Deuteronomy
6
Some connect this (vs. 1-3) with what goes before, and take
it as a sort of epilogue to
the
preceding discourse; but it is rather to be regarded as introductory to what
follows.
Being about to enjoin upon the people the commandments they were to obey in the
land
on which they were about to enter, THE
SELECTED TO BE A THEATER FOR PRACTICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Moses prefaces this with a general announcement of what he
was about to deliver, and
with a statement of the reason for such deliverance, and of the benefits that would
flow from the
observance of what should be
enjoined. The worship, fear,
and service of the
one living and true God were the prime duties enjoined
on the people.
1 “Now these are the commandments,” -
In the Hebrew it is, This is the
commandment, i.e.
THE SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF THE DIVINE
ENACTMENT equivalent
to “THE
LAW” (ch.4:44). “The statutes and
judgments” (rights) are in apposition to “the commandment,” and explain
it - “the
statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded
to teach you, that ye might do them in
the land whither ye go to possess it:”
2 “That
thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all His
statutes
and His commandments, which I command thee,
thou, and thy son, and thy
son’s son, all the days of thy life; and
that thy days may be prolonged.”
The reason for this announcement of the Law was that the
people might fear the Lord,
so as to keep all that He enjoined, they and their
children, from generation to generation,
and that they might thereby continue long in life, and in
the enjoyment of the advantages
accruing from the land of which they were about to take possession. The nurture and
training
of the family are to be emphasized and this family
loyalty to God is to be
continuous and unswerving — “all the days of thy life.” And in wealth and
variety
of diction the Legislator points
out that in this loyalty of being
would find its well-being, our highest interests
are ensured by the fulfillment
of the
Divine commands. The forms in which the rewards of loyalty to God
will
show themselves are very varied. The individual will
find that godliness has
“promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to
come.” (I Timothy
4:8) The family will
find that “He blesseth the
habitation of the just.” (Proverbs
3:33) - The city will find that the keeping
of God’s commandments is among the
things “which belong unto
its peace.” (And “the righteous nation which
keepeth the truth” will find that “salvation doth
God appoint for walls and
bulwarks” (see Isaiah 26:1-2;
48:17). It is a remarkable instance of the Divine
condescension to our ways of thinking, feeling, and acting,
that our God
should stoop to teach us what is profitable to ourselves,
and that He should
deign in mercy to reward with honor and peace those who fear Him
(Psalm 62:12).
Descending
Obligations (v.2)
·
CHILDREN WITH THEIR PARENTS ARE INCLUDED IN THE
COVENANT. This has
been a general principle in God’s dealings with his
servants. We have it affirmed, both in the covenant with Abraham
(Genesis
17:7-15) and in the later covenant with
It was signified in the rite of
circumcision. The Israelitish
child was regarded
as within the covenant, a genuine member of the theocracy,
till by a personal
act of apostasy — if unfortunately it should be so — he
severed himself from
its blessings. Similar language is used of the children of
Christian believers
(Acts 2:39; I Corinthians
7:14). Received into the Church by
baptism, they
are recognized with their parents as interested in the
promise; they are
expected, on coming to years of discretion, freely to appropriate
the
obligations of the Christian life; and they are, in case of refusal,
justly
regarded as apostates from Christ.
·
THE STANDING OF CHILDREN IN THE COVENANT ENTAILS
SERIOUS OBLIGATIONS ON THE PARENTS.
Ø
Religious instruction (vs. 6-7, 20; Exodus
13:8, 14, etc.). The children
had not been personally at Horeb.
They had not seen the mighty
works of God in
acquaint them with the history, and to instruct them in their
duties.
Ø
Religious training, which is education in act, as instruction is education
in word (ch. 21:18; Genesis 18:19; Proverbs 29:15, etc.).
Ø
Religious example. The parent is to be one who loves the Lord for
himself (v. 5). The Word is to be in his own heart (v. 6). Only
thus will
he teach with effect. All this has its counterpart in the
duties of Christian
parents (Ephesians 6:4; I Timothy 3:4; II Timothy 3:15, etc.).
·
THE STANDING OF CHILDREN IN THE COVENANT ENTAILS
SERIOUS OBLIGATIONS ON THE CHILDREN. Where parental duties
had been fulfilled, the Israelitish
child was under the most sacred
obligations to choose and adhere to the God of his fathers, and to serve
Him in the way
prescribed. There was in this no
interference with freedom,
for when God proposes covenant relations to a human being,
while it is his
privilege, it can never be aught else than his duty to accept them.
In the
Christian Church, a like
obligation rests on the children of believers. The
baptized child is bound to serve God, and, if properly instructed
(Matthew 28:19), it cannot evade
the responsibilities thus laid upon it.
Great is the guilt of a child
brought up in a Christian home if wantonly it
apostatizes.
3 “Hear
therefore, O
and that ye may increase mightily, as the
LORD God of thy fathers hath
promised thee,” - God had promised from the first to the patriarchs that He
would
make of their posterity a great nation (Genesis 12:1; 17:6;
18:18). But the fulfillment
of this promise was conditioned by their continuing as a people in the fear of
God, and in obedience to His Law. Everything, then, depended on their hearing
what Moses had been commanded to teach them, and observing to do
it (compare
Leviticus 26:9) - “in the land” - This is to be connected with the clause, “that it may
be well with
thee, and that ye may increase mightily;”
the land was to be the scene
and sphere of their prosperity
and increase. Some would render thus: “As the Lord God
of thy fathers hath promised thee a land,” etc., i.e.
a place in which thou mayest prosper
and increase; the other, however, is the more natural
construction and rendering. There
is, indeed, no preposition before “the land” in the Hebrew; but nothing is more
common in that language than for the accusative of a noun
to be used adverbially to
describe the place where anything is done -“that floweth
with milk and honey.” -
an emblem of fruitfulness and sweetness (Song of Solomon
4:11); proverbially
descriptive of
whence the bees could extract honey (compare Exodus 3:8,
17). Robust health,
domestic
comfort, national peace, prolific harvests, security, contentment,
honor, —
these are among the fruits to be anticipated. Obedience
is an investment
of moral capital, which brings LARGEST and SAFEST RESULTS!
Obedience to God is Conducive to the
Highest Good (vs. 1-3)
The Lord God had launched forth into the world a new
nation, the basis of
whose constitution was specifically religious. The worship,
fear, and
service of the one living and true God were the prime duties
enjoined on
the
people, without which no bare morality as between man and man was
accepted before Him. In this paragraph, however, we get no
indications of
duty which have not previously been included in the ten commandments.
How can we? The whole ground of duty was covered by them.
Still, the
same truths are ever being thrown into forms fresh and new. The primal
laws of duty are not many; they may soon be recounted. But we need “line
upon line, precept upon precept,” that the very precepts which perhaps we
deem commonplace may be graven on
our hearts, and there become living
powers! In the three
verses before us the enjoined duties are summed up in
the
one phrase, the commandment (v. 1: the word is singular, and
includes in its meaning both statutes and judgments). Four
expressions
show how “the commandment” is to be kept.
1. There is to be a
fear of the Lord; a fear based on trust, not on distrust.
2. The Divine appointments are to be THE RULE OF LIFE!
3. The nurture and training of the family ARE TO BE IN ENTIRE
HARMONY
THEREWITH!
4. This family loyalty to God is to be continuous and unswerving — “all
the days of thy life.” And in wealth and variety of diction the Legislator
points out that in this
loyalty of being
Whence we get the
topic for our present Homily: That our highest
interests are ensured by the fulfillment
of the Divine commands. Observe:
·
IT IS SUPPOSED THAT MEN WILL NOT BE INSENSIBLE TO
THE QUESTION — “WHAT WILL BE MOST PROFITABLE TO US?”
As a matter of fact, they do regard
the measure of profit likely to accrue, as
something which regulates their movements. Nor is there anywhere in
the
Word of God any censure passed
on this. In fact, even our Savior Himself
appeals to considerations of profit in Matthew 16:25-26. So also
does
the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 4:8. The working of self-love is
recognized without rebuke in the Law, “Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as
thyself;” and it is even
remotely enjoined in the words, “Do thyself no
harm.” (Acts
16:28) The distinction between self-love
and selfishness is very
decided, yet is far too little noticed. Selfishness is having
regard to our own
interests in distinction from those of others; self-love has
regard to our own
interests in harmony with those of others. The first is
sinful; the second is
lawful; yea, more, to fight against our highest interests would
be wrong.
We may demur to the maxim that
“utility is the foundation of virtue,” and
rightly so, if “utility” be taken in the selfish aspect
thereof. But if by
“utility”
we mean “the tendency to promote the highest good over the
widest sphere, for all time,” then the maxim is lifted up to a
higher level,
and becomes at least practically wholesome, even if it
may be objected to
on philosophical grounds. If,
then, we do but entertain a right and
scriptural view of what our highest interests are, it is
lawful for us, and
even binding on us, to have a regard to them; and it is to
the desire in that
direction that the passage before us makes its appeal.
·
IT IS SHOWN HERE THAT THERE IS A COURSE OF LIFE
WHICH IS APPOINTED FOR US BY GOD. The appointments of God
for us are specified here. We are to “fear the Lord.”
Evidently this is to be
a fear, not of dread, but of love; for see v. 5. In Psalm
130:4 we read,
“But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” God
forgives, and so takes away the fear of the offender, that the fear
of
offending may take its place. There is to be dread of sin, but not of God.
The fear is to be suffused with
tenderness and brightened with joy
(Psalm 33:1). See the phrases in
this section, even touching in their
pathos — “God, thy God,” “the God of thy fathers.”
Yea,
it is our own
God who lays down our life-rules,
and by all the force of His tender love
would He win us to obedience.
