Omnipotent, Covenant, One True God - Deuteronomy 4:1-43

          When we finish our reading of Deuteronomy 3, we find the Israelites encamped in the valley of Beth-Peor below Mount Nebo, where Moses overlooked the Promised Land. With the beginning of chapter four, we read God’s commands through Moses to the Israelites before they cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land. This chapter leads us to ask two questions – 1) Why did Moses remind the Israelites of who God is and what He did in their earlier years with Him? 2) Why did he remind them of the laws and judgments of God?

            Moses began with an injunction to Israel. He told them to listen to the statues and judgments that he taught them so they may live, go in, and take possession of the Promised Land (vs. 1). Moses told the Israelites God’s statues must have nothing added to it or taken away from it so they could keep the commandments of God (vs. 2). Why were these injunctions so important that Moses began his speech with them? First, we must remember from chapters two and three what God did to the Amorites, the people who did not follow Him. God annihilated the Amorites. Why? The Amorites chose not to worship the one true God, but instead bowed in worship to their manmade gods and idols. God did not want the Israelites tricked or seduced into worshipping the god of the Amorites, Baal-peor. God gave a three-fold promise to the Israelites for performing the statutes (choq – laws and decrees) and judgments. They would live, go in, and take possession of the land God showed them. The Israelites saw firsthand how God dealt with pagan worshippers. He annihilated them. The Israelites wanted to live, so they chose to follow God’s statutes and judgments. The Israelites wanted to enter the Promised Land, too, but not as just residents. They wanted to claim as a possession the land God promised to their ancestor Abraham. So since they wanted to live, go in, and posses the land, God required they obey His statutes and judgments. The other injunction Moses gave the Israelites was they were not to add to the word God commanded nor take away from it. This command continues to today. We are not to add to or take away from God’s Word. Do we believe this or do we misinterpret God’s Word in a way that is usable and agreeable to secular twenty-first century people?

            Moses reminded them what happened to the people who followed Baal-peor, which means “lord of the gap” in Hebrew. The people of Beth Peor followed this god. Moses recalled to the Israelites that God destroyed the Amorites. He added, in verse four, “But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you.” Moses reminded the Israelites of God’s power in their recent history. How often do we need to recall how God acted within our lives so we can be encouraged, comforted, or strengthened?

            Moses declared to them that he taught the statues and judgments of the Lord just as God commanded him, so they could possess the land. He told them to do them (statutes and judgments) because these were for their wisdom and understanding. Moses said the people of every nation would see the Israelites live by God’s statutes and judgments and call them wise and understanding (vs. 5-6). He told them other people and nations would recognize that their Yahweh God is real, because of His nearness to them – God is close enough to them that He listens to and cares for them – and because their laws and judgments are righteous. Moses taught the Israelites the Ten Commandments and everything God told him. The Hebrew word used for “law” in verse eight is towrah, which means instruction or teachings. This is the Hebrew name for the first five books of the Old Testament, Torah, what we call the Pentateuch. Yahweh God is righteous. He gave righteous laws and judgments. God’s character provides the definition of the word “righteous.” Because God is righteous, He is just, the other side of the coin. His justness requires justice and judgment rendered on people rebelling against His statues and decrees. God’s righteous laws and judgments contain more wisdom than any nation’s laws and judgments because He instituted them. How often do people watch true believers in Jesus Christ and acknowledge they are wise and must follow a wise God? How often does this make the watching person seek Yahweh God? I can think of two people in the Bible who turned to God because of a life testimony of Him – Rahab and Ruth. Both these women observed the power and wisdom of God in the lives of the Israelites and they observed their God, Yahweh, was the one true God. Do people watch us as we live and see us following God’s righteous laws? Do they then wonder about our God?

            From verses nine to twenty, Moses recalled to the Israelites what God did for them, as the seed of Abraham. He began with four commands – 1) Give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently; 2) Do not forget the things which your eyes have seen; 3) Do not let what you have seen depart from your heart; and 4) Make these actions of God known to your children and grandchildren (vs. 9). Let us look at the first command. The English word “keep” in this verse comes from the Hebrew word shamar, which means to guard, preserve, observe, and give heed. This means a person should not just remember a law or actions of God, but he or she should cherish and guard it while acting upon it. Shamar is an active verb. It requires more than head knowledge. Shamar requires interaction with your whole being – mind, heart, and strength. In Deuteronomy 6:5, Moses taught the Israelites to “Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” In Deuteronomy 6:7, Moses told them to teach God’s statutes and judgments diligently to their children and talk of them when they sit in their houses, walk, lie asleep, and arise. Shamar or “keep” began this teaching to the Israelites. The Israelites were to guard the statutes and judgments of God to make sure other teachings did not corrupt them. They were to enact them as a way of life because they were the people of God, in a covenant relationship with Him. Moses taught them this command about keeping their souls diligently and explained how to do it. Shamar keeping, then, meant not forgetting the laws (mind), not allowing them to depart from their hearts, and teaching them to their descendents. God wanted the Israelites to remember everything they observed, what Moses taught, and pass them to their descendents. The Lord called them to listen to His words, fear (reverence and awe) Him all their lives, and teach His words to their children (vs. 10). How often do we today guard, cherish, and act upon God’s statutes instead of being enticed away from them?

