Deuteronomy means the second
law. Why is the second law given? It doesn’t mean that a different law from the
Ten Commandments. It means the same law was given twice, first given through
Moses written in the stone tablets and second given through Moses written in
the hearts and minds of the people of Israel. God gave the Ten Commandments at
Horeb out of fire. It was a dreadful moment for the people when the Lord God
descended from heaven on Mount Horeb. The people feared to death and pleaded
with Moses that the Lord would not speak to them directly. Why did Moses speak
the Law of God all over again before entering the land? It’s because the
understanding the Law of God thoroughly is the way to life in full. It includes
when and why it is given and how to use it rightly.
The Law teaches not to keep it
with all the best but to know the truth that no one can keep it no matter what.
The Law is the representation of God’s goodness, his unchanging character which
is forever love. The Law reveals the truth that the Holy God cannot change, nor
compromise in any circumstance at all. Our God is good from the beginning to
the end. That’s the Law forever teaches his people. If anyone keeps the Law of
God shall be blessed and prosperous, otherwise shall be cursed and destroyed.
The Law says first of all what we do is wicked and evil before God, so that
under the law every mouth may be silenced and the whole earth held accountable
to God (Romans 3:19). Second, the Law says what we are wicked and evil and sold
to sin in Adam. The Law is holy and good and thus brings death to everyone
under the law. The power of sin is the law, says the Scripture. The Law brings
death in order that sin might be recognized as sin and through the commandment
sin might become utterly sinful (Romans 7:13).
“Moses summoned all Israel and
said: Hear, Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today. Learn
them and be sure to follow them.” (Deuteronomy 5:1)
Moses summoned all Israel who
were about to enter the land to possess as the Lord promised to Abraham and the
forefathers. In fact, it was the Lord God who summoned his people to speak and
remind and impress the laws and decrees they shall follow and obey with all the
heart and mind and strength because it is the only way to live a fruit-bearing
life, the fruits of the Spirit in the land of the Lord.
“I am the Lord your God, who
brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other
gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of
anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You
shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous
God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of
those who love me and keep my commandments. You shall not misuse the name of
the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his
name.” (Deuteronomy 5:6-11)
The Lord is the one who
delivered the people of Israel out of the slavery in Egypt by the power of
wonders and signs. The people were groaning in pains and agony but couldn’t get
out of the bondage of Pharaoh on their own means. This is the picture of fallen
humanity under the power of sin and death. But the Lord was able to deliver
them by the power of resurrection. This is the way of being made holy blameless
in his sight. We cannot make ourselves holy and blameless by any means. It is
only possible to be cleansed through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. There
is no power and authority in heavens and on the earth to wash away the sin of
the world except through the power of the Lord’s blood.
That’s the reason God forbid to
have no other gods before him. No gods can deliver people like the Lord can. It
is strictly and seriously forbidden to make for ourselves any image in the form
of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. God
forbid to bow down to the images man made or worship them because he is a
jealous God and punishes ever severely the children for the sin of the parents
to the third and fourth generation of those who hate him but shows love to a
thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments. Obedience
to the Lord shall be genuine and sincere. Even though people may say that they
obey the Lord, if not done in the way God commands it is misusing the name of
the holy God. Keeping the commandments of the Lord God is loving him with all
our heart and with all our mind and with all our strength. There is only one
person who can love God. He is our Lord Jesus Christ who obeyed the Father to
the point of death. That’s the way for us to love the Lord God by means of
Christ who is living within us.
“Observe the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall
labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your
God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter,
nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your
animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female
servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that
the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the
Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:12-15)
Resting doesn’t mean doing
nothing. Observing the Sabbath day by keeping it holy is the most significant
truth to understand thoroughly in Christianity for it is the commandment of
God. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing, so on the
seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and
made it holy for on it he rested from all his work of creating that he had done
(Genesis 2:2-3). The Book of Genesis Chapter 1 records what he had created six
days including male and female in his image and in his likeness.
What does it mean that on the
seventh day God had finished the work and rested from all his work? It means
that all works have been done for the creation of the heavens and the earth and
the redemption of humanity. That’s the reason the Scripture says that the Lord
reigns until he has put all his enemies under his feet. Although our Lord Jesus
Christ died and was buried and rose again from the dead some two thousand years
ago, it is an eternal event which is true and effective forever beyond time and
space. He has finished all his work on the cross of Calvary and rose again and
was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God (John 19:30, Mark
16:19).
