Welcome to our first Deuteronomy study 001 Deuteronomy chapter 1 I'm going to try to cover all 46 verses as we get into Deuteronomy with a start We'll start with a hillbilly holla going out to a listener named Jesse Porter Jesse, here's your hillbilly holla as we get started in our Deuteronomy studies, and we'll start with a word of prayer. Father, we thank you, Lord, for this time. Again, another book to go verse by verse, as long as you tarry and leave us here and leave me here. And I just thank you for all those who love your word and give us an opportunity to teach, but also they can take this and springboard into their own studies and continue to grow with your Holy Spirit being the guide and teacher. I just thank you so much for salvation, for Jesus, what he's done and what he's going to do eternal life awaits each and every one of us because of our wonderful savior and it's in his precious name we pray amen so of course we're going to start with a little background i don't go into a lot of detail when we start a new book with background and everything Sometimes it's just overload, overkill. So we drop these things in during the studies for the most part. But we will mention that deuteronomy, the name basically means second law. Deuter, deut, deuter, deuter means the number two and onomy refers to law. And you kind of think of the word duplicate, deuteronomy. So a lot of what we're going to talk about and read is going to be a repeat of what we've read about and covered Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Deuteronomy is the fifth and final book of what's called the Pentateuch. It's referred to as the Torah, the books of Moses, also referred to as the Pentateuch, and you can hear the penta means number five. Toukas is the Greek word for scrolls. So there are five scrolls. Pentateuch, the earliest reference. I just thought this would be interesting to mention. Referring to the first five books of Moses as the Pentateuch was around 200 AD by a fellow named Tertullius. He's also the first to refer to the Godhead as Trinitas, the Trinity. 200 AD, not Council of Nicaea and all that stuff you hear a lot of these YouTube heretics trying to teach and talk you out of believing in the Trinity and that sort of thing. But the Pentateuch consisted of five scrolls. They were basically written by Moses, although there are parts where he edited, like in the book of Genesis, he wasn't alive for a lot of that. He took other materials, oral tradition, and God led him to put what God wanted into the book of Genesis, for example. And there are times where, especially here in Deuteronomy, we're going to see that the end of the book had to be written by somebody else because Moses is dead when it's written. I've heard some preachers wax eloquent on how God could do that. Yes, God could do that. He could have had Moses right in third person and everything. But there's really no reason to believe such a thing. And the Bible doesn't say that's what happened. And what we read is the plain account. We'll talk more about that. when we get to it. But in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we covered most of the material we're gonna see, as I mentioned. We were covering it on an as-happened basis. Now, in Deuteronomy, Moses will repeat that history and the law that was given, 613 total commandments, not just 10. one last time before his life ends and Israel enters in the promised land behind Joshua. So without further ado, let's jump in here in verse one. 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 Hazaroth and Dizzehab. The maps that you can find will show basically what we would call the Dead Sea Valley. It's south of the Dead Sea and it's called a plain, but it's a plain because it's a level area. It's supposed to be the lowest point on land on the planet. And so verse two continues and says, there are 11 days journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh Barnea. So again, in verse one, you can look up the Paran, Tofo, Laban. These places will show you. Then in between those areas is this plain. But if you go south of the Dead Sea, you'll see what we're talking about. And it took 40 years to get here. But verse two tells us it should have been an 11 day trip. And of course, we're not gonna rehash why that happened here, but we're gonna cover a lot of it in our study. So let's just continue, verses three and four. And it came to pass in the 40th year, in the 11th 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. And verse four says, 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 Edreai. We'll have more to say about that, but basically the army of Israel under General Moses had wiped out these kings. So we continue, verse five. On this side, Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, and so here we go. We're gonna jump right in just like the Holy Spirit has Moses jump right in in the retelling in this second law of Deuteronomy. Verses six through eight. The Lord God, I'm sorry, the Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb saying, ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. Turn you and take your journey and go to the mount of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto in the plain and the hills and in the vale and in the south and by the seaside to the land of the Canaanites. and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Now, we've got a map on our website. You can see the prophesied borders of the promised land, much, much bigger than modern Israel. So look that up on our website if you can and find that for a picture of what we're talking about here. But you know, the Euphrates goes way beyond the Jordan River over near Babylon. And then Lebanon is way north and today is called Lebanon. It's a country ruled by Hezbollah attacking Israel as of the time of this recording, which is the last day of October in 2023. The other borders are given the sea to the Euphrates River and then from Lebanon down to the bottom of the Negev and even further into Egypt to the River of Egypt. Huge area compared to modern-day Israel. We'll say more about that as we go on. But the Lord told Israel they were going to get the land. And so we remind you that what Israel today is probably, if you look on those maps I referred to, you'll see it's about 10%, maybe 15% of the land God promised them. We'll see that they never did complete the task as charged here, even in the book of Joshua, when we enter into Judges. We'll talk about that, I'm sure. But Moses continues, verses nine through 11. And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone. Verse 10, the Lord your God hath multiplied you, and behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. Verse 11, the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you as he hath promised you. And one day, this will