Laws for the Land
Notes
Transcript
Order of Service
Order of Service
Welcome
Welcome
Prayer
Prayer
Hymn -
Hymn -
Notices
Notices
Prayer Meeting - 7:30pm
Friday 7pm - Online
Sunday Morning 11am & 6pm
Tithes & Offerings - £
Main Prayer
Main Prayer
Hymn -
Hymn -
Reading
Reading
“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
Sermon
Sermon
Moses reminds then that God has provided “Statutes and Rules” to govern the life of His People
They are a requirement of living in the Promised Land
You held fast to the Lord, go on doing so (v1-4)
You held fast to the Lord, go on doing so (v1-4)
“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the rules that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal-peor, for the Lord your God destroyed from among you all the men who followed the Baal of Peor. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today.
God’s Law must not be added to or taken away from
Doing so is disobedience to God
To add to them implies that God has been remiss and has not given sufficient instruction to His people
To take from them shows a blatant desire to reject God’s Law
This generation of Israel were witnesses to their parents disobedience and the resultant judgement / consequences of the 38 years of wilderness wanderings
They had seen God’s judgement at Baal-Peor, where the men took part in worshiping Baal at the instigation of Balaam, through contact with the Moabite women.
God has destroyed them
It was a necessary warning, in case the encouragement from their victores made them careless and complacent
Complacency and taking God’s blessings for granted are attitudes we can too easily fall into.
They needed to Hold Fast in obedience
Living in the sight of the nations (v5-8)
Living in the sight of the nations (v5-8)
See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?
God has given them a land in which all the major trade routes intersected for the large nations surrounding them
Egypt, Assyria, Moab, Ammon & Edom
God has placed His people in place where they are witnesses for Him
Israel was not to keep the blessings of God to themselves
They were to show to the world, the holiness and goodness of God
To demonstrate that it was a nation who had a living God near at hand, one who acts when his people call upon him
This is true to the church of Jesus Christ
It is a city set on ahill to give light to all around
Its members are to let their light shine before men and women, so that they will be brought to give glory to our Father in heaven
Obedience of Israel would cause those around them to look on them as a Great Nation
Not because of their numbers or the strength of their military
Rather in the cohesiveness of the nation, arising from their obedience to all the ways of God
They are a people maked by social justice and high standards or conduct, leadimg to prosperity under God’s Blessing
The people around them will call them “wise and understanding”
Because, their wisdom which arised from receiving, considering and living out the commandments of God
Israel needed to realise its high calling
As does the Christian Church today
Churches should be communities marked by love and unity, compassion and a wholehearted embracing of the whole Word of God
God’s Word makes us “wise and understanding”
It is not simply the fact that Israel had statutes and rules from God that mattered
Even more important was the fact their God was near to them, ready to responded “whenever we call upon him”
Obedience and living according to God’s instructions would not happen apart from the presence and active enabling of God
They were to take place within a relationship with God in which the people called upon Him and received His help
Moses knew this very well, for the people had often benefited from his intercession for them
The Life of God’s people is always envisaged as a life lived in the dependance upon Him and in fellowship with Him
Today it is so easy to forget that we have the Lord our God so near to us, whenever we call upon Him
Moses provides a challenge...
“And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?”
God’s law is righteous
It enables His People to live aright before God
It is a good law, given by God’s goodness, and so the people will live good lives
It would be perverse to think that God’s law is in any way unnecessarily restrictive, or that it is harmful or against the best interested of His People.
As Pauls wrote...
So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
A never-to-be-forgotton day (v9-14)
A never-to-be-forgotton day (v9-14)
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children— how on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.’ And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom. Then the Lord spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice. And he declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules, that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.
Moses reminds them of the occasion when God first gave His Law to them
It was to be taughter ot each new generation “your children and your children’s children” v9
On that day the people “stood before the Lord” v10
They were to hear His words and to learn to fear Him all the days of their lives
They stood at the foot of the mountain which “burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud and gloom” v11
The image would be imprinted on their momores
Their God is a consuming fire, far above them, hidden from them and seperate from them
A God of Justice who law is holy, and who demanded obedience
Yet for all His greatness, he had chosen them in Grace
He had made them his own and his laws were for their good, and would promote their welfare and lead to His blessing
Their fear of God was to be a fear of awe and reverence, for his grace and goodness ought never to lead them to presumption, carelessness or irresponsibility
To be recipients of his loving care demanded a wholehearted response of faithfulness and obedience
We are their spiritual decendants...
For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest
But God has spoken to us from Heaven through His Son
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,
“You heard the sound of words, but saw no form; there was only a voice” v12
God did not reveal himself by any form
Israel must not fashion any form intended to represent him
It also throws the emphasis on God’s Words
The Lord is not a God who is seen: He is heard
He has a coice and speaks, and his people are to live by His Words
What a contrast to the idolatory of the surrounding nations
It also contrasts with people today ...
They have little time for revealed words, but fashion a god of their own liking by the own thinking
“Covenant” v13
This is the first occurance of “Covenant” in the book of Deuteronomy
The idea of covenant is central to the whole book
Israel was a nation in covenant with God
Made unilaterally by God in Grace
In which the nation became God’s people and he pldged himself as its God
The covernant imposed obligations upon Israel
This was love for God issuing in faithfulness to the covenant
It meantr keeping His commandments, at the heart of which is the 10 Commandments
Written in stone indicating their permanence
“Statues and Rules” v14
Outlined in Exodus 21-23 these rules looked forward to the settlement of the people in the Promised Land
This was both an encouragement to the people to cross the Jordon, and a reminder that they were to observe all that God had told them to ensure their continuance in the land.
Hymn -
Hymn -
Q&A
Q&A
Hymn -
Hymn -
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
Doxology
Doxology