Mobilizing in Moab

Story of Judy and me taking a hike

These are the words of Moses, addressed to All Israel.

v. 3: “Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them.”

“Moses is a man under orders; the demand for obedience is a prominent theme throughout Deuteronomy, and in declaring that demand, Moses was himself living his message.” Craigie

v. 4: Moses already won some battles, even though he’s not actually going to get into the Promised Land.

v. 5: “It is important to stress that the content of Deuteronomy is an exposition of the law; the book does not simply contain a repetition of the earlier legal material known in Exodus and Numbers.” Craigie

“The law is to be explained and apply by Moses to the particular situation of the Israelites.” Craigie

Before they entered… “They had to be expounded and emphasized to all the Israelites, for the success of the events lying ahead of them depending on this critical point.

“The principle theme running throughout is the covenant, and the unity of Israel is of the essence of the covenant.; hence the words all Israel are primarily an emphasis of that unity, rather than an indication of style. It is interesting that the book does not call for unity, but assumes unity to be existing already.” Craigie

Region: Specified in the text, but unknown to us. Transjordan=other side of the Jordan River.

Richard Nelson: “The rhetorical point is that a wilderness journey that could have taken a mere mater of days turned out to consume an entire generation.”

Jebel Musa would fit the ‘11 day journey’ description.

v. 3: “In the 14th year, on the first day of the eleventh month…”

v. 4: Moses as military leader. Credibility to be their speaker. Gave them victory.

Moses as expounder of this law=looking forward rather than looking back.

Take it!

v.5: Deut=speeches delivered

“Moses begins by taking Israel back to their ‘points of departure’ in order to rearticulate what YHWH said at Horeb.” Arnold

Horeb=NOT the Promised land, but the place of Covenant=looking back at your baptism.

“Israel cannot become all that God intends for them if they remain at Horeb” Arnold

Places:

Introduction:

Ride from SW Indiana to Apex

Long ride, but doable in one day. Our kids did awesome. Exhausted.

Geography

Are We There Yet?

Verse 1-2:

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

No!

Deut=These are the words that Moses spoke

Deut= Second Law. The whole book is one long sermon before Moses dies…

Names of Places: Reminders of where they’ve been. Itinerary of pitstops along the way…

Arnold: “As an abstract or conceptual map, it retraces Israel’s journey from the desert sanctuary at Kadesh-barnea to the border of the promised land. As such then, Deuteronomy itself can be categorized as ‘border literature.’”

Verse 1 answers one big question: Are we there yet?

And the answer is a resounding NO! Why? Because they made all these pits stops along the way.

They remain “BEYOND THE JORDAN.” On the “OTHER” side of Home. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF PROMISE!

The geography communicates lostness, confusion, being outside, separated, and struggle.

So verse 1 is way more than geography…

It’s a reminder: Israel isn’t there yet because they took a 40-year long detour…

We took a Detour

2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. 3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 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 in Edrei.

Verse 2 is like adding salt to the wound by two ways:

Describing more geography, and by describing chronology:

It’s an eleven day journey from Mount Horeb to Kadesh-barnea

Where is Mount Horeb?

Mount Hored=Synonym for Mount Sinai…

Mount Sinai

Place of the Law

Covenantal Expectations.

Exodus 19: God gives them the law: Law given in Exodus and Leviticus

Numbers: Records how Israel challenged

It’s an eleven day journey from Law: How to live in the land, to the Land…

11 days… A week and half…

264 Hours.

Instead:

40 year delay!

350,000 hours

And to add just a little more salt in the wound, the text says in verse 3: “In the forteith year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel…”

The geography and the chronology set the stage:

They never got there in 11 days because they were in the wilderness for 40 years…

Before they look beyond the Jordan, they look backwards in time and in place.

The line was straight, but let’s remember the detour.

Rebellion, wrestling, and spiritual preparation

We’re Almost there!

5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and by the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Repetitions:

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses explained the law:

Explains all that came earlier in this passage. If it’s not clear yet, Moses is going to spell it out for them:

The Lord gave Israel the law at Mount Horeb.

The Lord didn’t want them to dilly dally there at the foot of the Mountain: “You have stayed here long enough.” The place of Law wasn’t the place of PROMISE.

