Old Testament Scriptural Summaries and Commentary

Deuteronomy , Chapters 4; 6:1-12; 7:1-4; 8; 11:18-21; 13:1-8; 16: 2, 11, 16; 32; 34;

Gospel Doctrine Class, Sunday School Lesson 17 - "Beware Lest Thou Forget"

Book reference, The Old Testament Made Easier, Part 2, by David J. Ridges

Publisher Cedar Fort, Springville, Utah

The Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

The word “Deuteronomy” means “repetition of the law" (see Bible Dictionary).  In this book, as Moses’ time with the children of Israel ends, he will deliver three last sermons to his people.  Deuteronomy is the most quoted scripture by Old Testament prophets of all the five books of Moses   (David J. Ridges, The Old Testament Made Easier, part 2, p. 217).

Chapter 4 - A Summary of important events

"Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought [take anything] from it.  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baal-peor [because many of you participated in Baal worship with its sexual immorality—see numbers 25: 1-3]; for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you [about 24,000] (see Numbers 25:9)  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you [still] this day (vv. 4:1-4).

"Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me.…Keep therefore and do them in the sight of the nations which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them…that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?  Only take heed to thyself and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen,…but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons.  Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb [Sinai].… And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire.…And the LORD spake unto you; ye heard the voice of the words.…And he declared unto you his covenant… ten commandments, and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.  And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments. that ye might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it (vv. 4:5-14).

"But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of Egypt to be unto him a people of inheritance [a covenant people] as ye are this day.  Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes (see Numbers 20:7-8, 11-12) and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land [the land of Canaan]which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.  But I must die [be translated] in this land;… but ye shall go over and possess that good land.  Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD…and make you a graven image or the likeness of any thing: which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God" (vv.4:20-24).

"And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations.… And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.  But if thou shalt seek the LORD thy God thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.  When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee; even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;  (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee; neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them (vv. 4:25-31).

"Ask now…Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire [on Mount Sinai], as thou hast heard, and live?… [And] according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? [Has any nation ever had so many obvious signs and wonders as the Lord did for you to free you from Egypt?]  Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.  Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee; and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.  And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and he brought thee…with his mighty power out of Egypt; To drive out nations from before thee greater and mightier than thou art;…that the LORD he is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath; there is none else.  Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments,…that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee (vv. 4:32-40).

"Then Moses severed [designated] three cities [on the east side of the Jordan River] that the slayer might flee thither which should kill his neighbour  unawares [accidentally];…namely Bezer,… Ramoth,… and Golan [cities of refuge].… And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt.  [On] this side [of] Jordan in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Hesbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote,…they possessed his land and the land of Og king of Bashan,…from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion which is Hermon; and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah" (vv. 4:41-49).

Chapter 6:1-12 - "Beware lest thou forget the Lord"

"Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which the LORD your God commanded to teach you.…That thou mightest fear [respect and reverence] the LORD…that thy days may be prolonged;… that ye may increase mightily.  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.  And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart; And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand [symbolic of actions] and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes [symbolic of keeping one’s eyes on the Lord for direction, Ridges, pt. 2, p. 238].  And thou shalt write them upon the posts [doorposts] of thy house and on thy gates (vv. 6:1-9). 

"And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

"And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

 "Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage" (vv. 6:10:-12).

Chapter 7:1-4 - Utterly destroy the nations

"When the LORD shall bring thee into the land…to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee:…thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them [the Canaanites]; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.  Neither shalt thou make marriages with them:…for they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: But thus shall ye deal with them; destroy their altars, break down their images [idols], cut down their groves, burn their graven images with fire" (vv. 7:1-4).

Ridges comments on the commandment to "cut down their groves: "Sexual immorality accompanied most idol worship of the time.  Groves of trees were conveniently located around the idols for such purposes.  Thus, destroying the groves was part of getting rid of all things associated with the abomination of worshiping idols" (p. 241).

Chapter 8 - The Lord's reasons for testing Israel

"All the commandments shall ye observe that ye may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land.   And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or no" (vv. 8:1-2).

"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25). 

"And he humbled thee, suffered [allowed] thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna,… that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live (see Matt. 4:4).  Thy raiment [clothing] waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.…As a man chasteneth his son, so the  LORD thy God chasteneth thee.  Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways and to fear him.  For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land;… and thou shalt not lack any thing in it (vv. 8:3-7, 9).

"Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God when thou hast eaten and art full and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied.  Then thine heart be lifted up [with pride] and thou forget the LORD.…And thou say in thine heart, my power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.  But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth that he may establish his covenant.…And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God,… ye shall surely perish.  As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God" (vv. 8:11-20).

