Deuteronomy 5:31

“But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.”

Opening Summary

Deuteronomy 5:31 presents a powerful picture of revelation, teaching, obedience, and responsibility.

God tells Moses:

Stand by Me.

I will speak to you.

You will teach the people.

They are to obey what they have been taught.

The order is significant. Moses was not permitted to invent the message he would teach Israel. Before he could stand before the people as their teacher, he first had to stand before God as a hearer.

This gives us an enduring principle for biblical ministry:

Before we speak for God, we must first hear what God has actually spoken.

The Context of Deuteronomy 5:31

Deuteronomy 5 recounts the giving of the Ten Commandments to Israel.

The people had heard God's voice and were overwhelmed with fear. They approached Moses and asked him to serve as the mediator who would hear what God said and then communicate it to them.

They said:

“Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.”
— Deuteronomy 5:27 KJV

God then told Moses:

“But as for thee, stand thou here by me...”

The people returned to their tents.

Moses remained before God.

“But As for Thee”

God separated Moses for a particular responsibility.

The congregation had its responsibility, but Moses had another.

He was being called to receive God's commandments so that he could faithfully communicate them to Israel.

This reminds us that leadership carries responsibility.

Those entrusted with teaching God's people must never treat that responsibility casually.

James later warns:

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.”
— James 3:1 KJV

Those who teach God's Word are accountable for what they teach.

“Stand Thou Here by Me”

This is perhaps the most striking expression in the verse.

Before God told Moses:

“Teach them,”

He told Moses:

“Stand thou here by me.”

There is a spiritual lesson in that order.

Moses' public ministry flowed from his private position before God.

He could not teach what he had not first received.

He could not faithfully communicate God's commandments while standing far away from the One who gave them.

For those who teach Scripture, the principle is important:

Before there is teaching, there must be listening.

Before there is exposition, there must be study.

Before there is public ministry, there should be private communion with God.

Before we tell others what God has said, we should make certain we understand what He has actually spoken.

“I Will Speak Unto Thee”

God was the source of the message.

Moses was the messenger.

That distinction must never be forgotten.

God did not tell Moses:

“Stand here and decide what Israel needs to hear.”

He said:

“I will speak unto thee.”

This connects directly with the principle later established in Deuteronomy 18:18:

“I...will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.”

True biblical ministry begins with God's Word, not human imagination.

Our responsibility as teachers is not to make Scripture say what we want it to say.

Our responsibility is to understand faithfully what God has revealed and communicate it accurately.

“All the Commandments, and the Statutes, and the Judgments”

Moses was not given permission to select only the portions that were easy, popular, or comfortable.

God said:

“all.”

This is an important principle for Bible teaching.

We should not build our understanding of God around only our favorite Scriptures.

Some passages comfort us.

Some correct us.

Some encourage us.

Some confront us.

Some reveal promises.

Others reveal responsibilities.

Paul later expressed a similar commitment when he told the Ephesian elders:

“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”
— Acts 20:27 KJV

Faithful teaching does not merely tell people what they want to hear.

It seeks to communicate the whole counsel of God.

“Which Thou Shalt Teach Them”

Moses was not receiving revelation merely for his personal benefit.

What he received had to be taught.

This creates a biblical pattern:

God speaks → the servant receives → the servant teaches → the people hear → the people obey.

This also helps us understand the transition into Deuteronomy 6.

Deuteronomy 5:31 tells Moses:

“thou shalt teach them.”

Then Deuteronomy 6:1 says:

“Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you...”

And Deuteronomy 6:7 tells Israel:

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children...”

Notice the progression.

God taught Moses.

Moses taught Israel.

Israel was commanded to teach its children.

The Word was intended to move from generation to generation.

“That They May Do Them”

God's purpose was not merely that Israel would know His commandments.

They were expected to do them.

Biblical knowledge should produce biblical obedience.

It is possible to know Scripture intellectually while refusing to submit to what it teaches.

But God did not say:

“Teach them so they can merely discuss My commandments.”

He said:

“that they may do them.”

The purpose of teaching was transformed living.

James expresses the same principle:

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
— James 1:22 KJV

Hearing is necessary.

Understanding is necessary.

Teaching is necessary.

But obedience must follow.

“In the Land Which I Give Them”

Notice another important truth.

The land was a gift from God.

God said:

“the land which I give them.”

Yet the people who received God's gift were also given responsibilities concerning how they were to live within it.

Grace and obedience are not enemies.

God graciously gave Israel the land, and God instructed Israel concerning covenant life in that land.

The gift came from God.

The responsibility belonged to Israel.

The Teacher Must First Be a Student

Deuteronomy 5:31 contains a principle every Bible teacher should remember:

You must stand before God before you stand before people.

A teacher should never become so occupied with preparing something for others that she stops allowing God's Word to speak to her.

Before asking:

“What can I teach from this passage?”

we should also ask:

“What is God teaching me through this passage?”

Before the Word becomes a lesson, it should first become something we ourselves hear, believe, and obey.

Moses had to receive before he could give.

Connection to Deuteronomy 6

Deuteronomy 5:31 leads naturally into Deuteronomy 6.

In chapter 5:

God speaks to Moses.

In chapter 6:

Moses teaches Israel.

Then Israel is commanded:

“And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children...”
— Deuteronomy 6:6–7 KJV

This gives us a beautiful generational pattern:

God → Moses → Israel → children → future generations.

God's truth was never supposed to stop with the person who first received it.

It was to be faithfully transmitted.

Connection to Deuteronomy 13 and 18

This verse also helps us understand why the later warnings about false prophets were so important.

By the time Israel reached the instructions of Deuteronomy 13 and 18, God had already given them His commandments.

They had a standard.

Therefore, when someone later claimed:

“God said...”

Israel was not supposed to abandon everything God had already revealed.

They were to test the claim.

This gives us an important principle for discernment:

New claims of revelation must never be permitted to overthrow what God has already clearly revealed.

God's people must know His Word well enough to recognize when someone is attempting to lead them away from it.

Personal Application

Deuteronomy 5:31 challenges everyone who teaches God's Word.

Before teaching others, ask:

Have I spent time with the text myself?

Am I teaching what Scripture actually says or merely what I want it to say?

Am I willing to teach the whole counsel of God?

Is the Word changing my life before I ask it to change someone else's?

Am I teaching people merely to know Scripture—or to obey God?

The pattern remains powerful:

Stand near.

Listen carefully.

Receive faithfully.

Teach accurately.

Live obediently.

And then teach the next generation to do the same.

God told Moses: