Deuteronomy 5

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Deuteronomy 4:41-49

“Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 42 that the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in times past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: 43 namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites. 44 And this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel: 45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, 46 on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: 47 and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, 49 and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.”

“We have come as far as verse 41 in the 4^th chapter of Deuteronomy. Remember as we’re working through this, this is the Book most often quoted by Jesus Christ in the New Testament, it is his favourite Old Testament Book. We looked at many things in regard to the Law in Exodus, in Leviticus, some of them restated in the Book of Numbers. But it isn’t until we come to the Book of Deuteronomy where we begin to get a pathos attached to these things, as they are restated for another generation. In at least four or five chapters in Deuteronomy we hear God say ‘It’s because I love you.’ First time in the Law, first time God says this to his people from Genesis onward. He specifically says to them a number of times in the Book of Deuteronomy ‘I loved your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, therefore you being their seed I love you, I’m doing this because I love you.’ So there’s coming across in the Book of Deuteronomy, there’s a very, very interesting part of the heart of God that’s being betrayed as it were, or brought out into the open in regards to his own vulnerability, in regards to his own passion and love for his people. In fact, in chapter 4, if you’ll look back in verse 37, we’ll go to verse 36, “Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire. And because he loved thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;” And he’s encouraging them that it is because of his great love that he’s done these things, and he asks them then in verse 40 “Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee,” always God’s motive, “and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest” please take note, we’re going to see this over and over, “prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.” Now we left off in kind of a strange place. As we come to verse 41 we have a quick picture of three of the cities of Refuge on the east side of the Jordan River. When we get to chapter 19, there will be more details, and then we get to Joshua we’ll see more about these cities of Refuge. God had established 3 cities, we’re going to find out, on the east side of the Jordan, 3 cities on the west side of the Jordan. If you killed someone, and it was involuntary manslaughter, he hadn’t planned it, you were chopping wood with an ax and the ax head flew off and killed someone, or if there was a set of circumstances, and it was not premeditated, you were then allowed to flee to one of these cities of Refuge. There were no police forces, there was no police precinct. In a case of manslaughter, it was the oldest son’s responsibility or the oldest brother in the family to hunt down the person that had committed that crime and kill them. If it was involuntary manslaughter and wasn’t done on purpose, that person was allowed to flee to the city of Refuge, and the elders and the Levites would hear the case, and if in fact that person was innocent, they haven’t done it on purpose, then they were allowed to remain within the walls of the city of Refuge, and the slayer could not pursue them there, only if they went out of the city and were killed it was their own fault. They had to stay in the city until the death of the high priest, which of course is a beautiful picture of Jesus Christ. Once the high priest died, then as it were their sentence, their restriction to the city of Refuge was over, and they were then allowed to go back out into society, and the slayer was not allowed then to kill him. So we have this interesting picture woven in. Here God is telling them that he loves them. He loved their forefathers, he wants them to obey his Word so that things would be well with them, they would prolong their days. And then there’s this interesting measure of grace, because this is in regards to Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, those who had really settled for less, and they’re on the other side of Jordan [I don’t necessarily think they had settled for less, just my difference of opinion, interpretation]. And I think it’s an interesting picture, because sometimes we feel like, if we get off course, we’re settling for less, we get ourselves wound up in something and in that place God won’t bless us. And the truth is, here is Reuben, Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh, and God still sets up three cities of Refuge in their territory, demonstrating his grace, and saying to them ‘You can flee to these cities of Refuge.’

The Three Cities Of Refuge On The East Side Of Jordan

Verse 41, “Then Moses severed three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; that the slayer might flee thither, which should kill his neighbour unawares,” unintentionally. “and hated him not in times past;” there was no premeditation, “and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.” (verses 41-43) Now it’s interesting, Bezer means, it is the picture of an inaccessible spot, that no one can get to. Ramoth means “heights,” but the idea is always a verb, it means “to be lifted up to where you’re inaccessible.” And Golan is the idea of “being taken captive, or being in exile,” but the picture of these cities, these are places God said that you can flee to. And because he set them aside, when God protects you, you are inaccessible, you have been lifted up to the heights above the threats, you are his captive as it were, you belong to him. And we get to the other side, there’s beauty in all of the names of the cities of Refuge. So there’s an interesting picture. The chapter ends by saying “And this is the law” torah “which Moses set before the children of Israel: these are the testimonies, and the statutes,” testimonies of what God had done, his faithfulness and so forth, the statutes speak of their worship (see https://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Holydayshadows.htm ) “and the judgments,” judgments point to the civil responsibilities “which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt, on this side Jordan, in the valley over against Bethpeor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt: and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites,” two giants again, rehearsing this one my more time “which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; from Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, even unto mount Sion, which is Hermon, and all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, even unto the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.” (verses 44-49) which is where they were camped looking right over at Jericho.”

Deuteronomy 5:1-33

“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. 2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4 The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5 (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying, 6 I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 7 [1^st Commandment] Thou shalt have none other gods before me. 8 [2^nd Commandment] Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: 9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, 10 and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. 11 [3^rd Commandment] Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 12 [4^th Commandment] Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. 13 Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: 14 but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor they son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. 15 And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. 16 [5^th Commandment] Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. 17 [6^th Commandment] Thou shalt not kill [Hebrew: “thou shalt do no murder”]. 18 [7^th Commandment] Neither shalt thou commit adultery. 19 [8^th Commandment] Neither shalt thou steal. 20 [9^th Commandment] Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. 21 [10^th Commandment] Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s. 22 These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. 23 And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24 and ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. 25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. 28 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. 29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! 30 Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. 31 But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. 32 Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 33 Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.”

