Deuteronomy (Written)

Deuteronomy 6:6-15
Beware, Lest You Forget the Lord

In the passage today, Moses will carefully instruct Israel on the Source of the good things they will receive. In this, there will be no place for boasting in their own greatness. What is coming will be handed to them on a silver platter, and all they have to do is take it, and then remember where the goodness they have came from.

It won’t work, and Israel will do exactly what they are admonished to not do in the years ahead. It will be a costly lesson for them. As far as Israel today, one might say it is different for them. They went into a land that was totally barren, filled with typhus, malaria, and a host of other diseases, and they subdued it.

They basically started from scratch and built it up to what it is today. Is there a difference? Can they boast in their own goodness and righteousness because of this? Well, they certainly do. They take full credit for all of their success, and they do so without acknowledging that the Lord was behind it.

But the answer to the question is, “No. There really is no difference, and no, they have no right to boast in and of themselves for what they have.” Why?

It is because the Lord said, in advance, that He would return them to the land, that He would build them up and watch over them, and that their accomplishments are because He has done so. But lest we point at Israel and mock them for refusing to see this, we need to know that it is a problem in the church as well – one that goes back to its very inception…

Text Verse: “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7

Those at Corinth were boasting in who they aligned with – be it Peter, or Paul, or Apollos. But who is it that gave each of these leaders his ability? It was the Lord.

If a group goes into a royal palace and the one on the throne has gifts prepared for each of them. Who will they thank – the attendant who brings them the gift, or the one on the throne who offered it? The answer is obvious. Paul asked them to think.

Further, Paul’s words make it clear that what they have as individuals, they received. There could be no arguing against it, and so his question was intended to be like a sharp knife, cutting away their pride. In essence, “Of course you have received all that you have, so why would you boast as if you had earned it?”

In the end, this is true for all things. If you have a big house and lots of money, it is because God gave you the time, intelligence, place, strength, and so on to earn those things. So, do you say how great you are, or do you thank God for His grace upon your life? If you understand properly, it is God who must be given the credit.

No matter what you have, it ultimately came from God. We, like Israel, need to understand this and remember it. In not remembering, we will end up as Israel did, pursuing paths which are unsound and detrimental to our walk with the Lord. Such truths as this are to be found in His superior word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Teach Them Diligently (verses 6-9)

⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

Moses will now give instruction concerning the law which has thus far been spoken out, and which he will continue to expound to the people that certainly includes what was just said in verses 4 & 5 –

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:4, 5

This is to be considered a command. Thus, it cannot be taken as an emotional love, but a volitional one. The people of Israel were to make a concerted effort to love Yehovah with all of their heart, with all of their soul, and with all of their strength.

But rather than “in your heart,” the Hebrew reads al l’vavekha, or “upon your heart.” As we have learned, in the Bible, the heart is the place of intellect, reason, and understanding. The people were to commit this love of the Lord to their memory.

It was to be as if it was inscribed directly on the heart, or as if a weight was laid upon the heart in order to convict anytime they began to stray. The same term, “upon the heart,” is used in Jeremiah 31:33 when describing the effects of entering the New Covenant in Christ –

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

One can see the difference between the two. In the Mosaic covenant, the people are told to actively work to love the Lord, meaning be obedient to His commands; writing them on their hearts. In the New Covenant, the inscription of the heart is accomplished by the Lord.

One can see the superiority of the New Covenant through the use of this simple term, “upon the heart.” Who is it that does the work? And what are the effects of the work once it is done? One is a law leading to death, the other is a gift, leading to life.

⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children,

v’shinantam l’vanekha – “And you shall whet them to your children.” It is a new and rather rare word in Scripture, shanan. It means to whet or to sharpen. Saying “teach them diligently” is more of a paraphrase. Finding a modern word to translate it as intended in this verse is not easy. Whet is closest, but it still needs to be explained.

The word is seen only nine times. Other than here, it is translated as whet, sharpen, or pierce. The idea, then, is to inculcate the commands into the children, but by using this word, we want to include the idea of sharpness, as if the process of instilling the commands is so personal that it is as if the parent is cutting into the child and inscribing them there.

Probably the closest we will get to a comparable translation of the word elsewhere is found in Psalm 73:21 –

When my heart was embittered,
And I was pierced within. Psalm 73:21 (NAS)

This was to be the responsibility of the parents, inscribing the commands of the law in the children. As Matthew Poole says to explain this word, “This metaphor signifies the manner of instructing them, that it is to be done diligently, earnestly, frequently, discreetly, and dexterously.” Paul uses a similar thought in Ephesians –

“And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4

Looking at the rest of the Old Testament, one can see how Israel failed in this. Thus, the Lord promised in Jeremiah 31 that He Himself would perform this for the people under the New Covenant. In order for this to be accomplished, Moses speaks on…

^7 (con’t) and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,

The commands of the Lord should be tied in with everything that is spoken about in a normal conversation. “It was a great day at work. We reaped innumerable sheaves of wheat. How good the Lord is to us, and how we should love Him for the bounty He provides.”

Whatever is normal conversation within the house, it was to be salted with a word concerning the Lord. In this, He would always be contained within the subject matter. He was to be an active thought from moment to moment and not just a mere afterthought.

^7 (con’t) when you walk by the way,

When walking on the way, the conversation may be about how school was, about what the upcoming hunt would be like, or how beautiful the scenery was. In these, or in any other conversations, the love of the Lord was to be an active part of the discussion. “Look at how majestic the mountains the Lord has created are!” “Do you see the intricacy of the spider’s web? The wisdom of the Lord is found even in this!”

^7 (con’t) when you lie down,

The last thoughts of the day are the thoughts that set the mind for sleep. It is right to include the Lord in them. “The Lord was very good to us today. We were safe, we ate well, and we had contentment and happiness. Thank You, Lord, for the day which has passed.” These thoughts are what will be remembered also at the dawning of a new day…

^7 (con’t) and when you rise up.

The parents were to instruct the children concerning the Lord at the outset of the day, reminding them that the span of life is short, and that the surety of reaching evening was unknown. Therefore, it was right to talk of the Lord in the morning, reminding them that they were accountable for their actions before Him, and to conduct the affairs of the day in a manner worthy of the name they bore – Israel, or “He strives with God.”

They could either strive with God, for God. Or, they could strive with God, against Him. Either way, the day was before them and their actions of the day would be brought to remembrance before the Lord. And so, as reminders of the presence of the Lord, and the need to pay heed to His commands, Moses speaks on…

⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

The idea here is to be taken metaphorically, not literally. This is certain, as will be seen. However, it is this verse which the Jews of Israel – at Jesus’ time, and even today – use to justify the wearing of phylacteries. In Matthew, Jesus spoke harshly of the scribes and Pharisees who prominently made such ostentatious displays –

“But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments.” Matthew 23:5

Today, these are known as tephilim. They wrap their arms with straps, and they have small leather boxes containing scrolls inscribed with verses from the Torah in them strapped to their heads. This practice is taking what is meant to be symbolic and making it literal. The way we know this is metaphor is based on other verses which reveal this.

First, the words here are similar to Exodus 13:16. Concerning the law of setting apart the firstborn of every male to the Lord –

“It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:16

This is obviously a metaphor that needs to be explained. But that cannot be understood properly unless Exodus 13:9 is also considered. When speaking of the observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, it said this –

“It shall be as a sign to you on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:9

The two together explicitly tie the consecration of the firstborn to the consecration of all of the people as is represented by the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The firstborn is given for the whole. Of interest, though, there is also a contrast to this verse in the Bible.

In Christ, the Firstborn of God, the people of God enter into what the Feast of Unleavened Bread anticipates, being a group set apart to God whose sins are no longer imputed. Thus, they are “unleavened,” or “without sin” before God.

Understanding this, the same terminology is used here by Moses to represent a people whose minds are directed to the things of God, and whose actions are in accord with what is right for the people of God. To further understand this, analyzing the words is needed.

First, it says u-qeshartam l’oth al yadekha – “And you shall bind them to sign on your hand.” An oth, or sign, is something that represents something else. The hand is what accomplishes tasks. Therefore, the people are to remember the commands of the Lord in everything they accomplish – be it cleaning a bathroom or writing a sermon. It is to be done with the Lord in mind.

Next it says, v’hayu l’totaphoth ben enekha – “and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” The word “frontlets,” or totaphoth, is seen only three times in the Bible. It is also in Exodus 13:16 and Deuteronomy 11:8. It is derived from an unused root signifying to go around or bind.

As noted in Exodus 13, it is not to be taken literally, but as a metaphor. Taking that verse, and placing it side by side with Revelation 13:16, an interesting pattern is seen –

“It shall be as a sign on your hand and as frontlets between your eyes, for by strength of hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” Exodus 13:16

&

“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads.” Revelation 13:16

The place between the eyes is the forehead, and so the two correspond one to another. As we saw in Leviticus, in the Bible, the forehead is the place of conscience and identification.

Therefore, this symbolizes that a person is to set his mind on the law of the Lord. In the New Testament, it is reflective of what Paul says to the Colossians –

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:1, 2

Moses’ words now indicate the state of each person before the Lord. They are to mentally acknowledge the Lord by thinking on His law and of His handiwork in everything they do.

In contrast to this, the mark of the beast on the right hand or on the forehead of those in the tribulation period signifies an acknowledgment of the work and lordship of the antichrist which is followed by their obedience to him.

They have acknowledged him and have taken either a vow, represented by the right hand, or an oath of assertion, represented by the forehead, to the antichrist. The mark may be visible, but it represents the setting apart of the individual to the devil.

Moses, in saying this to the people, admonishes them to think on the Lord, live for the Lord, and conduct their affairs to the Lord at all times. Further…

⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

u-ketavtam al mezuzot betekha u-bisharekha – “And you shall write them on doorposts your house and on your gates.” The idea here is certainly metaphorical as well, even if it was literally accomplished by whoever decided to do so.

The two words of focus are mezuzah and shaar – doorpost and gate. The word mezuzah, or doorpost, comes from the same source as the word ziz, or “moving things.” That word is seen only three times – in Psalm 50 and Psalm 80 to describe beasts moving in the field, and once in Isaiah 66:11 to describe the bosom of a woman. Thus, it means that which is conspicuous.

Understanding this, the mezuzah, or doorpost, is that which is conspicuous and prominent in the life of a person. The shaar, or gate, comes from shaar meaning to calculate or reckon. That is used only once, in Proverbs 23:7 –

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
‘Eat and drink!’ he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.” Proverbs 23:7

The gate is for protection of those within. A gatekeeper is one who actively decides who to let in and who to keep out. He makes a reckoning and acts upon that. Understanding these roots, the symbolism of the two words is then made obvious.

The law of the Lord is to be so ingrained in a person that it is in the prominent place of a person’s life. Every major decision is to be made based on an understanding of the law of the Lord. Further, it is to be so inscribed in a person that it is what is then the basis for making life’s decisions. In this, it will be a guard for the wellbeing of the individual.

One is to evaluate the circumstances set before him, consider what is to be done in relation to the law of the Lord which he is intimately familiar with, and then act upon those things accordingly.

As there are numerous laws that have been given, and that will be given, the indefinite nature of Moses’ words, “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,” indicates that this is certainly to be taken in this metaphorical way. Nothing specific is noted, meaning that the entire law is to simply be applied to every aspect of the decisions of life.

Unfortunately, and like all things good, the Jews took this metaphorical concept and applied it literally, but only in a limited manner, and as an intended talisman, rather than as a guide for life.

The word mezuzah has now been applied to a small wood or metal container which is affixed to the right-hand post of the doorway to the house. Inside of it is a piece of rolled-up paper or parchment with Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and/or Deuteronomy 11:13-21.

As a show, it is tradition to touch the mezuzah, kiss their finger, and speak out Psalm 121:8, “The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”

Like many other such things, there is nothing initially wrong with this, but it results in several problems. First, the idea, if taken literally, is to have the words visible in order to remind them of their content, not hidden away.

Secondly, it – like any other tradition – becomes a substitute for the basis of the words and it becomes an implied talisman – which, yes, the words of the Bible can easily be made into such. Thirdly, if doing this is intended as a fulfillment of the law, it actually then violates the law.

The reason this is so is because the word mezuzah, or “doorposts,” is plural – mezuzot. Therefore, to have the words of law on one post, but not on the other, is to then violate the very law that is being referred to. If you are going to take such precepts literally, they must be adhered to completely.

Unfortunately, this practice is no different than abuses by many Christians – whether true Christians or nominal Christians – in regard to either verses from the Bible, or in regard to the Bible itself.

When either of these is used as a talisman for protection, prosperity, or the like, it is no different than the practice of the Jews with their mezuzah. It becomes a show, a pretense, or a charm, but it does not serve the purpose intended by the Lord for the people of God – which is to know, meditate upon, cherish, and apply the word of God to one’s life.

And so, before we go on, let us convict our hearts. If one sees a mezuzah on the doorpost of a Jewish – or even Christian’s – house, is it shiny from having been rubbed countless times as people entered and exited the house?

If so, does the life of that person reflect the shiny state of the mezuzah? Does he know the word of God? Does he talk about it with others? Does he apply it to his life in such a manner that it is conspicuous to everyone around him? Or is it just there for show?

Likewise, what is the state of the Bible you own? Is it outwardly showy to all around you? Do you keep it in some obvious place where people can see that you own it? Etc. But what about its overall appearance – outside and inside?

Is it well worn? Are there notes, highlights, and underlinings. Or is it just the same as the day it came off the printer? Are the pages worn, stained from use, dog-eared and tattered? Or are they as smooth and clean as the day it was bound?

Although it is not always the case, the condition of one’s Bible is normally the exact opposite of the condition of one’s life. If the Bible is worn out and falling apart, the person’s life is normally tidy and sturdy. But if the Bible is in untouched pristine order, the life of the person will often be a complete ruin.

Lesson for Deuteronomy 6 verse 9 – Keep things in their proper context. Don’t be showy in your exterior religious life, but rather be well-grounded in the word of God. Know your Bible, think on your Bible, cherish the word, and love your God who speaks to you through it.

 

Remember these things that I command
Keep them always in your heart
If you do this, you shall always stand
From My laws be sure to never depart 

Write them on the doorposts of your house
And impress them upon your mind
Talk about them with your children and your spouse
For you, My people, these have been carefully designed 

They will guide you as you walk in this life
They will be a lamp to you on the path you take
They will keep you from trouble and from strife
If these, My commands, you never forsake

II. When You Have Eaten and Are Full (verses 10-15)

Moses has been speaking of obeying the commands from a positive viewpoint – “You shall do this, and you shall do that.” Now, he gives a warning concerning being slack in regard to that same law.

The reason for this is the condition of the human heart which quickly forgets the past, and which then presses on into the future without regard to what got that person to where he now is. Moses begins his warning saying…

¹⁰ “So it shall be,

v’hayah – “And it shall be.” It is a very common expression, but the intent here is that it is not this way now. Despite this, the time is coming when it will occur. Thus, it is spoken of before it happens, and Israel cannot take credit for it, as is next seen…

^{10 (con’t)} when the Lord your God brings you into the land

The credit for bringing Israel into the land, in advance of the event occurring, belongs to Yehovah. Therefore, it is to be acknowledged as such, and to be remembered in that light. Further, it is not because of the goodness or greatness of the people that this has come about. Rather its occurrence has nothing to do with them directly. Instead, it has to do with the vow of the Lord…

^{10 (con’t)} of which He swore to your fathers,

The Lord swore, and therefore, the Lord will perform. No other god was involved in the process, and any supposed god in Canaan could not stop what Yehovah was about to do.

Israel will enter and possess the land, but their possession of it is only a consequence of the oath which had been made long before they stood on the banks of Canaan. That oath was to the fathers, namely…

^{10 (con’t)} to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,

l’avraham l’yitshaq, u-l’yaaqov – “to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” The promise was made to each of these fathers. They would possess the land. The promise to Abraham was over 400 years earlier, and the promise to Jacob was over 200 years earlier.

The people who stood there now were to receive what had been promised, but it was the Lord who determined that it would come to pass, and to which generation of people it would come to. Moses is making a particular point in saying what he is saying…

^{10 (con’t)} to give you large and beautiful cities

latet lakh arim gedolot v’tovot – “to give you cities great and beautiful.” Moses does not say, “with cities great and beautiful.” Rather, he says latet lakh – “to give you.” A gift is not earned, and it is not deserved. If it was deserved, it would not be a gift; it would be a wage. Moses carefully chooses his words. Next, he says…

^{10 (con’t)} which you did not build,

If they did not build them, they cannot take credit for them. The Lord made a promise. The Lord brought them in. And, what they received was grace, including…

¹¹ houses full of all good things, which you did not fill,

Within the cities will be houses already built, and in them will be the labors of the people the Lord has dispossessed, waiting for Israel to come and enjoy. There would be food in the pantry, beds already available, linens carefully woven by the women, lamps for lighting, maybe gold or money stored in a special spot, and so on. And within each city would be one or more…

^{11 (con’t)} hewn-out wells which you did not dig,

The people of the land would have dug for water – a laborious task. When water was found, they would have hewn out wells to ensure there was always fresh water on hand – another very laborious task. In this, a new word is seen khatsav, meaning to hew or cut out. The difficult and dangerous work was done.

