The book of Deuteronomy is a series of farewell sermons from Moses to the Israelites:
• In these sermons he urges the people to love God, obey his laws;
• And follow the leadership of Joshua.
• The Jews call this book the “haddeborim”, which means "the words."
• Based on the opening words in chapter 1 verse 1.
• Ancient writings written on scrolls were not given names;
• But they were called after the first words you would read on the parchment.
• We get our English name Deuteronomy from two Greek words;
• ‘Deutero’ which means ‘Second’ and ‘nomos’ which means ‘law’
• This title comes from the Septuagint a Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament;
• In this edition, books of the Old Testament were given the names that we commonly use.
• Now although Deuteronomy means ‘Second Law’;
• Please note that this book is not a second Law;
• There is only one ‘Law’ that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai;
• You can find it in Exodus chapter 20.
• Deuteronomy is a restatement and expansion of that Law;
• As recoded in the book of Exodus some 40 years earlier.
• The first two versions of the Ten Commandments;
• Can be found in Exodus chapter 20 and Exodus chapter 34.
• In Deuteronomy chapter 5 we find a third version of the Ten Commandments,
• But this is a restatement and expansion of that Law.
Question: Why does the Law need to be repeated?
• Remember when we are talking about the ‘Law’;
• We are not just talking about the ten commandments;
• There are 613 laws of Moses in total and many of them are repeated here.
Answer: Two main reasons:
• FIRST: The people –
• Deuteronomy was written forty years after the book of Exodus.
• During those forty years a whole generation died.
• This generation consisted of all the adults who came out of Egypt as slaves;
• These adults all crossed the Red Sea, and these adults all camped at Sinai;
• And heard the commandments the first time.
• Apart from Moses, Joshua and Caleb;
• That generation was now dead!
• The new generation who would receive this ‘second law’;
• Were only babies when their predecessors crossed the Red Sea,
• And camped at Sinai and heard the law.
• This new generation had no memories of when their families came out of slavery;
• They had no recollections of Moses reading the law.
• So it required Moses to read and explain the law a second time.
Ill:
• At my own fellowship - Duncan Road Church;
• We have made the effort to teach our new converts;
• And also the new generations coming through into membership;
• The principles of how we operate as a Church and what makes us different;
• Or rather what are the key distinctions between ourselves and other denominations.
• i.e. Why do we have Elders and not a Vicar or a Pastor.
• i.e. Why are we autonomous and not part of a denomination.
• i.e. Why do we partake in the ‘Breaking of Bread’ on a regular basis.
• i.e. Why do we believe in and practice every member ministry;
• What the old timers called, ‘The priesthood of all believers’.
• We want each generation of Christians to discover for themselves our D.N.A.;
• The ‘why’ and ‘what’ we believe and practice as a Church.
• We don’t want them to think we do these things out of just tradition or habit;
• We do them, we practice them because we believe it is biblical to do them!
• And each generation must discover these truths for themselves;
• Otherwise they may well be neglected or lost.
SECOND – The circumstances –
• The difference between the first and second giving of the law is striking.
• The first time Israel had just been delivered from slavery in Egypt.
• They hardly knew God at all, and Moses was their new leader.
• Now they have had forty years of experience following God under Moses' direction.
• Now they are a unified nation and just a bunch of dishevelled slaves.
• Now they are experienced in combat, a fighting force to be reckoned with.
• Before they were escaping Egypt, but now they are ready to enter in to the promised land
• i.e. That is why in chapter 1 verses 1-5;
• Time and place are carefully specified.
Note: The chapter divides into three parts:
• The covenant in Horeb. (vs 1-5)
• The ten commandments repeated. (vs 6-22)
• The request of the people that the law might be delivered through Moses. (vs 23-33)
• Now for the sake of time we are going to focus in on that second section;
• The ten commandments repeated. (vs 6-22),
• That part is perhaps the most relevant for us today.
