speaker 1: still burned with intensity as he gazed at the people
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Speaker 1: he had led for four decades. He knew he would
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Speaker 1: not cross the Jordan with them. This was his final moment,
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Speaker 1: his last words before bidding them farewell. The Book of
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Speaker 1: Deuteronomy is that testament, the record of a leader's final
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Speaker 1: address to the people loved, oh passionate call to faithfulness,
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Speaker 1: a last effort to ensure that when they entered the
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Speaker 1: land without him, they would remain faithful to the God
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Speaker 1: who had delivered them. As Deuteronomy one one three tells us,
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Speaker 1: these are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness east of the Jordan, that is, in the Arabah,
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Speaker 1: opposite soof between Paran and tofl Laban, Hazaroth and Dizab.
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Speaker 1: It takes eleven days to go from Horeb to Kadeshbarnier
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Speaker 1: by the Mount Sier road. In the fortieth year, on
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Speaker 1: the first day of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to
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Speaker 1: the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them.
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Speaker 1: It was the beginning of the eleventh month of the
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Speaker 1: fortieth year since they had left Egypt. The location was precise,
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Speaker 1: on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River facing Jericho.
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Speaker 1: The moment was solemn. An entire generation had perished in
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Speaker 1: the wilderness, and now their children stood ready to enter
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Speaker 1: the land. The people camped there were not the same
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Speaker 1: ones who had left Egypt. In numbers twenty six, sixty
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Speaker 1: four sixty five we read not one of them was
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Speaker 1: among those counted by Moses and Aaron the Priest when
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Speaker 1: they counted the Israelites in the desert of Sinai. For
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Speaker 1: the Lord had told them that they would surely die
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Speaker 1: in the wilderness, and not one of them was left
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Speaker 1: except calib son of Jafuna and Joshua, son of Nun.
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Speaker 1: The generation of the Exodus had perished in the wilderness
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Speaker 1: as a consequence of their lack of faith at Kadesh Bannaya,
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Speaker 1: their children, many of whom had been born during the
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Speaker 1: wilderness journey, were now the ones who would inherit the promise.
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Speaker 1: These young men and women had grown up hearing stories
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Speaker 1: of slavery in Egypt, of the plagues God had sent,
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Speaker 1: of the passover night when the Angel of Death passed
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Speaker 1: over their homes, and of the parting of the Red Sea.
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Speaker 1: They had lived their entire lives under God's direct and
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Speaker 1: miraculous care. In Deuteronomy eight to four, Moses reminded them,
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Speaker 1: your clothes did not wear out and your feet did
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Speaker 1: not swell. During these forty years, they still saw the
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Speaker 1: cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
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Speaker 1: The manner still fell every morning, as it had for
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Speaker 1: four decades. Exodus sixteen thirty five records the Israelites ate
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Speaker 1: manna forty years until they came to a land that
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Speaker 1: was settled. They ate manna until they reached the border
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Speaker 1: of Canaan. But now everything was about to change. Soon
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Speaker 1: they would cross the Jordan and enter a land flowing
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Speaker 1: with milk and honey, a land with cities. They had
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Speaker 1: not built houses filled with good things. They had not
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Speaker 1: filled wells. They had not dug vineyards and olive groves.
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Speaker 1: They had not planted, as Moses described in Deuteronomy six
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Speaker 1: ten eleven, would be to remember the Lord and not
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Speaker 1: forget him. Once they were settled and prosperous, Israel's greatest
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Speaker 1: test would not be in scarcity, but in abundance, not
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Speaker 1: in the wilderness, but in the promised land. Moses knew
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Speaker 1: he would not enter with them. In Deuteronomy three twenty
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Speaker 1: three twenty seven, he recounted to the people at that time,
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Speaker 1: I pleaded with the Lord, sovereign, Lord, you have begun
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Speaker 1: to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand.
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Speaker 1: Let me go over and see the good land beyond
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Speaker 1: the Jordan, that fine hill country in Lebanon. But because
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Speaker 1: of you, the Lord was angry with me and would
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Speaker 1: not listen to me. That is enough, the Lord said,
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Speaker 1: do not speak to me any more about this matter.
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Speaker 1: Go up to the top of Pisgar and look west
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Speaker 1: and north, and south and east. Look at the land
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Speaker 1: with your own eyes, since you are not going to
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Speaker 1: cross this Jordan. This was therefore a moment of critical transition.
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Speaker 1: The only leader they had ever was about to leave them.
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Speaker 1: Gathering the people, Moses began his first speech by recalling
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Speaker 1: the journey from Mount Sinai as Deuteronomy one one to
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Speaker 1: three states, these are the words Moses spoke to all
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Speaker 1: israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan, that is,
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Speaker 1: in the Arabah, opposite soof between Paran and Tofel Laban,
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Speaker 1: Hazeroth and Dizahab. It takes eleven days to go from
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Speaker 1: Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Sir road. In
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Speaker 1: the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month,
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Speaker 1: Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had
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Speaker 1: commanded him concerning them. It was the beginning of the
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Speaker 1: eleventh month of the fortieth year since they had left Egypt.
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Speaker 1: The location was specific on the plains of Moab by
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Speaker 1: the Jordan facing Jericho, and the moment was solemn. The
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Speaker 1: people camped there were not the same ones who had
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Speaker 1: left Egypt, as recorded in numbers twenty six sixty four
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Speaker 1: sixty five. Not one of them was among those counted
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Speaker 1: by Moses and Aaron the Priest when they counted the
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Speaker 1: Israelites in the desert of Sinai. For the Lord had
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Speaker 1: told them that they would surely die in the wilderness,
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Speaker 1: and not one of them was left except Caleb, son
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Speaker 1: of Jeffuna and Joshua son of Nun. The generation of
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Speaker 1: the Exodus had perished in the wilderness as a consequence
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Speaker 1: of their lack of faith. At Kadesh Barnair, their children,
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Speaker 1: many of whom had been born during the wilderness journey,
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Speaker 1: were now the ones who would inherit the promise. Gathering
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Speaker 1: the people, Moses began his first speech by recalling the
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Speaker 1: journey from Mount Sinai in Deuteronomy one six to eight.
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Speaker 1: He reminded them of the divine command that set them
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Speaker 1: in motion. The Lord, our God said to us, at Horeb,
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Speaker 1: you have stayed long enough at this mountain, Break camp
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Speaker 1: and advance into the hill country of the Amorites. See
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Speaker 1: I have given you this land. Go in and take
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Speaker 1: possession of the land. The Lord swore he would give
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Speaker 1: to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and to
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Speaker 1: their descendants after them. This command had been given about
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Speaker 1: thirty nine years earlier. It seemed so simple, leave Sinai,
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Speaker 1: march to Canaan and take possession of the land. But
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Speaker 1: what should have been a journey of days had turned
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Speaker 1: into a pilgrimage of decades. Moses recalled how he had
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Speaker 1: delegated authority in the wilderness following the advice of his
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Speaker 1: father in law Jethro in Deuteronomy one nine two. At fifteen,
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Speaker 1: He recounts, at that time I said to you, I
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Speaker 1: am not able to bear you alone. So I took
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Speaker 1: the leaders of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and
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Speaker 1: appointed them as heads over you, as commanders of thousands,
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Speaker 1: commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and
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Speaker 1: as officers for your tribes. This system of sher leadership
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Speaker 1: would be essential for governing the people in the Promised Land,
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Speaker 1: a legacy of organization that Moses left for the future.
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Speaker 1: The recollection then shifted to the crucial moment at Kadesh Barnea,
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Speaker 1: when they first stood at the threshold of the Promised Land.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy one nineteen twenty one, Moses recalls, we set
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Speaker 1: out from Horreb and traveled through that great and terrifying
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Speaker 1: wilderness that you saw on the way to the hill
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Speaker 1: country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had
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Speaker 1: commanded us, and we came to Kadesh Barnea. Then I
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Speaker 1: said to you, you have reached the hill country of
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Speaker 1: the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. See,
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Speaker 1: the Lord your God has set this land before you.
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Speaker 1: Go up and take possession of it. As the Lord,
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Speaker 1: the God of your ancestors, has told you. Do not
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Speaker 1: be afraid or discouraged. The command was clear, enter and
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Speaker 1: take possession of the land, but the people asked that
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Speaker 1: spies be sent ahead first. In Deuteronomy one twenty two
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Speaker 1: to twenty five, Moses recalls, then all of you came
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Speaker 1: to me and said, let us send men ahead of
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Speaker 1: us to explore the land and bring back a report
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Speaker 1: about the route we should take and the towns we
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Speaker 1: will come to. The idea seemed good to me, so
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Speaker 1: I selected twelve men from among you, one from each tribe.
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Speaker 1: They went up into the hill country and came to
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Speaker 1: the valley of Eshkol and explored the land. They took
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Speaker 1: some of the fruit of the land in their hands,
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Speaker 1: brought it down to us and reported, it is a
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Speaker 1: good land that the Lord, our God is giving us.
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Speaker 1: The spy's report confirmed the goodness of the land, a
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Speaker 1: land truly flowing with milk and honey, as evidence by
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Speaker 1: the fruit they brought back. But then came the shameful
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Speaker 1: moment that changed the course of Israel's history. In Deuteronomy
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Speaker 1: one twenty six twenty eight, Moses recalls, but you were
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Speaker 1: unwilling to go up. You rebelled against the command of
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Speaker 1: the the Lord, your God. You grumbled in your tents
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Speaker 1: and said, the Lord hates us. That's why he brought
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Speaker 1: us out of Egypt, to hand us over to the
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Speaker 1: Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go? Our brothers
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Speaker 1: have made our hearts melt with fear. They say. The
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Speaker 1: people are stronger and taller than we are. The cities
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Speaker 1: are large, with walls up to the sky. We even
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Speaker 1: saw the descendants of the Anakites there. Fear had triumphed
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Speaker 1: over faith. Despite all the wonders they had witnessed in
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Speaker 1: Egypt and the wilderness, they could not trust that God
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Speaker 1: would give them victory over the Canaanites. God's response was severe.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy one thirty four to thirty six, Moses recalls,
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Speaker 1: when the Lord heard what you said, he was angry
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Speaker 1: and solemnly swore not one from this evil generation shall
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Speaker 1: see the good land. I swore to give your ancestors,
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Speaker 1: except Caleb, son of Ja'fanna. He will see it, and
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Speaker 1: I will give him and his descendants the land he
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Speaker 1: set his feet on because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.
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Speaker 1: Only Joshua and Caleb, the two spies who had given
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Speaker 1: a good report and encouraged the people to trust in God,
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Speaker 1: would be spared from the divine decree. All the other
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Speaker 1: adults of that generation would perish in the wilderness. Even
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Speaker 1: Moses was not spared from the consequences. In Deuteronomy one
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Speaker 1: thirty seven, he confesses, because of you, the Lord became
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Speaker 1: angry with me also and said you shall not enter
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Speaker 1: it either. Though Moses here attributes his punishment to the
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Speaker 1: rebellion at Kadesh Barnea, he later mentions the actual incident
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Speaker 1: that barred him from entering the land when he struck
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Speaker 1: the rock at Meribah instead of speaking to it as
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Speaker 1: God had commanded, as recorded in numbers twenty two Tune thirteen. Regardless,
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Speaker 1: the result was the same. Moses like the rest of
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Speaker 1: that generation, would not enter the promised land. After the
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Speaker 1: rebellion at Kadesh Barnea, the people tried to correct their
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Speaker 1: mistake with a rash and equally disobedient decision. In Deuteronomy
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Speaker 1: one forty one forty three, Moses recalls, then you answered me,
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Speaker 1: we have sinned against the Lord. We will go up
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Speaker 1: and fight, just as the Lord, our God commanded us.
