Deuteronomy 30:11-19: Which Way?

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 19 August 2012

By Captain Michael Ramsay.

 

Have you read those Which Way or Choose Your Own Adventure books before?[1] They are series of stories and at the bottom of each page you get to decide how the story unfolds. The pages often end with a choice for you, the reader, to make. Something along the lines of: You have reached a fork in the road, if you turn left, go to Page 2; if you go right, turn to Page 3. Let’s try one of these Which Way / Choose Your Own Adventure style of stories here shall we? The objective of this story that we are reading is to get to Grandma’s house.

To Get To Grandma’s House:

You are walking in a dark forest, all alone, at midnight. You should have been to Grandma’s house an hour ago. You look around you. Instantly it strikes you that you are lost. You no longer know where you are. You have seemingly walked these paths a thousand times before but today you must have been dreaming and missed a turn or something. You are lost. You sit down to take stalk of the situation when all of a sudden you hear footsteps. You know that it is not safe to be in the woods alone at night. You know there are rumours of monsters in these woods. The footsteps grow louder and louder as they seem to come closer and closer. They now seem to be running towards you but who’s or what’s footsteps are these? You notice a tree beside the path in the dark woods…

q       If you climb the tree to hide while seeing what is running towards you, turn to Page 3.

q       If you decide to stand in the path and greet whatever is making the footsteps, turn to Page 5.

Page 3.

You know to stay on the path. You have been told a hundred times to never leave the path but you are overcome by fear and your adrenaline takes over. You scale the tree as fast as you can. You climb out on a limb and you watch; the noise of the footsteps becomes louder and louder as whatever is making it draws closer and closer. It is a wolf or a big dog. As it passes, you sigh a sigh of relief from the assumed safety of your branch… and then you look beside you and beside you is… turn to Page 6.

Page 5.

You stand up. You are looking and waiting for who or whatever is racing towards you. You hear he, she, or it running closer and closer. You notice now that it is not the sound of a person. You hear panting. You think you even hear growling. Your heart starts to race. You stay as still as you can. It is too late to make a run for it. The creature is upon you. It pounces. It’s a hungry wolf looking for its dinner? No. It is grandma’s dog, Benji. She stares at you for a moment and then she is off and running again.

q       If you follow her, turn to Page 7

q       If you stay where you are, turn to Page 6.

Page 6.

A giant black panther reaches out, roars loudly and grabs you… then a gives you a big kiss. THE END.

Page 7.

You race behind Benji as fast as you can but you can’t keep up with her. She runs further and further ahead of you. You can’t keep up anymore. You are absolutely exhausted. You must keep going, you think, but you don’t think you can…. and then, you look up and there before you in the clearing is Grandma’s house. You have made it safe and sound. THE END.

This story, with its choices, is not entirely different than our pericope (Bible passage) today. The Hebrews have been wandering around the desert wilderness for a generation when they come to a spot where their parents were a generation before. Their parents, when they were on the precipice of inheriting the Promised Land, they lost it. They reached the edge of the Promised Land but, by disobeying God, they forfeited what was promised them. The promise was waiting for them; all they needed to do was to choose life, obey God, and it would be good. They instead chose evil and experienced death (Numbers 14, Deuteronomy 1). Now the next generation is here. They are on the precipice now. They have the same decision to make. God tells them through Moses, “See, I have set before you life and good, death and evil…”(ESV). You almost anticipate the next words to be, “if you choose life and good, turn to Page 7; if you choose death and evil, turn to Page 6.”

Now this seems like an easy enough choice, right, especially noticeably so for those of us who have been reading through the Bible together. We read in the chapters just before this one how there are blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience (Chapter 28). The covenant of Horeb is renewed at Moab (Chapter 29). They are warned about what will happen if they mess up. As they are standing right at the edge of the Promised Land this should be an easy choice: Death on Page 6 or life on Page 7, (cf. Romans 6:6-10)[2] Deuteronomy 30:11-14:

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

You are able to choose correctly and this seems like an easy choice for the Hebrews to make, Verse 16: “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep His commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.” If you want to live, then turn to Page 7.

Verses 17-18: “But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.” If you want to be destroyed, then turn to Page 6.

The choice: Verse 15, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity [‘good’, KJV&ESV: turn to page 7], death and destruction [‘evil’, KJV&ESV: turn to page 6].” ^[3]

Turn to Page 6 if you want to be destroyed; turn to Page 7 if you want to live. This seems to be an easy choice, right? Now we must give the Israelites some credit; they do seem to initially make the right choice, like those of us from our introductory story who initially chose to stay in the path to meet the grandma’s dog. They do pretty well for a while. Albeit for one major error (Joshua 9), they seem to serve the Lord well for a generation but then the proverbial writing appears on the wall a few pages later in their story, in Judges 2:6-8&10 it reads:

The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel. [Then] Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died... After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel.