Ill:
• The American Humourist Mark Twain;
• Tells the story about a man who had memorized the Ten Commandments.
• He told Twain that his ambition was to go to the Holy Land,
• Stand on Mount Sinai and recite loudly the Ten Commandments.
• Mark Twain replied,
• "Have you ever thought about just staying home and keeping them?"
• TRANSITION: God wants this new generation to keep his law.
Note:
• Nine of the ten commandments are repeated in the New Testament letters;
• And Christian’s are expected to know them and obey them.
• The one commandment that is not mentioned in the New Testament letters;
• Is the fourth commandment about the Sabbath Day.
• That is because the Sabbath Day was a special sign between Israel and the Lord:
• i.e. It was God himself who gave the nation of Israel the Sabbath law;
• And although the Sabbath is linked with the fact that after six days of creative work;
• God rested (Genesis chapter 2 verses 2-3).
• i.e. God made it a special sign between Himself and the nation of Israel;
• Exodus chapter 31 vs 12-17.
• “This will be a sign between me and you…..”
Ill:
• The word Sabbath comes from the Hebrew word ‘Shabat’:
• It means ‘to cease’ or ‘to desist’ or ‘to rest’;
• The Sabbath starts 6pm on Friday evening and finishes 6pm on Saturday evening.
Now down the years some Christians refer to Sunday as "the Sabbath":
• But that is wrong;
• And has only caused confusion.
• Sunday is the first day of the week;
• Sabbath is the last day (the seventh day) of the week.
• Both are different days;
• Both signify different truths.
• The Sabbath is a reminder of the completion of "the old creation,"
• While Sunday is a reminder of our Lord's finished work in "the new creation".
• The Sabbath speaks of rest after work and relates to the Law,
• While Sunday speaks of rest before work and relates to grace.
Question: Why Sunday?
Answer:
• Sunday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;
• As well as the coming of the Holy Spirit and the "birthday" of the church (Acts 2).
• The New Testament teaches (Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1-2) that;
• The early church met on Sunday (not Saturday) on the first day of the week,
• In conclusion: Sabbath is the last day (the seventh day) of the week.
• Sunday is the first day of the week;
• So although it is a good principle to have a day of rest; we are not commanded to;
• And no-where in the New Testament are Christians called to honour the Sabbath.
Note:
• The common English term; “The Ten Commandments”;
• Never actually occurs in scripture.
• I know they might be there in your English translation;
• But that is a paraphrase not an actual translation.
• When we read the expression “The Ten Commandments”;
• The phrase is more accurately translated as; *‘the Ten Sayings, the Ten Statements,
• The Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things’.
• But not as the Ten Commandments – that is a paraphrase.
(*The words ‘d'varim’ and ‘dibrot’ come from the Hebrew root ‘Dalet-Beit-Reish’,
meaning word, speak or thing; but not as the Ten Commandments, which would be ‘Aseret ha-Mitzvot’.)
• Now there is no reason not to call them the ten commandments;
• And it would be very hard for most of us not to refer to them that way.
Note:
• That we are we told how the ten words are to be divided;
• And so Christians from different denominational backgrounds;
• Group them in different ways.
Ill:
• A bit of Bible Trivia.
• The chapters and the verses that we have in our Bibles are not in the original text;
• Chapters were added by Stephen Langton in 1228BC;
• He was until his death the Archbishop of Canterbury.
• The Wycliffe English Bible of 1382 was the first Bible to use this chapter pattern.
• Since then, nearly all Bible translations have followed Langton's chapter divisions.
• Verses were later added by Robert Estienne (1503) a printer living in Paris;
• He was a former Catholic who became a Protestant late in his life
• And they first appeared in the Geneva Bible (i.e. the Bible of John Bunyan).
• The Bible was of course divided into chapters and verses;
• To help us find Scriptures more quickly and easily.
• It is much easier to ask folks to find "Matthew chapter 6 verse 33";
• Than it is to find "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness..."
