Deuteronomy 1:19-46 comments: Moses continues to recount the wilderness wanderings and failures

 

Deuteronomy 1:19 ¶  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 Kadeshbarnea. 20  And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us. 21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged. 22  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. 23  And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe: 24  And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out. 25  And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us. 26  Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God: 27  And ye 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. 28  Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, 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 Anakims there. 29  Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30  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; 31  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 ye went, until ye came into this place. 32  Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God, 33  Who went in the way before you, to search you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to shew you by what way ye should go, and in a cloud by day. 34  And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and sware, saying, 35  Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see that good land, which I sware to give unto your fathers, 36  Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 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. 37  Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither. 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. 39  Moreover your little ones, which ye 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. 40  But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea. 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, 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. 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. 45  And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD would not hearken to your voice, nor give ear unto you. 46  So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

 

Let’s review what happened from Numbers 13 and my comments on that after reading this passage.

“Numbers 13:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 2  Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3  And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel. 4  And these were their names: of the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur. 5  Of the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori. 6  Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 7  Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph. 8  Of the tribe of Ephraim, Oshea the son of Nun. 9  Of the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu. 10  Of the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi. 11  Of the tribe of Joseph, namely, of the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi. 12  Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli. 13  Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. 14  Of the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi. 15  Of the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi. 16  These are the names of the men which Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua. 17  And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Get you up this way southward, and go up into the mountain: 18  And see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many; 19  And what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad; and what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents, or in strong holds; 20  And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether there be wood therein, or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the firstripe grapes.

 

Oshea is Jehoshua, which is a variant spelling of Joshua, both meaning “Jehovah is salvation” according to Strong. Jesus is the Greek version of that Hebrew name. This creates a strong prophetic link between Jesus and Joshua.

 

At the peak of Egypt’s power, in the general time frame of 1100 to 1600BC and keep in mind that dating ancient history is a dicey proposition at best as scholars try to connect events in one civilization with other civilizations with great uncertainty, Canaan was a tributary of this great superpower. God has Moses scout out the cities of Canaan so that the Hebrews can determine their size and strength, checking out how fruitful the land might be. They need to see with their eyes the value of the land they are being given and understand what they are up against even though God, as you remember from Exodus, 23, has promised to drive the inhabitants out gradually based on the Hebrew’s obedience.

 

Numbers 13:21 ¶  So they went up, and searched the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehob, as men come to Hamath. 22  And they ascended by the south, and came unto Hebron; where Ahiman, Sheshai, and Talmai, the children of Anak, were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt.) 23  And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and they brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs. 24  The place was called the brook Eshcol, because of the cluster of grapes which the children of Israel cut down from thence. 25  And they returned from searching of the land after forty days.

 

Numbers 13:26 ¶  And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27  And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30  And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31  But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32  And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33  And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

 

An evil report is a report that is negative, has some bad things to say about a subject. We first saw mention of it in the story of Joseph.

 

Genesis 37:2  These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren; and the lad was with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report.

 

Another thing of note is that these scouts or spies saw giants. Remember what was said in the first part of Genesis.

 

Genesis 6:4  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

 

Keep in mind that since Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was perfect in his generations it is possible there was no genetic taint of the fallen sons of God and human women so this genetic abnormality that produced giants would come through his wife to his sons. I want to repeat what I said in my comments on Genesis 6:4.

The resultant offspring of these sons of God and human women were giants, famous as heroes in myth and legend. The mythologies of the world have brought us stories of these great men of renown with various names and in various forms. The phrase and also after that shows that this was an ongoing problem even after the Flood. I will not go into the many websites about and books written on findings of giant remains in graves and tombs as it is difficult to distinguish fact from fancy and outright fraud. Sticking with the Bible account, though, we have many references that would render some of the modern stories about archaeological finds understandable and believable. Here are a few examples of the many references to giants with the measurement given so that we see these were not just National Basketball Association (NBA) style large men.

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. [that is between

13 ½ to 18 feet long depending on the actual length of a cubit]

1Samuel 17:4  And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. [Goliath was between around 9 feet plus and 12 feet tall]

Other references to show that there were places where such giants were common are;

Numbers 13:33  And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Deuteronomy 2:10  The Emims dwelt therein in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; 11  Which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites call them Emims.

Deuteronomy 3:13  And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.

