“Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil — in that I am ordering you today to love Adonai your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings ; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and Adonai your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it.”-Deuteronomy 30:19-20
In verse 16 of Deuteronomy Chapter 30, we are given the secret formula to living the Torah life as the Lord intends and here it is:
FIRST, love Adonai your God.
SECOND, follow His ways and…
…THIRD, obey His MITZVOT or commandments.
Let’s expand on each of these.
First, loving Adonai your God means trusting Him and in our day and age that would be trusting and accepting His son whom He has sent into the world.
“…but in these last days He has spoken to us by his son,
whom he appointed heir of all things,
and through whom also he made the universe.”
-Hebrews 1:2
Second, I would say following His ways means to live your life according to the wisdom, principles and patterns established in the Torah.
Obviously, the Torah doesn’t have a command for every conceivable situation that could possibly occur in our lives.
That’s why when we find ourselves in certain gray areas in our walk with the Lord, we have to exercise the wisdom of the Torah.
Third, the “obeying the commands” part is pretty straightforward.
The Lord has made certain practical things very clear to us such as to rest on the Sabbath, don’t eat unclean creatures such as pork and shellfish, don’t sleep with another man’s wife and so on.
However, I have to add that obeying the Lord’s commandments minus trusting God is a worthless endeavor.
In fact, I would go so far as to add that to attempt to observe the Torah commandments minus having a personal relationship with the Lord would put you in the position of being permanently separated from Him.
And the opposite is also true.
To trust the Lord minus obedience only results in a fruitless life.
Let’s take a look at verse 17.
“But if your heart turns away, if you refuse to listen, if you are drawn away to prostrate yourselves before other gods and serve them; I am announcing to you today that you will certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Yarden to enter and possess.”
Moses here is issuing another stern warning.
He’s saying that to know the Law but to turn away from HASHEM will result in…
…being booted out of the land.
Or to turn away from HASHEM to worship another god or gods will result in…
…being booted out of the land.
Or to mix in worship of other gods with HASHEM will also result in…
…being booted out of the land.
That’s why Moses is saying CHOOSE LIFE!!!
And this is also the New Testament’s position towards Israel.
God is saying to all Israel and all Jews everywhere choose life and the blessings of the covenant by trusting His son whom He has sent into the world.
Again, take a good look at the 3 parts of this formula.
Notice how obedience to the Lord’s commands is absolutely necessary.
Disobedience only serves to draw you closer to that line in the sand that could separate you from HASHEM forever.
Only God knows where that line is but I wouldn’t risk it.
Choose life.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“And this is the witness:
God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in his son.
Those who have the son have the life;
those who do not have the son of God
do not have the life.
I have written you these things
so that you may know that you have eternal life
— you who keep trusting in the person
and power of the son of God.”
-1 John 5:11-12
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