GOD’S WORD IS VERY NEAR
DEUTERONOMY 30:9—14 AUGUST 3, 2003
DEUTERONOMY 30:9-14
9Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers, 10if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 13Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" 14No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.
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Dearest Christian Friends and Fellow-Redeemed:
When we look at Jesus’ life, we find many teachings of His and many examples that stand out in our memory. One of those is the teaching of the seed and the sower. The Lord describes for believers how the sower goes out to plant the seed. The seed falls on all kinds of soil. In fact, some of it doesn’t fall on soil at all; it falls on the rocky path. When Jesus comes to the end of that parable which seems very clear, the disciples still wonder what He means. Jesus then explains it very carefully so that the disciples would not miss the point. That seed, which is the Word of God, is scattered throughout the world. Some believe the Word, some do not believe. For those who believe there is great blessing as Jesus describes at the end of that parable. "But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown"(MATTHEW 13:23). That’s the point of Moses today – the same as Jesus – that the Word is very near His believers. As the Word is very near His believers, they will produce a crop of a hundred, sixty or thirty. We will use those last words of Moses, combining it with the thoughts of Jesus’ parable as we learn how
GOD’S WORD IS VERY NEAR
I. Planted into faithful hearts
II. To grow into faithful living
I. Planted into faithful hearts
Moses was coming to the end of his life. As he was coming to the end of his life, he was also coming to the end of his ministry. The Lord had called him to lead the people of Israel through the wilderness. They had traveled for a whole generation – forty years! A generation had come and gone, lived and died. They were now at the Promised Land. Moses was about to hand over the leadership of God’s people to Joshua, God’s next great prophet. As he reminds the people of everything that took place, he tells them now they are going to enter the Promised Land. Things were going to change for them. When they wandered in the wilderness, during the day they saw the pillar of smoke that went before them to guide them. It was the glory of God. At night they saw the column of fire also to lead them and to remind them that this too, was the glory of God.
Now, when they would get to the Promised Land, they would not see this glory of God day in and day out. They would not be forgotten nor would they be forsaken. The fact is, Moses says, “The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers.” Even though they wouldn’t see this presence of God so visibly, God would be with them. Moses reminded them that they were going to enter into the Promised Land. It was called the Promised Land because it had been promised to their forefathers. Generations ago the Lord said He would provide for them. Now these children of Israel were going to inherit the land. They were going to live there and dwell there. They would remember the Lord their God because He had planted that Word of God into their hearts. He says, 10if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law…Of course we know he says as they obey the Book of the Law, he reminded them of the tablets of stone so that they would have no question. It was ‘chiseled in stone’ what was right and good, what was wrong and evil. There was not a single one of them, if they wanted to live by the law, who would have any excuse. If they were going to live by the law, they would find their life blessed because they would be doing what is right and good.
He says, “Obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.” Moses had to remind them of their dedication to the Lord. Probably, they thought about the Lord’s dedication to them. For that entire generation of forty years who wandered in the wilderness, the Lord had never ever forsaken them. Every day they had manna. Every day they had clothes to wear. Every day they had the glory of the Lord in the sky before them. Now he reminded them not to turn away from God. We know that on their wanderings in the wilderness, they did that from time to time – they murmured against God, they complained about the food He had provided them, and the list goes on. They did this because of their sinful nature. It is a miracle at all that that Word of God had been planted in their hearts.
It is the very same miracle that you and I observe today. Sometimes you and I may forget that miracle which changed our lives completely – the miracle of being brought before God’s altar and being made His children. We became God’s children who once were enemies of God because that’s how we are born into this world. We’re born with a very sinful nature. The Lord tells us our nature, which is sinful, is so evil that it does not take time to seek out God; it doesn’t want to know about God. It is an enemy of God. Yet, because of faithful parents who brought us to be baptized and trained us in His Word, God’s Word is planted into our hearts. Let’s listen to Paul says as he describes our sinful nature. "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so"(ROMANS 8:6,7). All the while we live on earth, we have this sinful nature with us so from time to time our sinful nature rears up its ugly head and wants to rebel against God and rebel against what God says. We are no different than the children of Israel. We are really no different when we look at our sinful nature than anybody else in this world. Well, we are different in one way – that by God’s miracle of grace, He has planted His word into our hearts. By God’s miracle of grace His Word is planted into our hearts so that it does produce fruit. It is all God’s doing isn’t it? We cannot puff up our chests and say, “Look how long I’ve been a faithful believer” or “Look at all the things I’ve done for the sake of God’s kingdom!” If it weren’t for God’s grace, you and I would be lost forever. EZEKIEL 36:26 describes it. He says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Again, here is the comparison between stone and flesh. The Lord says He chisels away that heart of stone you and I are born with and gives us instead a heart of flesh – one beating with the living Spirit of God – again, by His grace.
How is such a marvelous miracle able to take place? How does such a great change happen in the life of a believer? It happens because God is God and He is able to do that! When the disciples always wondered how things could happen, the Lord reminded them, ‘With man, this is impossible but with God, all things are possible.’ 2 CORINTHIANS 4:6 tells us, "For God, who said, ’Let light shine out of darkness,’ (He refers to this God who made the heavens and the earth. This is our God who took that which was empty and formless and created all things) made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” Paul says this God, the only true God, who is able to make something out of nothing is also able to make believers out of His own enemies. Our gracious God is able to change our hearts. Our loving Lord is able to put light in the place of darkness.
