Visiting iniquity and shewing mercy

 Christ in all the scriptures

Unmitigated wrath and unconditional love  Deuteronomy 7

There can be no greater contrast in the revelation of God, in one chapter, than the subject matter of Deuteronomy 7.  We have His condemnation of human sin, with its terminal judgment, and we have His boundless love toward the people of His possession.  This is the God of the bible, not the one created by human imagination, but the true God who exists, who will judge sin, but who will also forgive repentant sinners.  He created us, not the other way round, as many would seem to wish.  He stated His way in Exodus 20 to the nation He raised up to reveal Himself to the world..."visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments" (20v5-6).  Idolatry is an abomination to God, and the seven nations occupying the land given to Israel were steeped in idolatrous practices.  Centuries before, the God who knows the end from the beginning, decreed the judgment of the trespassing nations in His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15v18-21.  Following many years of sinful practice, during which God had suffered their ways, the time of retribution has arrived, and God will purge the promised land from rank evil.

We must pause here, a moment to reflect.  We live in a modern world which rejects or ignores the concept of Divine retribution, yet it is a reality.  The history of the world has proved it.  God will judge the world in righteousness; He brought the global flood on the world of the ungodly; He destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, leaving no one untouched in its borders; He brought down a world power in Egypt by a mighty arm.  Divine retribution on evil is a reality, and the present world will know it in this generation or the next.  God is slow to wrath, but His judgment is certain, and rather than mock portions of the bible like this we should heed the warning.

The judgment was severe; they were to destroy the seven nations without mercy, 7v2 "thou shalt utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them".  This is repeated in 7v16 and 7v24.  There was to be no communication with them, nor communion.  They were not to join in marriage to them, which would ultimately result in idolatry.  They were to deface all their idols, and remove all traces of idolatry ("destroy their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire"(7v5).  These altars, on which they sacrificed their children to their imaginary gods, were an abomination to the Lord and all trace of them must be removed.   As far back as the grandson of Noah in Genesis 9, God had declared a curse on Canaan, and their immoral and idolatrous practices had not altered with the passage of time.  

In contrast, God set His love on Israel (7v6-11), just as He promised the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

"For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God;  the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people that are on the face of the earth".

He does this, because, as He says in v5, "for all the earth is mine".  In God's earth, God does as He pleases (refer Psalm 115v3 and Psalm 135v5-6).  It is utterly futile to oppose Him! 

Israel are an holy people, set apart for God, to walk in His ways.  A chosen people to be His special possession.  An exalted people above all other nations upon the face of the earth.  This promise that was repeated to the founding fathers, was applied to the nation in Exodus 19v4/5, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles wings, and brought you unto myself.  Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, than ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people".  It is because of their disobedience, they are not seen as such now, but all that will change when Christ returns and Israel will be the head of nations.  Nothing, and no one will prevent it, and all who oppose this, in any way, whether it be in protest, or in hostile action, are out of touch with what will be the eternal reality.

The chapter goes on to explain divine favour to this one nation, and this reveals to us the nature of God.  As much as He is belligerent against rebellion, He is benign towards the repentant, and enshrouds them in His love.  His love for any of us is inexplicable, and the reason for it is only found in Himself.

"The Lord did not set His love on you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people ; for ye were the fewest of all people: but because the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers..."-7v7-8.

There was nothing about them that caused Him to chose them; the answer is found only in His beneficent self.  He loved them because He loved them, and this is always the truth.  This amazing fact is discussed by John the apostle in 1st John chapter 4.

God's love is an integral part of His essential being, twice over he declares that "God is love"-4v8, v16.

God is the source of all love-4v7, "...love is of God".  Any reciprocal love we have for Him is "because He first loved us"-4v19.

God's love was manifested in sending His only begotten into the world that we might live through Him"-4v9.  He demonstrated His love at infinite cost to Himself.

"I have loved you because I have loved you" resonates through the ages of time and reaches beyond Israel to the repentant people of all nations.  There is nothing loveable about us, He loves us because of who He is, a gracious, loving and merciful God.  The reality of this is awesome.  He is at all times the sin hating God who will banish rebels forever without mercy: at all times He is the loving, and merciful God, as the chapter before us records,

 "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keep His commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them: He will not slack to him that hateth Him, He will repay him to his face"-Deut.7v9-10.

