Deuteronomy 1:16

14 And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’

15 So I took ^athe heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and¹ made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.

16 “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and ^ajudge righteously between a man and his ^bbrother or the stranger who is with him.

17 ^aYou shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for ^bthe judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, ^cbring to me, and I will hear it.’

18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “So we departed from Horeb, ^aand went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then ^bwe came to Kadesh Barnea.

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Deuteronomy 1:16.

Deuteronomy 1:16-18

So what we see here is the delegation of responsibility in the administration of the government of God. The government of God? Yes. Notice verse 17, where it says, "The judgment is God's." Even though the men would be doing the actual judging, God is seen, we would say, as being 'in the loop.' He is part of the process.

I also want to interject at this time that He is not insuring the quality of the decision. Rather, this is instruction to the judges to be aware and careful because they are going to have to give account to God for their judgments. It was a way of putting the fear of God into them.

Notice, again, verse 18. Moses said, "And I commanded you at that time. . ." It means that he authoritatively taught them their responsibilities. Moses, then, performed his function in the government by providing guidance in these civil affairs that were, undoubtedly, undergirded by God's spiritual law. So again we see the function of education that God's government is taking.

Excerpted from Government (Part One)

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Deuteronomy 1:16:**

Ecclesiastes 4:1-3

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Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Deuteronomy 1:16:

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

**Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Deuteronomy 1:16:**

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning