Chosen By God

- the Shema. The LORD our God. Relationship with God is primary. You shall love the LORD your God. Obedience and devotion to God is the right response of a redeemed people.

Tom Schreiner - “Grace precedes command.”

God has promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob to bless them and make them into a great nation, and give them a land. He set up Israel to be a lighthouse to the nations (Isaiah), distinct from those around her. Their task: bless the world by drawing the world to the one true God.

National Israel is like scaffolding. Building the structure, proclaiming the prophecy, giving the outline of what’s truly being built.

Part 5: Deuteronomy

November 11, 2018

Points

“Chosen By God”

Holiness requires the killing of sin. 7:1-5

Election is entirely a work of God. 7:6-8

God is faithful to save and to punish. 7:9-11

NT reference -

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (ESV)

Keeping the covenant looks like love and obedience. This leads to life.

Introduction

Four weeks ago, Bro. Al started us on this journey to see and behold the gospel in the first five books of the Bible. We saw in that sin infected everything, the consequences were serious, and that a sacrifice has to be made. But we heard the promise, that one day the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.

Rejecting the covenant looks like hatred and disobedience. This leads to death.

From Greg, we learned about the Passover in , how the Israelites were spared from God’s judgment because of the lamb that served as the substitute. We have a substitute who died in our place, church, and now instead of the Passover, we gather at the Lord’s Supper to remember the body and blood that was given for us.

From Kevin, we were reminded that Leviticus is, in fact, profitable for us. God cares about how we worship him. He cares about how we approach him. And the Day of Atonement in pointed forward to another day of atonement that would end with the Lamb of God proclaiming “It is finished.”

On Point 1

And last week, from , Brother Cliff beautifully explained the story of the bronze serpent. God made a way for them, and for us, to look and live. We don’t have to die because of the work of the serpent. We can place our faith in the one who was lifted up and receive eternal life.

Physical warfare of a temporal nation among temporal nations. Foreshadows the gospel waging warfare against spiritual enemies.

We have already seen so much from the Torah. And I feel the weight of trying to tie a bow on this series. But, my hope tonight is to simply continue to do what is done in this pulpit week after week: open God’s Word, explain what it says, point to Jesus, and worship him alongside you in confident hope that he is coming again.

The church and state are separate today. Not so then. We must not think we have some divine right to go destroy false-worship through physical judgment. Instead, through the proclamation of the gospel, through the offense and stumbling block of the cross, we proclaim the judgment that awaits.

Where are we?

We deserve judgment. We deserve to be devoted to complete destruction. We have gone after false gods and worthless idols. We fail to obey the law. We are in huge trouble.

Before we read our text, we need to know where we are. In Deuteronomy, Moses is giving a second reading and explanation of the Law to Israel. Deuteronomy actually means “Second Law.” So think of it like a huge pep talk before Joshua leads the nation.

Israel is on the edge of the Promised Land after forty years in the desert. Before Moses stands a new generation who barely remembers, if at all, the plagues, the Exodus, the parting of the Red Sea, the giving of the Law at Sinai, all of it. All they know is wandering in the wilderness.

God knows the tendency of his people (most of whom do not remember Egypt. They don’t remember a time when they were tempted by false gods). Holiness requires a complete devotion to God.

God is doing a thousand things in you and through you, and at any given time you may be aware of two or three (Piper). - Passive wrath has been storing up for judgment.

Moses is gathering Israel to explain the covenant with them, who their God is, and who they are as his chosen people.

- Israel eventually will be judged because they wander from Yahweh, follow after other gods, and commit abominations

- God calls Israel to return to faithfulness, but instead they have sown iniquity and will be judged.

describes the faithlessness of the generation before them. They longed to disobey God, worship idols, and return to a land that was not their home. and 5 reintroduce the Law.

On Point 2

Then, in , we get the theme of the book. It’s known as the Shema. “Hear, O Israel: The LORD 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. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” Jesus would later call this the Greatest Commandment

The LORD our God. Relationship with God is primary. You shall love the LORD your God. Obedience and devotion to God is the right response of a redeemed people. Tom Schreiner says it like this - “Grace precedes command.”

God has promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob to bless them and make them into a great nation, and give them a land. He is setting up Israel to be a lighthouse to the nations (), distinct from those around her. Their task: bless the world by drawing the world to the one true God. By their righteousness and their relationship with their God, the nations would be transformed.

But all of this is a part of the old covenant. As I will try to show tonight, church, we have entered into a better covenant. National Israel is like scaffolding. Building the structure, proclaiming the prophecy, giving the outline of what’s truly being built, the bride of Christ, his Body. The one through whom the kingdom will spread to the ends of the earth.

So that’s my introduction. Let’s read our text together and see what the Lord has for us.

Read

God commands for sin to be put to death. 7:1-5

The pagan nations are occupying the Promised Land. It isn’t theirs. It’s God’s. He is free to do with it whatever pleases him. So, God commands Israel to devote these nations to complete destruction. This is physical warfare of a temporal nation among temporal nations. Doesn’t this seem harsh? If it doesn’t, I’m not sure you’re understanding what this command implies. Kill everything. Everything.

Is this always how God commands Israel to act? No. In , Moses gives Israel clear laws about warfare. There, the first thing to do is offer terms of peace (20:10-11). In we see something different.

From Israel, we know a Messiah would come. But, the surrounding and occupying nations rage against the God of Israel. In order for the promises of God to be fulfilled, these nations must be destroyed. Ajith Fernando writes, “The whole world would benefit from the revelation of the Law culminating in the appearing of the Messiah himself through Israel. Therefore, this nation needed to be protected. This is like one of those situations where a surgeon needs to take away a cancerous organ in order to prevent the destruction of the whole body.”

In verses 3-5, Israel is commanded not to intermarry with them and to destroy all of their altars, Asherah poles, pillars, etc. Why? God knows the hearts of men. We see this with Jesus in . And this is the clear teaching of Scripture. Israel is no exception, and they are a people who long for and run after other gods. Israel loved to find idols to worship, right? Moses didn’t even get off the mountain before Aaron and the nation were worshipping a golden calf!

Remember, most of this generation does not remember Egypt or Mount Sinai. They don’t remember a time when they were tempted by false gods. They need to know that, like marriage, holiness requires a complete devotion to God. So, God commands that the false religions and those who worship false gods be destroyed to keep Israel faithful.

The whole world would be blessed through the nation of Israel, and ultimately through Christ. But this judgment that comes is not arbitrary, either. There’s another reason why God commands for the Promised Land to be wiped out. These pagan nations deserved judgment. Child sacrifice, cult prostitution, and necromancy are just some of the abominations that these nations practiced. God is doing something through Israel to set up the coming of the Messiah, but he is also bringing necessary, righteous judgment on these nations. John Piper says, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”

Just so we’re clear: the church and state are separate today. We do not live in a theocracy. Not so then. We must not think we have some divine right to go destroy false-worship through physical judgment. Instead, through the proclamation of the gospel, through the offense and stumbling block of the cross, we proclaim the judgment that awaits. For us as Christians, this command to Israel foreshadows the gospel waging warfare against our spiritual enemies.

This is God’s work, by the way. 7:1 says, “when the LORD your God brings you into the land, and clears away many nations before you…” Who clears them away? God does.

Transition

Israel was given a task: go and take the land that was promised to you. Destroy the nations that are there. Do not swerve in your devotion to God. Follow his law and continue to receive the blessings of God.

But why? Why was Israel so special? What made them so great?

Read

God sovereignly chooses to save some. 7:6-8

In Leviticus, God calls Israel to be holy as He is holy. For the first time in Scripture, right here in , God says that Israel is holy. God has chosen Israel and entered into a covenant with them. Verse 6 says that, out of all the people on earth, Israel was to be God’s treasured possession.

God loves his people. Let that sink in. As the Israelites were preparing to enter a land full of false gods, and as they have left a nation full of gods in Egypt, the idea of a deity loving humanity would be foreign. We may love the idols of our heart, but they never love us back.

With God, the relationship is unique. God loves first, and then we can respond to him in love. God loved the nation of Israel.

So let’s get the process down. From before any of members of this nation were or did anything, God chose them, loved them, and acted to enter into relationship with them, in spite of their sin and status. He then promises them by means of a covenant to bless them. He redeems them from slavery in Egypt through the Exodus, and promises to take them into a land where they can be God’s people and he would be their God.

We might think this is unfair. Why not the Amorites? Why not the Egyptians? Why not the Assyrians? Why did he choose Abram from Ur of the Chaldeans? Why Moses so many years later? Because God chose Israel, that’s why. Who are you, who am I to question the Holy One? Who are we to charge God with unfairness?

Of course God is not fair! Mercy and grace are never fair! God is righteous. God is just. And as we’ll see in just a moment, God is faithful. But we don’t want fair. Fair means death for all.

So God sets his love on Israel. And he reminds them of the work of redemption that has already happened. He has redeemed Israel from the house of slavery by his mighty hand, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Transition

So, Israel was chosen, redeemed, preserved, and instructed. They are about to enter the promised land, not because they deserve it, not because they are strong and mighty, but because the God of creation has set his love on them and wants to bless them. But how does this generation know that other gods and nations won’t rise up? How do they continue to live in harmony with their God?

Read

God is faithful to save and to punish. 7:9-11

All evening, we have been looking at the Old Covenant. This covenant was wonderful, glorious, gracious, valuable, and helpful for Israel to know God. It gave Israel the Law. It was connected with blessing! But it also had a string attached.

God says that he will continue to be faithful to Israel as they continue to love and obey him. If they don’t obey, judgment will fall on them like it is about to fall on these pagan nations.

We see in this text the heart of God regarding blessing and judgment. Those who keep his commandments and love him are loved to a thousand generations: translation - forever. This is an eternal love, an eternal blessing. But, those who hate him, who reject his love and covenant, he will destroy. He will repay them to their face. He will not be slack. A day will come when the mercy of God is replaced with his wrath. Keeping the covenant looks like love and obedience. This leads to life. Rejecting the covenant looks like hatred and disobedience. This leads to death. It’s like a master and a servant. The master gives a servant a job. But, if the servant fails to complete the task, the master will let him go. Or a marriage. The vows a husband and wife share promise love and devotion till death. But if love and devotion are gone, if unfaithfulness creeps in, if infidelity, adultery, hatred for the other, and disloyalty consume the marriage, the vows have been broken.

Here’s the problem. Israel was not faithful. Just one example:

Israel was unfaithful, and they lost the land. They were exiled, and even though they returned, it was never the same. They remained sojourners and captives in their own country. Whether Babylon, the Medes, or the Romans, Israel never moved back from exile.

We aren’t faithful either. We deserve judgment. We deserve to be devoted to complete destruction. We have gone after false gods and worthless idols. We fail to obey the law. We have committed abominations. We are in huge trouble. We have been unfaithful. The Old Covenant condemns us. We cannot follow his law. We stand cursed because of the law. Moses even knew this!

Read

Moses was a mediator for Israel and God. God would have destroyed Israel multiple times without Moses interceding on their behalf. But Moses is about to die. Unfaithfulness is the human condition. The Law demands a curse.

So what’s the problem? We need a better mediator, we need to get out of this curse, and we need a better covenant.

Read

Jesus is the one who will bring all false religions to an end. His judgment will be final, and every knee will bow and every tongue confess once and for all that he is Lord.

Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. God chose us in him before the foundations of the world to be a people for his own possession, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. In the Spirit of Christ we live and go as a lighthouse to the nations. through the blood of Christ, our election and calling are sure.

Jesus is faithful and true. His work in us will be completed. He will join with us, coheirs of the kingdom, forever and ever to enjoy the riches of God. And he will judge the guilty and throw them into the lake of fire. He will show no mercy.

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