‘Turn to Page 6’ would be the next line if this were our Which Way style story about Grandma’s house. The Israelites make the first decision correctly but then they go back and make the wrong choice. It is like those of us from our introductory story who initially made the right choice to stay in the path to meet Grandma’s dog but then chose wrong and wound up being licked/kissed by the panther. The Israelites disregard the peril of making the wrong choice until it is too late. The people of land then overtake them and enslave them off and on until in the end of the book and time of the Judges (Judges 1-21) and then they repeat this pattern throughout Chronicles and the time of the Kings. The people have been warned and the decision should be any easy one: choose obedience and life on Page 7 or choose sin and death on Page 6 but alas they choose wrong again and again and they suffer the consequences. Do we ever do this? Do we ever know exactly what is the correct choice but still make the other choice anyway?

I think of my two-year-old daughter sitting at the supper table. She has eaten all of her dinner that she intends to eat. She picks up a piece of broccoli and raises it above her head… Mom tells her, “don’t you dare through that food on the ground.” Heather raises the broccoli even further, she looks Mom straight in the eye…Mom tells her, “don’t you dare through that food on the ground.” She throws the broccoli and the whole scene unfolds just as you might imagine that it would unfold with Heather learning the hard way not to cross her mother but rather to honour her parents.

How about us? Are we any different than a two-year-old? I remember once as a teenager I was raking an older gentleman’s yard with some friends and he is speaking to us as we are working. He sees one of the teens’ packs of cigarettes and then he warns us all not to smoke and shows us the hole that he had to have cut in his throat from smoking. While we were talking to him still, he lights a cigarette and smokes it through that hole. He knew he had the choice of life and death, good and bad, health and illness but he still chooses illness.

A friend of mine from years ago, who as far as I know loves the Lord as much as anyone else, would speak about God and the Bible for hours on end. At this same time in his life, however, he keeps getting drawn back to cocaine. He keeps returning to drugs. He has a faithful wife and a loving family who are standing by him for so long. Set before him is the choice of life and good -on Page 7- or of death and evil -on Page 6. When I last heard about his whereabouts, he was separated from his family and he was in jail. Life on Page 7; death on Page 6.

I have many other friends who have made similar choices and experienced similar fates. How about us? Do we ever – maybe on this scale, maybe not, but - do we ever know what is obedient, good and leading to life and still choose disobedience, evil and death instead?

Do we have a problem with alcohol, drugs, or other addictions; figure that one pint won’t hurt us and a then few hours later find ourselves in someplace we don’t want to be as our choice has carried us down a tragic spiral? Do we have a problem with food or exercise and figure, ‘oh well, I’ll just start that exercise routine or diet tomorrow’? Do we have a problem with driving the speed limit, or parking violations, or a temptation to gossip about others, or difficulty in tithing, or praying, or whatever else? And do we know what we should do but persist in doing something else instead? Do we persist in turning to the metaphorical Page 6, when we know the right choice is to turn to Page 7? Do we continue to choose evil over good, even though we know the results of that choice?

Last week, for those of us who were here or for those of us that follow the sermons on-line, you will know that we took a holiness test based on the Ten Commandments. We went through them one by one, examining our relationships with our God and our neighbours in light of each of them. I know that there were a few of us that answered a few answers on that test, not entirely correctly. This probably means that when there are those times in each of our lives when God sets before us the choice of obedience and good and life or the choice of disobedience and evil and death; this probably means that sometimes we have intentionally chosen wrong; sometimes we have turned to Page 6 when we know we should have turned to Page 7. Sometimes we have sinned and sometimes we are thus deserving of the death on Page 6 that comes from our evil and our sin. ^[4]

But there is good news even after we have turned to the wrong page; Deuteronomy 30:2, 8-10:

… When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today... The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live…You will again obey the Lord and follow all His commands I am giving you today… The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, if you obey the Lord your God and keep His commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

So this is exciting. Even the ancient Israelites, when they sin, when they choose evil and death, God still offers them the opportunity to choose repentance, forgiveness and restoration.[5] I can’t tell you the number of testimonies that I have heard from people who have done this same thing in our day and age: choose sin and death and then, before it is too late – and as long as we have breath in our body, it is not too late – even while they are suffering the consequences of their actions, praise the Lord, they decide to turn the page of their book of their life away from Page 6, forward to Page 7 and experienced the joys of everlasting life with our Father in heaven.

So this is exciting because this same opportunity and this same choice is before us here today. As long as we have breath in our bodies, the story of our life is not completed. No matter whether we are faced with the decision to either reject God and experience death and destruction or to obey God and experience good and life for the very first time or if we have been on the precipice of the promised salvation before, each of us here still has a choice. We can choose disobedience, which brings with it evil and death or we can choose obedience to God, which brings goodness and life. Today and forevermore, each of us here has that same opportunity, we either can choose death or we can choose life. Today let’s choose life.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] This 24-book Which Way series ran from 1982 to1986 and was published by Simon & Schuster under the Archway imprint. The Choose Your Own Adventure series ran from 1979 to 1998 and was published by Random House. For more information: http://www.gamebooks.org/wwlist.htm (The original cover art that the ‘poster’ for our wall was based on art work by Gordon Tombei)

[2] Cf. Earl S. Kalland, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Notes to Deuteronomy/Deuteronomy 30 Notes/Deuteronomy Note 30:12-14, Book Version: 4.0.2

^[3]J. A. Thompson, Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 313: The phrase I have set before you in the present context means ‘I have set before you for choice’. In 11:26–28 the alternatives are blessing and cursing. Hence the full alternatives are life, good and blessing, or death, evil and cursing. The term good (ṭôb) denotes ‘prosperity’, while the term evil (ra‘) denotes ‘misfortune’.

[4] Cf. F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201, re: NT applications of our text according to the Apostle Paul in Romans.

[5] Bruce Wells, ‘Between Text & Sermon: Deuteronomy 30:6-14’, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology Vol. 61 (April 2007): 199.

Holiness Test: Deuteronomy 5:1-21, Exodus 20:1-17, Luke 10:25-27, Mark 12:28-34, Matt 22:34-40

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, August 12, 2012

By Captain Michael Ramsay

To see the August 03, 2014 version based on Exodus 20, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2014/07/exodus-201-17-holiness-test.html

Today we are looking at the Ten Commandments. Now there is an important phrase at the beginning of our text which we read today that I don’t know if anyone noticed: Deuteronomy 5:3: “It was not with our ancestors that the Lord made this covenant, but with us, with all of us who are alive here today.” This is important because none of the people were alive when God made the original covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12-15).[1] And Moses, when he says this, he is not speaking for the most part to the people who were even alive when he received the exodus covenant/commission on Mt. Horeb  (Exodus 19-24) or when the Hebrews were delivered from Egypt.[2] As Deuteronomy is taking place, most of the Exodus generation has already passed away. Moses lets the people of this next generation know, however, that they are still bound by this covenant to God even though they may not have even been born when it was first made.[3] This is what God is reminding the Hebrews before He presents the Ten Commandments to us. And this is what Jesus reminds us of in the Gospels when he confirms that all the law and the prophets hang on the fact that we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and that we must love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:34-40, Mark, 12:28-34, Luke 10:25-27). This is interesting because the Ten Commandments themselves can be summed up exactly this way: as loving God and loving one’s neighbour.[4] You will notice that the last six or seven commands relate directly to loving one’s neighbour and that the first three or four relate directly to loving God.[5]

Today, as we look at this very important part of scripture, instead of a sermon or a homily, I have a test for us that will use most of our remaining worship time. Now I want you to write down your answers but don’t show them to anyone else, unless you feel so-led. This test today relates to how each of us loves God and our neighbours.[6] Are you ready? This is a two-part test holiness test. It has only ten questions and it is based on the Ten Commandments: The first part of this holiness test we are taking will encourage us to examine our holiness relating to our love for God. Number your papers from 1-4.

DECALOGUE HOLINESS TEST

Part 1: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5).

 

1.  Do we ever put anything before God? Deuteronomy 5:7 (Exodus 20:3; cf. Leviticus 26:13; Numbers 15:41; Deuteronomy 13:4-5) records the Lord’s command that “You shall have no gods before me.” This is pretty straightforward. There is only one God, so you should not put anyone or anything else before God.[7] Do we ever put anything before God? Ron mentioned to me this week that he even pulled over from his marathon drive across the West this past Sunday to attend a church service en route. This is great. Do we all do this? Do we set time aside like this or do we sometimes put our holidays or our company before God, letting them interfere with our worship of YHWH in community? Do we sometimes put television, work, homework, or friends before God: opting to do these things instead of, or more than reading our Bibles? Do we ever put our bank accounts or our friends’ opinions before God? Do we sometimes make our decisions based on our finances or our friend’s advice instead of by discerning God’s Word through prayer and Bible study? The question again: do we ever put anything before God?

2. Is there anything that maybe was meant to aid us in worship that now is successfully competing with God for our love and attention? Deuteronomy 5:8 (Exodus 20:4): “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.” This is different than the first commandment. This is asking if we ever make images of God that we may be eventually tempted to wind up worshipping. Moses made a bronze snake in the desert that God later had destroyed because people began worshipping this image (Numbers 21:4-9, 2 Kings 18:4). The rightfully condemned golden calves of Aaron and Jeroboam may have been simply meant as a place for God to sit (Exodus 32; Deuteronomy 9; 1 Kings 12:28; 2 Chronicles 11:15, 13:8).[8] Do we ever make images relating to God that may wind up in essence competing with God for our attention? Do we have a version of the Bible that we will only read? Do we have certain ways of worship: a certain kind of music or tradition or sacrament or non-sacrament that once was meant to aid us in worship but is now in essence competing with God for our attention? In church, do we pay more attention to the music, the sermon, or other things than we do to God? Question 2: Is there anything that maybe was meant to aid us in worship that now is successfully competing with God for our attention?

