Learn and Observe

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July 5, 2009

Lesson: Deuteronomy 5:1-15

Key Verse: Deuteronomy 5:1

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Introduction

There can never be a true learning or observing of the Bible, the written Word of God unless there is a practicing respect for that Word. The Bible is God’s Word, preserved and given to his Church. We greatly respect the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which belong to the Triune God, by our worship, praise and service.

The ‘Ten Commandments’ which is our study today, does not stand alone, it is part of the whole of Scriptures; its truths permeate the whole that what we learn and should observe is to be understood in the full Word of God. The Bible, and therefore the lesson before us, is a living Word, the Spirit being our teacher both in learning and observing: “yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof, is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts” (Westminster Confession of Faith, 1. 5).

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The Lord Talked –Deuteronomy 5:1-4

Moses had been urging the people to obey God’s Law. It is an everlasting covenant relationship of which Moses speaks: Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong the days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee” (4:39-40). The Fifth Commandment also refers to the prolonging of days: “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which thy Lord thy God giveth thee.” The Larger Catechism (A. 133) teaches that the latter part of this commandment “is an express promise of long life and prosperity, as far as it shall serve for God’s glory and their own good, to all such as keep this commandment.” The spirit of this covenant promise of our God is seen in this illustration given by John Whitecross: “Thomas Scott has given us an account of a female servant, belonging to his congregation in London, who was taken ill. With the assistance of kind friends who knew her, he took care of her for many years. She was thus saved from the workhouse, and made comfortable to the day of her death. And who was this servant girl? She was one who in early life spent all her wages as a servant in support of her aged and distressed parents, who confidently believed that God would raise her up friends whenever she might need them; and who gave herself therefore to the duties which her Bible had commanded.” This illustration is also a commentary of the second table of the moral Law, which is summed up in these words of the Larger Catechism (122): “The sum of the six commandments which contain our duty to man, is, to love our neighbour as ourselves, and to do to others what we would have them to do to us.”

Life for the Christian, along with its afflictions, even death, is in the hand of our Creator and Savior. Even in affliction and death the precious life of the children is seen as God keeps his covenant. Moses calls upon Israel, “Hear O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The Lord made not this covenant with our fathers, and with each generation that followed; thus with us today. The Lord talked with you face to face in the mount out of the midst of the fire.” Our faith is built upon the Word of God spoken both to generation past and our generation today. The same Lord that spoke to Abraham and Moses speaks to us. Scripture teaches us that God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:1-3). He is the Word who “was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). The Lord, who spoke to Israel at the time of Moses speaks to us today, will continue to do so. Therefore, go to his written Word, desiring to hear his voice.

Discussion: What is the importance of our relationship with our Creator and one another?

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The Lord thy God –Deuteronomy 5:5-11

Out of the midst of the fire and smoke on Mt. Sinai came the voice of the Lord: “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake and God answered him by a voice” (Ex. 19:17-19). Moses reminds the people that he “stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord.” Moses presented himself as the Lord’s mediator; for the people were afraid of the fire; and the heard the voice of the Lord saying, “I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.” His voice is still heard today. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all” (1 Tim. 2:5-6). He who ransomed our souls trumpets the truth that he alone is our Savior, saying, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

Thus the Lord presents himself as the sovereign God who alone delivers his people out of darkness into his marvelous light. Because he is the one who has delivered his people from bondage, he declares, “Thou shall have none other gods before me.” The Sovereign Lord is to have Authority over all other governors who would assume to take his place that we would bow down and worship them. Graven images have no place in our thoughts or actions. For it is the Sovereign Lord who alone will be served, and who alone will visit “the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.” If the Sovereign Lord is not the foundation of our faith and works, we can expect no mercy. Therefore, in Christ we sing, “O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Ps. 136:3-4).

Discussion: What is the importance of acknowledging the Lord as he has revealed himself?

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The Lord thy Creator –Deuteronomy 5:12-15

The Sabbath day, the keeping of one day out of seven, reveals the glory of the Triune God as the Creator: “Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God.” We are not to any work, nor are we to require others to work on that day. There is work that is of necessity. However, even those whom such work is required, we must remember that they also need “rest.” What is this rest that is required? The answer is in the following statement of the Lord, our Deliverer: “And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.” The sabbath day is a covenant sign that our Lord and Savior completed by his work of redemption. ‘Rest’ indicates that all is done well, as is revealed in the Lord as Creator, that he created all things in six days, and it was very good, and thus the Creator rested on the seventh day. The sabbath “is God’s day: it is the sabbath of the Lord thy God, not only instituted by him, but consecrated to him. It is a sacrilege to alienate it, the sanctification of it is a debt” (M. Henry).

Discussion: Why sanctify one day out of seven as a day of rest, a sabbath?