A Look at Deuteronomy as a Christian

In Matt. 22, a legal expert walked up to Jesus and asked what commandment is the greatest? Jesus’ says “Love the Lord your God with your whole being and love your neighbor as yourself for all the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Now some of you may be saying to yourselves, “well those two things sound simple enough to do, and it would surely shorten that older Testament we don’t read from very often!” But the meaning of love in this context is quite different than that “warm, fuzzy feeling” or images of sensual gratification both of which this culture tries to barrage us. Jesus is pulling these verses from the first five books of the Old Testament known as Torah or Law.

In Hebrew, “love,” means more that just a feeling. Rather, it represents complete devotion with one’s whole being to someone or something. That is why Jesus quotes Deuteronomy by saying that it is with one’s heart, soul, and might that a person must love God. This gives that love depth rather than superficiality. It is this book of law that I want to focus on for today’s sermon because this gave the Jewish people, and now us as Christians, not just laws to obey, but reasons why we ought to obey them. Even though our salvation depends on God’s grace, it is the loving of God and the practicing of God’s Word that keeps us from sin and gives us growth as Christians.

The specific ways that Deuteronomy tells us how to love God and neighbor can be summed up in these words: holiness/purity, faithfulness/trust, justice, judgment of sin, grace, and protection. In regards to a relationship with God, the main emphasis is holiness, remembrance, and obedience. Let me set the stage for you as we examine these chapters. Moses is 120 years old and knows that death is at his doorstep (even though the end of Deuteronomy says that, even at this old age, Moses’ sight was still good and strength had not gone). A new generation of Israelites are about to cross over to the land of promise, Canaan. They have been traveling for forty years are they are no doubt excited. I can imagine them to be like little children right before the amusement park opens after they have been waiting for hours at a locked gate. Right before they cross, Moses gives them this law to remind them of just who God is: their Savior and the one only true Lord, and of just who they are: the LORD’s chosen people (1:1-19). He also reminds them of their rebellion and subsequent punishment for unfaithfulness and wondered the desert for a generation (1:26-2:15). Now, Christians should not dwell on their sinful past to the point of feeling overwhelming guilt, but sometimes it is good to reflect on God’s grace and redemption from that past in order to learn and not sin again, as Jesus commanded (John 8:11).

The next section of Deuteronomy reflects a theological conviction found not only in the rest of Deuteronomy, but the entire Bible as well. It focuses on how those who love God should remain pure, holy, and worship only the one true God (Deut. 4:6-40; 8:19, 20). The Israelites were about to enter a land in which so many false gods and immoral practices would be rampant. God knew that the people could be easily snared into these debaucheries (12:29, 30). In other Near Easter cultures, gods are allied with the powerful and the wealthy and help the ruling class at the expense of the oppressed (ATITTOT pg. 105). Additionally, personal morality and social justice were not a high priority with these false idols. They practiced sorcery, divination, and consulting of the dead (18:9-14). Sacrifice, rituals, and whatever the higher elites wanted were the basic requirements of these gods to their peoples. This contrasts greatly with our great God who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes and is the only source of spiritual power (10:17). To our God, who desires mercy over sacrifice, demands justice for all rather than hollow rituals, commands love for the poor rather than rubbing elbows with the higher-ups.

Today, we do not usually encounter the other idols of the Canaanites, but we do encounter other things that we turn into gods and then worship. We do not offer sacrifices of animals but we sacrifice time with our loved ones and with God, and we sacrifice what is spiritual and eternal for what is cheap and temporary. We worship gods of money, power, prestige, lust, greed, etc. that only bring death when we should be worshipping the God who brings life. What god are you worshipping here today? Because Adonai’s warning to Israel carries weight to us even today that not following after the one true God will cost you (4:25-30). God commands Moses to set out blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (28:15-46; 29:19-29). The final result of sinful living is expulsion from the Promised Land and exile for Israel and eternal spiritual death for anyone not following God (28:47-68). These blessings and curses cover every aspect of life, both public and private, because this was meant to show that God is sovereign over all the affairs of people. More so, we are to incorporate God into every portion of our lives because it is the only way we will be blessed. This requires all of us not to be the “2 hours a week in church” Christians, but we must take a stand for the Lord. God does share worship with anything else and gives us a command to smash and destroy anything that has become and idol to us (7:5-6; 17:2-13). Christ has made us holy by the blood he shed on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, and so we must give honor and thanks to Him by showing obedience.

