Book of Deuteronomy

God’s Greatest Commandment—Revering The Deity Of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

God’s Great Commandment

Revering The Deity of God

Text: Deuteronomy 6-12

Focus: Deuteronomy 6:4-18

There should be no doubt in the heart of the Christian that Jehovah God is the only Lord, He is the only God, He is the only Creator, He is the only Savior and He is the only Redeemer. It is only with this faith that we can be a witness to the world.

No matter what the world thinks or believes the obedience of any nation should be based the spiritual principles of Jehovah God and not on personal principles.

We will only be a force in this world we live in when we are encouraged by the right motives. That right motive is Jesus Christ!

God gave Israel these moral laws to be a guideline to build this nation! There must be rules to live by in every nation.

There are no better rules than the moral laws of God! Peace and welfare can only come when there is a civilized society!

To be civilized is the opposite of being criminal. To be civilized is to have order in our society. Order must rule to stop anarchy, and to have a government that has a goal to make things better for it’s people.

To be criminal or any other thing is to violate our moral obligations to God. If we do not see anything else in America, we see our nation becoming more and more uncivilized by God’s standards and more and more criminalized and it begins with our own government and men in power who believe themselves to be above the law.

To Israel, the standards for civilization were to be the Laws of God. What we know that happened is that over the years, Israel had religious leaders that either added to or took away from the Word of God and Israel became a society based on “Traditions”. This is also failure to obey the Word of God.

God’s Law and God’s Word is intended to draw all people closer to Him and our obedience must come from the heart before it can be noticed in our actions.

Love is an “action” word! We must be active in our “Faith”! Love is not a lustful word which comes from being covetous!

We should all ask ourselves this question, “Why should we obey God’s Word’ in a world where most people ignore what God has to say?

If our love is right then our obedience will be right!

God’s love is expressed in His Law. The great principle of the law is love!

Jesus said:

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

This not a hard thing to do when we focus on Jesus.

Salvation is a “love affair” with Jesus Christ!

The Bible says:

1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

In the New Testament the love of God is seen in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

God took His Word that He gave to Israel and because “Love” is an action word God came down out of Heaven to show us how much He loves us by dying for our sin.

He next showed His power in the resurrection!

1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

If God’s Word was all talk and no action we would never believe what He tells us. If we open our eyes we can see that our Lord is still a God of action in this world we live in. None other religion have a touchable God who is active in the lives of believers!

There are only two types of people in this world. Those that love Jehovah God and those that hate Jehovah God.

This new generation of Israel must understand and be obedient to this covenants basic principles before they can obey more detailed instructions!

They must realize:

1.) There is a purpose for life.
2.) There are principles for life.
3.) God has a plan for life.
4.) But, There will be perils in this life.

We must realize these things also:

Our Text:

*****Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

When we see the title “LORD” (all capitol letters) in our Bible this is YHWH or JHVH and this is the title Yahweh or Jehovah.

Jehovah means the self-existing or it can mean eternal. This is Our God, who does not require any part of His creation to sustain Him!

Jehovah is the proper name of the One True God.

His name is not Allah.

His name is not Buddha.

His name is not any of the gods of Hinduism.

His name is not associated with any other religion except Judaism which is based on works and not faith!

When we see the phrase, “LORD thy God” , we are seeing Jehovah thy Elohim. Elohim, which is plural and therefore “Jehovah our Trinity”.

Our Trinity: The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost, are the One God Jehovah!

Unless we can wrap ourselves around this fact, we will fall into the traps Satan plants about us.

We are all, “that are saved”, headed to the same place, the place where Jehovah the Trinity, abides!

There is only one Jehovah and we have His Word given to us which is the only truth and all the truth we need!

At this time of the beginning of Israel, the world was filled with Polytheism, nations that worshipped many gods and and had many idols.

Though this is still true today we also find a world that is full of Atheists, but the message of God does not change.

We have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit but they are still THE ONE Jehovah!

*****Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

According to Our Savior, this is the greatest commandment in the Bible:

And Jesus also said:

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

This is a question we should ask our selves. Just how much do we love Jehovah God? If this is our measuring stick, not many of us can say we meet this standard, “But” it should still be our Goal!

We should be as the Apostle Paul:

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

There are many who question some of the things of the Apostle Paul, not I, but we cannot  question his desire to be more like Jesus Christ and that is what being a Christian is all about. If we are not growing in Jesus every day, then we are going back wards.

I love the Lord but it is rare that I show that love as I should. Just as Jesus asked Paul, “why are you persecuting me”, He probably wonders the same thing about me many days. I have no excuse and have no answer when I realize I have failed Him. You can judge your own selves, I know that I am, “just a sinner in absolute awe of a wonderful God” [who has enough love to look beyond my failures and still loves me].

If we have one ounce of hate for any person on this earth no matter who or what they are, we are failing in our love!

*****Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

We must not only hear and receive the Word of God, we must make a place in our heart to keep it.

1Th 2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

We must receive the Word of God as the absolute truth or we will miss out on it’s meaning!

We must not only receive the Word of God as truth but we must be living epistles of Jesus Christ!

2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

This cannot happen without the Holy Spirit who lives within each child of God!

*****Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Again, where have I failed, I did not learn the Word of God so that I could teach my own children. How can I complain about how they turned out. I just pray I have not waited to late to learn about God’s love.

God reminds us even after we are saved:

Eph 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We must never quit on our children, because Jesus Christ never quits on anyone. To be a quitter is to be a failure!

The Bible still says:

Pro 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

How we live is the most important thing we can show our children and our grandchildren.

*****Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

There should not be any doubt that Satan takes full advantage of our eyes. Most every billboard advertises sin. Everything that is sold on this earth and advertised on the television is introduced by a beautiful woman and most of them not properly dressed. Signs and neon lights advertise sin. We are confronted with sin daily and it is only getting worse.

God says that if we keep a copy of the Bible in our hands and keep His Word before our eyes we will not see these other things.

The professing Jew will recite a prayer at least daily called a Shema, that prayer begins with these verses of the Book of Deuteronomy 6: 3-9.

The professing Jew wore what is called a Phylactery on there forehead or their hand which contained their Shema, their prayer.

They took these words of Deuteronomy serious and if we spent more time in the Bible and less time with the television we could take the Word of God more serious and we would be better off.

These were physical things that were constant reminders of the importance of the Word of God!

*****Deu 6:9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

It is not hard to see that God’s Word should be around us at all times!

God’s Word should even control who is permitted to come in our yards and into our houses!

The practicing Jew will put a Mezuzah on their front door and on every door in their house. This box also contained the Shema prayer which began with these words of Deuteronomy.

Every Jew would touch the Mezuzah before entering the house and before entering any room.

These Jew have a great respect for the Word of God. It was a sign that the house was to be a sanctuary for the Lord and a place where the Word of God was loved.

Our homes must be a place where God dwells.

Our homes must be a place where the scriptures are honored.

Our homes must show the world that we are not afraid of our faith.

Our homes must be a witness that we belong to the Lord.

There are some places where this would bring death to those inside the home, but not in America and we need to do these things, not only for ourselves but on behalf of all those that are around the world.

We are God’s Witness to the world around us and we need to act like it!

To not do so shows that we are ashamed of the Lord!

*****Deu 6:10  And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
Deu 6:11  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Deu 6:12  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

It is always a strange thing with people, once they are blessed they forget where that blessing came from. It is real easy sometimes to forget our Creator. The world has no respect for our Creator and the Church is being swayed by those that think science has the answers.

I have the Book of Genesis, I do not need some scientist to explain creation to me! When I understand this, it is easier for me to see the blessings God gives freely every day.

Moses was equipping this new generation of Israel to enter into the promised land of God and he knew that they would see all the billboards, the neon signs, their false worship centers and their idols, things that would tempt Israel. Now there may not have been any billboards or neon signs but we can be sure these things had their beginnings at this time:

God sent Ezekiel to see them:

Eze 8:9  And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Eze 8:10  So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, [pourtrayed upon the wall round about.]

Moses knew Canaan land would be a place of temptation:

They would be tempted from the riches of the spoils of war and forget the Lord who won the victory.

They would be tempted by their pagan religions and forget to be a separate people.

*****Deu 6:13  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

The Lord Jesus Himself used this verse when He was tempted of Satan:

Luk 4:8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

We have a great responsibility when we become God’s children. We must fear Our Lord and obey Him.

This what we are committing to, when we pray the sinners prayer!

It is a great privilege to serve the Lord, “especially in this time He has chosen for us”.

*****Deu 6:14  Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Deu 6:15  (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

We cannot expect the benefit of God’s promises unless we make conscience all of His precepts. God’s name is “Jealous” and we cannot worship Him right if we do not worship Him alone!

Exo 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church:

1Co 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
1Co 10:22  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

When we are tolerant of any false religion, we are tolerant to their gods! There is only one God and we have already stated that it is Jehovah the God of the Holy Trinity. No other religion beyond Christianity worships Jehovah of the Holy Trinity.

The Jew call His name Jehovah but do not recognize the Holy Trinity.

The Jehovah’s Witness include Him in their name but do not recognize the Holy Trinity, what a slap in the face of Jesus this is!

The Muslim worship Allah and this is not Jehovah at all!

We cannot have fellowship with devils and we cannot eat at the Lord’s table and also at the tables of devils.

We must not get confused with what the world says!

*****Deu 6:16  Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Deu 6:17  Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

In the words of Jesus our Lord to Satan himself:

Luk 4:12  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Even though Satan will attack the Word of God, we must put forth more effort to keep it. If Israel did not at this time in their history, they would loose the land they were promised and we know that happened. They were removed from their land in 70 AD and could not return fully until May 14, 1948 when again they were recognized as a nation.

We cannot miss these important facts of God’s Word!

And we must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord our God or Jehovah of the Holy Trinity.

*****Deu 6:18  And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

God’s purpose for bringing Israel out of Egypt was so He could take them to the promised land.

God’s purpose for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to take us out of the bondage of sin was so He can take us to our promised land which is Heaven. The church does not have an earthly land of promise!

The church has a Heavenly Promise.

And, It’s all because of Jesus we have this privilege:

Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

We already have eternal life!

We already stand before Jehovah God because of Jesus!

God is working in our lives now!

God is working in us at His will and for His pleasure!

God will not discourage us and He is not through with us!

