Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Peor; for the Lord your God has destroyed from among you all the men who followed Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. (Deuteronomy 4:3-4)
In previous verses God, through Moses, admonished the people to carefully consider what was commanded and to avoid adding to His Word or removing from it. The reason for this admonition was that they may live and not die and that they might cross the river to possess the land. To accentuate the importance of this, Moses reminded the people that those who had disobeyed were dead — their bodies scattered through the wilderness. Those that held fast to God’s commands were still alive and preparing to cross into Canaan. It can’t get any plainer than that.
We can conclude, then, that those who were alive were the people who had been diligent to “keep” or “guard” these commands. That means they did not add to His Word or diminish any part of it. That is a powerful statement considering that this is, to this day, the most reliable tactic employed by the Adversary against God’s people. Getting people to ignore God’s instruction is what his agent, Balaam, used to provoke Israel to stumble in the sin of Baal Peor. It worked then because it has worked from the beginning of time. When he told Eve, “You will not surely die because you will be like God” (Genesis 3:4), he subtracted from and then added to what the Almighty said. She bought it and then encouraged her husband to join her in the deception. When man took and then ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, sin and death entered into this world.
As for us in this day and time, we need to seriously consider the stark reality of the decision before us — obey and live or disobey and die. I realize that some find that a bit unfair and heavy handed, however, I would suggest that is because of how they choose to view the world. In other words, there are people who don’t want boundaries or rules — they want to do what they want to do but without consequences. Sorry, but it doesn’t work that way. Either you choose the path that leads to life or the one that renders destruction. And so, let us make certain that we are on the straight and narrow, the one and only road that leads to blessing and life. If we do, we shall live and will possess the land.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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