Deuteronomy: Law for Life
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."(6:4-5)
Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of Moses' writings, was given by God to the Israelites just before they entered the land of Canaan. This was necessary because the new generation of Israelites did not personally experience God's deliverance from Egypt, nor did they hear the law of God at Mount Sinai. Therefore, they are now exhorted to remember God's grace and receive His law again before entering the promised land so that they would be faithful to God. In contrast to the surrounding Canaanites who worship false idols, God's people are instructed to worship their God alone, one living and true God, and to live a holy life that is just and merciful to their neighbors. For this cause, God gives them detailed laws and requires them to obey them.
The people of Israel are called to choose obedience for life and blessing, and are warned of death and curse for disobedience. Moses foretells that even when Israel breaks the covenant and suffers exile and captivity, God will not abandon them. Instead, He will restore their hearts, showing them mercy by gathering the scattered ones and bringing them back to Canaan. Despite their inability to keep the law written on stone tablets, God promises to transform their hearts to love Him with all their hearts so that they may live.
Some people might argue that the gospel of the New Testament contradicts the law of the Old Testament, but Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. In fact, He quoted Deuteronomy three times when He was tempted by Satan in the wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry. Israel in the Old Testament grumbled about having no food, but Jesus' food was to do the will of God. Israel doubted God, but Jesus trusted in God's promise. When Israel worshiped false idols, Jesus worshiped the one true God alone.
Moses prophesied that a prophet like him would come, and Jesus is that prophet of word and power, just like Moses. Moses received the word of God at Mount Sinai and passed it on to Israel, and Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of heaven with authority. While God's miracles in the Old Testament were especially amazing in Moses' days, the miracles performed by Jesus, the Son of God, were so many and wonderful that the world could not hold all the books about them. Above all, Moses only proclaimed the word of the law, but Christ is the fulfillment of the law, bringing the word of promise to life. Moses himself, as the representative of the law, could not enter the land of Canaan, but Jesus entered heaven as the firstfruits of the resurrection so that everyone who believes in Him can follow Him.
We have all violated the law and chosen death by defying God, but Christ bore the death and curse that we deserve. We all fall short of God's glory and do not deserve His blessing and life at all, but Christ earned all the heavenly blessings and eternal life for us by obeying God with all His heart. When our hearts were far from God, it is Christ who cleanses our hearts with His word and Spirit, gathering us from the ends of the world into His flock. He is the model and strength for God's people to love and obey God until the end.