            Moses recalled for them their middle-distant history (forty years before) with Yahweh God – God’s speaking to them from the fire on Mt. Horeb/Mt. Sinai. Moses reminded them that they viewed no form of God in the fire. The Israelites witnessed no image, but they heard a voice. They heard “the sound of words, but observed no form,” according to verses eleven and twelve. The voice on Mt. Horeb from the heavens declared God’s covenant, which He commanded them to do (13). Covenant is bariyth in Hebrew and means pledge, alliance, and agreement. The part of the covenant that required their participation was following and enacting the Ten Commandments. God’s side of the covenant was to give the Promised Land and to take care of them. The Israelites’ side of the covenant/pledge was to worship Yahweh God and to teach and live out the statutes and judgments of God. God commanded they follow the Ten Commandments. He did not ask it, but as sovereign God, commanded it. As an addition for Moses, the Lord commanded Moses to teach His statutes and judgments to the Israelites at the same time He commanded them to follow His laws. Moses had the added command from God in the covenant to teach God’s statutes and judgments to the Israelites. Moses taught them to live the laws and judgments of God in the Promised Land. He then reiterated who they followed, not an image or idol of something on the earth, in the water, in the air, or in the heavens. The Israelites were not to act corruptly by worshipping and idol. The word “corruptly” comes from the Hebrew shachath, which means to be marred, spoiled, perverted, go to ruin, or decay. God commanded them through Moses not to corrupt or pervert their worship of Him with images made by their hands from their minds. That would lead to the decay of their worship. Moses told them not to worship or serve other gods with the images from on, above, or under earth because God allotted them to everyone under heaven. He created them for everyone. Instead, worship God the Creator because remember God came not to them from an image they saw but as a great voice overheard from the fire on the mountain. Remember, Moses said, the Lord took and “brought you from the iron furnace, from Egypt, to be a people for His own possession” (vs. 20). Moses called Egypt the “iron furnace.” The door they opened during the famine four hundred years before to enter Egypt and get food became a heavy iron door of captivity. It became as strong as the door of hell and as hot, but God brought them out of Egypt. Moses told them to remember their long and middle distant history with God – His love, sovereignty, and power. God did not forget his promise to Abraham. He chose Abraham and his seed and brought the seed of Abraham out of their slavery in Egypt because of His promise. The Lord does not forget nor fail to fulfill His promises. Have we ever failed and forgotten God walking in our own way?

            Moses told them God’s anger at and judgment of himself was because of the Israelites (vs. 21). God swore Moses and Aaron would not enter the Promised Land in Numbers 20:12. Moses took the glory due to God when he struck his staff to a rock and produced clean water for the wandering Israelites. God told him to touch the rock. Because Moses recognized firsthand God’s judgment from his personal disobedience, he was a living example of God’s judgment before them. So Moses said, “Watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you and make for yourselves a graven image (idol) in the form of any thing against which the Lord your God has commanded you” (vs. 23). Moses told them what to do – keep, guard, and take heed the covenant of God – and do not make an idol to worship and serve. Moses made himself an example before them. He had the example God gave, too. He said, “For the Lord you God is a consuming fire, a jealous God” (vs. 24). The Israelites saw the fire at the time they listened to God’s voice. They understood the connection between God and fire. They realized fire consumes that with which it comes into contact. The Bible book writers used this phrase often when referring to God in both the Old Testament and New Testament (Exodus 24:17, Deuteronomy 9:3, Isaiah 30:27 and 33:14, Hebrews 12:29). Deuteronomy 9:3 speaks of the effects of a consuming fire as subduing and destroying His enemies. So, because God is a jealous God, His consuming fire metes judgment on those who do not follow His Laws - those who rebel against Him and turn away from Him. From this then, Moses taught what judgment God promised to bring on the Israelites if they forgot His covenant. He said,

When you become the father of children and children’s children, have remained long in the land, act corruptly, make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord your God so as to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. [Deuteronomy 4:25-26]

“Heaven and earth are witnesses,” Moses said, “that God and I told you not to do these things against His Laws.” Moses taught the Laws and judgments of God to the Israelites. They recognized what God promised for their disobedience. Moses repeated this judgment to the Israelites a couple times in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 7:4 and 8:19-20. He described what “perishing” meant in verse twenty-six. Perishing means not living long, being utterly destroyed, being scattered among all peoples by the Lord, and being “left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you” (vs. 27). The word “scatter” comes from the Hebrew word puwts, meaning disperse or spread abroad. As people of the twenty-first century, we look back in history and see God scattered the Israelites when the Assyrians captured the northern kingdom in 732 BC and the Babylonians captured the southern kingdom in 582 BC. Very few Israelites remained in the southern kingdom after their captivity began. While in captivity, the Israelites worshipped gods of their captors as demanded, gods made by human hands. Today, we are part of the dispersed believers of Jesus Christ in the world. Do we steadily and faithfully follow God each day or do we allow the world’s influence to dictate what we worship?

