Tag: whole commandment

52.y. Wilderness – 17.d. “The LORD your God himself will go over before you.”

 

 

Deu 31:1-8  So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

Moses assures Israel of the constant presence of God with them. This is applied by the apostle to all God’s spiritual Israel, to encourage their faith and hope; unto us is this gospel preached, as well as unto them; he will never fail thee, nor forsake thee, Heb 13:5. Moses commends Joshua to them for a leader; one whose wisdom, and courage, and affection they had long known; one whom God had appointed to be their leader; and therefore would own and bless. Joshua is well pleased to be admonished by Moses to be strong and of good courage. Those shall speed well, who have God with them; therefore they ought to be of good courage. Through God let us do valiantly, for through him we shall do victoriously; if we resist the devil, he will flee from us. (Henry)

In chapter 30 Moses instructed the people on “Blessings and Curses”, and that the choice is in each individual person. Follow and obey and serve and trust and rely upon God will result in blessings. Conversely – curses. Being steadfast in this commitment and not being distracted by the worldly pursuits that those who deny God follow after. Now Moses is passing leadership to Joshua for entry into the promised land. He was not going because God said “You shall not go over this Jordan”. 

Moses encourages them; God will go before you, He will destroy these nations, You will dispossess them, Joshua will lead you. God will do to them as He did to Sihon and Og. They will be given over to you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or dread them. The Lord your God not only goes before you, He goes with you. He will never leave you or forsake you. Then Moses summons Joshua before all of Israel and encourages Him as the leader who will take them into the promised land.

How many times do we have our hearts and minds on other things than God going before us and being with us? When God is not our internal vision of desire, then the things of this world will become a snare and lead us down paths neither pleasing or in line with God’s Word for our lives. It would seem that we want the blessings of God and yet we live with our hearts and minds focused on things of this world, its pleasures, worries, and fears.  

Every morning we awake we are given the opportunity to live that day to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ in every thought, every word spoken, and every action taken. This must be an intentional choice, a desire, purpose, and lived out. Are we striving after this or are we just tending our lives with lukewarm commitment? 

50.u. Wilderness – 15. “If you will indeed obey”

 

 

Deu 11:8-15  “You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong, and go in and take possession of the land that you are going over to possess, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers to give to them and to their offspring, a land flowing with milk and honey. For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. “And if you will indeed obey my commandments that I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, that you may gather in your grain and your wine and your oil. And he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you shall eat and be full.

Remembering what God did in history should lead Israel to greater obedience and enable them to take the Promised Land. The sacrifices in obedience were well worth it for Israel. They had the promise of a land which was far superior to Egypt, which did not need to be artificially irrigated, but was watered by rains which God would send upon the obedient nation. God simply promised to provide for Israel if they chose to obey Him and put Him first. As Jesus said: seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. The promise of the blessing of rain was important, because one of the attractive Canaanite gods was Baal – the god who was said to control the weather and rain. Perhaps the Israelites would be tempted to think, “well, we are in Canaan, and if we want rain, we should worship the Canaanite god of rain.” But the LORD makes it clear that if they would worship and obey Him, He would supply abundant rain. God declared His special care for the land of Israel, both then and now. (Guzik)

Moses sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did or did not keep God’s commandment. Sin tends to shorten the days of all men, and to shorten the days of a people’s prosperity. God will bless them with an abundance of all good things, if they would love him and serve him. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. Revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin. Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All who forsake God to set their affection upon any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived, to their own destruction; and this will make it worse, that it was for want of taking heed. (Henry)

Moses sets before them, for the future, life and death, the blessing and the curse, according as they did or did not keep God’s commandment. Sin tends to shorten the days of all men, and to shorten the days of a people’s prosperity. God will bless them with an abundance of all good things, if they would love him and serve him. Godliness has the promise of the life that now is; but the favour of God shall put gladness into the heart, more than the increase of corn, and wine, and oil. Revolt from God to idols would certainly be their ruin. Take heed that your hearts be not deceived. All who forsake God to set their affection upon any creature, will find themselves wretchedly deceived, to their own destruction; and this will make it worse, that it was for want of taking heed. (Keil)

“You shall therefore keep the whole commandment that I command you today, that you may be strong”. 

What is it that nourishes the mind and strengthens the soul? Paul and Peter both have said in their letters to Christian churches that many of them in these churches were like infants and only eating baby food. They were not growing. They were just surviving – barely, and they were satisfied being babies in both their understanding of scripture and its application in their lives. Let this not be said of you. “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

50.i. Wilderness – 14.o. “Today you shall be careful to do”

 

Deu 8:1-10  “The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.