God is preparing our Home and He will return soon to take us there!

We know God is not through because, when He returns we will be like Him:

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

*****Not part of this lesson but let’s take a moment to see another verse:

Deu 12:4  Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
Deu 12:5  But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

Israel was to have only one way to worship.

They were to bring all sacrifices to only one altar.

They were to have only one Tabernacle or one Temple.

They were never to worship Jehovah God in the ways that the false religions worshipped their false gods.

As the church, we are to offer up all “Spiritual Sacrifices” to God in the name of Jesus Christ. This is where our hope lies:

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

As the people of God, and the Body of Christ are the people of God!

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

As the chosen people of God, we must worship in the way that He commands and not imitate the religious practices of any false religion. This is a command of the Lord just as any other command!

The Christian faith and the Jewish faith came by the revelation of God and are not “man-made”!

Not by man’s invention nor by Satan’s instruction!

The most important activity of the church is to “worship our Lord”.

The next most important activity is to “make disciples”.

Then come the mission’s work.

God said to the Philadelphian Church:

Rev 3:8  I know thy works: behold, [I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it]: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

God says that there are no closed doors to the that body of believers that keep His Word!

When we try to imitate the world we will become what God calls the Laodicean Church.

If we love the Lord like we say we do, then let’s worship the way we are commanded and serve the way we should:

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Jesus was a Jew from Judah, it was Israel that preserved God’s Word for us. We have already said that Jehovah is the God of the Holy Trinity and there is no other. To believe these things is to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The Holy Spirit will teach us about Jesus and it is Jesus that made the way for us because there is no other way!

This is the truth and all else is a lie!

Let’s Pray!

God’s Greatest Commandment—Revering The Deity Of God

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

God’s Great Commandment

Revering The Deity of God

Text: Deuteronomy 6-12

Focus: Deuteronomy 6:4-18

There should be no doubt in the heart of the Christian that Jehovah God is the only Lord, He is the only God, He is the only Creator, He is the only Savior and He is the only Redeemer. It is only with this faith that we can be a witness to the world.

No matter what the world thinks or believes the obedience of any nation should be based the spiritual principles of Jehovah God and not on personal principles.

We will only be a force in this world we live in when we are encouraged by the right motives. That right motive is Jesus Christ!

God gave Israel these moral laws to be a guideline to build this nation! There must be rules to live by in every nation.

There are no better rules than the moral laws of God! Peace and welfare can only come when there is a civilized society!

To be civilized is the opposite of being criminal. To be civilized is to have order in our society. Order must rule to stop anarchy, and to have a government that has a goal to make things better for it’s people.

To be criminal or any other thing is to violate our moral obligations to God. If we do not see anything else in America, we see our nation becoming more and more uncivilized by God’s standards and more and more criminalized and it begins with our own government and men in power who believe themselves to be above the law.

To Israel, the standards for civilization were to be the Laws of God. What we know that happened is that over the years, Israel had religious leaders that either added to or took away from the Word of God and Israel became a society based on “Traditions”. This is also failure to obey the Word of God.

God’s Law and God’s Word is intended to draw all people closer to Him and our obedience must come from the heart before it can be noticed in our actions.

Love is an “action” word! We must be active in our “Faith”! Love is not a lustful word which comes from being covetous!

We should all ask ourselves this question, “Why should we obey God’s Word’ in a world where most people ignore what God has to say?

If our love is right then our obedience will be right!

God’s love is expressed in His Law. The great principle of the law is love!

Jesus said:

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments.

This not a hard thing to do when we focus on Jesus.

Salvation is a “love affair” with Jesus Christ!

The Bible says:

1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

In the New Testament the love of God is seen in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

God took His Word that He gave to Israel and because “Love” is an action word God came down out of Heaven to show us how much He loves us by dying for our sin.

He next showed His power in the resurrection!

1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

If God’s Word was all talk and no action we would never believe what He tells us. If we open our eyes we can see that our Lord is still a God of action in this world we live in. None other religion have a touchable God who is active in the lives of believers!

There are only two types of people in this world. Those that love Jehovah God and those that hate Jehovah God.

This new generation of Israel must understand and be obedient to this covenants basic principles before they can obey more detailed instructions!

They must realize:

1.) There is a purpose for life.
2.) There are principles for life.
3.) God has a plan for life.
4.) But, There will be perils in this life.

We must realize these things also:

Our Text:

*****Deu 6:4  Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

When we see the title “LORD” (all capitol letters) in our Bible this is YHWH or JHVH and this is the title Yahweh or Jehovah.

Jehovah means the self-existing or it can mean eternal. This is Our God, who does not require any part of His creation to sustain Him!

Jehovah is the proper name of the One True God.

His name is not Allah.

His name is not Buddha.

His name is not any of the gods of Hinduism.

His name is not associated with any other religion except Judaism which is based on works and not faith!

When we see the phrase, “LORD thy God” , we are seeing Jehovah thy Elohim. Elohim, which is plural and therefore “Jehovah our Trinity”.

Our Trinity: The Father, The Son, The Holy Ghost, are the One God Jehovah!

Unless we can wrap ourselves around this fact, we will fall into the traps Satan plants about us.

We are all, “that are saved”, headed to the same place, the place where Jehovah the Trinity, abides!

There is only one Jehovah and we have His Word given to us which is the only truth and all the truth we need!

At this time of the beginning of Israel, the world was filled with Polytheism, nations that worshipped many gods and and had many idols.

Though this is still true today we also find a world that is full of Atheists, but the message of God does not change.

We have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit but they are still THE ONE Jehovah!

*****Deu 6:5  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

According to Our Savior, this is the greatest commandment in the Bible:

And Jesus also said:

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

This is a question we should ask our selves. Just how much do we love Jehovah God? If this is our measuring stick, not many of us can say we meet this standard, “But” it should still be our Goal!

We should be as the Apostle Paul:

Php 3:14  I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

There are many who question some of the things of the Apostle Paul, not I, but we cannot  question his desire to be more like Jesus Christ and that is what being a Christian is all about. If we are not growing in Jesus every day, then we are going back wards.

I love the Lord but it is rare that I show that love as I should. Just as Jesus asked Paul, “why are you persecuting me”, He probably wonders the same thing about me many days. I have no excuse and have no answer when I realize I have failed Him. You can judge your own selves, I know that I am, “just a sinner in absolute awe of a wonderful God” [who has enough love to look beyond my failures and still loves me].

If we have one ounce of hate for any person on this earth no matter who or what they are, we are failing in our love!

*****Deu 6:6  And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

We must not only hear and receive the Word of God, we must make a place in our heart to keep it.

1Th 2:13  For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

We must receive the Word of God as the absolute truth or we will miss out on it’s meaning!

We must not only receive the Word of God as truth but we must be living epistles of Jesus Christ!

2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

This cannot happen without the Holy Spirit who lives within each child of God!

*****Deu 6:7  And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Again, where have I failed, I did not learn the Word of God so that I could teach my own children. How can I complain about how they turned out. I just pray I have not waited to late to learn about God’s love.

God reminds us even after we are saved:

Eph 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We must never quit on our children, because Jesus Christ never quits on anyone. To be a quitter is to be a failure!

The Bible still says:

Pro 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

How we live is the most important thing we can show our children and our grandchildren.

*****Deu 6:8  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

There should not be any doubt that Satan takes full advantage of our eyes. Most every billboard advertises sin. Everything that is sold on this earth and advertised on the television is introduced by a beautiful woman and most of them not properly dressed. Signs and neon lights advertise sin. We are confronted with sin daily and it is only getting worse.

God says that if we keep a copy of the Bible in our hands and keep His Word before our eyes we will not see these other things.

The professing Jew will recite a prayer at least daily called a Shema, that prayer begins with these verses of the Book of Deuteronomy 6: 3-9.

The professing Jew wore what is called a Phylactery on there forehead or their hand which contained their Shema, their prayer.

They took these words of Deuteronomy serious and if we spent more time in the Bible and less time with the television we could take the Word of God more serious and we would be better off.

These were physical things that were constant reminders of the importance of the Word of God!

*****Deu 6:9  And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

It is not hard to see that God’s Word should be around us at all times!

God’s Word should even control who is permitted to come in our yards and into our houses!

The practicing Jew will put a Mezuzah on their front door and on every door in their house. This box also contained the Shema prayer which began with these words of Deuteronomy.

Every Jew would touch the Mezuzah before entering the house and before entering any room.

These Jew have a great respect for the Word of God. It was a sign that the house was to be a sanctuary for the Lord and a place where the Word of God was loved.

Our homes must be a place where God dwells.

Our homes must be a place where the scriptures are honored.

Our homes must show the world that we are not afraid of our faith.

Our homes must be a witness that we belong to the Lord.

There are some places where this would bring death to those inside the home, but not in America and we need to do these things, not only for ourselves but on behalf of all those that are around the world.

We are God’s Witness to the world around us and we need to act like it!

To not do so shows that we are ashamed of the Lord!

*****Deu 6:10  And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,
Deu 6:11  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;
Deu 6:12  Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

It is always a strange thing with people, once they are blessed they forget where that blessing came from. It is real easy sometimes to forget our Creator. The world has no respect for our Creator and the Church is being swayed by those that think science has the answers.

I have the Book of Genesis, I do not need some scientist to explain creation to me! When I understand this, it is easier for me to see the blessings God gives freely every day.

Moses was equipping this new generation of Israel to enter into the promised land of God and he knew that they would see all the billboards, the neon signs, their false worship centers and their idols, things that would tempt Israel. Now there may not have been any billboards or neon signs but we can be sure these things had their beginnings at this time:

God sent Ezekiel to see them:

Eze 8:9  And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
Eze 8:10  So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, [pourtrayed upon the wall round about.]

Moses knew Canaan land would be a place of temptation:

They would be tempted from the riches of the spoils of war and forget the Lord who won the victory.

They would be tempted by their pagan religions and forget to be a separate people.

*****Deu 6:13  Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

The Lord Jesus Himself used this verse when He was tempted of Satan:

Luk 4:8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

We have a great responsibility when we become God’s children. We must fear Our Lord and obey Him.

This what we are committing to, when we pray the sinners prayer!

It is a great privilege to serve the Lord, “especially in this time He has chosen for us”.

