Deuteronomy the Gospel of love
Deuteronomy the Gospel of Love ( from Samuel Schultz)
I have never forgotten that title from a book I got in seminary and it is true. " When we recognize that the Deuteronomic revelation provides the basis for the messages of the prophets, and that Jesus came to fulfill and complete God's revelation to mankind, then the Book of Deuteronomy becomes crucially signficant. Moses was the prophet par excellence in the OT. Jesus was the greater prophet of whom Moses spoke....A careful consideration of Deuteronomy provides today's God-fearing people with a better insight and understanding of life in its relationship to God and fellowmen..." from the book above. Deut below from ch. 4
"5Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children."
1. Your soul is your life. ◄ 5315. nephesh ►
Strong's Concordance
nephesh: a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion
Original Word: נָ֫פֶשׁ
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: nephesh
Phonetic Spelling: (neh'-fesh)
Short Definition: soul
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion
Your soul is your life. Not your body here is your life. Not your position, or status or length of life is your life. Your soul is your life.
2. If our soul is our life, we must keep it diligently so as not to forget the things which we have seen and heard . The word there for diligently is trans.lit. muchly or with force and abundance. I Corinthians 10 would be a good NT example of this.
Why do we forget? Nouwen said this in the Friday Morning devotional I receive every day, " When we look critically at the many thoughts and feelings that fill our minds and hearts, we may come to the horrifying discovery that we often choose death instead of life, curse instead of blessing. Jealousy, envy, anger, resentment, greed, lust, vindictiveness, revenge, hatred ... they all float in that large reservoir of our inner life. Often we take them for granted and allow them to be there and do their destructive work.
But God asks us to choose life and to choose blessing. This choice requires an immense inner discipline. It requires a great attentiveness to the death-forces within us and a great commitment to let the forces of life come to dominate our thoughts and feelings. We cannot always do this alone; often we need a caring guide or a loving community to support us. But it is important that we both make the inner effort and seek the support we need from others to help us choose life."
We forget because we struggle with our weaknesses, instead of focusing on God and His Commandments for us in the Law which leads us to His Gospel, the good news that it is His grace in His Son Jesus Christ who told us quoting Leviticus 19:18& Deuteronomy 6:5, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this,' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' " Matthew 22:37-8
3. Lastly why ....we do this keeping our souls diligently /carefully so that we & others may know the LORD is our keeper and our Defender all the days of our life. Deut 4:6 ," Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say,' Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.... ' "
Do we know how important this is? " That they shall hear all these statutes..and say ' Surely this great nation is wise and understanding....' " No amount of effort or money can get that. Only the wisdom and law of the LORD can teach us His ways and His love in Christ.
" that ye might live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives us..." 4:1
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
I have never forgotten that title from a book I got in seminary and it is true. " When we recognize that the Deuteronomic revelation provides the basis for the messages of the prophets, and that Jesus came to fulfill and complete God's revelation to mankind, then the Book of Deuteronomy becomes crucially signficant. Moses was the prophet par excellence in the OT. Jesus was the greater prophet of whom Moses spoke....A careful consideration of Deuteronomy provides today's God-fearing people with a better insight and understanding of life in its relationship to God and fellowmen..." from the book above. Deut below from ch. 4
"5Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. 6Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. 7For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? 8And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
9Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons; 10Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children."
1. Your soul is your life. ◄ 5315. nephesh ►
Strong's Concordance
nephesh: a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion
Original Word: נָ֫פֶשׁ
Part of Speech: Noun Feminine
Transliteration: nephesh
Phonetic Spelling: (neh'-fesh)
Short Definition: soul
NAS Exhaustive Concordance
Word Origin
from an unused word
Definition
a soul, living being, life, self, person, desire, passion, appetite, emotion
Your soul is your life. Not your body here is your life. Not your position, or status or length of life is your life. Your soul is your life.
2. If our soul is our life, we must keep it diligently so as not to forget the things which we have seen and heard . The word there for diligently is trans.lit. muchly or with force and abundance. I Corinthians 10 would be a good NT example of this.
Why do we forget? Nouwen said this in the Friday Morning devotional I receive every day, " When we look critically at the many thoughts and feelings that fill our minds and hearts, we may come to the horrifying discovery that we often choose death instead of life, curse instead of blessing. Jealousy, envy, anger, resentment, greed, lust, vindictiveness, revenge, hatred ... they all float in that large reservoir of our inner life. Often we take them for granted and allow them to be there and do their destructive work.
But God asks us to choose life and to choose blessing. This choice requires an immense inner discipline. It requires a great attentiveness to the death-forces within us and a great commitment to let the forces of life come to dominate our thoughts and feelings. We cannot always do this alone; often we need a caring guide or a loving community to support us. But it is important that we both make the inner effort and seek the support we need from others to help us choose life."
We forget because we struggle with our weaknesses, instead of focusing on God and His Commandments for us in the Law which leads us to His Gospel, the good news that it is His grace in His Son Jesus Christ who told us quoting Leviticus 19:18& Deuteronomy 6:5, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second like unto it is this,' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' " Matthew 22:37-8
3. Lastly why ....we do this keeping our souls diligently /carefully so that we & others may know the LORD is our keeper and our Defender all the days of our life. Deut 4:6 ," Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, that shall hear all these statutes, and say,' Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.... ' "
Do we know how important this is? " That they shall hear all these statutes..and say ' Surely this great nation is wise and understanding....' " No amount of effort or money can get that. Only the wisdom and law of the LORD can teach us His ways and His love in Christ.
" that ye might live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives us..." 4:1
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
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