The Jewish people have been in the wilderness for 40 years. The previous generation, the generation that left Egypt, despite seeing so many signs and wonders, were faithless. The Lord was angry with that wicked generation, and would not allow them to enter the Land of Israel. A new, faithful generation was needed.

We now have that new generation. We have the successor of Moses – Joshua. We have a new High Priest – Eleazar. We are about to enter the Land. Moses knows that he is about to die, but before He does, he wants to instruct the new generation about what’s really important – about God and the need to obey Him and be faithful to Him.

He is giving his first great discourse. Moses is speaking to us while we are on the east side of the Jordan, on the eastern border of the Land of Israel. He has been reciting the events of the past 40 years. We had defeated the Amorites, and also the people of Bashan, further north. Their land had been allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and to half of the tribe of Joseph – the half-tribe of M’nashe. At that time, Moses commanded Joshua to not be afraid of the other nations that were in the Land of Israel, for the Lord will fight for Israel, and those nations will surely come to the same end as the Amorites and the people of Bashan.

Let’s pick up in 3:23, where Moses, one of the greatest men of God who ever lived, prays, pleading with the Lord that he be allowed to enter the beautiful Land of Israel with the rest of the Jewish people. But the Lord was still angry with Moses for what happened at M’ree-vah, when out of anger Moses struck the rock, instead of speaking to it, and elevated himself by saying, “shall we bring forth water for you out of this rock,” thereby associating himself too closely with something that only God can do.

And so, the Lord, who answered so many other prayers of Moses, would not answer this prayer, and said to Moses, “rav lach – enough for you! Speak to Me no more about this matter.” The Lord also told him that the most Moses could do was climb the top of Mount Pisgah, and peer toward the Land – but he definitely could not enter it.

Was Moses disappointed? Probably. Did he get angry with God, because the Lord wouldn’t answer this prayer. No. Did he stop serving or loving the Lord? Of course not.

There will come times in the life of saints, when we will want something, and we will pray, and the Lord in His infinitely superior wisdom, may say: “no – rav lach – enough for you! Speak to Me no more about this matter.” When He does, we want to submit to the will of God, and not become angry with Him, and leave off serving Him. OKc

In chapter 4 Moses starts off by telling us to shema – to listen to these laws that he is about to reiterate. If we do, we will live – as a nation that is close to God, that is blessed by God; and those individuals that listen will live – close to God in this world, and live forever in the world to come.

Verse two gives us a very important principle: we must not add to the Word of God, or take away from it. How do we add to it? By adding books like the Apocrypha, and the words of false prophets, like the Mormons have; by elevating man made traditions that contradict God’s Word,  and giving them the same status as God’s words, like Orthodox Judaism and Catholicism have done. We add to it by elevating our thoughts above God’s thoughts. How do we take away from it? By ignoring those things we don’t like, agree with, understand, or want to do.

Moses tells us that faithfulness and obedience will surely be rewarded with life and blessing; faithlessness and disobedience will surely be punished. Look at the people who followed Baal-Peor, and look at those who didn’t. So, make a decision that you will be faithful to the Living God, and obedient to Him, all the days of your life!

The Word of God, put into practice by Israel will bring us great wisdom and understanding, and please the Lord. The other nations of the world will see what going on, and be attracted to the God of Israel, and want to learn more about how they draw closer to the true God who can save them. So, it very important that the Jewish people keep God’s commands, and do what He expects.

Likewise, the people around each one of us is watching us. As they see us, they will be attracted to God, or repulsed. So, we must be very careful; we must be diligent, we must pay close attention to our own souls. We must know if we are close to God, and drawing closer to Him, or drifting father away from Him; if we are being obedient, or disobedient, and then take the appropriate actions.

We must be like the chief financial officer who monitors the finances, accounts, assets and liabilities of his company on a daily basis. We must be like the farmer, who every day carefully examines his crops, knowing if he must water, weed, fertilize, take action to fight against pests, animals, infestations.

If we don’t, it’s all to easy to get caught up in the cares and pleasures of the world, and drift away from the Lord; it’s too easy for us to forget the truths we know. How long did it take the Jewish people to forget God, and His command not to make or worship idols? Only 40 days while Moses was up on Mount Sinai.

Speaking of Mount Sinai, Moses wants Israel to always keep in mind that great event – when the presence of God came down on the Holy Mountain, veiled by fire, darkness, and thick clouds. Then the Creator of the universe did something very rare – He spoke audibly with this Holy People. He revealed Himself to us in such a powerful way, so that we might fear Him, and respect Him, and keep Him in the forefront of our thinking all the time, throughout our generations. I believe that really happened my friends, and I fear Him – do you?

When the Invisible God manifested His presence on Sinai, we did not see any physical form, and so a special warning is given not to make any image or form to help us worship God. Nor are we to worship the sun, moon or stars. They were created to benefit human beings – but never to be worshiped. They are not to be relied on peer into our destinies, as if they control the future, so astrology is forbidden.

Are Christians and Messianic Jews guilty of violating this command if we believe that Yeshua is Immanuel – God with us, God in the flesh? No. This is something that God did – not we. This same Moses, in this same Torah, also reveals to us that were times that this same God did manifest Himself in some form visible to human eyes. So, how does this apply to us today? By making icons or statues of saints that receive prayers, offerings, devotions, incense, or candles.

The Lord will not share our love, affection and devotion with any other god, higher power, religion or ideology. He is El Kanah, a jealous God, and an Aish Ochlah – a Fire that Consumes. The Mighty One is extremely protective towards His people and like a good husband who knows that the love of his wife is reserved for him alone, and if she messes around with some other guy, it won’t be good for her, for him, for the family, for society, and so he won’t tolerate any other suitors – so the Lord doesn’t want to share our affections with any one or any thing.

You can’t worship God and Baal too. You can’t serve God and money. You can’t love God and the world. You can’t pray to God, and Mary and the saints too!

Like a consuming fire, God will eat up those things that would take us away from Him – things within us, and things outside of us. Let’s not force this El Kana, this Jealous God, this Consuming Fire to act – we might get burned and eaten up in the process! Let’s look at our own lives, and rid ourselves of the wood, hay or stubble of idolatry – anything – money, possession, relationships, worldly ways, false religion, that seduces us away from our jealous God.

Sadly, Moses knows human nature, and the nature of his people, and in verses 25-31 God inspires him to predict the future history of the Jewish people! We will in fact act corruptly, and engage in false religion. Our Jealous God will punish us, and destroy us, and scatter us among the nations, where we will remain few in number. Looking back over 3500 years, this is exactly what happened, and where we are now.

However, in the Achareet HaYameem – the Last Days – that special period of time in which God will bring human history to an amazing conclusion, the Jewish people, who are in the Diaspora, and far from God, will start to seek the Lord, and find Him when we search for Him with all our heart. In the midst of troubles that God will allow us to undergo, we will return to God, and He won’t reject us, because He is ra-choom – full of mercy, and compassion. He knows that we are stupid, weak and easily led astray. He will graciously remember the covenant He made with our Fathers, and heal and renew our broken relationship with Him.

I believe that we may very well be drawing near to the last part of the Last Days, and that the Messianic Jewish movement is the beginning of this prophesied return of the Jewish people to God. Those of us who are Jewish, and have been seeking God, are finding that Yeshua is the Messiah that He sent, and the One who enables us to truly draw near to the God of Israel! Therefore we can expect Messianic Judaism to continue, certainly in the Diaspora, and in the Land of Israel as well!

Moses asks the Jewish people to inquire about the past, and find out if there has ever been events divinely powerful and dramatic as what has happened to Israel? God literally and audibly speaking to a whole nation? An enslaved nation being taken out of a vastly more powerful nation, accompanied by great signs and wonders? The answer of course is no!

Therefore we are to know that Adonai, Hu haEloheem – the Lord, He is the one and only true and living God – ayn od mee-l’vah-doh – there is no other God beside Him!

Our great God loved our fathers, and therefore chose their descendants; He personally brought us out of Egypt, redeeming us from there, and was driving out corrupt peoples, nations who were stronger than us, to give us the beautiful land He intended for us, and still intends for us.

Therefore, because He is the God of the entire universe, of Heaven above and the Earth below, due to His greatness, in light of His love for us, because of His mercy toward us, because of His great redemptive power, that generation, and every subsequent generation, should do the things that He has told us to do – His good commands that are designed to do us good, so that we will live and prosper. In light of these realities, it would be a kind of insanity not to! Thus ends the first great discourse of Moses.

Moses’ second great discourse begins with chapter 5. Moses reminds the people of the giving of the 10 Commandments on Sinai. They form the heart of the Sinai covenant between God and Israel. I don’t have the time to go into as much detail as they deserve, but here is what I hope will be a good summary:

1. You shall have no other gods before Me: We are not to ascribe divine attributes to any other being, or give to any creature the worship due to God alone. Since He is the one true God, He alone is worthy of the totality of our love, adoration, gratitude, reverence, confidence and submission. Because the God of Israel is the living God, who has revealed Himself to us, loves us and desires a personal relationship with us, it would be foolish to ignore Him, or serve any other god, higher power, religion or philosophy.
2. You shall not make an idol or image of the divine, or give them anything pertaining to worship: We should have nothing to do with idols, because they are totally inaccurate reflections of the Invisible God, who alone loves us and has the power to help us. This includes praying to angels or saints, or attempting to invoke their help. This is part of spiritual worship that is due to God alone.

