“Look, I have taught you laws and rulings, just as Adonai my God ordered me, so that you can behave accordingly in the land where you are going in order to take possession of it.”-Deuteronomy 4:5
After Moses stirring exhortation to Israel that they are to obey God’s commands for their own safety and well being and are not to add, remove or alter even one letter of God’s instructions, in verse 5 Moses goes on to point out that these rules are to be obeyed inside of the Promised Land they will soon be conquering.
A quick reminder here.
Unlike the English language, remember that Biblical Hebrew does NOT have past, present or future tenses.
Instead Biblical Hebrew (modern Hebrew is different) operates under what grammarians call the perfect or imperfect tenses.
The perfect tense denotes that a process has been completed.
For example: “I have eaten at that restaurant before.”
And the imperfect tense expresses an ongoing process.
For example, “I was shopping at Walmart today.”
We actually get a perfect example of this in verse 5 of Deuteronomy Chapter 4 even though most Bible translations don’t get it right.
In verse 5, where Moses says “Look, I have taught you laws and rulings“, the truth is a much, much better rendering would be to say “Look, I am teaching you laws and rulings”.
Why?
Because this is an ongoing process.
Some laws were given in the past and some are still being given.
The original Hebrew here is in the imperfect tense.
The process of giving the Laws may have begun at Sinai but it has not yet finished.
It is still occurring.
Let’s move on to verse 6.
“Therefore, observe them; and follow them; for then all peoples will see you as having wisdom and understanding. When they hear of all these laws, they will say, ‘This great nation is surely a wise and understanding people.’”
There is a very important principle being expressed here in verse 6.
The principle being expressed is that the surefire EVIDENCE of Israel’s loyalty to God is that they HEAR AND OBEY His Laws.
This is a principle that is also carried over into the New Testament.
One thing though.
Don’t mistake Israel’s obedience to the commandments as a SIGN.
It is a PROOF, not a SIGN.
What’s the difference?
From the Covenant perspective, the signs of Israel’s relationship to HASHEM are the two following things:
-MALE CIRCUMCISION
“You are to undergo circumcision,
and it will be the sign of the covenant
between me and you.”
-Genesis 17:11
…and…
-SHABBAT OBSERVANCE
“Say to the Israelites,
‘You must observe my Sabbaths.
This will be a sign between me and you
for the generations to come,
so you may know that I am the LORD,
who makes you holy.”
-Exodus 31:13
So again, the PROOF of Israel’s faith is how they show their faith by their works.
And by the way, along the same lines, the PROOF of your faith is NOT the “acceptance of Yeshua as your Lord and Savior”.
Nope…according to the New Testament, the proof of your faith are the works you display by OBEYING GOD’S COMMANDS which per Biblical definition is the Torah.
And the SIGN of your faith is the Holy Spirit which comes to reside within you once you are born again.
One is invisible and something only known to you and God.
The other is visible and can be witnessed by those around you.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“You foolish person,
do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless.
Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for
what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar?
You see that his faith and his actions were working together,
and his faith was made complete by what he did.
And the scripture was fulfilled that says,
“Abraham believed God,
and it was credited to him as righteousness,”
and he was called God’s friend.
You see that a person is considered righteous
by what they do and not by faith alone.”
-James 2:20-24
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