*****Deu 6:14  Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
Deu 6:15  (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

We cannot expect the benefit of God’s promises unless we make conscience all of His precepts. God’s name is “Jealous” and we cannot worship Him right if we do not worship Him alone!

Exo 34:14  For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church:

1Co 10:20  But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.
1Co 10:21  Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.
1Co 10:22  Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?

When we are tolerant of any false religion, we are tolerant to their gods! There is only one God and we have already stated that it is Jehovah the God of the Holy Trinity. No other religion beyond Christianity worships Jehovah of the Holy Trinity.

The Jew call His name Jehovah but do not recognize the Holy Trinity.

The Jehovah’s Witness include Him in their name but do not recognize the Holy Trinity, what a slap in the face of Jesus this is!

The Muslim worship Allah and this is not Jehovah at all!

We cannot have fellowship with devils and we cannot eat at the Lord’s table and also at the tables of devils.

We must not get confused with what the world says!

*****Deu 6:16  Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.
Deu 6:17  Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

In the words of Jesus our Lord to Satan himself:

Luk 4:12  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Even though Satan will attack the Word of God, we must put forth more effort to keep it. If Israel did not at this time in their history, they would loose the land they were promised and we know that happened. They were removed from their land in 70 AD and could not return fully until May 14, 1948 when again they were recognized as a nation.

We cannot miss these important facts of God’s Word!

And we must diligently keep the commandments of the Lord our God or Jehovah of the Holy Trinity.

*****Deu 6:18  And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

God’s purpose for bringing Israel out of Egypt was so He could take them to the promised land.

God’s purpose for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to take us out of the bondage of sin was so He can take us to our promised land which is Heaven. The church does not have an earthly land of promise!

The church has a Heavenly Promise.

And, It’s all because of Jesus we have this privilege:

Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

We already have eternal life!

We already stand before Jehovah God because of Jesus!

God is working in our lives now!

God is working in us at His will and for His pleasure!

God will not discourage us and He is not through with us!

God is preparing our Home and He will return soon to take us there!

We know God is not through because, when He returns we will be like Him:

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

*****Not part of this lesson but let’s take a moment to see another verse:

Deu 12:4  Ye shall not do so unto the LORD your God.
Deu 12:5  But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:

Israel was to have only one way to worship.

They were to bring all sacrifices to only one altar.

They were to have only one Tabernacle or one Temple.

They were never to worship Jehovah God in the ways that the false religions worshipped their false gods.

As the church, we are to offer up all “Spiritual Sacrifices” to God in the name of Jesus Christ. This is where our hope lies:

1Pe 2:5  Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

As the people of God, and the Body of Christ are the people of God!

1Pe 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10  Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

As the chosen people of God, we must worship in the way that He commands and not imitate the religious practices of any false religion. This is a command of the Lord just as any other command!

The Christian faith and the Jewish faith came by the revelation of God and are not “man-made”!

Not by man’s invention nor by Satan’s instruction!

The most important activity of the church is to “worship our Lord”.

The next most important activity is to “make disciples”.

Then come the mission’s work.

God said to the Philadelphian Church:

Rev 3:8  I know thy works: behold, [I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it]: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

God says that there are no closed doors to the that body of believers that keep His Word!

When we try to imitate the world we will become what God calls the Laodicean Church.

If we love the Lord like we say we do, then let’s worship the way we are commanded and serve the way we should:

Joh 4:22  Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
Joh 4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Jesus was a Jew from Judah, it was Israel that preserved God’s Word for us. We have already said that Jehovah is the God of the Holy Trinity and there is no other. To believe these things is to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

Joh 16:13  Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

The Holy Spirit will teach us about Jesus and it is Jesus that made the way for us because there is no other way!

This is the truth and all else is a lie!

Let’s Pray!

God’s Commands—–Recalling God’s Word

/ Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

God’s Commands

Recalling God’s Word

Text: Deuteronomy 5

Our Focus: Deuteronomy 5:6-12, 16-22, 29, 32, 33

At this time the nation of Israel had been reborn. An entire generation had died. This new generation needed to understand the law of God. They also needed to understand it because what they had seen in the past 40 years.

Though these commandments had not changed there are some differences in the way Moses presented them to this new generation.

This younger generation needed to understand that there was not one set of rules for their fathers and another set for them. There is one law, one Mediator, and there is only One Lord because there is only One God!

With these things understood then there can be no doubt that there is only “One Way” to God’s Heaven.

Every religion in the world has its own demands, they all have a means of going to a better place but the biggest thing they lack is the knowledge of the God of Love, and who instills that love to those that believe on him.

The Bible says:

Joh 13:34  A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. Joh 13:35  [By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another].

God loves us enough to set the standard for our lives!

If love is the standard then God uses His commandments to teach us this standard of love.

There are four important steps we are to take in relation to the Word of God:

The first step: We must first “hear” the Word of God.

The second step: We must “learn” the Word of God.

The third step: We must “keep” the Word of God.

The fourth step: We must “do” the Word of God.

Not only should the Word of God be in our heads and in our hearts, but it needs to get down to where our hands and our feet are!

We have way too many people in our world that say they live by the Ten Commandments, but if you ask, we’ll find out what they really mean is they have heard the 10 Commandments and they think they are good, but they certainly are not keeping them and being obedient to them.

1.) These Commandments are a “plumb line” to determine the crooked walls of our lives.

2. These Commandments are “mirror” we can look into to see what is in our hearts.

3.) These Commandments are “a headlight” to show us the way in the darkness of this world.

The Bible says:

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Gal 3:25  But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

4.) These Commandments will lead us to the truth that is in Christ Jesus!

God makes it very clear that he does not save men through the keeping of moral laws.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these laws but there is something very wrong with us!

The Bible says:

Gal 2:16  [Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ], even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

These laws were not given to the nation of Israel while they were in Egypt. These laws were given to Israel only after they were in the wilderness.

When we live in the land of idolatry, such as Egypt was, we will not be obedient to God’s law!

When we live in our own world, with our own little idols, we will not obey the Word of God.

Moses told this new generation that their future in the promised land depended on their faithfulness to Jehovah God.

Moses told this new generation that they would have to love God with all their heart, with all their mind, and with all their strength.

Moses told this new generation that God had chosen them to be a special people.

Because of the promises to Abraham, the Lord continues to bless this stubborn and rebellious nation of Israel.

We must understand as Christians that blessings only come, when we have accepted His Son Jesus and the Work that only He could do on the Cross.

It is still by the Blood of Jesus that salvation becomes real!

*****Our Text:

**Deu 5:6  I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Israel was in a land of idolatry and Israel was living in the age of idolatry. These things will destroy us and our families. Look back at Lot. He was still saved but he lost all his family to evil and he lost all that he owned. We must separate ourselves from this evil before we will ever understand what God has for us.

**Deu 5:7  Thou shalt have none other gods before me.

The very first law and sin that is mentioned is that man had become polytheist and worshipped many gods. We must remember the Tower of Babel. These people would offer sacrifices to almost anything but especially to the Sun and the Moon. If you include the planets, these were all considered to be gods and were worship as such.

We can be sure that after the flood in the day of Noah, no one worshipped thunder and lightening. This is the time when mankind would worship God’s creation. They are still around today. They are called green-peace, and Mother Earth, and Gaia among some of the names.

But God says:

Psa 150:6  Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

These are the ones that ignore the truth of God:

Rom 1:25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

In the time of King David some of these types then became Atheist. Like children, if they could not worship whatever or whomever they chose then they simply would not believe in God.

Psa 14:1 [The fool hath said in his heart], There is no God. [They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good].

That word “fool” as used in this scripture means “insane”. [Anyone that says there is no God is insane]. This first commandment does not even mention any disbelief in the existence of God but it prohibits the worship of many gods.

The Lord wants us to obey Him, not as slaves, but as grateful children who are in love with their Heavenly Father and appreciate His Goodness, because we do not have any goodness in ourselves.

**Deu 5:8  Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Deu 5:9  Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, Deu 5:10  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

We should see that the first four commandments have to do with our relationship with God. There are only two types of people in this world.

1.) Those that “hate” God.

2.) Those the “love” God.

There is no middle ground!

God goes into detail when He forbids the making of any likeness of anything that could be worshipped.

Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment we have is to love The Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our might.

You will not convince very many that they have idols of worship today but the truth is that anything that you place between yourself and the Lord becomes your god. Anything that takes first place in your heart is an idol!

We already know that the Lord “does not” punish children and grandchildren because of what their parents do but He can and will permit the consequences of those sins to affect their future generations. Children will imitate their parents!

As we go through the Old Testament we will read many places where Israel is called a whore and in idolatry because they had broken this commandment.

But, The Lord will also bless successive generations of those that are faithful to Him!

**Deu 5:11  Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

The Apostle Paul wrote that the mouth of mankind is full of cursing and bitterness.

All we have to do listen at our places of work, the television, the movies and in almost any other place we are around others and we hear foul-mouthed people and dirty-minded people. It like the entire language has been changed into something evil, which it has.

God hates these things and He says so and He will certainly not hold those guiltless who take His name in vain.

God’s name represents [God’s character and His reputation] and to honor His name is to also look good’ to the people that are around us.

Using God’s name even in an oath to defend a dishonest statement, and cursing and swearing are just some of the ways we can dishonor the Name of Our Lord.

**Deu 5:12  Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Deu 5:13  Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: Deu 5:14  But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. Deu 5:15  And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day.

We should not find it odd that all these commandments are repeated in the New Testament except this one about the Sabbath. The Sabbath day was not given to the Church. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the Jewish week. The Church meets on the first day of the week because this the day Christ Jesus arose from the dead.

The Sabbath was given to Israel as a sign between them and God. This sign was not given to any other nation. The Sabbath had it’s beginning in the week of Creation and this was an actual week of seven 24 hour days. The Sabbath was part of Israel religious life even before these laws were given. At Mount Sinai the Sabbath became part of God’s covenant with Israel. Canaan land was to be Israel’s place of rest.

This not so for the church, as the church can only rest in Jesus Christ and look forward to eternal rest in Heaven!

The Old Testament will prove that Israel did not honor the Sabbath Day, The Sabbath Year, nor the Jubilee of Sabbaths and they are still in punishment for this.

[Sunday is not to be called the Christian Sabbath]! Sunday is the first day of the week, which was and always will be The Lord’s Day.

