An important part of the service of covenant renewal is the recognition of sin, and the confession of it. Moses begins by recalling for the people how they have come to this point. “These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel . . .” (Dt. 1:1-18).
First, an outline fragment. As we consider the first two sections of the book of Deuteronomy, it looks like this. Moses was a steward. He was a faithful servant in the household of God, and he gave these words to the people (1:1-5). The entire book is part of covenant renewal, and so Moses gives a historical preamble which shows the great need for such a covenant renewal (1:6-4:43). Then we see how the constitution of Israel was established; the people were many and Moses was overwhelmed. He established a republican system of civil government among them (Dt. 1:6-18). This was followed by a failure of faith and nerve: the people were commanded to attack the Amorites. They failed in this task in two ways — not attacking when they had God’s blessing, and then attacking when they did not have it (Dt. 1:19-46). Moses reminded the Israelites that they had relatives in the area — successful cousins. These, descendants of Esau and Lot, had displaced giants (Dt. 2:1-23). Few realize that the conquest of Canaan was a war with giants. Giants are not just at the top of beanstalks; they are also in the book of Deuteronomy. The war of conquest begins on the east side of Jordan with the defeat of Sihon and Og (Dt. 2:24-3:29). The renewal of the covenant did not disparage the earlier covenant. In renewing the covenant in Moab, the people of Israel are not forgetting the covenant at Horeb. Far from it. Moses reminds them of their continuing obligations (Dt. 4:1-43).
With that as the background, let’s move to consider in detail the first eighteen verses of the first chapter. These are the words of Moses: on the east side of Jordan, Moses spoke the words contained in this book to the people (v. 1). They had made slow work of it — they were in the wilderness for forty years! It should have been an eleven day journey, but sin always slows you down (v. 2). At the end of the 40th year, Moses spoke, as commanded, nothing more and nothing less than what God told him to speak (v. 3). There had been some initial victories. We will learn more about these victories later, but note the covenant renewal came after the people had been encouraged by God’s goodness to them in the battles against Sihon of the Amorites and Og of the Bashanites (v. 4).
We know these are the words of Moses, but what kind of words? We should understand the book of Deuteronomy as an exposition. This is what the verb in v. 5 means. He is taking the law of God, and making applications and explanations.
God had given them a command to occupy the land of Canaan. Back at Horeb, God had commanded them to displace the Amorites (vv. 6-7). God set the entire land before them in fulfillment of His promise to their fathers (v. 8). That command was still in force, at least in principle. After the forty years, it was time to renew the Israelite responsibility to invade.
The people were numbered as the stars for multitude. It was for this reason that Moses was bowed under the weight of responsibility (v. 9; Ex. 18:13ff; Num. 11:17). This was because God had blessed their numbers in fulfillment of His promise (v. 10). But Moses was careful not to blame the blessing (v. 11). Nevertheless, something had to be done about the responsibilities which came from that blessing (v. 12).
Moses need to take wise men into the government of the people. We see fundamental principles of government here. The people elected representatives, and Moses installed them (v. 13). Those elected were to be locally known, and they were to have wise understanding (v. 13). The people responded to this gladly (v. 14). We have here the first republic. Moses took these men, and placed them in office. Note that wisdom was as necessary to govern ten as a thousand (v. 15). We have an ascending order of representation. A common expedient to place fools either at the bottom of this order or at the top, but God required wisdom from top to bottom.
Then they came to the principles of justice; the judges were given their charge at that time. They were told to judge righteously (v. 16). They were to provide justice to the resident alien (v. 16). Partiality was prohibited, whether dealing with small or great (v. 17). Man cannot be feared in judgment because the scales of justice are the Lord’s (v. 17). Fear of God is essential. A biblical appeal was from the lesser judges, not the accused (v. 17). General training in civics was not optional. The leaders among the people had to be taught the law so that they had a basis for the judgments they rendered (v. 18).
In conclusion, several things must be noted. First, in what ways have we turned our eleven days into forty years? By turning small tasks into great ones, we forfeit an opportunity to accomplish something truly great. Second, we must turn to God’s Word for instruction, correction, and boundaries. We must have the word dug or hewed for us (v. 5). And in this sense, the Word ought to be like an open pit mine, and not like a single shaft down to Psalm 23 or John 3:16.