The name Deuteronomy means second law. The first law which you read in the book of Exodus is restated to meet a new way of life. What was that new way of life? The answer is simple. The migrating hordes of the tribes of Israel were moving from the desert into the farmlands of Caanan.
So instead of being desert nomads centred on survival, looking for waterholes and oases, caring for their cattle, living in tents and barely surviving, they were now farmers in lush countryside growing crops of grain, producing olive oil and grapes for wine. Instead of tents they would live in houses and farms, cities would spring up, proper roads and schools, new industries as they dug raw materials out of the hills, new skills and commerce and husbandry would have to be learned from those who had been doing it for generations.
So the law of Deuteronomy is the Law restated for the affluent society. It’s easy to believe in God when you’re in constant danger, prayer is natural when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from, but when you have everything you wish for and you feel wealthy and secure, then, beware lest you forget the Lord your God.
An even greater danger was to worship the god of productivity and forget the one true living God, Who not only delivers people from slavery but provides them with law which protects them against self-destruction. Any nation, ancient or modern, that enthrones anything other than the living God at the centre of its life is worshipping an idol and everything that it does is bound to be a lie or at best a half truth.
If you want to know why man cannot live by bread alone, and if you want to read a commentary more up to date than any news bulletin you’ll hear today, then read for example, Deuteronomy chapter 8.
It will blow your mind!