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Speaker 1: So each of you put on your weapons, thinking it
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Speaker 1: easy to go up into the hill country. But the
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Speaker 1: Lord said to me, tell them, do not go up
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Speaker 1: and fight, because I will not be with you. You
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Speaker 1: will be defeated by your enemies. So I told you,
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Speaker 1: but you would not listen. You rebelled against the Lord's
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Speaker 1: command and arrogantly went up into the hill country. The
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Speaker 1: result was a disastrous defeat at Horma. Thus began the
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Speaker 1: long wandering in the wilderness. In Deuteronomy two one, Moses recounts,
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Speaker 1: then we turn and back and set out toward the
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Speaker 1: wilderness along the route to the Red Sea, as the
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Speaker 1: Lord had directed me. For many days, we made our
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Speaker 1: way around Mount Sair. For nearly four decades, the people
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Speaker 1: roamed the desert regions south and east of Canaan, while
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Speaker 1: the rebellious generation gradually perished and their children grew and multiplied.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy chapters two and three, Moses recalled how at
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Speaker 1: last God led them back to the border of the
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Speaker 1: Promised Land. In Deuteronomy two two two three, he recounts,
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Speaker 1: then the Lord said to me, you have circled this
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Speaker 1: mountain long enough. Now turn north. The time had come
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Speaker 1: to resume their journey toward the Promised Land. This time, however,
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Speaker 1: the route would be different. Instead of entering from the south,
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Speaker 1: as they had attempted at Kadesh Barnea, they would enter
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Speaker 1: from the east, crossing the Jordan River. Along the way,
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Speaker 1: they encountered various related people. First, the descendants of Esau
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Speaker 1: in Edom. God instructed in Deuteronomy two forty five, give
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Speaker 1: the people these orders. You are about to pass through
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Speaker 1: the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau, who
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Speaker 1: live in Seyr. They will be afraid of you. Do
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Speaker 1: not provoke them to war, for I will not give
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Speaker 1: you any of their land, not even enough to put
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Speaker 1: your foot on. I have given mount Sair to Esore
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Speaker 1: as his possession. Next, they passed through Moab, the land
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Speaker 1: of Lot's descendants Again in Deuteronomy two poy nine. God's
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Speaker 1: command was clear, do not harass the Moabites or provoke
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Speaker 1: them to war, for I will not give you any
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Speaker 1: part of their land. I have given Ah to the
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Speaker 1: descendants of Lot as a possession. The same applied to
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Speaker 1: the Ammonites, another people descended from Lot, But then they
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Speaker 1: encountered the Amorites, led by King Sihon, who live between
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Speaker 1: the Arnan and Jabbok rivers. In Eronomy two twenty four
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Speaker 1: twenty five, God commanded rise up, set out, and cross
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Speaker 1: the Arnun valley. See I have given into your hand Sihon,
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Speaker 1: the Amorite king of Heshbon, and his land. Begin to
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Speaker 1: take possession of it and engage him in battle. This
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Speaker 1: very day, I will begin to put the fear and
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Speaker 1: dread of you upon all the peoples under heaven. When
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Speaker 1: they hear of you, they will tremble and be in
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Speaker 1: anguish because of you. This land was within the boundaries
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Speaker 1: that God had established for Israel's inheritance, which is why
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Speaker 1: the command was different. Moses sent messengers to Sihon with
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Speaker 1: a peaceful proposal, as recorded in Deuteronomy two twenty six
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Speaker 1: twenty nine. Then I sent messengers from the wilderness of
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Speaker 1: Kedemoth to Sihon, King of Heshbon, with words of peace, saying,
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Speaker 1: let me pass through your land. I will travel only
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Speaker 1: on the road. I will not turn aside to the
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Speaker 1: right or to the left. Sell me food for money
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Speaker 1: so that I may eat, and give me water for
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Speaker 1: money so that I may drink. Only let me pass
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Speaker 1: through on foot. It was a reasonable request, peaceful passage
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Speaker 1: with payment for food and water, while strictly following the
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Speaker 1: main road. But Sihon refused, and the Bible gives us
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Speaker 1: a divine perspective on this refusal in Deuteronomy two thirty.
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Speaker 1: But Sihon, king of Heshbon, would not let us pass
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Speaker 1: through his land, for the Lord your God had hardened
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Speaker 1: his spirit and made his heart obstinate in order to
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Speaker 1: deliver him into your hands. As is the case to day,
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Speaker 1: Sihon not only denied them passage, but also marched out
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Speaker 1: with his army to fight Israel at Jahaz. The result
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Speaker 1: was a decisive victory for Israel. Soon after, they faced
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Speaker 1: another Amorite king, og of Bashan, to the north. In
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Speaker 1: Deuteronomy three one seven, Moses recounts, then we turned and
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Speaker 1: went up the road to Bashan, and Og, king of Bashan,
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Speaker 1: came out against us, he and all his people to
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Speaker 1: battle at Edre. But the Lord said to me, do
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Speaker 1: not fear him, for I have delivered him, his people,
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Speaker 1: and his land into your hands. Do to him as
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Speaker 1: you did to Sihon, king of the Amorites, who lived
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Speaker 1: in Heshbon. So the Lord our God also gave Og,
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Speaker 1: king of Bashan, and all his people into our hands,
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Speaker 1: and we struck them down until no survivors remained. Moses
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Speaker 1: then recalled how the tribes of Reuben and Gad asked
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Speaker 1: to settle in these newly conquered lands east of the Jordan.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy three, twelve seventeen, he explains how the land
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Speaker 1: was distributed. This land that we took possession of at
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Speaker 1: that time from a Roa, which is by the Arnan Valley,
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Speaker 1: and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities,
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Speaker 1: I gave to the Reubenites and Gadites. The rest of
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Speaker 1: Gilead and all of Bashan. The kingdom of Og I
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Speaker 1: gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. It was a
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Speaker 1: vast territory stretching from the Arnan River in the south
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Speaker 1: to Mount Hermon in the north. However, this grant came
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Speaker 1: with an important condition. In Deuteronomy three eighteen to twenty,
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Speaker 1: Moses explains, at that time I commanded you, saying, the
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Speaker 1: Lord your God has given you this land to possess.
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Speaker 1: All your valiant men shall cross over armed before your brothers,
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Speaker 1: the Israelites. Only your wives, your children, and your live
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Speaker 1: stock shall remain in the towns that I have given
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Speaker 1: you until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as
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Speaker 1: he has given to you, and they also possess the
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Speaker 1: land that the Lord your God is giving them beyond
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Speaker 1: the Jordan. Then each of you may return to your
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Speaker 1: possession that I have given you. The warriors from these
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Speaker 1: tribes could not sit please settle in their new lands.
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Speaker 1: They had to help their fellow Israelites conquer the territory
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Speaker 1: west of the Jordan before returning to their families. After
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Speaker 1: this historical recap, Moses began his second speech with a
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Speaker 1: call to obedience. In Deuteronomy four one two two, he said, now,
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Speaker 1: o Israel, listen to the statutes and judgments that I
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Speaker 1: teach you to follow, so that you may live and
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Speaker 1: enter and take possession of the land that the Lord,
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Speaker 1: the God of your father's is giving. You do not
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Speaker 1: add to the word that I command you, nor take
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Speaker 1: away from it, so that you may keep the commandments
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Speaker 1: of the Lord your God that I command you. This
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Speaker 1: principle of neither adding to nor subtracting from God's law
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Speaker 1: was crucial for preserving the covenant. God's word was perfect
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Speaker 1: as it was, there was no need for human modifications
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Speaker 1: or simplifications. Moses then reminded the people of the apostasy
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Speaker 1: at bal Pare, a recent event still fresh in their memory.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy four three four, he recalls, your eyes have
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Speaker 1: seen what the Lord did at Balpure. The Lord your
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Speaker 1: God destroyed from among you everyone who followed Baal of Pure.
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Speaker 1: But you who held fast to the Lord your God
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Speaker 1: are all alive today. This dramatic contrast between those who
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Speaker 1: perished due to idolatry and those who survived by remaining
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Speaker 1: faithful to God was a powerful reminder of the consequences
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Speaker 1: of their choices. The wisdom of keeping God's law would
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Speaker 1: be evident to the surrounding nations. In Deuteronomy four six eight,
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Speaker 1: Moses explains, keep them and do them, for this will
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Speaker 1: be your wisdom. And your understanding in the sight of
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Speaker 1: the peoples, who will hear all these statutes and say, surely,
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Speaker 1: this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For
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Speaker 1: what great nation is there that has a God so
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Speaker 1: near to it as the Lord, our God is to
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Speaker 1: us whenever we call upon him. And what great nation
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Speaker 1: has statutes and judgments as righteous as this entire law
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Speaker 1: that I set before you to day. Obedience to Gods
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Speaker 1: law was not just a duty, but also a testimony.
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Speaker 1: It would show the nations the wisdom and justice of
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Speaker 1: God and the uniqueness of Israel as his chosen people.
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Speaker 1: Moses then reminded the people of their transformative experience at
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Speaker 1: Mount Sinai, when God spoke to them from the midst
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Speaker 1: of the fire. In Deuteronomy four ten thirteen, he recounts
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Speaker 1: the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb.
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Speaker 1: The Lord said, to me, assemble the people before me,
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Speaker 1: and I will let them hear my words, so that
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Speaker 1: they may learn to fear me all the days they
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Speaker 1: live on the earth, and that they may teach them
21:50
Speaker 1: to their children. Then you came near and stood at
21:53
Speaker 1: the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with
21:56
Speaker 1: fire to the heart of Heaven, wrapped in darkness and
22:00
Speaker 1: thick gloom. Then the Lord spoke to you from the
22:03
Speaker 1: midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words,
22:07
Speaker 1: but saw no form. There was only a voice, and
22:10
Speaker 1: he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you
22:13
Speaker 1: to keep, the ten commandments, and he wrote them on
22:16
Speaker 1: two tablets of stone. This unique experience should have been
22:21
Speaker 1: enough to convince Israel of God's reality and majesty. One
22:25
Speaker 1: of the most important emphasis of the Second Discourse was
22:29
Speaker 1: the absolute prohibition of idolatry, especially in the form of images.
22:34
Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy four fifteen to nineteen, Moses warns, therefore, watch
22:39
Speaker 1: yourselves very carefully, since you saw no form on the
22:42
Speaker 1: day that the Lord your God spoke to you at
22:45
Speaker 1: horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest you
22:47
Speaker 1: act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves in
22:51
Speaker 1: the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,
22:55
Speaker 1: the likeness of any animal that is on the earth,
22:58
Speaker 1: the likeness of any wing bird that flies in the air,
23:02
Speaker 1: the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the
23:05
Speaker 1: likeness of any fish that is in the water under
23:09
Speaker 1: the earth. And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven,
23:13
Speaker 1: and when you see the sun and the moon and
23:15
Speaker 1: the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn
23:18
Speaker 1: away and bow down to them and serve them things
23:22
Speaker 1: that the Lord your God has allotted to all the
23:24
Speaker 1: peoples under the whole heaven. Unlike neighboring nations, Israel was
23:29
Speaker 1: to worship a God who could not be represented by images.
23:34
Speaker 1: Moses also warned about the consequences of idolatry, even prophesying
23:38
Speaker 1: future exile. In Deuteronomy four twenty five twenty eight, he cautions,
23:44
Speaker 1: when you father children and children's children, and have grown
23:48
Speaker 1: old in the land, if you act corruptly by making
23:51
Speaker 1: a carved image in the form of anything, and by
23:54
Speaker 1: doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord
23:57
Speaker 1: your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I
24:00
Speaker 1: call heaven and earth to witness against you to day,
24:03
Speaker 1: that you will soon utterly perish from the land that
24:07
Speaker 1: you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will
24:10
Speaker 1: not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed,
24:13
Speaker 1: and the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and
24:16
Speaker 1: you will be left few in number among the nations,
24:19
Speaker 1: where the Lord will drive you, and there you will
24:22
Speaker 1: serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human
24:26
Speaker 1: hands that neither see, nor hear, nor eat nor smell.
