Deuteronomy 1:13
Prepare for yourselves wise and understanding men, known among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.

How can any believer in Sola Scriptura explain Jethro's advice to Moses? Those who deny the Oral Torah claim that any pedestrian knows the Law simply by reading the Bible. But this is not true. Why is there a need to have lower courts and higher courts, with the latter getting the more difficult cases? Why is there a need for judges to be "wise and understanding" if knowledge of the Law requires no special training?

Deuteronomy 4:2
Do not add to the word which I command you, nor diminish from it, to observe the commandments of the L-rd your G-d which I command you.

Jesus violated this when he revoked the Torah's premission for divorce and when he permitted unkosher food. Paul revoked the Law generally by saying faith in Jesus without the Law is sufficient for salvation.

For more explanation see the article WAS JESUS SINLESS?

Deuteronomy 4:4
But you who cleave to the L-rd your G-d are alive, all of you, this day.

This verse contradicts Paul who said that all people are wicked and fail to cling to G-d, and therefore need salvation from Jesus. Here Moses says that those who remain did successfully cling to G-d.

Deuteronomy 4:7
For what great nation is there that has G-d so near to it, as the L-rd our G-d is at all times that we call upon Him?

These Jews had nearness to G-d, contrary to missionary claims.

Deuteronomy 4:9-12
4:9. But beware and watch yourself very well, lest you forget the things that your eyes saw, and lest these things depart from your heart, all the days of your life, and you shall make them known to your children and to your children's children, 4:10. the day you stood before the L-rd your G-d at Horeb, when the L-rd said to me, "Assemble the people for Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children. 4:11. And you approached and stood at the foot of the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire up to the midst of the heavens, with darkness, a cloud, and opaque darkness. 4:12. The L-rd spoke to you out of the midst of the fire; you heard the sound of the words, but saw no form, just a voice.

The uniqueness of Judaism is its claim to national public revelation. No other religion claims such a thing. This is because a false claim of public relevation is easily refuted. All religions excpet Judaism are based on claims of private or semi-private revelation. That is because they are false claims.

Deuteronomy 4:15-16
4:15. And you shall watch yourselves very well, for you did not see any form on the day that the L-rd spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire. 4:16. Lest you become corrupt and make for yourselves a graven image, the representation of any form, the likeness of male or female...

The fact that at Sinai the Jewish people saw no form at Sinai is linked with the prohibition of idolatry. To worship an incarnate god like Jesus is idolatry.

Deuteronomy 4:31
For the L-rd your God is a merciful G-d; He will not let you loose or destroy you; neither will He forget the covenant of your fathers, which He swore to them.

This refutes the missionaries who say because of Jewish wrongdoing G-d revoked His covenant with the Jewish people.

Deuteronomy 4:32-34
4:32. For ask now regarding the early days that were before you, since the day that G-d created man upon the earth, and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens, whether there was anything like this great thing, or was the likes of it heard? 4:33. Did ever a people hear G-d's voice speaking out of the midst of the fire as you have heard, and live? 4:34. Or has any god performed miracles to come and take him a nation from the midst of a[nother] nation, with trials, with signs, and with wonders, and with war and with a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great awesome deeds, as all that the L-rd your G-d did for you in Egypt before your eyes?

The uniqueness of national public revelation, as we stated above.

Deuteronomy 4:35
You have been shown, in order to know that the L-rd He is G-d; there is none else besides Him.

The Jews were taught at Sinai of G-d's absolute oneness. The Trinity is idolatry.

Deuteronomy 4:39
And you shall know this day and consider it in your heart, that the L-rd He is G-d in heaven above, and upon the earth below; there is none else.

The Jews were taught at Sinai of G-d's absolute oneness. The Trinity is idolatry.

