Consider “love” in the rest of the Pentateuch, the 2x in Joshua, and 5x in the days of the Judges.
· Ex. 20:6: God calls men to love Him. His mercy (chesed, lovingkindnesses) is accessed by our love for Him. This thought needs v3-6, that God is a jealous God, and will not share our love with other gods. Notice the connection between loving God and keeping His commandments. Jesus, the Son of God, called on the same love from His disciples (John 14:15). This is repeated in Dt. 5:10.
· Ex. 21:5 (and Dt. 15:16) gives a powerful illustration of the slave who loved his master and prefers to remain bound to his master (cf. Rom. 6:22).
· Leviticus calls for love of neighbor (19:18, the second greatest commandment, Mk. 12:31) and love for foreigners (19:34, because you were once strangers in Egypt). God loves foreigners, so you also need to love them (Dt. 10:18-19).
· “Love” appears 22x in Deuteronomy. The command to “love God” is in 6:5 but also in 10:12; 11:1,13,22; 19:9; 30:16,20 (choose life so you may love God). God permitted false prophets to be part of Israel’s national life so as to give people the opportunity to demonstrate their total love for Him (13:3). Joshua repeated these to the 2½ tribes and to the leaders of Israel (Josh. 22:5; 23:11).
· But also note: the command to “love God” is founded on the fact that God had loved the Patriarchs and their seed (4:37; 10:15). Look at the “love progression” in 7:8,9,13: God loved you and brought you out of Egypt; so love God and keep His commandments so that He will love you. God’s love for Israel was seen in turning Balaam’s curse into a blessing (23:5). Some have a false view of God, saying that the God of the OT was mean while the God of the NT was full of love. That is absolutely false. The inspiration for God’s people to love God in OT and NT alike is the same: we love Him because He first loved us (1 Jn. 4:19).
· God predicted Israel’s struggle to be faithful to Him. The Song of Moses (Dt. 32) shows this. The law proved their sin. But God did promise the New Covenant, the “circumcision of their hearts” so that they would be able to love God with all their heart and soul.
· You would expect that “love” would be a problem in the times of the Judges, since everyone did what was right in their own eyes. So, yes, Samson had “love” issues with his wife (14:16) and the harlot Delilah (16:4,15). However, Deborah knew about the blessing on those who loved God (5:31). And in that time was another great picture of God’s saving love, seen in the love of Ruth for Naomi (Ruth 4:15). Ruth sought Naomi's God, the God of Israel. She found God by loving Naomi.
No comments:
Post a Comment