(My BSF notes)
Last
week God had Moses take a 2nd census. He prepared Moses for his death and chose Joshua
to take Moses’ place. God prepared
Israel to enter the Promise Land, divided up the land, and told them what He
expected of them.
The
book of Deuteronomy is the last of the 5 books written by Moses and is
sometimes referred to as the “Law”. Deuteronomy
means “second law”, which really means “a copy of the law”. It contains messages from God to Moses to
Israel during the last 1 ½ month of Moses’ life. The Israelites had been wandering in the
desert and now they are ready to go into the Promise Land. They needed a review of what God had done for
them and a reminder of His laws and regulations. Most of these Deuteronomy chapters are
repetition from previous books. Most of
the people who heard the law the first time had passed away and now there was a
new generation who needed to hear God’s truths.
How
have you forgotten God’s truths?
Do you always
obey His laws?
Deuteronomy 1-4 – Moses’ First Address
Israel
was camped in the desert East of Jordan in Moab territory. Moses spoke to them about their history and
wanted them to remember:
About
themselves – Their numbers had increased and now they were as many as
the stars. They had rebelled against the Lord and grumbled about their
circumstances. They had sinned against
the Lord. They did not trust God. They wouldn’t listen and rebelled against
Him.
About
himself – He had needed help with the people’s problems and had to
appoint judges over them. Moses would
not enter the Promise Land because the Lord was angry with him. God did show grace to Moses by letting him
see it from the mountain top. Moses commissioned
Joshua to take his place as leader.
About
God
– God increased their numbers as promised.
He delivered them from Egyptian slavery.
He had blessed them and been with them for 40 years. He carried them as a father carries his
son. He went ahead of them in a cloud by
day and fire by night. He helped Israel
conquer their enemies. He would give the
land to their descendants as promised.
He blessed them and watched over them.
God had
a plan for them and God has a plan for each of us. He wants you to have all He plans for you. Just like Israel He wants you to go and start
receiving all the things He has for you.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares
the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future.” – Jer. 29:11.
He was not surprised that Israel could not
live up to His standards of righteousness.
He is not surprised that we cannot either, but He makes us righteous
through the work of Jesus. The work of
being righteous has been done for us.
God
wanted them to follow His decrees and laws and not to add or subtract anything
to what He commands. Sometimes we think
the Old Testament in not relevant today.
True there are things in the OT that don’t apply to us simply because we
are not Jews. There are however many, many
things that apply and many, many lessons for us to learn. Some people try to add to and change what
the Bible says to fit their own ideas.
The Bible is God’s gift to us and is all we need. The Bible is sufficient. “All scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness.” - 2 Tim. 3:16.
“Do not add to
what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the
Lord your God that I give you.”- Deut.
4:2. “And if anyone takes words away from this book
of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in
the holy city, which are described in this book.” – Rev.22:19.
In Deut. 4:15-40 God reminds them that He
is a jealous God and doesn’t want them to worship idols. He warns them to watch themselves and be very
careful so they wouldn’t become corrupt and make an idol of any kind. They are not to bow down to the sun, moon or
stars.
This is
a lesson for us. We are to be careful
and not follow false teachings. Test
false prophet teaching with God’s Word.
Ask God to guide you and reveal to you any falsehoods.
God
gave Israel special privileges that idols can’t give. They have heard His voice speaking out of
fire. He tested them and did miraculous
signs and wonders. He showed them
awesome deeds and did all of this before their eyes so they would know who He
was – the one true living God.
How
have you seen God working in your life?
What
special privileges has God given you? He has given you the most special privileges
of all – the Holy Spirit to guide and direct you, Eternal life, His Word, and
His grace. He has given you hope for the
future and the ability to discern between right and wrong. I am sure you can name many more.
Deuteronomy 5 – 26:19 – Moses’ Second
Address
Deut. 5 – The Ten Commandments
are repeated which should remind us how important they are to Israel and the
church through the centuries. These
commandments are mentioned in Psalm, Matthew, Luke, Romans, and all throughout
the Bible.
Deut. 6 – One condition for
true prosperity and success is to obey His commands. We are also to, “Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength.” Each one is to commit
himself to God with all his motives and abilities.
God’s
command of love for Him is to be taught to the children and made a common part
of their lives. They were to teach their
children to obey God by impressing on the children the commandments, talk about
them constantly, tie symbols on their hands and bind them on their foreheads,
and write them on their door frames.
How are
you teaching your children who God is and that He loves them?
Deut. 7 – Moses
reminded Israel their duty to drive out and destroy the nations of Canaan,
because they were wicked and idolatrous.
Israel had been set apart and was a holy nation and different from any
other nation. It was not because they
were better or wiser, but because God loved them and He loves us. He told them they would be blessed for their
obedience, but judgment would be upon them if they disobeyed.
How has
God blessed you because of your obedience?
