신명기 Chapter 1

Translation: ESV

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.

Key Message

Deuteronomy teaches that God's word must be freshly proclaimed across generations, and every generation must stand anew before God's covenant.

▸Deuteronomy is a collection of three farewell addresses that Moses delivered to the Israelites on the plains of Moab, on the eve of their entry into Canaan.

Deuteronomy is a collection of three farewell addresses that Moses delivered to the Israelites on the plains of Moab, on the eve of their entry into Canaan. 'Beyond the Jordan' refers to the east side as viewed from Canaan—the region of Moab—and this geographical setting indicates that Moses is delivering his testament-like address with the Promised Land in sight. The name Deuteronomy comes from the Greek Deuteronomion, meaning 'second law,' reflecting how the book re-proclaims the law given to the wilderness generation for the benefit of the new generation.

Related Verses

And Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the LORD showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan.
2

It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea.

Key Message

Obedience leads to a short journey; disobedience to long wandering. Faith and obedience to God determine the direction and pace of one's life.

▸From Horeb (Sinai) to Kadesh-barnea was only an eleven-day journey.

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,

Key Message

God's word does not change with time, and must be proclaimed anew to every generation.

▸The first day of the eleventh month in the fortieth year marks the close of Israel's long wilderness sojourn.

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.

Key Message

Past victories are the foundation for trusting God in the face of future challenges.

▸Just prior to this sermon, Israel had defeated Sihon, the Amorite king, and Og, king of Bashan.

5

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying,

Key Message

God's word must be freshly explained and applied for each new generation. This is the essence of faithful ministry and education.

▸The phrase 'undertook to explain' (Hebrew: be'er) defines the character of the entire book.

6

"The LORD our God said to us in Horeb, 'You have stayed long enough at this mountain.

Key Message

Faith is not staying in a place of safety but obeying God by moving forward when He commands.

▸Moses begins his historical retrospective by recalling the departure command from Horeb (Sinai).

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.

Key Message

God's promises are specific and vast. Faith means advancing with boldness equal to the size of those promises.

▸The extent of the land God promises is described in concrete geographical terms.

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.'

Key Message

God's promise has already been given; faith means receiving that promise and actually advancing to take hold of it.

▸The declaration 'See, I have set the land before you' presents the gift of the land as already accomplished.

9

"At that time I said to you, 'I am not able to bear you by myself.

Key Message

God's ministry is not to be borne alone but is a responsibility the whole community carries together.

▸Moses honestly confesses that the role of leader was too heavy for one person to bear alone.

10

The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous as the stars of heaven.

Key Message

God is faithful to fulfill what He has promised. Past fulfillments are the basis for trusting His future promises.

▸Israel's numerical growth is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that his descendants would be 'as numerous as the stars of heaven' (Gen.

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!

Key Message

A true leader does not seek personal gain but prays and hopes for the blessing God has promised to the community.

▸Moses, not content with present blessings, prays for greater ones.

12

How can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife?

Key Message

The community's heavy burden can be borne when shared, and this is the purpose for which God designed community.

▸Moses identifies three difficulties he faces as leader: the weight (the heavy burden), the burden (tasks too demanding to handle), and the strife (quarrels and disputes).

13

Choose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.'

Key Message

God's community functions by appointing leaders who are wise, understanding, and experienced to serve together.

▸Moses sets out three criteria for selecting leaders: wisdom (practical discernment rooted in the fear of God), understanding (the ability to grasp situations), and experience (demonstrated competence through life).

14

And you answered me, 'The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.'

Key Message

Community decisions become more complete when made not by unilateral command but through the consent and participation of those involved.

▸The record that the people agreed to Moses' proposal is significant.

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.

Key Message

God's community can be governed in health through effective organization and layered leadership.

▸The hierarchical organization of commanders of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens was a structure for efficiently governing some 600,000 fighting men.

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.

Key Message

Righteous judgment is a sacred mission that embodies God's own character within the community.

▸The core command given to judges is to judge righteously.

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.'

Key Message

All judgment and evaluation take place before God; therefore impartiality that does not bend to status or appearance is required.

▸The declaration 'the judgment is God's' clarifies that human judicial authority is delegated by God.

18

And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Key Message

God's word is a comprehensive guide encompassing every dimension of the community's life.

▸This verse concludes the instructions concerning organizational structure and judicial principles.

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.

Key Message

God accompanies the journey through great and terrifying wilderness. The path of obedience is never walked alone.

▸The journey to Kadesh-barnea began with obedience to God's command.

20

And I said to you, 'You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us.

Key Message

The fulfillment of the promise sometimes stands right before our eyes, but a failure of faith can prevent us from grasping it.

▸Moses recalls the proclamation he made when Israel arrived at Kadesh.

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.'

Key Message

Because God goes before us, fear and discouragement are unnecessary. Faith means holding to God's promise and advancing boldly.

▸'See, the LORD your God has set the land before you' presents the land as a completed gift, while 'Go up, take possession' calls for the action of actually receiving that gift.