Joshua 15:8  And the border went up by the valley of the son of Hinnom unto the south side of the Jebusite; the same is Jerusalem: and the border went up to the top of the mountain that lieth before the valley of Hinnom westward, which is at the end of the valley of the giants northward:”

The conditions in Canaan at this point in time are vastly different than they were during the famine time of Joseph’s rule in Egypt. It was clearly going through a time of great agricultural abundance and plenty, ripe for the picking.

Ancient Canaan was at a strategic point between Europe, Asia, and Africa and while under Egyptian control up until the loss of the Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, they would have been militarily strong contending before and after that against each other and other conquerors as we saw in Genesis 14. These were walled towns, mini kingdoms, with a history of warfare. Caleb recommended an immediate assault to overwhelm the Canaanites, probably not united at this point with their master Egypt not on the scene still harboring their petty jealousies and conflicts between each other. Now was the time.

Numbers, chapter 14

 

Numbers 14:1 ¶  And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night. 2  And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3  And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt? 4  And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.

 

Here is mass hysteria and a lack of faith. Although we can see examples of it in our lives this seems crazy after the supernatural deliverance at the Red Sea the Hebrews saw. But, each of us has been delivered from some potentially catastrophic thing only to cry out again for God’s deliverance and wish we had done something different often showing a complete lack of faith in God’s providential hand and in His mercy. God brought you to the place you are and you wish you had never left the place where you were and yet God has a plan for your life and you are where He wants you to be right now and will see His will bear out in your life.

 

Notice previous examples of the Hebrew’s whining about “good ole’ Egypt.”

 

Exodus 16:3  And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

 

Going back to Deuteronomy 1:37 remember that God was angry with Moses. Moses will refer this again in chapters 3, 4, & 34 as it is the great disappointment of Moses’ earthly life. Here is what I said previously. The desert of Zin and Kadesh are different locations than the wilderness of Sin and Rephidim mentioned in Exodus 17 although both are called Meribah because of the griping of the Israelites.

“Numbers 20:1 ¶  Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2  And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3  And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4  And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5  And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. 6  And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and they fell upon their faces: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto them. 7  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 8  Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 9  And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. 13  This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

 

Sufficient water for a large number of people was always going to be a problem. But, God would and did provide for them. Still, Moses and Aaron were told to speak to the rock in this passage but they elected to do something more dramatic and strike the rock. Paul tells us that that Rock was Christ. Perhaps this is a metaphor or perhaps God allowed Himself to be bruised for the transgressions of the Hebrews as a type of His sacrifice for all mankind to come.

 

1Corinthians 10:1 ¶  Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2  And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3  And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

 

Let’s recall another incident where the rock was to be struck and not merely spoken to.

 

Exodus 17:1 ¶  And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the LORD, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink. 2  Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the LORD? 3  And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? 4  And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me. 5  And the LORD said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go. 6  Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7  And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Is the LORD among us, or not?

Psalm 78:15  He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. 16  He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers…20  Behold, he smote the rock, that the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed; can he give bread also? can he provide flesh for his people?

Psalm 105:41  He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.

By the way, the wilderness or desert of Zin was along by the border of Edom.

Numbers 34:3  Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward:

The wilderness of Sin was between Elim and Sinai.

Exodus 16:1  And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

The argument is also made that both are the same location which is a contradiction of what the Bible clearly says in the list of wanderings in Numbers 33:12 and 36.”

Back to Deuteronomy, in chapter 3 Moses will say;

Deuteronomy 3:24  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.

 

While in chapter 4 Moses noted;

Deuteronomy 4:21  Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I

should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22  But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land.

 

And in chapter 34 it was recorded, probably by Joshua;

Deuteronomy 34:1 ¶  And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, 2  And all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, 3  And the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto Zoar. 4  And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.

    5 ¶  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6  And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. 7  And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. 8  And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days: so the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

 

In Deuteronomy 1:38 Moses noted that he was given permission to impart his authority to Joshua, to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land.

“Numbers 27: 15 ¶  And Moses spake unto the LORD, saying, 16  Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17  Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregation of the LORD be not as sheep which have no shepherd. 18  And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19  And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20  And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient.  21  And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. 22  And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: 23  And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

 

A spirit, lowercase s, is the mind, the heart, the talents, the animating part of who we are, that which allows us to act in the world. The God of the Bible is the God of the spirits of all flesh as it says in Numbers 16. This spirit, it is suggested, goes back to God at death and is eternal according to Solomon’s great question.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:21  Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

 

As per Moses’ request God now ordains Joshua to lead the children of Israel after Moses’ demise.

