RECALLING GOD'S PROMISES!

Deuteronomy 5 – 11
There is so much richness in these O.T. accounts. Example: the manna was given daily, not just for food, but as a picture of how we must be dependent daily upon Jesus, our Bread of Life!
Moses was a wise teacher of God’s truth. First he reviewed what the Lord had done for Israel in 1 – 4 and reminded the people of God’s mercy and goodness. The older generation did not obey and the younger generation needed to look at the history of God’s faithfulness. Moses reaffirmed the basic principles of God’s Law in 5-6, includes what we know as the 10 Commandments. 6-7 he discussed motives for obedience and explained why the people should honor God’s laws. He wanted the nation’s obedience to be based on spiritual principles, not just personal opinions, and to be encouraged by the right motives. Moses’ laid the proper foundation and then applied God’s commandments to specific areas of Israel’s life.
God gave His law to build the people individually as well as the nation collectively. Can you imagine 3 million people living together and working together, let alone fight their enemy together unless they had rules and regulations to govern them? Israel’s civic peace and general welfare depended on the people respecting the law and obeying it. Unfortunately, over the years, some of the religious leaders added so many traditions to God’s law that the people felt like they were wearing a galling yoke. (Acts 15:10, Gal. 5:1)
The law was also meant to reveal God and draw the people closer to Him. Certainly He was concerned about the external conduct of His people, but He was also concerned that their hearts be devoted to Him. Read Psa. 119 to discover what the law of God meant to Jewish people who were spiritually minded and devoted to the Lord in their hearts.
In 6-7 answer the question, “Why should we obey God’s Word in a world where most people ignore it or deliberately disobey it?
Oliver Cromwell had an artist painting his portrait and he told the artist that he refused to pay unless the painting truly looked like him including pimples, warts, and everything as you see me. Are we comfortable looking at ourselves as we really are? (picture for church directory). In 8 – 11, Moses is painting the people of Israel as they really were “warts and all”. It was important for their spiritual life that Moses do this, for one of the first steps toward maturity is accepting reality and doing something about it. We need to see ourselves as God sees us and then, by His grace, seek to become all that we can become IN Christ.
As we begin today, we have Moses’ second sermon (which extends through chapter 26) contains many of the same commands previously received at Mt. Sinai. Moses starts with the basics—the Ten Commandments and then urges the parents to teach these precepts faithfully to their children. There is a note of urgency in Moses’ request. The Promised Land remains to be conquered and enjoyed. God is looking for a generation of obedient people He can lead in victory and thereby fulfill His long-standing promise.
Chapter 5 – Something Old: Ten Commandments
Chapter 6 – Something New: Great Commandment … Obedience is Demanded
Chapter 7 – Something Future: Certain Victory … Obedience Rewarded
Chapter 8 – Remember God’s Blessing
Chapter 9 – Remember the Golden Calf … A Painful Reminder
Chapter 10 – Respond to God’s Leading
Chapter 11 – Respond to God’s Loving … A Profitable Response
HITTING SOME HIGHLIGHTS: 7:2 “utterly destroy” - in other words, don’t save a little for yourself or for that closet in the back of your heart!
Be careful who you marry! V.3 … Why? V. 4
v. 26 – bring not idols into your house…literally and figuratively… Why? “lest you become an accursed thing like it”.
“Train up a child in the way he should go—and go there yourself once in a while.”
An ad for someone WANTED: (might read like this) Energetic young couple for demanding assignment. Must have boundless reserves of patience, stamina, and optimism. Must be able to function reasonably well on 3 hours of sleep, diagnose childhood ailments, and read the same book 27 times without appearing bored. Must be skilled as a vetenarian, counselor, teacher, and taxi driver. Full-time position. No paid vacations. Salary not commensurate with experience. Those applying will be screened to determine their sanity!