3. Are we ever careless in our use of the Lord’s name? Deuteronomy 5:11 (cf. Exodus 20:7; cf. also Leviticus 22:32): “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” The AV or KJV, that most of us grew up with and may have memorized this command in reads, “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…” We know what this means right? It can mean a couple of things, it can mean that we are not to swear an oath and then not keep it (cf. Numbers 30, Matthew 5:33-37, James 5:12).[9] It can also more commonly mean that we shouldn’t flippantly or thoughtless mention the Lord’s name.[10] We have heard people say, ‘oh my goodness’ (but not using the word ‘goodness’) as a exclamation or this new generation can simply text, ‘OMG’. Anytime we are careless like this or anytime attribute things to God that God did not say or do or anytime we use His name in careless or profane ways  (some people even curse using our Lord’s name!), anytime we do these things, we are misusing the name of the Lord. Question 3: Are we ever careless in our use of the Lord’s name, do we ever take His name in vain?

I mentioned that this holiness quiz today has two parts. This next question can go into either the first part – the ‘Love God’ part - of the test or the second part of the test – the ‘Love your neighbour’ part. Because we are primarily looking at the Deuteronomy version (the Exodus version belongs firmly in the first part) of the Ten Commandments, we should probably put this question in the Part 2 but because there are more questions in Part 2 than there are in Part 1 already we will assign it to Part 1.

4. Do we observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded? (Deuteronomy 5:12, Exodus 5:8) Now bearing in mind that Christians come together on the Lord’s Day rather than on the Sabbath as the Hebrews in the desert did; and bearing in mind that, as the authors of Romans and Hebrews point out now everyday is can actually be as a Sabbath to the Lord  (Romans 14:5-6, Hebrews 4:1-2); do we, nonetheless, set aside a sacred time and space to worship God? Do we have at least one day a week where we do no work but God’s work? The Exodus version of this text records that just as God ceased from His work when Creation was complete (Exodus 20:11), we should do the same as a part of loving our God. The Deuteronomy version of our text which we read today – Deuteronomy 5:14-16 - says that because the Hebrews were slaves in Egypt, we should not only cease from our work but we should not cause other people to work either – except for working for God, of course (the Priest and the Levites weren’t given Monday off in lieu of the Sabbath)  - Do we ever make others work by filling up with gas or going out for lunch on the Lord’s Day? This may or may not come into play now, after the resurrection, now that of the tomb is empty (Cf. Romans 14:5-6, Hebrews 4:1-2). But I will leave this question with us anyway: do we keep at least one day as holy, as the Lord our God has commanded us to keep it holy?

This concludes Part 1, the ‘Love God’ part of our Decalogue Holiness Test. We’ll stop here and check our work. You can check your own work. We’ll now review the answers and if anyone gets 4/4, great. If not, I’ll get you to make your corrections for homework and we’ll try to remember to ask you about it next week.

1)      Do we ever put anything before God? (No)

2)      Is there anything successfully competing with God for our attention? (No)

3)      Are we ever careless in our use of the Lord’s name? (No)

4)      Do we keep at least one day holy, as the Lord our God has commanded us? (Yes)

DECALOGUE HOLINESS TEST

Part 2: Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord (Leviticus 19:18).

I will ask you to number your pages now from 5-10 and we will start the second part of our test, sub-titled, ‘Love Your Neighbour’ (cf. Romans 13:9). This part is important as shown by the fact that Jesus addresses a number of these items specifically (Matthew 5:21, 27, 33; Mark 12:29–31; Luke 10:27; 18:20; cf. also Romans 2:21, 22; Galatians 5:19f.; Ephesians 4:28; 5:3; Hebrews 4:9; James 2:11, etc.).[11]

5. Do we honour our fathers and our mothers, as the Lord our God has commanded us (Deuteronomy 5:16, Exodus 20:12)? This has many applications. Obviously it relates to children living under their parents’ roof. Do they do as their parents ask; do they respect their wishes; do they avoid doing anything that can bring embarrassment or financial or other hardship upon the family? This passage also, however, refers to us in dealing with our elderly parents. Do we provide for them, as they need provision? Remember there were no pensions, Medicare, or old age security while the Israelites were wondering around the desert. How adults honoured their parents had a great bearing on their culture and society (cf. Ephesians 6:1-3). Question 5: Do we in this room love our neighbours by honouring our parents?

6.      Have we ever broken the command not to murder? (Deuteronomy 5:17, Exodus 20:13). Matthew 5:21-22 records Jesus as saying,  “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Have we ever been angry with a Christian brother or sister? Have we ever referred to someone as “you fool”? Question 6: Have we ever broken the command not to murder?

