Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation is the Old Testament lesson of Deuteronomy chapter four verses one through two, six through nine.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Today, our text talks about obeying God’s laws. Obeying is hard work. Do you do always obey mom and dad? Did you obey your teachers this past week at school? Probably not always. I did not always obey when I was your age. It’s hard to obey, especially when we do not want to. Yet, Moses says that the People of Israel obey God in order to be a wise and understanding people. How does obeying God make a wise and understanding people? How can we obey God today? Ponder those question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
The setting for the Book of Deuteronomy is Moses and the people of Israel in the Land of Moab, east of the Jordan River. Moses knows that he will not lead Israel across the Jordan (Numbers 20). Thus, Deuteronomy basically consists of Moses’ final speeches with the Israelites. In Deuteronomy 1–3, Moses recounts the history of the people, from the time they were at Mount Sinai after the exodus from Egypt to the present. This was a period of about thirty-eight years. There at Sinai, God had made a covenant with the nation Israel. They were his chosen people. God had decided that from these descendants of Abraham would come the Savior of the world, the Messiah.
Now, in Deuteronomy 4, Moses, after recalling all that God had done for the Israelites these past thirty-eight years, looks into the future. In our text, Moses uses the phrase “a wise and understanding people.” That phrase, which Moses connected with the Israelites, also applies to us. There are three realities that we see concerning a Wise and Understanding People, for the Israelites as well as for you and me today.
I. The Israelites were, and we have been, brought to faith in the one true God through the Word of God.
This is one reality concerning a wise and understanding people.
The Word the Israelites had was that passed down from previous generations, and that which came to them through the ministry of Moses. Faithful fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers passed down the faith to their children. Paul says that something similar happened with Timothy and his mother and grandmother in his first letter to Timothy. It still happens today, faithful parents, and other family members bring their children to church in order to hear the Word and pass down the faith to the next generation. A faith given, and grounded in the the Word of God—the writings of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy), the rest of the Old Testament, and all of the New Testament.
All of this Word reveals the one true God—the triune God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to us. This Word reveals the Savior, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became man, was born of the nation Israel. This is one of the reasons for Matthew and Luke’s genealogies, connecting Jesus to Israel all the way back to Abraham and Adam.
As God in the flesh for us, Jesus Christ, sacrificed himself in payment for the sins of the world and arose triumphant from the dead. He is the Savior, from Israel but for the entirety of the world. Everyone who believes in him has forgiveness of their sins and everlasting life.
Knowing and having faith in the true God and the Savior is the highest wisdom. This is far greater than any earthly wisdom that we could seek after. Man’s knowledge, the wonder of science and technology, it all has a limit. Understanding the way of salvation—by God’s grace through faith in Christ—is the greatest understanding we could ever ask for.
We thank God that he made not only the Israelites addressed in our text but also us a wise and understanding people (v 6). Through faith in Christ, we have salvation. Rejoice!
II. Having the Word of God, the Israelites lived—and we live—according to it. This is another reality concerning a wise and understanding people.
In our text, statutes, rules, and commandments refer specifically to the covenant God made with Israel at Mount Sinai. These were guidelines as to how the Israelites were to live as God’s covenant people in the land that He was going to give them across the Jordan. Today, our guidelines are moral law, as summarized in the Ten Commandments, which were a part of God’s covenant with Israel.
God’s Word, since it is his Word, contains the greatest wisdom for us. Also, because of his love, God as the ultimate Law Giver gave the guidelines to the Israelites and us. He knows what is best for his people and wants their highest good. The ways of the Lord are ways of righteousness and blessedness. God, who through his Word brought the Israelites and us to saving faith, enables his people through the same Word to keep his commandments and live according to his word.
The lives of a wise and understanding people demonstrate that they have been enlightened by God through his Word. They follow not their sinful flesh, the ways of the world, or the temptations of the devil. They walk in the light, following Christ Jesus. They strive to honor God in their thoughts, words, and actions, doing everything for the good of their neighbor. These lives will be noticed by unbelievers and can be a witness to them, drawing them to find out more about the beliefs of such a wise and understanding people. As Saint Peter writes, we live out our lives of faith always ready to give a confession for the hope that is in us.
We pray that God would help us to keep on living as his people and to grow in Christian living. This means taking care of ourselves spiritually by continuing in the Word of God and holding to all the counsel of God without adding to or subtracting from Scripture. We hold to the authority of Scripture. It is the norm that norms us, the standard by which everything we do and say is judged as God’s people. If we are doing something contrary to it, it is us who have to change, not God’s Word.
III. God is near to his wise and understanding people. This is the third reality concerning such people.
This is a blessing of being in a faith relationship with the Lord and is possible because of the saving work of the Messiah. God is near to his people, whom he has made wise and understanding because he loves them. This fellowship with God, which we will enjoy throughout our earthly life, will continue first in heaven and then forever in the new creation.
Because God was so near to the believing Israelites, whenever they prayed to the Lord, he would always hear and answer their petitions as was best for them according to his good and gracious will. This was a belief and reality unique to the Israelites, for the other peoples of the ancient Near East did not believe the same thing with regard to their gods (who actually did not exist). They thought that their gods were far off and had to be cajoled and coxed to come near to hear them. Not Israel’s God, not our God!
Because God is so near to us, he always hears and answers our petitions in the best way. He does so, again, because of Christ, by whom we can come before the Lord in prayer. That we can call the Creator of the universe Father, and go to Him as earthly children go to their earthly fathers, asking, demanding!, whatever we may desire. As if this is not near enough, God is near us in the Lord’s Supper: Christ comes to us and gives us his body and blood, we cannot get much nearer than Christ in our very bodies!
May we continually take comfort in the Gospel truth that God is always near to us, his people, and that he will provide physical and spiritual care for us. Nothing can separate us from his love. Rejoice!
Conclusion: How blessed we are that God has made us a wise and understanding people! Because of his love for us, we have the wisdom of saving faith, we display the wisdom of God’s Word in our lives, and we have blessed fellowship with the Lord, who is always near us. All of this is possible because of Jesus, our Savior. Rejoice!
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.