In Deuteronomy, one cannot worship God without keeping His commandments for the two go hand-in-glove. Throughout this book, Moses reminds the people numerous times that if they love the LORD and keep his commandments, all will go well with them in the land they are about to possess and in all areas of life (4:40; 5:29; 5:33-6:3; 6:16-19; 28:1-8). Christ echoes this numerous times throughout the gospels by saying “if you love me, obey my teaching” (John 14, 15). We as Christians are called to both love AND obey God and the Bible. How many times have you heard Christians saying they love God but continue living in sin? Brothers and sisters, this is not true love and devotion to God. I can claim love my parents all I want, but if I do not obey them, I will hurt them and cause myself harm. I trust my parents to know what is good for me. God wants us to be in a relationship and view Him as a loving parent. The Lord wants love and obedience from us in order to glorify Him and have safety and peace of heart in our lives. Following the statutes of Adonai is how a person distinguishes him/herself from the rest of the world, whose inhabitants will take note of the follower’s behavior and will also come to know and exalt God (Deut. 4:6-8). This is why we as Christians must STOP living the way of the world tells us and start living the way God would have us live. Obedience to God will produce fruit in our lives, and He will use this to transform us into the salt of the earth and light to all nations so that we can reach a lost and hurting world for the sake of the Gospel.

But lest we become so caught up in obedience/disobedience, there are other dominant Christian themes throughout this book. Two of which are worth emphasizing now: providential grace and repentance. Throughout Deuteronomy, it is emphasized to the people of Israel that it was not their righteousness that earned them God’s favor, but it was strictly His mercy (6:10-15; 8:11-20; 9:1-6). The Israelites, and all humanity today, share a common epidemic: sin. We all become “stiff-necked” as the Bible says. We all want to revolt against God’s laws and go our own ways because the Lord’s Truth is against our nature (Rom. 3:23). Thankfully, it is by God’s grace and love that the Israelites are blessed to be His special people and chosen nation, and now we as Christians are grafted into that tree (Rom. 11:17-24). God can always be trusted to keep any promise just as the covenant made to Abraham was fulfilled in entering, and eventually conquering, the Promised Land. We too as Christians share in this grace because God had every right to walk away from us in our sinful depraved existence but our wonderful Father instead sent the Son. The Son who revealed God to humanity, taught us the ways of the Lord, was crucified and was raised again so that we could have a loving relationship with our God and be forgiven of all sin, and rose again giving us hope that not even death can stop one who truly proclaims “Jesus Is Lord!”

Despite the numerous warnings and curses mentioned above, God also lays the foundation for repentance and restoration. God predicts the people’s apostasy and subsequent disaster because they forgot God before and will do so again (31:16-22). Again we find similarity with these people. How many times have you and I, in the rat race of life, forget about what really matters? We blaspheme God by sinning with our thoughts, lips, and actions. We forget to help our neighbor and show Christ to them by our loving deeds. We forget to “be Jesus” to a world plagued by wickedness. We become to easily swayed by the fleeting lies of this world and exchange it for God’s truth. Praise be to God that even when the Israelites (and us) turned from the LORD and followed sinful ways bring punishment, God invited them (and us) to seek and return to the Way. If we repent and seek God with all our heart and soul, our He will forgive and restore us. The LORD promised to forgive Israel and gather them from all the corners of the world from among all the people they were exiled among and restore them to glory (30:1-10). The Lord also promises salvation and pardon through the death and resurrection Jesus Christ so that we may be called children of God (Rom. 5, 8, John 1, 3:16). Moses reminds Israel of God’s redemption through their exodus from Egypt to freedom and how He made them a special possession and a nation belonging to the Him (4:32-40). Christ has also brought us out of the bonds of sin into freedom and called us to be a royal priesthood and a holy nation (1 Pet. 2:9). Not only this, but He promised to change the people’s hearts, cutting the sin away so they will love Him (30:6-10). Again, this is affirmed in the new covenant as Paul exclaims we are becoming a “new creation” (Gal. 6:15). Jesus makes our hearts His temple by the power of the Holy Spirit, and we are always becoming holy through Him (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Throughout Deuteronomy, God also asks Israel (and us) to step out on faith and trust. On numerous occasions, God says, “Do no fear” and commands the people to fight against their enemies because He has already judged them guilty, delivered them to judgment, given victory to faithful followers, and promises to protect them (Ch. 1:21; 3:22; 8:20; 9:4). We too, should take a lesson to fight for justice for the glory and honor of God, as well as show our faith by keeping ourselves pure from immorality and sin of the world. We should remember that perfect love drives out all fear (1 Jn. 4:18) and God is for us not against us if we belong to Him (Rom 8:31-39). With all of these glorious reasons (God’s redemption in human history, the giving of the Law for a just government, promises of a blessed life for obedience, a land for a people without one), who could not truly love such a God? And we as Christians have these testimonies and so much more: a living relationship with the Savior, God’s holy Word complete, infallible, inerrant, and inspired, and the list goes on. Should we not then give everlasting praise to the Father and show His grace to our fellow people walking in darkness? It is not just an obligation but also a privilege!

