Original Meaning

The Prologue to the Second Address (4:44–5:1a)

THE BOUNDARIES OF MOSES’ long second address (4:44–26:19; 28:1–29:1[28:69]) are fixed by the narrative prologue (4:44–5:1a) and the narrative colophon in 29:1[28:69].1 The prologue (4:44–5:1a) begins with a double heading, consisting of vv. 44 and 45 respectively. The NIV rendering of tôrâ as “law” in the first heading misconstrues both the word and the content of the second address, since little of chapters 5–11 and 12–18 actually fits the literary category of “law.” As Moses had declared in 4:1 and will reiterate in 5:1 and 6:1, he stands before the people as a pastor-teacher, seeking to inspire his audience with a particular vision of God and to convince them to order their lives accordingly. On first sight, verse 45 seems to provide a more natural introduction to the second address (cf. 4:1, 5, 8, 14) than verse 44, since the expression “decrees and laws” occurs at critical junctures in the speech.2 But here this pair is preceded by a third expression, “stipulations.” The article on all these expressions point to the covenant stipulations given at Sinai and other regulations delivered prior to the present addresses (cf. Num. 36:13).

Like the introduction to the first address, the prologue to the second describes the historical context of the speech. By itself, verse 45 seems to suggest that Moses delivered this address when the Israelites left Egypt. However, in verse 46 he clarifies the situation, linking the speech to the defeat of the Amorite kings and describing the geographical scope of those campaigns. In so doing he collapses the first forty years of Israel’s history as a nation into one short statement.3 The prologue concludes in 5:1a with the notice of Moses’ summons to the people to hear him. The use of the word “he said” reminds the reader to interpret what follows as the address of a pastor rather than laws promulgated by a legislator.

The Context of the Revelation of Covenant Relationship (5:1b–5)

THE SECOND ADDRESS DIVIDES into two parts. The first (5:1b–11:32) is largely sermonic, while parts of the second (12:1–29:1[28:69]) are more formal, making more direct use of previously revealed prescriptions and concluding with covenant blessings and curses. However, throughout we hear the voice of Moses the pastor.4 In the first we hear a pastoral exhortation to covenant faith, and in the second more detailed pastoral application of covenant faith to life.

Chapters 5–11 subdivide into three parts, each of which begins with “Hear, O Israel” (5:1b; 6:4; 9:1).5 Homiletically, these three parts represent three constituents of authoritative preaching: (1) the Scripture lesson (5:1b–6:3), highlighting the foundations of covenant relationship; (2) the theology arising from the Scripture (6:4–8:20), focusing on the essence of covenant relationship; (3) the appropriate response arising from that theology (9:1–11:32), demonstrating love for Yahweh as evidence of covenant relationship.6

It is fitting that Moses should begin this discourse on Yahweh’s relationship with Israel by reciting the original covenant document, the Decalogue (cf. 4:13). This was the official testament to the covenant.7 Since most in this generation had grown up after the original revelation at Sinai, it was especially important for them to hear these words from Moses himself.

Moses’ purpose in 5:1b–5 is twofold: to challenge the present generation to seize hold of what their parents had rejected at Sinai, and to highlight the importance of his teaching. His message is the same as that revealed at Sinai, and he delivers it as the very message of God.

With the opening summons, “Hear, O Israel,” Moses both challenges his hearers to listen and calls for obedience to the will of the Suzerain. But this summons also introduces the content of Moses’ message: “the decrees and laws,” that is, the revelation given by Yahweh through Moses at Sinai. Given this introduction, Moses’ hearers may have expected him to launch immediately into instructions regarding specific laws. However, the preacher digresses in verses 2–5, which in turn leads to a lengthy digression covering chapters 5–11. Not until 11:32 does he pick up the train of thought begun here. As in 4:1, with this summons Moses also declares the goal of his address: the laws are to be “learned” and rigorously applied.8

However, before Moses gets to the “decrees and laws,” he declares shockingly that Yahweh did not make a covenant with “our fathers” at Horeb, but “with us,” that is, the people standing before him (vv. 2–3). He reiterates this point in verse 3 with seven expressions: “with us,” “we,” “these,” “here,” “today,” “all of us,” “[who are] living.” But this declaration raises a problem: How could Yahweh make a covenant with this generation at Horeb, when most of them had not yet been born? Equally problematic is the reference to “your fathers” in verse 3. If Moses had in mind the former generation, his statement contradicts Exodus 19–24, according to which God had in fact made the covenant with the fathers.

