One of my favorite shows on TV is Law and Order: the coordinated efforts of the police and justice system, the dramatic representations of the judicial process, and the story line twists; I find it intriguing. From the investigating detectives, trying to unravel the crime to the district attorneys who prosecute the criminal, the audience is given what presumes to be how justice works. But that system presupposes what its title describes: that where there is law there is also to be order. The two go together. The structured authority entailed in the legal codes is what gives us harmony and peace. There is a connection we often overlook. In a land endowed for so long with freedom; we miss the connection between authority and freedom. It is the authority of the law which prescribes and protects freedom. For there to be freedom, there must be authority. That connection is often misunderstood in our present day. Authority is a word that makes most people think of direction and restraint, command and control, dominance and submission. Unfortunately, these associations have tainted the concept of authority, labeling it as a dirty word, thus assigning it to the junk heap of our day. We don’t want authority, we want freedom, so we make opposites of concepts which exist only in relationship to each other. Today a passionate permissiveness has made a shambles of so many homes, schools and individual lives. There is a misguided search for personal order apart from law, of freedom outside the constraints of authority Often this is in a quest for freedom, freedom from restraints which bind one from choices determined to be detrimental to one’s own personal quest for happiness. People want freedom from inhibitions they deem repressive, freedom from restrictions, from the dead hand of the past, from disliked pressures, obligations, systems. Freedom is seen to be antithetical to authority. Authority is equated with fixed limits, freedom is limitless. Authority is perceived as cell walls, which makes the quest for freedom feel like the Great Escape from some ideological prison-camp. Yet the truth, as paradoxical as it may seem, is still inescapable: there is no freedom apart from external authority. To say "I am my own authority, a law to myself" is to enslave myself to myself, which, as Seneca the Roman moralist said, is the worst bondage of all. Only as I bow to an authority which is not myself am I ever free. (taken from Packer, Truth & Power, 11-13) It is to this relationship between authority and freedom we now turn our attention. For the next several weeks, we will examine this issue of authority which produces freedom as we take time to examine the familiar but often unknown Decalogue, the Ten Commandments. As a preface to these ten words given to Israel at Sinai (found in Exodus 20) and restated 40 years later as the next generation prepared to enter the land (seen in Deuteronomy 5), Moses gives us an explanation of the centrality of this Law in Deuteronomy 4. Here we will see that God’s Law is a statement of His authority, but also our freedom, a relationship which we must not forget. The importance of God’s Law for Israel preparing to enter the promised land as well as for you and me, today, must not be overlooked. It is in this Law, in God’s authority, that you and I find the greatest freedom the world can ever know.
God’s authority is central - verse 1 The opening call to "hear" presumes the material in the first three chapters which we have not examined. Deuteronomy begins with a recap of the last forty years. You may recall that 40 years earlier the Israelites were released from slavery in Egypt, but as they were about to enter Canaan, 12 spies were sent in to scout out the land. They came back with what was perceived to be a mixed report. The land God was about to give them was better than they could ever imagine, but one small hitch. There were people already living there and what was worse was the inhabitants were giants. Israel rebelled. God responded. For forty years, until that generation died, they wandered in the wilderness. Now the next generation was about to enter. Before this happened, though, God instructed Moses to review for this new generation the Law of God, so this book is the second (deutero) law (nomos). Having reviewed the past, Moses looks to what God demands at this time: "Hear now!" In light of God’s promises to give this land to you, in light of your parents refusal to obey and trust God’s grace to give them what God promises – listen and obey. What is to be obeyed is described as: decrees and laws In Hebrew there is little distinction between these two words, but they cover the gamut of God’s authority. These terms were commonly used together whenever an agreement was struck between a king and his servants. The stipulations of the covenant are being set forth. In order to receive what is promised from the party of the first party, the party of the second part is obligated to a few conditions. Of course, the covenant between God and His people, while similar to other kings and vassals, other gods and worshippers