What
Does the Lord Require?
Deuteronomy 10: 1-22
The Great Covenant
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Max
A Forsythe
Introduction:
There are within the Christian faith any manner of extremes to which
students can study them if they are singular in their purpose and standoffish in
their theological associations. It
is well that we allow the Apostles, Fathers and Doctors of Christ’s Church to
guide us within the necessary doctrines and thus limit our imaginations
completely. I remember when I was in Seminary; far too much respect was
paid to those who were imaginative, inventive and all too inclusive in their
theological principles. And of
course, all manner of freedom was demanded so that their new principles might
replace the traditional dogmas ironed out over the course of many centuries.
Well did Luther and Schaeffer
argue that on every side of the essential doctrines, there are opportunities for
heretical opinions. One of the
reasons the Lord initially shortened the length of man’s life, was the reason
to limit the mischief that length of years and increasing knowledge can lead us
into. I remember reading of the
last generation of orthodox Puritan pastors in New England in a textbook once.
The author’s observations keyed in upon a half a dozen or more
ministers who in their youth were as solid theologically as you could want,
however, by the time they reached old age – they had all become Unitarians.
Of course, a person once shared
with me the thought that initially – it was okay for new babes in Christ to
understand the initial gift of grace as such, but as the believer matured, an
increasing reliance should be focused upon necessary improvements in
sanctification as the main issue in living the Christian life.
Luther of course would have nothing to do with such a doctrinal
surrender; he even lambasted the gospel of straw, as he called the book of
James. But James is a book that we
all understand is just as important as any other in the revelation of the New
Covenant in Christ.
But there is in the emphases of
the several letters to the churches, that there is a necessary tension of the
two parts of the Covenant: grace and obedience, or faith and works.
And as we noted in the last chapter, it is the covenantal system of
theology that appears to get the correct doctrinal balance between the two
issues that divide sincere evangelicalism and Catholicism in our day and age.
We may be closer than we suppose
to a theological understanding that speaks to all parties who will sincerely
accept the covenantal perspective revealed through the Law of Moses.
To that end, let us consider the twelfth and thirteenth verses in our
chapter for today: “And
now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord
your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and to keep the commandments of the
Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?”
Old
Covenant Milieu:
There is in that text a five-point charge, which we shall consider
momentarily. But before we delve
into God’s requirements – we must as always – ever and anew consider the
revelations of Divine undeserved grace. For
the last twelve years I had annually taken several English classes through a
short study of the concept of love. In
that course of study, we would compare the ancient theological and philosophical
models with the newer psychological and biological models of meaning for that
concept.
For children raised and trained
in the pathological prescriptions of self-esteem, it is difficult to wrestle
with the concept of undeserved love: the
agape/charity of Divine revelation. Familial
and friendship love are ever so much easier to comprehend and practice.
So too is the manifestation of selfishness – lust: real down to earth
self-serving lust for power, material goods and intimate relations on their own
terms without consideration for the good and need of others.
While we have a couple of generations in this country very badly trained
in that respect, at least the amazing shock of September 11th has
demonstrated the heroics of one planeload of passengers who gave themselves as a
sacrifice for the better good of others. In
addition the near martyrdom of hundreds of police and rescue workers has set
before the truly observant a better way of behavior!
Of course, there is never
anything new under the sun, the revealed undeserved love of our Father God must
be taught to every generation that has ever lived!
Thus, we see in the first ten verses of chapter ten a reminder of the
great patience of our divine Creator. There
we see recorded a second inscribing of the Covenant principles, the Ten
Commandments, for the future benefit of all mankind.
Just as the first Adam failed and a second was needed, so too did the
Lord replace the first set of tablets with a second.
No, there weren’t any changes or improvements, the Divine Mind is, was
and always will be consistent - ever dependent, never changing – because that
is His essential character of perfect holiness.
And so Moses came down from the
mountain a second time, and the people were somewhat better behaved after the
loss of thousands and the bitter aftertaste of the golden idol fresh in their
minds. Did they realize the
mediating role of Moses, who argued for their continued existence? Yes, they were indeed properly fearful of the voice of God
and requested that Moses listen for them and pass along God’s revelation, but
did they fully realize the absolute holiness of the One who spoke to them?
If they did, they better appreciated the divine commandments and took
them more seriously! We would call that seriousness faith and their behavioral
acknowledgement of the law as obedience.
Dr Craigie summarizes these ten
verses in these words:
“The concluding verse of the section emphasizes the principle theme,
namely, that Moses’ prayer had been answered, the people had not been
destroyed, and the covenant relationship between God and his people was still
intact, only through the grace of God.”
The second section of our text
today contains five charges, which are given to the people of Israel: