Jensens survey of the old testament adam 82

of the country (locate on Map H), and there
set up great plastered stones on which the
Law of God was to be written. Six tribes
were to stand upon Mount Gerizim, to
declare blessings upon the people for
obedience to this Law, and the other six
tribes were to stand upon Mount Ebal, to
declare curses upon the people for
disobedience.
The consequences of obeying this Law as
well as the consequences of disobeying it are
set forth in chapter 28. The rst fourteen
verses give a bright picture of the nation’s
future if they will take the path of
obedience. From these verses we learn how
blessed, rich, and powerful Israel could have
been if they had been true to God. The tone
changes at verse 15, and from there onward
we have a picture of the black future
awaiting the nation if they should take the
path of disobedience.


A key subject of Deuteronomy is that of
God’s covenant. (The word “covenant”
appears seven times in chap. 29.) Moses’
addresses were delivered to Israel as a
rea rmation of the covenant relationship
between God and His people. The pattern
followed by Moses in delivering his message
has been compared with the approach used

by kings of Moses’ day in addressing their
subjects. Meredith Kline writes of this:
Part of the standard procedure
followed in the ancient Near East when
great kings thus gave covenants to
vassal peoples was the preparation of a
text of the ceremony as the treaty
document and witness. The book of
Deuteronomy
is
the
document
prepared by Moses as witness to the
dynastic covenant which the Lord gave
to Israel in the plains of Moab (cf.
31:26).3


The prominence of the “covenantconcept” in Deuteronomy is underscored by
Kline.
Deuteronomy is the Bible’s full scale
exposition of covenant-concept and
demonstrates that, far from being a
contract between two parties, Grod’s
covenant with His people is a
proclamation of His sovereignty and an
instrument for binding His elect to
Himself in a commitment of absolute
allegiance.4

Kline rightly observes that the sovereign
character of God’s covenant is not “an
unconditional license to national privilege
and prosperity.”5 The people were still
responsible to choose to obey God.
Read chapters 29 and 30 carefully, and
you will see how long-su ering and gracious
God was in o ering hope to Israel for loving


Him and obeying His commandments.
(31:1—34:12)
The people who have been camping on
the east side of the Jordan, waiting to cross
over, are given (1) their nal charges, (2) an
interpretation of the philosophy of God’s
judgments in history, and (3) a reminder of
the blessings awaiting the people in the
land. The parting words of Moses are not
bitter ones, but bright and warm and
hopeful. This patriarch remained a spiritual
giant to his dying day.
D. PARTING WORDS OF MOSES

V. KEY WORDS AND VERSES
Note the key words and verses on Chart
27. Read the verses in your Bible, and study
the key words in an exhaustive concordance.
VI. APPLICATIONS
1. Why should a Christian periodically