And more, the inhabitants would have maintained the wells throughout the years as well, so there would be no need to worry about a thing in this regard. Further, there would be…

^{11 (con’t)} vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—

Instead of being given an empty land requiring many years to begin to produce such things, the people of Canaan had already subdued the land, cleared the fields, and planted fruit-bearing trees.

The most difficult thing Israel would have to do in this regard would be to wait for the fruit to ripen depending on the plant that was already there, and then to pick it and celebrate. The most difficult part of the process would be behind them. But the most important aspect of this new life lay yet ahead…

^{11 (con’t)} when you have eaten and are full—

v’akalta v’savaeta – “and have eaten and are filled up.” The word sava signifies to be sated or completely full. There is no lack at all in the person at the end of the meal. But the idea here isn’t just one meal. Rather, it is speaking of a constant stream of no lack. This is certain based on the context of the next words…

¹² then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

When the people are full and satisfied, they will be prone to doing the one thing people do so easily, which is to forget where they came from.

A person raised in a conservative family can go off to college and become a flaming liberal. A wealthy person who was born in poverty can forget the plight of those he once lived with. And Israel, filled up as sons, was bound to forget the Lord who redeemed them from slavery.

The very name Egypt, or mitsraim, means “double distress.” Sitting in Canaan living off the land they did nothing to earn, they are being warned to not forget that they once lived in double distress, even though now they were living the high life.

The parallel idea here, which is what is also typologically pictured, is that of the sinner being redeemed from his life of sin. The Lord asks Israel to not forget Him because people are prone to forget. And Peter admonishes those in Christ to do the exact same thing –

“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, ⁶ to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, ⁷ to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” 2 Peter 1:5-9

Unless we think on the Lord, meditate on His word, and actively love Him for all He has done, we – be it Israel or those in the church – can actually forget the Lord and all He has done for us. Rather than this, Moses implores…

¹³ You shall fear the Lord your God

The words are emphatic. eth Yehovah elohekha tira – “Yehovah your God you shall fear.” This is contrasted to the words of the previous verse. There it said, “lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt.”

They were in bondage to the Egyptians who ruled rigorously over them. The Lord, in contrast, gave them freedom and abundance. But because He had the power to do so, it means He also has the power to affect their lives negatively as well. Because of this, they were to fear the Lord their God…

^{13 (con’t)} and serve Him,

v’oto taavod – “and Him serve.” Again, the words are contrasted to the previous verse. There, the noun eved, or slave, was used – “the house of slaves.” Here the verb form of that word, avad, or serve, is used. They were brought out of the house of slaves by the Lord, therefore, they were to serve the Lord.

Here, fear is placed before service. If the people fear the Lord – meaning with a proper, reverential fear, they would faithfully serve Him. The opposite was true in Egypt. The people were slaves in Egypt, and thus they feared the Egyptians.

In essence, Moses is giving them a choice – one of faithful service based on reverential fear, or a return to slavery to others which leads to fear. Egypt as a taskmaster was cruel and unrelenting, but the Lord was caring and gracious. All they needed to do was to remember Him and acknowledge His goodness.

This is one of the verses that Jesus cited to Satan in response to his temptings –

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’” Matthew 4:10

Jesus remained faithful in worship and service of the Lord. Israel will be shown to not measure up. The lessons of the law are set before us to see and understand the majesty of what God did in sending Christ to do what Israel could not do.

^{13 (con’t)} and shall take oaths in His name.

Moses builds upon the previous clause. To fear the Lord means to take oaths in His name. To vow in any other manner is to commit idolatry because it elevates something that is not God to a position that rightfully belongs to Him alone. Jesus, in Matthew 5, said the following –

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; ³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” Matthew 5:33-37

He was not telling the people they could not vow in any manner and at any time. The law had already provided that vows and oaths were to be made in certain legal situations.

Rather, He was referring to the making of vows for things where such a vow was unnecessary. His words even indicate this when He speaks of heaven, the earth, your head, and etc. Each of those is a part of creation. To make a vow in relation to one of those things was to then commit idolatry, elevating it to what is reserved for the Lord alone.

Unfortunately, many Christians have taken Jesus’ words and refuse to make any oaths at all, even in legal situations, such as in court. This is not at all the intent of His words, as is evidenced right here in Deuteronomy. If a vow or oath is to be made, it is only to be made in the name of the Lord.

For our daily conversation, however, our words are to be so trustworthy that when we say Yes, it means Yes, and when we say No, it is to mean No. Anything more than that is, as He says, from the evil one.

¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you

Two things are being dealt with by Moses in these verses. The first is for Israel to not forget God because of a carefree life. The second is to not accept or even tolerate the gods of those who surrounded them. The latter is dealt with here.

To forget God, the first, leads directly to the latter. They are to fear the Lord, serve the Lord, and take oaths in His name. In doing so, they will refrain from going after other gods, serving them and swearing by them.

But the thought of going after other gods also implies the conduct of one’s life. Christians go after Christ, emulating Him and serving Him. One emulates whatever god is served.

The gods of Canaan and the surrounding nations were gods of fertility, death through human sacrifice, immorality, and so on. To go after those gods would mean emulation of them. But the people of Israel were told to be holy, just as Yehovah their God is holy.

And there is a particular reason for exhibiting this conduct which Moses next explains to them once again…

¹⁵ (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you),

ki el qanna Yehovah elohekha b’qirbekha – “For God jealous Yehovah your God in midst of you.” Moses repeats here what has already been said five times. Yehovah is qanna, or jealous. This is the sixth and final time this adjective is found in the Bible. All six uses have been in relation to the name Yehovah.

The jealousy is directed to the violation of depriving Him what He is justly due. Israel is warned that they cannot escape what is coming if they fail in this regard. He is in their midst, implying that He sees and knows all that happens among them. Should they reject Him, the penalty for it is found in the next words…

^{15 (con’t)} lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you

pen yekhere aph Yehovah elohekha bak – “lest burning nose of Yehovah your God against you.” The symbolism is that the countenance of the Lord is so angry that fire shoots out of His nostrils and burns up anything before Him.

This is the result of incurring the jealousy of the Lord. The covenant was made, as a Husband to His betrothed. To violate the covenant will arouse His jealousy. In that, there is only one inevitable outcome. As it says in the proverbs –

“For jealousy is a husband’s fury;
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
³⁵ He will accept no recompense,
Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.” Proverbs 6:34, 35

No offerings would appease the Lord if the people were also offering to other gods. How could they appeal to Him and also to other gods and somehow expect to escape His fury? Moses says He will pursue…

*^15 (fin) and destroy you from the face of the earth.

The words say, “from the face of the ground.” Utter annihilation could be expected for the people who would do such a thing. In this, it is not the utter annihilation of all of Israel, but of those who acted in such a manner. An example of that is found in Ezekiel 9:6.

The Lord has promised to preserve Israel even through the destruction of Israel. Those who offended would be sought out and utterly consumed in His wrath.

Nehemiah 9:24-31 practically mirrors what is said in the verses we have looked at today (open Bible and read that passage). At times, what Nehemiah says is almost word for word what Moses has warned against. His recounting of this shows that what occurred in their exile was solely their fault.

And yet, as he noted, the Lord did not utterly consume them. The word of the Lord, and the covenant of the Lord, will never be violated by the Lord. Israel’s absolute unfaithfulness demonstrates all the more the longsuffering and patience of the Lord. And more, it highlights His grace and mercy as no other thing could.

He is the covenant-keeping God. He kept His promise to the fathers. He kept His promises of punishment within the law, and He kept His promises of the preservation of Israel, also contained in the law. Not a word of the word of the Lord will fail because He – unlike the people of the world – cannot fail.

And so, today, I would ask you to take the necessary step and call out to Him for salvation. We are all going to spend eternity somewhere, and the difference between the two options is either heaven or hell, paradise or the pit. Please choose wisely, call on Christ to save you, and then think on Him and His goodness all the days of your life. This is what will be pleasing to the God who created you for this very purpose.

Closing Verse: “But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked;
You grew fat, you grew thick,
You are obese!
Then he forsook God who made him,
And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.
¹⁶ They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
¹⁷ They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.
¹⁸ Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful,
And have forgotten the God who fathered you.” Deuteronomy 32:15-18

Next Week: Deuteronomy 6:16-25 In doing these commandments, don’t make such a fuss… (Then It Will Be Righteousness for Us) (25^th Deuteronomy sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. But He also has expectations of you as He prepares you for entrance into His Land of Promise. So, follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Beware, Lest You Forget the Lord

“And these words which I command you today
Shall be in your heart, as to you I plainly say

You shall teach them diligently to your children
And shall talk of them when in your house you sit
When you walk by the way, when you lie down
And when you rise up – keep on talking and never quit!

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, like a prize
And they shall be as frontlets between your eyes

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house
———-so to you I tell
And on your gates you shall write them as well

“So it shall be, when the LORD your God
Brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers
———-a land abundantly filled
To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
To give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build

Houses full of all good things, which you did not fill
Hewn-out wells which you did not dig
Vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—
When you have eaten and are full; not like a skinny twig…

Then beware, lest you forget the LORD, your Creator Spouse
Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the bondage house

You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him
And shall take oaths in His name; so you shall do
You shall not go after other gods
The gods of the peoples who are all around you

(For the LORD your God is a jealous God among you)
Lest the anger of the LORD your God
Be aroused against you and destroy you
From the face of the earth that you trod

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

⁶ “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

¹⁰ “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, ¹¹ houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— ¹² then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. ¹³ You shall fear the Lord your God and serve Him, and shall take oaths in His name. ¹⁴ You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you ¹⁵ (for the Lord your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

 

Deuteronomy 6:1-5
The Lord Our God, The Lord is One

There are memorable passages in Scripture that are an absolute delight to arrive at and analyze. And then, to say, “I have preached on that verse (or passage)” is one of the greatest honors that I will ever carry with me.

The naming of Jacob as Israel was one such passage. When the Lord said, I AM THAT I AM in Exodus 3:14, it was like opening a chest of the finest treasure. The same is true with other key verses in the books of Moses. There was one in Ruth, another in Jonah, and one in Esther as well.

In these are found words that are familiar to people who may not have ever read the Bible. Or, they may have such an impact on the world in which we live, or the theology that we espouse, that they stand alone as marvels of wonder and delight.

In our sermon today, we will have such a verse. It is considered by many Jews as the centerpiece of their morning and their evening prayer services. It was cited by Jesus in the New Testament, and it was given to reveal exactly the opposite of what many people find in it. Adam Clarke explains this for the Jews who have rejected Jesus Christ –

“When this passage occurs in the Sabbath readings in the synagogue, the whole congregation repeat the last word אחד achad for several minutes together with the loudest vociferations: this I suppose they do to vent a little of their spleen against the Christians, for they suppose the latter hold three Gods, because of their doctrine of the Trinity.” Adam Clarke

Text Verse: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
‘Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?’” Isaiah 6:8

In his words, Isaiah says, va’eshma eth qol Adonai – “And I heard the voice of Adonai.” That means, he heard the voice of the Lord, Yehovah. The words of Yehovah then said, omer eth mi eshlakh u-mi yelek lanu – “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us.”

Unless one gets what Moses is saying in today’s passage, the words of Isaiah, and indeed many of the words of Scripture, make absolutely no sense at all. But in our evaluation of the word today, we will work to make sense out of these things, and to put a right sense of reason into our theology – a God-centered reason.

In doing so, so much of what is otherwise argued and debated over will fall into its proper place. Of course, one must actually accept that the evaluation is correct, and that what Moses is saying is as we will consider it. To this day, what I will tell you is rejected by the unbelieving Jews.

But it is they who have been exiled for two thousand years, and it is they who have suffered for their unbelief. For supposed Christian denominations to follow suit in their thinking is suicidal. Let us think clearly, let us reason things out from the greater panorama of Scripture, and may our conclusions be honoring of the Lord God who has so meticulously revealed Himself to us in Scripture.

May it be so, and may it be to His glory. Marvelous wonders are to be found in His superior word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Be Careful to Observe It (verses 1-3)

The opening words of Chapter 6 follow exactingly in accord with those of the previous chapter. The people had heard the voice of the Lord, they had seen the terrifying display that accompanied it, and they had heard the words of law – the Ten Commandments.

The entire display was so great and terrifying that they asked for Moses to hear the words of the Lord, and to then convey His words to them. In response, we read the following –

“Go and say to them, ‘Return to your tents.’ ³¹ But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.” Deuteronomy 5:30, 31

While there, we saw that the translation was incorrect. It said, kal ha’mitsvah v’ha’khukim v’ha’mishpatim – “all the command (it is singular) and all the statutes and all the judgments.” The law is a codified body of law which is to be dutifully obeyed. It is a single command which is then defined by the statutes and judgments of which it is comprised.

Chapter 6 now opens with the same thought, but this time it is, almost, correctly translated…

“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments

The word “commandment” is singular, and the words “statutes” and “judgments” are plural. They are also prefixed by definite articles. There is the duty of the law, meaning the commandment, and then there are the statutes and the judgments which define that law, and which comprise it.

What may have happened in this translation is that a different set of translators was assigned to the previous chapter, or a different translator within a committee did one chapter and another did the next. Otherwise, it is hard to guess why they would translate the same words, separated by only three verses, differently.

However it came about, it is a great lesson for us once again. If we hang our hat on a single translation, we will inevitably come to erroneous conclusions about things.

It is one thing to read the word in a general form as we do each day, and it is another to do an in-depth study and rely solely on whatever translation we happen to have at the time. For example, the KJV got both of these verses wrong. Thus, an error in thinking concerning our theology can be the only result. For now, Moses continues the thought with…

^{1 (con’t)} which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you,

These words, again, follow from verse 5:31. As we just cited, the Lord said, “stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them.”

The Lord spoke out the commandment, and Moses was instructed to then, lamad, or teach the people out of that spoken command. Moses is to be the one to goad the people, prodding them along in order that they may learn to be obedient to the Lord. And the purpose is so…

^{1 (con’t)} that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,

Again, the words follow after verse 5:31, with a noticeable difference. There, it said, “that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.” Moses changes the words slightly because he is not going into Canaan with them.

The Lord said, “which I am giving them to possess.” Moses now says, “which you are, overim, or ‘crossing over’ to possess.” It is referring to ha’yarden, or the Jordan, which means “the Descender,” and which pictures the coming of Christ.

Moses is not crossing over anything. As I have highlighted a couple times, the verb overim, or “cross over,” is identical in spelling to the noun ivrim, or Hebrew, which means “Passer Over.”

There is, seemingly, a subtle pun and an implied theological lesson for us in the words. The Passer Overs will be crossing over, but the law is not a Passer Over. If not by the law, then it must be by faith. This takes us back to Abraham, the first person noted as a Hebrew. Of him, the book of Hebrews says –

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:8-10

The same theme keeps repeating. The inheritance is not of law, but rather it comes by faith. Moses’ inclusion of the words atem overim shammah, or “you are crossing over there,” open up the passage, and they solidify the same theological message that carries throughout all of Scripture – the just shall live by their faith.

The typology is so clear. With the coming of Christ, those who are to enter heaven must do so apart from the law (pictured by Moses). They must come by faith. Deeds of the law are excluded.

For Israel, however, this does not negate that they are given law, and they must live out their lives under the law in order to instruct the people of the world concerning its need for God’s grace. And so, Moses continues…

² that you may fear the Lord your God,

The words of verse 1 were in the plural – you all who are a part of the whole. The words now transition to the singular – you, Israel, as a people who are the whole.

The teaching of the commandment and the statutes and judgments serves two purposes. The first is a proper relationship with God – l’maan tira eth Yehovah elohekha – “to the end purpose that you may fear Yehovah your God.” This was the explicit reason given by the Lord in Deuteronomy 4 –

“Gather the people to Me, and I will let them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children.” Deuteronomy 4:10

This was repeated towards the end of Chapter 5 as well. Moses repeats it here, noting that this is the first and main purpose of the giving of the law. And that fear of the Lord is demonstrated in obedience. As he next says…

^2 (con’t) to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you,

If a father lays out a list of things for his children to do, and they don’t do any of them, or if they do only some of them (the fun stuff), or if they do a shoddy job of the things they do, then there is obviously no fear of dad, and there is no respect for dad.

But if he is a good father, the things he assigned were intended to be for the good of the family, to help them to learn respect, diligence, and to be industrious. Further, they are to keep the family mutually working towards a good goal, and for the productive, happy, and healthy living of the children who are given the instruction.

These, and reasons like them, are also the intents of the law. First and foremost, they were to excite in the people the fear of the Lord, but they were also intended for those of subsequent generations as well. As Moses says, it is for…

^2 (con’t) you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life,

The children of the father that doesn’t pass on the value of money will – within a single generation – squander the wealth of those who came before them. The father that doesn’t pass on conservative values to his children will have sniveling children who are incapable of handling the responsibilities of life.

Cherished traditions, honor, respect, diligence in work, and on and on – all of these must be trained into one’s children and into the grandchildren after them. When this doesn’t happen, the values set before the people in times past will be lost. And so will fear of the Lord. But this is quickly what Israel failed to do –

“So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. ⁸ Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. ⁹ And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. ¹⁰ When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.” Judges 2:7-10

The people failed to heed the words of Moses, and the following generations departed from the fear of the Lord. What would be the outcome? Before we see, we need to understand the second purpose for the teaching of the commandment and the statutes and the judgments which follows logically and inevitably from the first…

^2 (con’t) and that your days may be prolonged.

