Highlights from
Moses’ Farewell Address
The Book of Deuteronomy
April 8, 2000
 
 
God Is Great

O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as Yours? (3:24)

For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on Him? (4:7)

“See now that I, I am He,
And there is no god besides Me;
It is I who put to death and give life.
I have wounded and it is I who heal,
And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.” (32:39)
 

Hold Fast to God Who Has Delivered You

And in the wilderness... you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place (1:31)

...The Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession, as today. (4:20)

To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him. (4:35)

...You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders.  Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. ...So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do. (29:2-4, 9)

...When the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore... to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (6:10-12)

Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.  ...Otherwise, you may say in your heart, ‘My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.’  But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth. (8:11-14, 17-18)

Is not He your Father who has bought you?
He has made you and established you.
Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of all generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you. (32:6-7)


 
God Will Continue to Deliver You

...You shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: the great trials which your eyes saw and the signs and the wonders and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out.  So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. ...You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. (6:18-19, 21)
 

God Disciplines His Children

You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.  He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you... .  Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. (8:2-3, 5)
 

Love God and Keep His Commandments

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6:5)

Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.  (10:12)

...Keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time. (4:40)

The Law (5:7-21)

1. You shall have no other gods before Me
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
4. Observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy
5. Honor your father and your mother
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10. You shall not covet... anything that belongs to your neighbor

...This commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. (30:11)


 
Keep God’s Word and Pass It On

You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. (4:2)

You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. (11:18)

...Keep your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons. (4:9)

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (6:6-9)
 

Give Back to God

You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.  You shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.  If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe... then you shall exchange it for money, and... spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household. (14:22-26)


 
A Word for Your King

Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.  It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. (17:18-20)
 

Final encouragement

...I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days. (30:19-20)

Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. (34:7)