and has some of the same language, is vastly different in character, as we will see later. Prior to restating this law, God, through Moses, explains the authority contained in the law. In commanding obedience, God lists the benefits of His authority, the freedom provided for when God’s authority is obeyed. It is not a blind obedience. Moses is about to teach them. Understanding is necessary if obedience is rendered. God’s authority is given in the context of education with a view to application, as God’s servant, Moses, will teach so that they may do. Just hearing the law is not sufficient. Hearing must be in order to do, knowledge in order to practice. The call to hear (verse 1) is not often heeded by believers today. Many Christians have not listened to God’s Law, have little or no framework by which to understand what God demands, so in turn they do not know the God they claim to worship. You may have heard of the polls taken in years past at the annual Christian Booksellers Convention, where leading Christian writers, publishers, editors, speakers and teachers, were asked simple questions: Define the Gospel or justification, list the Ten Commandments. In a telling analysis of the state of the Church today, only a handful could answer the questions. I recall hearing a tape made by the pollster of one man who was selling plaques with the Ten Commandments listed and when asked to identify them, he could name only two. How would you do? People want them posted in our courts and in our schools, but can not remember what they are. We treat them like some fetish to ward off bad behavior without realizing that unless we know the demands of God’s Law we can never know the depth of our sin. If we do not know the depth of our sin, we can never appreciate, never comprehend the grace God has for us in Christ. If God’s authority is to be central, if freedom is found in not only hearing, but knowing, not only in knowing, but in following...does this passage teach something different than we see in the New Testament? Look at the second half of verse 2. It sounds as though God expects obedience in order to obtain the blessing. Is this the way the Gospel works? God will bless only on condition of our perfect obedience? It is true that those listening to Moses knew all too well that their own parents died in the desert without inheriting the Promised Land due to their disobedience. But as the author of Hebrews 4 tells us their disobedience was not in breaking the Law, but in not believing. The failure of their fathers to occupy the land almost forty years earlier had been entirely due to defective vision. They had simply not known where to look. It scarcely ever occurred to them to look up. Looking ahead, they were more aware of giants than grapes. Looking around, they could see little but their own slender resources, totally dwarfed by the military strength and massive fortifications of the people whose hostile territories lay across their path. Looking within, their hearts failed them for fear. Looking back, they thought it might even have been better not to have left Egypt. Even when they did think about God, they had a pathetically distorted image of His nature. 'The Lord hates us,' they said, 'so he brought us out of Egypt ... to destroy us' (1:27). Nothing could have been further from the truth. (Brown, Deuteronomy, 61) The Law certainly demands exacting and perfect obedience, but the purpose of the Law is not that we find a reward in our obedience, but that in the Law we see God’s holiness and our sinfulness and that we will see God’s provision as well. Look ahead to the law’s preface in 5:6. The Law is given in the context of grace, with understanding that what God demands, God supplies. Faith in a promise-making and a promise-keeping God is the foundation for hearing, learning and obeying this law. Our freedom to live is found in obedience that comes by faith. Our freedom comes not our of raw duty. This same grace orientation is seen in verse 1. This verse begins with an imperative, but assumes the truth of the indicative. "Hear... Follow!" begins the passage, but then moves to the results in which we see the gracious nature of our God; we hear the reminder to trust Him alone for our obedience. With obedience there will be life in this new land; they will take possession of it. But notice how this land is described. It is the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. That phrase is chock full of grace. First the covenantal name of God is used. The LORD, Yahweh, the self-existing One, the God who promises to rescue His people. What is more, this LORD is the God of your fathers. Who are these fathers? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob ... not hallmarks of obedience. Not great men whose personal morality won them merit before God. These are sinful men like you and me to whom God made a promise. There are other fathers... and mothers, the parents of those about to enter the land. Their disobedience did not nullify God’s promise. The land was still going to be given. Those who rejected God’s authority were denied the freedom of the land. They died as slaves to their own unbelief. But despite their unbelief, God was still going to be faithful to His promise. Central to our understanding of freedom, to living the lives God desires of us, to enjoying all the benefits of life, it is crucial that we hear and follow the decrees and laws of God. God has not left us in the dark to determine how we are to live. We are not bound to an eternity of determining what is right and wrong. We are free from the pursuit of seeking God, for He has sought us and told us who He is and what He desires of us. His authority revealed in His law is our freedom. God’s authority is changeless - verse 2-4 If God’s authority is central, given the nature of God, it follows that God’s authority does not change; His standards do not fluctuate. God’s changeless authority means we must not tamper with His Law. In the ancient world, when the sovereign set down stipulations for his subjects, they were not then ratified by vote nor amended by popular consensus. There was no veto power. What is good when people rule themselves, that is, checks and balances because of human sinfulness that we see in our own government, is not applied to God. His Law is not subject to the democratic process. The authority of God’s Word is based on the authority of God. It is not authoritative because we have determined it to be, not because the Church has granted it such authority. It is authoritative because God has spoken. For this reason we can not become "Cafeteria Christians," those who go through Scriptures picking and choosing what seems best. There will be times we will read something in the Bible that shocks or offends us; it will convict or trouble us. Too often our immediate response is to toss it aside, to relegate the Truth of God to the ash heap of antiquity, thinking that such ideas are from a less enlightened time, not allowing our consciences to be pricked and confronted. Throughout the centuries, some people have made the immense mistake of supplementing, mutilating, or ignoring the word of God. They sit in judgment on it instead of subjecting themselves to its judgment on them. This warning by Moses was certainly necessary; such addition and subtraction even took place within the Hebrew religious tradition. During Christ's ministry, the Pharisees added to the Word of God hundreds of detailed prohibitions which were not contained in canonical Scripture. In the same period, the Sadducees subtracted from the word the things they found unacceptable - anything about the supernatural, the doctrine of the resurrection, angels and spirits. The Pharisees were the first-century legalists, and the Sadducees the destructive rationalists of their day. In early Church history, certain teachers added to the biblical teaching about salvation, grace and sacraments, while, in later centuries, rationalist students of the Bible chose to remove from its teaching elements of the miraculous, or its claim to Christ's unique deity, virgin birth, atoning death, physical resurrection or promised return. It would be a mistake, however, to suppose that the dangers of adding to the Word and taking away from it are perils confined to the past. It is easier to castigate the sins of others than confess our own. Believers add to God's word whenever they make compulsory rules about things on which Scripture is silent. (Brown, Deuteronomy, 63) It is a misguided Christianity which seeks to compel the conscience of other believers by creating codes of conduct by which they determine the maturity or regeneration of others. When holiness is defined by political party, or whether one goes to parties, God’s Word has been amended. The opposite also occurs. We conveniently skip over passages which cause us to squirm in our middle class chairs. God’s law is replete with helping the poor, righting social wrongs, aiding the disenfranchised, but far too often we only insulate ourselves more from the suffering of poverty by spending more and more on ourselves. We wouldn’t dare verbally deny the authority of God’s Word, but our lives prove us practical atheists by our disobedience. To illustrate this danger, Moses refers to an instance in their own recent past where people paid the penalty for toying with God’s authority. Then, as today, in the name of personal freedom, people will throw off the perceived restrictive rules of sexual morality. In Numbers 25 we are given the details of how the Israelite men had sex with Moabite woman and in so doing also worshipped Baal, a false god. A plague broke out and those who broke God’s Law paid with their own lives through the plague or execution. The choice between obedience to God’s authority or disobedience is a choice of life or death, now or later. Today people still imagine they may break the law of God with impunity, but the answer is death. It is so important that we do not treat God’s authority with such disdain that we set aside His law or, just as bad, think we are helping God by adding to it. One example of this error, and there are many, is found when people imagine