That be may establish thee this day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God ,.... Which contains the sum and substance of the covenant; see Jeremiah 32:38 , as he hath said unto thee, and as he had sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob ; Deuteronomy 26:17 . read more
The renewal of God's covenant with Israel. Every act of obedience is a step of the soul upward. It leads us into clearer light and into purer air. The man is braced by the exercise. On the other hand, the neglect of a great occasion of blessing is an irreparable loss. I. NOTE GOD 'S GRACIOUS ACTIVITY ON BEHALF OF HIS COVENANT PEOPLE . Ancient Israel was sadly prone to forget what God had done for them. Ingratitude is base. It injures greatly the man who is guilty of... read more
Summons to enter into the covenant of the Lord with fresh ardor and cordiality. read more
National covenanting. This covenant— I. WAS MADE WITH THE NATION AS SUCH . National covenanting finds modern exemplifications in the Scotch covenants, and in the " Solemn League and Covenant " of 1643-44. Irrespective, however, of the particular stipulations of these covenants, the propriety of such engagements must be pronounced doubtful. The case of Israel can scarcely be pleaded as a precedent. Certainly, were God to reveal himself to any nation now as he did to that... read more
Apostasy in heart a root of bitterness. In the midst of this paragraph there is an expression of which the writer to the Hebrews makes use as a warning. It is found in the eighteenth verse: "Lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood." In the Epistle to the Hebrews 12:10 , the sacred writer says, "Looking diligently … lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled." The root bearing gall and wormwood which Moses deprecates is,... read more
The land of promise becoming accursed. Moses has tried the principle of gratitude with the Israelites, urging obedience from a sense of the great goodness of the Lord. And now he turns to the other principle of fear , which cannot be dispensed with in religion, £ and urges obedience out of respect for the Promised Land, since if they are disobedient it will be turned to a land accursed. The land will in such a ease become a witness to the curse of God, instead of continuing a... read more
The covenant was a national engagement, and as such included not only the adults anti existing generation, but the little ones, the strangers resident in Israel, the lowest menial servants, that is, all the elements of which the nation was composed, as well as their posterity in coming, generations. That thou shouldest enter into covenant. The expression in the Hebrew is a strong one, indicating not a mere formal engagement, but a going thoroughly into the covenant; the phrase is used of... read more
Deuteronomy 29:13. That he may establish thee Here is the summary of that covenant whereof Moses was the mediator; and in the covenant relation between God and them, all the precepts and promises of the covenant are included. That they should be established for a people to him, to fear, love, obey, and be devoted to him, and that he should be to them a God, to make them holy and happy; and a due sense of the relation we stand in to God as our God, and the obligation we are under to him as... read more
The covenant renewed (29:1-30:20)Israel’s lack of understanding of God and his ways meant that the people needed constant reminders of the covenant’s purpose, meaning and requirements. Moses gave them such a reminder in this his farewell address to the nation, acting as God’s representative in the renewal of the covenant as he had done at the establishment of the covenant at Sinai (Horeb) (29:1-9). The renewed oath of allegiance that the people swore before entering Canaan was binding on future... read more
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Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Deuteronomy 29:10-29
It appears by the length of the sentences here, and by the copiousness and pungency of the expressions, that Moses, now that he was drawing near to the close of his discourse, was very warm and zealous, and very desirous to impress what he said upon the minds of this unthinking people. To bind them the faster to God and duty, he here, with great solemnity of expression (to make up the want of the external ceremony that was used (Exod. 24:4-8), concludes a bargain (as it were) between them and... read more