The Sabbath symbolizes the Old Covenant of Law just as the Lord’s Day symbolizes the commemorates the New Covenant of “Grace”.

At the time of Moses there was no Roman Calendar, the seventh day just followed the sixth day. The 8th day was the day of New Beginning.

**Deu 5:16  Honour thy father and thy mother, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

When we are born into this world, our fathers and mothers stand in place of God until we know Him individually. As little ones we look up to our parents. The Bible tells us to listen to the instruction of our fathers and not to forsake the law of our mothers.

If those two parents love the Lord then those children born in to their house should be trained in God’s ways and God’s Word.

We can see that Moses was speaking to Israel but God’s Word will hold true even today, Any Nation That Does Not Do This Will Not Be Blessed.

In a house that the children do not honor their parents affects the entire nation. In America this is a nation wide problem. It is true that their are many parents that do not deserve the honor from their children but God also tells these parents to not provoke your children into wrath but bring them up in the Lord. We know America is trying it’s best to kick God out and we as Christians are just setting around in our fancy pews and allowing this to happen. It is a fact that we think more of our bellies and our pocket books than we do God.

**Deu 5:17  Thou shalt not kill.

The word “kill” in our English translation is used here for the original Hebrew word “ratsach”. This Hebrew word means to murder.

Some the Hebrew definition is: dash in pieces, put to death, murder and it is referring to human beings.

This would be an act of premeditation, or killing out of anger, or for a personal grievance.

This verse has nothing to do with warfare! God had already told His people that they would have to destroy His enemies out of the land and destroy meant to give them to the Lord for the atrocities that they had committed.

A soldier should never kill out of anger but as any good soldier killing should only come as commands and as necessary. If a soldier kills out of anger and premeditation, he too has committed murder.

God did not tell Israel to try to reform her enemies, they were to be destroyed because the Lord had commanded them to do so.

Notice also that the Bible does not condemn self-defence in any form.

But the Bible does authorize capitol punishment to governments and not individuals.

**Deu 5:18  Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

There is little doubt that we live in a sex-mad age. It is ridiculous the amount of products advertised by sex. This shows the depravity of man is real. This one of the greatest sins that is destroying our nation today. As the family has no real commitment, we have no commitment to God nor to our nation. Sadly no one seems to care about the family. They all just want to have fun they say.

In the day of Moses this was a capitol crime requiring death. Today in America and most of the world it is not even a sin but a way of life. And we wonder how our children got like they are!

**Deu 5:19  Neither shalt thou steal.

No doubt it is very true that not many of us have robbed banks or broke into some one  else’s home to take from them, but we should not even have the desire to have what other have. Our thoughts are still sinful.

**Deu 5:20  Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Deu 5:21  Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour’s wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

It is our heart that makes us guilty of murder, of adultery, and it is covetousness that makes us desire what belongs to some one else. The command against covetousness shows that it is a sin just to feel an excessive desire for what belongs to another.

Truth should be the cement that holds a society together. Things fall apart when people do not keep their promises. Our salvation depends on the promises of God. How would it be if we read where God did not keep all His promises.

Notice this commandment also forbids slander, which is lying about other people.

A Christian should be known for always speaking the truth. This includes rightly dividing the Bible!

Because we have been born again into the family of God and have received God’s divine nature we can with the help of the Holy Spirit be obedient to the Laws of God and live godly lives.

**Deu 5:22  These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me.

When we know God on a personal level, it will bring joy knowing we are obedient to His Word. Moses reminded this new generation that God had reveal Hid Glory and His Greatness at Mount Sinai. They should not think they could mock Him with disobedience and rebellion as their parents had.

God would never again in our time reveal Himself in the fire and the cloud and the thunder and the lightnings and with His awesome voice as He had at Mount Sinai. This was a time of God’s happiness and not wrath.

But  we know God will reveal Himself in even a much more awesome way during the tribulation period. If you God as your Savior, in the name of Jesus Christ we will also miss this time of His wrath.

**Deu 5:29  O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

This verse list three things that had to happen for things to be well in Canaan Land.

1.) There heart had to change.

2.) They needed a godly fear of the Lord.

3.) They had to obey God’s commandments.

We know that they did not keep these commandments and we always ask why when the reality is that, no one can keep all these commandments.

If we consider these laws as our mirror, then when we look into our mirror we will see the faults and blemishes that just will not wash off.

They only way to wash off the filth of our selves is to be washed in the blood of Jesus. Jesus is the fountain of life, we must drink of Him and We Must Bath in Him!

It is not so much important whether we approve of the Ten Commandments. It is important to know that you have not kept them.

We have measured up to God’s Standard!

Rom 3:10  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Rom 3:11  There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. Rom 3:12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

God knew this and God sent His Son so that we could be saved!

God says to take a reasonable look at your self in His mirror:

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

It is the blood of Jesus that makes us spotless when we stand before the Lord.

**Deu 5:32  Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Deu 5:33  Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

God says we must use these commandments as our guide, we are to “observe” them.

These moral laws still stand as our guide and God still judges sin by these laws.

The children of Israel made a promise that they could not keep. God knew this and God does not expect perfection. God does expect the desire to keep these commandments and for us to try our best to do so.

Israel wanted to be like the other nations around them.

God wants us to be like Him and these two things will never come together.

We cannot call ourselves Christians and walk as the world walks.

These Laws prove we are sinners but they cannot cleanse us of the sin:

The Son of God became the Son of Man that the sons of men through Him might become the sons of God. The best thing we can do with this knowledge is to tell some one else so that they can know also.

Let’s Pray!

God’s Promise—Renewing The Covenant

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

                                              God’s Promise

                                           Renewing His Covenant

Text: Deuteronomy Chapter 4

Our Focus: Deuteronomy 4:1-9, 23-31

Israel was not a great nation because it had great Army. Israel was not great because of Abraham. Israel was not great because of Moses. Israel was not a great nation because of the Jew.

Israel is a great nation because it is the “Covenant Nation of God”!

We can say we have faith in the Word of God BUT if we do not apply God’s Word to our daily lives then where is our faith? Believing God’s Word is a matter of focusing our whole mind, all our heart and our will on the Lord. We must die to ourselves!

To change our lives God’s Word must penetrate deep inside our entire being!

This chapter in the book of Deuteronomy concludes Moses’s review of the 40 year wilderness journey. Israel now stands on the east bank of the Jordan River and are very near Mount Nebo.

As Moses gives his final instructions, there are only a few others that have made the whole trip. They are Joshua and Caleb and those that were under twenty years of age when Israel left Egypt.

That path taken by Israel so far has been of death and destruction. The new generation has seen this death and Moses has reminded them of it as they are now ready to enter into the Promised Land.

Moses pleads with them to obey the God who loves them!

Moses reminded this people of the character of God and how they should respond to Him.

If we do not know the character of the God we worship, how can we worship Him in spirit and truth knowing this is the only worship that will please Him!

Our Text:

Deu 4:1  Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
Deu 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
Deu 4:4  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
Deu 4:5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
Deu 4:6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

These people are to not only hear the Word of God they are to be doers of the Word!

They were not to try to add to what God had said and they were certainly not to take away from God has said.

In the world we live in many do this very thing. There is the Liberal side that takes away from God’s Word and the Legalistic side that adds to God’s Word. We must trust the entire Word of God just as it is written, rightly divided!

They were to obey it just as God gave it. The Church Age assemblies are to rightly divide God’s Word and obey it just as God gave it!

There is no doubt that we do not need some help to understand what the Word of God is saying but these people also needed some help to understand what God was saying.

God knows this:

The Bible says:

Neh 8:2  And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, [and all that could hear with understanding], upon the first day of the seventh month.
Neh 8:3  And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate [from the morning until midday], before the men and the women, and [those that could understand]; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

Now we see the Sunday School of Israel:

Neh 8:7  Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, {caused the people to understand the law}: and the people stood in their place.

Ezra was a great Priest of the Lord but he also had helpers to cause the people to understand but we should also notice that this worship service lasted more than just an hour or a couple of hours.

We will never understand God’s Word if we do not open our Bibles but once a week!

The Bible says:

2Ti 2:15  [Study] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

To study means more than just read.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the [man of God may be perfect], throughly furnished unto all good works.

And, If you are seeking perfection it will come from the Word of God!

God had made a long list of the blessings He would have given Israel if they had been obedient.

To be quiet honest, we will not know what blessings we missed out on until we get to Heaven and know the truth of what we missed because of our disobedience.

Israel chose to not obey God’s Law and we know know that “No Flesh” can be justified before God by those laws.

It is not these laws that we need to concentrate on, it is God’s Love, and God’s Mercy, and God’s Grace that we should see in these passages.

But we will also see what happens when God gets angry.

Moses is pleading with this nation to obey God! That should also be our prayer that this nation we live in would obey God!

1.) God wants His people to prosper and He will preserve them.

Verse 1 says “that ye may live, and go in and possess the land”

*****There can be no blessing without obedience.

The Bible says:

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

God already provides many things that we all seem to forget but God will especially bless those that are obedient to His Word!

Psa 115:13  He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.

God writes all the things down that we do good and that we do for one another and these things are precious to Him and the people who do these things are precious to Him.

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: [and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name].
Mal 3:17  [And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts], in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, [as a man spareth his own son that serveth him].

We know that God resurrected His son and He will resurrect every child of God on the day of the Rapture!

And again we see His promise that we will miss His day of wrath!

*****When we are obedient to the Lord it shows our gratitude for what He has done in our lives!

These things would be noticeable to all that observed them when they were in their land.

These things should be noticed from those in the world then they see a child of God!

If we do not see anything else on T V we can sure see that Israel and the land of Palestine are at the forefront of the news most of the time.

***** God’s love should prompt us to obey Him.

Deu 4:37  And [because he loved] thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

The word “love” is used before this passage, but this is the first time in the Bible that God tells a people that He loves them.

God has demonstrated that He loves mankind from the very first of Genesis but up to this point He hasn’t said very much about it!

God makes it very plain that He does things out of His “Love” for us!

In spite of “Sin” God loved us enough to send His Son to provide a means for us to be with Him.

That cross that Our Lord was hung on was the “Cross of Love”!

*****When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we can experience the Love of God!

*****And, We should be obedient to God because we belong to Him.

God delivered Israel out of bondage and He has delivered every Saint of God from the bondage of Sin!

