Before we consider the crucial points in the book of Deuteronomy, I would like to give a further word on Deut. 30:11-14.
Verse 11 says, "This commandment which I am commanding you today, it is not too difficult for you, nor is it distant." Notice that this verse speaks not of the word but of the commandment.
Verses 12 and 13 continue, "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?" The pronoun it in these verses refers to the commandment in verse 11. This commandment is the word which, as the breath, proceeds out of the mouth of God.
Verse 14 goes on to say, "But the word is very near to you, even in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it." This verse speaks not of the commandment but of the word.
If we read 30:11-14 without Paul's interpretation in Romans 10, we would not apply these verses to Christ as the Word, much less to Christ as the One who came down from the heavens in incarnation and who, after His death, came out of Hades in His resurrection. In order to have such an understanding of 30:11-14, we need to study Paul's quotation and interpretation of these verses in Romans 10:6-8.
Romans 10:6 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." This is Paul's interpretation of Deuteronomy 30:12. Seemingly, 30:12 does not speak of bringing Christ down. However, if we consider this verse carefully, we will see that it does refer to Christ. We have pointed out that the "it" in verse 12 refers to the commandment in verse 11. What is the commandment of God? The commandment of God is the word. The Bible as a whole reveals that the word is Christ (John 1:1). Christ is the unique word in the universe; He is the real word. The speaking of any other word is a lie. In Paul's understanding, to bring it (the word) down is to bring Christ down. According to his view of the deeper denotation of Deuteronomy 30:12, the "it" in this verse denotes the word, the word is the word of God, and the word of God is Christ. Hence, to bring the word down is to bring Christ down.
In Romans 10:7 Paul continues, "Or, Who will descend into the abyss? That is, to bring Christ up from among the dead." Whereas Deuteronomy 30:13 speaks of the sea, Paul in this verse speaks of the abyss. The sea is actually the mouth of the abyss. Revelation 9 indicates that Antichrist will come out of the abyss, and Revelation 13 tells us that Antichrist will come out of the sea. Surely Antichrist will not come from two different places. His coming out of the sea will be his coming out of the abyss. The sea, therefore, is the mouth of the abyss. Paul's point in Romans 10:7 is that in His resurrection Christ came up from the abyss, came up from among the dead. The words "from among the dead" indicate that to go to the abyss is to die. After Christ died on the cross, He went to the abyss, to the region of death and of the satanic power of darkness. This means that He went to Hades, from which He came forth in His resurrection.
Romans 10:6 and 7 reveal that Paul's study of the holy Word was deep and that in his study he touched the deeper denotation of Deuteronomy 30:11-14. In his interpretation, these verses refer to the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ.
In Romans 10:8 Paul says, "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." The word that is in our heart and mouth is Christ as the breath, as the life-giving Spirit, for in resurrection Christ became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b).
When we put together Deuteronomy 30:11-14 and Romans 10:6-8, we have a full picture concerning Christ. In this picture we see that Christ was incarnated, that He was crucified and buried, that He went to the abyss, that He arose from among the dead, and that in His resurrection He became the breath, the life-giving Spirit. Since Christ is now the breath, He, like the air, is everywhere. When we speak to unbelievers about Christ, we can tell them that Christ is in their mouth and in their heart.
We thank the Lord that, in His mercy, He has opened our eyes to understand Deuteronomy 30:11-14 in the way Paul did. Now we see that these verses show us the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Christ who has become the life- giving Spirit. Today He is the very breath breathed out by the speaking God. I am happy to tell people that Christ is God incarnated to be a man named Jesus, that He died on the cross for our redemption, that He was buried and that He descended into the abyss, that He was resurrected from Hades, and that in resurrection He became the life-giving Spirit as the divine breath. This is the Christ who is now the word of God for us to receive as our life. Furthermore, as the Lord's quotation of Deuteronomy 8:3 in Matthew 4:4 indicates, Christ is also our food. He is not only our life but also our life supply.
