Unfaithfulness Has Consequences

Transcript

GRS 48
1/24/1988
Unfaithfulness Has Consequences
Deuteronomy 3-4
Gil Rugh

We noticed as we began our study of the Book of Deuteronomy that it is really the exposition of the law that God gave to Moses so back in Chapter 1 in verse 5; we are told that Moses undertook to expound this law, and then we go in to find out what his exposition of the law really is. The word, “expound” meaning to make something clear or plain. What he is really doing is driving home to Israel the importance of living in obedience to the word of God. What does it mean to have God’s word, what does it mean to be a people who are entrusted with the word of God.

As Paul says in writing to the Corinthians; we have this treasure in earthen vessels so that God can receive all the glory. Having the possession of the word of God is to result in a people who are transformed in their lifestyle; the result of the transformed lives of the people of God is God is glorified among his creation. At the end of Chapter 2 Moses began to unfold something of the conquering of the trans-Jordan area, what he is doing through these opening Chapters is giving a quick overview of Israel’s history. They came out of Egypt, they went to Kadesh-barnea, they were rebellious and wandered for 38 years. Now they have been brought back to the entrance to Canaan; the promised land.

The trans-Jordan River; this is the region to the east of the Jordan River, was conquered first by Israel, that was not part of the land that God promised to Israel, but it was necessary for them to conquer that land in preparation for going across to Jordan and into Canaan and it will end up; that two and half of the 12 tribes will settle in what is known as the trans-Jordan region. So from verse 24 through the rest of Chapter 2; Moses concentrated on the defeat of Sihon, King of Heshbon. Now when Chapter 3 opens up; we will talk about the defeat of Og, King of Bashan and Sihon ruled a southern portion of the trans-Jordan area, Og a more northern portion. And you can look at your Bible maps and they will identify with you some of these regions, so you have an idea of the area being talked about.

Again this is material that was related earlier, back in the Book of Numbers Chapter 21 we had talked about the defeat of Sihon and the defeat of Og. So Moses is reviewing this, the point of the review is to drive home to Israel that God has been faithful and you better be faithful because there are consequences for unfaithfulness. A whole generation has died in the wilderness because they wouldn’t trust God and obey his word. Chapter opens up, Deuteronomy Chapter 3; then we turned and went up the road to Bashan and Og King of Bashan with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Edrei and if you look at a Bible map; Edrei is 30 miles east of the southern edge of the Sea of Galilee.

So if you just look at the Sea of Galilee and you go 30 miles east you run into Edrei. That was the focal point of this battle, perhaps it was the capital of Og King of Bashan, that region in Northern trans-Jordan being called Bashan. But the Lord said to me, “Do not fear him for I have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand and you shall do to him just as you did to Sihon King of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon.” Again it was required that the people go to battle, but the victory would be given by the Lord, you note, even before they go to battle they are told, “I have delivered him and all his people and all his land into your hand.”

The outcome of the battle is a settled fact, therefore do not fear him. That’s going to become a repeated emphasis for Israel in Deuteronomy. Do not fear the enemy because I will give you the victory. Then the rest; these verses down to verse 8 talk about the conquering of Bashan and 60 cities in verse 4. All the region there, now this would be very various size cities but a total of sixty of them are conquered by Israel, they utterly destroy everything, in verse 6, men, women, and children. This is a holy war, if you will, a harem; the city is devoted to destruction, now keep in mind this seems cruel but these are a people who have been rebellious against God for centuries.

They have had 40 years since Israel left Egypt. They have heard about the great deliverance that God brought to the Israelites from Egypt. They had 40 years to repent. The time of judgment of time has come; there is no mercy when the time of judgment comes. That has not changed, you need to be reminded, remember, the Book of Revelation describes the tribulation that is yet to come upon the earth as the wrath of God unmixed in a cup. No mercy mixed in, no grace mixed in but full complete wrath, that’s what is going on here.

