Deuteronomy 5:1-6 - Hear, O Israel (2)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Because God as saved us, we care about what He says. We obey His commands.
We began last Sunday night to look at these six verses. They are the word before the word, the prologue to the Ten Commandments.
In these verses we’ve already seen that God’s Word—i.e., His Law—is for all Israel. And God’s Law is made up of statutes and ordinances—or as one astute disciple of Jesus said to me this past week, it is made up of truth and consequences.
[TS] Let’s pick up with a another truth from v. 1…
Major Ideas
Major Ideas
What God says is to be heard, learned, and observed carefully (Deuteronomy 5:1).
What God says is to be heard, learned, and observed carefully (Deuteronomy 5:1).
1 Then Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I am speaking today in your hearing, that you may learn them and observe them carefully.
[EXP] There are three responses mentioned in this one verse—three responses that God’s people should have to God’s Word.
God’s people were to hear it or listen to it.
They were to learn it.
And they were to obey it carefully.
[On Hearing]
[On Hearing]
When Moses says that he is speaking the statutes and ordinances of God “in your hearing,” it could be literally translated as “in your ears.”
God’s people were to have their ears open to the God’s Word.
What would happen if they didn’t? The prophet Zechariah gives us an answer.
Zechariah’s opening call in Zechariah in 1:4 says...
4 “Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Return now from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.” ’ But they did not listen or give heed to Me,” declares the Lord.
What did the fathers—the previous generations of God’s people—do? Listen to Zechariah 7:11-12…
11 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. 12 “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
That wrath took the shape of unheard prayers, scattered people, and desolate land. There is a price—a great price—to pay for refusing to hear the Word of God.
[On Learning]
[On Learning]
Hearing is usually connected to learning in Deuteronomy. Usually God’s people are called to hear so that they can learn to fear the Lord, which means to obey Him.
To learn is to train—like a soldier trains for war or a singer trains to sing, so God’s people must hear God and train to obey God.
[ILLUS] I have a friend who jokingly says that if he isn’t instantly good at something, he quits. He’s good at many things so I don’t know what he’s quit, but I wonder if that is the approach that many Christians take to God’s Word.
I wonder if many of us think, “Well, I know I’m going to fail, so why try?” I wonder if that’s why we give up reading and meditating on God’s Word. I wonder if that’s why we give up looking for places to apply it in our lives.
But we have to understand that success—or better put, faithfulness—in obeying the Word of God comes after learning or after training.
[ILLUS] Think about a person who might start a weightlifting routine. The first day he feels OK. He isn’t very strong but he’s excited to be lifting weights. The second day is harder because his muscles are sore and tired but he’s still excited. By day three, he’s still not very strong and the muscles are really sore, so maybe he’ll just skip that day and the day after and the day after and the day after… but if he gives up, he’ll never train his muscles to be stronger.
In the same way, if we give up training in God’s Word we will never become stronger in obedience to it.
And that’s why we learn it; that’s why we train ourselves in it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit—so that we obey it.
[On Observing]
[On Observing]
As I’ve said, observing, obeying, or doing is the point of hearing and learning. We hear and learn to observe.
God’s Word is less information and more instruction. It doesn’t just tell us about life in this world. It tells us how to live to the glory of God in this world.
But notice that Deuteronomy 5:1 says, “observe them carefully” or “do them carefully.”
Most translations say ‘carefully’ but the NRSV has ‘diligently’ and the NIV has ‘be sure’ as in “Learn them (i.e., the statutes and judgments of God) and be sure to follow them.”
[ILLUS] I’m not a great cook but if you were coming to our house for supper and I was making the meal, I’d want it to taste good—and because I want it to taste good I’d carefully follow a recipe.
I’d measure all the ingredients were measured just right.
I’d make sure that the oven was at the perfect temperature.
I’d make sure that I cooked it just long enough but not too long!
And as I was taking such great care to get our meal just right, I be thinking about you and how might smile (or raise your eyebrows in surprise), saying, “This is really good.”
In other words, I’d be taking such great care because I’d be looking forward to seeing delight spread across your face.
[APP] Brothers and sisters, God has saved us by giving His Son for us! Surely we must now live hearing, learning, and obeying His Word carefully so that we can see delight spread across His face!
Yes. We broke God’s Law.
Yes. Jesus died to pay the price for our Law-breaking.
But that doesn’t mean that we now get to disregard or disobey God’s Law!
It means that through faith in Jesus we are now empowered by the Holy Spirit to really hear, learn, and observe God’s Word.
