Chapter 1

Deuteronomy 1:1-3  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.  (2)  (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)  (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;

40th year, eleventh month. That’s about the end of these things.

11 days from Horeb to Kadeshbarnea. Days to the promised land from Horeb. Instead it would take 40 years.

Deuteronomy 1:17  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.

Sounds like good advice for any leader, pastor.

Deuteronomy 1:32  Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,

It comes down to that. Sin and transgression is rooted in unbelief. Whereas obedience and good works is based in faith. Amen Brother Rick!

Deuteronomy 1:41-43  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, ye were ready to go up into the hill.  (42)  And the LORD said unto me, Say unto them, Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.  (43)  So I spake unto you; and ye would not hear, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and went presumptuously up into the hill.

This happened in Exodus. After they refused to possess the land, then they changed their mind. Well God didn’t change his. God would not sanction their advancements. Sad day indeed. What’s the lesson from this? The flesh cannot fight the battle. If the unbelievers, those whose carcasses would fall, represent the flesh, then they cannot go up even if they wanted to. The flesh is what it is. You can’t change it. You can only kill it.

Chapter 2

Deuteronomy 2:1  Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea, as the LORD spake unto me: and we compassed mount Seir many days.

By the way of the Red sea. Wasn’t that the sea that they crossed? Go back and look at that sea, the one that God parted for you. Don’t think this is bad. If the Red Sea represent great deliverance from sin, salvation in the highest, then it’s a good thing to see salvation of the Lord. Don’t forget where God has delivered you from. In this battle between flesh and Spirit… As the battle goes on and the struggle goes on, travel by way of the Red Sea. Stay close to where you’ve seen God work and move.

Deuteronomy 2:4  And command thou the people, saying, Ye are to pass through the coast of your brethren the children of Esau, which dwell in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:

Deuteronomy 2:5  Meddle not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot breadth; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession.

The children of Esau. Who were they again? Meddle not with them. Jacob children forever seperated from Esau’s children. Jacob’s children were enslaved in Egypt while Esau’s were free. Hmm?

Deuteronomy 2:7  For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

He knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness. God knows our struggle. And God hath been with thee. He leadeth me, oh blessed though. O words with heavenly comfort fraught. If you are in the wilderness, rest assured that God is with thee. You can’t get to the other side of Jordan without him.

Deuteronomy 2:14-15  And the space in which we came from Kadeshbarnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the LORD sware unto them.  (15)  For indeed the hand of the LORD was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.

Until they were consumed. For indeed the hand of the LORD is against the flesh. To destroy it. Jude 1:24  Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy

Deuteronomy 2:20  (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;

Zamzummims! Isn’t that funny?

Deuteronomy 2:24  Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

Sihon? I feel a study on Sihon coming up. He is mentioned quite a bit. Verse 30,31,32

Deuteronomy 2:30-32  But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him: for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into thy hand, as appeareth this day.  (31)  And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land before thee: begin to possess, that thou mayest inherit his land.  (32)  Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to fight at Jahaz.

Maybe Sihon is also a good type of the flesh. Or maybe the devil? Or maybe the world. I don’t know. But he sure gets talked about alot.  Look at this:

Deuteronomy 2:33  And the LORD our God delivered him before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people.

Maybe he is unbelief? I don’t know, but he’s dead, alongside all those that murmured in the wilderness.  Kill or be killed.

Chapter 3

Deuteronomy 3:1  Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.

Og, he’s another one along side Sihon that need to be studied. Sihon and Og. Bashan? Bulls of Bashan have compassed me. Oh! I wonder if Sihon and Og are the bulls of Bashan. Good question.

Deuteronomy 3:11  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.

The size of Og’s bed? Why do I need to know that? It was made of Iron. One mean dude. He was a giant.

Deuteronomy 3:19  But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you;

Cities? What about the tabernacle? The formation was a travelling nomadic war formation. No need for that once the land was subdued. Where was the tabernacle kept until the temple? Lots of time between now and then.

Deuteronomy 3:21  And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest.

These two kings: Sihon and Og. They’re a great example! Got to study these guys.

Deuteronomy 3:23-29  And I besought the LORD at that time, saying,  (24)  O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might?  (25)  I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.  (26)  But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.  (27)  Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.  (28)  But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.  (29)  So we abode in the valley over against Bethpeor.

This is good stuff right here. In Numbers, when God told Moses that he and Aaron weren’t going over, it was sudden and nothing more was said. No conversation. No response. Nothing. Just the next journey started. But this passage here gives us a little more about what was said that day.

Verse 25 I pray thee, let me go over… This brings tears to my eyes. But no sense of hurt from Moses. Suppose he knows to live is Christ and to die is gain… When God tells him when he’s going to die he says that he’ll be gathered with thy people. Very comforting.

Pisgah. This place must also be studied. Pisgah’s lofty heights….

Chapter 4

Deuteronomy 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.

No addition. No subtraction. No math. Thanks God. My kids hate math.

Deuteronomy 4:3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.

Reminding them against about that Balaam induced incident. It was a big deal, 24,000 died of the plague that day.

Deuteronomy 4:4  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.

But ye… are alive. I’m crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live.

Deuteronomy 4:7  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?

Good question? Ask this about America too.

Deuteronomy 4:10  Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

Specially the day. Why? Because that day was special. Why? Look at then Verse 12. They got the 10 commandments that day I believe.

Deuteronomy 4:12  And the LORD spake unto you out of the midst of the fire: ye heard the voice of the words, but saw no similitude; only ye heard a voice.

The Lord spake unto you…  Ye heard a voice… Good stuff. That’s why is a special day. Do you remember the day you heard the voice of God? You better believe it.

Deuteronomy 4:15  Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:

No similitude now. No similitude ever.

Deuteronomy 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Where else is this verse?

Deuteronomy 4:32-34  For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?  (33)  Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?  (34)  Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

Something to ask yourself. Good Question. There’s a 3 point message here I’m sure. Let’s try:

  1. Has there been or heard any such thing?
  2. Did ever people hear the vocie of God?
  3. Hath God taken a nation from the midst of another nation

Think on these things.

Deuteronomy 4:41-43  Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;  (42)  That the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:  (43)  Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

Why does he bring these three up and not the other three? Or why is this so important right now at this time in the text?

Deuteronomy 4:46-47  On this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt:  (47)  And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising;

There they are again: Sihon and Og.

Deuteronomy 4:49  And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

There has got to be a message about Pisgah.

Chapter 5

Deuteronomy 5:1  And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

There’s got to be a message in this verse too.

The statutes and judgments of God, this we must do.

Deuteronomy 5:2-6  The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.  (3)  The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.  (4)  The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire,  (5)  (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,  (6)  I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Moses is doing Deut 4:9,10. God said to not forget what they’ve seen, but teach them to your sons and your son’s sons.  And specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb. That’s what Moses is doing in this. Face to face on the mount, out of the fire.

Deuteronomy 5:7-21  Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

The ten commandments were given specially on that day. That’s why we still hang them up today. Praise God.

Deuteronomy 5:24  And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.

Alot of good stuff in here.