By the Grace of God

 

There are more laws here in Deuteronomy 25. One section is about a man taking his dead brother’s wife to give her a son if she didn’t have one yet to carry on the family name.

We saw that law play out in the story of Judah and Tamar.

The Israelites are commanded to not cheat each other. Having two kinds of weights means having unfair weights, where one is lighter and the other heavier so that you can use the one that works in your favor.

I know these laws can feel tedious, especially when we’ve seen them before in other places, in other ways. But God does things on purpose and for a purpose.

Did you know that Jesus quoted Deuteronomy more than any other book?

When Jesus faced Satan in His temptation after His forty-day fast, all those verses He quoted to stand against Satan were from Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy takes place when they are just about to enter into the promised land. They have come so far; they just need to cross over.

Don’t come so far and then not cross over.

The beginning of Deuteronomy is about God’s grace, how gracious He has been to Israel.

At the end of Deuteronomy, we will again read about God’s grace.

These laws are encompassed by grace.

We follow God’s law by grace, not as works as a means to salvation.

Obeying God’s law by loving God and loving others is our reflection of His grace in our lives, our response to the grace shown us.

And absolutely everything we have is by grace.