Deuteronomy

The Covenant Prologue

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Deuteronomy 1:1-4

Lesson: 1-110

Genre: Lecture

Track: 01

Dictation Name: RR187A1

Location/Venue:

Year: May of 1992

Let us worship God. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins. That he might present us; deliver us from this present evil world. According to the will of God and our father to whom be glory forever and ever amen. Let us pray. Almighty God our heavenly Father we gather again to seek thy blessings. Rejoicing our father that thou art the author of all good. That all things are possible with thee. And that thou has summoned us to do that which is impossible with men. To bring all things into captivity to Christ our Lord. We thank thee that by thy grace, we have been empowered to do thy work. That by thy grace we have been made members of thy kingdom. That by thy grace we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus our lord. Make us truly grateful; make us joyful in our calling, and confident unto victory. In Christ's name amen.

Our scripture is Deuteronomy 1 verses 1 through 4. And our subject, the covenant prologue.

“1These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

 2(There are eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)

 3And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;

 4After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:”

The editors and the publishers of the Laymen Bible commentary, preface Deuteronomy with the statement that the Bible is the word of good news for the whole world. It is therefore not the property of a special group, such as Israel or the church, but for all of mankind.

Deuteronomy, together with Genesis, the Psalms and Isaiah, is the most quoted book of the Old Testament by the New. Our Lord in the temptation in the wilderness answered Satan 3 times and each time was from Deuteronomy. It is written “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Again it is written “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” And “Get thee hence Satan for it is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve.” Among the four Mosaic books giving God's law, Deuteronomy has been the most widely used by both Jews and Christians. The meaning of the word Deuteronomy is second or repeated law. Because in effect this is what the book is. But in Hebrew there is another name, and the name was taken from the opening statement in verse one, “These be the words.” that’s the Hebrew Title. The Hebrew form is legal, because the law is the covenant, a treaty between God and Israel and God and all of mankind. It was a law given by an act of grace, its meaning was very ably summed up by P.C. Craggy in these words: “In summary, the covenant was the constitution of a theology. God was king and had claimed his people for himself out of Egypt. The people who owed everything to God were required to submit to him in a covenant which was based on love.” Unquote. There was no merit in Israel, no worth that led God to establish his covenant with them, neither is there any merit or worth in the church. All is God's sovereign grace.

Various scholars have analyzed the constituent parts of covenants in antiquity, all of which are similar. Craggy summarized this in reducing covenants to their component parts. First the preamble: “these are the words” and so on. Second the historical prologue, third the general stipulations and then fourth specific stipulation. Fifth the divine witness, and sixth and finally, blessings and curses for the maintenance or breach of the covenant. It is amazing that so many people insist that God's covenant and his love are unconditional. When I wrote against this idea of God's unconditional love in 1991 I received letters calling my statement heresy and even now, in May of 1992 I get such mail, it upset many people. What such people do is to find God unconditionally, once they accept him, while feeling free to go their way. This is not Christianity. It transfers sovereignty from God to man. It is the essence of Pharisee-ism. Whether in Judaism or in the church. I have often sighted a classic example of this kind of ungodliness and Pharisee-ism and it must be repeated again and again to arouse people to this evil. In Aaron (Tempass's?) words describing what R.B. Theime has to say, quoting R.B. Theime: “You can even become an atheist, but if you once accepted Christ as your savior you can’t lose your salvation. Do you know if you were a genius you couldn’t figure out a way to go to hell? You can blaspheme, you can deny the Lord, you can commit every sin in the Bible plus all the others. But there is just no way.” Unquote. Theime is not alone in teaching this view. But a covenant is conditional. God's covenant is all encompassing. No area of life and thought can be outside of God's covenant and law. But it is conditional because all covenants are. There can be no covenant without conditions, terms.

There is a difference between Deuteronomy on the one hand and Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers the other three books of the law on the other. Instead of reading “And the lord spake unto Moses” as Exodus Leviticus and Numbers do, we read in Deuteronomy instead: “These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel.” but what Moses says is no less inspired. The difference here is that he speaks directly to the families of Israel. To summarize and amplify God's covenant law. As (Blare?) pointed out, the central notes of Deuteronomy are three. 1. Remember God's in providence or care. 2. Obey God's law word without hesitation and fully, 3. And behold what his promises are to you if you are faithful.

