Deuteronomy 30
Though rejected and exiled because of rebellion and
apostasy,
absolutely or forever cast off. When dispersed among the nations, if the people
should return to Jehovah their God, He would again
receive them into favor
and gather them from their dispersion (ch. 4:29-31; Leviticus
26:40-42). Moses,
looking into the future, anticipates that both the blessing
and the curse
would come
upon the people according as they were faithful to their covenant
engagement and
obedient to God’s Law, or were disobedient and unfaithful. But
even when the curse
came upon them to the full, this would not amount to
final rejection; but God would,
by the discipline of
suffering, lead them to repentance,
and then He would again
bestow the blessing (compare Nehemiah 1:9).
1 “And it
shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the
blessing and the curse, which I have set
before thee, and thou shalt call them
to mind” - (compare I Kings 8:46-52, where the same expression is
rendered by
“bethink themselves”).
This is the meaning here also; it is not the mere recollection
of the curse and the blessing that is referred to,
but a general consideration of their
own condition and conduct - “among all the nations, whither the LORD thy
God hath driven thee,”
2 “And shalt return unto the LORD thy God,” - return from the
worship of false
gods to worship and serve Jehovah the one true God, the God
of their fathers, and
the God whom as a nation they had before worshipped - (Nehemiah
1:8-9) -
“and
shalt obey His voice according to all that I command
thee this day,
thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul;”
3 “That
then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have
compassion upon thee, and will return and
gather thee from all the
nations, whither the LORD thy God hath
scattered thee.” - This does not
mean will cause thy captives to return, for:
on the turning of the captivity.
The plural is used here as elsewhere to
indicate the cessation of
affliction or suffering (compare Psalm 14:7; 85:2;
126:1, 4; Jeremiah 30:18; Ezekiel
16:53). The rendering of the Septuagint
here is noticeable, καὶ ἰάσεται
Κύριος τὰς ἁμαρτίας– kai iasetai
Kurios tas amartias - and the Lord
will heal thy sins, i.e.
will remit thy
guilt and will deliver thee from the pernicious and destructive power of sin
(Psalm 41:4; Jeremiah
3:22; 17:14; Hosea 14:4; Matthew 13:15)
4 “If any
of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of
heaven, from
thence will the LORD thy God gather thee,
and from thence will He
fetch thee:
5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee
into the land which
thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and He will do thee
good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.”
Consequent on this deliverance
would be the gathering of
return to possess the land which their fathers possessed, in
greater numbers
than their fathers were. The reference in the following
verse to a spiritual renewal
suggests the inquiry whether the reference here is not to
such a gathering
and restoration of
when the branches that had been broken from the olive tree
shall be again
grafted into it, and all
shall be, brought in. To Moses, and indeed to all the Old
Testament
prophets and saints, the Israel of God presented itself as
a nation dwelling
in a land given to it by God; but as the national
spiritual
God, the full import of what is said concerning the former
is only to be
perceived when it is viewed as realized in the latter.
Certain it is that it was
on this principle that the apostles interpreted the
fulfillment of the Old
Testament declarations concerning
by James of Amos 9:11-12 may be noted as an instructive
example
(Acts 15:15-17). If the rebuilding of the ruined tabernacle
of David is
to be effected by “the
residue of men” being brought to “seek
after the
Lord, and all the
Gentiles upon whom His Name is called,”
we need not shrink from interpreting this prophecy of Moses
as referring to the
restoration of
under the one Shepherd, the Shepherd of Israel (John
10:16). [It seems to
me that Romans 11 teaches that there will be an apostasy in
the church
also, in the latter days and that
they accept Christ.
The present return of
also seems to verify this.
The teaching of Christ in Luke 21, especially,
v. 24, dovetails this!
Known unto God are all His works from the beginning
of the world! {Acts
15:18} Time will tell! “When
these things begin to
come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for
your
redemption draweth night.” -
Luke 21:28 – CY – 2012)
6 “And the
LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart,” - when thou wilt
become better, God will help thereto (compare ch. 10:16). When
return to the Lord, He would take away from them the evil
heart of unbelief,
and give them the new heart and the right spirit. (Compare
Jeremiah 31:33;
32:39; Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26; Romans 2:29; Colossians 2:11)
- “and the
heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with
all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. 7 And the
LORD thy God will put
all these curses upon thine
enemies, and on them that hate thee, which
persecuted thee.”
The Old and
New Covenants
(v. 6 ; compare with Jeremiah
31:31-34, and Hebrews 8:6)
It is instructive at this stage of homiletic teaching upon
this to place on record the
points of comparison and of contrast between the old and
new covenants; i.e.
between the covenant made through Moses and that propounded
and sealed through
the Lord Jesus Christ.
·
LET US NOTE THE POINTS OF COMPARISON.
Ø
Both are made with a
people formed for God (Isaiah 43:21;
I
Peter 2:9).
Ø
Both make God all in
all (ch. 14:2; I Corinthians 6:20).
Ø
Both inculcate
holiness (ch. 7:6; I Peter. 1:15).
Ø
Both of them are based
on sacrifice (Hebrews 9:22-23).
Ø
Both teach a mediatorial administration (Leviticus 16.; Hebrews 8:6).
Ø
Both set before the
people a future inheritance (ch. 12:1).
Ø
Both urge to duty by
the impulse of gratitude (ch. 5:6; Hebrews 4:9).
Ø
Both appeal to fear as
well as to hope (ch. 11:16; Hebrews 4:1).
·
THERE ARE ALSO POINTS OF CONTRAST
Ø
In the form of the covenants.
o
They differ as to the
extent of their compass. One includes a
nation,
the other men of every nation.
o
The spirituality of
its genius, and scarcity of definite rules and
ritual
is another mark of the New Testament covenant (compare
Romans 14:17).
o
The new covenant has
clearer revelations:
§
Of the law of
sacrifice (compare Leviticus with Hebrews).
§
Of the Divine
character (Hebrews ch. 1).
§
Of the destiny of
mankind (ibid. ch.10:25-31).
§
Of the tenderness of
the Divine concern for man as
man
(Luke ch.15).
Ø
In their promissory
grounds they differ quite as widely.
o
The old covenant
ensures objective good, if there is a subjective
fitness
for it; the new covenant promises subjective fitness that
objective good may be secured.
The one says, “Do this, and thou
shalt live.” The other,
“Live,
and you will do this” (v. 6).
o
The security for the
fulfillment of God’s promises to us is far more
strikingly seen in Christ than
it could possibly be under Moses
(II Corinthians 1:20).
o
The certainty of the
fulfillment of the conditions of the covenant
by those who are included in it,
is provided for under “grace,”
as it was not under “Law.”
This covenant is “ordered in all
things and sure” (II Samuel 23:5) and is in no way contingent
on the fickleness of human will.
It is a “better covenant,”
and is “established upon better
promises.” (Hebrews 8:6)
And the reason of the difference
is found in the fact that the
first covenant was intended to
serve an educational purpose,
and so to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus
Christ to bring in
a greater and larger one, under which regeneration unto
salvation should be certainly secured (John 6:37-40).
8 “And
thou shalt return and obey” - i.e. thou shalt again
hearken (see v. 9,
where the same expression is thus rendered). These two
verses are closely
connected, the former expressing the condition on which the
aspect expressed
in the latter depends. They should be rendered accordingly,
If
thou shalt return...
then the Lord thy God, etc. -“the
voice of the LORD, and do all His
commandments which I command thee this day. 9 And the
LORD thy
God will make thee plenteous in every work
of thine hand, in the
fruit of
thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the
fruit of thy land, for good:
for the LORD will again rejoice over
thee for good, as He rejoiced over
thy fathers:”
10 “If
thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy
God, to keep
His commandments and His statutes which are
written in this book
of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD
thy God with all thine
heart, and with all thy soul.”
enjoyment of privilege, would again enter into covenant
union with the
Almighty, and would be enriched with all the blessings of
his favor
(compare ch.28:11, 63); ONLY however, on THE INDISPENSABLE
CONDITION OF THEIR HEARKENING TO THE VOICE OF
GOD AND BEING OBEDIENT TO HIS LAW!
