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Well, you can turn with me in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter five. We finished the 10 commandments last week. So we'll pick up the concluding statements or the concluding section in Deuteronomy chapter five. Remember, this is the second of the exhortations by Moses on the plains of Moab to the children of Israel prior to their entrance into the promised land. So there was a historical review in chapters one to four, and then the exhortation to pursue covenant loyalty, the longest of the exhortations, all the way from chapters five to 28. After that is summary and conclusion, chapters 29 and 30, followed by the succession of Joshua in chapter 31, and the death of Moses in chapters 32 to 34. So as I said, tonight, the conclusion of the Decalogue, chapter five, I'll read verses 22 to 33. excuse me, this is something of a historical review as well. So after the restatement of the Decalogue or the Ten Words of the Ten Commandments, Moses rehearses what had happened at the original giving of the law on Sinai in Exodus chapters 19 to 23. So I'll pick up reading in verse 22.

"'These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly "'in the mountain from the midst of the fire, "'the cloud and the thick darkness, "'with a loud voice, and he added no more. "'And he wrote them on two tablets of stone "'and gave them to me. "'So it was when you heard the voice "'from the midst of the darkness, "'while the mountain was burning with fire, "'that you came near to me, "'all the heads of your tribes and your elders. "'And you said, "'Surely the Lord our God has shown us "'His glory and His greatness, And we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire.

We have seen this day that God speaks with man, yet He still lives. Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived?

"'You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, "'and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, "'and we will hear and do it.' "'Then the Lord heard the voice of your words, "'when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, "'I have heard the voice of the words of this people, "'which they have spoken to you.

"'They are right in all that they have spoken. "'Oh, that they had such a heart in them, "'that they would fear me and always keep my commandments, "'that it might be well with them "'and with their children forever. Go and say to them, return to your tents. But as for you, stand here by me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.

Therefore, you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left, You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess. Amen.

So the conclusion proper is in verse 22. And as I said, a bit of a historical review on how it was when they first initially received the law at Sinai in Exodus chapters 19 and 20 specifically. So we'll look at that conclusion of the law in verse 22. And then secondly, the fear of the people in verses 23 to 33.

They respond in a proper way. They respond in an appropriate manner. God says in verse 28, they're right in all that they have spoken. And then in verse 29, oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever.

So God approves of the response of the children of Israel at Sinai when they had initially received the law. But let's look first at the conclusion of the Decalogue in verse 22. We note the origin of the law. Note what he says in verse 22. These words the Lord spoke to all your assembly. This was not original to Moses. He didn't make it up. He didn't come up with it. He didn't consult. with others amongst the children of Israel, but these words come directly from God Most High.

And then specifically the reference is to Sinai. These words, the Lord spoke to all your assembly in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness with a loud voice, and he added no more. If you go back to Exodus chapter 19, specifically in verses 9, 16, 17 to 20, and then again rehearsed in 2018, you see that the visible representation of God on Mount Sinai was through fire, it was through smoke, it was through a great display of majesty and glory, and the people understood that. And then at the end of this verse, verse 22, it specifically highlights the glory of the Ten Commandments.

And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. As I explained last week, God is certainly the author of the ceremonial law. God is certainly the author of the judicial law. God did not leave it up to Moses to sort of figure out how to apply the Ten Commandments to the worship situation and to the civil situation. God gave those things through Moses. But the Decalogue specifically is ascribed to the finger of God. You see that in various places.

You see it here, and then as well if you go back to chapter 4, specifically in verse 13, again another reference that God wrote the Ten Commandments with his own finger. 413, so he declared to you his covenant which he commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And then again over in chapter 10, specifically at verse 4, and he wrote on the tablets, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments which the Lord had spoken.

And then back in the book of Exodus, in Exodus chapter 24. Exodus chapter 24, specifically at verse 11, we read, but on, I'm sorry, verse 24, 11, that's wrong. Nope, that's not it. Sorry, 31, 18. and when he had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, he gave Moses two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. When we see that reference to two tablets, we oftentimes think that the first tablet had the first five commandments, and then the second tablet had the latter five commandments. That's not the case. They were duplicate copies. All ten were on one tablet. All ten were on another tablet.

One was deposited or rather represented God. The other represented the covenant nation of Israel, covenant documents, and they were placed in the Ark of the Covenant. So God Most High gave these things and he wrote them with his own finger. 34, 28 in the book of Exodus repeats the same thing. So he was there with the Lord 40 days and 40 nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.

