Sermon Tone Analysis

Third address for Moses after the blessings and curses of the previous chapters.

2-9 Remembering God’s past grace today.

A important reminder to me, and should be for you is this.. Remembrance is key to obedience.

In verses 2-9 we see Moses telling them what the Lord has done for them.

1st he says YOU HAVE SEEN… 10 plagues… Water turned into blood, Frogs, Gnats, Flies, Livestock die, Boils, Hail, Locusts, Darkness, Death of Firstborn.

They had the Pillar of Cloud and Fire Guide them, they crossed the red sea.

Got bread from heaven, Water from the Rock, where giving the 10 commands, and so much more.

The bad about Israel seeing all these miracles was they expected it over, and over again, so when God doesn’t do these things they should remember what God had done before their eyes.

Remember Remembrance is key to obedience.

And so now Israel is transitioning into a different way, up until this point they were being led by God, and Moses, they did not have the understanding like they are about to.

One of the proofs of God’s grace in this text is that there their clothes, and sandals never worn out.

If you remember many months ago I talked about how eating the same thing over and over again can cause your feet to swell up, and God’s grace extends out even there.

Also they did not get to eat the things they were accustomed to as well, but all this took place because the Lord wanted them yo know that the Lord is their God.

And the evidence of who he is, and what he has done including conquering other kingdoms was a reminder to keep the covenant they had.

We must Remember the Gospel…

Examples to us.. Baptism, Lord’s Supper, Gathering on the Lord’s day…

What examples of grace help you in your own faith?

10-15.

Oath of the Covenant.

Here in the text we see everyone is participating in this oath they are making before the Lord, and this oath is even for those who are not with them as well, and this oath is rooted in the promises that were giving to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

And this oath is taking to symbolize that Israel belongs to the Lord.

The oath in v.12 is like the oath to Abraham, and the formation of Israel as the people of God (v.13) is in fulfillment of the promise to Abraham.

16-17 Learning from the godless nations.

The godlessness of the nations should be motivation to live for the Lord.

Personal consequences of being unfaithful 18-21

Moses Warns against tolerating an individual in their midst who goes against God, and warns against the dangers of idolatry.

v18 has a warning BEWARE x2 and he is telling them to beware of those who turn their heart away from the Lord, and serve other gods… What a strong warning to even us…

v19.. is wreck-less way to live before the Lord.

And the text gives a good illustration this will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike.

A good illustration of verse 19 is…

There is a warning to Israel that if they abandon the covenant with God, God will destroy them.

Geographic consequences of being unfaithful.

22-28

22-23 Sodom and Gomorrah are examples of judgement.

Sulphur represents something that sterilizes the soil.

salt makes the land infertile, In wars thousands of years ago, people would spread salt to make lands not fertile for the enemy.

Burning is pretty self explanatorily.

The Result

nothing sown and nothing growing, where no plant can sprout

Why does this happen because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, he is telling them you can’t expect good things to happen if you are not faithful.

v29… God does what he wants, but gives his people what they need…

What happened to Isreal?

Shortly after moses, and Joshua died this happened.

Why did this happened, because they had forgot what the Lord did for them?

This is a pattern that happens in the old testament, they kept forgetting the Lord.

And the Lord kept sending people to remind them of what he did.

But they didn’t walk faithfully, as the prophet Jeremiah warned them in

What happened overtime is the people of Israel became hardened like it says in Isaiah 6:9-10

Paul himself quotes Dt 29:4 in Romans 11:8

because they had become so hardened to God.

How does this apply to us?

We have a responsibility to follow Jesus covenant.

We have a responsibility to fulfill the mission of God.