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, [which he hath purchased with his own blood].

We belong to the Lord! He owns us!

Deu 14:1 says  Ye are the children of the LORD your God:

We only have one duty:

Ecc 12:13 says  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

As we get out of public, people see the results of our obedience or are disobedience to God. Israel was no different, any that looked upon Israel from the outside would be able to see if they had been obedient or disobedient.

The children of Israel themselves had seen how God reacted to disobedience. Moses was referring back to the time of Balaam. Remember Balaam at been hired to curse in Israel but God would not allow that.

Though Balaam tried to cursed the Jews he ended up blessing them. His curses did not work but, he came up with a plan that did work. The Jewish men were invited to a religious feast of the Moabites and and they had been enticed by the prostitutes of the Temple of Moab.

God used this as an example for this new generation but it is also an example for us.

We cannot take any part in false religion!

We will soon be studying the Cults in Bible College and I have been assigned William Branham and you would not believe how much influence this false religious cult has had in this world we live in.

Obedience would bring the blessing of God, which  is the promised land. Israel was to be a witness to all the world and that could not happen if they intermingled with the world.

The body of Christ is in the world but we are not to become a part of the world!

God’s command is simple:

Mar 16:15  says Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

The truth of the Gospel is real!

Every believer should have some part in getting the Word of God out to the ends of this Earth!

This is our purpose after we come to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior!

We cannot all be preachers and teachers, but we can be prayer warriors and those that give, and those that witness. God’s plan includes every Born Again” in child of God!

This Was the Way, Israel was to witness to the world. If they obeyed God would bless them!

*****Our Text

Deu 4:7  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
Deu 4:8  And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Deu 4:9  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

The nation of Israel was given the privilege to teach God’s Word to the world. Notice how this was to begin at home with their own sons and daughters.

The greatest undertaking of every nation is to teach its children. The greatest failure of any nation is the failure of educating it’s children. In America we have not only allowed the education system to take God out but we have failed miserably in teaching them at home.

God placed a great responsibility on these parents of Israel.

When we bring a child into this world we are responsible for that child in the eyes of God! God will hold us accountable for what we have done with our children.

Parenthood is a great responsibility and God makes this very clear to this new nation of Israel! the nation of Israel failed because it failed at home and America is failing because we fail at home. For this we will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ.

God also made it very clear to Israel that they were never to have any likeness of God whatsoever.

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

And, Even the woman at the well had been taught that when the Messiah came he would teach us all things.

Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

The Lord Jesus became a man when he came to this Earth but we still do not have any physical description of Him.

We certainly cannot use any pictures we see of Him for the truth of what He looked like.

Jesus abides in our hearts, this is the picture of Him that is most important!

We need Him in our hearts today we don’t need any pictures of Him!

These instructions given to Israel still hold true as great principles for us today!

Our Text:

Deu 4:23  Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deu 4:25  When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
Deu 4:26  I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
Deu 4:27  And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
Deu 4:28  And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deu 4:29  But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Deu 4:30  When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
Deu 4:31  (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

The nation of Israel is still a witness to the world today but they are still a witness in their disobedience. Many of them go home every day to Israel which means they are still scattered all over the world today. Yes they are new nation and have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

Isa 66:8  Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? [Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once]? [for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children].

When we read this we usually to stop with that part that says “a nation born one day” but if we read the rest of the verse it plainly states that once established “Israel would bring forth her children”. In other words the Jews had to have a home before they could go home. And Many more go home every day.

We can also see there is not one moment’s peace for them at home. We will know prophecy has been fulfilled when Israel is not having trouble it has today. Israel is still under the judgment of God!

Judgment will come upon any and every nation that rejects Him!

This is a lesson that we are learning in America!

What we see in verse 30 is the first mention of the Great Tribulation. The nation of Israel will still see a more terrible time than what they are having now.

This will take place after the “Rapture” to the church though many disagree. The Bible is specific, the Body of Christ will not see this time of Great Tribulation.

1Th 5:9  [For God hath not appointed us to wrath], but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

God delivered Lot:

2Pe 2:7  And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
2Pe 2:8  (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
2Pe 2:9  [The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations], and [to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished]:

God promises the Philadelphian Church:

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, [I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world], to try them that dwell upon the earth.

And verse 31 says that God is merciful. God will not forsake the children of Israel. God will not destroy the children of Israel.

The only reason that any of us have not been consumed is because of our merciful Savior and our God.

We have been saved, not because we are sweet and innocent, it is only because God is a merciful God!

Even in these days of Israel’s travel in the wilderness, God still reached down from heaven to make contact with them.

Even on my worst day the God of glory reached down to make contact with me. God does not want us to forget these things.

God does things because He loves us!

I don’t have a good bone in me but I know a good God!

God loves us but God does not save by love!

God saves by his “amazing grace”!

A righteous God will not open the doors of Heaven and just let us slip in. There are many that believe He should do this but if He did He would not be God!

God had to sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ before there was any deliverance from our sinful ways.

John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world but it does not say that God so loved the world that he saved the world.

It does say God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He did this so that whosoever, it makes no difference who it is, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ will not perish but have everlasting life.

These are the things that Moses is trying to tell the children of Israel so that they would not make the mistakes that they did.

Israel failed just like I fail my Lord everyday!

Let’s pray!

God’s Promise—Renewing The Covenant

/ Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

                                              God’s Promise

                                           Renewing His Covenant

Text: Deuteronomy Chapter 4

Our Focus: Deuteronomy 4:1-9, 23-31

Israel was not a great nation because it had great Army. Israel was not great because of Abraham. Israel was not great because of Moses. Israel was not a great nation because of the Jew.

Israel is a great nation because it is the “Covenant Nation of God”!

We can say we have faith in the Word of God BUT if we do not apply God’s Word to our daily lives then where is our faith? Believing God’s Word is a matter of focusing our whole mind, all our heart and our will on the Lord. We must die to ourselves!

To change our lives God’s Word must penetrate deep inside our entire being!

This chapter in the book of Deuteronomy concludes Moses’s review of the 40 year wilderness journey. Israel now stands on the east bank of the Jordan River and are very near Mount Nebo.

As Moses gives his final instructions, there are only a few others that have made the whole trip. They are Joshua and Caleb and those that were under twenty years of age when Israel left Egypt.

That path taken by Israel so far has been of death and destruction. The new generation has seen this death and Moses has reminded them of it as they are now ready to enter into the Promised Land.

Moses pleads with them to obey the God who loves them!

Moses reminded this people of the character of God and how they should respond to Him.

If we do not know the character of the God we worship, how can we worship Him in spirit and truth knowing this is the only worship that will please Him!

Our Text:

Deu 4:1  Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you.
Deu 4:2  Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deu 4:3  Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
Deu 4:4  But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day.
Deu 4:5  Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
Deu 4:6  Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

These people are to not only hear the Word of God they are to be doers of the Word!

They were not to try to add to what God had said and they were certainly not to take away from God has said.

In the world we live in many do this very thing. There is the Liberal side that takes away from God’s Word and the Legalistic side that adds to God’s Word. We must trust the entire Word of God just as it is written, rightly divided!

They were to obey it just as God gave it. The Church Age assemblies are to rightly divide God’s Word and obey it just as God gave it!

There is no doubt that we do not need some help to understand what the Word of God is saying but these people also needed some help to understand what God was saying.

God knows this:

The Bible says:

Neh 8:2  And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, [and all that could hear with understanding], upon the first day of the seventh month.
Neh 8:3  And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate [from the morning until midday], before the men and the women, and [those that could understand]; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

Now we see the Sunday School of Israel:

Neh 8:7  Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, {caused the people to understand the law}: and the people stood in their place.

Ezra was a great Priest of the Lord but he also had helpers to cause the people to understand but we should also notice that this worship service lasted more than just an hour or a couple of hours.

We will never understand God’s Word if we do not open our Bibles but once a week!

The Bible says:

2Ti 2:15  [Study] to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

To study means more than just read.

2Ti 3:16  All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17  That the [man of God may be perfect], throughly furnished unto all good works.

And, If you are seeking perfection it will come from the Word of God!

God had made a long list of the blessings He would have given Israel if they had been obedient.

To be quiet honest, we will not know what blessings we missed out on until we get to Heaven and know the truth of what we missed because of our disobedience.

Israel chose to not obey God’s Law and we know know that “No Flesh” can be justified before God by those laws.

It is not these laws that we need to concentrate on, it is God’s Love, and God’s Mercy, and God’s Grace that we should see in these passages.

But we will also see what happens when God gets angry.

Moses is pleading with this nation to obey God! That should also be our prayer that this nation we live in would obey God!

1.) God wants His people to prosper and He will preserve them.

Verse 1 says “that ye may live, and go in and possess the land”

*****There can be no blessing without obedience.

The Bible says:

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

God already provides many things that we all seem to forget but God will especially bless those that are obedient to His Word!

Psa 115:13  He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.

God writes all the things down that we do good and that we do for one another and these things are precious to Him and the people who do these things are precious to Him.

Mal 3:16  Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: [and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name].
Mal 3:17  [And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts], in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, [as a man spareth his own son that serveth him].

We know that God resurrected His son and He will resurrect every child of God on the day of the Rapture!

And again we see His promise that we will miss His day of wrath!

*****When we are obedient to the Lord it shows our gratitude for what He has done in our lives!

These things would be noticeable to all that observed them when they were in their land.

These things should be noticed from those in the world then they see a child of God!

If we do not see anything else on T V we can sure see that Israel and the land of Palestine are at the forefront of the news most of the time.

***** God’s love should prompt us to obey Him.

Deu 4:37  And [because he loved] thy fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought thee out in his sight with his mighty power out of Egypt;

The word “love” is used before this passage, but this is the first time in the Bible that God tells a people that He loves them.

God has demonstrated that He loves mankind from the very first of Genesis but up to this point He hasn’t said very much about it!

God makes it very plain that He does things out of His “Love” for us!

In spite of “Sin” God loved us enough to send His Son to provide a means for us to be with Him.

That cross that Our Lord was hung on was the “Cross of Love”!

*****When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we can experience the Love of God!

*****And, We should be obedient to God because we belong to Him.

God delivered Israel out of bondage and He has delivered every Saint of God from the bondage of Sin!

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, [which he hath purchased with his own blood].

We belong to the Lord! He owns us!

