Deuteronomy 1 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Deuteronomy 1

The Command to Leave Horeb

1:1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the LORD had given him in commandment to them, 4 after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

9 “At that time I said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, and set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “Then we set out from Horeb and went through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us. And we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. 21 See, the LORD your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the LORD our God is giving us.’

26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. 27 And you murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the LORD hated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, to give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, “The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God, 33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’ 37 Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered me, ‘We have sinned against the LORD. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the LORD our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the LORD said to me, ‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, for I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the LORD and presumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 Then the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you as bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as Hormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

Commentary

Deuteronomy means the second giving of the Law, since the generation to whom the Law was first given had now died. In Hebrew, the Book is simply "The Words". The book is largely didactic, rather than narrative. In the first three chapters, Moses records the journeying from Egypt to their arrival opposite Jericho.

v1: The people had arrived opposite Jericho; Num 33.48-49.

v2: It was possible to cross much of the desert in a mere 11 days. Yet Israel endured 40 years.

v3-5: The earlier generation had died out, in fulfilment of God's words. Moses took time to explain the commands of God. It was necessary that the people had a first hand knowledge of the commands of God.

In the same way, a true Christian has a first hand knowledge of Christ. Later, the effect of the lack of such knowledge led the nation into idolatry; see Judg 2.7, 10.

Moses does not encourage the new generation to look back to Egypt, but rather to look forward to the promised land. This was to be their motivation to obedience to God.

v6: "The Lord our God spoke to us", this was the wonderful privilege of the people of God.

v7-8: The land had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now the people were to enter and possess the land.

v9-18: Moses had set leaders over the people. It seems that the people readily accepted this delegated leadership (v14).

The judgment is God's (v17), and He expects the standards to be applied to be His standards. By implication, the leaders had to know what God expected of them. They had therefore to be both knowledgeable, and to be able to apply God's word.

v19: Having left Horeb, the people arrived in Kadesh.

v20: Kadesh was the 'doorway' into Canaan, the edge of the "hill country of the Amorites."

v21: At Kadesh, God encouraged the people to go up into Canaan. This was the same place from which the twelve spies had set out (Num 13.26).

v22-24: Moses spoke of the people requesting to send the spies; even though it was the previous generation; he is involving his hearers, such that they might own the decisions and understand the subsequent rebellion.

v25: Moses was selective in what he reported (compare Num 13.27). He did not want to leave Joshua, the new leader, with a rebellious people.

v26: In spite of Moses' words, and the testimony of the twelve spies, the people refused to go to Canaan.

v27: They murmured in their tents, thinking that God would not see.

v28: The people became discouraged through fear of man; Is not our God greater than any?

v29-31: Moses brought words of encouragement, reminding the people of God's faithfulness and power. Since God had brought them this far, could He not bring them into the promised land also?

v32: They lost out through unbelief; see Heb 3.19. Trust in God may lead us through hardship and trial, but it is always the best way. The Israelites were unwilling to pay the price of obedience; they paid a much greater price, of disobedience.

v33: The ever-present pillar of cloud and fire was a testimony of God's faithfulness; He had already proved Himself. And here was a constant reminder of His faithfulness.

v34-35: The Lord was angry at their unbelief. The people were therefore not allowed to enter the land.

v36: God gave Caleb permission to enter the land. He does not treat godly and wicked alike. The reason is clear, "he followed the Lord wholeheartedly."

v37: Even Moses lost his temper, through the constant grumbling of the people, and he too lost out on entry into Canaan.

v38: Joshua is also picked out. He would enter the land, and would lead the people.

v39: Compare 1 Cor 1.27-29; God chose the foolish things, the despised things, the children, to inherit the blessings of Canaan. These children had no knowledge of good and evil, yet they would enter the land.

v40: This command is placed at the end of Num 14. The people, having reached near to Canaan, now had to turn around, and suffer many years of wandering.

v41-45: Some of the Israelites decided to go towards Canaan, but without God's approval. They was routed, and returned to camp.

v46: They stayed at Kadesh, and wandered around in that region, for 38 years.