Introduction

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED597]

“Chapter 5 now says. Now he’s rehearsed their history in these first chapters, chapters 1, 2, 3. Then in chapter 4 he told them not to add or take away from the Word of God, and he rehearsed that. Now as he gets to chapter 5 there is a challenge for them to maintain themselves within the covenant relationship they have with their God. [And as stated before in chapter 4, the covenant is defined as being the actual 10 Commandments.] You and I are within the New Covenant, it is a better covenant. [Comment: most Christians do not realize that the simple Bible definition of the New Covenant is defined, first by God through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:31-34, as simply stated ‘that God would write his law’ [Hebrew “torah”] in Israel’s hearts and minds.’ Paul reiterates the same definition in Hebrews 8:6-13, but applies it to Christians of today, as well as all Israel after Jesus’ 2^nd coming, which goes back to the Jeremiah 31:31-34 context. The word “law” is the Hebrew word “torah,” and since the New Testament didn’t exist when Paul reiterated his definition given by Jeremiah, it refers to the Old Testament Torah-law that God would write in our hearts and minds, minus the sacrificial laws, as Paul explains in Hebrews 10:5. This simple definition of the new covenant would include the whole 10 Commandment law of God along with the Statutes of the Holy Day observances, given in Leviticus 23, as also being written into our hearts and minds. This simple definition of the new covenant is enough to cause apoplexy in the minds of a whole slew of Christian leaders and teachers, but it is the simple Bible definition of “the new covenant,” regardless of what you may have been taught.] As we go through these things, the application is this. You and I have been removed from the curse of the Law [i.e. the death penalties attached to the Law], it’s impossible for anybody to keep the Law, we are not under the Old Covenant, we are under a better covenant, the new covenant in the blood of Christ. [I would modify that to say that it is impossible for believers to keep the Laws of God on their own, as Israel had tried and failed to do throughout their history. But our obedience is possible under the influence and power of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit, enabling our obedience (see https://unityinchrist.com/galatians/Galatians5-1-26.htm )] So we need not fear in our growth and in our walk with the Lord, because the curse of the Law [the death penalties for disobedience, not the Law itself] has been removed from us. Christ took that all on himself, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree, it says he bore our sins upon the tree. But the morality of the Law has not been removed, it is still wrong to commit adultery, it still wrong to commit idolatry [see https://unityinchrist.com/galatians/Galatians5-1-26.htm ], we’re going to look at these things, these things are still upheld in the New Testament. So Deuteronomy very much gives us the heart of God. We need to look at these things and apply them to our own lives.

God Is Always Reaching Out To The Next Generation

“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.” (verse 1) Now look, again, all the way through, hearing is not just a halfhearted listening, it is hearing with the intent of learning [“To hearken,” hearing-to-know from the German kennenzulernen, knowing-to-learn], understanding and obeying. That is integrated into this every time they’re challenged to hear. “Hear, O Israel, the statutes” again in regards to worship, the religious statutes [which included Sabbath & Holy Day observances (see https://www.unityinchrist.com/messianicmovement/Holydayshadows.htm )] “and judgments” in regards to their civil responsibilities [civil laws] “which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.” (verse 1) There’s the purpose of hearing the things that God has to say to us, that we might learn them, that then we might guard them, keep them, and that we might do them, throughout the Scripture, that’s God’s purpose, for us to live in them. “The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.” (verses 2-3) This is not the covenant that he had made, the Abrahamic Covenant with the Patriarchs, but he’s saying when we came to Horeb, this is Israel at Mount Sinai, the LORD made a covenant with us. They heard things that the Patriarchs had not heard. [Now the rabbis debate, and some teach, that Abraham had kept the Torah Law and knew of it, before it was given on Sinai, as had Enoch, and Noah before him, but that is rabbinic teaching, we really don’t know for sure whether that was true or not.] Now again, a generation died in the wilderness. These folks are all 57 years old and upward. Those that were 20 years and up perished in the wilderness, their carcases fell. Those that were 19 on down, these are 57-year-olds, these are those who were young, junior high kids when they saw everything that went on in Egypt and so forth, this is a new generation. And the LORD is going to reiterate to the new generation his Law. Now look, how this needs to happen in our culture, in our nation today. And God is always faithful to do that. I think we need to be praying in that direction, we need to be thinking about those things, we need to be keen in our sense of what the Lord is doing, because there is always the next generation that the Lord loves. There is always the next generation where God is going to do a work. And the Church itself is always one generation from extinction. So here he is going to reiterate the things of his own heart for the next generation, and we’re praying we see a great moving of the Lord today in this generation. But here he says “The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day. The LORD talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire, (I stood between the LORD and you at that time, to shew you the word of the LORD: for ye were afraid by reason of the fire, and went not up into the mount;) saying,” (verses 3-5)

The Purpose Of God’s Law For New Covenant Christians

Now this is what the LORD had said to them, and he’s going to reiterate the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, he’s going to restate it. Now look, there are people that go to church today that think they’re going to go to heaven if they keep the Ten Commandments. We know different. [Now Pastor Joe is correct in this, the whole of Christianity is based on the fact that Jesus has paid for our salvation in his shed blood on the cross, paying for our sins, and paying the price for our salvation. No amount of law-keeping will buy our way into Salvation. We are expected to clean ourselves up, using God’s Law as a spiritual mirror, using God’s Holy Spirit which he puts within us, to help us clean off the dirt of sin. But that process of spiritual growth does not buy us salvation, we are bought and paid for by Jesus’ sacrifice alone. We are expected to clean ourselves up though, and the Law of God is used in that process, as a holy mirror (cf. James 1:22-25).] The commandment was given, the Law was given, we’re told, in Galatians, to be a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. In other words, people were on the highway speeding, nobody knew it. Once they put up a sign that said 55 miles per hour, now you know you’re speeding. It didn’t stop you from speeding, now you know you’re speeding. So the Law came, not to cure us, you don’t put a thermometer in your mouth to cure your fever, just to let you know you have a fever. [In the sense that Pastor Joe is talking about, James showed the same thing, that for new covenant Christians, the Law of God is like a mirror, it shows us where the dirt is. The Law itself has no power to clean up, to remove the dirt. But the Law is used to spot the dirt, it is Christ via his indwelling Holy Spirit that enables us to wash off the dirt we see in God’s Law, God’s mirror. In that sense, I think that’s what Pastor Joe is getting at, but James’ analogy in James 1:22-25 is a better analogy, and more Biblically accurate than the one Pastor Joe is making.] You don’t take a glass of water and swallow the thermometer. You look in the mirror to see what happened to your head at night while you were sleeping, to wash your face, to see the dirt on it, you don’t take the mirror and scrub your face with the mirror. The Law is the indicator [the mirror, in James’ analogy in James 1:22-25], the Law is the thermometer [or in my Galatians 5 analogy, the Law is the altimeter], the Law measures. And if the Law were a cure, then what follows the law would never have taken place. Because immediately after the Law, the sacrificial system is elaborated [yes, that sacrificial system was set up for Old Testament Israel, who were not offered the Holy Spirit, which would enable a more perfect obedience. So those physical blood sacrifices of bulls and goats and lambs temporarily covered the sins of those Israelites, but that blood could never remove those sins, only the blood of our Messiah Jesus could do that. But Christ’s sacrifice was still needed for the sins we have all committed, and will continue to commit in weakness, and especially so that no one, as Paul says, can boast that they did it all on their own]. When you break this law you do this sacrifice, when you break that law you do that sacrifice. And the Law made man know that he needed salvation. [But within that salvation process, we don’t throw out God’s mirror, the Law of God, that shows us where the sin is. John in his epistles told us to sin not, and in 1^st John 3:4, John gave us a definition for what sin is, when he said “Sin is the transgression of the law.” ] Man can’t keep the Law [perfectly]. Now look, in the New Testament, the evidence of the new birth is in our demonstration of these things, we now keep them [yes, “them” means the Law, that is what Pastor Joe is saying], not to gain salvation, but as evidence of the new heart and the new birth that we experience. So let’s look at the Ten Commandments, [look at God’s spiritual mirror that shows where the sin is], let’s look at them.

Moses Reiterates The Ten Commandments

The 1^st Commandment

The first four commandments, by the way, are vertical, deal with man’s relationship with God. The last six are horizontal, deal with man’s relationship his fellow man. We hear of Statutes and Judgments throughout, man is responsible both to God in the worship, the way God had prescribed it, and there are civil responsibilities we have on the horizontal. We can never be on the horizontal what we’re supposed to be, if the vertical is not where it is supposed to be. How can we ever be to our fellow man, even to our husbands and wives, what we’re supposed to be, if we don’t have the vertical correct first? So, these are the Ten Commandments, they’re enumerated here for us again. “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. [1^st Commandment] Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” (verses 6-7) Now by the way, the heart of these things, I believe at least, are found in the Lord’s prayer, ‘I am the LORD thy God that brought you out of the house of Egypt, thou shalt have no other gods before me,’ ‘Our Father who art in heaven,’ ‘Thou shalt not make any graven image, anything in the heaven or on the earth,’ ‘Our Father which art in heaven,’ ‘Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain,’ ‘Hallowed be thy name,’ ‘Thou shalt remember the Sabbath,’ ‘Thy Kingdom Come,’ ‘Children obey your parents,’ ‘Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven,’ ‘Thou shalt not steal,’ ‘Give us this day our daily bread,’ You go right through it and you find the very heart of the Law is in the prayer that the Lord gave us, that we go to the Father, and we ask these things, that he would do these things in us and through us, the very heart of the Law is there. But here it’s annumerated, “Thou shalt have none other gods before me.” (verse 7) The idea is “in my presence.”

The 2^nd Commandment

2^nd Commandment, “Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” (verses 8-10) please note, this is conditional, “of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands” the idea is of generations “of them that love me and keep my commandments.” Now look, this second commandment is not a prohibition of art, it’s not prohibiting jewelry, you know people say if you wear a cross. No, that’s not what it’s saying. If says not to make any graven image of anything in the heaven or on the earth or under the earth to bow down and to worship it. That’s what’s prohibited. In the Tabernacle there was art, there were illustrations everywhere on the vail, there were the cherubim, on the side of the Ark of the Covenant, there were the cherubim there, there were nobs and flowers and designs everywhere. And in the Temple it was very intricate, was all kinds of art. It’s not a prohibition of art. And in some places it’s carried much further than the point. The point is not to make a graven image to bow down and worship it. And it’s something that would plague the nation of Israel. And God says here, “for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.” You know sometimes we think we need to get his attention, ‘He’s not paying attention to us, I’m in a jam and God doesn’t know, God doesn’t care,’ ‘Hello, Marko, Polo,’ like we’re trying to get his attention or something, or he’s snoozing. The very opposite is true, he’s jealous over us, he’s jealous over us. He never takes his eyes off, the very opposite is true, that sometimes he’s trying to get our attention. We don’t have to get his attention. He’s a jealous God. It says in James ‘The Spirit lusteth to envy,’ it means the Holy Spirit is actually lustful or desirous over our hearts, over our time, over our lives, that God is jealous over us. What is the most expensive thing in the Universe? We’ve been paid for in the blood of his Son, and he’s a good steward over the things of his own. He says ‘What does it matter if a man gains the whole world, the cosmos, the whole universe, and looses his own soul.’ God says one human soul is more valuable than the entire universe to him. [Comment: and the soul, in the Hebrew, is made up of body, the flesh, and spirit, the spirit-in-man that grants a man or woman human intellect and intelligence. The soul is not something nebulous, like entirely spirit, it’s body, mind and spirit-in-man.] So here, he says he’s a jealous God, he doesn’t want us worshipping idols, he doesn’t want us bowing down in front of anything else. He says he is a jealous God, ‘visiting the iniquity’ that word means “the bent,” sometimes even if you’re bending a bow, like in a bow and arrow, ‘he visits the bent of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation,’ please notice this, ‘of them that hate me.’ It’s a no-brainer, this is conditional. It doesn’t say if you are an idolatrous, good for nothing person whose lost, and your son turns to Christ and gets saved, that he’s gonna have to live in the shadow of your sins and deal with your sins. And that teaching is in the Church today, ancestral sin. You read again, Ezekiel 18, it’ll straighten all of that out for you, and let you know it is not Biblical. The point is here, that there were extended families. It was not uncommon for the grandparents or great grandparents to be living in the house with the parents, with the children, the great grandchildren. And in a household that was idolatrous, that was bowing down and worshipping other gods, that was hating the True and Living God, there was no doubt that the bent was being passed to the 3^rd and 4^th generation. My grandfather lived in the house with us. I didn’t speak English until I was 5, I spoke German because I grew up in a household with a bunch of Krauts, and my grandfather came over on a boat, and they lived in the house with us. But my grandfather would talk to me about the Lord. He died Thanksgiving day, and on Christmas that year underneath the tree there was a Bible for me that he bought before he died. When I was 8-years-old, 1958, it meant the world to me. I wasn’t saved yet, but his bent, he was planting the seeds. It was so impactful in my life, grandparents. [Something drove my mother to start attending an Episcopal church in Belmont, Massachusetts, and when I was 4 or 5 she asked me if I’d like to attend with her. The pastor there, Elmor Young, looking back, was a Spirit-filled man, who gave these short 15-minute long sermons in a children’s service for young families. I still remember two of those sermons, that set the course of my life, without me realizing it. I can still remember the gist of what he said in them.] Grandparents, parents, you’re impact on the lives of the next generation, when you are genuine, it is so important, it is so important. Amongst unsaved households, where there’s idolatry, where there’s antagonism, where there is fowl language, pornography, where there’s abuse and all those things, you have the next generation and the 3^rd generation have all of that, no doubt, that bent is visited, God says. ‘But he shows mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.’