totally come true. It will. Especially not just in the millennium, for a thousand years, the Jews who have survived the great tribulation period, a third of Israel will survive, two thirds will die. They'll look upon him whom they have pierced and they'll go into that promised land, but the Jews, the Israelites, the Hebrews and Jews that we read about in the Bible, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, their 12 sons and descendants, all who were true believers will experience that land promise. And then the mortals who survived the tribulation, they'll keep having children and they keep just increasing the population of Israel a thousand times as many as what we see up to this point. We guesstimate about three million here. So that's about three billion Jews. And yes, three billion will fit on that land comfortably during the millennium. So we continue verse 12 and 13, how can I myself alone bear your cumbrance and your burden and your strife? He's just being honest here. You guys are like herding cats. Verse 13, take you wise men and understanding and known among your tribes and I will make them rulers over you. So Moses is recounting what he said and now he reminds the people of what they said. So he's telling them, this is what I said. Now, here's what you said in verse 14. And ye answered me and said, the thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. By the words of their own mouth. Verse 15, so I took the chief of your tribes, wise men and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes. Basically, the way our military is set up, the numbers may be a little different, but small to larger groups, and a head over each one of those, according to what branch of the military you're in, and that sort of thing. So that's how he organizes three million Jews and sets up the chain of command, verses 16 through 18. And I charged your judges at that time saying, hear the causes between your brethren and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with him. Now listen, this is very important. Verse 17, ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it." So Moses is setting these people up as judges. They would have hearings and trials and that sort of thing. Anything that was too hard for the smaller groups and the heads of those groups to handle, they'd bring to the Supreme Court, and the chief justice would be Moses. Now, this is a principle under law, verse 18, and I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do. And what was that? It said, had no respect for persons. That means, it sounds a little funny to us, and at first it may sound kind of opposite of what it really means. What it means is you don't treat one person better than the other. It's equal justice under the law. You don't have respect of persons, you see everybody equally or as is pictured in the paintings and sculptures of Lady Justice here in our country. It's a woman with a cloak on and she has a blindfold on and she's holding the scales in one hand and books of law in the other. And that's to say that she's going to judge matters without judging based on what she sees of the person. It's based on the facts of the merits of the case. It's what we call the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment in our Constitution. And our government is biblically based, and as George Washington is credited with saying, it is impossible to rightly govern without God and the Bible. And that history lesson then leads us to verses 19 through 21. And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh Barnea, or Barnea is how some people say it. Verse 20, and I said unto you, ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God doth give unto us. Behold, the Lord thy God hath set the land before thee. Go up and possess it, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath set unto thee. Fear not, neither be discouraged. Now up to this point, it's a great story. But we covered this back in Numbers 13 to 14. And we're not gonna go into details. Hopefully you know what happened. Other than Moses, Joshua, and Caleb, all the heads of the other tribes, which served as spies and actually went in and looked at the land, they did fear. And they were discouraged. Why? They didn't believe the word of God. They weren't really Bible believers. And that explains a lot of the Preachers we have falling away and going into heresy and apostasy today, but it explains how so few Christians these days seem to really understand the Bible and believe it and stand on it. But we continue there in verses 20 through 25. And ye came near unto me, every one of you, and said, we will send men before us and they shall search us out the land and bring us word again by what way we must go up and into what cities we shall come. Really, that was the wrong take. They should have just gone in. They didn't need to send in spies. But it continues, verse 23, and the saying pleased me well, and I took 12 men of you, one of a tribe. And verse 24, they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. Verse 25, and they took up the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought his word again, and said, it is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us. And again, Sounds good. Everything sounds fine. But, verse 26, notwithstanding, ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God. Unbelief and cowardice is contagious. That's why during war times, when you have cowards and deserters, they're shot. Because if you let that catch on and people start to desert and run, then you're going to not, you won't just lose. I mean, they kill you. It's life or death. But unbelief and cowardice are forms of insanity when it comes to God. I mean, think about how insane that is to fear anyone when God is on your side. Verse 27, and he murmured in your tents and said, because the Lord hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. So it's not only cowardice and unbelief, but the bearing false witness against God, slandering him. Think of that insanity. And after all those plagues on Egypt and parting the Red Sea. By the way, one of the plagues was killing the firstborn of Egypt and sparing every house that had the blood applied. I mean, all that. And then, after parting the Red Sea, he destroyed the entire army of Pharaoh arguably the most powerful army on earth at that time. And after all that the Lord had done for them, they accused him of orchestrating all of that just so he could kill them. Just like that kind of, what? Oh, it's absurd. Absurdity times one trillion. And then, as I said, if that kind of thing just becomes contagious, and here's the epidemic in verse 28. Whither shall we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, the people is greater and taller than we. The cities are great and walled up to heaven, and moreover, we