서론
無標題
英文原文
The first words of this chapter are the contents of it, "These are the words of the covenant" (De 29:1), that is, these that follow. Here is, I. A recital of God's dealings with them, in order to the bringing of them into this covenant, De 29:2-8. II. A solemn charge to them to keep the covenant, De 29:9. III. An abstract of the covenant itself, De 29:12,13. IV. A specification of the persons taken into the covenant, De 29:10,11,14,15. V. An intimation of the great design of this covenant against idolatry, in a parenthesis, De 29:16,17. VI. A most solemn and dreadful denunciation of the wrath of God against such persons as promise themselves peace in a sinful way, De 29:18-28. VII. The conclusion of this treaty, with a distinction between things secret and things revealed, De 29:29.
1-9
Mercies Called to Remembrance (1451 BC)
當記念的憐憫（主前1451年）
¹ 這是耶和華在摩押地吩咐摩西與以色列人立約的話，是在他和他們於何烈山所立的約之外。 ² 摩西召了以色列眾人來，對他們說：耶和華在埃及地，在你們眼前向法老和他眾臣僕，並他全地所行的一切事，你們都看見了； ³ 就是你親眼所看見的大試驗和神蹟，並那些大奇事。 ⁴ 但耶和華到今日沒有使你們心能明白、眼能看見、耳能聽見。 ⁵ 我領你們在曠野四十年，你們身上的衣服並沒有穿破，腳上的鞋也沒有穿壞。 ⁶ 你們沒有吃餅，也沒有喝清酒濃酒；這好叫你們知道我是耶和華─你們的神。 ⁷ 你們來到這地方，希實本王西宏、巴珊王噩都出來與我們交戰，我們就擊殺了他們， ⁸ 取了他們的地給流便人、迦得人、瑪拿西半支派為業。 ⁹ 所以你們要謹守遵行這約的話，好叫你們在一切所行的事上亨通。
摩西既已詳盡重述百姓當遵守的誡命——作為他們在約中當盡的本分——又重述了神所要成就的應許與警戒（照著他們的行為而定），作為約的另一部分；如今這一切就在一項立約的行動中總結起來。從前所立的約在此重新堅立，而摩西從前是、如今仍是這約的中保（申 29:1）：耶和華吩咐摩西與他們立約。 摩西自己雖在耶書崙為王，卻不能憑自己立約，惟照神所指示的。定立約的條款不在於傳道人的權柄之內；他們不過是施行約的印記而已。這約被稱為在何烈山所立的約之外；因為約雖相同，卻是一次新的頒佈與批準。當時或有人尚存——雖不夠被數點的年紀，卻已到了可為自己在何烈山所立之約表同意的年紀——而約在此仍要重新堅立。注意，凡已鄭重與神立約的人，當把握一切機會重新立約，如同那些對自己的選擇十分滿意、不願改易的人。但絕大多數乃是新的一代，所以約必須與他們重新訂立；因為約理當向約的兒女重新堅立。
一、契約通常以敘述開始；這約也是如此，先重述神為他們所行的大事：1. 作為激勵，叫他們相信神確實要作他們的神；因為他若不打算為他們作更多，就不會為他們作這一切——他迄今所行的，不過（可以說）是序言或引言而已；不但如此，他在迄今為他們所行的事上已經顯明自己是神，這可以提升他們對更大之事的盼望——那事與神必作他們的神這豐富應許的廣大程度和範圍相稱。2. 作為對他們的約束，要他們因他所行的事而作順服他的百姓。
二、為證明他在此所提出的，他訴諸他們自己的眼睛（申 29:2）：你們都看見耶和華所行的一切事。 他們自己的感官，對於神為他們行了大事這一事實，乃是無可辯駁的證據；而他們自己的理性，對於他由此所作推論的公正性，也是同樣合格的判官：所以你們要謹守這約的話（申 29:9）。
三、他特別指出這些事，以顯明神在他們身上所顯之大能與恩慈。1. 他們蒙拯救出埃及（申 29:2–3）。藉以擊打法老、迫使他釋放百姓的那些可畏的神蹟奇事，又試驗了以色列人（因為經上稱之為試驗），看他們是否肯信靠神、蒙他保守免受那些災殃、並藉那些災殃得蒙拯救。2. 他們在曠野被引導四十年（申 29:5–6）。在那裏他們蒙引導、蒙遮蓋、蒙供養，全藉神蹟；曠野的路徑不但陌生，更是無人走過，神卻保守他們不至在那裏迷失；而且（如畢卓克主教所言）他們照神的吩咐在埃及守逾越節、預備起行之時所穿上的那雙鞋（出 12:11），從未穿破，一直穿到迦南。他們雖不靠能堅固人心的餅、也不靠能快樂人心的酒而活，卻吃嗎哪、喝磐石的水，他們卻是剛強勇敢的人，是勇士，能出去爭戰。藉這些神蹟，他們得以認識耶和華是神；藉這些憐憫，認識他是他們的神。3. 他們最近勝了西宏與噩，並佔領了那美地（申 29:7–8）。從前的憐憫和新近的憐憫，我們都當用以作為順服的激勵。
四、從這些追述中所得的推論：
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摩西感嘆他們的遲鈍：但耶和華到今日沒有使你們心能明白（申 29:4）。這並非把他們的無知、昏昧和不信的罪歸咎於神，好像他們預備好要領受他的恩、懇求他的恩，他卻不肯賜下；不，這乃是把他們的罪責緊緊扣在他們自己身上。「耶和華是萬靈之父，是與你們立約的神，又向來對你們如此豐富施恩，無疑他必樂意以這恩賜加在他一切別的恩賜之上——他必賜給你們能明白的心、能看見的眼——只要你們沒有因自己的倔強悖逆挫敗了他的恩意、徒受他的恩典。」注意：（1）能聽的耳、能看的眼、能明白的心，乃是神的恩賜。凡有這些的，都是從他而得。（2）神賜食物和衣裳，更賜財富和廣大的產業給許多人，卻不賜恩典給他們。許多人享受恩賜，卻沒有心能明白賜恩的主，也沒有心能明白恩賜的真意和用途。（3）神在其他事上樂意向我們行善，這是明顯的證據，證明我們若沒有恩典——那最好的恩賜——過犯乃在我們自己，不在他；他本要聚集我們，我們卻不願意。
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摩西囑咐他們要順服：所以你們要謹守遵行（申 29:9）。注意，我們無論本乎感恩和利益，或本乎責任和忠誠，都當謹守這約的話。
英文原文
Mercies Called to Remembrance (1451 BC)
¹ These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.
