So this week we pick up more of Moses and his farewell speech again.

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1 Reading #316 Keeping the Commandments We can never have it impressed upon us too much that we need to keep the commandments of God if we are to have a successful life as Christians here on earth. To counteract this, the devil has concentrated a lot of his energy on trying to convince us that Jesus did away with the Ten Commandments on the cross of Calvary. But that is specious reasoning, for although it sounds good to the natural heart, it has no common sense to it all kingdoms require a foundation law for their citizens. This has been recognised in every earthly kingdom which has ever been set up by man all have such a law. The difference is that Satan-based kingdoms normally focus on other principles. If we look at the Ten Commandments, four are commonly found in the legal codes of nations, and three of those are found in virtually all throughout history, backed by force. These three are: 1) Prohibition on killing, 2) Prohibition on stealing, and 3) Prohibition on lying. However, there is nothing in most human laws about coveting, making graven images, having gods before God, forcing children to honour their parents, blasphemy (although western nations used to enforce blasphemy laws on behalf of the churches), and little if anything left regarding adultery, for these are peculiar to Christianity and require individual self-examination, not external scrutiny. And that we can safely leave to the LORD. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged [by Him]. But when we are judged [by Him], we are chastened [warned, not punished] of the LORD, that we should not be condemned with the world. 1 Corinthians 11: This is because He says, Hearken to Me, you that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My law; fear you not the reproach of men, neither be you afraid of their revilings. Isaiah 51:7. So this week we pick up more of Moses and his farewell speech again. He carries on to say: 1 All the commandments which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments, or no. 1

2 3 And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live. 4 Your raiment waxed not old upon you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years. The Son of God said to His people through Moses, You need to observe My commandments that you may live... and go in and possess the land. We need to study the fourth to the eighth chapters of Deuteronomy particularly, that we may understand what God required of His ancient people that they might be a holy people to Himself, for we are nearing the day of God's great final review, when all of us must stand before the Judge of all the earth to receive the result of our deeds. It is after that that we shall also go in and possess the land of the new world. Right now we are in the time of investigation because before the day of God's review, every character will have been investigated, every case decided for eternity. Therefore let s read the words of God's servant recorded in this chapter with profit. 5 You shall also consider in your heart, that, as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you. 6 Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to fear Him. 7 For the LORD your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil, and honey; 9 a land wherein you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig brass. How does a good father chasten his son? With love in his heart that the son may grow up to be good man, knowing right from wrong. To this end the commandments as given from Sinai, with the promises of God's favour and the records of His wonderful works for their deliverance, were by divine direction expressed in song (the early Psalms such as Psalm 90), and then were chanted to the sound of instrumental music, the people keeping step as their voices united in praise. Thus their thoughts were uplifted from the trials and difficulties of the way. Often their restless, turbulent spirit was soothed and calmed while the principles of truth were implanted in the memory, and faith was strengthened. This harmony of action (group singing) taught order 2

3 and unity, and the people were brought into closer touch with God and with one another in this way. In this Scripture we are also assured that Christ was the leader of the children of Israel in their wilderness wanderings. Enshrouded in the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, He led and guided them. While He preserved them from the perils of the wilderness caused by Satan, He brought them into the Land of Promise (the fruitful hill), and in the sight of all the nations that did not acknowledge God He established Israel as His own chosen possession, the LORD's vineyard. (See Isaiah 5:1-7) To this people He then committed the oracles of God (the vine, the tree of life). They were hedged about by the precepts of His law (verse 5), the everlasting principles of truth, justice, and purity. Obedience to these principles was to be their protection, for it would save them from destroying themselves by sinful practices. And as the tower in the vineyard (verse 2), He placed in the midst of the land His holy temple. Moses then referred to an important principle. 10 When [after] you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given [on loan to] you. We all recognise that it is good to thank the LORD BEFORE we eat, saying grace as it s often called, and asking Him to bless the food, but here the thought is what we should do AFTER, or between, the meals. If we wish to do that then there are two very obvious commandments which others can see us observing they involve time and money. This is why the LORD asks us to keep the Sabbath and support His work. For the latter He asks us to bless [thank] the LORD through the command Bring you all the tithes [a proportion of the profit from the land] into the storehouse. (Malachi 3:10). Yet He makes no appeal to our gratitude or to our generosity, for this is a matter of simple honesty, of keeping a commandment. The tithe is the LORD's (Leviticus 27:30); and He bids us return to Him that which is His own. See Luke 17:7-10 where Christ tells us that performing our duty requires no thanks from Him in return. He is reminding us that the increase has not been given us that we might honour and glorify ourselves. As faithful stewards we are to use it for the honour and glory of God as the Owner, as well as our necessity. Some think 3