            From captivity of the Israelites, though, God promised they could find if they searched for Him with all their heart and soul. Even in the midst of judgment, God wanted His people to return to Him and made a way for their return. He gave them hope. God’s requiring the heart, soul, and might of His children occurs throughout history. This lesson occurs in Deuteronomy 6:5 and 10:12, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27, and Matthew 22:37. After their capture, the Israelites, prompted by their judges and prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah (29:11-14), recalled Moses’ teaching and called out to the Lord. One Chronicles 15:4 is an example. God knew His people would call to Him. He knew they would return to Him and listen to His voice (Jeremiah 23:20, Hosea 3:5, Hebrews 1:2). God made a way for them to return to Him. He still makes this same way for people to return to Him now. Have we forgotten God and gone our own ways? God wants us to call to Him and promises He will be found by us.

            Questions come to mind. Why did God listen and allow the Israelites to return to Him? Why will He listen and allow His children to return to Him? Moses told them, “For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them” (vs. 31). God’s covenant relationship with the Israelites and His later children does not end. Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension fulfilled the Abrahamic and Mosaic covenant. It created a new covenant, too, the Messianic covenant, which will never end. God’s character never changes and did not change with the new covenant through Jesus Christ. As Moses said, “God is a compassionate God.” Moses described this compassion of God. He said God does not fail His people. God’s compassion repeats throughout the Bible in Deuteronomy 31:6 and 8, Joshua 1:5, 1 Chronicles 28:20, and Hebrew 13:5. Moses added that God’s compassion means He will not destroy His people, those who choose to follow Him. Jeremiah added that God would destroy the nations where the Israelites were scattered, but He would not destroy them completely. Added to this, God does not forget His covenant with His people (Leviticus 26:45). Have we experienced God’s compassion? Have we walked away from Him and need to turn toward Him? God keeps His covenant with us.

            Moses wanted the Israelites to remember God, His person and His actions, from the past and recognize His power. In verse thirty-two, Moses reminded them God created man on earth. No one and nothing has ever done things like these. God was there in the distant past, at creation – Remember. Moses reminded them God spoke to the Israelites from the fire, they heeded it, and they survived. God was there in their recent past, at the creation of the Ten Commandments – Remember. Moses reminded them God took a people from within a nation and made them a nation for Himself with signs, wonders, and great terrors. God was in their middle distant past, at their exodus – Remember. This God is the One true God, the One who created, spoke from a consuming fire, and took them from captivity within a nation by great wonders. He alone is worthy of worship. God chose the Israelites to show His might as the One true God; there is no other (vs. 35). He let them hear His voice. God let them see His great fire and hear His words from the midst of the fire (vs. 36). He let them because He wanted them to realize Yahweh God in the only true God. No other god exists. God showed Himself to them.

 Why did God speak to them and show them His fire? Moses explained,

Because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendents after them. He personally brought you from Egypt by His great power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. (Emphasis is mine. [Deut. 4:37-38])

God wanted them to experience life fully, the way He intended when He created it. He showed them how to do that through His Ten Commandments and judgments. God does not intend the Ten Commandments unduly to constrict human experience, but to bring human experience back into right focus – relationship with and love for God and other humans. To acquire the Promised Land, the Israelites defeated greater and mightier nations. God empowered them to defeat and take the land. Israel had no military advantage. Their military men died in the earlier generation except Joshua and Caleb. God gave them the victory. The peoples’ faith in God’s power and purposes was the key to the victory. Moses ensured they recognized that. When last did we give God the glory for an outcome in our lives? Or, did we take the glory for ourselves?

            Near the end of this teaching, Moses commanded them to “know therefore today, and take it to your heart that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on earth below; there is no other” (vs. 39). This is the key verse to which Moses aimed when he began his speech to the Israelites. Let us look at this verse closer. The word “know” in Hebrew is yada’, which means to recognize, acknowledge, confess, and act upon this knowledge with your life. It involves your whole being – mind, heart, soul, and strength. If you know something, but do not act on it, you are not a true believer and disciple of that teaching or person. To be a believer and disciple requires enacting the teaching whether the teacher is from a university, is a religious leader, or are your parents. “God is the One true God,” Moses said. To be a true follower of Yahweh, one of His people, the commands/laws and judgments must be evident in the life of the person who claims to be a follower. Yada’/know means just that. In case the Israelites and later believers did not understand, Moses stated later, “Take it to your heart.” Followers, children/people of God, follow these truths with their whole selves. Added to this, Moses explicitly stated the truth, “The Lord, He is God in heaven and on earth; there is no other.” Joshua 2:11 said, “God is sovereign over all creation.” He was not and is not one of many gods. He is the only God. God demonstrated His existence and power in historical acts and in each of the Israelites lives. He did not come from their imaginations. Moses taught, “You shall keep His statues (laws and decrees) and His commandments which I am giving you today, that is may go well with you and with your children after you and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time” (vs. 40). God demands total allegiance because He cares for the well-being of people. Moses spoke of that concern in this passage. If God’s people know, acknowledge, and take to heart God’s teaching, then it may go well with them and their children after them. When they are faithful to God, He will bless them. Blessings cannot come when people are far from God in their hearts and lives. Are we true followers of Jesus Christ? Are we in a close daily relationship with Him?

            God chose to love the ancestor of Israel, the man Abraham. He acted to bring the people, the seed of Abraham, out of slavery. Before, God chose Abraham to be a man of God. While in Egypt, Abraham’s seed multiplied and grew to be a people of God. They were the beneficiaries of the promise God made to Abraham and God’s decision to love and call a people to Himself. He demonstrated His love and power to them and through them showed Himself to other people. God demonstrated His love and power to every people by His love and grace through Jesus Christ. God chose to create a covenant with people throughout time. He wanted to do it, but did not have to do it. God wants us to be a part of what He is doing. He wants us to follow Him and become His children. Moses taught the Israelites and teaches us to remember God, what He did in their lives and in our lives. With memories of how God led in the past, His action, we are encouraged, comforted, and strengthened to walk with Him in His purposes in our lives today.

            We come to a point in this study where we ask questions. Does God still work in the world today? Do you recall God’s power and presence in your life in the past so that you gain strengthen to walk with Him now? Sometimes God asks us to step out in faith, believe Him, and do something that makes us fearful. When we remember the past where God intervened in our lives, it gives us courage, boldness, and strength to keep walking with Him in His plans now and in the future. While we step out in God’s strength, we must remember God’s commands and judgments. These keep us from turning our backs on God and walking into trickery and deceit. Moses did this before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River. He reminded them who God is and what His commandments and judgments are. God does not fail. He is always faithful. God’s plans will prevail in the long term. His judgments will occur when His people are disobedient.

Are you following the One true God?

Are you obedient to God’s commands?

Maybe you need to remember how God was active on your behalf in the past to encourage you to take the next step for Him. God honors commitments. He judges the disobedient, too. If you walk closely with Him, He will pour blessings into your life.

As Moses said, “Know today and take it to heart that the Lord He is God in heaven and earth; there is no other.”

Promises and Oppportunities - Deuteronomy 1-3

Deuteronomy 1-3

            Deuteronomy is a book written by Moses to call God’s people back to faithful service. The name Deuteronomy for the fifth book of the Old Testament comes from the Greeks naming it Deuteronomion, which means the second law or second statement. That does not mean God gave a new set of laws to the Israelites, but instead a restating of the original laws given. These laws came from God to Moses and the Israelites after they left Egypt. In Deuteronomy, Moses reapplied them to the people facing new circumstances after the rebelling generation died. Because these laws are restated and reapplied, theologians often call this a book of revival. Deuteronomy is a book of revival in that it calls the people to remember, reflect, and rededicate themselves to God and His will. The book has three parts - three sermons by Moses to the Israelites and the telling of Moses’ death. The three sermons highlight four themes – 1) God’s faithfulness and sovereignty, 2) The relevance of God’s laws for everyday life, 3) God’s blessing for faithfulness and judgment on faithlessness, and 4) Moses’ encouragement of the people to choose life. Most historians and theologians assume the writer of Deuteronomy is Moses, especially since Jesus mentioned it in Matthew 19:8 and Paul mentioned it in Romans 10:19. Of course, another person wrote the end of Deuteronomy about the death of Moses. The best estimate of the date of the book’s writing is around 1400 BC.

            These first three chapters remind us of Yahweh God’s choosing Israel as His people and God’s presence with them. Because of Israel being God’s chosen people, God established a covenant with them by which they were to live in faithfulness to Him. This covenant is called the Ten Commandments. God chose Israel and His adopted children of today to be part of what He is doing in the world. We must each choose if we will listen to and heed God - be faithful or rebel. This reflects upon our obedience to His Law and Himself. God expects His people to follow His leadership as He opens opportunities of service. How we respond to God determines our faithfulness or faithlessness and whether we will receive reward or judgment from God.

