Deuteronomy 29:22-29

2. ISRAEL'S COMING WICKEDNESS: THE JUDGMENT OF FUTURE GENERATIONS AND FOREIGNERS

(Deuteronomy 29:22-29)

22 And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sickness wherewith Jehovah hath made it sick; 23 and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and a burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which Jehovah overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 24 even all the nations shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger? 25 Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of Jehovah, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods that they knew not, and that he had not given unto them: 27 therefore the anger of Jehovah was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse that is written in this book; 28 and Jehovah rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as this day. 29 The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS 29:22-29

521.

From reading this text there seems to be but little question that Israel will be tragically disobedient. Could they help it if God thus predicted it?

522.

State three descriptive phrases used here to describe God's punishment of His disobedient children.

523.

There seems to be a balance between the natural results of disobedience and the punishment of God. Are these two sides of the same coin?

524.

Read Deuteronomy 29:29 very carefully. Why does it appear in this context?

AMPLIFIED TRANSLATION 29:22-29

22 So that the next generation, your children who rise up after you, and the foreigner who shall come from a distant land, shall say, when they see the plagues of this land, and the diseases with which the Lord has made it sick
23 The whole land is brimstone and salt, and a burned waste, not sown or bearing anything, where not grass can take root, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah with Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His anger and wrath
24 Even all the nations shall say, Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?
25 Then men shall say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them forth out of the land of Egypt.
26 For they went and served other gods, and worshiped them, gods they knew not, and that He had not given to them;
27 So the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses that are written in this book;
28 And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger and in wrath and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as this day.
29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but the things which are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

COMMENT 29:22-29

AND THE GENERATION TO COME, etc. (Deuteronomy 29:22)Better, And later generations will askthe children who succeed you. (The Torah).

Both the generations future to those Moses was addressing and foreigners would speak of Israel's decline and degeneration in terms of reproach and disdain.

AND THAT WHOLE LAND THEREOF IS BRIMSTONE, AND SALT, AND A BURNING (Deuteronomy 29:23)Obviously figurative language to describe a sterile, desolate unproductive land. Perhaps also punishment and destruction, which brought such barrenness. See Job 18:15, Psalms 11:6, Isaiah 30:33. But these minerals would, in truth, be physically present, and burning. See below.

BRIMSTONE (Deuteronomy 29:23)Heb. gophrith (as in Genesis 19:24), signifies brimstone, sulfur (Baumgartner). Gesenius agrees, believing the word originally meant pitch, the name of which was afterwards transferred to other inflammable materials; especially sulphur. The I.S.B.E. is helpful here: Sulphur existed in Palestine in early times and was known by most of the ancient nations as a combustible substance that the inhabitants of the land had experienced the terrors of burning sulphur is very probable. Once one of these deposits took fire it would melt and run in burning streams down the ravines spreading everywhere suffocating fumes such as come from the ordinary brimstone [sulphur] match. No more realistic figure could be chosen to depict terrible suffering and destruction. It is not at all unlikely that during some of the disastrous earthquakes which took place in this part of the world, the hot lava sent forth ignited not only the sulphur, but also the bitumen, and added to the horrors of the earthquake the destruction caused by burning pitch and brimstone.

SALT (Deuteronomy 29:23)also associated with destruction, ruin, and desolation, Job 39:6, Judges 9:45, Jeremiah 17:6, Zephaniah 2:9.

A BURNING (Deuteronomy 29:23)Again, a phenomenon especially associated with devastation and destruction, especially by a foreign power, Isaiah 1:7; Isaiah 64:11, 2 Kings 25:9, Psalms 74:7-8, etc.[57]

[57] Fires also raged in Jerusalem's destruction. See Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book VI, Ch. IV, #8; Ch, V, # 1; Ch, IV, #5.

Such land as described above is worthless for agriculture, so THAT IT IS NOT SOWN, NOR BEARETH, NOR ANY GRASS GROWETH THEREIN (V, 23), Rather, it is LIKE THE OVERTHROW OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH, ADMAH AND ZEBOIIM [Genesis 19:23-28, Admah and Zeboiim are associated with Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 10:19; Genesis 14:2, and thus are included in the cities of the plain destroyed with Sodom] WHICH JEHOVAH OVERTHREW IN HIS ANGER, AND HIS WRATH (Deuteronomy 29:23)and this is the very point of Moses-' words. Their wickedness would result in their overthrow. Note Deuteronomy 29:25-26.

ALL THE CURSE THAT IS WRITTEN IN THIS BOOK (Deuteronomy 29:27)The reference seems especially to refer to those just uttered, beginning in Ch. 27. But many others may well be included, not only in Deuteronomy (as in Deuteronomy 4:25-27), but in other passages of the Pentateuch, such as Leviticus 26:14 ff.

ROOTED THEM OUT. CAST THEM INTO ANOTHER LAND (Deuteronomy 29:28)See Deuteronomy 28:36 ff, notes. This is not foreign domination or servitude to another power, but captivity.

THE SECRET THINGS BELONG UNTO JEHOVAH (Deuteronomy 29:29)The reference may be especially to future matters: The hidden issues of the future. (Moffatt), but secret (Heb. sather) of itself simply means hidden, secret, or concealed.. things in God's purpose known only to himself: these things, it is affirmed, belong to him, are his affair, and may be left with him (Pulpit), On the other hand.

THE THINGS THAT ARE REVEALED BELONG TO US AND OUR CHILDREN FOR EVER, THAT WE MAY DO ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW (Deuteronomy 29:29)What God has revealed he expects his children to study, meditate upon, and obey. Cf. Deuteronomy 30:11-14. His people are responsible to him for responding to what he has made known. Thus, as it is wrong to subtract from what is written, so it is wrong to add to God's will where he, in his infinite wisdom, has seen fit to say nothing. His word is sacredand so is his silence. (Cf. Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32). See also Psalms 119:160, John 17:17, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Revelation 18:18-19.

This passage is not intended to discourage honest scientific investigation. It simply states that there are, indeed, many secret things in lifeand ever shall be, no matter how much knowledge accumulates. There are secrets among the minute (a few more of which have recently been probed by the electron microscope and other scientific instruments). There are secrets in the vastness of spaceWhat is beyond the farthest observable star? And who can tell all about a blade of grass or a stonelet alone the human body! In short, the religion of God demands that a man admit certain limitations within himself and the omniscience of God. He who contains all knowledge and wisdom has revealed what we need for life everlasting. And he has granted unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue (2 Peter 1:3). The truths of the universe known or knowable only to himself will not form the criterion for our judgment in the final day.

This passage also forms, indirectly, an exhortation for studying. If we are responsible for revealed truth, effort must be exerted that we might know what is revealed. And it also comprises a rebuke to those who believe spiritual truth is found outside God and his word. Cf. Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 8:19-20, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, 1 Timothy 6:3-5, 2 Timothy 1:13.

It was, in fact, the very essence of this scripture that was being repeated by Thomas Campbell's famous phrase, Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.
Opinions, conjectures, educated guesses, theories on any of thousands of subjects not discussed in God's wordwhat do we do with them? As far as, God is concerned, this word is open for exploration and investigation. But when we profess to know more than our maker and transgress revealed truth, we have, indeed, degenerated. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct him? (1 Corinthians 2:16 a).