4 that only a portion of their means is the LORD's. When they have set apart certain portions for religious and charitable purposes, they regard the remainder as their own, to be used as they see fit. But in this they make a mistake. All we possess is the LORD's, and we are accountable to Him for the use we make of it. (See Matthew 25:14-30.) In the use of every cent, it will be seen whether we love God supremely and our neighbour as ourselves. As the man who was trusted with one talent found out, hoarded wealth is not merely useless, it is a curse. (Verse 30.) Jesus also tells us, Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6: In this life wealth is a snare to the soul, drawing our affections away from the heavenly treasure. In the great day of God its witness to unused talents and neglected opportunities will condemn its possessor. The Scripture says, Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered [corroded]; and the rust of them shall bear witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. James 5:1-3. Don t misunderstand, the Bible condemns no one for being rich if they have acquired their riches honestly and are using it wisely under God s direction. It is the selfish LOVE OF MONEY wrongfully employed that is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6:10.) Wealth will prove a blessing if we regard it as the LORD's, to be received with thankfulness and with thankfulness returned to the Giver. So Moses continued: 11 Beware that you forget not the LORD your God, in not keeping His [Ten] commandments, and His [daily] judgments, and His [oral] statutes, which I command you this day: 12 lest when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; 15 who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint; 16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers knew not, that He might humble 4

5 you, and that He might prove you, to do you good at your latter end; 17 and you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth. 18 But you shall remember the LORD your God: for it is He that gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Lateral thought: Those who are suffering trials and reverses can be represented by the bush that Moses saw in the desert, which, though burning, was not consumed. (Exodus 3:2-3) The Angel of the LORD was in the midst of the bush. So in all our trials and troubles the brightness of the presence of the Unseen is with us to comfort and sustain. (Moses kept that vision ever before him, Hebrews 11:27). Often prayer is solicited for those who are suffering from illness or adversity; but really our prayers and help are most needed by the men and women entrusted with prosperity and influence. In the valley of humiliation, and in sickness, where Christians feel their need and depend on God to guide their steps, there is comparative safety. But the men and women who stand, as it were, on a lofty pinnacle, and who, because of their position, are supposed to possess great wisdom these are in greatest peril. Unless such persons make God their dependence by choice, they will surely fall. The warning was not heeded by the Jewish people. They relegated God to the background, and lost sight of their high privilege as His representatives. The blessings they had received brought no blessing to the world. All their advantages were appropriated for their own glorification. Unlike the good Samaritan, they robbed God of the service He required of them, and they robbed their fellow men of religious guidance and a holy example. Like the inhabitants of the world before the Flood, they followed out every imagination of their evil hearts. Thus they made sacred things appear a farce, saying, The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, are these [my church, my church, is my religion]. (Jeremiah 7:4), while at the same time they were misrepresenting God's character, dishonouring His name, and polluting His sanctuary. 19 And it shall be, if you do at all forget the LORD your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day 5

