Genesis covered 2500 years of history. Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy covered 40yrs. Why so much press for so little time? God was putting together a nation that was to represent Him to the world. To represent Him correctly, the nation was to be a "set apart" people, living according to God's intentions and expectations.
As you finished the book of Deuteronomy, I hope you noticed the revelation of God's priorities:
No syncretism (melding of differing religious viewpoints)
Devotion (to His truth and word)
Justice (especially for the defenseless)
Compassion (aliens, widows, orphans)
Caring for the poor
Deut.8:11-17 “...Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; otherwise, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. "He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. "In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth...”
What is the danger? [if forget, blessing leads to pride]
What does this lead to)? Deut.8:19 “...It shall come about if you ever forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you will surely perish...”
Deut.9:4-6 “...Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, '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 dispossessing them before you. "It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. "Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people...”
Three times they’re told it’s not because of their righteousness!
What’s the difference? [privilege vs purpose]
Deut.9:13 “...The Lord spoke further to me, saying, 'I have seen this people, and indeed, it is a stubborn people...”
How does God see us?
Are we privilege (entitlement) or purpose (His intentions) oriented?
Deut.9:23 “...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 command of the Lord your God; you neither believed Him nor listened to His voice...”
Two aspects of rebellion? [Failure to believe and failure to listen. Lord help us.]
Deut.10:12-13 “...Now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the Lord's commandments and His statutes which I am commanding you today for your good?...”
What does the Lord require of you? [fear, walk, love, serve, keep - with ALL your heart]
Deut.10:16 “...So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer...”
What? [Fleshly desires must be severed and resisting His purposes must stop]
His Purposes? [v.18 ...justice for the orphans and widows, love for the alien... Caring for those with the greatest need. (SODOM?)
Deut.11:13-15 “...It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. "He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied...”
People’s part? [listen, love, serve]
God’s part? [rain, grass, satisfaction]
Deut.11:16-17 “...Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. "Or the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you...”
Blessings or curse depend on listening (11:27,28).
Why is there a difference between the promise (11:24 "...Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours; your border will be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river, the river Euphrates, as far as the western sea...” ) and the reality?
Isn’t it sad that we never seem to enter into all that God has prepared for His people?
Deut.12:2-3 “...You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. "You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place...”
Is this harsh?
What is God insisting upon? [no melding of beliefs]
Is God intolerant? Is this a hate crime?
Deut.12:8 “...You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes;...”
Taken out of context, this is a great verse to combat the pluralism (a diversity of views) of our society.
Taken in context, it’s still a great verse to combat the religious pluralism of our society. God has a prescribed way. That way trumps every preference of man.
Is this just O.T. Stuff?
2 Cor.6:14,17 “...Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? ..."Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate," says the Lord. "And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you...”
Rev.18:4 “...I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;...”
Deut.12:30-32 “...beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, 'How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' "You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it...”
Deut.13:4 ”...You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him...”
Deut.13:6-9 “...If your brother, your mother's son, or your son or daughter, or the wife you cherish, or your friend who is as your own soul, entice you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods' (whom neither you nor your fathers have known, of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near you or far from you, from one end of the earth to the other end), you shall not yield to him or listen to him; and your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare or conceal him. "But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people...”
Sounds like the Muslims. What is God thinking?
Deut.14 - Tithing
Deut.14:22 “...You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year...”
Deut.14:28 “...At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit it in your town. The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do...”
Deut.26:12 “...When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied...”
Who owns the tithe? [God].
What does He want it for?
Who is to get 1/3? [Levites, aliens, orphans, widows]
Would this help eliminate poverty? Read on..
Deut.15:1 “...At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts...”
Deut.15:4 “...However, there will be no poor among you, since the Lord will surely bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,..”
Deut.15:11 “...For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land...”
Jesus said “...you will always have the poor with you...” (Mark 14:7, John 12:8)
How can there “...be no poor...” but “...the poor never cease to be in the land...”?
Deut.15:5,6 “...if only you listen obediently to the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all this commandment which I am commanding you today. For the Lord your God will bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you...”
God’s blessing is sufficient. His ways will work. We must listen obediently and observe carefully.
Do you see any qualifications on which poor are ‘worthy’ in these verses?
Deut.16:20 “...Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may live and possess the land which the Lord your God is giving you...”
What does justice look like?
Deut.16:19 “...You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous...”
Righteousness is perverted by bribes and partiality.
Any bribes in our country? [PACs - legalized bribes?]
Deut.17 - Examples of Justice
Stoning someone who serves other gods (17:5)
Homicides, lawsuits, assault.
Priest can have final say. Failure to listen - death (17:12)
Deut.17:15-19 “...you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman. "Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, 'You shall never again return that way.' "He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. "Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. "It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes,...”
Prediction of coming king. Who should choose?
Solomon’s downfall?
What do good leaders do? [keep copy of law, read it, learn to fear God, carefully observe ALL of it]
Would this create good leadership?
Deut.17:20 “...that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel...”
Prevents pride and error.
Deut.18 List of detestable things.
Divination, Witchcraft, Socery, Casting Spells, Mediums, Spiritists.
What do you think God thinks of palm reading? Horoscopes? Fortune Cookies?
Deut.18:15 “...The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”
God provides prophets to carry His words to the people.
Deu.18:20 “...But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die...”
Prophets must be accurate, not presumptuous.
Deut.19
Cities of Refuge.
God appointed boundaries.
** False witnesses to receive the outcome they intended for another.
Would our current litigation climate change if those suing were made to pay if they lost their suit?
Deut.20
Don’t go to war with the fainthearted.
Why the difference between NEAR (destroy all) and FAR (offer peace) battles? [dangers of syncretism]
Deut.21
21:8 - Guilt of innocent blood in the midst of the people.
21:15 - If a man has two wives? Legal?
21:17 - Double portion to firstborn?
21:20,21 - Stubborn and rebellious son stoned?
21:22 - Death by hanging.
Yikes!
Deut.22
22:3 Not allowed to neglect other’s needs.
22:5 Cross dressing an abomination. (cross sexuality/purpose)
22:9-11 Don’t mix seed, plow team, material.
Why the taboos? Does being set apart require intentional decisions?
Why the laws on immorality (premarital sex, adultery, rape)? Deut.22:21 “... you shall purge the evil from among you...”
Deut.23:7 “...You shall not detest an Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall not detest an Egyptian, because you were an alien in his land...”
We are aliens in this world. Having been freed from this world, we are not to detest those in the world.
Deut.24:17-22 “...You shall not pervert the justice due an alien or an orphan, nor take a widow's garment in pledge. "But you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing. "When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. "When you beat your olive tree, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. "When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not go over it again; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow. "You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I am commanding you to do this thing...”
Interesting difference between destroying the inhabitants completely and providing for the alien. [brutality vs generosity]
Deut.25
Brother to marry dead brother’s wife.
God’s intent? [family lines preempt individuals]
Deut. 26:12 “...When you have finished paying all the tithe of your increase in the third year, the year of tithing, then you shall give it to the Levite, to the stranger, to the orphan and to the widow, that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied...”
26:13 “....the sacred portion...” This is an amount “set apart” for God purposes.
26:14 “...according to all that You have commanded me...”
Result of doing all (26:19)? [Set high for praise, fame, honor]
Deut.28 Blessings for Obedience
28:1-2 “...Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. "All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God:...”
Nice list of blessings, but most importantly ... Deut.28:10 “...all the peoples of the earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord...”
Deut.28 Curses for Disobedience
28:20 Curses, confusion, rebuke.
28:28 Madness, blindness, bewilderment.
28:29 Grope as the blind man [remember Sodom].
28:32-34 Loss of family closeness, frustrations in labors, ultimately driven to despair by what you see as your life.
28:43 Aliens elevated higher, you lower [loss of place in own country].
28:59 Severe and lasting plagues, miserable and chronic sickness.
28:66 Your life shall hang in doubt before you.
These warnings of curses came true with the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities 700 to 600 years prior to Christ.
There was another scattering during the post Christ Roman oppression.
What is happening in America right now?
Deut.29:9 “...So keep the words of this covenant to do them, that you may prosper in all that you do...”
Are we keeping and doing what God is speaking to us?
Deut.30 All is not lost if people will repent.
30:3 The Lord will restore you from captivity.
30:5 The promise is renewed.
30:6 The Lord will circumcise your heart - cut off your fleshly ways.
30:9 The Lord will prosper you, and rejoice over you.
30:11 His commands are not too difficult nor out of reach.
30:14 They are very near.
30:19 Life and death are set before you - choose.
Deut.31
Change of leadership
31:6 Be strong and courageous.
31:8 Do not fear or be dismayed.
31:10-12 Why did Moses instruct them to read the law to the assembled people every 7 years? [so “...they may hear and learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law...” Children, too]
31:18 What would be the result of failure to comply? ”...I will surely hide My face...”
Deut.32
The Song of Moses
Commissioned by God (31:19) to teach and help remember.
Deut.32:47 “...For it is not an idle word for you; indeed it is your life. And by this word you will prolong your days in the land, which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess..."
Deut.33
Moses proclaims blessings on the 12 tribes, much like Jacob had done in Gen.49 before he died in Egypt
Deut.34
Moses dies at age 120. Eyes not dim, nor vigor abated.
34:6 God buried him.
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