The Restoration of the Jews (vs. 1-10)
So certain is the apostasy and the judgment on the land,
that Moses assumes it as an
accomplished fact, thereupon proceeding to predict a
restoration of the “scattered nation”
in case of their repentance. There must be the penitent
return to God, and then God will
restore them and bless them abundantly. It was this
principle which was carried out in the
restoration from
We have here the raison d’etre of Jewish missions. As the Gentile obtained mercy
through Jewish preaching, so the Jew is to obtain mercy
through the instrumentality
of the Gentile.
(Romans 11:30-31) (One of my
favorite verses in the Bible is
The 32nd verse – “For God hath concluded them all
in unbelief that He
might have mercy upon all.”
- CY – 2012)
RESTORATION. Their
captivity and dispersion having arisen from their
forsaking God, it is only
reasonable that their penitence should precede
their restoration. Into the
question of the reestablishment of the Jews in
may be certain, that the spiritual
restoration of
local restoration. (I speak elsewhere in this chapter that I
personally
believe there will be a
restoration of the Jews in their own land.
I agree
that it is imperative that they
turn to Christ and Isaiah 66:8 asks “Who hath
heard such a
thing?......Shall the earth be made to bring forth in
one day? Or shall a nation be born at once?” It
doesn’t take long
to be saved – JUST A LOOK! (Isaiah 45:22)
The Jews must be
RESTORED TO GOD
IN JESUS CHRIST before the
complete
blessing here predicted! In our lifetime
become so in 1948 and they
repossessed
Luke 21:24 – TIME AND GOD’S WILL WILL TELL! - CY – 2012)
CHURCHES SHOULD INTELLIGENTLY DEVOTE THEMSELVES.
The winning of them by and to
the gospel is the most important service we
can render them. No movement of
the political chess-board is half so
important as the winning of them
back to God. When, moreover, the local
restoration is problematical,
while the spiritual restoration is the
indispensable preliminary to any
further good fortune, — the duty of
Christians is most clear. The gospel of Jesus must be adapted to the
peculiar
circumstances of
with all the
sweet persuasiveness Christian grace ensures.
PAST. This seems
clear from this passage. The Jewish development is to
exceed all past developments.
They are to have a mighty population, great
wealth, and God is to rejoice
over them for good again. We do not regard
a national organization as
essential to influence. Christianity is now, for
example, the mightiest factor in
human society, and yet it is not, organized
nationally. Should the Jews by their rare linguistic powers, by their
patient
courage, by their singleness of
aim, become when converted to Christianity
the predominant missionary
factor in the world, then we can see in such a
restoration a more powerful and
blessed influence than if they furnished to
the world a new line of famous
kings. It is not dynasties, but
the devotion
of the people,
which goes to make a people mighty.
The kingdoms over
which men rule may not be
defined in statute-book or in treaties. There are
kingships exercised by humble,
devoted, cross-bearing men, which explain
the kingship of the crucified
Nazarene. It is to this spiritual domination that
we trust
Dispersion not Rejection (vs. 1-10)
It is very comforting to pass from so gloomy a chapter as
the twenty-eighth
to such a paragraph as this. In this thirtieth chapter, the
onlook and
outlook of Moses are much more extended than before. So
distantly is his
eye cast now, that he actually looks to the further side of
the gloomy scene
he had so recently sketched, and sees in the horizon a belt
of glory
bounding his view (v. 9). So that, although the present
darkness and
distress into which the scattered nation is plunged are the
exact fulfillment
of the Word of God, yet that same Word declares this to be
a transition,
and not a final state of things. “God hath not cast away His people.”
Concerning them there is a twofold promise:
(1) of their
conversion to God;
(2) of their
restoration to their land.
Both are certain. Both will be fulfilled. The first, in
their conversion to the
Lord Jesus Christ. The second, in whatever sense the Holy
Ghost used the
words, but what that sense is, is not so clear. There had
been a promise
made to Abraham (Galatians 3:8). The Law did not annul that
(ibid. 17-18).
Now, if we turn to the promise to Abraham, we
find (Genesis 12:1-8) there are three parts in it:
(1) that Abraham
should have a seed;
(2) that his seed
should bless the world;
(3) that they should
inherit the land.
Now, when Paul expounds this Abrahamic
promise, he shows:
(1) that all who are
Christ’s are Abraham’s seed (Galatians 3:26);
(2) that the promise
made to Abraham was” the gospel” (ibid. v.
8),
it was made to him, “foreseeing that God would justify the
nations
through faith.”
But since the promise swells out to the full gospel, since the
expression “Abraham’s seed” includes all who
are Christ’s, — may not, yea,
must not, the land-promise also swell out into something
proportionately larger
and grander? Such is the question.
Further. The same apostle not indistinctly teaches that,
within the lines of
his own exposition, there
is mercy in store for
of exposition?
1. That Jew and Greek
are one in Christ Jesus.
2. That the Jewish
rites and ceremonies are forever abolished.
3. That the
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.
In the application of these principles, the following steps
of thought, taken
in order, will enable
us to summarize Scripture teaching thereon:
(Romans 11:26).
to obtain mercy through the
instrumentality of the Gentile Romans
11:30-31).
trodden clown of the
Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
happened to
3:15-16). They will yet see
Jesus as their Messiah.
be fulfilled, but whether in the
literal or in the larger sense indicated
above, we leave for the providence of God to show.
agencies by which it shall be
brought about. There will be providential
movements (Ezekiel 21:27). But
the supreme agency will be the power
of the Holy Ghost (ibid. 36:25-27; 37:1-14; Zechariah 13:9.
For the means to be used by us,
see chapters 36 and 37 of Ezekiel.
(Ezekiel 36:32; compare Isaiah
43:25).
(Romans 11:15). When the
long-lost nation is thus re-gathered, when it
returns with weeping and
supplication to the Savior, and, saved by Him,
singing the songs of
now is by its sacred literature
— a
priesthood for the world!
future fulfillment!
Ø
Let us ever hold the
Hebrew race in high honor. “Salvation is of the
Jews.”
Ø
Let us bear them on
our hearts in prayer.
Ø
Let us watch the
movements of God’s providence.
Ø
Let us heed the
cautionary words in Romans 11:18-21.
The blackness of the picture of
by this rim of gold on the further edge. The verses seem to
teach, not only
that if
of repentance is ordained for it — a day in which the veil
that has been so
long left lying on Jewish hearts will be lifted off, and
the nation will mourn
for Him whom it has pierced and has so long rejected
(Zechariah 12:9-14;
Romans 11:25-33; II Corinthians 3:14-16). The result will
be
the incorporation of the Israelitish
people into Christ’s kingdom, with
possibly restoration
to the land given them as a national possession, and
blessings, temporal and spiritual, beyond those bestowed upon their fathers
(v. 5). (This is happening in our lifetime:
a. 1948
b. 1967
c. 2019
d. 2020 Shelanu Television
– preaching the Gospel in Hebrew
to
the Israeli people.
This week, President Donald Trump met with Benjamin
Netanyahu, Prime
Minister of
CY – 2020)
·
THAT IN MAN’S CONVERSION, IT IS THE SINNER, NOT GOD,
WHO CHANGES.
standard of holiness, or by any
change in God’s requirements, or by any
new and easier way of life being
discovered than that originally provided,
but by
what God pleaded
with it to do at first (v. 2). After
all their sorrowful
experiences, the people are
brought to this: that they must submit to do
what they were told in the
beginning that they ought to do. It is so always.
There can be no change on God’s
part. If the sinner is to be saved, it is he
who must forsake his thoughts
and his ways (Isaiah 55:7). He must do
at last what he now feels he has
not the least inclination to do — what, as
years go on, he is getting the
more disinclined even to think about. Will he
do it? Is it likely? Is it
certain? If ever it is to come about, what
agonies of
soul must be gone
through before so great a revolution can be
produced!
·
THAT CONVERSION IS SOMETIMES A RESULT OF THE
EXPERIENCE OF THE HARDNESS OF TRANSGRESSION. It is in the
far-off country, broken, peeled,
and scattered, that
(Luke 15:14-19), remembers the
Father’s house. Is not this a reason
why God sometimes leaves a
sinner to eat of the fruit of his own devices
— to take the reins upon his own
neck, and plunge wildly away into sin’s
wildernesses? — that
he may taste the hardness of such courses, the
bitterness, the
emptiness, the essential unsatisfyingness of a life
of evil, and
so, if by no gentler methods, be
brought back to ways of righteousness?