7.      Have we ever committed adultery? Deuteronomy 5:18 (Exodus 20:14) records, ‘You shall not commit adultery’. Jesus says, Matthew 5:27-28: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Have we ever committed adultery in our hearts?

8.      Have we ever stolen? Deuteronomy 5:19 (Exodus 20:15) says, ‘You shall not steal.’ Have we ever not put in the time that we are paid to put in at work? Have we ever not claimed all of our income on our income tax? Have we ever withheld payment from someone for something they have done? Have we ever ‘borrowed’ something from a sibling or friend without asking? Have we ever stolen?

9.      Have we ever given false testimony against our neighbour? (Deuteronomy 5:20, Exodus 20:16). This command is primarily referring to a court action but it can most certainly be extended to include any false statement about a neighbour.[12] Have we ever made false claims about a political or historical figure? Have we ever passed along falsehood about a colleague or community member? Have we ever repeated a rumour or gossip as if it was truth? Have we ever given false testimony against our neighbour?

10.  Do we ever covet our neighbour’s wife or anything that belongs to our neighbour? (Deuteronomy 5:21, Exodus 20:17) Do we ever wish we had our neighbour’s car? Do we ever lament that we don’t have a job as cushy or with as big a paycheque or with as many holidays as someone else’s? A big part of the advertising that helps prop up our whole economic system in this country is the desire to have what someone else has? Do we ever need to ‘keep up to the Joneses?’ Do we ever fall prey to that temptation? Do we ever covet someone else’s life or someone else’s possessions?

Let’s review the second part of the test:

5)  Do we love our neighbours by honouring our parents? (Yes)

6)  Have we broken the command not to murder? (No)

7)  Have we committed adultery in our hearts? (No)

8)  Have we ever stolen? (No)

9)  Do we ever give false testimony? (No)

10) Do we sometimes covet someone else’s life or someone else’s possessions? (No)

So how did you do? How did we do on the Decalogue Holiness Test? How are we at reflecting or emulating the Lord’s holiness through loving God and loving our neighbour? I know that everyone here probably aced this quiz (of course!) because we are all living the holy, sanctified lives that God calls us to in Deuteronomy here (Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, 14:21, 26:19, 28:9), in the Old Testament (cf. Exodus 19:6, 22:31, 31:13; Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7-8), and in the New Testament (cf. Ephesians 1:4,18; 1 Thessalonians 4:4-7; 2 Timothy 1:9; Hebrews 12:4; 1 Peter 1:13-16; cf. also Matthew 5:48). But, if for some reason we didn’t get the test perfect, I would like us to take it home and work on it. You can use the book to help you too. Actually I would encourage that. The more you read the textbook (the Bible), the more you will understand about the holiness exam. I want to point out two quick things before we go here:

1)      No matter how you did on the test, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). He is patient and as we study for the tests this life will send – and this life will have many test – the Lord will always be there to help us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). 

2)      Don’t worry about transforming yourself into a holy person. The Gospel itself has the power to transform us (Romans 1:16-17). As we read the Bible and as we pray and as we spend time with God, God will naturally transform us into His likeness (cf. TSA doc. 10). God loves as and as we seek Him and His Kingdom and His righteousness, He promises that we will find Him (Matthew 6:33). So that is how we ace the holiness exam, simply seek first the kingdom of God and everything else we need will be added unto us.

So now I will leave us with this prayer of encouragement from 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. Let us pray:

 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify us through and through. May our whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls us is faithful and He will do it.’ Amen.

Go now and live a holy, sanctified life in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Earl S. Kalland, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Exposition of Deuteronomy/III. The Second Address: Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty and Its Ratification (4:44-28:68)/B. Basic Elements of Life in the Land (5:1-11:32)/1. The Ten Commandments (5:1-33)/a. Exhortation and historical background (5:1-5), Book Version: 4.0.2. Kalland hold the minority opinion that this passage is referring to the patriarchs rather than to the encounter with God in Exodus 20.

[2] Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 128

[3] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today, Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army. Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./ptl4covenants.htm

[4] cf. Thompson, J. A., Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1974 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 5), S. 129 for a good discussion of the division of the Decalogue into two holiness parts: your God and your neighbour.

[5] John J. Kilgallen, “The plan of the 'nomiko' (Luke 10.25-37), New Testament Studies Vol.42 (November 1, 1996): This idea was common enough by the 1^st Century that this was Jesus anticipated response to the question in the Lucan account.

[6] Cf. Paul Foster, “Why Did Matthew Get The Shema Wrong? A Study of Matthew 22:37” Journal of Biblical Literature Vol. 122, Iss. 2 (2003): 309-333 re. Matthew’s version of the Shema

[7] Cf. Ronald P. Byars, Between Text & Sermon: Deuteronomy 6:1–15, Interpretation Vol. 60 (April 2006): 194-196, for a good practical discussion on this topic.