So there's a special dignity afforded to the Ten Commandments, to the Decalogue of the Ten Words. And essentially, what we find is that the same moral law of God that is foundational to the ceremonial, to the judicial, it is transcendent, or trans-covenantal.

In other words, it applied to Old Covenant Israel, but we see its application in the New Covenant Church. It's applicable to all men, in all places, at all times. It's not suspended. It's not done away with. The ceremonial law, which is basically the application of the first four commandments to the life of worship in Old Covenant Israel, was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the ceremonial law in the Old Covenant that demanded a priesthood, that demanded sacrifice, that demanded tabernacle and temple, that demanded all those things, was fulfilled by our Lord Jesus Christ. The judicial law is basically the application of the latter Six Commandments to the civil life of Old Covenant Israel. So our Confession says it expired with the Commonwealth of Israel, but the general equity abides.

In other words, we learn wisdom from those judicial laws of Moses that we can transfer into a New Covenant setting. But it is the moral law of God that is perpetual, and it is given that special significance in that the Lord wrote them by His own finger. Now, that's the origin of the law, but I think as well embedded in this verse and in this section is some attributes of the law. In other words, things that we can say specifically about the law.

I'm thinking of our confession, chapter 1, paragraph 5, where it talks about the attributes of Holy Scripture or how we know that the Bible is in fact the Word of God. And it says in 1.5, we may be moved and induced by the testimony of the Church of God to in high and reverent esteem of the Holy Scriptures, and the heavenliness of the matter, the efficacy of the doctrine, and the majesty of the style, the consent of all the parts, the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God, the full discovery it makes of the only way of man's salvation, and many other incomparable excellencies, and entire perfections thereof, are arguments whereby it doth abundantly evidence itself to be the Word of God. Yet notwithstanding, our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority thereof is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts. So that's a comprehensive statement concerning the entirety of Holy Scripture, but I think in verse 22 of chapter five, we see specific application to the Decalogue or to the Ten Commandments or to the Ten Words.

Notice specifically in the first place the authority of God's law. Verse 22, these words the Lord spoke to all your assembly. That underscores the authority of the law of God. It was spoken by God. He's their covenant Lord, He is their lawgiver, He is their sovereign, He is their king, and it is Him who spoke to all of the assembly. So we see inherently that this law carries the divine authority of God Most High.

Secondly, the comprehensiveness of that law. Notice as it continues on after the reference to Sinai and the cloud and the thunder and darkness and fire, it says, and he added no more. Again, there's more added to the scriptures to be sure, but in terms of the Ten Commandments, it is comprehensive in character. It is sufficient. It is full.

It is what God had purposed and designed whether you're in the Old Covenant, whether you're in the New Covenant, whether you're a believer or an unbeliever in that Old Covenant setting, whether you were an Israelite or whether you were a Canaanite. The very law of God, the moral law, was the standard by which God judged the nations. It wasn't arbitrary or capricious. In other words, when God made man, he made us in his image. There is in us hardwired the law of God. It's not the ceremonial law, and it's not the judicial law. It is rather the moral law of God Almighty.

So when we move through the book of Deuteronomy in chapters 6 to 26, you're going to see foundational to every discussion concerning law and legislation, whether ceremonial or judicial, you can trace it back to the Ten Commandments. It is comprehensive in nature.

There was a Jewish philosopher, theologian, who lived in the 12th century and his name was Maimonides. And he observed that there were 248 commands and 365 prohibitions in the Pentateuch. So if you take Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, you count the number of positive commands and you count the number of prohibitions. Maimonides came up with 248 commands and 365 prohibitions. That's 613 in total, if you hadn't done that math already. Keep that in your mind, it'll be a future test question. Just kidding, we don't give tests here.

So, one man made this observation. He reckoned that since there were 248 distinct parts of the human body. I looked that up and that's not altogether accurate. It depends on how you count parts of the body, but if you type in Maimonides 248, they say, yep, that's what he believed, that's how many parts were in the body. But listen to the logic. He reckoned that since there were 248 distinct parts of the human body, one was to remember to obey God's positive commands with all one's self. It's very helpful. And since there were 365 days of the year, one was to remember not to disobey God's commands each day of the year. Good, helpful thing to keep in one's mind concerning the comprehensiveness of God's holy law.

So we've got the authority of that law, the comprehensiveness of it, and then the finality of it. Again, that statement, he added no more. The finality of it, there's not an 11th commandment, there's not 15 commandments. Flowing from these 10 commandments, as I said, ceremonial, judicial. The various commands, the various prohibitions to be sure, but you can trace those back to one or several of the 10 commandments.

