Monday: A Witness Against You
When Moses knows he is soon to die, he is profoundly aware of the situation that he will leave behind. He knows that after his death the Israelites will enter into the Promised Land of Canaan. He also knows that they will become rebellious upon reaching their long-sought destination.
Read Deuteronomy 31:14-27. What preparations does Moses make before his death? What were Moses’ chief concerns, and how does he address those concerns?
Image © Elfred Lee at Goodsalt.com
Moses’ tone here may appear like that of a teacher preparing for a substitute. He knows that his pupils have misbehaved in his presence in the classroom; he is not so deluded as to think that they will not rebel in his absence. He instructs the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant to place the Book of the Law next to the ark in order for it to be a “witness.” Moses is not simply passing on a lesson plan for his substitute. He is passing on a witness. Moses speaks of the Book of the Law as though it is a living being with power to reprove the hearts of men.
Think about the law as a “witness against” them. How do we understand this idea in the New Testament, as well? See Romans 3:19-23. That is, how does the law point us to our need of grace?
In Deuteronomy chapter 31, God instructs Moses to write down a song that the Lord has taught Moses. Moses is then to teach the song to the Israelites so that, as stated in verse 19, it “may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.” Again we see God’s directives personified. A song, when sung, is more easily shared and spread. And when a song is a witness, it has the ability to cause people to look at themselves and see what it says about them.
| Even as we seek to obey God’s law with all our God-given strength, in what ways does His law function as a “witness against” us? What does this witness teach us about the need of the gospel in our lives? |
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I went on a holiday once and I don't recall doing anything out of the ordinary, but I woke up after the first night's sleep with a very sore stiff neck. It remained with me for a considerable part of the holiday and spoiled it completely. I could not turn my head to look to the side. I had to turn my whole body. And not only was it a pain in the neck for me, but it was also a pain for everyone else. Carmel called me an Old Grump, and I wasn't even old at the time.
How apt is Moses' use of the metaphor? Do we need reminding from time to time that we too have the potential to develop a stiff neck? Can we be religious and stiff-necked? How does the law help?
How was the Book of the Law - Deuteronomy - a witness against the nation of Israel?
What did it contain? It contained their commitment to and acceptance of the LORD's Covenant with them. So when they ignored, rejected or rebelled against the LORD this document, this agreement to only love and worship the LORD, would be evidence that they were breaking their word.
Shirley - again, thank you for bringing to our attention this wonderful passage pointing out that God's 'Covenant of Love' extends "to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments" - this includes us and all generations which follow. I praise Him - time will run out, but His Love does not change!
The lord said to moses take this book of the law and put it in the ark of the covenant that it may be witness against you.
IT mean when they trun away from the way of God, the law will tell them that you are out from the way of God that why is God said put it in the ark of the covenant
that it may be witness against you.
Yes, the written Law has the ability to be used as a witness against us by classifying the actions we take - obedience or disobedience -, but the action's effects are manifest in the spiritual relationship the believer has with his/her God.
I seem to always come back to the first law given to us in God's commandments as delivered to Moses establishing the basis of the old covenant, and the one Jesus told us fulfills all the laws and the messages by the prophets - Matt.22:36-40.
Our relationship with the Father has always been spiritual and therefore needs to be understood and applied spiritually based on that He loved us first - our love and faith in return, accompanied by willingness to do HIS will, which results in the ongoing consummation of our relationship with the Giver of this spiritual as well as action-directing Law of Life, maintains our relationship with Him by His Grace.
Rom.3:19-23 – I prefer to use the KJV’s text to answer ‘how it points us to our need of Grace’ since it differs from the version used for the lesson. Without God's Grace we would not have life.
v.19 – “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty (subject to the judgement of God(margin))”.
v.20 – “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
v.21 – “But now the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God without the Law(not outside, but by His Grace and Mercy(mine))is manifested, being witnessed(confirmed(mine))by the law and the prophets;”
v.22 – “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith *OF* Jesus Christ(demonstrated, given through Him(mine)) unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”
v.23 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
The ‘Law’, even though given originally to 'personally' govern a certain people's lives, is applicable to govern all mankind's lives in the Way of Life. Now, everyone can be aware of God’s Way which brings Life, but this awareness has the limitation that it only points out the transgression of these laws and not what lays/is in the heart of the transgressor.