·
IN FOLLOWING GOD’S APPOINTED WAY WE ENSURE OUR
OWN HIGHEST GOOD. (vs. 2-3.) The elements of good which
obedience ensures are:
Ø
Peace. We remarked above
that the fear of God, which we are called on
to cherish, is one based on trust. The Christian form of this
is reliance on
the Lord Jesus Christ in all the aspects in which He is
revealed to us as
ours. The effect of this is named in Romans 5:1. Then there
will be
peace of conscience (see Isaiah 32:17; Philippians 4:6-7;
Matthew 11:29).
Ø
Harmony. Our nature
will be in self accord when what we are and do
corresponds to what we ought to
be and do. There will be no schism
between the judgment and the affections.
Ø
Health. Other things being equal, the man who is most obedient to
God’s laws will
have the soundest health in body, soul, and spirit. The
gladsomeness and ease of a sound and well-balanced constitution will be
his. Hence:
Ø
Continuance will be a part of the reward — “that thy days may be
prolonged” (see Psalm
91:16; compare Ephesians 6:3; Psalm 37:9, 28,
34). The
forms in which the rewards of loyalty to God will show
themselves are very varied.
o
The individual will find that godliness
has “promise of the life
that now is, and of that which is to come.” (I Timothy 4:8)
o
The family will find that “He blesseth the
habitation of the
just.”
o
The city will find that the keeping of God’s
commandments is
among the things “which belong unto its peace.”
o
And “the
righteous nation which keepeth the truth”
will
find that “salvation doth God appoint for walls and
bulwarks”
(see
Isaiah 26:1-2; 48:17).
It is a remarkable instance of
the Divine condescension to our ways of
thinking, feeling, and acting, that our God should stoop to teach
us
what is profitable to ourselves, and that He should deign in
mercy to
reward with honor and peace those who fear Him (Psalm 62:12).
Mercifully meeting us on the low
ground on which we too frequently
stand in looking out for profit, God would raise us up to the
higher
platform of a pure, self-abandoning self-forgetfulness and love, in
which we are content to be nothing, THAT
GOD MAY BE ALL
IN ALL! For observe:
·
APPARENT EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE ARE EXCEPTIONS
ONLY IN APPEARANCE. Sometimes
obedience to God may be attended
with a most unusual amount of affliction or of persecution.
Take, e.g. the
roll of worthies referred to in Hebrews 11:32-39. Can we say it
was for
their “profit” to serve God? Most
certainly we can. For:
Ø
By their endurance they became witnesses for God, and served their
generation (like David – Acts 13:36 – CY – 2020) in the very way
they would most have desired could they have seen as God sees.
Ø
Their afflictions
were the means of purifying their characters,
strengthening their principles, and ripening their virtues.
Ø
In the midst of all, God was Himself
to them “their exceeding joy;” and
what they had in Him
was, even on earth, an ample recompense for
all that they had suffered for Him. (“For our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory” II Corinthians 4:17)
Ø
They had respect to the recompense of reward (Hebrews 11:10, 16,
26).
Ø
Their sufferings are
long ago forgotten in the rest of the unseen state
where they are “inheriting the promises” (Hebrews
6:12). They had
faith to believe them and patience to wait for them, and now
they have
entered into “the rest.” Who need wish to change their lot for
the
smoothest and most prosperous career of a man “without God in the
world?” Virtue may for
a while seem “to have the worst of it,” but “they
that are losers for God
shall never be losers by Him in the end.”
·
OBEDIENCE IS EXPECTED TO BE THE RESULT OF AN
INTELLIGENT AND CULTURED FAITH, AND NOT OF A BLIND
ONE. (v. 1), “The Lord your God commanded to teach you.”
Nowhere
has the adage, “Ignorance is the mother of devotion,” less
warrant than in
the Word of God. The priests of a spurious or alien faith may
inculcate
blind submission. Not so any of the inspired writers, whether
legislators,
prophets, or apostles. Men were to be taught not only what God
required,
but why He required it, that they might render Him the homage
of a heart
quickened to love through the truth which reached the understanding
and
“commended itself to every man’s conscience.” (II Corinthians 4:2)
God appeals to
reason (Isaiah 1:18).
Obedience the End of Law (vs. 1-3)
All the machinery of law is abortive, unless obedience be the result. As a
mother teaches her children, giving them “line upon line” (Isaiah 28:13),
frequent repetition and variation, so Moses patiently taught
“faithful in all his house.” (Hebrews 3:5)
·
SEE THE INTERNAL EXCELLENCE OF GOD’S LAW. It has so
many qualities of merit, that no one word in human language can
express
them all. They are “commandments,” which word indicates
the just
authority from which they emanate. They are “statutes,” implying their
fixed and permanent character. They are “judgments,” a
description which
denotes thoughtful deliberation, patient forethought, and
sagacious
decision. No greater benefactor can men have than a wise
legislator. These
Laws, if reverently observed,
would have been “health to the marrow,” and
life to the nation.
·
THE DESIGN OF GOD’S COVENANT WAS HEARTY AND
COMPLETE OBEDIENCE.
It was unprofitable for God to command, or
for Moses to teach, unless the people obeyed; just as it is
futile for the
husbandman to plough his land, pulverize the clods, sow the seed,
water
his crops, if no harvest ensue. The end which God had clearly
in view —
the only end worthy of Him, was not
prosperity there; the final end
was obedience. The land was selected to be
a theatre for practical righteousness. The land would be forfeited if
righteous obedience did not abound. And obedience, to be acceptable,
must be real. External conformity to law would not suffice. The whole soul
must yield compliance. There must be harmony between man’s will and
God’s. Obedience would foster reverence, and reverence would
strengthen
love. (Jesus said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words,
and
my Father will love him, and WE
WILL COME UNTO HIM, AND
MAKE OUR ABODE WITH HIM!” - John 14:23 – CY - 2020)
There is action and reaction
amid the forces of the soul.
·
PIOUS OBEDIENCE IS ENTAILED. It is a moral inheritance
passing from father to son. Formal and superficial obedience will
not
reproduce itself in others, will not bear seed of the true kind. But
genuine,
vital piety is contagious. If bad qualities are communicated, surely good
qualities are also. Else truth would be feebler than error, virtue
feebler than
vice. Thorough, straightforward, transparent, cheerful piety is
the greatest
power in the world. For our children’s sake, and for our
children’s
children, let reverent obedience brighten and beautify our life!
·
PIOUS OBEDIENCE PRODUCES PRESENT FRUITS. Its rewards
are not wholly reserved for the future. On earth some
advantages are
reaped.
Ø
Length of days is a result. “Thy days may be prolonged.”
A green old
age is a beautiful thing. “The wicked shall not live out half their
days.”
Ø
Numerous progeny is a result. “Ye may increase mightily.” A
growing
population is universally regarded as a token of material prosperity.
“They
of the city shall flourish as grass of the earth.” Success
in all enterprise is
announced as an effect. “It
shall be well with thee.” (v . 3; ch. 4:40;
5:16, 29, 33; 6:3, 18; 12:25, 28; 19:13; 22:7, and Ephesians 6:3)
Ø Robust health,
domestic comfort, national peace, prolific harvests,
security, contentment, honor, — these are among the fruits to be
anticipated. Obedience is an investment of moral capital, which brings
largest and safest results.
THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT (vs. 4-25)
In the fear of Jehovah all true obedience is rooted (vs.
2-3); for this is the first
and most intimate fact in the relation of
the supreme fear of Jehovah hinders men from allowing self
to preponderate in
opposition to God, there will be no stopping at this
renunciation of self-will,
though this comes first as the negative form of the ten
commandments also
shows, but there will come to
be a coalescence of the human with the Divine
will; and this is love, which is the proper condition of
obedience, as the ten
commandments also indicate (Ibid. v.10)”
4 “Hear, O
affirmation not so much of the moneity
as of the unity and simplicity of
Jehovah, the alone God. Though
Elohim (plural), He is one. The speaker
does not say, “Jehovah
is alone God,” but “Jehovah our Elohim is one
Jehovah” (compare for the force of אֶחָד, Exodus 26:6, 11; Ezekiel 37:16-19).
Among the heathen there were many Baals
and many Jupiters; and it was
believed that the deity might be divided and communicated
to many. But the
God of Israel, Jehovah, is one, indivisible and
incommunicable. He is the
Absolute and the Infinite One, who alone is to be worshipped, on whom
all depend, and to whose command all must yield obedience (compare
Zechariah 14:9). Not only to polytheism, but to pantheism, and to the
conception of a localized or national deity, is this declaration of the unity
of Jehovah opposed. With
these words the Jews begin their daily liturgy,
morning and evening; the sentence expresses the essence of their religious
belief; and so familiar is it to their thought and speech that, it is said,
they
were often, during the persecution in
involuntary utterance of it.
5 “And
thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
To the one indivisible Jehovah
undivided devotion and love are due. Hence the injunction, Thou shalt love
Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy
might. The “heart” is the inner nature of the man, including his intellectual,
emotional, and cognitive
futurities; the “soul” is the personality, the entire
self-consciousness; and
the “might”
is the sum
of the energies, bodily and
mental. Not by profession merely is Jehovah to be loved; the whole man,
body, soul, and spirit, is to be yielded to him in holy
and devout affection
(compare Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:33; Luke 10:27; Romans
12:1). The last
letter of the first word, and the last letter of the last
word in this verse are
larger than the ordinary size (majuscula),
and as these two form the word for
witness (עד), the Jews say that they are written thus “that every one may know,
when he professes the unity of God, that his heart ought to be
intent and
devoid of every other thought, because God is a witness, and knoweth
everything.”
The Essence of the
Decalogue is Love (vs. 1-5)
Moses here applies the Decalogue to their present
circumstances. He wishes them
to
enter
commonwealth depends upon it. To assist them in the understanding of
the Law,
he
sums it up in one all-embracing principle of love. GOD AS THE SUPREME
OBJECT is to receive the homage of the entire nature of man.
·
MOSES INSISTS ON THE
UNITY AND ABSOLUTE CHARACTER
OF GOD. This
would distinguish
“Jehovah our Mighty One is one Jehovah” — the uncaused, self-existent
One in His absolute unity and strength. All perfection is thus briefly
attributed to Him.
