No, your eyes do not
deceive you! Verse for the Day is back after a very long break! Thank you for
your understanding and patience over the past months. I will endeavour to post it
as regularly as time, work and the demands of life allow. May God be pleased to
encourage you through His Word.
Deuteronomy 5:1-4, “And Moses summoned all Israel
and said to them, "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak
in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. (2)
The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. (3)
Not with our fathers did the LORD make this covenant, but with us, who
are all of us here alive today. (4) The LORD spoke with you face to face at the
mountain, out of the midst of the fire…”
Here in chapter
5, we discover where Deuteronomy gets its name from. The word “Deuteronomy” is
a Greek word that means, ‘second law’. In essence this is what this book is all
about, the giving of the law for a second time to the nation of Israel.
However, it is given to a generation that is faithful, who will walk in
obedience to God’s commands and enjoy the blessings of the covenant.
This new
generation was painfully aware of what the consequences were for failing to
obey God. They had watched their parents, uncles, aunts and grand-parents all
perish and die in the wilderness because of their disobedience. Now as they
stood on the cusp of entering into the land which was promised to their
parents, Moses seeks to earnestly and sternly remind them, that God requires
them to live and walk in obedience and faithfulness to Him, His commands and
His covenant.
Moses is
stressing this point to such an extent that he draws their memories back to the
first occasion when the Law was given at Horeb. Though they would have only
been young children, or in their early teens, that event would be etched on
their memories. The fire, thunder, thick, dark clouds, the shaking of the
ground, smoke and flashes of lighting, along with the voice of God, all made
for an occasion which could not be forgotten.
Why does Moses
draw their minds back to Horeb? It is of vital importance that this new
generation understand that as Moses repeats the Law and the covenant to them,
it comes with the same voice, authority and power as it did on the first
occasion. Though they may be in a different place, and the circumstances are
very different, God’s Law remains unchanged. They are to regard, respect and
keep it just as if they had been at Horeb. This serves as a challenge to us,
for we too need to remember that God’s Word remains unchanged. We were not
alive when God spoke at Horeb, or spoke through Jeremiah, or gave those visions
to John in Revelation. When God first issued these words, they came with His
voice, authority and power, and His Word retains that to this day. We can never
afford to ignore His Word, think of it as being of lesser importance, or that
it is not applicable to us. Such an attitude towards God’s Word is certain to
lead us into grave danger and into sin.
In these verses
we see the challenge to this new generation to be faithful to God’s Law and
covenant. They had a great encouragement to do so, for they stood on the cusp
of entering into the Promised Land, they were about to receive the promises and
blessings that their parents lost. They had spent the past 40 years wandering
around the desert longing for this day to come, and now they stood on the
brink. Surely they would eagerly, even gratefully receive God’s Law and be
quick to walk in faithful obedience.
There are also
points of great encouragement for us in this short passage. The first point is
one we have already covered in part, which is, God still speaks to us today
through His Word. Every time we open our Bibles and read, we are hearing the
voice of God. The second encouragement is that God has spoken once and for all
through Jesus Christ, who is the Word. Jesus came not only to speak the words
of God, but to enable us to believe in God’s Word and know God in a living and
real way. The words of Deuteronomy were spoken to Israel as they were about to
enter into a physical and temporary Promised Land, but Christ’s word are spoken
to us as He leads us into a spiritual and eternal Promised Land. Thirdly, and
greatest of all, many of us wish that we could have been at Horeb to witness
the spectacle of God speaking to His people. The wonderful truth is that we who
believe in Jesus Christ will witness and enjoy something far greater. One day
God shall not only speak to us face to face, but we shall also see God as He
is. There will be no dark thunder clouds to hide Him, nor will there be fear or
the threat of death should we draw too close. God shall speak to us, we shall
stand in His very presence and we will know His touch!
Deuteronomy’s
main point and purpose is to show us Jesus, the only one who could keep God’s Law,
redeem us from sin and open God’s Kingdom to us. It is not through a faultless
obedience to the Law that one enters God’s true Kingdom, but through faith and
trust in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One to whom the Law points. Jesus is the
One to whom Moses points. Jesus is the One to whom the Promised Land points. Deuteronomy
teaches us that we need a divine Saviour who can fulfil God’s Law and lead us
into God’s eternal kingdom of glory and blessing.
Our majestic, holy and perfect God, we humble
ourselves before Your great and awesome presence. How is it that You the God of
all creation, the great and mighty One, should desire to reveal Himself and
speak to us! Thank You, for drawing near to us, for coming amongst us and
redeeming us. Thank You, for preserving and upholding Your Word through all the
past generations, so that we can still know and hear Your voice as it speaks to
us. Help us by Your Spirit to be hearers and doers of Your Word. Greatest of
all help us to trust and believe in the One whom Your Word points us to, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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