INTRODUCTION 1:1-4

1 ¶ These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel

on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over
against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and
Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

These be the words which Moses spake

The reference to Deuteronomy as the words of Moses reminded the

readers that though the book was a covenant renewal document it was not
a lifeless legal contract. ”The words“ of ”Moses“ suggest that the book’s
contents were given in a series of strong sermons to the wandering
people.1

THE GREATNESS OF MOSES

Moses was the first and greatest prophet of Israel as a nation.
He did performed the mightiest miracle that God did in the OT, the
parting of the Rea Sea. He gave them their law and religion and mediated
the covenant between the nation and God. God set him forth as an
example that all the other prophets tried to live by.

He is a type of the Lord Jesus, the Greatest Prophet who was to come
(Deut. 18:15-19; 34:10-12). The New Testament mentioned Moses more
frequently than any other Old Testament person.

“And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD
knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in
the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, And in all
that mighty hand, and in all the great terror which Moses shewed in the sight of all
Israel.” (Deuteronomy 34:10-12)

1
(Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois:
Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.)
 Unto all Israel

This expression is used 12 times in Deuteronomy. It emphasises Israel’s

unity. God had made them one nation by delivering them from Egypt and
uniting them under the constitution of the covenant of the law, the Word
of God, the only nation ever to have a God given constitution.

On this side Jordan in the wilderness,

This is the place where they were camped earlier when Moab hired Balaam
to curse them.
“And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of
Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.” (Numbers 22:1)

In the plain over against the Red sea,

Their location is said to be in the plain opposite Suph. This means that the
wilderness, of which the Plains of Moab were an extension, stretched
southward to that portion of the Red Sea known as the Gulf of Aqaba.2

Between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and

Dizahab.

Except for Jordan and the Arabah, the exact locations of the place names
given in 1:1 are not known with any certainty. The Arabah is the large rift
valley that extends from the Sea of Kinnereth (later the Sea of Galilee) in
the north to the Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Israel was not yet in the
Promised Land, but was perched at its entrance (cf. v. 5) as they received
Moses’ final instructions.3

2
William MacDonald; edited with introductions by Arthur Farstad, Believer’s Bible
commentary: Old and New Testaments [computer file], electronic ed., Logos Library
System, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson) 1997, c1995 by William MacDonald.

3 Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton,
Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.
 GOD’S CARE FOR THEM
The details of the places visited though many are unknown to us today,
show the minuteness of the details that God records concerning His
people.

Such interest in their movements reminds us of Psalm 139.

1 <<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> O LORD, thou

hast searched me, and known me.
2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou
understandest my thought afar off.
3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted
with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou
knowest it altogether.
5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon
me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain
unto it.

The Lord Jesus said that He even knows how many hairs are on our head.

“Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not
fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value
than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29-31)

He tells us to cast all our cares and anxieties upon Him.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)
“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known
unto God.” (Philippians 4:6)
 “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is
called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called
Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth” (Acts 9:11)

He knew where Saul was staying – the name of the street, which house in
the street and who lived there - the house of Judas, and He knew where
Saul was born – Tarsus, and He knew what Saul was doing – praying.

2 ¶ (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way

of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)

This verse sums up the whole tragedy of the people of God. They were
only eleven days to the Promised Land from Horeb yet it took them forty
long years. The great sin of unbelief was the cause.
They had to go round in circles for decades till that whole generation
except Joshua and Caleb were dead. The nation was broken and humbled
by God.

Recovery came at the place where they first departed from God. They had
to learn the lesson of why they fell before they could move on.

“Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left

thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and
repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou
repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5)

The church at Ephesus was to remember from where they fell, what
caused it and they were to repeat the first works motivated by love.
Illustration: The frozen crew

A small ship was seen among the icebergs of the arctic regions. It did not
seem to be moving when seen at a distance. Another ship hailed the vessel
with a loud, "Ship ahoy," but there was no response. On entering the craft,
it was found that all on board were frozen and dead. The captain was
sitting at a table as if writing. The book on the table contained a record of
conditions.

They had been out of fuel for weeks, according to the diary, and were just
drifting. From the last entry of the diary, it was found that they had been
frozen, dead, and drifting for about thirteen years!
Multitudes of professed Christians and churches have been in that
condition for many years. They retain the form but are dead.

3 ¶ And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh

month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake
unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the
LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

Moses was going to rehearse the law for the new generation that was
going into possess the land but it was not mere repetition for nothing in
God’s Word is vain repetition.

The principle remains the same for us today. We must never neglect our
responsibility to teach a new generation the Word of God pure, simple
and unchanged.

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach
others also.” (2 Timothy 2:2)

“The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh

holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of
good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to
love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste,
keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the
word of God be not blasphemed.” (Titus 2:3-5)

4 ¶ After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites,

which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan,
which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

Only after these two enemies were slain did Moses utter his messages and
encourage the nation to possess the land.

They were a taste of the victory they would enjoy in the land for Og was a
giant, the very kind of whom they were afraid and did not want to enter
the land in the first place.

“And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had
searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through
which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the
inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a
great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which
come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers,
and so we were in their sight.” (Numbers 13:32-33)

“For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of giants;

behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of
the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four
cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.” (Deuteronomy
3:11)