God's Word Will Get You Through It

Passage: Deuteronomy 8:2-3

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Introduction: We Don’t Belong In This World, But...

Our passage is found in the book of Deuteronomy. The word Deuteronomy means “second law.” It is the second writing or utterance of a law previously given, because there are individuals during the time of Moses living that were not alive when the first law was declared. A brand new generation had come who did not know God’s providence and law.

Moses was Israel’s teacher. He showed Israel how to live in God’s world, God’s way. He was revered by Jews and Greeks, alike. To the Jews he was considered “the most important and imposing figure” in Judaism (DLNTD, pg 777). To the Greeks, he was one they associated with magic, divine wisdom, astrology, charms, and seen by some as an heroic figure (LBD) . There’s no doubt, he was simply one of the world’s greatest leaders.

He led a nation out of slavery and brought them to the point of inheriting their own land. He would have easily been awarded a Nobel prize in today’s world. Many would have saw him as a revolutionary liberator.

What did Moses see? How did he interpret the world? You see, sight is what distinguishes leaders from followers; revolutionaries from the rest. Sight is what gives one the motivation to engage in the battle of wrestling with normality and a world that seems to be unbearable to live in. Two things are seen with this sight: 1) how you see the world as it is, and 2) how you see the world as it could be.

In 2016, Israel’s president, Shimon Peres passed away at the age of 93. He was a respected leader across the world. Upon his passing, many of the world’s leaders and dignitaries—from the president of the United States, Barak Obama, to Prince Charles of the royal family of England, to Pope Francis— came to pay their respects at his funeral. He was said to have worked “tirelessly” for the state of Israel (BBC, 2016). He was present when Israel became a nation in 1948 and worked to establish create a world of peace and love. Accordingly, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. In an interview where he was discussing his motivation and drive, he stated “[I] just kept dreaming.” He kept seeing the world, and then saw it as a better place.

This is what Moses did! Moses was a seer or “dreamer.” He could see the world as a better place. He could see the nation of Israel as a better nation. More importantly, he saw the world as a place before the fall of Adam.

Recently, I was thinking about the struggle of being a believer in a world we were never intended to live in. One might ask, “what do you mean we don’t belong in this world?” When I say this, I mean we are in a world that has changed drastically from the world that was created before the fall. If we were to examine the world before the fall, we would understand the world that we are in is not the world that was to be.

In the beginning, Adam was creation’s first priest-king.

Before the fall, Adam:

The world had the lurking dark and chaotic past in view.

Man had an enemy (Satan and death.)

Man had to work.

Man’s physical needs were supernaturally met.

In the world God created, man had a responsibility and God had a responsibility. Man’s responsibility was:

Serving God, the King as He builds the world through man

Disciple/ Mission

Serve each other

God’s responsibility to man was:

Providing food

Providing home

Providing man’s needs

I see Moses wrestling with these facts. I see him wrestling with the fact, God’s people are in a nation filled with bondage and slavery. They are working and nothing is being done. They are serving and the world is still the same. He led them to a liberation that replicated what he saw in the Garden of Eden. It was called the Promised Land.

Moses saw a land where all of Israel’s needs were taken care of. It was a land where the kingdom could thrive and move forward. It was a place of providence and responsibility.

If man was required to work, and his physical needs were met, what was man working for? He was working to carry out the plan of God to build a world that would welcome His Son and prepare creation for the establishment of His kingdom. That is, God had a plan to move humanity beyond the Garden of Eden, and man’s work was to be committed to doing just that. However, man failed and had to learn how to live in this world.

Learning How to Live

God chose the nation of Israel to be Adam’s replacement and Christ’s foreshadow. This meant living in the world in a way that would teach this nation how to live beyond the curse. Remember, living beyond the curse is not about living without work or in laziness. Living beyond the curse is about working for the things that concern God’s plan. In this way, the believer is not loving for self-sustainability. Rather, the believer is living to fulfill the will and purpose of God.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to life and work not to make a living, but to accomplish a divine purpose?

There are three things a believer must do to live beyond the curse:

Follow- Deuteronomy 8:1

Remember- Deuteronomy 8:2

Learn- Deuteronomy 8:3

These three things come to teach the believer how to trust in God’s Word and not the natural sustenance for life. The same Word that spoke creation into existence is the same Word that will allow believers to rise above the curse that has been imposed upon him by Adam’s fall.