So the finality of the law, again our confession speaks to this concerning the scriptures as a whole. It says in paragraph 10 of the same chapter, the supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private spirits are to be examined and whose sentence we are to rest can be no other but the holy scripture delivered by the spirit into which scriptures so delivered our faith is finally resolved. So the finality of Scripture, it is comprehensive, it is authoritative, it is divine in its origin, and then notice as well its permanence.

The fact that God writes it with his own finger underscores the permanence of that law. The ceremonial law was not permanent. It was for Old Covenant Israel. The judicial law was permanent for Old Covenant Israel, but in the fulfillment of that ceremonial law by our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the expiration of the judicial law through the destruction of the Commonwealth of Israel, those things were not permanent. The Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, the Ten Words are in fact permanent, and they have abiding authority in both covenants, Old and New Covenants.

As well, the Decalogue was written by the finger of God, and as I think Meredith Klein gets right. He says the uniqueness of the revelation of the 10 words is underscored in verse 22. That revelation alone was spoken directly by God to all Israel. It alone was written by God. It is the comprehensive summary of the law of God.

More than that, it is the quintessence of the Mosaic administration of God's redemptive covenant. In other words, it's the high point. It's the pinnacle. It is the sum and substance. Everything else beyond this is commentary, exposition, application, or implication following from and flowing from that Ten Commandments. So it is a most blessed law. It's a most blessed expression of what God gives us.

And just to show the trans-covenantal That means it's not confined simply to the old, but it transcends even the old into the new. You can turn to the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 31, an Old Covenant prophet, prophesying by the Spirit concerning the nature of the New Covenant, tells us that God is going to write His law on our hearts. So in Jeremiah 31, 31, he says, excuse me, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant which they broke." So there's an essential feature, a distinction between old and new covenant. You could break the old covenant.

In fact, as soon as these people say, all that the Lord commands us we will do, they go out and break the old covenant. When you're in the new covenant, you're in by virtue of the one who kept the covenant, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true Israel of God. Jesus always did what was pleasing to His Father. Jesus fulfilled that law, every jot, every tittle. So, the Old Covenant was violable, that means it was breakable, and they did break it.

The book of Deuteronomy ends, at least in this section, in terms of pursuit of covenant loyalty, on the note of cursings for disobedience. One of the promised cursings is exile from the land, and that's certainly what Israel experienced all throughout the Old Testament. They were cast out, the land vomited out the inhabitants of the land.

So Jeremiah is underscoring the differences between the two covenants. Notice, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord, but this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. And the apostle applies this in Hebrews 8 and 10 to the new covenant church, which is in fact the true Israel of God. He says, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. This is the Ten Commandments. Again, it's not ceremonial. Christ fulfilled that. It's not judicial. The death of the theocratic nation of Israel basically caused expiration there.

I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. For they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." So those features are essential to the New Covenant. They were present in the Old Covenant, but by virtue of the New Covenant.

In other words, if you were in the Old Covenant, you could be externally connected, you could be in good shape, you could go to the tabernacle, you could go to the temple, you could bring your sacrifice, but that did not mean that necessarily your sins were forgiven you. It didn't mean necessarily that you knew the Lord in a saving way. It didn't mean necessarily that the Spirit dwelt in you.

But in the New Covenant, anybody who names the name of Jesus Christ that's actually in the New Covenant has all of these things as essential elements. You're not in the New Covenant if you don't know the Lord. You're not in the New Covenant if you don't have the law of God internalized. You're not in the New Covenant if you've not had your sins forgiven you.

These are essential features and that's what the prophet is distinguishing between the Old and the New Covenants. And again, the book of Hebrews, the author celebrates that reality when he speaks of the New Covenant as a better covenant founded on better promises which afford a better hope. The bottom line is that the Ten Commandments are those which continue from the Old into the New Covenant.

When the Apostle Paul argues Christian ethics, where does he go? He goes to the Ten Commandments. When the Apostle Paul argues against sin and rebellion and transgression, he goes to the Ten Commandments. When the Apostle Paul calls the church in Rome to love one another, he goes to the Ten Commandments. When he's preaching or teaching or writing to the church in Ephesus, and he wants to get a grip on the consciences of the children there, he says, children obey your parents and the Lord for this is right.

Natural law teaches that. General revelation, light of nature. And then he says, honor your father and your mother, which is the first commandment with promise. So the old covenant law, the Ten Commandments, is not confined to the old covenant, it transcends that, it's trans-covenantal, and therefore it's applicable to us in our new covenant setting. So there is a permanence involved in that particular law, there is a finality, there is a comprehensiveness, and there is authority, because it carries the very authority of God himself. Now, as we consider that law, we have talked much in our study in the Ten Commandments on how we're supposed to use it in this new covenant setting.

Well, in the first place, there's a civil use or political use. That means the law of God functions to restrain the creature. The law of God functions like a stop sign on the road. Even if you're a godless wretch, there's something about you that realizes, you know what, I should stop. And there's a civil or political use of God's law where it serves as a boundary or a parameter where God restrains the abject wickedness of man.

The second use of the Ten Commandments in a New Covenant setting is so that we know our sin and misery. How do we know our sin and misery? Because the law of God tells us so. And why is that useful information? So that we'll flee to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great law keeper, so that we are justified freely by His grace. So that's called the pedagogical use, or the second use of the law. It functions as a child tutor to show us our need for the Lord Jesus Christ. Now after we come to the cross for that justification, once our sins are forgiven, we receive the imputed righteousness of Christ, received by faith alone, then Jesus points us back to the law for that third use which is called normative. And that simply means that the law of God serves as a revelation of the nature of God.

How do we know it pleases God? Well, don't have other gods before Him. How do we know it pleases God? Don't make idols. How do we know it pleases God? Don't blaspheme His name. How do we know it pleases God? Don't violate His Sabbath day. How do we know it pleases God? Honor your parents. Don't murder. Don't commit adultery. Don't steal. Don't lie. And don't covet.

So the normative views, the Spirit empowers us and enables us, God having written that law in our heart and giving us a newfound desire to keep it. Not unto justification, that's impossible, but because we're justified freely by God's grace, we seek by the Spirit's leading to follow the law of God. So the trans-covenantal nature, the Ten Commandments are abiding in the New Covenant Church. Again, not for our salvation, but because we have been saved.

So that's the conclusion of the Decalogue. Verse 22 gives us lots of information in terms of origin and attributes of the law. That brings us then to 23 to 33, the fear of the people. Note they recognize the theophany. Theophany simply means the manifestation of God. That's what theophany means, that's the etymology, that's what it is.

So notice in verse 23, so it was when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. And you said, surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire.

We have seen this day that God speaks with men, yet He still lives. So they recognize that what they were saying was Unusual. They recognized that what they were seeing was uncommon. They recognized that what they were seeing was divine. It was a theophany, a manifestation of the God of Israel on that top of Mount Sinai, not visibly as if there was some shape or form of God, but through that phenomena. through the cloud, through the fire, through the smoke, through the thunder, through the lightning, they recognize the reality of that. In other words, the effects led them to the cause. If there are effects, we can rationally conclude that there is a cause, and in that case the effects were not only those things, but the very word that came from God from on top of Mount Sinai. So they understood all too well that what they were witnessing was a manifestation of Jehovah or Yahweh of Israel. And their response is consistent with that.

Again, verse 24, Surely the Lord your God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man, yet He still lives. So the glory and greatness of God is seen in the revelation of His word. They didn't see Him physically, they saw rather that phenomena, but they heard that blessed word. They understood very well the truth that God was speaking to them. Christopher Wright said, the point of Sinai was that God could not be seen, but could be heard. He was invisible, but not inaudible. And that's always been the basis of the church's worship.

We are word-based. We're not image-based. We're not entertainment-based. We're not experience-based. We're not feeling-based. We're word-based. In fact, turn back to Deuteronomy chapter four. Deuteronomy 4 at verse 15, take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb, out of the midst of the fire, lest you act corruptly and make for yourselves a carved image in the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female, the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, or the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air. Notice, take careful heed to yourselves. Don't make images, don't make idols.

Why? Because you didn't see anything. you heard the word of the living God. He's invisible, but He's not inaudible. So back to 524, they have a proper response to the very presence of God Most High. And notice, He has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. So I would argue that these people had good theology. They didn't have the 1689, they didn't have Calvin's Institutes, they didn't have the great heritage that we have in the Reformed tradition, but based on that manifestation of God atop Mount Sinai, they learned a lot of good theology. They understood that He had demonstrated His glory and His greatness, the transcendence of God.

