Moses repeats the basic commandment to rest on the seventh-day Sabbath, but he gives it an added emphasis. That is, though it has been written in stone in Exodus, here Moses is expanding on what already had been given them. Keep the Sabbath, not only as a memorial of Creation but also as a memorial of redemption from Egypt.

Out of love for His people, God gave them His law, and obedience to His law would be “for your good.”

Deuteronomy could be seen as one big object lesson in grace and law. By grace God redeems us, doing for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves (any more than Israel could have escaped from Egypt by themselves), and in response we live, by faith, a life of obedience to Him and to His law.

God is a God of love, and love is the overarching principle of His character and the foundation of His government.

Even if expressed in different ways and in various scenarios, the theme of law and grace certainly is found all through the Bible, including the book of Deuteronomy.

How are we responding to what we have been given? How well are we projecting our “wisdom and understanding” before the world?

They were to live out the truths that the Lord had given them, and they could do that only by obeying them. All the light and all the truth wasn’t going to do them or the pagans around them any good if Israel didn’t live out that truth.

The purpose of making them great was that they could be a “blessing” (Gen. 12:2) to “all the families of the earth” (Gen. 12:3, NKJV).

They, the people, were to cleave (cling) to their God. That is, they were to give themselves to Him and to draw power and strength from Him.