Before this awesome God, terrible in His judgment, but beautiful in His love, we must bow for our well being, and that of our children.  This is the God of Israel, this is the true God, the only God, to whom be glory forever!

Loving God

 Christ in all the scriptures

Loving God   Deuteronomy 6

What does "loving God" mean in practice?

1)  His word shall be in your heart  "And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart"-Deut. 6v6.  

For us it all began at conversion; we "believed in our heart" that God raised Him from the dead to secure our salvation-Romans 10v9.  Then we learned that God's law was no longer written on tablets of stone but on the fleshy tables of the heart-Jeremiah 31v33; 2nd Corinthians 3v3; Hebrews 10v16.  Next, we are challenged by Peter to "sanctify the Lord God in our hearts"-1st Peter 3v15, that is to set Him apart from all else, including self, as the prime love in our lives.  His word is to "dwell in us richly", and this will be manifest in sharing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with one another, singing with grace in our hearts to the Lord-Colossians 3v16.  We are to serve God with our whole heart-- (Psalm119v2v10v34v58v69v145).

2) He shall be in our homes  "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up"-Deut 6v7.

Teaching children, topic of conversation, when out and about, late at night, early morning, at all times, God's word is the grand subject.  In essence God moves in with us in our homes and in our journeys.  Jesus said as much to His disciples in the upper room when He prepared them for His ascension.  Essentially, He said, I am going away, but I will be with you always in spirit, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you"-John 14v20. Again in 14v23 He says, "If a man love me he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with him".  What an amazing privilege that divine beings wish to dwell with us!  We will go to live in the Father's house- John 14v2-3; until then, He comes to live with us, if we will have Him!

3) He is with our hands  "And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand..."-Deut. 6v8a

God has engraved us on the palms of His hands-Isaiah 49v16, and in all the work of our hands we should honour Him.  Exodus 13v9, "And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand the Lord brought thee out of Egypt".  With the work of our hands, whatever that might be (it could be physical, it could be mental. it could be spiritual) it is to do it as unto the Lord.

4) He is before our eyes  "And they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes"-Deut. 6v8b.

 Our horizon is unlimited, when the Almighty enhances our vision.  Paul records, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen are eternal"-2nd Cor. 4v18.  He also writes, "Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth"-Colossians 3v1-2.  Frontlets between the eyes refers to God's teachings and principles being kept at the forefront of our thoughts and actions.

5) Giving thanks for all His gracious provision   "When thy God shall have brought thee into the land which He sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee goodly cities, which thou buildest not, and houses full of good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees which thou plantedst not; when thou shall have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the Lord thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage"-Deut 6v10-12.

Material blessings for Israel, spiritual blessings for us today, (as well as material things)-"blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ Jesus"-Ephesians 1v3, such blessings as only He could give.  Loving Him will will mean daily gratitude from us for all His benefits. 

The New Testament presents wider issues

6) Loving God means loving you neighbour as yourself  That is you treat your neighbour as you would wish to be treated by them in any given situation.  Jesus said in Matthew 22v39 that this second commandment is like unto the first.  Both should be observed in tandem.  He defined our neighbour as anyone in our community who required our help.  James called it the "Royal law"-James 2v8.  Paul said in Romans 13v8, "Owe no man anything but to love one another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law".  This is an obligation for all the people of God, to the people in their community.

7) Loving God is incompatible with love for the world in opposition to God

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.  If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world"-1st John 2v15/16.

 Obviously this is speaking of the world system with its anti-God philosophies and practices. We can love the people of the world as fellow human beings, but we do not love their ways.  As John continues, he says the world is passing away, but he that does the will of God abides forever.

8) Loving God will mean demonstrating our love for our brethren in Christ   

John, the apostle emphasise that love for God's people is fundamental to Christianity.  He questions the validity of faith when this is absent in our lives-1st John 2v9; 2v11; 3v10; 3v15; 4v7-8; 4v20-21; 5v1.  Why does John labour this point repeatedly in his epistle?  Because he was aware of the competitive spirit that can arise which destroys unity.  This goes beyond denominational disunity and party spirit in a global church that God has made one in Christ.  At a time when the church of Jesus Christ is splintered in so many ways, the clarion call is "Love the brotherhood", and let it be seen in whatever way we can.  John challenges every one of us with the unanswerable question, "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?-1st John 3v17.