When we speak of God, there's two concepts we need to keep in our mind. I'll define these things. Transcendence means that God is wholly removed from us. God is holy. The very base meaning or basic meaning of holy is separate. We typically think of holy as moral purity, and holy is moral purity, but its foundational root is separateness. God is separate. He's transcendent. The other word that we like to apply with reference to God is that He's imminent. That means He's near to us. He's with us. He's both transcendent and He's imminent.

If you only have a doctrine of transcendence, then you're what's called a deist. A deist believes that God made the world the way that a man makes a clock. He gets that clock going, he sets it up on the fireplace mantle, and then he just forgets about it. That's deism. They don't deny that God created, they don't deny transcendence, but they deny imminence. They deny God's presence with his creation. Now if you got rid of transcendence and you just had the doctrine of imminence, which is nearness, with no transcendence, then you'd be called a pantheist.

And a pantheist believes that everything is God. Not that God is everywhere, but everything is God. This table is God. That wall is God. We're all God to some degree or other. That's pantheism. That's bad. You need to have those twin concepts concerning the nature of God.

He's both far removed and He is imminent with us. And that is what these people seem to have gotten by the theophany at Sinai. So again, verse 24, Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man, yet He still lives. I would suggest they understood all too well that blessed nature of God. That's a good deduction to make. We've seen this and yet we still live.

I'd argue that the church needs to capture something of what Israel had at the base of Sinai in Exodus chapters 19 and 20. We've got the imminence, Jesus is my boyfriend, Jesus is my friend, Jesus is always there for me. We need a good doctrine of transcendence. Jesus is the Most High God. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus is the Maker of all things.

And that, hopefully, promotes fear in our hearts that is consistent with just how great our God is. So they seem to have got this. The majesty and the power of God is seen, and they also then conclude, why is it that we continue to live? That then brings them to this experience of terror, verses 25 and 26. So the recognition of the theophany, 23 and 24, the experience of terror in verses 25 and 26. Good response. This is what we see. What's Isaiah do when he's confronted with the holiness and the glory of God Most High in Isaiah 6? Does he say, there's my buddy, there's my chum, there's my friend.

No, I fell as a dead man. He cried out, woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell amongst a people of unclean lips. When John the seer, the apostle John has that vision of the glorified Christ in Revelation chapter 1, he doesn't shimmy up to him and put his arm around him. I fell as a dead man at his feet.

That's the proper response when we're confronted with the majesty and the holiness of God. That seems to be an element missing or lacking amongst us today. I'm not picking on anybody here, just suggesting that if we have a proper understanding of who God is, it should shape that approach to God and it should cause us to meditate upon and think through the language of Jesus that God is spirit and those who worship must worship in spirit and truth. It ought to cause us to reflect on what we find in Deuteronomy chapter 4, governing Old Covenant worship, that we see repeated in Hebrews chapter 12, governing New Covenant worship, that our God is a consuming fire. Remember Ananias and Sapphira? That's a New Covenant passage there in Acts chapter 5.

They lied to the Holy Ghost. They lied to God. What happened? God killed them. Now, perhaps if we saw God killing people, we'd fear a little bit more than we typically do, but let's not let it get to that point. Perhaps we can just fear Him. So the experience of terror, I would argue, is very consistent with their recognition of the theophany. In other words, when you see God, you respond accordingly or appropriately.

So note verse 25, Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more, then we shall die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived? That is good logic. First, they state their fear, verse 25, and then they give the rationale for it in verse 26. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire as we have and lived?

It's like they're surprised. And I would suggest they're surprised first for a very basic reason, the creator-creature distinction. The creator is in a different category. We have bad theology if we reckon that God's just a better, excellent version of man. He's not. He's in a different chain of being. He's in a different category. It's even inappropriate to say that God is special. Because it seems, then, that there's a genus of God, and the God that we happen to love is special amongst that. There's no genus God. There's no genus Creator. There is God. There is Creator. I mean, He is special, to be sure. Experientially, we know that. He's gracious. He's kind. He's loving. But if we are speaking definitionally, God is. That's it.

And so when it comes to this, we need to understand there is a distinction between the creator and the creature. It's not that we just ascend man and then angel and then God. No, God is wholly other. Man and angel have much in common. We're created by God. Nothing created God. There's nothing outside of God that put God together. From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. There never was a time when there wasn't God. There never will be a time when there isn't God. God simply is.

And understanding that as creatures ought to put us in our proper frame. We ought to fear as a result of that. But then you add another component to that. We're sinful creatures. We've transgressed his law. We've lacked conformity unto it. We have forgotten him.

