In this message we will give an introductory word to the life-study of Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy is the concluding book of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. These five books were written by Moses.
The book of Deuteronomy is a book primarily of plain words. This means that, generally speaking, it is not a book of types, figures, and shadows, and neither is it deep in the matter of prophecies. Nearly all the chapters of this book consist of plain words.
We may think that plain words are easier to understand than types and figures. Actually, the plain words in the Bible are more difficult to understand than the pictures shown in the types and figures.
What does the word Deuteronomy mean? Literally, Deuteronomy means "second law" and thus signifies a respeaking, a repeated speaking, a speaking again. The book of Deuteronomy is a respeaking, not of ordinary words, but of the divine law.
The law was given through Moses the first time when he was eighty. Forty years later, after the first generation, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, had died out, the law was again related to the children of Israel. At that time, Moses was facing those of the younger generation, most of whom had not been present to hear the giving of the Ten Commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances. Therefore, God burdened Moses to relate the law again, to rehearse it, to respeak it. This repeating of the law was surely meaningful and significant.
We should not think that only Deuteronomy, the fifth book of the Bible, is a deuteronomy, a respeaking. Actually, the entire Bible is a deuteronomy. We should therefore regard the whole Bible of sixty-six books as a deuteronomy. The writing of the Bible was completed nineteen hundred years ago, but when we read the Bible today, we experience a respeaking. The word in the Bible has already been spoken, but it is respoken to us day by day. This means that every day we may have a deuteronomy. For example, the book of Romans was written nearly two thousand years ago, but when we read Romans today, the word in this epistle is spoken to us again. This means that in our reading of Romans we have a deuteronomy.
To say that we may have a respeaking of the Bible does not mean that anything can be added to the Bible. The claim of Joseph Smith to have had a revelation in addition to what is in the Bible is nonsensical and heretical. Revelation 22:18 and 19 indicate that the entire revelation of God has been completed and that no one should add anything or take away anything. Therefore, we should not think that we can receive a new revelation in addition to what is recorded in the sixty-six books of the Bible. What we can have today is a deuteronomy, a respeaking of the word in the Scriptures. The word has already been spoken, but it can now be respoken to us; that is, it can become to us a deuteronomy.
The book of Deuteronomy is a conclusion to the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Apart from Deuteronomy, these four books would not have a conclusion. Do you think Moses' writing could have concluded with Genesis? Genesis ends with a man in a coffin in Egypt. Surely the divine revelation could not conclude in such a way. For a proper conclusion, the book of Deuteronomy is needed. Deuteronomy is an all-inclusive conclusion of the four preceding books, for Deuteronomy is a totality of the thought of these books. Therefore, if we would understand the thought of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, we need to come to Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy is not only a conclusion of the Pentateuch; it is also a concluding word of the law.
What is the law in its nature? The law is God's breathing. I do not say that the law is God's breath, but I do say that it is God's breathing. When God was giving the law, He was breathing out the law. This was the reason Paul said, "All Scripture is God-breathed" (2 Tim. 3:16a). Here Paul does not say merely that all Scripture is inspired by God — he says that all Scripture is God-breathed. The law, therefore, is God's breathing.
In Deuteronomy 8:3 Moses, speaking for God, said that man lives not by bread alone but by "everything proceeding from Jehovah's mouth." Notice that this verse does not speak of every word but of everything. The words written in the Pentateuch, of which Deuteronomy is the conclusion, are things which have proceeded out of the mouth of God. These things are God's breathing. While Moses was with God on Mount Sinai, many things were breathed out by God. The Ten Commandments, for example, are items of the basic law. Nevertheless, even the Ten Commandments are God's breathing. If we read these commandments with an open heart and with a seeking and exercised spirit, we will sense that the commandments are not merely legalities but also something living, something full of life to supply us and full of light to enlighten us.
The psalmists, who appraised the law very highly, had this kind of experience in relation to the law. Thus the writer of Psalm 119 could say, "How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth" (v. 103). For the psalmist, whatever came out of God's mouth was not only something legal but something sweet to his taste.