Deuteronomy 6:1-2;6
This is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances that the L-rd, your G-d, commanded to teach you, to perform in the land into which you are about to pass, to possess it. 6:2. In order that you fear the L-rd, your G-d, to keep all His statutes and His commandments that I command you, you, your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life, and in order that your days may be lengthened. 6:6. And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart

Missionaries speak of a New Covenant based on their misinterpretation of Jeremiah 31. They claim that when the Law becomes "on our hearts" it is no longer practically observed. These verses refute this notion. Moses speaks of the importance of keeping the Law AND that the words of Torah should be "on our hearts." We put the Law on our hearts in order to observe the Law, not to supercede it.

Deuteronomy 6:4
Hear, O Israel: The L-rd is our G-d; the L-rd is one.

If G-d is triune, as missionaries claim, it is hard to understand why Scripture so often stresses His oneness. Even more difficult to understand is, why recognition of His triune nature is supposedly a requirement for salvation.

Deuteronomy 6:5
And you shall love the L-rd, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your means.

Missionaries like to portray observance of the Law as lacking love, spirituality, etc. Overlooked is that loving G-d is one of the 613 commandments. There is no observance of the Law without love.

Deuteronomy 6:8
And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes.

This verse illustrates the necessity for the Oral Law.

Those not learned in the Oral Law have no idea what object is the placed on the hand and head. Only the Oral Law explains this.

Deuteronomy 6:24-25
And the L-rd commanded us to perform all these statutes, to fear the L-rd, our G-d, for our good all the days, to keep us alive, as of this day. 6:25. And it will be for our merit that we keep to observe all these commandments before the L-rd, our G-d, as He has commanded us."

The commandments are for our benefit. This contradicts missionary beliefs that the commandments were given to reveal sin and failure and generate condemnation.

Deuteronomy 7:9
Know, therefore, that the L-rd, your G-d He is G-d, the faithful G-d, Who keeps the covenant and loving kindness with those who love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.

This is clear proof that the early Jewish followers of Jesus did not have G-d's favor. That community has been eliminated from the Jewish people. No Jew can trace their his lineage back to the Nazarenes. No "Messianic" community today has an unbroken tradition going back to the original Nazarenes. The only group of ancient Jews that G-d has perpetuated as part of the Jewish people are followers of Rabbinic Judaism.

Deuteronomy 8:5
You shall know in your heart, that just as a man chastises his son, so does the L-rd, your G-d, chastise you.

The loving kindness of a parent for a child is so great that G-d compares His love to that of a parent. Yet according to missionaries G-d behaves horribly to His children. He gave them a Sinaitic covenant that missionaries say cannot work. He told Israel that it can work, and punished them when they did not live up to it. Is this how a loving parent behaves towards his own children?

Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, O Israel, what does the L-rd, your G-d, demand of you? Only to fear the L-rd, your G-d, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to worship the L-rd, your G-d, with all your heart and with all your soul, 10:13. to keep the commandments of the L-rd and His statutes, which I command you this day, for your good.

These verses refute Christian theology. It clearly says that the "only" thing G-d asks for is to serve Him according to His system of commandments. Not like Paul who says the commandments are spiritually insufficient. It also says the commandments are given "for your good." This is contrary to Paul's doctrine that the Law is a schoolmaster who only reveals one's failure. The commandments are beneficial to human beings.

Missionaries may argue that revealing failure is precisely the benefit of the commandments. That cannot be. The verse says all G-d asks is serve G-d via the commandments. The commandments cannot be a "schoolmaster" who shows a person that he needs a new salvation program.

Deuteronomy 10:15
Only your forefathers the L-rd desired, to love them, and He chose their seed after them you, out of all peoples, as it is this day.

This verse refutes the idea that the Church is also the chosen people, "grafted" onto Israel. G-d says He chose ONLY the nation of Israel.

Deuteronomy 10:16
You shall circumcise the foreskin of your heart, therefore, and be no more stiffnecked.

This verse follows quickly after verses 12 and 13 which stress the importance of following the commandments. Purifying one's heart is done for the purpose of keeping the commandments; not as a substitute for keeping the commandments as missionaries contend.

Deuteronomy 11:1
[Therefore] you shall love the L-rd, your G-d, keep His charge, His statutes, His ordinances, and His commandments, all the days.

Love of G-d goes together with keeping the commandments. It is not a replacement for keeping the commandments as missionaries charge.