There's a place in the prophet Jeremiah where God is indicting the covenant people, specifically the tribe of Judah, and he says, you turned to me the back and not the face. What does that mean? You turned your back on me. The Apostle Paul in Romans 1, when he's talking or condemning the Gentiles for their sin, who did not even want to retain the knowledge of God in their thoughts.

That's simply unacceptable. God made us. God is our creator. Not only that, we are sinful creatures, and I think that's what they're getting at. Not only are we creatures, but we're sinful creatures. We are in the presence of this God. We, in all likelihood, should just die.

John Owen made this observation, and it's kind of the same, but it's different, because this was a manifestation of special revelation, God specially revealing himself to his people through his audible word. But Owen's talking about what men see in general revelation. It's not even the audible voice of God, but it's the phenomena, it's the effects, it's the situations that may perplex them. He says, when men are under any dreadful providence, thunderings, lightnings, tempests, and darkness, they tremble, not so much at what they see or hear or feel as from their secret thoughts that God is nigh and that He is a consuming fire.

I suspect he's right. I suspect that everybody in a time of calamity gets that vibe. They get that feeling. They know of a truth. They're not an atheist. They know of a truth. There's no evolution. They know of a truth that there is a God and that He is a consuming fire.

And Christopher Wright Notices the irony of this situation. You got to appreciate the irony of the situation. He says, there is some irony in the fact that these people fear they will perish merely by being in the presence of God, when in later years they blatantly flout God's covenant with no such fear. Too bad this didn't occur.

Well, that's what God says in verse 29, Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me always and always keep all my commandments. Yeah, this is short lived. Unfortunately, the base of Sinai. leads them ultimately to chapter 32 when they build the calf and they dance around it and they worship it and they ascribe that it was the calf that brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

So again, there are times and seasons where we rightly fear and we rightly reverence God, but we need to pray that it lasts and that it's longing in terms of our relationship to Him. And I would suggest the implication of the situation, as I already mentioned, the Church needs to capture something of this. Church is great, the social dynamic, the fellowship of the saints, the actual liturgy, the things that we engage in, but the reality is that Christ is in the midst of the lampstands, according to Revelation chapter 1. God Most High dwells with His people in this new covenant arena, very much specifically in the Church of the Lord Jesus. That ought to cause us to take pause in terms of any frivolity or any, you know, levity that we might express in the worship of God.

We need to capture something of this. And notice again, God confirms this in verse 29, oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments. This isn't just associated with law. Psalm 130 verse 4, but there is forgiveness with you that you may be what? That you may be feared. That is legit and consistent with New Covenant ethics. That is legit and consistent with New Covenant forgiveness. That is legit and consistent with the New Covenant gospel. It's not the case that now in this gospel era, it's only ever joy and love. It's joy, it's love, no doubt.

Sunday night, we're going to consider Philippians chapter 4. God commands us to be joyful. Can you imagine that? What religion out there commands you to be happy? You've got to be happy. Okay. I mean, I don't know why we struggle with it, but I know I do. I need to be more joyful.

God commands that, but joy and love and gratitude, all that is very much consistent with the fear of the Lord. That's biblical. That's what we see here. Notice then, in the third place, continuing this section, verse 27, the request for Moses. Note their recognition.

They need a mediator. They can't wander into the presence of this God. They're not going to wander up atop Mount Sinai and sit down and have a coffee with this God. No, no, we need mediation. Moses is functioning typically here. The law came through Moses, but grace and truth comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, John 1, 16 and 17. Now, he's not saying there was no grace and truth at the time of Moses, and he's not saying there's no love at the time of Jesus, but he is saying that in terms of covenant, old covenant characterized by law, new covenant characterized by grace. Again, not that there were no grace in the old, not that there's no law in the new, but by, you know, macrocosmic levels. So they recognize their need for a mediator. They say, you, Moses, go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say.

Again, I think that flows from a proper fear of the Lord. Why the priesthood? It's how the priesthood functioned, right? You just wander in and get your animal, cut its throat and wander up to the altar and start burning away. No, you need mediation, you need representation, you need somebody set apart for that particular activity, for that particular task. You cut the throat, you hand it to the priest, he does his thing and offers it up to Yahweh. We need a mediator.

That's what they understand in verse 27. You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it. Again, we will hear and do it. We know they don't. You know, spoiler alert, I'm sure you've all read the Old Testament. They don't make good on this. In fact, they miserably, drastically fail over and over and over and over again. But there is a big difference here covenantally. We will hear and do it.