Some account for the problem by treating 5:2–5 as a late insertion;9 others suggest that in Deuteronomy “fathers” always refers to the patriarchs,10 in which case the contrast here is between the Horeb covenant and the covenant God made with Abraham. But Deuteronomy blurs the distinctions between these covenants, interpreting the covenant rituals at Horeb and in Moab as the means whereby the patriarchs’ descendants were incorporated in the covenant made originally with them (cf. Gen. 17:7). It is most natural to treat “your fathers” as the exodus generation. The association of “the stipulations, decrees and laws” with the descendants of Israel “when they came out of Egypt” in 4:45 suggests this was how the editor understood the matter.

Moses’ comment should not be interpreted literally but as a rhetorical statement, acknowledging the ineffectiveness of the covenant to which the exodus generation had signed on (cf. 1:19–40; 9:7–21). But Yahweh’s offer remains on the table, presently to be received by those gathered on the plains of Moab.11 This is their chance to sign on to the covenant ratified at Horeb whose terms are embodied in the Decalogue, as well as the “decrees and laws.”12

Verses 4–5 summarize the roles played by the respective parties when Yahweh made his covenant with Israel at Horeb. On the one hand, Yahweh spoke directly with the people from the midst of the fire (v. 4). But on the other hand, Moses stood between Yahweh and the people to declare the divine word to them (v. 5). Moses’ parenthetical comment is an interruptive reminder that the revelation at Sinai involved two dimensions: direct divine speech and mediated divine speech. As he will iterate in verse 22, the people heard only the Ten Words directly from Yahweh; the rest was communicated from God to his people via Moses. His momentary recollection of the people’s fearful response to the revelation from the fire, which precipitated his assuming the role of mediator thereafter, will be fleshed out in verses 22–33.

Bridging Contexts

MOSES’ INTRODUCTION TO THE second address reiterates that Yahweh is a communicating deity. What separates him from other gods is not only that he speaks, but also that he speaks in a language humans can understand. This notion is picked up frequently in the prophets. In the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel we often read something like this, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying.”13 But Ezekiel highlights Yahweh as a communicating God more specifically with the repeated expanded version of the divine self-introduction formula: “I am Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do [what I have said]” (pers. trans.).14 As the opening to the book of Hebrews declares, Yahweh has spoken in the past in many contexts and in many different ways. Sometimes he has spoken directly, sometimes through a mediator, but always his revelation of himself has been a gracious act of self-disclosure. At Horeb Yahweh spoke through Moses his mediator, but he also spoke directly from the midst of the fire.

These two forms of communication are recognized in John 1:17: “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The directness of God’s speech climaxes in the incarnation, for in the Son, Jesus Christ, Yahweh has personally entered our world and spoken with a clarity never seen before. The prologue to the gospel of John recognizes this not only by declaring that in the beginning the Word was God, but also that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and in him we behold the glory of Yahweh, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Contemporary Significance

IT IS POSSIBLE FOR us today to hear the voice of God and still not to hear the voice of God. The exodus generation heard Yahweh’s voice clearly, but because of the hardness of their hearts, they rejected what they heard. Consequently, like the branches of a vine that refuses to bear fruit (John 15:6), they were cut off by the vinedresser and thrown into the fire. Those who abide in the vine bear the fruit of belief and covenant commitment (love) shown in obedience to the revealed will of God. This passage declares that if we reject the revelation of God, we reject God himself.

But what does it mean to receive the revelation of God? It is surely more than decorating the document with a nice cover and putting it on the coffee table as ornamentation. Yahweh’s goal in revealing his will to his people is to affect life. They are to hear the decrees and laws that they might learn them and do them. This does not mean signing high-sounding creedal statements about one’s high view of Scripture, but actually doing what God expects of those whom he has redeemed. In Jesus’ words, those who love him (i.e., are covenantally committed to him) will keep his commands (John 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10).

But how will God’s people walk in the ways of the Lord if they have not learned his ways, and how will they learn those ways if they have not heard his revelation? This brief text highlights the indispensable role of the ministry of the Word in the corporate worship of God’s people. Pastors today would do well to follow the model of Moses, in teaching the Word of God clearly, systematically, and with practical intent.