When we put together these verses from Deuteronomy with Matthew 4:4 and Romans 10:6-8 and follow the Lord Jesus and Paul in their way of understanding Deuteronomy, we will see that every word in the book of Deuteronomy is Christ. Christ is the repeated speaking of God; He is God's respeaking. The whole Bible is a deuteronomy, and the entire Bible is in the book of Deuteronomy.
Let us now go on to consider the nine crucial points in this book.
The first crucial point in Deuteronomy is that Moses as the spokesman of God was like an aged, loving father speaking to his children with much love and concern. This book contains God's word more than any other book of the Bible — the words of God spoken through this one spokesman.
Some may think that there is more of God's word in Job than in Deuteronomy. This view, however, is not correct. The book of Job does contain God's word, but it also contains the word of Job and his three friends, who spoke according to human opinion, logic, philosophy, and psychology. Eventually, the young man Elihu spoke what was on God's heart. In the book of Job God's word is not as abundant as in the book of Deuteronomy.
Every word spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy was God's word. Moses might have expressed something of his own feeling, but even this became the word of God. His speaking in Deuteronomy was like Paul's speaking in 1 Corinthians 7. In that chapter Paul said, "I have no commandment of the Lord, but I give my opinion as having received mercy of the Lord to be faithful" (v. 25). Later, after expressing his opinion, he said, "I think that I also have the Spirit of God" (v. 40). Eventually, because Paul was a man constituted with God, his opinion became a part of God's word as the divine revelation in the New Testament. In his speaking he was one with God; therefore, what he spoke was God's speaking. The principle is the same with Moses' speaking in Deuteronomy. Moses spoke for God for forty years, from the age of eighty to the age of one hundred twenty. He was a person not only soaked and saturated with the thought of God but also constituted with the speaking God Himself. So the word that proceeded out of his mouth was the word of God spoken through this one spokesman.
The book of Deuteronomy speaks about the love of God and the governmental administration of God. Moses was exercised in love and experienced in God's governmental administration.
Although we cannot find the expression governmental administration in Deuteronomy, if we read this book thoroughly, we will see that it is a book of God's government, even of His governmental administration. Moses often spoke explicitly about love, but the matter of God's governmental administration is implied. If we get into the depth of this book, we will realize that God's dealing with His people here is a kind of governmental administration.
Because God is wise, He does not spoil His children. He is a perfecting Father who loves His children and who deals with them governmentally. Hebrews 12:6 says, "Whom the Lord loves He disciplines." What is God's purpose in disciplining us? He disciplines us for the purpose of perfecting us.
This is exactly what God was doing with the children of Israel, and also with Moses, in the wilderness. Because God loved them, He did not let them get by with their mistakes. Even Moses was disciplined by God for his mistake in Numbers 20:1-13. Moses became angry with the rebellious people, and instead of speaking to the rock, as God had charged him to do, he smote the rock a second time. This offended God, and as a result Moses lost his right to enter into the good land. God allowed Moses to view the land from the peak of Pisgah, but He did not permit him to go in. That was an instance of God's governmental administration, of God's governmental dealing.
God is a loving God and also a disciplining God. He loves and He also disciplines us, for He has His governmental administration. Because Moses knew God's governmental administration and was experienced in it, he was qualified to do the respeaking recorded in Deuteronomy.
The children of Israel as the audience were also experienced in God's dealing with them. Both the spokesman and the audience were experienced; hence, this book begins with a review of the past.
Those who heard Moses' respeaking in Deuteronomy were the second generation, the new generation. No doubt they had heard from their fathers about God's dealing with the people in the previous forty years. Through what they heard, they learned very much. As a result, they became the right audience to receive Moses' speaking. Moses, who was experienced, was the right speaker, and those of the new generation, who also were experienced, were the right audience to hear and understand what Moses spoke to them.