Godly parents needed! What a great challenge for a parent to communicate God’s timeless truth to a tender young life? Fortunately, God has a word of counsel just for you in Deut 6:6-7 the key to passing on the vitality of your faith. It is not lecturing or giving your child good books to read, but rather TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE TEACHABLE MOMENTS IN THE DAILY CLASSROOMS OF LIFE, MEALTIME PLAYTIME BEDTIME—GOLDEN MOMENTS WHEN LITTLE MINDS ARE MOST IMPRESSIONABLE FOR God. Try it! Look for a teachable moment in a child’s life every time you encounter one…your child, your grandchildren, your neighbor’s child! Seize the moment and use it for eternity. You and the child will be very glad you did.
Be alert…DON’T FORGET: 6:12 When in prosperity…REMEMBER and don’t follow after other gods (What might they be: money, status, prestige, social standing?) 8:12-17 Don’t allow prosperity to distract.
Are you a detail-oriented person?
1. How many light bulbs are there in your bedroom? 2. How many buttons are on the outfit you are wearing? (don’t peek) 3. How many miles are on the odometer of your car?
Those may seem like insignificant details—and they are! But when it comes to the commandments of God, there is no such thing as an unimportant detail.
In theses chapters we can read several verses that express the importance of the details of what God says: “Be careful to follow EVERY command I am giving you today.” Real life comes by obeying EVERY command of God. An interesting Bible study: Choose a verse ( I recommend 10:12-13) from these chapters and write down ten observations about it. Then once you ponder it, PRACTICE it. It is a lifestyle that pleases God.
Be alert to NOT take personal credit, but be grateful! 8:17 “IT is HE Who gives you power to get wealth….”Taking credit where credit isn’t due 8:10-20 Moses warned the people that when they occupied and prospered in the land of Canaan, they would be tempted to take the credit, concluding that “it was your own power and might that made you wealthy” But Moses offered a quick cure for such misguided pride. 9:6-24
Warnings for a New Generation: Moses once again takes the Israelites back into their national history to illustrate that God is true to His word. He is a God Who loves to bless His people, as demonstrated during the wilderness wanderings. For 40 years God prevented clothes and shoes from wearing out while He faithfully provided life-sustaining manna. And He constantly set before His people the promise of even greater blessing once they entered the land. But the golden calf incident was a painful reminder that disobedience brings swift punishment.
9:4 Do NOT say in your mind and heart, after the Lord your God has thrust them …
Chapter 10: Tablets of stone…Exodus 34:4 Not huge tombstones.
N.T. circumcision: v.10:16 So circumcise the foreskin of…. [You do it…He gives the grace to do it!
NO little commitment: 11: 13 -
Moses is telling the people what the Lord had told him directly. How does that apply to our nation today and to you personally? We have intermarried with the lost! And they have moved us away from Jehovah God. We have allowed our children to be taught Darwin’s theory of evolution and it is now accepted as fact and creation is the theory!? We have invited every kind of false god and religion into our America and what about in our private lives? 12:30 “How did these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.” (studying other religions – compare with handling REAL money as compared with counterfeit). We have remained silent while unborn babies are destroyed and have rallied to “save the whales”. We have embraced the prosperity of our nation and given credit to ourselves or the government! Like the Israelites gave credit to the golden calf – immediately they switched loyalties: “brought us out of Egypt” (consequences)!.. An idol they had just created with Aaron’s help out of their own possessions. We have not taught our children the Scriptures when they we sat, stood, or walked but rather accepted that “let them grow up and make up their own mind”.
The three essentials for Israel’s conquest and enjoyment of the Promised Land were: 1.listening to God’s Word, 2.remembering it, and 3.obeying it. They are still the essentials for a successful and satisfying Christian life today. We must have God’s guidance, protection and provision and it also helps to have a good memory.
Life is a school and often we don’t know the lesson until we have failed the exam. Do you know your own heart? How we respond to the tests of life reveals what is really in our hearts…everyday experiences of life.
12:28 Be watchful and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you …