Monday: To Hearken Diligently
The book of Deuteronomy is the printed version of Moses’ farewell messages to the second generation of Israelites following the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. These messages were given on the plains of Moab just east of Jericho. Deuteronomy has been appropriately called “The Book of Remembrance.”
In this book, Moses reviews God’s faithful dealings with Israel. He recounts the travels from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea on the edge of the Promised Land, as well as the rebellion and the 40 years of wilderness wandering.
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He restated the Ten Commandments, the requirements of the tithe and the central storehouse. But the primary focus of Deuteronomy is the counsel to obey God and receive His blessings. Moses portrays God as One who has the ability, and the desire, to care for His people.
Read Deuteronomy 28:1-14. What great blessings are promised the people? But what must they do to receive them?
Moses was very eager for the people to understand that God had wonderful, even miraculous, blessings in mind for them. His words, “If thou shalt hearken diligently,” let them know that their eternal destiny was at stake here. What a powerful manifestation of the reality of free choice. They were His chosen nation, recipients of great blessings and great promises, but those blessings and promises were not unconditional. They needed to be accepted, received, and acted upon.
And nothing God had asked them was too hard for them to do, either. “For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will ascend into heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14, NKJV).
Of course, besides the blessings, there were the warnings of the curses, what would come upon them if they were to disobey (Deuteronomy 28:15-68), that is, what consequences their sin and rebellion would bring.
| What does it mean for us, today, to “hearken diligently” to what God tells us to do? |
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The Hebrews had come out of Egypt; travelled to Caanan; rejected the opportunity to enter the land, wandered 40 years in the wilderness and were finally poised to Enter the promised land. It is worth remembering that at the heart of this exodus was the transformation of a rabble of slave labourers into a cohesive nation. God had used that time to hammer into their thick heads that if they worked together with him they could accomplish great things.
They were essentially pig-headed whingers. If they did not get their quail and onions, they wanted to head back to slavery. If their God appeared to desert them they were willing and able to create their own God, who would do what they wanted to do.
What was the essential lesson that God was trying to get through to them? Obviously, he wanted to get the idea across that he was the only God and that all the others were fabrications. But deep within the fabric of worship, sacrifices, and ceremonies was the message of love and compassion. The big lesson the Hebrews had to learn was that a commitment to God was a commitment to love and support one another.
The second time they came to the borders of the promised land, they had learned to depend on God, and work together. Well, not perfectly. We know that even when they entered Canaan, it was not long before greed and self-interest surfaced again.
A Church should be an organisation where our worship contributes to our compassion and collaboration with one aonother. Does it?
There is another dimension, parallel with what Maurice has outlined, that is essential to be aware. Aside from Yahweh, all other so-called gods were self-seeking in nature. They were believed to arbitrarily bless or curse humans according to their sovereign whim. Following these gods therefore involved pleasing or appeasing them also for self-seeking reasons on the part of their followers. Thus all other religions enshrined self-seeking and self-indulgence. This is what the Israelites and all surrounding people were immersed in for generations.
Consider carefully, if you will, the quantum leap in paradigm shift involved in learning of/about a God (The One True God) who exists and operates on an entirely different basis - and therefore whose followers also necessarily exist and operate on an entirely different basis.
This One True God exists to authentically benefit humanity - including being willing to sacrifice Himself in order to authentically save, heal and restore each and every member of humanity who is willing. And being a follower of this God is not about pleasing and appeasing God, but instead living in harmony with the way/s of beneficence because you freely choose/desire to do so. No wonder the transition to truly understanding this God and living in harmony with the higher ways of beneficence was - and continues to be - such a long journey for humanity to undertake.
I would like to suggest that the one true God, the self-existent I AM, was not unknown to the Israelites. Yes, some had neglected to worship Him. Some had become discouraged in slavery. But I suspect there were a great many crying out to Him for relief, even though their knowledge of Him had become dim and corrupted by Egyptian culture.
The fact that Amram and Jochebed taught the young Moses so well that he was not corrupted by all the enticements of the Egyptian court testifies to the fact that there were still faithful worshipers of the Creator God among the enslaved Israelites.
The state of Israel before the deliverance from Egypt may not have been that much different than the state of Christianity and even of Seventh-day Adventists today: Some were faithful, others less so and still others were ex-worshipers. But I suspect that their terrible extremity caused many of the latter to turn back to God.
Thankyou. My comments were not meant to suggest that God was entirely unknown to the Isrealites in terms of His existence - but rather that the dominance of the prevailing pagan cultures of the times heavily influenced a mistaken perception and understanding of God's nature, character and therefore ways. A few had a relatively more accurate understanding - most less so. Like you said "...knowledge of Him had become dim and corrupted..." This wasn't only limited to the period of time under Egyptian culture. It was widespread and long-standing - just as Satan was tirelessly working to foster.
I love that list of blessings in Deut. 28:1-14. Basically, it sounds like constant blessings: blessings whether you live in the city or country, blessings on children, blessings on income, blessings on work tools, blessings on our households and places we visit, blessings among enemies, blessings on our work. The constancy of these blessings seems to me a close parallel of the constancy of being in God's Word, as we read in Deut. 6:6-8 and Deut. 11:18-21. Here is The Message version of the latter, by Eugene Peterson:
I have been so blessed by technology in walking with God; I literally can have my cell phone "tied to my hands and forehead" (think pockets and headsets) and listen to the Bible being read or Bible commentary or sermons or devotionals while I'm out for a walk or running at the gym or washing the dishes or driving in the car or waiting for my Mom at a doctor appointment or lying in bed. Constantly filling my mind this way is such a blessing for me. It helps me keep my priorities focused on God's Kingdom and it encourages me and gives me ideas of ways to serve.
