The Book of Deuteronomy is a sermonic review given by Moses just prior to his death. The name Deuteronomy comes from two Greek words which were used to form the Septuagint title; deuteros, meaning "second," and nomos, meaning "law." So, the word really means "second law. " In effect, it was the second giving of the law.
After the Israelite's arrived in the Trans-Jordan, in the year 1406 B.C. Moses recounted to the new generation all the past events of the previous forty years. Max Lucado in his introduction to the Book of Genesis in his Inspirational Study Bible, tells this story: of why it's so important to know where you came from, to know where your're going. So there you are, a teenager at your grandparents house. You don't want to be there, but its one of those family things and so you're there.
You sit politely and act like you are listening to your folks and grandparents talk. Then your grandmother says something that catches your attention. She refers to your great-grandfather and the trip he made to America from the "old country." " What" you ask. Grandma smiles, knowing that at some point we all wonder about our origin and here we are as Christians wondering about yours. She unravels a tale of your family escaping persecution and settling in eastern Virginia. Next she invites you to her room, where she opens a large chest that has sat at the foot of her bed for as long as you can remember. She opens the chest and a rush of cedar and mothballs fills the room.
" Thought you might like to see this," she explains, handing you a black and white photos in a large walnut frame. " It's your great grand-pa." The only thing stiffer than his collar is his expression. " Here is his father, she hands you another photo, one of a cowboy wearing a wide-brimmed hat, riding a horse. Piece by piece, the chest tells its family tales. Soon you find yourself lost in a floor covered with old wedding gowns, photo albums, diplomas, and bronzed baby shoes. Before you leave, you find yourself- a heritage, a beginning. An origin. You know your part of a family tree. You leave a richer person. Knowing where you came from, saying as much about where we are going. For the Christian, the foundation of your faith, does not start with the Gospels, it starts with Jesus Bible, the O.T. and creation with Genesis the first book of the Bible, the creation of everything which is a book of beginnings. God wants us to know from where we came, Learning that will teach us much about the place we are going. "NOW": Back to Moses. In Deuteronomy 1:1 we read: " These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over the Red Sea". Verse 5 gives further clarification of the locale., " On this side of Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare the law." This is the setting through out the book. Deuteronomy, 34:1 says, " Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo." In 34:5ff: "Moses... died there in the land of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across Jericho. Then the Lord said to him, " this is the land of which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying 'I will give it to your descendants.' I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there."
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And He was buried in the valley of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows where his grave is to this day. Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished. And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days. So the days of weeping and mourning for Moses ended. But since then there has not risen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, in all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all his servants, and in all his land.
One thing that seems to be rooted in our sinful nature is that the younger generation forgets or ignores what the previous generation learned. It was Adam's job to pass on the truth to his descendants, and he failed. It was Noah''s job to pass on the truth to his descendants, and he failed. It was the job of Abraham to pass on the knowledge of God to his descendants, and he failed. Moses was instructed very plainly to pass these truths on the sons and the sons' sons.and by this word- of- mouth method, the truth of God was to be transmitted from generation to generation (Deut. 6:7; 31:12-13). But imagine if you will, what the response was to those individuals who were five and six generations removed from Adam. When Adam tried to explain to them that he had been created by God and walked in the cool of the day with God. I am sure that wicked generation laughed and thought he was insane. When Noah tried to explain to his descendants, several generations removed, that he had experienced the Flood; and when his sons- Shem, Ham, and Japheth- attempted to explain to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren that at one time the entire earth had been covered by water and that they had lived in the pre-flood era, I am sure they were also thought to be insane. We know how after several generations, the truth is attempted to be passed on is mocked and scoffed at and assumed to be worthless, mythical information.
Because of this, the omniscient God told Moses that He knew what was going to happen. He described it in 31:16, that soon after they were settled in the land, they would play the harlot with strange gods " and will forsake me, and break my Covenant which I have made with them." In return (vs 17); "I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them."
In an attempt to prevent this, He commanded Moses to compose a song so that generations and centuries later they would remember that they had been warned about their sinful behavior. Though many things might pass away, a song or an epic poem would be learned and passed on from one generation to another. It was designed to make them remember back to the time when God first gave it and its title could be " Against Forgetfulness." The purpose was to remind the people that God had anticipated their failure, and that their was still hope if they would repent. and turn back to him.
The Poem requires forty-three verses in Chapter 32. In this marvelous piece of poetry, God reminds them that he made them drink honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock, but they decided to serve idols and other demons that claimed to be gods. God warned them in the Sinai Covenant, in Stipulations 3 and 6; Blessings and curses. He would heap mis-fortune upon them, and assured them in the end of his vengeance, and that blood would be avenged which had been shed by the enemies of His servants. Moses death in chapter 32, and in 33 where he blesses the children of Israel prior to his death. He lived to be 120 years old. After the death of Moses, their was the new
generation of people on the east side of the Jordan and the leader they knew for many years was dead, and the baton was passed on to Joshua. Their is so much to know of our Christian faith before Christ, and it is called foundation for our faith.
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