Speaker A:
Today’s reading is from Deuteronomy 30:11–16.
Deuteronomy 30:11–16 (NIV)
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. 15 See, I set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws. Then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.
Tommy Branagh:
Thank you so much. Well, good morning and welcome to WCPC. My name is Tommy Branagh. I’m one of the pastors here, and I’m just delighted to be with you this morning, whether you’re with us in person or joining us online.
My first job in ministry was as a middle school pastor in the Chicago suburbs. And every fall I took our students to the Richardson family farm, which claims to have the world’s biggest corn maze. This is a picture of the corn maze, one of the years that we went. It is a celebration of 100 years of the Boy Scouts. And I don’t know if it’s actually the world’s biggest maze, but it’s a big maze. It’s 28 acres. It has 10 miles of trails.
And the year with that design, I went through the maze with two of my students, the Weissel Glads brothers, and we had so much fun running around, hitting dead ends, getting lost. It was everything a corn maze should be. But after a couple hours, we figured we should actually try and find our way out. And there are some lookout towers spread throughout the maze. So we found one, and we discovered that we were as far from the exit as we could possibly be.
And it was at this precise moment that a kid, had to be like 8 or 9 years old, came running up to us and said, “I know the way out. Follow me.” And mind you, this kid was not from our group. We did not know who he was or where he came from. But his confidence was so inspiring that with no hesitation, the Weissel Glads and I said, “Show us the way.” And he took off running and we tucked in behind him and this kid is crushing it, flying through the maze, left, right, right, left, straight, no hesitation.
And after maybe 10 minutes of following him, so we’ve probably gone about a mile, we come around a corner and we pause for a breather. And there just so happens to be another lookout stand. So one of the Weissel Glads climbs up there to check on our progress. And as his head comes above the corn, he just goes, “No way.” And I’m like, “We gotta be almost out of here. This kid’s amazing.” But then the Weissel Glad looks at me and says, “We just made a circle. He led us right back where we started.”
So we looked at our guide and said, “I thought you knew the way out of here.” And he pauses and he goes, “No, not really,” and goes running off in the other direction. But this time we did not follow.
You see, the Weissel Glads and I had made a crucial mistake. We forgot to ask an essential question: Is this a trustworthy guide? And a little bit of investigation would have revealed that just because an 8-year-old boy has confidence, it doesn’t mean he has directions.
But that question of trustworthiness is really an important one to ask in the arena of religion and belief systems. We have seen through countless newspaper headlines, podcasts, and Netflix shows that the world is full of untrustworthy religious leaders and untrustworthy religious systems. There’s an almost endless supply of faith communities that are built around charismatic leaders who manipulate and deceive, promising benefits that never come while extracting costs they never disclosed. And after it blows up, the truth that is always obvious in hindsight is that the leader was not trustworthy.
And as we come to our passage this morning in Deuteronomy chapter 30, trust is really one of the core themes these verses help us explore. The question is: Is the Bible a trustworthy guide? And the reason that question is so important is because the Bible sets before us life and death questions.
We see that in verses 15 and 16 of this morning’s scripture reading, where God says, “See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws. Then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.”
So God has set before the people a choice, and his encouragement to them is to choose life. But this choice comes at a unique moment in biblical history, and it’s one that has something valuable for us as we consider the question of the Bible’s trustworthiness.
Deuteronomy is the fifth book in the Bible, and chapter 30 is right near the end of it. And it really stands at a threshold moment. It’s been about 40 years since the Exodus, and the people of God have been living this nomadic life in the wilderness. And Deuteronomy is preparing them for a series of transitions. There’s a transition of leadership as Joshua will take over from Moses. There’s a transition of residence as they move into the promised land from the wilderness. And there’s also a generational transition.
Forty years after the Exodus, the people of God are no longer the same ones who had been slaves in Egypt. These are now the children and grandchildren. So they’re now being called to renew the covenant that was made by their parents and grandparents back in Exodus chapter 19.
And this highlights, really, a unique challenge that comes with a generational agreement. This question—”Will you follow God? Will you keep the covenant? Will you choose life or death?”—is actually not a question that just can be asked or answered one time. To put this kind of in our time and place, you can imagine that maybe it was the boomers who went through the Exodus and made the covenant at Mount Sinai. But now, in Deuteronomy chapter 30, it is Gen X and the millennials who are going into the promised land being asked anew if they will keep the covenant. And as we move into Joshua, that would be Gen Z and then Judges, perhaps that’s Generation Alpha and so on and so forth.
But you can see that a generational covenant requires generational recommitment. And with time and distance, the questions of authority and trust multiply. When the Exodus is now decades in the past, and it’s been generations since anyone saw God part the Red Sea, you can imagine that people might start to wonder, “How do we actually know this story is true?” You can see people wondering if this is all just a legend or a myth. And under those questions are really questions like, “Am I getting duped? Can I trust this? Am I going to end up on a podcast about cults?”
And I would imagine that there are people in this room right now who are exploring faith. And you have some of those same questions about Christianity and about the Bible. And I would imagine there are some people in this room right now who are Christians who also wrestle with those questions. These are questions I have wrestled with a lot in my own faith journey. How do I know that the Bible is a trustworthy guide?
Two weeks ago, we started this series on Monday nights called Questioning Christianity. And one of the main goals of that class is to interrogate Christian belief. And the main way that Questioning Christianity does that is by testing the worldview of Christianity. It’s asking if Christianity makes sense of the world that we live in. And that is a super important way to test the trustworthiness of the Christian faith.
But one of the things I love about our passage here in Deuteronomy chapter 30 is that it gives us a little bit of a different way of considering the trustworthiness of the Bible. It invites us to consider if Christianity and if the Bible has a structure that promotes trustworthiness and integrity. And I should say that a sound structure is not in and of itself enough to prove that the Bible is true. That is a much more complicated question. But structure is an important piece of the puzzle.
So I want to reread the first few verses of our passage from this morning and then explore how God has actually built trust and integrity into the structure of the Bible. So let me read verses 11 through 14.
Deuteronomy 30:11–14 (NIV)
11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the Word is very near you. It’s in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.
And what this passage explains are two things about God’s Word that are worth taking time to explore. The first is that God’s Word is accessible. And the second is that God’s Word is not mediated through a singular authoritative human. And I would argue that both of those things are incredibly important in building a case for the trustworthiness of the Bible. So let’s talk a little bit about both.
First, God’s Word is accessible. And this is really so important. There is no secret information in Christianity. There’s no secret book or scripture. There’s no hidden practices or rituals. There’s nothing that waits to be revealed until you make it far enough into the faith. Everything is out there for everyone to see and consider. If you want to know what Christians think and believe, you can know it all.
In fact, historically, Christians have been huge drivers of education and literacy because we believe that every person should have access to the Bible. And Christian worship is not a members-only club. You don’t have to be a believer to come into a Christian worship service. You can just come see what it’s all about. And it’s really been this way from the beginning. It is remarkable how many places God builds in access and transparency.
So as we look into the Old Testament, we see first and foremost that he commands that His Word be written down so it creates a fixed record. In Deuteronomy 27, we read that he commands two huge public stones be built in the promised land with the whole law written on them so anybody can come read them. God also commands a full public reading of the law every seven years so that every person can hear every word. God also foresees a day when there will be kings over Israel. And he commands that each king make their own copy of the law so that they can be sure to follow it. And by including that command in Scripture, God is also making it a public command, which is a form of accountability for the king.
There’s even transparency about the most sacred worship practices. I know it can get tedious, reading all those descriptions of the temple and the sacrifices in Leviticus as a slog. And you think to yourself, “Do I really need to know about all the threads in the curtains?” But think about the safeguard that this is for all the people. Every person is entitled to know what happens in the temple. It is not intended to be a mystery. There are no secret rituals, no secret sacrifices. This is a tremendous protection against abuses of power.
And this stands very distinct from many other religions. Many religions fence information, whether that’s doctrines or scriptures or practices. In many faiths, you’ve got to be pretty deep in before you get to see the whole picture. But that’s never been the way of Christianity. God says that the Word, the law, his instruction, his commands, his standards for priests and prophets and kings, all of that knowledge is communal knowledge, okay?
But just because access to the Word is widespread, that doesn’t really solve the problem of authorship. So how do we know that Moses didn’t just invent all of this? And that’s the second point from our verses in Deuteronomy chapter 30, which tell us that we do not need someone to go and retrieve God’s Word from some distant place. In other words, God’s word is not mediated through a singular, authoritative human. And this, too, is a huge departure from the way that divine revelation is handled in most other religions.
In many religions, knowledge of the divine, which is often recorded in what becomes their holy book, is revealed to a specific individual in a secret place. So we see an example of this in Islam, where the prophet Muhammad is the sole author of the Quran, which he says he received from an angel as he meditated alone in a cave. Or another example of this would be Mormonism. The Book of Mormon was written entirely by Joseph Smith, who says that he received golden tablets from an angel that were written in a holy language and only he was able to translate it.
Well, let’s compare that with what we’ve seen depicted in Exodus. And I just want to read some passages starting in Exodus chapter 19.
Exodus 19:9–19 (NIV)
9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.” 14 After Moses had gone down the mountain to the people, he consecrated them, and they washed their clothes. 15 Then he said to the people, “Prepare yourselves for the third day. Abstain from sexual relations.” 16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, and the whole mountain trembled violently. 19 As the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.
