At the end of every seven years, as commanded by God, the law in Deuteronomy is to be read to the people at the Feast of Tabernacles. This practice ensures that everyone, both old and young, is exposed to God's law, understanding His blessings and cursings. The purpose of this reading is to help us learn to fear God, which is fundamental to having a good relationship with Him. Reviewing Deuteronomy every seven years is no small matter to God; it is a blessing if we read, repent, and align our lives with His way of living. Through this command, God provides wisdom and encourages us to respond with humility and a tender heart as we strive to worship Him in spirit and truth.

God commands that the book of Deuteronomy be read every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles in the year of release, a privilege and distinctive honoring not accorded to any other book in the Bible. This command, given to both the religious and civil leadership, ensures that all of Israel—men, women, children, and aliens—hear, learn, fear the Lord, and observe to do all the words of this law. The reading occurs during a time of harvest-time gratitude and widespread liberation from debt and slavery, reminding the people of their covenant relationship with God and His generosity, as pictured by the Feast of Tabernacles. Deuteronomy holds a significant place in Scripture, encapsulating everything necessary for salvation in a form akin to a Reader's Digest version of the entire Bible. It serves as an elaborate commentary on the Ten Commandments, expanding their meaning and application through statutes, judgments, health laws, blessings, curses, and ceremonies. Symbolically positioned near the ark of the covenant, it stands close to the legal basis of God's judgments, offering counsel for His governance and mercy. The purpose of this periodic reading is to provide the covenant people with a working knowledge of God's sovereignty, providence, grace, their origins, redemption from Egypt, instructions for living, and His purpose for them, leaving no excuse for ignorance. Through this practice, God ensures that His people are continually reminded of their identity and mission as His witnesses.

The book of Deuteronomy holds a vital place in God's purpose for His people, as it was given to Israel just before they entered the Promised Land. Written in the last month of Moses' life, after forty years of testing and trials, it provides specific instructions to enable successful living in the land. Its critical importance is evident in the command to review it every seven years, ensuring its teachings remain fresh in the minds of the people. This recurring review, as noted in Deuteronomy 17:19-20, emphasizes that the king must read it all the days of his life to learn to fear the Lord his God, observe His laws and statutes, and remain humble before his brethren, neither turning aside from the commandments nor allowing his heart to be lifted above others. This seven-year cycle of reading Deuteronomy serves to reconfirm its relevance for all generations of Israelites, extending far into the future, not merely for those who first received it. The instruction is not limited to ancient times but applies to spiritual Israel today, underscoring that God's Word, as affirmed by Jesus Christ Himself, remains unchanged, not one jot or tittle passing away. Deuteronomy's enduring purpose is to guide God's people, providing a foundation for living according to His will, as seen in the historical account of King Josiah in II Kings 23:1, where the rediscovered Book of the Covenant—identified as Deuteronomy—was read before all the people, leading to a renewal of obedience and a cleansing of idolatry in Judah. Deuteronomy acts as a compass, pointing the way when individuals or nations stray from God. Its broad teachings, while not detailed, direct God's people back to the right path, ensuring they can realign with His purpose. This ongoing relevance highlights why God insists on its periodic review, as it remains a tool for preparation, not only for life in the Promised Land but also for His Kingdom and beyond, up to the time of the Lake of Fire.

Deuteronomy receives the distinctive honor of being read at the Feast of Tabernacles every seven years. The command appears in Deuteronomy 31 and requires that this law be read before all Israel during the feast in the month of Tishri. The reading takes place at the conclusion of a shemitah year when the civil Hebrew calendar begins anew on the first day of Tishri. Moses began delivering the book on the first day of Adar and completed the task shortly before his death. The instruction prepares the people to live successfully in the Promised Land and is not limited to the original generation. The same command continues to apply at the present Feast of Tabernacles. The reading is addressed specifically to the Israel of God rather than to the unconverted physical nation.

The book of Deuteronomy holds a unique significance as it is the only book in the entire Bible that God commands to be read publicly. As instructed in Deuteronomy 31:10-11, at the end of every seven years, during the year of release at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel gathers before the LORD their God in the chosen place, this law must be read before all Israel in their hearing. This command underscores the importance of the instruction contained within Deuteronomy, ensuring that its teachings are indelibly impressed upon the minds of the people over a lifetime. Furthermore, Deuteronomy 17:18-19 mandates that when a king sits on the throne of his kingdom, he must write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. This copy is to remain with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life, learning to fear the LORD his God and to carefully observe all the words of this law and these statutes. This personal engagement with the text highlights its critical role in guiding rulership and maintaining obedience to God's commands.