24:30
Speaker 1: This prophecy would be fulfilled centuries later, when Israel was
24:35
Speaker 1: taken captive to Assyria and Judah to Babylon. Yet even
24:39
Speaker 1: in the midst of the severest warning, there was a
24:42
Speaker 1: promise of restoration. In Deuteronomy four twenty nine thirty one,
24:47
Speaker 1: Moses assures, but from there you will seek the Lord
24:52
Speaker 1: your God, and you will find him if you search
24:55
Speaker 1: after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
24:59
Speaker 1: When you are in Tribula and all these things come
25:01
Speaker 1: upon you in the latter days, you will return to
25:04
Speaker 1: the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the
25:08
Speaker 1: Lord your God is a merciful god. He will not
25:12
Speaker 1: leave you or destroy you, or forget the covenant with
25:16
Speaker 1: your fathers that he swore to them. God's covenant with
25:20
Speaker 1: Israel was rooted in his mercy and faithfulness, ensuring that
25:24
Speaker 1: hope of restoration would always remain even after the worst punishment.
25:30
Speaker 1: Moses concluded this part of his speech by reminding Israel
25:33
Speaker 1: of its unique election. In Deuteronomy four thirty two forty
25:37
Speaker 1: he declares for ask now of the days that are past,
25:42
Speaker 1: which were before you since the day that God created
25:45
Speaker 1: man on the earth, And ask from one end of
25:48
Speaker 1: heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as
25:51
Speaker 1: this has ever happened or was ever heard of. Did
25:54
Speaker 1: any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out
25:57
Speaker 1: of the midst of the fire, as you have heardd
26:00
Speaker 1: and still live, Or has any God ever attempted to
26:03
Speaker 1: go and take a nation for himself from the midst
26:07
Speaker 1: of another nation? By trials, by signs, by wonders, and
26:11
Speaker 1: by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm,
26:16
Speaker 1: and by great deeds of terror, all of which the
26:20
Speaker 1: Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes.
26:24
Speaker 1: To you, it was shown that you might know that
26:26
Speaker 1: the Lord is God. There is no other besides him.
26:30
Speaker 1: Know therefore to day and lay it to your heart
26:32
Speaker 1: that the Lord is God, in heaven above and on
26:35
Speaker 1: the earth beneath, there is no other. After this powerful introduction,
26:41
Speaker 1: Moses proceeded with the recitation of the Ten Commandments, the
26:45
Speaker 1: core of God's covenant with Israel. In Deuteronomy five one
26:49
Speaker 1: five he introduces them. Moses summoned all Israel and said
26:53
Speaker 1: to them, here, o Israel, the statutes and the rules
26:57
Speaker 1: that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall
26:59
Speaker 1: learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord,
27:02
Speaker 1: our God, made a covenant with us at Horib. Not
27:05
Speaker 1: with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but
27:09
Speaker 1: with us, who are all of us here alive to day.
27:12
Speaker 1: The Lord spoke with you face to face at the mountain,
27:15
Speaker 1: out of the midst of the fire. This statement was significant.
27:20
Speaker 1: Although the covenant was made with the previous generation at
27:23
Speaker 1: Mount Sinai, it remained valid for the present generation, as
27:28
Speaker 1: if they themselves had been there. The Ten Commandments are
27:31
Speaker 1: then presented in Deuteronomy five six two to twenty one,
27:36
Speaker 1: nearly identical to the version recorded in Exodus twenty. It
27:41
Speaker 1: begins with God's self identification, I am the Lord, your God,
27:46
Speaker 1: who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
27:49
Speaker 1: of the house of slavery. This is followed by prohibitions
27:53
Speaker 1: against idolatry, the misuse of God's name, and the command
27:57
Speaker 1: to observe the Sabbath. Then come the commandments regulating human relationships.
28:03
Speaker 1: Honor your father and mother, do not murder, do not
28:07
Speaker 1: commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,
28:12
Speaker 1: do not covet. These commandments formed the moral foundation upon
28:16
Speaker 1: which the entire law was built. Moses then recalled the
28:20
Speaker 1: people's reaction when God spoke from the fire in Deuteronomy
28:25
Speaker 1: five twenty three to twenty seven. He describes, and as
28:28
Speaker 1: soon as you heard the voice out of the midst
28:31
Speaker 1: of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire,
28:35
Speaker 1: you came near to me, all the heads of your
28:38
Speaker 1: tribes and your elders, and you said, behold, the Lord
28:42
Speaker 1: our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and
28:45
Speaker 1: we have heard his voice out of the midst of
28:47
Speaker 1: the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man,
28:52
Speaker 1: and man still live. Now, therefore, why should we die,
28:56
Speaker 1: for this great fire will consume us. If we hear
29:00
Speaker 1: the voice of the Lord our God any longer, we
29:03
Speaker 1: shall die. For who is there of all flesh that
29:06
Speaker 1: has heard the voice of the Living God speaking out
29:09
Speaker 1: of the midst of fire, as we have, and has
29:12
Speaker 1: still lived. Go near and hear all that the Lord
29:16
Speaker 1: our God will say and speak to us, all that
29:19
Speaker 1: the Lord our God will speak to you, and we
29:22
Speaker 1: will hear and do it. The people recognized God's majesty
29:27
Speaker 1: and power, but also their own fear, so they asked
29:30
Speaker 1: Moses to serve as a mediator between them and God.
29:34
Speaker 1: God approved this request, as Moses recounts in Deuteronomy five
29:39
Speaker 1: twenty eight thirty one, the Lord heard the voice of
29:43
Speaker 1: your words when you spoke to me. And the Lord
29:46
Speaker 1: said to me, I have heard the voice of the
29:49
Speaker 1: words of this people which they have spoken to you.
29:52
Speaker 1: They have spoken well in all that they have said.
29:56
Speaker 1: Owe that they had such a heart in them that
29:58
Speaker 1: they would fear me and keep all my commandments always,
30:02
Speaker 1: so that it might be well with them and their
30:04
Speaker 1: children forever. Go say to them, return to your tents,
30:08
Speaker 1: but you stay here with me, and I will tell
30:12
Speaker 1: you all the commandments, statutes, and judgments that you shall
30:15
Speaker 1: teach them, so that they may observe them in the land.
30:19
Speaker 1: I am giving them to possess. God desired that the
30:22
Speaker 1: reverent fear the people experienced at that moment would remain
30:26
Speaker 1: with them, motivating them toward constant obedience. After reiterating the
30:31
Speaker 1: ten Commandments, Moses introduced what would become the central confession
30:36
Speaker 1: of faith in Judaism to this day, the Shamah. In
30:40
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy six four to five, he declares, here o Israel,
30:46
Speaker 1: the Lord, our God. The Lord is one. You shall
30:50
Speaker 1: love the Lord your God with all your heart, with
30:52
Speaker 1: all your soul, and with all your strength. This was
30:55
Speaker 1: not just another commandment, It was the essence of everything
30:59
Speaker 1: God desired from Israel. Obedience was meant to flow from love,
31:05
Speaker 1: not merely from fear or duty, and this love was
31:10
Speaker 1: to be total, engaging the heart, emotions and desires, the soul,
31:15
Speaker 1: will and personality, and strength, actions and resources. This fundamental
31:21
Speaker 1: commandment was to be diligently passed on to future generations.
31:26
Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy six ties six nine, Moses instructs these words
31:32
Speaker 1: which I command you to day, shall be in your heart.
31:35
Speaker 1: You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall
31:39
Speaker 1: talk of them when you sit in your house, when
31:41
Speaker 1: you walk by the way, when you lie down, and
31:44
Speaker 1: when you rise up. You shall bind them as a
31:47
Speaker 1: sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets
31:50
Speaker 1: between your eyes. You shall write them on the door
31:53
Speaker 1: posts of your house and on your gates. The law
31:56
Speaker 1: was not meant to be kept in a sacred book
31:59
Speaker 1: and forgotten. It was to permeate every aspect of daily
32:02
Speaker 1: life and be a constant topic of conversation and teaching.
32:07
Speaker 1: Moses then warned about the dangers of prosperity that they
32:10
Speaker 1: would encounter in the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy six ten ti. Twelve,
32:16
Speaker 1: he cautions, when the Lord your God brings you into
32:19
Speaker 1: the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham,
32:23
Speaker 1: Isaac and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities
32:27
Speaker 1: which you did not build, houses full of all good
32:30
Speaker 1: things which you did not fill, hewn wells which you
32:33
Speaker 1: did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did
32:36
Speaker 1: not plant. When you have eaten and are full, then
32:40
Speaker 1: beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out
32:43
Speaker 1: of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.
32:47
Speaker 1: The greatest danger would not be adversity, but abundance. When
32:51
Speaker 1: everything was going well, Israel would be tempted to forget
32:55
Speaker 1: that everything came from God and instead take pride in
32:59
Speaker 1: their own achievements. Recurring theme in this second speech is
33:04
Speaker 1: the need for complete separation from the Canaanite peoples and
33:08
Speaker 1: their religious practices. In Deuteronomy seven one to six, Moses commands,
33:14
Speaker 1: when the Lord your God brings you into the land
33:17
Speaker 1: which you are about to possess, and has cast out
33:20
Speaker 1: many nations before you. And when the Lord your God
33:22
Speaker 1: has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them,
33:26
Speaker 1: then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no
33:29
Speaker 1: covenant with them, nor show mercy to them. But this
33:33
Speaker 1: is what you shall do to them. You shall destroy
33:36
Speaker 1: their altars, break down their sacred pillars, cut down their
33:40
Speaker 1: wooden images, and burn their carved idols with fire. For
33:45
Speaker 1: you are a holy people to the Lord your God.
33:48
Speaker 1: The Lord your God has chosen you to be his
33:51
Speaker 1: special people above all the peoples on the face of
33:54
Speaker 1: the earth. After renewing the Covenant, Moses presented a detailed
33:58
Speaker 1: set of laws that would govern Israel's life in the
34:02
Speaker 1: Promised Land. This Deuteronomic code begins with the central theme
34:08
Speaker 1: of worship centralization. In Deuteronomy twelve one to seven, he instructs,
34:14
Speaker 1: these are the statutes and judgments which you shall be
34:17
Speaker 1: careful to observe in the land which the Lord, God
34:21
Speaker 1: of your fathers is giving you to possess. All the
34:24
Speaker 1: days that you live on the earth, you shall utterly
34:27
Speaker 1: destroy all the places where the nations whom you dispossess
34:31
Speaker 1: serve their gods on the high mountains, on the hills
34:35
Speaker 1: and under every green tree, and you shall destroy their altars,
34:39
Speaker 1: break their sacred pillars, burn their wooden images with fire,
34:44
Speaker 1: cut down the carved images of their gods, and obliterate
34:47
Speaker 1: their names. From that place, you shall not worship the
34:50
Speaker 1: Lord your God in this way. But you shall seek
34:53
Speaker 1: the place where the Lord your God chooses out of
34:57
Speaker 1: all your tribes to put his name for his dwelling,
35:00
Speaker 1: and there you shall go. This command to worship only
35:06
Speaker 1: in the place God chose, which later became Jerusalem, stood
35:10
Speaker 1: in stark contrast to Canaanite practices, where their gods were
35:14
Speaker 1: worshiped at various high places scattered throughout the land. The
35:19
Speaker 1: centralization of worship served multiple purposes, preserving the purity of worship,
35:25
Speaker 1: preventing the assimilation of local pagan practices, maintaining national unity,
35:31
Speaker 1: and ensuring that sacrifices were offered according to the law
35:35
Speaker 1: by properly authorized priests. Moses also established regulations regarding the
35:41
Speaker 1: consumption of meat. In Deuteronomy twelve fifteen sixteen, he explains, however,
35:46
Speaker 1: you may slaughter and eat meat within all your gates,
35:49
Speaker 1: according to the desire of your soul, as the Lord
35:53
Speaker 1: your God has blessed you. The unclean and the clean
35:56
Speaker 1: alike may eat of it, just as of the gazelle
35:59
Speaker 1: and the deer. Only you shall not eat the blood.
36:03
Speaker 1: You shall pour it out on the earth like water.
36:06
Speaker 1: During the wilderness journey, any slaughter of an animal was
36:10
Speaker 1: considered a sacrifice and had to be performed before the tabernacle.
36:14
Speaker 1: But in the land where the central sanctuary might be
36:18
Speaker 1: far from many communities, this restriction was lifted for ordinary,
36:23
Speaker 1: non sacrificial meat. However, sacrificial animals still had to be
36:29
Speaker 1: brought to the central sanctuary. In Deuteronomy twelve seventeen to eighteen,
36:34
Speaker 1: Moses emphasizes within your gates, you shall not eat the
36:39
Speaker 1: tithe of your grain, or your new wine, or your oil,
36:42
Speaker 1: or the first born of your herds or flocks, or
36:45
Speaker 1: any of your vowed offerings which you vow, or your
36:48
Speaker 1: free will offerings, or the heave offering of your hand.
36:53
Speaker 1: But you must eat them before the Lord your God
36:56
Speaker 1: in the place which the Lord your God chooses you,
37:00
Speaker 1: your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant,
37:04
Speaker 1: and the levite who is within your gates, and you
37:08
Speaker 1: shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that
37:12
Speaker 1: you put your hand to sacrifices and offerings remained an
37:16
Speaker 1: act of communal worship to be celebrated in God's presence
37:21
Speaker 1: at the designated place. Moses also emphasized the responsibility of
37:26
Speaker 1: caring for the Levites, who did not receive a territorial
37:30
Speaker 1: inheritance like the other tribes. In Deuteronomy twelve nineteen, he warns,
37:36
Speaker 1: be careful not to neglect the Levite as long as
37:40
Speaker 1: you live in your land. This concern for the Levites
37:43
Speaker 1: appears multiple times in Deuteronomy, highlighting the importance of supporting
37:48
Speaker 1: those who served in the nation's religious affairs. A central
37:53
Speaker 1: theme of the Deuteronomic Code is the absolute prohibition of
37:57
Speaker 1: adopting Canaanite religious practice. In Deuteronomy twelve twenty nine thirty one,
38:03
Speaker 1: Moses warns, when the Lord your God cuts off before
38:07
Speaker 1: you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you
38:10
Speaker 1: dispossess them and live in their land, take heed that
38:13
Speaker 1: you are not ensnared to follow them after they are
38:16
Speaker 1: destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire about
38:19
Speaker 1: their gods, saying how did these nations serve their gods?
38:23
Speaker 1: That I also may do? Likewise you shall not do
38:27
Speaker 1: so to the Lord your God. For every abomination to
38:30
Speaker 1: the Lord which he hates, they have done for their gods.
38:34
Speaker 1: For they even burned their sons and their daughters in
38:38
Speaker 1: the fire to their gods. The temptation of religious syncretism,
38:43
Speaker 1: mixing the worship of Yahweh with elements of local cults
38:48
Speaker 1: was a constant danger that Moses sought to prevent. Even
38:52
Speaker 1: someone close who attempted to seduce the Israelites into idolatry
38:56
Speaker 1: was to be dealt with with the utmost severity. Exeronomy
39:00
Speaker 1: thirteen six to Turty eleven, Moses commands, if your brother,
39:05
Speaker 1: the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter,
39:08
Speaker 1: or the wife of your bosom, or your friend, who
39:11
Speaker 1: is as your own soul, entices you secretly saying let
39:15
Speaker 1: us go and serve other gods, which neither you nor
39:19
Speaker 1: your fathers have known. You shall not yield to him
39:22
Speaker 1: or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him,
39:25
Speaker 1: nor shall you spare him or conceal him. But you
39:29
Speaker 1: shall surely kill him. Your hand shall be first against
39:32
Speaker 1: him to put him to death, and afterward the hand
39:35
Speaker 1: of all the people. This drastic measure reflected the extreme
39:39
Speaker 1: danger that idolatry posed to Israel's existence as a covenant nation.
39:46
Speaker 1: The Deuteronomic Code also established important guidelines for social justice.
39:53
Speaker 1: One example is the year of remission, a measure to
39:56
Speaker 1: prevent chronic poverty. In Deuteronomy fifty sen one to six,
40:01
Speaker 1: Moses commands, at the end of every seven years, you
40:05
Speaker 1: shall grant a release of debts. And this is the
40:09
Speaker 1: manner of the release. Every creditor shall release what he
40:12
Speaker 1: has lent to his neighbor. He shall not require it
40:15
Speaker 1: from his neighbor or his brother, because the Lord's release
40:18
Speaker 1: has been proclaimed, so that there may be no poor
40:22
Speaker 1: among you, For the Lord will greatly bless you in
40:25
Speaker 1: the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
40:28
Speaker 1: As an inheritance. Every seven years, debts among Israelites were
40:33
Speaker 1: to be forgiven, giving people a fresh financial start. This
40:38
Speaker 1: concern for the poor appears even more explicitly in instructions
40:42
Speaker 1: on generosity. In Deuteronomy fifteen seven to eleven, Moses commands,
40:48
Speaker 1: if there is among you a poor man of your
40:50
Speaker 1: brethren within any of your gates, in the land which
40:54
Speaker 1: the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not
40:57
Speaker 1: harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother.
41:01
Speaker 1: But you shall open your hand wide to him, and
41:04
Speaker 1: willingly lend him sufficient for his need. Whatever he lacks.
41:09
Speaker 1: You shall surely open your hand to your brother, to
41:12
Speaker 1: your poor and your needy. In your land. Caring for
41:16
Speaker 1: the less fortunate was not optional. It was a divine
41:21
Speaker 1: commandment rooted in Israel's experience as slaves in Egypt and
41:26
Speaker 1: their deliverance by God's grace. Another important social institution was
41:31
Speaker 1: the release of Hebrew slaves in the seventh year. In
41:34
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy fifteen twelve fifteen, Moses instructs, if your Hebrew brother
41:40
Speaker 1: or sister sells themselves to you, they shall serve you
41:43
Speaker 1: six years, and in the seventh year, you shall let
41:46
Speaker 1: them go free. And when you release them, do not
41:49
Speaker 1: send them away empty handed. Supply them liberally from your flock,
41:54
Speaker 1: from your threshing floor, and from your wine press, from
41:57
Speaker 1: what the Lord your God has blessed you with you
41:59
Speaker 1: shall give to them. And you shall remember that you
42:02
Speaker 1: were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the
42:05
Speaker 1: Lord your God redeemed you. Therefore I command you this today.
42:10
Speaker 1: Unlike other systems of slavery in the ancient world, in Israel,
42:14
Speaker 1: servitude among fellow Israelites was temporary and had to end
42:18
Speaker 1: with generosity, not just freeing the servant, but also providing
42:24
Speaker 1: them with resources to restart their lives. Moses also established
42:28
Speaker 1: guidelines for the three major annual festivals that Israel was
42:32
Speaker 1: to celebrate. In Deuteronomy sixteenth one seventeen, he details the Passover,
42:39
Speaker 1: the Feast of Weeks, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
42:44
Speaker 1: Regarding the Passover, in Deuteronomy sixteen one to three, he
42:48
Speaker 1: commands observe the month of a Bib and celebrate the
42:52
Speaker 1: Passover to the Lord your God, because in the month
42:55
Speaker 1: of Abib, the Lord your God brought you out of Egypt.
42:59
Speaker 1: By night, you shall sacrifice the Passover to the Lord
43:03
Speaker 1: your God from the flock and the herd in the
43:06
Speaker 1: place where the Lord chooses to put his name. You
43:08
Speaker 1: shall not eat leavened bread with it for seven days.
43:12
Speaker 1: You shall eat unleavened bread, the bread of affliction, because
43:16
Speaker 1: you came out of the land of Egypt in haste,
43:19
Speaker 1: so that you may remember the day you came out
43:21
Speaker 1: of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.
43:24
Speaker 1: Passover was the fundamental celebration of Israel's deliverance from Egypt.
43:30
Speaker 1: The second major festival was the Feast of weeks, also
43:33
Speaker 1: called Pentecost. In Deuteronomy sixteen ninety eleven, Moses instructs, you
43:40
Speaker 1: shall count seven weeks. Begin to count the seven weeks
43:44
Speaker 1: from the time you put the sickle to the grain.
43:47
Speaker 1: Then you shall keep the feast of weeks to the
43:50
Speaker 1: Lord your God, with a free will offering from your hand,
43:53
Speaker 1: which you shall give as the Lord your God blesses you.
43:57
Speaker 1: And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God. You,
44:00
Speaker 1: your son and daughter, your male and female servants, the
44:04
Speaker 1: levite who is within your gates, the stranger, the fatherless,
44:08
Speaker 1: and the widow, who are among you in the place
44:11
Speaker 1: where the Lord your God chooses to put his name.
44:14
Speaker 1: This festival marked the end of the grain harvest and
44:17
Speaker 1: was an occasion of gratitude for divine provision. The third
44:22
Speaker 1: major festival was the Feast of Tabernacles. In Deuteronomy A.
44:27
Speaker 1: Sixteen thirteen to fifteen, Moses commands you shall observe the
44:34
Speaker 1: Feast of Tabernacles for seven days, when you have gathered
44:38
Speaker 1: in from your threshing floor and your wine press, and
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Speaker 1: you shall rejoice in your feast, You, your son and daughter,
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Speaker 1: your male and female servants, the levite, the stranger, the fatherless,
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Speaker 1: and the widow, who are within your gates. For seven days,
44:55
Speaker 1: you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your
44:58
Speaker 1: God in the place which the Lord choose, Because the
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Speaker 1: Lord your God will bless you in all your produce
45:04
Speaker 1: and in all the work of your hands, so that
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Speaker 1: you will surely rejoice. This festival commemorated the journey through
45:11
Speaker 1: the wilderness when the people lived in tents, and also
45:14
Speaker 1: celebrated the final harvest of the year. An important aspect
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Speaker 1: of these festivals was the inclusion of all segments of
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Speaker 1: society in the celebrations. In Deuteronomy sixteen eleven, Moses emphasizes
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Speaker 1: that everyone should participate. You, your son and daughter, your
45:33
Speaker 1: male and female servant, the levite within your gates, the foreigner,
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Speaker 1: the orphan, and the widow among you. These festivals were
45:40
Speaker 1: not just religious rituals, but also occasions of national unity
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Speaker 1: and social equity, where everyone, including the most vulnerable members
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Speaker 1: of society, shared in joy and abundance. The Deuteronomic code
45:55
Speaker 1: also established guidelines for the administration of justice. In Deuteronomy
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Speaker 1: sixteen eighteen twenty, Moses commands appoint judges and officials for
46:05
Speaker 1: each of your tribes in every town. The Lord your
46:08
Speaker 1: God is giving you, and they shall judge the people fairly.
46:12
Speaker 1: Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept
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Speaker 1: a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the
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Speaker 1: wise and twists the words of the righteous. Follow justice
46:23
Speaker 1: and justice alone, so that you may live and possess
46:27
Speaker 1: the land the Lord your God is giving you. The
46:31
Speaker 1: emphasis on impartial and incorruptible justice was essential for the
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Speaker 1: well being of the nation. Judges were to be placed
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Speaker 1: throughout all cities, making justice accessible to all. After thoroughly
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Speaker 1: establishing the laws that would govern life in Canaan, Moses
46:49
Speaker 1: gathered the people for a solemn renewal of the Covenant.
