1/17/24

I hope you’re surviving “snow-mageddon”! For me it’s been more “cold-mageddon.” We didn’t get that much snow in Athens, but what we did get fell on a layer of ice . . . so except for a few hardy explorers, nobody’s been nowhere!

I wanted to write a little more about one of my favorite books in the Bible, Deuteronomy.

I know some of you are rolling your eyes. I think the problem we have with Deuteronomy comes from reading it after wading through all the legal stuff in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. By the time we get to Deuteronomy we’re worn out, thinking, “NOOOO . . . enough with the Law!” I think starting with Deuteronomy and not reading the other books of the Law has helped. Some seem to really enjoy reading it. Others . . . well, you endure!

But don’t just breeze through Deuteronomy. Listen carefully and you’ll hear familiar quotes from the New Testament (“Man shall not live by bread alone” and “do not put the Lord your God to the test”). Read closely, and you’ll find that Deuteronomy lays the foundation for the story that follows.

Last week, I told you to watch for the words “forget” and “remember.” Moses warned the people not to forget but remember all that God did for them. Two other key words that are easily overlooked are the little words “if” and “then.” If you remember, then God will bless you even more! If you keep the commands of God, then you’ll not only be able to take the Promised Land, but you’ll be able to keep the Promised Land, as we read in 11:13-14,

“If you will only heed his every commandment that I am commanding you today—loving the Lord your God, and serving him with all your heart and with all your soul— then he will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; and he will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill.”

“If . . . then . . .”

Those two little words set the pattern for the entire story of Israel in the rest of the Old Testament, and they cut both ways. If you obey, then God will bless you, and you’ll live long in the land. If you don’t obey, then God will withdraw his blessing and you will lose the land.

Which, as you’ll see, is exactly what happened.

Here’s a good example from today’s reading (Deuteronomy 17). “In time,” God tells them, “you’ll want a king.” Fine. But, once someone became king, there were 3 things that the king was NOT to do: collect a lot of horses, marry a lot of wives, and pile up a lot of gold and silver. Why? Egypt was the main supplier of horses at that time, and God brought them out of there with no intention of their going back! Second, when a king made an allegiance with a foreign king, he often married the king’s daughter and wives (especially foreign wives) usually came with strings attached . . . like allegiance to their national gods. The foreign wives could lead the king astray. As far as gold, the king was never to exalt himself over the rest of the people and enrich himself through his office (which would be a GREAT requirement for our politicians).

As I said, Deuteronomy lays the foundation for all that follows. When you read the story of Solomon in I Kings, you’ll see he completely ignored this commandment! He amassed a lot of horses (I Kings 10:26), he amassed a lot of gold (I Kings 10:14) and as for wives . . .

“King Solomon loved many foreign women . . . from the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods” [Deuteronomy 7:2-4]. . . Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the Lord his God . . .”

Solomon was a poster child for what happens when even the wisest person who ever lived exchanged the Lord’s wisdom for the wisdom of the world. And the result? Solomon’s heart was turned away from following God and in the next generation the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms. It may have been wise in the view of the world, but in God’s eyes and in light of the covenant it was foolishness that would break the relationship between God and Solomon and plant seeds that would end up with Israel being exiled from the land.

To outsiders, Solomon’s building programs, his success in international trading relations, his unifying the tribes of Israel into a united monarchy, his acquisition of wealth looked successful! But, the historians of Israel weren’t interested in the world’s standards. What mattered was whether or not the kings were true to God, and all the kings were evaluated on whether or not they kept the Law.

The one thing that Deuteronomy specified for a king was to make a copy of the Law for himself and “read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statues.” Why? So the king would remember and so that he and his family would be careful to obey everything written in the Law. His reign and his dynasty depended on it!

But as you’ll see, very few measured up. And because they were unfaithful, they lost the land.

What’s all this mean for us? That will be next week’s Pastor’s Note! In the meantime, stay warm!