Tag: Providence Reformed Church

Human beings are just not that bright. O, I know, I’m a human saying that, so I have my own issues. But the truth is, when we are left to ourselves, we make self-destructive decisions even as we turn away from what would do us good.

In many ways, the entirety of the Old Testament of the Bible is a live enactment of the folly of humanity in the face of the commands of God. The Lord God chooses a people to be his special possession. He gives them simple commands, rules that are not complicated. He shows them the path to blessing. He promises them life and even glorious rule if they will but obey his word. And the people prove time and time again that they simply will not and in fact cannot follow the basic instructions that the Lord has given.

How clear is God with his people?

Deuteronomy 11:26-28 – 26 “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, 28 and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way that I am commanding you today, to go after other gods that you have not known.

How is that for clarity? God tells the people that, if they obey him, they will have life and success. If they reject him, they will have death and curses. This is not confusing. This is not rocket-science. This is simply yes or no, black or white, obey or disobey.

Note that this summary from God about what the people are to do is not him commanding people who have not experienced his presence and power. God is speaking to the people he led up out of Egypt. He is talking to a people who have seen him provide for them through the four decades in the desert. They have watched God judge the wicked and provide supernatural blessing for those who follow him. They know. They do not doubt the existence or the power of the Lord.

But the people still do not obey. The Old Testament shows us that mankind, in our sinfulness, simply will not obey the smallest of commands of God. We are rebels by nature. We are rebels by nurture. We are rebels in our hearts and minds. And we run headlong toward destruction.

This is where we should stop and praise god for the gospel. Jesus came to fulfill the righteousness that we will never live. Jesus came to suffer for the sins we have already committed and the ones we will commit in the future. Jesus came to rescue a people for God, because none of us, if left to ourselves, would be able to come to God on our own. The fact that God would save any of us, even one of us, is truly a mind-boggling miracle of grace.

And once we are rescued, the concept of what God said to Israel must still stand out in our minds. God blesses his children, doing us good, when we follow his ways. May we never be so foolish as to think that we can challenge him or change his word. God is holy. God’s ways are perfect. And God promises life and goodness to all who follow him. May we make it the business of our lives to obey the Lord in all things for his glory and our good.

It is interesting the expectations that individuals might place on God. One of our great human failings is to think that we know how the Creator ought to behave. By this I do not mean that we misinterpret the word of God to know what he will do—though we do that too. What I mean instead is that we decide, apart from the revelation of God, what we think we would do were we in the position of the Lord of all the universe. Even when we know that God’s word tells us that God is infinitely more perfect than us, infinitely wiser than us, and his ways are not ours, we still think we can say how God should treat people.

The even more interesting thing to me is that we are completely inconsistent with our own view of what God ought to do. We actually expect that God should do things in a way that we would never expect another in a position of authority to do.

Deuteronomy 7:9-10- 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, 10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.

In this passage in Deuteronomy, we see something interesting about the Lord. This is a constant refrain in the word of God. Yet it still seems to catch us off guard. We still have the tendency to say that this is not how God should be.

The first half of the antithetical parallel is no problem for us. We are just fine with God loving those who love him. We want God to be faithful to those under his love and care. We want God to reward those who have become his children.

It is the second side where we get inconsistent. We expect God to do something other than what we would really do. What do you think God should do with those who hate him? What do you believe God should do with those who oppose him, attack him, despise him, and want absolutely nothing to do with him or his ways? What should God do with those who would, if given the chance, destroy the Lord and his standards? What would any good king do if a person attempted to throw off his rule or attack his children?

Regardless of what we think we would do, the Lord tells us that he will judge those who hate him. It is that simple. God’s just wrath is stored up for those who are against him. What else would he do? God will do justice. God will not have, in his kingdom, those who have no desire to be under his rule. God will not have in his kingdom those who want nothing of him or his ways. For such people, even heaven would be a misery, because heaven, by definition, is the ultimate experience of the presence, character, and glory of God. Those who hate God would hate heaven.

But many think that God should not judge those who hate him. They think either that he should be required to do something else with them or that he should change them so that they no longer hate him. Yet, it does not make sense to think that God should be required to forcibly change a person, any person, from hating him to loving him. While I believe God does sovereignly change some from a disposition of hating God to one of desiring God, there is no reason at all that requires that the Lord do this for all people.