• In a few places, chapter breaks are poorly placed;
• And as a result divide content that should flow together.
• Overall, though, the chapter and verse divisions are very helpful.
Now because the original text is not neatly divided up for us:
• So Christians from different denominational backgrounds;
• Group them together in different ways.
• GROUP 1: Protestants along with Greek Catholics;
• Follow the grouping found in the writings of Josephus (Antiquities iii.5.5.)
• In this grouping the exclusive worship of God;
• Is separated from the prohibition to idolatry.
• In other words we see commandments 1 & 2 as two separate instructions.
• GROUP 2: Roman Catholics and Lutherans also have their preference;
• They combine the first two commandments together;
• They then separate what we would call the tenth commandment;
• They separate it into two commandments.
• One dealing with coveting a neighbour’s house.
• And the other dealing with coveting a neighbours wife and property.
• GROUP 3: Jewish scholars from early Christian centuries;
• Have taken the preface as the First Commandment;
• Then combined the exclusive worship of God and the prohibition of idolatry;
• As the Second Word.
• The remaining commandments are then the same grouping;
• As we protestants would be used to reading them.
Question: Which division is best?
Answer: I have no idea!
• But that of course is not the point!
• The point is we live by these commandments and not argue over them!
Note: The Ten Commandments are all about respect:
• Commandment 1&2: Respect God
• Commandment 3: Respect his name.
• Commandment 4: Respect his day
• Commandment 5: Respect your parents
• Commandment 6: Respect life
• Commandment 7: Respect marriage
• Commandment 8: Respect property
• Commandment 9: Respect peoples reputation
• Commandment 10: Respect what you have.
• The Ten Commandments are all about respect:
• Respect for God and respect for other people.
Ill:
• In London's Westminster Abbey,
• Many great men and women are buried in the floor of the church.
• Visitors walk over their tombs without hesitation...all but one.
• There is one tomb that no one walks over.
• Even the Queen at her Coronation walked around it.
• It is the tomb of Britain's Unknown Soldier.
• TRANSITION: If an unknown soldier deserves such respect,
• Should we not also have greater reverence for the creator God of that soldier;
• And for the human beings that soldier fought and gave his life for?
Note:
• The Bible makes frequent reference to "two" tablets;
• (Deuteronomy chapter 4 verse 13; chapter 5 verse 22).
• Question: Why two?
• Answer: Let me give you two possible suggestions:
• (a). According to rabbinic tradition,
• The purpose for having two tablets;
• Was to divide the Ten Commandments under two rubrics.
• They taught that the first tablet, contained the so-called religious commandments,
• Describing obligations owed to God.
• The second tablet contained ethical or moral commandments,
• Describing obligations we owe to one another;
• As creatures of God and as fellow human beings.
• (b). An alternative interpretation;
• Is that the full Ten Commandments was replicated on two duplicate tablets.
• This would follow the Hittite tradition of making two copies of each treaty:
• One for each party in the agreement.
• i.e. The Hittite king and the other for the people
• i.e. A copy belonging to God and a copy for the people
Note: the Ten Commandments do divide into two sections;
• How they were allocated up on the original tablets we do not know;
• But they do naturally fall into two sections.
• Not five laws on one side and five laws on the other;
• As is often depicted in paintings, clip art and Hollywood movies.
• But rather they divide in a group of four and a group of six.
• The first four concern our relationship to God;
• Respect for God (they are upward).
• i.e. Commandment 1&2: Respect God – worship only him and not idols.
• i.e. Commandment 3: Respect his name.
• i.e. Commandment 4: Respect his day
• The next six concern our relationship with other people;
• Respect for others (they are across-wards).
• i.e. Commandment 5: Respect your parents
• i.e. Commandment 6: Respect life
• i.e. i.e. Commandment 7: Respect marriage
• i.e. Commandment 8: Respect property
• i.e. Commandment 9: Respect peoples reputation
• i.e. Commandment 10: Respect what you have.