So all the people are destroyed. Verse 8; thus we took the land at that time from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites. So these are both kings of the Amorite people, who were beyond the Jordan from the valley of Arnon to Mount Hermon. So if you are going down the south, up north of the Sea of Galilee where Mount Hermon is, to the north and east of the Sea of Galilee you come to Mount Hermon. That whole region now is under the control of Israel. In verse 11 there is an interesting note; “for only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaim. Behold, his bedstead was an iron bedstead, it is in Rabbah of the sons of Ammon.” So the Ammonites had taken control of his bedstead, some would say; this was his bed made of iron, some would say; it was a sarcophagus, a burial coffin that is identified here.

I have no problem with the translation and the significance; it was a bed stead, what, either one whether it’s his coffin or it’s his bed; you ought to note its length was 9 cubits and its width 4 cubits by ordinary cubit. And with the ordinary cubit; that means this bed was 13 feet six inches by six feet wide. So he was sizeable, he would not fit even in our king sized beds today but Israel defeated him. Now you remember one of the reasons that Israel was afraid to go into the land, back in Chapter 1 verse 28, when they had come up to Kadesh-barnea 38 years earlier, Moses said, “the people said, ‘where we can go up, our brethren have made our hearts melt saying, ‘the people are bigger and taller than we, the cities are large and fortified to heaven.”

The people are too big, the cities are too strong, now here Og King of Bashan, no problem, 13 feet six inches. Now maybe there is a few inches on each end so his feet didn’t hang over; he is still a big fella, no problem. Not concerned about his size, that’s not a particular problem for God. Back in Chapter 2 verse 36; we are told there was no city that was too high for us in the conquering of Sihon King of Heshbon. The walls; they couldn’t make them tall enough to keep us from victory. Now we find out with Og; he is one of the remnants of a giant race, here is no people too tall or too strong so the things that cause them fear, that kept them out of Canaan 38 years earlier were all in their mind.

Sure the cities were strong, sure the people were big, didn’t have anything to do with victory because God promises the victory but you know what Israel had to be willing to do. They had to be willing to march in faith, they had to go and attack, engage in battle with cities that seemed too strong and people that seemed too mighty. Now the only thing that has changed in those 38 years; the people are willing to believe God now. They weren’t then, the tragedy for that generation that died in the wilderness; they missed out in seeing what God could have accomplished through them if they had believed him.

Verses 12 down through verse 22 talk about the division of the trans-Jordan region. You remember that there were two and a half tribes that ask if they could take this territory and settle there because it was good pasture land and Moses gave them permission with this stipulation; they could leave their herds there, they could leave their wives and children there but the men of war had to cross the Jordan and conquer Canaan with the other tribes, then they could return and settle with their families. So here is the division of the land between Reuben, Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh, they will stay on what we call the trans-Jordan area; the eastern side of the Jordan River.

If you look at a Bible map again, they will show you where the tribe settled and you will see these 2 and a half tribes there. Numbers 32 recorded their request. Down to verse 18 and 18 to 22 really is Moses’ instructions, we won’t read this but Moses’ instructions to the men of war; now you can leave your families here but you are obligated to cross the Jordan and not until Canaan is conquered can you go back and settle. So you can see also why it was so important for them to totally subdue the trans-Jordan region. They were going to leave their wives and children there now, the life stock while the men of war crossed the Jordan.

While it has been so totally conquered and all the enemy has totally been annihilated, even the children; that they could go on into Canaan without fear of what would happen. Also the fear of God is on the surrounding people so they would be intimidated from trying to conquer those that were left there. Verse 22; do not fear them, for the Lord your God is the one fighting for you. That repeated emphasis that Moses wants to drive home, do not fear them, the Lord your God is fighting for you, why. Every new city, every new opposing army presented another challenge to Israel’s faith. Isn’t that true for us today, no matter how long I have walked with God, no matter how often I have seen him work in my life, no matter how many victories I have seen him bring, every challenge tests my faith.

Well I trust God now and step out in battle, that’s why Moses keeps reminding them, don’t fear, don’t fear. Look at few of these occasions, back in Chapter 1 verse 30. Just with Deuteronomy here for a moment, Deuteronomy 1 verse 30; the Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight on your behalf just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness, that’s the reason, verse 29, do not be shocked nor fear them, same thing as we just read. You don’t fear them, why, the Lord is fighting for you. Over in Chapter 2 verse 25; this day I will begin to put the dread and fear of you upon the peoples everywhere under the heavens, who when they hear the report of you shall tremble and be in anguish because of you, rather than you fearing them; I’m going to put the fear of you in them.

