Listen and Observe | Sunday, June 28, 2020 (Full Service)

Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you. (Deuteronomy 4:1)

To possess the land of blessing, Israel—and any people—must listen to and obey the superordinate principles of God's law.

Living in Strange Days

We are living in strange days, and many Christians looking at the happenings in our nation and world find themselves recalling the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke: "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near." Jesus speaks there of distress of nations and men's hearts failing them from fear and expectation of the things coming upon the earth.

In light of all the distress in our nation, I have been asked many times over the last several weeks: prophetically, what does the Bible say about all of this? Are we living in the last days? The answer is an emphatic yes—according to the Bible, we have been living in the last days for the last 2,000 years. The opening words of Hebrews identify the period from the first coming of Jesus until His second coming as the last days.

But the question is bigger than that. In light of coronavirus, wars and rumors of wars, civil unrest, brother-against-brother fighting in our own nation, and even plagues of locusts in Africa and Asia—is this the end? A careful reading of Jesus' words in Luke 21, Mark 13, and Matthew 24—the Olivet Discourse—reveals that these things are the realities of living in a broken and fallen world.

How Shall We Then Live

Jesus said in Matthew 24: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." He goes on to speak of civil unrest, war, famines, pandemics, earthquakes, tribulation, persecution, and lawlessness. All of these things, He says, are the beginning of sorrows—things we must endure until the end when He returns.

How shall we then live as followers of Jesus in a broken and fallen world? We should be faithful and wise servants of our Master, found continuing in His work until He returns. We should be watching and waiting, ready for His return, even if He does not return in our lifetime, using the gifts and talents He has given us for His purposes.

What is the work to which He has set us? Matthew 28:19–20 says, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Mark 16 says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." Luke 24 adds "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." This is the task to which Christians are to be committed.

The Gospel Redeems and Transforms

Throughout church history there have been countless things that distracted the church from these tasks, and there are many things in our day that could distract us as well. But I would argue that it is the gospel of Jesus Christ that both redeems and transforms. The gospel redeems sinners, and it transforms for the better the societies where those redeemed sinners live. An honest assessment of the history and expanse of the gospel bears this out.

The United States is an example of the transforming power of the gospel—an imperfect expression of it, to be sure. None of us would claim it is perfect. But comparatively speaking, we can see in our imperfect union the upsides of the gospel's power. So when we see things in our nation that are imperfect, the best answer is the gospel: redeemed and transformed people will make a more perfect union.

The opening words of the Constitution read, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." Where do such concepts come from? I suggest they are rooted in the Judeo-Christian ordinances of books like Deuteronomy.

From Bordering Blessing to Statutes and Judgments

Since January we have been considering the first three chapters of Deuteronomy in a series called Bordering Blessing. When Moses preached to Israel the message that makes up this book, they were on the border of the promised land—quite literally bordering blessing. But to enter into and continue in possession of that blessing, Israel had to adhere to the statutes and judgments of God's law.

As we begin Deuteronomy chapter 4, we are shifting to a new series I'm calling Statutes and Judgments, which comes directly from Deuteronomy 4:1: "Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe, that you may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers is giving you." The land of blessing is possessed only by adherence and obedience to the statutes and judgments of God. This was true more than 3,000 years ago for Israel, and it is true for any society that desires the blessing of an ordered and orderly society.

The statutes and judgments of God are the superordinate principles that lead to an ordered society. Without them, a society destabilizes; if they are rejected, a society inevitably experiences ruin—maybe not immediately, but eventually. This is evidenced in Israel's history and in the history of other societies too. At each stage when Israel departed from God's statutes and judgments and began to experience inevitable collapse, prophets would arise to call them back to this superordinate principle.

Deuteronomy as a Preamble to the Prophets

It is because of this that the book of Deuteronomy is essentially important as a preamble for understanding the historic and prophetic books of the Old Testament. If you are going to understand Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Micah, and the rest of the prophets, you need a basic understanding of Deuteronomy. I want very much to teach through the major and minor prophets—I've spent years studying and teaching them in college settings—but a basic understanding of Deuteronomy is something of a prerequisite. The Old Testament prophets present the application of Deuteronomy for a destabilizing society.

The word Deuteronomy means "the second reading of the law." Some 3,400 years ago, as Israel prepared to enter the promised land, Moses rehearsed the law a second time. The previous three chapters reminded Israel of the immediate history leading up to this point. But now the statutes and judgments themselves are going to be given.

