The Law Series

August 30, 2025

So far in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses has taken a minute to encourage the people to “Remember” and “Not Forget” the past in order to fully reap the benefits of their covenant relationship with God – moving forward. To that end, he pointed back to the stubborn unfaithfulness of their fathers in contrast to the faithfulness of God.

Based on past evidence, the Children of Israel did not have a great track record in keeping their side of the covenant, even though they had repeatedly said, “Everything Yahweh says we will do.”

So, throughout his speeches, Moses called the people to “Shema” – to hear – to respond and act upon what they had heard.

The future does not need to be like the past. Your decisions can be different.

7 times (in various combinations) throughout chapters 9-11, Moses called the people to “fear Yahweh,” “walk in his ways,” “love and serve him with your entire heart and soul,” and “observe his commands and decrees.”

“Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds.” Moses said. “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home, when you walk down the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that Yahweh swore to give your forefathers.

If you carefully observe all these commands – to love Yahweh your God, to walk in all his ways and to hold fast to him – then he will drive out all these nations before you, and you will dispossess nations larger and stronger than you.

No man will be able to stand against you.”

Now we finally come to the meat of Moses’ 2nd speech – the Law – chapters 12-26. These were God’s expectations of how free, covenant keeping people live.

Chapter 12 – Laws regarding actions to be taken against places of idol worship and the place and manner of worship to God.

Vs. 28-32 - “Be careful to obey all these regulations I am giving you, so that it may always go well with you and your children after you, because you will be doing what is good and right in the eyes of Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God will cut off before you the nations you are about to invade and dispossess. But when you have driven them out and settled in their land, and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.’ You must not worship Yahweh your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things Yahweh hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods. See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take away from it.”

• 1 Kings 12:31 - Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.

• Jeremiah 32:32-35 - The people of Israel and Judah have provoked me by all the evil they have done – they, their kings and officials, their priests and prophets, the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem. They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. They set up their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.

Chapter 13 - Warnings against being enticed to worship other gods, even if it comes from a prophet, a dreamer of dreams, a relative or a "friend" and beyond that “you must purge that evil from among you.”

• Jeremiah 14:14-15 - Then Yahweh said to me, "The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. Therefore, this is what Yahweh says about the prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are saying, 'No sword or famine will touch this land.' Those same prophets will perish by sword and famine.’”

• Zechariah 10:2 - The idols speak deceit, diviners see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd.