However, when we disobey the Lord, we experience His discipline and consequences. Does that mean we can go around murdering people because were not under the Mosaic Law? This is something that we should all strive to do. The first case ( Deuteronomy 22:13-19) is of a man who marries a woman and then falsely charges her with being a harlot (not being a virgin when he married her). The book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible. This passage applies to us today because Gods character does not change. Let me make a distinction between how the Israelites were chosen then and how we as Christians are chosen now because it relates to the purpose of the Law and how we apply it today. A commercial airline pilot about to take a 747 loaded with passengers from New York to Los Angeles talks his crew through a much more elaborate preflight ritual. The holiness and splendor of God The overall goal of the book of Leviticus is to show the level of holiness God exists in. It is not an agreement God made with anyone else. How do we try to avoid facing the truth of our status in spiritual obedience. Here are some key points from the passage that we can apply to our lives: 1. Deuteronomy 28 listed blessings and curses for by being obedience or disobedience and says do this (obey) or do that (disobey) and God does this (bless) or that (curse) - that's the religion of the law of Moses. Many of those Jews took advantage of the mercy offered through that plan, and many went wayward. We still must live with the consequences of that sin, though. Our behavior reveals what we truly believe in our hearts. There has probably been a moment or two in 40 years that maybe Id love my neighbor as myself, but most of the time, no. A man must NOT treat his wife as a slave, even if she is a captured prisoner of war. It should be an expression of intimacy between husband and wife within marriage. One way to know that is to see how its worded. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Our hearts are confident because of Gods Love, encouraged by the joy of His Loving Presence, gathered together by the enduring power of His Holy Spirit., Andif you faithfully obey the voice of the, If you diligently obey the voice of the LORD, That the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. It is difficult to overstate the importance of Deuteronomy in Scripture and Gods unfolding redemptive plan. No command is incumbent upon me in virtue of being part of the law. It was made between God and Moses and Israel. 2. We often do not realize or understand that there is an unspoken opposite action for not obeying the treaties. And there are different ways to explain why that is, and one is to realize that in spiritual union with the Jewish Messiah, Jesus Christ, Christians are the messianic people, the true Israel, the heirs of everything promised to the true Israel. It's all a lot for a simple guy like myself to digest. Abraham was saved by faith, not by works and he is the prime example of how everyone has always been saved. But even if we dont experience all of these blessings in our lifetime, we can take comfort in knowing that we are right with God and that we will ultimately inherit all of his promises. (1-2) Overtaken by blessing. He shall be forgiven. So, forgiveness is offered through the offering of a ram, and nowadays now, since Jesus he has replaced the work of that priest and the offering of that ram. Anything we read from the Bible falls under 1 of these dispensations and it should not be carried or used in another dispensation practically. how far can a duck . What things can draw you away from the fundamentalvalues of life? + 2 All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you, + because you keep listening to the voice of Jehovah As a Christian for 40 years, I have not had a split second of my life as a follower of Christ when I loved the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind. In Deuteronomy 28, we see that obedience is a key factor in experiencing the blessings or curses of God. When we disobey Him, we open ourselves up to His curse. . First, Deuteronomy beautifully describes the covenant relationship between God and his people. Leviticus 5:1516 says if anyone sins, he shall bring an offering, a ram as an offering. The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as numerous. But if we disobey, we will be cursed. Do not ever think that God is too kind to do anything about sin. Confronting an enemy always causes a certain amount of fear, but with God, on our side, we can be confident of victory. We need to obey Gods laws and statutes, so that we can experience His righteousness and peace (v. 30-32). General Equity would be a contradiction if you assume Abrogated as used by the divines means totally nullified in its entirety. Positioned strategically at the end of the Pentateuch, concluding the incredible life and ministry of Moses, renewing and expanding the Sinai covenant for the post-wilderness generation, Deuteronomy serves as the covenant instruction (torah) for a new generation posed to enter the Promised Land. I think the 'specifics' mentioned such as v8b and v68 show us that this passage is primarily directed towards OT Israel. God restored the Israelites even though they continued to turn against him. King Solomon, for example, was very successful at first. If you diligently obey the voice of the LORD: The word if looms large. Learn how your comment data is processed. In this chapter, Moses exhorted the nation withchoice. Our respectful behavior sets a good example for others. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I wouldn't trust any editing job on Calvin's sermons that was done by a theonomist with the specific intent of proving that Calvin himself was in fact a theonomist. William Twisse on Leviticus 26, Deuteronomy 28, and the covenant of works. This request is one we should follow, too. 2And all these blessings shall come upon you andovertake you, if you obey the voice of theLordyour God. When we chose to believe in God, we are also given a fresh start. 1. Deuteronomy 28:1-2, The promise of God in Deuteronomy 28:1-2 offers many powerful insights that we can learn from when we listen with our hearts and open ourselves to applying the wisdom of its mighty blessing to our lives with obedience. Put up a link or something. basically, it is a renewal of the covenant God made with them previously. For example, in his death for sins, Jesus effectively replaces the Old Testament priesthood and the Old Testament sacrifices and all of those ceremonial provisions that surrounded that process of sacrifice. Moses knew that he was about to die, so before he left the people he blessed them. In Leviticus it is being expressed clearly as a universal, right next to bestiality and child sacrifice. Copyright 2023, Southern Equip. Israel was to fulfill the role of Adam by living as a kingdom of priests (Ex 19:5-6), to serve as Gods son and representative and thus display to this poor, fallen world what it means to be truly human. 1. They seem to be universals and are therefore in the New Testament. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is one such example.. God had made his laws very clear and understandable so the people could not claim they were impossible to obey - they simply had to decide what they would do. Exegesis (including that done by older Reformed writers) that does not first take fully into account the historical situation between God and Israel before jumping directly to the application of theological paradigms shouldn't be seen as exemplary. Even though that generation knew the letter of the law, God instructed them to circumcise their hearts and write His laws there (10:16). The people are to keep the Sabbath in remembrance of their enslavement in Egypt. God changes a lot of different things. The New Testament says that the Old Testament law was intended "to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). Deuteronomy 28:20 says, The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin. This means that if we live a life that is not pleasing to God, He will curse us with problems and confusion. We must always give God the credit for our health, riches, and well-being. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Finally, this passage reminds us of Gods faithfulness. In the ancient Near East it was customary for legal treaties to conclude with passages containing blessings upon those who observed the enactments, and curses upon those who did not. (Harrrison). It was made between God and Moses and Israel. What are the results of disobedience to the laws (commands in the old and new testament) of God? The nation of Israel was obliged to obey the laws of their nation in order to reap Gods blessings or curses. The Israelites are told that if they obey the Lord and keep His commandments, they will be blessed in every way. This allows us to answer a lot of challenges that people might make regarding the old law. On the other hand, the Israelites had promised to obey God. We will also be blessed materially, with good health, financial stability, and strong relationships. And He is still a just God who curses those who disobey Him. Editorial: Reading Deuteronomy for Gods People Today. It may not display this or other websites correctly. But Did He Also Write Chapter 34? In fact, one of the purposed effects of giving the law to Israel was to reveal and intensify sinto show us clearly that apart from Gods grace and provision, we cannot change our hearts (Deut 30:6; cf. No human being could break a curse pronounced by God; he could only submit to it and repent under it. It was based on their obedience. He would do this either by making them so blessed that the world would know only God could have blessed them so; or by making them so cursed that only God could have cursed them and cause them to still survive. The head is the leader, the one who . Part of it was in response to the Jews. Read through all of the awesome blessings listed in Deuteronomy 28. Putting God first in our lives is the best preflight plan we can have. The passage in Deuteronomy 23:2, and similar passages, are no longer valid today, nor can they be applied to the Church of God. Moses led Israel through everything they needed to know to live successfully in Canaan. Through Moses' instruction, Deuteronomy also describes the future of the nation, which later biblical authors use as a template to interpret Israel's history and to hold out hope for a new and better covenant (see e.g., Deut 29-30).. how does deuteronomy 28 apply to us today. The question we have to ask ourselves as New Testament Christians in the New Covenant is, which commands or moral principles are obligatory and would apply regardless of the covenants, because they are universal morals that transcend the Mosaic Law? In other words, when step one says