² And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land;
³ The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:
⁴ Yet the LORD hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
⁵ And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.
⁶ Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God.
⁷ And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them:
⁸ And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.
⁹ Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
Now that Moses had largely repeated the commands which the people were to observe as their part of the covenant, and the promises and threatenings which God would make good (according as they behaved themselves) as part of the covenant, the whole is here summed up in a federal transaction. The covenant formerly made is here renewed, and Moses, who was before, is still, the mediator of it (De 29:1): The Lord commanded Moses to make it. Moses himself, though king in Jeshurun, could not make the covenant any otherwise than as God gave him instructions. It does not lie in the power of ministers to fix the terms of the covenant; they are only to dispense the seals of it. This is said to be besides the covenant made in Horeb; for, though the covenant was the same, yet it was a new promulgation and ratification of it. It is probable that some now living, though not of age to be mustered, were of age to consent for themselves to the covenant made at Horeb, and yet it is here renewed. Note, Those that have solemnly covenanted with God should take all opportunities to do it again, as those that like their choice too well to change. But the far greater part were a new generation, and therefore the covenant must be made afresh with them, for it is fit that the covenant should be renewed to the children of the covenant.
I. It is usual for indentures to begin with a recital; this does so, with a rehearsal of the great things God had done for them, 1. As an encouragement to them to believe that God would indeed be to them a God, for he would not have done so much for them if he had not designed more, to which all he had hitherto done was but a preface (as it were) or introduction; nay, he had shown himself a God in what he had hitherto done for them, which might raise their expectations of something great and answering the vast extent and compass of that pregnant promise, that God would be to them a God. 2. As an engagement upon them to be to him an obedient people, in consideration of what he had done for them.
II. For the proof of what he here advances he appeals to their own eyes (De 29:2): You have seen all that the Lord did. Their own senses were incontestable evidence of the matter of fact, that God had done great things for them; and then their own reason was a no less competent judge of the equity of his inference from it: Keep therefore the words of this covenant, De 29:9.
III. These things he specifies, to show the power and goodness of God in his appearances for them. 1. Their deliverance out of Egypt, De 29:2,3. The amazing signs and miracles by which Pharaoh was plagued and compelled to dismiss them, and Israel was tried (for they are called temptations) whether they would trust God to secure them from, and save them by, those plagues. 2. Their conduct through the wilderness for forty years, De 29:5,6. There they were led, and clad, and fed, by miracles; though the paths of the wilderness were not only unknown but untrodden, yet God kept them from being lost there; and (as bishop Patrick observes) those very shoes which by the appointment of God they put on in Egypt, at the passover, when the were ready to march (Ex 12:11), never wore out, but served them to Canaan: and though they lived not upon bread which strengthens the heart, and wine which rejoices it, but upon manna and rock-water, yet they were men of strength and courage, mighty men, and able to go forth to war. By these miracles they were made to know that the Lord was God, and by these mercies that he was their God. 3. The victory they had lately obtained of Sihon and Og, and that good land which they had taken possession of, De 29:7,8. Both former mercies and fresh mercies should be improved by us as inducements to obedience.
IV. By way of inference from these memoirs,
1. Moses laments their stupidity: Yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, De 29:4. This does not lay the blame of their senselessness, and sottishness, and unbelief, upon God, as if they had stood ready to receive his grace and had begged for it, but he had denied them; no, but it fastens the guilt upon themselves. "The Lord, who is the Father of spirits, a God in covenant with you, and who had always been so rich in mercy to you, no doubt would have crowned all his other gifts with this, he would have given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see if you had not by your own frowardness and perverseness frustrated his kind intentions, and received his grace in vain." Note, (1.) The hearing ear, the seeing eye, and the understanding heart, are the gift of God. All that have them have them from him. (2.) God gives not only food and raiment, but wealth and large possessions, to many to whom he does not give grace. Many enjoy the gifts who have not hearts to perceive the giver, nor the true intention and use of the gifts. (3.) God's readiness to do us good in other things is a plain evidence that if we have not grace, that best of gifts, it is our own fault and not his; he would have gathered us and we would not.
2. Moses charges them to be obedient: Keep therefore, and do, De 29:9. Note, We are bound in gratitude and interest, as well as duty and faithfulness, to keep the words of the covenant.