The penalties which attend sin
are, while retributive, also designed in this
world for the sinner’s
correction (Hosea 2:6-23; ch.14.).
·
THAT THE MOMENT THE SINNER RETURNS, GOD IS
READY TO FORGIVE HIM. We
must not, indeed, post-date the mercy
of God, as if that waited on the
sinner’s self-motivated return as a condition
of showing him any kindness.
God’s gracious action goes before conversion
— leading, drawing, striving,
enlightening, aiding; nay, it is this gracious
action which leads to
conversion. (No man comes to the Father except the
Holy Spirit draw him! John 6:44)
This is of itself a pledge that when
conversion comes, he who has
thus drawn us to Himself will not say us
“nay.” But we have express assurances, backed by numerous
examples,
that whoso cometh He will in no
wise cast out (Psalm 32:5; John 6:37;
I John 1:9). There is:
1. Forgiveness, with
reversal of sentence of rejection (v. 3).
2. Redemption from
bondage (vs. 3-4; Colossians 1:13).
3. Restoration to inheritance (v. 5; Ephesians 1:14).
4. A new heart and spirit (v. 6).
5. Deliverance from enemies (v. 7; II Thessalonians 1:5-6).
6. Untold blessings
(v. 9; Ephesians 1:3).
Divine Discipline Founded on Known
Principle (vs. 1-10)
Human anger is often an uncontrollable passion. God’s anger
is directed,
not
so much against the man, as against his sin. God’s anger is the acting of
sound principle — a part of His righteousness. Hence, as soon
as
chastisement produces its
designed effect, it ceases. Instantly that the
wayward child turns to its Father, the Father turns to His child.
·
REPENTANCE OFTEN SPRINGS OUT OF THE BITTER
EXPERIENCE OF TROUBLE.
Ø
Disobedience brings degradation. Moses foresaw that the elect of God
would become, for their sin, captives in a foreign land. No
chastisement
would be more galling to their pride. Their renown as conquerors
had
spread far and wide. To be crushed, enchained, and exiled was
humiliation unspeakable. Such degradation is the native fruit of sin.
Ø
The curse would be felt the more as a contrast to former blessing.
The
ploughboy does not bemoan his lot, but for a prince to be tied to a
plough would be a galling pain. So the prodigal boy, in the
parable,
was stung by the remembrance of
former plenty.
Ø
Impression would be deepened by the recollection that this
misery
had been predicted. It
was evidently no casual occurrence. They had
brought the disaster upon themselves. They could lay the blame
nowhere but on their own folly. Unless the moral
nature be utterly
dead, such experiences often
lead to:
o
reflection,
o
sorrow, and
o
repentance.
·
REPENTANCE INCLUDES PRACTICAL REFORMATION.
Repentance that expends itself
in idle grief is a counterfeit. True repentance
makes instant
decision to retrace false steps.
Darkness had come by turning
away from the sun; now the penitent man turns fully toward it.
He does not
wait for others to act. He is not going to be deterred by others’ indifference
or by noisy ridicule. Call him “turncoat,” if you will; there
are worse
characters in the world than turncoats. He is more afraid of God’s
anger
than of man’s paltry spleen. It is not only a halt in the
downward course,
but “right-about face.” He
returns unto the Lord. He now
submissively
listens to His voice; he honestly endeavors to practice all the
Father’s will.
“Lord, what wilt
thou have me to do?” is his daily
prayer. His whole heart
goes out in repentance. To repair past follies — this is his
special work. So
earnest is he in his new life, so marked a change and so
beneficent is there
in his character, that his children feel the impression, and
catch the blessed
contagion. As formerly his influence over his family was most
baneful, so
now it becomes vernal sunshine, like the fragrance of sweetest
flowers.
·
REPENTANCE SECURES THE REVERSAL OF THE CURSE. No
sooner do men return to God than God
returns to them. Only level the
barrier which sin has set up, and reunion of man with God is
restored. The
return of favor shall be most complete. No matter how far the
curse had
taken effect; no matter how far the separation had proceeded; no
matter to
what extremity of woe the rebels have been driven; — from thence will
Jehovah gather them, — RECONCILATION
WILL BE THOROUGH!
Omnipotence will outpour itself
in benedictions. (Grace is greater than
sin! CY – Romans 5:20) Let the frost of winter be ever so
severe,
the summer sun shall melt it. He who created the universe out of nothing
can reverse all the wheels of adversity; and, out of ruins,
rebuild a glorious
city. As sin is the only
source of disorder and woe, so repentance is the
extinction of the cause of woe. If God takes in hand to restore His people
to peace, all opposition is vain. The thing is done.
·
REPENTANCE LEADS TO ENTIRE RENEWAL OF A MAN’S
NATURE. “The Lord thy God will circumcise thine
heart, and the heart of
thy seed.” Honest
endeavors after a righteous life shows to us a corrupt
heart — a heart prone to love evil. The man who begins to pray
for pardon
soon learns to pray for purity. Nothing will satisfy the mind
(when divinely
illumined) short of COMPLETE
REGENERATION! The repentant Jew
discovered that the circumcision of the flesh effected nothing to
deter from
sin; Now he perceives that circumcision
of heart is the only real safeguard.
At a later day, this inward
change was more clearly pictured: “I will take
away the stony heart out of your flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) To
the same effect
Jesus promised: “If
ye... keep my commandments, I will send you another
Comforter, even
the Spirit of truth, who dwelleth with you, and shall
be
in you.” (John 14:15-17)
·
REPENTANCE IN MEN AWAKENS
PUREST JOY IN GOD. “The
Lord will again
rejoice over thee for good.” So Jesus
himself affirmed:
“There is joy in
heaven over one sinner that repenteth.” (Luke 15:7)
For reasons which we cannot
fathom, the
well-being of man is a matter
of the liveliest interest with God.
man and God is intimate. “His
glory is great in our salvation.” (Psalm
21:15) To bring all His purposes and
enterprises to a successful issue —
this is a source of
loftiest joy to God. “He will rejoice over us
with singing.”
(Zephaniah 3:17) The gladness of Jehovah at the completeness and beauty
of creation was great; a
hundredfold greater will be His joy at THE FINAL
SUCCESS OF REDEMPTION! Messiah will “see of the travail of His soul,
and shall be satisfied.” (Isaiah
53:11)
11 “For
this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden
from thee, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest
say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and
bring it unto us, that we may
hear it, and do it? 13 Neither
is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say,
Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring
it unto us, that we may hear it,
and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee,
in thy mouth, and in thy
heart, that thou mayest
do it.” The fulfillment of this condition was not
impossible or even
difficult; FOR GOD HAD DONE EVERYTHING TO
RENDER IT EASY FOR THEM!
(Compare Isaiah 5:4)
The commandment
of God was not hidden from them; literally, was not wonderful to them; i.e.
hard
to be understood or to perform (see the use of the Hebrew word in Psalm 131:1;
Proverbs 30:18); nor was it far off; it was not in
heaven — i.e. though
heavenly
in its source, it had not remained there, but had been
revealed — so that there
was no need for any one
to say, Who will ascend to heaven, and
bring it down
to us, that we may hear it, and do it? Simply a statement of fact that the Law
had not been retained in
heaven, but had
been REVEALED TO MEN! Nor was
this revelation made in some far distant place across the
sea, so that any need say,
Who will go over the
sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it,
and do it? On the contrary, IT WAS VERY NEAR TO THEM, had been
disclosed in words so that they could utter it with their
own mouth, converse
over it, and ponder it in their hearts (Isaiah 45:19;
Romans 10:6-13).
(Now it is the same in the 21st century with
access to the Bible so readily! In
fact, I am able to type in my browser partial phrases of
any verse in the Bible
and it is immediately at my fingertips on the computer – If
you are unsaved today,
I recommend How to Be Saved - # 5 – this web site – CY –
2012)
The Word of
Faith (vs. 11-14)
Compare with Romans 10:6-13
No Christian preacher is likely ever to deal with these
words of Moses
without setting by the side thereof the words of the
Apostle Paul
respecting them, in which, indeed, we have the best
possible exposition of
and commentary upon them. We propose to give an outline
Homily
thereupon.