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Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy twenty nine one one to three, we read,
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Speaker 1: these are the words of the covenant the Lord commanded
46:59
Speaker 1: Moses to make with the Israelites in the land of Moab,
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Speaker 1: in addition to the covenant he made with them at Horeb.
47:07
Speaker 1: Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, you have
47:10
Speaker 1: seen with your own eyes everything the Lord did in Egypt,
47:14
Speaker 1: to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to his whole land.
47:18
Speaker 1: The Great trials, your eyes saw the signs and great wonders.
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Speaker 1: Moses began by reminding them of God's faithfulness and his
47:27
Speaker 1: powerful acts on behalf of the people. The renewal of
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Speaker 1: the covenant included not only those present, but also future generations.
47:35
Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy twenty nine fourteen fifteen, Moses declares, I am
47:40
Speaker 1: making this covenant with its oath, not only with you
47:43
Speaker 1: who are standing here with us to day in the
47:45
Speaker 1: presence of the Lord our God, but also with those
47:48
Speaker 1: who are not here to day. The covenant transcended and
47:53
Speaker 1: time and space, encompassing the entire community of Israel across generations.
48:00
Speaker 1: This intergenerational aspect of the covenant underscored the people's responsibility
48:06
Speaker 1: to faithfully pass down God's law and knowledge to their descendants.
48:11
Speaker 1: The renewal of this covenant carried profound significance. Although the
48:16
Speaker 1: present generation had not been the one that originally entered
48:20
Speaker 1: into the covenant at Mount Sinai, they were treated as
48:24
Speaker 1: full participants in that event. In Deuteronomy five two to three,
48:30
Speaker 1: Moses had already stated the Lord our God made a
48:33
Speaker 1: covenant with us at Horeb. It was not with our
48:36
Speaker 1: ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us,
48:41
Speaker 1: with all of us who are alive here to day.
48:44
Speaker 1: The Covenant was not merely a historical event, but a
48:47
Speaker 1: living reality that each generation experienced as if they had
48:52
Speaker 1: been present at the original moment. Thus, the covenant in
48:56
Speaker 1: Moab served as a solemn reaffirmation of the commitments made
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Speaker 1: at Sinai. Moses emphasized to the people that this renewal
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Speaker 1: was happening in a context of grace. In Deuteronomy twenty nine,
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Speaker 1: two too late, he recalls how God had led them
49:13
Speaker 1: through the wilderness for forty years. I led you through
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Speaker 1: the wilderness for forty years. Your clothes did not wear
49:20
Speaker 1: out on you, nor did the sandals on your feet.
49:24
Speaker 1: You ate no bread and drank no wine or other
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Speaker 1: fermented drink, so that you might know that I am
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Speaker 1: the Lord your God. This supernatural care demonstrated that the
49:34
Speaker 1: Covenant was based not on Israel's merit, but on God's
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Speaker 1: grace and faithfulness. Moses warned of the severe consequences of
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Speaker 1: disobedience in Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty two twenty eight. He
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Speaker 1: predicts the next generation, your children who follow you and
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Speaker 1: foreigners who come from distant lands, will see the calamities
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Speaker 1: that have fallen on the land. All the nations will
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Speaker 1: ask why has the Lord done this to this land,
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Speaker 1: why this fierce burning anger, And the answer will be
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Speaker 1: it is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord,
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Speaker 1: the god of their ancestors, and went off and worshiped
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Speaker 1: other gods. Therefore, the Lord's anger burned against this land,
50:20
Speaker 1: bringing upon it all the curses written in this book.
50:24
Speaker 1: In furious anger, the Lord uprooted them from their land
50:27
Speaker 1: and thrust them into another land as it is today.
50:32
Speaker 1: These were not empty threats. They were serious warnings about
50:36
Speaker 1: the natural consequences of abandoning the covenant. What made this
50:41
Speaker 1: warning particularly significant was that at that moment, Israel was
50:45
Speaker 1: experiencing victory after victory, having defeated the king Sihon and
50:50
Speaker 1: Og and preparing to conquer Canaan. Amid such success, it
50:55
Speaker 1: would be easy to forget the source of their blessings.
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Speaker 1: Moses warned in Deuteronomy twenty nine nineteen about the danger
51:02
Speaker 1: of self confidence when such a person hears the words
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Speaker 1: of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves,
51:09
Speaker 1: thinking I will be safe even though I persist in
51:12
Speaker 1: going my own way, he would be deceiving himself. The
51:17
Speaker 1: human heart is ingenious in rationalizing disobedience, and Moses knew
51:23
Speaker 1: that future prosperity could lead the people to abandon their God.
51:28
Speaker 1: God's response to such rebellion would be so evident that
51:32
Speaker 1: all nations would take notice. In Deuteronomy twenty nine twenty
51:37
Speaker 1: four twenty five, Moses predicts that the nations would ask,
51:41
Speaker 1: why has the Lord done this to this land? Why
51:45
Speaker 1: this fierce, burning anger? And the answer would be it
51:50
Speaker 1: is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the
51:53
Speaker 1: God of their ancestors, which he made with them when
51:57
Speaker 1: he brought them out of Egypt. Israel's puns would not
52:01
Speaker 1: only serve to discipline them, but would also be a
52:04
Speaker 1: witness to the nations, a testimony to God's holiness and
52:08
Speaker 1: the seriousness of his covenant. Yet, even in the midst
52:12
Speaker 1: of the most severe warnings, there was a promise of mercy.
52:16
Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy thirty one to three, Moses assures, when all
52:20
Speaker 1: these blessings and curses I have set before you come
52:23
Speaker 1: upon you, and you take them to heart, wherever the
52:26
Speaker 1: Lord your God disperses you among the nations, and when
52:29
Speaker 1: you and your children, return to the Lord your God,
52:32
Speaker 1: and obey him with all your heart and with all
52:35
Speaker 1: your soul, according to everything I command you to day.
52:38
Speaker 1: Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes, and
52:41
Speaker 1: have compassion on you, and gather you again from all
52:44
Speaker 1: the nations where he scattered you. Repentance would always open
52:49
Speaker 1: the way for restoration. This was God's promise. This promise
52:53
Speaker 1: of restoration went beyond mere geographical return. In Deuteronomy thirty six,
52:59
Speaker 1: Moses declares, and the Lord your God will circumcise your
53:04
Speaker 1: heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you
53:08
Speaker 1: may love the Lord your God with all your heart
53:10
Speaker 1: and with all your soul, that you may live. This
53:14
Speaker 1: circumcision of the heart pointed to an inner spiritual transformation
53:19
Speaker 1: that would enable obedience motivated by love rather than fear
53:23
Speaker 1: or duty. This promise foreshadowed the new covenant that would
53:27
Speaker 1: be established in the future, as later a prophesied in
53:31
Speaker 1: Jeremiah thirty one thirty one thirty four, where God promises
53:35
Speaker 1: to write his law on the hearts of his people.
53:39
Speaker 1: Moses then presented the people with a fundamental choice that
53:42
Speaker 1: would define their destiny. In Deuteronomy thirty fifteen two to twenty.
53:46
Speaker 1: He declares, See, I set before you to day life
53:51
Speaker 1: and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you to
53:55
Speaker 1: day to love the Lord your God, to walk in
53:58
Speaker 1: his ways, and to keep his commns, decrees and laws.
54:02
Speaker 1: Then you will live. But if your heart turns away
54:06
Speaker 1: and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn
54:09
Speaker 1: away to bow down to other gods and worship them,
54:13
Speaker 1: I declare to you this day that you will certainly
54:15
Speaker 1: be destroyed. This day I call the heavens and the
54:19
Speaker 1: earth as witnesses against you that I have set before
54:23
Speaker 1: you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life
54:27
Speaker 1: so that you and your children may live, and that
54:30
Speaker 1: you may love the Lord your God. Listen to his
54:33
Speaker 1: voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is
54:36
Speaker 1: your life, and he will give you many years in
54:39
Speaker 1: the land he swore to give to your fathers. The
54:43
Speaker 1: Sees language here is reminiscent of the ancient Suzerainti treaties
54:48
Speaker 1: of the Near East, in which a powerful king Suzerain
54:53
Speaker 1: established a covenant with a vassal. Such treaties often invoked
54:57
Speaker 1: heaven and Earth as witnesses and clearly outlined blessings for
55:02
Speaker 1: faithfulness and curses for disobedience. However, unlike these treaties where
55:08
Speaker 1: obedience was primarily motivated by fear, God calls Israel to
55:12
Speaker 1: choose life out of love for him. The Hebrew word
55:16
Speaker 1: for hold fast, davak in Deuteronomy thirty twenty, is the
55:21
Speaker 1: same used in Genesis two twenty four to describe the
55:24
Speaker 1: union between husband and wife, suggesting an intimate and loving
55:29
Speaker 1: relationship rather than mere political submission. To reinforce these solemn words,
55:36
Speaker 1: Moses commanded a special ceremony to take place once the
55:40
Speaker 1: people entered the promised Land. In Deuteronomy twenty seven twelve thirteen,
55:45
Speaker 1: he instructed, when you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes
55:49
Speaker 1: shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Isakar,
55:56
Speaker 1: Joseph and Benjamin, and these shall stand on Mount Ebal
56:00
Speaker 1: to pronounce curses Reuben, gad Asher, Zebulun Dan and Naftali.
56:07
Speaker 1: The people were to be divided between the two mountains,
56:10
Speaker 1: and the Levites would proclaim the blessings and curses of
56:13
Speaker 1: the Covenant, to which all would respond with amen. This
56:17
Speaker 1: dramatic ceremony would etch into Israel's collective memory the consequences
56:22
Speaker 1: of their choices. The choice of Mount Gerizim and Mount
56:25
Speaker 1: Ebal held both geographical and symbolic significance. These two mountains
56:31
Speaker 1: were near Shechem, where Abraham had first received God's promise
56:36
Speaker 1: in the land of Canaan Genesis twelve six seven. They
56:39
Speaker 1: stood side by side, creating a natural amphitheater where voices
56:44
Speaker 1: could be heard clearly between them. Mount Gerizim was lush
56:48
Speaker 1: and fertile, fitting for blessings, while Mount Ebal was rocky
56:53
Speaker 1: and barren, symbolizing curses. The ceremony would take place soon
56:58
Speaker 1: after entering the land, as recorded in Joshua eight thirty
57:02
Speaker 1: thirty five, making Israel's first significant act in their new
57:06
Speaker 1: home a reaffirmation of their covenant with God. The curses
57:11
Speaker 1: pronounced on Mountebal were specific and comprehensive. In Deuteronomy twenty
57:16
Speaker 1: seven fifteen twenty six, each curse begins with the phrase,
57:20
Speaker 1: cursed is the one who and covers various forms of disobedience,
57:25
Speaker 1: from idolatry to social injustice. Cursed is anyone who makes
57:30
Speaker 1: an idol a thing detestable to the Lord, the work
57:34
Speaker 1: of skilled hands, and sets it up in secret Cursed
57:38
Speaker 1: is anyone who leads the blind astray on the road.