The 3^rd Commandment

The next Commandment, “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (verse 11) And believe me, there’s more than one way to do that. Certainly, cursing, you don’t hear people smash their thumb and say ‘Oh Buddha! that hurts,’ for some reason they always pick on our God. But how many times do we see somebody on television milking people for money, milking them and milking them and milking them in the name of Jesus? That person is taking the name of the Lord in vain, for a vain reason, and they will give an account. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (verse 11) Everything that he is, everything he represents “for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

The 4^th Commandment

“Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor they son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” (verses 12-15) Doesn’t God know us? If he hadn’t told us that, we’d take the day off and make our servants work all day on the Sabbath. It’s a shame, he knows us so well. This is not talking about Sunday, this drives me crazy. Sabbath is sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, it is the 7^th day of the week. Sunday is the 1^st day, it’s the day of new beginnings, the 8^th day, that day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead [no, actually he rose exactly three days and three nights from when he went into the tomb, which was on or just before sundown Wednesday night, so 36 hours later he’d be rising out of the tomb, at or just before sundown on a Saturday evening, at the very ending or just before the ending of that weekly Sabbath day (see https://unityinchrist.com/lamb/lastsix.htm ). So basing your habit of worshipping on Sunday as the day of new beginnings doesn’t hold water Scripturally]. In Acts chapter 20, in 1^st Corinthians chapter 8:9, they worshipped on the 1^st day, on the Lord’s day, is the day that Jesus rose from the dead, they didn’t worship on the Sabbath. [To view the actual history of the New Testament churches of God, first in Jerusalem, and then on up into Asia Minor, read this well-researched article at: https://unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch1.htm , it’ll remove all doubts on this issue. Also see https://unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm ] If you’re a Sabbath-keeper, God bless you, that’s complicated, you have to work six days, first of all, thou shalt work six days and take off the 7^th, so I’m glad I worship on Sundays [no you don’t, you’re free to work six days or five, whatever you like. New Covenant Christians don’t have to do that. Their chosen day of worship is the Sabbath, where they attend services, just like Pastor Joe does in Sunday, and Messianic Jewish believers don’t feel any legal requirements to work six days either. Sorry Joe, you’re all wet on this one. I’ve attended in both Sabbath-keeping Churches of God and Messianic Jewish congregations]. But the Sabbath is specifically a sign, we’re told, between the LORD and Israel. In Exodus 31 it says ‘Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever, for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and he was refreshed.’ We’re told that was in Exodus. We’re told the same thing in Ezekiel, where it says ‘Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign,’ notice again, ‘between me and them, that they might know I am the LORD that doth sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me.’ and he says ‘I am the LORD thy God, walk in my statutes, keep my judgments and do them, and hallow my sabbaths, and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’ [Comment: I attended a Calvary Chapel for about 7.5 years, and we had a racially Jewish Calvary Chapel pastor that visited us several times, and he specifically told us that we’d all better get used to the idea of keeping the Sabbath day and God’s Holy Days of Leviticus 23, because in the Millennial Kingdom of God Jesus will set up at his return, we’ll all go back to observing the Sabbath and Holy Days of Leviticus 23. Pastor George Small, our pastor, did not disagree with this pastor at all as I recall. We all really enjoyed having this pastor visit our congregation in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. My question is Why not now? What is so wrong with observing the days of Worship Jesus will yet again require of us during his Millennial Kingdom Age?] You know it tells us in Psalm 147, verses 19 and 20, ‘That God did things with the nation of Israel, things that he did with no other nation on the face of the earth,’ and one of those is ‘he set aside the sabbath day for them to rest.’ Now I’ve been in Jerusalem many times on the Sabbath, with an Orthodox Jewish family, and it’s wonderful, to sit there, and look over and see the city of Jerusalem. They plug their crockpots in and get everything ready on Friday before the sun goes down, so they don’t have to do anything, they got all kinds of big bags of chips and sodas on ice, and the crockpot was already plugged in, they just sit all day and talk, they don’t answer the phone, which is a wonderful thing, and they don’t turn on the television, they just sit there on the front lawn and talk. A wonderful, wonderful thing, I really enjoy it. But if you’re going to keep Sabbath, you have to understand, it’s a very complicated deal. [Comment: that’s because the Jews made a very complicated deal out of it, even as Jesus condemned them for, as he worshipped on the Sabbath day, and healed people on it. Jesus condemned them for adding tons of requirements to the simple law of the Sabbath. The early Church of God in Jerusalem stuck to simple Sabbath observance, teaching and attending services on that day. The early churches of God, when they had to flee with the apostle John just before the Roman invasion of 70AD, they fled up into Asia Minor, John taking Jesus’ mother Mary to Ephesus, where the new headquarters of the Church was established there in Ephesus, from John, through Polycarp, and Policrates, to the early 300s AD, and those churches of God were all Sabbath/Holy Day observing for the first 300 years of Church history (see again https://unityinchrist.com/history2/earlychurch1.htm )] In fact if you go through the orthodox neighbourhood in Jerusaelem on the Sabbath day, if you drive through, they will throw stones at your car, because in running your car, you are causing combustion in the cylinders and that is creating [I wonder about electric cars, are they ok 😊?]. And you are not resting, you are creating on the Sabbath, and God rested on the Sabbath day and did no creation, and for you to drive through their neighbourhoods, they’re throwing stones at your car [which is in itself working too 😊]. If they see you at the Wailing Wall on the Sabbath day taking pictures, they try to take your camera away, because you’re creating on the Sabbath. So it’s a big deal if you want to be a Sabbath-keeper, God bless you if you want to be a Sabbath-keeper. [Again, Pastor Joe is blowing this waaay out of proportion. Orthodox Jewish Sabbath-keeping is not as it was intended by God, as demonstrated by Jesus himself, who was a Sabbath-keeper.] Ah, I’m a Sunday guy, and Sunday’s my biggest workday. I don’t mind, I wish there were seven services on Sunday, but Sunday’s not a day of rest, it is at the end of the day, when I sit down. [Comment: Even Jesus said that the priesthood worked on the Sabbath-day, it was their biggest workday, and they were priests. In that sense, Paul in Hebrews showed we’re all priests of Melchizedek. As such, we’re free to do the work of the Lord on any day of the week, giving sermons, witnessing, doing good as Jesus did on the Sabbath-day. We’re to cease from our work of earning a living on the Sabbath day, in that sense. But doing the work of the Lord, Jesus did it, we can too, we’re all priests of Melchizedek.] “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor they son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” (verses 12-15) And even the stranger that’s in the gate. But for you and I, resurrection day is the day that we worship. It has been throughout church history [see that church history link I posted, it disproves that], it is no mystery, the Lord’s day has always been Sunday. It’s interesting, Satan hates Sunday, I’m convinced, because it’s resurrection day. World War II began the first Sunday in September, 1939, the battle of France began on Sunday, 1940, Hitler invaded the Balkans on Sunday morning, Hitler invaded Russia on June 22, 1941, on Sunday. Pearl Harbor was December 7^th, 1941, Sunday. Hitler invaded Africa on November 8^th, 1942, a Sunday morning. The Korean War started on a Sunday morning in 1950. The devil hates Sunday because it was resurrection morning, he’s just sore that Jesus got up, but that’s why we’re all here because Jesus got up, and there ain’t anything he can do about it, because our Dad can beat their dad, and resurrection day is a great day for us. But they were to remember the Sabbath. This next one applies to us,

The 5^th Commandment

“Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” (verse 16) Now look, of all human relationships, this is the 2^nd table of the Law, where your relationship with your fellow man begins, and the first relationship you’re going to have is with the woman that carries you for nine months and then nurses you, the first relationship you have is with parents. So it’s the first one that’s outlined. I am not naïve enough to think, there are parents today who deserve little honour. Sadly we have folks in our church that were sexually abused by parents, that were abused by alcoholic parents, and I know it’s very difficult to forgive, and I know it’s very difficult to come to terms with some of that, and I would never hand out any cavalier or trite answer on the way those things should be handled, they need to be prayed about. But by and large, for the most of us, even if you don’t appreciate things about your parents, those are the two human vessels that God used to squeeze you out into this world, and to give you physical life. So whatever you may not appreciate about them, honouring them is acknowledging God’s wisdom in that he picked those two particular people. When I grew up I wasn’t a believer, and I certainly didn’t honour my mom and dad, I drove them crazy, and when I got saved, I looked at them and thought ‘These poor people, God gave me to them.’ And then it was years before they got saved, but they saw the change in my life, and wonderfully of course, my dad is home with the Lord, my mom’s here every Sunday. But you got Christian parents, maybe they might bug you once in awhile, but man you better get on your knees every night and thank God you got Christian parents, a Christian dad, or a Christian mom that loves Jesus Christ. That don’t mean they’re perfect, they’re sinners saved by grace, and we’re all part of the same support group, we’re adult children of sinning parents, all of us. [I got a couple adoptive daughters who went through all kinds of abuse from druggy/alcoholic parents, messed them up pretty badly. It makes for some very tough situations. We can never be cavalier about those situations or telling them how or giving them advice on how they should view those parents.] And you’re going to be do the same thing. But how wonderful, how wonderful, to spend time with my mom, I assume that my kids think it’s wonderful to spend time with me, you know, you got grandkids, a wonderful thing. So of human relationships, this is the first one that’s put out in front of us, to honour mother and father. That doesn’t just mean while you were young growing up. In this society there were no retirement homes, there were no old folks homes, the oldest person in the family, we live in a culture that worships youth. In this culture the oldest person in the family was the patriarch, and the whole family paid a particular reverence to them. And they were taken care of, until they died, by the family. Remember Jesus, when he was dealing with the Pharisees, who were accusing him and his disciples of not washing their hands before they eat, and Jesus said ‘You hypocrites, you change the Word of God to uphold your traditions, because you say that if someone says to their parents ‘Korban,’ that they no longer have to honour their mother and father,’ because in that culture, the Scribes and the Pharisees had made an addendum to God’s Law, which was one of their traditions, it wasn’t in the Word of God, and what they said was, they understood you had the responsibility to care for your parents as they aged. But if you said “korban,” what that meant was any financial resources that you were going to use to support your parents, when you said “korban” it meant then you could give those resources to the Temple instead, then you were absolved of responsibility towards your mother and father. [And you were free to use those resources on yourself until you died, and then it went to the Temple, so there was a hidden motive of greed by both the person that said “korban” and toward the leaders in the Temple itself, both made out like bandits. It was a form of Temple graft, and Jesus was quite angry about it, and wasn’t afraid to expose the priesthood for this practice.] And Jesus said ‘You hypocrites, you set aside the Word of God for your tradition,’ because the Word of God said they were to honour their mother and father and care for them. I remember my dad going downhill, and look, whoever may be going through that, it’s difficult, it isn’t easy. Because he was always bigger and stronger than me, he was a World War II guy, he lived with a certain level of dignity and had a certain work ethic, and I always looked up to him. [My dad went to Pearl Harbor as a Lt. Jg, assigned to degauss ships in the Naval Shipyard during the war, he witnessed the devastation of the Japanese sneak attack on Battleship Row, many of those wrecks sitting there for over two years while he worked degaussing active ships. He had a real strong work ethic, which I kind of absorbed by growing up watching him. He was the strong, silent type of guy, John Wayne reminded me of my dad.] But when he was failing in the last two years, we grew closer and closer in those days, and there were times when he had tears in his eyes and felt bad because I had to take off from work and run around with him, and take him to cardiologists, because he had congestive heart failure. And I said ‘Dad, I’m not doing this because I have to, I’m doing this because I get to, we’re only going to do this one time, and we’re not going to do it perfect, but we’re going to do it as right as we can, we’re going to honour the Lord as best we can.’ And it was a very bitter-sweet journey up until his last breath, but what a privilege to be part of that. I know it’s not easy, it’s very difficult, but as we can do that, certainly honouring mother and father, from the time we’re teenagers to the time we’re adults, it’s still incumbent upon us.