That’s supernatural not because Israel is a more imposing army, a more powerful people, its supernatural; what God is doing to bring that fear. Down to verse 31; the Lord said to me, “See I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land to you, begin to occupy that you may possess his land.” For they ever went, I’m giving it to you, there is no cause for fear. God delivered them, down in verse 33, into his hand, the verse we read just a few moments ago, verse 36; so no city was too high for us. So Chapter 3 verse 2; but the Lord said to me, ‘do not fear him.’ You see we have just had the great victory over Sihon but God has to remind Israel again now you are going to face king of Og King of Bashan.

He is not Sihon King of Heshbon but don’t fear him, the same God who gave you victory over Sihon of will give you victory over Og. Look over in Chapter 20 of Deuteronomy verse 4, the end of verse 3, take verse 3 with verse 4; he shall say to them, ‘hear O Israel you are approaching the battle against your enemies today do not be faint hearted, do not be afraid or panic or tremble before them for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to save you’. It is an evidence of a lack of faith in our God; to tremble before our enemies, do I fear that I’m finally confronting one that God won’t be able to handle.

Then what I’m afraid of, jump out of Deuteronomy just to the Book of Jeremiah couldn’t help think of the Prophet Jeremiah as I read these verses in Deuteronomy. Jeremiah Chapter 1; the call of Jeremiah is filled with the same kind of warning for that great Prophet. In Jeremiah Chapter 1 verse 8; do not be afraid of them for I’m with you to deliver you declares the Lord. Now here as this young man Jeremiah is being thrust out into ministry as the servant of God the warning comes don’t be afraid of them, I will deliver you down to the end of Chapter 1 of Jeremiah verse 17; now gird up your loins arise, speak to them O which I command you, do not be dismayed before them, note the warning, lest I dismay you before them.

You better not be afraid or I will bring fear upon you. Behold I have made you today as a fortified city, as a pillar of iron, as walls of bronze against the whole land, to the Kings of Judah to its princes, to its priest, to the people of the land, they will fight against you, they will not overcome you for I’m with you to deliver you, declares the Lord. You have to read the Book of Jeremiah, so that you understand what’s involved, that doesn’t mean God kept Jeremiah from terrible difficulties and trials and tragedies. He is not called the weeping Prophet for nothing, in light of the fact he wrote the Book of Lamentations, his sufferings, his difficulties in the Book of Jeremiah but he was victorious through God.

Don’t be afraid, that could not keep him from going into battle in service for his God, that’s the warning to Israel, so back to the Book of Deuteronomy and the third Chapter. Verses 23 to 29 talk about Moses’ request to enter the land of Canaan, interesting, here you get some insight into the man Moses again, it’s a rather personal. I read and I almost feel this is almost too personal to be recorded here. Verse 23; I also pleaded with the Lord at that time saying, “O Lord God you have begun to show your servant your greatness, your strong hand for what God is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours, let me I pray, cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.” Perhaps Moses thought; since God had allowed him to be involved in the conquering of the trans-Jordan river that he would now allow him also the privilege of going into Canaan.

I’m sure his appetite was whetted. Here it seems; the mighty of God at work, as the conquering of the land has begun. O how exciting it would be to be able to go into Canaan to see that land, to stand on that land, to be part of taking possession of it. You know, you almost think; the mighty service that Moss has rendered, the faithful leadership, you remember God had told him because he struck the rock instead of speaking to it, he couldn’t go into the land, but now perhaps God would change his mind. But verse 26 is rather abrupt; but the Lord was angry with me on your account and he would not listen to me and the Lord said to me, ‘enough, speak to me no more of this matter’.

Amazing, Moses who had interceded on so many occasions on behalf of Israel and the Lord had answered his intercessory prayers and spared those people, now he tells Moses; be quiet and don’t bring the matter up to me again. Verse 27; go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes to the west and north and south and east, see with your eyes for you shall not cross Jordan but charge Joshua and encourage him and strengthen him for he shall go across at the head of this people, he shall give them in his inheritance; the land which you will see. Moses, he can’t pray about it anymore, the answer is no.

