“Therefore listen, Israel, and take care to obey, so that things will go well with you, and so that you will increase greatly, as Adonai, the God of your ancestors, promised you by giving you a land flowing with milk and honey.”-Deuteronomy 6:3
You know what can’t be emphasized enough when it comes to teaching the Book of Deuteronomy?
What can’t be emphasized enough is that the REASON Moses is repeating the Torah regulations and rulings is because he is presenting them to an entire new generation of Israelites who were NOT properly taught the Torah by their parents.
Yes…I’m talking about the first generation of the Exodus who at this point in the Scriptures are now all dead and buried in the desert sand because they refused to to do what this younger second generation is about to do: go up and conquer the land.
That’s right.
The younger generation of Hebrews now standing in front of Moses are just a few days away from entering into a long-term battle, a Holy war, that may end up costing thousands of them their lives.
Moses affirms that what he is teaching them is NOTHING MORE AND NOTHING LESS than what he received from HASHEM on Mount Sinai and that all of the instructions are to be carefully followed once the people enter the Promised Land.
Again…
….what’s the reason Israel needs to carefully obey the Torah?
The reason is so THINGS WILL GO WELL WITH THEM ONCE THEY ARE IN THE LAND.
Are you getting this people?!
For Israel, a successful and prosperous life is DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THEM OBEYING THE TORAH.
Take a look at the last half of verse 3.
“…so that things will go well with you, and so that you will increase greatly, as Adonai, the God of your ancestors, promised you by giving you a land flowing with milk and honey“.
Understand that what is being prepared for Israel is much more than mere survival.
The Lord has prepared an abundant life for them.
That is actually the meaning of the phrase “a land flowing with milk and honey“.
Next, Moses reminds them that their inheriting the land is a direct fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant given to their fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
There’s something else super important I want you to catch here.
The Mosaic Covenant established on Mount Sinai 40 years earlier DID NOT ABOLISH, REPLACE, OR DO AWAY WITH the Abrahamic Covenant that was established 600 years before Israel’s exodus from Egypt.
Are you getting this?
From the perspective of the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant was a NEW Covenant and it did not do away with the older Abrahamic Covenant.
I think you know where I’m going with this but let me just say it out loud for good measure.
In the same way, neither does the New Covenant (the one which would be written on our hearts that Jeremiah spoke about) do away with any of the covenants that came before it, namely the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant.
Remember, whenever God establishes a new or renewed covenant it doesn’t supersede or do away with the covenants that came before, rather IT BUILDS UPON THEM.
This is an important distinction I feel you’ve really got to understand.
And keep in mind that each covenant was established for a specific purpose.
The Abrahamic Covenant was established for the purpose of giving the Hebrew people a land of their own.
And building on that, the Mosaic Covenant was established for laying down the rules and standards for living the redeemed life that would be enjoyed once inside the land (that was promised in the earlier Abrahamic Covenant).
One final point.
Here on the foothills of Moab, Moses is not only giving the ORIGINAL VERSION of the Sermon on the Mount that Yeshua will expound on 1300 years later…
…he is also doing what Yeshua will do when he gives his Sermon on the Mount.
Moses is also expounding on the Law to make clear to his audience the true spirit and proper application of God’s eternal commands.
He is doing the EXACT SAME THING Yeshua did when he spoke the formula..“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘blah blah blah…BUT I SAY TO YOU…blah, blah, blah”.
Christians love to point to this formulaic way Yeshua spoke and say look his teachings superseded the Law of Moses.
They are wrong.
No being on heaven or on earth supersedes God’s Law.
Yeshua was expounding on the Law.
He wasn’t changing it, replacing it and most definitely did not do away with it.
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