The Bible Series Dueteronomy
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David as he writes in the Psalms declares… Psalm 40:8; 119:97; 119:165
I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”
O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.
Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble.
As David writes these words… he is reflecting upon the WORDS of the Pentateuch, the Torah… on the final book of Law, Deuteronomy!
As I read these words again this week, it was with new excitement and passion. I looked for fresh ways to see and discover this amazing God we serve. I too came away… DELIGHTED, REJOICING, IN LOVE… finding a new PEACE as I read through this final book of law often referred to as the “Second Law”. Deuteronomy 1:1-5… begins this way
These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel and Laban and Hazeroth and Dizahab. It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that the Lord had commanded him to give to them, after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and Edrei. Across the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this law, saying,
The Setting
The Setting
It should have taken 11 days… instead they have wondered 40 years!!!
A new generation stand before Moses and God....
No excuses… God does not permit sin in one’s life just because of a bad past…
The previous generation disobeyed God
They came from a land of pagan gods
They grew up in a wilderness, lack of food variety,
They also had eyes to see God work, ears to hear His commands, and minds to learn from others sin and failures…
This nation, generation, people were on the edge of the promised land… as the generation before them.
Now they have a choice to obey
Now they have an opportunity to Trust God!
Now they will take hold of the promises of God
The generation that stands before Moses in this book, that stands ready to cross the Jordan River with Joshua, the ones listening to the WORDS of this book… are considered the greatest generation of Israel as they take hold of these promises, trust their God, and IMPLEMENT what is declared in this final book of Law, the final fifths of the law.
Deuteronomy 20:1; 17-18 describes how God will be with them, and the dangers of temptation in the land with pagan gods...
“When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.
“But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God.
God conveys His truth to these people as they stand ready through three sermons over the course of the book…
Three Sermons
Three Sermons
Moses calls the people together, speaks these words to them over three sermons, then he writes them down so they may pass them on to their children and children's children…
SERMON ONE “What God has Done”
Israel’s past, their failures and lack of faith
God’s faithfulness, His redeeming power, and His just judgement!
We also see God provide, protect, and prepare those who are OBEDIENT!!!
SERMON TWO “What God expects”
Moral and legal obligations before this Holy Just God!!!
There is a great deal that is repeated with a fresh emphasis
In Genesis to Numbers we have seen HOW God is working… in Deuteronomy we are seeing His Heart His Love and He is seeking Israel’s LOVE and OBEDIENCE in return!
They are going into a land with many “gods” and He is stating He wants their devotion to Himself only!
The sermon has three parts...
1) The moral duties of the people ( God’s commandments are restated and told to be passed on DO NOT FORGET!!!) Deuteronomy 6:6-9
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
2) The Ceremonial duties of the people… sacrifices, tithes, feast
3) The civil and social duties of the people… God cared deeply how they engaged with one another and outsiders as well!
After all these people were to be a people of priest… representing God to the world around them!
SERMON THREE “What God will do for Israel”
Essentially as Moses declares this message, he is declaring and writing history in advance. It breaks his heart, he pleads with the people he has shepherded all these forty years. But ultimately generations to follow will not heed the words of this book.
Warnings of soon coming disobedience (Judges)
Warnings of disobedience to come further down the road (The Prophets and exile)
Moses establishes Joshua as the leader in this sermon as well
Moses dies at the end. He looks over the promised land, dies, and is buried by God. (“It is time to die”)
His epitaph is a powerful statement: Deuteronomy 34:10-12
Since that time no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, for all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to perform in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, all his servants, and all his land, and for all the mighty power and for all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.
In the second sermon we see a powerful passage that captures the heart of this book… it is found in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 …it is called the SHEMA
“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
SHEMA
SHEMA
The Shema gets it’s title from the first word of this verse… “HEAR” or “LISTEN”
This passage became so important in the Jewish faith and tradition it became a prayer stated twice daily in the morning and evening
Paul would reiterate the power of our ONE GOD in 1 Corinthians 8:5-6
For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.
Jesus Christ would declare this to be the GREATEST COMMAND of God to the Jewish lawyer in Matthew 22:37-40...
And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus loved the book of Deuteronomy… quite possibly His favorite as He quoted more from it than any other book!
As Jesus declares the power of this command He adds the command from Leviticus 19:18 as second most important...
‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
The first would cover the first 4 Commands given relating to God and the second command would cover the last 6 commands dealing with interactions among others.
If this powerful concept and COMMAND were to be followed and implemented in our lives there would be NO NEED for any other laws! Deuteronomy follows a cycle in its presenting of the verses in this book in a cycle dealing with man’s hearts...
The Teaching Cycle
The Teaching Cycle
LOVE will result in OBEDIENCE… If we OBEY then we are truly LOVING GOD
Our love for Him has an aspect of our emotion… but it is the emotion empowered by DECISION to act that demonstrates LOVE
Our OBEDIENCE expresses our DEVOTION to Him in our Love…
Our devotion is not merely “hearing”… but listening to what is stated, declared, written in His Word… and then RESPONDING… taking action!
As we do… we show our LOVE for Him!
At the end of the day we realize that the issue with Israel, the issue with mankind, the issue with YOU and I… is the issue of the heart!
The Heart of the Issue
The Heart of the Issue
There is an issue with our hearts…
Over 50 times we are told to “hear or listen”
Over 177 times we are told to “do, keep, or observe”
AND… as the instruction and commands are given we see that we told to do this out of a HEART of LOVE over 21 times!
The heart of the matter is that Israel is God’s chosen people, He LOVED them… Deuteronomy 7:6-9
“For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
These are a people made in His image, they reflect God to the world… you and I made in His image reflect Him to a lost world!!!
GOD IS:
GOD IS:
Just and Holy yes!
He is also ONE God… the only God
God is a jealous God and as creator, as redeemer, as THE ONLY
He has every right to demand our UNDIVIDED LOVE & OBEDIENCE!!!
We also see a beautiful picture of Christ in this book…
Salvation is NOT BASED on merit… rather it is GOD’S LOVE
God would one day raise up ONE who would do all He commands and ask, and the words of God would be with Him...
We see in this book that all who hang on a tree are accursed… Jesus would one day hang on the “tree” at Calvary accursed for you and me… redeeming all who place their faith in Him!
As we see our God in a more powerful way, as we get a glimpse of His HEART in this book may we come to a place in our HEARTS, OUR RESPONSE and DECIDE to declare with David as he wrote in the Psalms… Psalm 119:174
I long for Your salvation, O Lord, And Your law is my delight.