See note Exo. 19:11².

I.e., the plain that runs from north of the Dead Sea south to the Gulf of Aqaba.

In Deuteronomy Moses as the spokesman of God was like an aged, loving father speaking to his children with much love and concern. Moses spoke for God for forty years, from the age of eighty (Exo. 7:7) to the age of one hundred twenty (Deut. 34:7). He was a person not only soaked and saturated with the thought of God but also constituted with the speaking God Himself. Hence, the word that proceeded out of his mouth was the word of God. See note Deut. 8:3¹ and note Deut. 8:7¹, and note Deut. 30:12^1a.

Deuteronomy is a concluding word of the law and gives an all-inclusive conclusion to the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, which were written by Moses. Deuteronomy means second law and thus signifies a respeaking, a repeated speaking, of the divine law. The law was given through Moses the first time when he was eighty (Exo. 7:7). Forty years later, after the first generation, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, had died out, the law was spoken again to the children of Israel, this time to the second generation, the generation that was ready to enter into the good land and possess it. Most of that generation had not been present to hear the giving of the Ten Commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances at Mount Sinai. Therefore, God burdened Moses to respeak, to rehearse, the law. This respeaking was a 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.

In this book, as in the entire Bible, God is manifested, man is exposed, and Christ is unveiled. This book speaks of God as a God of love, righteousness, faithfulness, and blessing that man may know God’s heart and God’s government and may love God, trust in God, fear God, subject himself to God’s ruling, mind the tender feelings of God, and live in the presence of God that he may be qualified to inherit the promised land. Furthermore, it exposes man, showing that in himself man is a failure, absolutely unable to fulfill the requirements of the holy, righteous, and faithful God, so that man may know his real condition and have no confidence in himself but put his trust in God, the One who is faithful (Deut. 7:9). Finally, this book unveils Christ in three aspects:
1) as the unique Prophet of God, as the divine oracle (Deut. 18:15-19);
2) as the all-inclusive good land, the goal, the aim, prepared for us by God (Deut. 8:7-10; Col. 1:12; Phil. 3:7-15);
3) as the word of God (Deut. 8:3; 30:11-14; John 1:1; 1 John 1:1) that we may receive Him as our life and our life supply and thus have the strength and ability to reach Him as the God-appointed goal.
See note Deut. 8:3¹ and note Deut. 8:7¹, and note Deut. 30:12^1a.

For the failure of Israel at Kadesh-barnea, see notes in Num. 13, Num. 14.

Or, administer righteousness as judges.

I.e., the dry southern desert of Canaan.

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; on the other hand, it points out man’s failure that man may know himself, condemn the flesh, and learn how to reject the self and the flesh. 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 no longer trust in himself but will trust in God, the faithful One.

See note Num. 21:1². The slaying of these two kings was near the end of the forty years (v. 3) of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. It also opened the gate into the promised land.

Lit., it.