Deuteronomy 29-30 - The Covenant in Moab

Introduction

[PRAYER]

Well, in just a few chapters we will be finished with our journey through Deuteronomy.

We’ve studied Moses’ first sermon in which He recounted Israel’s history (chs 1-4).

We’ve studied Moses’ second sermon with its general and specific covenant stipulations (chs 12-26).

And we’ve studied the first part of Moses’ third sermon, which was about the blessings of obey YHWH and the curses of disobeying Him (chs 27-28).

Tonight, we are going to begin to look at the second part of Moses’ third sermon, which is his final exhortation to Israel to keep the covenant they have made with YHWH (chs 29-30).

After this, we’ll see the leadership mantel passed from Moses to Joshua in the final few chapters (chs 31-34), and then that will be the end of our study in Deuteronomy.

[TS] But tonight, like I said, we want to examine at least the first few PARTS of Moses’ final exhortation.

We see PART ONE in vv. 1-9…

Deuteronomy 29:1–9 NASB95

1 These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the sons of Israel in the land of Moab, besides the covenant which He had made with them at Horeb. 2 And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and all his servants and all his land; 3 the great trials which your eyes have seen, those great signs and wonders. 4 “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. 5 “I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot. 6 “You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong drink, in order that you might know that I am the Lord your God. 7 “When you reached this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon and Og the king of Bashan came out to meet us for battle, but we defeated them; 8 and we took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of the Manassites. 9 “So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.

Major Ideas

Part #1: Previous Grace, Present Obedience, and Future Prosperity (29:1-9)

[EXP] Verse 1 tells us that this is a covenant renewal. God and Israel had entered into a covenant relationship back on Mt. Horeb (i.e., Mt. Sinai), but the generation that made that covenant with God was not faithful to God. Those people perished in the wilderness after refusing to trust God and enter the Promised Land 40 years prior.

Now they are on the plains of Moab about to cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land, but before they do, there is more Moses needs to say as apart of this covenant renewal.

Almost all of this passage is a retelling of God’s previous grace to the Israelites.

He rescued them from Egypt with great signs and wonders, and yet the people did not have a heart to know Him.

He took care of them in the wilderness with clothing and food; telling them to abstain from wine and strong drink so they would know the Lord.

He gave them the victory over Sihon, King of Heshbon, and Og, King of Bashan; their land divided between the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The first part of verse 9 then calls for present obedience in response to previous grace: “So keep the words of this covenant to do them…”

The correct response to grace is obedience.

Then the second part of verse 9 promises future prosperity: “…that you may prosper in all that you do.”

God has been gracious.

His people must respond with obedience.

He will bless them if they do.

[APP] Perhaps you remember when God has been gracious to you in the past; when He has cared for you in a wilderness or set you apart for Himself by bringing you through some trial even if it was of your own making. Maybe you remember Him fighting for you in some way and delivering the victory when it looked like certain defeat.

If you don’t remember His previous grace in your life then you must not know His Son Jesus Christ.

In Jesus, YHWH has acted powerfully to set you free from slavery to sin.

In Jesus, YHWH makes sure that your robe of righteousness never wears out.

In Jesus, YHWH sets you apart for Himself.

In Jesus, YHWH fought the giants of sin and death and brought you the victory.

This is His previous (and continued) grace toward us in Jesus Christ, so how’s our present obeidence?

We are not under the Mosaic Covenant (the Covenant of the Law of Moses) as the Israelites were; we are under the Covenant of covenants—the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.

If the Mosaic Covenant pointed to previous grace, the New Covenant points to more grace in Jesus Christ.

John 1:16 NASB95

16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.

If the Mosaic Covenant required present obedience, the New Covenant delivers eternal obedience in Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

If the Mosaic Covenant promised future prosperity, the New Covenant promises more prosperity in Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:32 NASB95

32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

[TS] The New Covenant in Christ’s blood is previous grace amplified, present obedience delivered, and future prosperity guaranteed.

Let us thank God for the New Covenant in Christ’s blood.

Part #2: Identity (29:10-15)

Deuteronomy 29:10–15 NASB95

10 “You stand today, all of you, before the Lord your God: your chiefs, your tribes, your elders and your officers, even all the men of Israel, 11 your little ones, your wives, and the alien who is within your camps, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, 12 that you may enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into His oath which the Lord your God is making with you today, 13 in order that He may establish you today as His people and that He may be your God, just as He spoke to you and as He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 “Now not with you alone am I making this covenant and this oath, 15 but both with those who stand here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God and with those who are not with us here today

[EXP] Moses gives a detailed list of those in attendance as he spoke these words. Remember that Moses details this list in front of those who actually make up this list, so he has a specific point in naming chiefs, tribes, elders, officers, men, little ones, wives, aliens, and servants like those who chop wood or draw water.

Corporately, Israel must understand itself as belonging to YHWH by way of this covenant…

…but individually Israelites must understand themselves, each one of them, as belonging to YHWH by way of this covenant…

…and future generations of Israelites must understand themselves in this way as well.

As a people and as individuals, these people belonged to God and He belonged to them.

[ILLUS] I once performed a wedding in which the bride-to-be told me beforehand that she didn’t want anything in the wedding ceremony about serving one another.