have seen the sons of the Anacoms there. They're big. They're giants. Yeah? But have you seen our God? He's bigger than the entire universe put together times a gazillion. So Moses tries to quell the epidemic of cowardice and belief in verses 29 through 31. Then I said unto you, dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness where thou hast seen how that the Lord thy God bare thee as a man doth bear his son in all the way that you went until you came into this place. I mean, their shoes didn't even wear out. They had food falling from heaven, manna, and on and on and on. We could go about it, but it really is insanity. It's crazy. And as we said, after all they'd seen, but that's what unbelief does to a person. It's a choice, but that choice is affected by the condition of the heart. We urge people, memorize scripture. And one of the most important verses early on to memorize, John 3, 16. Yes, but John 3, 19, and this is the condemnation that light is coming to the world and men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Those are the words of Jesus Christ. And so that's what explains all this cowardice and unbelief. They were in sin, they were not right with God, and they rejected the light of God's word. And verses 32 and 33 says, yet in this thing ye did not believe the Lord your God, who went in the way before you to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in a cloud by day. Think of that. That's just another thing. God is leading them, a pillar of fire by night. Imagine what that looked like. And a pillar of cloud during the day. They just totally, you know, wrote it off. It's just, it's an amazing thing when you really think about it. So we continue verses 34 through 36. And the Lord heard the voice of your words and was wroth and swear saying, surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I swear to give unto your fathers. Save Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. And of course, Joshua. It's mentioned elsewhere in verse 38. He shall see it, and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children, because he hath wholly followed the Lord. God will not reward or honor unbelief, so he lowers the boom. And that included Moses. Verse 37, also the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, saying, thou shalt not go in thither. And we won't talk about the fact that there's more to it than that. Other than to mention in number 2714, the water of Meribah, where Moses struck the rock twice in anger instead of as he was told to do. And so without saying much more about it, Moses moves on. Verse 38, but Joshua, the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither, encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. So Moses is told to prepare to pass the mantle to Joshua. And we'll see that when we come to the end of Deuteronomy and go into the book of Joshua. Verse 39, moreover, your little ones, which he said should be a prey and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither and unto them will I give it and they shall possess it. I believe this is all the kids under the age of 20, 20 and under, I should say. They were still young, and they weren't involved in all this stuff, and so God says, they'll go in. God doesn't punish children for the sins of their parents, although the sins of parents can have consequences that affect children. Just ask a child of a drunk or an adulterer or abuser about that, but that's not God's punishment. That's consequences of actions, but it's not God punishing those children. You have to make that difference in your mind as you think about these things. The parents committing sin, they suffer and children can suffer the consequences of that. Verse 40, but as for you, turn you and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea. So the rebellious parents were doomed to die during 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. They were sorry at the time it happened, but it was too late. So what do they do? Then they, God says, you can't go in now. Now they're like, oh, we'll go in. Verse 41 then ye answered and said unto me we have sinned against the Lord we will go up and fight according to all that the Lord our God commanded us and when ye had girded on every man his weapons of war you were ready to go up into the hill and Verse 42, let's read through 44. And the Lord said unto me, say unto them, go not up, neither fight, for I am not among you, lest you be smitten before your enemies. So I spake unto you, and you would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, and went presumptuously up into the hill. Verse 44, and the Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, came out against you, and chased you as bees do, and destroyed you in Seir, even unto Hormah, which is modern day Petra, in that area of the desert. What a mess, and we discussed this before, so I won't go into it as we run out of time here in this study, but they got, this is the way we used to say it, hoping I don't offend anybody, but they got their rear ends handed to them. That's what happened. He says they chased him like they were being chased by bees. That's never happened to me, but I know somebody who accidentally, he was up in a tree and he didn't even see this nest, and he was hacking away at something. Or maybe he just saw, and I can't remember, but he's up in a tree doing it, and all of a sudden he heard this sound. He goes running. He got stung pretty bad. That's what it looked like the whole army of Israel looked like they were being chased like that by bees So with that we close out verse 45 and you returned and wept before the Lord But the Lord would not hearken to your voice near nor give ear unto you folks. I've been there We can repent we can be forgiven but that doesn't mean the consequences are removed I And I've suffered consequences even though God forgave me when I got saved, forgave me of all that sin. Since then, when I've fallen, God forgives, but there's still consequences. If someone gets AIDS from sexual sin, but then they repent and they get saved, God saves them. He forgives them, but they'll still have AIDS. That's just a very clear example of that. And so verse 46, so ye abode in Kadesh many days according unto the days that ye abode there. And we'll pick up there with more. But all the survivors, all those who were alive whenever all this happened, they were dead before they went into the promised land as a result. That includes Moses, by the way. And this book of Deuteronomy repeats some of the events, as I mentioned, of those 40 years, but it also adds some additional information, puts the final touch on the Pentateuch before Joshua assumes the place of captain of the host of the Lord and leads the next generation of Hebrews into the promised land. And that's where we pick up next time.