Va'etchanan: How does God love? Tough love!
Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Excerpts
Deut 4:
1-2
Now, Israel, listen to the rules and laws that I am teaching you to do, so that you will remain alive and come to occupy the land the God, Lord of your fathers, is giving you.
If you follow God’s rules, you will have life and will receive the benefits God has promised.
Do not add to the word that I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it.
Do not let the teachings and philosophical inventions of man lead you astray. Do not add rules that come from the customs of man. Do not ignore the rules from God which you don’t like.
You must keep all the commandments of God your Lord, which I am instructing you.
ALL the commandments of God must be kept.
23-24
Be careful that you not forget the covenant that God your Lord made with you.
Remember the covenant. It requires adherence by both God and man. Otherwise, the contract is void.
Do not make for yourself any statue image that is forbidden by God.
Anything in the material world, whether it be things or people, must not be more important to you than your relationship with God.
God your Lord is like a consuming fire, a God demanding exclusive allegiance.
It’s just between you and God.
25-26
When you have children and grandchildren, and have been established in the land for a long time, you might become decadent and make a statue of some image, committing an evil act in the eyes of God your Lord and making him angry.
Man did not keep his side of the covenant. People sin time and time again. God wants us to have an exclusive relationship with Him only.
I call heaven and earth as witnesses for you today that you will then quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will not remain there very long, since you will be utterly destroyed.
The people sinned and were scattered. Many were destroyed.
27-29
God will then scatter you among the nations, and only a small number will remain among the nations to which God will lead you.
Instead of becoming numerous, happy and fulfilled, the people barely survived, scattered around the world.
There you will serve gods that men have made out of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat or smell.
They forgot the teachings they had learned and picked up the customs and worship habits of the culture in which they found themselves. Again, materialism (worship of things) takes hold.
Then you will begin to seek God your Lord, and if you pursue Him with all your heart and soul, you will eventually find Him.
No matter how forgetful you have become, you can still remember God. If you truly seek Him, making an intense effort, you will find Him.
30-31
When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will finally return to God your Lord and obey Him.
When hard times come, then we ask for God’s help. When we are stripped of all material possessions and abandoned by family and friends, we are desperate and return to God, repenting of what we did before.
God your Lord is a merciful Power, and He will not abandon you or destroy you; He will not forget the oath He made upholding your fathers' covenant.
Unlike humankind, God upholds His promises. He does not forget.
39
Realize it today and ponder it in your heart: God is the Supreme Being in heaven above and on the earth beneath--there is no other.
40
Keep His decrees and commandments that I am presenting to you today, so that He will be good to you and your children after you.
Keeping God’s laws means that He will shower you with good things in life and your descendants as well.
Then you will endure for a long time in the land that God your Lord is giving you for all time.
These good things will endure forever.
Deut 5
6
I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.
With miracles and wonders, an entire nation was delivered from slavery. We were all slaves (beholden to worldly things). God delivered and delivers us still from bondage, whatever form it may take. Whether it is enslavement to people, places or the things of the material world.
7-10
Do not have any other gods before Me.
Exclusive relationship with God above all else.
Do not represent such gods by a statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land.
No statues, pictures or symbols of any kind!
Do not bow down to such gods and do not worship them. I, God your Lord, am a god who demands exclusive worship.
Exclusivity! Faithfulness!
Where My enemies are concerned, I keep in mind the sin of the fathers for their descendants for three and four generations.
Those who sin affect the following generations. Children emulate their parents. Setting a good example to the younger generation is more powerful than any words you could speak. If children see parents taking shortcuts, they will as well. Then each succeeding generation becomes worse and worse.
But to those who love Me, and keep My commandments, I show love for thousands of generations.
This is so simple! How more plainly does God have to speak?
If we follow Him only, His love never ends!
Excerpts
Deut 4:
1-2
Now, Israel, listen to the rules and laws that I am teaching you to do, so that you will remain alive and come to occupy the land the God, Lord of your fathers, is giving you.
If you follow God’s rules, you will have life and will receive the benefits God has promised.
Do not add to the word that I am commanding you, and do not subtract from it.
Do not let the teachings and philosophical inventions of man lead you astray. Do not add rules that come from the customs of man. Do not ignore the rules from God which you don’t like.
You must keep all the commandments of God your Lord, which I am instructing you.
ALL the commandments of God must be kept.
23-24
Be careful that you not forget the covenant that God your Lord made with you.
Remember the covenant. It requires adherence by both God and man. Otherwise, the contract is void.
Do not make for yourself any statue image that is forbidden by God.
Anything in the material world, whether it be things or people, must not be more important to you than your relationship with God.
God your Lord is like a consuming fire, a God demanding exclusive allegiance.
It’s just between you and God.
25-26
When you have children and grandchildren, and have been established in the land for a long time, you might become decadent and make a statue of some image, committing an evil act in the eyes of God your Lord and making him angry.
Man did not keep his side of the covenant. People sin time and time again. God wants us to have an exclusive relationship with Him only.
I call heaven and earth as witnesses for you today that you will then quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy. You will not remain there very long, since you will be utterly destroyed.
The people sinned and were scattered. Many were destroyed.
27-29
God will then scatter you among the nations, and only a small number will remain among the nations to which God will lead you.
Instead of becoming numerous, happy and fulfilled, the people barely survived, scattered around the world.
There you will serve gods that men have made out of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, eat or smell.
They forgot the teachings they had learned and picked up the customs and worship habits of the culture in which they found themselves. Again, materialism (worship of things) takes hold.
Then you will begin to seek God your Lord, and if you pursue Him with all your heart and soul, you will eventually find Him.
No matter how forgetful you have become, you can still remember God. If you truly seek Him, making an intense effort, you will find Him.
30-31
When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, you will finally return to God your Lord and obey Him.
When hard times come, then we ask for God’s help. When we are stripped of all material possessions and abandoned by family and friends, we are desperate and return to God, repenting of what we did before.
God your Lord is a merciful Power, and He will not abandon you or destroy you; He will not forget the oath He made upholding your fathers' covenant.
Unlike humankind, God upholds His promises. He does not forget.
39
Realize it today and ponder it in your heart: God is the Supreme Being in heaven above and on the earth beneath--there is no other.
40
Keep His decrees and commandments that I am presenting to you today, so that He will be good to you and your children after you.
Keeping God’s laws means that He will shower you with good things in life and your descendants as well.
Then you will endure for a long time in the land that God your Lord is giving you for all time.
These good things will endure forever.
Deut 5
6
I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the place of slavery.
With miracles and wonders, an entire nation was delivered from slavery. We were all slaves (beholden to worldly things). God delivered and delivers us still from bondage, whatever form it may take. Whether it is enslavement to people, places or the things of the material world.
7-10
Do not have any other gods before Me.
Exclusive relationship with God above all else.
Do not represent such gods by a statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land.
No statues, pictures or symbols of any kind!
Do not bow down to such gods and do not worship them. I, God your Lord, am a god who demands exclusive worship.
Exclusivity! Faithfulness!
Where My enemies are concerned, I keep in mind the sin of the fathers for their descendants for three and four generations.
Those who sin affect the following generations. Children emulate their parents. Setting a good example to the younger generation is more powerful than any words you could speak. If children see parents taking shortcuts, they will as well. Then each succeeding generation becomes worse and worse.
But to those who love Me, and keep My commandments, I show love for thousands of generations.
This is so simple! How more plainly does God have to speak?
If we follow Him only, His love never ends!
Text from The Living Torah by Aryeh Kaplan
Commentary by Frances McKenzie
posted by Frances McKenzie at 2:04 PM
1 Comments:
Frances:
Excellent words...Yes, simple to
understand, hard to do!
Thanks for visiting my blog!
God bless you,
Chris
Post a Comment
<< Home