57:42
Speaker 1: Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless,
57:46
Speaker 1: or the widow. Cursed is anyone who does not uphold
57:50
Speaker 1: the words of this law by carrying them out. Each
57:53
Speaker 1: curse was confirmed by the people's collective amen, symbolizing their
57:58
Speaker 1: acceptance of the covenants conditions. These twelve curses covered sins
58:04
Speaker 1: committed in secret, hidden idolatry, incest, murder, crimes against the vulnerable,
58:11
Speaker 1: the blind, foreigners, orphans, widows, and a general curse upon
58:16
Speaker 1: those who failed to obey the entire law. The collective
58:20
Speaker 1: amen spoken after each curse meant so be it we
58:24
Speaker 1: agree that this consequence is just. By agreeing to the curses,
58:30
Speaker 1: the people acknowledged the righteousness of God's judgments and voluntarily
58:35
Speaker 1: placed themselves under the discipline of the covenant. Likewise, the
58:40
Speaker 1: blessings proclaimed on Mount Gerrisim reflected the abundance and protection
58:44
Speaker 1: God would grant to the obedient. In Deuteronomy twenty eight
58:49
Speaker 1: to one task to fourteen, Moses lists, if you fully
58:53
Speaker 1: obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands,
58:57
Speaker 1: I give you today the law and your God will
59:00
Speaker 1: set you high above all the nations on earth. All
59:03
Speaker 1: these blessings will come upon you and accompany you. If
59:06
Speaker 1: you obey the Lord your God, you will be blest
59:09
Speaker 1: in the city and blest in the country. The fruit
59:13
Speaker 1: of your womb will be blessed, and the crops of
59:15
Speaker 1: your land, and the young of your live stock. You
59:18
Speaker 1: will be blest when you come in, and blessed when
59:20
Speaker 1: you go out. These blessings covered every aspect of life, fertility, security, prosperity,
59:27
Speaker 1: and peace. The promised abundance was holistic, covering personal human fertility,
59:33
Speaker 1: agricultural land productivity, economic trade, military victory over enemies, and
59:41
Speaker 1: spiritual relationship with God aspects. In Deuteronomy twenty eight twelve thirteen,
59:46
Speaker 1: Moses promises the Lord will open the heavens the storehouse
59:50
Speaker 1: of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season,
59:53
Speaker 1: and to bless all the work of your hands. The
59:56
Speaker 1: Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If
59:59
Speaker 1: you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your
1:00:02
Speaker 1: God that I give you this day, and carefully follow them,
1:00:06
Speaker 1: you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.
1:00:10
Speaker 1: These blessings revealed God's generous nature and his desire to
1:00:15
Speaker 1: abundantly bless his people. Sensing that his time was coming
1:00:19
Speaker 1: to an end, Moses made the final preparations for the
1:00:22
Speaker 1: transition of leadership. In Deuteronomy thirty one one per three,
1:00:27
Speaker 1: the text states, then Moses went out and spoke these
1:00:30
Speaker 1: words to all Israel. I am now one hundred and
1:00:33
Speaker 1: twenty years old, and I am no longer able to
1:00:36
Speaker 1: lead you. The Lord has said to me, you shall
1:00:38
Speaker 1: not cross the Jordan. The Lord your God himself will
1:00:43
Speaker 1: cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations
1:00:46
Speaker 1: before you, and you will take possession of their land.
1:00:50
Speaker 1: Joshua also will cross over ahead of you. As the
1:00:53
Speaker 1: Lord said with humility, Moses acknowledged that his earthly journey
1:00:58
Speaker 1: was coming to an end and that some one else
1:01:00
Speaker 1: would lead the people in conquering the promised land. The
1:01:04
Speaker 1: phrase I am no longer able to lead you did
1:01:08
Speaker 1: not mean that Moses was physically weak, as Deuteronomy thirty
1:01:12
Speaker 1: four seven clearly states, his eyes were not weak nor
1:01:16
Speaker 1: his strength gone. Instead, it was an idiomatic expression referring
1:01:22
Speaker 1: to his capacity to lead, particularly in military contexts, as
1:01:28
Speaker 1: confirmed by the immediate reference to the conquest of Canaan.
1:01:32
Speaker 1: Moses recognized that his mission was complete and that God
1:01:36
Speaker 1: had appointed Joshua for the next phase of Israel's journey.
1:01:40
Speaker 1: As a good leader. He accepted this transition and worked
1:01:44
Speaker 1: to make it as smooth as possible. Joshua's official appointment
1:01:49
Speaker 1: as his successor took place in a public ceremony. In
1:01:53
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy thirty one seven to eight, we read then Moses
1:01:57
Speaker 1: summoned Joshua and said to him, in the presence of
1:02:00
Speaker 1: all Israel, be strong and courageous, for you will bring
1:02:04
Speaker 1: the Israelites into the land that the Lord swore to
1:02:08
Speaker 1: give them, and you must divide it among them as
1:02:11
Speaker 1: their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will
1:02:16
Speaker 1: be with you. He will never leave you, nor forsake you.
1:02:20
Speaker 1: Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. These words
1:02:25
Speaker 1: of encouragement were crucial, as Joshua would face the monumental
1:02:29
Speaker 1: challenge of conquering the land and establishing the people in it.
1:02:33
Speaker 1: This public commissioning was essential for Joshua's legitimacy as a leader.
1:02:39
Speaker 1: In numbers twenty seven eighteen to twenty three, God had
1:02:43
Speaker 1: already instructed Moses to lay his hands on Joshua so
1:02:47
Speaker 1: that the whole assembly of the Israelites will obey him.
1:02:50
Speaker 1: The transfer of authority needed to be visible before all
1:02:54
Speaker 1: the people, so there would be no doubt about who
1:02:57
Speaker 1: was the new leader chosen by God. Joshua had already
1:03:01
Speaker 1: demonstrated leadership qualities as a military commander Exodus seventeen eight sixteen,
1:03:09
Speaker 1: as one of the Faithful Spies Numbers fourteen sixty nine,
1:03:14
Speaker 1: and as moses personal assistant Exodus twenty four thirteen. But
1:03:18
Speaker 1: now he was receiving full authority to lead the nation.
1:03:22
Speaker 1: To ensure that the law would be preserved for future generations,
1:03:27
Speaker 1: Moses took an important step in Deuteronomy thirty one, nine thirteen.
1:03:32
Speaker 1: The text states, so Moses wrote down this law and
1:03:36
Speaker 1: gave it to the levitical priests who carried the ark
1:03:40
Speaker 1: of the Covenant of the Lord, and to all the
1:03:42
Speaker 1: elders of Israel. Then he commanded them at the end
1:03:46
Speaker 1: of every seven years, in the year for counceling debts.
1:03:50
Speaker 1: During the festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to
1:03:54
Speaker 1: appear before the Lord your God at the place he
1:03:57
Speaker 1: will choose, you shall read this law before them in
1:04:01
Speaker 1: their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women and children, and
1:04:05
Speaker 1: the foreigners residing in your towns, so they can listen
1:04:09
Speaker 1: and learn to fear the Lord, your God, and follow
1:04:12
Speaker 1: carefully all the words of this law. This public reading
1:04:16
Speaker 1: of the law every seven years ensured that it would
1:04:19
Speaker 1: not be forgotten or distorted over time. The choice of
1:04:23
Speaker 1: the Festival of Tabernacles in the year of debt remission
1:04:26
Speaker 1: was significant. It was a time when the people were
1:04:30
Speaker 1: free from financial burdens, resting from their work, and reflecting
1:04:35
Speaker 1: on their journey through the wilderness. In this context, they
1:04:38
Speaker 1: would be more receptive to hearing and internalizing the law.
1:04:43
Speaker 1: The explicit inclusion of men, women, children, and foreigners demonstrates
1:04:48
Speaker 1: that the law was not just for leaders or for men.
1:04:51
Speaker 1: It was for the entire community, without exception. Even children
1:04:56
Speaker 1: and resident foreigners were to know God's word. In addition
1:05:00
Speaker 1: to delivering the written law, Moses also ensured that the
1:05:04
Speaker 1: book of the Law was placed beside the Ark of
1:05:07
Speaker 1: the Covenant. In Deuteronomy thirty one twenty four twenty six,
1:05:10
Speaker 1: we read, after Moses finished writing in a book the
1:05:14
Speaker 1: words of this law from beginning to end, he gave
1:05:17
Speaker 1: this command to the Levites, who carried the Ark of
1:05:20
Speaker 1: the Covenant of the Lord, take this book of the
1:05:23
Speaker 1: Law and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant
1:05:27
Speaker 1: of the Lord, your God. There it will remain as
1:05:31
Speaker 1: a witness against you. Placing the book next to the ark,
1:05:35
Speaker 1: which contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments, symbolize the
1:05:39
Speaker 1: unity and permanence of all divine revelation. The written law
1:05:44
Speaker 1: would serve as an objective and unchangeable witness against future disobedience.
1:05:50
Speaker 1: God also prepared Moses for what would happen after his death.
1:05:55
Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy thirty one, sixteen eighteen, the Lord revealed, you
1:06:00
Speaker 1: are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people
1:06:03
Speaker 1: will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the
1:06:07
Speaker 1: land they are entering. They will forsake me and break
1:06:10
Speaker 1: the covenant I made with them, and in that day
1:06:13
Speaker 1: my anger will burn against them. I will forsake them
1:06:16
Speaker 1: and hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed.
1:06:20
Speaker 1: Many disasters and calamities will come on them. And in
1:06:24
Speaker 1: that day they will ask, have not these disasters come
1:06:27
Speaker 1: on us? Because our God is not with us. And
1:06:30
Speaker 1: I will certainly hide my face in that day because
1:06:34
Speaker 1: of all their wickedness in turning to other gods. This
1:06:38
Speaker 1: divine revelation was both painful and useful for Moses. On
1:06:43
Speaker 1: one hand, it was distressing to know that the people
1:06:46
Speaker 1: he had sacrificed so much for would eventually abandon the Lord.
1:06:51
Speaker 1: On the other hand, this knowledge allowed him to take
1:06:54
Speaker 1: preventive measures, such as composing a song that would serve
1:06:58
Speaker 1: as a testimony. It also reassured Moses that future apostasy
1:07:03
Speaker 1: would not be due to a failure in his leadership
1:07:06
Speaker 1: or teaching, but would result from the people's deliberate choices.
1:07:10
Speaker 1: Despite all the warnings, as a preventive measure against future apostasy,
1:07:17
Speaker 1: God commanded Moses to compose a song that would serve
1:07:21
Speaker 1: as a witness against the people. In Deuteronomy thirty one,
1:07:24
Speaker 1: nineteen twenty two, we read, now write down this song
1:07:29
Speaker 1: and teach it to the Israelites, and have them sing it,
1:07:32
Speaker 1: so that it may be a witness for me against them.
1:07:35
Speaker 1: When I have brought them into the land flowing with
1:07:38
Speaker 1: milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to
1:07:41
Speaker 1: their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive,
1:07:45
Speaker 1: they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting
1:07:48
Speaker 1: me and breaking my covenant. And when many disasters and
1:07:51
Speaker 1: calamities come on them. This song will testify against them,
1:07:55
Speaker 1: because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I
1:07:59
Speaker 1: know what they are inclined to do, even before I
1:08:02
Speaker 1: bring them into the land, I promised them on oath.
1:08:06
Speaker 1: The choice of a song as the vehicle for this
1:08:08
Speaker 1: message was strategic. Music is easily memorized and transmitted orally
1:08:14
Speaker 1: from generation to generation, even when written texts may be
1:08:18
Speaker 1: lost or ignored. In ancient times, when literacy was limited,
1:08:22
Speaker 1: songs served as important repositories of historical and theological knowledge.
1:08:27
Speaker 1: This song would be taught to each new generation, keeping
1:08:31
Speaker 1: the message alive. Even in times of apostasy. When the
1:08:35
Speaker 1: predicted calamities occurred, the song would testify against them as
1:08:39
Speaker 1: a witness, reminding them that they had been properly warned.
1:08:45
Speaker 1: The Song of Moses, recorded in Deuteronomy thirty two, is
1:08:49
Speaker 1: a powerful poetic composition that contrasts God's a faithfulness with
1:08:54
Speaker 1: Israel's unfaithfulness. It begins with a solemn call in Deuteronomy
1:08:59
Speaker 1: thirty two one to four, Give ear, o heavens, and
1:09:04
Speaker 1: I will speak, and let the earth hear the words
1:09:07
Speaker 1: of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain.
1:09:11
Speaker 1: My speech distill as the dw like gentle rain upon
1:09:14
Speaker 1: the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For
1:09:17
Speaker 1: I will proclaim the name of the Lord, ascribe greatness
1:09:21
Speaker 1: to our God, the Rock. His work is perfect, for
1:09:25
Speaker 1: all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and
1:09:29
Speaker 1: without iniquity, Just and upright is he. The structure of
1:09:33
Speaker 1: the song follows the pattern of judicial proceedings in the
1:09:36
Speaker 1: ancient Near East, where Heaven and Earth are summoned as
1:09:40
Speaker 1: witnesses v one. The qualities of the judge are exalted
1:09:45
Speaker 1: v four. Accusations against the defendant are presented verty five
1:09:50
Speaker 1: to eighteen. The sentence is pronounced Vivid to nineteen thirty three,
1:09:55
Speaker 1: and the judge affirms his final authority Viveti thirty four
1:10:00
Speaker 1: to forty three. This legal framework gives the song additional
1:10:05
Speaker 1: solemnity and authority. Through vivid metaphors and dramatic contrasts, the
1:10:10
Speaker 1: song presents God as a rock, stable, reliable, a refuge
1:10:17
Speaker 1: in contrast to Israel's fickleness and ingratitude. This song recalls
1:10:22
Speaker 1: God's choice of and care for Israel in Deuteronomy thirty two,
1:10:26
Speaker 1: nine months to twelve four. The Lord's portion is his people.
1:10:31
Speaker 1: Jacob is allotted heritage. He found him in a desert
1:10:35
Speaker 1: land and in the howling waste of the wilderness. He
1:10:38
Speaker 1: encircled him, He cared for him. He kept him as
1:10:41
Speaker 1: the apple of his eye, Like an eagle that stirs
1:10:44
Speaker 1: up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out
1:10:47
Speaker 1: its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions. The
1:10:52
Speaker 1: Lord alone guided him. No foreign God was with him.
1:10:55
Speaker 1: The image of the eagle caring for its young beautifully
1:10:59
Speaker 1: illustrates God's protective love for his people. The metaphor of
1:11:03
Speaker 1: the eagle was particularly fitting. Eagles are known to fly
1:11:07
Speaker 1: with their young on their backs to teach them how
1:11:09
Speaker 1: to fly, providing support and protection as they developed their skills. Likewise,
1:11:15
Speaker 1: God not only rescued Israel from Egypt, but also sustained
1:11:19
Speaker 1: and taught them throughout their journey in the wilderness, preparing
1:11:23
Speaker 1: them to live in the promised Land. The phrase as
1:11:26
Speaker 1: the apple of his eye, literally as the pupil of
1:11:30
Speaker 1: his eye, conveys the idea of something extremely precious and
1:11:34
Speaker 1: carefully guarded, one of the many examples in the song
1:11:38
Speaker 1: of God's tender fatherly love for his people. However, the
1:11:42
Speaker 1: song also foretells Israel's ingratitude and rebellion. In Deuteronomy thirty
1:11:48
Speaker 1: two fifteen Tars eighteen, Moses laments, but Jeshuron grew fat
1:11:53
Speaker 1: and kicked. You grew fat, stout, and sleek. Then he
1:11:57
Speaker 1: forsook God who made him and scoffed at the rock
1:12:00
Speaker 1: of his salvation. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods,
1:12:04
Speaker 1: with abominations. They provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to
1:12:09
Speaker 1: demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known,
1:12:13
Speaker 1: to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers
1:12:16
Speaker 1: had never dreaded. You were unmindful of the rock that
1:12:19
Speaker 1: bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.
1:12:23
Speaker 1: This vivid description of ingratitude would serve as a permanent
1:12:27
Speaker 1: reminder to Israel of the consequences of abandoning God. The
1:12:32
Speaker 1: name Jesharun, meaning upright or righteous, is an affectionate term
1:12:37
Speaker 1: for Israel, making the betrayal even more painful. The metaphor
1:12:42
Speaker 1: of a well fared animal kicking against its owner perfectly
1:12:46
Speaker 1: captures the ingratitude that often accompanies prosperity. When Israel found
1:12:52
Speaker 1: comfort and abundance in the promised land they would risk
1:12:55
Speaker 1: forgetting that everything came from God and turning to the
1:12:59
Speaker 1: idols of the surrounding nations. The contrast between the Rock
1:13:03
Speaker 1: God and the new Gods highlights the folly of exchanging
1:13:07
Speaker 1: the eternal, unchanging God for fleeting and powerless deities. The
1:13:12
Speaker 1: song ends on a note of hope, showing that the
1:13:15
Speaker 1: ultimate purpose of divine judgment is redemption. In Deuteronomy thirty
1:13:20
Speaker 1: two thirty six thirty nine forty three, we read, for
1:13:23
Speaker 1: the Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on
1:13:27
Speaker 1: his servants. See now that I even I am he,
1:13:33
Speaker 1: and there is no god besides me. I kill and
1:13:37
Speaker 1: I make alive. I wound and I heal, and there
1:13:41
Speaker 1: is none that can deliver out of my hand. Rejoice
1:13:45
Speaker 1: with him, o heavens, Bow down to him, all gods,
1:13:49
Speaker 1: for he avenges the blood of his children and takes
1:13:51
Speaker 1: vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him
1:13:55
Speaker 1: and cleanses his people's land, just as in the Renewed
1:13:59
Speaker 1: Covenant at Moab. The song affirms that divine punishment is
1:14:03
Speaker 1: not the end of the story. God will ultimately restore
1:14:07
Speaker 1: and redeem his people After delivering the song to the people,
1:14:12
Speaker 1: Moses pronounced a final blessing upon the tribes of Israel.
1:14:16
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy thirty three one five introduces this blessing. This is
1:14:21
Speaker 1: the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed
1:14:24
Speaker 1: the people of Israel before his death. He said, the
1:14:28
Speaker 1: Lord came from Sinai, and dawned from Seyr upon them.
1:14:32
Speaker 1: He shone forth from Mount Paran. He came from the
1:14:35
Speaker 1: ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his
1:14:38
Speaker 1: right hand. Yes, he loved his people. All his holy
1:14:42
Speaker 1: ones were in his hand. So they followed in your steps,
1:14:45
Speaker 1: receiving direction from you. When Moses commanded us a law
1:14:50
Speaker 1: as a possession for the assembly of Jacob. Thus he
1:14:52
Speaker 1: became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people
1:14:56
Speaker 1: were gathered all the tribes of Israel together. This blessing
1:15:00
Speaker 1: follows the tradition of patriarchal blessings, such as Jacob's blessings
1:15:04
Speaker 1: upon his son's in Genesis forty nine. These blessings were
1:15:09
Speaker 1: not merely expressions of good wishes, but were seen as
1:15:12
Speaker 1: having prophetic power to shape the future destiny of the tribes.
1:15:17
Speaker 1: Pronounced by Moses, the man of God. This final blessing
1:15:21
Speaker 1: carried special authority and significance. The introduction to the blessing
1:15:26
Speaker 1: celebrates the revelation of the Law at Sinai, emphasizing that
1:15:31
Speaker 1: it was given in the context of God's love for
1:15:34
Speaker 1: his people. Yes, he loved his people. Each tribe received
1:15:40
Speaker 1: a specific blessing reflecting its character and destiny. For Judah,
1:15:45
Speaker 1: in Deuteronomy thirty three seven, Moses prayed, and this is
1:15:49
Speaker 1: what he said about Judah. Here o, Lord, the voice
1:15:52
Speaker 1: of Judah, and bring him to his people with his
1:15:55
Speaker 1: own hands. He defends his cause. Oh, be his help
1:15:59
Speaker 1: against his fees. For Levi, the priestly tribe, in Deuteronomy
1:16:04
Speaker 1: thirty three eight and eleven, he declared about Levi, he said,
1:16:10
Speaker 1: your Thummim and Urim belong to the man you favored.
1:16:14
Speaker 1: You tested him at Massa, you contended with him at
1:16:16
Speaker 1: the waters of Meribah. Bless all his skills, Lord, and
1:16:20
Speaker 1: be pleased with the work of his hands. Each blessing
1:16:25
Speaker 1: reflected the specific role the tribe would play in the
1:16:27
Speaker 1: Promised Land. The blessing upon Joseph, representing the tribes of
1:16:33
Speaker 1: Ephraim and Manasseh is particularly elaborate and rich with imagery
1:16:38
Speaker 1: of abundance. In Deuteronomy thirty three, thirteen sixteen, Moses declares
1:16:45
Speaker 1: about Joseph, he said, may his land be blessed by
1:16:48
Speaker 1: the Lord with the best gifts of heaven, with the
1:16:52
Speaker 1: dew and the deep waters that lie below, with the
1:16:55
Speaker 1: best fruits of the sun, and the finest crops of
1:16:58
Speaker 1: the ancient mountains, with the best gifts of the earth
1:17:02
Speaker 1: and its fullness, and with the favor of him who
1:17:04
Speaker 1: dwelt in the burning bush. This abundance of blessings reflects
1:17:09
Speaker 1: the special favor Joseph received from his father Jacob, as
1:17:13
Speaker 1: well as the central role his tribes would play in
1:17:16
Speaker 1: the Northern Kingdom of Israel. Some of the tribal blessings
1:17:21
Speaker 1: predict the geographical characteristics of the territories each tribe would occupy.
1:17:26
Speaker 1: In Canaan, for example, to Zebulun and Isaca in Deuteronomy
1:17:32
Speaker 1: thirty three, eighteen nineteen, Moses says, rejoice Zebulun in your
1:17:36
Speaker 1: going out, and you Isaca in your tents. They will
1:17:40
Speaker 1: summon peoples to the mountain and offer sacrifices of righteousness
1:17:44
Speaker 1: there for they will feast on the abundance of the
1:17:47
Speaker 1: seas and on the treasures hidden in the sand. Zebulun indeed,
1:17:51
Speaker 1: would settle near the Mediterranean Sea, allowing participation in maritime trade,
1:17:57
Speaker 1: while Isaka would inhabit more inland and lands suitable for
1:18:01
Speaker 1: agricultural life. The blessing concludes with a general exaltation of Israel.
1:18:07
Speaker 1: In Deuteronomy thirty three twenty six to twenty nine, there
1:18:11
Speaker 1: is no one like the God of Jesharon, who rides
1:18:14
Speaker 1: across the heavens to help you and on the clouds
1:18:17
Speaker 1: in his majesty. The eternal God is your refuge, and
1:18:21
Speaker 1: underneath are the everlasting arms. Blessed are you, Israel, who
1:18:25
Speaker 1: is like you a people save by the Lord. He
1:18:28
Speaker 1: is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. The
1:18:32
Speaker 1: imagery of God as a divine warrior riding across the
1:18:36
Speaker 1: heavens to aid Israel and upholding his people with his
1:18:40
Speaker 1: everlasting arms highlights both God's power and his personal care.
1:18:46
Speaker 1: The blessing concludes with an affirmation of Israel's uniqueness and
1:18:50
Speaker 1: blessedness as God's chosen people. After pronouncing blessings upon all
1:18:56
Speaker 1: the tribes of Israel, the final moment of Moses earthly life.