You go up to the top of this mountain, when you look over and you will see it with your eyes but you will never touch it with your feet and then you encourage and strengthen Joshua because he is going to lead the people and conquer the land. Really the whole Book of Deuteronomy is sandwiched between God’s telling Moses to go up on the mountain and Moses going up and dying in Chapter 34. So here you have the burden poured out as Moses gives his exposition of the Law as he prepares to go up the mountain and see the Promised Land before the Lord takes him.

That seems rather severe, but you know, it points up the importance of obedience, isn’t that what Moses is stressing in these opening Chapters, I take it, that’s why God moved him to record this here. We begin to see how important obedience really is. Moses had an obligation to maintain his integrity and be obedient to God even in the face of the provocative disobedience of Israel; his punishment for failure is severe. It can’t be undone, his unfaithfulness, his disobedience has been forgiven, the consequences remain, he cannot go into the land. Now that’s another reminder that God is bringing to his people; you better obey me.

Moses is one of the greatest intercessors in all the Old Testament, I believe he is perhaps the greatest leader that Israel ever had, that he cannot go into the land because of that act of disobedience. One thing about disobedience, one thing about the unwillingness to trust God; you never know what the consequences really will be. One of the terribly deceptive things about sin is we think; we have measured what it will cost but we never can until we have crossed the line and then we can’t go back and undo what’s been done. So here even the man Moses, great Intercessor, if any man’s prayer would be answered in Israel; certainly it would be Moses and God tells him to be quiet and don’t bring up the subject again.

But God plans for leadership, you know I take, it is a mark of the faithfulness of God here and its mark something of the stature of Moses. He was to encourage and strengthen Joshua, no room for jealousy, no room for envy; now look, I have been faithful to God all these years and now I can’t go, now Joshua is going to lead the people but what’s Moses job; to prepare him for that leadership, to encourage him, to strengthen him because Joshua; I’m sure is going to be somewhat shaken when the man that he has served for these 40 years is no longer there. He is to encourage and to strengthen him because God’s program for his people is not curtailed by disobedience and that emphasis will come out as well through the rest of Deuteronomy.

Chapter 4 is a stress on the importance of obeying God, what it stresses is the uniqueness of the people of God in having the revelation from God and the importance of obeying that revelation. Having revelation from God makes Israel totally unique, the revelation they have is totally unique and that puts them in the special position of being responsible to obey. The Chapter opens up; and now O Israel listen to the statutes and the judgments which I’m teaching you to perform in order that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord the God of your fathers is giving you.

Listen Israel, so you see Moses has been preparing them, we are coming up, really, Chapter 5 will begin the basic message of Moses which will go all way through Chapter 26. If you are going to give a long sermon you have got to get the people to pay attention and that’s what Moses has been doing. I’m teaching you to the statutes and judgment, you note, teaching you to perform so he is stressing to them the importance of doing the word of God in order that you may live, go in and take possession of the land. There is a whole generation that has died in the wilderness, why. They didn’t perform the word of God, he will not be permitted himself to go in and take possession of the land, why. He did not believe and do the word of God.

So it’s a strong warning to them, you want to live, you want to go in and take possession of the land; you better be obedient. You shall not add to the word which I’m commanding you nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. The revelation of God, God’s truth is unalterable; it is not to be changed in any way. Our responsibility is not to add to it, nor to take away from it, simply to obey it. You shall not add to the word which I’m commanded you nor taking away from it. That you may keep the commandments, don’t add to it, don’t take away from it, keep it obey it, do it, is the command.

Now it’s interesting to me that Moses, the first writer as far as we can tell of the Books of the Old Testament, wrote the first five Books of our Bible, gives this instruction. And the Apostle John, who writes the last of the letters or messages from God in the New Testament, the Book of Revelation Chapter 22 in verses 18 and 19, says basically the same thing. Listen; I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this Book, if any adds to them; God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this Book, if anyone takes away from the words of the Book of this prophecy; God shall take away his part from the tree of life from the holy city which are written in this Book.

Begin and end with that strong warning; don’t alter the truth of God, but concentrate on obeying what God has said. He gives another example of the consequences of disobedience, Israel’s disobedience at Baal Peor. You remember at Baal Peor in Numbers Chapter 25; Israel got involved with Moabite women, they got involved in their worship and they got involved sexually and God brought death and destruction on many of them. So verse 3; your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal Peor, for all the men who followed Baal Peor the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you but you held fast to the Lord your God; you are alive today, every one of you.

Now it seems like this repetition almost gets boring. Moses who says; now hear obey god, now here is an example what happens if you don’t obey God, now obey God now here is an example what happens if you don’t obey God, now obey God here is an example and it goes on, it’s almost relentless. But you know it’s like raising your children, you know, you keep telling them, you drive it home, you drill it in, sometimes just like; how many times do I have to tell you. You keep reminding them and reminding them, and reminding them. Now our kids drive, so every time they go out we say; be careful.

Well, you know, you could tell them to be careful once, that would do it, but somehow you think; we think we need to remind them to be careful because they might forget to be careful this time. Well, that’s what Moses is doing and to fail to be obedient could be fatal. We see this happening in the church of Jesus Christ, we see the consequences of sin and the ravages of sin in different lives, even believers whose lives are destroyed by sin and yet we see people that are going along oblivious like; O that’s them, that’s not me, that’s them that’s not me, that’s and we go on. Any wonder God keeps coming back and saying; be obedient, be obedient, look at the examples, look at the examples, you are not an exception.

That’s the point that Moses is trying to make clear. Verses 5 to 8; Moses wants to demonstrate the fact that Israel’s having the word of God makes them special and unique among all the nations of the earth. Verse 5; I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord my God commanded me that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. Note that emphasis; that you should do this, so keep and do them for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say; surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. Note that, the fact that they have the word of God, if they will listen to the word of God and obey the word of God, the other nations of the world will look at them as having exceptional wisdom and understanding because they have the wisdom and insight of God himself, that will be evidenced even to the other peoples.

For what nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God, whenever we call on him or what nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I’m setting before you today. You see Israel is in a unique position, verse 7; what nation is there that has a God so near to it as the Lord our God whenever we call on him. You note that “for” that is connected to what he has said about possessing the word of God, their possessing the word of God will now mark them of as having exceptional wisdom and understanding, it marks them off; is in a relationship of unique intimacy with God. That’s the same kind of principle that we have in First Corinthians Chapter 2; where we, who have the spirit of God within us to enable us to understand the word of God, are in a relationship of intimacy with God.

So Israel, the very fact that God had given his word to them enabled them to know God in a way that no one else could know him. They had a unique relationship with God. Verse 8; what nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this Law. There is not a nation on earth that has the word of the living God, you see what he is stressing; that your possession of the word of God makes you unique, you are to live it because you are a people who has a relationship of intimacy. Look over in psalm 119, 119th psalm; I hope you will take time to read the 119th psalm this week. It’s one you ought to read on a regular basis, it’s a continual reminder of what we have as a treasure in the word of God, 119th psalm beginning with verse 198.

Verse 97; we get the whole section, O how I love your law, it is my meditation all the day, your commandments make me wiser than my enemies for they are ever mine, I have more insight than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation, I understand more than the aged because I have observed your precepts, I have restrained my feet from every evil way that I may keep your word and so on. Down to verse 104; from your precepts I get understanding therefore I hate every false way. Same basic thing Moses said; you have more insight, more understanding than all the nations around you. We who have the word of God; we are wiser than our enemies, we have more insight in those who would teach us, we understand more than the aged, why.

We have the truth of God, we fail to understand what a treasure we have in the word of God, we take it for granted. You know, a reminder that in being another places, China being one of them where people sit at the radio and copy by hand as somebody is reading the Bible over the radio, then they try to copy that down; the portion that is read for the day and make copies and distribute it out. We say; that’s a treasure to them, the word of God we must have it but you know, we who have our Bibles and probably have multiple copies sitting on the shelves, somehow it’s such a chore for us to delve into it, to read it, to saturate ourselves with it.

We forget, you know it’s like any treasure you have, it can become common place, someone who doesn’t have anything; they come into possession of something; it’s a great treasure but if you have abundance you don’t appreciate it, isn’t that part of the problem that young people often have when they are raised in an environment of abundance; they don’t appreciate things. You know, I’m afraid that characterizes us, we are raised with the treasure of the word of God and we fail to appreciate it. You need to sit and drool over it as David is, say; this is more precious than gold, we just take it for granted. Back in Deuteronomy Chapter 4; Moses is reminding Israel of their uniqueness, our uniqueness as the church, it’s inseparably related to the fact that we are the possessors of the word of God, not just the copy of the Bible but we understand it, it was given for us.

We alone are able to perceive its message and enjoy the relationship with God that message brings. Verses 9 to 14 is a review of the Law as it was given at Sinai and there is something that Moses wants to bring out, it’s very important here. When Israel received the law from God at Sinai they heard his voice but they didn’t see any form and that becomes a pattern that they are never to make any visible form of the living God. Look at verse 10; remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, Horeb being another name for Sinai. When the Lord said to me, “Assemble the people to me that I may let them hear my word so they may learn to fear me all the days they live on the earth that they may teach their children.

Then down to the end of verse 12; you see no form; only a voice, on that day all they did was hear a voice. I saw dramatic physical things happening but there was no form of God and so Israel is never to make a form, God is without form, but his words become very significant and important. You ought to know something else, we are at verse 10; assemble the people to me that I may let them hear my words so that they may learn to fear me all the days they may live on the earth. That word “to fear” would include the ideas of reverence and awe but it goes beyond that. Jews in the Bible of the fear a slave would have of a master and what really was to happen; that awesome scene at Sinai, the thunderings and the clouds and all that was with it was to instill fear.

Remember, the people told Moses; now you go lest we perish, we will wait here, you go talk to God. They were afraid, that was intentional on God’s part, there is a healthy fear of God and when you lose that fear you will find yourself dipping into sin. There is a healthy fear that is to characterize us as God’s children; there is a healthy fear that children should have of their parents. That is all broken down today in so many ways in so many homes, that the children are uncontrollable, but there is to be a fear of doing what is wrong. When Israel confronted the awesome presence of almighty God and the thundering sound of his voice; fear was instilled in them and that fear was to keep them obedient.

You note, that they might hear my words, that they may learn to fear me and teach their children as well, this just wasn’t for that generation, it was to be passed on to other generations as well. Now we think today that we live under grace; you don’t have to be afraid and we don’t, from one sense just like my children don’t have to be afraid of me in one sense but they better be afraid in another and you better be afraid. The breakdown of the fear of God among believers today results in sin running rampant in the church.

People have no fear; you know what happens when young people, when children have no fear of the consequences of their action, they will do whatever they want. Happens in societies, we see parts of the world now that you wouldn’t want to go visit, why. The people there have no fear of doing wrong, they have no fear of killing someone, they have no fear of kidnapping people, so they just do it. So what happens when people lose fear in the right sense; then they indulge in sin, the result of people losing the right fear of God today is sin, is sapping the strength out of the church. There is no fear of the consequences, I’m going to heaven, God is a God of grace, I look around; I see other people sin and nothing happened to them. Without the element of fear; then there is not holiness among the people of God and that ought to be taught to our children as well as Moses brings out and that will be coming out later in Deuteronomy as well.

The fact that there was no form will be developed by him as we follow along a little further, the two tablets of stone, initially you see the two tablets of stone referred to in verse 13 you think; five commandments on one, five on the other. In all probability there were 10 commandments written on each table, was customary in covenant treaties in the second century before Christ that two copies were made and one with each party. Here they are both placed before the Lord in the Tabernacle because he is solely responsible for the carrying out of the covenant.

So in all probability these are duplicates although either way it wouldn’t change things but that would be the more normal. Verse 15; so watch yourselves carefully since you did not see any form on the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the midst of the fire lest you act corruptly and make a graven image. So the significance of the fact that God did not reveal a form is; he has no form, so any form you make to represent God will be the representation of another God and it’s a denial of the living God. So down through these verses 16, 17, 18; there is the forbidding, it’s really the expansion of the second commandment; where you shall have no other gods before you, you are not allowed to make a graven image, that’s the point here.

It’s expanded in verse 19; not to just what you make, beware lest you lift up your eyes to heaven, see the sun, the moon, the stars all the host of heaven, be drawn away and worship them and serve them. Now the danger, you know we always want something we can see, something we can touch, there is some security to that. You see people drive around with statues on their dashboard why. Just to have some visible sign, some visible, tangible but God is not visible, he is not something you can grab onto. So Israel is not to fall into that pattern, they have his word; this is the most tangible expression of God, until the coming of Christ incarnate in flesh that men have.

And now that Christ has returned to the father this remains; what do we have of our God, we have his word, that’s what we have. We come to his word, that’s the expression of his character, these heavenly bodies we are told at the end of verse 19; the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. In other words, the sun, the moon, and the stars were given to the whole world, they don’t control men’s destinies, they don’t determine events. They are provided by God for the benefit of the peoples of the world for light and so on. But they have no power, people don’t understand that today, they are studying the stars and there is astrology and all of that and people read their horoscope.

I haven’t have anything with anything and God warns against it for his people, I mean it has to do with false worship and nothing to do with reality, with the living God. Then a reminder, God has brought them out of Egypt, the reminder of God’s, verse 21, 22, and 23, the fact of God’s judgment on Moses is a warning; I will not cross to Jordan, verse 22, I shall die in this land, I shall not cross to Jordan, verse 23, so watch yourselves. If God would judge Moses that way everybody better be careful.

Nobody is above the discipline of God, I’m your leader, he is the mightiest figure in Israel, when his own brother and sister opposed his leadership she was made leprous in an instant and yet when he disobeyed he could not go into the land of Canaan. So warning; don’t disobey God, for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. You know, we need to have that balance; we come with boldness into the intimacy of the very presence of God. God himself indwells us, there is a relationship of intimacy, but there needs to be a recognition as well that he is a jealous God, a consuming fire and he demands holiness on the part of his people just as much or more so, if you will, of us today.

You are the temples of the living God; we are to express his holiness in all that we do. Verse 25 to 31; more consequences of disobedience are unfolded by Moses, what he does here; is carries on into the future. Israel if you disobey God, he will take you out of the land, he will scatter you among the other nations, there you will serve other people and other gods. Look at verse 27; the Lord will scatter you among the people, you shall be left few in number among the nations where the Lord shall drive you. There will be a harsh judgment; Israel experienced this, the Babylonian captivity, the Assyrian captivity, the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom.

Then the Babylonian captivity of the southern kingdom, ultimately in the dispersion of Israel after the rejection of the Jesus Christ; Israel scattered among the nations, as not a nation at all. Moses had called heaven and earth to witness in verse 26; heaven and earth are stable, people are fickle, heaven and earth can testify to what happened 2000 years ago, why. The heavenly bodies were there, the sun, the moon, the stars, so they are called as a stable witness of the conduct of the people and the significance of what Moses is saying.

Down in verse 30; when you are in distress on all these things that have come upon you in the latter days you are returned to Lord your God and listen to his voice. I take it, that this prophecy ultimately anticipates the final re-gathering of Israel in anticipation of the second coming of Jesus Christ. They have been scattered among the nations of the earth, they are not a significant people, they are not a mighty nation, they get a lot of news today but they are not a powerful nation as we think of it but they are being reassembled, but there is going to be a further refining of the nation and then they will call upon the living God, that’s the point of verse 30.

Look at verse 31; for the Lord your God is a compassionate God, he will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers which he swore to them. Want you to note something, you have to underline verse 31 and circle it, the future of Israel is guaranteed by the faithfulness of God not the faithfulness of Israel. The Lord your God is a compassionate God he will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant. Israel will forget it, they will be punished but the covenant cannot be annihilated, the covenant cannot be ended because it depends upon God. The only way God’s covenant with Israel can be ended is for God to fail. Jump over to Romans Chapter 11 real quickly, Romans Chapter 11

We will pick up reading with verse 25; for I do not want you brethren to be uninformed of this mystery lest you be wise in your estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and thus all Israel will be saved. That’s what we are talking about in the latter days when Israel will cry out to God, at that time we will have the intervention of Jesus Christ at the second coming. The deliverer will come from Zion, he will remove ungodliness from Jacob, this is my covenant with him when I take away their sins, from the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, from the standpoint of God’s election, God’s choice; they are beloved, for the sake of the fathers, for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Does Israel have a future? Yes. The gifts and calling of God are irrevocable; the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have a covenant relationship with God that cannot be broken. There will come a time when all Israel will be saved, at the end of that great tribulation and anticipation of the second coming of Christ to earth there will be a turning back to God. That is what’s in view in verses 30 and 31 of Deuteronomy chapter 4. Then with the verse 32; Moses goes on to remind them again of their unique position, you see what we are doing, now remind them again of their uniqueness, now remind them of the importance of disobedience, remind them of what happens when you are disobedient.

