If Israel should have said ‘no’ to God when presented with the Law, why did the Lord later say "They have well said all that they have spoken"?
Again, we must look at the context!
Deuteronomy 5:1-3
And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. The LORD made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Notice that Moses re-counts to the new generation of Israelites who are about to go into the promised land the Mosaic covenant that He gave them 40 years earlier in Exodus 19-20.
Notice also that Moses makes a point to say that this is not the covenant that God made with their fathers! Why? It was never the way that God wanted to deal with Israel! He wanted to deal with them based on the Abrahamic covenant—with the only condition being circumcising by faith!
And from that time on, God's relationship with Israel went from a close, intimate relationship based on the Abrahamic Covenant to one based on the Law!
Instead of letting them "live" eternally, in the land soley based on Abe's covenant, they now had to "do"/perform the Law of Moses in order to be accepted.
It is my belief that had they passed this test, God would not only have taken them right into the promised land, but He would have glorified them—giving them a new heart right away!
The Law of Moses not only had the statute of circumcision, but many other, hard to keep things!
Deuteronomy 5:27-28
Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it. And the LORD heard the voice of your words, when ye spake unto me; and the LORD said unto me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken.
Notice in verse 28, after giving them God's words, Moses reminds them that God "heard the voice of your words!"
What this means is that God will now hold them accountable to the Law and not just the Abrahamic circumcision.
When God said "they have well said," I don't see this meaning that it was good that they accepted His offer to be under the law! Rather I see that as Him saying "that now, since they were foolish enough to accept the Law, then they had better "keep it" and "do it" in order to live! And, if not, I am obligated to destroy them!
Had they not accepted the Law covenant and continued to relate to God under the Abrahamic Covenant, none of them would perish (as long as they circumcised)!
But God knew that by accepting this performance-based acceptance system, there would be children of Israel who would perish in unbelief, by not keeping it—i.e., offering the required sacrifices by faith. (Remember, once God bound Israel to the Law, He did, in His mercy, give them certain provisions (blood offerings) in order that they may live!)
But again, this is not how God desired to deal with that nation!
But don't stop at verse 28. Make sure you read the next verse as well.
Deuteronomy 5:29
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
Here God seems to sigh because He knows what Israel did not acknowledge, that they were sinners and could not keep all God's Word because their hearts were not right!
Instead of them asking God to deal with them as he dealt with Abe, Isaac, Jacob (i.e., without the Law), they set themselves up for failure by NOT remembering His Word to them...that is...to deal with them soley based on circumcising themselves!
That's the whole basis of the New Covenant—to free them from their mistake of accepting the Mosaic covenant! It would give them the right heart to obey all of God's righteous commandments...but He would have to do it for them.
Ezekiel 36:22-28
Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
Hopefully this
helps!
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