“But when this priest had
offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of
God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.”
(Hebrews 10:12-13)
The Lord is resting from all his
work and reigning for he has finished the work until all the enemies are to be
made his footstool. So are we in Christ Jesus our Lord for God has raised us up
from the dead with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms
(Ephesians 2:6). In Christ Jesus, we’re already in reigning with him until the
enemy is subject to the Lord. It means we do not need to be the victim of the
darkness and evil any longer in Christ. We’ve been made and given the power of
resurrection to reign with him in the heavenly places. We no longer have to
work harder and harder to subdue and overcome the evil because it has already
been done in Christ and because we cannot make it by any means. That’s the
meaning of keeping the Sabbath holy in Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Honor your father and your
mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and
that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
(Deuteronomy 5:16)
God is the God of order and
peace. Honoring the parents is the commandment of God, so we shall obey them.
It is a mystery in the relationships between parents and children. This is a
picture of showing the heart and mind of God. It is impossible to love God
while not honoring the parents. God says that when we honor our parents we may
live long and that it may go well with us in the land the Lord is giving us. To
live long and go well in the land means the quality of life in Christ. It
doesn’t mean to live physically long life because some didn’t like Apostle Paul
and Peter. The number of days doesn’t determine the quality of life but the
fruits of life do. The fruits of life mean the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
“You shall not murder. You shall
not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony
against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not
set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, his male or female servant,
his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Deuteronomy
5:17-21)
These commandments are
summarized as our Lord put it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)
Love one another is the commandment of God. Why did God give it to us as the
commandment? Is it possible to command to love one another? Yes, it is the
commandment of God. If we do not love one another, we are not the disciples of
Jesus. How then can we love one another? God set the example through the Son
Jesus Christ who gave up his life for the sin of the world in an obedience to the
Father. Jesus gave the new commandment to his disciples in the Upper Room
Discourse. It is the same as the old commandment with the addition of the
phrase, “As I have loved you.”
“A new command I give you: Love
one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)
These are the commandments of
the Lord God proclaimed in a loud voice to the whole assembly of Israel on the
mountain from out of fire, the cloud and the deep darkness and he added nothing
more (Deuteronomy 5:22). The people were terrified when they heard the voice of
God out of fire. So, they pleaded with Moses that the Lord might not speak
directly to them any longer because they feared the fire would consume them.
“The Lord heard you when you
spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, ‘I have heard what this people said to
you. Everything they said was good. Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to
fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and
their children forever!’” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29)
The Lord God was pleased to hear
that the people of Israel feared him and keep all his commands always. Here
fear doesn’t mean distancing away from the Lord but recognizing his mighty
presence in the midst. The Scripture says that the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge (Proverb 1:7).
“The fear of the LORD is the
beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverb
9:10)
Why must we fear God always?
It’s because he is the one who created all things and without him nothing was
made that has been made. Without him everything is useless and purposeless. He
gives life now and forevermore. He sustains all things together from the
beginning. He shines light upon us and reveals the mysteries of life. Without
him no one can live and even exist. He is the head of all things. Who can
search the deep things of the Lord God?
“Oh, the depth of the riches of
the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths
beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?
Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them? For from him and through
him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans
11:33-36)
Obeying all the laws and decrees
carefully is the way of worth living in Christ Jesus. Paying careful heed and
full attention to the word of God is always the first thing in our lives. God
is lovingly and kindly and yet seriously saying that there is no other way to
live life except through walking in obedience to all that the Lord our God has
commanded us.
“So be careful to do what the
Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.
Walk in obedience to all that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you
may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”
(Deuteronomy 5:32-33)
Prayer: Thank you once again
Father for teaching us the laws and decrees which truly reveals who we are that
we cannot keep the law by any means. Thank you Father for teaching us how to
obey the Lord which is through Jesus Christ. Thank you for your goodness and
faithfulness that you love us forever through the Son who obeyed the Father to
the point of death. Thank you for opening the door for us to obey all the laws
and decrees by means of Christ Jesus our Lord. In Christ’s name. Amen.
May
17, 2016
© 2015-2016 David
Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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