Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Deuteronomy 29:2-8
A Quick Resume Of Their History (Deuteronomy 29:2).
In the light of the covenant which he had given (Deuteronomy 29:1), he began by a quick reminder of their reasons for confidence in Yahweh, and of why they should be grateful to Him so that they should respond accordingly. He cited four things, Yahweh's deliverance from Egypt (compare Deuteronomy 1:30; Deuteronomy 4:20; Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 4:37; Deuteronomy 5:6; Deuteronomy 5:15; Deuteronomy 6:12; Deuteronomy 6:21; Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy 7:18; Deuteronomy 11:3; Deuteronomy 20:1; Deuteronomy 26:8), His care in the wilderness (see Deuteronomy 8:2; compare Deuteronomy 1:31), the crushing defeats of Sihon and Og (see Deuteronomy 1:4; Deuteronomy 2:24 to Deuteronomy 3:17; Deuteronomy 4:45; Deuteronomy 31:4), and their reception of the land which had once belonged to those kings. He feared that they had not yet really laid hold of these lessons by faith. They had failed to really take in what the past should have taught them.
How quickly we too forget so easily all the He has done for us.
Note that while mention of the deliverance from Egypt appears all through his previous covenant speeches, the details of the care in the wilderness came only in the second speech, while the emphasis on Sihon and Og came only in the first speech, demonstrating that both are in mind in this summary which has the whole book in mind seen as a whole.
Analysis using the words of Moses:
a And Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, You have seen all that Yahweh did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders (Deuteronomy 29:2).
b But Yahweh had not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day (Deuteronomy 29:4).
c And I have led you forty years in the wilderness, your clothes are not waxed old upon you, and your shoe is not waxed old on your foot (Deuteronomy 29:5).
c You have not eaten bread, nor have drunk wine or strong drink (Deuteronomy 29:6 a).
b That you may know that I am Yahweh your God (Deuteronomy 29:6 b).
a And when you (ye) came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we smote them, and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites (Deuteronomy 29:8).
Note in ‘a' that he describes the great victory given to Israel over Pharaoh and Egypt by Yahweh, and in the parallel refers to the great victory He has given them over Sihon and Og, the former gave them their freedom, the latter has given them large tracts of land. In ‘b' the lesson has not really come home to them, and in the parallel he now suggests that their experiences should have enabled them to know Yahweh. In ‘c' the two provisions of clothing, and in the parallel food, have constantly been provided for them by Him in the wilderness.
‘ And Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, You (ye) have seen all that Yahweh did before your (of ye) eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, the great trials which your (thy) eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders,'
He pointed first to their deliverance from Egypt, the reason for gratitude that outstripped all others. He pointed out that they (the older among them, and the remainder through their eyes) had seen with their own eyes what Yahweh had done to Pharaoh in the land of Egypt, and to his whole enslaved people, and to all his land (threefold completeness). Yahweh had summarily dealt with the god-king, the whole people of Egypt and the land itself, of which He, Yahweh, was clearly the final overlord. None had been able to resist Him.
And they had seen the great ‘testings', the ‘signs' and the great ‘wonders'. The threefoldness stresses the completeness of His action. He had put Egypt through a huge test, He had given undeniable signs to His people, and to them, of Who He was, and He had performed amazing wonders before their eyes (compare Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 7:19). What more proof did they need?
It should be noted that two of these nouns are drawn from common use in Exodus. For ‘signs' and ‘wonders' there see Exodus 4:8; Exodus 4:17; Exodus 4:21; Exodus 4:28; Exodus 4:30; Exodus 7:9; Exodus 10:1; Exodus 11:9.
‘ But Yahweh had not given you (ye) a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, to this day.'
But as their subsequent history had revealed, the message had not got over to them, something which he recognised was still true at this very time. Their hearts had not taken it in, their eyes had been blinded, their ears had been deaf, their response had been inadequate, and still was. The full significance of what had happened had not yet properly come home to them even now.
Had someone spoken to them immediately after the Reed Sea deliverance they might have gained a different impression. Then they had ‘believed' (Exodus 14:31). But that faith had quickly dissipated in the light of the wilderness experiences, resulting in ultimate failure as described in Deuteronomy 1:6 to Deuteronomy 2:1. And he was now questioning whether that was still so. Were they now going to respond or not? It is clear that he did not have a great deal of confidence in them.
‘ And I have led you (ye) forty years in the wilderness, your (of ye) clothes are not waxed old upon you (ye), and your (thy) shoe is not waxed old on your (thy) foot. You (ye) have not eaten bread, nor have ye drunk wine or strong drink, that you (ye) may know that I am Yahweh your (of ye) God.'
As in Deuteronomy 28:20 Moses here suddenly allows their divine Trek-leader to speak for Himself. It is Yahweh Who now speaks. He was the One Who had borne them as a man bears his sons (Deuteronomy 1:31). This vivid change of address stresses the wonder of God's care in the wilderness. Yahweh Himself reminds them that His direct response to their unbelief had not been to desert them, but to ensure that they were led forward by Him as their Trek-leader (compare Deuteronomy 8:2), and that they had been well-clothed and well-shod, and God-fed and supplied throughout the whole forty years in the wilderness (compare Deuteronomy 8:3). He had personally watched over them.
Almost nothing about that penal period in the wilderness has been recorded for us. Numbers 15-19 which cover this period are mainly theological with only one or two incidents mentioned in order to back up that theology. It was clearly seen as a period to be blacked out and forgotten. But here Moses reminds them of it and of how good God had been to them during that period.
“You have not eaten bread.” That is, man made food. That would have been difficult to obtain in the wilderness and dependence on it would have resulted in starvation. Rather they had eaten manna which had come to them in abundant daily supply, food provided by God.
“You have not drunk wine or strong drink.” Nor had they had to rely on drinking man-made wine and strong drink. That would have been to rely on something in short supply. That was a man-made supply. They had not been somewhere where that was available. They had not been able to depend on man. Rather had they continually been supplied with sources of fresh water which Yahweh had provided.
The reason for this in both cases was they ‘might know that He was indeed Yahweh their God', the One Who cared for them, their covenant God, their provider, the giver of all good things, and that they might totally rely on Him. The ‘knowing' of Yahweh through His revelation in deliverance was central to the teaching of Exodus (Exodus 6:3; Exodus 6:7; Exodus 7:5; Exodus 14:4; Exodus 16:12).
Some of them, of course, had not been there through all that, but although we might think in terms of the fact that a large number of them had not undergone these experiences, there was not a person among them who would have felt the same. Such was the sense of community identification that they would each have felt that they had all had a part in what Moses was describing, for they would have participated in it again and again in their ceremonies and ritual.
‘ And when you (ye) came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us to battle, and we smote them, and we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half-tribe of the Manassites.'
Then subsequently had come the massive victories over Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, and the receipt of their first portion of God-given land (Deuteronomy 2:26 to Deuteronomy 3:17). If this was not enough to stir them to faith, what was?
If we wonder at their lack of faith we must remember that it is quite remarkable how we, like them, can so easily forget past blessings and victories. There have been such for all of us, times when we have wondered how any man could ever doubt God. But as we later dwell on the problems of the moment the past is forgotten. It should not be so. That is why we need to be continually reminded. And here Moses was stirring their memories to precisely those victories of the past so that they would be truly responsive to God and ready for what the future held.
And they not only had memories. They were at that very moment holding some of that land in possession. Houses were already being occupied, land was already being farmed, herds and flocks were already being fed. Settlement was already taking place by the two and a half tribes. They had already received an earnest, a guarantee and sample, of what they were to receive from Him. It was real for all to see.