Read Deuteronomy 5:1–5
Questions from the Scripture text: How does Moses transition into the main sermon (Deuteronomy 5:1)? What does he tell them to do? What are they to hear? What is he doing with them? In whose hearing? What three things are they to do? Who did what, where (Deuteronomy 5:2)? With whom is that covenant now in effect (Deuteronomy 5:3)? Who talked (Deuteronomy 5:4)? With whom? How? Where? From where? After that, who stood where (Deuteronomy 5:5)? To do what? Why this arrangement? Where did Moses go to do this?
How are we to receive God’s law? Deuteronomy 5:1–5 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these five verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that we are to receive the law from our covenant God, through our covenant Mediator.
Four things to do with God’s law. First, hear. Just as the first commandment calls their attention to the fact that they are always before God’s face, He reminds them that God’s Word is being spoken in their hearing (Deuteronomy 5:1), and that God once spoke them Himself to their face (Deuteronomy 5:4). When the King of kings speak, the first thing that we must all do is listen. Give our attention; give our heart.
Second, learn. There is skill involved in applying God’s law; there is training that is necessary for following it well. We must be students, trainees.
Third, be careful. The verb here is the verb for “keep.” Keep in order to do. Resolve is necessary. Vigilance is necessary. Learning God’s law is not a one-time thing, after which we can just coast in righteousness. It is a way of life with God that must be kept. Be careful.
Fourth, observe. “Do” is the verb here. The Bible is a doing book (cf. James 1:21–27). It announces to us God’s grace, just as the Lord Himself does here (Deuteronomy 5:6). But it calls us to action in response to Him, and in dependence upon Him.
It’s a religion and a relationship. You may have heard the foolish rejection of biblical piety under the statement “It’s not a religion; it’s a relationship.” But it’s actually both. And it’s a relationship that has a particular name: covenant (Deuteronomy 5:2). Covenant that obligates not just the representatives/parents, but the children, who are federally represented in them. Moses underscores to them that this new generation, who are alive, are every bit as much covenantally bound to God today on the banks of the Jordan (Deuteronomy 5:3) as their parents were forty years ago at Horeb (Deuteronomy 5:4).
And God deals with them covenantally. After addressing them all face to face (Deuteronomy 5:4), He is pleased to engage them through a mediator: one who stands between (Deuteronomy 5:5). Not only does Moses address them on God’s behalf, but he often addresses the Lord on their behalf. And, multiple times, he has interceded, when the Lord was ready to destroy them.
Now it is the Lord Jesus Who is Prophet, Priest, and King. The Lord deals covenantally with nations, families, and churches. But the church as a whole is in covenant with God through Jesus Christ, and each nation/church/house has a duty to acknowledge Him and submit to Him. Every true member of the invisible church, through faith, may know that He is in covenant with God through Christ. This means that we receive God’s commandments as the commandments of our covenant God, and we receive them as coming to us from the lips of our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. James 1:25, James 2:8, James 2:12; Galatians 6:2).
We are in relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And He has given us His religion, His way for us to walk with Him.
How does your belonging to God, and His belonging to you, shape your view of the law? How does your having Christ as Mediator, and receiving God’s law from His lips, shape your view of the law?
Sample prayer: Lord, You are our God. And Your law is our delight. Give us to hear, learn, keep, and do Your law. Give us to rejoice to be Yours in everything that we think, say, and do. Thank You for giving Christ to be the One Who stands between us, and in Whom we are bound to You, we ask in His Name, AMEN!
Suggested songs: ARP119M “O How I Love Your Law!” or TPH174 “The Ten Commandments”
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