A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

eminded of their responsibility to wholeheartedly follow the Lord. But this time Moses knew he
would not be the one to lead his people into the land of promise. Still, he had much to tell them
before they claimed the promise of God and moved into Canaan to possess their possession.
THE FINAL WORDS OF MOSES
(Deut.)
The fifth Book of Moses known as Deuteronomy contains the final messages or sermons
of Moses to his people. The name Deuteronomy means “second law,” and the book is largely a
restatement of the Law of God. It is thought of as the revival book of the Old Testament in that
whenever it was prominent in the history of Israel, great spiritual blessing always followed.
Immediately following the original giving of these messages by Moses, Israel possessed the
Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. Later, a revival broke out in Judah when a lost
Book of the Law was found by Hilkiah, the high priest during the reign of Josiah (2 Kings 22:8).
Because of the nature of this revival, many commentators believe it was the scroll of
Deuteronomy that was found. It is also thought to be the scroll of Deuteronomy which Ezra
taught to the returned exiles which led to the post-Captivity revival among the Jews (Neh. 8:1-
10:39).
The prominent appearance of this book in later revivals in Israel’s history has caused
liberal scholars to conclude the book was not written until much later, perhaps during the early
reign of Josiah. But a close look at the style of the book reveals it follows the pattern of the
Hittite suzerainty treaties known to exist only during the time of Moses. Under the inspiration of
God, Moses delivered the sermons and later wrote the manuscript following the style of his day.
If the Book of Deuteronomy were in fact written much later as the critics suppose, its style would
be radically different. The Hittite treaties were unique and when that society died, they were
unknown until discovered in this century by archeologists digging up the ruins of ancient Hittite
settlements. A later forger would not even known this style of writing existed, much less try to
copy it.
PERSPECTIVE: RESTATEMENT OF THE LAW
Because the Book of Deuteronomy is a restatement of the Law, many Christians are
tempted to overlook it and neglect it in their Bible reading and study. Yet in this book the Shema
or first doctrinal statement of the unity of God is found, and in that context is also the command
to parents to teach these truths to their children (Deut. 6:4-9). This book also gives the guidelines
by which a prophet can be discerned to be true or false (chaps. 13 and 18). And for Israel, it