Deuteronomy 12: Who Needs All These Laws?
Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy repeats verbatim many of the laws given in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Yet, it is far from a rulebook. A different spirit pervades it: the spirit of love. The rules in Deuteronomy read more like a guide on "How to Have a Successful Family" than, say, some kind of an automobile maintenance manual. To keep up a car you need only follow the rules. To maintain a close personal relationship you need more- you need love.
Deuteronomy focuses on motives: why people should obey laws. The preceding three books barely mentioned the love of God for his people, but Deuteronomy again and again refers to it (4:37; 7:8; 19:15; 23:5). The author portrays God as a father with his children and as a mother who gives them life. In return, God simply asks for obedience based on love, not on a sense of duty. At least 15 times in the book Moses tells the Israelites to love God and cling to him with an obedience that comes from the heart.
Life Question: Can you remember a "rule" that was given to you by your parents that at the time you may have thought was silly?
At the time- you know when I was 16 years old and knew everything- I thought all the rules that my folks had were silly. Now as a parent, it has slowly dawned on me how smart my folks actually were. One household "rule" that- again I felt to be extremely oppressive back in my "know it all" high school days- was simply that my dad and mom expected to know where we were at and who we were spending our time with at ALL TIMES- no exceptions. Was it to be nosy, over-indulging parents who simply wanted their kids to have no social life whatsoever- or was it more in line with the parenting father whom God replicates here in Deuteronomy. It's taken me a while, but I think I finally know the answer.
Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord your God.
Deuteronomy repeats verbatim many of the laws given in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Yet, it is far from a rulebook. A different spirit pervades it: the spirit of love. The rules in Deuteronomy read more like a guide on "How to Have a Successful Family" than, say, some kind of an automobile maintenance manual. To keep up a car you need only follow the rules. To maintain a close personal relationship you need more- you need love.
Deuteronomy focuses on motives: why people should obey laws. The preceding three books barely mentioned the love of God for his people, but Deuteronomy again and again refers to it (4:37; 7:8; 19:15; 23:5). The author portrays God as a father with his children and as a mother who gives them life. In return, God simply asks for obedience based on love, not on a sense of duty. At least 15 times in the book Moses tells the Israelites to love God and cling to him with an obedience that comes from the heart.
Life Question: Can you remember a "rule" that was given to you by your parents that at the time you may have thought was silly?
At the time- you know when I was 16 years old and knew everything- I thought all the rules that my folks had were silly. Now as a parent, it has slowly dawned on me how smart my folks actually were. One household "rule" that- again I felt to be extremely oppressive back in my "know it all" high school days- was simply that my dad and mom expected to know where we were at and who we were spending our time with at ALL TIMES- no exceptions. Was it to be nosy, over-indulging parents who simply wanted their kids to have no social life whatsoever- or was it more in line with the parenting father whom God replicates here in Deuteronomy. It's taken me a while, but I think I finally know the answer.
1 comment:
My rule at home was: I was allowed to take my bike to my friends house(about a half mile) but had to be home before dark. At 13 years of age I tried to stretch this and then had to ride home with my Dad's Ford truck lights for the way home. Knowing he would come after me kept me from crossing the line on "house rules".
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