President Brigham Young said: “The worst fear that I have about [members of this Church] is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and his people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear for them is that they cannot stand wealth; and yet they have to be tried with riches, for they will become the richest people on this earth” (in Preston Nibley, Brigham Young: The Man and His Work [1936], 128).

Chapter 11:18-21- Israel must learn God's laws and teach them

"Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes (see Deut. 6:8-9).

 (Note that frontlets were “strips of parchment on which were written four passages of scripture … and which were rolled up and attached to bands of leather worn … around the forehead or around the arm” [Bible Dictionary, “Frontlets,” p. 676]).

 "And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. 

"And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:

 "That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth"  (vv. 11:18-21).

Chapter 13:1-11- The danger of following false prophets

"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,… saying, Let us go after other gods,…Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer.  Ye shall walk after the LORD your God.…And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God.…So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.  If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend…entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,… Thou shalt not consent unto him,…but thou shalt surely kill him.…And thou shalt stone him with stones that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD.  And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you (vv. 13:1-11). 

Chapter 16:2, 11, 16 - Observance of feasts

"Thou shalt therefore sacrifice the passover unto the LORD thy God, of the flock and the herd, in the place which the LORD shall choose to place his name there.

"And thou shalt rejoice before the LORD thy God, thou and thy son, and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, that are among you, in the place which the LORD thy God hath chosen to place his name there.

"Three times in a year shall all males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the LORD empty.

"Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee."

Chapter 32 – The Song of Moses/Moses is translated

Ridges explains that a song is “a literary structure in which an author presents the thoughts of his or her heart portraying feelings, emotions, hopes and dreams, praising God, instructing and expressing concerns” (Ridges, pt. 2, p. 281).  It should be read in its entirety.  Therefore, I will give only the basic themes as outlined by Ridges, pt. 2, 281-285.

(1) The Lord is the Rock: “his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment [fair]” (32:4). 

(2) Israel was organized in the premortal existence.  “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, …he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel” (v. 32:8). 

(3) The Lord nourishes His people with tenderness and care.  “He found him [the children of Israel] in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye” (v. 32:10). 

(4) Prosperity.  “But Jeshurun [righteous Israel] waxed fat then he forsook God which made him and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation” (v. 32:15).

(5) Pride and wickedness.  “They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods [idol worship], with abominations provoked they him to anger” (v. 32:16). 

(6) Withdrawal of the Lord’s blessings.  “And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them.  And he said, I will hide my face from them” (vv. 32:19-20). 

(7) Destruction.  “I will heap mischiefs [destructions] upon them” (v. 32:23). 

(8) Scattering of Israel.  “I said, I would scatter them into corners [throughout the earth]” (v. 32:26). 

(9) The wicked will be destroyed in the Lord’s due time. “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence” (v. 32:35). 

(10) False gods cannot save you.  “Where are their gods in whom they trusted?  Let them rise up and help you and be your protection” (vv. 32:37-38). 

(11) Israel will yet be redeemed.  “Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people” (v. 32:43).

"And Moses came and spake all the words of this song in the ears of the people…And he said unto them, Set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day, which ye shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.  For it is not a vain [useless] thing for you; because it is your life: and through this thing ye shall prolong your days in the land, whither ye go over Jordan to possess it" (vv. 32:44-47).

Chapter 32, verses 48-52 refer to the death of Moses.  Ridges quotes the Bible Dictionary as follows:

"As was the case with many of the ancient prophets, Moses' ministry extended beyond the limits of his own mortal lifetime.  In company with Elijah he came to the Mount of Transfiguration and bestowed keys of the priesthood upon Peter, James, and John (Matt. 17:3-4; Mark 9:4-9; Luke 9:30; D&C 63:21; HC 3:387).  From this event, which occurred before the resurrection of Jesus, we understand that Moses was a translated being and had not died as reported in Deut. 34 (Alma 45:19).…Had he been a spirit only, he could not have performed the work on the mount of giving the keys to the mortal Peter, James, and John (cf. D&C 129)."

Chapter 34 - Moses is mourned/Joshua becomes the new leader

"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho and the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan [north of the Sea of Galilee] (Ridges, pt. 2, p. 290).…So Moses the servant of the LORD died [was translated] there in the land of Moab according to the word of the LORD, but no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day (vv. 34:1, 5-6). 

"And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: [was translated] his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated (v. 34:7).  And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days.…And Joshua…was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses (v. 34:9).  And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses whom the LORD knew face to face, In all the signs and the wonders, which the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and all his land" (34:10-11).