The LORD, through Moses, instructs them that He had commanded him to make a covenant in the land of Moab in addition to the covenant which he had made with Israel, some 40 years before, at Mount Sinai (Horeb) (v1) (see Exodus 24:7,8). By now most of the people involved had died in wilderness. There was a new generation now, so Moses restated the covenant for this new generation. It was vital that they knew and kept God’s promise with them.
You will have heard it said that ‘if I could see a sign, I would believe’. Seeing is not always believing, contrary to what many people think. There were many events in the Bible where people saw amazing things, astounding miracles performed by God, but they didn’t believe Him and were totally unaffected by what they saw. Some maybe didn’t even notice them or see them. In verses 2-4, Moses called all the people together and reminded them that they had seen all that The LORD had done in Egypt, great trials, signs and wonders, but The LORD had not given a heart to perceive, eyes to see and ears to hear, to that very day.
They had seen the plagues, the death of the firstborn at the first Passover, the parting of the Red Sea when they walked across on dry land and then the Egyptian armies being drowned at the very same spot, provision of manna and water to name but few. However, the miracles, signs and wonders did not cause them to believe in God, they did not bring about a change in their hearts unless The LORD brought about such change.
As I said, many today say that if they saw a sign they would believe, and, yet the greatest miracle is God changing a person’s life, but others don’t see that and are completely unmoved by it. In Luke 16 Jesus told the story about the rich man and Lazarus, the poor man. Both men died, the rich man went to hell and the poor man to heaven. From hell and in torment, he asked if Lazarus could help him, even to the point of seeing that his brothers didn’t follow him to hell. He said that if someone rose from the dead they would believe, but Jesus said that they wouldn’t believe even if someone did rise from the dead.
Moses went on to remind them (v5-9) that they had experienced miracles during their forty years in the wilderness. Their clothes and their shoes did not wear out, they lived without eating bread or drinking wine or similar drink. God preserved them so that they would know that He is The LORD God. We all know that clothes and shoes do not really last forty years and that we might survive for a few days or months without food and drink, but not forty years. They also defeated Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan when they attacked them. God gave them their attacker’s land and the Reubenites, Gadites and half tribe of Manasseh occupied it.
All these were amazing miracles and how on earth could they fail to honour The LORD, serve and obey Him. We too, have been blessed beyond measure. We, who are believers, have been rescued from the penalty of sin by The Lord Jesus Christ going to the cross to bear our sin. We have been born again and given new life for eternity and a home in heaven. We are not promised that we will not face difficulties and problems, but we are promised that The Lord will never leave us, nor forsake us.
Moses told them that all were included from the oldest to the youngest, from leaders to the servants, and could enter into the covenant (v10-15). God wanted them all to enter into the covenant, He wanted them all for Himself, He wants to be their God and them to be His people. He even included those not yet born.
The offer of salvation is open to all, and our responsibility is to preach the Gospel to everyone and make disciples. God does not discriminate, He is not just looking for leaders, the talented, the clever and the rich, but the lowly, the poor and the young. We all need salvation; we have all sinned. None of us are good enough, nor ever will be. We cannot earn it, nor pay for it. It is all due to the grace of God.
God, in His mercy, told them that there were consequences if they broke the covenant (v16-20). He reminded them, through Moses, that when they were in Egypt and when they passed through the nations on their way, they saw the idols and abominations which those nations worshiped and committed. Those things were a warning to them not to turn away from the living God, who had kept them. It was made clear that if they did those things, they too would suffer the consequences, even those who were confident in themselves that they were at peace, when they were far from it. He made it clear that the two opposites could not go together, just like the drunkard and the sober. There were to be no double standards and no presumption of the grace of God when they went their own way. God would show His anger towards evil and that they would no longer be under His protection.
The prophet Jeremiah later told them of God’s coming judgment upon Jerusalem when they did not want to hear his message. False prophets, claiming to speak for God, were telling them that everything was fine, and twice he used the phrase ‘they say peace, peace when there is no peace’ (Jeremiah 6:14 and 8:11). Jeremiah was telling them that unless drastic measures were taken to right their wrongs, that they would die, but the false prophets were telling them not to listen to him. They were giving them false assurances, telling them that what they were doing wasn’t serious. Jeremiah was proved to be correct as they were soon taken into captivity by Babylon.
The prophet Ezekiel said exactly the same thing (Ezekiel 13:10-17) that they were being led astray by false prophets and that God would pour out His wrath upon them. He said that they were whitewashing over their sins, and that God would overlook them.
Isaiah said that people would call good evil and evil good, and we are certainly seeing that today (Isaiah 5:20). And “There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.” (Isaiah 48:22)
There are still false teachers today issuing false promises of peace and prosperity. God does not promise that. There are some who teach that God doesn’t treat sin seriously or deny eternal judgment for those who do not repent.
Paul, writing to Timothy said that ‘the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths’ (2 Timothy 4:2-4)
God, again in His mercy, told them of the reason for judgment for those who did not keep the covenant – it was so that the coming generation and the foreigner who comes to live in your land will see it and be warned against disobeying The LORD. Notice that they would liken it to the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim. The kings of those latter two nations joined with Sodom and Gomorrah in a rebellion against four kings. (Genesis 14:8). Many today may dispute those things, but they would not. They would ask the question “Why does The LORD do this?” And the answer would be clear (v25-28)- “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; for they went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not given to them. Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against this land, to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. And the LORD uprooted them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.” Not only was it a warning for their descendants but for all nations (v24).
Moses reminded them that God has secrets, after all He is God and He knows everything, and He may not choose to reveal everything to us. “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (v29) If He does reveal things to us, we must take careful notice of them. God reveals them to us for a reason; thus, they are vitally important. If He does reveal them to us, we must obey for they will influence the way we live. He wants the very best for us, He has come to give us life and life more abundant.
