Reading
Deuteronomy 12:1 – Be careful to follow the LORD
Notes
(See below for authors)
Although Deuteronomy 12 is focused on worship, it is in the “second law” book. As Fee and Stuart note, this second giving of the law (deutero-nomos = “second law”) is the heart of the book of Deuteronomy. Moses is retelling God’s law to this second generation of Israelites. Although the first generation died in the wilderness for their rebellion, God promised that their children would enter the promised land after the 40-year wandering. (See Numbers 13-14).
Here in v. 1, God reminds the people, through Moses, to be careful to follow the statutes and ordinances of the Lord as they enter the pagan land of Canaan. Fourteen times in Deuteronomy these statutes (decrees) and ordinances (rules, judgements, or laws) are paired up as they are in this verse. Seventy-two times in the book, Moses tells Israel to be careful, and six of those times that carefulness is paired with the statutes and ordinances.
I think we can safely conclude that God cares that we obey him. From the whole of the Bible, we can also safely conclude that Jesus cares that we obey him. We show both God the Father and God the Son that we love them by obeying their commands. As we read in Jesus’s great commission (Matthew 28:18-20) earlier this week, our going, baptizing, and discipling involves teaching new disciples of Jesus to observe everything that Jesus has commanded.
This call to obey the Lord carefully reminds us that carelessness is often the first step toward disobedience. Be careful to follow the Lord.
Questions
- What does the word Deuteronomy mean?
- What are we supposed to be careful to do?
- How do we know what obeying God involves?
Praise
Psalm 119b, 1a
Prayer
- Ask God to make you more careful to obey him.
- Pray for the reading and preaching of God’s word tomorrow.
- Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.