20131229 Sunday, December 29 2013
Deuteronomy 05: The Ten Commandments - Forty Years Later

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day"

The Israelites were first given The Ten Commandments about three months after the Exodus (see Exodus 19: Arrival At Mount Sinai), while they were at Mount Sinai in the desert of the Sinai Peninsula (see also Paul's Geography Lesson). That first-giving of The Ten Commandments is recorded in Exodus chapter 20 (see Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments).

From Mount Sinai, the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) led the Israelites northward to their Promised Land (see Numbers 10: North To The Promised Land), which they should have entered from the south, through the Negev Desert (see Numbers 13: The Exploration Of The Promised Land and Numbers 14: Why 40 Years In The Sinai?). They refused to enter however, so the LORD turned them around and had them wander aimlessly in the wilderness of the Sinai for forty years - until the rebel generation had all died off. It was the children and grandchildren of the adults of the Exodus who entered the Promised Land, from the east, across the Jordan River. It was there, in that well-watered area (see the photograph farther below) that Moses wrote the Book of Deuteronomy - and where he delivered the LORD's Ten Commandments for the second time, which was the first time for the children and grandchildren who were either children, or not even born, when the Ten Commandments were given the first time, at Mount Sinai.

It's the reason that The Ten Commandments are stated twice in the Holy Scriptures - Exodus 20 occurred about 3 months after the Exodus, while Deuteronomy 5 occurred about 40 years later, just before the death of Moses (see Deuteronomy 3: What Did Moses Pray For At The Jordan River? and Deuteronomy 4: The View From Higher Ground) and the Israelite crossing into the Promised Land under Joshua (see also From Moses And Aaron To Joshua and Eleazar).

Notice also the stark statement that the Covenant that the LORD made was revoked for those who broke it, but restored forty years later for those who would fulfill it i.e. "The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day."

"5:1 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them,

Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 5:2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 5:3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 5:4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5:5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,

5:6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 5:7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

5:8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 5:9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 5:10 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

5:11 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 5:12 Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee.

5:13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 5:14 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 5:15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

5:16 Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

5:17 Thou shalt not kill.

5:18 Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

5:19 Neither shalt thou steal.

5:20 Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

5:21 Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's." (Deuteronomy 5:1-21 KJV)

Although Moses spoke in the present tense, it was delivered as a history lesson to those who were either young children or not yet even born when at Mount Mount Sinai.

"5:22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more.

And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

5:23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;

5:24 And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. 5:25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 5:27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

5:28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

5:30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again.

5:31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.

5:32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

5:33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess." (Deuteronomy 5:22-33 KJV)

Fact Finder: Why was a second set of Ten Commandments made while the Israelites were still at Mount Sinai?
See Exodus 32: The Mount Sinai Riot, Exodus 33: Why Did Moses Pitch A Tabernacle Outside The Camp? and Exodus 34: The Second Tables Of Stone