God sees into the heart of the observer of His Law, and through the process of Salvation employs His Love, Mercy and Grace which bridges a gap between 'obedience' to the letter of the Law and the motives of the heart; even if there is no other 'excuse' than that we fall short, having given in to live by our own way at times.
Rom.3:22 – imparts the righteousness of God by the Faith of Jesus Christ unto All who BELIEVE in His Love, Mercy and Grace and walk His Way in their life by Faith.
The final question in today's lesson really emphasizes to me the deficiencies of this week's lesson. It talks about seeking to obey God with all our God-given strength. I don't want to make assumptions about what the author meant by that, but I can tell you that I have struggled with all my strength to overcome certain sins and failed over and over again. It's only when I've let God take over that I've seen victory. I think of Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Ezekiel 36:24-29 and I really do believe the only way to truly obey the law (not just the letter but the spirit also) is a new heart. I'm disappointed that the lesson did not mention this at all. It is a key part of education and I think we miss it a lot in the church. I grew up in the church but I was in my 30s (I'm 41 now) when I was ever really pointed to these verses. I think if our children were taught this, their lives as Christians would be very different.
I agree with you so much, Christina, that we need to center our teaching on letting God take over, on looking AT HIM and TO HIM in every circumstance and all through the day. Growing up, I also was confused by talk of "righteousness by faith" and yet the focus being more on good works and outer appearances. Some other metaphors from the Bible which point to this:
1 Cor 15:31 "I die daily" says Paul.
Eph 4:22-24 Put off the old self and put on the new self, like clothing. We get dressed every day, sometimes even multiple times a day.
Heb 10:14 Only God's sacrifice makes us perfect forever. I remember as a teen making lists, from the Bible, of the virtuous woman and of the fruits of the Spirit and trying to tackle them one a day. Our culture does this too, with magazine after magazine offering lists of ways to achieve perfection in our relationships, in our home organization, in our health. Perfection is not ever to be our goal. Instead, we are to spend time with Jesus to see HIS perfection more clearly.
Rom 4:6-8 Happy are those whose sins are covered forever. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) comes 10 days after the Jewish New Year. I don't know if resolutions are a part of the Jewish New Year tradition. But if they are/were, I like to think that after a couple of weeks trying out New Year resolutions and already starting to fail at them, one is ready to give up and let God say "I've got that covered". I read somewhere that in the Chinese language, the word for "righteousness" is 2 characters. The top character is for "lamb" and the bottom character is "me". The Lamb covers the person.
Matt 5:20 Jesus said unless you're more perfect in following the Law than the Pharisees you will not enter heaven. He then continues on by expanding on the 10 Commandments, making them harder to follow than ever! Anger is the same as killing and lusting is the same as adultery and so forth. Thankfully in Matt 5:17, before He "throws the Book" at us, Jesus says that HE has come to fulfill the law FOR us. And at His death He says, "It is finished." John 19:30. No more trying to be perfect!
Dear Ester - just a quick note to let you know that I am a fellow traveler who joins you on the Way of loving God with all our might first and giving up "trying to be perfect' in our own strength.
Once I recognized this Truth, I was blessed with peace in my heart and mind. It is so very important for all of us to find and live His Way - the only Way, and God's Spirit provides ample evidence of the importance of this Truth. Mark12:30; Matt.212:37; Luke10:27; Deut.6:5; Deut.13:3; Deut.10:12;
1John4:8 - "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
Thank you for sharing the Scripture passages you chose and your accompanying comments; they are very much appreciated.
Yes, praise to God, Brigitte! Thank you for sharing. You referenced Mark 12:30 and when I read that again it struck me how it says to “love God with ALL your strength.” To me this means there’s no strength left to try to fix things or perfect things or complete things without His help. On our own, with our good intentions, we burn out eventually. When we give and love in His name we always have more oil in our lamps to keep our light burning.
The problem with "trying to be perfect" is that it is focused on self - on perfecting self.
