In the book of Vayikra [Leviticus] we are commanded to live in booths for seven days, so that our generations shall know that Yehovah made the Israelites live in booths when He brought them from the land of Egypt (Lev 23:37-38). So was it Gods intention to have the Israelites live in booths, for forty years, when He brought them from the land of Egypt? Hear the answer from God himself, “Eleven days from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-Barnea. And it came to pass, in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month on the first of the month, Moses spoke to the sons of Israel according to all that Yehovah had commanded him concerning them” (Dt. 1:2-3). So why did an eleven day yourney turn into a forty year exile? Because Israel sinned against Yehovah rebelling, murmuring and refusing to obey the voice of Yehovah their Elohim (Dt. 1). In Exodus 19:5 God said that IF they, the people, obeyed His voice, then they have kept His covenant, and will be to Him a peculiar treasure more than all the peoples. So obviously they did not obeye His voice accordingly not keeping His covenant, and paid the price for their disobedience. But now they have come to the end of their journey, on the other side of the Jordan, before entering the promised land. There Yehovah commanded Moses to make a covenant with the sons of Israel, in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He made with them in Horeb (Dt. 29:1). This covenant was not new; it is not based on different “terms and conditions” than the covenant made at Horeb. This was a repeat, a confirmation, of what God had commanded all along and what had been written in the Torah. So, at the end of his rehearsal, the repeating of all the “terms and conditions,” Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of seven years, in the time of the year for canceling debts during the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before Yehovah their God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little children and your aliens that are in your towns, so that they may hear and so that they may learn and they may revere Yehovah your God, and they shall diligently observe all the words of this law. And then their children, who have not known, they too may hear, and they may learn to revere Yehovah their God all the days that you live on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to get there to take possession of it (Dt 31:10-13). So why might this be important to us today you might ask? Clearly when reading the mentioned verses we can see that this is not just a passive commandment given so that the future generations would know that God made the Israelites to dwell in booths in the desert. Obviously they were in exile, prohibited from entering the promised land. This is an active commanded participation and understanding as to why the Israelites had to live in sukkas for forty years, and something needed to be done to change the exile situation. The intended action and participation becomes clear when God says, “so that they MAY HEAR and so that they MAY LEARN and they MAY REVERE YEHOVAH your God, and they shall DILIGENTLY OBSERVE ALL THE WORDS OF THIS LAW. And then THEIR CHILDREN, who have not known, THEY TOO MAY HEAR, and they MAY LEARN TO REVERE YEHOVAH their God all the days that you live on the land that you are crossing the Jordan to get there to take possession of it.” During the repeat of all the words that Yehovah had spoken, Moses emphasized the blessings and the curses in chapter 28, showing and commanding them on how, when a people is outside the promised kingdom of God, they are to be restored to Gods kingdom(Chap 4). So after their sukka experience God has restoration in mind for them, BUT, only by doing what Yehovah commanded. In chapter 29, verse 2, we find a proclamation; this is what we are supposed to teach our children. Thats the message that we are supposed to teach our children; that God has done it once and He will do it again. This is how He did it in the past, this is how we called to Him in the past, this is what we need to do to call on Him in the future. Moses rehearsal are the most important passages in the Torah because this shows us what happens when we are in exile. We are to remember that He is God, we are to remember that we are His people, we never stopped being His people. Once you become His people you dont stop being His people. There is punishments to help you return to be His people, but generally, what extreme possabilities there might be for you to no longer be His people, arent tied up with just basic disobedience. Your ability to keep Torah has no bearing on you to remain a child of God, the only thing it affects is your position. Youre always in the house, its just a matter of where you are in the house; in the closet because you are in trouble or are you out worshipping with Yehovah where you are supposed to be. Obeying Torah makes you a high and lofty people or a treasured possession. Disobeying Torah means that you are no longer treasured, but you are still a possession. They had everything they needed to know about God, on how to please God, to be filled with God, to be in fellowship with God, to be completely and utterly as Moses was; as he was able to talk with God face to face, and every bit was right there (Dt 29:4). None of it was hidden from them. He gave them eyes to see, He gave them ears to hear, and He gave them a heart