Wisdom Truck 6

 

So I was about to start this next verse in our series, and the Lord stopped me to show me, to understand it, it's not just a verse- it's a chain.  Let's set the stage:

Deu 4:5  See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 

Deu 4:6  Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ 

So we are in Deuteronomy, which bears an explanation.  See, Moses is addressing the generation about to go into the Promised Land.  And he is explaining all that has happened since they left Egypt, because it isn't enough to know you went through something- you need to understand WHY you went through it, and what you must learn from it.  And at the top of chapter four, he is trying to explain WHY they need the Law. And he starts with 3 precepts.  In Verse 1, he explains that they will need to know these rules and live by them IF they want to take the land that they are coming to.  In verse two, he gives the same warning that Christ will give in Revelation 22- do not add or subtract from the words of the Law.  A very valid warning, because, by Jesus's time, this is exactly what they have done.

In vv 3-4, he gives them the warning of what they have seen:

Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did at Baal-peor, for the LORD your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. 

Deu 4:4  But you who held fast to the LORD your God are all alive today. 

This refers to a plague that took down 20K+ of their fathers, caused when Balaam (the donkey guy) told his masters that the best way to defeat Israel was to seduce them with their women, which would then seduce them to their false gods.  These three things- obeying the Law, not changing the Law, not falling away from the Law- these are what will eventually- for a short time- give them as a result the Kingdom of Solomon.  Time enough for all the benefits of that when we get there.  But in a little "back-up study" in my paper Bible, I was led on a very important "reference chase".  My paper Bible referred v6 to 2 Timothy 3:

2Ti 3:14  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it 

2Ti 3:15  and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

2Ti 3:16  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 

2Ti 3:17  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 

This tells us that that study of Scripture- which Moses's group were living out in the Law- is STILL important to us now, if we want to be wise.  But this in turn had a reference to John 5:

Joh 5:39  You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 

Joh 5:40  yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 

The thing was, the Pharisees and teachers Jesus was talking to here were not looking FOR HIM.  Reading your Bible does nothing if you aren't looking for Jesus in them- if you aren't, as Moses said, "holding fast to the Lord".  This passage, in turn, took me to a reference in Luke 24:

Luk 24:25  And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 

Luk 24:26  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 

Luk 24:27  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 

You see, ALL the Scriptures tell you the story of Christ, from Genesis 3 all the way to the end of the book!  Now, let's look at the chain in light of Moses's words:

1-Moses and Timothy both show the value of KNOWING the Law, the Scriptures in our case.  It is the equipment that prepares you for all the places you'll be going.

2- Don't add or subtract from them by "leaning on your own understanding".  Seek out wise teachers that will show you how to find Jesus in them.

3- Ironically, both the Israelites at Baal Peor and the disciples heading to Emmaus were going the wrong way, because they didn't "hold fast" to all the things they SHOULD HAVE LEARNED from the Scriptures!

And so, I imagine the best summary of this lesson is: The Bible- Put it BEFORE you, keep your opinions OUT of it, and look for Christ IN it!