Nor is there any reason we should expect that God should change himself to be more appealing to those who despise him. Remember, of course, that it is impossible for God to change who he is to appeal to these folks. For God to change would be for him to move from lesser to greater or from greater to lesser. One who is infinitely perfect can do neither.

Should God ignore the idea of judging those who hate him? In truth, we do not desire this. What would ignoring evil say about God? What would that say about his justice? Should God take violent men, evil men, murderous dictators, rapists, child-abusers, demon-worshippers and say to them that he has no problem with what they have been or what they have done? What would you say about a God who would look at a person who destroyed multiple lives and then shrug it off as no big deal? Truthfully, none of us would want that.

Even greater, however, what would you say about God if he allowed people to ignore the sacrificial work of the Son of god as if it did not matter? If God were to refuse to judge those who oppose him, that would be for God to devalue the death of Jesus. That would be God saying that his Son’s blood is really not that important.

Hebrews 10:29-31 – 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

God tells us that those who refuse him have spurned the blood of the Son of God. If God the Father loves his Son, it is proper that he would rightly judge those who oppose him and his Son. It is proper that the Father, who allowed sinful men to crucify the Lord Jesus in order that Jesus might pay the penalty for the sins of others, would hold to account those who say by their actions and often by their words that they want nothing to do with the Son of God, that they want nothing to do with the ways of God, that they want nothing to do with the word of God, that they want nothing to do with God.

And, when all this type of argument is said and done, there is another truth that is equally important. It should make sense to us that God would judge those who hate him. It should make sense to us that he would do justice in order to show that evil is not OK, that the glory and righteousness of God is good, and that the blood of Jesus matters. It makes sense that God would not bring into his presence those who despise him and all that he stands for. But, even if it does not make sense to you, understand this: This is God’s way as he has revealed himself in Scripture. God is holy. God is judge. God will judge those who hate him. God will not tolerate our continuing, unrepentant rebellion against him and his commands.

We must not assume, from our finite position, our flawed vantage point, that there is no possible good in the choices that the Lord has made. We would be foolish to assume that there is not some reason, even one inscrutable to mankind, that, in eternity, will show us that God’s choice to rule the universe as he does is perfect, right, and the best possible thing he could have ever done. Why would we assume that anything less than a perfect plan from God is what is taking place? And how dare we assume that we know a better way than the way he has revealed?

Honestly, it is not my place to approve of or disapprove of God’s ways. God is God and I am not. God is holy and I am not. God is perfect and I am not. God knows all and I do not. God’s purposes are perfect and mine are not. It is understandable that God would judge those who hate him. But even if I do not like it, even if I refuse to be honest about the fact that I understand that some should be judged, wisdom demands that I admit that God is a better determiner of his righteousness than am I. And God demands that I yield to him as the Lord of all.

None of this is to say that we rejoice at the fact that some are judged by God. Instead, the point I want to make is that God, and no one else, is the one to determine what is right. He does right. He judges those who oppose him. We are dishonest and inconsistent if we say that he should judge no one. We are inconsistent if we say that we would do it differently. In such thoughts, we attempt to bring God down to our level and then to behave by a standard that we would not truly approve were we the ones wronged. So the point is that we ought to bow to the Lord as he has revealed himself. We should get under his offer of free grace for all who will repent an believe. We should then accept that his ways are perfect, even when his ways are beyond us.

Why does God give us his commands? Why did he make certain commands for Israel to follow? I often push back against an attempt to puzzle out the rationale behind the commands of God. After all, God is God, and he has every right to command us without explaining to us his reasons. We do not need to know why Israelites could not eat pork, cut their hair a certain way, or boil a goat in its mother’s milk. Of course, there may be obvious reasons, but the point is that God makes the command, and that is enough.

Yet, when God chooses to give us reasons for his commands, he wants us to see those. And in my reading of Deuteronomy 8-10, I see two places where the Lord pulls back the curtain and tells the people why he commanded what he did.

Deuteronomy 8:2 – And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.

