Deuteronomy

What This Book Is

Moses preaching to a new generation on the edge of the promised land, retelling the story and pressing one thing on them: remember, and love God with everything.

Overview

Deuteronomy is a series of sermons rather than a chronicle. Moses is old, he knows he is not crossing the river, and he has one last chance to say what matters to a generation that was not born when the sea opened.

He starts by retelling the story. Where they have been, what God did, and what went wrong. Then he restates the law, which is where the name comes from: a second giving of it. But this is not a dry legal recital. It is preaching, full of appeals to the heart.

The centre of it is chapter 6, where Israel is told that God is one, and to love him with all their heart, soul, and strength. Jesus quotes this as the greatest commandment. Immediately after come instructions to teach it at home, on the road, at bedtime, in the morning, so that faith lives in ordinary conversation rather than only in ceremony.

A warning runs through the book, and it is not the warning you would expect. The danger is not persecution. It is comfort. When you have eaten and are full, when the houses are built and the herds are large, then take care lest you forget.

The book ends with blessings and curses laid out, the leadership handed to Joshua, a song, and Moses climbing a mountain to see the land he will not enter.

Structure

• Chapters 1 to 4: Looking backMoses retells the journey and what it cost.
• Chapters 5 to 11: The heart of itThe commandments restated, and the call to love God with everything.
• Chapters 12 to 26: The law appliedWorship, justice, leadership, and care for the vulnerable.
• Chapters 27 to 30: Blessing and curseThe choice set out plainly: life or death.
• Chapters 31 to 34: Handing overA song, a successor, and a death on a mountain.

Themes

Why It Matters

Deuteronomy shapes everything after it. The historical books judge Israel's kings by its standards, the prophets prosecute the nation using its terms, and Jesus quotes it three times when he is tempted in the wilderness. Its great contribution is insisting that obedience grows out of love and memory, not fear. It is also unusually humane law for its era, with protections for widows, orphans, foreigners, debtors, and even animals.

How to Read It

• Read chapter 6 slowly. It is the heart of the book and the verse Jesus called the greatest commandment.
• Watch for the word remember. Its repetition is the argument of the whole book.
• Notice that the danger being warned about is prosperity, not hardship.
• Read chapter 34, the death of Moses, without rushing. It is one of the most moving endings in Scripture.

Key Verse

Did You Know?

• Jesus answers all three wilderness temptations with quotations from Deuteronomy.
• The Shema, in Deuteronomy 6:4, remains the central confession of Judaism.
• Deuteronomy is one of the most quoted Old Testament books in the New Testament.

Where to Start Reading