to know there and then in that day. Those people at that time had eyes to see, ears to hear in that day, and everything they knew and everything that they saw was in this book. Thats why it is written, because it is for us. This is not just the retelling of the covenant for those coming out of exile and going into the kingdom. Deuteronomy is for those who are in exile, on how to leave exile and on how to come into the kingdom of God again. Deuteronomy for all practical purposes is the “Gospel of God.” It is the primary mechanism for all time; for us to know how to be restored to God if we find ourself in a lack of fellowship because of disobedience. This is the gospel, and anything that changes this is a new, and not commanded, false gospel. From verse 9-13 we see that all who stood before Moses on that day now became part of Israel, part of the covenant with God, and into His oath, no distinction as long as they kept to the terms of the covenant. Moses did not make this covenant and this oath with them only, those who stood here with them that day before Yehovah our God, but also with him that were not there with them on that day; that includes you and me (vs 14 & 15). But what is the oath of Yehovah that we entered into? The oath that God entered into with us is the blessings and the curses in chapter 28. “I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live” (Dt 30:19). We cannot just enter into covenant with God. We need to enter into His covenant and His oath; you have to admit to both, and you have to acknowledge both. The oath is the disciplinary part. “Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away today from Yehovah our God, to go serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood [metaphor for punishment], and it happens when he hears the words of this curse, that he shall bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart, to snatch away the drunken with the thirsty” (Dt 29:18-19). When we find ourselves in the land of exile and we “teshuva” (turn back) to Yehovah and “shamar” (obey) His voice according to all that we are commanded, we and our sons with all our heart, and with all our soul, then Yehovah shall turn back our exile, then Yehovah our Elohim will turn our captivity, and He will have pity (compassion) on us, and will return and gather us from all the nations where Yehovah our Elohim has scattered us (Dt 30:1-3). - This is the gospel in a nutshell!!! When you bring the blessings and curses back into your heart, the covenant and the oath, when you bring them back into your heart, no matter where you are, and you turn back to Yehovah and obey His voice, then Yehovah will turn back your captivity. Even on those driven out to the farthest parts of the heaven, this is describing death, from there even will He gather you. This is what happens when we make teshuva and obey; Yehovah our God will bring us to the land that our ancestors had taken possession of, and He will make us successful, and He will make us more numerous than our ancestors (v5). So because of teshuva and shamar by the people, Yehovah our God will circumcise our heart and the heart of our offspring to love Yehovah our God with all our heart and with all our inner self so that we may live (v6) . . . and we will all know Yehovah and we will live and not die [Ez 18, especially verses 21 to 23; 2 Ch 7:14]. Teshuva and shamar thats how we get saved. . .nothing more, and note especially there is no sacrifice, no offering, no blood. This is the gospel in one sentence. King David confirmed this when he said, “For You do not desire sacrifice; or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:16-17). Even in the case of Manasseh king of Judah, on whom Yehovah brought the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh among the thorns and bound him with chains and carried him to Babylon in exile, this is confirmed. “And when he was in affliction, he sought Yehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And he prayed to Him, and He was entreated of him, and heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. And Manasseh knew that Yehovah is God” (2Ch 33:11-13) This commandment which we are commanded is not too wonderful for us, nor is it too far off. It is not in the heavens that we should say, “Who shall go up into the heavens for us, and bring it to us, and cause us to hear it, that we may do it?” We dont need someone to go up into the heavens for us, we dont need someone to bring it down from the heavens for us, we dont need someone to come from the heavens to speak it to us so that we would do it, we dont need someone to come from beyond the sea, we dont need someone to come from a great distance so that we would hear it, for the word is very near to us (Dt 30:11-12). We can see right up to the end, verse 20, that nothing more is needed; nothing needs to be added to the gospel of God as written here in Devarim chapter 30. When we may find ourself under discipline because of sin, we must bring these words back upon ourselves; bring them back into our heart no matter where we are in exile between the gentiles. Is there any need for anybody to come here to “ad to” or “fix” these words? This is a perfect gospel, when we sin we must stand up to it. We must apologise for it, and make it right. It is on our shoulders.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 07:50:02 +0000
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