A fear of the Lord leads inevitably to prosperity, especially that of life – both quality of life and length of life. When Israel failed to do as instructed and the subsequent generations didn’t know the Lord, the result was –

“Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; ¹² and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. ¹³ They forsook the Lord and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. ¹⁴ And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. ¹⁵ Wherever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for calamity, as the Lord had said, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed.” Judges 2:11-15

Both the quality of life, and the length of the lives of many were affected through what occurred. The days of the people were not prolonged. The choice was set before Israel, and each generation had to decide how they would carry the charge set before them. For now, Moses continues…

³ Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you,

The words remain in the singular. Moses is speaking to Israel as he would to a single person. “You, Israel, are to be careful to observe.” And there are reasons for this. The first being, “that it may be well with you.”

The implication, obviously, is that if they failed to observe, it would not go well with them. And that is what we saw, right out of the gate of their history. For the first generation after Joshua, things didn’t go well with them.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean everyone. There were certainly those who prospered, even while the nation was being plundered and despoiled. While some were cut down in battle, others lived long lives, never facing danger. But as a people, they faced the judgment of the Lord for having forgotten the fear of the Lord.

Moses next adds on another benefit of carefully observing the charge set before them…

^3 (con’t) and that you may multiply greatly

For just this clause alone, the words return to the plural – v’asher tirbun meod – “and which you (all) may multiply greatly.” It only makes sense that he would change to the plural here. He is speaking to Israel as a whole, but Israel is made up of people.

And so, to entice them to careful observance of the command, he says, “Israel, do these things so that it will go well with you.” And then one can imagine him sweeping his arm across the congregation and saying, “And so that each and every one of you may multiply greatly.”

He is calling for national blessing in order to stir up national unity, but he also calls for individual blessing in order to stir up self-worth within the nation which will, in turn, further stir up national unity. Any great leader will do the same. He will focus on the whole while focusing on the individual within the whole.

^3 (con’t) as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—

The words of this clause, and the next, are debated by scholars. Are these words referring to what was just said – meaning long life and days being prolonged – or are they referring to the next clause, meaning “a land flowing with milk and honey. Both could be possible. The Lord has already said this to the people –

“You shall therefore keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time.” Deuteronomy 4:40

And, the Lord has already said this to the people –

“So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey.” Exodus 3:8

So, it could go either way. Much of the reason for the confusion is the wording of the next clause…

^3 (con’t) ‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

eretz zavat khalav u-debash – “land flowing with milk and honey.” There is no preposition, such as “in,” even though many translations toss it in there. The NKJV adds in a long hyphen as a pause – “as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’”

Others add in commas to make it read, “because Yahweh, the God of your Fathers, has promised you a land flowing with milk and honey” (Holman).

With the varying views, it is obvious that what is said is complicated, and I don’t like complicated. And so, I would suggest to you that the entire thought of verses 2 and 3 is parenthetical and it should read as follows –

“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,

² — that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you —

‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

This highlights the two main purposes for observing the commandment – fearing the Lord and the expected blessings upon the people – to be contained within the thought of verse 1, exactly where it should be. It then ties “the land which you are crossing over to possess” directly in with “a land flowing with milk and honey.”

In this, the thought flows properly, and there is no need to finagle the Hebrew by adding in words or thoughts not in the original. And yes, the Hebrew can bear this translation. It is completely supportable.

So, the next time you come to this passage in your reading, remember that everything in verses 2 and 3 is probably parenthetical, right up to the last clause where it resumes the narrative. That is my best analysis of this for you on this otherwise difficult section.

As far as the term, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” this is the first of six times it will be seen in Deuteronomy, more than any other book in Scripture. As this is the first use of it here, and because it is such a commonly used term in Scripture, it would be good to review its meaning.

A land flowing with milk and honey implies richness and fertility. Milk comes from cows and so it means abundant pasture lands. Honey comes from bees which pollinate flowers and so it implies all sorts of fruit trees, herbs, and flowers.

And more, for Israel the term “a land flowing with milk and honey” will also possess a spiritual connotation. For them, it doesn’t just speak of the physical abundance but also of spiritual abundance because of the Lord, and because they are the Lord’s people, through whom the word of God comes.

The word of God is said to be sweeter than honey. It is also equated with milk which nourishes. Thus, this is a reference to that as well. The land would literally flow with milk and honey for sustaining Israel’s physical lives. It would also flow with milk and honey for sustaining their spiritual lives.

It is a certainty that if the promise of the Lord’s word concerning the abundance of the land is true, so should the abundance of His blessing upon them for adhering to His word – summed up in the very commandment, statutes and judgments which He is referring to right now – also be true. With this understood, we now turn to one of the most important verses in all of Scripture to consider…

I am the Lord Your God, and I am One
There is none other than Me
But the thinking is not flawed to say I have a Son
And together with the Spirit, we are One but We are Three 

I was there before the world came to be
And I am here now, right now, with you as well
And I shall be ever-present for all eternity
The never-ending story is the one that I tell 

And so, you shall love the Lord your God
Love Me with all your heart and soul and might
With every step you take and on every path you trod
In Me you shall rejoice, and in Me you shall delight

II. Sh’ma Yisrael (verses 4, 5)

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!

shema Yisrael Yehovah elohenu Yehovah ekhad – “Hear Israel! Yehovah our God; Yehovah One!” Deuteronomy 6:4 is simply known as the Shema, or “Hear.” In this, the last letter of the first word, ayin, and the last letter of the last word, dalet, are written by scribes considerably larger than the surrounding text, thus they form the Hebrew word ed – witness.

Thus, the Shema is considered as a witness to Israel, testifying to something. Israel is to thus pay heed to what is said, learning from its instruction, and applying its truths to their national character.

The verse can be translated four distinct ways, but the two main ideas of any of these translations comes down to either 1) the unity of Yehovah; one being, or 2) the fact that Yehovah is Israel’s only God. The latter has already been established numerous times, including in the First Commandment – “I am Yehovah your God” which is followed by “You shall have no other gods before Me.”

It has also been established in Deuteronomy 4 that no image of the Lord should be made to represent Him because the people saw no form when He spoke to them from the mountain.

For these, and other reasons, this is certainly not referring to the fact that Yehovah is Israel’s only God – an already established fact – but that Yehovah is one being. Of this, Albert Barnes rightly states –

“This weighty text contains far more than a mere declaration of the unity of God as against polytheism; or of the sole authority of the revelation that He had made to Israel as against other pretended manifestations of His will and attributes. It asserts that the Lord God of Israel is absolutely God, and none other. He, and He alone, is Jehovah (Yahweh) the absolute, uncaused God; the One who had, by His election of them, made Himself known to Israel.”

Matthew Poole succinctly then states it, “One in essence, and the only object of our worship.” The statement proclaims the unity of Yehovah, and this is necessary, but it is also problematic, isn’t it, because Yehovah has already been revealed in various, otherwise contradictory ways, unless the words are taken properly.

Of the Shema, scholars give their thoughts along various lines, but many of them will – in one way or another – comment in accord with what Charles Ellicott says here –

“‘We worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.’ But this truth, though visible in the Old Testament by the light of the New, was not explicitly revealed until it came forth in history, when the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world, and both sent the Holy Spirit to represent Him in the Church.” Charles Ellicott

Ellicott (and others) say that even though the Trinity is visible in the Old Testament, it is not explicitly revealed. This is true, but the argument is always made against the Jewish belief that there is one absolute God, meaning a monad.

In this, the analysis is faulty because Yehovah is clearly identified as a physical presence in the Garden of Eden. He is also identified as a physical being, a Man, in Genesis 18:1, 2. Moses has already shown that there is more to Yehovah than meets the eye.

This will continue to be true again in Joshua 5:15; Judges 6:15, 16; Judges 13; Isaiah 6; Zechariah 12:10, and elsewhere. Though the set “Trinity” could not be deduced from the Old Testament, a plurality within the Godhead could. Only a presuppositional bias against this premise would result in the denial of such.

The words of this verse in no way deny the possibility of a unity within a plurality, and that is the point that Moses must make, and that he is – in fact – making. If he didn’t, there would then be a contradiction in what he has already recorded within the Torah.

In order to allow for what he has already shown – such as Abraham meeting with the Man who is Yehovah, he carefully chose his words. The final word of the verse, ekhad, means one. But it is often used in the sense of one inclusive of many.

For example, Genesis 2:24, using the word ekhad, says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become (l’basar ekhad) to one flesh.”

Genesis 11:6 says that the people of the world are am ekhad, one people. They are many comprising one. A cluster of grapes is one, and yet it is comprised of many grapes. However, in Genesis 22, the word yakhid is used three times to describe Isaac – “your only son.” It signifies one and only one. It is used this way throughout the Old Testament to identify a singularity with no plurality.

As Moses used ekhad, it is painfully obvious that he was making a theological point to substantiate what he already knew. He had already written out the Genesis narrative and he knew that God identified Himself in the plural in Genesis 1:26. The Lord also appeared to Abraham, and yet Moses knew that no man could see the face of the Lord and live – as he was told in Exodus 33:20.

Therefore, Moses was fully aware that Yehovah is a plurality within a unity. Hence, he chose ekhad rather than yakhid to speak forth the Shema.

Further, we can know – with all certainty – that Moses’ words here refer to the unity of the Lord and not that He is Israel’s only God, because Jesus cites the Greek translation of the Shema in Mark 12:29, affirming that it is referring to the Oneness of the Lord.

The scribe who answered him confirms this as well, showing that this is the accepted meaning of the Shema –

“Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.” Mark 14:32

The immense importance of a plurality within the unity of Yehovah will continue to be revealed to Israel, attempting to wake them up to the coming of Messiah. This is why when Christ came and they rejected Him, it was not a mere man, but Yehovah whom they rejected. This is evidenced, for example, in the words of Matthew 22 –

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, ⁴² saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?”
They said to Him, “The Son of David.”
⁴³ He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
⁴⁴ ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool” ’?
⁴⁵ If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?” ⁴⁶ And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day on did anyone dare question Him anymore. Matthew 22:41-46

Jesus plainly asked them who the Messiah would be. They knew, from their own Scriptures, that He would be the son of David. But then Jesus clearly shows them that He would be Yehovah, because He then cites the 110^th Psalm, a messianic psalm.

In David’s words, it says, “Yehovah said to Adonai. Sit at my right hand.” Adonai is simply a formal way of David referring to Yehovah. Thus, Yehovah was having a conversation with Yehovah, and yet David identifies them as different entities.

What we are seeing here in Deuteronomy 6 is Israel’s schooling in the nature of God which began in Genesis 1:1 with the creation by Elohim, which continued with the creation in Genesis 1:2 by the Ruakh Elohim, or Spirit of God, and which was then further elaborated on in Genesis 1:26 which said –

“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” Genesis 1:26

From there, it continued to be refined in Genesis 2 where Yehovah was introduced –

“This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Genesis 2:4

Each step of the way through the biblical narrative, God is revealing Himself to us a little bit at a time. It is true that the Trinity is not explicitly revealed as such in the Old Testament, but the concept of a plurality within a unity is not only revealed, it is incontrovertible.

It is this statement known as the Shema which now resolves the numerous otherwise contradictory statements thus far revealed through Moses. It shows that they are not, in any way, to be taken as contradiction, but as statements of fact which need to be considered and evaluated in light of the God who inspired Moses to write them.

From this verse in Deuteronomy, Joshua will not be considered to be a blasphemer when he worships the man with the drawn sword in Joshua 5, even though he has been instructed just one chapter earlier here in Deuteronomy to have no other gods before Yehovah, nor was he to bow down to them nor serve them.

Otherwise, the life of Joshua, within the span of less than two months, would be a completely contradictory, faithless life – destined to be cast into the pit of hell for having rejected the words of the Lord through Moses.

But through the simple use of a single word, ekhad, Moses has opened up the narrative of Scripture into one of wonder, amazement, and indeed antici……..pation concerning who the coming Messiah will be.

Instead of being stoned for blasphemy, David’s words of the 110^th Psalm will be pondered, contemplated, and meditated over for generations to come. And the incredible words of Zechariah 12:10 will not only make sense after they are fulfilled, they will perfectly fit with all that the other prophets testified to –

“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.” Zechariah 12:10

There is one God, and one God alone. There is no other God. And He is Yehovah, the God of Israel – uncaused, eternal, and unchanging. He was, and is, and is to come. And He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons in one Essence. Hear O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one! …

⁵ You shall love the Lord your God

When Jesus cited the Shema to the people who confronted Him, He didn’t just cite that and then begin to explain. Rather, citing the Shema was part of a greater discourse –

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” Mark 12:28-34

This is the continued thought that Moses speaks out now, saying, v’ahavta eth Yehovah elohekha – “and you shall love Yehovah your God.” The words here, and throughout the verse, continue to be in the singular. Moses is speaking to Israel as a single entity. The heart of Israel is to love Yehovah their God.

What does it mean to love Yehovah? In the context of Moses’ discourse – which is talking about observing His commandments – it means to obey His commandments.

One cannot say, “I love Yehovah,” and yet not obey His commandments. Because He is God, His words are a reflection of who He is. Unlike humans who lie for pretty much any reason, thus demonstrating a disconnect between their words and who they are, there is no disconnect between the Lord and His words.

A person may say, “I was once a navy seal,” and he could be a complete liar concerning that. We can dismiss his words, and not be unloving in the process. But when the Lord issues forth a word, it reflects His very being. Therefore, in rejecting what He commands is to reject who He is.

Unfortunately, this is taken to unintended extremes by cults all the time. For example, the Hebrew Roots movement will cite 1 John and apply those words to the law we are now looking at –

“He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3 

This is an error in theology. The Law of Moses is not what John is referring to. In fact, he never refers to the commands of Moses in his writings in such a manner. He is always referring to the New Covenant in Christ, and the words commanded by Him.

Though it is perfect, and though it perfectly reveals the intent of God, the Law of Moses is only a partial and an incomplete revelation of God. Jesus Christ is the final and full revelation which the Law of Moses only anticipated.

Thus, to love God is to keep His commandments, and to do so in the context of the times in which a person lives. This is why the psalmist was well-pleasing to God. In the 119^th Psalm, the psalmist says again and again that he loves the Lord’s commandments, His word, His precepts, His testimonies, and His law.

He loved the Lord because He loved what the Lord had revealed of Himself. There was no disconnect between the two. With this understood, Moses next says…

^5 (con’t) with all your heart,

b’kal l’vavekha – “with all your (singular) heart.” It is the collective heart of Israel. They were to love Yehovah with all of this heart. The heart is the seat of reasoning and understanding in the Bible. Israel was to consider the commandment of the Lord and to apply it to its life. It was to be an ongoing and active process.

If someone violated a commandment, he was to offer the appropriate sacrifice for it, in obedience to the command. If a person committed a capital offense, Israel was to execute the criminal in obedience to the command. If the nation transgressed as a whole, they were to follow the precepts of the law to make right the wrong that was done.

In 1 Samuel 21, David was faced with such an infraction which had been committed by his predecessor, King Saul. David took the appropriate action to remedy it. This is what it means to love the Lord with all your heart. It is to reason out what has been done to offend, and to then act in accord with the command to rectify it.

^5 (con’t) with all your soul,

u-b’kal naphsekha – “and with all your soul.” The soul is what animates the being. The soul of Israel then is that which animates Israel. It is the life, the breath, and the determination of the people. To love the Lord their God would mean that even unto death, they would be faithful to Him.

Though not of the covenant people, Job was such a soul, saying, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15). Likewise, the psalmist spoke of the full confidence he had in the Lord, knowing that holding fast to Him, even in the face of death, was a reward all by itself –

“Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
⁴ In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?” Psalm 56:3, 4

The soul of Israel was to love the Lord their God, holding nothing back. And then, finally, Moses instructs them…

*^5 (fin) and with all your strength.

u-b’kal meodekha – “and with all your strength.” The word meod signifies muchness, force, or abundance. One could consider the word vehemence. It is holding nothing back as one sets his course. Thus, the strength of Israel was to be expended on the Lord God – solely, without holding back, and entirely.

This would not lastly, but firstly, include their wealth. When people work for a set goal, it is with the strength they have to obtain what they want. If it is a person’s desire to increase in wealth, then it should also be the person’s desire to use that wealth as a way of demonstrating his love for the Lord.

Unsurprisingly, Jesus uses this exact example to show the hearts of the people in Luke 21 –

“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, ² and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. ³ So He said, ‘Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; ⁴ for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.’” Luke 21:1-4

Our physical person is often completely tied up in the wealth we possess. This woman’s next meal was to be her strength, and the money to buy that meal was indicative of where her love was directed. And so, giving up her meal, and thus her source of strength, she showed that she loved the Lord her God with all of it.

In the end, to love the Lord your God is not merely to make a profession with the lips, but to then put the total source of who one is – the heart, soul, and strength – behind that profession, yielding to the Lord all of it at all times.

As a point to close on today, it must be noted that when the Scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus with their question concerning the greatest commandment, He gave His response as we noted, citing the Shema and then to love the Lord and one’s neighbor.

After that, in both Matthew and Mark, the next thing that is mentioned is Jesus then asking them whose Son the Christ would be. Everything in the gospels is placed in a particular manner to form a particular context.