Deu 14:1 says  Ye are the children of the LORD your God:

We only have one duty:

Ecc 12:13 says  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

As we get out of public, people see the results of our obedience or are disobedience to God. Israel was no different, any that looked upon Israel from the outside would be able to see if they had been obedient or disobedient.

The children of Israel themselves had seen how God reacted to disobedience. Moses was referring back to the time of Balaam. Remember Balaam at been hired to curse in Israel but God would not allow that.

Though Balaam tried to cursed the Jews he ended up blessing them. His curses did not work but, he came up with a plan that did work. The Jewish men were invited to a religious feast of the Moabites and and they had been enticed by the prostitutes of the Temple of Moab.

God used this as an example for this new generation but it is also an example for us.

We cannot take any part in false religion!

We will soon be studying the Cults in Bible College and I have been assigned William Branham and you would not believe how much influence this false religious cult has had in this world we live in.

Obedience would bring the blessing of God, which  is the promised land. Israel was to be a witness to all the world and that could not happen if they intermingled with the world.

The body of Christ is in the world but we are not to become a part of the world!

God’s command is simple:

Mar 16:15  says Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

The truth of the Gospel is real!

Every believer should have some part in getting the Word of God out to the ends of this Earth!

This is our purpose after we come to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior!

We cannot all be preachers and teachers, but we can be prayer warriors and those that give, and those that witness. God’s plan includes every Born Again” in child of God!

This Was the Way, Israel was to witness to the world. If they obeyed God would bless them!

*****Our Text

Deu 4:7  For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
Deu 4:8  And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
Deu 4:9  Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons;

The nation of Israel was given the privilege to teach God’s Word to the world. Notice how this was to begin at home with their own sons and daughters.

The greatest undertaking of every nation is to teach its children. The greatest failure of any nation is the failure of educating it’s children. In America we have not only allowed the education system to take God out but we have failed miserably in teaching them at home.

God placed a great responsibility on these parents of Israel.

When we bring a child into this world we are responsible for that child in the eyes of God! God will hold us accountable for what we have done with our children.

Parenthood is a great responsibility and God makes this very clear to this new nation of Israel! the nation of Israel failed because it failed at home and America is failing because we fail at home. For this we will be judged by the Lord Jesus Christ.

God also made it very clear to Israel that they were never to have any likeness of God whatsoever.

Joh 4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

And, Even the woman at the well had been taught that when the Messiah came he would teach us all things.

Joh 4:25  The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

The Lord Jesus became a man when he came to this Earth but we still do not have any physical description of Him.

We certainly cannot use any pictures we see of Him for the truth of what He looked like.

Jesus abides in our hearts, this is the picture of Him that is most important!

We need Him in our hearts today we don’t need any pictures of Him!

These instructions given to Israel still hold true as great principles for us today!

Our Text:

Deu 4:23  Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee.
Deu 4:24  For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deu 4:25  When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger:
Deu 4:26  I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
Deu 4:27  And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you.
Deu 4:28  And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.
Deu 4:29  But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Deu 4:30  When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;
Deu 4:31  (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

The nation of Israel is still a witness to the world today but they are still a witness in their disobedience. Many of them go home every day to Israel which means they are still scattered all over the world today. Yes they are new nation and have fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

Isa 66:8  Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? [Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once]? [for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children].

When we read this we usually to stop with that part that says “a nation born one day” but if we read the rest of the verse it plainly states that once established “Israel would bring forth her children”. In other words the Jews had to have a home before they could go home. And Many more go home every day.

We can also see there is not one moment’s peace for them at home. We will know prophecy has been fulfilled when Israel is not having trouble it has today. Israel is still under the judgment of God!

Judgment will come upon any and every nation that rejects Him!

This is a lesson that we are learning in America!

What we see in verse 30 is the first mention of the Great Tribulation. The nation of Israel will still see a more terrible time than what they are having now.

This will take place after the “Rapture” to the church though many disagree. The Bible is specific, the Body of Christ will not see this time of Great Tribulation.

1Th 5:9  [For God hath not appointed us to wrath], but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
1Th 5:10  Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

God delivered Lot:

2Pe 2:7  And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
2Pe 2:8  (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
2Pe 2:9  [The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations], and [to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished]:

God promises the Philadelphian Church:

Rev 3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, [I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world], to try them that dwell upon the earth.

And verse 31 says that God is merciful. God will not forsake the children of Israel. God will not destroy the children of Israel.

The only reason that any of us have not been consumed is because of our merciful Savior and our God.

We have been saved, not because we are sweet and innocent, it is only because God is a merciful God!

Even in these days of Israel’s travel in the wilderness, God still reached down from heaven to make contact with them.

Even on my worst day the God of glory reached down to make contact with me. God does not want us to forget these things.

God does things because He loves us!

I don’t have a good bone in me but I know a good God!

God loves us but God does not save by love!

God saves by his “amazing grace”!

A righteous God will not open the doors of Heaven and just let us slip in. There are many that believe He should do this but if He did He would not be God!

God had to sacrifice the Lord Jesus Christ before there was any deliverance from our sinful ways.

John 3:16 tells us that God loves the world but it does not say that God so loved the world that he saved the world.

It does say God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. He did this so that whosoever, it makes no difference who it is, believes on the Lord Jesus Christ will not perish but have everlasting life.

These are the things that Moses is trying to tell the children of Israel so that they would not make the mistakes that they did.

Israel failed just like I fail my Lord everyday!

Let’s pray!

God’s Guidance

/ Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

God’s Guidance—–Remembering The Acts Of God

Text: Deuteronomy Chapters 1-3

Our Focus: Deuteronomy 1:1-8, 21-32

There are many today that think that since it has been more than 2000 years since Jesus ascended back to Heaven that we may need some new truth today. In fact many that say they are Christians believe this also.

The fact is that we do not need new truth because truth is always the truth in any age. Truth is eternal and truth never changes.

What we need is a commitment to God’s Word which is and always has been the truth!

We therefore come to the meaning of the title to this book “Deuteronomy”.

The title Deuteronomy means “the second law”.

God was giving His people “a second chance”. We know they had been afraid to go into Canaan at their first opportunity. They now had a second chance to make the right choice!

SO, What is choice?

First, When we are forced to obey, there can be no choice.

So we can say that choice is the act of voluntary selection between two or more things or preferring one thing above another.

We are known as a people who make decisions without considering the long term affects of those decisions. If we could look ahead in time we would see that there were many things we should never have done.

We may not want to believe it, but God takes every decision we make seriously and we should too!

No one has to reject Jesus Christ as his or her Savior but if you “choose” to do this, God will honor your decision!

No child of God is forced to live in unbelief! To believe  is the basis of living under the umbrella of God. When we reject the Word of God as the guide of our lives, we will find that “our choice” has eternal consequences.

God has a plan of salvation. We do not need to make up our own plan! All God wants us to do is be a part of His plan. This is His purpose for our lives!

When we rebel against God’s Word we have sinned against God. In fact it is major sin!

The Bible says:

1Sa 15:23  [For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft], and [stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry]. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee.

Rebellion is an open resistance to lawful authority. God is the only lawful authority for all His creation!

A Witch is said to be a person who can manipulate energy, supernaturally, to create their own reality. It is easy to see that this is also rebelling against the Divine Authority of Our Father in Heaven.

Witchcraft is also called “divination” which means foretelling of future events by means other than human knowledge.

If that knowledge does not come from Jehovah God then it must come from the Devil.

These people then will try to make money doing this.

Sounds a whole lot like Balaam in the Book of Numbers who had also rebelled against the Word of God.

Rebellion, stubbornness and witchcraft are all sin and abominations to God, but these things will not send  you to Hell.

It is the rejecting “of the truth of Jesus Christ” that will send you to Hell, all other sin can be forgiven!

God does not hate any human being but God does hate the sinful actions of “all” human beings!

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Pentateuch, the FIVE(Pente) books of Moses.

When the Book of Numbers ends, a new generation of Israel has emerged. This wandering band of pilgrims were not raised in a home but they were raised in the wilderness. They seem determined to avoid the same mistakes their parents made.

God has kept Moses, Joshua, and Caleb alive and they are just as determined to guide Israel toward Canaan Land.

Moses now will give Israel a somewhat revised covenant or we could say a new treaty with God since the first one was not kept by the parents of these these that are now living.

1.) This covenant contains the names of those involved: Jehovah God and the Nation of Israel.
2.) The covenant contains the history of previous covenants.
3.) There are general and specific regulations.
4.) And last there are blessings if the covenant is kept and curses if the covenant is not kept.
5.) We know that God always keeps His side of every agreement!

The word Deuteronomy then can be said to mean “the repeating of the law”.

We will now see how Moses reviews the laws that were originally given at Mount Sinai to this new generation of Israel.

Our Text:

Deu 1:1  These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
Deu 1:2  (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)
Deu 1:3  And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
Deu 1:4  After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

In the Book of Numbers it could be said these are the words God spoke to Moses but in the Book of Deuteronomy it could be said that these are the words Moses spoke to the people.

Moses reminds these people that because of the rebellion of their parents a journey that could have been done in as few as eleven days had actually taken 38 years.

Moses mentioned this to show this new  generation that God was not to be tempted. We need to understand God does not change and we can expect similar actions today if we choose to tempt our God!

The Bible says:

Psa 78:31  The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
Psa 78:32  For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Psa 78:33  Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
Psa 78:34  When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

Moses also mentioned the destruction of Sihon and Og because they had tried to deny Israel access to the promised land of Canaan.

This was God’s proof that He would indeed fulfill His promises to encourage this mostly untested group!

Moses was also pointing out that time may be precious to each of us as individuals, BUT time has no relevance and is limitless to God. God can patiently wait for one evil generation to come and go and still fulfill His plan of salvation. It is always “our choice” to be a part of God’s plan or to be passed by for some one else to come along and get God’s blessings that we could have gotten.

We have only one chance for each moment that passes by! Once that moment is gone it cannot return. If God were not a God of the second chance we would all burn in Hell!

Moses was not instructing from what he had learned in his 120 years but he was instructing from the Word God had given to him.

The important thing to this new generation was not the men who had led them in their past but what the Word of God had directed them to do.

Israel is not a great nation because it has had great leaders. Israel is a great nation because it has a Great God!

