Deuteronomy 29:1 - Meaning and Application

Now that Moses had gone over the commands the people were to keep as their part of the covenant, along with the promises and warnings God would carry out according to their behavior, the whole matter is now summed up as a covenant act. The covenant made before is renewed here, and Moses, who had been its mediator before, is still its mediator here (Deuteronomy 29:1). The Lord commanded Moses to make this covenant. Even though Moses was king in Jeshurun, that is, Israel, he could only make the covenant as God directed him. Ministers do not have the power to set the terms of the covenant. Their role is only to hand on its signs and seal.

This is said to be in addition to the covenant made at Horeb, because although the covenant was the same, it was being proclaimed and confirmed again. It is likely that some people living now, though not old enough to be counted in the army, were old enough to have agreed for themselves to the covenant made at Horeb. Even so, it is renewed here. Those who have already solemnly covenanted with God should welcome every chance to do it again, because they are glad of their choice and do not want to change it. But far more of those present were a new generation, so the covenant had to be made again with them. It is right that the covenant should be renewed for the children of the covenant.

It is common for legal agreements to begin with a summary of what has already been done, and this one does too. Moses reviews the great things God had done for them. First, this encouraged them to believe that God would truly be their God. He would not have done so much for them if he did not mean to do even more. Everything he had done so far was only an introduction to the full promise that he would be their God. In fact, what he had already done showed that he truly was their God, which should have lifted their hopes toward something even greater. Second, it bound them to be an obedient people in view of all he had done for them.

To prove what he says, Moses appeals to their own eyes (Deuteronomy 29:2). They had seen all that the Lord did. Their senses were clear proof of the facts, that God had done great things for them. Their own reason was also enough to see the right conclusion from those facts: therefore they must keep the words of this covenant (Deuteronomy 29:9).

Moses then names these works to show God’s power and goodness in his dealings with them. He reminds them of their rescue from Egypt (Deuteronomy 29:2, 3). They had seen the shocking signs and miracles by which Pharaoh was punished and forced to send them away. Israel itself was also tested, for those judgments were called temptations, in the sense that they showed whether the people would trust God to protect and save them through those plagues. He also reminds them of how God led them through the wilderness for forty years (Deuteronomy 29:5, 6). There they were guided, clothed, and fed by miracles. The wilderness paths were not only unknown, they were never before traveled, yet God kept them from getting lost there. As Bishop Patrick notes, the same shoes they put on in Egypt at the Passover, when they were ready to march (Exodus 12:11), did not wear out, but lasted all the way to Canaan.

Though they did not live on ordinary bread that strengthens the heart, or wine that cheers it, but on manna and water from the rock, they were still strong and brave men, able to go out to war. By these miracles they learned that the Lord was God, and by these mercies they learned that he was their God. Moses also points to the victory they had recently won over Sihon and Og, and to the good land they had taken possession of (Deuteronomy 29:7, 8). Both older mercies and new mercies should move us to obedience.

From all these reminders, Moses draws two lessons. First, he mourns their dullness: Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to understand (Deuteronomy 29:4). This does not blame God for their foolishness, stubbornness, and unbelief, as if they had been ready for grace and begged for it, but God refused. No, it places the guilt on them. The Lord, who is the Father of spirits and the God who had covenanted with them, and who had shown them so much mercy, would surely have completed his other gifts with this one. He would have given them a heart to understand and eyes to see if they had not, by their own stubborn and twisted ways, blocked his kind purpose and received his grace in vain.

Note: the hearing ear, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart are gifts from God. All who have them receive them from him. God gives food, clothing, wealth, and large possessions to many people who do not receive grace. Many enjoy the gifts without understanding the giver or the true purpose of the gifts. God’s willingness to do us good in other ways is clear proof that if we do not have grace, the best gift of all, the fault is ours and not his. He would have gathered us, but we would not.

Second, Moses calls them to obey: Keep therefore, and do (Deuteronomy 29:9). We are bound by gratitude and by self-interest, as well as by duty and faithfulness, to keep the words of the covenant.