 

Laying hands on someone to impart authority or a task was also practiced in the early church. Paul noted that Timothy was to build up the gift he had in him by staying on track, not neglecting it, a gift that was imparted to him by the laying on of hands by the presbytery, the body of elders.

 

1Timothy 4: 13 Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 14  Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. 15  Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. 16  Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”

 

Back to Deuteronomy, verse 39 says  Moreover your little ones, which ye 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.

Notice another comment made that implies the innocence and unaccountability of children.

Jonah 4:11  And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

God is merciful to children who do not know right from wrong. This gives the lie to the traditional big church view in history that only children of believers will go to heaven, creating fictional places where the souls of dead babies, the aborted, and miscarriages go like Limbo, a shadowy borderland between life on this earth and the presence of God.

Then the defeat in a scene that reinforces to us that you cannot succeed without the Lord God’s blessing in any endeavor you pursue.

Numbers 14:36 ¶  And the men, which Moses sent to search the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up a slander upon the land, 37  Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land, died by the plague before the LORD. 38  But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of the men that went to search the land, lived still. 39  And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel: and the people mourned greatly. 40  And they rose up early in the morning, and gat them up into the top of the mountain, saying, Lo, we be here, and will go up unto the place which the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned. 41  And Moses said, Wherefore now do ye transgress the commandment of the LORD? but it shall not prosper. 42  Go not up, for the LORD is not among you; that ye be not smitten before your enemies. 43  For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and ye shall fall by the sword: because ye are turned away from the LORD, therefore the LORD will not be with you. 44  But they presumed to go up unto the hill top: nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out of the camp. 45  Then the Amalekites came down, and the Canaanites which dwelt in that hill, and smote them, and discomfited them, even unto Hormah.

 

Rather than destroy the entire race of people God brought out of Egypt his plague of pestilence as mentioned in verse Numbers 14:37 is more limited in scope and includes all of the scouts who tried to discourage the people. Only Caleb and Joshua lived.  The people mourned and declared that they were ready to do God’s bidding but Moses told them that God would not be with them.

 

Still the Hebrews tried to go against the Amalekites and the Canaanites but God did not go with them. They got beaten pretty badly and were driven backwards.

 

Numbers 13:29  The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan.”

Deuteronomy 1:9-18 comments: Moses reflects on delegating authority

 

Deuteronomy 1:9 ¶  And I spake unto you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10  The LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude. 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!) 12  How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13  Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you. 14  And ye answered me, and said, The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do. 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. 16  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. 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. 18  And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do.

 

The stars of heaven equivalence is a hyperbole, a comparison meaning there is an awful lot of Hebrews. Moses prays that they are made a thousand times more in number.

 

For verse 9, this was a tremendous responsibility for Moses. Note also in verse 12 how using context we can see that a cumbrance is a burden and a strife.

 

Exodus 18:18  Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.

 

Numbers 11:11  And Moses said unto the LORD, Wherefore hast thou afflicted thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in thy sight, that thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?

 

Moses delegated authority to leaders among the tribes. In Exodus 18 his father in law recommended he delegate authority.

 

Exodus 18:13 ¶  And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening. 14  And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even? 15  And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God: 16  When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws. 17  And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good. 18  Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone. 19  Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God: 20  And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do. 21  Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens: 22  And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee. 23  If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace. 24  So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said. 25  And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 26  And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

 

God confirmed that Moses delegating authority was truly a good idea.

Numbers 11:16 ¶  And the LORD said unto Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. 17  And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone.

 

Here in Deuteronomy we get more information about his charge to the elders of Israel regarding decision making and judgment, which has been confirmed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers already.

 

Included in this are the instructions to judge righteously and impartially.  See Exodus 23:1-9 and Leviticus 19:11-18. Next are my comments on both of those passages which will include some things that aren’t necessarily relevant to the passage here in Deuteronomy.

 

“Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. 2  Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment: 3  Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause. 4  If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. 5  If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. 6  Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. 7  Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked. 8  And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. 9  Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

The context of this entire passage is about not mistreating the poor person or the foreigner, both politically powerless entities. Here begins with a warning not to bear false witness as stated in the list of ten earlier. Another admonition against following wicked and evil people follows. The book of Proverbs gives warnings against following the sinful ways of others. To wrest judgment is to pervert judgment, a corrupt thing to do. Here, in context it is referring to abusing the poor and backing the powerful in a way that perverts judgment.