What's the new covenant? It is finished, John 19, 30. That's the beauty. Christ is the covenant keeper. Christ is the law keeper. Christ is the surety of a better covenant. Westminster Larger Catechism asks the simple question, with whom is the covenant of grace made? Probably not gonna find it. Oh yeah, with whom was the covenant of grace made? The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam, and in him all the elect as his seed.

So in the New Covenant, we're not saying, we will hear and do it. Jesus says, I will hear and do it. That's why he says several times in John's Gospel, I always do the will of my Father. My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me. I always do what is pleasing to the Father.

He's the true Israel of God, the true champion, the law keeper, the one who finishes for us the work of redemption. Again, that doesn't mean we get converted and we can live like the devil. Normative use of the law, we're converted, we've got the spirit now, how do we walk? We walk according to that pattern given to us in the Decalogue. Now, notice God's response. We see that in verses 28 to 31. Again, Moses is reviewing historically what happened at the base of Sinai. So, God approves their request. Notice in verse 28, then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you.

They are right in all that they have spoken. They should die in my presence. They should be obliterated. They should be wiped out. They have seen my majesty. They have seen my greatness. And they do need a mediator. He approves. He says absolutely, positively. They're right on. which indicates that if they were right on in that old covenant setting that they were swearing fidelity to when they couldn't do it, us in the new covenant community who have the surety of a better covenant, who has carried it out, we ought to have these sorts of responses consistent with our response to God. Are we gonna get a bullet through the wall here? I hope not. I hope it's a firecracker. That sounded a bit more like a... Okay. Firecracker?

God approves their request in verse 28, but then notice the approbation of their fear in verse 29. Oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments that it might be well with them and with their children forever. Now when we talk about the fear of God, I think it's helpful to define. Go back to Exodus chapter 20.

I think we understand what fear means. You're perhaps afraid of a bear or of a lion, which I think is relative. I'm not afraid of a bear if it's in a zoo. I'm afraid of a bear if I'm running through the woods and he's on my heels. There's some fears that are just relative. I'm afraid of falling from a great height, but I don't think about that. If I'm standing at a great height and I look over, that's a bit fearful. So fear can be relative, but fear can be basic, instinctual.

There's certain things we're probably just afraid of. Well, with reference to God, there's two types of fear that theologians speak concerning. There's a filial and there's a servile. Servile refers to servant or slave, slavish fear, this kind of fear where we run and we hide, whereas filial refers to relationship, father and son. We see, we fear, but we run to, right? We run to God. Adam and Eve, they feared, they ran. They ran away from God. They hid amongst the trees. That's the slavish or servile fear.

Well, I think this comes out very clearly after the giving of the law in Exodus chapter 20, specifically at verse 20. And Moses said to the people, do not fear, for God has come to test you and that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin. I think the only way you get that is by those two definitions. Do not fear like a slave or a servant where you run off. Don't fear like a slave or a servant that hides under the piano, but rather come near because God is gonna put his fear before you. In the prophet Jeremiah chapter 32, God again, speaking of new covenant reality, says, I will put my fear in their hearts. John Newton, amazing grace, was grace that taught my heart to fear. So there's the type of fear that runs from God and hides from him, and there's the type of fear of God that runs to God and hides in him.

I'm going to argue that a bit of both is probably the best. In other words, it's good to have that running to God and hiding in Him, but never forgetting the reality that He is, in fact, a consuming fire. We ought not to devoid fear of that reality that we owe Him reverential awe. Remember Jesus in Matthew chapter 10 at verse 28. Don't fear those who can kill the body and then are basically done, but rather fear Him who has the power to kill both body and soul in hell. That seems to me to be that that filial fear, that good kind of fear, ought not to be completely devoid of a bit of shaking and quaking in His presence. There's nothing wrong with that.

In fact, Murray, John Murray, makes this observation. He says the fear of God, he describes it as the soul of godliness. I quite like that. He also wrote, the fear of God in us is that frame of heart and mind which reflects our apprehension of who and what God is, and who and what God is will tolerate nothing less than total commitment to him. That's good. Flavel says, this fear of God is a gracious habit or principle planted by God in the soul, whereby the soul is kept under and holy awe of the eye of God, and from thence is inclined to perform and do what pleases him, and to shun and avoid whatsoever he forbids and hates.

It is planted in the soul as a permanent and fixed habit to fear man as natural, but to fear God is wholly supernatural. Supernatural. And back in our text, 528, Oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments. In other words, fear produces obedience.

