Chapter One
Time to Leave Horeb
Moses addresses the next generation, the children of those that rebelled against God and refused to enter the Promised Land. All the people of Israel that left Egypt are now dead with the exceptions of Joshua, Caleb, and Moses. This new generation is undoubtedly aware of their parent’s exploits and history, but like any good author, speaker, or teacher, it is important to clarify how they got to where they are at, especially since the goal of Deuteronomy is help them to avoid making the same mistakes their parents made.
Their history lesson takes them back to the time when God wanted the Israelites to leave Horeb, the area around Mount Sinai.
1:1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei.
The book of Deuteronomy records several addresses of Moses given to the people of Israel (the number or addresses is often debated; some count as many as eight different oracles). The location where Moses spoke to the people is identified as being in the Arabah (Hebrew ‘Ǎrā·ḇāh’,[1] referring to a plain, desert, or wilderness), a region that was east of the Jordan River. The locations of Tophel, Laban, Dizahab, and Suph are unknown (some believe that the word Suph is related to Supah listed in Numbers 21:14, also located in Moab). Paran has been identified as a desert area south of Kadesh-barnea. Even though the exact location is unknown, it is reasonable to believe that Moses is speaking at the same location where the people of Israel were camping at the close of the book of Numbers, opposite the city of Jericho (see Numbers 22:1; 31:12; 33:48, 50; 35:1; 36:13).
This ‘lesson’ took place during the fortieth year after leaving Egypt, on the first day of the eleventh month, after defeating Sihon, king of the Amorites and Og, the king of Bashan.
1:5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’
The purpose of these addresses is given in verse five as, “to explain this law.” As pointed out earlier, this book is not to replace Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, or Numbers, or to offer a new set of rules, it is to serve as a supplement that offers clarity.
The address begins with the instruction from God to leave Horeb (the term is used interchangeably with Mount Sinai, see Exodus 3:1, it appears that this will be Moses’ preferred name in this book to identify “the mountain of God,” as the word Sinai only appears once in Deuteronomy 33:2, while Horeb appears nine times). God told Moses it was time to leave Mount Sinai and head to the Promised Land.
They were to journey to the land of the Canaanites. To settle the land from Lebanon in the north as far as the Euphrates River, to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the west, to the Negeb wilderness in the south and the hilly region of the Amorites and their neighbors to the east (which would include the Hittites, Jebusites, Amalekites, and Perizzites). God had set (Hebrew ‘nā·ṯǎt’·tî’,[2] meaning to give) the land before them. God had given them the land, all they had to do was to go in and take possession of that gift, the land YHWH promised to Abraham (see Genesis 12:1-3, 7; 13:15; 17:8), Isaac (see Genesis 26:1-5) and Jacob (see Genesis 28:13-14; 35:9-12) and now to the descendants of Jacob.
Additional Leaders Appointed
1:9 “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.
In speaking about what he said in the past, such as when he says, “I said to you,” Moses is referring to a time when he spoke to their parents. The ‘you’ becomes a collective group of all Israelites from those that left Egypt to those that were then listening to Moses. He tells them that he informed the people that since God had blessed them by making them so numerous, he could no longer handle everyone’s issues and disputes. He had asked for them to choose leaders who were wise, understanding, and experienced. These leaders were organized with a hierarchy within each tribe. These men were to serve as judges, to hear cases and settle disputes, including anyone traveling through their settlements.
These judges were to be impartial, showing no favoritism towards anyone, all cases were to be heard and judged, regardless of size, including those considered trivial. If a case was too difficult for them, it was to be brought before Moses. The people accepted the proposition and chose the men to act as judges and Moses charged (Hebrew ‘ǎṣǎw·wěh’,[3] appointed, given a directive with authority, more often translated as ‘command’ or ‘commanded’ as it is in verse 18 and the verse that follows) them to be their judges.
Too Afraid to Enter the Land
1:19 “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.
Moses explains that when they left Horeb their route to the Promised Land took them through some “great and terrifying” wilderness. The previous record of that journey in the book of Numbers did not include any details, especially nothing that would qualify as being great or frightening (see Numbers 10:12, 33; 11:35; 12:16; 33:16-37). However, additional information can be gleaned from later verses, “with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water,” (Deuteronomy 8:15b) and “in a land of deserts and pits, in a land of drought and deep darkness, in a land that none passes through, where no man dwells” (Jeremiah 2:6b). When they arrived at Kadesh-barnea, Moses told the people that they had arrived at the entry to the hill country of the Amorites, near the eastern edge of the Promised Land.
