Sermon Tone Analysis

This is the beginning of the second address Moses gives to the people of Israel.

It covers from chapter 5-28.

Can you imagine taking all this in at once.

Wow.

We will take our time.

The setting of this sermon is given.

It is after Egypt (44) but many years after Egypt after they had subdued all the lands and kings on the East of the Jordan we had covered in earlier chapters (45)

The bulk of the message he delivered is about the OT LAW.

Tonight we will look at the introduction as he tells Israel about the need to

Follow the Directions

Law is the Word Torah… it means direction, instruction, decision, rule, This word carries more weight than simply prohibition or a set of dos and don’ts.

Law shows up around 160 times in the OT and most of those times are some form of the Hebrew Word Torah.

In other words, this is an important topic to them.

This is God’s instruction to the Nation of Israel concerning their government structure, their civil structure, their religious life, their public and their private life.

As NT believers we need to understand that ????????????????????

Decrees ESV and KJV Testimonies- rooted in the thought of a command

Statues all same- to give what is due or prescribed

Ordinances- ESV rules, KJV judgments- a measure, a judgment, a decision.

Both Jesus and James in the New Testament preached about the importance of not just hearing but doing what you hear.

It should be noted that chapters 5-11 are divided into three parts with each one beginning “Israel, Listen” or “Hear O Israel” 5.1, 6.4, and 9.1 Section 1 deals with the foundations of God’s Covenant with Israel, Section 2 dealing with essence of Covenant relationship, and the last section dealing with how to respond or apply what they’ve heard.

The Importance of Covenant

Covenant is a kind of contract or agreement between two parties.

The word Testament as in old testament or new, is the same word.

Old Covenant- The Covenant of the Law given to the Nation of Israel, and the New Covenant, given to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some Covenants in the Bible are bilateral, meaning each party has a responsibility in the keeping of the Covenant.

That is the case with the Covenant at hand.

God had a part to play, and Israel had a part to play.

Israel was to keep the law and God would bless.

If they didn’t obey the law, God would withhold blessing and bring curses.

It was a conditional covenant.

Some Covenants are unilateral meaning only one party has an obligation.

This is an unconditional covenant.

For instance Abram in Genesis 15

The Bible says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Those who believe in Jesus have the same promise.

The New Covenant of grace is a unilateral covenant.

God does all the work and we receive all the benefit.

Our obedience is the fruit of our relationship not the root of basis of it.

The Personal Nature of Covenant

Let me start with the last three words of verse 5

And He Said:

We should be again be thankful that we have a God who reveals.

A few weeks ago a quoted part of an ancient poem where the author was trying to get right with some god or goddess who might or might not be out there who may or may not be offended by something that the author may or may not have done, or failed to do.

Just a blind person groping in the darkness.

Thanks be to God that he REVEALS HIMSELF.

He speaks to us through His Word, Through prayer, Through His People, and through Circumstances to reveal Himself and his Will to us.

Truth: Most of the hearers were NOT physically at Mt. Sinai (Horeb)

There are many theories about why Moses would say they were.

He is emphatic that they were.

US 2, all of us, verse 3, you, verse 4, you you you, verse 5

What’s the deal: I believe Moses is teaching them that the covenant made at Mt. Sinai applies to the next generation, and the next, and the next.

Each generation will have to keep the covenant, and follow the law.

God doesn’t have grandchildren, only children.

Israel became very guilty of thinking that since God had made a covenant with Abraham, they were shoo ins.

But each generation of Israelites would have to intentionally keep the Covenant God made with through Moses with the original generation.

I think as we consider the Law given to Israel through Moses, we have to, as NT Christians keep reminding ourselves of its purpose.

But they couldn’t… and they should have known it.

They couldn’t and they didn’t.

They failed the test miserably over and over again.

And I have too.

and you have too.