And furthermore, how do we jump from the empirical knowledge of what we can observe to speaking of God whom we cannot see?  The one, certainly in terms of empirical and scientific observation and study and phenomenology, is audacious enough!  But then to speak of the immortal, invisible God only wise — that is a new leap of audacity altogether.  Dr. Schaeffer understood the epistemological problem that is silence, the claim and the implication that we can know nothing.  And he understood that there is only one epistemological answer — revelation.  Thus Christianity depends upon a Christian epistemology or a Christian theory of knowledge that is based in revelation alone. 

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There is no greater challenge than this — to make certain that we know on what authority we speak.  We know on what authority we know.  We know on what authority we would teach.  In Deuteronomy chapter four, Israel is reminded of the authority by which they live.  They are reminded that they heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire and survived. 

This great sermon, of course, comes at the conclusion of the introductory section to Deuteronomy. It begins and ends with a parallel structure, and in the middle is a large section reflecting the form of a suzerainty treaty, an Ancient Near Eastern convention whereby a conqueror sets down the terms of surrender. In this case, the conqueror is none other than the Lord God Jehovah, and the conquered is none other than His own chosen nation, Israel.  God sets down the terms, and they are very easy to understand.  It comes down to a very simple formula: hear and obey and live.  Refuse to hear, disobey, and bear the wrath of God. 

In this tremendous sermon, God speaks through His servant and prophet Moses.  Looking back to the covenant at Horeb, obedience equals blessing, disobedience equals cursing — and doesn’t this generation know that?  This is the generation that survived, that was kept alive, through forty years of wandering in the wilderness.  They had witnessed the death of their own parents because they disobeyed and did not trust the Lord.  And now, as the children of Israel are being prepared for the conquest of the Holy Land, they are being reminded lest they forget that they heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire and survived. 

As the Lord through Moses is preparing this new generation, we find exhortation and memory mixed together — the memory of God’s great saving work in bringing Israel out of captivity to Pharoah in Egypt, the great work of God in keeping the children of Israel alive through the forty years of wandering in the wilderness, being led by smoke and by fire. 

We call this book Deuteronomy— deutero nomos — the second giving of the law, because in the very next chapter we will confront again the Ten Commandments, these Ten Words.  The theme is very clear.  Israel, in terms of its elect status, is the chosen nation of God, and that special status is represented in Torah, in this word, in this law, even in these Ten Words.  The central truth is that the Lord God spoke to His people, and they heard, and they survived.  Looking backward in the text of Deuteronomy chapter four, in verses ten through thirteen there is a very similar theme.  Moses says,