It is when they answered that He would be the Son of David that Jesus then cited the 110^th Psalm that we looked at. He did this for a reason. He was trying to call their attention to the fact that the Shema says there is one God, and yet there is a plurality within the Godhead that is allowed by the Shema – as testified to by David.

It is the central theme of Scripture, one which goes from the very first page of the Bible even to its very last – Jesus Christ is God. In fact, the very definition of antichrist, which will be our closing verse today, is to deny this fundamental tenet of Scripture. John defines it in both 1 John and 2 John as being such.

Therefore, when we are told that God is one, and that Jesus is God, that is to be accepted and acted upon. We are to receive Him as such, glorifying God the Father through our pronouncement. And then, we are to love Yehovah our God – meaning inclusive of the incarnate Word, Jesus – with all of our hearts, souls, and strength.

We are to obey the commandments of God in order to demonstrate that we truly love God. And John shows us where the beginning of that love is found. He says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (John 6:29).

To love God is to believe God and to do the work of God. And that work is to honor the Son whom God has sent. The passage today has shown us that there is no contradiction in the word. Rather, it is laid out, step by step and in a methodical manner, in order to reveal to us what God has been doing in the stream of time to bring us back to Himself.

Let us apply what we have learned, accept what God has revealed, and bring glory to God through the honoring of His Son. And, let us do so with all of our hearts, souls, and strength. May it be so.

Closing Verse: “Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.” 1 John 2:22, 23

Next Week: Deuteronomy 6:6-15 And the crier cries out a resounding chord… (Beware, Lest You Forget the Lord) (24^th Deuteronomy Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. But He also has expectations of you as He prepares you for entrance into His Land of Promise. So, follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

The Lord Our God, The Lord is One

“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes
———-and judgments
Which the LORD your God has commanded to teach you
That you may observe them in the land
Which you are crossing over to possess, so you are to do

That you may fear the LORD your God
To keep all His statutes and His commandments
———-which I command you
You and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life
And that your days may be prolonged too

Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it
That it may be well with you
And that you may multiply greatly as the LORD God of your
———-fathers has promised you—
A land flowing with milk, and honey too

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart
With all your soul, and with all your strength
You shall do this all your days, not just at the start

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, ² that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. ³ Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’

⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

 

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 5:23-33
Now, Therefore, Why Should We Die?

In today’s passage, the leaders of the people – having received the Ten Commandments and knowing that more laws are coming – present themselves to Moses. They have seen the terrifying display of sight and sound, and they no longer want to experience it.

They have an immense fear because of what they have seen and heard. And so, they ask that the words of the Lord will come through Moses rather than directly. Without a doubt, this is in hopes that it will lessen the effects of fear upon their lives.

But what difference does it really make? What is it about receiving the law through Moses that will make any difference at all? Today we will consider that in hopes of understanding what is being conveyed to us in this – and I mean this sincerely – really marvelous passage.

Text Verse: “Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s. ⁸ For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification and not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed— ⁹ lest I seem to terrify you by letters. ¹⁰ ‘For his letters,’ they say, ‘are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.’ ¹¹ Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present.” 2 Corinthians 10:7-11

The people at Corinth had made the error of thinking that Paul’s words in his letters were not a reflection of who he was as a person. When he was present with them, he appeared like a weak person, and his speech left a lot to be desired.

He also worked making tents to support himself, instead of insisting that those he ministered to support him. Everything about Paul seems unimpressive. However, when he wrote them letters, he was always much more authoritative.

Because of this, they began to think his letters were not a reflection of who he was as a person. In his words here, he corrects them of that thinking. Just because he came to the people in a timid manner did not mean he could not present himself with the commanding authority of an apostle.

In correcting them, he says that what he says in his letters when absent from them is exactly how he can be when he is with them. In fact, he had already said that to them in his first letter when he said, “What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?” (1 Corinthians 4:21).

His words were a reflection of who he was, whether he displayed himself with power or not. This is what Israel, in our passage today, and throughout the rest of their history, has failed to understand about the Lord.

It is not how one appears at any given time that people need to be concerned with. It is who the person (or in the case of Israel – the Lord) is by nature that needs to be considered. The Corinthians attempted to disassociate Paul from his words. Israel will attempt to do that today as well. But it doesn’t work that way.

Stay tuned for another exciting adventure into God’s superior word. It is coming right now. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. From the Midst of the Darkness (verses 23-27)

Moses has just finished recounting the Ten Commandments. After repeating them, he finished up that portion of the narrative with, “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me” (5:22).

With that fresh on our memories, we start into what occurred after that awesome display. The words of the passage ahead are an expansion of what was seen in Exodus 20. There it said –

“Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. ¹⁹ Then they said to Moses, ‘You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’” Exodus 20:18, 19

Moses will take that short narrative, and he will go into more detail than Exodus did. It is for good reason too, as we will see. And so, he begins the passage with…

²³ “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness,

v’hi ke-shameakhem eth ha’qol mitok ha’khoshek – “And it came to pass when you heard the voice from midst the darkness.”

Four times in the previous chapter, and four times in this chapter, the text says that the Lord God spoke mi’tok ha’esh, or “from midst of the fire.” In fact, that was said in just the previous verse, and it will be said again in the next verse to come. And yet, here it says, mi’tok ha’khoshek, or “from midst of the darkness.”

There is no contradiction here. In verse 5:22, which we just cited, it said the voice came “from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness.” Therefore, the voice resounded from out of the entire display – both fire and darkness. But it has been the fire that has been the main source of focus. Now it says only “the darkness.”

Such a change is not without purpose, and it shouldn’t be passed over without a careful analysis of why it has been introduced. And yet, I found no commentary on the reason for the change – as if it had no bearing on the narrative.

The symbolism of the fire is obvious. The words are words of law, and with the introduction of law comes the knowledge of sin. With the introduction of that knowledge, the act of sinning becomes a foregone conclusion. With the act comes a violation of the law, and with the violation comes judgment. The voice out of the fire is one of judgment.

However, the darkness implies obscurity and a lack of understanding. There is an inability to properly comprehend. Darkness also signifies a lack of fraternity. The Bible puts light as revelation and understanding. But it also gives the sense of friendliness and a right relationship for those who draw near to it.

What this means, then, is that there is the lack of a close relationship between the voice and the hearers of the voice. And more, there is a lack of understanding by them as well. In seeing this, the words of verse 27 are explained. The people will say to Moses, “You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say.”

As soon as that became evident, it was pretty obvious there would be a chiasm to reveal this more fully. Having laid out the verses to see if there would be one, sure enough… this is what came up –

Deuteronomy 5:23-5:27 – A Consuming Fire
When God Speaks with Man (06/22/20)

1. “So it was, when you heard (shama) the voice from the midst of the darkness,
2. while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me (qarav)
3. His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives.
4. Now therefore, why should we die?
5. For this great fire will consume us; 
6. then we shall die
7. the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have,and lived?
8. You go near (qarav) and hear all that the Lordour God may say,
9. and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear (shama) and do it.’

The people heard, but the display was terrifying and unfriendly. Therefore, they asked to hear through a mediator only. They came near to him in order to have him go near to the Lord. This is exactly what a mediator does. He is the access point between two parties that lack a close bond which would make a mediator unnecessary.

The entire passage opens us up to what is going on, simply because of a change from the words “from the midst of the fire,” to “from the midst of the darkness.”

^{23 (con’t)} while the mountain was burning with fire,

v’hahar boer baesh – “and the mountain was burning in the fire.” While the voice proceeded from the darkness, the mountain was in the fire, and it was burning with the fire.” The mountain is a place of authority, as in a government seat. Therefore, the symbolism is that of an authoritative place of judgment.

The people grasped this. There is no sense of fraternity between the issuing forth of the law. Rather, there is only a state of judgment and of being consumed because of the words of authority issuing forth in the frightful display. And so, Moses recalls…

^{23 (con’t)} that you came near to me,

va’tiqrevun elai – “and you came near to me.” The same word, va’tiqrevun, was seen in verse 4:11, which said –

“Then you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain.”

The people had drawn near to the place where the Lord sat and where He issued forth words of law, and that didn’t go over too well. The people were overwhelmed and could not bear up under the terror of the fearful display their eyes had beheld. Because of that, the people now approached Moses. It was…

^{23 (con’t)} all the heads of your tribes and your elders.

Here, the word shevet, or tribe is used. There are other words translated as tribe as well, but this word looks to the political aspect of the tribe. In this, it includes the heads and elders.

In other words, it wasn’t just the common folk, the women, and the children who were afraid of what they saw, but even the tribal heads and elders in the community. All of them had seen what they saw, and all were filled with terror, thus…

²⁴ And you said:

va’tomeru – “And you said.” Moses had just said that it was the heads of the tribes and the elders. Now, speaking to those gathered before him, he says, “And you said.” What was spoken by the leaders of Israel is as if it is spoken by all of Israel, for all time.

If Moses were alive today, he could say the exact same thing to the people of Israel, and it would have exactly the same effect. They could say, “We weren’t there at Sinai. This doesn’t apply to us.” If so, Moses could say, “Yes, you said this is what you wanted, and so this is how it is.”

The giving of the law, and everything associated with it, is a one-time and for-all-time event for the people of Israel. Until the covenant is annulled in Christ for them, they are bound to it.

^{24 (con’t)} ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire.

These men – speaking for Israel – acknowledge that what they have seen was from Yehovah Elohenu, or “Yehovah our God.” There can be no denying this afterwards, as if the source of the law was out of Moses’ own head.

They further acknowledge that the voice was accompanied by His glory, His greatness, and that it issued forth from the fire. These things are remembered to impress upon the minds of the new generation that Moses was not the source of the law.

Rather, its source is not only a god, as if some unseen entity, but the God, who provided a majestic display to reveal His greatness. In doing so, He has thus revealed the greatness of the law which proceeds from Him. Everything spoken here is connected to the law which is to guide Israel throughout their history.

^{24 (con’t)} We have seen this day that God speaks with man;

Here it says that God speaks with ha’adam, or “the man.” It is a way of referring to humanity. There were men and women, young and old – all gathered before Him and hearing His voice. All of them came from their first father, the man, Adam.

It is a way of verifying the Genesis account to the people where the Lord God spoke to Adam in the Garden of Eden. But it also surely brought up the memories of what happened after the fall. There was no longer worry-free conversation, but fear. After they had eaten of the fruit, it said –

Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
¹⁰ So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Genesis 3:9, 10

The people sense what Adam also understood. This is certain because they next say…

^{24 (con’t)} yet he still lives.

v’khai – “and lives.” And yet, all of them lived. The people appear to have been familiar with the Genesis narrative, even at such an early time after being brought out of Egypt. If so, they knew that Adam was told that on the day he ate of the fruit, he would die.

Adam was afraid, but Adam didn’t die. At least not physically. The people have made the assumption that the record was speaking of physical death, something they now also feared. But the Lord was speaking of spiritual death. Those who heard the law spoken out were already spiritually dead. The law could not fix that.

In their lack of understanding, they equated what was spoken to Adam as what would also occur to them – physical death. In order to avoid that, they continue…

²⁵ Now therefore, why should we die?

This is the center of the chiasm, and it shows the terror of being in the presence of God without an appropriate covering. Adam was in the Lord’s presence covered in fig leaves. The fig signifies a connection to God, or its lack thereof. They had sewn the leaves themselves, signifying their own works. In this, they were afraid.

The people of Israel were in the same position. They heard the words of law, they were not covered in the Lord’s holiness, and they knew that they would die because of it. Concerning the words, “Why should we die?”, Charles Ellicott notes –

“The instinctive dread of death awakened by the Divine presence, and especially by the declaration of the Divine law, bears eloquent testimony to the truth that man was made to bear the Divine likeness, and to live a holy life.” Charles Ellicott

He is correct in this. But what is more, is that the people realized that the words of the law would, in fact, bring death, and that by the law they could not live the holy life they were called to. In adhering to the law, it would be possible, but they would not be able to do so.

Thus, even at this moment in their history, only minutes after receiving the Ten Commandments, it was evident that the law was to be a tutor to lead man to Christ. In reality, nothing more could be expected of the law than that. Without Christ, there is only the anticipation of judgment. They even acknowledge it openly…

^{25 (con’t)} For this great fire will consume us;

We saw in a couple of sermons from Chapter 4 that the fire, the cloud, the darkness, and the other events the people heard and saw were only displays of the Lord’s power, they were not actually the Lord. Rather, He was hidden from their eyes.

Thus, it isn’t the really the fire that they should have feared, but the Lord who called out from the fire. Though it will be seen that they partially understand this, they don’t fully. Israel’s attention was focused in the wrong place. That continues to be seen from the next words as well…

^{25 (con’t)} if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die.

The people understand that the voice of the Lord God is the Source of what is to be feared. They have equated the voice of the Lord with the terrible display their ears heard and their eyes beheld. However, they will misunderstand what that means.

If the voice of the Lord was accompanied with that terrifying display, and if the voice of the Lord is a reflection of what the Lord expects, then it doesn’t really matter if they actually hear the voice of the Lord or not. It is what the voice conveys that is actually to be feared. The people have only partially grasped what they needed to grasp.

And that continues on to this day in Israel. For now, the elders there before Moses continue on in their lack of fully grasping the situation by saying…

²⁶ For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?

The question of the men there before Moses demands a negative answer. There is no one who had heard such things. And yet, because these things are written in the law, it is actually irrelevant if the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire is literally heard or not.

In the Talmud, it is said that when the Ten Commandments were spoken out, all of the nations of the world heard the words of the law – all in their own language. There is nothing to substantiate this outside of the Talmud.

It is probable that whoever wrote that had heard about the Day of Pentecost, and how the believers in Christ spoke in all of the tongues of the peoples. In hearing that, he simply coopted the account and made the same claim about the giving of the law at Sinai. But more to the point, the law was only given to Israel – not any other country. But, as I said, it is actually irrelevant.

The words of the law are recorded – not just the Ten Commandments, but all of those received by Moses from the Lord as well. They are no less the words of the Lord, and how they are received is of far less importance than what the words say.

The display was only intended to alert the people to this fact. But it didn’t sink in as it should. They only picked up on the importance of the transmission of the words, but not on the importance of the Source of the words, or of the words themselves. That continues to be evident from their next words…

²⁷ You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say,

These words correspond to what was said in verse 23. There, the people came near to Moses. Here, the people ask Moses to go near the Lord. They wanted to distance themselves from the Source of the words they heard. Thus, Moses was to function in a mediatorial role in receiving the words of Yehovah.

And so, there is supposedly safety both in distance and in how the words of law are transmitted to them. But, if the Lord is God, there is actually no distance between Him and the people.

And more, if the Lord is God, there is no difference in how the word gets to them. The Source is the same, and so the weight of the law remains wholly unchanged.

Remember what Paul told the Corinthians in our opening today. He is the same person, whether he is present or whether he is writing them a letter. His apostolic authority remained unchanged.

If you think about it, the people there with Moses would have been better off to have the words transmitted directly to them by the Lord. The terrifying effect would have remained, and thus the desire to not violate His word would have been ensured.

How can we know this is so? Because the cloud remained atop Sinai while Moses went up to receive the rest of the law from Him. But without being spoken to directly, they assumed that they could do as they wished. The people who received the law were the same people who made a golden calf to worship while the cloud remained right there in full view.

They asked for breathing space. Moses was to receive the words of the Lord…

^{27 (con’t)} and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’

These words end the chiasm which began in verse 23. The people heard the voice of the Lord “from the midst of the darkness.” There was no light, no friendliness, and no comprehension transmitted to the people, only words of law.

They are asking Moses to bring back the word in hopes of there being light, affability, and understanding. This is what a mediator is chosen for. When parties cannot meet personally, they will have a mediator to go between them.

When parties have no mutual friendliness, they will have a mediator to bring about harmony. And when parties have no ability to harmoniously communicate their words, they have a mediator to bring about peace between them.

This is all hoped for and anticipated, but they are not sending words to the Lord. Rather, the covenant is one-sided. They agreed to whatever the Lord would say. It is His covenant, and they had bound themselves to it. They were obligated to simply “hear and do” what the Lord spoke forth.

Despite this, and knowing all that would lie ahead, the Lord responds according to their words…

When God speaks to man, “It is man’s duty to obey!”
Whatever the precept that is given, so shall it be
We are to observe all the Lord does say
And it will go well with us most certainly

When He says, and He does mean, “You shall not eat pork”
That is the command for that particular time
But if He later says, “All foods are clean,” stick in your fork
The previous law is no longer a crime 

When the Law of Moses is fulfilled in Christ, it has met its end
Now a new reality for God’s chosen has been found
Because from heaven, God – His grace in Christ did send
We are now free from the law, because that grace does abound 

Thank God for Jesus Christ our Lord
From Him God’s infinite grace is outpoured

II. That You May Live (verses 28-33)

²⁸ “Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me:

The expression, “heard the voice,” signifies more than just hearing the sound. It is a way of saying, I hear, understand, and have processed what is being conveyed. The people made a proposition to Moses. The Lord both heard what they said, and the intent of the words was understood by Him. In response to this, He says…

^{28 (con’t)} ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken.

