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Deuteronomy 29:1

Moses had completed with the law and the covenant blessings and courses.  In the next few chapters, he would continue to encourage their obedience and try to embed the covenant into their thinking and lives. 

The covenant in Deuteronomy is considered distinct from that at Horeb.  However, the only real difference is the audience.  This generation had the poor example of the previous generation to learn from.  They knew God promises were true and that He expected obedience derived from faith (trust).  They would need the Lord would they entered the land.

Deuteronomy 29:2-9

There was a collective national experience that served as a testimony to these people.  The Lord had brought them through a great journey.  He certainly didn’t do all that to abandon them at the Jordan.  He called for their faith, based on previous witness, to walk forward into the Land of Promise.  They had seen and experienced so much – all testifying to the Lord’s care and provision.

Up until that day, the Lord had not given them the ability to see the importance of what was about to happen.  Their clothes had no worn out.  Had they not noticed this?  Their sandals were still intact after all the rough miles of walking.  They had not eaten a normal meal during the forty years wandering.  They were sustained by bread and manna.

They were not just sustained in their needs but they were also protected by the hand of the Lord.  It was by His hand they conquered Sihon and Og.  These victories put the entire area on notice.

These facts were to establish them stronger in the Lord and their commitment to the covenant.  This would lead to their prosperity in the land.

Deuteronomy 29:10-13

They stood before the Lord that day, from the least to the greatest, to enter into a covenant with Him.  This included the stranger or alien among them.  No one was exempt from the covenant.  The Lord’s oath was to be their God, and He would establish them as His people.  This is the fulfillment of the promise He gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Gen 12:1-3; 15:1-6, 18; 28:13; 35:12; 48:21).

Deuteronomy 29:14-28

The covenant wasn’t made with that present generation alone.  The people were to consider that they represented all the future generations.  They stood before God on behalf of their heritage and future.  This was done for God’s people so they would not be anyone who turned away to other gods.  If they did, they would experience the bitterness or wormwood of their choices – it was the taste of delusion, of believing life would be better with some other god.

In being part of the covenant, they were to understand that the curses were just as much part of it.  There was to be no one who thought they could follow their own heart but bless themselves believing they would have peace.

The drunkard could not be included among the sober.  The Lord would deal with the unfaithful.  The curses would settle on him.  He would be removed and cursed.  He would stand as an example to the next generations. 

What appeared to be an example of the Lord dealing with one person appears to speak of the entire nation by verse 23.  Even the other nations would testify against them, knowing they were thrown out of the land because they had turned away from God.

Deuteronomy 29:29

This is a general warning to those who think they can conceal sins.  Noting escapes the eyes of the Lord. 

©2007, 2023 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater