November 8

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READING FOR NOVEMBER 8, 2024: DEUTERONOMY 5, JAMES 4, PSALM 118:10-18 DEUTERONOMY 5   Moses continues to review vital points related to the past 40 years of his leadership in order to prepare the people to enter the promised land. Now he gets to the covenant the Lord made with the people at Mt. Sinai, here called Mt. Horeb. This covenant is known to us as the 10 commandments.  Moses said this covenant wasn’t made with previous generations, which obviously is not true in a literal sense. He means that this covenant is totally in force for those Jews still alive as if it were made particularly for them.  What is a covenant, by the way? A good definition comes from Pastor Tim Keller. He says it is more highly relational than a contract, but more permanent than our daily relationships. Another good example of this is the marriage covenant. We pledge to enter into the most personal of relationships for the rest of our lives.  Although these commands were given by God, Exodus 24:7 states that the people promised to keep them: “Then he [Moses] took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.”

Verse 6 has important theological significance. God had already redeemed Israel out of slavery before giving these commands. Thus, the commands were not meant for Israel to earn their salvation, but to provide a way to live in light of their already achieved salvation from slavery. This is totally consistent with the book of James that states good works express the saving faith that has already been experienced by grace through faith in redemptive work of Jesus. 

There are at least four good reasons for these commands: 

  • Shows us how to love God. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15). And again: “The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me” (John 14:21). Want to love God? Read the bible and obey it. 
  • Shows us how to flourish. God’s commands are in no way punitive. They show us to how live with God and each other in the best possible ways for us: “You shall walk entirely in the way which the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and that it may be well for you” (Deut. 5: 33).Imagine, for example, what life would be like for us if no one murdered or stole. 
  • Reveals to us our sins. “Because by the works of the Law none of mankind will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes knowledge of sin... but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe” (Rom. 3:20,22). Knowledge of our sins convinces us that we cannot meet God’s standard on our own but need to be justified through faith in the work of Jesus.
  • Reveals underlying values of God. Theologian Jay Sklar has suggested each commandment represents an underlying value of God and presents a minimal way to live out that value. For example, the sixth commandment upholds the sanctity of human life by forbidding murder as a minimal expression of that value. But Jesus in Matthew 5 broadens that value by forbidding all hatred and contentiousness with others. Also, the seventh commandment supports the purity of marriage by forbidding adultery, but Jesus again greatly broadens that value by forbidding lustful thoughts and divorce (except in cases of unfaithfulness). 

READING FOR NOVEMBER 8, 2024 CONTINUED: JAMES 4, PSALM 118:10-18                      JAMES 4 James diagnoses a dysfunction group of people, likely a church. Whenever God’s people are not functioning well together, the problem is with the inner life of each person in the group. Each person needs to address his/her inner lusts, envy, prayerlessness, desire for cultural approval, selfishness, and pride. As we individually confess each of these sins to God, we are in fact submitting to God in complete humility. This also means submitting to the authority of God’s word—not making God’s word submit to us. Then we as individuals, and as a group, are in a position to resist the Devil in the strong name of Jesus—because greater is He who is in us than is in the world (1 John 4:4).  It is God’s counterintuitive design that those who so humble themselves before Him are the very ones He chooses to exult. We dare not exult ourselves, but always seek the lower place: “But whenever you are invited, go and take the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are dining at the table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14: 10-11).

James states there is only one person who is a lawgiver, judge, and qualified to save or destroy. That is God’s alone. Thus, we are not in a position to determine who will be saved or destroyed. This is a judgment that God will eventually render: “And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds” (Rev. 20: 12).  Finally, James reminds us of the uncertainty of life. His sense of life’s brevity correlates with his emphasis on being a doer of the word, not just a hearer (1:23), on showing faith through works (2:18), and on doing whatever we know needs to be done (4:14). 

PSALM 118:10-18 Three times the Psalmist said he was surrounded by the nations. Of course this is poetry, but it certainly conveys a reality of being outnumbered by opposing forces everywhere. Do we as Jesus followers ever feel the same? Here are findings of Baylor University sociologist George Yancey: “My co-author and I find evidence that media are less sympathetic to stories where Christians face hate speech or violence than identical stores where other groups are victimized. Social institutions such as academia, media, entertainment, and the arts are likely to be places where anti-Christian prejudice and discrimination take place. Those institutions greatly shape our cultural values, and thus those with anti-Christian attitudes are in a position to create and sustain anti-Christian perspectives.”  So, what’s the Psalmist’s plan to “fend off” these forces? Verses 13-14 tell us to seek help from the Lord and make Him our strength, salvation, and song. Verse 15 tells us to shout for joy. The valiant and exalted right hand of the Lord will sustain us so that we can tell others about His works.  Let’s look to God in our present position of cultural marginalization and publicly express what He has done, is doing, and will do. Be encouraged.