Deuteronomy 1:1, commentary and pictures

These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel east of the Jordan, in Moab in the plain encamped on the borders of the Jordan, as the people prepared to enter the promised land shortly before his death. His hearers were the new generation who were to possess Canaan, for nearly all the adults who left Egypt had died in the wilderness, and many had been small children with no remembrance of the giving of the law at Sinai or had been born in the wilderness. At God's direction he gathered all Israel to rehearse the Lord's dealings with them on their journey from Egypt through the wilderness, and Deuteronomy is the record of that rehearsal of forty years of experiences, trials, failures, victories, transgressions, blessings, warnings, mistakes, and judgments that kept their fathers from entering the promised land. That instruction was no new revelation but a repeating and enlarging of the law before given at Sinai, with the Ten Commandments and all the laws and judgments explained, enforced, and reminded with their punishments and conditions, proving that His promises are upon condition of obedience and that disobedience forfeited entrance for that generation. These words of the Lord were written for the instruction and admonition of those living at the end of the world, to be read carefully and kept by giving up human judgment, learning and obeying His word, and copying Christ in self-denial, even as the record of His early leading must now be republished and kept before His people because many since come to the truth are ignorant of it.

Words, Setting, Hearers

These are the opening words of Moses' address to the whole nation in the wilderness on the east side of the Jordan, in Moab, in the plain where they were encamped on the borders of the Jordan. The people had crossed the desert and stood ready to enter the promised land and take possession of their inheritance. The address was given near the end of Moses' life, shortly before his death.

Those listening were not the army of adults who had come out of Egypt, for nearly all of that generation had died in the wilderness. They were the new generation, their children now grown up, to whom the promise of possessing Canaan was to be fulfilled. Many had been small children with no remembrance of the grandeur of the giving of the law at Sinai, others had been born in the wilderness, and few had been old enough to understand its solemnity.

At the Lord's direction Moses gathered all Israel to rehearse to them all the Lord's dealings with them during their journeyings from Egypt through the wilderness, including deliverance, trials, failures, warnings received, and the wilderness journey itself. The book of Deuteronomy is the record of that rehearsal. It was given in camp on the borders of the Jordan to set before the generation preparing to possess the land the claims of the law given at Sinai and the necessity of obedience.

Rehearsal, Conditions, Admonition

Moses gathered the people to rehearse forty years of experiences, trials, failures, victories, transgressions, blessings, warnings received, mistakes, God's dealings because of those mistakes, and the judgments that kept the fathers from entering the promised land. The rehearsal covered all the journeyings since leaving Egypt, the great transgressions of the fathers, and the judgments by which that generation died in the wilderness as the Lord had said. It recalled both failures and victories to guide the people as they prepared to enter the land, with each new move to carry out the principles God had given during the wandering.

The instruction given was not a new revelation but instruction received from the Lord repeating and enlarging the law previously given at Sinai. It repeated the Ten Commandments and all the laws and judgments, recapitulating the commandments and all the circumstances connected with the giving of the law so the people would realize the necessity of obeying them. The repetition added explanations of precepts and their reasons, directions for enforcing the laws, reminders of commands that had been broken, and the punishment that disobedience brings. It was spoken to the new generation after nearly all the adults who left Egypt had died, few of whom had been old enough to understand the solemnity of the giving of the law, setting before them the claims of the law, obedience to it, and the conditions for receiving the land before crossing the Jordan to possess their inheritance.

The chapter explains why the Lord refused to bring the adults of the army that left Egypt into the promised land. It proves that His promises are upon condition of obedience, that disobedience forfeited entrance for that generation, and that disobedience alters His purpose toward Israel.

The words Moses spoke are the words of the Lord written for the instruction and admonition of people living at the end of the world, upon whom the ends of the world are come. The chapter is to be read carefully and whole together with Deuteronomy 7 and Deuteronomy 8. It teaches that human judgment and ideas must be given up, the Lord's will sought, His word learned and obeyed, His judgments done and His ordinances and statutes kept in order to live in them, Christ's self-denial and self-sacrifice copied, self-pleasing abandoned, and character brought to the Lord's standard of perfection rather than feeble human standards.

As Israel encamped on the borders of the promised land had to be reminded of past divine leading, so God's people now must have the record of early experiences republished and kept before them. Many who have since come to the truth are ignorant of that history through which the Lord wrought, so the same work of rehearsal must now be done. Each new move is to carry out the principles God gave.