            In chapter one, Moses spoke to the Israelites in the Arabah, the desert, on the east side of the Jordon River. He told them God was sending them to the Amorites, their neighbors, the people in the Negev, the Canaanites and to the people in Lebanon, as far as the Euphrates River (vs. 7)  Moses reminded them of God’s promise to their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He reminded them of their journey from Egypt, from the setting up of their governance (vs. 13-17) to their routing of the Amorites forty years later. Moses continued reminding them in the following verses of chapter one. When they arrived the first time at the hill country of the Amorites and God told them He had given that land to them, the Israelites trembled in fear. They chose to send spies into the land who returned saying, “It is good land that the Lord our God is about to give us” (vs. 25-26). Still they would not enter the land because of fear. The Israelites rebelled against the command of God though Moses encouraged them to be brave and strong in the Lord (vs. 26, 29-30). Moses reminded them of the times Yahweh God carried them throughout their exodus journey – as a father carries his child. God went before them in fire by night and cloud by day to show them the way (vs. 33). God became angry at the Israelites and swore an oath that none of that generation would see the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua (vs. 35-36). Even Moses would not see it because of God’s anger towards the Israelites (vs. 37). God did promise that the weak of that day would inherit and possess the land and that He condemned the others to wander in the wilderness for forty years (vs. 39-40). Only upon receiving God’s judgment did the Israelites act and try to fight the Amorites. They failed. God even warned them He was not with them in their attempt. Moses reminded them of this failure, their resultant tears, and the many days they remained in Kadesh Barnea (vs. 441-46). After the Israelites circled Mount Seir many days, the Lord told them to turn north. God was preparing the Israelites to take the Promised Land, to obey His voice and commands (2:1-3). Moses wanted them to remember God’s faithfulness to them and to His covenant. He wanted them to remember their rebellion and resultant failure. Only when the Israelites were defeated did they recognize their sin. How often do we not recognize our rebellion/sin until we are defeated? If we would remember God, His sovereignty and omniscience, His all-encompassing knowledge, then we would think twice about rebelling against His plans. God’s plans ultimately occur whether we follow Him or rebel. How much more pleasant it would be if we followed Him from the beginning.

            From chapter two through chapter three, God explained His plans to Moses for the taking of the Promised Land to give to His people, the Israelites. He told them to pass through the land of Esau, their brother, which is Edom, but do not to provoke them because they will be afraid of the number of Israelites (2:4-5). God gave the Edomites their land as a possession. He told the Israelites to buy their food and water from the Edomites. God told them to remember how He had been with them those forty years in the desert and they needed nothing. He provided everything they needed. As they approached Moab, God told them to do the same thing there as in Edom because He gave the descendents of Lot (the Moabites/Ammonites) their land as a possession (2:9, 19). (Remember Moab was the son of Lot’s daughter who caused Lot to become drunk and then lay with him.) As an aside, Moses recounted to the Israelites that God destroyed the giants from the land of Edom and Moab so Esau’s and Moab’s descendents could have the land as their possession (2:10-12, 20-23). We see that once the Israelites crossed the Arnon River, God gave the Promised Land to His people.

            The first lands to be conquered were on the eastern side of the Jordan River. The people who lived there at that time were the Amorites. We need to understand who the Amorites were to understand why God told them to kill all the people – men, women, and children. The Amorites, from about 2500BC (1200 years before the exodus), were the inhabitants of the larger part of Mesopotamia and Syria with their capital in Harran. Harran was near Ur, the place from where Abraham began his journey following God and the land of Shem, Noah’s son. About 2300 BC, the Amorites conquered and occupied northern Babylonia making Babylon their capital. This established their dynasty. Because the Amorites had a plan to conquer their inhabited lands, they determined to intermarry with the residents of those lands making the land truly their own. Many historians trace the Amorites back to Samu/Shem. In probability, Shem’s people lived in Ur and the Amorites intermarried with them. The Amorite dynasty included the lands of current day Iraq, Iran, Syria, Canaan, part of Turkey, and part of Egypt. Closer to the time of the exodus, the Hittites invaded Babylonia and the Amorite dynasty ended. The Amorite kingdom continued to exist to the time of the Israelite invasion of the Promised Land. Their kingdom is mentioned in the Egyptian records and the cuneiform of Tell el-Amarna Letters.[i]  As the time of the exodus continued to get closer, the Egyptians came into power and conquered Canaan, ending the government of Canaan by the Amorites. The Amorites still ruled eastward to Babylonia and south to the Arnon River. They became a vassal state of Egypt. Later, almost at the time of the exodus, the Libyans and people of the Aegean invaded the Egyptians, who had to withdraw their garrisons from southern Canaan cities. The Philistines took over southern Canaan and blocked the way from Egypt to rule north Canaan. At this time then, the Amorites overran the old Egyptian provinces on the east side of the Jordan River. Chieftain Og possessed Bashan, the upper part of the east Canaan lands while Chieftain Sihon conquered the northern part of Moab. Sihon aimed to take southern Moab then the Israelites’ conquest stopped him. With the fall of Sihon and Og, the Amorite kingdom disappeared.

            This political map was what the Israelites encountered when they began their push into the Promised Land. The Israelites may have feared the Amorites, known for their gigantism, but they learned in their forty years of wandering to trust and follow God. Their forty years of wandering was a time of dissension, rebellion, and sadness as Numbers tells us. In Deuteronomy 2, God was about to restore lost opportunities to a new generation, one that was willing to trust Him. The reluctance of the earlier generation and God’s judgment warned these new Israelites and warns us. When God leads, we must follow with faith. When opportunity to serve God arises, we should take it.