[8] S. Dean Mcbride, Jr., ‘The Essence of Orthodoxy: Deuteronomy 5:6–10 and Exodus 20:2–6’, Interpretation Vol.60 (April 2006): 145

[9] Earl S. Kalland, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Deuteronomy/Exposition of Deuteronomy/III. The Second Address: Stipulations of the Covenant-Treaty and Its Ratification (4:44-28:68)/B. Basic Elements of Life in the Land (5:1-11:32)/1. The Ten Commandments (5:1-33)/a. Exhortation and historical background (5:1-5)/(3) Prohibition against misusing God's name (5:11), Book Version: 4.0.2; but cf. Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Exodus/Exposition of Exodus/II. Divine Morality (19:1-24:18)/C. The Decalogue (20:1-17), Book Version: 4.0.2

[10] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Exodus/Exposition of Exodus/II. Divine Morality (19:1-24:18)/C. The Decalogue (20:1-17), Book Version: 4.0.2

[11] Cf. Rev. Allan McCafferty, ‘Always Another Question?’, The Expository Times,  Vol. 121, Iss. 9 (June 2010): 457-458

[12] Cf. R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1973 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 2), S. 168

Numbers 30: Rock Climber’s Rope.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 05 August 2012

By Captain Michael Ramsay

This weekend is a long weekend. Does anyone know what the holiday is this weekend? It’s Saskatchewan Day. In honour of that, I thought that I would have a little quiz for us that I found on the Saskatchewan government’s website (answers below).[1]

1. Name Saskatchewan's official mineral.

a)      Uranium

b)      Sylvite (Potash)

c)      Gold

2.   What is Saskatchewan's provincial tree?

a)      White birch

b)      White spruce

c)      Jack Pine

3.  Where were the first dinosaur bones discovered in western Canada?

a)      Eastend

b)      Cypress Hills

c)      Killdeer Badlands

4. The original name for the place that eventually became Regina was a Cree word "oskana" which later became "Wascana". What does the Cree word mean?

a)      Treeless Prairie

b)      Bones

c)      Place of many mosquitoes

5. Which Saskatchewan community has the warmest annual average temperature?

a)      Maple Creek

b)      Leader

c)      Assiniboia

6.  How many times was John Diefenbaker elected a Member of Parliament?

a)      5

b)      7

c)      13

7. Who was the longest-serving premier of Saskatchewan?

a)      Woodrow Lloyd

b)      Tommy Douglas

c)      Roy Romanow

Trivia is always interesting and often fun. The last couple of questions on this quiz were history questions. Things have changed a lot in Saskatchewan since Premier Douglas and Prime Minister Diefenbaker were in power. 1957 was the first year Diefenbaker was Prime Minister at the same time as Douglas was Premier: things were a little different then they are today. The average cost of a brand new house in North American was only about $12 000. A gallon of gas only cost $0.24 and this was good because the average wage (even figuring into the equation the big bucks that CEOs made) was only $4.50 an hour. 1957 Canada was different in other ways too: Canadians were swearing oaths on the Bible and meaning it; officially breaking one’s marriage covenant through divorce was rare; and people, more or less, did what they said they would do. The proverb applied: a man’s word was his bond.

Today we are going to look a little bit at oaths, vows, and covenants.[2] (For more on this I will mention quickly my book, Praise The Lord For Covenants. If you want to look into this topic more after the service today, let me know.)[3] Today we are looking at Numbers Chapter 30. Ronald B. Allen reminds us that, “This chapter is a significant Old Testament text on the subject of the vows.”[4] And Numbers 30:1-2,  “Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the Lord commands: When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.’” This is important. You will notice this statement does not say, “When a man takes an oath or makes a vow to the Lord, he must not break his word unless…” It simply says that when a man makes a vow to the Lord he must not break his vow (cf. Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2-3, and Deuteronomy 5:11; 6:3; 23:21-23). We have more than a couple of examples in the scriptures of people faithfully following through on seemingly very difficult vows (cf. for ex. Genesis 28:20–22; Numbers 21:2; Judges 11:30ff.; 1 Samuel 1:11; 14:24; Jonah 1:16; 2:9; Acts 18:18; 21:23; 23:12ff.): One is Hanna. Do you remember the story of Hanna? 1 Samuel 1: Hanna doesn’t have any children. Her husband then winds up taking another wife at the same time and has children with this other wife and Hanna then suffers much because of her apparent barrenness so she calls on the Lord, “And she made a vow, saying, ‘O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life... (1 Samuel 1:11).” Her husband agrees with her and she obeys her vow. God gives her a son and they give her son right back to God to be raised by the High Priest and this son grows up to be the prophet Samuel.[5] God rewards their obedience as they follow through on this very difficult vow.