By contrast, Jesus modeled a focus on doing the will of the Father and serving humanity. John 4:34, John 5:30 That focus was an expression of His perfection of character - His character of love. 1 John 4:8
Similarly, when we focus on the Father and on doing His will on this planet, we are not focused on self. See Matt 12:50. Then Christ, through the Holy Spirit, can work out His character in us. It's a by-product of a daily focus on God. Phil 2:13, Heb 13:20-21 But it is not a state of doing nothing. Jesus kept very busy doing the will of the Father. And doing the will of the Father will have the same effect on us. Phil 2:12-13
Self-focus of any kind (even a focus on becoming perfect) can only create in us the image of the adversary of Christ.
Hi Inge - I want to take your thoughts one step further and propose - "the problem with "trying to be perfect" is when we attempt this through our 'Self's' decision to 'self-discipline'. If it is us who 'disciplines' 'self', the results are not the working of the Holy Spirit in us, but the will of 'Self' who is willing to curtail/form its expressions to the will of God.
1Cor.13:1-13 There is nothing good inherent in man that he could please God.
1John4:7-14 - The love we express to others has its spiritual source in the Love of God vested in our Savior Jesus Christ by who's Faith, if faithfully applied to one's life, will save.
The way I see it, there's no step further possible, Brigitte. As soon as we try to perfect self, we are focused on self. And that's the wrong focus.
It's possible to think of "the love we express to others" as a way of qualifying for the Kingdom. That's still self-focus.
Yes, Inge - just wanting to make sure that the life-giving and life-sustaining power of God's Love receives the attention it deserves. No matter what we do, if it is done in the Spirit of God's Love expressing the fruit of the Spirit, it will become a blessing - Gal.5:22,23.
Dear Christina - so happy to read your observations and that you found victory in your struggles. It encourages me to find resonance in your heart about a spiritual matter that has also concerned me for a long time.
Learning about 'obedience' and taking as measuring stick the letter of the law is not the same as loving God with all our heart which will bring about spiritually based 'obedience', based on love and motivation coming from the new nature's heart. The first way results in becoming judgmental, the second way results in compassion and love.
Many, many years ago, God placed this spiritually based issue as it relates to deeds, faith and the Holy Spirit on my heart. My comments during bible study time at church and ever since I started to participate in this blog usually focus on that.
I pray that more focus will be given to learn living our spiritual life based on the Grace extended to those who LOVE God with all their might and sowith become 'obedient' to His Way to walk by grateful faith, becoming 'like' Him.
I hope that many more who struggle to overcome sin will focus their efforts learning how they can LOVE our God with all their might more.
Asking Him to deepen our love for Him and our fellow man, to strengthen faith and forming gratitude for the Grace given to us will not be left unanswered.
The Book of the Law of Moses that he asked Israel to read is the Torah, or the first 5 Books of the Bible. These are the Books that Moses wrote recounting the history of the world, the Creator/Redeemer God that led Israel to the promise land. We know this because The Law or Ten Commandments, were kept inside the Ark of the Covenant below the mercy seat. The Torah was kept beside the Ark.
Hi Jim, I agree The Law is the Torah, however I have always thought it was Deuteronomy which being Moses' last words was a summary of previous history and instructions that was put beside the Ark.
All five books of Moses would have been too big to be carried with the Ark and too much for a new king to copy. Please share any reference you have that can clarify this question.
Shirley , Here is one reference. I am waiting also for a response from Dennis Praeger who is writing an Exegesis on the Torah. Two books down and 3 to go. I have read them both. He is an expert in Jewish liturgy.
https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/53104/which-book-of-the-law-is-joshua-18-referring-to
“The traditional historic view of Joshua’s reference to the “book of the Law” is it refers to the Pentateuch that was written by Moses. That is the first five books of our current Bible known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Pentateuch is also known as the Torah.
In fact, the word “Torah” is in the text at, among other places, Joshua 1:8.“
Hi Jim,thank you, it appears the consensus is that all five books of Moses were to be put beside the Ark as a witness against any who broke the Covenant.
Regarding this subject of a "witness against you", what about today? For the remnant people, wasn't a messenger sent for this purpose at such a profoundly critical time? For those who read them, do you find the "Testimonies for the Church" to be such a witness today? Can we see these as an expression of the love of God and Christ for His erring people(Rev 3:19)?