The first reason that God gives for his commands that I saw in this reading is a test. God says that he gave Israel the terms of the covenant and the commands that followed as a way to test them, to prove whether or not they would follow him. Of course, the Lord is all-knowing, and he does not need to gain knowledge. So, obviously this test is to prove in a public way, to prove to Israel and those who observe Israel from outside, whether or not the people would follow the Lord.

This is a reason that the Lord may still give commands. For you and for me, in New Testament times, the commands of God are still tests that prove our loyalty to the Lord. Are you willing to obey God? Even when the world says that an act is OK, are you willing to show in a real and public way that your commitment is to God and not to your position in the culture? Many in our world have decided that they will only obey the commands of God that they feel are culturally acceptable. They suggest that if culture has radically changed, we can determine that there is no way that certain commands apply. But I wonder if, in many of those cases, what is happening is that we are showing that our hearts lie with the culture rather than with the Lord.

Do not assume that I am saying that culture makes no difference. Sometimes we must see what the underlying principle of a command is so as to apply it in our culture as compared to first century culture. But this is different than simply assuming that a change in accepted morality frees us from God’s command and design.

We show our love for the Lord and our loyalty to the Lord through our obedience to the commands of the Lord. If a person watched your life from outside, would they see that? Would they see that your heart belongs to God in all things? Would they see that the Lord is your first love and your soul’s Master?

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 – 12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

Here is the second reason for the commands of God that we see today. God commands his people for their good. The commands of God are good for the people of God. This should not surprise us, but I wonder how often we actually feel that way. God’s commands are not to burden us or to hurt us. Instead, God shows us what is right for our good as well as for his glory.

This, of course, is the point when many of us will use this to leap off and attempt to puzzle out how certain commands are for the good of the people of God. How were the dietary laws good for the people? How were the clothing laws good for the people? But that misses the point. God is infinite in his knowledge. God is perfect in his ways. I think we make a mistake if we determine that we will only believe something is for our good if we can figure out how. God is holy. If God in his holiness and infinite perfections says that something is good for me, it is.

What ought we to gain from these two passages in Deuteronomy? I think it is the same thing that is gained by the commands of God. We learn that God is God and we are not. We learn that God is good, far better than us, and his ways are good for us. We learn that our response to the commands of God is a clear revelation of our hearts’ commitment or lack of commitment to God. The commands of God show us whether or not we trust God and believe God to be good.

Even in New Testament times, we should see that the word of God is still doing the same work in our lives. God’s word tests you. God’s word is good for you. Will you, Christian, submit to his word and demonstrate that God really is your Lord? Will you trust that God’s ways are higher than yours and his goodness is actually the measure of goodness? Will you let go of trying to make God prove to you that he has a good reason for his commands and simply trust him that he has a reason that is perfect, even if you cannot make your mind get there?

Have you ever heard the word syncretism? It means to attempt to fuse or unite different religions or views. It is the concept of mingling two religions together. And it is something that the word of God warns us against.

When I lived in Asia, I saw a great deal of syncretism among Christians. I saw people who were very committed to worship and prayer also bring into their faith elements of Buddhism or Confucianism. Believers who ought to know better would, on a particular holiday, set out dishes of food to nourish long-dead relatives.

The word of God is clear that we do not want to attempt to mingle the true Christian faith with elements of other religions. God is not pleased when people attempt to reshape Christianity with man-made practices.

Galatians 4:9-11 – 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Paul, when writing to the Galatian church saw quite clearly some of the same problems. The Galatians were attempting to blend biblical Christianity with Old Testament Jewish practices and perhaps with elements of the other religions of the day. They wanted to keep the grace of Christ, but to add to the faith standards and practices of faiths that deny him.

All of that is an interesting sort of anthropological study, but the question should arise as to how we might be tempted toward the same thing. Is it possible that we could fall victim to the same sort of God-dishonoring thinking that made Paul fear for the salvation of the Galatian church?

So, let’s simply ask ourselves if our faith, our standards, our beliefs, our worship practices are actually Christian. Are we thinking and acting in accord with faithful, biblical Christianity, or are we at risk of bringing into the faith beliefs and actions and celebrations that are from other religions? How would we know?