Another example is Jephthah. Jephthah vows to sacrifice to the Lord whatever meets him first upon retuning from a military victory –it is his only child, his own daughter, who is the first to meet him. As John Wesley comments, Jephthah then fulfils this vow in much the same way as Samuel’s parents, offering up his daughter to spend her life in service to God. [6]

Vows are important. They aren’t trivial. God takes them seriously. Another example from the Bible about how seriously God takes vows, oaths and covenants is the Gibeonites. Remember them? Moses, as the representative of Israel, is told by God to wipe out the inhabitants of Canaan, which the Gibeonites are (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; 20:16-18). Joshua then, as the next representative of Israel, is tricked into making a competing covenant before God to spare the Gibeonites (Judges 2:2, Joshua 9). God holds the Israelites accountable to both of these covenants (Joshua 9:15): the one to wipe out the Gibeonites and the one to spare them, the one He commanded and the one that He forbade. Israel suffers the consequences of breaking both covenants even though they are opposed to each other (cf. Joshua 9, Judges 2, 2 Samuel 21).[7] God doesn’t release us from our covenants just because we disobey them (Numbers 6; Judges 2:1; Romans 3:3-4, 7:2; 1 Corinthians 7:10-14; Luke 16:16-16; Mark 10:1-12; Matthew 5:32, 19:9).[8] The making and taking of oaths, vows and covenants is a very serious matter; therefore, Numbers 30:1-2,  “Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: ‘This is what the Lord commands: When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”

But is this really so? Is there not some time when we may be released from a rash vow or an oath made without thinking? Are there not some incidents when our word isn’t actually our bond? Are their not times when we can renege on an oath, a vow or a covenant made with or before the Lord? Numbers 30 does actually seem to allow some exceptions to the principle of keeping of one’s word - sort of.

Numbers 30:3-5 records one possible exception:

When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.

Numbers 30:6-8 records another possible exception:

If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.

Numbers 30:10-13 records the 3^rd possible exception to this rule about keeping one’s word:

If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.

There are some important things to realize about the three possible exceptions to keeping one’s vows here. I am going to ask you a question or two so if anyone was nodding off this might be a good time to wake up. Now you will notice in Numbers 30 that the exceptions to keeping one’s vows apply only to… women. Men, you will notice in Numbers 30, that you can’t get out of your vows, oaths, and covenants (cf. Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2-3, and Deuteronomy 5:11; 6:3; 23:21-23). The women are the onlu ones with the loopholes. Now you will also notice that not all women can get out of covenants. Here is the question. There is one group of women who can’t get out of their vows no matter how rash they might be. What group is this? Which women, just like men, cannot be released from their oaths, vows, and covenants? Single adult women, Numbers 30:9: “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.”

Why do you think this might be? Why are men and single adult women (widows and divorcees) bound in a way that girls living in their fathers’ home and wives living with their husbands are not? The answer to this question is important. When the events in the book of Numbers were taking place, when the Israelites were following the LORD and Moses around the desert for a generation; married women and daughters living at home did not have any authority of their own. They were like the property or the employees of their husbands or fathers. Verses 3-5 record that if a girl makes a vow unbeknownst to her father that -when her dad finds out about it- if he decides that it is a vow which adversely affects her or his family, he can cancel it at that moment. Verses 10-12 state that if a wife makes a vow and her husband finds out about it later and deems that it is a vow that adversely affects her or his family, he can cancel it if he does so right away – if he delays in canceling it, that will be interpreted as de facto or tacit approval. And Verses 6-8 say that if she made a vow before she was married and her husband didn’t know about it at the time, he can cancel it immediately when he finds out about it.  So why, in Numbers 30, can wives and daughters get off the hook when the rest of us can’t? It is because in those days and in that time wives and daughters; unlike husbands and fathers and single women would be much like employees as far as their authority is concerned – they don’t have authority to bind their employers.

Let me give you an example. If someone came into Lorraine’s office at the food bank here to get some assistance and she wrote them a voucher for $1 000 000.00, would they be able to cash it? No, she doesn’t have the authority to do that. If someone else on staff volunteered me to speak at an event on a day that I was unavailable or for an event that I deemed inappropriate, would they be able to do that? No – they don’t have they authority. Likewise no one here today could call up the President of some country and declare war on them for Canada. We don’t have the authority to do that. What the Bible is saying here in Numbers Chapter 30 is that everyone is bound by their oaths, vows, and promises – as long as they have the authority to make them in the first place. I can’t make a vow that someone in the congregation will quit smoking or that the radio will stop playing certain kinds of music. I can’t do that because I don’t have that authority. But if I vow that the Swift Current Salvation Army will raise over $100 000.00 during our Christmas campaign, I better do everything in my power to keep that vow because I will be held accountable. Do you see the difference?