1:21 See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’
Moses told them to go and take possession of the land and that they should not have any fear or be discouraged as they enter the land to conquer the people living there. Instead of proceeding, the people requested that they first send some people in to spy and explore, to advise on the best route and which towns to enter. The request seemed reasonable to Moses, so he selected one man from each tribe, and they entered the Promised Land through the hill country to the Valley of Eshcol (meaning cluster, named by them as the location where they obtained a cluster of grapes).[4] The group returned with fruit and reported that the land YHWH was giving them was good.
It is interesting to note that the record of this event in the book of Numbers reports it as being God’s idea to send spies into the land: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the people of Israel. From each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a chief among them.” (Numbers 13:1-2) Here, in Deuteronomy Moses reports that the request came from the people. Undoubtedly the initial request did come from the people, as God would have then encouraged them to proceed and take possession of the land requiring them to trust His guidance and protection. The account in Numbers records only God’s approval and guidance on whom to choose for the reconnoitering.
1:26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.” ’
Even though the land was reported as being good, the people were frightened by what several of the spies were saying about the people occupying the land, that they were big and tall with high walls around their cities. They also reported seeing the sons of Anakim. This is the first appearance of the Hebrew name ‘Ǎnā·qîm’,[5] used here in plural form referring to the descendants of Anak, in Numbers 13:33 they are called Nephilim, considered to be giant people (see Deuteronomy 2:10-11, 21).[6] In response to the report, the people rebelled against God and began to complain saying that God hated them so much that He sent them out of Egypt to kill them.
1:29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.
Moses then attempted to reassure them that God was in favor of them and would go before them and provide victory over those that occupied the land. Just as He had done for them since they left Egypt, like a son being carried by their father. They were still not listening, even when Moses reminded them about the supernatural way God was leading them, with fire at night and by cloud during the day.
The Price for Rebellion
1:34 “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’ 37 Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’
Moses reported that the people’s grumbling was heard by God, and it angered Him to the point that He would not allow any of those people to enter the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua as they were the only ones who desired to follow God. Even Moses was not allowed to enter, as he too disobeyed God (being angry at the people at a later time, see Numbers 20:10-13). They were to encourage (Hebrew ‘ḥǎz·zēq’,[7] meaning to be strong) Joshua as he will be the one leading their children (the people now listening to Moses) into the Promised Land, the ones that they thought were going to end up being prey for a wild beast and die in the wilderness (see Numbers 14:3, 31). This event, starting with them heading back towards the Red Sea, began the lengthy stay out in the wilderness until they had all died.
1:41 “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.
When confronted with the fact that, because of their unwillingness to enter the land, they had been sentenced to “life in the wilderness,” they were motivated to proceed. But it was too late, God was no longer in their midst. They verbally confessed of their sins and prepared their weapons for war. God then told Moses to instruct them not to go into battle as they will be defeated. But the people would not listen and were chased out by the Amorites all the way back to Hormah (see Numbers 14:45; 21:3).
God offered them a plan that would allow them to live in the Promised Land, but they chose not to accept. They allowed human reasoning to become a barrier to the truth and as a result they were denied entry. This is similar to God’s plan for salvation, mankind can either choose Jesus or human reasoning. One can choose heaven by accepting the free gift of salvation through Jesus, which is God’s plan for the “Promised Land” of eternal life or rely on the way of the world. This story is like the parable Jesus taught about the ten virgins:
“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:1-13)
Those that had accepted Jesus as their Savior were ready to enter, those who did not were not ready and missed the opportunity, the door was shut. The parable ends with perhaps some of the most chilling words written in the Bible, “I don’t know you.” (see also Matthew 7:21-23) We are reminded that there are only two choices, as Jesus clearly stated: “So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:32-33) The children of that generation were now given a second chance.
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 6160.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 5414.
[3] Strong’s Hebrew 6680.
[4] See commentary under Numbers 13:21-24.
[5] Strong’s Hebrew 6062.
[6] See also commentary under Genesis 6:4 and Numbers 13:30-33.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 2388.