What the Lord Requires of Us. (Deuteronomy 10: 12-22)

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Study Notes: "What the Lord Requires of Us" (Deuteronomy 10:12-22)

Introduction

• Life is filled with requirements: school, jobs, etc.
• Scripture also outlines requirements for a relationship with God.
• In the New Testament the emphasizes is on salvation through faith, not works.

After Salvation: Further Requirements

• To have things go well, additional requirements exist beyond initial faith.

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

• Question: "What does the Lord your God require of you?"
• Requirements listed:
  • Fear the Lord your God
  • Walk in His ways
  • Love Him
  • Serve Him with all your heart and soul
  • Keep His commandments and statutes

Emphasis on Love and Obedience

• Total allegiance and obedience to God lead to well-being.
• Repeated Motif: "That it may be well with you" is a recurring motivation for obedience in Deuteronomy.
• 1 John 4:19: We love God because He first loved us.
• The core requirement: Love God.

Deuteronomy 10:14-15

• Verse 14: Everything in heaven and earth belongs to God.
• Verse 15: God's love and choice of Israel emphasize His love as the foundation.
• Requirement: Love God because He loves you.

Deuteronomy 10:16

• Command: "Circumcise the foreskin of your heart."
• Meaning: Remove barriers to loving God fully.
• Be stiff-necked no longer: Stop being stubborn and resistant.

Greatest Commandment: Love

• Matthew 22: Jesus states the greatest commandment is to love God.
• Deuteronomy 6: Emphasizes loving God with all heart, soul, and strength.

Rationale for Obedience

• Verse 17: God is the supreme, mighty, and just ruler.
• Verses 17-18: Reasons to obey God include His just and merciful nature.
• Illustration: God's care for the helpless shows His character.

Response to God's Love

• Verse 19: Love the stranger, reflecting God's love and compassion.
• Application: Loving others is a natural extension of loving God.

James 2: Parallel Passage

• James 2: Echoes Deuteronomy's call for mercy and love over partiality.
• Works of love: Feeding and clothing the needy as acts of mercy.

Final Instructions

• Verses 20-21: Fear, serve, and hold fast to God. Praise Him for His deeds.
• Verse 22: Remember God's faithfulness to His promises.

Summary

• Central Requirement: Love the Lord.
• Why?
  • Because of who God is.
  • Because of what He has done.
  • Because it benefits us.
• Application for Israel: Faithfulness in the Promised Land.
• Application for Believers: Living a life rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Conclusion

Loving God and others is e

Transcript

What the Lord Requires of Us. (Deuteronomy 10:12-22)

Transcript. 

Life is filled with requirements. If you think back to your childhood, there were requirements to get into school, requirements to stay in school, and eventually, requirements to graduate if you went to university.

Then, once you get a job, there were requirements to get the job, to keep the job, and to get promoted. Everywhere you turn, there are requirements laid before us, and upon us.

So, it’s not surprising that Scripture tells us God has some requirements for us as well. Did you know there is a set of requirements that God has established for having a relationship with Him.

One of the most well-known is found in  one of the most famous verses in the bible, John 3:16 says,

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Christ died to pay for our sins, was resurrected from the dead, and all we have to do to get to heaven is to trust in Him. 

We’re told plainly and repeatedly in the New Testament that we’re given the gift of eternal life, and it’s not by works; it’s solely through faith. 

So, is that all God requires of us? 

Well to get to heaven, the answer is yes, that is all that is required.

But what about after that? Why does God require of us once we have eternal life? 

And what do we receive if we meet these requirements?

There are many passages that address this, but today, we’re as you know in the book of Deuteronomy, which speaks to this subject in a significant way. 

And that is what we are going to look at today in today’s episode of TBPDP.

What the Lord Requires of Us?

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday.

Chapter 10, verse 12 says, 

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?”

(Deuteronomy 10: 12)

This passage begins by asking, “What does the Lord your God require of you?” 

Then from verse 12 through verse 16, we find the requirements we could say requirements plural, that God set for Israel. And 

Now, let’s keep this clear. The requirement to get to heaven is faith. 

