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Grace to Law...

Keep the Law in its proper perspective. Deuteronomy 6.20-23

The Meaning of God’s Law: Deuteronomy 6 (5)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 85.1-3
LORD, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin.
Selah
You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.

Psalm 85.1-3

(Lyons: O Worship the King)
O Lord, You Your favor showed to Your land;
Your people You saved by Your mighty hand.
Their sins You forgave, all Your wrath You withdrew;
You turned back the anger which to them was due.

Today’s Text: Read Deuteronomy 6.20-23

Preparation
1. What did God do before giving Israel His Law?

2. What did God promise them?

Meditation
The NKJV translation of verse 20 is a little too focused. You will notice that the words, “is the meaning of” are in italics, and this means, of course, that they are not in the original Hebrew text. The original text reads simply, “What the testimonies, the statues, and the judgments which the LORD our God commanded you?” Various translations are possible: “What are…” Or perhaps, “What’s with…” Or even “What up with…” But let’s notice a couple of important matters here.

First, Moses assumes that children are going to ask their parents about the Law of God (v. 20). Why would they do that? Because Moses has instructed the parents to live the Law, and to have it shape their culture, and to teach the Law to their children in formal and informal settings, so that these kids would be confronted with the Law at just about every turn in their lives. No wonder they will ask, “What’s up with this Law?”

I wonder if Christian kids today ask their parents this question?

Second, the answer to that question begins in two places, which create a confluence for grace: Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, and God’s deliverance of them from their captivity (v. 21). God showed Himself gracious to His people, and mighty against their enemies, by bringing Israel out of Egypt with “signs and wonders” (v. 22). We can’t talk about the Law, in other words, without first acknowledging God’s saving grace.

The answer to the child’s question about the Law thus begins in grace. But it shows even more grace by pointing to the promise of God concerning “the land which He swore to our fathers” (v. 23). God was not obligated to give that good land to Israel. He initiated the covenant that contained that promise, and nothing in His people commended them as deserving such a blessing. In His grace, God saves; in His grace, God blesses.

And the Law falls in between these undeserved and incomparable acts of divine grace.

So, “What is up with the Law”? It’s all about grace.

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in…” (Deut. 6.23). We have the very same answer to give to our children, and to anyone else curious about the hope that is within us (1 Pet. 3.15). We, too, have been brought out in order to be brought in. We have the joy of proclaiming that we have experienced His grace; for we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people” who were “called out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy” (1 Pet. 2.9, 10). What’s up with that mercy and grace?

Reflection

1. How is the grace we have experienced like the grace that God showed to Israel?

2. To what should the grace of God lead in our lives?

3. How would you explain the workings of God’s grace to an unbelieving friend?

The sum is, that there was good reason why all the precepts of the Law should be observed, since by them it was that God desired His people, after their deliverance, to shew forth their sense of His loving-kindness.
John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Deuteronomy 6.20

Thank You, Lord, for the grace that saves and promises, and for Your Law, which shows me…

Closing Prayer: Psalm 85.4-13
Thank God for His many blessings, and seek from Him a greater measure of His salvation and Presence for the day ahead.

Psalm 85.4-13
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
Restore us, O God, renew us in peace,
and cause all Your wrath against us to cease.
Will You evermore all Your wrath to us show?
Revive us that we may Your joy again know.

Lord, show us Your love; restore us, we pray!
And help us to hear the words that You say.
Speak peace to Your people; in truth let us stand.
We fear You; let glory and grace fill our land.

In Jesus God’s grace and truth are combined;
both goodness and peace in Him do we find.
Truth springs from the earth as He walks in our midst,
and righteousness flows from the heav’ns as a gift.

The Lord by His grace will give what is good;
our land will produce abundance of food.
And righteousness will go before the Lord’s face,
and make of His footsteps a way in this place.

T. M. and Susie Moore

Listen to our summary of last week’s study in Deuteronomy by clicking here. You can download all the studies in the series by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All quotations from Church Fathers from
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy: Ancient Christian Commentary Series III, Joseph T. Lienhard, S. J. ed. in collaboration with Ronnie J. Rombs, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2001). All quotations from John Calvin from John Calvin, Commentaries on The Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Order of A Harmony, Rev. Charles William Bingham M. A., tr. and ed. (Edinburgh: The Calvin Translation Society, 1863. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).

T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Books by T. M. Moore

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