That fact is that God will hold us accountable to our covenants as we have the authority to make them. Why is this the case? Why does God hold us to every vow that we have the authority to make? Why do our vows, oaths, covenants that we make with God not break – even if we want them to? A big reason is that our covenants protect us. They are often how God saves us. You have seen rock climbing before where people climb up the face of mountains, where there is almost nothing to hold onto? They climb up these really dangerous cliffs with all of these ropes and equipment on them. Picture this: The climber climbs up and up and up and then, it happens, she slips, her hands fall; her legs and her feet lose their hold. She falls and then what happens? The rope catches her. She is saved by this tie that binds her to the mountain. That, my friends, is what oaths, vows, and covenants are when they are made with or before the LORD. They are this tie that saves us when all else fails. They are a means by which God saves us when we are falling ultimately towards our death. This is why they do not break no matter what we tell ourselves.

God saves us by the oaths, vows, and promises through which we are tied to Him. Thomas B. Dozeman states that in ancient Israel, “Failure to fulfill a vow threatened to profane the sanctuary, influencing the health of the whole community”[9] And praise the Lord for covenants because one of their main characteristics that we discover from Numbers 30 here is even if for some reason we want to be freed from them, even if for some reason we want to be cut loose, even if for some reason we want to break and free plunge to our death, God will not release us from our covenants. Unless otherwise specified, our covenants last until death do we part. As long as we still have breath in our body, God is still pulling us back to him (John 3:16, cf. TSA doc. 6). He will not let us go. He will never leave us nor forsake us (Romans 3:3,4). God has promised us in Genesis 12 and God covenanted with us in Genesis 15 that as mankind sins, God would first die rather than force all humanity to suffer the punishment we would otherwise deserve. And He did. Jesus died on the cross because of our unfaithfulness and Jesus rose again so that we can all rise with Him and live in a fully sanctified and holy life. So let us do that.

If there are any of us here who have not been living up to our covenants with the Lord or before God with one another, I would encourage us to do so now. When we don’t live up to our covenants, God doesn’t forsake us or let the tie break (cf. TSA doc. 6). When we are not living up to our covenants it is like we are that rock climber and we are just dangling by a strand from the face of that mountain. But when we are living in a proper covenant with God and each other, then we are on the rock that lasts and we can climb to new heights tied to our Lord and our salvation and we can view the world like we have never seen it before.

So then, as this is so, I would encourage all us now, if for some reason we haven’t been living in a strong covenanted relationship with God and our neighbours to -in our hearts- confess to our Lord, repent of our sins and draw on the strength of that climber’s cord that is binding us to the mountain of eternal life. Let us draw on the cord of His life and of His covenant and let us experience the joy of His salvation for now and forever more.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] 1 b, 2 a,  3c, 4b, 5a, 6c, 7b.

[2] Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1981 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 4), S. 231: The law mentions two kinds of vow: vows (neder) and pledges (ʾissār). The former term is the more common, and here at least means a vow to do something positive such as offering a sacrifice, whereas ʾissār (used only in this chapter; the rsv translates the cognate Aramaic word ʾĕsār, ‘interdict’ in Daniel 6:7–13.) is a vow of abstinence, a self-imposed fast (cf. 1 Samuel 14:24; Psalm 132:2–5). The Nazirite vow is generally supposed to be an example of a pledge of abstinence (Num. 6), though neder is the word used there. But it may simply be that outside this chapter neder covers both positive and negative vows. 

[3] Captain Michael Ramsay, Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today, Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army. Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./ptl4covenants.htm

[4] Ronald B. Allen, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Numbers/Exposition of Numbers/II. The Prospects for the Second Generation to Enter the Promised Land (26:1-36:13)/A. The Preparation for the Triumphal March to the Promised Land, the Second Generation (26:1-32:42)/4. Commands for the second generation on regular offerings, festival offerings, and vows (28:1-30:16)/c. Vows (30:1-16)/(1) The issue of vows to the Lord (30:1-2), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] Captain Michael Ramsay 'Jephthah’s Parachute: Covenant and Judges 11:29-40’ in the Journal of Aggressive Christianity. Issue 59 (February - March 2009). Pages 5-10, Available on-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/JAC/article2-59.html

[6] John Wesley: "It is really astonishing that the general stream of commentators should take it for granted that Jephthah murdered his daughter! If a dog had met Jephthah, would he have offered up that for a burnt offering? No, because God had expressly forbidden this. And had He also not expressly forbidden murder?" and referring to the authority and responsibility for Jephthath to execute his daughter: “For this is expressly limited to all that a man hath, or which is his, that is, which he hath a power over. But the Jews had no power over the lives of their children or servants, but were directly forbidden to take them away, by that great command, thou shalt do no murder.” (Notes on the Old Testament).

[7] Captain Michael Ramsay ‘Rights and Responsibilities of Covenant’ in the Journal of Aggressive Christianity. Issue 56, (August-September 2008), pages 48-55. Available on-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_056.pdf

[8] Captain Michael Ramsay, Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today, Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army, pages 41-60. Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./ptl4covenants.htm

[9] Thomas B. Dozeman, Numbers. (NIB II. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 231.