The Bible is how we should know. Ask yourself if the things you say, the things you think, the things you practice in worship are in Scripture. So often, things that we will say, that we will accept as truth, are actually diametrically opposed to what is in Scripture. But, since the things we hold to sound true, we assume they must be in the Bible somewhere. We assume that our practices, if we like them, if they make us feel good, they must be acceptable in the worship of the Lord.

But looking at what Paul wrote to the Galatians should cause us all to stop and really test ourselves. Test your doctrine, not against your feelings or against tradition, but against the word of God faithfully taught and applied. Do the same for the practices of your church in worship. Test what you do in a worship service, not against whether it appeals to the body or applies to the lost, but test it against the word of God. Has the Lord called the church to do what you are doing? Has the Lord called the church to value what you are valuing?

The warning from the passage in Galatians should be clear to us. We, when we are not careful, can become complacent. We can assume that our thoughts and actions please
God. We can fail to notice that we have corrupted the faith with worldly thinking and worldly practices or with the doctrines and practices of false religion. May we be careful. May we rethink what we do, all that we do, in the light of Holy Scripture. May we ask, with any doctrine if Scripture really teaches it. May we ask with any part of our worship services if Scripture actually calls us to do it or to do it this way. Do not stop guarding your life and practice with the word of God. If you do, a mingled faith with worldliness or false religion is ready to jump in and change your worship to what dishonors the Lord. And I do not believe that any of us want that.

In Numbers 22-24, we get the story of the pagan prophet Balaam. It is a story made for children’s Sunday School, as Balaam’s donkey is enabled to speak to him and show him the error of his ways.
And Balaam, though wanting to curse the Israelites, is not allowed to do so. Instead, God makes Balaam speak a blessing on Israel.

The story seems to end in chapter 24 with Balaam going home and King Balak being angry with him. Later, we find in Numbers 31:8 that Balaam died when Israel defeated Midian. But this does not tell us the real rest of the story.

Look at the words of Moses speaking about the Midianite women.

Numbers 31:16 – Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. 

If you do not know what Moses was talking about, you would have to go back and see Numbers 25. There we see that the nation of Israel, though recently blessed by Balaam, is experiencing the judgment of God. Why? The Israelites are defying the commands of the Lord in several ways. The Midianite women have seduced the Israelite men. The Israelite men are committing sexual immorality with the women of Midian. This also draws the men to participate in the idolatry of the Midianites. And all of this results in God’s judgment on Israel. (This is no longer a good children’s Sunday School idea, by the way.)

Interestingly, in chapter 31, we learn that this happening was not by happenstance. Instead, we learn that this was a scheme of Balaam. Balaam advised Balak to send the women of Midian to tempt the Israelite men into sinning. And the scheme worked. Thus, even though the Lord would not permit Balaam to speak a curse against Israel, Israel earns the curse of God by worshipping idols and committing sexual immorality.

Now, where is a life lesson for the modern Christian? Perhaps it is found in the truth that, when our enemy cannot attack us and defeat us from without, he will move to attack us from within. Israel was shielded against the physical attacks of Midian. But Israel willingly walked into sin and brought about their own hurt.

I wonder how often this is true for churches. How often do we have things go well on the outside only to see ourselves self-destruct internally? How often are our buildings clean, our people well-fed, and our sermons solid even while our hearts, in sin, turn us against the Lord and against one another?

Note as well the specific plan. Balaam used the lusts of the men to bring judgment on them. When nothing would work externally, the enemy attacked the men with the temptation toward sexual immorality.

How many of our men in our churches are outwardly strong, but eaten up inside with sexual sin? How many of our women are in the same boat? How many men are putting on a good outward face, but are watching porn in secret and thinking all is OK? How many of our Christians are turning from the commands of God regarding sex, marriage, gender, and all the rest?

Friends, what God has said to us about sex and marriage is vital to our ability to worship him and serve him. This is not popular today. But you can be assured that, if the devil would use the strategy of sexual immorality and compromise with the neighboring culture in Numbers 31, he will certainly use it against the church today. Accepting sexual immorality was destructive in the days of Moses, and it is destructive today. May we be strengthened by the Lord to withstand these attacks from without and from within.

