September 17, 2006 Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-8
1Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.
6 Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, "Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people." 7 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
Instructions are not something that people generally get thrilled about. When your boss calls you into the office to have a review of the safety rules, nobody jumps for joy. Whenever men are faced with assembling a new bike or a grill or a piece of furniture, chances are they won't read the instructions. However, because of this the chances are they will also get lost in the process. Rules and laws can be good. They can help.
Deuteronomy is - as it's name means - a second giving of the law. This book is thought of as Moses' final sermon to the Israelites. He was about to die, and he wanted to reiterate what the LORD had commanded of them prior to their entry into the Promised Land. He knew the tendency of the Israelites. They loved to see the LORD destroy the enemy and promise them wonderful things. But when it came to what the LORD expected of them, they would rather watch paint dry. They would tend to ignore what God had to say - especially with the Promised Land right in sight.
This tendency is no different in us - even as Christians. We would prefer to have a religion without laws or rules. "Do what you want" sounds great. One day, when Dr. Luther was describing the wonders of salvation to a little boy, the little boy asked him, "do you mean that I don't have to do anything to be saved?" "Yes," Dr. Luther replied, "Jesus has done it all." The boy's eyes got big and he then asks, "does that mean I can now do anything I want?" Dr. Luther slyly responded, "Yes! . . . What do you want to do?" The boy was thinking with his sinful nature - and Luther was trying to bring out in him that he needed to consider what he "wanted" to do - whether it was really something HE wanted or his sinful nature wanted. Even as Christians we can still be blind and selfish - so that God has to put a constant mirror, curb and guide before us to keep us on the path. So Moses commands the Israelites and us to -
Keep The Commands of the LORD
I. Do it with care
The first thing Moses commands the Israelites seems obvious and easy to do. Hear now, O Israel, the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. The LORD gave us two ears and only one mouth for a reason. Listening doesn't take a whole lot of work. All you need to do is sit there and pay attention. Yet when someone whom you can't stand is talking, or when they are talking about something that doesn't interest you, it can be a very difficult thing indeed. Pretty soon that bug on the pew becomes the most intriguing bug you've ever seen. Try to read through the book of Deuteronomy or Leviticus, and tell me how easy it is just to listen to it.
Why is that? Some of it is laziness. We'd rather be sleeping. Some of it is pride. We would rather do the talking. We view ourselves as more wise, more knowledgeable, or more exciting than the lunkhead who is speaking to us. Some of it is busyness. We have other things to do. Listening doesn't involve any work, so we don't feel like we're getting anything done. Some of it is just plain inability to listen. A.D.D. is a real thing in some people. However, whatever your excuse may be, Moses offers no exemptions from the rule - no matter how boring this may seem to you. Open your ears. Don't just hear. Pay attention. Listen to these commands. That means opening up your Bible and reading it. It means studying what God's Word has to say to you. Look at Matthew 5. Open up to 1 Corinthians 13. Peruse the book of James. Check out the second half of Romans. How do they address your Christian lifestyle? If you don't have the time - then make it.
The second thing Moses told the Israelites to do was to "follow them." Instructions don't do you any good if you don't follow them. Back in college my brother game me a 1967 Pontiac that managed to get me around where I needed to go. One day it didn't start. A mechanic friend of mine managed to get it started but told me that I needed to change the spark plugs and change the oil. Since it was starting again, I did neither. One week later, my car once again failed to start. The mechanic was rather irritated with me when he had to once again get my car started, and he should have been. It wasn't that I didn't trust him, but since my car was temporarily working I thought I could put it off.
