Reading Deuteronomy 28, I’m reminded of a line from Fiddler on the Roof. Facing another difficult circumstance for his family, Tevye says, I know we are the chosen people, but once in a while, can’t you choose someone else?
God promises life and happiness to his people if they keep his commands. But if they do not . . . Well, if they do not, then they will face all the horrors of life two millennia before Christ. As the story unfolds, they didn’t keep the Law and much of what we read in this chapter actually came to pass – hard to believe, I know.
What, from God’s perspective, might be the point of all this? The Law is good, holy, and if obeyed perfectly, it produces life and happiness. But to a sinner, it brings judgment. And I am always a sinner. Trying to sort all this out in the aftermath of Jesus’ life and death, the apostle Paul writes, the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death (Romans 7:10).
So how is this a good thing? Couldn’t God just choose someone else?
The Law, and the consequences I face when I break it, bring me face to face with the truth that I am a law-breaker. It drives home that I can’t live up to God’s standards. The Law shows me my need for a Savior, for Jesus. Writing again, Paul says, the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24).
When I read the harsh judgments of a chapter like Deuteronomy 28, I’m reminded that this pain and sorrow is what separation from God looks like. And somehow hanging on a Roman cross, this is what Jesus endured for me.
- Paul Abbott
When I read many of these old testament chapters, I end up questioning why God made humans the way he did. Why do we deviate from God's law and create such problems for ourselves going back to the times of these old testament stories? I always wrestle with the idea of a "chosen people" and wonder why God would set one group of people on a higher pedestal than other people-seems like this was just begging for trouble. I can't help but think about the horrors the Jewish people faced during the holocaust as I read through the Curses for Disobedience section. The basic fact for me is that many of these old testament stories are 'downers'. It's much more uplifting to spend time in the Word reading the new testament. But I guess part of the power of the new testament is to know the context based on the old testament.
ReplyDeletethoughts about why a chosen people:
ReplyDelete(1) it's a picture of grace, i.e. "just because"
(2) over time, it allowed the creation of a culture in which God-in-flesh would be recognized and understood when he arrived.
(3) it provided a large "sample group" for testing human behavior. Over roughly fourteen hundred years, hundreds of thousands of people atempted to live by the clear dictates of the written law. None of them could, leading to the conclusion that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).
When I read this chapter I think "how could anyone dare break the law of God, knowing all the suffering they would face"? Then I read Pastor Abbots response that Quotes Romans 3:23 "all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God". Making it so clear that we can NOT; under any circumstances, live sin free. Not even for a day.
ReplyDeleteJust imagine living under the law for just one day...Wow!
We are so blessed to have a savior come pay for all of our sins, to give us a future and hope. I'm so thankful to have a God that loves me, forgives me, and blesses me everyday.
I think Anonymous answered part of his own question when he said, "But I guess part of the power of the new testament is to know the context based on the old testament."
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true. Personally I love the OT more because I can study the character of a person, a group or a nation and how God responds. The life of David, for example, endlessly fascinates me. A man hand picked by God Himself yet his raw/real failures are revealed so vividly.
When I find myself perplexed by the Word, I have stopped trying to rationalize it and just rest in the fact that I clearly need to learn more about who God really is.