Deuteronomy 29:1-15 God of His People

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These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that He had made with them at Horeb.

2  And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. 5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. 7 And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

10 “You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, 13 that He may establish you today as His people, and that He may be your God, as He promised you, and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. 14 It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.

Text Explained

These are the words of the covenant that the LORD commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant that He had made with them at Horeb. Remember Deuteronomy 5:22-27, where the Israelites were afraid to hear God speak, so Moses served as the intercessor. Once again we are reminded that the Lord was the One who was speaking through Moses.

2  And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, 3 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. This section begins with a call to remember that God had saved the Israelites out of slavery, and that He had single handedly laid low a world superpower by His own power. The adults listening to this would have been children and young teenagers when they witnessed all that God was doing. Yet if their parents had seen all that they had seen, why were they (the Israelites), 40 years later still waiting to enter the Promised Land? Why did they have to wander for so long? 4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear. Now as J. Vernon McGee asks & answers, “Does this mean that God will not permit them to comprehend, that God turns them off? No, it means they are already off.” (McGee, J. V. (1991). Thru the Bible commentary: The Law (Deuteronomy) (electronic ed., Vol. 9, p. 176). Thomas Nelson.) The people had hard hearts from the very beginning. We see this occur time and again as the Israelites push back against Moses and later as they worship the golden calf and still later when they complain and murmur over and over. Out of the abundance of their hearts they murmured, complained, and rebelled. Their actions had demonstrated that regardless of what God had done, they would not obey and so, 5 I (Moses) have led you forty years in the wilderness. Yet even amidst this judgment upon God’s people for the hardness of their hearts, God was merciful. Your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandals have not worn off your feet. 6 You have not eaten bread, and you have not drunk wine or strong drink, God had provided for each of their day to day needs. This is a truth that Jesus reiterated in Matthew 6:25–34 “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? (Let me worry myself into living longer) 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So Jesus was echoing the same truth that God was teaching the Israelites centuries earlier. God was teaching the Children of Israel of that He would supply their needs. He is able to and He will take care of them if they simply trust and obey. And for 40 years, they had lived by trusting in the Lord their God for their day to day needs. They had food each day, their shoes and clothes had just so happened to last for a 40 year wandering adventure and all of this was so that you may know that I am the LORD your God. But then the Lord through Moses continues. 7 And when you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out against us to battle, but we defeated them. 8 We took their land and gave it for an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. When you arrived here you were a rabble of former slaves, yet by the power of God, you defeated two established kings in battle and God began to fulfill His promise of giving you the Promised Land. And the conclusion of all of this: 9 Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. God had cared for them, and provided for them, and fought for them, so the right response to this was to trust in the Lord their God and demonstrate that trust by faithful obedience to the Lord. And then the text shifts to a a more formal Covenant Proposal/Offer.

10 “You are standing today, all of you, before the LORD your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, So the entirety of the Israelite congregation including those who were not born Israelites but were connected to Isreal. The assembly here is described with a very unusual fullness. As one scholar notes, “The covenant was made with all Israel as a collective, to be sure, but it was also made with each and every member of the body.” (Merrill, E. H. (1994). Deuteronomy (Vol. 4, p. 378). Broadman & Holman Publishers.) 12 so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the LORD your God, which the LORD your God is making with you today, 13 that He may establish you today as His people, and that He may be your God, as He promised you, and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. This covenant that the Israelites could accept or reject brought with it all the blessings and all the curses, yet to me verse 14 is a tremendously beautiful verse that echoes into the future with the new covenant. 14 It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, 15 but with whoever is standing here with us today before the LORD our God, and with whoever is not here with us today. This verse emphasizes the forward view of the Mosaic Covenant. It was not only for the current generation, but its benefits would extend to generations of the Lord’s people not yet born. A fascinating side note is that the cutters of wood and the drawers of water would, in the time of Joshua, become the Gibeonites who would also be able to be grafted in to the people of God if they too would turn to the Lord. In this, they who had been condemned to destruction were given the option of turning to the Lord. The grace of God.

Transition: Yet this Covenant is not for us. We are not commanded to go and conquer the Promised Land, nor are we given the Promises of Blessing and the Promises of the Curses. So what truths do we find in our text that are for us today.

Text Applied

The New Covenant is Offered: While the Old Covenant was for the Israelites, our Lord Jesus instituted The New Covenant. What is this New Covenant? To put it simply: “The New Covenant is the promise that God will forgive sin and restore fellowship with those whose hearts are turned toward Him. Jesus Christ is the mediator (go between) of the New Covenant, and His death on the cross is the basis of the promise (Luke 22:20).” (What is the New Covenant? | GotQuestions.org) In the New Covenant, it does not matter if you are rich or if you are poor, it does not matter your age or your gender, it does not matter if you are blue collar or white collar, it does not matter your nationality. The New Covenant is offered to all, and as the Lord, Jesus has made you the offer. He will be your God, you will be His. He offers forgiveness, peace, joy, and in His own words John 10:10 “... I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Look at the works of His hands, look at what He was done throughout history as you examine the pages of scripture. Look into the testimonies of His people who have faithfully lived. Look and make your choice. While forgiveness is freely offered, count the cost. To follow Jesus is to be willing to give up everything. This was the point Jesus was trying to get the rich young ruler to understand. Mark 10:17–22 “And as He/Jesus was setting out on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’ ” And he said to Him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Dear one, if you would follow Jesus it means that everyone and everything must come 2nd to Jesus. He must be the Ultimate. To take part in the New Covenant is to surrender all to Jesus. Now don’t think you have to clean yourself up first. No Jesus will do the cleaning, but you must be willing to give up anything He tells you to give up. Any sin and any weight and as Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” The New Covenant is offered freely and in it you will find forgiveness and grace and peace, but the New Covenant demands we submit to Christ in everything. Lest I am being unclear, the works of obedience do not save, they are a product of your salvation. I am simply trying to stress that if you enter this New Covenant, Christ will not allow you to remain the same. Salvation is not something we add to our life, it is something that takes over our lives. So, He has offered you a covenant, a that covenant is possible through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Repent/Believe/Trust in the Lord and you can be part of the New Covenant and this New Covenant will change you.

Remember What the Lord Has Done: For those of us who have already entered into the New Covenant, we need to remember who the Lord is and what the Lord has done. It is a balm to our hearts when we take time to go to think on who God is. Someone gave me this tip a while ago. Go through the Alphabet and list the different characteristics of your God. He is A) Almighty, B) Benevolent, C) Compassionate, D) Deliverer, E) Exalted, etc. Take time to think through or write out who your God is. Families, you can do this with your kids while you are driving as a road game. Then list some of the blessings He has given to you throughout your life. To those who are part of the New Covenant, we have much to rejoice about and we need to regularly take time to be in awe of our God and to be thankful for all that He has done.