·
THERE IS A “WORD OF FAITH” WHICH, THOUGH ANTICIPATED
IN THE OLDEN
TIME, IS NOW MADE THE BURDEN OF CHRISTIAN
PREACHING.
Ø There
is a grand thesis to be maintained throughout all time, viz. that
JESUS
IS LORD! (Romans 10:9; I Corinthians 12:3; Philippians
2:11).
Ø There
is a twofold duty required with reference thereto.
o
Believing.
o
Confessing, i.e.
§
letting
the faith cherished in the heart become a practical
power in the life;
§
letting
the tongue speak for Him;
§
letting
the noblest energy be spent for Him.
We see why
these two and just these are named. Believing is the attitude of
the soul Godward. Confession is the attitude of the life manward. Both are
required. A
faith which can content itself without a confession, and a
confession
which has not its root in faith, are alike valueless.
Ø There
is a double effect of this double act.
o
Faith — the Godward act
— is followed by “righteousness,” i.e. in
Pauline usage, justification.
o
Confession — the manward
life — issues in “salvation,” i.e. the
sound use of all our spiritual powers
(compare Acts 4:9-12 (Greek)
and
I John 1:7). The effects are as the duties.
§
Justification is a right-setting BEFORE GOD!
§
Salvation,
is a transformed life before man.
Ø For all this we have the sure guarantee of
God’s own Word (Romans
10:11-13).
·
THERE ARE SOME NOTEWORTHY FEATURES ABOUT THIS
“WORD OF FAITH.” Moses
had said, “It is not too hard, nor too high,
nor too far off (cf. Hebrew), but it is very near,” etc. Paul
quotes this with
some variation, saying:
Ø
“It is near.” It speaks to man’s inner self — to his conscience.
Ø
“It is in thy
mouth.” In words which can be uttered
to the people and by
them.
Ø
“It is in thine heart.” The
word “heart,” being quoted from
Moses, we
take rather in its Hebrew sense,
as meaning “understanding,” and thus
the phrase would signify, “It is intelligible
to you.” Being thus near,
we have not to go to heaven to
fetch a Savior, nor to the grave to fetch
Him from the dead. HE CAME! THE WORK IS DONE! — DONE
FOR ALL, without distinction of persons. DONE ONCE and
FOREVER!
Hence:
Ø
How earnest the encouragement TO CALL ON THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST AND BE SAVED! (I recommend: How to
be Saved - # 4, and Lord Save Me - # 5 – this website – CY –
2020)
Ø
Men need not remain
unsaved.
Ø
Men ought not to remain unsaved.
Revealed Truth Clear and Available (vs.
11-14)
Dishonest minds are wont to plead that religious truth is
recondite, selfc-ontradictory,
hard to be understood. Its obligations too, they aver, are
impracticable, beyond the
power of man to fulfill. SELF-INDULGENCE and IMPEITY have never yet
failed to frame excuses for their rejection of the Divine
Word. But excuses
avail them nothing. The indolent man has for long ages past
learnt to say, “There is a
lion in the path.” Honest
investigation soon finds the truth of God
“worthy of all acceptation.” (I Timothy 1:15)
“commandment.” It
comes to men with all the character of a law. It is not
possible that we should treat it
as we please. We are not permitted to
mutilate or dismember it — not
permitted to accept a part and reject a part.
As in a tree the living sap runs
into every branch and twig and leaf, so that
we cannot pluck the tiniest part
without breaking the vital current; so every
part of God’s
Scripture is instinct with high authority, nor can we neglect
the least commandment without defying
the majesty of heaven. We are
bound to bow our wills to it; it
will, in no degree, bend its requirements to
suit our tastes.
within the compass of
every mind. Every man knows what it is to love; that
love is due from each man to his
Maker. Every child knows what
obedience means; that obedience
is due to the Father of our spirits. Truly,
some facts concerning the
eternal world are so profound that, like ocean
depths, human reason cannot
fathom them. But these are not the facts
which lie at the foundation of
man’s safety and hope. The practical duties
which appertain to
virtue and well-being are so plain that even a
child may understand (Isaiah 35:8). Whatever difficulty lies in the way
of human obedience, it does not
lie in the haze or uncertain meaning of the
revelation. The difficulty is within a man, not without
him. THE
OBJECTS OF FAITH
ARE CLEARLY REVEALED! We want
only an eye to discern them.
scriptural truth, there is an
exquisite fitness to meet the capacity of men’s
minds and the needs of their
souls. “The word is nigh thee; yea, in thy
very heart.” There is perfect accord between the constitution of the
man and
the contents of REVELATION! The Bible is the counterpart and complement
of conscience. It is obvious that the Lord of conscience is
Lord of Scripture
also. The Bible says, “Thou
hast sinned;” and conscience admits
the fact.
The Bible says, “Thou
art helpless to save thyself;” and conscience knows
it true. The Bible
declares that happiness is
inseparable from obedience;
and conscience
feels that it is so. There is a living
witness in every man
(UNTIL GAGGED BY SIN)
which testifies to the authority and necessity
and reasonableness of God’s Law.
it.” Religious truth is not revealed to gratify a prurient
curiosity, not to
afford matter for speculation,
but solely to promote obedience. To know
God’s requirements will bring us
no advantage unless we heartily and
loyally do them. Accurate
and orthodox beliefs convey, in themselves, no
life nor joy. Right belief is barren and abortive until it brings forth ACTIVE
OBEDIENCE! We are not to be judged at God’s tribunal for
our opinions
or theories, nor for our
religious creeds; we are to be judged of “the deeds
done in the body ” whether good or bad! (Ecclesiastes 12;14) “I was hungry,
and ye gave me
meat,” will be the grounds of the judicial
verdict (Matthew
25:35). Practical service is the end and purpose of
Divine revelation.
Moses concludes by solemnly adjuring the people, as he had
set before them, in
his proclamation of the Law and in his preaching, good and
evil, life and death,
to choose the former and eschew the latter, to love and serve the Lord which
is LIFE and to shun apostasy and disobedience which are DEATH
(Compare ch.11:26-28).
The Word of
Faith (vs. 11-14)
Paul, in Romans 10:6-10, applies these words to the “righteousness
of
faith,” and
contrasts them with the voice of the Law, which is, “The man
which doeth those things shall live by them” (ibid. v. 5).
That this
application is not a mere accommodation of the words of
Moses to a new
subject, will be evident from a brief consideration.
·
constitution under which
practically an evangelical one.
On the legal footing, on any other footing
than that of the “righteousness
of faith,” the statement that the
commandment was neither far to
seek nor difficult to obey would not have
been true. The Law, as requiring
perfect holiness, obedience unvarying and
uninterrupted, prescribed as the
condition of life (ibid.) that
which no one on earth, saint or
sinner — the sinner’s Savior only excepted
— has ever rendered. It was
certainly “nigh,” but, as a “ministration of
death” — “of
condemnation” (II Corinthians 3:7, 9),
its nighness was
no boon. How, then, was the
curse averted or acceptance made possible?
Not by the ability of the Israelite to yield an obedience
adequate to the
Law’s requirements, but by the introduction of the principle of grace. Sin
was forgiven, and, shortcoming
notwithstanding, the sincere worshipper
accepted in “his full purpose
of, and endeavor after, new obedience;” or
rather, in view of his
faith, of that spiritual trust in Jehovah in which these
strivings after obedience had their origin (Genesis 15:6; Psalm 32:1-2).
The hidden ground of this
acceptance was Christ, now manifested in the
preaching of the gospel (Romans
10.). From this point of view, the
commandment no longer towered
above the Israelite, stern and forbidding,
launching out curses against
him, and filling him with dread and dismay;
but its precepts were sweet and
consolatory to him, and only filled him
with the greater delight and
love the longer he meditated on them or
practiced himself in obeying
them (Psalm 1; 19:7-14; 119.). It is in this
evangelical spirit we are
undoubtedly to read these exhortations of Moses,
whose standpoint, therefore,
essentially harmonizes with that of Paul.
