A Simple Covenant
This chapter is
simple, yet surprisingly deep. Here’s
what I mean by simple. This chapter can
be summed up in a single sentence: The Lord has redeemed you; if you obey Him
then you stand in His blessing but if you disobey Him you will stand in His judgment. It is a fairly simple message.
It is a very
important and timely message as well.
Moses is winding up his final speech before the people. This simple message will help the people
focus on what is truly important. Yes,
many things are important; but not all things are equally important. Moses is getting the people to focus on what
is truly important. We should follow
God. We should turn away from false gods. We should obey God’s Laws for the sake of the
community. This is a message that really
rings true even today, does it not?
A Deep Covenant
Yet, this passage
goes incredibly deep in several places.
This passage gives a message that is similar to the expression “one bad
apple spoils the whole bunch.”
Deuteronomy 29:19-21 seems to indicate that a single person who is
turning from God is a hazard to the whole community. There is a ton of truth in this warning. One bad person can lead to the bending of
rules should we be afraid to discipline the person properly. One bad person can initiate a breakdown of a
community’s confidence in the rule enforcers. One bad person can spoil the whole next
generation if the person is allowed to teach their ideas. One bad person can cause dissention if their
bad ideas are allowed to spread among the adults. One bad person can cause serious problems in
a community if we are not careful and observant as to what is going on around
us. I think this is actually why Matthew
18:15-20 is such an important passage – and why we would be wise to adhere to
its teaching.
Secret Things
This passage from
Deuteronomy also ends on a very deep note – and this deep note is rather
confusing at first. The ESV translates:
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us
and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” In one case, what this passage tells us is
that God is deeper than anything that can be revealed in words and thought, so
we are only responsible for that which we have been given the ability to
comprehend. In other words, we are
responsible for knowing God’s truth according to His Word that He has revealed
to us. We cannot know the full depth of
God; we can only know Him as He reveals Himself to us. This is very true indeed. None of us can ever hope to truly fathom God;
but we can know and understand His Word!
Yet, let’s take this
a different direction. This can also
mean that there are secret things that belonged to God at the time of Moses
giving this speech. As time goes on, God
may choose to reveal some of those things as we are capable of comprehending
them. Hopefully you see where I am going
with this: Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ,
the living and breathing Word of God, was a secret thing in the time of
Moses. Yet now He has been revealed to
us. What once was secret is now
revealed. The same can even be said of
the Holy Spirit. What this means is that
since He has been revealed He belongs to us – or perhaps we belong more to him. My point is simply that we have a place with
Christ through Christ because He has been revealed to us.
Sure, we cannot ever
hope to truly fathom the depths of God.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t try.
We reach for whatever we can understand.
We focus on anything and everything that will put us in touch with
God. When God chooses to reveal His
secret self to us – especially as He has done in Christ – we are to take
ownership and possession of that revelation.
But perhaps even more importantly, we take possession of that revelation
forever. We who are in Christ can live
knowing that nothing can separate us from God.
{Romans 8:38-39}
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