Obedience must be, 1. Careful, observe to do; 2. Universal, to do all the commandments; and 3. From a good principle, with a regard to God as the Lord, and their God, and with a holy fear of him. To engage them to this obedience. Moses directs them to look back. It is good to remember all the ways, both of God’s providence and grace, by which he has led us through this wilderness, that we may cheerfully serve him and trust in him. They must remember the straits they were sometimes brought into, for mortifying their pride, and manifesting their perverseness; to prove them, that they and others might know all that was in their heart, and that all might see that God chose them, not for any thing in them which might recommend them to his favour. They must remember the miraculous supplies of food and raiment granted them. Let none of God’s children distrust their Father, nor take any sinful course for the supply of their necessities. Some way or other, God will provide for them in the way of duty and honest diligence, and verily they shall be fed. It may be applied spiritually; the word of God is the food of the soul. Christ is the word of God; by him we live. They must also remember the rebukes they had been under, and not without need. This use we should make of all our afflictions; by them let us be quickened to our duty. Moses also directs them to look forward to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward, to Canaan. Look which way we will, both to look back and to look forward will furnish us with arguments for obedience. Moses saw in that land a type of the better country. The gospel church is the New Testament Canaan, watered with the Spirit in his gifts and graces, planted with trees of righteousness, bearing fruits of righteousness. Heaven is the good land, in which nothing is wanting, and where is fulness of joy. (Henry)

Henry, Barnes, Poole, Keil, Ellicott, Gill, Brown, Benson, Guzik, Ryles, Tozer, Piper, Spurgeon, and many more span from the 1600s to the present day. I love to read their thoughts about how people were living too close to the world they lived in. If they could only step into our day and witness what a Christian life has become, what is tolerated by society, and how it is finding way into congregations.  Wouldn’t it be glorious to have discernment and know right from wrong, good from bad, and holiness from sinfulness? I fear our prosperity, technology, and comfort have yielded fruits that only serve this world and much of the time do not honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

49.x. Wilderness – 14.c. “You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.”

 

Deu 5:30-33  Go and say to them, “Return to your tents.” But you, stand here by me, and I will tell you the whole commandment and the statutes and the rules that you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land that I am giving them to possess.’ You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess.

 God desires the welfare and salvation of poor sinners. He has given abundant proof that he does so; he gives us time and space to repent. He has sent his Son to redeem us, promised his Spirit to those who pray for him, and has declared that he has no pleasure in the ruin of sinners. It would be well with many, if there were always such a heart in them, as there seems to be sometimes; when they are under conviction of sin, or the rebukes of providence, or when they come to look death in the face. The only way to be happy, is to be holy. Say to the righteous, It shall be well with them. Let believers make it more and more their study and delight, to do as the Lord God hath commanded. (Henry)

“You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” To the left would be to hear the Word but have no care or desire to do what it says. Deaf ears, unrepentant hearts, giving lip service to acknowledge God’s Word but it does not affect how you live, think, or speak. How many days or weeks go by without the Word of God affecting how you live? There must be more than a “hearing” of God’s Word. It must root in your heart and for this to take place it must be continually watered with a desire for it. God’s Word is the bread of live and living water which nourishes the soul who desires to Honor and Glorify Jesus Christ in all thoughts, words, and actions. Is there a drought and famine in your hearts, minds, and souls? Are you on the path that God has defined for eternal life? Are you blindly following others who are on paths to the left of God’s path? 

“You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” To the right would be to hear the Word and then for some reason think the actions you take make you more worthy of God’s Love, allow you to do works that make you more right in God’s eyes, and allow you to do things that make up for the bad or wrong things (sin) you have done. When our minds think this way we are prone to think and rely upon our actions as a means of forgiveness and righteousness. Self-reliance is a very dangerous path to be on. There is no glory or honor to Jesus Christ, but rather a belief in self, self-reliance, and self-worth. We may be convicted of sin but then become reliant upon our actions to do “some good thing” to make up for it. The Word of God may be read and studied but our minds have used it to make us right in our own eyes. 

There is only one path and it is very straight. Believe, repent, trust, follow, obey, and rely upon God alone. There must be only one purpose, reason, and driving force in our lives; “To honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all of our thoughts, words, and actions”. If there is one resolution each person should make that will have both every lasting eternal meaning and continual peace, joy, hope, patience, kindness, and love on this side of eternity it would be to desire and seek a life that “HONORS and GLORIFIES JESUS CHRIST IN ALL THOUGHTS, WORDS, AND ACTIONS”. Any other resolution should be built upon this.