Thursday, April 11, 2013

Diligent


(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Deuteronomy 6:17–25, “Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee. And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand: And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.”
The big issue for Israel was that they were to be diligent in keeping the  LOrd’s commandments, statutes and testimonies. When Israel escaped from slavery in Egypt and Pharaoh and his armies chased them, the Lord saved Israel in the Red Sea but the armies of the greatest super power of that day were miraculously destroyed. They sang a song of praise and they came to a place where they couldn’t drink the water. The Lord gave them a miracle after they complained and then the Lord told them to diligently hearken to His voice (Ex 15:26, “And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.”) This was in the form of a choice but did have consequences. Never the less, they complained but then they were told to be diligent about keeping the commandments. This means that people who diligently follow the Lord’s commandments don’t complain or grumble. The Lord reminded the new generation, who were about to commit themselves to keeping the contract, that they were to trust the Lord completely and not complain about their situation. If they were diligent in keeping the commandments then their children would see what was happening and ask questions about their situation. The family is the greatest security against strange and different ways of doing things; the family will protect society against decay if the parents understand what they believe and do what they understand is right. This is a consequence of being diligent in keeping the commandments. As long as the parents in the family know what they believe and are diligent in following their beliefs their children will be protected against the problems of a society that is in moral and social decay.

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