“Moses holding the 10 Commandments” by Gustave Dore.
“Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.” Deuteronomy 11:1
The above verse is a clarion call to our service and duty as Christians to the call of the LORD our God–JEHOVAH–YHWH–Christ Jesus to have Godly Christian government. Pay attention to this verse and all of chapter 11 as a whole, it is not making a suggestion! This is our prescription for Godly government that will protect our liberty under God.
This is also a warning to each of us as a reminder that our forefathers witnessed the powerful hand of Almighty God and saw what he did to our enemies as it says in Deuteronomy 11:7. Verse 8 again iterates that we shall keep “all the commandments” so that we may “be strong” and “possess the land…” These are warnings that we don’t stray away from the Word of God so that we may continue to possess the land in which we currently have in our possession!
Our key verse Deuteronomy 11:1, begins with “thou shalt”, thereby making this a command to be obeyed and kept. To keep the command we must know what it entails and requires or thus be in violation of that command.
Take note this is written to the nation, the national government! It is to be enforced upon the people of the land. The nation and church has the duty of obedience to the Great I AM of the Bible and this verse capsulizes that succinctly, if we will understand and do all that it says.
We are first instructed to love, have an affection for and obey, the Almighty JEHOVAH himself, his person for who he is, which would naturally include his word. The Bible says he holds his word “above all his name” at Psalm 138:2. Whoa, that’s one of the four Keys to the Kingdom—and that’s powerful!
His name carries with it the understanding that he has ultimate authority! His name indicates he has the power, character, integrity and reputation to do whatever he says by keeping his Word. That is why today we pray in the “name”—the authority—of Jesus Christ, i.e., we pray according to his authority (John 15:16); we command healing in the authority of Jesus Christ (Acts 3:6); that’s why demons must come out when we act in authority of the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 16:18); and why baptism is done in the name or authority of Jesus Christ (Acts 10:48). God’s “name” is His authority and reputation! But, even greater, he says he holds his Word above all his name! So, pay attention to his Word and be sure to line up your thinking and behavior with the Word of the Heavenly King.
We are then instructed to “keep his charge”. Keeping his charge has the understanding of protecting and attending to preserve the truth of God. It also means for us to act as a guard or sentry in watching for violations to guide, steer and direct those who are wayward into, or back into, the truth.
Do you remember Korah, Dathan and Abiram? How they challenged the authority of God, his man Moses and his righteous governance? These three led a rebellion against the authority, or charge, of God by challenging Moses’ right to rule and stirring up the rest of the people to rebel also. It didn’t end so well for the rebellious ones when the earth opened and swallowed them up, and all their house into the center of the earth! And perhaps the earth swallowing them represents their decent into hell (Gehenna).
That rebellion, against God himself, threatened the ruin of the entire nation if they had followed Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. If the Almighty King himself had not opened the earth which swallowed them up, making a very impressive destruction of the evil doers, by crushing the rebellion and consuming the lawless alive, the Bible story would have ended there.
Instead, the righteous called upon the LORD and, acting under his authority, obeyed him. Thus they witnessed the destruction of the insurrection against the All Powerful and merciful God of the Bible. Amen.
Many of those who witnessed the event still didn’t understand the evil of Korah and company, and what had happened because of their rebellion, thus they murmured against their governor Moses. But, we must understand that the people were saved from the mischiefs of the insurrection as a great kindness and blessing in that he saved them alive even though their murmuring caused over 14,000 to die of a plague. Moses and Aaron made a covering for the altar from the brass censers carried by the lawless to commemorate the occasion.
We are next commanded to keep his statutes. What are statutes you ask? Statutes explain the law. They break down the law so that it is better understood and explained. These statutes are the testimonies of the LORD. Thus, as theologian Robert Hawker states, a testimony is “witness to some certain truth.” It would logically follow that the whole Bible is a testimony of the Almighty God of the Bible, JEHOVAH’S sovereign will, and; the Gospel, a special testimony of the riches of his grace in Christ Jesus to the church and people.
For example: statutes help define what is a violation of the law. The Sixth Commandment says, Thou shalt not kill. What does that mean? This commandment is talking about murder, not about going to war against an invader of your nation.
If a man was to kill an invader of his land or home, that is not murder—it is national defense or self defense! If a man was to accidentally murder someone through neglect, stupidity or carelessness that is a degree of murder. If the same man has a hatred for someone and seeks to get even, and kills a person, then that is a different degree of murder. The statute helps explain the degree of the law violation.