James 2:6  But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

Verse 3 is difficult because of the archaic use of the word countenance as a verb. It does not necessarily mean, ‘to favor,’ as some commentators insist, stating that you should not support a poor man just because he was poor. In Baret’s 1574 dictionary, referenced earlier, you can find one meaning as to deny, refuse, or forbid. Other dictionaries at the same general time frame, and you can verify this by accessing the early modern English website previously mentioned, also suggest the possibility of the false pretense of justice by putting a good face on it but the reality not being so. So here it is forbidden to refuse a poor man equitable judgment and put a false, hypocritical honest face on it. This is an archaic meaning of the verb but one that is readily accessible to anyone interested. This meaning fits well in the context here and in the context of other Biblical admonitions against abusing the poor. It is not the proverbial ‘rocket science.’ Just look for the meaning of a difficult word used rarely in a particular form in the Bible around the time that this Bible was translated. The information is there. Do you really want to know what the Bible says?

Verse 4 mandates kindness, as taking it on oneself to return another’s straying beast back to him. Verse 5 requires one to render assistance to a beast struggling with a load he is having a hard time supporting even if the owner of the beast is someone they know doesn’t like them and they probably don’t like. This calls for compassion for an animal regardless who owns it.

Verse 6 reinforces verse 3 and 7 verse 1. Clearly, the context of these judgments is a fair and equal treatment regardless of someone’s social status and an attitude of mercy and compassion regardless of your difficult relationship with others. Verse 8 denies bribery or oppressing the politically powerless or weak.

These are important principles that are often not followed. It may be helpful to offer examples that are easy to understand. If you do not get along with someone or even have a feud going and their dog escapes from their yard you would return the dog regardless of your feud as an act of righteousness. Although we use mechanical ‘beasts’ of burden now in that time if a Hebrew were to see another man’s donkey struggling under a burden he would be compelled to ease the burden of the poor animal. The fact that these are listed under the Law given to Moses for the Hebrews shows us that matters of personal responsibility were coded into the civil regulations. You could be held responsible for not being a good neighbor even to a neighbor you didn’t like.

Bribery was forbidden.

Deuteronomy 16:19  Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.

Proverbs 17:23 ¶  A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

Our government is corrupt today because of lobbyists for even good causes who put money, desirable vacations, and even luxurious homes in front of our lawmakers to pervert judgment.

There is a tie-in here with doing right regardless of another’s social status and following the law regardless of your relationship with another person. There is an absolute standard here that rises above your petty selfishness. There is compassion for the weak that goes beyond your hatred or contempt. The righteous man does right regardless of the enticement to pervert judgment or ignore the suffering of another. From the point of view of God another person’s social status or your relationship with them should not be affected by your doing what is right in obedience to God and not doing what is wrong.

Leviticus 19:11 ¶  Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another. 12  And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD. 13  Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. 14  Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD. 15  Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour. 16  Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD. 17  Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. 18  Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.

 

In the Hebrew’s personal and business relations with each other there are important statements said again.

Exodus 20:15  Thou shalt not steal.

 

Verse 11 is more specific, though, in context talking about stealing in the sense of dealing falsely and defrauding each other. I imagine thinking of a school offering a worthless degree and the government forking over money to make a naïve student indebted to a bank today. Think of buying gasoline that is diluted or prescription meds that are nothing but ground up drywall dust or some other substance. We are robbed and lied to about it, unlike the honest thug who sticks a gun in your face and demands your money as there is no question about what that’s about.

God calls the Hebrews to honest weights and measures and to not being clever with each other in cheating each other out of something. This is one of the historical stereotypes of the Jew, as a conniver, Jacob-like, always trying to be clever and sneaky, cheating some Gentile, what Jews call a goy, out of something treating each other and non-Jews like gullible marks fit only for a confidence game.

Verse 12 echoes a previous warning.

 

Exodus 20:7  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

 

Using God’s name as a swear word or declaration or even one of the dumbed down versions like ‘gosh’ for God or ‘gee whiz’ for Jesus Christ should be carefully considered.

Verse 13 is interesting as there are conservative Christian business owners and employers who would follow the Law given to the Hebrews as their own personal standard in certain situations but have no problem in defrauding their employees, as per the Law, by not paying them at the end of each day for their work. We tend to pick and choose which of these standards we will claim as our own. My point is not that we should expect to be paid at the end of each day as that would be so difficult in this modern age as to be too great a burden. Most of us don’t even expect it. My point is simply that you should be careful when picking and choosing which standard of a Law that does not justify you as a Christian that you choose to follow as a sign of your piety and righteousness.