that we are heirs of all the promises, we have to take into account that those promises may be fulfilled differently today because of the changes that have come into history through the words and the work of Jesus. Sometimes curiosity and the attempt to learn more about evil things can harm our spiritual growth if those evil things become too attractive to us. Do we try to build status elsewhere? Deuteronomy is Christian Scripture. We are told that if we do not trust in Him, then we will not be blessed. The moral lawsthose against lying, stealing . God took them out of the land, He rescued them, and they were obligated to Him as their Sovereign. This passage has significant implications for our spiritual lives today. Help us continue to equip Christians with knowledge, wisdom, and character. I'd like to see where he does that anyway, since the work is no commentary in the true sense whatsoever, but rather a reprinting of Calvin's sermons with prefatory material added by a theonomist. JavaScript is disabled. Second, we need to obey Gods commandments and keep His covenant. Sometimes we think that a small bit of disobedience is no big deal to God, but sin always has consequences. We need to be careful to not take Gods blessings for granted (v. 17-19). 3. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. Now, I think that means that in union with Christ, the Messiah, Christians become the heirs of all the promises in the Old Testament. They were not chosen to be saved, rather they were chosen to be used to accomplish Gods plan of salvation. 28 "And if you will without fail listen to the voice of Jehovah your God by being careful to do all his commandments that I am commanding you today, Jehovah your God will certainly put you high above all other nations of the earth. This is something that we should all avoid. The rest of the bible of course shows us that the principles, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience still apply, but as a matter of bible interpretation I don't see how this particular passage has direct application outside of Israel in the land. We, both as individuals and collectives find times and seasons of apparent fullness and lack, opportunity and trial- that it can seem that we are very blessed or not at all. Sometimes the curse or judgment was pronounced by the servant of God as in Deuteronomy 27-28. These blessings are both spiritual and material, and they are promised to both individuals and the nation as a whole. For these celebrations, they were reminded to take a gift for God, according to what they had received from him. Here's a slightly different slant: of course it applies to us! For the destroying of Amalek ( v. 17, etc. Salvation in the OT (based on the Abrahamic Covenant) was always by faith, and never by works. Deuteronomy 4:26. Virtually every one of the Ten Commandments, save the Sabbath, is also expressed in some way or another in the New Testament as morally obligatory. He expects His people to obey Him, and He will bless them when they do. Read more Explain verse Share Copy Show footnotes A A God gave instructions to parents that they must first understand and internalize His laws and ways and then teach them to their own children. There are also laws and rules that are unique to a particular states situation. God is honored when we trust him to help us meet any situation. The verse reads: "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope," ( Jeremiah 29:11 ). No matter how much we give back to God, we should give it joyfully and thankfully. We have the commands against homosexuality in Corinthians and Romans, so it becomes clear that this is a universal and it is not just simply a provision of the Old Testament Law, while the punishment is limited to that old system and not applicable in the New Testament. As members of the Church we find ourselves waiting and preparing to enter into the promise of the Kingdom of God. June 9, 2015 by Karin. Once again, this is something that we should all avoid. However, if they disobey the Lord, they will be curse in every way. There is no balancing involved or necessary as far as I can see. This passage contains a list of curses that will befall the Israelites if they disobey God. 2. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law? The Ten Commandments are recounted in ch. What was the point of the book of Deuteronomy? What benefit or dangers may there be in carrying over meaning from Israel to these other modern day audiences? This book is named after the main character of its second part. God told Moses he was pleased when the Israelites obeyed him because they wanted to, not because they had to. From the context of Deuteronomy 28:13, we know it is better to be the head than the tail. God has these same concerns today, and he expects us to be not only fair but also kind and considerate in our dealings with those who seek our help. They had to keep the terms of the covenant. Therefore, the application we make of this verse is not that if Christians will repent God will heal America. Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. Rather, if Christians repent, turn from their wicked ways, humble themselves, and pray to God, he will do a mighty work in and through the church however he please. We are not blessed because we do this or that in the New Testament, we are blessed because Christ already took away the curse of the law and we are ONLY left with blessings.