The Body of Christ is not great because of the great Preachers from now and from the past. The Body of Christ is great because of the Lord Jesus Christ and that is the only reason!

We have no merits of our own to stand on!

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: [for without me ye can do nothing].

When we step out on our own, we have made “a choice” to rebel against the Word of God and we will find out that we can truly do nothing without the Lord Jesus.

It is God and He only that can give us “Victory” in our lives and this is still His promise!

Our Text:

Deu 1:5  On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
Deu 1:6  The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
Deu 1:7  Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Deu 1:8  Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

It pays us to look back in our history books to see the struggles and the turmoils our ancestors went through. As Christians we need to remember well why our nation was formed. Many of our forefathers came to America to seek freedom of religion and that religion they were seeking was Christianity.

This has given us an identity in this world. It seems our government officials seem to think that this is not important anymore but they are wrong!

If we cannot hold onto our historical roots, we will never know when we arrive at our destination.

This is the truth of the Bible. There is enough history in the Bible to tell us the historical roots of the Church and if we cannot hold on to that history, how will we know when we have reached our destination. The entrance into Heaven is within the grasp of everyone of God’s Creation and “choices” must be made.

Israel was at this point “of choice” this day in the book of Deuteronomy.

The Lord did not give Israel His Law to save them from sin:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: [for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified].

Under these old covenants, people were saved by faith, just as we are today:

Rom 4:12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, [but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham], which he had being yet uncircumcised.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

These laws can only reveal the sinfulness of mankind. A saint of God does not need any law to tell them if they have sinned.

When a Saint of God is pleasing Him, they will enjoy His blessings and blessings do not come by any law except the “Law of Love”!

These written laws of God provided for a civil, orderly and just society. We can see as these laws are mocked by our judges and our government and lawyers, our society is deteriorating into chaos and immorality.

These laws also prepared the way for Israel’s Messiah:

Gal 4:4  But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Israel was sitting at the entrance to the promised land and all they had to do was to follow God’s orders and the Lord would give them “victory”!

Our text:

Deu 1:21  Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
Deu 1:22  And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
Deu 1:23  And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
Deu 1:24  And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
Deu 1:25  And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
Deu 1:26  Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:
Deu 1:27  And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
Deu 1:28  Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
Deu 1:29  Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
Deu 1:31  And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
Deu 1:32  Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,

When we take the five books of Moses all together we would see that:

1.) Genesis gave “choice” to the people.
2.) Exodus gave them “redemption”.
3.) Leviticus gave them “worship”.
4.) Numbers gave them their “history”, their wanderings.
5.) In the Book of Deuteronomy, we see their “obedience”.

*****We know that “Salvation” comes by the “Grace” of God but we also know that to have a “Testimony” and to “Enjoy” salvation then there must be “Obedience”!

Obedience is the call of the past, the duty of the present, and the guarantee of the future!

1.) Obedience is based on our relationship with God and that relationship cannot begin without salvation!
2.) Our standard for obedience is the Pure Word of God!
3.) Our incentive for obedience is our Faithfulness to God!

The Bible Says:

1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

4.)  The alternative to obedience is the “Justice of God”!

God must be a giver of punishment if His people are unfaithful and disobedient!

*****When Moses sent out those twelve spies into Canaan to explore and bring back a report, they found that

1.) The land was abundant just as God said.
2.) The men of Canaan grew taller than the men of Israel.

Joshua and Caleb were prepared to trust in the Lord, THEY WERE GOD CENTERED.

There were 10 others who had no faith of there own and THEY WERE SELF CENTERED.

Rather than “choose” God and His power, they had focused on themselves and their own weaknesses. They could not imagine how they could defeat this enemy.

God had already prepared the way. Even forty years later Rahab described what God had already done 40 years earlier:

Jos 2:9  And she said unto the men, [I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you].
Jos 2:10  [For we have heard] how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11  [And as soon as we had heard these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

By their lack of faith these people of Jericho and Canaan land had 40 years to be prepared for Israel.

Because these 10 spies were self-centered these children of Israel had spent 40 years of needless waiting in that wilderness.

We just do not realize what God has in store for us until we give our selves over to Him, until we “choose” Him!

To be self-centered is to fall into a common trap. The world gives praise for self-reliance. Trusting God makes no sense to the world!

Thank God that trusting in Him makes perfect sense. We must trust God for everything and everyday.

To be God-centered requires a daily denial of our selves and a daily submission to the will of God.

Jesus said:

Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

The rebellion of Israel 40 years earlier was a means of teaching this new generation. These descendants never mentioned wanting to go back to Egypt. No matter the difficulty, they knew their future lay in the Promised land of God.

When God allows us to have our own way, it is a concession on His part!

God knows that there is always a danger that we will become proud and self-confident and start thinking we can tell God what to do.

Many of us know that this true because we have been there!

Being in God’s Will, and at the forefront of the battle is the safest place for every child of God to be.

Israel had for gotten that the same powerful God that had brought them out of Egypt would be taking them into Canaan Land.

We too sometimes forget that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and delivered us from all our sin is the same power that can rule our lives much better than we can.

Unless we receive God’s Word in our hearts and give thanks to Him for His blessings, we will become proud and selfish and begin to take the Lord’s blessings for granted.

*****There is a difference between unbelief and doubt:

1.) Unbelief is a matter of our will and will cause rebellion.
2.) Doubt is a matter of the heart and our emotions. This comes from wavering between fear and faith.

The doubter will say:

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, [Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief].

God “will encourage” the doubter and help them believe!

God “can only bring justice” to all those that rebel against His Word!

“Murmuring or complaining” is a popular thing to do among Christians but there will be no rewards in Heaven for complaining!

“UNBELIEF” is deadly, this is the only sin that will place you in Hell:

Joh 16:8  And when he is come, [he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment]:
Joh 16:9  [Of sin, because they believe not on me];

Lives are lost everyday simply because men will not believe the truth!

2Co 1:18  [But as God is true], our word toward you was not yea and nay.

Our God is “Theos” it is not “Allah”!

As Israel was to move forward and there were people to avoid:

1.) They were to avoid Edomites.

Because they were of Jacob’s brother Esau and therefore related to the Jews.

The Edomites were still caught up in a family feud that still goes on today!

Of all problems we face today, family disagreements are probably the most painful. These are things we should avoid if at all possible.

The Bible says:

Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

If more individuals, and families and even nations were more content with the blessings of God, there would be less fighting.

2.) They were to avoid the Moabites and the Ammonites:

These were descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham.

God sits on the throne and He will deal with all nations according to His will. These two nations did not deserve God’s kindness but the Lord will sometimes bless people because of their relationship to other people.

Israel was blessed because of Abraham and David!

The Body of Christ is blessed today because of the Father’s eternal covenant with His Son Jesus!

3.) They were not to avoid the Amorites but they did offer to move through that land peacefully which did not happen. We are to wear the armor of God when we are in the land of His enemies. They should consider the peace of God before they attack the Church, the Body of Christ. It is Our Lord that will fight for His Bride!

These Amorites were an extremely wicked people. They were brutal in their sin even sacrificing their own children, not for any sort of salvation but just so their income would increase the Bible says for their own bellies.

Things are “Not” much different in the world we live in now!

It was a long suffering God that allowed them to live this long.

The Bible says:

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

There can be no rest for God’s people in this war we are in, until God calls us home!

Canaan Land is not a picture of Heaven, it is actually a picture of our Spiritual Victory over our own self-centered thoughts.

We must die to self, before we can live for Jesus Christ!

Let’s Pray!

God’s Guidance

/ Bobby Mayfield / 1 Comment

God’s Guidance—–Remembering The Acts Of God

Text: Deuteronomy Chapters 1-3

Our Focus: Deuteronomy 1:1-8, 21-32

There are many today that think that since it has been more than 2000 years since Jesus ascended back to Heaven that we may need some new truth today. In fact many that say they are Christians believe this also.

The fact is that we do not need new truth because truth is always the truth in any age. Truth is eternal and truth never changes.

What we need is a commitment to God’s Word which is and always has been the truth!

We therefore come to the meaning of the title to this book “Deuteronomy”.

The title Deuteronomy means “the second law”.

God was giving His people “a second chance”. We know they had been afraid to go into Canaan at their first opportunity. They now had a second chance to make the right choice!

SO, What is choice?

First, When we are forced to obey, there can be no choice.

So we can say that choice is the act of voluntary selection between two or more things or preferring one thing above another.

We are known as a people who make decisions without considering the long term affects of those decisions. If we could look ahead in time we would see that there were many things we should never have done.

We may not want to believe it, but God takes every decision we make seriously and we should too!

No one has to reject Jesus Christ as his or her Savior but if you “choose” to do this, God will honor your decision!

No child of God is forced to live in unbelief! To believe  is the basis of living under the umbrella of God. When we reject the Word of God as the guide of our lives, we will find that “our choice” has eternal consequences.

God has a plan of salvation. We do not need to make up our own plan! All God wants us to do is be a part of His plan. This is His purpose for our lives!

When we rebel against God’s Word we have sinned against God. In fact it is major sin!

The Bible says:

1Sa 15:23  [For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft], and [stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry]. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee.

Rebellion is an open resistance to lawful authority. God is the only lawful authority for all His creation!

A Witch is said to be a person who can manipulate energy, supernaturally, to create their own reality. It is easy to see that this is also rebelling against the Divine Authority of Our Father in Heaven.

Witchcraft is also called “divination” which means foretelling of future events by means other than human knowledge.

If that knowledge does not come from Jehovah God then it must come from the Devil.

These people then will try to make money doing this.

Sounds a whole lot like Balaam in the Book of Numbers who had also rebelled against the Word of God.

Rebellion, stubbornness and witchcraft are all sin and abominations to God, but these things will not send  you to Hell.

It is the rejecting “of the truth of Jesus Christ” that will send you to Hell, all other sin can be forgiven!

God does not hate any human being but God does hate the sinful actions of “all” human beings!

The Book of Deuteronomy is the fifth book of the Pentateuch, the FIVE(Pente) books of Moses.

When the Book of Numbers ends, a new generation of Israel has emerged. This wandering band of pilgrims were not raised in a home but they were raised in the wilderness. They seem determined to avoid the same mistakes their parents made.

God has kept Moses, Joshua, and Caleb alive and they are just as determined to guide Israel toward Canaan Land.