·
GOD CAN BE THE OBJECT OF LOVE. His unity is not an unsocial
thing. Within His being there are social qualities demanding,
and from all
eternity receiving, satisfaction. Hence we believe in what
Jonathan Edwards
called a “social Trinity.” Our social nature is the reflection of
God, since
we were made in His image. His unity does not imply
that in the by-past
eternity, before anything was made, He was alone. It was the
fellowship of
“Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit” — three Persons in the one Godhead. The
Trinity makes God lovable, for
it is the condition of the satisfaction from
all eternity of His social qualities.
·
GOD DESERVES THE LOVE OF
OUR WHOLE BEING. Heart,
soul, and might are to be enlisted in this service. Our
love to Him should be
intellectual and also emotional;
it should be passionate and strong; an all-
embracing energy of our nature.
All
our faculties are appealed to by the
DIVINE NATURE!
Ø
Our understanding is enlisted by God as the Infinite
Mind. All our
intellectuality finds its counterpart and culmination in the infinite
intellectual powers which God possesses and exercises. We rest upon
His superior intellectual power.
Ø
Our affections are enlisted by God as the Fountain
of affection. God is
a Heart of unspeakable tenderness as well as a Mind of
infinite grasp.
And
so He elicits the love of the heart as well as of the mind.
Ø
Our will is swayed into passionate devotion by God as the Infinite
Will.
If the spectacle of will in
resistless benevolence commands the homage
of our powers, then God entrances our whole will-power
into passionate
devotion.
Ø
Our strength
is enlisted by God as the embodiment of
vital energies and
powers in their highest form. So that as a matter of fact, God fits into
every fold of human nature and elicits its
loving and adoring homage.
·
LOVE MAKES LAWKEEPING DELIGHTFUL. The Law is not a
pain to any who love the Lawgiver. Love is the essence of
true loyalty. It
makes service freedom. It is this which we must cultivate daily,
and then
life becomes delightful.
The Great
Commandment (vs. 4-5)
·
THE GROUND OF IT. A
just view of God. The view given in v. 4 is
as comprehensive as it is sublime. It embraces two parts
mutually
complementary.
Ø
God’s
absoluteness and unity — “Jehovah one.”
Ø
God’s personal
relation to
combined:
Ø
In the covenant name — “Jehovah.” This, on
the one hand, denotes
God
as the Eternal:
o
the ever-living,
o
the self-existent, and
o
therefore self-consistent
One.
On the other, it gathers into its
rich significance the love, and truth, and
faithfulness of centuries of gracious revelation. It will not awaken
love
to God to think of Him merely as absolute Deity. It is the
discovery of what
else is contained in the Divine essence; above all, the
revelation of His love,
grace, and
covenant-keeping faithfulness, which attracts affection. While,
without the revelation of God
as one and absolute — exclusive, self-
subsisting Deity — it would be impossible to raise the demand for
love
to the requisite moral height. In Jesus Christ the revelation
of God reaches
its highest point. Only the Son could reveal him in the
fullness of His glory
and love. He is “Who
being the brightness of His glory, and the express
image of His person..” (Hebrews 1:3)
·
THE HEIGHT OF IT. It
requires not merely that God should be loved,
but loved with all the powers of our being, and with all the
energy of these
powers.
Ø
With clear intelligence - “mind” (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:33).
Ø
With undivided affection - “heart.”
Ø
With entire self-surrender - “soul.”
Ø
With strenuous energy — “might.”
The right view of God is
obviously presupposed in the command to love
Him. The command would be unmeaning as addressed to a
polytheist, a
pantheist, an agnostic, or even to a deist disbelieving in
revelation. But this
view of God being given, the demand, as obviously, could not be
placed
lower. God as Creator and Savior cannot accept a place in our affections
lower than THE SUPREME ONE! He will have this or
none. It is due to our
morally perverted state that this demand should ever be felt by us
to be
unreasonable. Pure beings would not feel it to be so. They would delight in
the exercise of love to God, and find it natural and easy. The angels,
Christ,
the just made perfect, love the Father thus. Nor ought the
height of this
demand unduly to discourage us. Love to God is truly begotten,
though
not yet perfected, in every heart which has made choice of God
as its
supreme Portion, and cleaves to Him
with constancy. God has the ruling
place in such a heart, and it needs but growth to raise our love
to its
required purity and vigor. What is left unattained on earth will be
attained
in heaven.
6 “And
these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine
heart:” - Where
true love to God exists in the heart, it will manifest itself in a
regard to His will, and in the diligent keeping of His
commandments. Hence
His words were to be not only in the memory of the people,
but laid upon
their heart (compare ch. 11:18), that they might be ever present to the thought
and will. They were
also to be inculcated upon their children, and to
be the
subject of conversation on all fitting occasions between
them, the members
of their household, and even their casual associates.
7 “And thou shalt teach them
diligently unto thy children,” - literally, Thou
shalt sharpen them to thy children, impress them upon them, send them into
them like a sharp weapon
– “and shalt talk of them
when thou sittest in thine
house, and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down, and
when thou risest up.”
Truth and godliness are to be PERPETUATED BY
HOME
TRAINING! The home is here supposed to be a center in which the
conserving
forces of truth and godliness are to be themselves conserved.
What a profound principle Moses here indicates, viz. that a nation will be good
or bad according to its home life! Wonderful! that an infant nation should, at
starting, have this truth deep graven in its statutes; — OUR LAND WILL BE
AS OUR HOMES ARE! And
our municipal and
political life will be
conducted on the same line of obedience. Legislation, justice, taxation,
commerce, literature, art, (A moral barometer with which to check the
health
of the
of
the National Endowment of the Arts – the sacrilegious
blasphemy
which some so-called artist have exhibited, all the while
being
funded by tax dollars of unwitting citizens – CY – 2012) will all be
consecrated to God’s glory. As the flowers of earth send their fragrance
heavenward, so from every act of ours a fragrance of homage
should
ASCEND TO GOD!
and influence. A child’s
religious faith is, in a high and holy sense, to be
chosen for him by anticipation, by those who were “in Christ before” him.
The truths mentioned in this section are to be in the parents’ heart that
they “MAY BE POURED
OUT ANEW FROMTHENCE AS RIVERS
OF LIVING WATER” into the child’s heart!
with the truths
of God.
Ø
By talking of them,
in the house and out of it (v. 7).
Ø
By exhibiting
them, not only in the literal sense
(v.8) but in a
higher spiritual one.
Ø By writing them
(v. 9) Thus the
child is from the first to be
regarded as God’s child, to be trained for
Him. He
is to
receive God’s Word through
the avenues of
o
eye,
o
ear,
o
intellect,
o
heart.
Divine truth is to be ever
before him, night and day, indoors and
out. Those who gave
him birth and who love him best, are to
mold his young
life for God; he is to grow up as the
Lord’s
rightful possession, (as
Samuel) with the view of his afterwards
saying, in the spirit of
devout surrender, “I AM THE LORD’S”
-
(Isaiah 44:5).
Our ambition for our children must be the highest – not that they be richly endowed,
or
learned, or placed in earthly rank, BUT THAT THEY BE
INTERNALLY
AND THOROUGHLY RIGHTEOUS! Many a father and mother have
found
that “It
is much easier to lead their children into
IT IS TO LEAD THEM OUT!
Whatever was essential in the days of Moses, in the training
of children for God as the
means of guarding a nation, is not less needful now (Ephesians 6:4).
8 “And thou shalt
bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between thine
eyes.” The
words of God were to be bound
for a sign [a memorial or
directory] upon thine hand, the instrument of
acting,
and to be as frontlets [fillets or bands] between
thine eyes, the organs of direction
in walking or moving, and so on the forehead, the chamber
of thought and
purpose.
9 And thou shalt write
them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
They were to inscribe them on the posts of their houses,
and on their gates.
The purport of this is that they were constantly and
everywhere to have these
commandments of the Lord in view and in mind, so as to
undeviatingly
observe them. It seems,
however, to have been a custom widely prevalent among
the ancient Eastern peoples to carry about their persons
slips of parchment or
some other material, on which were written sentences of
moral or religious import;
and such sentences they were also wont to inscribe on
conspicuous places of their
dwellings; usages still to be found among the Moslems and
the latter of which
was not altogether unknown among Western nations, of which
traces may still be
seen in
This custom originated, probably, in a desire to have the
sentiments inscribed
always in mind; but for the
most part these inscriptions came to be regarded as
amulets or charms, the presence of which on the person or the
house was a
safeguard against evil influences, especially such as were
supernatural. By the
Jews this custom was followed; and they regarded it as authorized by the
injunction of Moses in this passage. Taking his words literally, they had
their
tôtâphoth and their mezuzah, the
former of which — the phylacteries of the New
Testament — were strips of parchment, on which passages of
the Law
(Exodus 13:2-10, 11-18; vs.4-10 here and vs.13-22) were
written, and these,
enclosed in a box, were bound on the forehead and left
wrist, and worn at prayers
by the worshippers; the latter a slip of parchment, on
which were written certain
passages of Scripture (vs. 4-9; ch.11:13-21), and which,
enclosed in a reed or
cylinder, was fixed on the right-hand doorpost of every room in the
house.
Truth
and Godliness to be Perpetuated by Means of Home
Training
(vs,
4-9)
In this paragraph, the aged lawgiver rehearses the sum and
substance of the
Law he had delivered, and is showing what provision God had
made in the
structure of society for
the maintenance and perpetuation of truth and
godliness. It is easy to see how very incomplete his work would have
been,
had
he not been guided to make provision for its perpetuation after his
death. Doubtless God designs to use various kinds of workers in
His field.
