Love and Fear

Deuteronomy 10.12-22

Deuteronomy 10:12–22 ESV

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good? Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

In this passage we see the core issue that Israel has been having up to this point. They have been following the covenant that they made with God through the sign of circumcision, but they have not made the real heart change. God only requires that they love him and that they fear him. Through this they will walk in his ways. It is one thing to say what they need to be doing but it a completely different thing to actually do it. Israel is a set apart nation but they have not been living as though they are set apart, they have been doing all of the outward things but they do not have the inward side of things.

We see through the teaching of Jesus that the law is really concerned with matters of the heart and not just outward actions. We see this when Jesus says that the command to not murder is more than just that, it is also do not hate in your heart because that is the same thing. Today this is how we are to live, it is more than just what we do but it is the inner part. When I worship do I actually mean what I am saying? When I go through life what am I thinking about others?

In the Bible we are told to take every thought captive to obey Christ. We are to take every though captive because this is the outpouring of our heart. It is not just doing the things that the Bible tells us but it is a matter of the heart.

Through the story of Israel they do not fully get this and it is evident as you read, they do all of the things outwardly while meaning none of it inwardly. It gets worse as time goes on and in Jesus’s day they are even adding to the law to make it even more strict while they still miss the point. My plea to you from this passage is to live a set apart life in more than just the outward sense but also the inward sense.

Next week we will look at the commission of Joshua from the Lord and see how it applies to us today.