There's nothing more frustrating in life than when you try to tell someone something but they don't listen to you and end up messing up. How many times did God have to deal with this? When the 12 spies went up to the Promised Land, Caleb and Joshua said - "let's go and get them!" But they didn't listen. Then, when Moses told them NOT to go up there, they tried to conquer the Amorites. As a result, those Israelites who tried to go up were beaten back and humiliated. If only they had listened in the first place, or even in the second place! James compares such people to those who look in a mirror - see what they look like, and then don't do anything about it. Imagine seeing that you have a piece of food in your moustache, but then leaving it in there. Why even look then? In 2 Chronicles 18, the prophet Micaiah had become so frustrated with the king not listening to his prophesies that he purposely told him a lie - knowing that the king wouldn't listen anyway. If God tells you that slander is sinful, then why do you still do it? If God tells you to forgive your enemies and treat them kindly, then why do you continue to hit your sister when she hits you? If the LORD tells you to give your firstfruits, then why do you continue to only give him your leftover time, talents, and treasures? When is the rubber going to hit the road? Why even bother listening if you aren't going to do it anyway?
The third thing that Moses told the Israelites to do was to keep the law - by not adding to it or subtracting from it. If you've ever read through all of the regulations and laws of Deuteronomy or Leviticus, you would have to wonder - "what kind of an insane law freak would think of adding to these laws?" Yet the Pharisees of Jesus' time did just that. They added laws to the laws to make sure that they were "keeping" the laws, by prescribing the amount of steps walked and the exact chores that could and couldn't be done.
The strange thing about the law is that even though we don't like laws, we also love them. If we can work them into our own little system, they make us feel good - like we're earning some good points with God. The husband who buys roses for his wife every Friday might say to himself, "I am loving my wife." Yet in the same week he is bossing her around like she were one of his employees. Not only does he add to God's law of love with his own little system, but he also subtracts from it. We subtract from the law when we say to ourselves, "I wouldn't talk bad about my wife, but I have to just let some steam off to someone." We say, "I know that this show is a little bit risque - but I can tell the good from the bad." So that makes it ok? No, it doesn't. If God's law says to be patient, then you full well better be patient. If He says be kind, then you have no excuse for being rude - no matter how much the person may deserve it. Turn the other cheek still means to turn the other cheek - even in today's society. You can't pick and choose from God's law. It's not a cafeteria line where you only pick what you want and only eat what tastes good to you. God wants you to swallow everything He has to say.
II. Do it with purpose
It's good to know that there is a purpose to what you're doing. Any kid in school has a hard time memorizing facts he knows he'll forget - or learning something he knows he will never use again in his life. God recognizes this in humans. Even though God could have just told the Israelites to obey because He told them to, He gave them two purposes for doing so.
Longevity is a big thing to us. When a teacher reaches the coveted tenure it's as if a huge weight has been lifted off of their backs. They know they can relax a little more because it is much harder to lose their job when they have tenure. In a similar way, the LORD was giving the Israelites the promise of longevity in the Promised Land, if they kept the law. Generations upon generations would be able to enjoy this land of milk and honey under peace and prosperity - if they did what the LORD was telling them.
The regimented and clean way of living would make an impression on the heathen nations around them. When the Israelites showed their respect for their Lord, when they were careful in the cleanliness, and when they made sure that justice was carried out in the land - the Israelite nation would stand out in it's justice and righteousness. They would come across as a very wise people who understood how to truly live. It would in turn make the LORD look attractive.
Even though the LORD's commands are not quite the same to us who live in the New Testament - they still carry with them similar consequences. When you live a life of love by honoring and serving God and your neighbor - good things will happen. You will enjoy the property that the LORD gives you. You will like to share what He has given you - and win over friends and neighbors. When you are kind enough to listen to their problems and help them towards solutions they will naturally like you. When they see the way you raise your children and treat your spouse, you will be wise and understanding in their eyes. They will say to themselves, "they sure do have their lives in order." As a natural result, you won't die of a drug overdose. You won't be killed while driving drunk. You won't die of stress or end up jail because of writing bad checks. You'll enjoy life. If you want to enjoy life, then do what He says. If you want people to look up to you and ask you for your advice, then read the Word and apply it to your life.
III. Do it with good reason
Perhaps at this point you are still not convinced to either listen to the law or follow it. Maybe you don't really care whether people think you are wise or not. Maybe you would rather live a short life on the edge - like the Fast and the Furious do. This whole idea of listening and doing still stinks, does it? Moses uses one other approach towards the Israelites to motivate them to keep the commands of the LORD. He reminds them of who the LORD was - and WHAT HE had given them.
