Moses Teaches Israel on the Plains of Moab
5 Moses called all Israel together. He said to them, “Attention, Israel. Listen obediently to the rules and regulations I am delivering to your listening ears today. Learn them. Live them.
2-5 God, our God, made a covenant with us at Horeb. God didn’t just make this covenant with our parents; he made it also with us, with all of us who are alive right now. God spoke to you personally out of the fire on the mountain. At the time I stood between God and you, to tell you what God said. You were afraid, remember, of the fire and wouldn’t climb the mountain.
He said: 6 I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of slaves. 7 No other gods, only me. 8-10 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God. I hold parents responsible for any sins they pass on to their children to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation. But I’m lovingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.
11 No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.
12-15 No working on the Sabbath; keep it holy just as God, your God, commanded you. Work six days, doing everything you have to do, but the seventh day is a Sabbath, a Rest Day—no work: not you, your son, your daughter, your servant, your maid, your ox, your donkey (or any of your animals), and not even the foreigner visiting your town. That way your servants and maids will get the same rest as you. Don’t ever forget that you were slaves in Egypt and God, your God, got you out of there in a powerful show of strength. That’s why God, your God, commands you to observe the day of Sabbath rest.
16 Respect your father and mother—God, your God, commands it! You’ll have a long life; the land that God is giving you will treat you well.
17 No murder.
18 No adultery.
19 No stealing.
20 No lies about your neighbor.
21 No coveting your neighbor’s wife. And no lusting for his house, field, servant, maid, ox, or donkey either—nothing that belongs to your neighbor!
22 These are the words that God spoke to the whole congregation at the mountain. He spoke in a tremendous voice from the fire and cloud and dark mist. And that was it. No more words. Then he wrote them on two slabs of stone and gave them to me.
23-24 As it turned out, when you heard the Voice out of that dark cloud and saw the mountain on fire, you approached me, all the heads of your tribes and your leaders, and said,
24-26 “Our God has revealed to us his glory and greatness. We’ve heard him speak from the fire today! We’ve seen that God can speak to humans and they can still live. But why risk it further? This huge fire will devour us if we stay around any longer. If we hear God’s voice anymore, we’ll die for sure. Has anyone ever known of anyone who has heard the Voice of God the way we have and lived to tell the story?
27 “From now on, you go and listen to what God, our God, says and then tell us what God tells you. We’ll listen and we’ll do it.”
28-29 God heard what you said to me and told me, “I’ve heard what the people said to you. They’re right—good and true words. What I wouldn’t give if they’d always feel this way, continuing to revere me and always keep all my commands; they’d have a good life forever, they and their children!
30-31 “Go ahead and tell them to go home to their tents. But you, you stay here with me so I can tell you every commandment and all the rules and regulations that you must teach them so they’ll know how to live in the land that I’m giving them as their own.”
32-33 So be very careful to act exactly as God commands you. Don’t veer off to the right or the left. Walk straight down the road God commands so that you’ll have a good life and live a long time in the land that you’re about to possess.”
The Israelites are camped on the plains of Moab just outside the Promised Land. Moses is feverishly reviewing everything God has tried to teach these people so that when they enter Canaan, they won’t mess up and lose everything for which they have suffered so long. Some of the people to whom Moses is speaking were children when he ascended Mount Sinai. All these people remember is the fire, the smoke, the earthquake, and the sound of a divine trumpet. Some of them might vaguely remember what happened to those who created the golden calf and then worshiped it, but those memories are childish, tinged with wonder rather than regret or awe. Now Moses is describing how God gave him the Ten Commandments and the rationale behind them.
What must Moses be thinking as he is giving this review? Although the commandments are written on tablets of stone that are kept in the Arc of the Covenant, Moses is bending every effort to ensure that the Israelites are writing these commandments in their hearts and minds. After all, the Arc is sacred, and only the priests might possibly open it on special occasions. If the Israelites as a group don’t incorporate these commandments into their daily lives and teach them to their children and grandchildren, they will soon modify them or forget them completely.
In the C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia book The Silver Chair, the heroine Jill is given specific instructions on locating a captive prince by Aslan, the lion who represents Jesus, the Lion of Judah. Jill is supposed to keep repeating these instructions accurately and completely so that she and her companions will successfully complete their quest; however, Jill begins to tire and is only reminded of some of the instructions when life-threatening emergencies occur. Make no mistake! The Chronicles of Narnia are for people of all ages, not merely for children. And the faith lessons embodied there are timeless.
“I am God, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of a house of slaves. 7 No other gods, only me. 8-10 No carved gods of any size, shape, or form of anything whatever, whether of things that fly or walk or swim. Don’t bow down to them and don’t serve them because I am God, your God, and I’m a most jealous God. I hold parents responsible for any sins they pass on to their children to the third, and yes, even to the fourth generation. But I’m lovingly loyal to the thousands who love me and keep my commandments.”
Having undergone such a miraculous deliverance, why would any group of people fail to remember God or to worship Him alone? Most people are fickle, with very short attention spans. The Israelites have spent 400 years in Egypt watching the Egyptians worship images of all kinds of animals. The worldhistory.org website tells us that there were over 2,000 deities in the Egyptian pantheon. When the Israelites left Egypt, they carried some of these images with them and continued to worship them even after God had destroyed Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea.
27 “From now on, you go and listen to what God, our God, says and then tell us what God tells you. We’ll listen and we’ll do it.”
28-29 God heard what you said to me and told me, “I’ve heard what the people said to you. They’re right—good and true words. What I wouldn’t give if they’d always feel this way, continuing to revere me and always keep all my commands; they’d have a good life forever, they and their children!” God exists outside of time and knows the end from the beginning. God knows that the same people who are swearing they will never fall away will become entranced with pagan practices given the opportunity.
How faithful are we? Do we treat God’s commandments as if they were merely suggestions to be considered and refused or modified at a whim? Remember Numbers 23:19 that says “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent.” God means what He says. If we are foolish enough to refuse to listen, we will suffer the consequences. May God help us to remain faithful and to honor His Word in all that we do and say!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to study Your Word, to learn Your Word, and to honor Your Word by obeying it without arguing or modifying it. We ask this in the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment