Deuteronomy 29 contains a renewal of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with Israel. The location was the land of Moab, and Moses “called all Israel” to affirm their willingness to keep that covenant. The covenant contained promises of blessings, contingent upon Israel’s faithfulness; but also stated curses, the consequence of disobedience.
Moses stated the reason for this covenant, and the oath of faithfulness they were to make, “so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing bitterness or wormwood; and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace, even though I follow the dictates of my heart’—as though the drunkard could be included with the sober” (18-19).
Consider the obvious application. There is no true peace with God if one follows the dictates of his own heart. This is as true today as it was for the children of Israel. The only way to have peace, and the blessings of the Lord, it to remain true to our covenant with Him. “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Notice also the self delusion that is evident here. If the oath is not entered into with serious intent, “he blesses himself in his heart.” It takes a heart blinded by arrogance to believe that we can follow our own selfish desires with impunity.
It is so foolish. The rich man of Luke 12 came to understand that. He said to himself, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry” (19). God responded, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (20).
In reality, the end of the man (or the nation) that serves self instead of the Lord is total destruction. Look at the description given in our text, “The Lord would not spare him; for then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this book would settle on him, and the Lord would blot out his name from under heaven” (Deuteronomy 29:20).
The devastation would be so great that the foreigner would come upon the land and ask, “Why has the Lord done so to this land? What does the heat of this great anger mean?” (24). The answer, “Because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt” (25).
This is why we emphasize so often the necessity of submitting wholly to the will of God. It doesn’t matter if it is the rebellious pagan, or the willful Christian. If a man disregards the pattern of scripture, choosing rather to follow the dictates of his own heart, he shows unfaithfulness to his promise to follow and obey God.
Consider the final words of Moses, in affirming this agreement between God and Israel. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (29). We too must take the will of God revealed to us in Christ’s new covenant, and “do all the words of this law.”
To see The Patternists Page on Facebook, click here, and Like!
