Devotionary

Belief. As Christians, we talk about it a lot because it is central to our concept of salvation. But sometimes we fail to grasp the true significance of what it means to believe. We tend to think of it as a cognitive act, requiring some kind of mental assent to a given truth. But faith really begins in the heart. Head-knowledge alone won't cut it. And in Deuteronomy 6:20-25, Moses is going to call the people to obey God's laws, but to do so, they were going to have to believe in who He was and all that He had promised to do for them. Their obedience would need to be motivated by faith, not fear. And their faith was to rest on the character of God – as evidenced by His unwavering faithfulness to them. He had done all that He had promised to do, so He could be trusted. And that trust should result in willful, heartfelt obedience to His commands.

Forgetfulness can be frustrating. The inability to recall a name or to remember an important piece of information can create a sense of vulnerability and weakness. It is as if we can't fully depend upon ourselves. We can't trust our mind to come through for us when we need it most. But just think how God feels when His people forget Him. When His people fail to remember all that He has done for them and begin to take Him for granted. That's the worry Moses had concerning the people of Israel. So, in Deuteronomy 6:10-19, we have him warning the Israelites about the danger of forgetfulness. He wasn't worried that they would forget an important date or the names of their children. He was afraid they would fail to remember God and all He had done on their behalf. Forgetfulness would lead to faithlessness. And that would be dangerous.

What good is a law that goes unheeded? How effective is a regulation that is ignored? Unless it is obeyed, a law is little more than words on paper, carrying little weight or influence over the lives of men. And Moses knew that the people of Israel were going to be prone to ignoring and disobeying the laws of God. So, in Deuteronomy 6:1-9, we have recorded his call for the Israelites to hear and to heed the law. Obedience was going to be critical to their successful conquest of the land of Canaan. But knowledge of the law was not going to be enough. Head knowledge without a heartfelt desire to apply what you know to how you behave is of little use. Commandments written on stone are of little use if they never make their way into the heart of man.

In Deuteronomy 5:22-33 Moses reminds his audience about the day when God gave His law on Mount Sinai. This historical reference point was intended to prompt the people of Israel toward obedience to that law. Their adherence to God's commands was going to be critical if they wanted to enjoy all of the blessings associated with the land of promise. Their ancestors had sworn their allegiance to God's law, but had proved unfaithful. Now, a new generation stood poised to enter the land and Moses was well aware that they were predisposed to follow the example of their predecessors. Obedience to God's law would be impossible if their hearts were not in it.

Deuteronomy 5:16-21 continues Moses' recitation of the law. In it we have six more of God's commands that are focused on man's interrelationship with his fellow man. They are horizontal in nature, dictating the way in which the Israelites were to treat one another. These are practical laws dealing with everyday activities between God's people. Not only were the Israelites to show reverence and respect for God, they were to treat one another as God's creations, showing honor to one another through their attitudes and actions. By keeping God's laws concerning their interpersonal relationship, the people of God were to reflect His holiness and righteousness to the pagan nations around them.

In Deuteronomy 5:1-15, we find Moses reciting the Ten Commandments to the next generation of Israelites who were preparing to enter the land of promise. He had personally received this divine code of conduct from God Almighty on the top of Mount Sinai, and he knew how important it was that the people of Israel take these commands seriously. Any success they hoped to have in their conquest of the land of Canaan was directly tied to their willingness to remain obedient to God's laws. Obedience would bring blessing. Disobedience would result in curses. But what about us? As believers living on this side of the cross, what is our relationship to the law? Have we been absolved from having to keep it? Or has our relationship with Christ simply changed the nature of our relationship to it?

God thought of everything. But that shouldn't surprise us. After all, He's the all-knowing, all-powerful God of the universe. Nothing escapes His notice. And nothing takes place outside His sovereign will. So, in Deuteronomy 4:41-49, Moses reveals God's plan for cases of unpremeditated murder. God knew it was going to happen. It was the inevitable outcome of fallen men and women living in a fallen, sin-marred world. Accidents would happen. But what were the Israelites supposed to do when they did? God had a plan. Because He did not want one sin leading to another. This section is going to cover God's creation of the cities of refuge. This unique program of asylum for anyone guilty of committing murder, but without premeditation and malice, reveals a great deal about God and His justice and mercy.

God is invisible and impossible for mere men to know or comprehend – unless He chooses to make Himself known. And in Deuteronomy 4:32-40, Moses is going to remind the people of Israel that their God had made a habit of making Himself known for centuries. From the first day He had appeared to Abraham in Ur, God had been revealing Himself to the descendants of Abraham in a variety of ways. In fact, it was to Abraham's seed that God had chosen to make Himself known. And the nation of Israel represented the mighty nation God had promised to produce from Abraham and Sarah. He had kept His promise and now He was about to reward His people with the land He had set apart for Abraham's seed. And Moses wanted the Israelites to never forget that God had proven Himself faithful and they had no reason to ever doubt His existence or presence.

In Deuteronomy 4:15-31, Moses goes out of his way to remind the people of Israel that they needed to avoid idolatry at all costs. If they chose to worship other gods, their time in the land of promise would prove to be marked by curses, rather than blessings. And if they attempted to make an idol to represent Yahweh, they would find Him infuriated, not flattered. One of the things they needed to understand was their unique status as the image-bearers of God. They were His chosen people and He had set them apart so that they might reflect His glory and goodness through their willing obedience to His law. And the very first commandment He had given them was to have no other gods before them. No idols were allowed. In other words, no man-made representations of God were going to be tolerated. And, if they made the mistake of worshiping a false god made in man's image, they would live to regret it

Having God's law and obeying it are two separate things. They shouldn't be, but that it how any set of rules and regulation work. They establish a set of guidelines or a code of conduct, but they cannot guarantee compliance. And nobody knew that better than Moses. He had been the one to receive the Ten Commandments from God on top of Mount Sinai. Then he had faithfully passed on those commands to the people. But over the years, he had watched as the people repeatedly disobeyed God's laws, even choosing to violate the first commandment prohibiting the worship of any other gods. Moses was fully convinced that the key to Israel conquering the land of Canaan and enjoying the inheritance promised to them by God was their obedience to God's law. So, he begged them to not only remember those commands but to keep them.