Last week we were reminded that it really does not matter what we profess with our lips, God can and does look into our hearts and He knows what is in our hearts, whether He is first place in our hearts or we “draw near with [our] mouths and honor [Him] with [our] lips, while [our] hearts are far from [Him].” We were reminded that other people, too, can look at our lives and know if what we profess with our lips is really what is in our hearts. And we were reminded how disappointed the Lord is, much like the parent of an adult child who does not come to visit, when we refuse and reject the gifts He has to give by absenting ourselves from divine service and His Word. This week we have the account of Moses as we go back and we listen to Moses as he exhorts the people to remain in their covenant with the Lord and to be diligent in caring for their own and their children’s soul, their spiritual well-being. Remember, because he struck the rock with his rod instead of speaking to it, as the Lord told Him, Moses was not allowed to enter the promised land. As the children of Israel are on the verge of entering the promised land, Moses gathers the people before he is taken from their presence. In the chapter before our text Moses lays before the people what the Lord has done for them.
As we get to our text Moses calls the people to obedience in sanctification. We begin at verse one, “1And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you” (v.1-2).
Moses tells the people to do two things. He tells them to hear. The word “to hear” brings with it the whole idea of hearing, listening, and doing. Moses and God, probably, had thoughts about the children of Israel like some parents do of their children, “it goes in one ear and out the other.” Moses’ exhortation is to hear and obey. The people are to hear and follow the Laws of the Lord if they are to live in the land the Lord is giving them.
The second thing they are to do is to not add to or take away from the Law of the Lord. They are not to make any burdensome demands that are not there. Maybe God was anticipating the scribes and pharisees. When we get to the time of Jesus, the scribes and pharisees, as we were reminded last week, had so “refined” the Law of the Lord that they had several hundred rules in order to help them keep and not break the commandments. Of course, they would interpret their own rules to their own advantage and ultimately their rules took precedence over the Law of the Lord, in other words, they were more concerned about their own rules and laws and not having them broken, than they were about not breaking the Lord’s commandments.
As we look back we can see the sin of the children of Israel, but can we see our own sin? Can we see how we neglect the Law. Can we see how we change the Law? Can we see how we reinterpret the Law to our own suiting, to justify ourselves and the way we want to live? The examples abound: The first three commandments remind us that our relationship with the Lord should be top priority in our lives, yet we make up plenty excuses as to why it is not and yet we speak with our lips that it is. Remember, our actions do speak louder than our words. The devil is quite crafty. As I reminded you last week, the Devil does not tell you, “do not go to church,” “do not get involved at church.” No, he knows that will not work. Instead he tells you, “say that church is your number one priority,” and then he goes about getting you involved in so many things that you do not have time for church. You know how it is, “well, we would like to be involved, but we have the kids baseball, soccer, football, karate, gymnastics, ballet, swimming, cheerleading, PTA, piano lessons, music lessons, singing lessons, and so on that we just do not have time for church things.” “We have so much going on during the week that Sunday is really our only day to relax.” Again, we say that our number one priority is church and our relationship with the Lord, but our actions betray us and show otherwise. For where your spend your time, there your heart is.
The last seven commandments speak about our relationships with others. We misuse these commandments as well. How about the example of the Gypsies. I have been told, and I have never seen otherwise, but if two Gypsies want a divorce they stand apart from one another and a dead chicken or other dead animal is passed between them, thus death has parted them. Thus they are not breaking any commandment, because they are married until “death do they part.”
How about the example of our not breaking the commandments because we do not break them literally, in other words, we have never actually killed anyone or stolen anything. We forget that sexual promiscuity and even the look of lust is breaking the sixth commandment. We forget that hurting and even not helping someone in need is breaking the fifth commandment. We forget that even if what we say is true, if we are not explaining everything in the best and kindest way, we are breaking the eighth commandment. How often it is that we try to justify ourselves and our sins!
Getting back to our text. Our text omits verses three, four and five. The verses that are omitted are merely examples of what Moses is telling the people, so we will omit them and go on. You can read them on your own at home.
Continuing on, Moses tells the people to let your light shine. We pick up at verse six, “6Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 7For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? 8And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? 9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— ” (v.6-9).
Moses goes on to give the people directions as to how they can show their wisdom and understanding to the nations around them; how they can bear witness through their actions of the faith they speak of that is in their hearts. They are to show that their wisdom and understanding come from God. Remember, wisdom is not something that is learned, but is a gift from God. Remember our lesson from Proverbs two weeks ago? Remember how Solomon got to be the wisest man in the world? Because God gave him the gift of wisdom.
Moses tells the children of Israel that they are to show the nations around them that they are special. They are special and chosen by God. They are special because they have a God who is close to them. They have a God who has set boundaries for them in order that they might have law and order, peace and harmony.
The children of Israel are special because they have a God who loves them so much that He gave them His Laws. God’s Laws were His gifts to the children of Israel. God’s Laws were something that the other nations did not have.
This week we are reminded of the differences between justification and sanctification. Justification means that we are made “just as if we had not sinned,” in God’s eyes. This is something in which we have no part; it is done completely and freely for us. Sanctification is what God helps us to do, with the emphasis on God being the prime mover. What has God done for us? He has done everything for us. He has given His one and only Son, Jesus. Jesus was true God, living in and enjoying all the glory that was His in heaven. He gave up all the glory that was His in heaven for us and took on human flesh. He was born as one of us in order to save us.
Jesus is true God who became true man. The difference between Jesus and us is that Jesus was sinless. Jesus never sinned. Although He was tempted in the same way we are, except that He endured even greater temptations, He never sinned. Thus He lived His life perfectly, not for Himself, but for us, in our place.
And Jesus died. He gave His life for ours. He suffered the eternal punishment which should have been ours to suffer. He suffered for us in our place so that we might have forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. All of this is justification, God doing the work of making us right with Him.
On the side of sanctification is the answer to the question of what God would have us to do, with His help of course. God would have us listen to His Word. God would have us taking every opportunity to read and listen to His Word. Because, remember, it is through His Word that He comes to gives us all His good gifts and blessings. God would have us take and make time for personal and family devotions, personal and family reading of His Word, regular divine service and Bible class attendance and the like.
God would have us be given the Word of the Lord as He gives it, that is without changing it to justify ourselves. No more excuses about our living in the 21st century as a way to justify not following His commandments. No more excuses about how God’s Word was meant for another people of another time. We must realize that all these excuses mean that we must also excuse the good news of forgiveness by grace as well.
Finally, God would have us live, letting our lights shine. As Jesus told His disciples, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). And I would encourage you as the Lord encouraged Israel, 9“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— ” (v. 9). Be diligent in the care of your soul, your spiritual well-being and in the spiritual well-being of your children, all the days of your life.
Our God is an awesome God. He has done everything to save us. We have been given all His good gifts and blessings. Not everyone has what we have. Too many churches today are out preaching some new form of works righteousness, “you gotta do this” or “you gotta do that” in order to be saved. We have the Gospel, the pure Gospel. God has taken care of and done everything. And He freely gives us all things. God would have us, with His help, live that Gospel message so that others might see that message, come to know Him also, and give praise and glory to His holy name. My prayer is that the Lord would help us to do so. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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