MY SHORT REPORT NUM 35 - DEUT 16
The link that brought you to this page and the page title are a bit of a misnomer, because this short report is not long enough to cover so many chapters of the Bible. What the link and the title do, however, is track where we are in our plan to read through the entire Bible in 1 year. May each report pique your interest and help you to draw near to God. The Bible, James 4:8, tells us if we do so God will draw near to us. Works cited are at the end of the report. Internal links provide additional information.
BIBLE READING—9TH WEEK—NUM 35 - DEUT 16: Last week’s Short Report focused on Numbers 22 through 24—the account of Balaam and his donkey, and an epiphany of Christ, the Angel of the LORD (Numbers 22:22)—and we saw that Christ was revealed in Balaam’s oracles. This week we finished reading Numbers and read sixteen chapters of Deuteronomy. In this last book of Moses the Law is told and explained a second time to the next generation, which now holds land on the east side of the Jordan River and will soon cross over into the Promised Land. This Short Report will briefly look at why the Law is told a second time and some passages from Deuteronomy used in the New Testament and conclude by stating the purpose of the Law.
More than retelling or setting straight the precepts of God with a new generation, Deuteronomy renews the covenant—a contract between God and His people—He is holy and Israel must also be holy. Moses will soon be gone, and with God by his side Joshua will lead Israel into battle to claim a land they did not know, but a land known by and promised to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so there was a reason for everything that led to this moment, and Moses wanted them to know all about it. In Deuteronomy – People’s Bible Commentary Braun says, “As Moses retold this law he also wanted to impress it deeply on his listeners’ hearts. Again and again Moses reminded Israel of the Lord’s goodness to them, though they hadn’t deserved it. There is a sense of urgency when Moses said, ‘I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life’ (30:19)” (p. 10).
We have heard it said time and again that when God repeats Himself it is important, so we better pay attention. It is easy to apply this principle to the Law, because we know it is important. This is further amplified by His requirement that a matter be established by two or more witnesses (Deut 19:15; 2Cor 13:1). The Law, however, is not only found in Exodus and Deuteronomy, it is everywhere. It is in woven into the fabric of Creation (Ps 19:1), written on tablets of stone (Ex 24:12), written throughout Holy Scriptures and seen in the life of Christ (Jn 1:14), written on the human heart and mind (Ro 2:15), and written on us—letters from Christ—to be read by all (2Cor 3:2-3).
As we learned in Catechism, there are three types of law: moral law, ceremonial law and civil law. “Only the moral law was written into the human heart” (LSC, p. 54), which is listed in the Ten Commandments and capsulized by our Lord in Matthew 22:37-40 where He explained to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” In this case Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.
More than summarizing the Law, Jesus made direct use of the Ten Commandments in Matthew 5:21-26; 5:27-30; and 15:1-9 in order to teach holy living as He spoke against anger, lust, and human traditions that break the Commandments, and again in Matthew 19:16-22 when He taught a rich man what he needed to inherit eternal life.
Jesus also quoted from Deuteronomy three times when He was tempted in the wilderness saying to Satan, (1) “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3), (2) “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Mt 4:7; Dt 6:16), and (3) “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Mt 4:10; Dt 6:13).
In closing I turn to Luther’s Small Catechism which tells us the threefold purpose of the Law. First, by setting a boundary, the law acts as a curb to prevent “violent outbursts of sin and keeps order in the world” (1 Tim 1:9; Ro 2:14-15). Secondly, just as we can see ourselves when we look into a mirror “the Law accuses us and shows us our sin” (Ro 3:20; Ro 7:7). The third thing the Law does is act as a guide by helping us (the children of God) to navigate our way through this fallen world, so we may “lead a God-pleasing life.” Our desire to live a life that pleases God does not come from the law—which only accuses and condemns us. Rather, “the power to live according to the Law comes from the Gospel” (Ps 119:105; 1 Jn 4:9, 11). Because He first loved us, we can love Him, His Law, His Church, His will for our lives, etcetera (cf. 1 Jn 4:19) (94-95).
More than retelling or setting straight the precepts of God with a new generation, Deuteronomy renews the covenant—a contract between God and His people—He is holy and Israel must also be holy. Moses will soon be gone, and with God by his side Joshua will lead Israel into battle to claim a land they did not know, but a land known by and promised to their forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, so there was a reason for everything that led to this moment, and Moses wanted them to know all about it. In Deuteronomy – People’s Bible Commentary Braun says, “As Moses retold this law he also wanted to impress it deeply on his listeners’ hearts. Again and again Moses reminded Israel of the Lord’s goodness to them, though they hadn’t deserved it. There is a sense of urgency when Moses said, ‘I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life’ (30:19)” (p. 10).
We have heard it said time and again that when God repeats Himself it is important, so we better pay attention. It is easy to apply this principle to the Law, because we know it is important. This is further amplified by His requirement that a matter be established by two or more witnesses (Deut 19:15; 2Cor 13:1). The Law, however, is not only found in Exodus and Deuteronomy, it is everywhere. It is in woven into the fabric of Creation (Ps 19:1), written on tablets of stone (Ex 24:12), written throughout Holy Scriptures and seen in the life of Christ (Jn 1:14), written on the human heart and mind (Ro 2:15), and written on us—letters from Christ—to be read by all (2Cor 3:2-3).
As we learned in Catechism, there are three types of law: moral law, ceremonial law and civil law. “Only the moral law was written into the human heart” (LSC, p. 54), which is listed in the Ten Commandments and capsulized by our Lord in Matthew 22:37-40 where He explained to the Pharisees and Sadducees, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” In this case Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18.
More than summarizing the Law, Jesus made direct use of the Ten Commandments in Matthew 5:21-26; 5:27-30; and 15:1-9 in order to teach holy living as He spoke against anger, lust, and human traditions that break the Commandments, and again in Matthew 19:16-22 when He taught a rich man what he needed to inherit eternal life.
Jesus also quoted from Deuteronomy three times when He was tempted in the wilderness saying to Satan, (1) “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3), (2) “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test” (Mt 4:7; Dt 6:16), and (3) “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Mt 4:10; Dt 6:13).
In closing I turn to Luther’s Small Catechism which tells us the threefold purpose of the Law. First, by setting a boundary, the law acts as a curb to prevent “violent outbursts of sin and keeps order in the world” (1 Tim 1:9; Ro 2:14-15). Secondly, just as we can see ourselves when we look into a mirror “the Law accuses us and shows us our sin” (Ro 3:20; Ro 7:7). The third thing the Law does is act as a guide by helping us (the children of God) to navigate our way through this fallen world, so we may “lead a God-pleasing life.” Our desire to live a life that pleases God does not come from the law—which only accuses and condemns us. Rather, “the power to live according to the Law comes from the Gospel” (Ps 119:105; 1 Jn 4:9, 11). Because He first loved us, we can love Him, His Law, His Church, His will for our lives, etcetera (cf. 1 Jn 4:19) (94-95).