It’s important to emphasize that the Bible is by no means just a book of rules. But Deuteronomy is full of rules, and that might make us uncomfortable. Are we still supposed to follow them all? If not, how do we know which ones to keep? Perhaps the more important question would be, what’s the purpose of all these rules anyway?
God makes the answer clear across the book: righteousness. And this was a worthy purpose indeed. By grace, God had not only rescued the Israelites from Egypt, but had also made them a holy nation, a wonderful privilege they did not deserve. Holy people, God continually explains, are people that love and walk with their God who loves and walks with them. But that means they not only carry the outward sign of circumcision; even their hearts are calibrated to love properly. This is righteousness.
But the Israelites didn’t know what righteousness was supposed to look like. Deuteronomy falls in an awkward time in history; everyone in the first generation of Israelites, who had received the Law, had died in the desert. So Moses had to teach the whole Law a second time. And all the many rules of the Law taught the people the way of righteousness—so that they could obey and serve their God—so that they could properly fear and love their God and fully grasp the incredible grace he had given them. Moses makes it clear: this is a worthy purpose indeed, and so obeying God’s laws is worthwhile indeed.
This past week, much of my time was spent on a seminary project where I explored the countless ways that Deuteronomy directly informs the rest of the Bible. These rules set the stage for virtually everything that Jesus would later teach. When we understand the way of righteousness, we understand what Jesus meant when he said he came to fulfill every bit of it. Jesus himself became the way of righteousness. Jesus showed us how to fear and love and obey the Lord perfectly. And Jesus gave us his Spirit to circumcise our hearts, free us from sin, and teach us to love the Lord as well. The Law initially taught us the way of righteousness through its rules, and now we have that righteousness through Christ who rules in heaven.