·
hath showed thee, O man, what is good” (Micah 6:8). God had written
to
His Name, His precepts, the conditions of acceptable
service, the way of
life; had given that people a revelation, full, clear,
adequate, adapted to
their mental stature, and
to their condition as sinners. This takes for
granted the underlying
evangelical element above referred to. Without that,
the “commandment” would but
have mocked their weakness. And it is this
evangelical element in Moses’ “commandment”
which comes clearly to
light in Christ, and which is
embodied in Paul’s doctrine of the
“righteousness of
faith.” The words of this passage
apply with increased
force to the historical
revelation of the Savior. They strikingly suggest:
1. That man needs a revelation.
2. That he
instinctively craves for one: “Who shall go
up?” etc.
3. That he would sometimes make great sacrifices in order to
get
one: “Go up to heaven;” “go over the sea.”
But the revelation which man needs most of all is THE REVELATION
OF A
SAVIOUR! He wants to know:
Ø
how he can escape
from sin, from guilt, from wrath, from bondage; and,
Ø
how he can be
restored to holiness, to peace, to blessedness.
The “commandment,” in its
wider sense, gave him this knowledge in part;
the full discovery is
in THE GOSPEL! The Word, in the preaching of this
gospel, as well as in the
circulation of copies of the Scriptures, and the
innumerable opportunities
enjoyed in Christian lands of getting acquainted
with the way of life, has now
come very nigh to us. (This is the main purpose
of this website! CY – 2020)
It is in our mouths and in our hearts, while the
salvation which the Word makes
known is as readily available as the Word
itself is simple and
intelligible. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the
Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised Him
from the dead, THOU SHALT BE SAVED!” (Romans 10:9).
·
word which Moses gave was one
which could be obeyed — nay, obedience
to which was easy. Only,
however, provided there was circumcision of
heart (v. 6) — a sincere
willingness to know and to do God’s will
(John 7:17). To the natural
heart the commandment is hard, and must
always remain so. This, again,
shows that the obedience Moses has in view
is the spiritual, though not
faultless, obedience of the believing and
renewed heart — the result of
possession of and standing in the
righteousness of faith. Only
through faith relying on a word of grace, and
apprehending mercy in the
character of God, is such obedience possible.
Ability to render it is included
in that “being saved,” which Paul posits as a
result of believing with the
heart in the crucified and risen Christ
(Romans 10:9). Observe, further,
how the Law, with all its apparent
complexity and cumbrousness,
resolves itself in Moses’ hands into one
“commandment” (v. 11). It is this which makes the Law simple, just as it
is the simplicity of the gospel
that it reduces all “works of God” to the one
work of “believing on Him whom He hath
sent” (John 6:29; Hebrews 11:6).
Amidst the multiplicity of
commands, there was but one real command —
that of loving the Lord their
God (ch. 6:4; 10:12; here, vs. 6, 10, 16, 20).
In love is implied faith — the
knowing and believing the love which
God has to us. Love is faith’s
response to the revelation God makes of
Himself to man. Faith is thus
the condition:
Ø
Of justification.
Ø
Of acceptableness in
obedience.
Ø
Of power to render
obedience. (John 1:12)
The Revelation
at Man’s Door (vs. 11-14)
We have a very beautiful thought inserted by Moses
regarding the proximity and
handiness of God’s commandments.
It is used by Paul in the same connection,
and
so adapted to
the gospel as to show its practical tenor (Romans 10:6-9). And
here we would observe:
DIVINE REVELATION OUGHT TO BE. It is thought that it should be
some far-away affair, to which none but seraphic spirits could
soar; as high
as heaven, and requiring vast powers and efforts to reach. Or
it is thought
to be as recondite (impossible for a normal person to
understand) as matters
lying in the deep-sea bed, demanding such diving apparatus as
practically
to put it out of reach of ordinary mortals. This is
the favorite notion of the
self-confident critics, that a
Divine revelation must be something attainable
only by scholars, appreciable only by the geniuses of mankind.
DOWN TO EVERY MAN’S DOOR. God came down to
and spoke to the people directly. The trouble then was that He
was too near
— too
homely; they wished him further away. Then prophets came, and for
fifteen hundred years the word was brought very nigh to men. At last
God’s Son became incarnate, and was each man’s Brother,
and brought
the message so close to men that only the proud escaped it. The whole genius
of revelation is contained in the remarkable words, “I
thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and
earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise
and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so,
Father: for so it
seemed good in thy sight”
(Matthew 11:25-26). The revelation is for
babes; for men of a childlike — not a childish — spirit; for men
who have
laid aside their pride and presumption, and can take truth
trustfully from
the Infinite Father. The
idea is surely monstrous that God cannot break
His Divine bread small enough
for His human children; that none but men
of a certain mental caliber can get hold of the food or
digest it. It is surely
a diviner plan to bring the truth so plainly home that none have any
excuse for rejecting it. (“And
a highway shall be there, and a way, and it
shall be called The Way of Holiness;
the unclean shall not pass over it;
but it shall be for those; the
wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err
therein.” (Isaiah 35:8)
SKYWARD AND SEAWARD, AND
RECEIVE GOD’S MESSAGE
BROUGHT NEAR US BY HIS SON. Pride is forever leading men upon
some aerial or aquatic adventure, searching the heights of
heaven on the
wing of fancy or of speculation, or exploring the deepest
depths,
professedly to find truth and God. Philosophy is invoked, and
everything
brought to the test of it. Now, all
this must be sacrificed before we receive
the truth. We must humble ourselves, and recognize the truth brought in
Jesus Christ to
our very door. If we required terrific
effort to reach the
truth, we would boast that
we had succeeded through that effort.
If it
depended on great mental powers and struggle, we would take credit for
both. But the fact is, it is brought so
near to each of us, and so plainly
home, that not one of us can boast of our discovery, but only chide
ourselves that it was so long near us and so long overlooked!
rule, they are so puffed up with pride and self-importance,
that the
gospel
is overlooked in its glorious proximity and adaptation. They think they are
such linguists and such thinkers that none can instruct them, and the result
is that the simplicity of the gospel escapes their notice
altogether. The
grandeur of what is simple and comprehensible by all who are not
too
proud to consider it must be urged with earnestness. The
apologetic now
needed is, not what follows speculation to its utmost height or
utmost
depth, and boasts itself of learning as great as the objector
has; but what
takes its firm stand upon the SIMPLICITY OF REVELATION AS
THE SUPREME PROOF
THAT IT IS DIVINE! It seems to us that
some of the apologetic to which we are now treated is as finicky as those
it desires to convince, and, in a contest of mere meticulousness, it is sure
to be defeated. Rather should we assure men that it is pedantry and pride
which keeps them from discovering THE WONDROUS REVELATION
THAT LIES SO NEAR
TO US! Let Gentile and Jew
give up the
weary wandering, the “will-o’-the-wisp” work of pride, and recognize THE
GOD WHO IS KNOCKING AT EACH MAN’S DOOR! (Revelation
3:20)
15 “See, I
have set before thee this day life and good, and death and
evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to
love the LORD thy God, to
walk in His ways, and to keep His
commandments and His statutes and
His judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD
thy God shall bless thee in the land
whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be
drawn away, and worship other gods, and
serve them;” (compare 4:19.)
18 I
denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that
ye shall not prolong your days upon the land,
whither thou passest
over
this day against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing
and cursing: therefore choose life, that
both thou and thy seed may live:
(Compare ch. 4:26.) 20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and
that thou mayest obey His
voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto Him:
for He is thy
life,” - rather, for this is thy life; to love the Lord is
really to live
the true, the higher life (ch.4:40; 32:47) - “and the length of thy days: that
thou mayest dwell
in the land which the LORD swear unto thy fathers,
to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to
give them.”
Nature
a Witness (v. 19)
(See for other instances, ch.
4:26; 31:28; 32:1; Isaiah 1:2.) The invocation of
heaven and earth as witnesses turns on deep principles. They are “called
to
record.”
·
BECAUSE THE MIND RECOGNIZES THEIR PRESENCE AS
WITNESSES OF ITS TRANSACTIONS. It projects its own
consciousness on its surroundings, and feels as if earth and sky, sun,
moon,
rock, river, tree, mountain, were not inanimate but animate and
sympathetic witnesses of its doings. It attaches its own thoughts to
the
outward objects. In presence of the scene of any great transaction,
it feels
as if the place retained its memory; still spoke to it of the
past; thought,
felt, rejoiced, accused, praised, according to the nature of
the deed. Define
as we will this feeling of a “Presence” in nature — this
“sense of something
far more deeply interfused,” which we inevitably carry with us
into our
relations with the outward universe — it is a fact in consciousness,
and
furnishes a basis for such appeals as those of Moses.
·
BECAUSE GOD IS PRESENT IN HEAVEN AND EARTH AS A
WITNESS OF WHAT IS DONE. (Compare Matthew 5:34-35.) Heaven is
His throne;
earth, His footstool. He is present in
them, upholding them by
the word of His power, and through them is a true witness of
all we say and
do.
·
BECAUSE HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE CREATURES
THEMSELVES CONSPICUOUSLY FULFILLING THE ENDS OF
THEIR CREATION.
THE UNIVERSE AS A WHOLE is thus a standing
protest against THE APOSTASY and SELF-WILL of the sinner (Isaiah
1:1-2). It bears witness
against him by its very fidelity to its Creator. “They
continue this day according to thine ordinances, for all are thy servants”
(Psalm 119:91).
·
BECAUSE HEAVEN AND
EARTH ARE SIGNAL MONUMENTS
OF THE DIVINE FAITHFULNESS AND IMMUTABILITY. (Psalm
119:89-90.) They
testify:
Ø
to the reign of law,
Ø
to God’s constancy of purpose,
Ø
to the uniformity and inflexibility of His rule.
They dash the sinner’s hopes of
His Word failing, of His threatenings
not being put in force.
·
BECAUSE HEAVEN AND EARTH RETAIN AN ACTUAL
RECORD OF WHAT IS DONE IN THEIR PRESENCE — a record
which may admit of being produced. This is simple truth of
science.
·
BECAUSE HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE INTERESTED
SPECTATORS OF WHAT IS BEING DONE. They have shared in the
consequences of man’s transgression; they will share in the glory of
the
manifestation of the sons of God. They wait the day of their redemption
with earnest expectation (Romans 8:19-23). That Moses, in connection
with his appeal to the people, summoned heaven and earth to
witness,
was an evidence:
Ø
Of the solemnity
of this appeal. It must be a matter of momentous
importance when the universe is called in to witness it.
Ø
Of the rationality of this appeal. Nature and nature’s God were on
his side. He had the universe with him, though a foolish
people might
reject his counsel.
Ø
Of the enduringness of the issues which depended on
this appeal.
Neither the blessing nor the
curse would work themselves out in a day.
It needed lasting witnesses to take
account of the fulfillment of God’s
words.
Death and Life Set Before
the People (vs. 15-20)
In this earnest word which concludes a section of his
address to the people,
Moses is summing up his deliverance. It has been called by Havernick “the
classic passage” upon the subject of death and life as
understood in Old
Testament times. “Shut out from the true community of life
(Lebensgemeinschaft),”
says Havernick,” the sinner puts in only a
pretended life (Scheinleben),
without God, enduring and promoting ruin in
himself, until death physical, with its terrors, overtakes
him. The Divine
penalty manifests itself to the sinner as death.” Let us
consider what is here
suggested.
·
GOD IS THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE. He was before all things; in Him
they live and move and have
their being (Acts 17:28) ; by Him all things
consist (Colossians 1:17). Life physical is from Him; but so also, and in a
much fuller fashion, is life spiritual. The
inner man is from Him, and depends
upon Him for sustenance. And when His only begotten Son came into the
world,
He gave Him to have life in
Himself (John 5:26), so that of Him it could alone
be said, “In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). We
recognize in God, therefore, “the
Fountain of living waters,” from which,
to
their own great damage, men
are separating themselves, as if the
broken cisterns
of their own hewing could ever
slake their thirst (Jeremiah 2:13).
·
LOVE ATTACHES US TO THIS SPIRITUAL FOUNTAIN. As we
love God with all our heart, and
soul, and mind, and strength, we find that
we have begun to live. On the
other hand, the loveless life is only a
pretended life, and carries within itself the “Anathema Maranatha”
of I Corinthians 16:22). Love
places our heart at a level with God’s, and
the riches of His life flow into
us. As Emerson, writing of gifts, says, “The
gift, to be true, must be the
flowing of the giver unto me, correspondent to
my flowing unto Him. When the
waters are at a level, then my goods pass
to Him and His to me. All His are mine, all
mine His.” It is exactly in this
magnanimous spirit God deals
with those who love Him. All His life and
fullness flow down to us; we
cannot, of course, take all in, our measure is a
small one, but we are filled
up to our capacity WITH ALL THE
FULLNESS OF GOD! (Ephesians 3:18).
·
LOVE GIVES BIRTH TO NEW
OBEDIENCE. If we love God, we
shall keep His commandments
(John 14:15). In the eye of love, His
commandments are not grievous (I
John 5:3). Our meat is found in
doing the will of Him that sends
us, and in finishing His work (John
4:34; 14:23). We say with the
Master, “I delight to do thy will, O my God;
yea, thy Law is
within my heart” (Psalm 40:8). And so,
in the terms of the
passage before us, we walk in
God’s ways, and keep His commandments
and statutes and judgments. Now, this
obedience strengthens the spiritual life.
Just as exercise invigorates the
body, so work of a spiritual kind invigorates
the soul. We not only find rest in coming to Jesus, but refreshment
in taking
on us His yoke and His burden
(Matthew 11:28-30).
·
SUCH A LIFE OF ATTACHMENT AND OBEDIENCE UNTO
GOD TENDS TO PERPETUATE OUR POWER AND EXISTENCE.
Other things being equal, a
religious life tends to perpetuate physical
power:
Ø
The calm which
pervades the faculties,
Ø
the wholesome exercise
which devotedness to God administers,
Ø
the deliverance from
fear which religion bestows in face of all
possible
vicissitude and change,
all this favors health
and longevity. Of course, Christianity
does not need now
such outward testimonies as
these. Many saints are sickly, and die young;
but religion never made their
sickness a whir more serious, nor shortened
their career by a single day.
They would have been less easy in their
sickness, and it would have cut
their thread of life more quickly, had they
been strangers to its solaces
and joys.
INDEED. In this
striking passage, while “good” and “life” go together,
So do “death” and “evil.”
The idea in death is not cessation of existence,
but SEPARATION
FROM GOD! Adam and Eve died
the day they
doubted God’s love and ate the
fruit. They ceased not to exist that day,
but died out of fellowship with
God. Hence we are not to associate an
annihilation view with the Biblical idea of death. Men die when they are
separated from God
as really as the branch broken from the stem.
Sin is the mother
of Death (James 1:15). It brings it
forth, because it
separates the soul from Him who
is the Fountain of life. The Jews found
in their national
experience HOW DEADLY A THING IT IS TO
DISOBEY THEIR GOD
AND TO DEPART FROM HIM! Nor
shall their calamities cease
till they return to him. “Their sorrows shall
be multiplied that hasten after another god”
(Psalm 16:4). Meanwhile,
may we see to it that we cleave trustfully and lovingly to God, and
have increasing life in His favor!
A Dread
Alternative (vs. 15-20)
While handling substantially the same momentous themes, the
aged
lawgiver, as if the thought were oppressing him that he
should very soon
speak his last word, becomes
more and more intensely earnest, and mingles
a solemnity and pathos which may well be followed by those whose work it
is to “warn every man, and teach every man in all
wisdom”, that they may
“present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Colossians 1:28)
Here is presented
to us a series of considerations, which are cumulative in
their force, and which
should be deeply pondered in strict order of progress.
·
HERE IS A GREAT MASS OF TRUTH SET BEFORE MEN’S
CONSCIENCES AND HEARTS. There are a few words and phrases here
given, in form most short and
simple, yet in meaning how august! how
deep! how high! They
are such as these:
Ø
God, the Lord thy God,
Ø
good,
Ø
evil,
Ø
life,
Ø
death,
Ø
blessing,
Ø
cursing.
Dread words! whose meaning has
no end, no bound.” There are immeasurable,
yea, infinite
realities behind them. And having once
been lodged in the
conscience with the significance
which is theirs, no power can dislodge
them, nor can any one cause it
to be to the man as if he had never heard
them. (Thus the
importance of parents teaching their children! – CY - 2020)
·
THERE IS A GREAT DUTY WHICH PRESSES ON MEN WITH
WHOM THIS TRUTH IS
DEPOSITED. (See vs. 16, 20.)