This book is a speaking supplementary to the book of Numbers, concerning what kind of man one should be to inherit the promised land as the good land. He should be one who loves God, fears God, subjects himself to God's ruling, minds the bowels of God, and lives in the presence of God. The principle of the New Testament is the same: God's salvation is unconditional, whereas the enjoyment of the riches in Christ is conditional, depending on man's loving Christ solely. Hence, the teaching in Deuteronomy is exactly the same as that in the New Testament. The expressions used in the teaching are different, but the essence of the teaching is the same.
When we hear about the kind of persons we must be to inherit the good land, we may feel that we cannot make it. If this is our feeling, we need to be reminded that the book of Deuteronomy is a book full of the word which is Christ. As the word, Christ is the One who sustains us and makes us those who love God, fear God, subject ourselves to God's ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in God's presence. As long as we have a morning revival through the holy Word and have daily victory also through the Word, we will become those who are qualified to inherit the good land.
This book speaks of God as a God of love and righteousness. This is proved by God's past leading and His future dealing with the children of Israel in His love and government. The love of God administrates among His beloved according to their faithfulness. The principle is the same with us today.
As a God of love, He is all-embracing, but as a God of righteousness, He is very strict and narrow. In His love He is broad; in His righteousness He is narrow. In His right-eousness, He often says "No" when we want to do a certain thing.
Some saints, even in the Lord's recovery, are too free and do not fear God. Once we have touched God's dealing hand, we will fear Him. He deals with us righteously that we may be perfected to be righteous also. All those who intend to enter into the good land and to inherit, possess, and enjoy the good land must learn how to be righteous in every way in their daily living.
Because of the foregoing, it is required that God's people respond to God with their love in a way that fits in with God's governmental administration. The inheritors needed to match the Giver of the inheritance, so that He could be with them both in their living and in their fighting. This is not a requirement of the law but a condition requiring God's people to match what God is. God is sanctified, and we also must be sanctified. In order to match the Giver of the inheritance, we need to be holy as He is holy. If we do not match God, He may be with us in our living, but He will not be with us in our fighting.
With a review of the past, on the one hand, this book points out God's leading that man may know the heart and the hand of God, so that man may trust in God and fear God. God's heart is loving and His hand is righteous. On the other hand, this book points out man's failure that man may know himself, so that man may condemn himself, humble himself, and have no more trust in himself. The intention of this book is not to point out man's history but to point out man's past errors that man may be adjusted.
With a view of the future, this book expects that, on the one hand, man may know the love and government of God and that, on the other hand, man may know his real condition, so that he will not trust himself. Hence, the intention of the book of Deuteronomy is that we would know God and also know ourselves. We need to know God. In particular, we need to know that God is loving and that He is righteous in dealing with us. We also need to know that we ourselves are a failure. If we know this, we will no longer trust ourselves but put our trust in God, the One who is faithful.
Ultimately this book shows us that the love of God consummately works for His people that they may enjoy His full blessing according to His will and foreknowledge. In spite of our failure in loving God and fearing Him and in spite of our unfaithfulness, God will be successful. No matter what the situation of His people may be, God will be faithful to the end, and eventually He will accomplish His intention that we enjoy His full blessing.
In Deuteronomy Moses is strong in rebuking the people. However, at the end of this book, we have the song of Moses and his full blessing to every tribe. Eventually, God's chosen and redeemed people entered into the holy land, possessed it, lived in it, and enjoyed it. That was God's success, and the boast and glory belong to no one other than Him.
What is revealed in Deuteronomy is what is revealed in the Bible as a whole. The entire Bible shows us that God is loving, righteous, and faithful. The Bible also exposes how unfaithful we are; it shows us how defeated we have been in the past and how much failure we will have in the future. But in spite of all this unfaithfulness, defeat, and failure, God will still enable His chosen people to enter into the rich Christ to possess Him, enjoy Him, experience Him, and even to live Him.