But if you want things to go well for  you—if you want things to be “for your good”—there are other things you need to do, and these verses spell them out. 

So, let’s go through them and pick out the verbs in verse 12:

Fear the Lord your God

Walk in all His ways

Love Him

Serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul

Keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes

So, there it is: fear, walk, love, serve with all your heart, and keep His commandments—all for your good.

In other words, God expects total allegiance and obedience to Him. 

And this is all so that it may be well with you—that it may be good for you.

That phrase, “that it may be well with you,” or “for your good,” is mentioned eight times in the book of Deuteronomy and is given as a motivation to be obedient.

The other commands flow from that. You might put awe and respect first, but out of that flows love, thereby you are able to walk with Him, serve Him, and obey Him.

That’s the requirements—not to get to heaven, but for things to be good for you.

Now, look at verse 14:

“Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.”

That phrase “the highest heavens” is likely an idiom of some kind, it’s essentially saying the totality of heaven. This verse is simply reminding us that everything belongs to the Lord—everything in heaven and on earth.

Now, look at verse 15:

“The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.”

The Lord loved you. “He chose your ancestors and delighted in them.” This is what makes me think that the real emphasis in this passage is first and foremost on love. God loved you, and so He is saying, “You love Him.”

1 John 4:19 says, “We love Him because He first loved us.” 

So, verses 12 and 13 tell us we are to love Him, and verse 15 tells us that He loved us. And based on 1 John 4:19, in the New Testament,  I’m going to say that we love Him because He first loved us. 

So, what is the first requirement? Answer: That we love Him.

Verse 16 then says.

“Therefore, circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.” 

That’s an interesting expression—“circumcise your heart.” But it’s in the Bible, so let’s think about into it.

What in the world does that mean? I scratched my head when I first read this. The first thing I then did was consult some scholars who are more knowledgeable than I am, here's how they explained it:

One scholar says it means to separate yourself from sin. Other put it slightly differently but all of these explanations seemed to centre on the idea of obedience in one way or another.

Then I found another commentator, highly respected by everyone, who says that circumcising your heart means to lay aside all hardness and submit your self to the idea, the character, of God's love. 

I like that. And I like it for this reason.

I think it suggests to me the idea of removing some kind of covering over the heart. Because the unregenerate heart is insensitive to the person of God 

I like that because it fits the flow of the passage. 

The central message here is to love the Lord, so there could be things covering the heart that prevent you from doing just that. The command is to remove those barriers, and the metaphor used is the removal of the foreskin..

And, the latter part of verse 16 says.

“Be stiff-necked no longer.”

Now, this clearly refers to being disobedient. One scholar noted that it naturally speaks need for the posture of the human heart to be corrected.

In other words, don’t be stubborn or persist in your obstinate resistance to God.

The idea here is to love the Lord and remove anything that might block your sensitivity to Him. 

In the entirety of Scripture, the greatest commandment is to love the Lord.

Remember the passage in Matthew 22, where a lawyer asked Jesus, “What is the greatest commandment?” And Jesus replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” He added, “This is the first and great commandment.”

The first reason this is the greatest commandment is that God initiated a relationship of love with the nation of Israel.

Another reason I conclude that this is the greatest commandment is that the most significant passages in the entire book is in chapter 6, when we heard Moses declare: 

“The Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” 

This passage here today, in chapter 10, to me seems to echo that message.

While other commands—like fearing, obeying, and serving—are certainly important, I believe that first and foremost, based on what Jesus said, the command is to love the Lord your God.

Now, remember what verse 13 said:

“If do this it may be well with you.”

This isn’t about going to heaven; it’s about bringing a taste of heaven to earth during our time on earth. 

It’s good for you, so make sure you love the Lord. From that love flows reverence for Him, which is part of what “fearing” Him means. And from that love, you walk with Him, you obey Him, and you serve Him—all because you love Him. That is the requirement.

That’s the first thing this passage does, states the requirement . 

The second thing it does is give us the rationale for meeting that requirement.

Look at verse 17:

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”

Interesting, isn’t it? Look at the first word of verse 17—“For.” 