Ø
To love the Lord,
Ø
to obey Him,
Ø
to cleave to Him,
Ø
to walk in His ways, and
Ø
to keep His commandments, His statutes, and judgments,
this is obviously THE RIGHT COURSE for
men to follow.
1. The Lord God is
holy, and all His commandments are so too; and it is
intrinsically
and manifestly right to follow what is holy.
2 As our Maker and Preserver, God has supreme
claims on our loyalty of
heart and life.
3. As our Lawgiver,
He has the INFINITE RIGHT to require
our obedience.
4. As our Infinite
Benefactor, having commended His love towards us,
having bought us
with a price, He has a claim of love as well as a right of
law. And it is not possible for a man to dispute this claim
unless his nature
is becoming so perverted that he begins to
call evil good, or good evil.
·
THERE IS A GREAT BLESSING WHICH WILL FOLLOW OUR
LOYALTY AND OBEDIENCE.
This is so under the gospel, as really as
under the Law. For the Law
rested on a basis of gospel, and the gospel
brings with it its own law. How
can it be otherwise? The gospel call is,
“Repent, believe,
obey.” This is the precise and
immutable order. The
grace of God teaches us that “we
should live soberly, righteously, and
godly in this
present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing
of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ!”
(Titus 2:12-13). And we know
what is the promised issue: “Godliness...
hath promise of
the life that now is, and of that which is to
come.”
(I Timothy 4:8) “For God is our life and the length of our days.”
(v. 20)
Peace, joy,
hope, and all joyful graces and blessings attend on
a life which is
IN ACCORDANCE WITH GOD’S WILL!
·
IT IS NOT POSSIBLE THAT OPPOSITE MORAL COURSES
SHOULD HAVE LIKE ISSUES.
Men going in opposite directions, in a
right line, on a plane surface,
from the same point, can never meet. If to
love and obey God be good and tends to good, then the reverse
must be
evil, and CAN WORK NOTHING BUT EVIL!
And such evil effects must,
for aught we know, go on forever
and ever, unless something or some being
interposes (v. 18). The
prolongation of
even though they reached it in
peace, would depend on the continuity of their
obedience to their God. They
rebelled. Their kingdom was broken up; their
people were carried captive; and
the sad story already rehearsed became
theirs. And if now men quit
the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ,
THERE WILL BE, THERE
MUST BE, A SORER CONDEMNATION
than for those who rebelled
against the Law of Moses (Hebrews chps. 6, 9
and 10.; John 3:36). The outlook
for the despisers of Christ, in the next life,
is darkness without a gleam of
the light of hope in the distant horizon.
And even in this life nothing but woe can possibly be to him who striveth
with his Maker. (Isaiah 45:9)
·
THERE ARE WITNESSES THAT WE HAVE NOT BEEN LEFT
UNDIRECTED AND UNWARNED.
(v. 19.) Compare with this
solemn adjuration of Moses that
of Paul in Acts 20:26-27; Philippians 1:8.
“Heaven” was witness. For every warning given to men in God’s Name
is
known and received on high. “Earth” is witness, for the
record of the warning
is published to the world. And the warning
itself was heard by thousands of
ears, and was heard of by
many thousands more. By the very
directions of
our Lord, we are to proclaim to
the many, not to whisper to a few.
·
SUCH OPEN HERALDING SHOULD PREVENT ANY ONE WHO
HEARS THE MESSAGE FROM CHERISHING THE HOPE OF
SCREENING HIMSELF UNDER FALSE PRETENCES. The following
passages may be compared with
our text:
Ø
Ezekiel 33:2-5, 9;
Ø
Matthew 8:11-12;
12:41-42.
If any one, having heard the
gospel message in all its fullness and freeness,
should ever attempt to throw the
blame of his destruction upon others,
the light of eternity will be to HIS COMPLETE UNMASKING AND
DISCOMFITURE! No false
pretences will stand in the judgment (Psalm 1.).
·
AN OUTLOOK SUCH AS THIS MAY WELL GIVE A DEEP
AND DEEPENING EARNESTNESS TO A PREACHER’S TONE.
Specially:
Ø
If he is nearing the
close of his course.
Ø
If a year is approaching its close.
Ø
If he realizes the
thought that soon, very soon, some of his hearers may
be
in the eternal world.
Ø
If he gives due heed
to the thought that, even apart from the
possible
nearness
of the next life, the accidents of time may make the period
exceedingly short for teaching
and warning any one individual.
CAN GO. He may teach and
warn and plead, but when he has done that —
where his responsibility ends, THAT OF THE HEARER BEGINS!
(v. 19, “therefore choose life.” The preacher witnesses. The
hearer must be left
alone with God and his own conscience to decide
the all-important
question, ON WHICH A WHOLE ETERNITY
DEPENDS! Man can direct his fellowman to
God. He may plead and
beseech, even weeping. He may, as in Christ’s
stead, pray, “Be reconciled
to God” (II Corinthians 5:20).
But on the hearer alone THE FULL
RESPONSIBILITY OF
THAT FINAL STEP RESTS! We may point
to God: but we cannot come
between the soul and God. We can herald the
way: but we cannot lead the
soul along the paths of righteousness (Ezekiel 33:4).
Hence the final word must be,
“Choose life” (v. 19). “Choose ye this day
whom ye will serve” (Joshua
24:15). With
the power of free choice man
cannot interfere. With it God will not
trifle. And what should be the effect of
such an appeal, but to shut the sinner up
alone with his God, that between him
and Heaven the
great matters of life and death may be decided, and that,
with the judgment seat alone in view,
in full sincerity of soul, the sinner, pressed
with the weight of the
Divine claims, may then and there “repent,” and “yield
himself unto
God?” And if then, conscious of the
feebleness of a will
weakened by so oft determining
on the wrong side, he cries, “Lord, help
me, and I will
be thine forever,” A REGAL LOVE SHALL CANCEL
PAST SIN AND
COMPLETELY FORGIVE; AND A GRACIOUS
POWER SHALL CURE
THE WEAKNESS AND PERFECTLY
RESTORE!
A
Last Word (vs. 15-20)
·
AN ALTERNATIVE. Life
and death; good and evil (v. 15); blessing
and cursing (v. 19). An alternative for the nation, but also
for the
individual. “Life” is more than existence — it is holy and happy
existence.
“Death” is not equivalent to
non-existence. As respects the natural life, it is
the separation of the living, thinking principle from the
body, and is
compatible with the survival of the soul in a future state. As
respects the
spiritual life — that life which the believer has, and the
unbeliever has not,
even now, while yet both have conscious being (I John 5:12) —
death
is the cessation in the soul of all holy, spiritual
functions, implying, indeed,
a state of moral ruin, destruction, and disorganization, but
by no means the
wiping out of consciousness. “Eternal death” — a phrase not scriptural,
though “eternal punishment” is (Matthew
25:46) — is not held by any
one to mean “eternal existence in suffering;” but it is
believed that a being
who exists eternally, and exists consciously, whether in
actual suffering or
not, may yet in a very true sense be “dead.” “Death,”
in this verse (v. 15),
is deemed compatible with experience of “evil.” How strange that
between such alternatives there should be a moment’s
hesitation!
·
A WARNING. (vs. 17-18.) If the heart is drawn away from God,
and turns to idols, i.e. sets up any other
objects in God’s place, and
forbears to give to God His proper love and honor, he whose heart
does
this, or the nation if it does so, shall surely perish.
Ø
An awful end.
Ø
A certain end.
Ø
An end of which due warning has been given.
·
AN APPEAL. (vs. 19-20.) “Therefore
choose life,” etc. On which
note:
Ø
That choice
or moral determination underlies our salvation.
Ø
That choice
underlies the possibility of love to God.
Ø
That one deep choice
in the heart’s center underlies all the separate acts
of choice involved in a life of obedience.
Ø
That the choice God
wishes involves the choosing of Himself, with a
view:
o
to love Him,
o
to obey Him, and
o
to cleave to Him.
Ø
That the choice
of God is the choice of life, and carries all lesser good
with it.
An
Alternative Choice (vs. 15-20)
The prophet’s power to persuade and influence a people is
great —
unspeakably great; yet it is not irresistible. It has its limits.
