Moses had reminded the people of God's guidance in chapters 1-3. It had taken the people forty years to get to the Plains of Moab, yet chapter 1:2 states that it was only an eleven day journey. This is the tragedy of unbelief. It wastes time, energy, and manpower, and it robs God of the glory due His precious name.
In chapters 4 and 5 Moses reminds the people of God's glory and greatness. In this section, Moses takes the nation back to Sinai where God's glory and greatness were revealed, and where the nation trembled at God's law. They were in danger of forgetting the glory and greatness of God.
Moses points out three dangers that can also be applies to our lives today. First, he warns them against forgetting God's Word. If they obeyed His Word, He would bless them and they would possess the land. However, if they changed His Word, or disobeyed it, He would chasten them and they would lose their land. When God's Word becomes commonplace to the Christian, and he no longer respects it, he is headed for serious trouble.
Moses also tells the people to take heed against turning to idols. He reminds them that God had proved Himself greater than all the gods of Egypt. If they turned from God to idols, they would be chastised again.
In chapter 5 Moses warns the people against neglecting the law. He repeats the Ten Commandments, the basis for God's moral law. In fact, the remainder of Deuteronomy is actually an amplification and application of these commandments. Israel was to hear, learn, keep, and do these laws, for in obeying the law they would be honoring God and opening the way for victory and blessing.
Finally, in chapter 6, Moses reminds the people of God's goodness. Verses 10-12 illustrate a basic weakness of human nature--we take God's blessings for granted. How prone we are, as were the children of Israel, to think that our wisdom and strength have gotten us where we are today. Satan would puff us up and have us believe we are something within our own strength.
God's warning against such temptation is found in I Corinthians 10:12: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." Never let Satan get you to the place where you are depending on self- ingenuity, self-will, and self-motivation to carry you through this wicked life. Only through daily prayer, Bible reading, and total dependence upon God can any Christian anywhere be successful for God.