10-29
The Covenant Renewed (1451 BC)
立約的更新（主前1451年）
¹⁰ 你們今日都站在耶和華你們的神面前：你們各支派的首領、長老、官長，和以色列的眾人，
¹¹ 你們的小孩、妻子，和你營裏寄居的，以及為你劈柴挑水的人，
¹² 為要你進入耶和華你神與你所立的約，與他所起的誓；就是耶和華你神今日與你所立的，
¹³ 使他今日立你作他的子民，他作你的神，正如他對你所說的，又向你列祖亞伯拉罕、以撒、雅各所起的誓。
¹⁴ 我不但與你們立這約，起這誓，
¹⁵ 凡與我們今日站在耶和華我們神面前的，以及今日不與我們同在的人，我也與他們立這約，起這誓。
¹⁶ （我們曾住過埃及地，也從列國經過，這是你們知道的。
¹⁷ 你們也看見他們中間可憎惡的物，並他們木、石、金、銀的偶像，
¹⁸ 惟恐你們中間有人，或男或女，或宗族或支派，今日心偏於邪，離棄耶和華我們的神，去事奉那些國的神；又怕你們中間有惡根生出苦菜和茵蔯，
¹⁹ 聽見這咒詛的話，心裏仍是自誇說：我雖然行事心裏頑梗，連累眾人，卻還是平安。
²⁰ 耶和華必不饒恕他；耶和華的怒氣與憤恨要向他發作，如煙冒出，將這書上所寫的一切咒詛都加在他身上。耶和華又要從天下塗抹他的名，
²¹ 也必照著寫在這律法書上約中的一切咒詛，將他從以色列眾支派中分別出來，使他受禍。
²² 你們的後代，就是以後興起來的子孫，和遠方來的外人，看見這地的災殃，並耶和華所降與這地的疾病，
²³ 又看見遍地有硫磺，有鹽鹵，有火跡，沒有耕種，沒有出產，連草都不生長，好像耶和華在忿怒中所傾覆的所多瑪、蛾摩拉、押瑪、洗扁一樣，
²⁴ 所看見的人，連萬國萬族的人都必問說：耶和華為何向此地這樣行呢？這樣大發烈怒是甚麼意思呢？
²⁵ 人必回答說：是因這地的人離棄了耶和華他們列祖的神的約，就是他領他們出埃及地的時候與他們所立的，
²⁶ 去事奉敬拜別神，是他們不認識的神，也是耶和華所未曾賜給他們的，
²⁷ 所以耶和華的怒氣向這地發作，將這書上所寫的一切咒詛都降在這地上。
²⁸ 耶和華在怒氣、忿怒、大惱恨中，將他們從本地拔出來，扔在別地上，像今日一樣。
²⁹ 隱秘的事是屬耶和華我們神的；惟有明顯的事是永遠屬我們和我們子孫的，好叫我們遵行這律法的一切話。
從此處句子的長度、措辭的豐富和有力可以看出，摩西如今臨近講論的尾聲，是何等熱切和火熱，何等渴望將他所說的銘刻在這群不思想之百姓心中。為要使他們更緊密地與神和本分相連，他在此以極其莊嚴的措辭（以彌補昔日所用外在儀式的不足，見 Ex 24:4-8 等），彷彿在他們與神之間簽訂了一筆交易，訂立了永遠的約——這約神不會忘記，他們也不可忘記。他沒有要求他們明確表示同意，而是將事情清楚地擺在他們面前，然後將之交在神與他們自己的良心之間。請注意觀察，
I. 此約的當事人。第一，他們要與之神立約的，是耶和華他們的神（De 29:12）。他們當將自己獻給他，當與他聯合。"這是他的誓約；是他草擬並確立了這約；他要求你們同意；他已向你們起誓，你們也當向他起誓。"這要求我們在與神立約的事上要真誠而鄭重、謙卑而虔敬，並要記念我們與之立約的是何等偉大的神——他對我們有完全的認識，對我們有絕對的主權。第二，他們所有的人都要被納入與他所立的約中。他們都被召集前來（De 29:2），並照著行了；他們被告知（De 29:10）如今集體出現在神面前的目的是甚麼——他們要與他立約。（1）連他們的尊貴人，各支派的首領、長老和官長，也不可認為將自己的頸項放在此約的軛下，在其中服役，是有損自己的尊嚴或削弱自己的權力。他們倒應當率先進入這約，為下屬樹立好榜樣。（2）不僅男人，連他們的妻子和兒女也要進入這約；雖然他們沒有被數點，卻必須歸於耶和華（De 29:11）。請注意，連小孩子也有能力被納入與神所立的約中，並當與父母一同被接納。嬰孩，甚至小到被人抱在懷裏的孩子，也當被帶到基督面前，並必蒙他賜福，因為神的國正屬於這樣的人。（3）不僅以色列人，連在他們營中的寄居者，只要他在宗教上歸化到足以棄絕一切假神的地步，也被納入與以色列之神所立的約中；因為他在這件事上也當被視為亞伯拉罕的子孫（Lu 19:9），雖然他是個外人。這是神對外邦人施恩的早期記號，表明神為他們所存留的恩慈。（4）不僅自由人，連劈柴挑水的人，他們當中最卑微的苦工，也不例外。請注意，正如沒有人太高貴而不能進入約的約束之下，也沒有人太卑微而不能承受約的福分。在基督裏並不分為奴的或自主的（Col 3:11）。你是作奴僕蒙召的嗎？不要憂慮（1Co 7:21）。（5）不僅那些如今在這莊嚴聚會中站在神面前的人，連那些不在此處的人，也被納入此約（De 29:15）：如同與那今日與我們同站的人立約，也照樣與那今日不與我們同在的人立約；即是說，[1.] 留在家中的也包括在內；雖因疾病或必要的事務而無法前來，卻不可因此認為自己可以置身事外；不，每一個以色列人都在共同的福分中有分。留在家的人也分掠物，因此每個以色列人都當承認自己受這代表團體之決定的約束。不能上耶和華殿去的人，必須與那些能去的人保持屬靈的相交，在身體缺席時要在心靈中同在。[2.] 後世的人也包括在內。不但如此，有一位迦勒底文意譯本如此翻譯：從世界最初的日子以來一切的世代，以及直到世界末了將要興起的一切世代，今日都與我們一同站在這裏。因此，若將這約視為恩典之約的一種預表性的安排，這便是對那約的中保的崇高見證，那位中保昨日、今日、一直到永遠，是一樣的。
II. 此約的綱要。約中一切的誡命和一切的應許，都包含在神與他們之間的約的關係之中（De 29:13）。他們要被指定、被高舉、被確立為歸他的子民，以觀察和順服他，以忠誠歸於他並倚賴他；而他要作他們的神，照著與他們列祖所立之約的條款，使他們成為聖潔、尊貴、有福。他們的列祖在此被點名——亞伯拉罕、以撒和雅各——作為敬虔的榜樣，那些期望從與他們所立之約中得益處的人，當立志效法他們。請注意，我們若適當地考慮自己作為神的子民與神之間所站的關係，以及我們作為他的子民對他所負的義務，就足以引領我們進入約中的一切本分和一切安慰。
III. 此刻更新此約的主要目的，是要堅固他們抵擋拜偶像的試探。雖然別的罪也會使罪人滅亡，但拜偶像卻是那可能使他們滅亡的罪。關於這一點，他指出，
1. 他們面臨被引誘拜偶像的危險（De 29:16,17）："你們曾住過埃及地，那是一個沉溺於偶像崇拜的國家；但你們中間若沒有留下那偶像崇拜的感染就好了；我們曾經過別的國家，以東人、摩押人等，並看見了他們可憎惡的物和偶像，你們中間也許有人對這些心生羨慕，至今仍然戀慕不捨，寧願敬拜一個看得見的木頭神明，也不願敬拜一位他們從未看見的無限之靈。"我們可以盼望他們中間有些人，越是看見這些可憎的物和偶像，就越是恨惡；但也有些人被所見的吸引，看見當滅之物就起了貪念。
2. 他們若屈服於這試探所面臨的危險。他向他們發出公正的警告：他們若離棄神去事奉偶像，必自取滅亡。他們若不肯被約的誡命約束和保守，就必發現約的咒詛有足夠的力量來約束和束縛他們。
（1）拜偶像將使個人和他們的家庭歸於滅亡（De 29:18-21），在此請注意，