The 6^th & 7^th& 8th Commandments

Ah, verse 17, next of human relationships, “Thou shalt not kill” [Hebrew: “thou shalt do no murder”]. I don’t know if that’s written to parents with toddlers, no, just kidding. It’s literally “Thou shalt do no murder.” It’s talking about premeditated manslaughter. It’s not talking about the armies of Israel who were sent into Canaan [or when they slew the armies of Sihon and Og] to eradicate the Canaanites. It’s “thou shalt do no murder,” it’s talking about murder, premeditated manslaughter. “Neither shalt thou commit adultery.” (verse 18) It was a crime in Israel. Today we can’t even figure out if it’s a sin anymore. In Israel it was a capital offense, if you were caught in adultery you were put to death. That’s how sacred the family was before God. That’s how sacred the vows of marriage were. Now I’m not endorsing that kind of solution today. It would straighten a lot of things out, but I’m not endorsing that kind of. Certainly we’re to be in counselling, certainly there is forgiveness, certainly we’re under a new covenant. That doesn’t mean that you and I stoop to the morals of the culture that we live in. Because adultery and fornication, sexual sin, are glorified on television, constantly, they’re glorified in the movies and the entertainment industry, and we’re surrounded with this moral standard that’s at war with the truths of God. I’m still with my first wife. I have a license and everything, I want to finish with her, to be 85 or 90 sitting in a rocking chair next to each other saying ‘Who are you? what’s your name?’ I want to do it right, I want to do it right. Here is says “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” “Neither shalt thou steal.” (verse 19) The I.R.S. loves this commandment. By the way, I guess there’s more than one way to do that, you shouldn’t steal someone’s reputation with gossip, you shouldn’t steal someone’s happiness by taking something from them you shouldn’t take. Certainly, working under the table, we got all this stuff today that’s kind of Christian ok-ness. No it’s not. It isn’t. We need to do this right. God will bless us if we do this the way that he wants us to do it. He is not going to be our debtor. If we give him everything he asks for, he’s not going to standing around in heaven forever saying ‘Hey, I really owe you, couldn’t find many humans down there to cooperate, I owe you bigtime.’ That’s never going to happen. He will bless us, pressed down, shaken together, spilling over, his blessings on us will outweigh any obedience that we yield to him in this world and in the world to come. So “thou shalt not steal.” I tried to convince my kids of that while they were growing up, that God respects the right of private ownership, because every time something was missing ‘One of them had it.’ [that’s “the boys,” my two adoptive grandkids 😊] But anyhow.

The 9^th & 10^th Commandments

“Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.” (verse 20) Gossip, slander, in the court room, over the backyard fence, no white lies, little lies, big lies, “thou shalt not bear false witness.” “Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.” (verse 21) No look, Paul said this is the commandment that slew him. He said he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, of the tribe of Benjamin, circumcised on the 8^th day. He was convinced that he had kept the Law, and in Romans 7 he tells us, ‘until I read and understood the commandment that said ‘Thou shalt not covet,’ and he said then it slew me, because I realized the Law was spiritual. Because he was living his life saying ‘I never worshipped another god, I’ve always kept the Sabbath, I’ve never bowed down in front of a graven image, I’ve honoured my mother and father, I’ve never stole, I’ve never committed adultery,’ worked his way down the list, ‘I’ve never bore false witness,’ and then he said ‘When I realized that the last Commandment dealt with the heart, that the Law was a heart issue, I realized that I had coveted someone else’s belongings, I had coveted someone else’s righteousness, I had coveted someone else’s wife, I had coveted,’ and he said ‘I realized that the Law was spiritual, and it slew me.’ And then you go through that wonderful gymnastic second half of Romans chapter 7, ‘If I do the things that I don’t want to do, then I admit that the law is good, and if I do the things that I don’t want to do, it’s no longer me that does them, but it’s the sin that lies within me, because I admit that those things are not good, but I do them anyway. So I find a law within me, when I serve the Law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin, who shall deliver me from bondage, O retched man that I am,’ and you go through that, and you go ‘Ya, ya, ya,’ because he’s just describing your inner struggle. [And the good news is, if we didn’t have God’s Holy Spirit indwelling us, we wouldn’t have an inner struggle. So take heart, you do have God’s Holy Spirit within you.] “Thou shalt not covet” that’s where adultery begins, that’s where stealing begins, that’s where murder begins, that’s where worshipping another god begins, that brings the whole of the 10 Commandments into the spiritual realm, and makes us realize…but on the other hand, what kind of a nation would we live in, if these things were the moral standard? Look, when we talk about America, we talk about a Judeo-Christian ethic, our forefathers didn’t set up the laws of the land with a Judeo-Christian doctrine. They didn’t say ‘Everybody who lives in America has to believe in Jesus.’ No doubt they were Bible believing Christians, the majority of them. Those papers were written so we can enjoy the pursuit of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, that we acknowledge that we have a Creator, you read through those papers. But they were certainly set up with an eye to a Judeo-Christian ethic, a level of righteousness. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the 10 Commandments were something that were recognized in our land, that in our land that we did realize it was wrong to commit adultery, that it was wrong to steal, that it was wrong to commit murder? Imagine if you could go out and leave your house unlocked. Imagine if you could leave your car unlocked and the keys in the ignition so you wouldn’t forget where they were all the time. Imagine if you didn’t have to worry about getting mugged. And yet here we are, wanting to take down the Ten Commandments from public buildings, ‘Get those Ten Commandments down from there! Don’t put those up, what a generation is that going to produce if they see righteousness up there?’ We’ve lost our minds. Isaiah says when a nation gets to the point where they call right wrong and wrong right, they call evil good and they call good evil, that nation has come to the point where it is ready to implode. [And guess what. We’re there now.] And the only hope for America is you and I. ‘If My people, who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then would I hear from heaven,’ God says, ‘and I would heal their land.’ The only hope for this nation is a God-given revival, because we have sown to the wind, and we’re going to reap the whirlwind. Over 40,000,000 abortions in the last 35 years [probably 65,000,000 abortions now by 2024]. And look, if you’ve had an abortion, I’m not condemning you, you’re washed in the blood of Christ. The only sin that’s unforgivable is the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and that is not receiving Jesus, rejecting Jesus, that’s the only unpardonable sin. But my point is, we have sown to the wind as a nation. Does that mean we are destined to be destroyed shortly? No, because I believe when God’s people pray, and if we pour out our hearts before God and we lift the name of Jesus before him, that God may alter human government and natural law, in the name of Jesus Christ and for his glory. And we may see one more great awakening in this nation [but then right after that, expect the end to come, because Jesus has to come back and set up his Kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom of God (see https://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/MillennialKingdomofGod.pdf )]. That would certainly be wonderful. But think of where our minds have gone, to want to rip down the Ten Commandments from public buildings, like it’s some huge offensive thing. What’s offensive is, those Ten Commandments are from God. What’s offensive is people want to live in sin, and they do not want to be held accountable. What’s offensive about the Expelled movie, intelligent design, is not the science of it, but the implication of it, they can’t stand the implication of it, that if there’s intelligent design then there’s an Intelligent Designer, and our lives have a purpose, and those purposes are his purposes and not our own, and that means there’s accountability one day when we pass out of this life into eternity. That’s what they can’t stand. But that’s because they don’t know him. And you and I have to be careful, because we can get so frustrated all the time, we’re cutting off our nose to spite our face. We have to communicate the love of God through Jesus Christ to this generation. But also the power that has to transform a life. And certainly the moral standard of these things is still upon us. The one law of the ten that’s abrogated is the Sabbath, it was incumbent upon Israel and a sign between them and the LORD. [Comment: Was the Sabbath command really abrogated in the New Testament Scriptures? This article investigates that subject in great detail, going through a ton of Scriptural evidence. If you are not sure whether the Sabbath command has been abrogated or not, before making up your mind, read this research article: https://unityinchrist.com/wwcofg/Has%20the%20Sabbath%20Been%20Abrogated.htm At least be openminded enough to read it.]

‘Moses, you go talk to him, whatever he tells you, we’ll hear it and do it.’