Be obedient, you are the unique people of God, ask now concerning the former days which were before you since the day that God created man on the earth, inquire from one end of the heavens to the other; has anything like this been done. Verse 33; any people heard the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire as you have heard and survived, has the God tried to go, take for himself a nation from within other nation by trials, signs and wonders and powers like God took Israel out of Egypt, totally unique. To you it was shown, verse 35, that you might know that the Lord is God, there is no other besides him. Out of the heavens he let you hear his voice to discipline you, to bring them into line, to guide them.

Verse 37; because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their descendants after them. Verse 39; know therefore today and take it to your heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below, there is no other. But there is an application of that, would say amen. I believe that the Lord is God in heaven, on earth, there is no other. Note verse 40; so you shall keep his statutes and his commandments which I’m giving you today. You know, all those great creeds and doctrinal statements we have are irrelevant if they do not result in obedience in our lives.

That it may go well with you, with your children after you, that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving for you all time. Israel’s possession of the land depended on obedience. They would not be obedient; Israel does not possess the land, they do not enjoy the fullness of God’s blessing. Someday they will when they are finally brought to the place of obedience, Israel was a stubborn child. The lesson is still being learnt, you know the amazing thing is; we have the history of Israel laid out before us in the Old Testament. We still turn out to be stubborn and rebellious children, holding on to our sin.

I know God says; I should do this, I know God says; I should be this kind of husband, this kind of wife. I know God says; I should be this kind of person in my job. I know God says; that I should serve him in this way but, but, but just like Israel. But I can’t bring myself to trust God in this circumstance, I can’t bring myself to allow God to work in my life in this situation and all the buts are evidences of disobedience and we forego the blessing. I say; it’s a tragedy that Israel has centuries and centuries of wasted life but the tragedy of that is; we have Israel as an example, we still think it’s going to be different.

I can get away with sin, I can be disobedient and escape the consequences; it never ever happens or God would cease to be God, it never happens, do I really believe that. Oh I believe he is God on heaven, on earth, then I better obey his word, there are consequences for disobedience. That doesn’t mean I lose my salvation, it can happen. I’m in a covenant relationship with the eternal God personally by virtue of the new covenant but the consequences of sin can be very terrible. Look at Moses, he never lost his salvation but he didn’t cross to Jordan, he couldn’t undo the consequences of the disobedience.

I don’t know what the future of the church in the United States really is, people won’t come to grips with the reality of sin and there are consequences for disobedience. We as parents aren’t living that out and our children aren’t living it out. I need to come back and say; is the word of God real to me. If so then the only thing that matters is my obedience that he might bring all the blessing that he intends upon me and on my children after me. Now Moses is ready and the last part of the Book we won’t talk about now because that really is the transition into his major message beginning in verse 5.

Go back and read the first four Chapters, think about the obedience and disobedience of Israel, then think about yourself personally; in your walk, how are we doing. If God were going to write our life story; would it be characterized by a different pattern, a people that are determined; they would trust God and not be intimidated by anything.

Let’s pray together. Thank you Lord for your graciousness, thank you for the reminder of the tremendous treasure we have in the possession of your word. Lord, what a tragedy that we have such great treasure but we take it for granted. We are often like spoiled children who don’t appreciate all that has been bestowed upon us. Lord, cause to pause again and thank you for being so good, so kind, so compassionate, so loving, so gracious. Thank you for our salvation. Lord, thank you for the privilege of coming to know you better, through the reading and studying of your word.

Lord, may it be true of us that we love your word more than our food, that is more precious to us than our homes, than our possessions, than our very lives. Lord, may all this be evidenced in the only way that it can, that we are a people living in obedience trusting the God who has entrusted his word to us. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.