Because all Scripture is God-breathed, even verses such as Genesis 3:1 and Revelation 20:2 and 3 can supply, nourish, strengthen, and enlighten us. Genesis 3:1 says that the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field, and Revelation 20:2 and 3 speak of the devil's being bound and cast into the abyss. These verses are God's breathing, and if we pray-read them, we will be nourished by them. From this we see that we can be nourished and enlightened by any verse in the Bible, including the genealogy in Matthew 1. The point we would emphasize here is that Deuteronomy, the concluding word of the law, considers the law as the living word of God, as the breathing of God.
The word is Christ as the word of God for man to receive as his life (Deut. 30:14; John 1:1; Rom. 10:8-9). In Deuteronomy 30:11 Moses says that the commandment "is not too difficult for you, nor is it distant." The Hebrew word translated "difficult" can also be rendered "extraordinary" or "wonderful." In verses 12 and 13 Moses goes on to say, "It is not in heaven that you should say, Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it? Nor is it across the sea that you should say, Who will go across the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it?" Then in verse 14 Moses says, "The word is very near to you, even in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it." This word is quoted and interpreted by Paul in Romans 10. In verses 6 and 7 Paul says, "The righteousness which is out of faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, Who will ascend into heaven? That is, to bring Christ down. Or, Who will descend into the abyss? That is, to bring Christ up from among the dead." Here in his interpretation Paul applies the word in Deuteronomy 30:11-13 to Christ, and he interprets the sea as the abyss. Then in verse 8 Paul continues, "But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: that is, the word of the faith which we preach." In verses 6 and 7 Paul speaks about Christ, but in verse 8 Christ becomes the word. The object of Paul's speaking here is Christ, and he eventually indicates that Christ is the word.
Paul's writing in Romans 10:6-8 further indicates that every word spoken in Deuteronomy is Christ, for Paul applies the breathing of God to Christ. Christ is the Word who has come out from God. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us" (John 1:1, 14). This Word who was in the beginning, who was with God, who was God, and who became flesh is Christ. As the Word, Christ Himself is the word rehearsed in the book of Deuteronomy.
In Paul's interpretation of Deuteronomy 30, we see that the word is the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ. Because the incarnation of Christ has already taken place, there is no need for anyone to ascend into heaven to bring Christ down, and because the resurrection of Christ has already occurred, there is no need for anyone to descend into the abyss to bring Christ up from among the dead. Today Christ is the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected One, but where is He? According to Romans 10:8, Christ is in our mouth and in our heart.
The word in Romans 10:8 is a word for unbelievers, for those who are candidates to hear the gospel. Do you believe that Christ is in the heart and mouth of the unbelievers? This is what Paul is saying in his quotation and interpretation of Deuteronomy. Paul's word here is a deuteronomy, and in this deuteronomy Paul tells us that the living Christ as the word is in the heart and mouth of the one to whom we are preaching the gospel. At least at the time we are preaching the word of Christ to unbelievers, Christ is in their heart and mouth.
The revelation of the entire Bible is contained in the book of Deuteronomy. This means that everything of both the Old Testament and the New Testament is found in Deuteronomy. This is proved by the Lord's quotation of Deuteronomy in Matthew 4:4 and Paul's quotation of Deuteronomy in Romans 10.
The book of Deuteronomy is filled with the speaking of Moses to the second generation, the generation which was ready to enter into the good land and possess it. Concerned that they would repeat the failures of their fathers, Moses charged them concerning many matters, repeating certain things again and again. He especially spoke repeatedly concerning those matters which would preserve the people and qualify them to enter into the good land and to possess, inherit, and enjoy the land. Moses was like an elderly father speaking out of concern for his children. This is the reason that Moses' word in this book is repetitious and detailed. If we study the book of Deuteronomy carefully, especially the words of warning, we will see that Moses spoke in detail about both blessing and cursing. All the main points of the divine revelation are respoken in this book.
Moses was a figure, a representative, of the real Father of the children of Israel — God the Father in the heavens, who was very concerned about His people. Whatever proceeded out of the mouth of Moses was actually something that proceeded out of the heavenly Father. Through Moses the real Father was speaking to the people. For us today, the entire Bible is the Father's word spoken to us.