The command found in Deuteronomy 31:9-13 establishes that Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests and elders of Israel, instructing that at the end of every seven years, during the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, this law was to be read before all Israel—men, women, children, and strangers—so that they might hear, learn to fear the LORD, and carefully observe His words. Calculating whether a particular occasion constituted a genuine year of release, three separate personal milestones—an ordination anniversary, a baptismal anniversary, and an ordination as local elder—each divided evenly by seven, suggesting the timing was appropriate. More significant than the mathematical confirmation, however, was the discovery that no one within memory in the Church of God had ever fulfilled this command by reading Deuteronomy in the hearing of the people as God required. Deuteronomy's unique position in Scripture rests on several confirmations. The Ten Commandments, spoken by God from Sinai and written by His own finger on two tablets of stone, were placed inside the ark of the covenant beneath the mercy seat, from which God met with Moses and spoke concerning judgment for Israel. This mercy seat is later identified as the throne of grace in Hebrews, showing that both judgment and mercy proceed from a foundation of God's law. At the end of the age, in Revelation 11:19, the ark of the covenant is again seen in God's heavenly temple during the seventh trumpet, indicating that His law remains central even in final judgment. Deuteronomy itself was placed not inside the ark but beside it, serving as an elaborate commentary on the Decalogue and as a witness against the people, alongside the Song of Moses. This "Book of the Law" is understood by many scholars to be Deuteronomy, later recovered during Josiah's reign, prompting sweeping national reform. Because Deuteronomy contains statutes, judgments, health laws, blessings, curses, and ceremonies that amplify the Ten Commandments, it functions as a summary of the entire law, so advanced spiritually that it can rightly be called "the New Testament of the Old Testament." The seven-year reading requirement connects directly to Deuteronomy's purpose: preparing Israel, poised at the edge of the Promised Land, for entering and possessing it. This mirrors the position of believers today, standing at the edge of the Kingdom of God, needing the same vision, perseverance, and choice between life and death that Moses set before Israel. Just as Israel's forty years of wilderness preparation did not exempt them from further battles to actually possess the land, so believers, though called and prepared, still face ongoing spiritual warfare requiring endurance to the end. The periodic public reading of Deuteronomy was thus divinely intended to continually renew this vision, ensuring successive generations would hear, fear the LORD, and choose obedience rather than drift into the estrangement caused by sin.

The practice of reading Deuteronomy at the Feast connects directly to the broader discussion of the sabbatical cycle, or Shemitah, and its ongoing relevance to the church today. Although the year of release was judged by the Worldwide Church of God to be merely a principle rather than a binding statute, this kind of reasoning tended to encourage neglect of even the principles behind such instructions, rather than prompting an earnest search for how they might still be applied. One direct consequence of this neglect was that almost no one paid attention to reading Deuteronomy at the Feast during the year of release until John became convicted that the group needed to make an effort to align itself with that instruction. This conviction led to putting the practice into action: Deuteronomy was read on the same schedule during the seventh year of the sabbatical cycle, coinciding with the Feast, even though the timing of that particular observance was not precisely calibrated to the correct year. Despite that imperfection, those who participated recognized the value of the experience. It served as a unifying focus for the group, allowing everyone to reflect together on the same portion of Scripture at the same time, and it revealed God's inspiration in the common themes that emerged from that shared reading. This unifying result affirmed the broader principle running through the entire discussion: that shared experiences rooted in God's appointed rhythms, whether the weekly Sabbath, the annual Sabbaths, the sabbatical year itself, or associated practices like third tithe, tend to draw a community closer together, provided the people involved maintain the right focus and attitude. The reading of Deuteronomy at the Feast thus stands as a concrete, present-day example of how it is possible to be on a common schedule with fellow believers regarding statutes tied to the sabbatical cycle, even though the church does not operate under a direct command in the New Testament to do so. Just as the third tithe was originally structured so that all Israel would share in the responsibility of caring for the poor at the same time, and just as the weekly and annual Sabbaths were meant to be kept in unity, this example of jointly reading Deuteronomy during the sabbatical year demonstrates that seeking alignment with God's ordained cycle, rather than dismissing it as merely optional, produces tangible spiritual benefit and evidence of God's blessing on group efforts toward common focus and unity.

