DEVARIM 4: Benefits of the Torah

After going through the historical recount that brought them to this moment, Moses revisited the central theme of his final speech: God’s instructions (known in Hebrew as Torah).

(Deut. 4:1) And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.

Over and over again we will read this phrase in Devarim: “Hear, O Israel” (Heb. Shema Yisrael). The Hebrew concept of “hearing” is more complete than it is in English; “Shema” does not only imply listening but it also implies applying, doing. Perhaps a more accurate translation would be to “attend”, which implies paying attention and then doing what was told to do.

Shema = Listening + doing

The reason for teaching Torah to the new generation is that they would act on it throughout their lives and not just that they would hear it…

(Deut 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.

TORAH ADVANTAGES

Moses explained the advantages of having Torah, which other nations do not have…

(Deut. 4:6-8) 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.’ (7) For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the LORD our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? (8) And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

Advantages over other nations:

• They will have more wisdom and intelligence, because they will know the principles of life and how the world works.
• They can have a close relationship with God
• God’s laws promote a righteous truth

Some people see laws as “breaks” that stop and limit them. This is contrary to what the Bible says! Far from being an obstacle, God’s Law is an advantage, which brings blessing to whoever keeps it.

In Psalms 19 we can read what David wrote about God’s Law:

(Psalms 19:7-11) The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; (8) the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; (9) the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. (10) More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. (11) Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.

Paul also talks about the benefits of having the Word of God (which in his time referred to the Torah and the Prophets, in Hebrew: Tanach).

(2 Timothy 3:16-17) All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, (17) that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Among the advantages that Moses presents, we find the blessing of having a God that is close to his people (4:7). Further ahead, Moses explains that the relationship that God has with His People is much better than the one that other people have with their gods…

(Deut. 4:32-35) For ask now of the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other, whether such a great thing as this has ever happened or was ever heard of. (33) Did any people ever hear the voice of a god speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and still live? (34) Or has any god ever attempted to go and take a nation for himself from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, and by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and by great deeds of terror, all of which the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? (35) To you it was shown, that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides him.

This last point is very important: Not only is Yehovah better than any other god, but He is the only one… because there “is not other besides him”. All the other gods are false; Yehovah is the only true God. He affirms this again in the end of the chapter.

(Deut. 4:39-40) know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. (40) Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time.

DON’T FORGET

Knowing the benefits of the Torah, Moses urges the people to keep the commandments, and not just that but that they also make sure to teach it to their children.

(Deut. 4:9) Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children

The words that are translated as: “take care” and “keep” come from the same Hebrew root: Shamar, which literally means: setting a fence around, like a protection. It can also be translated as: protecting, preserving. This is the same word that is used for “keeping the commandments”. We need to make it clear that “keeping the Law” does not mean “putting it on a drawer or in a safe box”; but rather it means: to practice it. When we live and practice God’s Law, this protects us.

Another way to “take care of ourselves and keep the law” is:

• NOT FORGETTING. This implies that we have to read it and study it constantly, but above all to practice it. This will engrave the Word of God in our minds and our hearts.
• TEACH IT to the children. The Word of God must be passed on from generation to generation, so that it won’t ever be forgotten.

Passing the Law from generation to generation is an important point that Moses repeats along the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), and we will expand on this subject when we reach chapter 6.

Further ahead on this chapter, Moses says again that they have to take care not to forget… and he warns about the risk of not doing it:

(Deut. 4:23) Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you.

Man is designed to worship, and if man does not worship God he will worship something else. This does not apply solely to other religions, but also to other things; we can see it very clearly today, since people “worship” musicians, athletes, actors, heroes, etc., as their idols. Money can also become an idol. Idolatry is something we have to fight against constantly.

DIVINE ZEAL

If we have made a covenant with Yehovah, and we have recognized him as our God, then He will not allow for us to share our devotion with any other “idol”.

(Deut. 4:24) For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

The image of a “Jealous God” is something that is hard for us to understand, because human jealousy is very different to God’s zealousness.

There is a huge difference between being “jealous” and being “zealous”:

1. JEALOUSY. The dictionary defines this in two different ways:

• The feeling of uneasiness and wary that one has when knowing or suspecting that a loved one has preference for another person.
• Resent or envy of the achievements of another.

2. ZEALOUSNESS. In contrast, the definition of “zeal” is: the care, diligence and interest with which someone does the things under his or her charge.

While “jealousy” has to do with a sense of insecurity, “zealousness” is practically the opposite, since it is the passionate defense of what a person believes is right, through certainty.

When the Bible says that “God is jealous” it refers to the concept of “zealousness”, not jealousy. He knows what is right, and he defends it. Even when He speaks of his people’s treason with other gods, God’s zeal acts in defense of justice and not in suspicion or insecurity.

Moses explains to the people that God will not look away from their treason with false gods (Deut. 32:15-23); and not just that, but He also won’t tolerate it if they make a false image of Him.

(Deut. 4:15-20) Therefore watch yourselves very carefully. Since you saw no form on the day that the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, (16) beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves, in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, (17) the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, (18) the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. (19) And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the LORD your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. (20) But the LORD has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day.

Still on this subject, he ends by saying:

(Deut. 4:23-24) Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. (24) For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Moses thought it was very important to begin with this issue, since it was one of the big sins of the previous generation: the sin of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32).

This issue is so important to God that it is one of the first commandments that he spoke to His People:

(Deut. 5:6-10) I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. (7) You shall have no other gods before me. (8) You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. (9) You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, (10) but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

The Lord expects us to surrender to Him with our WHOLE heart (Deut. 6:5), and not half-heartedly because that is not true love. 

God is not jealous because of envy or because of any insecurity he might have; but rather, his divine zeal is because God knows what He is worth. If we make a covenant with God, He will take it seriously and will not allow us to take it lightly. He will give us all the benefits of being His People, but he will also keep us accountable. Joshua explains this message clearly to the Israelites after they had finished the conquest of the Promised Land.

(Joshua 24:14-24) “Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. (15) And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (16) Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the LORD to serve other gods, (17) for it is the LORD our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed. (18) And the LORD drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the LORD, for he is our God.” (19) But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. (20) If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” (21) And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the LORD.” (22) Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” (23) He said, “Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the LORD, the God of Israel.” (24) And the people said to Joshua, “The LORD our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey.”

THE PEOPLE WILL FAIL…

After talking about the zealousness of God, Moses says something that could surprise us, since he prophesies that the people will fail God. The prophecy does not mean that “God wants this to happen”; but what it is transmitting is that the Lord already knows what will happen (because he knows the future and because he knows what is the human nature).

(Deut. 4:25-28) When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, so as to provoke him to anger, (26) I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. (27) And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you. (28) And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

People can fail. God knows it, and he wants people to know about it too so that they can be prepared. The good news is this: although we might fall, we can get up again…

(Deut. 4:29) But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

After these words of encouragement, Moses says something very interesting: He mentions that this prophecy of the return of his people to the Good Way will happen in the “latter days” (Heb. Acharit HaYamim: the last days).

(Deut. 4:30-31) When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice. (31) For the LORD your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them.

The Lord knows that His People will fail him; but he also knows that they will return. These words are meant to encourage us, because even when we fail God, we will always have the opportunity to repent and return to Him, who is willing to forgive us and to restore us.

NEITHER ADD NOR TAKE AWAY

Another important issue that Moses points out in this introduction is the following:

(Deut. 4:2) You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you.

Later on it also says:

(Deut. 12:32) Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it or take from it.

The Torah is perfect just as God gave it to Moses. If someone intends to “add to it” it would be implying that it is missing something; “taking away” from it means that there is something that is unnecessary. The Word of God is neither missing anything, nor has anything that is superfluous. Anything that is extra comes from man, and we have to define it that way; they are opinions, but NOT the Word of God.

For centuries, men have been adding words to and taking words from God’s Law. Some have added commandments of men (Matthew 15:2-9; Mark 7:1-13), and have formed religions. Others have taken from the Word of God saying that part of the Bible no longer applies. None of these extremes are good.

Proverbs says:

(Prov. 30:5-6) Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (6) Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar.

Jesus taught about neither adding nor taking from the Torah:

(Matthew 5:17-19) Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (18) For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. (19) Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

More lessons on Deuteronomy: DEVARIM (Deut.)