I prepared this outline for Advanced Old Testament Theology II (TH 842) at Bob Jones University on February 3, 2004.
Introduction: Deuteronomy comes at a transitional stage in Israel’s history. It stems back to the election of Abraham and the promises to make of him a great nation. A land in which the nation could dwell in safety and prosperity played an important part of that promise. Egypt, however, certainly was not that place. God redeemed His people from the Egyptian bondage and established His covenant with them, making them His own people. Unfortunately, they failed to remain faithful to the covenant stipulations. God had offered them the land, but because of fear, they failed to go up and occupy it, trusting God to fight their battles for them. This resulted in the wilderness wanderings where most of the unbelieving generation died off. Now, God is ready to fulfill His promises to the new generation and cause them to dwell in the land. As the people make this transition, God reestablishes His covenant with them. God has laid down the way of blessing and prosperity in this covenant. It is for the people to respond in wholehearted devotion by loving, fearing, and obeying Him.
I. The Lord of the Covenant
In the covenant relationship that the Lord established, He did not just give regulations and demand obedience. He supplied His people with a reason to serve and obey Him. He did that through a revelation of Himself in His name, His character, and His deeds on behalf of His people.
A. The name of God
1. Yahweh: God’s covenant name יהוה dominates the book of Deuteronomy occurring 550 times in 959 verses. (It occurs independently over 220 times.) This is the highest number of occurrences in the Pentateuch and the third highest in the whole Old Testament (Ps. with 695 and Jer. with 726). The high frequency of יהוה serves to emphasize the covenantal nature of the book. God reveals Himself in relationship to His people.
2. God: The general term אֱלֹהִים occurs quite frequently in Deuteronomy as well (312). It is more frequent only in the Psalms (325). Normally, this term is used to emphasize the sovereignty and transcendence of God. It is quite different from the covenant closeness communicated by יהוה. What is interesting, though, is that out of all the occurrences, it only occurs independently 23 times. Most of the other times it is used in conjunction with יהוה.
3. Yahweh your God: The sovereign God of the universe is the loyal, covenant God of Israel. This expression (יהוה אֱלֹהֶיךָ or יהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם) is very significant in Deuteronomy, occurring 280 times (234 and 46 respectively). The next highest number of occurrences is Joshua with 32. It supports the overall theme of the covenant relationship. Yahweh has entered into a relationship with His people. He is their master; they are His servants. But it has an added emphasis on His sovereignty over them as their master and over their enemies.
B. The character of God
1. The greatness of God: The Lord of the covenant is a great God (5:25; 7:21; 10:17). He is characterized by greatness (3:24; 5:24; 9:26; 11:2; 32:3). As a result, His works are great (4:32, 34; 10:21; 18:16), and His people are a great nation (4:7; 26:5).
2. The uniqueness of God: The covenant Lord also reveals Himself as being unique. There is no other God, and none is like the Lord (4:30, 35, 39; 6:4; 32:7, 39).
3. The jealously of God: Because He is unique and has no rival, He will not tolerate competition. The Lord is greatly angered and jealous of any idols or false gods (4:24; 5:9; 6:15; 29:20; 32:16; 32:21).
4. The sovereignty of God: This covenant Lord is sovereign over all things. He is sovereign over the universe, in creation (4:32; 32:6, 15) and providence (11:14–15, 17), and over the enemies of His people (2:9, 19, 21, 30; 23:5; 32:8, 9). This sovereignty is displayed in the exercise of the divine prerogative in choosing who will be His people (4:37; 7:6, 7; 10:15; 14:2), where they will worship (12:5, 14, 18, 21, 26; 14:23, 24, 25; 15:20; 16:2, 6, 7, 11, 15, 16; 17:8, 10; 18:6; 23:17; 26:2; 31:11), and who will lead them spiritually (18:5; 21:5) and politically (17:15). The term בחר occurs 31 times in Deuteronomy, more frequently than any other book.
5. The faithfulness of God: God is faithful to His covenant commitment and His חֶסֶד to His people (5:10; 7:9; 7:12; 32:4).
C. The acts of God
1. God chose His people (see above). God choose His people graciously and lovingly. They did not merit it, nor were they likely candidates.
2. God redeemed His people from Egypt (4:20, 34, 37; 5:6; 6:12, 21; 7:8; 8:14; 10:19; 11:2–4; 13:5, 10; 16:12; 15:15; 20:1; 24:18, 22).
3. God fights for His people (1:4, 30, 42; 2:21–22, 30–31; 7:1–2, 20–24; 31:4).
4. God makes and keeps promises to His people (1:11; 6:3; 9:28; 12:20; 15:6; 18:2; 19:8; 26:18; 27:3).
5. God gives the land to His people (1:8, 21, 35; 6:10, 17, 18, 23; 8:1; 9:28; 19:3; 27:3; 31:7). Over 50 times, the land is called a gift from God. It is a good land (1:25, 35; 3:25; 4:21, 22; 6:18; 8:7, 10; 9:6; 11:17) flowing with milk and honey (6:3; 11:9; 26:9, 15; 27:3; 31:20).
II. The People of the Covenant
Apart from the name “Israel,” which occurs 72 times, the most common designation for the nation is הָעָם, “the people,” which occurs 38 times, or הָעָם הַזֶּה, “this people,” which occurs another 6 times. They are also referred to as a nation, and notably, a “great nation” (4:6, 7, 8). This is an uncommon title (only 7 other occurrences) and is in direct reference to the fulfillment of the promises made to their forefathers (Gen. 12:2; 17:20; 21:18; 46:3). Though God was fulfilling His promises and had richly blessed the people, they were not without their problems. This privileged people were a sinful people.
