“And now, O Israel, listen to the
statues and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live…”
(Deut 4:1).
The promise of life is more than an escape from divine
judgment. Reading the Old Testament (especially
the legislation portions) we have tendencies to carefully file all the commands
into ones that apply and ones that don’t apply.
And then, taking the rules that do apply, we try really hard to follow them
so God doesn’t get mad. So we read “do
them, that you may live…” as “do them, so you avoid God’s displeasure and his punishment.”
Instead a parallel verse gives us a more helpful direction. “Keep them [the statutes and rules], and that
will be your wisdom and understanding...” (4:6). Commandment-keeping produces “life”
in Deut 4:1 and it produces a way of
living that is full of wisdom and understanding in Deut 4:6. It is “life” in the fullest sense of
flourishing and thriving. This commandment-keeping
is not producing “life” in the mere sense of survival.
It is not simply dodging the divine rod.
It is living and doing what we were made for --living beautifully under
his rule and reign. A taste, you might
say, of the Eden that we lost. So the
bible pleads for us to see commandment-keeping as flourishing and life in the
fullest sense. And incidentally the
death that came to Adam (and also to Israel) from stepping outside his statutes,
was not “death” as meaning sudden cardiac arrest. It is “death” in the fullest sense: corruption,
deterioration, darkness. It is the
opposite of flourishing and thriving, the opposite of ‘life.’
When you hear God has commands pointed directly at you, do
you think more of God’s potential displeasure and the possible consequences thereof? Or do you see them as a beautiful path being spread
before you, beckoning you to flourish?
Anthony,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words that are a great reminder of what true life is when we follow God's word of life.
Dad
Love this, "it produces a way of living that is full of wisdom and understanding..." That is something worth musing over.
ReplyDeleteI love this! We are often so selfish as humans that we do not see how beautiful it is to follow His ways. This culture and generation says, "Do what you want." They think this is freedom. Not so! We can only experience true freedom when we submit ourselves into the arms of God our Father. He shows us the way, He blesses us with more than we ever imagined, He takes our brokenness and molds us into the original purpose He had for us- life abundant. How can we think our plan is better than the plan of our creator, than the plan of the Almighty God who created the universe? Being free is life in Christ and His life in us!
ReplyDeleteHeidi
I've been learning this over the past 6 years, but it brings to mind two questions I often wonder about. I'm sure smarter people than me have already tackled these, but here we go...
ReplyDelete1) How do we know which of the statutes in the Old Testament we are supposed to hold to, and which ones we can ignore? I feel inadequate to make that decision on my own, but I also feel very strongly that many of them simply cannot apply to our modern world.
2) Didn't Jesus obviate the need for such legalism? He said "If you want to get to Heaven, look at Me" and "Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and then love each other the same way".
I'm eager to hear your thoughts on these two "freshman" questions.
Matt
That's not an easy question at all! And there is not a quick answer. I’ll share a few things that might help you get started. First, look for laws that are repeated and reaffirmed in the New Testament and those that are said to have passed away. Second, there are also a couple images the bible gives us to work with on the big picture level. The New Testament says that the law was our “tutor” to lead us to Christ (Gal 3:24). It also says the law was a “shadow” (Heb 10:1) of a more substantial reality–which in the NT was revealed to be Christ Himself (Col 2:17). What do these mean?
ReplyDeleteFirst, it means the Old Testament law is fulfilled by Christ. Christ is the new temple (John 2:21), the new priest (Heb 5:10), the new sacrifice (Heb 10:11-14), the new king (John 18:37). The whole storyline of the Old Testament and its covenants and laws come to climatic fulfillment in Christ. Does this make the Old Testament law obsolete? In some sense (cf. Heb 8:13). The most important sense is that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness” (Rom 10:4). So in this sense, as you say, Christ obviates the law (or at least this perceived function of it).
Second, it means that although the Old Testament law was still awaiting a greater fulfillment, it is nonetheless good and righteous. The New Testament says this directly “the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good,” (Rom 7:12). And Jesus himself takes quite a positive view of the law when he says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them… Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 5:17-18). On this Matt I would commend caution toward worldviews that picture human civilization as a continuously progressive stream of moral development. That is, where “the modern world” has more of its moral act together than those “backward” ancient people. Besides being false, in my estimation, it is a worldview destined to bifurcate the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. It would of course be a bifurcation that Jesus wouldn’t tolerate and it would also be a view destined to say something like: "It’s good thing God’s moral compass finally got on the right track after a few thousand years!" This is not the flawless, righteous, perfect God that we worship.
Two challenges Matt. I suspect you have a few moral sensibilities that stand over and against some Old Testament law. It’s not uncommon. If something concerns you, give yourself to deep study of those scriptures and their historical background. Going beyond surface readings often abrogate such concerns. Second, be willing to reconsider some moral stances. I’ve had to do that more than once. If this is truly the word of God, let your heart be formed and shaped by it. Love you bro!