Deuteronomy: the Most Quoted Book in the Bible

Whose sermons are quoted most in the Bible? The answer may surprise you. Just as the New Testament epistles are our primary
interpretive commentary on the historical narratives (the Gospels and Acts), the most venerated portion of the Old Testament -
the Torah - has, within it, its primary commentary in the form of three sermons by its principal author, Moses.
Moses was eminently qualified to speak for God. He was more than Israel's human Lawgiver: he was the founder of Israel's religion;
he was the mediator of the covenant at Sinai; he was Israel's first prophet. (Though God called Abraham a prophet, Israel did not
then exist as a nation.) Through Moses, God set such a high standard for the people that all subsequent prophets lived under his
shadow, never attaining to it, until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not surprisingly, the New Testament authors mentioned Moses more frequently than any other Old Testament person. His
concluding remarks after a 120-year lifetime have been handed down to us as the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy is
essentially a series of sermons by the greatest Old Testament prophet. Jesus Himself quoted more from Deuteronomy than from
any other portion of the Old Testament. (In a sense, Deuteronomy is the "Book of Romans" of the Old Testament.)
The Hebrew title of the book is 'elleh haddebarim ("these are the words") in keeping with the Hebrew custom of often titling a work
by its first word(s). The English title Deuteronomy stems from the Septuagint's mistranslation of Deuteronomy 17:18, "this
repetition of the Law." The Septuagint translated those words deuteronomion (deutero means "two" or "second," and nomion is
"law"; lit., "second Law"), which were rendered Deuteronomium in the Vulgate, Jerome's fourth-century Latin translation of the
Bible.
Moses' words were addressed to all Israel, an expression used at least 12 times in the book. Its frequent occurrence emphasizes
the unity of Israel which was brought about by God's mighty deliverance of the nation from Egypt, and by her acceptance of His
covenant at Sinai. They were uniquely God's people, the only nation on earth that had as its "Constitution" the Word of God.
Sometimes very crucial progress occurs at an excruciatingly slow pace. From Horeb to Kadesh Barnea was only about 200 miles.
The Israelites turned an 11-day journey - from Horeb (another word for Mount Sinai) to Kadesh Barnea, the first site for entering
into the Promised Land from the south - into a 40-year wandering in the wilderness before they came to their second potential site
for entering the land. It took only three days to get Israel out of Egypt; but it took 40 years to get "Egypt" out of Israel! As
Stephen pointed out centuries later, the Israelites had always been slow to believe God.
Moses' review of the Law includes many crucial issues such as the legitimacy of war, the role of capital punishment, divorce, as
well as the proper forms of worship, keeping the Sabbath, etc. But the surprise for many are the prophetic aspects of this
foundational book: the future history of Israel-including an astonishing prediction of the Holocaust, etc. However, all Scriptures are
Christ centered, so perhaps most challenging for the dedicated students are the "types" and "macrocodes" throughout the book.
We find them in the roles of the goel, the Kinsman-Redeemer, the cities of refuge, the levirate marriage, and the many calendar
issues.
God has not changed since then. Man has not changed since then. And God's primary message through His servant Moses was
Love. Not a list of do's and don'ts, not legalism, but relationship. And, of course, the ultimate consummation of all these things was,
and is, fulfilled in our Kinsman-Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. God always rewards the diligent student, and a careful review of
this foundational book is guaranteed to be life-changing! See our Expositional Commentary on Deuteronomy for an in-depth study!