What God Says

"Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." -Deuteronomy 4.1-2

As Israel prepares to enter the Promised Land God gives them instructions for them to live by so that they may enjoy the blessings that He has for them. He tells them that they are not to add to what God says, or to take away from it, but simply follow the commands that He gives them.

If we look all the way back to Genesis 3 we see both of these take place. When asked by the serpent what God said, "The woman said to the serpent, 'From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die."'" (Genesis 3.2-3) She adds words that God never said, making it seem as if He has limited them where He has not.

Adding words to what God has said allows the serpent to plant seeds of doubt, as he takes words away from God's commands. "The serpent said to the woman, 'You surely will not die!'" (Genesis 3.4) Now with God's commands tampered with the enemy works hard. He convinces them that God is holding back from them and then leads them to disobey God, bringing sin into the world and cursing it.

Here, God tells Israel to do just what He says. He isn't limiting them for enjoying the goodness that He has given, and so they need to not add words to His commands, (but they later did with the Mishnah). Adding words that God did not say put restrictions in place that God never intended and only keep us from fully enjoying His blessings. At the same time, we must never take words away from God's commands. When we do this we are in danger of taking His blessings too far and abusing them in sinful behavior.

Men, let us be careful to do what God has said. We don't need to be paranoid and put all these limitations that He never intended for us to have on ourselves. At the same time, we cannot neglect His commands because then we live life separated from Him.

May we always do what God says. Let us enjoy His blessings as He intended for us to.

"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

To God alone be the Glory!

Strength and Honor