Some may, like Whitefield, make a great impression while
their oratory is
swaying its thousands and tens of thousands. Others may be like
Wesley,
who
not only moved the people for a generation by his pulpit power, but
also prepared the way by his organizing skill for a great institution which
should last for ages. Now, it is not for us to disparage one man
because he
does not do the work of another, but certain it is that, other things being
equal, there is no comparison between the power of a man whose
felt
influence passes away with his life, and that of one whose works
follow
him,
in the productions of his pen or the creations of his up-building skill.
New, it was not by one like Aaron, eloquent though he was,
that the
continuance of the Hebrew faith and life was to be secured. He gives
us no
proof of stability or of that kind of power which ensures its
own
reproduction. That was found in Moses, a man naturally slow of
speech,
who,
in spite of his occasional outbreaks of vehemence, was yet a patient,
wise, faithful leader, by whose practical genius provision was made for the
permanence of
Ghost, he called into existence those great institutions of
worship and
teaching, by means of which even we down to this day are feeling
the
impulses which started from
have what may be called a threefold appointment of God, which in all its
essential features is as
much in force now as ever. We propose to
study it,
not
so much in its historical and local aspect, as in its bearing on us and on
all
men for all time.
·
HERE, AT THE BACK OF NATIONAL LIFE, IS SET THE
EXPRESSION OF A CONDENSED THEOLOGY. “The
Lord our God is
one Lord.” Time was when
this verse was quoted in the Socinian
controversy in proof of the unity of God, as against the Trinitarians,
though it has in fact no bearing on the matter at all. It refers,
not to the
nature of the Divine Being in Himself, but is rather set
over against the
faiths with which
many.” In contrast
from polytheism, it declares that there is but ONE
GREAT SUPREME, who is the Lord of heaven and earth. And this is not
the basis of
than the Hebrews did, but what they knew we retain. In atheism,
the highest
intellectual natures never can rest. Deism chills. Pantheism ignores
personality. The God of the Bible, as revealed to us, satisfies the cravings
of intellect and heart. In Jesus Christ, God is
“manifest”
as nowhere else.
Nor should we
leave out the touching word, “the Lord our God.” We
have
one God and Father of all, to whom the vast and the minute are
equally
distinct, and by whose hand both are moved with equal ease (I
recommend
Fantastic Trip on You
Tube – CY – 2020) ; who, while He
rolls the stars along, can take under his special sheltering
love the widow
and the fatherless; who hears the orphan’s moan and dries the
falling tear.
It is our inestimable privilege
to know that infinitely above us, combined
with an arm of mighty power, there is a heart of tenderest love, whose
great concern it is to heal the wounds, to dry the tears, and obliterate the
sins of a bleeding, weeping, guilt-stained world! What a revelation is this to
our race! Well might Moses bid
message to man, that there is a redeeming God whom he may call his
own,
is:
Ø
our gospel,
Ø
our life,
Ø
our joy, and
Ø
our crown!
·
FRONT OF THE CONDENSED THEOLOGY, WE HAVE HERE
CONDENSED RELIGION. (v. 5.) The fundamental truth of
theology is
to be fruitful in practical godliness. God’s revelation of
Himself to man is
meant to be a redemptive power in man. Man has heart,
soul, strength,
understanding, emotion, will, energy. God would have no schism in our
being. Our varied parts
and powers are to be in tune. There is
no need for
us to present the sad spectacle of the heart going one way,
while duty and
conscience point another. Apart from the dissipation of force which
that
involves, what reproach and self-loathing such inward discord must
ensure!
Now, we have one inner faculty,
even that of love, which is meant to rule,
and does in fact rule, the man. According to the love, so:
Ø
intellect thinks,
Ø emotion feels,
Ø will decides,
Ø life moves.
Our text says,
let love be all concentrated on one grand object — God!
LET HIM HAVE ALL!
(see chs. 10:12; 11:1, 13, 22; 19:9; 30:16). Not
even in the New Testament have we a greater commandment
than this
(Matthew 22:37-40). “The love of
God which the gospel demands is more
intensive and cordial than that which the Law of Moses
demands of the
Israelites, according to the
gradual unfolding of the love of God Himself, which
was displayed in a much grander and more glorious form
in the gift of His only
begotten Son for our redemption than in the redemption of
bondage in
God as revealed to us in Christ — that
is theology; our love responding to
God’s — that
is religion. Without the first,
in what could the religious faculty
find a proper object? Without the second, infinite love
is defrauded of its rights!
Still, a third question naturally
follows: granted that in this interlacing of
theology and religion we have
both interpreted in meaning and both realizing
their aims, what means can
be devised to ensure the preservation of both
through generation after generation?
·
HERE IS A SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT DIVINELY
APPOINTED, TO CONSERVE AND PERPETUATE BOTH.
Ø The home is here supposed to be a center
in which the conserving forces
of truth
and godliness are to be themselves conserved. What a profound
principle
Moses here indicates, viz. that a nation will be good or bad
according
to its home life! Wonderful! that an infant nation
should, at
starting,
have this truth deep graven in its statutes; — our land will be as
our homes
are!
Ø In the home, our God looks to the parent
to give it its character, tone,
and
influence. A child’s religious faith is, in a high and holy sense, to be
chosen
for him by anticipation, by
those who were in Christ before” him.
Ø The truths mentioned in sections 1 and 2
are to be in the parents’ heart,
that they
may be poured out anew from thence as rivers of living water.
Hence the word
in v. 7, “Thou shalt sharpen them;” coming
fresh out of
the
sanctuary of a living soul, they are to be pointed, quick, and breathing
truths.
Ø By a variety of ways, the parent is to see
his child’s spirit early saturated
with the
truths of God.
o
By
talking of them, in the house and out of it (v. 7).
o
By
exhibiting them, not only in the literal sense but in a higher
spiritual one.
o
By
writing them on things around the house! Thus the child is from
the
first to be regarded as
God’s child, to be trained for Him.
He is to
receive God’s Word through the avenues of eye,
ear, intellect, heart.
Divine truth
is to be ever before him, night and day, indoors and out.
Those who gave
him birth and who love him best, are to mold his
young
life for God; he is to grow up as the Lord’s rightful possession,
with the
view of his afterwards saying, in the spirit of devout surrender,
“I
am the Lord’s!”
(Isaiah 44:5).
Note — Whatever was
essential in the days of Moses, in the training of
children
for God as the means of guarding a nation, is not less needful now
(Ephesians
6:4). The wider the range of human learning becomes, the
more needful it should be rightly directed; otherwise THE GREATER
THE
PERIL!
Love,
the Root-Principle of Obedience (vs. 4-9)
Attention is summoned for the reception of central truth,
viz. the unity of
the
Godhead. At that period, this doctrine was in great peril. All the
Orientals believed in “lords
many and gods many.” Science here confirms
Scripture. The unity of design, running through all natural law and
force,
indicates clearly unity of the Creator. To know the true God is, for honest
minds, to love Him. But rebellion of heart has engendered repugnance
towards God:
1. dislike,
2. hatred, and
3. enmity.
·
THE SOURCE OF ALL AUTHORITY IS
A BEING OF
ESSENTIAL
GOODNESS.
Ø
He is sole Monarch, incomparable
and unapproachable. He dwells
alone, higher than the highest creature. The disparity between
Him and
an archangel is immeasurable.
(Over the years, the way I have under-
stood God’s greatness is an analysis of Isaiah 55:9 – “For
as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” We
live in the
Milky Way Galaxy, which I
believe it would take 120,000 years
going at the speed of light, 282,000 miles a sec. to get across
it.
They say that there are millions
of galaxies that can be viewed by
telescope, within the bowl of the Big Dipper. To fathom this,
gets close to, what to me, is eternity! God is Great and He
is Good!
I recommend putting Fantastic
Trip in your internet browser – it
is a ten minute clip which is eye opening of the heavens and
of earthly
things. Also, I remember
once reading about President Theodore
Roosevelt who had a habit of
going with an aide or aides, out on
the balcony of the White House at night time. They would sit for
a time and say nothing.
Then, the President would say, “I think
were are back down to size.”
This ended the meeting. CY –
2020)
Ø
HE IS ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!
Every
attribute and quality that
is essential to perfection is found in Him. “He is light,” having no dark
shade anywhere. (I John 1:5)
Ø
HE IS THE SOURCE OF LIFE!
Jehovah — the Living —
the Life-giving.
All we have, and are, and hope to be, is derived
from Him.
Ø
He has deigned to come into intimate relation with us. He has made a
voluntary compact with us. He calls us His people. He allows us to
call
Him OUR GOD! We have a proprietorship in Him.
·
THIS GOD DESERVES THE
HEARTS.
Because of the moral beauty and essential goodness of our God,
He is incomparably most worthy
of human love. To give to any other a
higher place in our affection than we give to God, would be an outrage
against righteousness, fitness, and self-interest. For all these faculties and
susceptibilities of the human heart have been fashioned by God Himself,
and have been fashioned for this very purpose, viz. that
we should bestow
our worthiest love on Him. If this eternal design be frustrated, there is
violence, disharmony,
misery within. (Such as is evidenced in
the
and the world today! CY
– 2020) Such
love is commanded. It is a duty as well
as a privilege. Though we cannot instantly and summarily
command our love,
we can indirectly.
Ø
We can fix our
thought on the worthiest object of love.
Ø
We can contemplate
His charms.
Ø
We can appreciate
His goodness.
Ø
We can assure
ourselves of His love.
This in an
intelligent, reasonable, and practical love.
·
THE LOVE OF THE LAWGIVER PRODUCES LOVE TO HIS LAW.
Law
is a projection of God’s thought, a mirror of His mind, an overt
act of love. The true child will highly esteem every known
wish of its
father. To have practical direction from an unseen father will be
treasured
as a choice token of that father’s regard. If children, we
shall hide every
word of our father in our memory and in our love. (“Thy
Word will I hide
in my heart, that I might not sin against thee.” (Psalm
119:11) Every wish
of His heart will be a visible feature in our life.
It may be painful to the flesh,
but it will be pleasant to the soul. To the dutiful child,
obedience is a luxury, a
banquet of joy. “Oh!
how I love thy Law!” exclaims the pious
Psalmist.