   Because He is infinite, He is infinitely greater than the entire universe. Thus, using idols to represent God limits our understanding of who He is. Then we may begin to think that God is limited too. As soon as we do that, we’re believing in something that is not God, something with less power and ability than God really has.

   The essence of idolatry is having thoughts about God that are untrue and unworthy of Him. The idolater assumes that God is something other than who He really is. All false, man-made conceptions of God must be driven out of our minds. We are not to come up with our own conceptions of God. We are only to accept those truths about Him which are revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures.

3. You shall not take the name of God in vain: Taking the name of this infinitely holy God in vain means treating Him, or those things connected with God, lightly. God Himself, the Holy Scriptures, and the True Faith, are to be treated with respect. They should not be the object of jokes, or used as exclamation marks to punctuate our speech. The one who insults his Creator is guaranteed not to get off lightly.
4. Observe the Sabbath to keep it holy: We refrain from working on Shabbat for physical and spiritual reasons. Just as we need a daily rest, so human beings need a weekly time of rest if we are to function properly. We are not to work on the Sabbath, because every week it helps us remember how the Lord created us. He is the Great Creator! The Lord also saved us out of slavery in Egypt – we certainly couldn’t enjoy the Sabbath while we were slaves! – and that the God of Israel is a God who can really intervene in human affairs, to save and rescue and deliver – physically and spiritually! He is the Great Savior! Let us also remember Messiah, “the Lord of the Sabbath” who gives a wonderful kind of Sabbath Rest to everyone who believes in Him – seven days a week! The Sabbath also looks forward to the day when King Messiah returns and brings peace and rest to Israel, and to all the nations of the world!
5. Honor your father and mother: If we don’t love people whom we have seen, especially our parents, who gave us life, nurtured us, cared for us when we were helpless, and taught us so many things, we certainly don’t love God whom we haven’t seen. God has designed the family, and given our parents the privilege and responsibility to nurture us physically, morally, and spiritually, until we come of age. In many ways, our parents act as God’s representatives to us. Therefore to dishonor our parents, is to dishonor the One who established this system.

   This commandment comes with a promise. If we honor our parents, then things will go well with us. The way we treat our parents will spill over to the way we treat teachers, neighbors, employers, friends and strangers. If these skills become part of us because we use them at home, then we will automatically employ them with others. Good people will enjoy being around us, and we’ll be on our way to long, happy lives.

6. You shall not murder: The Hebrew word means “murder” – not “kill.” There are times when it may be right and necessary to kill other people, such as in a just war. The same God who gave this command also commanded the Jewish people to utterly destroy the Canaanites who were living in our land. Another example might be a situation when a policeman shoots a criminal who is about to kill an innocent person. Jewish tradition has also applied this command to killing yourself. No one has the right to commit suicide.
7. You shall not commit adultery: Adultery takes place when a married person has sexual relations with anyone outside of the marriage relationship. Adultery is so wrong because God designed us in such a way that we require faithfulness and trust in our marriages for our own well-being, and for that of the family and children. Where there is love and trust between a husband and wife, people feel safe and content. There are happy families, and solid communities. Adultery shatters this relationship, and destroys the family unit, which is so central to a healthy society. While adultery is strictly limited to the marriage relationship, God is a God of purity, and He wants us to be pure in the area of sexuality at all times – before marriage, as well as during marriage.
8. You shall not steal: there is a place for the ownership of private property. The property rights of others are to be respected. Since God will provide for us through honest means, theft represents a lack of trust in God and His goodness. Our needs are not more important than the needs of others.
9. You shall not bear false witness: Bearing false witness primarily refers to a legal situation, when you are called upon in court to testify to the truth. Even if it may be difficult to speak the truth, complete honesty is essential in order for justice to be served, and God is a God of justice. God hates lying and deception, so we should always strive to be honest, speaking the truth in love in all situations.
10. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor: Coveting isn’t just wanting what you don’t have. You could work hard, save your money, invest wisely and buy what you want – and not be guilty of coveting. Coveting is wanting what you have no right to have. You can want to marry some nice man, but not if he is already married to someone else. You can want a house to live in, but not at the expense of depriving someone else who rightfully lives there. Coveting can lead to breaking every other commandment. Someone observed: look at King David – he coveted Uriah’s wife, breaking the tenth commandment, which led to committing adultery (the seventh), stealing her from her husband (the eighth), deceiving Uriah (the ninth), and arranging Uriah’s death (the sixth).

