申命记

Meditative Reflection
A Dream Realized

“Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan...” (Deut. 4:41)

As much as Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land Proper, I could see the mercy of God in allowing Moses not only to see the Promised Land from a distance, but to have a taste of the fruit of his labor, albeit in a limited way.

It is revealed in the setting aside of three cities in the Transjordan region before his death in that:

- Although the land east of Jordan is not part of the land of Canaan, in the strictest sense it is still part of the promise God made to Abraham: “To your descendants I give this land from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates—the land of the Kenites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites” (Gen. 15:18-20);

- The setting aside of three cities as refuge does signify the reality that Israel has become a sovereign nation with its own land; and

- It also signifies the permanency of the Law of Moses — it is now in full effect.

These have come to pass all because of the request of the two and half tribes to settle in the east of Jordan which was met with fierce objection by Moses initially (Num. 32:6). God does work in mysterious ways! (Ecclesiastes11:5)

Meditative Reflection
Reiterating the Ten Commandments

“I am the LORD, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Deut. 5:6)

As the Lord was about to pronounce the Ten Commandments which Jesus, in essence, summarizes as the Commandments on which “all the Law and Prophets hang” (Matt. 22:40), He prefaced with these words, “I am the LORD, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exod. 20:2)

Commentators, in general, see these opening words as of utmost importance with comments like, “indispensably prior to all that is to follow”, “the center and focus of the whole Pentateuch (i.e. the Five Books of Moses),” and “the very heart of the whole Old Testament”. (See Durham, WBC, Exodus, p.284)

The importance of this preface lies in at least two aspects:

(1) Who is the one laying down these commandments: it is none other than God whose name is the LORD — the Great I AM. It is a reminder that He is the only True God whose existence, as indicated by His name, is above all created beings, in heaven above or on earth below. He defines everything that exists and whose existence is not defined by or in reference to any other names. Therefore He is answerable to no one, but everyone or everything is answerable to Him.

(2) The LORD is now “your God”: meaning there is now a covenantal relationship between the LORD and Israel and it is within that covenantal relationship that these commandments are given. They were formerly slaves with no status (Durham’s translation), but now they are the people of the LORD — a treasured people, a holy nation, and a kingdom of priests (Exod. 19:5-6). This new status carries with it a tremendous privilege of being loved (treasured), a very special status quite apart from all the nations (a people separated for the Lord), and a sacred trust (as priests, middlemen between the LORD and the nations). These commandments are a must to keep in order that they can be fit their new status and fulfill their trust.

As important as these Ten Commandments are, (and they also fully reveal not only God’s requirements for His people, but His attributes), the Apostle Paul would explain later that, ultimately they are meant to show them that they, by themselves, are not able to keep the Commandments, and also to draw them to repentance and faith in the atoning work of God through the shedding of blood in sacrifices, which eventually is brought to its completion in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross (Rom. 3:20-24).

Since this is the case, I really wonder why we would insist to display the Ten Commandments before the court. Shouldn’t the symbol of forgiveness, the cross, be a more appropriate display, because it is not the Law, but the sacrifice of Christ that is the answer to all human sins?

Meditative Reflection
Whose Image is Being Forbidden?

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” (Deut. 5:8)

Allow me to quote the following excerpts from Durhams’ and Calvin’s commentaries on the 2^nd Commandment as follows:

“The question is, whose image is being forbidden to Israel, Yahweh’s, or those of the gods rival to Yahweh…The first commandment states definitively that each individual who would enter the covenant with Yahweh is to have no other gods. Only disobedience of that command would allow the use of images of foreign gods…the worshiper who has made a commitment to worship only Yahweh must not compromise that worship by making it easy, that is, by adopting for his own use shaped images to provide a concrete center for worship, as practice common to all of Israel’s neighbors…A paraphrase of the commandment might even be, “Not a one of you is to have a shaped image for the worship of Yahweh.” (Durham, WBC, Exodus, p. 285/6)

“Now we must remark, that there are two parts in the Commandment — the first forbids the erection of a graven image, or any likeness; the second prohibits the transferring of the worship which God claims for Himself alone, to any of these phantoms or delusive shows. Therefore, to devise any image of God, is in itself impious; because by this corruption His Majesty is adulterated, and He is figured to be other than He is. There is no need of refuting the foolish fancy of some, that all sculptures and pictures are here condemned by Moses, for he had no other object than to rescue God’s glory from all the imaginations which tend to corrupt it. And assuredly it is a most gross indecency to make God like a stock or a stone. Some expound the words…as if it were allowable of God, provided it be not adored; but the expositions…will easily refute their error…And we have already said, that all rites which do not accord with the spiritual worship of God, are here forbidden: and this is enough and more than enough to put to flight all such misty notions…” (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol. II, 108-110)

Meditative Reflection
Rest is Holy

“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you.” (Deut. 5:12)

It is interesting to note that Moses has given two different reasons for the keeping of Sabbath.

In Exodus, when he is delivering the Ten Commandments at Sinai, he relates the 4th Commandment with these words:

“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exod. 20:11)

In Deuteronomy, when Moses reiterates the 4th Commandment, he gives the following reason for the observing of this Commandment:

“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deut. 5:15)

The difference is due in part to the fact that now Israel was about to have their own land, and their own business. In fact, the two and half tribes in Transjordan have already possessed their land and begun a new life. It appears that Moses, in his reiteration of the 4th Commandment, sees the need to address the other reason for Sabbath which is not apparent in the original delivery, and that is, the rest that God has commanded should extend to their manservants and maidservants. This, of course, carries a huge implication to the entire community, and the world today is still reaping its benefit as virtually everyone is given at least a day of rest in a week.

However, the world has yet to understand the meaning of Sabbath in the original delivery, and that is our rest is not just meant to be a cessation of work, but a time of drawing close to the Creator — a spiritual rest as well.

But there is one more spiritual dimension we should understand, and that is: while God continues to work today (Jn. 5:17), He did rest after six days of creation. Therefore, we should also learn to rest when our God-given assignment has come to an end and that rest is holy. On the other hand, if we would not let go and keep on working on whatever, in God’s eyes, has come to an end, we are breaching His commandment of Sabbath as well. Food for thought!

Meditative Reflection
Honoring our Parent

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” (Deut. 5:16)

Indeed, as the 1^st Commandment forms the basis of the following three Commandments in living out the covenantal relationship with the Lord who has chosen them, the 5^th Commandment also serves as the foundation of the following five Commandments in living out the relationship within the covenantal community and beyond.

Some commentators might have gone too far in saying that the reason why the Lord sets our relationship with our parents as foundational to all our human relationships is because parents are representatives of the Lord on earth. However, it is true that the Giver of Life has chosen our parents as the human source in giving us our lives. As such, they are the ones to whom we owe our existence. If we do not even honor and respect the human source of our life, how then can we extend honor and respect to any human being on earth. This is the curse of the modern era in that because of the collapse of the traditional family and the advancement of genetic engineering, more and more people are disassociating with our biological parents in forming the basic family unit. No wonder the world is going down the destructive path as foretold by the Apostle Paul:

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lover of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (2 Tim. 3:2-5)

I know this is a sign of our time — the last days, but this is exactly why we, Christians, have to behave so unlike the world, starting with the foundational truth of loving, honoring and respecting our parents. Some might question if we should extend this to parents whom we consider unworthy of our honor, but we find no such exceptions in the Scriptures, neither in examples nor teachings.

Meditative Reflection
It All Begins with the Heart

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. You shall not set your desire on your neighbor’s house or land, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor (Deut. 5:21)

Of the last six commandments that deal with how the Israelites should treat their neighbors within the covenant community, the last one makes it clear that it begins with the heart.

While one might argue that to honor one’s father and mother is already a matter of the heart, it may still be visibly measured by observing if one would provide for their parents in their old age; and whether one has committed murder or adultery or has stolen are crimes that must be proven by evidence of the action. But the last commandment is really a matter of the heart which in essence says that one’s desire or lust, though hard to be judged by the covenant community, will be judged by the Lord.

This last commandment actually shows that all the rest of the commandments are to be held by the same standard. To God, it is always the motive that counts. As a result, when Jesus points out that anger or hatred is the root of the sin of murder and the engagement in adulterous thought has already violated 7^th Commandment, He is not really saying anything new.

No wonder when Jesus quotes directly from the Commandments in Matthew 5, He uses the “You have heard” formula (5:21, 27, 33 etc.) to show that they have been hearing but have never understood the Commandments all along (13:13-14).

I continue to hear Christians who pride themselves in using the Ten Commandments as their golden rules of life; I hope they understand that, even as Christians, these Commandments continue to function as a mirror, showing them their inability to keep them, and to draw them back to repentance and to seek forgiveness in Christ (1 Jn. 1: 8-9).

Meditative Reflection
Sin Against Our Neighbors

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” (Deut. 5:20)

Many commentators insightfully remind us that as we seek to interpret the Ten Commandments and apply them to our present time, it is important to understand that these Commandments are given primarily to the new covenant community of Israelites not only to reveal to them the character and demands of God, giving them a set of code of law for their civil, religious and social conduct of life, but also to distinguish them as a community belonging to the Lord, as distinct from all the other nations. This is a huge privilege that carries with it a huge responsibility — a responsibility of maintaining their faithfulness not only to their One and Only God, but also to one another within this covenant community. Therefore the breaking of any of these commands does not only breach their covenantal relationship with God, but also with one another.

A clear case in point is the sin of Achan in the time of Joshua (Jos. 7), as the sin of one person against the Lord brought the whole community into trouble. Unfaithfulness to the Lord is unfaithfulness to their community within which everyone is a neighbor to one another, irrespective of whether they happen to dwell close to each other.

The significance of the 9^th Commandment closely followed by the 10^th Commandment, repeating the same theme throughout the commandment, lies exactly in who the people are to one another. While falsehood or lies are being singled out, the key message is their covenantal relationship with one another. It is far more than patriotism, but a spiritual truth that is based on the promise or covenant that God has made with Abraham.