I'm grateful for the links to the other Sabbath School discussions on this blog, too. 3ABN, Hope SS, Hit the Mark, It Is Written, Amazing Facts, Sacramento Central, are all linked here to listen to, and there are others like Portmore SDA Church on FB with 10-minute daily reflections on the current lesson. Also, at the website Sabbath.School there is audio for related Ellen G. White notes, there's the Teacher's PDF of the Quarterly, and I just discovered a Lesson Quiz. Sermonaudio.com is another amazing resource (not Seventh-day Adventist), where you can type in any Bible verse and find a sermon. So many ways are available to "hearken diligently"!
Blessings and curses. One from obedience and the other from disobedience. My nature is self-centered, and even when things seem to go right, I can choose wrong. Small choices may add up to a greater outcome. And when curses strike, I tend to justify my ways. I truly have to thank God because He deals with me as I need, not only for my own good, but for the good of those around too. May His name be glorified, and receive all honors, because when I don't choose the right path I suffer! But even if I suffer unjustly, His dealings bring me to reflection, to eagerly long for Him, so I can find peace and rest! God's judgments are much fairer than men's.
As I read the Scripture, I couldn't help but think. These blessings that were promised to the Israelites, are they not promised to us as well? As I look at the church and see how we struggle in everything, why do God's people have to be dragging? Many of our institutions are falling apart. Those promises, were they for the Israelites, or for us as well?
Absolutely, Steven! A parallel between the Israelites and ourselves might be the way they responded to God's commands. Do we also boldly assert "all that the Lord says we will do!" (Ex. 19:8) while not realizing that our hearts are anchored to doctrines of men and still far from Him? (Matt. 15:8-9) When we get to the place of the words of the hymn: "Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on Thee; Leave, oh, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me", at that point we are able to receive God's obedience and blessings.
The dictionary defines diligent as “done or pursued with persevering attention; painstaking”
The Latin ‘diligere’ (from which we get diligent) means “to love or take delight in”.
Taken together, I am reminded of Psalm 1:1,2 “Blessed is the man…[whose] delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night”.
Also Psalm 19:7-10 where the psalmist says that God’s law, statutes, commandments, and judgements are “more to be desired than gold” and “sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb “.
Esther, thank you for the references and sharing how you "harken diligently", which means to choose to respectfully and happily obey our Maker in all things.
Romans 5:8 is a compelling reason to choose to obey!
I heard a sermon on Sabbath and it was about the stubbornness of Jonah, and how God worked with him and through him in spite of his unwillingness to follow God's instruction. The layman used the text in Psalms which says:
Very much supports our discussion today. Those who harken diligently, I do believe, are the godly. My post yesterday depicted who the godly are. They are those who believe, and it is counted to them for righteousness, because they believed enough to follow through with God's instructions. Jonah did too, to honor his promise to God.
In one of our last lessons dealing with the New Earth, there were questions concerning Isaiah's depiction of the New Earth that still contained elements that are no longer present in Revelation's depiction of the New Earth.
When reading the blessings and curses in today's lesson, it was clear, those blessings were God's intentions for the nation of Israel back then. Most of the blessings were physical blessings of prosperity, health, safety, protection, honour and possession. If they had diligently hearkened unto the Lord, and trusting and obeying, lived according to His commands, Isaiah's depiction of the "new earth" would have become their reality. People would have still died of ripe old age, but their nation would have been the next thing to paradise.
Sadly, though some of the blessings were realized, for God patiently cared for and protected them in spite of their waywardness, yet, the curses became their greater result and reality due to their failing to "diligently harken" and depend fully on God in obedience and trust.
It's easy to reflect on Israel, but what about our world today? Yes, we still enjoy many blessings, and we thank God for them, but the curses are gaining, the world is rushing on into destruction. How do we respond?
Many questions flooded my mind as I read the blessings and curses. If we suffer loss of property and/or health, or a genetically challenged child is born, does it mean we are being cursed for our sins?
The Jews of Jesus day seemed to reason that way. On the other side we see a "prosperity gospel" reaction to these passages in the world today.
I don't believe we are promised a pain-free life in this world. It's not unusual at all to suffer in this world. To me the bottom line is simply, we need to trust, love and obey the Lord, no matter if everything is going great, or if disease, financial setbacks, death of loved ones who aren't all that old, take place. People who obey God have at times lost everything for doing so. Yes, God sees them through, but the way is tough.
We need to "harken diligently" yes, persistently hungering and thirsting for His righteousness and saving grace, walking with Him in obedience, no matter if this life gives us lands, increase and abundant health, or we need to depend daily on just enough to make it.
And yes, we need to count our blessings, even when big things go wrong, and we feel like crying our eyes out. Look for the blessings, and trust and follow Him in obedience and love! The eternal blessings, when we can be with the Lord forever, are greater than any on that list, greater than anything this world offers!