If you’ve been listening to me for any time at all, you know that I often say when you see the word “for” at the beginning of a verse, it means, God is going to explain to you what He has just said.” 

So, verses 17 and 18 the reason why you should meet the requirement we’ve just been discussing.

The first part of this passage outlines the requirement, and verses 17 and 18 provide the rationale, the reason, if you will.

So, what is that reason? Well, in context, the reason Israel should stop being stubborn and rebellious is that “The Lord your God is the God of gods, the great God, the mighty God, the awesome God.” 

In other words, Israel isn’t dealing with some mere local deity; they are dealing with the God of the whole universe.

Let me make this simple: Why should you stop being rebellious, start being sensitive, love the Lord, obey Him, walk with Him, and serve Him? Because He happens to be the God of the universe, and all creation—that’s why!

Everything belongs to Him—from the highest heavens to all the earth. Why should you do this? Because of who He is—that’s why.

“Who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe.”

These are other reasons to obey God. He is also a just judge who shows no partiality and doesn’t take bribes. Also, “He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.”

So, the justice of God is shown in the mercy of God. He administers justice is a fair way.

The reason you should love the Lord and quit being stubborn and rebellious is because of “Who He is, “And because of what He does.”

He shows no partiality, takes no bribes, administers justice, and particularly, He cares for the helpless, like the fatherless and the widows. This further illustrates His character and highlights His requirement for Israel to be just as well.

Verses 17 and 18 give us the reason why we should love the Lord, and it's because of who He is and what He does. 

Okay, let’s now move to the third part of this passage. We’ve discussed the requirement to love the Lord, and we’ve seen the reason why—because of who God is and what He does, how he particularly His cares for the vulnerable.

The third part of this passage outlines the response we should have because of all this.

Look at verse 19:

“Therefore, love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” 

Did you catch that? God loves widows and the fatherless, and now He says, “Here’s your response: love the stranger.”

We started with the requirement: Love the Lord. Who is He? He’s the God of the universe, but He’s also compassionate. So, what should our response be? Be like Him—love Him.

I’m fascinated by this: God is love. He loves you. You love God. And that means you love others. Remember that passage where Jesus said the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart? Do you recall the second commandment? “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Then someone smartly asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?” Remember what Jesus did next? He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. 

He talked about a man who was beaten and left for dead in an alley. A priest walked by, a Levite walked by—they all just kept going. But a Samaritan, whom the Jews despised, stopped, tended to the man’s wounds, took him to an inn, and paid for his care. He even told the innkeeper, “If you need more money, let me know, and I’ll cover it.”

So, who is your neighbour? Anyone in need that you can help. 

Clearly, we can’t meet every need we see, but when we can, Iweshould.

As I meditated on this passage in Deuteronomy, it suddenly occurred to me—, I wonder if James was thinking about this passage when he wrote his New Testament letter.

Let’s turn to James for a second. James chapter 2. In this chapter, James essentially says,

 “Don’t show partiality.” In verse 1, he writes, “Brothers and sister, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.” 

That sounds a lot like what we’ve seen in Deuteronomy, where it says the Lord doesn’t show partiality. 

And by the end of that passage, he says in verse 12: “So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”

What’s the law of liberty? Love, right? So, don’t be biased, don’t be prejudiced, just express the love of God to everyone. 

In verse 13, James writes, 

“For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” 

He’s clearly talking about the judgment seat of Christ, where we will stand before the Lord and be judged.

What he’s discussing now is the reward we will receive in the Kingdom. You want to know the question that will be asked of us that day  is did you live a life of love, liberty, mercy, and compassion—because those things triumph over judgment. 

You pass the exam at the judgement seat of Christ if that’s how you’ve lived your life.

But what does that really mean? Let’s get specific. Verse 14 asks, 

“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?”

Now, hold on—what are we talking about here? Profit. We’re talking about the Judgment Seat of Christ. So, what profit is there at the Judgment Seat if someone says they have faith but doesn’t have works? What do we mean by “works”? Look at the previous verse—James is talking about acts of mercy and love. That’s what he means by works.