However, the Lord does not stop there. Jesus’ second part of the great commandments says that we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. In relation to loving others, Deuteronomy’s second half lays out the perfect system of equality under the law and justice for all people. The upholding of this justice should flow out of love for our fellow people. Scholars note that relationships between God and “the other” are intertwined (ATTITOT pg. 145). As we have heard earlier, unlike Egyptian, Canaanite, and other Near Eastern deities who favor the rich, the God of the Israelites has a special concern for the poor (Ch. 10:17-19; 15). More simply, the provision for the forsaken is an act of worship and remembrance to God because it reminds Israel (and us) that they too were poor in some manner. Whether this was physical slavery in a foreign land such as what Israel suffered or spiritual slavery to sin in a world we should now view as foreign, Christ has freed us all from bondage and the chains that once held us. How often, though, do we run back to these chains? Just like the Israelites grumbled and said they wanted to return to Egypt, so we also want to run and trade God’s freedom for sin’s tyranny!

Order in societal, economic, political, and other institutions are the key to holiness for the nation and provision for the forsaken and oppressed (ATITTOT pg. 157). The second half of Deuteronomy contains charges to the people to watch over those whom society would otherwise not give a second glance. The first Scripture touching on social justice is Deuteronomy 15 where it commands Israel to practice forgiveness of debt every seven years and release claims on slaves. Now sometimes monarchs would forgive debts owed to him by the people, but to have a nation-wide cancellation of debts of the poor was unheard of. This chapter also takes it one step further. When Hebrew slaves work off their debit, their masters were to free them and give generously to them so that they will be well off, and if they do not want to leave, then the masters were to welcome them into their homes (15:12-18). If anyone is in need in the land, you are to watch over him or her and give generously or else they will seek justice from God against you and God will charge you guilty of sin (15:7-11). God creates provisions and emphasizes justice for the poor, oppressed, the widow, and the orphan (24:12-22). Elsewhere in the Old Testament, we see the practice of gleaming emphasized where these groups of people could walk through fields to pick up any crop that had dropped and any fruit that had not been taken.

We as Christians now have the glorious opportunity to put into practice these commandments. While we do not own slaves we do have many poor and needy in our land that are not upheld and cared for. God wants us to give generously to those in need in our country and world, and there are plenty of poor in both. John the Baptist preached this commandment by saying that any of you with more possessions than you absolutely need, give it to those who have none (Luke 3:11). Jesus even challenges us is in this area when He says to us what He said to the rich young man who claimed to obey all the commandments, “then sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). And later, Jesus tells of His second coming when He will bless those who help “the least of these” and judges and condemns those who claim to follow Him and perform great deeds in His name but do nothing to help “the least of these” (Matt. 25:31-46).

God’s concern for equality is not only to the poor but also to all people. The Lord charges Israel with appointing judges who will administer justice fairly and take no bribes (16:18-20). He stresses economic justice by using hones scales, measures, and business practices (25:13-16). He further says that at least two or more witnesses must be present to testify against someone in order to prevent false testimony (19:15). In order to deter revenge against their fellow Israelites, the LORD also institutes special cities where those wrongfully accused can seek sanctuary until their avenger dies (19:1-13). Not only to fellow Israelites should this justice be practiced but also to the “resident alien” living among you, a theme found numerous times in this book. In chapter 23, God orders Israel to watch over foreign escaped slaves and not return them or oppress them (v. 15-16). Not to sound too political, but when was the last time we took this into consideration when talking about border patrol and illegal immigrants in this country? There are dozens of other examples I could refer to such as God’s punishment of the guilty, protection of the innocent victim(s) of crime, giving rights to those who had none (like women), property rights, etc.

Upon further examination of this book, and the Bible in general, I have come to realize that it is the perfect system of moral conduct for a nation to practice blessed. Any country would do well to institute policies based on these laws for a just society. Even if our country cannot enforce these laws or make them official, we as Christians must start behaving according to God’s law rather than man’s so that we can show people what it means to live under the reign of God. The Lord wants exclusive worship and will not be shared with anyone or anything because idols of any kind will eventually lead to death and demise. But God also calls us to put love into action and take care of those less fortunate than ourselves because you cannot practice loving God without loving your neighbor (1 Jn. 4:20). Jesus did not call us simply to one act of saving faith, but a lifestyle that proclaims through words and actions that He is the true King and that all will give an account of their acts in this world.

Bibliography

1. Birch, Bruce C.. A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament. Nashville: Abington Press, 2005.
2. Jewish Publication Society, The Jewish Study Bible. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
3. Metzger, Bruce M., ed. and Michael D. Coogan. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.