The military men and their generation from the first time God told them to enter Canaan, except Joshua and Caleb, died during their forty-year wandering. The first generation did not take the opportunity God gave them to see the Promised Land. By the time God told the Israelites a second time to enter Canaan, they stood at the border before Sihon’s land. The Israelites crossed into Edom from Kadesh Barnea and to Moab over the Zered River. As the Israelites sat at the border, Moses recalled to them twice, in verses fourteen and fifteen, what occurred to the earlier generation who rebelled and did not follow God into the Promised Land. Their fear kept them from entering and their faithlessness sealed their future to die in outside of God’s Promised Land. God always fulfills His promises. His will ultimately prevails. The Israelites of the next generation proved they were courageous enough to take advantage of this great opportunity – God was on their side so who could prevail against them. God showed them the Arnon Valley from Moab. He told them His plan to give the lands of Sihon to them. God said He would put the fear of the Israelites into the hearts of the Amorites (vs. 24-31).

            As He did for their journey through Edom and Moab, God told Moses to send messengers to King Sihon asking permission to travel in his land. God worked in Sihon’s heart. Sihon hardened his heart against the Israelites. God wanted Sihon to fight the Israelites so He could give Sihon’s land to the Israelites by conquering it (vs. 31). The Israelites trusted God’s promise that He would care for them. Their military men died in the wandering. At this point, only God could give the victory for the Israelites. Sihon called war on the Israelites and they battled at Jahaz. In the end, the Israelites won the battle. They killed all the people. Moses gave the glory to God in verse thirty-three when he said, “The Lord our God delivered him (Sihon) over to us and we defeated him with his sons and all his people.” Part of the Promised Land now belonged to the Israelites. In chapter three, we find the Israelites approached King Og the same way. A messenger went from the Israelites asking for passage through Og’s land. Og refused and determined to fight the Israelites. The Argob, Og’s kingdom, contained sixty fortified cities and many smaller towns. The Israelites killed all the people in Og’s kingdom and the Israelites took the cities and towns. We must see first that God determined the outcome of the battle before the first attack (3:3). God promised the victory and received the credit for the victory (vs. 2-3). Moses made sure the people recognized God as their victor in these battles. He reminded them by proclaiming the victory as God’s own. The Israelites continued success came from their continued faithfulness.

 I must make a point at this place in our study. Many people throughout history say God is a killing God and they refer back to the taking of Canaan for the Israelites. We need to go back to Deuteronomy 20:16-18. God told them to kill all the people when taking over the land so they would not bow to the gods of Canaan. Moses said it this way,

Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the LORD your God. [NASB]

In Genesis 15:16, the Amorites are evil, so their destruction was God’s judgment upon them. Destroying the city’s inhabitants was not normal for Israelite warfare in the Bible. The time of God giving them His Promised Land was unique and crucial. The conquering of the lands from other nations was a fulfilling of God’s promise to Abraham and judgment upon the people of the other nations for worshipping false gods.

            After Og’s defeat, Moses distributed the land on the east side of the Jordan River to two and a half tribes - Reuben, Manasseh, and Gad. The men of these two and one half tribes pledged an oath to battle with the rest of the Israelites until the Israelites conquered all of the Promised Land, after which they could return to the east side to plant, shepherd, and be with their wives and children (3:12-20). Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, God told Moses he would not enter the Promised Land because he did not quell the rebellion of the Israelites when they did not enter the Promised Land forty years prior. He did tell Moses Joshua would lead them into Canaan. Moses charged Joshua not to fear the people and to remember God was the One fighting for them (vs. 21-22, 28). After Moses pleaded with God an additional time to let him cross into Canaan, God’s anger rose and He commanded Moses never to speak of it again (vs. 26). He did allow Moses to see the land from the top of Mount Pisgah/Mount Nebo, near the valley opposite Beth-Peor where the Israelites encamped.

            You may be wondering what this story has to do with us. How does God’s working in 1400 BC have anything to do with today? We need to consider a few things. God’s will ultimately prevails. He gave a promise to Abraham many generations before the exodus of the Israelites. God always fulfills His promises. I think of a time when I attended church during my university years. One day while listening to the preacher, I felt God calling me to serve Him. I gave my life to serve Him on that day when I was twenty-one years old. God promised to provide what I needed. God did not whisk me away at once to a foreign country. He did remind me that He called me several times during the next years. I continued my studies and graduated. God provided a good job, house, and car for me. I was happy and settled into adult life. Nine months after I bought the house, God called me again, this time to seminary - one-step closer to ministry. Now, twenty-seven years later, I can say I have been serving in full-time ministry to Him for the last fourteen and one-half years. God’s promise to use me for His service is fulfilled. He has always provided what we needed. God’s will prevailed. He is persistent and perfect. God’s purpose will occur.

