SS06-10-07.

STUDY THEME: PUTTING PASSION IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

“PRACTICE OBEDIENCE DIOLITENTLY.”

DEUTERONOMY 4: 1-2, 6-9, 15-20, 39-40.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO DEUTERONOMY 4.

The Life Impact of today’s lesson is designed to help us develop a passionate devotion for God by evaluating the extent we follow God’s commands, instead of changing ethical standards and then deciding to seek and obey God’s will in any situation we may be facing. We will practice obedience diligently.

Adults often think of obedience a something required of children, not of grown-ups. They often define maturity as living by their own rules, rules that slip and slide based on changing circumstances. In such cases God’s clear commands that are ethical principles in scripture rarely are deemed appropriate and are often ignored.

Not wanting to be considered cultural oddballs, Christian adults can be tempted to go along with the flow of changing ethical standards, to give in to cultural idolatry, and to become disobedient to God. God wants His people to obey Him diligently, for by so doing, they testify of His greatness and position themselves to experience His blessings.

Moses encouraged the Israelites as they were poised to enter the Promised Land, to keep obeying God’s laws and to avoid adding to or taking away from His Word.

Moses also challenged the Israelites to teach God’s ways to oncoming generations so Israel’s obedience would be a testimony about God to other people. Moses warned the Israelites for their own good to carefully avoid various kinds of idolatry.

Moss challenged the Israelites to keep in mind that by diligently obeying the Lord, they would experience the fulfillment of His gracious promises.

In this lesson we will examine God’s commands to Israel, through Moses, that He wishes us to observe and practice if we are to please Him. As we look at some familiar words, we will hopefully gain fresh insight for the living of these days. Be in prayer as we approach God’s authoritative Word.

1. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 4: 1-2.

“Hear now,” in vs. 1 is in contrast to then, the time of the historical matter covered in chapters 1-3. Moses had just review the Israelites’ history from the area where they received God’s laws at Horeb to the day on which Moses spoke to them on the plains of Moab. Included in that historical review was the tragic refusal of the adults to obey God and enter Canaan. God sentenced them to wander in the wilderness until all adults except Joshua and Caleb died.

Now Moses spoke to the new adult generation who were children when their parents rebelled at Kadesh. This new generation was facing again the challenge of taking Canaan. That was now their time. They must hearken or listen to the Lord’s message.

Chapter 4 begins the second address or sermon of Moses. Most leaders, in Moses’ position would probably have majored on words concerning military strategy as they made plans to invade the new land. Moses, however, stressed the need for spiritual preparation.

As the people gathered to hear him, they could view on one side the land of Canaan, which they stood ready to enter. In another direction, they could see Baal-Peor, where in Numbers 25:18 so many of their number had recently engaged in immoral religious rites with Moabite women.

The guilty Israelites had been severely punished for their participation. The people who heard Moses were painfully aware of this horrible episode and its equally horrible results.

The moment of truth had come for the nation. Far more than military strategy, they needed spiritual renewal. Moses, in his first address, had dwelt on the events affecting Israel’s life thus far. Spiritual exhortations and pleading were never delivered in a historical vacuum by any of God’s prophets, least of all by Moses.

The terms statutes and ordinances refer to all the covenant stipulations. They were represented foremost by the Ten Commandments in Deut. 5: 6-21 and Ex. 20:1-17

Their destiny depended on them giving obedience unto the statues and unto the judgments or ordinances, that God had given them through Moses. These two words are often linked together, especially in Deuteronomy. Chief among God’s commands are the 10 found in Deuteronomy 5: 6-21and Ex. 20:1-17. These expressed the heart of what God expected of His people. These spiritual, moral, and social Commandments are the focal point of the modern attack on biblical standards.

Critics claim the commandments are outdated and that their rigid requirements run counter to the right of each person to determine what is right and what is wrong. This is called ethical relativism, the insistence that there are no moral absolutes. Right and wrong are decided based on the situation, not on some absolute moral commandments. Some Christians try to adapt the modern view to Christian living, They base this on the fact that Jesus fulfilled the law and that we are saved by grace through faith, not by keeping the law. This is true, but neither Jesus nor Paul denied the continuing relevance of God’s basic moral absolutes.