6 that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before your face, so shall you perish; because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God. This prophecy, fulfilled in part in the time of the judges when the people of God lived in a theocracy, met a more complete and literal fulfilment in the captivity of the kingdoms of Israel in Assyria, and of Judah in Babylon. Then it came to its end with the Roman desolation of Judea and Jerusalem forty years after Calvary. But its principle still holds when we today follow the same way then the same result will come upon us. The LORD will not compel us to deal justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). He simply sets before us good and evil, and makes plain what will be the sure result of following one course or the other. Christ invites us, saying, Follow Me, but we are never forced to walk in His footsteps. If we do so, it must be the result of deliberate choice. Then, as we see the life and character of Christ, strong desire will be awakened to be like Him in character; and we will follow on to know the LORD, and to know His goings forth which are prepared as the morning, silently but definitely. (Hosea 6:3.) We will then begin to realize that the path of the just [the justified ones] is as the shining light, that shines more and more to the perfect day [in the new world]. Proverbs 4:18. In every age, transgression of God's law has been followed by the same result. In the days of Noah, when every principle of rightdoing was violated, and iniquity became so deep and widespread that God could no longer save them from its result, the decree went forth, I will [have to allow sin to] destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth. Genesis 6:7. In Abraham's day the people of Sodom openly defied God and His law; and there followed the same wickedness, the same corruption, the same unbridled indulgence, that had marked the world before the Flood. The inhabitants of Sodom passed the limits of divine defence, and there was kindled against them the fire of God's vengeance, His total lack of protection. The time preceding the captivity of the ten tribes of Israel was one of similar disobedience and of similar wickedness. God's law was counted as a thing of nought, and this opened the floodgates of iniquity upon Israel. The LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, Hosea declared, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out [from their Saviour], and blood touches blood [sin wants its wages]. Hosea 4:1-2. 6

7 God has given us His holy precepts, because He loves mankind. To shield us from the results of transgression, He reveals the principles of righteousness. The law is an expression of the thought of God; when received in Christ, it becomes our thought. It lifts us above the power of natural desires and tendencies, above temptations that lead to sin. God desires us to be happy, and He gave us the precepts of the law that in obeying them we might have joy. When at Jesus' birth the angels sang, - Glory [love] to God in the highest, And on earth peace, good will [love] toward men (Luke 2:14), they were declaring the principles of the law which He had come to magnify and make honourable. Isaiah 42:21. When the law was proclaimed from Sinai, the Son of God was making known to men the holiness of His character, that by contrast they might see the sinfulness of their own. The law was given to convict them of sin, and reveal their need of a Saviour. (Romans 7:7.) It would do this as its principles were applied to the heart by the Holy Spirit. This work it is still to do. In the life of Christ the principles of the law are made plain; and as the Holy Spirit of God touches our heart, as the light of Christ reveals to us our need of His cleansing blood and His justifying righteousness, the law is still an agent in bringing us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul. Psalm 19:7. The greatest deception of the human mind in Christ's day was that a mere assent to the truth constitutes righteousness. In all human experience a theoretical knowledge of the truth has been proved to be insufficient for the saving of the soul for it does not bring forth the fruits of righteousness. In fact, a jealous regard for what is termed theological truth often accompanies a hatred of genuine truth as made manifest in the Christian life. The darkest chapters of history are burdened with the record of crimes committed by bigoted religionists. The Pharisees claimed to be children of Abraham, and boasted of their possession of the oracles of God; yet these advantages did not preserve them from selfishness, malignity, greed for gain, and the basest hypocrisy. They thought themselves the greatest religionists of the world, but their so-called orthodoxy led them to crucify the LORD of glory. The same danger still exists. Many take it for granted that they are Christians, simply because they subscribe to certain theological tenets. But they have not brought the truth into practical life. They have not believed and loved it, therefore they have not received the power and grace that come through sanctification of the truth. Men and women may profess faith in the truth; but 7

8 if it does not make them sincere, kind, patient, forbearing, heavenly-minded, it is a curse to its possessors, and through their influence it is a curse to the world. Bye for now, Ron Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own. 8