Deuteronomy 29:1-29
“THESE ARE the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab.” Israel were on the borders of the land and God makes another covenant with them “besides the covenant which He made with them at Horeb.”
They could never have entered the land under the covenant made at Horeb, or Sinai. They had broken that when they made the golden calf, and had forfeited all title to enter the land on that ground. Only Moses’ intercession saved them from destruction then.
So the Lord brings in fresh terms. Since the sacrifices had been instituted God could go on with His people, not according to the full purpose of His grace which He will make good in a future day, but here it was government mixed with mercy. “See,” the Lord says, “I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.”
It was a solemn occasion for all Israel were called to stand before the Lord that day — the captains, the elders, the officers with all the men.” Even the little children were present, their wives, and the strangers in the camp, “from the hewer of wood unto the drawer of water.”
Moses recounts to them what the Lord did before their eyes in Egypt, unto Pharaoh and his land, and the signs and great miracles He wrought on their behalf. Here Moses states the solemn fact that in spite of those great miracles they had witnessed their hearts remained untouched. Their consciences had not been reached. Such is the human heart. It is not to be trusted.
Then Moses reminds them of the Lord’s tender care all along the way those forty years. Their clothes had not grown old, nor had their shoes worn out. How wonderful this was! They had not had to eat bread nor drink any stimulating drink. The Lord fed them manna from heaven and they drank water from the smitten rock.
He had been tender in His ways toward them, but He had smitten their enemies, Sihon and Og. How wondrous His grace, but they did not have eyes to see, ears to hear, nor a heart to appreciate what the Lord had done for them. This only shows that no external display of God’s power or goodness, will change the heart of man, for unless God by His Spirit works in us there is no lasting effect.
It is nice to see that the little children were present when this covenant was made. How precious to think that we are never lost in the crowd to God. He knows us individually and seeks our blessing according to His own purposes of love and grace.
There is a solemn warning to anyone who hardened his heart in the face of this lovely appeal and thought he could do as he liked without hearkening to the voice of the Lord. The Lord would not spare him. There are many who despise the grace of God and go on in their sins, but they will not escape His judgment.
“The secret things belong unto the Lord our God.” The “revealed things” which belong unto us and our children forever, “that we may do all the words of this law,” are those things in the previous chapter, which Israel did not do. But when they had failed completely, had lost their land and all hope was gone, God had treasured up, in secret, ways by which He would bring His people into blessing that is by grace, all because of the work of Christ upon the cross.
ML-02/08/1976