Advocates of moral relativism claim that the old Commandments stifle the good life. Moses took the opposite position. For him, obedience to the commands of God was necessary so that the people might live and possess the land. In other words, God’s commandments are for our good. Sin is what stifles the good life that God wants to give His people.

Good parents teach their children basic rules of right and wrong. These are often expressed in terms of health and safety. Children, for example, are told not to play with fire or cross a street without looking for oncoming traffic. These are not arbitrary rules to show the children who are in charge. The rules are designed to keep children from getting burned or hit by a car. In the same way, God’s Commandments are to keep us from doing things that would harm us.

Moses referred to the Word in vs. 2. He was referring to the laws, which were put in written form. Deuteronomy is an important book in the written Word of God, the Bible. It is the last of the books of the law. Other books were written over the centuries that the Hebrews recognized as being from the Lord and thus they put them into their Scriptures. Moses also said of the Word of God that nothing should be added or subtracted from it. The final book of our Bible repeats the same idea in Rev. 22:18-19. A well-worn Bible is a good sign that the person is looking to God for moral direction in life.

I still remember the story of the grandmother. The pastor had come to visit. Grandma told the five-year-old grandchild, “Honey, go fetch that book Grandma loves so well. She was embarrassed when the child returned and handed her the Sears Catalogue.”

The word “I am teaching” has a futuristic thrust. The actual pronouncement of the law doesn’t begin until the fifth chapter. Moses announced the nature and purpose of the law so the obedience Moses called for would not be blind submission to an arbitrary code, but one based on understanding. He recalled the historical facts and their relevance. The former would be mere legalism while the latter would be an intelligent obedience.

Moses warned the Israelites of a serious blunder people often make in seeking to keep the law of God, and it remains with us today though sometimes in different forms and called by different names.

You must not add anything to what God commanded by augmenting the law with human conditions and desires. This produces a way of thinking we call “legalism.” One of its chief characteristics is to enlarge the command with one’s own, usually biased, opinion.

For a concrete example, look at God’s command concerning the Sabbath Day. In Exodus 20: 8, “remember” is imperative, but “to dedicate” is, of course, infinitive. The emphasis is on remembering to do it.

A learned rabbi says we are to keep the Sabbath in mind every day. We can then look forward to the Sabbath, when we can worship in a special God-honoring way. This is not adding to the law but amplifying its importance. We “add” when we begin to list meticulously certain things we think one should do or not do in order to fulfill its keeping. That is when it becomes “legalism.”

An example of extreme legalism is the opinion of some rabbis that one should not eat an egg a hen laid on the Sabbath. Another is that a woman should not look into a mirror on the Sabbath. Why not? She might discover a gray hair. If she did she would be tempted to pull it out. That would be reaping, a form of work. Improper conduct for the Sabbath!

The danger of adding to God’s law is we become the authority, not God. To interpret is permissible, but we should never seek to canonize our interpretations.

A word of caution is necessary at this point as we close studying this section of Scripture. People do not gain personal salvation by keeping God’s commandments. God’s full revelation in New Testament Scriptures includes the truth we all are sinners and new life begins when sinners are saved individually. This occurs by God’s grace through personal repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. This produces a new nature, seeking to do right and motivated by love.

2. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 4: 6-9.

Vs. 3-5 form the transition from vs. 1-2 to vs. 6-9. Moses commended the people for remaining true to the Lord when many Israelites yielded to temptation at Baal-Peor in Num. 15. If they had not cleaved to the Lord, they would not still have been alive. Moses was teaching them the laws of God. God wanted the testimony of Israel’s obedience to their God to be seen and heard by people of other nations.

As the people of other nations heard of the Israelites’ devotion to their God, they would see evidence of their devotion in their obedience to God. People of God should carefully guard their testimony and live daily in obedience to God. Any effective verbal testimony for the Lord must be evident in how we live.

A grown man received Jesus and made a public profession of faith during a revival. People had been praying for him a long time. After the service, the visiting preacher asked him, “What particular thing was it I said tonight that led you to an open decision for Christ?” He smiled and replied, “To be truthful, I heard very little of what you said. I looked constantly at Brother Jones, who was sitting in the pew on the second row, and thought of his godly life for these many years. I decided I must receive Jesus and follow Him as that faithful man has been doing, and I must delay my decision no longer.”