The word is not only Christ as the word of God for man to receive as his life; the word is also Christ as food to man for man to take as his nourishment (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; John 6:63b, 57b). Christ is first our life and then our life supply. For both our life and life supply, Christ is the word.
Matthew 4:4, a quotation of Deuteronomy 8:3, reveals that Christ as the word of God is our life supply. Everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God is Christ. Since this message is on Deuteronomy, we would emphasize the fact that the word in this book is Christ as our life and life supply. Let us come to this book to find Christ both as our life and as our life supply.
The general sketch of Deuteronomy is this: the renewed training given to the new generation of the children of Israel after their long wandering, to prepare them to enter into the good land promised by God and inherit it as their possession. The word training cannot be found in Deuteronomy, but in fact Moses was giving the people a renewed training. The first training had been given forty years earlier at Mount Sinai, and in the book of Deuteronomy this training was given again, this time to the new generation, who had been wandering in the wilderness. The purpose of this training was to prepare them to enter into the good land and inherit it.
During the forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel were carried by God. Moses speaks concerning this in 1:31: "In the wilderness, where you have seen that Jehovah your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place." Although their wandering was not pleasing to God, He carried them all the time until eventually He gained a people who were ready to enter into the good land, possess it, enjoy it, and build in it a temple, a house, for God.
The principle is the same with us today. Throughout the years, God has been carrying us. God carries us even when our daily living is not pleasing to Him; He does not cast us aside. He is carrying not only all the believers but also all the churches. The churches today are on the Lord's shoulder. He is carrying the churches for the purpose of accomplishing His economy. God cannot be defeated; His goal will be attained. As He is carrying us, He needs us to have a deuteronomy, a respeaking, again and again.
The central thought of Deuteronomy is that Christ is the Instructor and Leader of the people of God that they may be able to enter into the heavenly territory and participate in His riches.
We need to realize that every word in Deuteronomy is a life supply for us. The children of Israel were sustained by everything that proceeded out of the mouth of God. This actually means that they were sustained by Christ, for, as we have pointed out, whatever proceeds out of God's mouth is Christ. On the one hand, Christ is the good land; on the other hand, He is the food which sustains us on the way to the good land. He is the One who can make it into the land. God never intended that we make it in ourselves. The Lord is leading us into the good land by Christ, and He is sustaining us also by Christ, who is everything that proceeds out of the mouth of God. This means that Christ is sustaining us to enter into Himself. This is the revelation in the book of Deuteronomy, a book which speaks of Christ both as the good land and as the sustaining food.
As the Instructor and Leader of God's people, Christ enables them to enter into the heavenly territory and participate in His riches. This heavenly territory is Christ Himself, and the riches are the riches of Christ as the good land described in Deuteronomy 8:7-9: waterbrooks, springs, and fountains flowing forth in valleys and in mountains; wheat, barley, vines, figs, and pomegranates; oil and honey; iron and copper. The valleys and mountains signify the different kinds of environments in which we may experience Christ as the flowing Spirit. The good land is a land flowing with milk and honey, both of which are the produce of a combination of the animal life and the plant life. The iron and copper are for making weapons with which to fight the enemy. (For details on the riches of Christ as the good land, please read The All-inclusive Christ, a book composed of the messages given during the first conference in the United States, in 1962.) Christ is everything — the water, the food, the weapons, and the land.
The key words in Deuteronomy are loving God, obeying His commandments (His words), and receiving His blessing. These matters are repeated throughout the book of Deuteronomy. Moses tells us over and over again that if we love the Lord our God and obey His commandments, we will receive His blessing.
Deuteronomy has eight sections. The first section is a review of the past (1:1—4:43). A person who is repentant and who wants to have a new start will receive much benefit from reviewing the past. The second section is the rehearsal of the law (4:44—26:19). This is a long section occupying most of the book. The other sections are a warning (27:1—28:68), the enactment of the covenant (29:1—30:20), the final exhortations and charges (31:1-13, 24-29), the song of Moses (31:14-23, 30; 32:1-47), the blessing of Moses (33:1-29), and the death of Moses, and his successor (32:48-52; 34:1-12).