(ibid. v. 97) “Thy Law is within my heart” (ibid. ch.
40:8). Thy Word is
to me as honey, as the droppings of the honeycomb. (ibid. ch.19:10)
·
LOVE IS THE MOTIVE-POWER OF SPEECH. The tongue is the
servant of the heart. We speak freely and fluently of that which
is dear to
our hearts. The child will speak freely of its toys and games,
the farmer of
his crops, the artist of his works. If men esteemed and
valued God’s
Word,
they would spontaneously converse of it, morning, noon, and
night. It
would be a painful restraint upon our desire if we withheld our
speech.
This precept of Moses need not
be an external law imposed upon us from
without; it may become the living law within, “the law of the Spirit of life.”
(Romans
8:2)
·
LOVE CONSTRUCTS ITS WHOLE LIFE ON THE MODEL OF
GOD’S LAW. The
hand will become the instrument of righteousness. On
it will be written God’s
Word, viz. industry, honesty, restraint, generosity,
kindness, helpfulness. God’s Word will be our ornament. Instead of gold
and jewels upon the forehead, “our adornment will be” modesty, chastity,
cheerfulness, moral beauty. (“Whose adorning let it not be that outward
adorning of plaiting of the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of
putting on
of apparel.” (I Peter 3:3) God’s Name will
be indelibly inscribed upon
our foreheads. (There will be an aura about us, that there will be no
question as to its source! CY – 2020) Our domestic affairs will be ordered
by the Divine will. We shall write His Word on the posts of
our houses.
Every home in which love dwells will be a temple. Order,
active piety,
frugality, peace, mutual service, will be the
principles conspicuous in
godly homes.
And our municipal and political life will be conducted on
the same line of obedience. Legislation, justice, taxation, commerce,
literature, art, will all be consecrated to God’s glory. (There being no
such thing as that
non-Constitutional phrase, separation of church and
state!
In
as a
can imagine, and perhaps, anticipate, what Satan, Secularism, and
the pseudo-term of Progressivism has in mind by opening your eyes
as to what is going on in this country in the 21st century! CY – 2020)
As the flowers of earth send their fragrance
heavenward, so from every
act of ours A FRAGRANCE OF HOMAGE SHOULD CONTINUALLY
RISE HEAVENWARD
TO THE GOD OF THE HEAVENS AND THE
EARTH!
God’s Words
to be Valued (vs. 8-9)
The usages to which allusion is made suggest:
·
THE DUTY OF A HIGH VALUATION OF GOD’S COMMANDS.
Only precepts highly valued
would be treated as described.
·
THE NECESSITY OF TAKING MEANS TO SECURE THE
KEEPING OF GOD’S COMMANDMENTS IN REMEMBRANCE. We
may keep the injunction in spirit:
Ø
By frequent reading of
Scripture (Psalm 1:2; 119:11-16).
Ø
By frequent converse
with others (Malachi 3:16).
Ø
By frequent recalling
of God’s words to our thoughts (Hebrews 2:3).
Ø
By the use of such
expedients as experience suggests — a privately,
marked Bible, etc.
·
THE IMPORTANCE OF CARRYING GOD’S COMMANDMENTS
INTO EVERY DETAIL OF LIFE. Hands, eyes, doorposts, etc. Our
working, seeing, home occupations, etc.
10 “And it
shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee
into the land which he swear unto thy
fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and
to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly
cities, which thou buildedst not,
11 And
houses full of all good things, which thou filledst
not, and
wells digged,
which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees,
which thou plantedst
not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
12 Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which
brought thee forth
out of the
As the Israelites were about to enter upon the possession of
a rich and fertile
land, where everything for their accommodation and comfort
was already
provided for them, there was
a danger of their being so engrossed with their
new possessions as to forget the Lord and his gracious dealings
with them.
They are, therefore, here warned against the danger to which
they would
be
thus exposed.
13 “Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God,” - The fear of the Lord
— that reverent
awe which is akin to love — is the beginning of wisdom
and the foundation of
piety; where it is in the heart it will lead
to serving of
the Lord in holy obedience; and they in whom it dwells will
swear by His
Name, recognizing His presence and omniscience, and not daring
to
asseverate anything but what they know to be true - “and
serve Him,
and shalt swear
by His name. 14
Ye shall not go after other gods, of
the gods of the people which are round
about you;” - Thus, really believing
in God and reverently worshipping Him, the Israelites would be
careful not to
go after other gods, or to give to any object that homage
which is due unto
Jehovah alone, knowing
that this He will not endure or suffer with
impunity; for He is a jealous God, and them that thus
dishonor Him He will
destroy (Exodus 20:5; ch.4:24). 15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous
God among you) lest the anger of the LORD
thy God be kindled against
thee, and destroy thee from off the face of
the earth. 16
Ye shall not tempt
the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.” Thus also they
should
be kept from murmuring against God, and thereby tempting Him
— putting Him,
as it were, to the proof, and calling in question His
presence and His power, as
they had done at Massah (Exodus
17:1-7). Without this genuine religious
principle there will be no
sincere worship, no true reverence, no real obedience,
rendered unto God. Where this dwells in the heart it will
influence the whole
life, so that the commandments of God shall be diligently
kept, and that which
is good and right in his sight shall be done. 17
“Ye shall diligently keep the
commandments of the LORD your God, and His
testimonies, and His statutes,
which He hath commanded thee. 18 And thou shalt do that which is right
and good in the sight of the LORD: that it
may be well with thee, and that
thou mayest go in
and possess the good land which the LORD swear unto
thy fathers.”
19 “To
cast” - rather, to the castling out of, The infinitive here expresses the
carrying out of the action intimated in the words, “that it may be
well with thee”
(compare Exodus 23:27; 34:11) - “out all thine enemies from before thee,
as the LORD hath spoken.”
The Creature Displacing
the Creator (vs. 10-16)
·
THE PRONENESS OF THE HEART TO ADMIT THE WORLD
INTO GOD’S PLACE. (v. 12.) The tendency is
universal. A result of
the Fall, in subverting the original constitution of man’s
nature with a result
twofold:
Ø
In giving to the
worldly and sensuous principles in the soul an undue
predominance; while:
Ø
Destroying that love
of God, and sense of dependence on Him, which
would counteract their operation. There may be no “going
after other
gods” in the sense of
v. 14, yet the first commandment may be broken by
making the world itself our god — giving it the place of the true
God in
our affections. The principle of
worldliness usually operates secretly.
The heart is “secretly enticed,”
does not perceive the progress of its
declensions (Hosea 7:9), and fights against the admission of it
(Revelation 3:17).
·
THE PECULIAR CONNECTION OF THIS TEMPTATION WITH
PROSPERITY, (vs.
10-11.) Not, indeed, so peculiarly connected with
it, but that the poor man may fall into the same snare. But
riches
unquestionably constitute a temptation which few succeed in resisting
(compare
ch. 8:11-19; Proverbs 30:8-9;
Matthew 19:22-27; I Timothy
6:9-10, 17, etc.). The
temptation is the greater:
Ø
If worldly possessions
are very abundant (v. 11).
Ø
If the prosperity, is
sudden (vs. 10, 11).
Ø
If it is freely
enjoyed (v. 11) — “hast eaten, and art full”
(ch. 8:10).
·
THE SAFEGUARDS AGAINST THIS TEMPTATION. There are
safeguards. Bible examples show that riches may be used with:
o
glory to God,
o
happiness to self, and
o
good to mankind (Abraham, Joseph, Job, Daniel, etc.).
Among the foremost we would
place the cultivation of a thankful spirit
(compare
ch.8:10) — the remembrance of God as the Giver of what
we
have; also the remembrance of God’s past mercies to us (vs. 12,
13).
Other safeguards are:
Ø
Serving God with our possessions (v. 13). The serving
will include
serving with our wealth, using what He has given for His glory, as
good stewards, and not luxuriously and wastefully spending all
on
self (Luke 12:15-21).
Ø
Making public acknowledgment of God (v. 13). The spirit
of this
command is kept by being willing, on all proper occasions, boldly
and
without shame to avow God to be our God. The man of wealth who
will
do this is carried at one stroke above half the dangers of
his position.
Ø
Non-conformity to the world’s ways (v. 14). It is not
easy to avoid
being led away by fashion, love of appearance, social custom,
etc. The
good man will beware of the snare, and keep aloof (Romans
12:2).
·
THE PENALTY OF YIELDING TO THE TEMPTATION. (v. 15.)
God’s
wrath is kindled and destroys the transgressor.
Ø
He is destroyed spiritually.
Ø
He may be temporally (Psalm 37:35; 73:18,
19).
Ø
He will
be eternally.
Tempting
God (v. 16)
Wealth has its temptations; so has poverty. It incites to
unbelieving
murmurs, and to a spirit called here “tempting the Lord.”
·
THE NATURE OF THIS SIN.
The peculiarity of it deserves to be
carefully studied. It is apt to be taken for granted that “tempting
God”
means simply provoking Him to anger. This, however, is a sense
of
tempting scarcely applicable to the Divine. God can be provoked to
wrath,
but He is not “tempted” thereby (James 1:13). “Tempting,”
in the sense
of the text, means “putting to the proof,” “imposing tests.”
Professor
Tyndall’s famous proposal of a
prayer test would have fallen under this
description. That this is the right view of the sin is plain from the
narrative,
and from allusions in the Psalms. “They tempted the Lord, saying, Is the
Lord among us or
not?” (Exodus 17:7). “They
tempted God in their
hearts… they said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?” (Psalm
78:18-20). In
this view of it the appositeness of the Savior’s quotation of
the passage becomes more obvious (Matthew 4:7).
·
THE OCCASION OF THE SIN.
A result of the want of food and
water. Poverty suggests this class of doubts, and inspires the
thought of
putting God to some test of His faithfulness. But the temptation
may
originate in other causes:
Ø
in intellectual doubt,
Ø
in a sign-seeking
spirit (Matthew 16:1),
Ø
in downright
presumptuousness.