The Lord’s response here cannot go without being combined with what is said in Deuteronomy 18 –

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear, ¹⁶ according to all you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.’
¹⁷ “And the Lord said to me: ‘What they have spoken is good. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:15-19

Unlike Israel who has only looked at the effects of the giving of the law – meaning the terrifying display, the Lord has looked upon the entire matter. He not only gave them the effects to see and fear, He gave them the words which issued from Him – who is to be feared.

The leaders of Israel assumed that in the removing of the effects, the terror of the law would be lessened. The Lord knew it would not. Therefore, on the VERY DAY the law was given, the Lord is acknowledging that not only was the display needing to be changed, but the entire covenant was as well.

The Mosaic Covenant, by its very nature – with or without the display – was a covenant of death. Therefore, a New Covenant was needed – a Christ covenant. This isn’t seen now in Chapter 5, but it is seen by including the words of Chapter 18.

Moses’ mediation of the Law could not remove the terror of the law. Only in Christ’s coming, fulfilling the law, and establishing a New Covenant in His blood could the terror be removed. It is that, not obedience to the law which was now being given, that the Lord next speaks of…

²⁹ Oh, that they had such a heart in them

It is the heart that the Lord evaluates. This is evident throughout Scripture. The Pharisees did the things of the law, but they didn’t care diddly about the Lord who gave the law. That is evidenced by Jesus’ own words.

The people observed the law, added in their own commands which twisted the law, and it didn’t bother them a bit to do so. In response to this, and citing Isaiah, He said –

“These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
⁹ And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Matthew 15:8, 9

The Lord recognized that the people feared the Lord as they stood before Moses, but He also knew that this fear was not based on who He was, or what His word (which reflects His nature) said. Rather, it was based on how He presented Himself when He spoke out His word. In removing the terrible display, their hearts would no longer be moved to fear Him.

Is this so? Of course it is. The same Lord who gave this law came and dwelt among them. He also spoke out to them His word. And yet, they rejected who He was and what He said. Hence, the Lord continues, knowing it would be so…

^{29 (con’t)} that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments,

The words of Chapter 18 are exactly what the Lord is referring to here. Again…

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. ¹⁹ And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.” Deuteronomy 18:18, 19

The Lord, in the Law of Moses, commanded the people to listen to the Prophet like Moses. That IS a part of keeping all His commandments which He now refers to in Chapter 5. To fail to fear Christ Jesus, is to fail to fear the Lord. And to fail to obey the words of Christ Jesus is to fail to keep the commandments of the Lord. One plus one will always equal two in proper theology.

It is with this thought in mind, and while citing Hebrews 12, that Charles Ellicott rightfully and beautifully states what is going on – right here in Deuteronomy 5:29 –

“But it must not be forgotten that He ‘whose voice then shook the earth’ is the very same Person who ‘speaketh from heaven’ now. He who pronounced the Law in the letter writes it on the heart by His Spirit. The Angel of the covenant and the Prophet like unto Moses are one. He who gave the Law on Sinai died under it on Calvary, and provided for its observance for ever.” Charles Ellicott

What Ellicott means is that in coming to Christ, the law is observed by us in Him. We are merited with perfect adherence to the law because Christ perfectly adhered to the law. What He did is imputed to us, and its effects are forever. We are not under law, but we are in Christ, and thus under grace.

For those in Christ, all is well. For those who do not come to Christ, such is not the case. That is why the Lord adds in this qualifier…

^{29 (con’t)} that it might be well with them and with their children forever!

It can only go well when one’s heart fears the Lord and observes His commandments. But one cannot fear the Lord, nor can he observe His commandments if He doesn’t obey His commandments – all of them.

As heeding the Prophet like Moses, meaning the Lord Jesus, is such a commandment, then only when one directs his heart to Jesus can it go well with him and his children forever.

As a point of clarity in the Hebrew, a literal translation of this verse is a bit different than the English. It says, “Who will give, and become heart this in them, to fear Me, and to keep all my commandments all the days.”

In other words, they have at this moment a heart that fears the Lord, but He knows that will not continue. And so, He rhetorically asks, “Who will give them such a heart that will be like this forever?” If they refuse such a heart, it cannot occur.

It is a marvelous verse that demonstrates the freewill of man. Israel rejected such a heart, and they set their course for the time being. However, it will happen. The answer to the question is found in Jeremiah 31, and which is then cited by the author of Hebrews –

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. ¹¹ None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. ¹² For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 8:10-12

It is the Lord who will do so, giving them what they have lacked for so long when they call out for it. It is a marvelous promise of future restoration for Israel. For now, the Lord next says…

³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.”

The people had been called from the dwellings to stand before the Lord. The Lord spoke, the people feared, and the leaders came to Moses on behalf of the people and made their petition. The Lord agreed to their request, and so the Lord now instructs them to return, once again, to their tents…

³¹ But as for you, stand here by Me,

Only Moses remains to hear the word of the Lord. And so, he is instructed to amad, or stand, there by the Lord. Thus, it signifies that he is to receive what the others cannot. They stood before the Lord, but they will do so no longer. Only Moses will stand…

^{31 (con’t)} and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments

The translation is incorrect. It says, kal ha’mitsvah v’ha’khukim v’ha’mishpatim – “all the command (it is singular) and all the statutes and all the judgments.” The law is a codified body which is to be dutifully obeyed. It is a single command which is then defined by the statutes and judgments of which it is comprised.

^{31 (con’t)} which you shall teach them,

These are to be taken down from the mouth of the Lord and transmitted to the people for their observance. Thus, he is fulfilling the role of both receiving and instruction. It is a mediatorial position as an appointed lawgiver.

^{31 (con’t)} that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’

With the record of the Old Testament and the gospels complete, we can see what Israel could not see. The record stands that they were given the law, they did cross Jordan, and they did not observe the law. This is evidenced all the way through until the work of Christ was complete.

Thus, this verse can only truly be appreciated in the knowledge of Christ. The land anticipates a return to paradise. The Jordan anticipates the life and work of Christ. Thus, observing of the law is anticipated in what Christ accomplishes.

This takes us back to Ellicott’s words, “He who gave the Law on Sinai died under it on Calvary, and provided for its observance for ever.” Thank God for Jesus Christ.

³² “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you;

The words now return from the Lord speaking to Moses back to Moses speaking to the people. He is imploring them to do as the Lord had instructed a full generation earlier.

Again, like the previous words, what is stated here can only be appreciated in Christ’s fulfillment of these things. The record has been faithfully written down – from the time of Joshua, even through the words of Malachi. They were not careful to do what they had been commanded…

^{32 (con’t)} you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.

This must mean more than just doing as commanded, but it surely includes not adding to what has been given. In other words, to turn one way would be to disobey the law, but to turn another would be to add to the law that which was not law. It is what Jesus really got down on the leaders for at His time.

The people failed to do as the Lord commanded, they turned aside with almost every turn of the page, and they walked in a crooked and contrary manner to the word and will of the Lord. They were not careful to do as they were so instructed, and they added instructions that then twisted the law.

Again, thank God for Jesus Christ. Israel is merely a template of each of us – wandering through our lives completely disconnected from the reality of God. And yet, He intervened in time and did what Israel could not do, and – indeed – what we have each failed to do. Thank God for Jesus Christ.

³³ You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you,

Once again, Moses implores his audience to conduct their lives according to that which the Lord has commanded. In both testaments, the idea of the word “walk” is one which signifies to conduct one’s affairs.

To walk in the ways the Lord has commanded, is to conduct one’s affairs according to the commands of the Lord. And like in the giving of the Fifth Commandment, Moses adds on a note of promise for those who do so…

*^33 (fin) that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

The words here are similar to those of verse 4:1—

“Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you.” Deuteronomy 4:1

However, there is a difference in the word “live.” An additional letter, a nun, is affixed to the end of it in this verse. Instead, of tikhyu, it says tikhyun. The addition of this letter gives fuller sense of the word so that it means something like “that you may have abundant life.”

Therefore, Moses is speaking plainly to the people about real life in Canaan. To be observant to the laws will bring about prosperity and abundant life, and it will bring about an extension of their time in the land without fear of exile.

But that brings us to the obvious picture of Christ. If our observance of the law is found not in ourselves, but in Christ, then it is – even from an evaluation of the Law of Moses – a note of the eternal joy and the eternal security of the believer.

The commandments in Christ are found to be fulfilled by faith in Christ. In that faith, the law is fulfilled on our behalf, and in that fulfilling, true life is found. In that, the word calls us overcomers, and in overcoming, we are sealed with a deposit which is our guarantee of redemption from this world to the land which we will possess.

How anyone can read the Bible and find only insufficiency in the work of Christ concerning the salvation of man is almost incredible. Is that what God promises us? Eternal insecurity because of the insufficiency of the cross of Christ?

No! Rather, God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. And, all He asks us to do is to simply reach out, by faith, and accept it. Let us hold fast to the truth that what God has done is both complete, and it is fully sufficient to bring us home to Himself.

Israel was given a mediator for receiving the law of the covenant. He is a mediator that says, “You are to do these things that the Lord has instructed through me.” Israel was offered another Mediator for a New Covenant. He is a Mediator who says, “I have done all that was instructed for Israel to do.”

The question is, will you observe all those things that Israel was instructed to do, or will you trust that Christ Jesus has done them for you? Choose wisely. Choose Christ – to the glory of God and to the saving of your soul. Thank God for Jesus Christ. Great things He has done!

Closing Verse: “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.” Hebrews 9:15

Next Week: Deuteronomy 6:1-5 How does this sync with, “God gave His only begotten Son? (The Lord our God, the Lord is One) (23^rd Deuteronomy Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. But He also has expectations of you as He prepares you for entrance into His Land of Promise. So, follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Now Therefore, Why Should We Die?

So it was, when you heard the voice
From the midst of the darkness
While the mountain was burning with fire
That you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes
———-and your elders, me to address

And you said: Surely the LORD our God
Has shown us His glory and His greatness
And we have heard His voice
From the midst of the fire; we heard His address

That God speaks with man, we have seen this day
Yet he still lives, and is not taken away

Now therefore, why should we die?
For this great fire will consume us
If we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore
Then we shall die; it shall be thus

For who is there of all flesh
Who has heard the voice of the living God
Speaking from the midst of the fire
As we have, and lived? Such a notion is flawed

You go near and hear all that may say the LORD our God
And tell us all that the LORD our God to you does say
And we will hear and do it
So we confirm to you this very day

Then the LORD heard the voice of your words
When you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, so He did do
I have heard the voice of the words of this people
Which they have spoken to you

They are right in all that they have spoken
Oh, that they had such a heart in them; a heart so wise and clever
That they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments
That it might be well with them and with their children forever!

Go and say to them, “Return to your tents”
But as for you, stand here by Me
And I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes
———-and the judgments
Which you shall teach them, speaking to them plainly

That they may observe them in the land
Which I am giving them to possess; so they will understand

Therefore you shall be careful to do
As the LORD your God has commanded you

You shall not turn aside
To the right hand or to the left, but the narrow path
———-shall be your guide

You shall walk in all the ways
Which the LORD your God has commanded you
———-so to you I address
That you may live and that it may be well with you
And that you may prolong your days in the land
———-which you shall possess

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

²³ “So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. ²⁴ And you said: ‘Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. ²⁵ Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. ²⁶ For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? ²⁷ You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.’

²⁸ “Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. ²⁹ Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! ³⁰ Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” ³¹ But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.’

³² “Therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. ³³ You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 5:17-22
Learning Vicariously – Hopefully! Part II

We only evaluated five of the Ten Commandments last week, and we saw rather clearly how Israel failed at meeting them. Today, we’ll look at the last five, and consider them in relation to Israel as well. And in doing so, we can consider them in relation to our own actions also. In fact, we would be stupid to not do so.

God has a standard, and that standard must be met. Even if we – meaning the people of the world apart from Israel – are not under law, we still have to meet God’s standard of perfection. As we are born in sin, that won’t be possible. But we can learn from Israel’s failure that – just as they needed something more – we need Jesus.

It is He who embodies this law, and it is He who can impute the righteousness of it to us because He came under the law, He lived it out perfectly, and He died in fulfillment of it. And so, what He did is not only available to those of Israel, it is available to all who call out to Him in faith.

Text Verse: “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
⁶ Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’” Isaiah 49:5, 6

Israel thought, and they still think, they are the sole focus of God’s attention, and yet, Isaiah showed them that this wasn’t so. But consider it. Israel had the law. The nations of the earth did not. If this is so, and it clearly is, then it cannot be that the Servant of the Lord was coming to save Israel because of the law. Rather, He came to save them despite the law, and – yes – even from the law.

If He was going to “restore the preserved ones of Israel,” it had to be because of something other than the law. All of Israel had the law, and neither Israel collectively, nor any of Israel individually, was obedient to the law.

If people could just read the word properly, and from its intended perspective – meaning as given to us by God to show us the story of redemption – we could then put the law in its proper place. And, we could put Israel in her proper place. But in failing to do so, we mess both up, and the story of redemption – very quickly – becomes about us and about our efforts. Let’s not make this mistake. Or, if we already have, let us not continue to do so.

God’s story of the redemption of mankind is marvelous. And, it all centers on one Person – Jesus Christ. If we can keep that in mind, we will be in the sweet spot. Such glorious truths are to be found in His superior word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. I’ve Never Done That! (verses 17 & 18)

¹⁷ ‘You shall not murder.

lo tresakh – “no you shall murder.” It is an identical match to Exodus 20:13.

The sixth word. Like the majority of the other commands, this one begins with an absolute negation, lo, or “no.” What follows then is utterly forbidden.

As we saw last week, these Ten Commandments are divided up by scholars in various ways. Some see them as logically dividing between commands 1-4 and then 5-10. The first four showing love for God, the last six showing love for neighbor.

Others divide them 1-5 and 6-10. This would then show a distinction between filial and fraternal matters. The first five show obedience to the parent as children, the latter, respect for others. Either way, as parents are the image of God to the child until the child can reason out who God is, then the fifth commandment is an excellent transition verse for either of these views.

In our interpersonal relationships, this sixth command, you shall not murder, is given because it respects the very life of those we are to love as ourselves. And, because this command deals with interpersonal relationships, it also deals with our duties to God directly as well.

Genesis 1:26 tells us that man is made in the image of God. As this is so, then an attack against God’s image-bearer is, therefore, an implicit attack against the One whose image he possesses.

As this is so, murder is not something that can simply be dismissed as merely being on a human level. It is rightfully considered an attack against God. But this command is still rightly considered under the precept of loving one’s neighbor.

The word ratsakh, or murder, was introduced into the Bible at the giving of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. When we evaluated that, I cited Albert Barnes, who said, “This properly denotes taking the life of another with malice, or with an intention to murder him. The Jews understood it as meaning no more.”

That must be amended. It is true that it speaks of intentional taking of life with malice, but it is incorrect that this was understood “as meaning no more.” In Numbers 35, the same word, ratsakh, was used time and again concerning the manslayer – regardless as to whether the killing was intentional or unintentional.

Therefore, the word is better defined as “the unsanctioned taking of human life.” The command itself is certainly referring to the intentional slaying of another, but the word extends to accidental slaying of another.

Thus, there was the need for cities of refuge to be designated in order to protect those who did take life without sanction, but who did so without malice. To get a fuller and more detailed understanding of this, one should really go watch the Numbers 35 sermon which details these things.

Having now understood this, we can see that translating this sixth command as “kill,” rather than “murder,” as the KJV does, can only confuse the meaning.

Elsewhere, the Bible mandates that capital offenders such as murderers are to be executed. Further, the killing of another in battle is considered sanctioned killing. Therefore, using the word “kill” instead of “murder” here has led to both a misunderstanding of the intent of the command and a misuse of it against what the law actually prescribes in the execution of offenders or towards soldiers who are legally engaging in warfare.

Because of such a faulty translation, this has even been stretched to imply by some the nonsensical idea that the killing of animals is wrong. This is a complete misuse of the command. In Exodus 12:21, the people were told to “kill the Passover.”

Since then, a jillion times the Bible has spoken of slaughtering animals for both sacrificial and personal uses. Those verses always use entirely different words than the one used here.

As just noted, using the word “kill” here would set up other contradictions in the Bible. Israel has been and will be instructed to destroy certain people groups in battle. These instances are not to be considered as ratsakh, or “murder.” When in Exodus 20, we cited the Pulpit Commentary who said concerning this precept –

“The Israelites are told that to take life is a crime. God forbids it. As usual, no exceptions are made. Exceptions appear later on; but the first thing is to establish the principle.” Pulpit Commentary

That was and is incorrect. Exceptions, which precede the giving of the law, already existed. In Exodus 17, the Lord told Moses, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek.” After that, it said, “So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”

The incident predated the law. Therefore, a distinction is made between “killing” and “murder.” The word “kill” is far too broadly rendered, and thus it is a most unfortunate translation. It ignores both previous precedent, and it contradicts later instruction and refinement.

It is noted that all known codes of societal conduct include this precept, either implicitly or explicitly. It is also a precept which predates the law as well. In Genesis 9, after the flood of Noah, the Lord said to Noah –

“Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.” Genesis 9:6

The willful, intentional murder of another human is forbidden. In order for us to know our own hearts, and the depravity found there – a depravity which is universal in man, we can learn vicariously from Israel about what our own inclinations are.