How will you begin to get more of God’s Word in your ears?
How will you begin to learn it—to train yourself in it as guided by the Holy Spirit?
Where in your life do you need to obey it?
[TS] …
What God says is for the living (Deuteronomy 5:2-3).
What God says is for the living (Deuteronomy 5:2-3).
2 “The Lord our God made a covenant with us at Horeb. 3 “The Lord did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, with all those of us alive here today.
[EXP] In Exodus 19ff God made His covenant with His people at Horeb (i.e., Mt. Sinai). He said in Exodus 19:4-6…
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
And all the people answered God in v. 8...
8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.
But they didn’t do it. They didn’t keep the covenant that they had made with God. Instead they rebelled and grumble and doubted God. As a result they struggled and perished in the wilderness when they should have been enjoying the fruits of the Promised Land.
In other words, they broke God’s Law and they died as a result.
This Deuteronomy generation that’s about to enter the Promised Land could’ve been tempted to think, “Well, that covenant wasn’t made with us, it was made with our fathers and mothers, so if we break the Law, we won’t die,” but Moses is saying to them, “No. This covenant, this Law, is for you too.
Keep it and live.
Break it and die.
And we already know what’s going to happen don’t we?
[ILLUS] Let’s say that we are watching America’s Funniest Home Videos and a clip comes on with a blindfolded kid, a bat in his hands, a pinata on a rope, and a dad who standing way too close to the pinata. You know what’s going to happen don’t you.
If you live by the pinata, you will die by the pinata. (Or at least for a moment you’ll wish you were dead.)
In the same way, we are bound by the Law but when we try to live by it, we die by it.
[APP] Our sinful flesh takes God’s good His Law and uses it as an occasion for sin. The Law that is meant to result in life actually leads to death because we are under the curse of sin. This is how Paul puts it in Romans 7:7-11...
7 What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11 for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.
But what’s the answer to this dilemma then? If we can’t live before God according to the Law, then how can we live? The answer is Jesus Christ our Lord!
The Law is for the living and while Jesus lived here on this earth, He—and only He—kept it perfectly.
And then on the cross He died as the perfect sacrifice for our law-breaking.
And His resurrection then proved that if we trust Him we are and forever shall be covered by His righteousness.
In Jesus we are raised from the grave of our law-breaking and made us to live before God in righteousness. Listen to Galatians 3:11-14…
11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “He who practices them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
For those of us who have been brought from death to life through faith in Christ, we know that we live by faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20) and not by law-keeping.
We know—even as we live, daily striving to keep God’s Word—that our striving doesn’t make us right with God. Our faith in Jesus does (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11).
And because we are now alive through faith in Christ, we strive to obey His Law.
God’s Law—His Word—is for the living.
[TS] …
What God says is our relationship with Him (Deuteronomy 5:4-6).
What God says is our relationship with Him (Deuteronomy 5:4-6).
4 “The Lord spoke to you face to face at the mountain from the midst of the fire, 5 while I was standing between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire and did not go up the mountain. He said, 6 ‘I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
[EXP] Face-to-face is a figure of speech signifying intimacy. Fire is a symbol for God’s holiness. Moses standing between the Lord and His people reminds us of our need for a mediator between God and man. And the fear in v. 5 reminds us that unless we have a mediator, we shall not go up the mountain to God.
In His Law, God revealed Himself to His people, but because He is holy and they were sinful, they had to be kept at a distance.
But in God the Son that distance is erased because the Holy Son atoned for the sin of God’s people.
[APP] Fix your eyes on Jesus. Hebrews 1:1 says…
1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways,
See the intimacy of Jesus.
See the intimacy of Jesus.
In Jesus God took on flesh and dwelt among us and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. The Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ (John 1:14, 17). We have seen Him—the Word of Life—and touched Him with our hands (1 John 1:1).
See the holiness of Jesus
See the holiness of Jesus
This Jesus who knew no sin became sin on our behalf so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). This Jesus who committed no sin bore our sins in His body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds we are healed (1 Pet. 2:22-23).
See the mediation of Jesus.
See the mediation of Jesus.
First Timothy 2:5-6 says…
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
And see the love of Jesus which casts out fear...
And see the love of Jesus which casts out fear...
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. 19 We love, because He first loved us.
[TS] …
Conclusion
Conclusion
Yes indeed, we need to hear, learn, and obey God’s Law but we do so—not to live—but because we have been brought from death to life through faith in Christ.
