18 lest there be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart is turning to-day from Jehovah our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations, lest there be in you a root fruitful of gall and wormwood:
`Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be enticed, and ye have turned aside, and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them, and the anger of Jehovah hath burned against you, and He hath restrained the heavens, and there is no rain, and the ground doth not give her increase, and ye have perished hastily from off the good land which Jehovah is giving to you.
`When there ariseth in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he hath given unto thee a sign or wonder, and the sign and the wonder hath come which he hath spoken of unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods (which thou hast not known), and serve them, thou dost not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of the dream, for Jehovah your God is trying you, to know whether ye are loving Jehovah your God with all your heart, and with all your soul; after Jehovah your God ye walk, and Him ye fear, and His commands ye keep, and to His voice ye hearken, and Him ye serve, and to Him ye cleave. `And that prophet, or that dreamer of the dream, is put to death, for he hath spoken apostacy against Jehovah your God (who is bringing you out of the land of Egypt, and hath ransomed you out of a house of servants), to drive you out of the way in which Jehovah thy God hath commanded thee to walk, and thou hast put away the evil thing from thy midst. `When thy brother -- son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend who `is' as thine own soul -- doth move thee, in secret, saying, Let us go and serve other gods -- (which thou hast not known, thou and thy fathers, of the gods of the peoples who `are' round about you, who are near unto thee, or who are far off from thee, from the end of the earth even unto the end of the earth) -- thou dost not consent to him, nor hearken unto him, nor doth thine eye have pity on him, nor dost thou spare, nor dost thou cover him over. `But thou dost surely kill him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and thou hast stoned him with stones, and he hath died, for he hath sought to drive thee away from Jehovah thy God, who is bringing thee out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of servants; and all Israel do hear and fear, and add not to do like this evil thing in thy midst. `When thou hearest, in one of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to dwell there, `one' saying, Men, sons of worthlessness, have gone out of thy midst, and they force away the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known -- and thou hast enquired, and searched, and asked diligently, and lo, truth; the thing is established; this abomination hath been done in thy midst: `Thou dost surely smite the inhabitants of that city by the mouth of the sword; devoting it, and all that `is' in it, even its cattle, by the mouth of the sword;
`When there is found in thy midst, in one of thy cities which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, a man or a woman who doth the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah thy God by transgressing His covenant, and he doth go and serve other gods, and doth bow himself to them, and to the sun, or to the moon, or to any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded -- and it hath been declared to thee, and thou hast heard, and hast searched diligently, and lo, truth; the thing is established; this abomination hath been done in Israel -- `Then thou hast brought out that man, or that woman, who hath done this evil thing, unto thy gates -- the man or the woman -- and thou hast stoned them with stones, and they have died. By the mouth of two witnesses or of three witnesses is he who is dead put to death; he is not put to death by the mouth of one witness; the hand of the witnesses is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Deuteronomy 29
Commentary on Deuteronomy 29 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 29
De 29:1-29. An Exhortation to Obedience.
1. These are the words of the covenant—The discourse of Moses is continued, and the subject of that discourse was Israel's covenant with God, the privileges it conferred, and the obligations it imposed.
beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb—It was substantially the same; but it was renewed now, in different circumstances. They had violated its conditions. Moses rehearses these, that they might have a better knowledge of its conditions and be more disposed to comply with them.
2. Moses called unto all Israel, … Ye have seen all that the Lord did, &c.—This appeal to the experience of the people, though made generally, was applicable only to that portion of them who had been very young at the period of the Exodus, and who remembered the marvellous transactions that preceded and followed that era. Yet, alas! those wonderful events made no good impression upon them (De 29:4). They were strangers to that grace of wisdom which is liberally given to all who ask it; and their insensibility was all the more inexcusable that so many miracles had been performed which might have led to a certain conviction of the presence and the power of God with them. The preservation of their clothes and shoes, the supply of daily food and fresh water—these continued without interruption or diminution during so many years' sojourn in the desert. They were miracles which unmistakably proclaimed the immediate hand of God and were performed for the express purpose of training them to a practical knowledge of, and habitual confidence in, Him. Their experience of this extraordinary goodness and care, together with their remembrance of the brilliant successes by which, with little exertion or loss on their part, God enabled them to acquire the valuable territory on which they stood, is mentioned again to enforce a faithful adherence to the covenant, as the direct and sure means of obtaining its promised blessings.
10-29. Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God—The whole congregation of Israel, of all ages and conditions, all—young as well as old; menials as well as masters; native Israelites as well as naturalized strangers—all were assembled before the tabernacle to renew the Sinaitic covenant. None of them were allowed to consider themselves as exempt from the terms of that national compact, lest any lapsing into idolatry might prove a root of bitterness, spreading its noxious seed and corrupt influence all around (compare Heb 12:15). It was of the greatest consequence thus to reach the heart and conscience of everyone, for some might delude themselves with the vain idea that by taking the oath (De 29:12) by which they engaged themselves in covenant with God, they would surely secure its blessings. Then, even though they would not rigidly adhere to His worship and commands, but would follow the devices and inclinations of their own hearts, yet they would think that He would wink at such liberties and not punish them. It was of the greatest consequence to impress all with the strong and abiding conviction, that while the covenant of grace had special blessings belonging to it, it at the same time had curses in reserve for transgressors, the infliction of which would be as certain, as lasting and severe. This was the advantage contemplated in the law being rehearsed a second time. The picture of a once rich and flourishing region, blasted and doomed in consequence of the sins of its inhabitants, is very striking, and calculated to awaken awe in every reflecting mind. Such is, and long has been, the desolate state of Palestine; and, in looking at its ruined cities, its blasted coast, its naked mountains, its sterile and parched soil—all the sad and unmistakable evidences of a land lying under a curse—numbers of travellers from Europe, America, and the Indies ("strangers from a far country," De 29:22) in the present day see that the Lord has executed His threatening. Who can resist the conclusion that it has been inflicted "because the inhabitants had forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers. … and the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book"?
29. The secret things belong unto the Lord—This verse has no apparent connection with the thread of discourse. It is thought to have been said in answer to the looks of astonishment or the words of inquiry as to whether they would be ever so wicked as to deserve such punishments. The recorded history of God's providential dealings towards Israel presents a wonderful combination of "goodness and severity." There is much of it involved in mystery too profound for our limited capacities to fathom; but, from the comprehensive wisdom displayed in those parts which have been made known to us, we are prepared to enter into the full spirit of the apostle's exclamation, "How unsearchable are his judgments" (Ro 11:33).