Mazel Tov | Sunday, November 13, 2022

Now the LORD had said to Abram, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing... And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Genesis 12:1–3) > > ...So Abram and his family came to the land of Canaan... And the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the LORD who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:5–7)

When God joins a people to Himself, the abundant life of blessing always begins at an altar.

Greetings and Where We Are in Deuteronomy

Good morning, and welcome again to Cross Connection Church online. If you join with us regularly, you know I wasn't here over the last couple of weeks. I had the privilege of traveling to the Philippines to teach at a pastors' and leaders' conference. It was a real blessing to see the work God has been doing among the islands for the last 25 or 30 years through the Calvary Chapel movement, with which we are connected here. Our church was involved in helping plant some of the early Calvary Chapel churches there in the 1980s and 1990s, and now there are over 80 Calvary Chapel churches throughout the Philippines, many pastored by nationals raised up from the islands. There were about 200 people at the conference. So I bring you greetings from the churches in the Philippines.

Today we are back in the book of Deuteronomy, finally coming to the closing chapters of a passage that deals with many of the statutes and judgments God spoke to Israel through Moses thousands of years ago, just before they came into the Promised Land.

The Promise to Abram Began at an Altar

Nearly 4,000 years ago, a man named Abram received a call from God in Genesis 12. God promised, "Follow me, and I will make you a great nation. I will multiply you and bring from you many descendants." Later in Genesis God reaffirms that promise, saying his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. When Abram obeyed and came to the land, God appeared to him and said, "To your descendants I will give this land."

Notice what Abram did first. In the place where God appeared to him, he built an altar to the LORD and worshiped there. He called another place Bethel, which means "the house of God." Life in the land of blessing began at an altar.

Israel at the Border of Blessing

Now fast forward 600 years from Abram. His descendants, numbering in the hundreds of thousands, are standing on the border of that very same land. After hundreds of years as slaves in Egypt and four decades wandering in the wilderness, they are now at the border of blessing.

This book we've been studying since early 2020 captures that moment. The descendants of Abraham are reaffirming the covenant they had made with God at Mount Sinai 40 years earlier, recorded in Exodus. Why reaffirm it? Because the generation that originally received the law and entered the covenant at Sinai was unfaithful and fell away. So now a new generation, the children of that first generation, stands before the Lord re-entering and reaffirming the covenant as they prepare to take possession of what God had promised hundreds of years before.

Over the last several months we've considered the statutes, judgments, and stipulations of this covenant — everything from who they could marry to what constitutes capital punishment and how to deal with matters justly. This is typical covenantal language from the ancient Near East in the late second millennium BC. The language of Deuteronomy is very similar to covenant documents of that period from other peoples.

The Mutual Language of the Covenant

After all those stipulations, we read this in Deuteronomy 26. As I read, pay careful attention to the mutual relationship between the LORD God and the children of Israel.

This day the LORD your God commands you to observe these statutes and judgments; therefore you shall be careful to observe them with all your heart and with all your soul. Today you have proclaimed the LORD to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes... Also today the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you... that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken. (Deuteronomy 26:16–19)

If you consider that language carefully, you'll see clearly that this is covenantal language. The challenge is that we don't use covenant language much in the 21st century. About the only place in our Western culture where something similar still survives is the traditional wedding ceremony.

The Katuba and the Declaration of Intent

Most of us have at least been to a wedding, so you can see the covenantal connection between Deuteronomy 26 and the part of the ceremony we call the Declaration of Intent. You may not know that's its name, but it is the most important and legally binding portion. As the government sees it, the major requirement for a marriage is that both individuals, before witnesses, mutually and consensually agree to take one another as husband and wife by saying "I do."

In traditional Jewish weddings, a marital contract called a katuba is drawn up. It establishes the husband's responsibilities to his wife and the wife's responsibilities to her husband — primarily focusing on the husband, but mutual nonetheless. The katuba was established during the betrothal period, then read at the wedding ceremony before witnesses, who even signed it. That is essentially the "I do" portion.

If in the future the conditions of the katuba were broken or breached, that would forfeit the covenantal relationship — which is exactly what happened with the previous generation of Israel. Forty years before, at Mount Sinai, their parents and grandparents entered into covenant with God, but they broke it, which is a big part of why they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

Signing the Covenant at the Altar

So here in Deuteronomy 26 we essentially have the signing of the katuba between God and Israel in something like a marital ceremony. After they announce their mutual responsibilities, we read in Deuteronomy 27:

Now Moses, with the elders of Israel, commanded the people, saying: "Keep all the commandments which I command you today. And it shall be, on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, that you shall set up for yourselves large stones, and whitewash them with lime. You shall write on them all the words of this law... And there you shall build an altar to the LORD your God, an altar of stones; you shall not use an iron tool on them... and offer burnt offerings on it to the LORD your God. You shall offer peace offerings, and you shall eat there, and rejoice before the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 27:1–7)

The only thing standing between Israel and the Promised Land was the Jordan River. When they crossed, they were to build an altar on Mount Ebal, of uncut whitewashed stones etched with the statutes and judgments of God. At that altar they would effectively become the bride of God, entering into the covenant marital relationship with Him. Deuteronomy is something like the betrothal document — they are already God's people, but they are about to enter a marital covenant relationship.

Had Moses been permitted to enter the Promised Land — which he was not — all this that took place on the east side of the Jordan would probably have taken place at Mount Ebal. We read:

Then Moses and the priests, the Levites, spoke to all Israel, saying, "Take heed and listen, O Israel: This day you have become the people of the LORD your God." (Deuteronomy 27:9)

But weren't they already the people of the Lord? In one sense, yes — much as a betrothed woman is already considered married under Jewish law, yet the ceremony hadn't taken place, the katuba hadn't been signed and sealed. So Moses tells them: when you complete this event at the altar on Mount Ebal, today you have become His people.

"Therefore you shall obey the voice of the LORD your God, and observe His commandments and His statutes which I command you today." (Deuteronomy 27:10)

The blessings of being God's people, and He being their God, begin at the altar — just as the blessings of being husband and wife should begin at the altar. And it is the same place everything began with Abram in Genesis 12. Life in the land of blessing always begins at an altar. That is true not only for Israel thousands of years ago, but for Christians who are in Christ. Our experience of the abundant life, as the bride of Christ, begins at that place of altar with Him.

Entering the Covenant Soberly

In any covenant, where there are blessings, there is also the opposite of blessing. Breaking the statutes and judgments results in cursing, and anyone entering a covenant must do so soberly. In more traditional, high-church weddings, the officiant declares that marriage "is an honorable estate, and is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, discreetly, advisedly, and soberly, in the fear of God." This is exactly what is happening with Israel. Moses, the officiant and mediator, has read the marital contract, the people say "I do," and they must be reminded of both the blessings and the curses.

Back in Deuteronomy 11, Moses had already described how this would happen — half the tribes on Mount Gerizim and half on Mount Ebal.

These shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people of Israel... Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin; and these shall stand on Mount Ebal to curse: Reuben, Gad, Asher, Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. And the Levites shall speak with a loud voice and say to all the men of Israel: "Cursed is the one who makes a carved or molded image..." And all the people shall answer and say, "Amen!" (Deuteronomy 27:12–15)

"Amen" Means "I Do"

That last verse begins a series of twelve curses, each connected to statutes and judgments we have already considered in Deuteronomy. After each curse the people say "Amen." Picture it: half the nation's representatives stand on Mount Gerizim, a valley between them, the other half on Mount Ebal at the whitewashed altar. On Gerizim they declare the blessings; on Ebal, by the altar inscribed with God's judgments, each judgment is read with its curse, and the people answer "Amen."

If we updated that to 2022 language, instead of "Amen" the people would say "I do," because "Amen" means "truly," "so be it," "I do." In all covenants, sober verbal consent is required from those entering in. It cannot be one-sided and cannot be compelled; it must be mutual and willing.

So the Levites declare:

"Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt." And all the people shall say, "Amen!" ... "Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor's landmark..." ... "Cursed is the one who makes the blind to wander off the road..." ... "Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and widow..." ... "Cursed is the one who lies with his father's wife..." ... "Cursed is the one who lies with any kind of animal..." ... "Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly..." ... "Cursed is the one who takes a bribe to slay an innocent person..." ... "Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law." And all the people shall say, "Amen!" (Deuteronomy 27:16–26)

These are heavy things. Under the covenant, infidelity is accursed and judged. So why bear the weight of such things? What is the benefit, the blessing?