Deuteronomy 12:28
Keep and hearken to all these words that I command you, that it may benefit you and your children after you, forever, when you do what is good and proper in the eyes of the L-rd, your G-d.

It says explicitly that the commandments were given to benefit the Jewish people, unlike missionary theology which states that the commandments are meant to expose spiritual failure.

Deuteronomy 13:1
Everything I command you that you shall be careful to do it. You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.

Jesus and Paul violated this verse by changing Biblical law. See commentary to Deut. 4:2

Deuteronomy 13:2-6
13:2. If there will arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,

13:3. and the sign or the wonder of which he spoke to you happens, [and he] says, "Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us worship them,"

13:4. you shall not heed the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of a dream; for the L-rd, your G-d, is testing you, to know whether you really love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul.

13:5. You shall follow the L-rd, your G-d, fear Him, keep His commandments, heed His voice, worship Him, and cleave to Him.

13:6. And that prophet, or that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death; because he spoke falsehood about the L-rd, your G-d Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeemed you from the house of bondage, to lead you astray from the way in which the L-rd, your G-d, commanded you to go; so shall you clear away the evil from your midst.

Missionaries claim the miracles attributed to Jesus give him credibility. The verses above show that even a false prophet can do miracles. So miracles prove nothing. Surely Jesus is in the category mentioned in the above passage; his urging to worship the Trinity and an incarnate god are entities "which you have not known." This is not what Jews were taught about G-d at Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 14:1
You are children of the L-rd, your G-d.

The Jewish people called "children of G-d" and elsewhere "G-d's son." Missionaries claim certain passages which speak of G-d's son must refer to Jesus as a member of the Trinity. However, Scripture indicates that one can be "G-d's son" without being divine.

Deuteronomy 14:3
For you are a holy people to the L-rd, your G-d, and the L-rd has chosen you to be a treasured people for Him, out of all the nations that are upon the earth.

The Jews are the exclusive Chosen People, contrary to the claims of the New Testament.

Deuteronomy 14:3-21
14:3. You shall not eat any abomination.

14:4. These are the animals that you may eat: ox, lamb, and kid,

14:5. gazelle, deer, and antelope, ibex, chamois, bison, and giraffe.

14:6. And every animal that has a split hoof and has a hoof cloven into two hoof sections, [and] chews the cud among the animals that you may eat.

14:7. But you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those that have the split hooves: the cloven one, the camel, the hyrax, and the hare, for they chew the cud, but do not have split hooves; they are unclean for you.

14:8. And the pig, because it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You shall neither eat of their flesh nor touch their carcass.

14:9. These you may eat of all that are in the waters; all that have fins and scales, you may eat.

14:10. But whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.

14:11. You may eat every clean bird.

14:12. But these are those from which you shall not eat: The eagle [or the griffin vulture], the ossifrage, the osprey;

14:13. and the white vulture, and the black vulture, and the kite after its species;

14:14. And every raven after its species;

14:15. And the ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk after its species;

14:16. The falcon, and the ibis, and the bat;

14;17. And the pelican, and the magpie, and the cormorant;

14:18. And the stork, and the heron and its species, and the hoopoe, and the atalef.

14:19. And every flying insect is unclean for you; they may not be eaten.

14:20. You may eat any clean fowl.

14:21. You shall not eat any carcass. You may give it to the stranger who is in your cities, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord, your God. You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk.

Here Scripture states multiple times that eating unkosher food is defiling. Jesus contradicted this by claiming that what goes into the mouth does not defile. For more information about how Jesus contradicts Mosaic law see the article WAS JESUS SINLESS?

Deuteronomy 14:22-23
14:22. You shall tithe all the seed crop that the field gives forth, year by year.

14:23. And you shall eat before the Lord, your God, in the place He chooses to establish His Name therein, the tithes of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and of your sheep, so that you may learn to fear the L-rd, your G-d, all the days.

Missionaries teach that observing the commandments brings no spiritual success. This is refuted in the above verses which state the observance of a particular commandment generates "fear of the L-rd."

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