Israel failed in this command, both individually and collectively, throughout their history. King David, the beloved of the Lord and Israel’s sweet psalmist, violated this precept when he had the husband of Bathsheba murdered. Likewise, the people as a whole, on several occasions, are noted for their murders –

“Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel,
    for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land.
There is no faithfulness or steadfast love,
    and no knowledge of God in the land;
² there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery;
    they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” Hosea 4:1, 2 (ESV)

The law was given to show us God’s perfect standard. Israel failed in meeting that standard. Concerning this sixth word, something else was needed. The sixth word only condemns; it cannot save.

¹⁸ ‘You shall not commit adultery.

v’lo tneph – “And not shall you commit adultery.” Very few translations get this verse right. Unlike the Seventh Commandment of Exodus 20:14, which says, “You shall not commit adultery,” this one says, “And, you shall not commit adultery.” The KJV paraphrases it by saying, “Neither shall you commit adultery.”

The seventh word. The word naaph, which was introduced into scripture in the giving of the Ten Commandments, deals with literal adultery, but it is also used figuratively in the sense of apostatizing from true faith in the Lord.

As with other commands, this one is in the absolute negation, beginning with v’lo or “And no.” John Lange noted an interesting connection between the first and second command and the sixth and seventh command –

“This commandment holds the same relation to the sixth as the second to the first. Idolatry proper[ly] corresponds with the murder of one’s neighbor, the latter being an offence against the divine in man. Image-worship, however, corresponds with adultery, as this too rests on a subtle deification of the image of man; it is spiritual idolatry, as image-worship is spiritual adultery.” John Lange

And so, following the prohibition against murder, the respecting of the bonds of marriage is highlighted. The act of adultery is a violation of the sanctity of marriage and is as if an invasion has been made upon the household.

When a contract of marriage is made, adultery dissolves the intent behind the contract. The offended party no longer has the ability to trust that any other part of that contract applies. This act is so universally accepted as wrong that almost every society known to man has, at one time or another, laws against it and punishments, up to death, associated with those laws.

Only in a society of moral decay and increasing wickedness is this sin considered as acceptable. But in God’s eyes, the command remains in force as much today as when it was first given. And in the case of the Bible, the further defining of adultery will show that this is not just a sin targeted against the woman, but the man as well. For example, Leviticus 20 says –

“The man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, he who commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be put to death.” Leviticus 20:10

In taking another man’s wife, the offender has failed to honor and love his neighbor. For his willful act against God and man, he was to be executed along with the woman.

As the word naaph, or adultery, was used for the first time in Exodus 20, it is a good time to consider that until a command is given, there can be no imputation of sin.

It is certain that many people had committed adultery before the giving of the command, but there could be no imputation of sin for the act. Paul explains this in Romans 5 –

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— ¹³ (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Romans 5:12, 13

What this means is that from the time the command was given, any committing of adultery carried with it the imputation of sin, and thus guilt. As Paul notes later in Romans 7 –

“I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. ¹¹ For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. ¹² Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.” Romans 7:9-12

Paul is specifically speaking about any command which is given. For whatever reason a command is given, because of our failure to meet the requirements of it, death is the result. This is what occurred in the Garden of Eden. Man was given one command, and it was in the negative –

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16, 17

Had the Lord not given Adam this command, when Adam ate of the fruit, there could have been no imputation of sin. But because the command existed, sin was imputed. Now consider again, before the command to not commit adultery existed, there could be no imputation of sin for the act.

But from the time the command was spoken forth, any act of adultery would result in the imputation of the sin. As we continue to see, the law does not bring life, it only brings death. It shows us how utterly sinful sin is to God. When a violation occurs, we stand condemned because of our misdeed.

But more, Jesus the Lord, who gave the command to Israel, further explained it to them when He came and taught among them –

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ ²⁸ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matthew 5:27, 28

Can anyone of us say that we have fulfilled this law in the manner He set forth? Of course not! But even without Jesus’ further explanation of it, we can consider Israel in relation to the command.

Was Israel free from guilt concerning this commandment? The answer is a definite “No!” Like murder, Hosea 4 shows that the people of the land reveled in sin, including the sin of adultery –

“Hear the word of the Lord,
You children of Israel,
For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:
“There is no truth or mercy
Or knowledge of God in the land.
² By swearing and lying,
Killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint,
With bloodshed upon bloodshed.” Hosea 4:1, 2

But Israel was even guiltier because they were told that not only was adultery to be considered a sin of the flesh against one’s fellow man, it was also a sin when committed against God. The prophets, time and time again, told the people that when they bowed to other gods, they committed spiritual adultery against the Lord.

And throughout the Old Testament, the people are shown to have committed exactly this against Him. They had forsaken their Husband and gone after others. They had violated the marriage contract that He established with them in the giving of the law; the law that they agreed to.

We can learn vicariously from Israel by paying heed to both the law and to Israel’s inability to keep the law – even one point of it. The record of their history is one of abject failure. But Israel is simply given as an example of all people in all cultures.

As is evidenced throughout Israel’s history, concerning this seventh word, something else was needed. The seventh word only condemns; it cannot save.

As an extra note, repeated from our Exodus 20 sermon on this command – it is not true that Jesus abrogated it when he had mercy on the adulteress in John 8. The law demanded that she was to be stoned for her crime. When He was asked for His guidance, the response He gave has been often twisted to justify tolerance in the matter –

“He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” ⁸ And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. ⁹ Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. ¹⁰ When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, ‘Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?’
¹¹ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’
And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you…’” John 8:7-11

If that were the end of the account, which is often where the morally deficient leave off with it, then we may come to a different conclusion about the matter. However, there were a few more words to her before He finished. He said, “…go and sin no more” (John 7:11) What is implied is that Jesus called her actions sinful and that she was to not continue in her sin.

Murder, me? No, I’ve never done that
Only bad people do that kind of stuff
I’ve said some mean things though, during an angry spat
But calling that murder, it’s just not enough 

Adultery? No! I’ve never strayed from my wife
She’s so good to me; I just stay at home
Sure, I think about the girl at the store every day of my life
But,,, nope! Never from my wife did I roam 

Wait, I never noticed this before…
The Bible says whoever hates his brother, a murderer is he
And he who looks at a woman in lust, is an adulterer for sure
I’ve done both of those things… O! Woe is me! 

Because of this law, I’m digging an awful deep hole
A pit which is set to consume my very soul

II. Offenses Abound (verses 19 & 20)

¹⁹ ‘You shall not steal.

v’lo tgenov – “And no you shall steal.” Once again, unlike Exodus 20:15, the word “And” begins the verse. Other than that, it is identical.

The eighth word. This commandment corresponds to the third. In the making of, and bowing down to, carved images we in essence rob God of His just due. Likewise, when we steal from others, we deny them of what they have a right to. In this, we can see that the structure of the commands is not arbitrary. Instead, it is precise and purposeful.

The word ganav means to carry away, secretly bring, steal away, or get by stealth. What is obvious is that something is being removed in an improper fashion. The word was used several times before the giving of the law. It is what Rachel did when she stole her father’s household idols.

It is also what the brothers of Joseph denied doing when they had been accused of taking his cup used for divination. In both of these instances, and in the giving of the command itself, there is the implied concept of “personal property.”

The Bible takes this precept as an axiom and then solidifies it in this command. People have a right to their possessions. To unjustly deprive them of what they own is theft.

In the pre-law biblical references, in the moral guidelines of civilized culture, and even in the simple knowledge of right and wrong instilled in man, the concept that stealing is wrong is testified to.

In our Exodus 20 sermon, I cited Charles Ellicott’s analysis of this command. It is worth citing again –

“Here, again, law has but embodied natural instinct. The savage who hammers out a flint knife by repeated blows with a pebble, labouring long, and undergoing pain in the process, feels that the implement which he has made is his own, and that his right to it is indisputable. If he is deprived of it by force or fraud, he is wronged. The eighth commandment forbids this wrong, and requires us to respect the property of others no less than their person and their domestic peace and honour.” Charles Ellicott

It would be hard to argue that the flint knife made by that man belonged to anyone but him. And yet, the one who is stronger, thus the one in power – whether he has earned the right to it or not – will come and rob what is not his.

This is what governments do all the time. But just because the government has the ability to take away one’s personal possessions, it does not mean that it is morally right for them to do so. This is why there is a divide in this matter. On one side, there are conservatives, and on the other, there are liberals.

Conservatives hold that one who earns his keep should retain it. Liberals hold that the shiftless, who do nothing to earn their keep, should be entitled to take from those who have earned it. This is what divides the two in this regard, and it comes down to that one word – power.

When liberals are in power, they pass laws which benefit their own personal agenda at the expense of the efforts of the private individual. This is theft. At what point something which is good for all, such as proper taxation for the continuance of the government, becomes theft may be debatable, but such a point does exist.

Unfortunately, by the time that point is passed, and normally by the way it comes about, there is nothing that the individual can do about it. Adam Clarke rightly states it this way –

“Crimes are not lessened in their demerit by the number, or political importance of those who commit them. A state that enacts bad laws is as criminal before God as the individual who breaks good ones.” Adam Clarke

He is right and it shows the immense guilt of those in power, especially the left, who steal from the rich to give to the poor. Albert Barnes notes that, “The right of property is sanctioned in the eighth commandment by an external rule: its deeper meaning is involved in the tenth commandment.”

The idea that the deeper meaning of the tenth commandment, meaning coveting, is affected by the right to private property is beautifully seen in the account of King Ahab and the vineyard of Naboth in 1 Kings 21.

He coveted Naboth’s vineyard, he had others lie in order to bring accusation against him, and he then had him murdered because of the lie. After that, he stole the property that was left. The violation of one command often results in the violation of several.

Reading about Ahab, and indeed other such accounts like it from the Old Testament, helps us to learn vicariously of what is right and proper, and of what is dastardly. The record is there, if we will just pick it up and read it.

But in reading the word, we not only see the acts committed, but we also see how the Lord takes note of each instance. In Jeremiah 7, we read this –

“‘“Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, ¹⁰ and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? ¹¹ Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,’ says the Lord.”’” Jeremiah 7:9-11

As with the previous seven words, Israel proved that the law of the Lord only brought guilt. Sin was imputed for their thefts because the law had instructed them that they were to not steal. Concerning this eighth word, something else was needed. The eighth word only condemns; it cannot save.

²⁰ ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

v’lo ta’aneh bereakha ed shav – “And no you shall bear in your neighbor witness empty.” There are two differences here from Exodus 20:16. The first is that this, again, begins with “And.” Secondly, the word false is now changed from sheqer to shav.

The word sheqer signifies an untruth, and by implication a sham or something without cause or justification. The word here, shav, signifies deception or vanity, or that which is empty. It is the word used in Exodus 20:7 –

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” Exodus 20:7

That was repeated here in Deuteronomy 5:11 with the verses that correspond to the Exodus account. It was also used in Exodus 23 concerning circulating a false report.

The ninth word. In Psalm 12, David says –

“Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases!
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
² They speak idly everyone with his neighbor;
With flattering lips and a double heart they speak.” Psalm 12:1, 2

It is a word used quite a bit by David and others in the psalms and elsewhere, and in various applications, but it is always in a negative way. When the Lord speaks, there is purpose, there is substance behind what He says, and what is said is then enduring.

To speak words without substance is a lie. One could speak empty words about himself – “I was a navy seal.” It is harmful because it deprives those who were actually navy seals of the efforts they expended to earn that title. This would then, in a sense, be bearing false witness against one’s neighbor.

One can also obviously speak empty words directly about his neighbor, harming him in the process as well. In this, he can reduce the person’s stature in the eyes of others, call into question his integrity, and so on. In Isaiah 59, we read –

“For your hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies, (sheqer)
Your tongue has muttered perversity.
⁴ No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in empty words and speak lies; (shav)
They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.” Isaiah 59:3, 4

In his words, Isaiah uses both words given in the two sets of Ten Commandments, sheqer and shav. In the Greek translation of this from Isaiah, the words signify lawless and empty, which are pretty close to the intent.

Whether they are direct untruths, or words of emptiness, speaking something that is nothing – and thus an untruth – violates the neighbor, and it disgraces the Lord who is perfectly true in His very being.

In fact, in the book of Titus, it explicitly says that God cannot lie. Because this is His very nature, He is asking us to resemble Him by always testifying to the truth. Further, this was given as a protection of the people. To speak either direct untruths or simply words of vanity against another does nothing to enrich the speaker, but it robs much from the one spoken against.

Not bearing false witness against a neighbor includes a whole multitude of things. We can deprive another of his right to life or property by making false claims. We can slander others, tell false tales about them, or even imply that they have committed a wrong which they have not committed.

But more, we can suppress the truth when it is known in order to harm our neighbor. That must be considered a violation of this command.

Finally, the term “neighbor” here is to be given the broadest application. It doesn’t mean “next door,” but anyone in any location. And it doesn’t stop with friends, but it extends to enemies. It must be considered an all-inclusive reference to humanity in general.

So far, we have seen that the first eight commandments could not save anyone. The people failed, and the Bible witnesses against them. Now, this ninth commandment does so as well. If we pay heed, and learn vicariously that this is so, we can see that the standard also speaks against us.

Israel is given as the example, we are to learn from it, and we are to reach out for grace. If we don’t, we can see that we will be lost. The law was given, and it was disobeyed. Israel failed to uphold even this basic commandment. Harm was done to others, the Lord was offended through their actions, and judgment for violating the words of the covenant was due.

Once again, the law which had been given resulted not in man’s blissful reconciliation with God, but rather in the imputation of sin. Concerning this ninth word, something else was needed. The ninth word only condemns; it cannot save.

Steal? Me? No, I never did such a thing
Everything I have I earned on my own
Such an accusation, well, it makes my ears ring
All the food I have, comes from what I have grown

And bear false witness? Come on, not a chance
I never say anything that isn’t true
My words are like a perfectly choreographed dance
It’s the truth! Why would I lie to you?

Well, yeah, I did take that kid’s toy back in first grade
And I did say things about some people that just weren’t true
It’s just a couple little mistakes that I’ve made
God doesn’t care… it’s all past. On a bell curve, I’m a lot better than you

III. A Sin of the Heart (verses 21 & 22)

²¹ ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

Again, there are differences between these words, and of those in Exodus 20:17. The verse begins, again, with “And” in the Hebrew. From there the things Moses names are listed differently than they were before –

Deuteronomy 5                             Exodus 20

Neighbor’s wife                            House of neighbor
Neighbor’s house                          Wife of neighbor
His field
And his manservant                      And his manservant
And his maidservant                     And his maidservant
His ox                                         And his ox
And his donkey                            And his donkey
And all that is your neighbor’s        And all that is your neighbor’s

The wife is placed first before house, and “field” is added. That is obvious. But, there is another difference as well. In Exodus 20, the word khamad or desire, coming from a root meaning “to delight in,” is used twice when speaking of all of the items.

However, here in Deuteronomy, Moses uses the word khamad only when referring to the neighbor’s wife, and then for the rest of the items, he changes to the word avah – to desire, crave, or lust after.

Both words are used negatively and positively throughout Scripture. Therefore, to have these feelings is not necessarily wrong. Rather, it is wrong when those feelings are transferred to something to which an individual has no right.

To understand the changes, the most obvious change – that of adding the field of the neighbor – should be considered. The standard reason given by most scholars is that Israel is about to enter the land of Canaan, and so Moses adds it in.

That doesn’t make sense. Israel was expected to go in and possess the land forty years earlier as well. They were to possess houses and fields. Further, some of Israel had already been given their inheritance east of the Jordan. So that cannot be the reason.

One reason for this is certainly because some of them had already received their land. They were to be content with what they had been allotted now that they had their possession.

Secondly, and a little more spiritual, is that seven is the number of spiritual perfection. God originally listed seven items. Now seven items are considered under the house, just as it was in Exodus 20, but the wife is elevated above the house, making an eighth – the number of superabundance, new beginnings, and that of a new series. Each of these fits right in with the thought of Israel now obtaining the promise that they had missed 38 years earlier.

As for the addition of the new word, avah. This is given to dispel the lies one might tell himself about his own heart – “Well, I desired his field, but I didn’t lust after it.” Moses is destroying the argument of semantics. He is saying that what you look at, if it is not yours, is not to be salivated over by twenty drops off of your lip, and not by even one drop off of your lip. This is…

The tenth word. As I said, elsewhere in the Bible, the same words are used in a positive sense, such as in the 19th Psalm, where David uses khamad –

“The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:9-10

Later, Isaiah uses the word avah –

“With my soul I have desired You in the night,
Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;
For when Your judgments are in the earth,
The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9

Therefore, the desiring of a thing is not in and of itself wrong. It is desiring a wrong thing, or desiring something in an unhealthy way, which violates this commandment. What is most important about this tenth commandment is that it is solely of intent, and thus we learn that the Lord is aware of our intent.

The Bible says nothing is hidden from the eyes of the Lord and here we have an explicit reference to that. What we covet, unless acted upon, remains in our heads alone. And yet it is not unknown to the Lord.

And though this commandment is one solely of intent, it is that very intent which can so easily lead to disaster. The first two uses of the word khamad in the Bible are found right at the beginning of it all. Just after forming the man, and even before the Bible records any words having been spoken to him, we read this, which includes the word khamad –

“And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:9

After this, man was given his single command –

“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

However, on the next page comes the most unfortunate of verses which uses this same word, khamad –

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6

The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life all stepped in and took hold of the first people who existed. They coveted that which was forbidden, and the world was plunged into darkness, pain, and death.