Then, we are commanded to keep the judgments. These judgments are to be handed down by the elders of the gate. The elders in the gate are the presiding elders, they are those we elect or choose to take care of the civil business of the city, county, state, and national affairs. Deuteronomy 1:13, says, “Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.” It also says at Exodus 18:21, “Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens…”
The elders are those wise and able men who fear God and the ones expected to exercise authority in the name—the authority—of the LORD using proper and righteous judgment of God’s law. This is the judicial system of the LORD.
The judicial system of the United States used to represent this Godly system at one time, but the US Judicial system has gone astray and is greatly eroded. They now follow many pagan judgments for many years, along with the corruption that goes with it. The Everlasting God will rule on the fate of these lawless rulers, judges and their families whether presidents, kings, or other, in days to come if not already with various rebellions, uprisings, plagues, confusion, and ills if those laws, statutes, and judgments are not restored.
Then, we are commanded to obey the Commandments. Every child must at minimum be taught the Commandments from birth to assure they will not stray from the truth of God’s Word. That assures that the nation and national adherence to the truth stays close to the Almighty.
“And ye shall not walk in the manners of the nation, which I cast out before you: for they committed all these things, and therefore I abhorred them.”—Leviticus 20:23
“For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea those nations shall be utterly wasted.”—Isaiah 60:22
The final word in our verse is the word “alway.” The word “alway” means all the time, all their and our days, and all the days of the children, grandchildren and great grands, etc. Alway is forever, and that with a zeal for the truth and love of our God.
Psalm 119 is replete with the testimonies of the LORD. It uses words there like: way, law, commandments, precepts, word, judgments, truth, faithfulness, statutes, and righteousness. It uses these words in every single verse except one. Check it out. These words speak of the LORD throughout, and we are to emulate him in all things “alway”! And alway intends us being zealous for the truth and righteousness. That is the lesson of the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram.
Psalms 119:139, says, “My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.”
“For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.”—Psalms 69:9
The word “zeal” as used here is defined by Matthew Henry in his Concise Commentary as “Zeal against sin should constrain us to do what we can against it, at least to do more in religion ourselves. Our love to the word of God is evidence of our love to God, because it is designed to make us partake his holiness.”
Commentator John Gill says in his Exposition of the Bible that Zeal for God and his glory, for his word and ordinances and worship “is a fervour of the mind, burning love, and flaming affections for God, shown in a holy indignation against sin and sinners.” Gill continues that this zeal is “according to knowledge, sincere and hearty” and that it continues unabated in “embracing and defending the truths of the word, and resenting every indignity cast upon them; to such a degree, that it ate up his spirit, wore away his flesh, and almost consumed him.”
Psalms 119:139b, says that “… mine enemies have forgotten thy words”. Gill comments that this forgetting was “not merely through an indifference to them, and inattention in hearing them; nor through want of an earnest heed to keep and retain them; nor through negligence in laying them up, and a carelessness in making use of proper means to recollect them; but through an aversion to them, an hatred of them, and a spiteful malicious contempt of them, casting them away and despising them; which stirred up the spirit of the psalmist, and raised such an emotion in him as was almost too much for him.”
WoW! Powerful words of scripture, and commentary from Bible scholars. The bottom line is this:
It is incumbent upon each of us to understand the commands to love the LORD thy God, and zealously keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments—“alway”! Why? So that we may enjoy the blessings on us and our children’s children—forever! And government is the only institution that can enforce laws, statutes and judgments! Thus righteous government comes primarily through two methods: 1) The current office holders repent, and obey. 2) The current office holders are replaced by men who will obey!
This article is based on a Bible teaching from July 14, 2019 by your publisher, Michael Reed
Michael Reed is Publisher of The Standard newspaper, print and online. You may find our videos available on Rumble. The bulk of TheStandardSC video media channel has been censored by dominant social media groups like YouTube. YouTube, owed by Alphabet (Google), removed and destroyed all of our video work without permission or remuneration. That has stopped all potential donations from our many supporters on that venue. If you want to continue to see independent thought and reports please “like”, comment, share with a friend, and donate to support The Standard on this page to assure the continued availability of news that is ignored too often by the dominant media.
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