Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary | NIVAC)

Top Highlights

“His primary goal in the first major part of the second address (6:4–11:32) is to impress on the people the privilege and sheer grace of the special relationship they enjoy with Yahweh. However, this grace may not be received casually; it must be embraced with grateful and unreserved devotion to their Redeemer and covenant Lord.” (Page 180)

“Readers tend to fix their attention on the opening, ‘Hear, O Israel,’ but this š^emaʿ is just the first of a series of imperatives that dominate the paragraph: ‘hear,’ ‘love,’ ‘impress,’ ‘talk,’ ‘tie,’ and ‘write.’” (Page 181)

“(2) To hear the message of Deuteronomy we must recognize its genre and form.” (Page 35)

“For many Christians the Old Testament in general and Deuteronomy in particular is a dead book. Consequently, the favorite book of Jesus is ignored, the source of much Johannine and Pauline theology is discarded, and the life-giving power of the Word of God is cut off. Unless we rediscover this book, we will not treasure the Old Testament as a whole. As we will see in the commentary, this book presents the gospel according to Moses. This is a gospel of divine grace lavished on undeserving human beings. Moses’ vision for his own people serves as a microcosm for the divine vision of humanity as a whole. The book points the reader to the Lord God, who has redeemed his people and assigned them the mission of radiating his grace to the world.” (Page 59)

“The verb ‘forget’ does not mean simply a loss of memory, but failure to take into account what the memory recalls—the special relationship Yahweh had established with his people.” (Page 126)