DEUTERONOMY by F. D. Starr

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 27, 1904

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 17.

DEUTERONOMY.

By F. D. Starr

BY F. D. STARR.

THIS book derives its name from an expression found in chapter 17, verse 18, which says concerning the prospective king of Israel: "And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites."

The term used in the Greek Version, the Septuagint, for the words, "copy of this law," is deuteronomy. He shall write him a deuteronomy, the meaning of which is, a duplicate of the law, or a second law, a repetition of the law. The object and result of this would be, as stated in the following verses: "And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel."

If the king of Israel was to take the time to write a copy of this book, as well as of the preceding four, and then read from it all the days of his life, can we not at least take the time to read a copy that has been already printed for our convenience? Writing is a slow process. It certainly would take much longer to write a copy of these books than to read them, as it takes much longer to write a letter than it does to read it.

The beneficial results of carefully reading this book will be to us the same as to the Israelite monarch, to make us obedient to all the requirements of Jehovah, to fear God and keep His commandments, which is the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12:13, 14); to keep us humble, that our hearts will not be lifted up to consider ourselves better than others, above our brethren; and that we shall prolong our days in the midst of God's chosen Israel.

It would, no doubt, help to impress divine truth upon our minds if we were now in the habit of writing out copies of the Bible, as it had to be done before the art of printing came into existence. The press is a great blessing to the race, but, like so many other blessings, an unfortunate advantage is taken of it in our allowing it to cause us to become more careless and less thorough in accurate knowledge of the Scriptures.

The importance of Bible study is also brought out in chapter six of this book, verses 6-9. We here find that it is not only reading and writing God's Word that will be such a blessed and profitable employment for us, but also social conversation about these inspired topics, especially in the family circle. "Thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Happy is the home where this is practised.

It is well to have the law of God repeated, rehearsed to us, as we have it in this book. Review of our lessons helps much to fasten them in our minds. Israel had shown the necessity of having a deuteronomy, or regiving of the law, in breaking those requirements when they made the golden calf so soon after the proclamation of the Decalogue, thus causing Moses to cast the visible tables, upon which the law was graven, to the ground. This act was followed by another forty days' fast in the holy mountain, at the end of which God gave him a new copy of the law. Deut. 9:18; 10:4.

Sublimity is the prominent characteristic of the book of Deuteronomy. What more sublime language could be penned than that found in its closing chapters? And all ending with a most sublime event, the burial of that eminent servant of God, by whose hand the first five books of the Bible were written.

We have all attended funerals that have made a deep impression upon our minds; for the living will lay it to heart when he goes to the house of mourning and sees the actual end of human existence. Eccl. 7:2.

But who has ever attended a burial service that has affected his heart as has the rehearsal of the sublime obsequies recorded in Deuteronomy 34? Here is neither modern undertaker nor Egyptian embalmer, but of what other human being was such high burial honor ever recorded? The Lord buried him; "but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day." Even the blessed Saviour was buried by human hands, but this eminent servant of the Lord, of whom it is recorded, "And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face," was given the honor of a divine burial.

But this was not all there was to the interesting circumstances of this event. A controversy at a grave is a startling occurrence; but here appears an enemy on the scene. The matter is thus described by Jude, "Yet Michael the Archangel, when contending with the devil He disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."

The death had reigned from Adam till Moses, resurrection power was manifested in this case, and Moses was raised from the dead, and taken to heaven, from whence he came centuries later, to talk with Jesus concerning His decease, which He should accomplish at Jerusalem. Luke 9:28-35.

Consider the remarkable physical condition of the prophet at his death: "Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated." Youth in old age!

The practical lessons of this book are numerous. Let us notice a few. What is in the parenthesis of Deut. 1:2?—The lesson that, as Israel was about forty years traveling over the ground that could be traversed in eleven days, so the progress of many professors in the Christian life is most deplorably slow. The fewness of the faithful is shown in the cases of Caleb and Joshua, who alone of the hundreds of thousands who were numbered on leaving Egypt, were permitted to cross the Jordan.

The difference between faith and presumption is seen in Deut. 1:41-46. Israel had been told not to go at that time to fight against the Amorites, but they rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously into the hill. When God told them to go, they would not go; if they had gone, they would have acted in faith; so faith is simply doing what God has commanded us to do, while presumption is doing what He has forbidden us to do.

The advent of the Messiah is clearly predicted in Deut. 18:15, 18. "The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me," said Moses. When that Prophet came, He began at Moses and all the prophets to teach the people concerning Himself. See Luke 24:27.

As we take a comprehensive view of the five books of Moses, we can feel the force of the prophet's words: "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isa. 8:20. "Remember ye the law of Moses My servant." Mal. 4:4. "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, tho one rose from the dead." Those who believe not Moses believe not Christ, who rose from the dead. "Had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?" Let us give these books the respect and attention they deserve.