Moses now will give Israel a somewhat revised covenant or we could say a new treaty with God since the first one was not kept by the parents of these these that are now living.

1.) This covenant contains the names of those involved: Jehovah God and the Nation of Israel.
2.) The covenant contains the history of previous covenants.
3.) There are general and specific regulations.
4.) And last there are blessings if the covenant is kept and curses if the covenant is not kept.
5.) We know that God always keeps His side of every agreement!

The word Deuteronomy then can be said to mean “the repeating of the law”.

We will now see how Moses reviews the laws that were originally given at Mount Sinai to this new generation of Israel.

Our Text:

Deu 1:1  These be the words which Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.
Deu 1:2  (There are eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir unto Kadeshbarnea.)
Deu 1:3  And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them;
Deu 1:4  After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Astaroth in Edrei:

In the Book of Numbers it could be said these are the words God spoke to Moses but in the Book of Deuteronomy it could be said that these are the words Moses spoke to the people.

Moses reminds these people that because of the rebellion of their parents a journey that could have been done in as few as eleven days had actually taken 38 years.

Moses mentioned this to show this new  generation that God was not to be tempted. We need to understand God does not change and we can expect similar actions today if we choose to tempt our God!

The Bible says:

Psa 78:31  The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
Psa 78:32  For all this they sinned still, and believed not for his wondrous works.
Psa 78:33  Therefore their days did he consume in vanity, and their years in trouble.
Psa 78:34  When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned and enquired early after God.

Moses also mentioned the destruction of Sihon and Og because they had tried to deny Israel access to the promised land of Canaan.

This was God’s proof that He would indeed fulfill His promises to encourage this mostly untested group!

Moses was also pointing out that time may be precious to each of us as individuals, BUT time has no relevance and is limitless to God. God can patiently wait for one evil generation to come and go and still fulfill His plan of salvation. It is always “our choice” to be a part of God’s plan or to be passed by for some one else to come along and get God’s blessings that we could have gotten.

We have only one chance for each moment that passes by! Once that moment is gone it cannot return. If God were not a God of the second chance we would all burn in Hell!

Moses was not instructing from what he had learned in his 120 years but he was instructing from the Word God had given to him.

The important thing to this new generation was not the men who had led them in their past but what the Word of God had directed them to do.

Israel is not a great nation because it has had great leaders. Israel is a great nation because it has a Great God!

The Body of Christ is not great because of the great Preachers from now and from the past. The Body of Christ is great because of the Lord Jesus Christ and that is the only reason!

We have no merits of our own to stand on!

Joh 15:5  I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: [for without me ye can do nothing].

When we step out on our own, we have made “a choice” to rebel against the Word of God and we will find out that we can truly do nothing without the Lord Jesus.

It is God and He only that can give us “Victory” in our lives and this is still His promise!

Our Text:

Deu 1:5  On this side Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,
Deu 1:6  The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
Deu 1:7  Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
Deu 1:8  Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.

It pays us to look back in our history books to see the struggles and the turmoils our ancestors went through. As Christians we need to remember well why our nation was formed. Many of our forefathers came to America to seek freedom of religion and that religion they were seeking was Christianity.

This has given us an identity in this world. It seems our government officials seem to think that this is not important anymore but they are wrong!

If we cannot hold onto our historical roots, we will never know when we arrive at our destination.

This is the truth of the Bible. There is enough history in the Bible to tell us the historical roots of the Church and if we cannot hold on to that history, how will we know when we have reached our destination. The entrance into Heaven is within the grasp of everyone of God’s Creation and “choices” must be made.

Israel was at this point “of choice” this day in the book of Deuteronomy.

The Lord did not give Israel His Law to save them from sin:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: [for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified].

Under these old covenants, people were saved by faith, just as we are today:

Rom 4:12  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, [but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham], which he had being yet uncircumcised.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23  But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

These laws can only reveal the sinfulness of mankind. A saint of God does not need any law to tell them if they have sinned.

When a Saint of God is pleasing Him, they will enjoy His blessings and blessings do not come by any law except the “Law of Love”!

These written laws of God provided for a civil, orderly and just society. We can see as these laws are mocked by our judges and our government and lawyers, our society is deteriorating into chaos and immorality.

These laws also prepared the way for Israel’s Messiah:

Gal 4:4  But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
Gal 4:5  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Gal 4:6  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Israel was sitting at the entrance to the promised land and all they had to do was to follow God’s orders and the Lord would give them “victory”!

Our text:

Deu 1:21  Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.
Deu 1:22  And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.
Deu 1:23  And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:
Deu 1:24  And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.
Deu 1:25  And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which the LORD our God doth give us.
Deu 1:26  Notwithstanding ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God:
Deu 1:27  And ye murmured in your tents, and said, Because the LORD hated us, he hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.
Deu 1:28  Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
Deu 1:29  Then I said unto you, Dread not, neither be afraid of them.
Deu 1:30  The LORD your God which goeth before you, he shall fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes;
Deu 1:31  And in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bare thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came into this place.
Deu 1:32  Yet in this thing ye did not believe the LORD your God,

When we take the five books of Moses all together we would see that:

1.) Genesis gave “choice” to the people.
2.) Exodus gave them “redemption”.
3.) Leviticus gave them “worship”.
4.) Numbers gave them their “history”, their wanderings.
5.) In the Book of Deuteronomy, we see their “obedience”.

*****We know that “Salvation” comes by the “Grace” of God but we also know that to have a “Testimony” and to “Enjoy” salvation then there must be “Obedience”!

Obedience is the call of the past, the duty of the present, and the guarantee of the future!

1.) Obedience is based on our relationship with God and that relationship cannot begin without salvation!
2.) Our standard for obedience is the Pure Word of God!
3.) Our incentive for obedience is our Faithfulness to God!

The Bible Says:

1Th 5:23  And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

4.)  The alternative to obedience is the “Justice of God”!

God must be a giver of punishment if His people are unfaithful and disobedient!

*****When Moses sent out those twelve spies into Canaan to explore and bring back a report, they found that

1.) The land was abundant just as God said.
2.) The men of Canaan grew taller than the men of Israel.

Joshua and Caleb were prepared to trust in the Lord, THEY WERE GOD CENTERED.

There were 10 others who had no faith of there own and THEY WERE SELF CENTERED.

Rather than “choose” God and His power, they had focused on themselves and their own weaknesses. They could not imagine how they could defeat this enemy.

God had already prepared the way. Even forty years later Rahab described what God had already done 40 years earlier:

Jos 2:9  And she said unto the men, [I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you].
Jos 2:10  [For we have heard] how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed.
Jos 2:11  [And as soon as we had heard these things], our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.

By their lack of faith these people of Jericho and Canaan land had 40 years to be prepared for Israel.

Because these 10 spies were self-centered these children of Israel had spent 40 years of needless waiting in that wilderness.

We just do not realize what God has in store for us until we give our selves over to Him, until we “choose” Him!

To be self-centered is to fall into a common trap. The world gives praise for self-reliance. Trusting God makes no sense to the world!

Thank God that trusting in Him makes perfect sense. We must trust God for everything and everyday.

To be God-centered requires a daily denial of our selves and a daily submission to the will of God.

Jesus said:

Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

The rebellion of Israel 40 years earlier was a means of teaching this new generation. These descendants never mentioned wanting to go back to Egypt. No matter the difficulty, they knew their future lay in the Promised land of God.

When God allows us to have our own way, it is a concession on His part!

God knows that there is always a danger that we will become proud and self-confident and start thinking we can tell God what to do.

Many of us know that this true because we have been there!

Being in God’s Will, and at the forefront of the battle is the safest place for every child of God to be.

Israel had for gotten that the same powerful God that had brought them out of Egypt would be taking them into Canaan Land.

We too sometimes forget that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead and delivered us from all our sin is the same power that can rule our lives much better than we can.

Unless we receive God’s Word in our hearts and give thanks to Him for His blessings, we will become proud and selfish and begin to take the Lord’s blessings for granted.

*****There is a difference between unbelief and doubt:

1.) Unbelief is a matter of our will and will cause rebellion.
2.) Doubt is a matter of the heart and our emotions. This comes from wavering between fear and faith.

The doubter will say:

Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, [Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief].

God “will encourage” the doubter and help them believe!

God “can only bring justice” to all those that rebel against His Word!

“Murmuring or complaining” is a popular thing to do among Christians but there will be no rewards in Heaven for complaining!

“UNBELIEF” is deadly, this is the only sin that will place you in Hell:

Joh 16:8  And when he is come, [he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment]:
Joh 16:9  [Of sin, because they believe not on me];

Lives are lost everyday simply because men will not believe the truth!

2Co 1:18  [But as God is true], our word toward you was not yea and nay.

Our God is “Theos” it is not “Allah”!

As Israel was to move forward and there were people to avoid:

1.) They were to avoid Edomites.

Because they were of Jacob’s brother Esau and therefore related to the Jews.

The Edomites were still caught up in a family feud that still goes on today!

Of all problems we face today, family disagreements are probably the most painful. These are things we should avoid if at all possible.

The Bible says:

Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

If more individuals, and families and even nations were more content with the blessings of God, there would be less fighting.

2.) They were to avoid the Moabites and the Ammonites:

These were descendants of Lot, the nephew of Abraham.

God sits on the throne and He will deal with all nations according to His will. These two nations did not deserve God’s kindness but the Lord will sometimes bless people because of their relationship to other people.

Israel was blessed because of Abraham and David!

The Body of Christ is blessed today because of the Father’s eternal covenant with His Son Jesus!

3.) They were not to avoid the Amorites but they did offer to move through that land peacefully which did not happen. We are to wear the armor of God when we are in the land of His enemies. They should consider the peace of God before they attack the Church, the Body of Christ. It is Our Lord that will fight for His Bride!

These Amorites were an extremely wicked people. They were brutal in their sin even sacrificing their own children, not for any sort of salvation but just so their income would increase the Bible says for their own bellies.

Things are “Not” much different in the world we live in now!

It was a long suffering God that allowed them to live this long.

The Bible says:

2Pe 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

There can be no rest for God’s people in this war we are in, until God calls us home!

Canaan Land is not a picture of Heaven, it is actually a picture of our Spiritual Victory over our own self-centered thoughts.

We must die to self, before we can live for Jesus Christ!

Let’s Pray!