The story of Balaam in Numbers 22-24 is fascinating, perhaps a little funny. Balak offers Balaam a bribe to get him to speak a curse against Israel. Balaam is willing, though he knows that he is limited to speak only what the Lord will allow. Thus, Balaam would like to be able to say things that have power, but he knows that the words of true prophecy only come from the Lord.

When Balaam sees Israel, and when Balak tells him to let them have it, Balaam opens his mouth. But the only words that come out are words of blessing over Israel. It reminds me, in a sad way, of the movie “Liar Liar,” when the main character wants to lie, but as he speaks, he unwillingly tells the truth.

It is strange, but in the midst of Balaam’s frustration, God allows him to speak an amazing word that points to God’s ultimate plan for Israel and for all the saved.

Numbers 24:17-19

17 I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near:

a star shall come out of Jacob,

and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

it shall crush the forehead of Moab

and break down all the sons of Sheth.

18 Edom shall be dispossessed;

Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed.

Israel is doing valiantly.

19 And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion

and destroy the survivors of cities!”

Consider those words of prophecy. A  star and scepter will come out of Israel. The one to come will crush the enemies of God and rule the world, having dominion (v 19). This is Messiah, the one who will rescue, the promised king sent by God. And Balaam predicts it.

The plan of God is amazing. Nobody can stop it. Balak did not want to hear it. Balaam did not want to speak it. But the Lord told us anyway. He promised a King to come who will reign. Jesus is that King to come.

Human beings are amazing creatures. We can be sacrificial, giving, caring, and creative. We can mirror some of the attributes of God such as love, mercy, and justice. We can harness electricity, predict the weather with a certain degree of accuracy, and send rockets into space.

And yet, if you look at humans, think about what messes us up. Think about what happens to us that just turns us inside-out. People who are otherwise smart, often wise, people who know the consequences of bad choices, willingly make bad choices. You know it will cost you. You know it is going to do you damage. You know, when you are willing to actually think, that the reward is not going to be as great as promised, but you jump in anyway.

This all reminds me of something we see in the book of Numbers. In fact, if you ever want to see folly of humanity, and if you want to get a glimpse as to what messes us up, take a peek at what I am, at least this morning, calling the onion rebellion.

For background, the people of Israel have lived their entire lives as slaves in Egypt. They have been forced to work against their will under the whips of brutal task-masters. The Egyptians even attempted to put to death the male children born to the Israelites in order to slow down their population growth. This people cried out to God for mercy, and God delivered them.

As you know, the Lord led the people up out of Egypt in a miraculous salvation. They crossed the Red Sea, saw the Egyptians crushed by the waves, and began a trek in the desert back to their homeland.

As the Israelites walked in the desert, God did more miracles. God provided for the people supernaturally food to eat every day. God provided water for the people to drink. God provided supernatural, visible guidance to lead the people to where he wanted them to camp. God took care of all their needs. 

Numbers 11:4-6 – 4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

And here is what happened. The people got tired of the healthy, supernaturally provided, perfect food that the lord gave them. They suddenly began to think longingly of their slavery. They wanted the fish, the leeks, and the onions. And so they began to grumble and complain, dishonoring God out of their desire for onions.

What does this make you think of these people? God is there. They should know he is doing amazing things to care for them. They should know that he is giving them what they actually need. He is making sure that they get where they are going. This is an uncomfortable couple of months, to be sure, but it is surely not as bad as slavery.

But all the rabble can think of is, “We want onions!” They are letting a drive, a simple desire, an unimportant flavor lead them to destruction. They are willing to turn their back on God, to disparage his holy name, to damage their actual lives because they want a new taste in their mouths and they just cannot wait for the promises of the Lord to be fulfilled.

And as we want to look down on these people for their folly, we have to ask where we face our own onion rebellion. Where do you turn your back on God for the fulfillment of drives and desires that are actually not worth it? WE do this in so many ways.

Food is one example. We know what is healthy and safe to eat. We know what eating too much unhealthy food does to us. Obesity, diabetes, heart disease, back problems, poor self-image, all these can be contributed to by our making foolish choices regarding what we eat. We know this. WE have seen the science. We have had the teachers tell us this in school And yet, when we have a craving, what do many people do? Many throw wisdom and insight out the window and wreck their health for something that gives a brief moment of pleasure.

