Deuteronomy · chapter 1 of 34
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Deuteronomy 1 opens the book with Moses speaking to Israel east of the Jordan, forty years after the exodus. He recalls the command to leave Horeb, the appointing of leaders and judges, and the report of the twelve spies. Because Israel refused to trust the Lord at Kadesh-barnea, that generation was shut out of the land, with the exception of Caleb.
Deuteronomy contains Moses' farewell speeches to the new generation of Israel, gathered on the plains of Moab and about to enter the promised land. After Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, the book reviews the people's recent history and turns it into a warning and an invitation. Chapter 1 begins with the failure of the previous generation, so that their children may learn to trust where their parents doubted.
The book begins with the words Moses spoke to all Israel in the wilderness east of the Jordan, in the fortieth year and after the victory over the kings Sihon and Og. The text notes that the journey from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea, which could be made in eleven days, took far longer. Moses recalls that at Horeb the Lord told Israel to break camp and take the land he had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Moses also recalls that, since the burden of the people was too heavy for him alone, leaders were appointed over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. He charged the judges to hear small and great alike without partiality and without fear of anyone, because judgment belongs to God, and to bring the hard cases to him.
From Kadesh-barnea, at the people's request, twelve men, one from each tribe, were sent to scout the land. They returned with fruit from the valley of Eshcol and confirmed that the land was good. But the people rebelled, grumbled in their tents and said the Lord hated them, frightened by fortified cities and by the Anakim. Moses reminded them that the Lord had fought for them in Egypt and carried them as a father carries his son.
The Lord swore that none of that generation would see the land except Caleb, and that Joshua would enter. Moses was barred on account of the people. Their children, who did not yet know good from evil, would enter. When the people tried to go up on their own, the Amorites chased them like bees as far as Hormah, and the Lord did not listen to them.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Moses commands the judges to show no partiality and to hear the small and the great alike, because judgment belongs to God. Human justice reflects God's own justice and must not bend to fear or favoritism.
Moses tells the people that the land lies before them and urges them to go up without fear or discouragement. The command to take it is tied to the promise of their fathers' God: faith obeys because it trusts the one who commands.
Moses reminds Israel that in the wilderness the Lord carried them as a father carries his son, all along the way. The image highlights how the people's rebellion stood against constant fatherly care.
Even so, the people did not believe the Lord, who went ahead of them in fire by night and cloud by day to find them a place to camp. Their unbelief was not a lack of evidence but a lack of trust.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: East of the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month. — Deuteronomy 1:1-3
Answer: Leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens, along with judges. — Deuteronomy 1:15-16
Answer: Show no partiality, hear small and great alike and fear no one, because judgment belongs to God. — Deuteronomy 1:17
Answer: They brought back fruit of the land and said it was good. — Deuteronomy 1:25
Answer: That the Lord hated them and had brought them out of Egypt to hand them over to the Amorites. — Deuteronomy 1:27
Answer: Caleb son of Jephunneh, because he followed the Lord fully. — Deuteronomy 1:36
Deuteronomy 1 shows that fear can make us forget what God has already done. Israel had seen God at work in Egypt and the wilderness, yet let tall cities and strong men outweigh his promise. In a Sunday school class or small group, it helps to ask what obedience we are delaying because the obstacle looks bigger than the promise.
The chapter also speaks about how to use authority. The judges were to listen patiently and without favoritism. Anyone who teaches, leads or counsels in the church can ask whether they treat everyone the same, and whether they know how to ask for help when the load is too heavy, as Moses did.
Deuteronomy 1 ends with a defeated people held at Kadesh for many days, a consequence of their unbelief. But Moses does not close the story here: in chapter 2 the account moves on toward the wilderness and the neighboring peoples, showing how the Lord keeps guiding Israel toward the land he promised.
The name of the book means second law. The generation that left Egypt had died, and their children needed to hear the history and the law before entering the land. Moses teaches them to remember, so that their obedience grows out of what God has done and not only out of a command.
Caleb son of Jephunneh was one of the twelve spies. The Lord says he followed the Lord fully and would receive the land he had walked on. He is an example of faith against the majority, and Moses cites him to show that the exclusion of the generation was not arbitrary.
In Deuteronomy 1:37 Moses links his own exclusion from the land with the people's unbelief. Other passages, such as Numbers 20, explain the incident at Meribah. Here Moses stresses the shared nature of the consequence: the whole community bore the weight of that rebellion.