Deuteronomy 8
God had promised Israel the blessings of a virtual
heaven on earth if the nation would obey His voice. While the Lord
had revealed Himself as merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love, this did not mean that He would be satisfied with
partial obedience. “The whole commandment that I command you today
you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in
and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers.”
God led Israel through the wilderness for these many
years, providing daily bread from heaven. But man does not live by
bread alone. The nation needed to pay close attention to the voice of
the Lord, hearing and obeying every Word that came from the mouth of
God.
For Israel to ignore the voice of the Lord would be to
forget God. The Lord warned His people about this danger, a danger
that they would particularly face in any future days of prosperity.
It would be very tempting for God's people to come to this incorrect
conclusion: “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this
wealth.”
The consequences of this national sin would be dire: “If
you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them
and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely
perish. Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so
shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord
your God.”
This voice of God in the Law of Moses came with a
promise of blessing for obedience, but also with a solemn warning of
curse for disobedience. How could any nation of sinful and weak
people keep the whole Law of God in this fallen world?
There could be no doubt that Israel would need a
Redeemer. This Savior did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfill
it. He kept the whole Law of God, even the eternal covenant between
the Father and the Son that commanded the obedience and love of the
cross.
This Savior had such a full obedience that He had the
power of an indestructible life. He rose from the dead, and He lives
forever to intercede for us.
We now have a better word than the Law. The Law could
only bring life to the one who wholly obeyed all the commandments. We
have a healing word from a great Physician who brings life to those
who were dead in sin. We have the word of His good news: “Christ
died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:6)
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