And the same is true with the word avah. Its first two uses were after the giving of the Ten Commandments, and while the people were on their way to Canaan –

“Now the mixed multitude who were among them yielded to intense craving; so the children of Israel also wept again and said: ‘Who will give us meat to eat?’” Numbers 11:4

After that, we read –

“But while the meat was still between their teeth, before it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was aroused against the people, and the Lord struck the people with a very great plague. ³⁴ So he called the name of that place Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the people who had yielded to craving.” Numbers 11:33, 34

So much for semantics. When we desire more than what the Lord offers us, we fall into sin. The thing which seems so innocuous and so relatively unimportant compared to all the rest of the commandments is that which causes the greatest of troubles.

And what is equally surprising is that the first command ever broken, and the first command that was violated just after Israel’s departure from Sinai – both of these examples – started with the last of the Ten Commandments. And each time, it resulted in death!

As this reflects an evaluation of the inner being of man, and the Lord is He who searches the hearts and the minds, then who can say they stand guiltless before God? Can Israel? The answer is, of course, “No.” From the time of the giving of the law, until the very last pages of the Old Testament, Scripture is replete with the failure of both individuals and the collective whole to meet the demands of this inward test.

In Numbers 11, the congregation craved after meat; in Joshua 7, Achan the son of Carmi coveted the plunder of Jericho; in 2 Samuel 11, David coveted another man’s wife; in 1 Kings 21, Ahab coveted another man’s vineyard, and in Micah 2 we read this about the people –

“Woe to those who devise iniquity,
And work out evil on their beds!
At morning light they practice it,
Because it is in the power of their hand.
² They covet fields and take them by violence,
Also houses, and seize them.
So they oppress a man and his house,
A man and his inheritance.” Micah 2:1, 2

As with all of the previous commandments, Israel failed. The word of God stands as a testimony against them and as a means for us to vicariously learn how far short of God’s standard we actually come.

Concerning this tenth word, something else was needed. The tenth word only condemns, it cannot save. The law itself says that the man who does the things of the law will live by them. But then the rest of the Old Testament goes on to show that no one could do the things of the law.

²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly,

This means “The Ten Words,” meaning the Ten Commandments. The changes between Exodus and Deuteronomy cannot be taken as either errors or contradictions. The Lord presented the Ten to Israel, and Moses repeated the Ten to them.

^{22 (con’t)} in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice;

These words confirm what was already said in verse 4:11, and 4:12. Verse 4:11 describes the scene, and verse 4:12 notes that the Lord spoke out of the midst of the fire.

^{22 (con’t)} and He added no more.

This is only speaking of the verbal presentation to the people, not additional words of law. The Lord spoke out the Ten Words in the terrifying way to the people, and then He ceased from speaking. After that, He only spoke to and through Moses, and later at times to Aaron, words of law.

*^22 (fin) And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

This actually occurred later. Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets. While there, he also received a great deal of instruction over the next forty days. At the end of that time, as was seen in Exodus 34, and as will be seen again in Deuteronomy 9, he was then given the tablets of stone.

As we know, Israel turned from the Lord while he was on the mountain, and the first set of tablets were destroyed by Moses. It pictured Israel’s failure to meet the law that they had just received. A second set of tablets was made, and these were deposited within the Ark of the Covenant, picturing Christ who both fulfilled and embodies the law.

It is only through what He accomplished that the life God promised to restore to man can be obtained. We have gone through ten basic commandments, and we have seen that Israel violated all of them – openly and as is clearly recorded.

This is for us to learn through them that what we need is less of the law and more of God’s grace. When we arrogantly stand on the law for our justification, we tell God that we can do better than He has done. Let us never stand in such an unfavorable light. Rather, let us rush to Christ, receive His forgiveness, and be reconciled to God through Him.

Think of it! As the Lord’s voice bellowed out each commandment, He was looking forward to the penalty for each violation of it, knowing that He would someday assume that penalty for us. The display of judgment that accompanied these Ten Words was taken upon Himself… for us, and the cup of God’s wrath was drained at the cross of Calvary. Thank God for Jesus Christ.

Closing Verse: “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, ⁴² saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.’ ⁴³Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. ⁴⁴ And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.’” Luke 22:41-44

Next Week: Deuteronomy 5:23-33 It’s a good question, and you surely wonder why… (Now, Therefore, Why Should We Die?) (22^nd Deuteronomy Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. But He also has expectations of you as He prepares you for entrance into His Land of Promise. So, follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Learning Vicariously – Hopefully! Part II

¹⁷ ‘You shall not murder.
¹⁸ ‘You shall not commit adultery.
¹⁹ ‘You shall not steal.
²⁰ ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
²¹ ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’

These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly
In the mountain from the midst of the fire, like a roar
The cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice
And He added no more

And He wrote them on two tablets of stone
And gave them to me, when I was with Him alone

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

¹⁷ ‘You shall not murder.
¹⁸ ‘You shall not commit adultery.
¹⁹ ‘You shall not steal.
²⁰ ‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
²¹ ‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.’
²² “These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and He added no more. And He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.

 

 

 

 

Deuteronomy 5:7-16
Learning Vicariously (Hopefully!), Part I

The word “vicarious” means to experience in the imagination or mind through either the feelings or experiences of another. Thus, the adverb “vicariously” signifies the action of such learning.

When I went around the US in 2010 and preached at all the capitols, one of my friends who had not been to all fifty states followed along on Facebook. He said, “I am living your life vicariously.” I appreciated that, knowing that he was actually a partner with me on my lonely drives and difficult trials.

He was able to see what I saw, and he was able to enjoy what I enjoyed, as long as I either wrote about it in the blog or took photos or videos of what I was seeing.

Whether we realize it or not, this is what Scripture has done for us. And we can, if we are willing to use that experience, learn a great deal. We can avoid many pitfalls, we can grow in spiritual wealth, we can find satisfaction, and we can prevent being chucked into the pit of hell – if we are simply willing to accept and act upon what we see.

Text Verse: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Romans 15:4

I don’t watch a lot of TV. There just isn’t time. But when I do, I like to live and learn vicariously. I like to watch Sergio and Rhoda’s videos because I can experience Israel. I like to watch real war, so I can experience what those men went through. I like to watch how things are made, because I can contemplate what must go on in the mind of people who developed the useful things we have all around us.

A lot of TV is just junk. When junk goes in, nothing is really added to the value of one’s life. I must admit that I do laugh when watching Get Smart or The Pink Panther. Laughter is good too. But I love to benefit beyond laughter in the few moments I get to watch things.

But the best application of vicarious learning one can find – by far – is found in the pages of Scripture. Although we will just be going through commands today, if we consider them in the greater plan of redemption, then we can truly learn a great deal from those of Israel who have gone before us.

Such wonderful lessons are to be found in God’s superior word. And so, let us turn to that precious word once again and… May God speak to us through His word today and may His glorious name ever be praised.

I. Impossible Standards (verses 7-11)

Moses has reminded Israel of the covenant the Lord made with them at Horeb. He has reminded them of the way in which this occurred – having been a personal communication of His laws to the people in a direct and specific display, meaning from the midst of the fire.

And, so far, he has repeated to them the first words that the Lord spoke, “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”

With that remembered from last week, Moses will now repeat the words of law that the Lord has spoken out. These are the “ten words,” or “commandments,” which provide a basis for the entire law of Moses.

Much of what you will hear concerning these laws, meaning my analysis of them to you, is a close repeat of what you heard when we were in Exodus. There will be some important changes though. Concerning the repeating of these Ten Commandments, or Ten Words, the Pulpit Commentary rightly says –

“On these, as the basis of the covenant, the whole legislation rests, and therefore a rehearsal of them is a fitting introduction to a repetition and enforcement of the laws of the theocracy.” Pulpit Commentary

Moses now repeats them, in order, starting with…

⁷ ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

lo yihyeh lekha elohim aherim al panaya – “No you shall have to you gods other upon my face.” It is a word for word and letter for letter repeat of Exodus 20:3.

The first word. The command begins with an absolute negation – the word lo or “no.” The majority of the commandments come in the negative form, stating the prohibition which is then explained. By stating them this way, the wholly forbidden nature of the act is set as the standard, from which there is to be no deviation at all.

What this signifies is that the desire to do, exactly what is forbidden in the command, already exists within man. In other words, by saying “No shall you have gods other,” the Lord understands that it is exactly what man is prone to doing.

From the first man, Adam, all the way through the ages, man has been consumed with finding every possible god that he can place in his heart before the Lord. Such commands, like the one given to Adam at the very beginning – “of the tree of the knowledge of good at and evil you shall not eat” – point to our limitations.

Adam lacked the knowledge of good and evil; we lack the ability to properly exercise the knowledge of good and evil which we now possess. The laws then are given to us because of this. This is well explained by Paul in Romans 3 –

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
¹¹ There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
¹² They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.” Romans 3:10-12

In the command, the verb “shall have” is singular, but the word “other” is plural. What this infers is that it isn’t speaking of just other gods, meaning deity, but other gods of any kind such as idols in thoughts, words, or deeds.

If a person was to make an idol of work, it would be a violation of this command. If a person made an idol of his intelligence, it would be a violation of this command. If a person made an idol of his personal strength, it would be a violation of this command.

Anything which is exalted by us before the Lord would be a violation of this command. As we previously saw in Exodus 20, Adam Clarke defines the sense of this first word, saying –

“This commandment prohibits every species of mental idolatry, and all inordinate attachment to earthly and sensible things. As God is the fountain of happiness, and no intelligent creature can be happy but through him, whoever seeks happiness in the creature is necessarily an idolater; as he puts the creature in the place of the Creator, expecting that from the gratification of his passions, in the use or abuse of earthly things, which is to be found in God alone. The very first commandment of the whole series is divinely calculated to prevent man’s misery and promote his happiness, by taking him off from all false dependence, and leading him to God himself, the fountain of all good.” Adam Clarke

However, although this may be the intent, if we were to stop with this first word and go no further, we can see how clearly it brings wrath. No person can say that he has fully kept this one precept without breaking it. Not only are we not good because of our inclinations, we are not good because of our actions.

Each of us has set up an idol in our heart in one form or another during our lives. We have failed by attempting to find another source of joy instead of seeking the Lord. This law can never bring salvation. It can only bring condemnation. And, as James says towards the end of the Bible –

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10

Concerning the words al panaya, or “upon my face,” it is a way of saying, anywhere at any time. As the psalmist said –

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence? Psalm 139:7

Just as we cannot flee from the presence of the Lord, so we are to never have a god upon His face – at any time or in any place. But we do, don’t we? We all set up idols of one form or another before the face of the Lord. From the very first word, we are guilty of all of the law because we have broken this one point. How terrible it is to consider. As Paul says –

“I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.” Romans 7:9, 10

Each individual of Israel agreed to this command, and thus each person, as well as the nation as a whole, violated it when they strayed from it. Many times, incidents of both personal and national violation are noted, but Jeremiah 2 gives a good example of Israel’s failure to meet this law –

“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they can save you in the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah.” Jeremiah 2:28

As far as this first word is given, something else was needed to bring life. The first word only condemns; it cannot save.

⁸ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything 

lo taaseh lekha pesel kal temunah – “Not you shall make for yourself a carved image any likeness.” With the exception of one letter, it is a word for word and letter for letter mirror of Exodus 20. The only difference is that in Exodus 20, it says, “and any likeness.” The conjunction “and” is left off here. We can put the thoughts side by side to see the difference –

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, and any likeness…
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness…

Exodus 20 thus separates the statement into two thoughts, a carved image and anything else which could be made into a likeness. Deuteronomy 5 has the words “any likeness” define what it means to not make a carved image.

By stating it both ways, it then ensures that someone cannot equivocate on what he claims to have been doing. The prohibition is all-encompassing concerning making a carved image of any likeness, or a carved image and any likeness.

The second word. The first command asserted the unity of God in Israel’s worship. This second command is intended to ensure that the first command is adhered to in a physical sense. Yehovah showed them no form of Himself and therefore no form was to be assigned to Him in worship.

Further, no form was to be worshipped as a god other than Him. As He is the Creator, then all else is created. Therefore, to worship any physical part of the creation was to worship less than the Creator. This command then shows what is to be considered unlawful worship.

The pesel is an “idol” or “image.” It comes from pasal which means “to cut” or “to hew into shape.” The next word is temunah. It signifies a “likeness” or “form.” These words combined thus signify any physical idol or image.

The command says lo taaseh lekha – “no make for yourself.” There is an important point to consider here. The Bible does not forbid the making of shaped things such as cherubim for the Ark of the Covenant. It prohibits shaped things for personal use as an idol and it will go further to explain this later.

It is an important point, because people who challenge the Bible say that the making of the things for the tabernacle is a violation of this commandment. This is not so. There is nothing contradictory between this command and the Lord’s other commands.

^{8 (con’t)} that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

asher ba’shamayim mi’maal v’asher ba’arets mi’takhat v’asher ba’mayim mi’takhat la’arets – “which under the heavens from above, and which the earth from below, and which in the waters from below the earth.” It is an exact repeat of Exodus 20.

These words form a triple-division of the sphere of existence in the material universe. It is thus an all-encompassing statement concerning it, and it prohibits making anything resembling whatever exists in any of the spheres.

This goes from the sun, moon, and stars, to birds which fly in the sky. It goes from the plant and animal life on earth to fish in the sea or to any other part of the created order. Nothing in creation is to be likened to God, nor is any such thing to be likened as a god.

⁹ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

lo tishtakhaveh lahem v’lo taabedem – “No you shall bow down to them, and no serve them.” These words further define the words, “You shall not make for yourself.” When an image is made, the intent is that it will be bowed down to and served – either by the maker, or by someone else, or by both. This is forbidden.

Roman Catholics, when citing the Ten Commandments, will leave out this command. In order to maintain Ten Commandments, they then divide the tenth command concerning coveting into two separate commands. Adam Clarke poignantly sums this up –

“This corruption of the word of God by the Roman Catholic Church stamps it, as a false and heretical Church, with the deepest brand of ever-during infamy!” Adam Clarke

To manipulate the presentation of the Ten Commandments in this way is really a despicable offense. For Israel, they were certainly guilty of violating this command throughout their history. In fact, they openly sought to violate it time and again, but the Lord told them that they would suffer because of it –

“What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’” Ezekiel 20:32

^9 (con’t) For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,

ki anokhi Yehovah elohekha el qanna – “For I Yehovah your God; God jealous.” The Lord unambiguously claims that He is a jealous God. It is the word qanna.

This doesn’t indicate jealously of success in another. Instead, it speaks of a defense of His honor and glory. When one bows to another god, the Lord isn’t jealous of that false god receiving worship. His jealousy is directed to the violation of depriving Him what He is justly due. His words in Isaiah show this –

“I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.” Isaiah 42:8

This adjective, qanna, is only used six times – always in connection with the Lord, and only in Exodus and Deuteronomy.

^9 (con’t) visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,

poqed avon avot al banim v’al shileshim v’al riveim l’soneai – “visiting iniquity of fathers upon sons and upon third and upon fourth of those who hate me.” There are two interesting changes from Exodus 20. The word “fathers” is spelled differently here, adding in the letter vav. Also, a vav is added to the word “upon” here, changing it from “upon third,” to “and upon third.” I have no explanation to give you.

As far as the words themselves, although they are scorned by those who hate the God of the Bible, as if He is showing a vindictive nature, it is rather intended to show us consequences that naturally result from misdeeds. It shows nothing vindictive in the Lord. Rather it shows what is just.

Adam sinned and his sin continues to trouble us 6000 years later. If a person is punished for stealing, he may lose his estate and earnings. That certainly causes the next generation, and even many generations later, to receive the sentence of the offender.

The very person who dismisses God for being vindictive may sue another person for wrongdoing against him. If he does, then he will actually visit the wrongdoing of the one he sues on the subsequent generations in exactly the manner that is described here.

To argue against God who is infinitely just and righteous concerning his judgments is a small-minded thing to do for a person who probably lacks any true wisdom or knowledge at all.

¹⁰ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

v’oseh khesed la’alaphim l’ohavai u-l’shomere mitsvoto – “And showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and to those keeping my commandments.” There is a difference in the written and spoken text here. The written says mitsvoto. However, when it is read aloud, the speaker says mitsvotai, as it is written in Exodus 20. I cannot explain to you why the text reads differently.

The “thousands” here are not speaking of the number of people, but the number of generations. Moses will explicitly define it that way in Deuteronomy 7:9. The length of this mercy, or loving-kindness, is for those individuals who love Him and keep His commandments. It doesn’t mean the children who don’t, but the individuals who do.

If a generation is conservatively said to be 40 years, then this would mean 40,000 years. As the Bible speaks of a 7000-year plan for the world we currently enjoy, then the term here is obviously meant to symbolize “forever” or “eternity.” This is demonstrated in the words of the 103^rd Psalm –

“But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸ To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.” Psalm 103:17

However, as none are able to meet this standard perfectly, then none can be granted such eternal mercy apart from Christ who fulfilled the law on our behalf. All those who came before Christ and trusted in the Lord’s provision are covered by His future mercy. Only those who trust in Christ after His advent will be covered by His present mercy.