If Israel kept God’s laws, other nations would be impressed that they were a wise and understanding people. The faith of Israel had two distinctive components. They believed in and served one God, and they lived by His high moral standards. Vs. 7 deals with the first of these, and vs. 8 focuses on the other. Sometimes this is called ethical monotheism.

Most other nations believed in many gods. Israel’s faith in the Lord was more than belief. It involved a relationship. Vs. 7 says that the nations marveled at the fact that Israel’s God was not only great but also near.

The theology of the other nations at large taught that the supreme gods were remote and inaccessible. Though they were perceived in highly anthropomorphic terms, they also were thought to be so busy and preoccupied with their own affairs that they could scarcely take notice of their devotees except when they needed them.

It was in contrast to these notions, then, that Moses drew attention to the Lord, God of Israel, who, though utterly transcendent and wholly different from humankind, paradoxically lives and moves among them.

Moses spoke about another striking difference between Israel’s Religion and the religions of other nations. The Lord required that His people live by a high moral standard. Most other religions had no such expectations.

God Himself is a holy God of justice and righteousness. He expected the Israelites to be and do the same. That was the purpose of the statutes and judgments. They were designed to foster a righteous life. Moses was teaching them what God expected of them.

The test of a right relationship with God is a righteous life. Faith and obedience go together. Professed faith is shown to be false if it does not lead to a righteous life. The greatest scandal in the Christian religion is the failure of many professing Christians to live a Christian life.

“We are the only Bible the careless world will read;

We are the sinner’s Gospel, we are the scoffer’s creed:

We are the Lord’s last message given in deed and word---

What if the line is crooked? What if the type is blurred?

What if our hands are busy with other work than His? What if our feet are walking where sin’s allurement is? What if our tongues are speaking of things His lips would spurn? How can we hope to help Him unless from Him we learn?

In vs. 9 Moses encouraged the Israelites to obey God’s laws carefully and teach His way to future generations, your children and your grand-children. In this way, Israel’s obedience would be a testimony about the Lord to other people.

The words Moses was about to give the people would do more than serve as guidelines for successful living in the new land. They would serve as an example for the other nations. This was implicit in God’s promise to Abram. He said this twice to the patriarch. First He promised in Gen. 12:2 “I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. Second, He stated in vs. 3, “All the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Few Christians realize the influence they have on unbelievers. Even the worst of sinners respects Christians who sincerely practice what they preach. “One man who knew Dwight L. Moody said when the loving and lovable evangelist entered a room, even a barber-shop, the atmosphere suddenly changed. A holy presence seemed to prevail.

Someone asked a brilliant college professor if he could define Christianity. He walked over to the window, gazed out thoughtfully, and turned to his questioner. “No, but I can give you an example. Look out the window. See that man walking across the campus? He is my pastor, Phillip Brooks, and is the Christian faith personified.” The world today is not looking for, nor impressed by, theological definitions. They are searching for one who practices true religion by obeying Christ’s commandments and following His example faithfully.

Moses insisted when the heathen world hears about these statutes God gave His people, they would be highly impressed. No other nation but Israel worshipped a God who wished to help, not exploit, their worshipers.

The heathen knew nothing of a “prayer-answering deity” who had their best interest at heart. Other gods demanded from the people but never sought to help them with their moral or spiritual poverty and need.

What obligation did these facts place upon Israel? Moses insisted, “be on your guard and diligently watch yourselves, so that you don’t forget.” The King James Version renders the last words “lest thou forget.”

To live faithfully according to God’s commands, we can demonstrate to the world wisdom and understanding. Many of the people with whom we have daily contact know only one gospel---the gospel “according to you.” People had rather see a sermon than hear one any day. You’re writing a gospel to other each day. The old cliché’ is incontestably true. “You’re the only Bible some people will ever read.”

Building a reputation of godly character can take years, but we need to remember that in one careless moment, a sinful act can damage our testimony almost irreparably.