Verse 14 forbids verbal abuse or discriminatory behavior toward the handicapped. Verse 15 demands equality under the Law. A poor person’s estate could be considered no more than a rich person’s position in regard to a legal judgment. The notion that justice should be blind comes to mind.

Verse 16 condemns a talebearer, one that slanders his brother or sister. This is reinforced elsewhere with a very lethal intent.

Exodus 23:1 ¶  Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.

 

Psalm 15:3  He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.

 

Ezekiel 22:9a  In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood…

 

Verse 17 continues this thought commanding not even to hate your brother, your neighbor, as the two are linked in the context, in your heart. In verse 18 we find one of what Jesus calls the two greatest commandment of the Law and around which the Law is wrapped containing the spirit of the Law given by God to Moses for the Hebrews. The first is found in;

Deuteronomy 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

 

Then, as Jesus restates them as the Holy Spirit gave wisdom to the gospel writers. Don’t make the mistake of reading the Bible like you would the owner’s manual to your lawn mower. It is not written like that, nor is most of it given by word-for-word dictation. As I’ve noted previously the Bible says that the Holy Spirit gave the writers wisdom and understanding. So, there will be some variance in accounts because God wants us to have all of the words. Put them together in the following verses to get the complete picture.

Matthew 22:35  Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38  This is the first and great commandment. 39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

Mark 12:28 ¶  And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29  And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30  And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31  And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32  And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he: 33  And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. 34  And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst ask him any question.

 

Luke 10:25 ¶  And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26  He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27  And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28  And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.”

Deuteronomy 1:1-8 comments: Moses reviews the instructions the Israelites were given and the history of their wanderings

 

The Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomy is a second giving of the Law from God to Moses to the children of Israel. Deuteronomy literally means in Greek “second law.” I will treat this a little different from Leviticus and Numbers as I try to harmonize the recounting of God’s Law to the Hebrews. Most of this book are sermons from Moses to the Israelites.

 

Deuteronomy, chapter 1

Deuteronomy 1:1 ¶  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; 4  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 Edrei: 5  On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6  The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: 7  Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. 8  Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

 

Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, next to the Red Sea according to most Bible maps. Over against typically means next to or across from.

 

Genesis 21:21  And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.

 

Notice this from Numbers about the movement of the Israelities.

 

Numbers 10:12  And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran.

 

David will meet Nabal and Abigail in the wilderness of Paran in 1Samuel 25.

 

Tophel is mentioned only here. Laban is elsewhere referring to Jacob’s uncle but here it refers to a wilderness encampment. Hazeroth is a place where the Israelites encamped and Dizahab, meaning according to Strong’s ‘a place of gold,’ is now a resort called Dehab according to some commentators.

 

Now, it says that these are eleven days march from Horeb by way of Mount Seir and Kadeshbarnea.

 

Mount Seir was Esau’s place in the country of Edom.

 

Genesis 32:3  And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

 

Exodus 3:1 ¶  Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.

 

Moses led the priest of Midian’s flock to a remote part of the wilderness, the backside of the desert. The mountain of God, even to Horeb shows that by connecting with the word even that Horeb is the mountain of God.

1Kings 19:8  And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.

Sinai was the name of the area.

Exodus 19:1  In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. 2  For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount.

So, Sinai and Horeb will be used interchangeably for the name of this mountain.

1Kings 8:9  There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 31:18  And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God…32:4  And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

Psalm 106:19  They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image.

Malachi 4:4 ¶  Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

You can take the traditional locations that the tourism industry and huge church organizations and their government allies have given these places or just accept that place names can change, desert locations can disappear, and sometimes things are named with an agenda with over two thousand year of history clouding the issue. These places are in the Sinai Peninsula outside of the land promised to the Israelites, a land sick and festering with religious prostitution, child sacrifice, bestiality, and all manner of perversion under the guise of worshipping the supernatural.

It has been forty years since they began their travels and here Moses begins a sermon of great importance and gravity.

Sihon, king of the Amorites, and his fate are referred to in Numbers 21.

Numbers 21:21 ¶  And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, 22  Let me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders. 23  And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to Jahaz, and fought against Israel. 24  And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. 25  And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the villages thereof. 26  For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. 27  Wherefore they that speak in proverbs say, Come into Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and prepared: 28  For there is a fire gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon: it hath consumed Ar of Moab, and the lords of the high places of Arnon. 29  Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. 30  We have shot at them; Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid them waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba. 31  Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. 32  And Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there.

 

Og, king of Bashan, and his fate ….

 

Numbers 21:33  And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the

king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle at Edrei. 34  And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 35  So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.