Listen and Obey
Deuteronomy 4:1-10
The following is an excerpt from my new book: Deuteronomy: Love and Grace in the Law of God: A Commentary for Everyone
:And now O Israel listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them that you may live...” (4:1)
God has designed the world to work in a certain way. He gave the law to show his people how to conform their lives to that way. The law does not constrain us from a fulfilling life, it frees us to live with abandon within the boundaries of God’s design. It is through the law that God teaches his people what is right and how to live well. Knowing and obeying the law does not save us. But knowing and obeying the law does bring balance and security to life for those who are saved.
“What great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today” (verse 8).
God does not make us guess what he requires. He does not leave us to wonder what is good and right. The law of God makes clear to his people what it is that he expects of them. The world sees truth as culturally defined and changeable from one generation to another. People and cultures have their own truths. Morality changes. Things that were thought to be right in one generation are now thought to be wrong and vice versa. But not so with the moral law of God. It does not change; it is always righteous. Living by its standards is always what is good and right and best. “[The law] would serve as a guide in their manner of life for coming generations as God’s covenant people.”[1]
Moses shows that the law is not a thing meant to shackle people’s individual freedom as is so often thought of today. It is a good thing. It is by the knowing and keeping of the law that the people will live and take possession of the gift of God (4:1), be wise and understanding (4:6), and experience God’s nearness (4:7).
A child is not born with the necessary knowledge or wisdom to make his way through life. He needs a loving parent who will guide him in the way so that it may go well with him. That is what God does for his people with the law.
“For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us…” (4:7). God was not near to the Israelites because they were better or more obedient than other people. He was not near to them because they were more religiously observant or more pious. God was near to them because he chose to be near to them. He was near to them because of love and grace for his people.
Note the order of verses 7 and 8. First God reminds Israel that he is near to them and only then does he remind them that he has given them “statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today” (4:8). This is the gospel. First God graciously draws near to the believer. Then it is that he holds out the law as the way to live in response to his gracious presence.
“The law is subservient to the gospel. That is, we are first brought near to God in Christ, and then we are enabled to keep his law. Only then do we realize that these laws were for our good. He wants us to know his requirements so that it will go well with us.”[2]
[1] Samuel J. Schultz, Deuteronomy: The Gospel of Love, (Moody Press, 1971), p. 31
[2] George Robertson, Deuteronomy: More Grace, More Love: Living in Covenant with God, (CE&P, 2006), p. 36