She didn’t like the idea of serving her soon-to-be husband.

I wonder how she would’ve felt about the idea of belonging to him.

This covenant between YHWH and Israel is like a marriage covenant in which the husband belongs to the bride and the bride belongs to the husband.

In other words, if someone were to ask, “Who is Rocky?” a very correct answer would be, “Rocky is Cheryl’s husband. He belongs to her.”

Likewise, if someone were to ask, “Who is Cheryl?” a very correct answer would be, “Cheryl is Rocky’s wife. She belongs to him.”

That’s who we are as husband and wife.

The marriage covenant has changed our identity.

That’s what the Mosaic Covenant did for Israel—it changed their identity (or at least it was supposed to).

If the question was asked, “Who is Israel?”

The answer according to this covenant would be, “Israel is the people of God. They belong to Him.”

And if the question was asked, “Who is YHWH?”

The answers according to this covenant would be, “YHWH is Israel’s god. He belongs to them.”

[APP] In the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, we must understand that our identity has been changed as well. We must think of ourselves as belonging to God, and we must think of God as belonging to us.

In Christ Jesus, God has sworn faithfulness to us, and in Christ Jesus, we have sworn faithfulness to Him.

This is why the church is described as the bride of Christ with Christ as the bridegroom.

Bride and groom are meant to be faithful to one another.

They belong to one another.

Their identities are wrapped up in one another.

Do you understand that in Christ Jesus you belong to God?

Do you understand that in Christ Jesus God belongs to you?

He is your God, and you are His person.

Is that identity reflected in how you talk about Him, follow Him, obey Him, worship Him, serve Him?

How you act toward Him will be how others understand Him.

Have you made it clear to your family that your family identity is wrapped in belonging to God through faith in Jesus Christ?

I ask that question because of the little ones present when Moses spoke the words in Deuteronomy 29.

Have your prayed that your grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great great grandchildren will understand that ‘in this family, we belong to God’?

Is belonging to God through faith in Christ your family identity?

[TS] This identity would be crucial for Israel because they had come from a land filled with idolatry and would be moving into a land filled with idolatry.

That brings us to the third PART of Moses’ final exhortation—Poisonous Fruit and Wormwood.

Part #3: Poisonous Fruit and Wormwood (29:16-21)

Deuteronomy 29:16–21 NASB95

16 (for you know how we lived in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the midst of the nations through which you passed; 17 moreover, you have seen their abominations and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold, which they had with them); 18 so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. 19 “It shall be when he hears the words of this curse, that he will boast, saying, ‘I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart in order to destroy the watered land with the dry.’ 20 “The Lord shall never be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of the Lord and His jealousy will burn against that man, and every curse which is written in this book will rest on him, and the Lord will blot out his name from under heaven. 21 “Then the Lord will single him out for adversity from all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant which are written in this book of the law.

[EXP] When Israel was held captive in Egypt, they lived in a Dollar General of idolatry (v. 16a) with a quite a selection, but now they were moving into the Promised Land, which was a Super Walmart of idolatry (v. 16b-17) with seemingly countless idolatrous abominations of wood, stone, silver, and gold to choose from.

Israel was to make sure that not one of the Israelites worshipped any of those idols.

Not only would this be contrary to their identity as the people of God, it would also be a root of evil among them producing poison and bitterness (v. 18).

Verses 19-21 warn that anyone who hears this curse, this warning, and boasts about his wickedness by saying, “I have peace though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart,” well, several things would occur.

First, the watered land would dry up. No more water for crops or cattle.

Second, the Lord will never forgive such an individual, but instead the Lord’s anger and jealousy would rage against him and every curse promised for disobedience will fall on him.

Third, his name would be blotted out from under heaven.

Fourth, he would be singled out from adversity from among all God’s people.

Even if an Israelite secretly hid an idol away, God would know…

…and there would be the severest of consequences both corporately and individually.

[APP] We live in an age of mass produced idolatry. The idols of our age are not known as Baal or Asherah or Molech but as pleasure, comfort, and celebrity (we could also include the idols of indulgence, immorality, entertainment, distraction, and so on).

In the world we live in, there are idols down every aisle, and we spend entirely too much time perusing the shelves.

We do this because we don’t believe that anything negative will happen because we view our idolatries as “little idolatries.”

If we put our pleasure or comfort ahead of faithfulness to Christ, what’s the worst that could happen?

That kind of thinking is a root leading to all sorts of other poison and bitterness.

If we are practicing sin but convincing ourselves that we are at peace with God, a root of bitter poison has already taken hold.

That bitter root will produce destruction and angst in our church, in our families, and in our individual lives.

It may even reveal that we have fallen short of eternal life in Jesus. As Hebrews 12:15 says…

Hebrews 12:15 NASB95

15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;

If we allow this sinful root to take hold in us, could it be that we have come short of the grace of God—that we don’t belong to the people of God through the New Covenant in Christ’s blood as we thought?

We had better prove that we do belong by remaining faithful to Christ in this age of mass produced idolatry.

[TS] We will pick up at v. 22 next time…

Conclusion

[PRAYER]