This was Jesuspoint. Our Creator wishes to make Himself known to us. Seeing Jesus in Deuteronomy takes practice, but he is everywhere. I cannot justify myself, Greg Koukl, based on the demands of those simple commandments. 492Disclaimer: Every Nairaland member is solely responsible for anything that he/she posts or uploads on Nairaland. 10. Again, this is something that we should all be striving to do. It has been replaced for everyone, including Jews, by the new contract. For God to say to any people: "I am your God and you are my people" is the very reason and purpose for our existence as God's image-bearers. In our own lives, we are subject to the same reveal of God. In the previous verse, the lender has wealth and power while the borrower is subservient. The Israelites are told that if they obey the Lord and keep His commandments, they will be blessed in every way. We need to look at the passages in question and ask: Does this seem to express a moral obligation that transcends the Mosaic Law? Stephen J. Wellum is Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and editor of Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. Is the US. Deuteronomy emphasizes the heart and feeling of the lawto love God with all your being and your neighbor as yourself. To add a lil. Deuteronomy, rightly understood and placed in its location in redemptive-history, is far more than an ancient history book of Israel. All the rules, regulations, preparation and sacrifices are meant to translate for us to the most realistic form what is at stake to be as holy as God. We have a different covenant that applies to usthe new covenant with different obligations. No. For these celebrations, they were reminded to take a gift for God, according to what they had received from him. Let me make a distinction between how the Israelites were chosen then and how we as Christians are chosen now because it relates to the purpose of the Law and how we apply it today. Some people may be deceiving themselves. 2 Samuel 24:24) to her father and remain married to the girl. (1-2) Overtaken by blessing. Deuteronomy is Christian Scripture. Other things, like homosexuality are forbidden in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. Paul says in Rom. We need to rely on His strength and not our own. If we are obedient to Gods commands, we will experience His blessings. Second, Moses in Deuteronomy does not pull any punches regarding the deep problem of the human heart. If youre seeking to justify yourself, then you have to treat your neighbor this way, and youre not going to be able to consistently treat your neighbor this way. If we are no longer under the Sinai covenant, how do we apply the blessings and curses of Deuteronomy 28 to believers today? Im not under the California statute, but I am under the Ohio statute. We should constantly ask, "What is God saying to me through this? That includes the prefatory material and its interpretation of the sermons. Here are some key points from the passage that we can apply to our lives: 1. The agency added a 12.5% cost-of-living increase in October 2022. You want to justify yourself? We are not being arbitrary when we say homosexuality is forbidden. The Book of Deuteronomy records Moses' final sermon to the Israelites, which he gave just before he died and they went up to enter the Promised Land. He wants us to turn back to him. Here is the first step: 2 Corinthians 1:20 says, All the promises of God find their Yes in him [Christ]. There is no greater privilege for humans than to know, love, obey, and serve our glorious covenant Lord. We are picking and choosing, but we are not doing so arbitrarily. We take the teaching of the New Testament how Jesus fulfilled the priesthood, how he fulfilled the sacrifice of that ram we make the necessary adjustments, and we enjoy this promise, which now says something like: All the more will we be forgiven for our sins if we embrace the provision, not of the Old Testament ram and the Old Testament priest, but of the work of Christ and the sacrifice of the high priest Jesus and the offering of his self. Andif you faithfully obey the voice of theLordyour God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, theLordyour God will set youhigh above all the nations of the earth. Having the proper attitude helps keep us from becoming greedy and selfish. Were on a mission to change that. When we live a life blessed by God, we are truly living the best possible life. 6. In Deuteronomy 28, Moses spells out the blessings that will come upon the Israelites if they obey Gods commands. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. Exodus 22:21-24. The holiness and splendor of God The overall goal of the book of Leviticus is to show the level of holiness God exists in. Our respectful behavior sets a good example for others. It may not display this or other websites correctly. 1. So to recap, I'm bumping into a question that has a different answer depending on one's embracing of a "theonomic" worldview? When a pilot wants to take his private plane up for a ride on a sunny afternoon, he goes throughapre-flight check-list. For hundred of years we have been a people without our rightful identity. He is not a nasty monster asserting that whatever He says goes, even if He says the opposite of what He said yesterday. Deuteronomy 28:20 says, The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin. This means that if we live a life that is not pleasing to God, He will curse us with problems and confusion. 23 If you afflict them in any way, and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear their cry; 24 and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.". These differences in hermeneutics lead to differences over which laws should apply today. There is no balancing involved or necessary as far as I can see. 17:14-20 ). As a nation, we can expect to be blessed with political stability, economic prosperity, and military success. How much we give to God is not what matters. 2. The reasons of this law are, 1. It was given to those people in that state for that period of time. As New Testament Christians in the New Covenant, which commands or moral principles are obligatory and would apply regardless of the covenants because they are universal morals that transcend the Mosaic Law? 1. Unfortunately, the Israelites broke their promise to God. It is God who gives us the ability to work and who blesses us with more than we need. Similarly, God has already saved us from our worst enemy - slavery to sin. The Lord's careful instructions to the Israelites about making and collecting loans show how concerned he is for those who are in need. God did punish the people several times for their disobedience, but he always remained faithful to them. There are some laws which had a ceremonial or civil component, which have since passed away, but retain their moral component and still apply today . We need to be careful to obey His commands so that we can experience His blessings in our lives. Their crops will fail, their flocks and herds will dwindle, and they will be cursed with few children. What was the point of the book of Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy 28:28 - "The LORD will make you go crazy, . When things are going well in family, career, or any other area of life, we are tempted to become proud. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I wouldn't trust any editing job on Calvin's sermons that was done by a theonomist with the specific intent of proving that Calvin himself was in fact a theonomist. Sometimes we are faced with big problems or strong opposition. Put up a link or something. Sometimes, when God presents us with opportunities we shrink back because we have doubts. Nothing that is in the Mosaic Law applies to me as a Gentile in virtue of it being in the Mosaic Law. We are in a different state now. For example, love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself are in both the Old and New Testaments. Fine, try these two on for size. Let us highlight each of these areas in turn. 2021 16 Mar. This is because God is faithful to His promises. Second, we need to obey Gods commandments and keep His covenant. Christians may rightly embrace the promises of the Old Testament made to Israel, because in union with the Messiah, Jesus, we are Israel, we are the true Israel. The church has no homeland except heaven and eventually the new earth. iii. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever because He is God. Note also in Ephesians 2 Paul talks about the role of the law. It was made between God and Moses and Israel. Are The Blessings and Curses in Deuteronomy 28 for Today? The important thing is that this is an agreement that God made with Israel. Therefore, it is important for us to be obedient to God if we want to experience His blessings in our lives. Even though the old and new generation have received innumerable blessings from the Lord, their hearts are hard. basically, it is a renewal of the covenant God made with them previously. If their teachings and their lifestyles do not line up with God's word, stay far away from them! Now, how do Christians embrace and apply this today? 4 Christians are the chosen in the sense that those who are in Christ, putting their trust in Him, are the ones that benefited from that plan of salvation God was working out through Israel. What benefit or dangers may there be in carrying over meaning from Israel to these other modern day audiences? Does the Covenant of Works Have 2 Aspects to it. Thats another hint that these are universals and not just a peculiar law limited to the Jews, though the particular application of law was limited to their system of law. Well, in view of what Christ has done in the New Testament, we make at least two changes. how does deuteronomy 28 apply to us today. Deuteronomy 28: 1 "Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. No. First, it shows us the importance of obeying God. In other words, when step one says that we are heirs of all the promises, we have to take into account that those promises may be fulfilled differently today because of the changes that have come into history through the words and the work of Jesus. As members of the Church we find ourselves waiting and preparing to enter into the promise of the Kingdom of God. We can remind ourselves of the many times he has helped us, our family, and our friends. . God also rewards obedience. God doesn't make us obey him - it is our choice. Jesus responds with the parable of the Good Samaritan, which points out even your enemies are your neighbor. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 is a powerful passage that contains a lot of practical applications for our lives today. It is meant to be a further burden on anyone that is seeking to justify himself, which is the case for the person who asked the question. In the storyline of Scripture, Israel was privileged to be in this position, not because they were better or more numerous than the nations (Deut 7:7), but solely due to Gods sovereign choice and his covenant loyalty to Abraham (Ex 19:4; Deut 7:8). They wouldnt be able toescapethe blessings. Deuteronomy 28:15-68 is a powerful passage that contains a lot of practical applications for our lives today. God is our only true security- not the government, not our educational system, not money, power, or other people. God gave instructions to parents that they must first understand and internalize His laws and ways and then teach them to their own children. Therefore, the application we make of this verse is not that if Christians will repent God will heal America. Tweet. He, however, has never broken a promise to his people. It is not enough to merely read the Bible or hear a sermon. In fact, one of the purposed effects of giving the law to Israel was to reveal and intensify sinto show us clearly that apart from Gods grace and provision, we cannot change our hearts (Deut 30:6; cf. The moral lawsthose against lying, stealing . The LORD wants us to obey him because we love him. Just because someone can perform a "miracle" or predict the future doesn't make them authentic. 1. There is a unique kind of plan that He has in the new covenant that's expressed through Jesus and what He did on the cross. Not only do them for once, but keep them for ever; not only set out in his ways, but walk in them to the end. Salvation in the OT (based on the Abrahamic Covenant) was always by faith, and never by works. Posted Nov 28, 2016 by Michael L. Brown. However, if we disobey God, we will experience His curses. We have to distinguish between these as we consider how we relate to the Mosaic covenant now. That was Gods year for their land, as . God dealt with Adam and Eve in one way, and He dealt with the Jews through Abraham with a different plan. Moses let it be known that from this day on, the Israelites were God's people, so they needed to obey God's instructions. When we disobey, we can expect His curse. Then, the lawyer who raised the question, seeking to justify himself, asks who is his neighbor. Years after Moses gave these instructions for kings, Israel's rulers refused to listen to this word of creation. The first Kings is the first half of a single book that was divided into two parts, 1 and 2 Kings because together they were too long to 19 Life Lessons from The Book of Deuteronomy | Deuteronomy Bible Study. See How To Advertise. wouldest not thou be angry with us till thou hadst consumed us, so that there should be no remnant nor escaping? He also requires us to be good caretakers of what we have been given. Deuteronomy 28:1 English Standard Version Blessings for Obedience 28 "And qif you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you rhigh above all the nations of the earth. Jesus says, you dont have to worry about the rest of the commandments if you can fulfill these: Love your God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. We need to be humble before God and remember His goodness to us (v. 33-36).