How about in marriages? Think of the destructive things people do, things they know are wrong, hoping for a flash of pleasure. A husband gives into the temptation to watch porn on the Internet. A wife gives into the pleasure of flirting with a coworker. Neither one, if you sat them down in an honest conversation, would tell you that they really, thoughtfully, truthfully believe that their actions are going to lead to good. They know that their pleasures, their drives, their hungers actually lead them to pain. But they give in anyway.

Friends, Let’s not be onion rebellion kind of people. Let us seek the Lord and plead with him for the ability to take hold of our desires and our drives. There are things that might give us temporary pleasure and lead to our hurt. There are things that might give us temporary pleasure, but lead to our damnation. Pray. Ask God to help you have the strength to say no to your desire for things that mean nothing in the eternal scheme of things. Do not turn your back on God because you want a sexual rush, a moment of telling someone off, the good opinion of someone you barely know, a bit more money, or the taste of food for just a moment. Do not be like the people who walk away from God because they miss the  onions in Egypt.  

I honestly do not know how to shape things from today’s reading into a single, coherent, devotional thought. Yet there are big thoughts from the Lord to see in Deuteronomy 4.

Deuteronomy 4:2 – You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.

Verse 2 caught my attention, because it is so very familiar, and yet it is not where I expected to find it. I know that the Proverbs and the book of Revelation have verses that warn against adding to or taking from or changing the word of God. But I had honestly forgotten that the same command happens right here at the end of the ministry of Moses. And because it feels new to me, it helps me to stop and realize the significant point that the Lord is making in his word time-and-time again.

God has given us his word. God has given us his commands. His word is solid and sure. To add to his word, take from his word, change his word, manipulate his word, ignore his word, or battle against his word is to sin against the Lord. His word is how we know him. His word is how we serve him. His word is central to any relationship with God.

So, first, we must ask if we truly understand the unfathomable gift of the word of God. The Bible is God allowing us to know him and to obey him. Do we treasure his word enough? Do we learn it? Do we keep it? O may we not allow our own minds, our own best guesses, our own sinfully tainted hearts develop for us our view of the Lord. Instead, may we keep his word.

Deuteronomy 4:9-13 – 9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— 10 how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ 11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. 12 Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. 13 And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone.

As Moses reminds the Israelites of the things they have experienced, the revelation of God at Mt. Sinai 38 years before, he says something that grabs my heart today. The Lord revealed himself to his people and he commands them to remember. The Lord calls on the present generation not to turn up their noses at the things they learned as children, at the things their parents saw as adults, at the things which shook their souls to their core as they realized they stood in the presence of a holy God.

Consider the command of verse 9: keep your soul diligently. God calls on his people to battle to keep our souls. This is no argument against a New Testament doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Rather, it is the means by which we participate in that doctrine. The Lord keeps his own. But the Lord commands his own to keep their souls.

We face a hard world full of skeptics, critics, and temptations. It is so very easy for us to let the sinful thoughts and evil practices of the world seep into our souls. Eventually, if we are not diligent, we will find that our thinking is turned away from the Lord. We will find that our hearts grow cold against the Lord. We will find that our desires are no longer those of the Lord. We must fight. Yes, God will keep his own. Yes, God’s Spirit in us will preserve us. Yes, God will move us. But we must pray, repent, love his word, and battle to keep our souls in these evil days.

And, finally in this section, notice the word “commanded” in verse 13. As God leads Moses to point the people to the Ten Commandments, the terms of his covenant with national Israel, God says that he commanded them to keep those words. Please note that God did not grovel to persuade Israel. God did not beg or plead. Instead, God identified himself as the Lord. God showed them he is God, the Creator and Ruler of all. And God commanded the people to obey his word. He commanded repentance. He commanded obedience.

I wonder, in our day, if we are preaching strongly enough that repentance is not simply a persuasive option we are to hold out to others. I wonder if we are spending time trying to get people to like God enough to maybe give him their time. I wonder if we are acting as though God is having a sale and they should at least drop by and check out the prices. No! This is not the way of the Lord. God is God. God is Lord. God commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). We are not to turn to God based on emotion or our liking of his offer—though it is great if we do. Rather, we are to bow to our God as Lord and submit to his authority as the God over all.