Jesus cites the Book of Deuteronomy more often in Scripture than any other Bible book. He resists Satan’s temptations by defending Himself by quoting from Deuteronomy. Yet, writes Dr. Bruce K. Waltke, the 91-yr-old foremost living authority on Old Testament wisdom literature: “I do not recall hearing a single sermon on this book over my 70 years of attending church services.”1
In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reflects deeply on the kind of character and activities loved by God and the type of behaviors and pursuits scorned by God. The first bring blessings, while the latter lead to reprimands. Like ancient Israel, America is in dire need of a covenant renewal. Obedience and knowledge of His Word are keys to a covenant relationship that equips “kings to reign and rulers to decree justice.”2
In Deuteronomy 4:9 Moses observes: “… pay attention and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your grandchildren [impressing these things on their mind and penetrating their heart with these truths].”
If any of the failures and negligence of American Christendom could be said to stand out in particular over the last 100 years, it would be its catastrophic disregard of solidly grounding the nation’s youth in spiritual truth and Biblical knowledge. Godly instruction of children is a basic concept of the Book of Deuteronomy [verses 6:7, 20; 11:19; 31:13; 32:46].3
We refer once more to American Founder Fisher Ames [1758-1808], co-author of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and his assessment of public education in 1789: “We’re spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principal text in our schools.”
When we fail to pass the Christian culture along to the next generation[s], then the nation, as Ephesians 4:14 warns, will be “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.” [NKJV]
Forgetfulness of God’s law has nothing to do with the natural decline of memory as part of the normal process of aging. Instead, it is due to willful neglect and diversion of attention away from the fundamentals and precepts of YHWH.4 The seduction of America came not through wooden and stone graven images in the 20th century but by the efforts of secular religionist U.S. Supreme Court Justices. Specifically, the banning of prayer to Jehovah from public schools in 1962 [Engel v. Vitale], the outlawing of the Bible from public education in 1963 [Abington School District v. Schempp], and the prohibition of posting the Ten Commandments in public schools, courthouses, and government buildings in Stone v. Graham in 1980.
In his study of the Book of Deuteronomy, British biblical scholar Peter C. Craigie [1938-1985] notes: “… educating children is important in the context of covenant. The covenant promise of the land, made first to the patriarchs, moved forward by Moses, and still to be experienced by future generations, spanned time within the framework of the purpose of God. And yet the continuity of the covenant, in its fullness, was contingent upon the obedience of the people of God. Forgetfulness opened the door to failure ...”5
After debarking at Jamestown in 1607, America’s Founders erected a cross, knelt, took communion, and pledged to “reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and raise up Godly generations after us.” They made a covenant with Jehovah God. Thirteen years later, on November 11, 1620, the Mayflower’s passengers on coming ashore outlined their mission as intended “for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith.” Little did they realize the ordeal, testing, and purifying that was about to commence.
Over the next 150 years Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and Maryland established in their state Charters and Constitutions a Christian nation.