Turn and take your journey and take over the land!

v. 7: “Turn…take…go to… It was that simple?

More Geography:

Craigie: “Virtually all of Palestine and Syria are included by these terms, an area larger than Israel ever possessed in fact, even during the reigns of David and Solomon.”

The land promised to Abraham was larger than anything Israel ever took over.

“In this way, the land functions as a kind of “covenantal thermometer,” measuring how effectively Israel is conforming to God’s will for them as redeemed people.”

Ultimately failed:

Moneyball: Manager is asking for a contract extension: 104 winning season

General Manager responds: No one cares if you lost the last game of the season.

Solomon’s Kingdom was huge, but it wasn’t all that it could have been

Israel could never fill up the Covenant thermometer.

Vs. 8: See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

See!

“Here it is!”

Viola!

Arabah Valley in the East

Western Coast

Southern Negev desert

Euphrates to the north

“I have set the land before you.”

Set=Give

Nuance of the word give is that God already gave. He set it all up for you. Brilliant translation of the word ‘give,’ and somewhat surprising of a translation for the ESV.

I’d expect the NIV to translate it this way.

Go from here, to promise! You don’t need to go into the wilderness!

God already set up the land because he swore a covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Ends this passage with Covenant:

Covenant=Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Law= God’s expectations of living in the Land

Grace= I’ve set it all up for you, just get over there!

So many Take Aways

LAW WITHIN GRACE

v. 6: “You have stayed long enough at this mountain.”

The law is to be lived in the context of GRACE!

LAW WITHOUT GRACE=LEGALISM

Obedience without Grace=Legalism

Obedience to a structure

I love this emphasis in the text:

“GET OUT OF HERE!” These expectations are meant to stay put here.

Mount Sinai wasn’t where Israel should reside. Law must live in the context of grace.

We can so easily get this wrong.

We often times get this wrong.

We often sit a the base of law rather than in the freedom of the Land

Very instructive for us!

!Christ is our Covenantal Thermometer!

Christ and all his benefits are for us today!

Grace for the Christian isn’t a Promised Land:

DETOURS AND DISCIPLINE

I hate detours.

Waste of time

But the 40 year old detour wasn’t a waste of time:

Consequence of Doubt and Fear

Israel actually made it to Kardesh Barnea.

How does your doubt and fear take you further away from your journey with Christ!

“Freedom is here, why aren’t you taking advantage of it!”

And then we go on these detours.

Places where God FORGES.

We think he forgets!

Big difference between FORGING and FORGETTING

Use Detours to Blame God

Rather than seeing struggle as something God can use to forge our faith, we view it as God forgetting about us: THE EXACT OPPOSITE PURPOSE!

We don’t see the value in detours.

“God it would have been a whole lot faster if we just went that way”

Spiritual disorientation? Why are we here? Why can’t I go to where I want to be… faster!”

“11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

Big question on the Plains of Moab: Were the people trained by it?

Are you trained by God’s discipline?

“Okay, Lord, I got the point.”

“Okay, Lord, I understand I need to trust in you more, or love you more, or spend more time with you, or be assured in my faith…” But the challenges persist.

40 years is a long time. Your training may even be longer.

Don’t forget to see the value of your journey.

Look back at milestones along the way. Not merely as reminders of your brokenness, but as reminders of God’s faithfulness and forgiveness. Looking back at history isn’t merely about adding salt to the wounds, they are meant to remind us of our past. Before we look forward, we need to look back.

Look back on your life for a moment:

Moment of fear and doubt

Moments that brought you on a journey away from God.

Perhaps your in one of those parts of the journey right now.

“The question addressed in Deuteronomy is whether present and future generations of Israel will turn that lifetime journey into a lifestyle.” Arnold

LOOKING BEYOND JORDAN

Vision casting:

What is vision?

Definitions from Papers:

Our Vision:

New Heaven and New Earth

Preparing for Eternity

Home here: Not escapaist.

But we are very much at the banks of the Jordan River:

Long for the future

Application Summary:

New Life: Resurrection Life, not Resurrection Law!

The Journey: A process of forging faith rather than a Forgetful God

The Destination: Vision of the Future shapes the journey ahead.

Victory in the here and now: GOD ALREADY HAS GIVEN US A PLACE. Jesus: I’m going to prepare a place for you.