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.'

Key Message

Trusting God and preparing wisely can go together, but trust must precede preparation.

▸The proposal to send spies came from the people.

23

The thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe.

Key Message

What determines outcomes is not the decision itself but the attitude of heart with which one carries it out.

▸Moses accepted the people's proposal and selected twelve spies, one 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.

Key Message

God's Promised Land is abundant, but to obtain it requires faith that overcomes fear.

▸The Valley of Eshcol was near Hebron, and it was there that the spies cut a cluster of grapes they carried back on a pole (Num.

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.'

Key Message

Looking at the same reality, those who see with the eyes of faith and those who see with the eyes of fear arrive at entirely different conclusions.

▸The spies reported that 'the land is good.

26

Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the LORD your God.

Key Message

Defying God's command is not a simple mistake but an act of rebellion that breaks the covenant relationship and carries serious consequences.

▸The word 'Yet' marks the tragic turning point in Deuteronomy 1.

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.

Key Message

Fear and unbelief cause God's love to be misread as hatred. Faith means trusting in God's goodness even in the midst of difficulty.

▸Israel's murmuring betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of God's character.

28

Where are we going up? Our brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we are; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'

Key Message

Words of fear have the power to discourage an entire community; words of faith breathe life into it.

▸'Where are we going up?' is a cry of despair.

29

Then I said to you, 'Do not be in dread or afraid of them.

Key Message

Faith that trusts in God is the source of power that can overcome every fear.

▸Moses commands twice over, 'Do not be in dread or afraid.

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,

Key Message

The belief that God goes before us and fights on our behalf is the basis for overcoming every fear.

▸'The LORD your God who goes before you' means that God advances like a vanguard.

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.'

Key Message

God is one who carries his children like a father throughout the wilderness journey, knowing and sharing in all their weakness.

▸The metaphor of a father carrying his son as God carried Israel through the wilderness is among the most moving images in Deuteronomy.

32

Yet in spite of this word you did not believe the LORD your God,

Key Message

The root of all disobedience is unbelief. True faith is trusting God and expressing that trust in action.

▸Israel's fundamental problem is diagnosed plainly.

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.'

Key Message

God's guidance was visibly manifest throughout the wilderness journey. Trust is recognizing God's guidance and following it.

▸The pillar of fire and the pillar of cloud were the visible symbols of God's presence and guidance throughout the wilderness journey.

34

"And the LORD heard your words and was angered, and he swore,

Key Message

God hears what we say and what is in our hearts; unbelief and murmuring damage the covenant relationship.

▸God heard Israel's murmuring and distrustful words.

35

'Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers,

Key Message

Unbelief causes one to lose the good things God has prepared. But God's promise itself is not canceled; it continues to the next generation.

▸The verdict is rendered: none of the adults of Israel who are at least twenty years old will enter the Promised Land—they will die in the wilderness.

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!'

Key Message

Faith that wholly follows God amid a generation of unbelief receives God's special promise and reward.

▸In the midst of the verdict, an exception is made for Caleb.

37

Even with me the LORD was angry on your account and said, 'You also shall not go in there.

Key Message

Even leaders cannot escape the consequences of sin; God deals equitably with all people.

▸Moses himself also receives the sentence that he may not enter Canaan.

38

Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Key Message

True leadership builds up and encourages the next generation, making possible what one cannot do oneself.

▸Instead of Moses, Joshua is to be commissioned as his successor.

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.

Key Message

One generation's unbelief cannot cancel God's promise. God will surely fulfill his promise through the next generation.

▸'Your little ones' refers to the very children whom Israel had feared would become prey.

40

But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.'

Key Message

The consequence of disobedience is retreat from the goal. Yet God uses even that time of retreat in his providence to prepare a new generation.

▸The consequence of disobedience is turning back.

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.

Key Message

True repentance is not resolving to fix the problem by one's own strength but turning back to God's forgiveness and grace.

▸After hearing the verdict, Israel belatedly volunteers to go up.

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.'

Key Message

No religious activity undertaken without God's presence can succeed. God's presence with us is the prerequisite for all ministry.

▸God commands them not to go into battle without Him.

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.

Key Message

To disregard God's word and act presumptuously in one's own way inevitably leads to defeat and failure.

▸'Presumptuously' expresses an attitude of arrogance and self-confidence.

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.

Key Message

Without God's presence nothing can be accomplished. What is done by one's own strength and methods ends in defeat.

▸The simile 'as bees' vividly describes an attack overwhelming in numbers.

45

And you returned and wept before the LORD, but the LORD did not listen to your voice or give ear to you.

Key Message

Tears over pain do not guarantee God's response. True repentance is turning away from sin.

▸After their defeat Israel wept.

46

So you remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

Key Message

Within God's providence every moment of time has meaning. Even the time of judgment is the time in which God prepares the next stage.

▸The days spent at Kadesh were time lived in the consequences of disobedience.