Deut. 8 – Moses reminded Israel
not to forget the Lord. They should be
aware of their history and that the Lord alone provided for them. They should not let prosperity cause them to
forget their God. They must be obedient
to God’s law. They are warned that if
they don’t obey, they too will perish like the other nations.
Deut. 9 – Moses warned against
self-righteousness and that the success they will have in occupying the land is
because God would go before them in battle.
It was not because of their merits or integrity. They were stiff-necked people and disobeyed a
lot, but He still loved them and gave them grace.
It’s
the same for us. God gives us
grace. He forgives us no matter what
we’ve done or who we are. Jesus took our
place on the cross, bore our pain and suffered for the world. He forgives us, because He loves us. It’s nothing we have done. If we got what we deserved, we would be the
one paying the price, not Jesus.
Do you
believe and trust that Jesus is who He says He is and that He died for you?
Will
you confess your sins and put your trust in Him today, if you haven’t done so
before?
Deut. 10 – The Lord requires His
people to fear Him, walk in His ways, love Him, to serve Him with all your
heart and soul and observe His commands and decrees.
What is
God requiring of you that you that you have ignored?
Deut. 11 – Moses told them to
love the Lord and keep His requirements and He will bless them. If they observe all these commands, He will
drive out all the nations before them no matter how large or strong they are.
Deut. 12 – Moses declared they
are to worship only in one place, because it’s the place where the presence of
God dwelled. Israel was to destroy any
of the places where false gods where worshipped. They were to destroy them completely, break
down their altars, smash their sacred stones, burn their poles, cut down the
idols, and wipe out their names.
How do
God’s commands about worship warn people in our church and community?
Remember
when you worship it’s not about the style of music or order of your church
service. It’s not about you and making
you feel good. It’s all about Him and
His truth being spoken. He is to be our
focus.
Deut. 13 – There are temptations
of idolatry the Israelites were to avoid.
They should avoid false prophets, fortune tellers, corrupt towns, and family
members that entice them.
We, too
are to avoid such things. Maybe it’s
that witch based TV show you are watching or those evil themed video
games. Maybe it’s the Wiggy board game
or that book you are reading that borders on the occult or partial truths. Whatever it is, if it doesn’t line up with
God’s Word, avoid it.
Deut. 14-19 –
These chapters talk about clean and unclean foods, tithes, the cancellation of
debts, freeing servants, laws for firstborn animals, and festivals. There would be new situations that would
arise in the new land and they were told to how deal with them. There would judges, a king, priests, prophets,
and a need for cities of refuge.
If they
decided to elect a king, he should be one of that God’s chooses. He is to be an Israelite. He should be someone who doesn’t require
wealth or many wives or his heart will be led astray. He is to copy the law and read it all the
days of his life, and not consider himself better than others. (Deut. 17:14-20)
When
they enter the land, they are not to imitate the detestable spiritual practices
of the nations. A list of these detestable
practices is listed. They are not to
sacrifice sons and daughters, practice divination or sorcery, interpret omens,
witchcraft, cast spells, or be a medium or spiritist, or consult with the dead.
(Deut. 18:9-13)
Which
of these do you need to confess or ask God to strengthen you to give up?
God
promised that after Moses was gone, He would raise up a prophet like Moses to
be a mediator between them and God. This
was the prophecy of the Messiah, Jesus. (Deut.
18:14-22)
Deut.
20 – When they go to war, they are to realize that the Lord
will be with them. They are not to be
afraid. They are to destroy the nations
completely or they will teach them to follow in the detestable things they do
in worshiping their gods.
Deut. 21-25 – These
chapters contain an assortment of miscellaneous laws.
Deut. 26 – This chapter addresses
tithes. After they entered and took
possession of the new land, they were to give God some of the first fruits from
the land He had given them. Their
attitude should be an attitude of rejoicing.
“…. rejoice in all the good things the Lord your
God has given you and our household.” – Deut. 26:11.
We need
to realize how God has blessed us. Often
we don’t think about our blessings until some of them are taken away. We enjoy good health until it’s gone. So take time and thank God for all your
blessings and give your tithes and offerings to Him cheerfully. “Each man should give
what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.” – 2
Cor. 9:7
How
thankful are you for all He has given you?
What is
your attitude toward giving tithes and offerings?
Are you
a cheerful giver?
Principles:
Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your
strength.
We must
be obedient to God and we will be blessed.
God’s
law reveals His love for His people.
Remembering
God’s faithfulness trains God’s children to love and obey Him.
Gratitude,
love and godly fear are the right motivations for obedience.
In what
situation have you realized God’s love for you?
God
promised the Israelites they would be His special people and they declared the
Lord as their God. He asked them as He
asks us today, to obey His Word. We must
follow the Scriptures and do what it instructs us. We should not forget God’s commands, but we
should not be legalistic about it either.
We should love God and His commands for our own good. We love because He first loved us.
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