Page 119 - Pentateuch

The everyday wisdom of Israel reaffirms the law with almost every line. Sinful men “lie in wait for their own
blood; they ambush only themselves (Prov. 1:18).” The upright will live, but the wicked will be cut off (2:21-
22). By honoring God with first fruits, barns and vats will overflow (3:10). Poverty is the result of laziness
(6:9-11). On and on, the writer weaves the connections between wisdom, sin, life, and death. “The LORD
detests dishonest scales (11:1).” “The mouths of fools are their undoing (18:7).” “The generous will
themselves be blessed (22:9).” The proverbs can refer to specifics or generalities, yet all follow God’s law of
right and wrong. “The one whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but the one whose ways are perverse will
fall into the pit (28:18).”

Prophet after prophet railed at Israel for disobeying God. Hosea made much of Israel’s failures. He wrote
about specific laws broken. “There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land. There
is only cursing, lying, and murder, stealing, and adultery (4:1-2).” He wrote about the general neglect of
God’s law. “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge…Because you have ignored the law of your
God, I also will ignore your children (4:6).” He wrote about the dynamics of Israel’s sinful progression as an
illustration of the theology of Deuteronomy. “When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were
satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me” (13:6, cf. Deut. 8:10-14). 137

Amos lists a whole series of events God used to try to bring Israel back to Himself. Empty stomachs (4:6),
lack of rain (v. 7), blight and mildew and locust (v. 9), plagues like those in Egypt (v. 10), and overthrow like
Sodom and Gomorrah (v. 11). Much of this language is purposely borrowed from Deuteronomy to make the
connection clear. God swears by his “holiness” (4:2), the uniqueness of his being, that he will keep the
covenant. His character as the faithful God demands that he keep the covenant. “These fearful destructions
are to be accounted among the covenant-keeping…acts of God.” 138

This brief review of the uniform testimony of Israel’s failure to keep the law reflects one of the major
purposes God gave us in the Old Testament. The Pentateuch gives the law. The historical books show the
law worked out in events. The wisdom books celebrate life under the law (among other things). The
prophets pull back the curtain of history to reveal just how the nation and the individuals in the nation
failed miserably to keep the law.

The New Testament affirms the Old Testament’s testimony. In the
Gospel of Luke, Jesus is asked on at least two occasions (10:25;
18:18), “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” In both cases, Jesus
leads the person through a checklist of the law. In both cases, the
person fails utterly and is faced with the impossibility of keeping the
law, of earning eternal life.

In the first case, Jesus refers to the law (10:26), receives a summary of
the law from the man, and affirms his answer. His questioner has
already felt the pinch of the law and tries to evade its force by asking
about his neighbor. Jesus then slams the door on his attempts to earn
eternal life by telling the story of the Good Samaritan. In effect, he
says, “Do good to absolutely everyone you meet every day of your
life, and you will inherit eternal life.” Ouch! Who can do that? Who
even wants to do that?
Fig. 84: The Good Samaritan
Van Gogh, 1890

137 Commentators frequently observe Hosea’s references to Deuteronomy. See, for example, Dearman, Hosea, 36-40.
138 J. A. Motyer, The Day of the Lion (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1974), 64.
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