For Us

Deuteronomy 4:1 Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.

I watch murder mysteries. I never know who done it before it is revealed in the end. I try to guess, but those pesky red herrings keep catching my eye. I miss what is right in front of me. Don’t you!

I have tripped over things on the floor, things I should have seen. I have caught my toe on the leg of the table at which I have been sitting. I know the leg is there, right there. It ought to be easy to miss, right?

One truth that often gets missed when reading the Hebrew Bible is that it was written for them. It was not written for the other people who were alive at that time. The guidance and laws were specifically given for the Israelite people at that time in history. It was guidance that had a shelf life.

That last part, that fact that these laws were never meant to last forever, is a real sticky point for many people. Even today if you stop someone on the street and ask about what the Bible says, the answer is often something about the Big Ten. Don’t murder and stuff like that.

And those same respondents often think they apply to us, not just the Big Ten, but all those other Laws as well. Those laws about length of hair and dietary habits. They think all those things apply in modern day life, if someone is serious about following the Scriptures.

But that just isn’t the case. Our text tells us that these laws were given to the Israelites “so that they might live.” That seems like such a strange thing to say. How would these laws keep them alive?

Well, the previous chapters told about Israel’s repeated rebellion following the Exodus from Egypt and the resulting death of that whole generation of people. They had refused to obey the simple things the LORD had told them. They had been stubborn and did what they wanted to do and they died for it.

So these laws were given to help them! These were the practice lessons on obedience. Just like those practice lessons for the SAT’s, they were intended to help them pass the real test. If they could learn to obey in these small things, then they could obey in the big things.

The outcome would be that they would have a land filled with milk and honey, a land of abundance, a Promised Land. The possession that was promised would be theirs if they learned obedience. And these laws were the practice test. Had they learned the lessons?

The Law was only a temporary tool to give them opportunity to practice obedience. When Jesus fulfilled the Law in his perfect life, then the Law as a practice test went out of use. We can now have a law written our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We can be obedient to that law, a law tailored to the needs of the moment in line with the character of the LORD. We too can be obedient!