It was this mercy of the Lord that called for Christ to fulfill the law for fallen man. Israel individually, and as a whole, is seen throughout the Old Testament to fall short of this command. Even very quickly after the initial giving of it, the entire congregation violated it –

“And Aaron said to them, ‘Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.’ ³ So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf.
Then they said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” Exodus 32:2-4

Of this command, Charles Ellicott rightly states, “As love in this verse is practical, so is hatred in the previous verse. To hate God is to disobey His commandments.”

Concerning this second word, something else was needed. The second word only condemns; it cannot save.

¹¹ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,

lo tisa eth shem Yehovah elohekha lashav – “No you shall lift name Yehovah your God to vanity.” The words are letter for letter identical to Exodus 20.

The third word. The Hebrew here is ambiguous and can be taken to mean either forbidding false swearing only, or to include profane or vain swearing. Looking to Jesus’ words in Matthew 5, it appears that false swearing is what is being referred to. He says –

“Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’” Matthew 5:33

The word “vain” in Hebrew is shav. It means falsely, lying, vain, etc. The intent is that one should never invoke the name of the Lord in a false manner. And should they presume to do so…

^{11 (con’t)} for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

ki lo yenaqeh Yehovah eth asher yisa eth shemo lashav – “for not will hold him guiltless Yehovah who takes His name in vain.” It is letter for letter identical to Exodus 20.

These words do not mean that there will be immediate punishment on the offender. Rather, it is something that may come in this life as the perjured man is found out and punished, or it may be in the day of God’s judgment in the future. Malachi shows us this –

“‘And I will come near you for judgment;
I will be a swift witness
Against sorcerers,
Against adulterers,
Against perjurers,
Against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans,
And against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,’
Says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 3:5

Of the first three commandments, John Lange notes, “The sin against the first commandment banishes the name of Jehovah by means of idol names; the sin against the second obscures and disfigures it; the sin against this third one abuses it.”

Abusing God’s name is something that is forbidden. A transgression of this command is a violation of the entire law. And yet, the Bible demonstrates that Israel as a whole, individually and collectively, violated it –

“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
If you can find a man,
If there is anyone who executes judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
And I will pardon her.
² Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’
Surely they swear falsely.” Jeremiah 5:1, 2

Concerning this third word, something else was needed. The third word only condemns; it cannot save.

We have set our face before the Lord our God
To make request by prayer for what we do not deserve
We have sinned in our walk that we have trod
And the Lord our God we have failed to serve 

O Lord, righteousness belongs to You
But to us belongs only shame of face
We have acted wickedly in all that we do
And upon Your glorious name, we have brought disgrace 

And so, the curse and the oath has come upon us
But now we turn our hearts back to You
We call out for mercy through the Lord Jesus
And He will respond, because He is faithful and true

II. Heaping Up Guilt (verses 12–16)

¹² ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

shamor eth yom ha’shabbath l’qadesho ka’asher tsivekha Yehovah elohekha – “Keep day the Sabbath, to sanctify it as commanded you Yehovah your God.”

A great change is seen between here and Exodus 20. There, it said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Here, Moses himself states what is to be done, and only then does he remind them that it was the command of the Lord. Further, Moses tells them to shamar, or keep, the Sabbath.

In Exodus 20, the Lord said to zakar, or remember, the Sabbath. One could argue semantics about the word zakar. However, by changing it to shamar, no semantics could be employed by the Sabbath-breaker.

The fourth word. Israel was given the Sabbath in Exodus 16, at the time of the giving of the Manna. Here, they are reminded to keep it, thus sanctifying the day. This means that they were to separate the day from all others and observe it as a unique and special day, consecrated to the Lord.

The word shabbat implies rest and cessation from labor. This cessation from labor for Israel looked forward to a different type of rest. It was to be a foretaste of the blessed eternal rest which man lost. He was created outside of the Garden of Eden and was rested in the Garden to worship and serve His God. That was lost.

Everything from that point on has looked forward to the restoration of that day. And it finally arrived when Christ finished His work. In Him, the seventh day of rest is offered to all of God’s people. This is why Hebrews 4, after the fulfillment of the law by Christ, says, “For we who have believed do enter that rest” (Hebrews 4:3).

¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work,

sheshet yamim taavod v’asita kal melaktekha – “six days you shall labor and do all your work.” It is letter for letter the same as Exodus 20:9. It is an imperative. The week is divided into two sections, active work and active cessation from work. Man was not to be idle when he should be working, and man was not to be working when he should be at rest.

Things that needed to be done were to be done before the Sabbath so that no work was to be done on the Sabbath. This is, however, not to be taken as a command that one must work every day. If so, for example, it would violate the mandated feasts of the Lord when celebrated by Israel in Jerusalem. Rather, what should be done was to be done, but not on the Sabbath.

¹⁴ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God.

v’yom ha’shevii shabbath l’Yehovah elohekha – “and day the seventh Sabbath to Yehovah your God.” It is letter for letter identical to Exodus 20:10.

This translation, following the KJV, is confusing and should rather read, “…but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God.” Otherwise, it seems like the Lord is even now working six days and taking the seventh off. Rather, they were to work and then rest to the Lord, honoring Him on this special day dedicated to Him.

^{14 (con’t)} In it you shall do no work:

lo taaseh kal melakah – “No you shall do all work.” It reads the same as Exodus 20:10. The command is specific. The individual whom the Lord is speaking directly to shall not work on the Sabbath. The word “you” is singular.

^{14 (con’t)} you, nor your son, nor your daughter,

atah u-binkha u-bitekha – “you and your son and your daughter.” Nor were they to work their children, as if the lesser in the house were exempt from the requirement, or that the work of the stronger should now devolve to the weaker.

^{14 (con’t)} nor your male servant, nor your female servant,

v’avdekha va’amatekha – “and your male servant, and your female servant.” The word “and” prior to “male servant” is not found in Exodus 20. It is a new addition here in Deuteronomy. One might try to play semantics if this “and” was not added.

Like the children of the house, the servants – both male and female – who certainly bore the majority of the burdens in the house during the week, were to be given rest. The unattended labors of the owner were not to devolve to another, even in one’s employ.

^{14 (con’t)} nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle,

v’sorkha v’hamorekha v’kal behemtekha – “and your ox, and your donkey, and all your beasts.” This greatly expands on Exodus 20:10, where it only says, “and your beasts.” Moses is probably being more specific because of the wickedness of the human heart.

If Exodus 20 was allowed to stand, someone may say, “Beasts doesn’t include this animal or that.” And so, such a person may actually hook a yoke up to a kitty cat, sending it out to plow the field – poor Fifi.  Thus, Moses gives two specific animals, and then adds in, “and all your beasts.” There will be no fudging with Fifi.

The question is, “What is implied if an animal is put to work?” Answer – “Someone is working the animal.” Rest is to be rest. Even if someone were to hook up an animal to a grinding mill, he would have to work to do so and he would continue to be profiting from the labors of the animal.

The Sabbath was made for man as a day to the Lord God. If he was thinking about the profit he was making while the cow was grinding grain, then he wouldn’t be thinking about the things of Lord.

Also, these words show that the animal who is a servant of man, was to be given a break from its labors. Further, throughout the Bible, care for animals is noted. Even the bird of the air that falls to the ground does not do so unnoticed by God.

^{14 (con’t)} nor your stranger who is within your gates,

v’gerekha asher bisharekha – “and your stranger who in your gates.” It is letter for letter the same as Exodus 20:10. The stranger within the gates implies someone not of Israel who has taken up permanent residence within a town.

This prohibition was certainly so that they wouldn’t become a snare to Israel. If they saw strangers profiting and gaining advantage because they could work while others couldn’t, it would become a problem for all.

Further, someone may hire a stranger to enrich himself. A stranger shows up and the man says, “We have a Sabbath, so I can’t work, but my vines really need to be pruned. I’ll pay you at the end of the day for getting that done.”

Or, he may simply buy something from visiting strangers who are selling things. This would be a violation of the intent of the Sabbath as well. This exact scenario is found in Nehemiah 13:16 –

“Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.”

^{14 (con’t)} that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

l’maan yanuakh avdekha v’amatekha kamoka – “to the purpose may rest your male servant and your female servant like you.” These words are not found in Exodus 20. They are an addition by Moses at this time.

It seems as if Moses skips over everyone mentioned in these previous verses except the male and female servants, but this isn’t the case. What seems more likely is that the term is being used as an all-inclusive statement.

Whether one is a son or a daughter, a donkey or a cow, a hired hand or a stranger, all are considered one’s servants when they are expected to perform a work. And more, if a person rests, but the animal doesn’t, it means that someone tended to it in order for it to work – be it a son or a stranger. The addition of this is to ensure that nothing, and no one, is expected to labor on the Sabbath.

¹⁵ And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,

v’zakarta ki eved hayita b’erets mitsrayim – “And remember for slave you were in land Egypt.” Moses’ reason for the giving of the Sabbath here in Deuteronomy is completely different than that given in Exodus.

There, it said, “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

The Lord based His commanding Israel to observe the Sabbath on Creation. However, Moses now bases it on redemption.

First, the creation of the heavens and the earth was done in a specific way for specific reasons. One is that is was to foreshadow the Sabbath day for man on the seventh day. God could have simply created all things at once, but he did it in a set way to picture something else.

And, the six days of the week followed by a Sabbath was ordained in order to show the redemptive pattern of history itself. The six days of the week prefigure the six thousand years of man working towards the reign of Christ, followed by the final thousand years of the millennium where Christ reigns; a time of rest on earth.

Now Moses says that they were to observe the Sabbath in order to remember their redemption from Egypt. They were forced into labor, but now they were to work and then remember that the Lord brought them out from that…

^{15 (con’t)} and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm;

In Deuteronomy, it assumes that God has not only created, but redeemed. As Israel missed Christ the first time, therefore, he focuses on redemption. It is a hidden key for Israel of today to understand that they actually missed the final redemption which is found in Christ.

Why is that? Because being redeemed into the law is to be redeemed into death. As we have seen many times, by the law comes the knowledge of sin. And through sin, only death can result. This is why the author of Hebrews says this –

“Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” Hebrews 2:14, 15 

Under law, one remains in bondage. Being brought out of Egypt was only a picture of the work of the Lord Jesus – by His mighty hand and His outstretched arm – bringing us out of bondage of the fear of death…

^{15 (con’t)} therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

Even though the accounts differ, creation and redemption, they are tied together. Israel is to understand that the Sabbath is a sign of God’s rest following His creative efforts, which had subsequently been lost in the Garden of Eden, but it is also a sign of God’s redemption in order to bring them back to paradise as well.

Thus, there is no contradiction between Exodus and Deuteronomy. One act leads to another. The fallen world could not be redeemed unless it had first been created and then fallen. Everything is looking forward to God’s rest; a rest which can only be found in Christ. As the law could only bring a curse, then the Sabbath was only a shadow, looking forward to Christ’s fulfillment of it.

With His having fulfilled the law, we do enter God’s rest. The words of Jesus, Paul, and the author of Hebrews all agree that our true rest is found in Christ and in Him alone.

The Sabbath was only a picture of what was to come. Would Israel obey? The answer is, “No.” The book of Ezekiel, in particular, notes the continual profaning of the Sabbath by Israel. Concerning this fourth word, something else was needed. The fourth word only condemns; it cannot save.

¹⁶ ‘Honor your father and your mother,

kabed eth avikha w’eth imekha – “Honor your father and your mother.” It is precisely the same as Exodus 20:12.

The fifth word. The Ten Commandments are divided up by scholars in several ways. Some see them as logically dividing between commands 1-4 and then 5-10. The first four showing love for God, the last six showing love for neighbor.

Others divide them 1-5 and 6-10. This would then show a distinction between filial and fraternal matters. The first five show obedience to the parent as children, the latter, respect for others. As parents are the image of God to the child until the child can reason out who God is, then this second division makes more sense.

It should be noted that the father is placed first here, but the mother was placed first in Leviticus 19:3 when speaking of the mandated Sabbath. This shows that both are to be regarded with a like respect, even if there is a hierarchy within the home.

The honoring of the parents is reflective of the honoring of our true heavenly Father. If one is disobedient to his parents, it goes hand in hand that he will be disrespectful towards the Lord. With this repetition from the Lord, Moses now adds in his own words…

^{16 (con’t)} as the Lord your God has commanded you,

ka’asher tsivekha Yehovah elohekha – “as commanded you Yehovah your God.” Only in the repeating of the fourth and fifth commandments does Moses say this.

As all of the other commandments are negatives, “You shall not,” the reason for Moses’ inclusion of “as the Lord your God commanded you” must be because of that. They are positive commandments – observe and honor – just as the Lord your God has commanded.

At times, it certainly must be harder to remember to do something than to not do something. Therefore, Moses stresses the doing of these commandments. In the doing of this particular command, Paul notes in Ephesians 6 that it is the first command with a promise attached to it…

*^16 (fin) that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Though the same general idea is expressed here as in Exodus 20, Moses expands on it. There it said, “that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.” Moses adds in, “that it may be well with you.”

As far as the command itself, some look at this as a national blessing for Israel. That if they were honoring of their parents, they would be nationally blessed with the land of Israel. This is incorrect. First, the word “land” here is not the usual term for the land of Israel, which is eretz. Instead, it is adamah. Adamah signifies the ground. It is the same as when cited in Ephesians 6.

Whatever ground the people possessed, they would possess it more fully if they were honoring of their parents. Second, the command is spoken in the singular to the individual, not in plural to all, just as it is in Ephesians 6 when Paul cites this.

And third, both here and Ephesians 6:3 explain the thought with words indicating long life. In essence, “That it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

Thus, it is a general statement that one will prosper through the honoring of the parents. The world of man in which we live is governed by general laws of God, not by laws which are universal. This promised blessing is one that is therefore generally to be expected, but not necessarily universally received.

Despite being a simple command and one which is almost universally accepted as right, Israel failed to keep it. Both Old Testament and New shows the people’s failure to honor their parents. From Ezekiel 22 –

“In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow.” Ezekiel 22:7

Concerning this fifth command, something else was needed. The fifth word only condemns; it cannot save.

As we have seen, out of just the first five commandments, Israel failed completely. But they had already failed in some of them since leaving Horeb. And, based on the Lord’s words to Moses later in Deuteronomy, He already knows that they will fail in them again, as we will see in our closing verse.

If this is so, and it certainly is, then the promise of life made in verse 4:1, is already nullified, even if it has to take place in reality for it to be so. The Lord’s knowledge of this, however, has to be played out in time and experience for us to know that it is so.

But when it does occur, we can then understand what Paul later will say with the words, “I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. ¹⁰ And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death” (Romans 7:9, 10).

God already knows all things. One might think that He would just tell us those things in advance, and we would avoid the errors and heartaches. But… that doesn’t work either. Don’t you remember? Your mother told you not to touch the hot stove, and you did. Your father told you to watch your step on the wet floor, and you didn’t. They even told you what would happen, and yet you did it anyway.

But more, the precedent of not listening was given in the first recorded words ever spoken by God to man –

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16, 17

We are not geared to learn without being given actual examples to live by. If mom tells you and your older brother to not touch the stove, and he beats you to the stove as soon as mom walks out, it is he, not you, who will become the tangible lesson for both of you. You will see his pain, tears, and melted skin and say, “Whew, lesson vicariously learned!”

This is the purpose of Israel, and this is the purpose of the law. It is to teach Israel through experience that the law is an impossible weight to carry. And we can learn that lesson by watching and learning from our wayward brother.

Unfortunately for Israel, they not only burned their hand, but they did so, and they failed to learn. They will go through another attempt and another failure under the law. Let us not be so dull. Whether Jew or Gentile, let us learn the lesson from the word, and let us apply it to ourselves now.

Forget trusting in your attempts to be justified by the law. Instead, put your faith in Christ Jesus – the fulfillment and embodiment of this impossible weight for man to carry. He took the pain and punishment of the law so that you can hopefully vicariously learn from Him and live.

Closing Verse: “And the Lord said to Moses: “Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. ¹⁷ Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ ¹⁸ And I will surely hide My face in that day because of all the evil which they have done, in that they have turned to other gods.” Deuteronomy 31:16-18

Next Week: Deuteronomy 5:17-22 To make this rhyme, one must almost act nefariously; it is true… (Learning Vicariously, Hopefully!, Part II) (21^st Deuteronomy Sermon)

The Lord has you exactly where He wants you. He has a good plan and purpose for you. But He also has expectations of you as He prepares you for entrance into His Land of Promise. So, follow Him and trust Him and He will do marvelous things for you and through you.

Learning Vicariously (Hopefully!)

⁷ ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.
⁸ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁹ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
¹¹ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
¹² ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
¹⁶ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Lord God, turn our hearts to be obedient to Your word
Give us wisdom to be ever faithful to You
May we carefully heed each thing we have heard
Yes, Lord God may our hearts be faithful and true

And we shall be content and satisfied in You alone
We will follow You as we sing our songs of praise
Hallelujah to You; to us Your path You have shown
Hallelujah we shall sing to You for all of our days

Hallelujah and Amen…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

⁷ ‘You shall have no other gods before Me.

⁸ ‘You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁹ you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, ¹⁰ but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

¹¹ ‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

¹² ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. ¹³ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁴ but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. ¹⁵ And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.

¹⁶ ‘Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.