Maybe you feel you missed an opportunity to do what God asked you to do, like the first Israelites of the exodus as they faced God’s gift of the Promised Land. Maybe fear kept you from doing what God asked the first time - fear of moving to a new city or job. You can return to God, recognize His will, and give Him your life to do what He wants. God will take you for His purposes whenever you give your life to Him. Remember, we each have responded to some of God’s challenges with fear and disobedience. These three chapters of Deuteronomy remind us that God has a wonderful way of giving us fresh opportunities. When we are ready to follow God no matter what He asks of us, He is ready to use us for His purposes. We each can redeem the past by seeing the opportunities God puts before us and claiming God’s promise, just as the second generation of Israelites did. Our faithfulness to God has a cumulative effect. The more often our decisions reflect God’s will, the easier it will be to follow when God calls us to something next time and the more we will discover blessings in our lives. We might not see the blessings immediately, but God works in His own way and time. He rewards faithfulness. He just asks that we trust Him, stay faithful, and act with courage.

            Life brings changes and challenges. These changes and opportunities are chances to serve, walk, and learn with God, not just to receive things from Him. When we see them as opportunities, we will start to see God’s hand leading. We can enjoy being a part of what God is doing around us. How, then, can we be more responsive to God in our surroundings and circumstances? Consider these:

1. Do not let past failures decide your worth in serving God. We each miss some of God’s opportunities. Accept God’s offer and take the opportunity to walk with Him.
2. Look at changes as times for exploring new ways to serve and work with God.
3. Determine where God is leading by reading the Bible, praying, meditating on His Word, listening to sermons and Sunday School lessons, and talking with other Christians.
4. Trust that God will give you what you need to do His will and follow His plans. The Israelites trusted Him and He gave them courage. We demonstrate trust by being willing to go into areas we have never been. God does not back out on His plans and leave a person stranded. He is faithful to His children and His promises. God promises He will be with us wherever He leads us (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8: Joshua 1:9; Hebrews 13:5).

God gave the Israelites a new opportunity to trust Him and claim His promises. This second time facing the Promised Land, they trusted Him and He gave them the land He promised. What has God been saying to you lately? Do you need to step out in faith and trust to follow Him in a new opportunity? Remember, God is always faithful and He loves you. He will never fail you.

Trust Him.

Step out in Faith in God.

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[i]         A. H. Sayce. W. B. Eerdmanns Publishing, 1939. Amorites from http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/A/amorites.html (accessed July 21, 2014).

The Crux of the Matter

Nehemiah 

What is it about humans that, when we do not have someone whom we acknowledge has an impassioned view of God in our midst watching over us, we start walking away from the path of God? That gift of free will leads us astray so very much of our lives.

            God knows the hearts of us humans; He created our hearts. The whole human race is blighted by sin since Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). God had a plan in mind when He created humanity with free will. His plan was to redeem us because He knew then that we would choose to follow our own desires and be disobedient to Him. His plan from the beginning was to provide a savior to save us from the downfall of our wrong choices (sin). This Savior would be His Son, Jesus. His plan from before He created us was to be in a relationship with each of us. Of course, then, He would have a plan to save us from ourselves and our sin. Even when His chosen people, the Hebrews/Israelites sinned, He still had a covenant to them, He would be their God and they would be His people. God told them through Moses in Exodus (chap. 6 vs. 7) this covenant He would have with them. He repeated it in Leviticus 26:12 when they were establishing laws by which to live. He reminded the Israelites eleven times by the prophets (Jeremiah, Ezekial, Isaiah, and Zechariah). It was reiterated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:16 and the writer of Hebrews (chap 8 vs. 10). And finally, by John in his exile on Patmos in Revelation 21:3. God’s covenant relationship of love carries throughout the whole life of the Israelites then includes the believing Gentiles all the way to eternity. His covenant of love provided the redemption we humans needed to be in a relationship with the Holy God.

Since this is the case, we may ask, why did the Israelites forget so often? Why did God have to discipline them with conquering even though He sent so many prophets to remind them of their covenant with Him? The answer plain and simple is that we are sinners. He created us with free will and we have freely willed our own wants and desires from the day Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree.

Let us look at an example. Before Nehemiah came on the scene, Judah had been taken captive by Babylon in 597BC. Two other deportations of captive Jews from the southern kingdom occurred in 587BC and 582BC. In the twelfth year of King Artexerxes reign, 453BC (per Nehemiah 1), Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, received word from messengers from Jerusalem about the condition of Jerusalem. The city walls were falling down and all the gates were burned. As a Jew this meant two things: 1) they were defenseless and a laughing stock by other nations, and 2) their God who had been so strong to bring them out of Egypt and rout all the nations in the Promised Land was being ridiculed as a small God who could not protect His “chosen people.”  Nehemiah heard the news from the messenger with this in mind and he “sat down and wept and mourned for days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4 [NASB]).

