Read Deuteronomy 1:1–8
Questions from the Scripture text: Who spoke these words (Deuteronomy 1:1)? To whom? Where/when? How long should the journey from Sinai have taken (Deuteronomy 1:2)? How long did it take (Deuteronomy 1:3)? In accord with what did Moses preach this sermon? When (Deuteronomy 1:4)? What details does Deuteronomy 1:5 add about the location? How does Deuteronomy 1:5 describe the sermon? Who had spoken to Israel (Deuteronomy 1:6)? Whose God is He? Where did He speak? How had He assessed their situation? What did He tell them to do (Deuteronomy 1:7)? Where did He tell them to go? What features does He describe? What had He done with the land (Deuteronomy 1:8)? What does He tell them to do with it? How does verse 8b describe/define the land?
What is Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy 1:1–8 looks forward to the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these eight verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Deuteronomy is a sermon of warning and encouragement as Israel are coming into the possession of the promised land.
Deuteronomy as an occasion. Moses’s final sermon is an explanation (Deuteronomy 1:5) of all YHWH’s commandments (Deuteronomy 1:3). As they are about to enter and receive the promised land, they are to do so with a clear understanding of what God expects from them. After this introduction, he will spend the better part of four chapters recounting the Lord’s history with them and relationship to them. So, in these eight verses, he introduces the sermon itself.
It is a sermon. These words were spoken (Deuteronomy 1:1), in a very specific place (verse 1b, Deuteronomy 1:5), at a very specific time (Deuteronomy 1:3-4). It is almost 41 years since the Exodus. This is the only exact date given in the book, and cements the importance of the preaching of this sermon as an occasion in Israel’s life. Preaching is an occasion—an interaction between the Lord and the soul of each hearer, and a corporate interaction between the Lord and the assembly.
Deuteronomy as a warning. Although it won’t be until chapter 27 that the curses of failing to keep this law are detailed, there is a reminder here of the dangers of disobedience. It was only an eleven days’ journey from Sinai (Horeb) to the place that this sermon was preached (Deuteronomy 1:2), but they have been taking that journey for forty years (Deuteronomy 1:3)!
Deuteronomy as an invitation. Forty years earlier, YHWH had welcomed Israel to end their wanderings (“You have dwelt long enough at this mountain,” Deuteronomy 1:6) and enter the land. It was that good land, spacious and with a variety of geography, that He had prepared for them (Deuteronomy 1:7). It was that promised land, sworn to the patriarchs, sworn as a covenantal land for their descendants as well (Deuteronomy 1:8b, cf. Genesis 12:7).
Now, the Lord again gives them welcome to the land, with three imperatives in Deuteronomy 1:8.
“See”: behold, take stock of the land that the Lord has set before you (cf. Genesis 12:8–9). Just as with Israel, here, believers are to consider the blessed inheritance that the Lord has promised to them.
“Enter” and “Possess”: the land is a gift to them and their descendants after them, but grace-sustained action is still required on their part. So it is with Christians. It is Christ Who has earned their heaven. And it is God Who has begun a good work in them, is working in them to will and to work, and will complete that good work in them (cf. Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:13). But, they are still to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling (cf. Philippians 2:12). Thus, entry is abundantly supplied to them into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Peter 1:10–11).
How do you treat preaching as an interaction between yourself and the Lord? How do you treat preaching as an interaction between your congregation and the Lord? What are some occasions, in Scripture and in history, that serve as a warning to you against unfaithfulness and disobedience? How do you go about beholding what the Lord has promised to you and to the church? What has Scripture commanded as the path/procedure for entering and possessing the kingdom, and how are you following it?
Sample prayer: Lord, thank You for addressing us by Your Word, which protectively warns us against unfaithfulness, and encouragingly urges us to behold and enter and possess what You have promised us. Grant that, by Your Spirit’s applying Christ to us, we would work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, we ask through Christ, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the Lord” or TPH280 “Wondrous King All Glorious”
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