Page 120 - Pentateuch

In the second case, a young man claims to have kept the last six commandments, those regulating human
relationships. Jesus then challenges him to give away all his wealth. The man does not want to do this, and
Jesus observes, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to
enter the kingdom of God (18:25). He demonstrates the impossibility of keeping the law. Everyone has
parts of life that they love better than God. No one on their own wants to put God first before everything
else. We are all idolaters at heart, even if we do not literally bow to some image.

Failure to keep God’s law is not just a problem for Israel, the covenant nation. As we noted much earlier in
our studies (Exodus: Covenant Life), the outlines of the law have been planted in our consciences as part of
creation (Rom. 2:14-15). The book of Job illustrates this truth from beginning to end. The author places Job
in the time of Abraham, before the giving of the law, yet Job has a firm understanding of right and wrong.
Job insists that he has done nothing to deserve the punishment he is experiencing. He begins a long list of
items demonstrating his carefulness, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young
woman (31:1).” Falsehood and deceit (v. 5), denying justice to a servant (v. 13), not sharing with the poor
and fatherless (v. 17), trusting in gold or wealth for security (v. 24), secret idolatry (v. 27), and other hidden
sins (v. 33) were all things he was very careful about. Job knew right from wrong. He knew without the
benefit of a copy of Deuteronomy or the Ten Commandments. The book thoroughly explores the concept
as the friends of Job insist on some secret sin of great evil as the cause of his suffering (4:8; 8:20; 11:6).

The book of Deuteronomy shuts the door on all attempts to earn God’s favor through law-keeping. By using
the pagan form of a vassal treaty for the book, Moses brings other nations to the same point. Other similar
treaties had the same disproportionate emphasis on curses. Other nations were quite aware of the human
tendency to disobey, no matter the cost. Other nations tried to insist on faithfulness through threats. Other
nations knew the repeated failure of promises to keep the terms of a treaty.

If Deuteronomy stopped here, if the Pentateuch stopped here, we would be left without hope. We cannot,
on our own, follow the law any more than ancient Israel. As the book comes to a close, God promises to
“circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart
and with all your soul, and live (30:6). As is true in any successful venture throughout these five books, God
must take the initiative. The context makes clear that this change of heart will be at some future time. The
blessings and curses already uttered, and the people’s “Amen” in response, are not the last word. Where
his people will fail, God will intervene to change their hearts.

This future hope of heart change is not the final word either. People living
in frustration over their failure to keep the law, with only a far-away hope,
would hardly speak of the love of YHWH so often mentioned in the first
chapters. How is this any credit to the God who shows love to a thousand
future generations (5:10)? An entire nation stands before Him right now.
YHWH insists, “Now, what I am commanding you today is not too difficult
for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven so that you have to
ask, ‘Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may
obey it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, ‘who will cross
the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it’ (30:11-13)?”

If we have been correct from the beginning of our studies, we have
Fig 85: Ascending to heaven witnessed a rising understanding of Christ from chapter to chapter and
book to book. Adam and Eve were promised a special seed that would
crush Satan (Gen. 3:15). Abraham was also promised a special descendent, and God taught him about the
sacrifice this unique Son would make (Gen. 22:14). The first generation of free Israelites sacrificed a
Passover lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorposts to save the life of a firstborn (Exod. 12:7, 13). They
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