Not fear itself, but the fact that a man is in that proper disposition before God, sees God as majestic and great and glorious, has a proper shaking and quaking before him, that fear of God can be very helpful then for us to say, let's follow this Lord because he's awesome and he has the ability to kill both body and soul and throw it into hell. This is consistent again with New Covenant Christianity, 2 Corinthians 7, 1. Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Perfecting holiness in what? The fear of God. Yes, that filial fear. T'was grace that taught my heart to fear. I will put my fear into their hearts.

Jeremiah 32, I think it's in verse 40 specifically. And then God speaks specifically to their situation. He instructs Moses to function as the mediator to go and tell them, return to your tents. And then he says to Moses in verse 31, but as for you stand here by me and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes and the judgments, which you shall teach them. excuse me, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess." So the mediatorial office of Moses is not just recognized by God, but ordained by God. Tell them to return to their tents, you stay here with me Moses, I'm going to give you all that I'm going to have you speak to them throughout Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and all throughout Deuteronomy. You're going to instruct them in the moral law, for sure, we just did that, and then the ceremonial and the judicial law, and the various ways that they need to function as the old covenant people of God in the land that I am giving them. So, all that they had said, the Lord approves of.

And then it brings us finally to the instruction of Moses. Notice, he tells them, you need to obey. Verse 32, therefore you shall be careful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you.

It's good instruction. Moses functions well as a mediator. And that's the demand of the law. Never forget, they're under a covenant of words. They swore fidelity at Exodus 24, all that Yahweh has commanded we will do. They say the same thing here in verse 27. And Moses then tells them in terms of this particular covenantal arrangement, you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. I think there's another attribute of the law here and another attribute of the Word of God discussed in our confession in chapter one, paragraph seven.

We call it perspicuity, which simply means it's clear. Perspicuity, simply means it's clear. Notice, Moses says, you shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, which seems to indicate, you can understand this, This ain't out of your wheelhouse. There's nothing here that's gonna be a shock or a surprise. There's nothing here that's gonna blow your mind. You need to follow God in these particular things.

And then the blessing of obedience for them, verse 33, you shall walk, I'm sorry, verse 33b, that you may live and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess." So this life that they had feared was in jeopardy at the very revelation of God's word via the theophany at Sinai, Moses assures them, obey God, you'll live. Obey God, you're going to possess the land that God has sworn to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You get to the prophet, or the book rather, of Joshua, the latter part of the book is on retaining the land.

How do you think that's going to be? Because you're better with military savvy? No, it's going to be faithfulness to God. It's unfaithfulness that is the result, or rather results in their exile from the land. So in this particular section, we see the glory of the revelation of God. We see all those attributes ascribed to the law, specifically in 522. The necessity of the fear of God.

Turn to Proverbs. We'll close here in just a moment. But Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1. What's the prerequisite to learning the wisdom of God? It's the fear of God. The necessary prerequisite is in 1-7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. And lo and behold, this fear of God comes up often in the book of Proverbs. Look at 3-7. Proverbs chapter 3 at verse 7. Do not be wise in your own eyes.

Fear the Lord and depart from evil. So in 529, it's fear the Lord and obey all that God commands you. Same emphasis here. Fear the Lord, depart from evil. In other words, do all that the Lord commands you. Look at 813. 813, the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate.

1027. The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. Proverbs 14, 2. He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him. 14, 26. In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will have a place of refuge. 16.6. In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity and by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil. And then again in 19.23. 19.23.

The fear of the Lord leads to life and he who has it will abide in satisfaction. He will not be visited with evil. So when it comes to that fear that we see at the base of Sinai, it's not bad. It's consistent with the revelation of God's Word. It's consistent with the manifestation of God's power and majesty and glory. And it is, as Murray says, the soul of godliness.

And I think that a good reading of Deuteronomy 5, the entirety of the Pentateuch actually, well, the entirety of the Old Testament, should give us great newfound gratitude for the Lord Jesus Christ. He did what they failed to do. He did what they didn't do. He was that law keeper, that perfect one who always did the will of the Father. Well, let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for these commandments. We thank you for this book of Deuteronomy and for the great things it teaches us. concerning you, concerning your glory, your power, and Lord, give us ears to hear these things, give us grace, God, to apply them in our own hearts and lives, and we thank you that we have not just the Old Testament, but the New Testament, and the revelation of the incarnate word, that one who declares the Father himself. Pray that you'd go with us now, watch over all the brothers and the sisters in our local church, and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. Any questions or comments on any of that material? In case our brother was wrong, maybe dock when you walk outside as you