You may not have noticed it, but as Moses was telling them to keep the laws, He added at the end that this land was "the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you." They were not getting this land because they were more numerous or righteous than the other nations. If anything, they were less righteous and more hard headed than the other nations. Whether they kept His laws or not, it was still a GIFT of God. Whether they ended up there a long time or a little - it was still only given to them as a gift. Jesus says the same thing to us in Luke 17:10, "So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" No matter what you have right now - five children or none, a spouse, a house, an apartment, a Beamer or a Benz or a Bug - it is all a gift of God. Whether you treat them the way God tells you to or not, you can't really say you've earned any of it. You're nothing but an unworthy servant.
Moses added, What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? With these words he was again reminding the Israelites of what a privilege it was to have the God that they had. He had accompanied them throughout the desert in a pillar of cloud and fire. He had come to their aid against Egyptians. He had seen to the destruction of Sihon and Og. The LORD came to their beckon call at the blink of an eye. No other god had done that. This is a promise that the LORD gives to all of His believers and followers in Psalm 145:18, "The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth." Jesus also promised in Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." What other God is so generous as to offer such things and follow through on them? Is this not a LORD you would want to listen to and follow?
If that were not enough, Moses reminded the Israelites of one other point. What other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? These were not just some ridiculous and empty laws and decrees. They were RIGHTEOUS decrees - from heaven itself. It may not seem to make sense when the LORD says to turn the other cheek and love your enemy. Sometimes it would be much more satisfying to have an Islamic law that tells you to kill infidels. It would be easier if the LORD would allow us to at least covet or lust after the opposite sex. The two consenting adults rule sounds nice to our flesh. Not everything makes sense. Many of God's laws don't see fair. Not all of His laws are easy to keep. Yet Moses reminds us, these are righteous decrees. They are right and correct - because they are from God. These laws - to love God and love our neighbor - to submit to one another out of love - to obey the LORD - to honor our parents, remember the Sabbath - all of them - they are right and good things to do. It is better to forgive than to get revenge. It is better to pray and turn the other cheek. In the end, we recognize this as well. When we remember this, it helps motivate us to keep the commands of the LORD. It makes us want to read God's Word and learn it. It makes us want to do what He says.
After reading through this text, it really struck me what a sad thing it is. Why? When a cow is born, you don't have to teach it how to suck. It naturally goes to it's momma and starts drinking milk. When a horse grows it doesn't need to be taught how to run. It comes naturally. We are Christians. We are the New Testament Israelites. Israelites shouldn't have to be convinced that God's law is a good thing to keep. Yet here God is, telling us to keep His law and convincing us why we should do so. What is wrong with us - that we have to be TOLD to do something that should be as natural to us as a cow sucking milk or a horse running through a field? What is wrong with us is that no matter how many laws God gives us - and no matter how many laws we may keep - we will still be sinful. We will still fall short. No matter how many promises Moses gives us - we will still fall short of keeping the commands of the LORD and earn God's wrath. With all of his promises Moses has only served to condemn us.
What a striking picture it is when we see Jesus going to the temple - even as a young boy - and staying there for more. Instead of leaving at his first opportunity, Jesus eagerly learned all He could about the law. The even stranger thing is that Jesus didn't have to learn God's law. He already knew it all. He wrote it. He was it. Yet Jesus chose to learn these laws - and live these laws and keep these laws. When the Pharisees tried to add to it, Jesus knew better. He kept it the way it was written to be kept. For all of His work, what did He get in return? He was cursed and crushed and crucified by the very people who were sworn to keep the Law. In the greatest injustice of all, the only one who truly KEPT the Law - died under the Law. Why didn't He get the long life the law promised? Galatians 3:13-14 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.' He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit." Now we get it. Jesus' life was shortened so our life could be lengthened to eternity - through faith. As we sit under that Tree and see the greatest Law keeper keep it to the end - for our salvation - what can we do but thank God for saving us from Moses? How can we thank Him? By keeping His commands. Amen.