Verse 22 says “These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; and ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.” (verses 22-24) What we realize is, God has talked with a great voice, out of the fire of the mountain. Look, when you see the movie, Charlton Heston is up there wandering around, all of a sudden you hear the music, and the finger of God comes and etches the words in the stone. That’s not the way it happened. God talked to 2 and a half million people in the valley out loud ‘I AM THE LORD THY GOD’ we don’t have a PA system that can do that. 2 and a half million people, and he spoke all 10 Commandments, they heard him audibly. I’m sure children were crying, babies were crying, any kid that was taking a nap got woke up, the ground had to be shaking. Because Moses is going to say ‘You came to me and said ‘Moses, you go talk to him, tell him if we have 11 Commandments we’re all going to have a cardiac, you go talk to him, whatever he tells you, you come and tell us, and we’ll do it, just tell him not to talk to us anymore.’ We’re laughing, but try to imagine, 2 and a half million people, the city of Philadelphia is a million and a half people, imagine a city almost double the size of Philadelphia and one voice through a PA system speaking loud enough that the entire lower valley can hear the Ten Commandments. That’s some rumbling, I’m telling you. That is some rumbling. That’s something. So he says ‘You spoke to me,’ and the people said ‘We’re afraid, we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and we’ve survived, we’ve lived.’ “Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.” (verses 25-27) ‘Moses, you go talk to him, whatever he tells you, we’ll hear it and do it.’ Look, verse 1 said “Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.” Moses is saying, ‘That’s what you said to me, you said I should go talk to him, and when he talked to me I could come back and tell you what he said, and you would hear and you would do it.’ “And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.” (verse 28) God says what they’re saying is true, they were in awe of God’s holiness, and they were in awe of their own sin. That’s what real revival looks like. You know we see these things like ‘holy laughter’ and some of this foolishness go through the Church. If you study the history of revival in the Church, it is accompanied by weeping and tears. From the Book of Acts when Peter preached it says ‘They were pricked in their hearts, and they cried ‘What must we do to be save?’ When there’s a real move of God, like these people here, that said ‘Whatever he says we’ll do it,’ they were aware of God’s holiness, and they were aware of their own unholiness. And in the presence of God it broke their hearts. God says ‘You know, what they’ve said, they have well spoken, there’s truth to that.’ Look at the passion of God in verse 29, very interesting, God’s emotion, the only way to translate the first word is “O,” God saying “O.” It’s one of the things Greg said last week, God never says ‘Whups!” What does it take for God to say “O”? You’ve heard your parents say that, probably heard friends say that, you may have heard your teacher say that in school. He says “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!” God Almighty says “O that there were such an heart in them,” ‘what they’ve spoken they’ve spoken well, but I wish it was in their heart, not just in their mouths.’ “O that there were such a heart in them,” the heart-cry of God, “that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always,” this is not a torturous fear, it’s a reverence, God’s holiness, look at his motive “that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! Go say to them, Get you into your tents again. But as for thee, stand thou here by me,” he’s speaking to Moses “and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them,” here’s the reason, God says “that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (verses 29c-32) Please listen to that this evening. Look, I don’t know if you’re living in compromise, I don’t know if you’re living in sexual sin, I don’t know if you’re messing with pornography, I don’t know if you’re going somewhere you know in your heart you shouldn’t be going in your actions, your thoughts. I wrestle in those places, I think things I shouldn’t think, I have to bring those thought into captivity to Christ. But listen to what he says here, “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.” (verse 32) Here’s the reasons, “Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you,” here are his reasons, God’s motives, “that ye may live,” he wants us to walk in the way he sets in front of us, and not turn to the right or to the left, he says, ‘that you may live,’ look, “and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.” (verse 33) Look, he’s the God who was, and who is, and who is to come. He’s the God who knows tomorrow. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. He knows next week, he knows next month, or he’s not God. And what he says to us, as he tries to guide us on our pilgrimage, our journey, ‘This is the way I want you to walk,’ he knows the destination already, he knows where we’re going to be in a month, ‘so I want you to walk this way, I don’t want you to turn to the right, or to the left, I’ve given these things to you, that you might do them, so that you might live, so that you might prolong your days, so that you might be in a place where I might bless you, that you might possess all of the things that I’m leading you into.’ There is not one ill motive on God’s part. There’s no psycho-babble here. There is no dependence on human wisdom here. There is an all-powerful Almighty God who says ‘I am the LORD, I change not,’ who is as effective, and should be more effective as it were in our lives, than he was in theirs [and don’t forget, as Moses brought out in Numbers 11, that all Israel other than himself, Joshua, Caleb and the 70 elders, did not posses or have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, they were just ordinary carnal people], because we are filled with his Spirit. We have the entire new covenant opened up before us, we have the author of the Book living within us [John chapters 14 & 16], we have hope. Are you guys watching the news? We live in a bad neighbourhood, called earth [now more so in 2024]. Besides Burma that we should be praying for, 22,000 people dead, 40,000 people missing, 1 million people homeless. And because there’s a prejudiced perspective on government, they refuse to let aid in to their own people, it’s remarkable, the sinfulness of human beings. But on top of that, look at everything that’s shaking and changing, they say gas might be $5 a gallon by the end of this summer. Get your bikes now, the price on bicycles is going to be going up, get them now. Just we live in a crazy world. [The world is far crazier now in the fall of 2024, where there is a major war between Russia and the Ukraine going on, and in the Middle East the war between HAMAS and Israel in Gaza, and the war with Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and the Houthis effectively shutting down shipping going through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal, basically shutting the Suez Canal down. China is arming itself as a major superpower and endangering the Philippines and Taiwan, just like Japan was doing in the 1930s. The world is about to explode into WWIII soon from the looks of it. Next on the world scene will be a United States of Europe (see https://www.unityinchrist.com/prophecies/2ndcoming_4.htm )] And God’s saying to us, like he has to every generation, here’s my Word, a first-grader can read this. ‘I want you to hear it, I want you to hear it so you’ll do it and live in it, that your days might be long, that you might possess the things that I have for you, that I might bless you.’ No ill will, nothing required of us by some egocentric god. He doesn’t need anything like that from us, he’s asking us to walk in the way he sets before us, so he might bless us, he says, because he loves us, because we are his children, his sons and his daughters. Amen? I encourage you, read ahead, I love the next chapter. Of course I love this chapter, I love the chapter after that too, and I love chapter 8, these are great chapters. Read ahead, let’s have the musicians come, we’ll lift up our hearts and our voices and we’ll sing a last song. Great stuff, parents, great stuff for us next week in chapter 6, some incredible things about parenting, chapter 8 some remarkable things about the Word of God, just great, great stuff in this Book of Deuteronomy. Let’s stand together. We’ll pray, we’ll sing this last song together. And I just encourage you, look, if you’re here with somebody tonight, somebody you love, please don’t be afraid, and say ‘Do me a favour, pray for me, will you. I’ve been struggling with this or that, I really want to trust the Lord, I really want to trust him, I don’t see how he’s going to work, I don’t know what he’s going to do, I know what he’s asking me to do, and sometimes it’s hard for me to have childlike faith and just yield to that. Would you pray for me?’…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on Deuteronomy 4:41-49 and Deuteronomy 5:1-33, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]