Some people come to this passage and think, that means you have to have good works to be saved? But hold on. If you know anything about the New Testament, you understand that the word “saved” can mean different things depending on the context. 

In the book of James, it appears five times, and not once is it ever talking about being saved from damnation. 

Here, James in context is talking about being saved from the damage you could experience if you don’t have acts out a life where you express mercy and love .

What profit is there if you have faith but lack love and mercy? Faith will get you to heaven, but it won’t save you from the consequences of living that way as will be expressed by Jesus at the judgment of Christ. 

Where James just tells us, “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” 

Now, look at verse 14 & 15, in James 2 again:

“If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?”

James is saying, “Be merciful. Have works but works of love.” 

But what specifically are the works of love? 

Some people comes to this passage and beat people over the head with the idea that works are necessary for salvation, which isn’t the point James makes at all. Try and get these people to define what those works are.

They might say things like it means going to church, reading your Bible, going to confession or even tithing, things like that.

But in context, the works James is talking about are acts of mercy and love, specifically feeding the hungry and clothing the vulnerable.

What struck me is how this ties back to Deuteronomy. There, God talks about providing food and clothing to the widows, and then He commands us to love strangers. That is what is going to profit you at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 

Remember, we started this passage by saying you ought to love the Lord because that’s what’s good for you. If you love the Lord, you’re going to love other people also which is good for them.

The fact is, you can’t truly love the Lord without loving others. And if you love the Lord, that will be good for you now and at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 

That’s the central message of this passage.

But there’s more. We’ve got a couple more verses to look at in Deuteronomy. In verse 20, Moses says.

“You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast and take oaths in His name.”

(Deuteronomy 10: 20)

Now, this is a repetition of what we saw earlier in the passage—fear the Lord and serve Him—but he adds, “hold fast to Him.” 

Earlier, we saw the phrase “walk with Him,” but now it’s about clinging to Him. The Hebrew word for “hold fast” means to cling, stick, stay close, follow closely, be joined to—don’t wander away, all of the above

Then in verse 21, Moses says.

“He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen.” 

(Deuteronomy 10: 21)

We’ve seen a whole bunch of commands so far, but now, Moses says to add praise to that list. Why? Because we should remember and praise the things you’ve seen God do.

What things? Look at verse 22: 

“Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.” 

Well in the time Moses wrote this he is reminding them of how God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the sand on the seashore and the stars in the heavens. And now Moses says, “You’ve seen God fulfil that promise in us as a nation. 

So, one of the great reasons you should praise the Lord is because He’s faithful to His promises. You’ve seen Him fulfil His promises, so this is further encouragement to be faithful to the Lord.

Let me try and sum this up. 

It’s critical to understand that Moses starts by saying, “This is what the Lord requires of you.” That’s the overarching theme of this entire passage. Then he details what the Lord requires: fear, serve, walk, keep, and most importantly, love.

Love is the emphasis of this passage.

When you put it all together, the requirement is to love the Lord. Dig a little deeper, and that requirement extends to loving the stranger. Why should you do all of this? Because of who God is, because of what He’s done, and because it’s what’s best for you. 

In the context of Deuteronomy, that means for Israel when they enter the Promised Land. 

For us, it means living the rest of our lives on earth in a way that will be rewarded at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Loving the Lord and expressing that love by loving others is what’s best for us.

Isn’t this an amazing passage? 

As we’ve gone through Deuteronomy, we saw in chapter 8 the impossibility of self-dependence, in chapters 9 through 10:11, we were warned about the danger of spiritual pride, and now Moses is saying that Israel ought to be totally committed to the Lord , for the reasons he has just given. 

If we do this, we’ll begin to understand that God loves us, and the best thing avoid this stubborn attitude all we can do is to love and obey Him by living in the light of this knowledge.

Isn’t that what it’s like with God? He’s all-powerful, but that power is available for our benefit. 

We can be stiff-necked and stubborn, but when we experience the Lord’s discipline, we can still choose to see behind it anall-powerful, all-loving Father, and that makes us want to love Him even more. 

After all, that’s what is required of us, so that it may be well with us in the future..