[1.] 對罪人的描述（De 29:18）。第一，他是一個心偏離了他的神的人；禍患正是從那裏開始——從那不信的惡心開始，這惡心使人離棄永生的神去歸向死的偶像。甚至這罪也會在人被自己的私慾和幻想牵引時誘惑他們。那些開始疏忽對神本分而偏離神的人，很容易被引到別神面前；而事奉別神的人，確實是離棄了真神；因為神不容許有對手：他要麼是一切，要麼甚麼都不是。第二，他是生出苦菜和茵蔯的惡根；就是說，他是一個危險的人——他自己已被邪惡的原則和傾向所毒害，暗中藐視以色列的神和他的制度，並尊崇列國的神明，卻竭盡一切可能的方法去敗壞和毒害別人，引誘他們拜偶像：這種人所結的果子是毒芹（這詞在 Ho 10:4 中如此翻譯）和茵蔯；這使神極不喜悅，對一切被他引誘的人而言，結局必是苦楚。使徒在 Heb 12:15 引用了這話，他在那裏同樣告誡我們要防備那些要引誘我們離棄基督信仰的人；他們如同田間的雜草或稗子，若不加遏制，必蔓延整塊田地。一點麵酵能使全團都發起來，確實有此危險。
[2.] 他自恃平安無事。他雖然 persist 在不敬虔之中，卻自以為可以不受懲罰（De 29:19）。他雖然聽見這咒詛的話，因此不能像其他拜偶像的人那樣以對危險的無知為藉口，卻在那時心裏自誇，自以為在偶像神明的保護下安全無虞，不致遭受以色列之神的烈怒，*因此說，"我雖然行宗教不是照神的制度，而是照我自己的幻想，甚至將醉酒加在乾渴之上（一罪加一罪），我卻仍有平安。"*拜偶像的人如同酒醉的人，自己猛烈地追求偶像，又殷勤地拉攏別人同夥。他們的偶像崇拜常常伴隨著放蕩狂歡（1Pe 4:3），因此這話語是對酒醉之人的禍哉（尤其是以法蓮的酒醉者），他們醒來時因仍覺乾渴，又去尋找（Pr 23:35）。而那些為尊敬自己的偶像而喝醉的人，更是酒徒中最惡劣的。請注意，第一，有許多人雖然在神的咒詛之下，卻仍自誇；但他們很快就必發現，他們在自誇中不過是自欺。第二，那些使自己相信"雖然繼續走在罪惡的道路上卻仍有平安"的人，正走向毀滅，幾乎沒有悔改的指望。第三，醉酒是一種使人心剛硬、使良心敗壞的罪，如同其他任何罪一樣厲害，是一種當人即使剛剛遭受其害卻仍莫名被吸引的罪，也是一種他們莫名熱衷於拉攏別人的罪（Hab 2:15）。拜偶像也正是這樣迷惑人的罪。
[3.] 神因他的罪，並因他在繼續犯罪時說自己仍有平安而對神所施的褻瀆而加諸的公正嚴懲——他如此行等於以謊言對抗永恆的真理（Ge 3:4）。在神全書中，幾乎沒有比這更可怕的威脅了。但願那些狂妄的罪人讀了就戰兢！因為這不是用來嚇唬孩子和愚昧人的鬼怪，而是神對不敬虔和不義之人所發之烈怒的真實宣告（De 29:20,21）。第一，主必不饒恕他。他濫用的緩刑之日必被縮短，在審判之中不再記念任何憐憫。第二，主的怒氣和憤恨——這是最猛烈的怒氣——要向他發作如煙冒出，如同爐中的煙。第三，書上所寫的咒詛必傾倒在他身上，不僅臨到他以使他驚恐，更要常駐在他身上，將他沉淪到最低的地獄（Joh 3:36）。第四，他的名必被塗抹，就是說，他本人必被剪除，他的記念也必與他一同朽壞滅亡。第五，他必被分別出來受禍，這是咒詛最確切的含義；他必從一切幸福和一切幸福的指望中被剪除，並被標記為受禍，無可救藥。最後，這一切都是照著約的咒詛——這是最可怕的咒詛，因為是被濫用的恩典所招致的公正報應。
（2）拜偶像將使他們的國家滅亡；它將使那容忍這苦菜之根滋生、並受其感染的地土招致災殃；罪蔓延到何處，審判也必擴展到何處。
[1.] 毀滅被描述出來。它以災殃和疾病開始（De 29:22），以試驗他們是否會在較輕的審判中悔改；但若不悔改，便以如同所多瑪一般的全面傾覆告終（De 29:23）。正如那曾因結果子而如耶和華的園子一般的山谷，變成了鹽和硫磺的湖，迦南地也必照樣變為荒涼貧瘠，自從羅馬人最後一次毀滅它以來一直如此。所多瑪的鹽湖與以色列地緊密相鄰，為要藉此警告他們防備所多瑪的罪孽；但他們不聽警告，結果在毀滅上正如在罪上一樣，變得與所多瑪相似。
[2.] 其原因被探究並加以指明。第一，這將被後世的人探究（De 29:22），他們將發現自己國家的狀況在各個方面都與以往截然相反，當他們讀到歷史和應許時，必對這變化感到驚奇。外人以及周圍的列國，如同個人一樣，也必問：耶和華為何向此地這樣行呢？（De 29:24）。別處也照樣描述大規模的荒涼使旁觀者驚駭（1Ki 9:8,9, Jer 22:8,9）。當審判從神的家起首時（1Pe 4:17），鄰舍就當戰兢。這問題的重點當放在此地——迦南地，這美地，萬國中最榮美之地，這流奶與蜜之地。這樣一塊美地竟變為荒涼，誠然可歎；但這還不是全部；這是聖地，以色列地，一個與神立約的百姓之地；這是以馬內利之地，是神被認識和敬拜的地方，卻如此荒廢。請注意，第一，神將毀滅性的審判降在一個在名義上與他親近的百姓身上，這並非新事（Am 3:2）。第二，他若非有充分的理由，絕不會如此行。第三，我們當探究其緣由，好將榮耀歸給神，並引以為戒。第二，此處指明了原因，以回答那探究。事情必極其明顯，使所有人都必說，這是因為他們離棄了耶和華他們列祖之神的約（De 29:25）。請注意，神從不棄絕任何人，直到他們先棄絕他。但那些離棄其列祖之神的人，被逐出其列祖的產業，是公正的。他們去事奉別神（De 29:26），是他們不認識的神，也不因感恩的義務而受其約束；因為神創造萬物，不是要我們事奉它們，而是要它們事奉我們；它們也未曾（如有人如此解讀的）行過甚麼善事，除非是神使之如此行的；因此我們虧欠的是創造主，而不是受造之物。正是為此神向他們發怒（De 29:27），並在怒氣中將他們拔出（De 29:28）。因此，無論那荒涼多麼可怕，主在其中都是公義的，這一點在 Da 9:11-14 中也為人承認。"這樣"（安斯沃斯先生說），"摩西的律法將罪人留在咒詛之下，並從主的地上被拔出；但基督向悔改信主的罪人所施的恩典，卻將他們重新栽種在他們的地土上，他們不再被拔出，因為他們被神的大能所保守"（Am 9:15）。
[3.] 他在結束對猶太人被棄絕的預言時，正如保羅在論述同一主題、而這預言開始應驗時所作的結論一樣（Ro 11:33）：神的判斷何其難測，他的蹤跡何其難尋！因此此處（De 29:29）說：隱秘的事是屬耶和華我們神的。有人將此視為一句話：耶和華我們神的隱秘之事，已照我們所當知道的向我們和我們的兒女顯明了，而他並未如此待別國；但我們將其分為兩句話，藉此：第一，我們被禁止好奇地探究神的隱秘旨意並對其妄加斷言。對於那個問題——耶和華為何向此地這樣行？——已有充分的回答，足以使神得著稱義，並警戒我們。但若有人進一步追問，為何神要花費如此巨大的奇蹟之工來塑造這樣一個百姓，而他明明預見了他們的背道和毀滅；為何他不用他全能的恩典來阻止這事；或他將來還要對他們作甚麼——讓這樣的人知道，這些問題無法回答，因此不當提出。我們若妄自探究統治的奧秘，並查問那些不屬於我們的治國理由，便是僭越。參見 Ac 1:7, Joh 21:22, Col 2:18。第二，我們被引導並受鼓勵，要勤奮地探究神所已經顯明的事：明顯的事是屬我們和我們子孫的。請注意，第一，雖然神將他旨意的許多內容保守為隱秘，但所啟示的已足以使我們滿足並拯救我們。他沒有將任何對我們有益的事留下不賜給我們，只留下了那些我們不知道反而更好的事。第二，我們當使自己和我們的兒女都認識神所啟示的事。我們不僅被允許查考，更有責任如此行。這些事與我們和我們的親人密切相關。它們是我們當遵循的法則，也是我們當賴以存活的憑據；因此我們當自己勤奮學習，並當勤奮地教導我們的兒女。第三，我們一切的知識都必須以實行為目的，因為這是一切神聖啟示的終極目標——不是為我們提供好奇的推測和談論的題目，以此自娛並娛樂朋友，而是要使我們遵行這律法的一切話，並在我們所行的事上蒙福。
英文原文
The Covenant Renewed (1451 BC)
¹⁰ Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
