For Our Good Always

“When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’” (Deut 6:20-25)

 

If Deuteronomy has a passage that everyone loves, it probably comes from chapter six. Both the shema (Hear, O Israel), and the beautiful passage following that describes families learning God's word together in daily life have for millennia challenged the people of God. But the end of this chapter is nearly as beautiful. It envisions a conversation between parent and child. The child wants to know why they have to do all this stuff that God has commanded. On what basis should they obey the law? The father could simply say, “well, God told us to do it, and because he's more powerful than we are and can fry us crispy when we sin, we'd better do what he says.” That would be a valid and completely accurate answer. But it's not where God wants them to go. Why keep the law? They were slaves, and God rescued them. God had made promises in the past to bless them, and they were unfulfilled. They were to obey because God sought their good. The many laws were given by God to bless his people, not to burden them, and to make them holy, so that he could have a relationship with him.

 

While we are not to follow the forms of the law as they are laid out in the Old Testament, much of this yet applies to us. God still calls us to follow him in obedience. We also were slaves, slaves to sin, and we have been rescued. God has blessed us, not with a physical land, but with an eternal kingdom. God still seeks the good of his people. So the answer to why we are obedient isn't because God can fry us crispy, but because he loves us, he has rescued us, and we are his children.