The Gracious Gift of the Law

The law (including the Decalogue) was neither a way of salvation nor a burdensome obligation; it was a gracious gift, a guide for God's people so they might knowingly respond to his grace according to his will.

This means that impulses to post the Decalogue in public schools and courthouses are fundamentally misplaced. The problem with American society is not that people do not keep the "Ten Commandments"; it is that most have never left Egypt. It is unrealistic and unbiblical to expect those who have not been redeemed to live according to the principles and commitments of the redeemed.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 172.

The Decalogue: Bill of Rights for the Other Guy

Whereas some argue that the Decalogue seeks to protect the power and privileges of wealthy male Israelites, it actually does the opposite, intentionally reining in potential abuse of power by male heads of households. In so doing this document functions as an Israelite version of a bill of rights. However, unlike modern bills of rights, the document does not protect one's own rights but the rights of the next person. Each of the terms may be recast as a statement of another person's rights and the adult males' responsibility to guard the rights first of the covenant Lord, and second of fellow Israelites.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 161.

Moses' Paradigmatic Preaching Proportions

[Deut. 4:32-40] offers pastors a paradigm for preaching, not only in its content, but also in its proportion. In a text consisting of 163 words, Moses uses 109 to tell the story of Israel's historical experience of grace; he uses 26 to reflect theologically on those events; and then he concludes with 26 words of application. This paradigm contrasts with much contemporary evangelical preaching, which, in its drive to be practical, fails to develop the story of God's gracious redemption (or tells it in hurried and passionless tones) and consequently also fails to show the theological implications of that story. Instead we spend our time on pointed but trite and facile application.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 147.

Love in Deuteronomy

[I]n Deuteronomy "love" denotes "covenant commitment demonstrated in actions that serve the interests of the other person." This statement is revolutionary, since the notion of love is virtually absent from the vocabulary of divine-human relationships in the ancient orient.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 144.

Covenantal Conditionality?

The distinction many make between the Abrahamic covenant as unconditional and the Israelite covenant as conditional is false. All covenants involve relationships, the health of which depends on the actions of each party vis-à-vis the other. As anticipated in Genesis 17:7, the Israelite covenant ratified at Sinai was the means by which the promise made within the Abrahamic covenant was fulfilled.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 134-135.

The Ten Words

Contrary to most translations and to pervasive popular usage, the Old Testament never refers to this document as the "Ten Commandments"; these are "ten words" (cf. [Deut.] 10:4; Ex. 34:28). Given the semantic range of the term debārîm, we should follow the early Greek translation and refer to this document as the Decalogue, that is, "the ten words/declarations," or even "the ten principles of covenant relationship."

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 128.

Conditional Entitlement

Israelite title to the land is not unconditional. Apart from faith the migration of the Israelites is merely one migration among many (Amos 9:7). There is no automatic title to God's promises for those who refuse to trust him and serve him. This is true for the physical descendants of Jacob as well as for those who claim to be his spiritual heirs.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 87.

God's Sovereignty Over the Nations

God has been involved in the migration of peoples from the beginning. Even though they made no claim of allegiance to the God of Israel, behind the displacement of the Horites by the descendants of Esau, the Emites by the Moabites, the Zamzummites by the Bene Ammon, and the Avvites by the Philistines, Moses recognizes the hidden hand of God. Yahweh, the God of Israel, exercises sovereignty over all nations in all times. Like pieces on a chessboard, he moves them around; he removes some and replaces them with others, and he determines their places.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 86.

Humility in Interpretation

[W]hile the Word of God is authoritative and reliable, our comments on the Scriptures are always in soft lead pencil, subject to correction, modification, and even erasure.

--Daniel I. Block, Deuteronomy (NIV Application Commentary; Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2012), 16.