¹¹ Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
¹² That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day:
¹³ That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
¹⁴ Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
¹⁵ But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
¹⁶ (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
¹⁷ And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
¹⁸ Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
¹⁹ And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
²⁰ The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.
²¹ And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law:
²² So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it;
²³ And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:
²⁴ Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?
²⁵ Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt:
²⁶ For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
²⁷ And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
²⁸ And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
²⁹ The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
It appears by the length of the sentences here, and by the copiousness and pungency of the expressions, that Moses, now that he was drawing near to the close of his discourse, was very warm and zealous, and very desirous to impress what he said upon the minds of this unthinking people. To bind them the faster to God and duty, he here, with great solemnity of expression (to make up the want of the external ceremony that was used (Ex 24:4-8, etc.), concludes a bargain (as it were) between them and God, an everlasting covenant, which God would not forget and they must not. He requires not their explicit consent, but lays the matter plainly before them, and then leaves it between God and their own consciences. Observe,
I. The parties to this covenant. 1. It is the Lord their God they are to covenant with, De 29:12. To him they must give up themselves, to him they must join themselves. "It is his oath; he has drawn up the covenant and settled it; he requires your consent to it; he has sworn to you and to him you must be sworn." This requires us to be sincere and serious, humble and reverent, in our covenant-transactions with God, remembering how great a God he is with whom we are covenanting, who has a perfect knowledge of us and an absolute dominion over us. 2. They are all to be taken into covenant with him. They were all summoned to attend (De 29:2), and did accordingly, and are told (De 29:10) what was the design of their appearing before God now in a body—they were to enter into covenant with him. (1.) Even their great men, the captains of their tribes, their elders and officers, must not think it any disparagement to their honour, or any diminution of their power, to put their necks under the yoke of this covenant, and to draw in it. They must rather enter into the covenant first, to set a good example to their inferiors. (2.) Not the men only, but their wives and children, must come into this covenant; though they were not numbered and mustered, yet they must be joined to the Lord, De 29:11. Observe, Even