We are nearly finished with our overview of the book of Deuteronomy, the last book in the so-called Pentateuch, the Law of Moses. These were his last words to his people before he died in the presence of the Lord and Israel crosses the Jordan under the leadership of Joshua to take over the Promised Land. I could imagine that the same sentiments would be on my mind if I were on my deathbed and Jewell and Ana were standing there: Stay away from compromise and stay faithful to Christ and His Gospel.
You cannot get away from the idea that obedience is imperative if you wish to be in the presence of God. Deuteronomy 28:1 says, “If you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today…” “Diligently obey” translates the Hebrew emphatic expression: to obey, obey! It is as emphatic as the Hebrew can get. Additionally, “being careful to do” translates two infinitive phrases: “to guard to do…”
Chapter 28 is long – 68 verses and “command” or “commandments” are used nine times. If Israel obeys, then they will receive tremendous and comprehensive blessings. But, out of the 68 verses in the chapter, only 14 refer to these blessings. That means 21% of this chapter is positive! We have Christians and preachers who think that 95-99% of a preacher’s message should be positive. Indeed, my sermons are more positive than negative. Yet, in this chapter, it is filled with warnings about disobedience – 79% of the chapter deals with horrendous punishments on Israel if they refuse to obey, even cannibalism (28:53; 2 Kings 6:28-29) and eating the placenta (28:57). In fact, God’s blessings will be completely reversed as Israel will be hauled back to Egypt, as slaves (28:68).
So, chapter 29 is yet another call of Moses for Israel to dedicate herself to obeying the commands of God through the law: “So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.” If they stay faithful to His covenant, they will be His people (29:13). But they must avoid trusting and obeying men. He will make them like Sodom and Gomorrah (29:23) and people will respond by saying this was because Israel forsook their covenant (29:25).
Deuteronomy 29:29 teaches us two very important concepts: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.” First, God has not revealed everything to us. The only thing we know about the plans or mind of God is what is revealed. We need to have the humility to recognize that fact. Secondly, what God has revealed is so revealed that we can learn and obey. This verse is the Law’s counterpart to John 20:30-31.
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Then in chapter 30, Moses promises Israel that once they have been carried into exile (see 28:41, 47ff), if they will “call to mind” the Law, and return to the Lord in their hearts and souls, and obey the commandments (30:1-2), God will bring them back to the land and back into a relationship with Him. Notice that God does not change His commandments just because the majority refuse to obey them. He does not say, “Oh well, that’s not working out. I’m going to have to ease up on the expectations.” No, man has to respond in repentance. Then God responds with forgiveness.
In 30:6, we see that God expected a spiritual circumcision out of Israel (cf 10:16) just as He does for Christians (Rom. 2:28-29; Col. 2:11-12). The commandments of Moses were not difficult to access or understand (30:11-14), just as the commands of the Gospel are accessible and easy to grasp (Rom. 10:6-8).
The bottom line in Israel’s relationship with God, as with ours, is that we must “choose life in order that we may live” (30:19). In that context, “choosing life” is defined by three participles (vs 20): loving the Lord; obeying His voice; and holding fast to Him our entire lives. That summarizes the Christian message, too, doesn’t it?
Paul Holland
