The title of this book means second law, and re-enacts the Exodus, since the first one ended with 38 years of wilderness wandering and no entry to the promised land as intended by God.

v1 reveals whose words these are: “These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the desert east of the Jordan”. Understanding the context of these words plunges us into a tense, dramatic story, which is far from tedious.

Moses will go on to give three long speeches or discourses to the people.  He has been their leader for nearly forty years.  A journey to the promised land, which should have taken two weeks (and indeed, they did reach its borders after only 11 days) and which should have happened 40 years ago is finally about to happen. 

God has told Moses he will not enter the land. He fell short of God’s requirements.  Neither will all that older generation, who took part in the referendum whether to enter 40 years previously, now enter the land. God sovereignly prevents entering until all that generation has died.

Moreover, Moses knows he has only a week to live.  Three long speeches to give and maybe three days in which to write them down. As one commentator put it, he speaks to affect them and records to remind them. Maybe, he alternated the days he had left to speak and then write.  In any case, knowing this adds immediate tension to the story. Only two faithful servants from that past generation will enter the land:  Joshua and Caleb.  They had wanted to obey God in the first place as young men and now, elderly, are elected by him to lead the people in.

Moses needs to re-iterate the Law, because as we saw yesterday in Paul’s initial teaching of the Thessalonians, the teaching did not stick. Also, the next generation do not know the Law and have only faint if any memory of what God did for them coming out of Egypt and slavery.  In his first speech, the thrust of Moses argument will be to hammer home confirmation of the people’s faithlessness thus far.  They need to hear afresh the words of the covenant so as to be inspired to faithfulness and trust in God.

Many challenges lie ahead of entering the land, trust in God will be essential to their success.  This basic premise of the book has great relevance to Christians too.   Being a Christian is not a walk in the park.  We have enemies to overcome within and outside ourselves.

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As you begin to study this book, see how many applications to your own Christian walk you can see in it.