1. Overview of
Deuteronomy
Presented by Christopher R. Smith
To Capital City Vineyard, Lansing, Michigan
March 10, 2013
2. To communicate His word to us in the Bible,
God used existing human languages.
Hebrew and Aramaic Greek
3. To communicate His word to us in the Bible,
God also used existing human literary forms.
Cry for Help Save me, O God, by your name;
vindicate me by your might.
Hear my prayer, O God;
listen to the words of my mouth.
Psalm 54
(part of a book): Complaint Arrogant foes are attacking me;
A Psalm of Supplication ruthless people are trying to kill me—
people without regard for God.
Statement Surely God is my help;
of Trust the Lord is the one who sustains me.
Petition Let evil recoil on those who slander me;
in your faithfulness destroy them.
Vow of Praise I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
I will praise your name, LORD, for it is good.
You have delivered me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.
4. Sometimes the literary form makes up a whole book.
OPENING Sender’s name The elder,
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—
Recipients and not I only, but also all who know the truth— because of the truth,
2 John which lives in us and will be with us forever:
(a whole book):
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the
Epistle Good wish Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.
MAIN Business of letter It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth,
just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing
BODY you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that
we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his
commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that
you walk in love.
Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in
the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver
and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked
for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does
not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever
continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone
comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your
house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their
wicked work.
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink.
Travel plans Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy
CLOSING may be complete.
The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings.
Greetings
5. A well-known literary form in the ancient world
was a treaty between an emperor (“great king”)
and a subject king.
1. Great king’s name and titles
2. What the great king has done for the subject king
3. First term: exclusive allegiance
4. Additional terms: tribute, passage of armies, etc.
5. Blessings for keeping treaty, curses for breaking it
6. Safekeeping of treaty copies
6. Because the emperor or great king
was also known as a suzerain,
this literary form is sometimes called a
suzerainty treaty covenant.
7. “But how is that supposed
to help me understand the Bible?
I haven’t read any
‘suzerainty treaty covenants’ lately.”
Actually, you have . . .
8. The Ten Commandments:
A Suzerainty Treaty Covenant
1. Great king’s name and titles ➞ “I am Yahweh your God”
2. What the great king has done for ➞ “Who brought you out of Egypt,
the subject king out of the land of slavery”
3. First term: exclusive allegiance ➞ “You shall have no other gods before me”
4. Additional terms ➞ (The other nine commandments)
5. Blessings and curses ➞ Worked into the commandments:
“That it may go well with you,”
“The Lord will not hold anyone guiltless,” etc.
6. Safekeeping of treaty copies ➞ Commandments written on stone tablets,
kept in the ark of the covenant
9. We’ve already seen that existing literary forms
can make up part of a book,
or all of a book.
After suzerainty treaty covenants were
discovered in the mid-20th century,
a brilliant Old Testament scholar named
Meredith G. Kline realized that the entire
book of Deuteronomy was in that form!
He published his interpretation in the
1963 book Treaty of the Great King:
The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy
10. As you read through Deuteronomy,
you can follow this literary form
1. Names and titles of the great king (1:1-5) • Warfare (20:1-20)
(Name and qualifications of Moses, his agent) • Laws on various subjects (21:1-22:12)
• Sexual relations (22:13-30)
2. What the great king has done for his subjects: • Exclusion from the sanctuary (23:1-14)
historical prologue (1:6-3:29) • Laws on various subjects (23:15-26:19)
A special appeal by the great king's 5. Blessings for keeping the treaty and curses
representative (4:1-43) for breaking it (27:1-30:18)
3. First term of the treaty: exclusive allegiance 6. Securing the treaty
(4:44-11:32) • Witnesses (30:19-20)
• Succession (31:1-8)
4. Other terms of the treaty: • Custodians of the treaty copies (31:9-29)
• How exclusive allegiance is to be lived out • A song of witness (32:1-52)
practically (12:1-14:21) • Epilogue: A blessing on the tribes (33)
• Offerings and festivals (14:22-16:17)
• Community leaders (16:18-18:22) Death of Moses (34)
• Safeguards of justice (19:1-21)
11. The theme passage of Deuteronomy
is found in the section on exclusive allegiance
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the
LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul
and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:4
“Love” in the Bible and in other texts of the ancient world
means loyalty between covenant partners, whether the
covenant is political, marital, or religious.
John Kohlenberger
Read Through the Bible in a Year, p. 18
12. The theme passage goes on to explain
how we cultivate that covenant loyalty:
These commandments that I give you today are to be on
your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about
them when you sit at home and when you walk along the
road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as
symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.
Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your
gates.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9
13. Reading and reflecting
on the book of Deuteronomy
can help us understand and practice
the way of life
that expresses our exclusive allegiance
to the Great King.