that God’s Word is not sufficient for the ultimate problems we face. C. Peter Wagner, well known Professor of Missions from Fuller Theological Seminary and proponent of what is known as the "signs and wonders movement" has said that we can never reach the world with the Gospel unless we can raise the dead and heal the sick and call down fire from heaven and do all kinds of supernatural things. At the American Association of Bible Colleges Convention, Wagner said: "The simple gospel is no longer adequate without signs and wonders." We cannot reach the world, he is saying, with just the Word of God. We have to have signs and wonders and he is talking, along with many others, about finding the power source and delving into supernatural powers to do miracles and create these signs and wonders. But the promise of life goes to those who find God sufficient, His Word complete. It is not enough to say we believe God’s Word to be true; we must also believe that there is nothing more needed for life and godliness. It is for this reason that the Westminster Confession of Faith wisely stipulates that: "The whole counsel of God, concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man’s salvation, faith, and life, is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture: unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men." (WCF 1.6) God’s authority is convincing - verse 5-8 Time is short, but there is an important reminder in these verses for us with regard to the authority of God’s Law with respect to those who have heard and are following God’s commands and those who are not. This is especially important in an election year such as this. How do we understand God’s authority with respect to those outside the Covenant? Remember, in this passage God’s authority is specifically for believers. What about unbelievers? There is a convincing aspect to God’s Law described. Notice the twofold benefit when we are obedient to God. Verse 6: Our obedience shows wisdom and understanding. When others see that, they see the character of God. Wisdom is found in conformity to God’s authority. But notice the two aspects. In verse 7, they see God’s compassion, His nearness, His accessibility. When we submit to God’s authority we communicate not a distant tyrant but an intimate Father. In verse 8 the second benefit is listed. They also see that this God who answers prayer gives good and right laws. The commands make sense. Did you notice what is not said? "In order to convince the nations of God’s Law, force them to obey the Law." The Law is an expression of the Covenant. The Covenant is designed for the people of God. Remember, obedience flows out of faith, it does not cause faith. This does not mean we shouldn't seek to enact good and right laws which flow out of the principles of God’s Law. We use these laws as a framework. Murder is wrong; we should work to see that it does not occur. On the other hand, be careful of those who blur the lines between God’s Covenant people and the nation in which they live. God’s authority is covenantal - verses 9-14 To draw this to a close, look at verse 13. God’s Covenant, God’s promise to us is stated in the Ten Commandments. In His demanding we perfectly keep the Law, there we find the relationship between God’s authority and our freedom. We are commanded to follow them, but as you will see in the coming weeks as we look at each Commandment, we fail miserably. The answer lies in the last phrase of the verse. Here we find our freedom. Those ten words were written on two stone tablets. Why two stones? Not because God ran out of space on the first, not because we divide the law between our duties to God in the first four and our duties to one another in the second six. Rather, to understand this we have to go back to second millennium BC regulations of treaties. When a king wrote a law, two copies of the law were made. One copy would be kept under the king’s throne, the other copy displayed for all to see what the king demanded of his subjects for his pleasure to rest on them. Here we have two sets of the one law. Where were they placed? According to God’s command both tablets were placed in the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies, in the footstool of Jehovah’s throne. In that subtle but important picture we have the Gospel clarified. God’s demands are made and they stand firm. His authority must not be challenged and to reject it means eternal death. But the same God who demands perfection supplies the perfect solution. In Jesus Christ the Law of God is kept for us. In Christ, His righteous will be imputed to us. In Christ, the Law is fulfilled. Each stipulation, each aspect in ways we could never imagine to perfect, Christ did it for us. He suffered for our breaking of the Law; He credits to us His obedience. What better picture of this than the Lord’s Supper. Here in the simple bread and wine God supplies the sustenance we need, the nourishment necessary to live. All He asks is that we eat and drink in faith, trusting that Christ is more than able to save, since we can not save ourselves. |