The observance of "Deuteronomy, Read at the Feast" is grounded directly in Moses' command in Deuteronomy 31:9-13, where he instructs that every seven years, during the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, the Levitical priests were to read the law before all Israel—men, women, children, and strangers—so that they might hear it, learn to fear the Lord, and carefully observe its words, and so that succeeding generations who had not known it might also hear and learn. This command becomes the explicit basis for a Feast tradition in which portions of Deuteronomy, roughly twenty verses at a time, are read aloud before the announcements at each service throughout the Feast, excluding the Last Great Day due to its busy schedule. This practice, though technically a year removed from the proper Shemitah cycle, is deemed important enough to continue rather than delay another six years, with the intention of returning to the correct timing in future observances. Alongside the readings, three sermons are planned to explore central themes drawn from the Deuteronomy 31 passage itself. This reading tradition is tied directly to the broader theme of remembering versus forgetting, which forms the theological backbone of the entire message. Deuteronomy 4:1-10 is presented as key support, showing that Israel's wisdom and identity as a nation near to God depended on their careful heed to "listen"—a term implying not mere hearing but full obedience—and on their diligence not to forget what their eyes had seen and what their hearts had received, but to teach it faithfully to their children and grandchildren. The Hebrew word for forget, shakach (Strong's 7911), appears here for the first time since Genesis 41:51, where it was tied to the naming of Manasseh, whose very name means "one who forgets" or "the forgetter." This linguistic and thematic connection frames forgetfulness as a serious spiritual danger: neglecting or forsaking God's Word functions as a hidden form of subtracting from it, even though Moses' explicit warning in Deuteronomy 4:2 focuses on the sin of adding to the law. When commands are disregarded or forgotten, they are effectively excised from one's practical "copy" of Scripture, resulting in an incomplete keeping of God's whole counsel. The instruction to read Deuteronomy publicly at the Feast is therefore presented not merely as ceremonial obedience to an ancient command, but as a direct antidote to the pattern of forgetfulness exemplified by Manasseh and, by extension, by America itself, which has forgotten God, its founding documents, and its own history. Just as Israel was commanded to renew its memory of God's law periodically so as not to drift into disobedience, the Feast reading is meant to reinforce continual remembrance, teach the rising generation, and guard against the same spiritual erosion that comes from neglecting God's instructions over time.

Deuteronomy commands in chapter 31:9-13 that at the end of every seven years, at the appointed time of the year of release, during the Feast of Tabernacles, the law is to be read before all Israel—men, women, children, and strangers—so that they may hear, learn to fear the LORD, and carefully observe all the words of the law, and so that future generations who have not known it may also learn to fear Him. This command establishes a recurring seven-year cycle, the Shemitah or year of release, tied specifically to the Feast of Tabernacles as the appointed time for this reading. Twenty-seven years prior to this sermon, John Ritenbaugh recognized this instruction as a duty he must fulfill, beginning his practice of teaching from Deuteronomy every seventh year at the Feast, starting in 1994 in Kansas City. He gave two sermons that year, four in 2001, four more in 2008, and planned three for 2015. Ritenbaugh's own curiosity led him and his wife to chart their years in the church since their 1959 baptism into groups of seven, discovering that pivotal events—their first contact with the World Tomorrow broadcast, their baptism, Herbert Armstrong's ordination as an elder, and even the birth of Ritenbaugh's son—all aligned with Shemitah years, confirming a divinely ordered pattern later corroborated by Rabbi Jonathan Cahn's calculations, though Cahn's work only appeared after 9/11, following the 2001 cycle. Ritenbaugh emphasized the precise timing of Deuteronomy itself: Moses delivered it in the last month of his life, at the close of Israel's forty-year wilderness journey, on Adar 1, just five weeks short of forty years after Israel's first Passover in Egypt. This exactness demonstrates God's meticulous ordering of times and seasons, reinforcing that the reading of Deuteronomy at the Feast is not incidental but divinely appointed down to the smallest detail. Deuteronomy's purpose is described as too profound and multifaceted to summarize briefly, since it was given for all of God's people across the entire span of time until His purpose for mankind is completed. It functions as a compass, keeping believers on track doctrinally regarding salvation and reminding them of their heritage as the Israel of God, highlighting the superiority of the New Covenant's promises over the Old. This reading cycle is directly tied to the sermon's central theme of stare decisis—standing by rightly established truth rather than the world's demand for "rights." Just as Deuteronomy 29:29 promises that revealed things belong to God's people so they may obey His instructions, the seven-year public reading reinforces God's precedents for righteous judgment. With the current year of release apparently concluding on schedule, and 283 days remaining until the next Feast of Tabernacles, believers are urged to prepare by writing out and meditating on Deuteronomy's 34 chapters, four verses daily, reflecting on the past seven years and the seven ahead, especially given the nearness of end-time events, so that they may faithfully observe the undisturbed precedents of God's Word.