Skip to content Deuteronomy 27-28: The Promise of Obedience Apr 13 · 14 min ...more
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Family Research Council is serving in the kingdom of God by championing faith, family, & freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview.
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Covenant Ceremony: Stones, Altar, and Mountains 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Today, our journey takes us to 20:13 more remarkable chapters. Deuteronomy chapters 27 and 28, verse 2 of chapter 28. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the0:25 voice of the lord your god. Wow. What a powerful promise. Okay. So today, what we're looking at, preparations are now underway for entry into the land of0:37 promise, which will include a meaningful public ceremony in which the people themselves will be participants, not spectators. They will be participating. They would hear, see, and0:49 do, which was designed to give them an understanding of what god had called them to as a new nation. Then chapter 28 goes into great detail,1:01 unpacking the blessings that obedience would bring as well as the curse, the curses1:14 remarkable passages of prophecy in the Bible that provides indisputable evidence of the divine inspiration of scripture. Verse 1, chapter 27. Now Moses with1:26 the elders of Israel commanded the people saying, keep all the commandments which I command you today. And it shall be on the day when you cross over the Jordan to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, that you1:37 shall set up for yourselves large stones and whitewash them with lime. You shall write on them all the words of this law when you have crossed over that you may enter the land which the Lord your God1:49 is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the lord god of your fathers promised you. So we have here yet another call to obedience to the commands of god.2:01 Now what is what is our takeaway, from these repeated reminders to to obey god. Well, here's our takeaway. We need to be reminded and encouraged2:13 to stay the course to obey god. Now look at the first step. They were to write the laws on stones as public reminder. They needed to know. They needed to2:24 know what was expected of them and be reminded of that. Kind of underscores the current effort to put the 10 commandments in public school classrooms. In verses 4 through 7, there is the2:36 instruction to build an altar on Mount Ebal and hold a public worship and celebration service when they crossed over into the new land, into the2:48 promised land. In fact, I was on Mount Ebal this time last year, and I read this passage as I stood at Joshua's altar. In fact, I have something very special to share3:01 just exclusively with those of you who are on this stand on the word journey. So be sure and join me next Friday. Alright? Next Friday, because next Friday, we're actually going to be in Joshua3:14 chapter 8. And, that's where the instructions right here in Deuteronomy were carried out, and I have, something very special to, to show you. So be sure and, and be with me3:26 next week. Alright. Verse 9. And then Moses and the priest, the Levites, spoke to all Israel saying, take heed and listen, oh Israel. This day, you have become the people3:38 of the Lord your God. Therefore, you shall obey the voice the lord your god and observe his commandments and his statutes which I command you today.3:50 Notice that as this new generation ratifies the covenant that their parents' generation broke by their disobedience, this new generation becomes the people of God.4:01 So what's required? Obedience. They were not entering the land of promise by obedience, rather they entered by God's grace, but their tenure4:13 and their prosperity in the land depended upon their obedience. The same is true for us. We're not saved by how good we are or how good we might think we4:25 are. We are not saved by keeping the 10 commandments. We are saved, and we enter into the family of God by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. But our4:37 ability to live the abundant life that Jesus has brought us is connected to our obedience to God. Now Jesus made this very clear. These are not my words. These are Jesus' words.4:49 In John, he said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. We are not saved by good works. Rather, we are saved to do good works for the kingdom of God. Now Moses sets the stage for a,5:02 nation dedication service when they cross over into the promise line. Now this service includes reciting of the blessing and the cursing5:13 during which God clearly states the consequences of obedience and the consequences of disobedience. Verse 11, chapter 27. And Moses commanded the people on the same day saying,5:26 these shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people when you have crossed over the Jordan, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, Benjamin, And these shall stand on5:38 Mount Ebal to curse. So they're gonna divide the, the the tribes, and some would be on Mount Gerizim, the others on Mount Ebal. Now I've stood on both Gerizim5:50 and Ebal. The the g geography or topography of the area makes a, a natural amphitheater where the these declarations of blessing6:02 and cursing kinda going back and forth, could be heard, right, very well. And I think it would have created a lasting memory for those who were there6:14 alive participating and witnessing this event. I I I mean, think about this. A couple million of voices shouting these declarations. I mean, it probably just6:26 echoed through the area. I remember as a high school student in in Oklahoma when I I was in the choir. Yes. I used to sing in the choir. And, we went to a choir festival at Oklahoma State6:37 University, and there are about 30000 students, in the various choirs from around the state. And we sang a hymn, Come Ye Thankful People Come. Yeah. Yes. In6:49 those days, we sang hymns in the public schools. And the choirs had practiced for weeks to come together to to sing, and, I I will say it was memorable. I mean,7:01 I remember it to this day. I I can only imagine what standing on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal on that day, was like. That's that's something those folks7:13 would have never forgotten hearing all of those voices in unison. So in chapter 6 in verses, in the in the 68 verses of chapter 28, the firstBlessings That Overtake Obedience 7:25 14 lay out the promise of blessing. And then in the in verses 15 through 68, we read not only of the extensive curses that come from disobedience, but7:37 it also contains a remarkable prophecy as I made reference to earlier regarding the nation's future. So let's look at verse 1, chapter 28. Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently7:49 obey the voice of the lord your god, to observe carefully all his commandments which I command you today, that the lord your god will set you high above all nations of the earth. You know, a8:01 couple of, important observations here. If, alright, if, this is a this is conditional upon obeying the Lord. Now this blessing upon8:13 them collectively as a nation would set them high above all the nations of the earth. This is kinda what we talked about last time. All nations are not the same. Those who follow the8:24 lord, he makes them exceptional nations. Verse 2. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you because you obey the voice of the lord your god. The blessings would run them8:36 down. The bless you don't have to chase the blessings. They would come upon you. They would you wouldn't they wouldn't have to go looking for the8:54 blessings that follow the obedience to God. 9 times the word bless or blessed or blessing is used. The message is of a a comprehensive blessing from God as a result9:06 of obedience to him. The blessing would be national. It would be in the city and the country. It'd be upon the family, their children, their flocks, the the which is the family economy. There would be food security.9:18 There would be a strong economy, personal as well as national security, a nation set apart with an identity in God, a nation blessed9:30 to lead and not follow, to lend and not borrow. That was the blessing from God for that came from obedience. In the next 54 verses, next 54 verses,Curses, Prophecies, and the Choice 9:42 the curses are described that will come upon the people if they choose to reject God's word and disobey him. Now depending upon how you count or categorize the blessings and the9:53 cursings, there's roughly double the number of curses. Verse 20. The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to10:05 do until you are destroyed, until you perish quickly because of the wickedness of your doings in which you forsaken me. Now like the blessings, the10:17 curses will find you. Verse 45, moreover, all these curses shall come come upon you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the lord your god to keep you until you10:25 are destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the lord your god to keep his commands and his statutes which he commanded you. Why? Look at, verse 47. Because you did not serve the lord10:37 your god with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything. Right? So this is a pretty instructive voice, verse because when they got into the promised land10:49 and enjoyed the blessings of god, they didn't serve God. You see, sometimes we become intoxicated with the blessings of God and we forget God. Now we also see in this11:01 chapter a predictive warning that describes in great detail and accuracy the Babylonian captivity that was to come because of their rejection of God's ways as11:13 well as the Roman siege. Verse 36. The Lord will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other11:25 gods, wood and stone. Therefore, you shall serve your enemies whom the lord will send against you in hunger and thirst and nakedness and in need of everything, and he will put a yoke of iron on your neck until he has11:36 destroyed you. The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you do not understand. The eagle, by the way, is11:48 the ensign of the Roman army. Now during the sieges, the horrific account of women eating their children is actually foretold. Verse 53, you shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your11:59 sons and your daughters whom the lord your god has given you in the siege and in desperate straits in which your enemy shall distress you. The bondage, the bitterness of life, the dispersion, the wandering, the fear,12:11 the plagues, and persecutions that came from choosing not to obey God and observe observe his commandments are all foretold right here. If we won't serve12:23 God with obedience and gladness, we will serve the enemy in bitterness and in want, And that's true for us spiritually today as well. So here it is, a12:35 blessing or a curse. The choice is ours. Father, we thank you for your word. And and, Lord, just again, thank you for the book of Deuteronomy. What an12:47 amazing book this has been. And and it boils down to this. Will we obey you? Not that we will earn our salvation because that comes by grace through Christ alone,12:59 But we can walk in the abundant life through our obedience to you. And I pray father that we would just yield ourselves to your word and to your ways. May the holy spirit continue to enlighten us, helping us to13:10 understand how these principles from your word apply to our lives today in this world in which we're living. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright. Thanks for joining me this morning. And13:22 until next time, keep standing on the word.13:26 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:38 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 Covenant Ceremony: Stones, Altar, and Mountains7:18 Blessings That Overtake Obedience9:40 Curses, Prophecies, and the Choice
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