신명기 Chapter 5

Translation: ESV

1

And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them.

Key Message

God's word must be heard, learned, and practiced together by the whole community.

▸This is the beginning of Moses' second sermon in Deuteronomy (chapters 5-26).

This is the beginning of Moses' second sermon in Deuteronomy (chapters 5-26). Moses calls 'all Israel.' This law is proclaimed not to a few leaders alone but to the whole community. The three-stage command 'hear-learn-do' shows the sequence of religious education that moves from hearing to learning and from learning to practice.

2

The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

Key Message

God's covenant is valid across generations, and each generation must stand before that covenant anew.

▸The expression 'with us' is important.

3

Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today.

Key Message

God's covenant is not a memory from the past but something made with me now. Faith is accepting the past history as my own in the present.

▸This verse contains the core principle of Deuteronomic theology.

4

The LORD spoke with you face to face at the mountain, out of the midst of the fire,

Key Message

God spoke to Israel in a direct and personal relationship. Faith is a personal encounter with God.

▸'Face to face' means intimate and direct conversation.

5

while I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the LORD. For you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up into the mountain.) He said:

Key Message

A mediator stands between God and humanity to deliver the word. Jesus Christ is the perfect mediator.

▸Moses' role as mediator is made explicit.

6

'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Key Message

The law is not for obtaining salvation but is a guide for life for those who have been saved. Grace comes first and the law is the response to it.

▸The Ten Commandments begin with a self-introduction.

7

'You shall have no other gods before me.

Key Message

First Commandment: God demands exclusive devotion. Nothing other than God can be the object of our ultimate allegiance.

▸The First Commandment: You shall have no other gods before me.

8

'You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

Key Message

Second Commandment: God cannot be represented in any human form. God reveals himself through the word.

▸The Second Commandment: You shall not make any idol in the form of any image.

9

You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,

Key Message

The influence of idolatry is transmitted through the generations. Our spiritual choices affect our descendants.

▸A practical prohibition against bowing down to and serving idols follows.

10

but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Key Message

God's grace is far greater than judgment. God's nature is love rather than wrath.

▸In contrast to the curse of three or four generations, steadfast love extending to thousands of generations is declared.

11

'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Key Message

Third Commandment: God's name represents his person. Using God's name lightly or falsely is to treat God with contempt.

▸The Third Commandment: You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

12

'Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you.

Key Message

Fourth Commandment: The Sabbath must be remembered and observed. Rest is part of God's created order and a memorial of salvation.

▸The Fourth Commandment: Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

13

Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

Key Message

Both work and rest are within God's created order. Diligent labor and genuine rest must be accomplished together.

▸The Sabbath commandment includes not only a command about the day of rest but also a command to work for six days.

14

but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

Key Message

The Sabbath is a day of social equality. On the Sabbath, master and servant, strong and weak, all enjoy equal rest.

▸The Sabbath applies to family, servants, livestock, and sojourners alike.

15

You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Key Message

The Sabbath is a day of freedom. Israel, liberated from slavery in Egypt, must through the Sabbath commemorate that freedom and acknowledge the freedom of others as well.

▸Deuteronomy's Sabbath commandment presents the Exodus rather than creation (Exod 20:11) as its basis.

16

'Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

Key Message

Fifth Commandment: Honoring parents is the human-relational version of fearing God. Respect for authority is the foundation of a healthy society.

▸The Fifth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother.

17

'You shall not murder.

Key Message

Sixth Commandment: Life made in the image of God is sacred. Harming life is damaging the image of God.

▸The Sixth Commandment: You shall not murder.

18

'And you shall not commit adultery.

Key Message

Seventh Commandment: Keeping the sanctity of the marriage covenant is the foundation of social community.

▸The Seventh Commandment: You shall not commit adultery.

19

'And you shall not steal.

Key Message

Eighth Commandment: The possessions God has given each person must be respected. Stealing overturns God's distribution.

▸The Eighth Commandment: You shall not steal.

20

'And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Key Message

Ninth Commandment: Truth is the foundation of community. False speech about one's neighbor destroys relationships and society.

▸The Ninth Commandment: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

21

'And you shall not covet your neighbor's wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'

Key Message

Tenth Commandment: Covetousness is the inward root of all sin. God's law governs not only actions but also the heart.

▸The Tenth Commandment: You shall not covet what belongs to your neighbor.

22

"These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

Key Message

The Ten Commandments are the completed core of revelation directly proclaimed by God.

▸God proclaimed the Ten Commandments directly and inscribed them on two tablets of stone and gave them.

23

And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders.

Key Message

Before the awesome presence of God, the community's leaders seeking a mediator is an appropriate faith response.

▸Before the awesome theophany at Sinai, the leaders of the people came to Moses.

24

And you said, 'Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live.

Key Message

That the holy God speaks to humans and those humans survive is astonishing grace.

▸Israel saw God's glory and majesty and heard his voice.

25

Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die.

Key Message

The fear felt before God's holiness is a healthy faith response. This fear makes one recognize the need for a mediator.

▸Israel confesses its fear.

26

For who is there of all flesh that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived?

Key Message

Hearing God's voice and surviving is an unprecedented grace given to Israel.

▸The rhetorical question of 4:33 is repeated.

27

Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say, and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.'

Key Message

The community appointing a mediator and promising to hear God's word is the starting point of the covenant community.

▸Israel formally requests Moses to serve as mediator.

28

"And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, 'I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.

Key Message

God is a personal God who hears human prayers and requests and responds to them.

▸God hears Israel's request and pledge and acknowledges 'they are right in all that they have spoken.

29

Oh that they had such a heart as this always, to fear me and to keep all my commandments, that it might go well with them and with their descendants forever!

Key Message

God's desire is for Israel to always revere and obey him. Not a momentary resolution but a continuous life is what God desires.

▸God's deep desire is expressed.

30

Go and say to them, "Return to your tents."

Key Message

Faith experience is meaningful when it is connected to everyday life.

▸After the theophany at Sinai, Israel returns to their tents.

31

But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.'

Key Message

The prophet's role is to hear from God and proclaim to the people. Time standing before God prepares one for time standing before people.

▸After Israel leaves, Moses remains at God's side.

32

You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

Key Message

Straight walking that does not deviate to the right or left from God's path is the heart of faith.

▸This is the conclusion of chapter 5.

33

You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

Key Message

A life of obedience to God's word is a life of life, prosperity, and long life.

▸The last verse of chapter 5 presents three results of obedience.