So the Ten Commandments divide in a group of four and a group of six:
• The first four concern our relationship to God;
• Respect for God (they are upward).
• The next six concern our relationship with other people;
• Respect for others (they are across-wards).
• So in the time we have left;
• I want to look at the three commandments as recorded in Deuteronomy;
• That have a different emphasis from those listed in Exodus chapter 20.
NUMBER 1: The Fourth Commandment:
Exodus chapter 20 verse 8:
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy”.
Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse 12-15:
“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labour and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day”
The difference between the two records is that:
• Exodus emphasises God’s pattern of creating and resting;
• But Deuteronomy emphasises God’s redemption of his people from Egypt.
• Now these two ideas of creation and redemption are strongly linked in the Bible;
• Creation: we are to follow God’s pattern of work and rest.
• Redemption: entry into God’s ultimate rest would only be by redemption.
Ill:
Hebrews chapter 3 verse 12 to chapter 4 verse 11.
NUMBER 2: The FIFTH Commandment:
Exodus chapter 20 verse 12:
“Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse16:
“Honour your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the LORD your God is giving you.”
There are two additions in the version in Deuteronomy:
• First it has the words: “as the Lord your God has commanded you”.
• Second: “that it may go well with you”
• First it has the words: “as the Lord your God has commanded you”.
• Honouring our parents is a command and not a suggestion.
• We should all seek to make an opportunity to honour them by our actions and our words,
• Second: “that it may go well with you”
• The family structure provides us with emotional stability.
• The Israelites' emotional strength came from the family and not the synagogue!
Quote: Rudyard Kipling who once wrote about families:
“All of us are we—and everyone else is they.”
A family shares things like dreams, hopes, possessions, memories, smiles, frowns, and gladness...A family is a clan held together with the glue of love and the cement of mutual respect. A family is shelter from the storm, a friendly port when the waves of life become too wild. No person is ever alone who is a member of a family”.
NUMBER 3: The Tenth Commandment:
Exodus chapter 20 verse 17:
“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour”.
Deuteronomy chapter 5 verse21:
‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbour’s house or land, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.’
• This commandment and the first commandment;
• Deal with inward attitudes rather than outward actions;
• And if we break these two it can so easily lead to breaking all the rest of them!
• Sadly because of covetousness people have robbed, committed adultery,
• Lied and even murdered.
• Then answer for covetousness is to get your eyes of things and on the Lord;
• If people get there focus right and keep the first commandment;
• The covetousness will not be a problem.
Note:
• In this final commandment there are three small changes;
• There is a reversal of the order of: ‘Wife’ and ‘House’, and the word ‘land’ is added.
• Now that Israel was about to enter the promised land and become an established people;
• The addition of field would be necessary as in time;
• People would start to own and sell land.
Conclusion: Note verses 1 and verse 6:
Verse 1:
“Hear, Israel, the decrees and the laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn them and be sure to follow them”
• The Hebrew verb translated as ‘Hear’ also carries the sense of ‘obey’.
• The instruction is a hearing that leads to obedience.
• And although Israel is the prime recipient of these commandments;
• As I said earlier 9 of the 10 are found in the New Testament for Christians to obey!
Verse 6:
“ ‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery”
• At the start of giving these Ten Commandments;
• The Lord reminds his people Israel of what he has done for them.
• He had delivered them from the slavery of Egypt to freedom,
• You might think that this great act of redemption;
• Would motivate and cause the people to listen to God’s law and obey it.
• But it did not always achieve its aim.
• Likewise as we sadly know from our own experience;
• The even greater redemption we have in Christ;
• Should, but if we are honest does not always;
• Motivate us to listen to God’s law and obey it.
• May each of us remember what the Lord has done for each one of us;
• He is the God who made us and redeemed us;
• And in return may we offer him the love and service he deserves!
