We come not only to the end of a book, but the end of a life, and in the many years that it has taken me to move through the Pentateuch, we have sat at the feet of Moses who has given us not just an accounting of the beginning, what man is, but also the very clear direction the Lord would have us head. These first five books give us clear pattern and trajectory for living lives that glorify and take delight in the Lord. Deuteronomy shows us that love and law are intimately related, for we must be shown how to love God, that love needs direction for those to whom the Lord has revealed Himself are called to keep covenant, blessing for those who do, curses for those who do not. Not only this but this final chapter reminds us that only one greater than Moses is able to do what even Moses could not, that One is Jesus Christ, the greater Moses.

The source of the blessings of Israel, the Church's great benediction come forth from the good and gracious heart of Almighty God. As Moses ends his time on earth, his faithful ruling over the nation of Israel has come to an end, and it was time for Joshua to take the helm. As he finishes his prophetic ministry he blesses the tribes on behalf of the Lord. These blessings were not only real and were seen in the coming years of Israel, but are ultimately fulfilled in the ever-expanding Church whom Christ purchased and redeemed by His blood so that they might be eternally blessed by the One who made covenant with them.

Moving towards the end, Moses proclaims Israel's success in entering the promise land and foretelling that Joshua will be the man to lead them. This work of deliverance is one given by God as a provision of the covenant of grace which He has made with Israel. Israel is encouraged to "be strong and of good courage." Whereas the first generation refused to enter the rest of God, this generation will be taken across by Joshua. Despite this deliverance and the continued reading of the law of God, Israel will by and large rebel against the Lord. What conclusion can we draw? That the only way to enter into the rest of God is to do so by faith in the new Joshua, Jesus Christ who only can deliver us into a state of eternal rest with the Lord.

We come to the end of this section that might best be described as the covenant ceremony where in the Lord impresses upon His people, His special nation, that they are to live in the land according to His commands, that they do so as a holy, consecrated nation, set apart for His covenant purposes, namely to prepare themselves for the coming Messiah by walking in step with the Lord and proclaiming and showing the nations that salvation comes in no other Name save the Messiah. Here at the end of the covenant renewal ceremony the Lord, having drug Israel across the law, promises that through the Messiah Israel would return having been given new hearts and restored souls. The law, as glorious, beautiful, and true as it is does not present us with a path to salvation, to a new heart, but instead is trains us to see our utter need to be given circumcised hearts and reborn souls - this God will do through the Christ.

You have just passed through the Red Sea, and have turned to see nearly the entire Egyptian army perish under the tide that was held back as you walked through on dry ground. What a moment, an unforgettable moment to be sure, yet having seen this only to reject the Lord's promises for more of the same, when called to enter in Canaan and giants lived in the land. It was not only the Red Sea, but so many instances of deliverance, provision, and supernatural interaction from the God who delivered you to begin with. It is not enough to see, to hear, to witness, but to believe and this faith, this laying hold of God's promises and trusting Him for salvation comes only to those whom He has chosen. What Deuteronomy teaches us is that not amount of seeing is believing, but that faith is a gift that comes not by merit under the law, but by grace under the altar.

Where many Christian go wrong is to say that God's law no longer applies, specifically those civil laws given to Israel to show them how to govern themselves among those nations who rejected, in the main, the law of God. Where still other Christians go wrong is to say that America is a new Israel, and that in order to restore the kingdom we must see ourselves as taking up the baton dropped by them in their disobedience. The mission of the saints, regarding the organization and conduct of nation states is not to bring heaven to earth, but to bring the law of God to bear on the lives of all. God does not change, His law does not change, and so blessings for obedience to that law, and curses for disobedience still apply, not in the exact same ways, but in the ways outlined in Deuteronomy - obedience leads to good results, disobedience leads to bad results. There is but one hope for revival, for reformation, for prospering in the world made by God - live by God's standard, which standard is that? The one laid down for us in His Word.

Two piles of stone have become two mountains, and upon those mountains stood the Tribes of Israel, hearing both the blessings and cursing of YHWH, that they might be instructed how to live, how to know peace and feel the very blessing of Almighty God. The law is read aloud, and to each command and its penalty if violated, the congregation of God was to cry out "amen." Then the benedictions of God were read aloud to those who walked in faithfulness to the Lord. Why do we now speak in such terms today? Perhaps we have grown fat on the blessings of this world, while growing blind to the cursing of God all around us. May God keep us faithful to His covenant!

This lengthy passage is rightly divided into two sections, one in which Moses, on behalf of the Lord commands Israel to write the law on stones as an expression of devotion as act of thanksgiving and submission to God's gracious deliverance into the Land. The boundaries that separate Israel from the world is a law, the law of God. Israel was to be a people, living in land who were marked and set apart by the righteous law of God. Not only the law, but the gospel, seen in the sacrifice upon the altar. What separates the saints from the world, law and gospel, rightly ordered, established and clung to in all covenant faithfulness. The second part is a covenant service in which Israel remembers the curses when that law and gospel are abandoned for idols.

The gift of God's law at Mt. Sinai was a game changer for the people of God, and the nations that surrounded them. In terms of their holiness and therefore their profitability for Israel and all the nations, there is nothing that comes close to the revealed Word of God given to Israel in Exodus 20 and in the sermons of Deuteronomy that consist of case-law application of the 10 commandments. What then is their use today? Our own Westminster Confession states concerning the judicial laws: To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the State of that people; not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require. WCF 19.4. What all that means is that there is still a place for the law of God in our lives, in every sphere of our lives, from personal to national. What then of the tenth commandment? - "Do not covet…" That is we are not to lust for and even lay hold of, out of a lack of contentment for what God has graciously given to us, that which belongs to others. You cannot have everything you want, so do not give one moment to the craving of what other's have, be it a wife, a house, or any possession.

As those who live in community with one another, we are constantly living overlapping existences. What we think, feel, and do affects not just our own lives, but that of our neighbors. Add to this the fact that we are sinful creatures, even the saints wrestling against indwelling sin, we must admit that there will be times when another's name, reputation, and honor are in our hands. The inclination to attack, harm, and degrade the reputation of another for our own sake, but this is unrighteousness. Instead let us be those who rejoice in the good name and fortune of our neighbor.