The Blessings of Faithfulness

Moses moves immediately from the curses of chapter 27 to the blessings of chapter 28:

"Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments... the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you... Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country... Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face... The LORD will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season... You shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail." (Deuteronomy 28:1–13)

Circle that word if. Infidelity is accursed and judged, but the greater truth is that covenantal faithfulness invites abundance and blessing. Blessed in the country, blessed in the city, blessed coming in and going out, blessed in your fields and your flocks.

The Deuteronomic Principle

Throughout our study, I've spoken about what is called the deuteronomic principle, and this is where it is most clearly expressed. It sounds big, but it is simply this: obedience brings blessing, while disobedience brings a curse. A simple conditional: if obedience, then blessing; if disobedience, then curse.

We saw the curses in chapter 27, but there are more in chapter 28:

"But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God... that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country... The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me." (Deuteronomy 28:15–20)

Every blessing is undone by its opposite. Skip down to verse 58:

"If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book... then the LORD will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues... and serious and prolonged sicknesses... And it shall be, that just as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess." (Deuteronomy 28:58–63)

That last verse may be the most striking. God says, in the same way I rejoiced over you to multiply and bless you, I will rejoice over you to destroy you if you turn away from Me. It is almost too much to bear.

Too Great a Burden to Bear

And that is the point. The blessings are amazing; the privileges are phenomenal. To be God's people, joined to Him in covenant, is a wonderful thing — yet the burden is almost too much to bear. King David would write in Psalm 119, "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day." The apostle Paul says the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. The commandments in Deuteronomy are right, true, and good, and obedience brings blessing. But the law is also extremely heavy, because if disobedience, then cursing. The law is so heavy we cannot bear it — and that is the point.

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin... For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Romans 7:14, 22–24)

This is what the law does very well: it saddles us with a burden too great to bear. Its statutes, judgments, and blessings are clear and good. The problem is not with the law; the problem is with me. I cannot keep the law.

Released by Death, Joined to Another

So what then? There is really only one option. The covenant of law is binding until death; only death can dissolve it. This is exactly what we find in the New Testament:

Do you not know, brethren... that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives... if her husband dies, she is free from that law... Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another — to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God... But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:1–6)

Is the law a bad thing? Absolutely not. It is holy, just, and good. The problem was never the covenant — nothing in the law changed from Exodus to Deuteronomy. But the first generation at Sinai couldn't keep it, and ultimately the next generation couldn't either. There is nothing wrong with the law, but the law reveals the problem, and the problem is us. The law was not given to make us righteous; it was given to make us ready for the righteousness of Christ. It brings us to the place of death so that we might find life. It burdens us so we can bring our burdens and lay them down at the feet of Christ. By the law is the knowledge of sin.

For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. (Galatians 2:19)

I love the law, like David, but not because I can keep it or lay hold of blessing by it. I love it because it points me to the only One who can give me true righteousness. When I try to keep the law, I find I cannot — and then I find the ultimate blessing, not at the altar of the law, but at the foot of the cross.

Come to Me and Find Rest

Jesus said, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

Perhaps you are burdened and saddled with the weight of the law — the requirements of Deuteronomy, or of some other religion or faith, trying to attain perfection or enlightenment or to be good and holy by your own effort. It will never work, because although there are blessings in keeping God's law, you do not have the capacity within yourself to keep it. You will always fall short. And if you do not fulfill the law in every point, you receive its curses. That burden should bring us to the altar of Christ, saying, "Lord, take this burden."

That is the gospel truth. Jesus took the weight of our sin and dealt with it on the cross, so He could give us His righteousness. As 2 Corinthians 5 says, He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. You cannot save yourself by keeping the law; it is holy, just, and good, but its burden is great, and it should compel us to come to Jesus and say, "Take this burden."

If that is you right now, all you have to do is call out to the Lord. "Lord, I've been trying to be perfect, trying to be good by my own efforts, and I just fall short and fail constantly." That's the whole point — that you would come to the place where you are poor in spirit and call out, "Lord, save me." Wherever you are — at home on a couch, listening to a podcast — God calls you: "Come to Me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Just call out and say, "Lord, forgive me of my sin, take the burden of my sin away from me, and help me to have faith and trust in You and to receive Your righteousness."

Closing Prayer

Lord, we pray that anyone who hears this message — whether on the day it releases, or months or years from now — would hear Your truth coming through the Scriptures, administered by Your Spirit, and be drawn to the place where they call out to You and say, "Lord, take this burden from me." Take the burden of our sin away, and help us to trust in You and receive Your righteousness. We pray this today in Jesus' name. Amen.