What Does the Lord Your God Require of You?"
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Intro.
Intro.
Deuteronomy is a book of remembrance
It is Moses’ final address to the people of Israel. Final addresses are important .
I. The Context of the Passage
I. The Context of the Passage
A. The Book of Deuteronomy
A. The Book of Deuteronomy
I. Rehearsal of Past (Chapters 1-4)
II. Commandments for the Present (chapters 5-26)
III Options for the Future (chapters 27-30)
IV. Moses’ Finals Acts and Death (chapters 31-34)
I. Looking Backward (chap.1-11)
A. Review of the Way Since Sinai (chapters 1-3)
B. Review of the Law from Sinai (chapters 4-11)
II. Looking Forward (chap.12-34)
A. Final Rules and Warnings to Israel (chapters 12-30)
B. Final Words and Actions of Moses (chapters 31-34)
J. Sidlow Baxter
B. An Outline of
B. An Outline of
“Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven, a people great and tall, the descendants of the Anakim, whom you know, and of whom you heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the descendants of Anak?’ Therefore understand today that the Lord your God is He who goes over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and bring them down before you; so you shall drive them out and destroy them quickly, as the Lord has said to you.
“Do not think in your heart, after the Lord your God has cast them out before you, saying, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land’; but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is driving them out from before you. It is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart that you go in to possess their land, but because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God drives them out from before you, and that He may fulfill the word which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
“Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the Lord. Also in Horeb you provoked the Lord to wrath, so that the Lord was angry enough with you to have destroyed you. When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant.
“Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, go down quickly from here, for your people whom you brought out of Egypt have acted corruptly; they have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them; they have made themselves a molded image.’
“Furthermore the Lord spoke to me, saying, ‘I have seen this people, and indeed they are a stiff-necked people. Let Me alone, that I may destroy them and blot out their name from under heaven; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.’
“So I turned and came down from the mountain, and the mountain burned with fire; and the two tablets of the covenant were in my two hands. And I looked, and behold, you had sinned against the Lord your God—had made for yourselves a molded calf! You had turned aside quickly from the way which the Lord had commanded you. Then I took the two tablets and threw them out of my two hands and broke them before your eyes. And I fell down before the Lord, as at the first, forty days and forty nights; I neither ate bread nor drank water, because of all your sin which you committed in doing wickedly in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. For I was afraid of the anger and hot displeasure with which the Lord was angry with you, to destroy you. But the Lord listened to me at that time also. And the Lord was very angry with Aaron and would have destroyed him; so I prayed for Aaron also at the same time. Then I took your sin, the calf which you had made, and burned it with fire and crushed it and ground it very small, until it was as fine as dust; and I threw its dust into the brook that descended from the mountain.
“Also at Taberah and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. Likewise, when the Lord sent you from Kadesh Barnea, saying, ‘Go up and possess the land which I have given you,’ then you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God, and you did not believe Him nor obey His voice. You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you.
“Thus I prostrated myself before the Lord; forty days and forty nights I kept prostrating myself, because the Lord had said He would destroy you. Therefore I prayed to the Lord, and said: ‘O Lord God, do not destroy Your people and Your inheritance whom You have redeemed through Your greatness, whom You have brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Remember Your servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; do not look on the stubbornness of this people, or on their wickedness or their sin, lest the land from which You brought us should say, “Because the Lord was not able to bring them to the land which He promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out to kill them in the wilderness.” Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out by Your mighty power and by Your outstretched arm.’
“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’
“So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the Lord had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the Lord gave them to me. Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the Lord commanded me.”
(Now the children of Israel journeyed from the wells of Bene Jaakan to Moserah, where Aaron died, and where he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered as priest in his stead. From there they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land of rivers of water. At that time the Lord separated the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day. Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord is his inheritance, just as the Lord your God promised him.)
“As at the first time, I stayed in the mountain forty days and forty nights; the Lord also heard me at that time, and the Lord chose not to destroy you. Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, begin your journey before the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.’
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name. He is your praise, and He is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things which your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.
I. Warning About Self-Righteousness (9:1-10:11)
A. Conquest of Canaan Is Not Due to Your Righteousness, But Their
Wickedness (9:1-6)
B. You Are A Stiff-necked (Stubborn) People (9:7-10:11)
1. Remember the Golden Calf (9:7-21)
2. Remember Taberah, Massah, and Kibroth-Hattaavah (9:22-
24)
3. God Would Have Destroyed You Except for Petition (9:25-
10:11)
II. Admonition to Fear and Love God (10:12-22)
II. Why Be Concerned About What God Requires?
II. Why Be Concerned About What God Requires?
A. He is the Creator -
A. He is the Creator -
Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
B. Of What He Has Done -
B. Of What He Has Done -
He chose you -
The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
God chose you -
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
He was patient with you -
Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.
We also have rebelled and sinned against God -
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
,
The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
C. Because of His Character -
C. Because of His Character -
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.
God is impartial -
For there is no partiality with God.
God is fair and just - Heb.10:8-9
D. Because He Has Our Best Interest At Heart -
D. Because He Has Our Best Interest At Heart -
and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.
III. What Does God Require?
III. What Does God Require?
A. Reverential Fear -
A. Reverential Fear -
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
It is our duty -
For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.
18 times in book of Deut. Moses mentions importance of fearing God
Other points ultimately come back to fear
Two element to fearing God: reverence and fear
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
fear - being afraid to displease God
So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.”
And the fear of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out with one consent.
And the fear of the Lord fell on all the kingdoms of the lands that were around Judah, so that they did not make war against Jehoshaphat.
respect - reverence for who he is
Godly fear means more than being afraid to displease God
Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.”
I respect him for who HE is -
“If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD,
Fearing God is the beginning of wisdom -
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Fearing God is a choice -
Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord,
B. An Obedient Walk -
B. An Obedient Walk -
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?
Man is incapable of directing his own path
O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Great Bible characters walked with God
Enoch -
After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters.
Noah -
This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.
In all his ways
So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore, we are all present before God, to hear all the things commanded you by God.”
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
It is an attitude of submission -
Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
C. An Affectionate Heart -
C. An Affectionate Heart -
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
This is the great commandment of the law -
But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
We obey not simply out of fear, but because we love God
,
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
We love Him because he first loved Us - ;
We love Him because He first loved us.
For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
We love God more than anything or anyone else
He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.
You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but You?
And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.
D. Whole-Hearted Service -
D. Whole-Hearted Service -
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
We serve God with ALL our heart, Soul, and Mind
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Heart, soul and mind are not different ‘parts’ of man, but different ways of thinking of the whole man in his relation to God; no clear distinction can be drawn between them.
R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC 1; IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 322-323.
https://accordance.bible/link/read/Tyndale_Commentary#41633
“God’s whole-hearted love must not be answered in a half-hearted manner” (Hendriksen)
iii. No divided allegniance
a.
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
b.
Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
c. ,
But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
E. A Tenacious Faith -
E. A Tenacious Faith -
You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him, and to Him you shall hold fast, and take oaths in His name.
Then hold fast -don’t let go
The book of Hebrews
but Christ as a Son over His own house, whose house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end.
1 Then Hold Fast
For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
Are you doing the things that God requires?
The law might be different but God still desires the same things of us that he wanted from Israel of old.