little ones are capable of being taken into covenant with God, and are to be admitted with their parents. Little children, so little as to be carried in arms, must be brought to Christ, and shall be blessed by him, for of such was and is the kingdom of God. (3.) Not the men of Israel only, but the stranger that was in their camp, provided he was so far proselyted to their religion as to renounce all false gods, was taken into this covenant with the God of Israel, forasmuch as he also, though a stranger, was to be looked upon in this matter as a son of Abraham, Lu 19:9. This was an early indication of favour to the Gentiles, and of the kindness God had in store for them. (4.) Not the freemen only, but the hewers of wood and drawers of water, the meanest drudge they had among them. Note, As none are too great to come under the bonds of the covenant, so none are too mean to inherit the blessings of the covenant. In Christ no difference is made between bond and free, Col 3:11. Art thou called being a servant? Care not for it, 1Co 7:21. (5.) Not only those that were now present before God in this solemn assembly, but those also that were not here with them were taken into covenant (De 29:15): As with him that standeth here with us (so bishop Patrick thinks it should be rendered) so also with him, that is not here with us this day; that is, [1.] Those that tarried at home were included; though detained either by sickness or necessary business, they must not therefore think themselves disengaged; no, every Israelite shares in the common blessings. Those that tarry at home divide the spoil, and therefore every Israelite must own himself bound by the consent of the representative body. Those who cannot go up to the house of the Lord must keep up a spiritual communion with those that do, and be present in spirit when they are absent in body. [2.] The generations to come are included. Nay, one of the Chaldee paraphrasts reads it, All the generations that have been from the first days of the world, and all that shall arise to the end of the whole world, stand with us here this day. And so, taking this covenant as a typical dispensation of the covenant of grace, it is a noble testimony to the Mediator of that covenant, who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
II. The summary of this covenant. All the precepts and all the promises of the covenant are included in the covenant-relation between God and them, De 29:13. That they should be appointed, raised up, established, for a people to him, to observe and obey him, to be devoted to him and dependent on him, and that he should be to them a God, according to the tenour of the covenant made with their fathers, to make them holy, high, and happy. Their fathers are here named, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as examples of piety, which those were to set themselves to imitate who expected any benefit from the covenant made with them. Note, A due consideration of the relation we stand in to God as our God, and of the obligation we lie under as a people to him, is enough to bring us to all the duties and all the comforts of the covenant.
