Year 4, Day 156: Deuteronomy 5

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Father, King

• Father: This is the pinnacle of the Covenant Triangle.  God is the Father.  He is the creator.  He is love.  Our relationship with the Father is rooted in His love for us.  We get our identity through Him.  When the Father is in our life, obedience becomes clear.
• King: This is the pinnacle of the Kingdom Triangle.  When we look towards God’s position in the universe, we acknowledge that He is an omnipotent king.  Authority comes from Him.  Power comes through His authority.  He is looking for representatives for His kingdom.

Deuteronomy 5 is largely a retelling of the Ten Commandments and the people’s reaction when the law was first given.  Like most law passages, this chapter is not exactly exciting and motivational reading.  But it is a great chapter in understanding our relationship with God, our Father and our King.

There is a reason parents make rules for their children; there is a reason that the most productive adults come from homes that had reasonable and realistic rules.  Our nature is sin.  We need to be protected from ourselves until such a time as we have enough maturity to overcome our nature.  You have a bedtime for a child because without a bedtime the child will stay up into the night, not get proper sleep, and end up not developing as well as they should.  You make children eat all kinds of fruits and vegetables because if you don’t they will grow up only eating chicken nuggets and pizza.  The same is true for us.  God knows we need protection from our inherent sinfulness, too.  So as our Father, He gives us laws to protect us from ourselves!

There is also a reason that governments have laws.  We need laws in order to be able to righteously give out punishment and consequences.  A broken law requires restitution.  As our King, God knows that we also need consequences.  Without consequences, we will continue in our self-centered and selfish lifestyle.  Our King gives us laws so that when we do break His law we can understand the consequence of such action.  Those consequences can help us learn to not violate the law in the future.

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