A. A privileged people
1. God’s people: Moses or God Himself often identify Israel as God’s people (9:29; 21:8; 26:15, 18; 27:9; 29:13; 32:36, 43; 33:7). He redeemed them and they belong to Him.
2. God’s possession: The people had a unique place of privilege as God’s own special possession (4:20; 7:6; 14:2; 26:18), portion (32:9), and inheritance (9:29). As God’s own people, the nation Israel was set apart from all the other nations. As such, they were holy in position (7:6; 14:2, 21; 26:19; 28:9) and thus were to be holy in practice.
B. A sinful people
Although this people had such an undeserved and unique position of grace, they did not live up to this privilege. Rather, they were an idolatrous (9:12), stubborn, (9:13, 27), foolish, and unwise (32:6, 28).
III. The Covenant
Covenantal language occurs more frequently in Deuteronomy than anywhere else in Scripture. The term בְּרִית occurs 27 times, and the book itself is a renewal of the previous Sinaitic Covenant. In addition, even its literary form focuses on this covenantal theme.
A. The structure of the covenant
In recent years, scholars have nearly unanimously agreed that the literary form of Deuteronomy parallels the common form of vassal treaty.
1. Preamble (1:1–5)
2. Historical prologue (1:6–4:40)
3. Introduction to stipulations (4:41–49)
4. Covenant stipulations (5–26)
a. Basic commandments (5–11)
b. Specific legislation (12–26:15)
5. Exhortation and narrative interlude (26:16–27:10)
6. Curses and blessings (27:11–28:68)
7. Concluding charge (29–30)
8. Covenant deposition and continuity (31)
9. Covenant witnesses (32)
10. The blessing of Moses (33)
11. Narrative epilogue (34)
B. The stipulations of the covenant
1. The Godward stipulations
The primary focus of the covenantal requirements concerns man’s responsibility toward God. He must love, fear, serve, and obey Yahweh alone. The overarching concern of God is that these attitudes and activities be the expression of man’s whole being. The Lord makes this clear by use of the phrase, “with all your heart and with all your soul,” which occurs nine times (4:29; 6:5; 10:12; 11:13; 13:3; 26:16; 30:2, 6, 10).
a. Inward attitudes
(1) Love God: Loving God is the chief duty of man. It is a frequent theme (5:10; 6:5; 7:9; 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 13:3; 19:9; 30:6, 16, 20).
(2) Fear God: Fearing God is another dominate motif in Deuteronomy (4:10; 5:29; 6:2, 13, 24; 8:6; 10:12, 20; 13:4; 14:23; 17:19; 28:58; 31:12, 13).
b. Outward activities
The kind of inward, whole-hearted devotion that God demands must manifest itself externally. The heart will overflow into activity. The people must worship God in the place of His choosing (12:5, 11, 18, 21, 26), walk in His ways (5:33; 8:6; 10:12; 11:22), keep His commandments (4:2, 40; 5:29; 6:2, 17; 7:11; 8:2, 6, 11), obey His voice (4:30; 8:20; 9:23; 13:4, 18; 15:5), serve Him (10:12, 20, 22; 11:13; 13:3–4), and cling to Him (10:20; 11:22; 13:4; 30:20).
2. The manward stipulations
Not only must man love God in obedience to the covenant, but he must also love his fellowman and maintain purity. God’s love for people becomes the model for man to follow (e.g., 10:18, 19).
a. Love: God set high standards for the people’s treatment of one another, especially the needy and less fortunate. The commandments gave specific guidelines about being sensitive to human feelings (12:12, 18; 16:11, 14; 21:10–14) and desires (23:15–16, 24), having respect for human life and property (19:14; 22:1–4, 8), caring for human needs (15:7–11; 24:12–13, 17, 19–22), preserving human dignity (16:18–20; 17:6; 19:15–20; 21:10–14; 22:13–19; 24:1–4, 17), and caring for nature (20:19–20; 25:4).
b. Purity: A second aspect of the covenant stipulations included the people’s purity.
(1) Negatively:
(a) Against internal influences: To maintain this, God commanded capital punishment for apostasy (13:1–8; 17:2–7; 18:20–22), rebellion (17:12; 21:18–21), murder (19:11–13; 24:7), and immorality (22:21–27). The covenant community was to “purge [lit. “burn”; בער] the evil from among [them]” (13:5; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21, 22, 24; 24:7).
(b) Against external influences: God also commanded the total destruction of the Canaanites (2:34; 3:6; 7:2; 20:17).
(2) Positively: God gave Israel certain laws to make them distinct from the other nations (22:5, 9–11). High moral standards were implemented (22:13–20; 23:17–18; 27:20–23).
Conclusion: The book of Deuteronomy was not only a significant work for Israel’s religion under the old covenant, but it also plays an important role in the teaching of Jesus about the new covenant. He quoted from it often, and if foretold of His future prophetic ministry. At the heart of Deuteronomy is the concept of love—love for God and neighbor, which summarizes the whole law, both for the old dispensation and the new.
Sources: Commentaries: Craigie (NICOT), Mayes (NCB), Ridderbos (BSC), Wright (NIBC); Dictionaries: Millar (NDBT), Niehaus (NIDOTTE), Robinson (ISBE); Journals: Rude (BV, 1981); Old Testament Theologies: Kaiser (TOTT), Oehler (TOT), Vos (BT), Zuck (BTOT); Others: Braulik, The Theology of Deuteronomy; Kline, Treaty of the Great King; Millar, Now Choose Life; Rude (Ph.D. Dissertation).