Deuteronomy 29:1-29

Deuteronomy: God’s Law of Love

Love and Obey the *LORD your God

Deuteronomy

Philip Smith

Chapter 29

v1 These are the words of the *covenant. The *LORD ordered Moses to make it with the *Israelites in the country called Moab. This was in addition to the *covenant that he had made with them at *Mount Sinai.

v2 Moses called all the *Israelites together and he spoke to them:

‘You saw all that the *LORD did in Egypt to the king, to all his officials and to all his country. v3 You saw the great troubles, the *signs and the great *wonders. v4 But the *LORD has not given to you yet a mind that understands. You do not understand what your eyes see. You do not understand what your ears hear. v5 “I led you for 40 years in the *desert. Your clothes and your shoes did not wear out. v6 You did not eat bread or drink wine or strong alcohol. I did those things so that you would know this: I am the *LORD your God.”

v7 You came to this place. Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, fought against us. But we defeated them. v8 We took their country. We gave it to the *tribe of Reuben, the *tribe of Gad and half the *tribe of Manasseh. It belongs to them.

v9 Obey carefully all the words of this *covenant. Then you will succeed in all that you do.’

The ‘words of the *covenant’ (verse 1) may refer to Chapter s 1-28. But in Chapter s 29 and 30 Moses repeats the *covenant with a new *generation of *Israelites. He reminds them about their history. And he urges them to be *faithful to God. The *Israelites had all escaped from Egypt. And they had all had the experience of the journey through the *desert. However, the people that Moses spoke to in verse 1 had not had that experience themselves. But they were part of the nation called *Israel.

Then God tells them how he had provided for them (verses 5-6). God provided for them so that their clothes did not wear out. He had given to them food and water. He helped them to defeat the kings. God gave to them the country so that it belonged to them. They had done nothing to deserve it. But each *tribe received a share of the land as their possession. That was similar to a father who divided his land among his sons before his death. However, the *Israelites did not appreciate properly what God had done for them. They refused to trust him. As a result, God did not allow them to understand what he had done. For that reason, the *Israelites did not listen to the *prophets. And later, many did not listen to Jesus himself.

v10 ‘Today you are standing in front of the *LORD your God. The chiefs of your *tribes, your leaders, your officials, and all the men from *Israel, are here. v11 Your wives and your children are here. The foreigners are also here. They chop your wood and they collect your water. v12 You are here in order to enter into this *covenant with the *LORD your God. The *LORD is making this *covenant with you today with his promise. v13 Today he is establishing this. You are his people and he will be your God. This is what he told you. And this is what he promised to you and your *ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. v14 I am not making this *covenant and this promise just with you. v15 You stand here with us in front of the *LORD our God today. But I am also making this *covenant and this promise with those who are not here today.’

Moses reminds the *Israelites that they are in front of God. All the people were there. God was reminding them about the promises that he had already made in his *covenant. God had made his *covenant and his promises with Abraham. God also made his *covenant and his promises with the *Israelites who had left Egypt. But the *covenant was also for those who were not yet born. Each new *generation had to accept the *covenant for themselves.

(In John 17:20-21, Jesus prayed for his followers. But he included the future *generations in his prayer.)

v16 ‘You remember how we lived in Egypt. You know how we passed through the countries on the way here. v17 You saw the terrible *idols that they made out of wood, stone, silver and gold. v18 Make sure that no man or woman, no family or *tribe here today, leaves the *LORD our God. Make sure that they do not *worship the false gods of those nations. That would be like a root that grows into a poisonous plant.

v19 A person may hear this serious *covenant and then he may *bless himself. He says, “I shall be safe. So I shall continue to do what pleases me.” That would *destroy all of you, good people and evil people alike. v20 The *LORD will not forgive that person. Instead, the *LORD will be angry with the man. All the *curses that are in this book will come upon him. The *LORD will *destroy him and the *LORD will remove his name from the world. v21 The *LORD will separate him out from all the *tribes in *Israel and he will send *disaster to him. That man will suffer all the *curses of the *covenant that are in this book of the law.’

Moses reminds the people again about how God rescued them from Egypt. Moses reminds them about their journey. He warns them not to give honour to *idols. That would be like a poisonous plant. The plant may look good. But it produces poison that could kill a person. Suppose that someone decides not to listen to Moses. Suppose that other people start to *worship *idols. It would ruin the whole nation. People would not enjoy the benefits of the *covenant if they did not belong to it personally. God would not forgive a person if that person decided to *sin on purpose. Nobody would remember his name. The *Israelites thought that that was a terrible thing.