Listen: The Meaning of Shema

These words in Deuteronomy 4:1 are a call to you and to me to pay attention. You can disagree with what they teach, but if you do, you should go and consider biblically and historically what has happened to those who reject the statutes, ordinances, and judgments of God. There are the written statutes and judgments recorded in Scripture, and there are the statutes and judgments written upon our hearts in the form of our conscience. When an individual or a society rejects them, it invariably results in destabilization and collapse. The inverse is also true: when they are observed and obeyed, the result is blessing and life. As Proverbs says, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

Moses says, "Now, O Israel, listen." The word "listen" is the Hebrew word Shema. It is an important word, for Israel will become well acquainted with it in Deuteronomy 6, in the passage called the Shema Israel: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength." This word Shema means to listen, to hear, to understand, and to obey—all of that and more is contained in this one word.

My calling as a pastor and teacher is to do just what Moses is doing here: I teach these things so that you may observe and do them—not merely that you might know them, but that you would do them. Jesus said to His disciples, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." Knowledge of God's statutes is important; adherence and observance are essential—essential that you may live and possess the land.

Choose Life

We are not headed toward an earthly promised land as Israel was three millennia ago. But if we desire to experience life and blessing in the land where we are today, we must pay attention to the superordinate principles of God's statutes and judgments. As Moses' message comes to an end, he says in chapter 30: "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days."

We are at a moment in our nation's history in which we are seeing the continued rejection of and rebellion against the statutes and judgments of God's moral and written law, and as a result we are seeing the destabilization of our culture. Unless we repent, we will see its ruin. This is the prophetic message we will become well acquainted with as we study the Old Testament. Isaiah arose during a time of destabilization and, using the blessings and cursings of Deuteronomy, called the people of his time to repent. Jeremiah did the same. We do not have the office of prophet today, but we do have the prophetic voices of faithful pastors looking at the statutes and judgments of Scripture and saying, as I do this day: our society will experience ruin unless we repent and submit once again to the superordinate principles of God.

An Ideal We Always Miss

As we study through Deuteronomy, one thing we will see is that the law of God—His statutes and judgments—is an ideal that we ought to aim at, but an ideal we will always come short of. We might get close, but we will always miss the mark. That is exactly what sin is: a missing of the mark. When we sin, we fall short of God's perfect, righteous standard, and so we fall short of the purpose for which He created us.

You acknowledge the truth of this in your own heart when you are confronted with the thought that you are not fully living up to your own potential. Living outside of God's ideal always leads to brokenness, separation, and death. This is what we are all living under—a world devastated by the brokenness, separation, and death that sin brings. When we see injustice, division, conflict, war, and death, these are all the result of sin. And if these things burden and break your heart, know for certain that they burden and break the heart of God as well.

The Good News of the Gospel

Two thousand years ago, Jesus, God incarnate, came into the world to deal with the brokenness of sin and death. He came to demonstrate God's love and to reconcile us back to our Father in heaven. He did this by dying on the cross. The book of Romans says Jesus was delivered up to death on the cross for our sins, in our place, and three days later He rose from the dead for our justification. Justification means He makes us right before a holy God. This is the good news of the gospel: Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and three days later rose again, so that you and I through His death and resurrection could receive everlasting life. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might receive the righteousness of God through Him.

With this glorious news in mind, we read Romans 10:9: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation... For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved."

A Prayer of Faith

I want to give you an opportunity to receive Christ as your Lord and put your faith in Him for salvation. How do you receive this free gift? It is as simple as ABC. First, you admit that you are a sinner—that is confession. You recognize that you have fallen short of God's perfect, righteous standard. Second, you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for your sins. Third, you confess your sin to Him and call out to Him in prayer, asking Him to come into your life and forgive you.

If you would like to do that today, you can pray with me: "Dear Jesus, I pray that You would come into my life and into my heart. I recognize that I have fallen short of Your perfect standard. I have sinned, and I confess my sin to You today. I pray that You would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith all of the days of my life. In Jesus' name, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer today, we would love to know about it and be in contact with you—and perhaps send you a Bible if you don't have one. We are truly grateful to God for what He is doing by His Holy Spirit and through His Word.

Closing Prayer

Father God, thank You for the work that You are doing. I pray that we would take heed to Your word. As we consider Your statutes and Your judgments in the weeks to come, may we see that if a person seeks to live after these things, they will inevitably come to the point where they find You—and find the grace and blessing that is only found in Jesus Christ. So, God, I pray that You would do that work through Your church during this time. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.