·
THE EVIL OF THIS SIN.
Ø
Its root of unbelief. It is a “limiting of the Holy One of
(Psalm 78:41).
Ø
Its querulous (whining)
impatience. Instead of trusting
God, waiting
upon Him, and seeking light and help in a proper spirit, it
flies in
God’s face, accuses Him of
unkindness, and complains of His injustice.
Ø Its daring presumption
in presuming to lay down rules to the
Almighty,
to which He is required to conform. God brings us into situations of trial,
not that we may apply tests to Him, but that He may
test us — test our
faith, our patience, our humility. For those who come
successfully
through the trial there is the great reward of having dark things
at
length cleared up, and of being purified and strengthened by the
struggle. Failure, on the other hand, exposes to severe
chastisements.
(Although, not in the
Bible:
“Adversity will
make one bitter or better.”
Dangers Ahead! Beware! (vs.
10-19)
The forecast of Moses is here directed to a period when
taken possession of the Promised Land (v. 10). There, their
deliverance
would be entire and complete. No longer would they be
wanderers hither
and thither, but would be occupants of a land that they
would call their
own. Neither from the nation to which they were once in
bondage, nor
from those which they were called on to supplant, would
they fear aught
any longer! And yet there is
throughout this paragraph a voice of warning,
as if danger would attend them still! It would be so. But THE
DANGER
WOULD BE FROM WITHIN RATHER THAN FROM WITHOUT!
“When thou shalt have eaten and be
full; then beware lest thou
forget
the Lord,” Whence,
observe —
MAN FROM HIMSELF! By
the time the state of calm was attained, which
is here indicated, there would
cease to be danger from hostile foes, at least
for a while; but there would be
perils of another kind, which would attend
them even in the Promised Land.
If
behind, it had been otherwise;
but alas! go where they might, they must
perforce take themselves with
them, with all their liability to err, all the
proneness to sin, and all the temptation to doubt or to
pride. And not all
the spears and
slings of warriors could put the people in such peril as the
corruptions of their
own hearts! And so it is with us now and ever. We
carry ourselves about with us
everywhere; we cannot escape. There is
within each one’s heart a “root of
bitterness,” “a root that beareth gall and
wormwood;” (Hebrews 12:15) and
let earthly circumstances be as fair, as
easy, and as pleasant as they
may, yet, unless we heed the danger within,
they can do but very little to
ensure our peace. And herein lies the great
mistake of monasticism, as even
Augustine reminded his hearers. He told
them that it was vain for them
to attempt to flee out of the world in order to
escape corruption, for wherever
they might be they would carry the evil
within them. Never let us look
to outer circumstances alone to ensure our
entire rest. Not even a perfect
world could bring us that, unless we were
first made perfect.
PROSPERITY MAY EXPOSE US.
Ø
The first is that of “forgetting the Lord”
(v. 12). When fields and
vineyards and olive yards increase,
and our cup is overflowing, then we
are apt to lose sight of
Him to whom we owe all; and this not only in the
receiving but in the using
thereof (Hosea 10:1). Too apt are we to
say in our pride, “My river
is my own; I have made it for myself.” So also
are we apt to let our
enjoyments conceal our God from view, and to think
only of the mercies, while
we forget to glorify God in the use of them. Nor
is it any uncommon evil for
men to be so set upon the enjoyment of this
world’s comforts, as to
forget almost or altogether that higher world for
which they are bound to
live, and that future life on which all soon must
enter.
Ø
Another danger
indicated is that of undue tolerance of the idolatries
which were round about them
(v. 14). One effect of prosperity is
easygoingness; (Three sins
of
and abundance of idleness –
Ezekiel 16:490 – CY – 2012) and that,
unless checked and guarded,
will degenerate into a looseness of
principle, whereby, under cover of suavity and amiability, respect
for the convictions of
others may come to be substituted by our
having no very strong ones
of our own. Nothing is more common than
to see worldly aggrandizement attended by deterioration of
moral
sensibility.
Ø
A third danger specified
is that of “tempting the Lord” when
Prosperity meets with a
check. This seems to be the danger indicated
in v. 16, by a reference to
“Massah” (see Exodus 17:2-7). At this place
of sojourn there was a lack
of water. The people murmured. They
tempted the Lord and said,
“Is the Lord among us or not?” As if
they ceased to believe in
God’s presence with them, the moment
He made them thus feel
their dependence upon Him! Strange
perversity!
Yet how like ourselves! The
course of worldly prosperity scarcely
ever runs with absolute
smoothness for many years together. And the
self-will engendered
and strengthened in times of ease leads men
to repine and complain bitterly the moment
that ease receives a
check. (Witness the current check that economically is placed
upon
the United States today – a check, not doubt, upon us because of
our turning our backs on THE GOD who has blessed us so
much. The “god of materialism” has reared his ugly head and
when it is chopped off or threatened, “O how the people complain!
In times of prosperity men forget God, and
then when
adversity
comes they often complain as if God had forgotten them. (We
often hear “God Bless
God? – CY – 2012)
THESE PERILS, MOSES SHOWS
THEY ARE DILIGENTLY TO OBSERVE.
Ø
They are to fear
the Lord only (v. 13).
Ø
They are to swear by
Him only (Matthew 4:10), i.e. to cherish
a profound reverence for Him as the Author of all mercies, and as
the sole
Regulator of their lives. The honor of
His Name is to be
supreme.
Ø
They are to give the
supreme affection of the heart to God, so that
they may not provoke His
jealousy (v. 15).
Ø
They are to serve Him
by constant obedience (v. 18). By the constant
recognition of these four
duties, they will do much to guard themselves
from yielding to the perils
attendant on their growing wealth and ease.
(This may be compared with
the apostolic maxim, “Walk in the
Spirit,
And ye shall not
fulfill the lusts of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16)
Evil is most successfully counteracted by
the positive and earnest
pursuit of the opposite
good.
PROSPERITY AND SPIRITUAL WEALTH WOULD GO TOGETHER.
V. 18, “That it may be well with thee,” - Whether our earthly
circumstances are helps or
hindrances to us will depend much
more on what we bring to them
than on what they bring to us. And
however, on the side of this
life, things may favor us and circumstances
befriend, it is only as
they help us to serve God better that they are really
blessings to us: it
is “well” with us only when God is well pleased with us.
So much stress did Moses attach
to the maintenance of unswerving loyalty
to God, that he intimates that
the possession of the land is secured to them
only so far as they are true to
their Great Deliverer (vs. 18-19).
BECOME FAR MORE SACRED TO US, BY THE USE WHICH OUR
SAVIOR MADE OF IT IN A TIME OF SORE TEMPTATION. It is
never to be forgotten, that our
Lord repelled the tempter by the words, “It
is written,” etc. Of the three passages used as weapons for the
discomfiture
of the evil one, two are taken
from this very paragraph (see Matthew
4:7, 10). So that we are warranted
in using it as our armory from whence
we may fetch the darts which
shall make the tempter flee. These precepts
cannot be needed by us less than
they were by the Son of man. From Him
let us learn a
use of the Divine Word that may serve us in a thousand
assaults of the
destroyer. For not until we do this
can we discover the
varied uses to which we may
put the
Word of God in the actual struggle
of life. We, like our Master, have to be made perfect through
suffering. Now
we may suffer from want, hunger,
and privation; and at another time all the
kingdoms of the world, in a
moment of time, may be set before us, to
dazzle by their glare. We need
to take to us the whole armor of God, that
we may be able to stand in the
evil day, and having done all, to stand
(Ephesians 6:11-18) Go wheresoever we
may, let our surroundings be
easy and prosperous as they may,
dangers will attend us everywhere, till
we cross the pearly gate across whose threshold SIN NEVER COMES!
(II Peter 3:13) At one time it may be
that adversity makes us fretful and
apt to tempt the Lord, and then
at another prosperity may make us slothful,
and a sinful indifference may lull us to sleep.
Our chief dangers are from
within. But here in this holy
Book are promises to cheer us when drooping,
and warnings
to quicken us when sluggish. Here is
an arsenal from
whence we may fetch our weapons,
and a storehouse whence we may draw
our supplies. Yea, in this
wondrous quiver there are arrows which will be
sharp in the hearts of the King’s enemies, which shall pierce
them to their fall!
The Peril of
Prosperity (vs. 10-19)
Secular prosperity is hazardous. Unless the ship have ample
ballast in the
hold, a strong gale, however favorable, will be likely to capsize the ship
and
bury her in the caverns of the sea. The greater our earthly abundance,
the greater our need of religious principle.
·
WISE MEN INHERIT THE FRUIT OF OTHERS’ LABORS. Under
the leadership of God, the Hebrews inherited cities which the
Canaanites
had built, and vineyards which the Amorites had planted. If we
knew all
the facts of the case, we should admire this as an act of
righteous wisdom.
We do know that the iniquity of the Amorites was a cup
full to the brim.
The Hebrews,
with all their faults, were a superior race. Similar
displacements have gone on in all the lands of the world. It is an
instance of
the “survival of the fittest.” Redeemed men are
destined to be the lords of
the earth. The Church shall possess and rule the world. “All
things are
ours.” This inheritance of
ought to have produced a deep sense of gratitude. All
the Hebrews enjoyed
they owed to the bountiful hand of God.
·
SUDDEN PROSPERITY IS A SEVERE STRAIN ON PIETY. The
sense of daily and hourly dependence upon God for material food
is an
advantage; it is a constant incentive to gratitude and faith. Poor
human
nature cannot bear much indulgence. Poverty is more conducive to piety
than wealth has ever been.
Hence our Lord chose a state of poverty as
most suited to His mission. “How hardly shall they that have riches enter
into the kingdom of heaven!” So long as men continue in the flesh, they
prefer a visible God to an invisible. So they say to gold,
“Thou art my
god.” To be singular in religious belief and practice is
always an arduous
effort. The example of others has always been a sore temptation.