But we can add a fourth. Verse one makes clear that Moses is speaking to all Israel. So the central notes can be summed up in four words, remember, obey, behold and all. Old and young are alike addressed. None are exempted from hearing Moses recount the requirements of God the king. It is their only safeguard against apostasy and judgment. The neglect of God's law today in both the same judgment as it did then, and over and over again in history.

In verse 4 God through Moses reminds one and all what he did for them in defeating Sihon the king of the Amorites and Og the king of Bashon. What he did to them he could do to Israel, and to us. I have referred to the heresy and evil believed in an unconditional covenant and unconditional love. Unconditional love and covenant are confused with the doctrine of eternal security. Eternal security has referenced to the fact of those whom God has truly saved can never be lost because their salvation is God’s work through Christ, not man’s work. To believe in an unconditional covenant and love shifts the entire power of security from God to man. Our children are by blood our seed. But for apostasy and sin we should cut them off. They are then by blood still our children, but not by faith. The relationship has ended. We do not love them unconditionally, without sinning. God could call Israel my son in Exodus 4: 22. But he could and did cut them off as dead branches in John 15 :1-6. When God spoke of the destruction of Og king of Bashon and Sihon king of the Amorites, he is reminding Israel of what he did to its enemies. Let Israel beware.

Deuteronomy stresses the fact that God is the covenant Lord, the sovereign who in his grace and mercy gives his law to a people without merit. He promises to bless them for faithfulness and accurse them for their lawlessness. He is the redeeming God and therefore the great judge over all. Redemption cannot be separated from judgment, redemption is from sin and death and it requires the death penalty for liberation of the death penalty on us. In the Old Testament this freedom came from the sacrificial system. The unblemished animal signified the Christ to come. In verse four we see that this was the fortieth year since the departure from Egypt. God's conditional love and covenant had sentenced a generation to die in the wilderness except for Caleb and Joshua. The covenant God requires a full and uncompromising allegiance. The churches have too often preferred a bastard culture. One deeply in debt to humanism and its world with a smattering of the Bible and much larded with sentimental pietism. In Deuteronomy 27 and 28 we have God's promises of blessings and curses for covenant keeping and covenant breaking. Immediately thereafter God in Deuteronomy 29:1 declares himself to be the author of all the words of this book. These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded to Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb. From beginning to end.

This is a legal document, as is the whole of the Bible. That’s why it has the repetitive language. According to Schneider, the journey from Sinai or Horeb to the border of Canaan, could have been made precisely as we were told in 11 days, but it took 40 years because of their rebellion. And Schneider called this fact a bombshell, it was that in fact a very obvious fact giving evidence of God's displeasure. The usual divisions of Deuteronomy are into five sections. First chapter 1 through 4, Moses reviews Israel’s journey’s and urges them to be faithful to the covenant and its law. And second chapter 4 through 26. We are given a summary of the law with special emphasis on worship, government, criminal, domestic life and sanctuary rituals. Then third chapters 27 through 30 are concerned with the enforcement of the law and the renewal of the covenant which curses and blessings declared. Then fourth chapter 31 through 34 describes the last days of Moses and the charge of Joshua, the delivering of the law of the priesthood and Moses final words and his death.

It is interesting to note that Henry H. (Shyres?) and (Persion Parker?) both modernists still call Deuteronomy one of the most decisive books of history. Whatever their reason for so writing, we can better understand Deuteronomy decisive character in Calvin's words. Calvin saw the thrust of the book thus and I quote: “God's discharging of us from the hands and tyranny of our enemies was to the end that we should serve him in holiness and righteousness all our life long. And this is a doctrine very common throughout the whole scripture.” Calvin said further: “had the people had one drop of wisdom, they should have yielded themselves with all humility to receive the doctrine that was preached to them by Moses. Israel's problem, said Calvin, was: “the scant and slender hearing of God's law.” However, Calvin added: “We be more blame worthy than the Jews for giving so slender ears to our God, given our very great blessings and knowledge.” “The blessings we enjoy,” Calvin said: “Are not the products of our own power, and we should never forget the grace and power of God. Moreover we must note,” Calvin said, “That the doctrine which is set forth in the name of God serves us not for one age only, but for all ever. And keepeth His force and strength continually. God did not speak to the end that his doctrine should be buried after an age or twain, but that it should be set forth before us to the end of the world.”

