Yesterday we finished reading the Law of the Covenant. After hearing the long lists of blessings and curses associated with obeying or disobeying the Law, how many people in Israel do you think were ready to obey?

Four Tendencies

Gretchen Rubin wrote a bestselling book, The Four Tendencies, on the ways people respond when they’re told what to do. Her research uncovered four kinds of responses. God was probably familiar with them when he gave Israel the Law. He knew how his people were going to respond to being told what to do.

Here are the four tendencies:

Upholders agree both outwardly and inwardly when they hear truth. Outwardly they say they believe it, and inwardly they really do. They are ready to obey.

Questioners have to be convinced. They have a lot of questions and need to understand the reasons for compliance before they act. Once they are convinced they tend to stay on course.

Obligers agree with truth and comply outwardly, but inwardly they doubt their ability to carry through. They want to do the right thing, but they need structure and direction so they know how to proceed.

Rebels automatically resist when they are told what to do and they try to find ways around it. They are more likely to cooperate if they are inspired by a great cause.

God Gets People on Board

God made people with all four of these tendencies and he knew how they were going to react when they heard the Law. How did he help all four of these types of people find a way to comply?

First, he built credibility. Here is how Eugene Peterson translated Deuteronomy 29:2-6  in The Message:

 ^“Moses called all Israel together and said, ‘You’ve seen with your own eyes everything that God did in Egypt to Pharaoh and his servants, and to the land itself—the massive trials to which you were eyewitnesses, the great signs and miracle-wonders. But God didn’t give you an understanding heart or perceptive eyes or attentive ears until right now, this very day. I took you through the wilderness for forty years and through all that time the clothes on your backs didn’t wear out, the sandals on your feet didn’t wear out, and you lived well without bread and wine and beer, proving to you that I am in fact God, your God.’”

Israel couldn’t deny the experiences they had with God for more than forty years. Moses believed they now had been through enough to believe what God said.

God Made the Word User Friendly

There was something for everyone in God’s Law; it was user friendly. Whether a person was an Upholder, Questioner, Obliger or Rebel, they could understand what God was saying and get behind it.

Upholders could comply with the Law outwardly and agree with it inwardly. It filled their hearts and gave them direction.

Questioners found that the Law stood up to investigation. There were reasons for God’s laws and he told people what outcomes to expect. Questioners could check the facts for themselves.

Obligers would find the Law easy to love because it created structure and accountability. There were clear paths to follow.

Rebels found causes in the Law to motivate them. Obeying it would bless their families and lead to prosperity. Supporting the Law would also exalt God and protect their nation Those were causes that a rebel with a fighting spirit could get behind.

The Highest Motivation

Moses knew people had different reactions to the Law, but he didn’t care how they felt about it. He wanted them to hear the Law and decide whether it was true. That wasn’t too hard for anyone.

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach . . . No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.” Deuteronomy 30:11,14

They had a simple choice:

“See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.” Deuteronomy 30:15

If Israel obeyed God they would live and prosper. If they turned away from God and worshiped other gods they would be destroyed.

Calling in Witnesses

Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Why did Moses call upon the heavens and the earth to witness what he said to Israel?

Moses knew he was going to die soon, but after he was gone the heavens and the earth would remain as witnesses to the commands of God.

The rains would come and the crops would grow as long as Israel was faithful. If they turned away from God the skies would become like bronze and the earth like iron and nothing would grow. The heavens and the earth would be there to remind Israel of all the things Moses said to them.

Public Reading of the Law

Deuteronomy 31:9-13

Moses told Israel that every seven years, when they cancelled all debts and set indentured servants free, they should get together at the Feast of Tabernacles and read through the entire Law again.

What a great time that would have been! The Feast of Tabernacles came after the harvest so people were already thankful, and in the seventh year they had even more reasons to be happy. Their hearts would have been open and it would have been a great time to hear the Law and recommit to loving and obeying God.

Unfortunately, there is no record that Israel ever observed that seventh year jubilee.

Passing the Baton to Joshua

Moses said to Israel, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The Lord has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan’ . . . The Lord your God himself will cross over ahead of you . . . Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the Lord said.” Deuteronomy 31:1-3

It was time to pass the baton of leadership to Joshua. For eighty years God had told Moses to lead and teach, now he told Joshua to be strong and courageous. Israel had the Law, now they needed courage.

“Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the Lord swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance. The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you or forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.’” Deuteronomy 31:7-8

Israel’s Disobedience Predicted

God called Moses and Joshua to the tent of meeting to commission Joshua as Israel’s new leader. They presented themselves and God came to the entrance of the tabernacle in the pillar of cloud. This was the first time that Joshua was addressed directly by God.

God spoke to Moses first.

“You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed.” Deuteronomy 31:16-17

What discouraging words for Moses to hear! Why did God do that?

I believe it was because God wanted to confide in his friend. He commiserated with Moses about Israel.

We saw God do this once before, when he told Abraham about Sodom.

“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? . . . For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord . . . “ Genesis 18:17,19

God Gives Moses a Song

This time, when Moses heard bad news about Israel, he didn’t throw himself facedown in prayer as he had before. He stood and waited to hear what God would say next. God told him to write down a song to teach Israel that would remind them who God was.

This was the final aid-to-memory God offered Israel. They had heard the Law spoken and seen it modeled for forty years by Moses, Aaron and Eleazar. Now they would have a song to sing about it throughout the coming generations.

Moses Rebukes Israel

Moses was sad and angry when he heard what Israel was going to do after his lifetime of faithfulness and work on their behalf.

“For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the Lord while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die?” Deuteronomy 31:27

Moses couldn’t do anything about the hearts of the Israelites. At the end of his life he had to be satisfied with his own obedience.

We can’t control anyone else’s response to God, but we can direct our own hearts with his help.