Unless we
can persuade them by the force of our superior faith,
they are sure to bias
us injuriously. Our safety lies in a stalwart and fearless
piety.
·
TO FALL FROM THE FAVOR TO THE FROWN OF GOD IS
IMMEASURABLE AND COMPLETE. It would have been better for
their peace and their reputation not to have inherited the land,
than to be
ejected from it again. It is a tremendous calamity, having been
lifted high,
to be thrown down. The effect of disloyalty among the Hebrews
would not
simply be a replacement in their former state; it would be
destruction from
the face of the earth. In the realm of morals, we cannot descend
to a station
we had occupied aforetime. If there is declension,
retrogression, fall, it
must be to a lower level than that we formerly held. The
penalties imposed
by righteousness are complete and remediless. We may well “stand
in awe
and sin not.” (Psalm
4:4) It is perilous in the extreme to
“try” God’s patience
— to
make experiments on the long-suffering of God. Suddenly, he “whets
His
glittering sword, and His hand takes hold on judgment.” (ch. 32:41)
·
HOPE IS AN INSPIRATION OF STRENGTH. Although Moses has
addressed to them these cautions, and pointed out these perils, he
will not
think so meanly of them as to forecast their fall. He will
cherish in his own
breast the bright hope of their loyalty. He will call into
exercise their own
best principles and aspirations. He confidently predicts their
wise and
upward course, and sketches before their eyes their future
greatness and
security. Herein is wise generalship. If hope kindles her lamp in
the human
breast, all is not lost. This is Heaven’s cordial for a fainting
soul.
In the last six verses of this chapter the injunction to
teach the words of the Lord
to the children (v. 7) is here more largely explained. When
asked by their sons
the meaning and reason of the commandments and institutes
which they
observed, they were to show them what the Lord had done for
His people
in bringing them out of
had enjoined on them all these statutes that they might fear Jehovah their
God for their good always, and for their preservation and
safety.
20 “And
when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying,
What mean
the testimonies, and the statutes, and the
judgments, which the LORD our
God hath commanded you? 21 Then thou
shalt say unto thy son, We were
Pharaoh’s bondmen in
a mighty hand: 22 And the
LORD shewed signs and wonders,” - (compare
ch.4:34) - “great
and sore, upon
household, before our eyes: 23 And He
brought us out from thence,
that He might bring us in, to give us the
land which He swear unto our
fathers.
24 And the LORD commanded us to do all
these statutes, to
fear the LORD our God, for our good always,
that He might preserve us
alive, as it is at this day. 25 And it
shall be our righteousness,” - literally,
And righteousness shall be to us, i.e. we shall be held righteous by God if
we
observe to do all that He has enjoined (compare Romans
10:5; Philippians 3:6) –
“if we observe to do all these commandments
before the
LORD our God, as He hath commanded.” - i.e. not only in his sight, but
according to His judgment, so as to be approved of Him
(compare Psalm 56:13;
116:9)
The Religious Education
of Children (vs. 6-9, 20-25)
This is a matter much insisted on in these addresses (compare
ch.11:18-22).
We learn:
·
THAT THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IS GOD’S
WAY OF PERPETUATING
VITAL RELIGION. Without this, religion
would soon die out; with it, a holy seed will be kept up in times
of greatest
declension.
·
THAT THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF CHILDREN
DEVOLVES PRIMARILY ON THE PARENT. The Church, Sunday
schools, etc., may assist, but nothing
can relieve the parent from this duty,
or compensate for his neglect of it (Ephesians 6:4; II Timothy 1:5).
“If a parent does not do his work, it will for
ever be undone.”
·
THAT THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IS TO BE
CONDUCTED WITH GREAT CARE AND FAITHFULNESS.
Ø
Very diligently (v. 7 – literally, exert thyself). It is to be gone about
most
painstakingly and systematically. “In thine
house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when
thou liest down, and when thou risest
up.”
There is need for
specific
teaching at regular times, but the text
indicates
a broader view of this part of parental duty. An element
pervading the
whole life, blending with
all occupation, insinuating its pleasant
influence in all our relationships with our children.
Ø
Very particularly (vs. 21-25). A
specimen is given of the careful
instruction parents are to study to impart.
Ø
Taking advantage of a child’s natural curiosity (v. 21). The
principle
of curiosity is strong in children. It early manifests itself
in reference to
religion. The Bible, with its delightful variety of story, parable,
proverb, etc., is peculiarly
adapted for the instruction of the young.
Family Training is to Propagate the Law (vs. 6-25)
The Law has as its essence love. In the family, love’s home and circle, this
Law is to be
propagated. And here we are to notice:
·
PARENTS ARE TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES WITH GOD’S
CAUSE. The
Jews were directed to wear portions of the Law upon their
persons. This is the sign of identification with it in a rude age.
The idea is
parental profession, a glad
identification of themselves with the Lord’s
cause.
·
THE HOME IS ALSO TO BE CONSECRATED AS A GODLY
HOME. God’s
Law was to be written on the posts of the house and on
their gates. This, like the last, meant the identification of
the house with
God’s cause.
·
THE CHILDREN ARE MANIFESTLY MEANT TO BE THE
COMPANIONS OF THE PARENTS. The little ones are to have their
parents’ society at home and abroad, at morning and night (v. 7).
The
mistake made by many parents is not making themselves sufficiently
companionable. It is companionship that after all determines the bent of
children.
·
THE HOME TRAINING IS TO BE RELIGIOUS. God’s Law is to
be brought in, morning, noon, and night, as the great interest.
Of course, if
parents are to do this as God intends, His Law must be a great personal
interest to themselves. They must delight in it and love it, and make it a
matter of study continually.
·
AMID THE SECULARISM OF EDUCATION THE HOME MUST
BE THE MAINSTAY OF RELIGION. With the parent the
responsibility
of training and interesting the children in religion
eventually rests. To the
well-ordering of Christian homes, Church and State must alike look as
the
last refuge. The adjustment of rival interests in education is
well-nigh
impossible, and so it becomes all
the more needful that the home should be
made to supply the religious element, whatever course educational
curriculums and legislation may take.
·
PROSPERITY MUST NOT ENGENDER ATHEISM. This is the
warning here given to
prosperity of
engenders atheism. The prosperity of the prodigal led him away to the far
off land of forgetfulness of God, while his adversity brought
him back
(Luke
15:11-32).
The Value of History in Parental Teaching (vs. 20-25)
The Bible is preeminently a family Book.
centers of strength and permanence in godly homes.
It would not be easy to find
words which should overrate the importance of such a
principle as this. That a young
nation should at the outset of its existence have this laid
down as a first law of its life:
“The land will be as its homes are;” is an indication of the Divine guidance which
Was vouchsafed to him on whom, under God, the foundation of
its national life
depended. In the paragraph before us there are seven lines
of thought suggested.
ARRANGEMENTS IN LAW AND PRECEPT READY TO HAND.
Parental life holds a great
trust in charge, to be committed to those who
shall come after; that though one generation passeth away
and another
cometh, there may be NO
BREAK IN THE CONTINUTIY OF
HOLY LIVING AND
THINKING FROM AGE TO AGE!
“That the
generation to come might know them, even the
children which
should be born; who should arise and declare
them to their
children: That they might set their hope
in God,
and not forget the
works of God, but keep His commandments.”
(Psalm 78:6-7; 22:31) The Hebrews had their Law, which, as a
revelation
From God, was in advance of
aught possessed by the rest of the world, and
in which was couched the
germ of larger truth that was to follow. There
might be more light thrown upon
it; there was never to be a forfeiture of it.
Hence there were
special reasons why parents should guard it intact
for all the ages that were to follow.
It is not supposed that the
children will lend themselves to either of
two extremes: they will neither
wildly tear up and obliterate “the old
paths” (Jeremiah
6:16), nor will they walk in them heedlessly and
without inquiry. The course here
indicated is that which any sensible,
well-disposed youth would
naturally follow. He would ask, “What
mean
these testimonies?”
(v.20) - However a spurious priesthood
may demand
a blind and uninquiring
faith, the Word of God never does anything of the kind.
Reason is made for reverent
inquiry, but it may be neither deified nor stultified.
And what can be more charming
than the honest, eager inquisitiveness of the
young, asking for the reasons
which govern the faith and worship that they
find at work before their eyes? Specially delightful is such inquiry, when
the
parent is well able to give his answer.
OF A GREAT DELIVERANCE.
(vs. 21-22.) The rescue from
always formed the grand historic
background of
99.; 105.; 106.; 103:7). Here
was a disclosure of Divine love and care, the
like of which had
never been known. The great
institution of sacrifice
revealed provision for pardoning
love. The precepts for the individual, the
family, the nation, told what
sort of a people God would have them be;
while the oft-recurring strains,
“I gave
thee up out of the land of bondage,” would evoke all their national ardor,
and create and foster an
historic pride. The life-histories, too, of their
fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, would tell of the blessedness of having
God as their God:
and these, instilled into the heart with all the
sweetness
of fond parental love, would lead the young Israelite, when
the teaching
was sanctified by
God’s grace, to say right joyously, “THIS GOD SHALL
BE MY GOD FOR
EVER AND EVER! (Psalm
48:14) Yes! the young life
ever coming on earth is not to be
left to grope its way. The light from the past
is to be handed down for the
ages to come, that sire and son and son’s son
MAY REJOICE IN
THE SAME GOD and ensure a blessed continuity of
holy faith and
consecrated life.
PEOPLE MIGHT RE A NEW NATION WORTHY OF GOD (v..23).
“That He might
bring us in, to give us the land which He swore unto our
fathers.” And in this new relation they were to be witnesses for God
(Isaiah
43:10). They were to be a distinct, compact people, with faith,
laws, and polity,
higher than the rest of
the world, holding in trust for mankind, till the fullness of
times, much precious
truth which was to find its outcome in a great, world-wide
deliverance which should overshadow all; while the Israel of God was to
merge into a spiritual
“peculiar
people, zealous of good works.” (Titus
2:14)
JUSTIFICATION OF
FOUND. “It shall be our righteousness,” (v.
