Month: February 2023

Deuteronomy 5:1 And Moses unto Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statues and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

In this chapter, Moses repeats for the second time (the first was in Exodus 20) the Covenant Commandments. (Deuteronomy means “Second Law.”) He repeats the Ten Commandments after and because of the Great Deliverance. Because I did this for you, therefore you will do this for Me.

The Law was created by God to bless our lives on earth and the more and better we keep the Commandments the better life will be. Though Adam, and every human since, has broken the Law and messed up a wonderful life, the Second Adam has come to keep it perfectly for us and give us obedience and life. On account of that gospel we have the desire, the motivation, and the Spirit’s power to live a better life than we had before salvation.

Therefore, our response to God and His love is to hear, read, and receive the Word of Law and Gospel. And upon hearing with faith, we are willing and able to learn more about the Word through church, Bible Study, and private devotions. The Spirit imprints it on our heart so that He, through us, actually keeps it more closely and really does it better.

The response is hear and believe. Then we will keep and do.

Deuteronomy 4:39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

Know this: believe and receive it as truth, fact, and reality, that the Lord (Yahweh, Jesus) is God. Knowing is to have a personal relationship with and an intimate experience of. We know Jesus and He knows us. In truth, He becomes more real to us than any physical being we know. The Spirit and the Word convinces us, and we know that we know. By the Spirit we believe and confess that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. And we do not doubt.

Consider this in your heart: remind yourself, think it over, mull on it, and meditate on it: Jesus is my Lord and my God. Who is He? What’s He like? What does He think of me? What does it mean for me and my life? How does this intimate knowledge impact my daily life, my will and decisions, my feelings and mood, my words and behavior, and how I treat others?

Jesus is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. He is over all and yet also in us. He rules the created physical universe and the invisible realm, and yet he condescends to be personally acquainted with us in the heart. He is both transcendent and immanent at the same time. Big God is as near to us as our heart and lips. He is far enough to be God and close enough to be friend, brother, and father. We pray like this: Our father who art in heaven.

And there no other.

Deuteronomy 4:29-30 But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the Lord thy God, and shall be obedient unto his voice.

“Seek and ye shall find.” “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” So says Jesus about the response of seeking: you will find what you need and what you are worried about will be added.

The seeking is our response to tribulation and distress. Moses had just predicted that they would perish from off the land and be scattered among the nations. And there, among the heathen, you will seek the Lord. He will answer you and bring you back to the kingdom where you belong. Finally, all this deliverance will take place when Messiah comes.

Our Sin has exiled us in a foreign land, called the world. In that world we experience trial and tribulations, stress and distress. From there we seek the Lord and turn to Him. And Jesus brings us back to God and His Kingdom. We seek the Lord every time we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Psalm 50:15: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.”

Deuteronomy 4:23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee.

Once again, Moses encourages the people to take care that you not forget the Gospel of God. In particular, he reminds us of the First Commandment, that we respond by fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things. By doing thus we are more apt to keep the rest of the commandments and enjoy a blessed life.

Take heed to the Covenant. Pay attention to, listen to, obey and follow the One and Only God who saves you from death and grants eternal life by means of the new covenant in Jesus’ blood. We respond to God’s grace and salvation by hearing the Word as often and by any means we can, by maintaining a conscious awareness of the presence of God in our lives, and by looking to Jesus as the only and the abundant source of all good.

It is way too easy to forget God in our daily lives. Our weak, sinful condition demands constant reminders of the Gospel. First, our stubborn, arrogant pride needs to admit and confess our sinful emptiness and need for God. Second, we need to believe and confess that Jesus Christ meets the need and grants forgiveness and life. We respond to the Law which convicts of sin and to the Gospel which convicts of the Savior. For this reason we never tire of hearing and reading the Word. Take heed lest ye forget.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; Specially the day that thou stoodest before the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the Lord said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children.

On the plains of Moab, Moses reminds the people to take care to keep the soul (mind, will, and emotions) so that they would not forget the Gospel of Salvation which they have seen and heard nor the Law of God given in the Covenant Commandments.

Gather the people together to hear God’s Word so that they may fear and love God all the days of their lives. So God’s people have done through the centuries in weekly synagogue worship every Sabbath and in church worship every Sunday. We respond to God’s love by assembling to hear the Word of Law and Gospel, so that we do not drift away from God, or forget what He has done, or lose fear (faith) and love of God.

And furthermore, teach Law and Gospel to your children and grandchildren, so that the Lord will remain in their lives for generations. Just as it’s possible for one person to lose faith and forget God, so it is possible for generations and people groups to lose and forget. Therefore, the Church’s response is to support and grow divine services, Sunday schools, Bible studies, and mission work.

Deuteronomy 4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

The right response to God’s great grace and salvation is to keep the Commandments of God revealed through Moses. Because the Lord set you free from bondage in Egypt (sin and the world), therefore you will keep and do my Commandments and all the laws of Moses. The motivation and the power to live accordingly is the Gospel of Salvation.