All of this reminds us that God’s word is very near. God’s Word is in our hearts planted there by God’s grace so that you and I would
II. Grow into faithful living
Remember now, Moses is handing off the children of Israel to Joshua. He’s also handing them off to live in the Promised Land. They are no longer going to wander around. They are no longer going to look exclusively to God for help. They will not have to go out to collect manna. They will be able to sit in the lap of luxury – a land flowing with milk and honey. Moses is concerned. Moses is concerned that they are going to do just that – they are going to be in the lap of luxury and they’re going to forget about their God. And they do. He reminds them again not to do that. 11Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. If you look at the rest of Chapter 30, he tells them to obey – to listen to God, to not forget. He says it’s not hard to do. He says, ‘Remember the law of the Lord. It’s not hard to do.’ He gives some examples. 12It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" Remember, they weren’t going to see that glory of God which had been before them in the heavens so when it’s gone they may think ‘Well, it’s gone back into heaven – the Word of the Lord.” He says it’s not there, that’s no excuse.
Moses also adds: 13Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" He says that word of the Lord isn’t going to disappear. They may have thought that too because Moses was going to be gone. There was a whole generation that had known no other leader except Moses. What does he remind them? 14No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. The word of God had been planted in their hearts. They had heard it spoken by Moses on his lips. They had heard it spoken by Joshua on his lips. They would hear it spoken by faithful parents on their lips. He says it’s in your hearts and on your mouth. It’s not across the sea. It’s not up in the heavens where no one can get it, but it’s right there so that you may know it in your hearts, hear it and obey it. It is in the mouths of believers to obey it. The glory of the Lord, the very visible sign, would leave them. Moses would be laid to rest but the word of the Lord was very near them. It would always be that way.
Today as we think back to the children of Israel, we might feel in one sense a little bit cheated. For that generation that wandered in the wilderness, they never had to worry about food. That was a big concern back then (not so much in our day and age). They never had to worry about their shoes and clothes because they never wore out in forty years. They never had to wonder where the Lord was. They always saw Him in the cloud in the daytime and the fire at night.
You and I could also say that we are much like the children of Israel as we sit in the lap of luxury, we don’t see the glory of the Lord anymore. Well, maybe we don’t open our eyes often enough or we don’t pay attention to what God’s word has to tell us. We see the glory of the Lord very visibly in His Word. We don’t need a cloud in front of us to lead the way. The Lord gives us His word. We don’t need miracles to help us in our faith. The Lord gave us the miracle of His Son, our Savior, from all our sins.
In the gospel of John the whole first chapter describes that Word of the Lord and it’s glory. "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth"(JOHN 1:14). You and I have seen God’s glory. We have seen it in His Son who is revealed to us in His word. We see it again today really in the sacrament. The Lord says, ‘This is My body and blood.’ We see it in the bread and the wine. This is God’s glory. It reminds us of His death. But this is God’s glory that in His death, you and I are saved for eternity.
This is the word of God that is planted in our hearts that causes us to lead and live faithful lives. We can’t do it on our own because we would fall short of God’s glory. God motivates us by His word. Yes, the law shows us what is right and good and some live just by the law. If they want to do that, it’s hard because we can’t keep the whole law. Believers are saved by grace not by obedience. The law is summed up very easily by saying, ‘Love God above all things. Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Finally, just sum it up by one word – love, realizing God’s love to us first and then our love of God which shines through us. James says, "If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ’Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right"(JAMES 2:8).
Yet we would know how easy it is to say, ‘We know God’s law, but what use is it today? Can anyone keep God’s law?’ We know no one can keep God’s law. For us as believers, we understand God’s laws – the third use of the law, which is guidance and direction. It’s not to be used, as a club over our head but to remind us what is good and right, what is wrong and evil. We cannot go another step and dismiss the law as the world does and say the Ten Commandments are irrelevant and they do not apply to us. They do! God’s law is important in our lives. It’s part of God’s Word that is planted in our hearts. It’s part of God’s word that gives us direction to faithful living. 1 John tells us, "This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world"(1 JOHN 5:3,4a). God’s law is not burdensome.
The law is part of God’s Word—God’s Word that also includes the gospel. It helps us to overcome the world – the world of which we are a great part of -- the world that stands opposed to God and His word. What did we hear or notice in the news this week -- a church body that is going to put in position of high authority, a practicing homosexual – a person who is gay. To listen to him (I only listened a little bit) this man says God does not speak about these matters. How shameful! How awful! What a great lie that is! That is the world speaking – that is not God’s Word. For him, God’s law is burdensome so rather than listen to it, he dismisses it and he forgets that God says His law is not burdensome.
The law of God and God’s word helps us overcome the world. Oh, the stand of God may not be popular in the eyes of the world, but what difference does it make? If we don’t stand on the side of God, we will not stand in the sight of God. God’s word is very near us. You and I are blessed beyond all imagination because we can read God’s word whenever we want. We can study it to our hearts’ content. We are privileged to hear it. The Lord says God’s word is very near us. It is in our hearts because He has planted it there by His grace. It’s in our lives because by grace it grows and flourishes to produce a crop of a hundred-fold or sixty or thirty. Because it’s in our hearts and on our lips, we are able to obey it, to follow its guidance and direction. It does provide blessing – not because we follow it. It provides blessing because it is good.
In the last book of the Bible we’re told, "Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near"(REVELATION 1:3). That was written thousands of years ago – the time is near. After thousands of years the time is even more near to cherish the word that is near us in our hearts, on our lips and in our lives. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
