We need the help of the Holy Spirit in this lifetime battle, which continues until the flesh actually dies. Until the stake is pounded through the heart of these evils, or sins, pinning them to the ground, sin will always have undue power over the Christian. “Get thee behind me, Satan” must be our attitude (Luke 4:8). Trusting in the Lord, not self, for power and the victory is the experience of the Little Flock. When some Christians fall, the experience so awakens them to a realization of their danger and the Lord’s mercy in rescuing them that from henceforth, they exhibit in their life the determination the Lord is looking for.

Deuteronomy Chapter 6: Keeping the Commandments
Deut. 6:1 Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:
Deut. 6:2 That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and [...]

Chapter 5 contains a reiteration of the Ten Commandments. This enumeration, which took place just before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, was essentially the same as that in Exodus 20. Following a probable intermission, Moses “called all Israel” to hearken. When it was time to continue the oration, he commanded their attention by calling, “Hear, O Israel”!

Verse 2 reminds us of Revelation 22:18,19, “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” There the judgment for adding to or diminishing the Word of God is given, the penalty for taking away, or subtracting, being more severe.

Nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, according to the common cubit.) … the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, that is, all the region of Argob, I gave to the half-tribe of Manasseh. (The whole of that Bashan is called the land of Rephaim.” The “im” at the end of Rephaim indicates plurality, the word being a general term for a people or a race.

The Hebrew term Rephaim includes the Anakims, who occupied the land of the Amorites; the Emims of Moab; the Horims of Edom; and the Zamzummims of the Ammonites. Previous to these were a people called the Avims, but the Caphtorims of the island of Crete came to land, to the shore, and destroyed the Avims, even though they were on the other side of the Dead Sea. Others have tried to explore the period of the Caphtorims, but it is a big blank in history.

The Israelites were to “touch not” the lands of Moab and Ammon but were to turn northward and go on their journey as the Lord would lead them before passing over the river Jordan. Our current approach in studying Deuteronomy is a hop, a skip, and a jump because the book is so little studied and understood. It is better to get a brief explanation first, before going into some of the nitty-gritty details.

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth (and last) book in the Pentateuch. The name is somewhat an abbreviation of the Latin Deuteronomium, meaning “second law.” It has been suggested that this word indicates a reiteration of the Law to Israel, with which the previous generation was acquainted. However, since that generation died in the wilderness, not all of the current generation were cognizant of the experiences of the earlier generation. Therefore, Moses reviewed the experiences of Israel, who had departed from Egypt to meet God at Mount Sinai, where they were instructed as to the course they would subsequently follow as His people. All of these thoughts seem to be embodied in the expression “Deuteronomy.”

In addition, the latter part of the name, “onomy” (onomos), is like astronomy, which means the law of the stars, and “Deuter” means two, second, or repetition. God’s method in instructing His people is always to have two or three confirmatory witnesses to attest whatever important lesson He wishes to convey to His people (both natural and spiritual Israel). Hence those who profess to honor and serve Him will be without excuse as to the availability of instruction. They will not be able to say in the future, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

The full fulfillment of this chapter will occur when the Holy Remnant is delivered out of Jacob’s Trouble. The clue for this statement is, “Thou shalt call them [the blessings and the cursings] to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee.” The reference cannot be to the Babylonian captivity because the Jews were not scattered among all nations at that time.

At that time, the survivors, the Jews comprising the Holy Remnant, will obey God’s voice and return to Him with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength according to all that Moses commanded more than 3,000 years ago. Specifically, the reference is to the second regathering, which will take place after Jacob’s Trouble. They will return not only to the land but also to the God of Israel. The severity of the trouble will be needed for them to return with this fullness.

. The Law gives us God’s thinking. We study the Law to learn what His thinking is on certain subjects, one reason being that the New (Law) Covenant will be in operation during the Kingdom Age. Changes will be made, but nevertheless, the New Covenant will be along natural lines. Some Christians have never studied the Law. With the cost of Bibles being so reasonable in our country today, there is no excuse for not being familiar with the Old and the New Testaments. An allowance is made for babes in Christ, the recently consecrated. The responsibility differs according to availability, the length of one’s consecration, and other factors.

The clause “thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations” stands out. There is a limit in trying to exercise supposedly goodwill toward others in allowing them to express their opinions. We must be careful because wrong doctrines are seductive. It is not sufficient to tolerate them and allow them to exist by giving a deaf ear. The danger in being too liberal is that lo and behold, before we know it, they can become a part of our daily living. The compromising attitude is very dangerous.