III. The principal design of the renewing of this covenant at this time was to fortify them against temptations to idolatry. Though other sins will be the sinner's ruin, yet this was the sin that was likely to be their ruin. Now concerning this he shows,
1. The danger they were in of being tempted to it (De 29:16,17): "You know we have dwelt in the land of Egypt, a country addicted to idolatry; and it were well if there were not among you some remains of the infection of that idolatry; we have passed by other nations, the Edomites, Moabites, etc. and have seen their abominations and their idols, and some among you, it may be, have liked them too well, and still hanker after them, and would rather worship a wooden god that they can see than an infinite Spirit whom they never saw." It is to be hoped that there were those among them who, the more they saw of these abominations and idols, the more they hated them; but there were those that were smitten with the sight of them, saw the accursed things and coveted them.
2. The danger they were in if they yielded to the temptation. He gives them fair warning: it was at their peril if they forsook God to serve idols. If they would not be bound and held by the precepts of the covenant, they would find that the curses of the covenant would be strong enough to bind and hold them.
(1.) Idolatry would be the ruin of particular persons and their families, De 29:18-21, where observe,
[1.] The sinner described, De 29:18. First, He is one whose heart turns away from his God; there the mischief begins, in the evil heart of unbelief, which inclines men to depart from the living God to dead idols. Even to this sin men are tempted when they are drawn aside by their own lusts and fancies. Those that begin to turn from God, by neglecting their duty to him, are easily drawn to other gods: and those that serve other gods do certainly turn away from the true God; for he will admit of no rivals: he will be all or nothing. Secondly, He is a root that bears gall and wormwood; that is, he is a dangerous man, who, being himself poisoned with bad principles and inclinations, with a secret contempt of the God of Israel and his institutions and a veneration for the gods of the nations, endeavours, by all arts possible, to corrupt and poison others and draw them to idolatry: this is a man whose fruit is hemlock (so the word is translated, Ho 10:4) and wormwood; it is very displeasing to God, and will be, to all that are seduced by him, bitterness in the latter end. This is referred to by the apostle, Heb 12:15, where he is in like manner cautioning us to take heed of those that would seduce us from the Christian faith; they are the weeds or tares in a field, which, if let alone, will overspread the whole field. A little of this leaven will be in danger of infecting the whole lump.
[2.] His security in the sun. He promises himself impunity, though he persists in his impiety, De 29:19. Though he hears the words of the curse, so that he cannot plead ignorance of the danger, as other idolaters, yet even then he blesses himself in his own heart, thinks himself safe from the wrath of the God of Israel, under the protection of his idol-gods, and therefore says, "I shall have peace, though I be governed in my religion, not by God's institution, but by my own imagination, to add drunkenness to thirst, one act of wickedness to another." Idolaters were like drunkards, violently set upon their idols themselves and industrious to draw others in with them. Revellings commonly accompanied their idolatries (1Pe 4:3), so that this speaks a woe to drunkards (especially the drunkards of Ephraim), who, when they are awake, being thirsty, seek it yet again, Pr 23:35. And those that made themselves drunk in honour of their idols were the worst of drunkards. Note, First, There are many who are under the curse of God and yet bless themselves; but it will soon be found that in blessing themselves they do but deceive themselves. Secondly, Those are ripe for ruin, and there is little hope of their repentance, who have made themselves believe that they shall have peace though they go on in a sinful way. Thirdly, Drunkenness is a sin that hardens the heart, and debauches the conscience, as much as any other, a sin to which men are strangely tempted themselves even when they have lately felt the mischiefs of it, and to which they are strangely fond of drawing others, Hab 2:15. And such an ensnaring sin is idolatry.
[3.] God's just severity against him for the sin, and for the impious affront he put upon God in saying he should have peace though he went on, so giving the lie to eternal truth, Ge 3:4. There is scarcely a threatening in all the book of God that sounds more dreadful than this. O that presumptuous sinners would read it and tremble! For it is not a bug-bear to frighten children and fools, but a real declaration of the wrath of God against the ungodliness and the unrighteousness of men, De 29:20,21. First, The Lord shall not spare him. The days of his reprieve, which he abuses, will be shortened, and no mercy remembered in the midst of judgment. Secondly, The anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, which is the fiercest anger, shall smoke against him, like the smoke of a furnace. Thirdly, The curses written shall lie upon him, not only light upon him to terrify him, but abide upon him, to sink him to the lowest hell, Joh 3:36. Fourthly, His name shall be blotted out, that is, he himself shall be cut off, and his memory shall rot and perish with him. Fifthly, He shall be separated unto evil, which is the most proper notion of a curse; he shall be cut off from all happiness and all hope of it, and marked out for misery without remedy. And (lastly) All this according to the curses of the covenant, which are the most fearful curses, being the just revenges of abused grace.