In Acts chapter 5, Ananias and Sapphira pretended to be better than they were. They did what pleased them. But both of them died very suddenly. Jesus told his followers that they should not be like that. They should not make people think that they were better than other people. (See Matthew 6:1-6.)

v22 ‘Then the next *generation of your children, and people from foreign countries, will see the *disasters that have happened. They will see how the *LORD has sent disease to this country. v23 The land will burn and it will have no use. Salt and a yellow chemical called sulphur will cover the soil. There will be no grass. Nothing will grow there. It will be like the cities called Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim. The *LORD *destroyed those cities because he was very angry. v24 All the nations will ask, “Why did the *LORD do this to the country? Why was he so angry?”

v25 The answer will be this. “It is because these people now do not obey the *covenant. That is the *covenant that they had with the *LORD, the God of their *ancestors. The *LORD made that *covenant with them when he brought them out of Egypt. v26 But they went away and they served false gods. They *worshipped false gods whom they had not known before. They were false gods whom the *LORD had not given to them. v27 Therefore the *LORD was very angry with the country. So, he brought upon the country all the *curses that are in this book. v28 The *LORD became very angry. Because he was so very angry, he made the people leave their country. He forced them into another country, where they are today.” ’

As the people stood on the plains of Moab, they could see the edges of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea was 46 miles long. The land used to produce good crops. But God *destroyed it as a punishment. The people who lived there had done wrong things. The same thing could happen to the rest of the country if the people started to serve *idols.

In Romans Chapter s 9-11, Paul describes how many *Jews have refused to accept God. But Paul says that *Jewish people can still return to God. And he will show *mercy to them.

v29 ‘There are some things that the *LORD our God has kept as a secret. But the things that he has shown to us belong to us and to our children for always. So, we must obey his law.’

People do not know everything. Only God knows certain things. For example, only God knows what will happen in the future. There are many things that God has not told us yet. However, God has shown to us all that we need to know. God has taught us clearly what to do. We must learn what God desires us to do. As soon as we understand those things we must do them. We must do them because we love God. And also, we must do them in order to obey God.

Lord ~ a name for God. It translates the word ‘Adonai’ in the Hebrew language, which means ‘my ruler’. The word ‘lord’ (without a capital letter) means an ordinary ruler.

LORD ~ God gave this special name to himself. It translates the word ‘Yahweh’ in the Hebrew language. It is the Covenant name for God. It links to the words ‘I am’; it means that God has always been here.

covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
covenant ~ the special promise that God made to his people. God’s covenant with the Israelites established a relationship between him and them. But they must obey him.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
Mount ~ mountain. For example, ‘Mount Sinai’ means the mountain called Sinai.
sign ~ an unusual event that God uses to teach people something. But sometimes false prophets promised signs.
wonder ~ an event that astonishes people and it shows God’s power. But other people who did not love God sometimes did them too.
desert ~ a wild place where there are small bushes and not much water. It has poor soil and people cannot grow crops there. So, not many people live there.
tribe ~ a group of people from the same race, who all came from one person. The tribes of *Israel were the 12 large families of Jacob’s sons.
faithful ~ when someone always does what they have promised to do; when someone is loyal at all times.
generation ~ a period of about 20 to 30 years. During that time, children grow up and they have their own children.
idol ~ an image of a false god that people give honour to; an object of wood, stone or metal that people worship.

worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
worship ~ when people show honour to God, or to a false god. People may sing or pray. Or they may kneel down or give a sacrifice.

sacrifice ~ something valuable that people give to God, or to a false god; or, to make such a gift.
curse ~ the opposite of a blessing; bad things that God will do to people because they have been wicked; to say that God will curse someone.

blessing ~ a good thing that God does for us; when someone asks God to do good things for a person or for people; when a person speaks good words about someone.
destroy ~ to damage something so that it does not continue to exist; to kill people or animals.
ancestors ~ people in your family who lived before you.
Jew ~ a person who belongs to the family of the Israelites. Jews are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israelite ~ a person from the nation called *Israel; Israelites is another name for the Jews.

descendant ~ a person in your family who will live after you.
mercy ~ kindness instead of punishment.