1It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you today, that Yahweh your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2All these blessings will come upon you, and overtake you, if you listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. 3You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field. 4You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock. 5Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed. 6You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out. 7Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.
The Hebrew name for Deuteronomy is Devarim meaning words, but the Greek title means ‘second Law.’ Moses didn’t just call the people together to repeat the law for the sake of it, there were several reasons behind it.
Moses knew that the days ahead would be difficult, they may be heading to the Promised Land but they were going to have to fight for it. For the people of God, the best strategy for defeating the enemy was very simple, stay close to God.
Moses also knew that his death was imminent and he would not be going with them to the Promised Land. Deuteronomy in some ways is Moses death bed speech. After forty years of leadership, these are the words that he carefully chose to leave the Israelites with. Moses profound words were carried with them not just on scrolls but in their hearts as they embarked on their next quest, ‘Be the people God has called you to be.’
Finally, this is a new generation of Israelites, those that left Egypt and had camped at Mount Sinai were now gone. Moses wanted the next generation to understand the fullness of God and what it meant to be his people. He is the eternal God, not just a memory from the past but the God of all generations and all times.
We may not be Israelites on the banks of the Jordan River, but we still have much to learn from Deuteronomy. Like Moses, we need to share the message of the living God to each generation. We need to stay close to him and be the people he has called us to be.