The way that the Lord gave the 10 Commandments to Israel was very powerful: God Himself spoke with a loud voice from Mount Sinai, which was burning with fire, and full of cloud, darkness. It was terrifying – so much so that the Jewish people came to Moses and asked him to be their mediator – the one who would draw close to God on their behalf, and God who speak to Moses, and Moses would relay the Lord’s words to the people.

The Lord accepts our proposal, and tells Moses that there are other commandments, statutes and judgments that He will give Moses to give the Jewish people – which form the rest of the Torah.

I can’t understand those who raise the objection that we don’t need a mediator – that we can draw near to God directly. Ask the entire generation of Jewish people at Mount Sinai if it’s pleasant to get too close to the presence of the Living God! We dare not approach God on our own! We desperately needed a mediator under the covenant that God made with us at Sinai, and we need the Mediator of the New Covenant – the Messiah – today. He is fully God, and fully Man, and He alone is perfectly suited to bring the two together. Is Yeshua your Mediator?

In chapter 6 Moses gives us the greatest commandment of them all: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” From this Supreme Instruction flows everything else.

If we love God with the totality of our being, we will be careful and diligent to do all the other things He has commanded us to do. We will learn His Word, study His commands, know what He expects, and we will desire to do them, to please the God that we love.

Of course we will want to teach these holy obligations diligently to the most precious things in our lives – our children, talking to our sons and daughters about God, about His word and commands, constantly – when we are sitting at home, and when we are walking around outside, and the last thing we do, before we go to sleep at night, and the first thing when we get up in the morning.

Those who love God with all their heart and soul and might will surround themselves with God’s Word and commands as if they were bound on their hand, so that whatever they do will be done according to God’s ways; and as if they were bound on their forehead, so that whatever they think will reflect the mind and thoughts of God.

It should be as if God’s Word and commands were written on our doorposts and gates, so that when we are leaving our home, and going out into the world, or returning home from the world – no matter whether if we are at home or out in the world, our thoughts and actions will be done according to God’s words, commands, and ways. Does this describe you?

If Israel would live like this, our lives would be long and successful and prosperous within the Land of Israel. But if we grew spiritually fat and lazy, and drifted away from the Lord, and did not keep Him and His word in the forefront of our thoughts, and began to compromise with the world around us, and dare to worship other gods, which would corrupt everything else, God would rightfully be angry, and wipe us off the face of the Earth. Our two Diasporas testify that this is exactly what happened in our history, and we are still very much in this condition.

It only right to love God with the totality of our being, and obey His commands, and teach our children to do likewise (verses 20-25), because we are deeply in His debt. He rescued us from a terrible situation in Egypt, and when someone saves you, you own him something.

Besides getting us out of Egypt, He brought us into the beautiful land of Israel, fruitful, flowing with milk and honey. What a gift! When someone gives you a gift of that magnitude, you are in his debt, and you want to be able to do something for him that would please him.

What does God want as His payback, for saving our lives, and for giving us the Land of Israel? Nothing for Himself – only that we would observe these good commands, these righteous statutes, that are designed to result in our good and our righteousness and our survival! And He wants the same for each one of us today. He wants us to obey Him, and keep ourselves from doing what is wrong, and destructive, that our lives may be right and good and blessed. Is yours?

Chapter 7 gives us the command to utterly destroy the seven nations living in the Land of Canaan. We were not to intermarry with them, show favor to them, or help them out, or enter into covenants or agreements with them. The iniquity of the Amorites was now full. They were utterly corrupt, and detestable in God’s sight, the Holy One’s judgment had been declared against them, and He wanted them and their false gods and wicked religion completely destroyed. If we didn’t do this, they would corrupt us, they would turn us away from the true God; and since that is the most important thing about a human being – what deep in his heart he knows about God, everything else would go downhill from there.

And, the Lord didn’t want that for Israel; He loved the Jewish people – not because we were outwardly impressive. We weren’t – we were few in number. He loved us because He is faithful – keeping the oath He swore to the our fathers who loved Him.

He loved us because He had a great purpose for us to fulfill. We are to be a holy people – set apart from the rest of the nations in order to accomplish God’s special purposes. We are chosen to know the Living God, and bring the knowledge of this great God who is able to really help us, to all the other nations of the world, who were so far from Him, without God, without life, without hope, so that they might turn to Him, be reconciled to Him, be accepted by Him, and live with Him forever! That’s why the Lord loved us.

Therefore, since God surely rewards and blesses those who love and obey Him, and punishes those who hate and disobey Him, it is essential that we love Him with the totality of our being, and show it by doing the things He has commanded us to do. Do you?