Dr. Fred Wood said, “I knew a man who headed a large Christian institution. In a crisis situation, when everyone was “uptight,” he lost his temper and let out a volley of oaths. Profuse profanity spewed from his mouth. It cost him his position immediately. It has taken a long time to build back his respect in the eyes of his peers.”

One other point needs to be emphasized in this section of our study. Parents and grand parents have the awesome responsibility of helping their children and grandchildren love Jesus. They can and should lead them to receive Him as Savior and Lord.

I remember a young boy once came forward in a revival, made a public decision for Jesus and presented him self for baptism and church membership. A man, about 75 years of age, said to me with tears in his eyes, “I have four children: each has a spouse. My wife and I have 13 grandchildren. Tonight completes the circle. Everyone is now saved! God’s been mighty good to me.” I think he has been good to God also.

We are always only one generation away from paganism. The faith and the necessity of obedience to God need to be transmitted to the next generation.

While talking with some professing Christians who seldom attend church, pastors and other visitors from the church often hear something like this: “When I was growing up, my parents took us to church all the time.” In other words, they received a heritage of faith from their parents; however they are not passing on this devotion to the Lord and His people. In so doing, they are depriving their children of a Christian heritage of their own.

3. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 4: 15-20.

Vs. 10-14 summarize the revelation of God at Horeb. He revealed Himself, made a covenant, and told them what He expected of them. Vs. 12-13 emphasize that the Lord revealed Himself not in some visible form but spoke to them through the fire in Ex. 19:17-20. They saw no image of Him. The people of that day had visible, physical images of their gods. God did not want anyone to worship an image but to worship Him, and He could not be depicted in anything produced by humans or anything created by God. The Second Commandment deals with attempts to worship the Lord using images.

Moses warned the people to avoid all types of idolatry. In the generic sense, an idol is a representation or symbol of a deity used as an object of worship. Idolatry is the activity of such worship. This practice has many “spins-offs” today, including undue attachment to a popular entertainer or celebrity.

The examples Moses used in warning Israel were those applying to God’s people at that time. In vs. 16 he stated a general principle. He then gave a detailed application.

Idolatry was common in that day. There were many gods, with some more common to a specific nation or group of people. Some idols were made to look like a male or female person. In fact many ancient religions made an earthly leader into a god.

The Egyptians deified Pharaoh, and the Romans elevated the Caesars to godlike status.

All kinds of animals were worshiped as symbols of gods. The golden calf represented one of the familiar gods of the day. The Egyptians had a large number of animals that they worshiped. Some worshiped various kinds of birds and some worshiped sea or water life.

Vs. 17-18 sound like the Genesis account of creation, since nearly all of God’s creatures were worshiped, instead of the Creator.

This reminds us of Paul’s words in Romans 1: 20-22. Vs. 19 lists objects of worship in the heavens. History records various cultures that have worshiped the sun…moon…stars.

The Bible makes sharp distinctives between idolatry and the worship of God. For one thing, the idol is not real: neither is the god or demon back of the idol. Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 8: 4 that “An idol is nothing.” Contrasted to this, the Lord is real. Another difference is that idols cannot keep the promises of their advocates. When the crises of life come, the idol cannot help. Jeremiah 2: 13 compares the idols to cisterns that have holes in them. Thus when a spiritually thirsty person goes to draw water, the cistern is dry. What reasonable person would exchange the fountain of living water for a dry cistern? Contrasted to the helplessness of the idol is the One who “is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Ps. 46:1)

Another contrast is creation. Idols are made by human hands. The prophet Isaiah mocked the idol maker. He wrote in Isa. 44: 14-17 of a man who cut down a tree. Part of it he used as fuel for a cooking fire and to keep warm. He made a graven image out of the rest and worshiped it.

By contrast, the Lord created all things. One of the appeals of idolatry is that in a sense the worshiper controls the god to do the worshiper’s will. Images are made by humans, and humans endow their gods with features they want to have in a god. They can put the god in a box and get it out only when they need something. God cannot be manipulated to do what ever the worshiper wants.

One of the basic contrasts is that idolatry encourages sinful living. In vs.16 Moses warned against corrupting ourselves by making an image. Pagan religion was not a force for good conduct but an incentive for evil. When the Israelites entered the Promised Land, they found Baal worship, which was a fertility religion. That is, worshipers of Baal were promised good crops, many children, and success of all kinds.