1:19:00
Speaker 1: Life arrived In Deuteronomy thirty four one to four we read,
1:19:06
Speaker 1: then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab
1:19:09
Speaker 1: to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the
1:19:13
Speaker 1: Lord showed him the whole land from Gilead to Dan,
1:19:17
Speaker 1: all of Naftali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasse, all
1:19:21
Speaker 1: the land of Judah, as far as the Mediterranean see
1:19:24
Speaker 1: the Negev, and the whole region from the valley of Jericho,
1:19:28
Speaker 1: the city of Palms, as far as Zor. Then the
1:19:32
Speaker 1: Lord said to him, this is the land I promised
1:19:36
Speaker 1: on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said
1:19:39
Speaker 1: I will give it to your descendants, I have let
1:19:42
Speaker 1: you see it with your eyes, but you will not
1:19:45
Speaker 1: cross over into it. From the top of Mount Nebo,
1:19:48
Speaker 1: Moses beheld the full expanse of the promised land. It
1:19:52
Speaker 1: was a bitter sweet moment. After decades of leading the people,
1:19:56
Speaker 1: guiding them through the wilderness, he could see, but not enter,
1:20:00
Speaker 1: the land that had been the goal of his entire life.
1:20:04
Speaker 1: The view was magnificent, from Gilead in the north to
1:20:08
Speaker 1: the Negev Desert in the south, from the mountains of
1:20:10
Speaker 1: Judah to the Mediterranean Sea. The full stretch of the
1:20:15
Speaker 1: promised land lay before his aging yet still clear eyes.
1:20:19
Speaker 1: Mount Nebo stands approximately eight hundred meters two thousand, six
1:20:24
Speaker 1: hundred feet above sea level, offering a panoramic view of
1:20:28
Speaker 1: the region. On clear days, one can even see as
1:20:31
Speaker 1: far as Jerusalem. Geographically, it would not have been possible
1:20:36
Speaker 1: to literally see all the land as far as Dan
1:20:40
Speaker 1: in the far north from this point, suggesting that Moses'
1:20:44
Speaker 1: experience included a supernatural element. Perhaps God granted him an
1:20:49
Speaker 1: extended vision of the full extent of Israel's inheritance. This
1:20:54
Speaker 1: final vision of the promised land was an act of
1:20:57
Speaker 1: divine grace. Although Moses was not allowed to enter due
1:21:01
Speaker 1: to his disobedience at Meribah Numbers twenty twelve, God permitted
1:21:06
Speaker 1: him to see it in its fullness. This moment also
1:21:10
Speaker 1: symbolized the partial fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham.
1:21:15
Speaker 1: The people had grown into a great nation and were
1:21:18
Speaker 1: about to take possession of the land. The journey that
1:21:21
Speaker 1: had begun with Abraham's calling centuries earlier was reaching a
1:21:26
Speaker 1: crucial point of realization. Moses' death is described with simplicity
1:21:31
Speaker 1: and dignity in Deuteronomy thirty four five to per six,
1:21:37
Speaker 1: and Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab,
1:21:41
Speaker 1: as the Lord had said, he buried him in Moab,
1:21:45
Speaker 1: in the valley opposite Bethpire. But to this day no
1:21:48
Speaker 1: one knows where his grave is. Unlike other great leaders,
1:21:53
Speaker 1: there is no grand monument marking Moses's resting place. His
1:21:57
Speaker 1: burial by God himself underscores the unique relationship he had
1:22:02
Speaker 1: with the Lord, as Deuteronomy thirty four ten states, since then,
1:22:07
Speaker 1: no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the
1:22:10
Speaker 1: Lord knew face to face. The title servant of the
1:22:14
Speaker 1: Lord is the greatest honor given to Moses. This title,
1:22:19
Speaker 1: later granted to other great leaders such as Joshua and David,
1:22:22
Speaker 1: highlights Moses's faithfulness and obedience in his mission. Though he
1:22:28
Speaker 1: had a moment of disobedience that prevented him from entering
1:22:31
Speaker 1: the land, his life as a whole was characterized by
1:22:35
Speaker 1: loyalty to God. Later Jewish tradition would call him Moshe
1:22:40
Speaker 1: Rabenu Moses our Teacher, recognizing his unique role as the
1:22:46
Speaker 1: mediator of the law and the greatest of the prophets.
1:22:50
Speaker 1: The fact that God himself buried Moses and concealed the
1:22:53
Speaker 1: location of his grave has been the subject of speculation.
1:22:58
Speaker 1: Some interpretations suggest that this was to prevent his tomb
1:23:03
Speaker 1: from becoming a place of idolatrous worship. In fact, Jude
1:23:08
Speaker 1: Won nine in the New Testament references a dispute between
1:23:12
Speaker 1: the archangel Michael and Satan over the body of Moses,
1:23:16
Speaker 1: suggesting that spiritual forces had an interest in what would
1:23:20
Speaker 1: happen to his remains. Regardless of the reason, the focus
1:23:25
Speaker 1: of the narrative is not on moses burial, but on
1:23:29
Speaker 1: his enduring legacy through the Law and the continuation of
1:23:33
Speaker 1: leadership through Joshua. The people honored their great leader with
1:23:37
Speaker 1: an appropriate period of mourning. Deuteronomy thirty four eight records
1:23:42
Speaker 1: the Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab
1:23:47
Speaker 1: for thirty days until the time of weeping and mourning
1:23:50
Speaker 1: for Moses was over. During this month of mourning, Israel
1:23:55
Speaker 1: had time to reflect on the extraordinary legacy of the
1:23:58
Speaker 1: man who had freed them from slavery, received the Law
1:24:02
Speaker 1: at Sinai, and guided them through the wilderness for forty years.
1:24:07
Speaker 1: No other leader in Israel's history would ever combine so
1:24:10
Speaker 1: many roles deliverer, law giver, prophet, intercessor, and guide. The
1:24:16
Speaker 1: Book of Deuteronomy ends with a tribute to the unparalleled
1:24:20
Speaker 1: greatness of Moses. In Deuteronomy thirty four ten twelve, we read,
1:24:25
Speaker 1: since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses,
1:24:28
Speaker 1: whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all
1:24:31
Speaker 1: those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do
1:24:34
Speaker 1: in Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his officials, and
1:24:37
Speaker 1: to his whole land. For no one has ever shown
1:24:40
Speaker 1: the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses
1:24:44
Speaker 1: did in the sight of all Israel. This final tribute
1:24:48
Speaker 1: encapsulates Moses's uniqueness in Israel's history, the man who spoke
1:24:53
Speaker 1: with God face to face as one speaks to a friend.
1:24:57
Speaker 1: With moses death, leadership of fis passed to Joshua. In
1:25:02
Speaker 1: Deuteronomy thirty four to nine, we read, now Joshua, son
1:25:06
Speaker 1: of Nune was filled with the spirit of wisdom because
1:25:10
Speaker 1: Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites
1:25:13
Speaker 1: listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded. Moses.
1:25:17
Speaker 1: The laying on of hands symbolized the transfer of authority
1:25:22
Speaker 1: and the granting of special wisdom for the new mission.
1:25:25
Speaker 1: The people recognized this transition of leadership and accepted Joshua
1:25:30
Speaker 1: as their new leader. Joshua had been prepared for this
1:25:33
Speaker 1: moment for decades. First mentioned as a military commander against
1:25:37
Speaker 1: the Amalekites in Exodus seventeen, he had served as Moses'
1:25:42
Speaker 1: personal assistant, was one of the faithful spies who brought
1:25:46
Speaker 1: a good report about the land, and had been publicly
1:25:49
Speaker 1: appointed as the successor. But now he faced his greatest challenge,
1:25:54
Speaker 1: leading the people into the promised land and conquering it.
1:25:58
Speaker 1: The phrase filled the spirit of wisdom indicates that Joshua's
1:26:03
Speaker 1: qualification for leadership did not come solely from his experience
1:26:07
Speaker 1: or training, but was a divine gift. The Book of
1:26:11
Speaker 1: Joshua begins with God reaffirming his commission. Moses, my servant
1:26:17
Speaker 1: is dead. Now, then you and all these people get
1:26:20
Speaker 1: ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I
1:26:22
Speaker 1: am about to give to them to the Israelites Joshua
1:26:26
Speaker 1: one two. The repetition of God's call established a clear
1:26:30
Speaker 1: continuity between moses leadership and Joshua's. Even though their missions
1:26:36
Speaker 1: were distinct, Joshua would face immense challenges. The conquest of
1:26:41
Speaker 1: Canaan would not be easy. Fortified cities, powerful armies, and
1:26:46
Speaker 1: coalitions of Canaanite kings would oppose the Israelites, but he
1:26:50
Speaker 1: was not alone. The final words Moses spoke to him
1:26:53
Speaker 1: in Deuteronomy thirty one seven to eight would continue to
1:26:57
Speaker 1: echo in his ears. Be strong and rageous, for you
1:27:01
Speaker 1: must go with this people into the land that the
1:27:04
Speaker 1: Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you
1:27:07
Speaker 1: must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord
1:27:11
Speaker 1: himself goes before you and will be with you. He
1:27:15
Speaker 1: will never leave you, nor forsake you. Do not be afraid,
1:27:18
Speaker 1: do not be discouraged. Joshua's greatest challenge would not be military,
1:27:23
Speaker 1: but spiritual. He would have to lead the people in
1:27:26
Speaker 1: the practical application of moses law in their new land.
1:27:30
Speaker 1: As God instructed him in Joshua one seven to eight,
1:27:34
Speaker 1: be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all
1:27:38
Speaker 1: the law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn
1:27:41
Speaker 1: from it to the right or to the left, that
1:27:43
Speaker 1: you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book
1:27:46
Speaker 1: of the Law always on your lips. Meditate on it
1:27:49
Speaker 1: day and night, so that you may be careful to
1:27:51
Speaker 1: do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous
1:27:55
Speaker 1: and successful. Joshua's success would not depend and on his
1:28:00
Speaker 1: military skills, but on his faithfulness to God's law. The
1:28:04
Speaker 1: application of the law in the New Land would be
1:28:07
Speaker 1: a crucial test for Israel. They were no longer in
1:28:10
Speaker 1: the wilderness, where their only concerns were following the cloud
1:28:14
Speaker 1: gathering manner and obeying Moses. In the Promised Land, they
1:28:20
Speaker 1: would face the challenges of establishing themselves as a nation,
1:28:24
Speaker 1: land distribution, agricultural development, trade with other nations, the temptations
1:28:31
Speaker 1: of Canaanite idolatry, and the administration of justice within their communities.
1:28:36
Speaker 1: All of this had to be done according to the
1:28:38
Speaker 1: principles of Moses Law, which provided guidelines for every aspect
1:28:43
Speaker 1: of life, religious, social, economic, and political. Finally, Israel needed
1:28:52
Speaker 1: to embrace its responsibility as a priestly nation and a
1:28:56
Speaker 1: chosen people. In Exodus nineteen five to six, God had declared, now,
1:29:01
Speaker 1: if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then
1:29:04
Speaker 1: out of all nations, you will be my treasured possession.
1:29:08
Speaker 1: Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for
1:29:11
Speaker 1: me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This
1:29:16
Speaker 1: was the ultimate purpose of Israel's election, to be an
1:29:20
Speaker 1: example to the surrounding nations, demonstrating how a society that
1:29:24
Speaker 1: lives according to God's law could thrive and flourish through
1:29:29
Speaker 1: their obedience. They would be a light to the gentiles,
1:29:33
Speaker 1: drawing them to the knowledge of the One True God.
1:29:36
Speaker 1: Israel's story, therefore, was just beginning. The end of moses
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Speaker 1: life marked not only the close of an era, but
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Speaker 1: the beginning of a new phase in the history of redemption.
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Speaker 1: The seed planted at Sinai would now blossom in the
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Speaker 1: Promised Land, and through it, the blessing promise to Abraham
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Speaker 1: through you, all the families of the earth will be blessed,
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Speaker 1: would begin to extend to all nations. If you enjoyed
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Speaker 1: stories of the Bible together