(2.) Idolatry would be the ruin of their nation; it would bring plagues upon the land that connived at this root of bitterness and received the infection; as far as the sin spread, the judgment should spread likewise.
[1.] The ruin is described. It begins with plagues and sicknesses (De 29:22), to try if they will be reclaimed by less judgments; but, if not, it ends in a total overthrow, like that of Sodom, De 29:23. As that valley, which had been like the garden of the Lord for fruitfulness, was turned into a lake of salt and sulphur, so should the land of Canaan be made desolate and barren, as it has been ever since the last destruction of it by the Romans. The lake of Sodom bordered closely upon the land of Israel, that by it they might be warned against the iniquity of Sodom; but, not taking the warning, they were made as like to Sodom in ruin as they had been in sin.
[2.] The reason of it is enquired into, and assigned. First, It would be enquired into by the generations to come (De 29:22), who would find the state of their nation in all respects the reverse of what it had been, and, when they read both the history and the promise, would be astonished at the change. The stranger likewise, and the nations about them, as well as particular persons, would ask, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? De 29:24. Great desolations are thus represented elsewhere as striking the spectators with amazement, 1Ki 9:8,9, Jer 22:8,9. It was time for the neighbours to tremble when judgment thus began at the house of God, 1Pe 4:17. The emphasis of the question is to be laid upon this land, the land of Canaan, this good land, the glory of all lands, this land flowing with milk and honey. A thousand pities that such a good land as this should be made desolate, but this is not all; it is this holy land, the land of Israel, a people in covenant with God; it is Immanuel's land, a land where God was known and worshipped, and yet thus wasted. Note, 1. It is no new thing for God to bring desolating judgments upon a people that in profession are near to him, Am 3:2. 2. He never does this without a good reason. 3. It concerns us to enquire into the reason, that we may give glory to God and take warning to ourselves. Secondly, The reason is here assigned, in answer to that enquiry. The matter would be so plain that all men would say, It was because they forsook the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, De 29:25. Note, God never forsakes any till they first forsake him. But those that desert the God of their fathers are justly cast out of the inheritance of their fathers. They went and served other gods (De 29:26), gods that they had no acquaintance with, nor lay under any obligation to either in duty of gratitude; for God has not given the creatures to be served by us, but to serve us; nor have they done any good to us (as some read it), more than what God has enabled them to do; to the Creator therefore we are debtors, and not to the creatures. It was for this that God was angry with them (De 29:27), and rooted them out in anger, De 29:28. So that, how dreadful soever the desolation was, the Lord was righteous in it, which is acknowledged, Da 9:11-14. "Thus" (says Mr. Ainsworth) "the law of Moses leaves sinners under the curse, and rooted out of the Lord's land; but the grace of Christ towards penitent believing sinners plants them again upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up, being kept by the power of God," Am 9:15.
[3.] He concludes his prophecy of the Jews' rejection just as St. Paul concludes his discourse on the same subject, when it began to be fulfilled (Ro 11:33), How unsearchable are God's judgments, and his ways past finding out! So here (De 29:29), Secret things belong to the Lord our God. Some make it to be one sentence, The secret things of the Lord our God are revealed to us and to our children, as far as we are concerned to know them, and he hath not dealt so with other nations: but we make it two sentences, by which, First, We are forbidden curiously to enquire into the secret counsels of God and to determine concerning them. A full answer is given to that question, Wherefore has the Lord done thus to this land? sufficient to justify God and admonish us. But if any ask further why God would be at such a vast expense of miracles to form such a people, whose apostasy and ruin he plainly foresaw, why he did not by his almighty grace prevent it, or what he intends yet to do with them, let such know that these are questions which cannot be answered, and therefore are not fit to be asked. It is presumption in us to pry into the Arcana imperii—the mysteries of government, and to enquire into the reasons of state which it is not for us to know. See Ac 1:7, Joh 21:22, Col 2:18. Secondly, We are directed and encouraged diligently to enquire into that which God has made known: things revealed belong to us and to our children. Note, 1. Though God has kept much of his counsel secret, yet there is enough revealed to satisfy and save us. He has kept back nothing that is profitable for us, but that only which it is good for us to be ignorant of. 2. We ought to acquaint ourselves, and our children, too, with the things of God that are revealed. We are not only allowed to search into them, but are concerned to do so. They are things which we and ours are nearly interested in. They are the rules we are to live by, the grants we are to live upon; and therefore we are to learn them diligently ourselves, and to teach them diligently to our children. 3. All our knowledge must be in order to practice, for this is the end of all divine revelation, not to furnish us with curious subjects of speculation and discourse, with which to entertain ourselves and our friends, but that we may do all the words of this law, and be blessed in our deed.
本章開頭的話就是本章的內容：「這是立約的話」（申二十九1），就是以下所要說的。本章包含：一、重述神向他們所行的事，為要領他們進入這約（申二十九2–8）。二、鄭重勸勉他們遵守這約（申二十九9）。三、這約本身的摘要（申二十九12–13）。四、列入此約之人的具體說明（申二十九10–11、14–15）。五、在一個括號中暗示此約針對偶像崇拜的重大用意（申二十九16–17）。六、對那些在罪惡道路上自欺以為平安的人，神向他們發出極其鄭重而可怕的忿怒宣告（申二十九18–28）。七、這次立約交涉的結語，並區別隱秘的事與明顯的事（申二十九29）。