As (Langey?) note: “Obedience is the principle thing in every household of God.” Well, it is interesting that Deuteronomy came to be known among the Jews, who were Godly as the book of reproof, because God spoke to their waywardness. It should serve the same purpose today. These are the last words of Moses. They reestablished the covenant with a younger generation. They make clear, abundantly clear, that God says these are the conditions by which you must live. They set forth the conditional character of God's love. Let us pray.

Our Father we thank thee for thy word. We thank thee that thy word which is truth and life is given to us as a blessing, as a great and signal saver. Forgive us that so often we have been indifferent to thy gift, casual in our treatment of thy gifts and Thee. Make us truly grateful, joyful in thee in thy word, and powerful in thy spirit. In Christ’s name, amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Audience member, (Otto Scott?)] Isn’t it interesting that Calvin spoke about the blessings of his time and he lived in one of the most turbulent periods. And today the press keeps telling us of all the difficulties of our time, and we are still a very rich country?

[Rushdoony] Yes, I’m glad you raised that point because it leads to a very remarkable fact about Calvin. He did live in one of the most turbulent times of all history. So did Luther. And yet Luther became more and more pessimistic and his latter years were clouded because he often wondered if he had done the right thing because so much unrest and disturbance; havoc, was loosed. And yet compared to Calvin he had a comfortable life, in a protected atmosphere. Calvin until he was known to be dyeing was not made a citizen of Geneva. They would sick their dogs on him when he was in the street. They would come and shoot their guns off under his window, night after night to destroy his rest. The caricatures of him, the abuse that he received was incredible. And yet he could speak about it as a blessed time. Because he looked beyond the personal issue, to the greater one. He was ridiculed by his enemies because of the fat that the only child he had, a son, died in childhood. And they saw that as evidence that he was cursed by God. And his answer was that Europe was peopled with his sons.

So I’m glad you caught because that’s a very, very, important fact about Calvin. He always saw the whole picture, and this is one of the remarkable things about his writings too because of their clarity. He never gets side tracked. He marches militantly to the point he’s making. With Luther, its endless digression. In fact you can read a hundred or two hundred pages by him and get all kinds of little tid-bits about everything under the sun. Because one thing reminds him of another and he wanders all over the landscape. It’s sometimes a thorough delight to read that and other times you get impatient because you wish he would get to the point before he forgets it which he sometimes does. Any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Audience member] Maybe that’s why there’s so many romantics around.

[Audience member] We live in an era of worthless products that are sold with an unconditional money back guarantee, and unconditional salvation fits our time.

[Rushoony] Well put, well put. One of the things that is well known is, that the thing may be worthless but only one in a thousand will bother to return it. They can count on that, so the money back guarantee doesn’t mean much. Any other questions or comments? Yes?

[Audience member] Well, Luther he was more anti-nomian than Calvin.

[Rushdoony] Uhhh no, Luther was erratic. Some of his statements are stronger in favor of the law than anyone else could of made. But at other points he just overlooks what he said elsewhere.

[Audience member] Well Luther put more emphasis on love.

[Rushdoony] He put a lot of emphasis on everything under the sun. Luther was not a systematic theologian. And that’s what makes reading Luther difficult. He is easy reading because he is always interesting. He’s not a dull person, but he is difficult reading because almost everything he says you can find something that contradicts it. Sometimes in a startling way. This is why Catholic critics have had a field day in using Luther as against Lutherans. And also using Luther in favor of Rome. You can find almost anything in Luther. There is a move in Lutheranism who formed some kind of association with Rome based on some aspects of Luther. Any other questions or comments?

Well if not let us end in prayer. Our Father, we thank thee that though we do indeed live in very turbulent time, Thou art on the throne and therefore we do have every reason to rejoice. Knowing that the turbulence is in thy making, that it shall accomplish thy holy purpose; and it is for our deliverance, our blessing and our prosperity in Christ. Give us joy therefore at all times in Thee. And now go in peace God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you. This day and always. Amen.