Deuteronomy 4:1-2 says, Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
When the Israelites were moving forward into the Promised Land, Moses clearly commanded the people to be aware of God’s Word. Moses was careful to explain to the people how important God’s Word was in their lives. His Word is also important to us as we seek to accomplish His purpose in our lives and in our church. There are several important observations Moses made regarding the Word of God.
I. We must hearken unto His Word. The word hearken means, 1. To listen; to lend the ear; to attend to what is uttered with eagerness or curiosity. 2. To attend; to regard; to give heed to what is uttered; to observe or obey. …hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you,… (Deuteronomy 4:1) To listen; to attend; to grant or comply with. …hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant,… (I Kings 8:30) (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary) To hearken is more than just to pay attention; it is to eagerly and passionately pay attention to what God’s Word says. We are not simply to hear it or study it but to be doers of the Word. To hearken unto His Word is to listen for instructions to what God would have us to do.
II. We must do God’s Word. Doing God’s Word would guarantee that they would go in and possess the land which God had given to them. We are to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. (James 1:22) Moses taught that they should do what the statutes and the judgments taught them to do. Many people do not accomplish God’s purpose because they are hearing God’s Word without a mindset of doing God’s word. The Bible is more than a Book of instruction. It is a Book that gives us our orders. We are to obey His Word and to do what is written therein. Joshua said that success comes from doing His Word. Many Christians never accomplish God’s purpose because they are not faithfully doing what they have been taught.
III. We must not change God’s Word. Moses warned the people about the danger of diminishing or adding to God’s Word, and the book of Revelation places a great emphasis on the danger of changing God’s Word. The word diminish means, 1. To lessen; to make less or smaller, by any means; opposed to increase and augment; as, to diminish the size of a thing by contraction, or by cutting off a part; to diminish a number by subtraction; to diminish the revenue by limiting commerce, or reducing the customs; to diminish strength or safety; to diminish the heat of a room. It is particularly applied to bulk and quantity, as shorten is to length. 2. To lessen; to impair; to degrade. …I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. (Ezekiel 29:15) 3. In music, to take from a note by a sharp, flat, or natural. To diminish from, to take away something. …neither shall ye diminish ought from it,… (Deuteronomy 4:2) (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
It is a scary thing when Christians think we have the right to change or diminish God’s Word in any way. For us to accomplish God’s purpose, we must take the Word of God as it has been given.
IV. We must keep the commandments of the Lord. The commandments of God were given in Exodus 20. We have been instructed to hearken unto the statutes and judgments of God. Statutes are governmental edicts. God is our Ruler; thus, we obey His statutes. Judgments are judicial decisions made by a judge. God is our righteous Judge, and we are to hearken unto His judgments. God’s commandments are the moral laws of our lives. There are no gray areas in these laws. They are clear, and we are to obey them if we expect to be right with our God.
V. We must cleave unto the God of the Word. It is more than merely active obedience; it is submission to and a desire to draw near to the God of His Word. Since the purpose of the Bible is to instruct us as to what we are to do, we are to draw near to the God of the Bible. Some say that Christianity is just a relationship, but they are missing much of what Christianity is. Christianity includes a relationship but does not exclude obedience. We are to seek a relationship, but first we are to obey the God of the Word.
VI. We must keep the statutes and judgments. We are told to hearken and pay close attention to every statute and judgment of God’s Word. We are not to treat them lightly, and we are to keep and follow them. We might say in our day that we are to keep the law of the land. The same is true regarding God’s statutes and judgments. When a legislative body enacts a statute, we are to keep it. When a judge gives a judgment, we are to keep it. We are to do the same with our Authority and righteous Judge and His statutes and judgments.
VII. We must keep in mind the power of the Word of God. Moses speaks of the power that came as a result of following God’s Word. He reminded the people of the power of God’s Word in their lives in the past in order to exhort them to continue following God’s Word in the future. God’s Word was not just good for us when we were young; it remains the power in our lives that we must have in order to accomplish His purpose throughout our lives.
We are living in a day in which people show less and less reverence to the Word of God. Some Christians even diminish the importance of God’s Word to our faith, which is foolish and dangerous. The Word of God is our Authority, and we must always make it the central part of our lives.
Pastor Neal, through his preaching and his counseling, displays the compassionate heart of a pastor, follows the true leading of the Holy Spirit, and expresses a fervent desire to see lost souls come to know Christ. It is his ultimate desire to see the greater Jacksonville area reached for the cause of Christ and for revival to come to Northeast Florida.