That famous dialogue between the risen Christ and Simon Peter in the wake of his curse filled denial of Him outside the judgment hall, says it all.  Addressing him three times as "Simon, son of Jonas" (reminding him of who he was before Christ saved him), He said, three times over "Lovest thou me?".  The first time He said, "Lovest thou me more than these?"  Peter had gone fishing back to his old trade, perhaps Jesus was referring to this.  Maybe He was referring to Peter's oft times boast that he loved the Lord more than the other disciples, "though all forsake thee yet will not I".  Jesus probed his inward soul, do you really love me?  The answer was unmistakeable, "Tend to my lambs", the young believers; "Feed my sheep", give food to all my people; "Shepherd my sheep", succour all my people in their need.

What can I do for Him as evidence that I love Him?  Loving God will mean loving His people.

Love the Lord your God

 Christ in all the scriptures

Love the Lord your God   Deuteronomy 6

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might"-Deut. 6v5.

They are encouraged to fear Him, now they are commanded to love Him.  Jesus said that this is the first and great commandment-Matthew 22v37-38.  The One who has come from the realms of heaven, who is equal in all respects to the Godhead, underlines this as the priority for all people, love toward God.  The God who gives us everything, what does He want from us?  "And now Israel what doth the Lord require of thee, but to fear the Lord, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul"-Deut. 10v12.  This is more important than any other command.  This is to put Him at the very centre of our affections.  What this means to us individually, can only be determined between Him and the individual.  All other legitimate loves are to come secondary to Him; all loves which are offensive to Him must be put away. 

Love the Lord with everything you have and are

Matthew 22v37 "Jesus said unto him thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind".

Mark 12v30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment".

Luke 10v27 "And He, answering said, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind. and thy neighbour as thyself".

Our relationship to God is more than that of servant to master, it is a love relationship such as a wife to a husband, or husband to wife, or children to parents or vice versa.  We know that any love we have for God, is because He first loved us-1st John 4v19.  And how did God love us?  It was not in any half hearted way, it was not with any form of reserve or limitation.  This incomparable thought is summed up by Jesus Himself in John 3v16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son...".  God's love for us is measured by whom He gave (His only begotten...in Spanish, su unigenito), the dearest of His heart as is stated throughout the sacred writings.  He gave Him, (more dear than the angels of heaven, or the entire created universe), the darling of His bosom (read Proverbs 8), for us without reserve.  To create the universe He only had to speak!  To save humanity, He gave His all!

No wonder we are compelled to love Him, above everything else.  Putting all the relevant scriptures together, He speaks of our heart, of our soul, of our mind, of our strength.  Before we consider what all that means, we must focus on the word all.  All our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength.  The hymn puts it, "How can we give a lesser sacrifice, when Jesus gave His all?  At this point we could ask ourselves, How much do I love Him, really?  Any love I have for Him is small in comparison to His love for me.

Love Him with all your heart    Affections   Hearts which are the seat of our emotions/affections, (Proverbs 4v23, "...out of it are the issues of life"); hearts that were filled with all kinds of evil and selfish behaviour (Mark 7v21 and Matthew 15v19-30); hearts that were "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked"-Jeremiah 17v9).  Perverse hearts have become purified hearts (1st Peter 1v22) through the new birth.  Our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience (Hebrews 10v22), enabling us to worship freely.  Sanctified hearts are to "Sanctify the Lord God in our hearts" (1st Peter 3v15), that is our renewed hearts are set apart for Him.  Our emotions/affections are toward Him.

Love Him with all your soul   Motivation/Driving force   The soul is what makes you, you. It is the deep seated person within, which dictates thoughts/actions.  Scripture refers to "the reins of the heart", that which motivates the inner thoughts and intentions.  Others, beholding us are incapable of discerning this, even we, ourselves betimes don't know, only God truly knows our souls.  "Jeremiah 17v10, "I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings".  The Psalmist asks the Lord to try (put to the test) his reins and his heart"-Psalm 26v2.  Jesus, in Revelation 3v23, "All the churches will know that I am He who searches the reins and hearts and I will give to each one according to his works".  The reins are deep within, the driving force that causes us to be what we are.  Just like the reins that control the movement and direction of an animal, so the inward soul directs our emotions and affections and pursuits. From the depth of our beings we are to love Him.  Self gratification is replaced by pleasing the Lord, self glorification gives way to glorifying God.

