Obedience (Deuteronomy 4)

Deuteronomy 4:1-49; Key Verse: Dt 4:1

"Now, Israel, hear the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and may go in and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you."

Obedience. The themes covered so far are Sin (Dt 1), Leadership (Dt 1a) and Faith (Dt 2-3). The theme of Dt 4 is on obedience to the law (Torah). Generally, people think or act as though obedience is needed for their salvation. But biblical obedience is the fruit of salvation, not the means of salvation. Biblical obedience is not commanded of non-believers or non-Christians, but of the people of God--those who have experienced God's saving grace (Dt 1:30-31; 4:37; 5:6, 15; 15:15; 24:18). This is similar to Jesus saying to his disciples that their obedience should be because of their love (Jn 14:15, 21, 23; 15:10).

History to exhortation. In chapters 1-3, Moses reviewed their history since they were delivered from bondage in Egypt. Chap. 4 forms a bridge between the historical review and the beginning of Moses' exposition of the law in Dt 5:1. Chap. 4 is the climax and the end of his first speech and it is an exhortation to obey God. It displays a change in style--from basically historical reminiscences to an explicit exhortation, a hortatory proclamation. Moses spends much more time calling his people to orthopraxy than to orthodoxy. It is made up of three main parts, which are all a demonstration of divine grace:

1. The grace of the law [Torah] (Dt 4:1-8).
2. The grace of the covenant (Dt 1:9-31).
3. The grace of salvation (Dt 1:32-40).

I. Obedience to the Law (Dt 4:1-8)

Listen to all of the Law. Dt 4:1 is a summary of the whole chapter where Moses' first speech turns from recounting the past to exhortation. It is essentially the attitude that God's people should have toward the Law. "Hear" or "Listen"--a common injunction (Dt 5:1; 6:3-4; 9:1, etc) means "heed and obey." "Decrees and laws" (appears together 11 times in Deuteronomy) are two nouns which express a single idea. They indicate comprehensiveness. God's people are to listen not just to a part of but to all of the Law. We should read the Bible with a view to obeying what it says, for Bible knowledge without obedience is useless. Obeying what the Bible says is the formula for success in life.
Obedience to the Law is crucial...because:

1. It is normative (Dt 4:2). God's word is the only and ultimate standard; it should not be tampered with either by adding or subtracting from it.
   
2. It is the key to life (Dt 4:3-4). The Law is not a burden imposed on God's people.
3. It is the highest privilege imaginable (Dt 4:6-8).
• It makes God's people the envy of the nations.
• God is near them to answer their prayers.
• They know what God expects of them.

John 1:16-17. "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." The contrast here is not between law and grace, but two ways of expressing grace: mediated grace (Law) and embodied grace (Jesus). For the Israelites, possession of the Law was a supreme grace (Rom 9:4), a grace exceeded and superseded only by Jesus.

II. Obedience because of the Covenant (Dt 4:9-31)

In these recollections Moses leapfrogs over 38 years of desert wandering back to Horeb. In this section, covenant occurs three times (Dt 4:13, 23, 31) with each occurance relating to a particular moment in the covenantal story:

1. The grace of covenant past: the origins of the covenant (Dt 4:9-14).
2. The grace of covenant present: the essence of the covenant (Dt 4:15-24).
3. The grace of covenant future: the permanence of the covenant (Dt 4:25-31).

Never forget but remember your encounter with God. "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely" (Dt 4:9a) is repeated in Dt 4:15, 23. Do not ever forget (Dt 4:9b) but remember (Dt 4:10) the day of your personal encounter with God (Dt 4:11-12). It should be one of the most significant days in Israel's history. This encounter is a covenant initiated by God (Dt 4:10). This covenant requires obedience to "ten words" or "Ten Commandments" (Dt 4:13). These are the "ten words/declarations" or the "ten foundational principles" of covenant relationship. The number ten seems to have been selected to correspond to the ten fingers to facilitate memorization. The Ten Commandments form the primary building blocks upon which the entire Law (Torah) is based.

The Lord our God, who is a consuming fire and a jealous God, will never tolerate rivals/idols. The focal point highlighting the utter treachery and perversion of idolatry is Dt 4:20: (1) God graciously saves them; (2) God rescued them from the furnace of slavery; (3) God made them his own special possession. Therefore, God's people must "be careful not to forget the covenant" (Dt 4:23). "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God" (Dt 4:24). The usual interpretation of "jealous" is misleading because it views jealousy as an illegitimate disposition akin to envy or covetousness. But in the OT, it speaks of the legitimate passion aroused when interference from a third party threatens a proper relationship, particularly a marriage relationship when another "lover" enters the picture. God love is never fueled by an exploitative need to dominate, but by ardor for the well-being of the object.

One can always return from idolatry. The future begins with a tone of doom (Dt 4:25-28) followed by a window of hope (Dt 4:29-31). Five consequences of infidelity are: (1) they will be certainly and quickly removed from the land; (2) they will be utterly destroyed; (3) God will scatter them among the peoples; (4) a few will survive in the lands where God drives them; (5) they will worship senseless gods and have their fill of idolatry. Instead of the creature worshiping the Creator, the creator (man) worships creature (idol) who cannot do squat for man (Dt 4:28). But the God of hope declares that all is not lost and that they may return to Him (Dt 4:29). What is required is that: (1) they seek God from where they are; (2) they seek God with their whole being; (3) they turn around and walk toward God; (4) they listen to God's voice. Dt 4:31 explains why this is possible. This speaks of warm and tender affection, like the love of a mother toward a child (Dx 34:6-7. God's passion does burn with vexation and rage at infidelity (Dt 4:24), but it also burns with compassion for Israel, his child (Hos 11:8-9).


III. Obedience results from our Salvation (Dt 4:32-40)