So what we see here is that the revelation of God’s word is not happening in private. It wasn’t just to Moses. In fact, God is giving these miraculous manifestations, and he is speaking in the presence of about a million people. And as you can imagine, a smoking, firing, booming, thundering mountain is a little bit overwhelming. And so when the people encounter that, here’s how they respond.
Exodus 20:18–21 (NIV)
18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.
So this is too much for the people. They just find this demonstration of God’s power and voice a little overwhelming. So they say, “Moses, we get it. You’re legit. This is real. Moving forward, can you just be our intermediary?” And we see that this is a request that God respects, so he never again speaks in this particular way.
But even in this new system with Moses as the intermediary, Moses is never alone. So he goes with 70 other people—elders—into God’s presence. And we read that they also see and encounter God. And even in Moses’ most private moments with God, his apprentice Joshua is still with him. So you can see how structurally, this bolsters confidence. The Bible is not the written revelation of a singular religious figure who had private access to God. The Bible is actually a communal witness, written publicly and preserved collectively.
And there’s just one more point on this that I think is so important. But when the people ask God to speak to them through an intermediary, God still wants to ensure a way to have trust built into communications. So we read in Deuteronomy chapter 18 how that’s going to work. So let me just read this passage for us. And this is Moses, who’s speaking now.
Deuteronomy 18:15–22 (NIV)
15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” 17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death.” 21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be alarmed.
Do you hear those safeguards? God says, “Yes, I will speak through prophets. And yes, I know that many will claim to be prophets. So how can you know if the word is from me? Well, the standard for a prophet is perfection. 100% accuracy. Anyone who claims that God is giving them divine revelation and predicts something that is untrue or prophesies something that is at odds with what God has already spoken—God says that person is a false prophet and they should have no credibility whatsoever. And under the old covenant, the punishment for that was death. So you can see that God takes this very seriously. It matters to God that people can find his word trustworthy. And God knows that there are scoundrels and hucksters. He knows that religious frauds abound. So he is building in transparency and accountability.
And this, I think, is all bundled up in our teaching from Deuteronomy chapter 30. The word has not been hidden away in heaven. It is not across the sea, and it is not mediated through one person. No. The Word is near you. It is in your mouth and it is in your heart. This conviction of the nearness of the Word is not just an Old Testament phenomenon.
In fact, in the New Testament Book of John, one of the four Gospels where we read about Jesus’ life, John the author writes this.
John 1:1–2, 14 (NIV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. […] 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Here John is describing Jesus as the Word. And as the Word, Jesus lived a very public life. He did his ministry out in the open, teaching, healing, dying, rising, all right there for anyone and everyone to see. Jesus was not hidden away for the eyes of a select few. And the records that we have of Jesus’ life—the four Gospels—are four unique accounts from four different authors, all of whom lived alongside the very public life and ministry of Jesus.
So what is the point of all this? Well, the point is that Christianity, as we see in Deuteronomy chapter 30, claims to be the one authoritative guide on how to live. It says the choice ultimately is one of life and prosperity or death and destruction. And if corn mazes have taught me anything, it’s that you want to know if someone claiming to be a guide is trustworthy. You want to know that if you follow them, they will deliver.
And as the next generation of God’s people prepared to enter the promised land, as we see in Deuteronomy, God is taking the occasion to bolster their confidence in him and in His Word. He wants them to be able to trust him as he lays out before them this choice, the choice between life and death. And today we face our own version of that same choice.
John, writing again in his Gospel about Jesus, says that in Jesus we find life and that life is the light of men. That is the Bible’s claim—that only in Jesus can we find abundant and eternal life.
So as we conclude this morning, I want to give us two invitations. One to people who are exploring faith and one to those who already believe.
If you’re here this morning and you’re exploring faith, my invitation to you is to do so rigorously. Because this faith isn’t making a small claim on you. It is asking you to make Jesus the very center of your life. And so you should investigate with vigor. As we learn today, there is nothing behind closed doors. There’s no piece of scripture you’re not allowed to read. There’s no rituals or ceremonies you don’t get to witness. So dive in and test the faith. See if it holds up. Ask if the worldview is coherent. Ask if it makes sense of the world that we’re living in. Ask if there’s integrity in the design. Because we believe truly that what’s at stake is of eternal consequence.
And if you’re here this morning and you’re already a believer, then my invitation to you is really just a re-emphasis of what this whole ONE series is about. The Bible is an unbelievable gift. Through it God has made Himself known to us and he uses the Word to mold and shape and form us. So don’t take it for granted and don’t take it lightly. My invitation to you is to feast on God’s Word. To saturate yourself in God’s Word. To be formed by God’s Word. Let it be true of you that the Word is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it.
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
