And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, the ten words; and he wrote them on two tables of stone.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and ordinances, that ye might do them in the land whither ye are passing over to possess it.
Moses is looking back at Horeb. God spoke from the fire and wrote ten commandments on stone. Then He told Moses to teach a further set of statutes and rules. Two questions follow. Why teach more when God had already spoken? And why aim the teaching at a land Israel had not yet entered?
Everything turns on the words "that you might do them." Moses did not teach the statutes so that Israel could debate them.
"And the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments" — not so that they might discuss them, sit in judgment on them, or argue about them, but — "that you might do them." That is the grand old story, the theme of obedience that runs through Deuteronomy, most precious! It holds true whether they are outside the land or — "in the land that you are going over to possess."
(Where these writers say "judgments," the ESV reads "rules.")
The verse names two acts at Horeb. God wrote the ten commandments Himself. At the same moment He told Moses to teach more, and He aimed that teaching at Canaan.
The Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire. Israel saw no form, but they heard His voice (v.12). God declared His covenant, and along with it He wrote the ten commandments on two tablets of stone (v.13). At the same time He commanded Moses to teach Israel His statutes and judgments (v.14). This was not only for the wilderness journey, but also with their crossing into the land of Canaan in view. Forty years in the wilderness made no difference to Israel's duty to keep the law. They had to keep it steadily in the land of Canaan too.
At Horeb Israel saw no likeness — only a voice. God showed them no shape to copy. That fact is the ground of the chapter's warning against idols.
Here lies the solid ground of the appeal against idolatry. They saw nothing. God did not show Himself to them. He did not take any bodily shape from which they might make an image. He gave them His word, His holy commandments, so plain that a child could understand them... They had no need to start imagining what God was like. That was the very sin they were so faithfully warned against. God called them to hear His voice, not to see His shape — to obey His commandments, not to make an image of Him.
The authority of that word is what shuts idolatry out. It is also the base on which God would govern this nation.
In reminding them of Horeb, he insists on the privilege they had enjoyed in nearness to God. God Himself had spoken to them out of the fire, and they saw no likeness. He insists too on the authority of the word — its majesty — which shuts out all thought of idolatry... Such is the basis of the government of this people.
The verse ties the teaching to a land Israel had not yet entered. Listening and doing is the road in, and one writer calls this a principle that still holds.
Here we see very clearly the special mark of the whole book of Deuteronomy. "Listen," and "do"; that you may "live" and "possess." This is a universal and lasting principle. It was true for Israel, and it is true for us. The path of life and the true secret of possession is simple obedience to God's holy commandments... God has given us His word, not to speculate about it or discuss it, but so that we may obey it.
Verse 6 promises that keeping these statutes would be Israel's wisdom. One writer asks whether anyone ever gained it, and points to Christ for the answer.
The law given to Israel included "statutes and judgments," as verse 5 states, as well as the ten commandments. All these were binding on them. In verse 6 Moses tells them that keeping and doing them would be "your wisdom and your understanding." Israel never had that "wisdom," and neither have we. The believer today, however, is "in Christ Jesus," and He is "made to us wisdom," as 1 Corinthians 1:30 tells us. Here is perfect wisdom indeed!
- Voice — God spoke from the fire and showed no form. He gave Israel words to obey, not a shape to copy.
- Covenant — God wrote the ten commandments on stone. He sent the statutes and rules through Moses, and both bound Israel alike.
- Teaching — Moses taught the statutes for one purpose. Israel was to do them, not debate them.
- Doing — listen, then do, and you will live and possess. That pattern runs through the whole book: God gave His word for obedience, not speculation.
- Land — the teaching reached past the wilderness into Canaan. Forty years changed nothing, and the wisdom Israel never reached the believer now has in Christ.