Love Him with all your mind  Intellect    That amazing function, the human brain!  Storing and processing billions of data in a lifetime.  (They say the brain transmits around 1500 commands to the rest of the body every minute!)  All we hear about are moans concerning the loss of memory, and perceived lack of intellect, when we should be praising God for the wonder of our minds.  It is what we choose with which to fill our minds that is the problem.  The bible speaks of different things that occupy us, and the best use of this wonderful function.  Paul speaks in Philippians 3v19, of those who "mind earthly things", whose horizon is this life and the things of it only, when God has given us an unlimited universe, and an unsearchable God to enthral us forever.  In salvation God has transformed us by "the renewing of our minds" (Romans 12v2; 2nd Corinthians 5v17).  Metaphorically speaking, why remain a caterpillar when we can butterflies flying around in limitless space?  We are called to occupy our minds with the eternal, not only the temporal.  Our minds are enlarged which seek the immortal and eternal God.  How can we love Him with our minds?  The Psalmist has the answer.  Many of us read and study God's word out of habit, with a sense of duty (and we have all been there).  How about approaching it with passion, with fervour, as the Psalms suggest.  How about making God's word our lifetime delight, the occupation of the blessed man?

Psalm 1v2 "And his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night".

Psalm 119v14 "I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches".

Psalm 119v18 "Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law"

Psalm 119v35 "Make me to go in the path of thy commandments, for therein do I delight"

Psalm 119v47 "And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved"

Psalm 119v162 "I rejoice in thy word, as one that findeth great spoil".

Love the Lord with all your strength   No half measures, no part timers; a full commitment with everything we have.  Paul wrote, "...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service"-Romans 12v1.  Holy just means your body is set apart for His use.  The Laodiceans were said to be insipid, lukewarm, unacceptable to Christ.  The Old Testament adage is relevant today in this connection, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might"-Ecclesiastes 9v10.

Hear the words of wisdom, ""My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord; and find the knowledge of God"-Proverbs 2v1-5.

Next we shall consider what this may mean in practice.

Fear the Lord your God

 Christ in all the scriptures

Reverend is His name  Deuteronomy 6

The God of Israel

"Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippetrh thee"  Nehemiah 9v6.

The God of all nations

"Is He the God of the Jews only? is He not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith"  Romans 3v29-30.

God of Abraham, God of all Israel, God of all nations, God most high, God alone without a likeness; this is the fundamental teaching of the bible, and is the main teaching of Deuteronomy 6.  High above the creation in its entirety, preserving it, bestriding it, He is worshipped by the host of heaven.  How are we on earth to respond to such a majestic One?  This is the theme of the chapter..

We are to FEAR HIM   Deuteronomy 6v2, "That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God..."; 6v13, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God..."; 6v24, "And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God...". 

Fear is yare, and means reverential fear.  It can also mean dread, as it is translated terrible (29 times) and afraid (78 times) and dreadful (5 times).  Out of 314 occurrences in the Hebrew scriptures, it appears in Deuteronomy 24 times, so it is a major topic. 

We know that so far as the unregenerate world is concerned, (described as the wicked), "there is no fear of God before his eyes"-Psalm 36v1; Romans 3v18.  We also know that nominal; Israel had substituted the fear of God for the fear of man. Jehovah noted, "...their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men"-Isaiah 29v13.  It is an insult to the majestic God to feign loyalty to Him.  Mere lip service toward Him, when hearts are far from Him dishonours Him and He is not deceived.  How many church services today are ritual instead of reverence?

The apostle Peter says, "pass the time of your sojourning here in fear", because God is holy-1st Peter 1v17; "Fear God, honour the king"-2v17; "Be subject to your masters with all fear"-2v18;  "your chaste conversation (manner of life) coupled with fear"-3v2; "be always ready to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear"-3v15.  We are to be a God-fearing people in all aspects of life.  I always think of it like this: we will all one day stand alone before Christ on His judgment throne to give account of our lives.  There will be just me and Him; the One before whom throngs of angels bow, and do His bidding without reserve or hesitation; the One who knows everything about me from beginning to end; the One who gave His all for me to save me from eternal punishment.  In the unforgettable words of the late Mr. William Trew of Cardiff, "We should live now as we will wish we had lived when we stand before Him".

"The fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding"-Job 28v28

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..."-Psalm111v10

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge..."-Proverbs 1v7

"My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; yea if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God"-Proverbs 2v1-5.

"Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.  For He spake and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast"-Psalm 33v8