Week 16: Deuteronomy 14:3 – 26 and Psalms 106 – 112

A reoccurring theme in this week’s passages from Deuteronomy could be summed up in this way…

When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall purge the evil from your midst.

The book of Deuteronomy is made up of a series of sermons that Moses delivered to the people of Israel before they made their official move into the promised land.  I have heard Moses’ instructions in Deuteronomy compared to the speeches a parent might give to their child as they are about to head off to college.  Moses knew he would not be with the people as they crossed the Jordan to take possession of the land.  He would not be there to help them solve the issues they would run into.  Over and over in these passages, Moses reminded the people of who they were, to whom they belonged, and how God was instructing them to live.

In all of the “miscellaneous laws” covered in this week’s reading, Moses addressed the whole gamut of potential scenarios that could arise and how to appropriately handle them.  While the various topics may seem random and peculiar to us, all that Moses said would have been very practical and applicable to his original audience.  I imagine that each of the topics he addressed were real life situations that had occurred at one point or another in his time of leadership.  Moses had sought the LORD on how to handle each of the cases as they arose.  There was no protocol for him to follow as issues played themselves out.  Case by case, Moses had to go to the LORD and ask, “How in the world do we handle this one!?”

As Moses sought the LORD and how to lead God’s children through their “issues,” God faithfully instructed him.  In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit, shared all that the Lord had spoken.  The people of Israel would need those specific instructions to keep their hearts in check as they moved into the land of Canaan.

Staying true to the heart of his message, all of the laws concerning “purging the evil from their midst” were pointing the people back to Deuteronomy 6:4…To love the LORD their God with ALL of their hearts, souls and might….to love the LORD their God with their entire selves.  The laws God laid out in Deuteronomy were given to sanctify His people.  They were intended to expose their intentions and uproot underlying sin.  They were assigned in order to work His law into the very nooks and crannies of their hearts.

Just as with raising kids, as parents we have lots of “miscellaneous laws” and particular rules to deal with all the ways our kids try to skirt around full obedience.  There are “laws” in our homes to govern all the little ways they seek to justify rebellion and avoid blame.  (I don’t know about you, but the adults in our home are just as guilty of this as the children!)

The emphasis on purging the evil from their midst was fresh on my mind this week as my kids and I took on a gardening endeavor.  In our yard, we had a 5×5 foot garden plot that was completely overgrown with mint.  What is the deal with mint?!  It is absolutely unruly!  I assume someone had planted one little mint plant years ago as part of a lovely herb garden.  Once we moved in, there was no evidence of any herb except mint.  It had taken over every square inch of the plot and its roots were deep and relentless!  Unless we wanted to start a small mint tea business or a mint mojito stand on the side of the road, there was absolutely no way we could make use of all that mint!

My kids and I decided that we were going to take on the endeavor of uprooting all the mint so we could plant a wild flower garden in its place.  I had no idea it was going to require so much effort!  The mint roots were entangled and snarled and stubborn as anything! As soon as we thought we had gotten the area cleared out, we would find another root system buried deep below the surface.

As we worked our little garden plot, I explained to the kids that God is the Master Gardener of our hearts.  He faithfully uproots everything that chokes out the Life of Him within us and works to produce a beautiful garden of His glory.  The analogy intrigued them and they have continued to bring it up since that time (so precious!).

Laboring with the mint roots, the idea of purging evil from the midst of my own heart persisted in my mind.  In each of the places in Deuteronomy that Israel was instructed to “purge the evil,” it was something that they themselves needed to do.  God provided them with the laws to expose the evil, but it was up to them to purge it from their midst.   God would then do the sanctifying work of making them in to a holy nation, a people set apart as His special possession.

“This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and rules.  You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all you soul.  You have declared this day that the LORD is your God, and that you will walk in his ways…and will obey His voice.  And the LORD has declared today that you are a people for His treasured possession, as He has promised you…and that you shall be a people holy to the LORD your God, as He promised.”  Deuteronomy 26:16-19

Apart from Christ, the prospect of purging sin and obeying God’s voice with all of our heart and soul is a hopeless cause.  But, in Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, God invites us into His covenant gardening partnership.  He exposes the roots of sin and evil that go deep in our hearts.  He invites us to purge them, to uproot them with all the strength He has given us.  Then, God, according to His promise and His glorious grace, begins the work of Master Gardener in the soil of our hearts.  He does the sanctifying.  He makes us into the treasured possession, holy and glorious to the LORD our God.

God is interested in the soil of our hearts.  He is after the nooks and crannies.  As those bought with the blood of Jesus Christ, our hearts have been purchased, like a plot of land infested with invasive roots.  God invites us into a worthwhile gardening partnership with Him.  He exposes; we purge and uproot; and He goes to work transforming us from a mess of entangled and stubborn roots into a glorious garden, reflecting the image of Jesus.

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.  For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 3:18