At a Crossroads

One of the increasingly important challenges for the Church in our post-Christian context, where those outside (and sometimes inside) the church have attitudes that are alien to the religion of the Bible, is nurturing people who haven’t learned to view life using Biblical categories. Helping those with a worldview that is not Christian to move into a godly life. I think Deuteronomy (surprisingly, perhaps) is a book which can help us in that task.

Deuteronomy is an exciting book that is very relevant today. Primarily because in this book, Moses is attempting to do something that is still so important for all Christians. He is close to death, and they are close to entering the promised land without him, the one who led them for forty years. Deuteronomy gives Moses’ farewell addresses to them. His aim is to motivate them to go forward and conquer the land and to help them to be faithful to God amidst all the challenges to such faithfulness that they will face. He warns them of challenges, he encourages them to a life of holiness, and he tells them the consequences of living and of failing to live such a life. All the time Moses was aware of the temptation the people would have to compromise their faith by assimilating aspects of Canaanite religion.

Are these not some of our greatest challenges today? How can we remain faithful to God? How can we avoid compromise when the lure of the society around us is so powerful? And how can we help our children and our fellow brothers and sisters to be and, to remain faithful? Deuteronomy tells us how Moses tackled these challenges. After citing a story that appears in Deuteronomy, Paul writes, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction” (1 Corinthians 10:11). Here are some things that are important for the Christian life that find an emphasis in Deuteronomy:
• The importance of order and the attention to detail especially in connection with worship.
• The importance of visual and symbolic reminders of Biblical truth, such as festivals.
• The importance of constantly being aware of the holiness of God and how it influences a faithful life.
• The need to have a vital relationship with the Word through memorization, meditation, discussion, and obedience.

Deuteronomy is particularly important because it records a series of sermons given to help people in their day-to-day lives. It begins with the words, “These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel ... ” (1:1). Deuteronomy 1:5 says, “Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law ....” So it is an expository sermon in which Moses aimed to encourage the people of Israel to faithful obedience as they love God with all their heart, soul, mind & strength. This sermon has the same aim for us. It is to encourage us to be faithful, loving and obeying our God. We begin our series this week.