25). It is scarcely
possible to regard these words
as having reference to any doctrine of
justification by faith; for
though, even as far back as Abraham’s days, that
was a doctrine, yet it was not formulated till the times of the
gospel, by
Paul. The meaning of the phrase
seems to be: “This will be our justification
of our position and claims; we
claim to be a people of God, above all the
nations that are on the face of
the earth, and we shall vindicate that claim,
not by words only, but by being
what we profess to be.” Thus would the
parent quicken his child, and
stimulate and inspire him to be all that his
glorious faith bade him be — “holy unto the Lord his God!” (ch.7:6)
AS MANIFEST AS GOD’S REGARD FOR HIS OWN HONOR. (v.24)
“To fear the
Lord our God, for our good
always.” THE GLORY OF
GOD AND THE GOOD OF MAN ARE IN HARMONY! So has
God
constructed the universe, so
Doth He carry on His government, as to ensure
that “they that
honor Him, He will honor.” (I Samuel
2:30). “All
things
work together for good to them that love God.” (Romans 8:28)
“Great peace
have they which love God’s Law; and nothing shall
offend them” (Psalm 119:165), “Godliness
is profitable unto all things”
(I Timothy 4:8), “Seek ye first the
and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
GOOD, BUT ALSO ITS CONTINUANCE IN THE LAND. (v. 24)
“That He might
preserve us alive.” Repeatedly do we
read that the
prolongation of
The land was given them, not for
their own sakes merely, but for God’s. If
they continued there, faithfully
witnessing for Him, the land would be
continued to them; if not, they
would have to quit, and give up the
possession thereof
to strangers. THIS IS PRECISELY THE
PRINCIPLE ON
WHICH GOD GOVERNS THE NATIONS
NOW! No
nation can preserve itself in being by any other policy than that
of OBEDIENCE
TO GOD! Disloyalty to God and
the right is the
SUREST POSSIBLE
POLICY OF DECOMPOSTION! Even attempts
at self-preservation which violate God’s laws
will fail of their end. And is it
not of vast significance that
these are the principles by which the young life of a
nation is to be molded? Whatever
allowance must be made for changing
circumstances, however true it
may be that no nation now holds exactly the
same place in the world that
the New Covenant, the
of Christianity, rose to be “a
city set on a hill” [Matthew 5:14] – a true
yet it is also true that all the
more substantial part of the seven lines of thought
here indicated is unchanged and
unchangeable. Christian
parents are
inheritors of
the truth of God: they hold it in
trust for their children: they,
as they grow up, will inquire concerning it:
its historic basis is the great
deliverance effected by the Lord Jesus:
Christians are now God’s peculiar
people: they are redeemed that they may be
holy, and that in holiness they
may train succeeding generations:
and just in proportion as through them
loyalty to the truth and to God is
leavening their posterity, are they bringing
honor to the cause they espouse.
Hebrews were to be conservative. Christians
are to be also aggressive. We
are to be “the
light of the world,” and “the
salt of the earth” (Ibid. vs. 13-14). By
the light of God’s love we are to
scatter men’s darkness, and by the salt of God’s
truth are we to stay its
corruption. And just so far as our nation is imbued with
righteousness
and truth, will
it have within it the guarantee of its own perpetuation.
The best defense is the armor of
light. WITHOUT
RIGHTEOUSNESS
AND THE FEAR OF GOD not all the pretence and brag — not all the fleets
or armies at
command, can ever GUARD A NATION FROM DECAY!
“If the salt
have lost his savor... it is thenceforth good for nothing
but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” (Ibid. v.13)
The Parental Office (vs.
20-25)
In the Mosaic economy, the parental office is made
prominent, and parental
influence is pressed into service. All God’s
arrangements for training
mankind dovetail into one another. (“Known unto God are all His
works from the beginning of the world.” - Acts 15-18)
·
THE DUTY OF A PARENT TO PROVOKE RELIGIOUS INQUIRY.
No greater folly can be
perpetrated than the attempt to repress inquiry.
Inquiry is the king’s highway to
wisdom, and who dare block it up? God
loves to hear honest inquiry. To
afford instruction is the delight of the
Divine Spirit, but what instruction will be valued if no spirit of
inquiry is
awake? Some questions which we ask can never be solved; they are
beyond the range of the human mind. Some questions God will not
answer,
because they are vain and useless. But honest questions, with a view to
practical obedience, God delights to
hear. You can do the young no better
service than encourage their minds to inquire after religious
facts. “What
mean these things?”
·
THE DUTY OF A PARENT TO ANSWER FULLY CHILDREN’S
QUESTIONS. It
is childish folly to attempt to conceal our lowly origin.
There is no real disgrace in an
obscure parentage. To have been formerly
enslaved, or imprisoned, or oppressed, through man’s injustice, is
an
honor, not a stigma of reproach. There is
no real shame, except such as
proceeds from WRONG DOING! It will do us good, it will do our children
good, to see the “rock whence we were hewn, the hole of
the pit from
which we were digged.” (Isaiah 51:1) It will foster humility, gratitude,
contentment, trust. It will lead us afresh to adore the Divine goodness,
and to count ourselves and our children the servants of this
mighty God.
Never let true Israelites forget
that all
they have they owe TO GOD!
Unto this state of happy
privilege A DIVINE HAND HAS BROUGHT US!
·
THE DUTY OF A PARENT TO OPEN UP GOD’S BENEFICENT
INTENTION. If
any man is too indolent to investigate truth for his own
sake, he may be provoked to do it for his children’s sake. We
should have
such a firm conviction that every arrangement and command of
God was
“for our good always”
(ch. 10:13), that we can demonstrate it to our
children. Our
knowledge of God and of His practical dealings should be so
broad and clear that we might see and feel that HIS CARE FOR OUR
GOOD
IS
enjoyment, but our good. Not to demonstrate His power, or His consistency,
or His determination to
conquer, — these are not His foremost aims, but “our
good always.” His
costliest deed of condescension was the yielding of His
Son to death. And where shall we seek the moving principle? In His own
future glory merely? No! In His love for the world! Yet His
glory, and
man’s real good, are but the separate threads that make one
cord.
·
THE DUTY OF A PARENT TO PROMOTE HIS CHILDREN’S
RIGHTEOUSNESS. “It shall be our righteousness, if we
observe to do all
these commandments.”
(v. 25) No more
conclusive argument can parents use;
no loftier end can they contemplate. To become
righteous — this is to be the
lofty ideal we set before our children. But commensurate with
the grand
acquisition must be the care that we promote it by proper and
practicable
methods. It is impossible for
guilty men to regain righteousness by their
own efforts or merits. But real righteousness is provided for us by
THE BOUNTY OF GOD,
AND IS OFFERED TO US IN CHRIST AS
A FREE GIFT! “He hath brought in
everlasting righteousness, which
is for all and upon all that believe.” (Daniel 9:24) Our ambition for our
children must be the highest — not that they be richly dowered, or learned,
or placed in earthly rank, but
that they may be internally and thoroughly
righteous.
Our Righteousness (v. 25)
As contrasted with Paul’s writings, the text is an illustration
of the maxim,
“On the outside of things look for differences, on the
inside for likenesses”
(Hare). The form is that of the Law, the spirit is that of Christ,
whose
gospel is the key to the Law’s utterances.
·
A REQUIREMENT WHICH ONE ONLY, VIZ. CHRIST, HAS
PERFECTLY FULFILLED. “This is the name whereby He shall be
called,
the Lord our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 23:6). He “is the end of the Law
for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4). How? In
the strictly legal, as in the strict ideal sense,
righteousness requires an
absolutely perfect fulfillment of every one of God’s commandments.
The
Jewish covenant required no
less. The Jews were to live in their
righteousness, i.e. in perfect keeping of the whole Law.
But in point of
fact, no Jew ever rendered perfect obedience. In many things,
like others,
he offended, and the covenant
footing was only maintained through daily
pardon of daily offences.
Christ is our Redeemer from the curse thus
entailed by transgression (Galatians 3:13). As the Lord’s righteous
Servant, and Fulfiller of the
Law, He has implemented the condition of
acceptance in such a way that His obedience carries with it results
to others
as well as to Himself (Romans 5:17-21). In Him the believer
is justified.
He claims Him as the Lord his
Righteousness. Christ has for him at once
fulfilled the Law’s precept, and abolished its penalty. Sinful in
himself, in
Christ his sins are covered, and
justification is obtained (Romans 3:22-27;
8:1-4; I
Corinthians 1:30; II Corinthians 5:21).
·
A REQUIREMENT WHICH BELIEVERS IS CHRIST ARE
ENABLED TO FULFILL, THOUGH IMPERFECTLY, YET
ACCEPTABLY. The
utmost that the Jew could render was that imperfect
but sincere obedience which is still the mark of the true
believer. The
believer’s duty is to render a perfect obedience; his privilege
is that, falling
short of this, his sincere though faulty obedience will be
graciously
accepted for the sake of Christ. In harmony with his calling, it
was to be
the Jew’s aim to realize the righteousness which the Law set
before him.
But in his inability to do this
the weakness of the Law revealed itself, and
in contrast with this weakness (Romans 8:3) is the power of the gospel,
enabling the believer to triumph, and to bring forth fruit unto holiness, the
end of which is everlasting life (Romans 6:22). This also is a
“righteousness of faith,” as springing from faith, and rendered possible
through it. It is his righteousness, yet in a deeper sense
not his, but
Christ’s, for it is the work of Christ living in him (Galatians 2:20). It is
not the ground of acceptance, but a result of it; not a title
to heaven, but
meetness for
it. It is itself a gift of grace, part of Christ’s salvation
(Matthew 5:6; Ephesians 5:9-10; Philippians
2:12-13; I Peter 2:24;
I John
3:7-10; with Romans chapters 6-8).
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