Part of the worship included ‘sacred’ prostitution. This was a big temptation to people with no experience in farming, as well as a temptation to sexual indulgence. There were no limits of the depths of moral depravity in idol worship.

The Second Commandment forbids making any image to represent the invisible God. This is why vs. 15 places emphasis on God’s revelation in what he said, not in revealing Himself in some form.

Archaeologists and historians have found statues and other artifacts of pagan worship. The Jews left no statues of God because He cannot be depicted in physical form. To do so would imply that He was another god to be made and controlled by worshipers.

Moses warned the people to be extremely careful about idols for your own good. This was excellent advice and is equally wise for us today. Idolatry is a subtle danger for believers. It takes on various forms that can appeal strongly to our senses and appetites. Though some types of idolatry seem harmless, in any form it corrupts our understanding of God and distorts our relationship with Him.

In what ways have people practiced idolatry through the years other than through animal worship? The ancient Greeks gave names to carved statues, and erected altars to certain things that might dominate a person’s life.

For instance, they had a god named Bacchus who was the god of wine and came to be the deity for all strong drinks. Those who enjoyed sexual indulgence had several gods available to revere and worship, including Aphrodite, Venus, and Diana.

People who perceived themselves to be sophisticated in worldly knowledge erected and worshipped Minerva, the goddess of wisdom. Mammon was the Syriac and Chaldean god of material things, including money and wealth in all forms.

In what ways are people today guilty of making idols of some false god or of making images of God? An idol is anything or anyone to which we give worship-like attention. Money is still a chief god for many people. They give their time and attention to it and basically they trust it for the future. Some people have made gods of work and, at the other extreme, of pleasure.

Some people bow before physical representations of God. More often, many are guilty of identifying God with their own limited ideas about God. We don’t make images of metal, but we have mental images that fall far short of the biblical revelation. God is called the Man upstairs or thought of as our kindly Grandfather in heaven. Some depersonalize Him into a blur. These mental images break the Second Commandment and reduce God, to a creation of the human mind, not the Creator-Redeemer of divine revelation.

The most tragic sight on the horizon today is the smoke rising from the altars of ambition, lasciviousness, and wealth. On these altars are being sacrificed friends, character, and health.

A modern mother may be nauseated by reading of a Hindu mother throwing her baby into the Ganges River to satisfy a pagan idol. She, however, may at the same moment be sacrificing her daughter’s soul on the altar of her social ambition.

The God we worship is the One revealed in His Word, the Bible, and in His Son, Jesus Christ. God has provided for our natural needs and enjoyment to make life happy and fulfilling. When a person takes these provisions and over-emphasizes, indulges excessively in, or perverts them, he or she become guilty of idolatry. As God chose Israel to be His inheritance, we who are in Christ are His special people today. We must not put anything before Him.

4. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 4: 39-40.

Vs. 21-38 are filled with warnings about the dire consequences if Israel chose to disobey the Lord. It summarizes much of Israel’s tragic history.

Vs. 39-40 are a summary statement of who God is, what He expects, and what He promises. God is the only true God. The Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath. He is sovereign over all things. The people need to know this, for it is on the basis of such faith that people are motivated to meet His expectations.

What does the sovereign Lord expect of His people? He expected they would keep His commandments, which Moses was giving to them. In other words, the Lord expected His people to obey Him.

What does He promise to the obedient? He said that it would be well with the Israelites and their children. He promised a long life in the land God was going to give them as an inheritance. Most people would like to be promised a long, happy and healthy life; but even better is the Christian hope of eternal life.

Obedience brings freedom and fulfillment, contrary to what worldly people claim. They advocate moving beyond God’s Commandments to deciding right and wrong based on individual preference in different situations. Any nation, family, or person who denies and disobeys the Lord’s commandments does so at its own peril. He blesses those who obey Him.

NEXT SUNDAY’S LESSON FROM DEUT. 8 EMPHASIZES LOYALTY TO GOD.

A.V. DAUGHERTY altav@swbell.net

Be blessed by reading Deuteronomy 6:1 to 11:32 as extra curricular reading.