When God’s people respond by living such a wise and understanding lifestyle, the the world will take notice. Thus you become God’s witnesses. Jesus puts it this way in Matthew 5: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father.” The Bible says the Christian Church is a peculiar people, meaning their good works lifestyle is so different from the world’s. Indeed, they will say, “See how they love one another.”

Do we live such a distinguishable life? Yes and no, because we are at the same time saint and sinner. But Jesus, out of love, lived such a holy life for us, completely. We believe Him and so we live in Him.

Deuteronomy 4:4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.

Moab recalls the incident in Moab with Baal-Peor. The Lord destroyed the men that followed Baal-peor. But everyone who cleaved unto the Lord has remained alive to this day. They have avoided the death judgment of God. To cleave to is to be joined to, stuck to, glued to, held fast to, united with, and faithful to; in other words, in NT terms, to believe in Jesus. “Whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” “Whoever has the Son has life.”

Adultery was involved in the idolatry of Baal worship. The picture of faithfulness to the Lord is seen in the marriage covenant vows. “A man shall leave his father and his mother and cleave unto (hold fast to) his wife [Genesis 2:24].” Faithful marriage is an image of our relationship with our Bridegroom, Jesus.

Faithfulness to Jesus responds to His faithfulness to us. Our faithful response of faith is not derived from our fleshly efforts at commitment, but faith is given as a gift by the Holy Spirit through the Gospel. Believing is cleaving. The result is life, being alive to God and dead to sin.

Deuteronomy 4:1-2 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.

A repeated theme in Deuteronomy is “Lest ye forget.” Keep with you the remembrance of God’s great and gracious salvation, and keep His commandments. Law and Gospel. Listen to the laws Moses teaches and do them. Then you will truly live, and the Kingdom is yours. Jesus said something similar in Matthew 7:24: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock.”

Life is so much better when we listen and do. Hearken means both listening and obeying the Word. Not “in one ear….” When we hear the Gospel we do it by believing it. When we hear the Law we do it by repentance and faith in the Gospel. Jesus did it for us and we believe Him. It is a Spirit-worked faith that actually changes behavior. Hearken means believe the Word. Faith is the response; good works (doing the Law) is the result of a heart faith.

Furthermore, our proper response is not to add to or take away from the Word of God. (see also Rev.22:18-19). We don’t make our own rules and we don’t remove words from the Bible. We study the Word faithfully to know precisely what God is saying. We support the true and accurate preaching of Law and Gospel. We hear and believe the sweet Gospel, which has the power to change our lives to live according to the Law.

Deuteronomy 3:28 But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him: for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which thou shalt see.

Moses was very old and about to die, and he was not permitted to enter the Promised Land, after spending a long life preparing for it. But he was able to ordain a successor, who would take over the leadership and finish the job. Joshua would be used as the instrument of God to cause God’s people to inherit the Kingdom. Joshua is the Hebrew name for the Greek name Jesus, meaning God saves. The symbolic meaning is clear.

But Joshua is a weak sinner, like Moses, and he needs the encouragement and strengthening of the Lord to complete the mission. Moses responded to God’s will by giving heart and spiritual strength to Joshua. (Encourage means “put heart in.”) Joshua responded by doing what he was called and commissioned to do. With God-given courage, with God’s heart, and with God’s supernatural help fighting for him, Joshua conquered the enemy-occupied land and took over the Kingdom promised to believers.

Jesus did this at the cross and He will make it real and forever at the End. Revelation 11:15: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” The faith of Moses and Joshua led the way for the coming of the Final and Forever Savior.

Deuteronomy 3:22 Ye shall not fear them: for the Lord your God he shall fight for you.

How many times in the Bible are we told to fear not! Here Moses tells Joshua not to fear the kingdoms through which you will pass. Why not? Because the Lord will fight for you. If God is indeed fighting for us, what is there to be afraid of?

It is true, and we must remember this truth: Our spiritual enemies (Sin, Death, Devil) are much stronger and more powerful than we are in our own reason and strength. We cannot fight alone and win the war by ourselves without help. This is the first revelation God must give us: we can’t overcome sin, stop death, or outsmart the devil. We are powerless against the spiritual forces that oppose us. The second revelation God must give is this: Jesus earns forgiveness in place of sin, gives eternal life in place of death, and crushes Satan underfoot. That’s a promise: He will fight for us.

Our response is to believe that gospel message. There is no fear in love, God’s love. Perfect Love, and faith in God’s Love, casts out fear, and doubt, worry, anguish, frustration, anxiety, and depression. On the one hand, it is right to fear Sin and Death, for they are stronger than we are. On the other hand, it is wrong to fear the Enemy, for Jesus is stronger than they are. Therefore, we fear not!