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| THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY |
| FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE KEEPING UP, YOU KNOW THAT FOR THE LAST TWO WEEKS IN THE BIBLE STUDY, GOD HAS BEEN PREPARING THE ISRAELITES TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND, CANAAN. YOU ALSO KNOW THAT THE SUCCESS RATE HAS BEEN RATHER LOW. ALTHOUGH HE CREATED THESE PEOPLE, THEY STILL ARE HUMAN AND SINFUL AND OBSTINATE. THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY IS WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF A TREATY BETWEEN A KING AND HIS VASSAL STATE TYPICAL OF THE SECOND MILLENIUM B. C. IT CALLS ISRAEL TO REMEMBER WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE HAS DONE. LACKING FAITH, THE OLD GENERATION HAD WANDERED FOR 40 YEARS AND DIED IN THE WILDERNESS. THEY LEFT EGYPT BEHIND, BUT NEVER KNEW THE PROMISED LAND. THEN ON THE EAST BANK OF THE JORDAN RIVER, MOSES PREPARED THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THAT FAITHLESS GENERATION TO POSSESS THE LAND. AFTER A BRIEF HISTORY LESSON EMPHASIZING GOD'S GREAT ACTS ON BEHALF OF HIS PEOPLE, MOSES REVIEWED THE LAW. THEN HE RESTATED THE COVENANT---GOD'S CONTRACT WITH HIS PEOPLE. THE LESSONS ARE CLEAR. BECAUSE OF WHAT GOD HAS DONE, ISRAEL SHOULD HAVE HOPE AND FOLLOW HIM; BECAUSE OF WHAT HE EXPECTS, THEY SHOULD LISTEN AND OBEY; BECAUSE OF WHO HE IS, THEY SHOULD LOVE HIM COMPLETELY. LEARNING THESE LESSONS WILL PREPARE THEM TO POSSESS THE PROMISED LAND. IMPORTANT EVENTS: A. WHAT GOD HAS DONE FOR US; MOSES' FIRST ADDRESS CHAPTERS 1: 1 ~ 4:43 B. PRINCIPLES FOR GODLY LIVING; MOSES' SECOND ADDRESS CHAPTERS 4:44 ~ 29:1 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD LAWS FOR PROPER WORSHIP LAWS FOR RULING THE NATION LAWS FOR HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS CONSEQUENCES OF OBEDIENCE AND DISOBEDIENCE OBEYING GOD'S LAWS BROUGHT BLESSINGS TO THE ISRAELITES AND DISOBEYING BROUGHT MISFORTUNE. THIS WAS PART OF THE WRITTEN AGREEMENT GOD MADE WITH HIS PEOPLE. ALTHOUGH WE ARE NOT PART OF THIS COVENANT, THE PRINCIPLE HOLDS TRUE; OBEDIENCE AND DISOBEDIENCE CARRY INEVITABLE CONSEQUENCES IN THIS LIFE AND THE NEXT. C. A CALL FOR COMMITMENT TO GOD; MOSES' THIRD ADDRESS CHAPTERS 29:2 ~ 30:20 MOSES CALLED THE PEOPLE TO COMMITMENT. GOD STILL CALLS US TO BE COMMITTED TO LOVE HIM WITH ALL OUR HEART, SOUL, MIND, AND STRENGTH. D. THE CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP: MOSES' LAST DAYS CHAPTERS 31: 1 ~ 34: 12 ALTHOUGH MOSES MADE SOME SERIOUS MISTAKES, HE HAD LIVED UPRIGHTLY AND CARRIED OUT GOD'S COMMANDS. MOSES DIED WITH INTEGRITY. WE TOO MAY MAKE SOME SERIOUS MISTAKES, BUT THAT SHOULD NOT STOP US FROM LIVING WITH INTEGRITY AND GODLY COMMITMENT. MOSES WAS THE ONLY PERSON WHO EVER SPOKE WITH GOD FACE TO FACE (EXODUS 33:11, NUMBERS 12:8) HE WAS CALLED ISRAEL'S GREATEST PROPHET, YET EVEN THIS GREAT MAN WAS NOT ALLOWED TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND BECAUSE HE DISOBEYED GOD. (NUMBERS 20:12). NO MATTER HOW GOOD WE ARE OR HOW MUCH WE'VE DONE FOR GOD, WE SOMETIMES DISOBEY HIM. THE RESULT OF OUR DISOBEDIENCE IS THAT WE WILL BE DISCIPLINED. GOD DISCIPLINED MOSES SEVERELY BUT STILL CALLED HIM HIS FRIEND. WHEN WE EXPERIENCE THE STING OF GOD'S DISCIPLINE, RESPOND AS MOSES DID. DON'T TURN AWAY IN ANGER, EMBARRASSMENT, OR RESENTMENT. INSTEAD TURN TOWARD GOD WITH LOVE OPENNESS, AND A DESIRE TO DO BETTER. MOSES KNEW IN HIS LAST DAYS, THAT IT WAS NOT ANY GREATNESS IN HIMSELF THAT MADE HIM SUCCESSFUL; IT WAS THE GREATNESS OF THE ALL POWERFUL GOD IN WHOM HE TRUSTED. THERE WERE MANY GREAT AND POWERFUL PROPHETS DURING THE TIME OF THE KINGS. BUT IT WOULD BE MORE THAN A THOUSAND YEARS BEFORE ONE GREATER THAT MOSES WOULD APPEAR..........HIS NAME IS JESUS ! ! |
| Song: 'Trust And Obey" Sequenced by New Song On Line used with permission |
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| When you come to the end of the road Will you be ready to unload. The cares of life, did you give them to HIM Was your every decision made for HIM? Or did you go through life without care For the One who created you, could you dare? His plan for us was well laid out It started long ago with Moses on the Mount. Thousands of years before He came to earth as man He made all the preparations for this great plan. Our Royal Ancestors were taught how to obey The Creator of all mankind showed them the way. Moses learned trust and he revealed it to kin And after he died, they carried it on for him. It was a long journey of trials and despair That led to the way of the cross he did bear. So as for me and for my house HE is # ONE The greatest of great, God's only son. Give Him your trust and do your best to obey Because He has promised to come back some day. Let's all be ready to go when He comes, OUR PRECIOUS LORD, GOD'S ONLY SON Give Him your all and give Him the best And He will take care of all the rest. Jesus is number ONE, for you he died The Giver of Life is by our side, He is ALIVE and well today And lives in MY heart, forever to stay. Written by Shirley Barr January 23, 2005 All Rights Reserved Deuteronomy 7:9 ~ Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations... |
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