After all that has
been said to him, a man feels that the determination and choice rest within
himself. Reason may be convinced; judgment may give a decided
verdict;
still inclination may inordinately lean to the weaker side, and
baffle all
prudent calculations. The intense eagerness of Moses for the
people’s weal
is
a sublime spectacle of generous devotement — an unparalleled instance
of
ardent patriotism. Calling up all his powers of persuasive and passionate
appeal, he makes a final effort to win the tribes for God. We
have here:
·
ALTERNATIVE LINES OF CONDUCT. All possible courses of life
are reduced to two — one of which every man must take; a third
course is
excluded. The two are separately described.
Ø The course
of loyalty is described:
o
By the man’s state of heart. “To love the Lord thy God.” This
determines
all that follows — the root out of which all flowers and
fruits of
obedience spring. This love arises from a right appreciation
of God. “He
is thy life,” yea, the life of thy life. Without
Him, life is
a shadow — a dream — outside showy. “In Him we live.” (Acts
17:28) “Christ
is our life” (Colossians 3:4), the Source of all
strength and goodness and joy. This love arises from close
relationship. He is our God; He has entered into
loving covenant
with
us and joined forever His interests with ours.
o
By the man’s habit of life. He “walks in God’s ways.” In
those ways
HE FINDS GOD! It
is the King’s highway. He has daily
companionship with Jehovah. All his tastes and wishes are gratified.
His will is
sweetly acquiescent in God’s will. He steadily makes
advancement
in the beauteous life. He does not halt; he walks.
o
By his
practical obedience. “He keeps His commandments and His
statutes.” He keeps them in memory (“Thy Word have I kept in my
heart that I might not sin against thee.” –
Psalm 119:11), and has
regard to
them in every step he takes. They are written upon the
tablet of
his heart; they shine out in lustrous characters in all his
actions.
He guards them from the assaults of others. As the stone
tablets
of the Decalogue were preserved in the ark of the covenant,
so in the more capacious ark of a good
man’s heart, the
commandments of God are kept.
Ø So,
also, the course of disloyalty is portrayed:
o
As a dislike
of God. “If thine heart turn away.”
Through ignorance, or
prejudice,
or pride, or sensual indulgence, men grow in dislike of God,
until His
very Name is odious — His presence a very hell. Repugnance
to God is
the livery they wear.
o
Is wanton
deafness. “So that thou wilt not hear.” The ear is only an
instrument;
the effective power comes from a deeper source. We
gradually
bring ourselves into a condition in which we hear only
what we
wish to hear. The bulk of men have made themselves
deaf to God’s voice.
o
Is weak
compliance to temptation.
Thou “shall
be drawn away.” The
habit of
most men is to float with the stream. They yield thoughtlessly
to the
influence of public example. They do as others do, speak as
others
dictate.
o
As ignoble
service of idols. “And worship other gods.” Man must
worship
somewhat. It is a necessity of his being. He is not self-
contained;
nor can he be satisfied out of himself. He worships:
§
power,
§
wealth,
§
fashion,
§
social
fame,
§
fate,
and
§
the
devil.
·
ALTERNATIVE EXPERIENCE.
Ø The
course of loyality secures:
o
All real good. The good is not always apparent — not
always immediate.
Yet even the experiences of pain and
calamity prove ultimately to the
obedient soul
a real good. The storms of winter are as needful to the
best life
as the warm breath of spring. All
that is wise, pure, excellent,
elevating,
noble, useful, is to be gained in the pathway of obedience.
Every stage accomplished
is a new installment of good.
o
It secures increase of numbers. Rapid multiplication was, humanly
speaking,
with a
public policy of abortion like that of the
foes. Through
our children, blessing and gladness come. So
is it in
spiritual things. We taste the highest joy when
we become the
channels of Christ’s life to men. We long to have many genial
companions in the road to heaven.
o
It secures
Divine blessing. “The Lord thy God shall bless thee.”
External
possessions contain no blessing in themselves. The richest
lands —
the fairest scenes on earth, are stripped of charm, so long
as they
are enveloped in absolute darkness. It is the light of God’s
favor
that converts possession into blessing.
Hence the little
of
the
righteous is better than the abundance of the wicked. (Psalm
37:16) If
God’s blessing be on our estates, that makes them secure.
(Psalm 16:6,11) That blessing is the core and marrow of true
prosperity.
That blessing alone gives fragrance and gladness to life.
This blessing
is secured by the oath of God.
Ø
But the course of disloyalty is marked by the opposite
experience.
o
It is an experience of evil. The table may groan under the profusion
of
dainty
food, but there is a scarcity of food for the soul. (Psalm 106:15)
The body may be
pampered, but there is leanness in the spirit. Riches
may
increase, but they daily corrupt the mind. There may be noisy
laughter,
but it only covers inner sadness and hidden grief. No sorrow
is
sanctified. The real man is
starved
and ruined.
o
There is distressing insecurity. We are rich today; we may be paupers
tomorrow.
“Ye
shall not prolong your days in the land.” Apart from
God’s favor, we have not a day’s lease of
life — not the certainty
that
any
possession of ours shall continue. We dwell on the verge of a
volcano.
The earth quivers under our feet.
o
There is a sense of the Divine curse. A life of disloyalty is a life of
constant warfare with God — a conflict with Omnipotence. Every
plan
which impious men make is a
plan to elude and defeat God.
And they know
they cannot permanently succeed. There is a dark
pall overhanging
every prospect — a night of gloom closing in their
little
day. The curse of a good man is an awful calamity: what must
God’s curse include?
·
ALTERNATIVE DESTINY.
Ø
The destiny of the good man IS LIFE! This means life in its fullest
measure, in its highest form, in its perpetual developments.
Gradually
all the elements of weakness and pain and decay shall be
eliminated.
Compared with the future life of the righteous, the present life is but
childhood — the feebleness
and ignorance of infancy. The life which
is promised to the righteous is NOTHING LESS THAN
THE
LIFE OF GOD! “We
shall be like him.” (I John 3:2)
Ø
The destiny of disloyalty is
destruction. “Ye shall surely perish.”
o
This includes disappointment — the sudden
collapse of all
earthly hopes.
o
It embraces shame and public reproach. The disloyal will
be the
laughingstock of the universe. They
shall be covered
with confusion.
o
This dark destiny
includes poignant remorse. The unrighteous
will know, to their
deepest grief, THAT THEY MIGHT
HAVE BEEN SAVED, IF ONLY THEY WOULD!
o
Such despair BAFFLES ALL DESCRIPTION!
·
INSTANT CHOICE DEMANDED.
We cannot do other than admire
THE CONDESCENSION OF GOD IN PLEADING SO PATHETICALLY
WITH “ALL MEN!” (Today is the Day of Salvation! I recommend
How to Be Saved! - # 4 and Lord Save Me! - #5 – this website – CY – 2020)
Ø
There is full instruction. “I have set before thee life and death.” Every
element of needed information is furnished; and personal examination
of spiritual facts is expected. Every man
is bound:
o
to investigate,
o
to ponder,
o
to judge.
Ø
There is authoritative command. “I
command thee.” On the side of
righteous precept there is supreme authority.
o
Every appeal of God is an appeal to the noblest part of
our nature — to
conscience.
o
Every solicitation of the tempter is an appeal to appetite
and passion.
Ø
There is tender entreaty. To the activities
of wisdom
and authority is
added the impulse of love. If man’s benevolent love prompt him to use
all measures to turn the disloyal unto God; how much deeper
must be
the love of God, of which man’s affection is but a faint
adumbration!
With all the pathos which human sympathy can lend to
entreaty
Moses pleads, “therefore choose life.”
Ø
Heaven and earth are summoned to hear the solemn charge. Angels
note the fidelity of God’s prophets. All heaven is
interested in man’s
obedience. The joy of
heaven rises to new heights with every accession
of loyal subjects. And all the inhabitants of earth are
interested in our
obedience, whether they feel that interest or not. The future
history of
this world is in our hands — is being molded
by our deeds. What we
are today determines what the next generation will be. (How
shall it
sound in your ears to be deemed a willing part of a generation
who
denied the next generation to be born. I am talking about “abortion
on demand” and “pro-choice” –
CY - 2020) Each man who
hears the heavenly summons makes decision straightway, if not in
form,
yet in reality. Each man is writing the epitaph for his tomb —
preparing his verdict for THE
LAST JUDGMENT! Can we
not today forecast our final destiny?
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