Nehemiah prayed. He did not pray an ordinary prayer thanking God for his food. Nehemiah prayed a prayer acknowledging God’s greatness and awesomeness (1:5). He prayed a prayer of contrition acknowledging the sins of his own people, the Israelites, asking for forgiveness for their hardening of heart and sinfulness (walking away from Yahweh God) (vv. 6-7). He was bold enough to remind God of His promises to the Israelites,

Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ (vv.8-9 [NASB])

He reminded God that the Israelites were “Your servants whom you redeemed (from Egypt) by Your strong hand” (vs. 10). Finally, Nehemiah pleaded with God to be attentive to his prayer, he who delights to revere Yahweh’s name. He begged God be with him as he took his case before King Artexerxes that day and make the King have compassion on him. Nehemiah prayed for all of Israel. What the writer of 2 Chronicles 7:14 stated, “If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land” [NASB] is what Nehemiah prayed for all Israel. One other thing we need to consider is that Nehemiah was the King’s cupbearer. Nehemiah was close physically to the King every day. He has spoken to the king since the king’s reign began twelve years before. The King trusted him. His proximity to the man with power was similar to Esther’s proximity to King Ahasuerus (Xerxes, the father of Artexerxes).

As we continue to read Nehemiah, we see Artexerxes granted him permission to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls. In chapter 2, Nehemiah rode around the city walls at night not telling those with him what he was doing. After his inspection he gathered the city officials and tells them he sees the walls disrepair. He issues a command, “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem so we will not be a reproach” (2:17 [NASB]). He has appealed to their civic honor. More than that, he appealed to their religious honor. We know this because Nehemiah next spoke of God’s favor upon himself. What honorable man of religion would want to be seen as not caring whether his God is ridiculed? None. Nehemiah appealed to their religious dignity.

Nehemiah often spoke of the people’s religious life. This is only right as Israel was considered to be Zion for the Israelites and Jerusalem the place of God’s temple, His holy place. (Remember, through the prompting of Ezra, the temple was rebuilt before Nehemiah arrived.) The work to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem began in chapter 3. Chapter 4 starts with the leaders of the neighboring lands ridiculing the people of Jerusalem. They sneered at them and chided them. Sanballat, the leader of the Moabites in the city of Horonaim was furious with the rebuilding of the wall. He chided the Jews for trying to bring the wall back to life. (See chap. 2 vs. 10 and remember the Moabites and Ammonites are descended from Lot’s progeny with his two daughters. Their line was not a part of the chosen people.) Sanballat called the stones dusty rubble and burned/dead. He questioned how they could be of any use for their protection. (God delights in bringing life back to things once dead. Remember Elijah and the valley of dry bones. Remember also that with God’s gift of redemption, He gives new life to us.) Tobiah from Ammon also ridiculed the Jews. Sanballat and Tobiah ridiculed them twice at the start of chapter 4. Nehemiah kept the builders on task and the wall was half built when the ridiculers conspired to fight Jerusalem. Nehemiah heard of their plan and the people grew fearful, but he led the people to pray and to carry a weapon in one hand while the other hand built the wall. Nehemiah called upon their faith in Yahweh again. He appealed to their honor and faith as Jews. Nehemiah gave them a battle cry that has been used in recent years in the movie Braveheart. He said, "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses" (Nehemiah 4:14 [NASB]). This is their rallying cry and truly is the crux of the matter; will they fight for God and for what He says is right?

 In chapter 5, we see Nehemiah called upon the Israelites faith in Yahweh again. To be able to have food to eat or keep their homes, the Israelites took loans at very high rates from their more wealthy brothers. They also sold their sons and daughters as slaves to pay their taxes and duties. When the common Jews confronted Nehemiah about this, he was outraged that one brother could do this to another. He appealed to their unity and brotherhood as chosen children of God. He told them, "The thing which you are doing is not good. Should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies” (5 :9 [NASB])? Nehemiah urged the wealthy citizens to stop doing these things and to return the people’s land, homes, and family members, as well as to return the interest they charged their brothers. The people who did this promised with an oath to the priests and all the witnesses they would return these. Nehemiah became an example of how to live a simple lifestyle, not gouging the poor to live the life he was allowed by law because it would hurt his brothers.

The people of Jerusalem were appeased for a while, but when Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem  the Arab sent messengers to Nehemiah to meet. He knew they were trying to trick him. They did this four times, then Sanballat sent a personal message to Nehemiah using trickery by claiming that Nehemiah had political aspirations. He hoped to trick Nehemiah to defend himself. Nehemiah did not fall for this trick either. Sanballat went so far as to get one of the priests in on his scheme, but Nehemiah understood what was happening was not tricked. These men tried to make the people fearful. That did not work because of Nehemiah’s reminding them of God’s faithfulness. These three men then tried to appeal to Nehemiah’s honor.  That also did not work.

Next, Sanballat and Tobiah stirred up fear in the nations surrounding Jerusalem when the wall around Jerusalem was built in just 52 days. The faithfulness of the Lord to give the people of Jerusalem safety, strength, and endurance as well as the faithfulness of the people of Jerusalem to Yahweh was seen in the speed of its rebuilding  The response of the surrounding nations of people was fear. Nehemiah said in 6:16, “When all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, they lost their confidence; for they recognized that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God” [NASB]. Tobiah, however, had “spies in the camp.” He was the son-in-law of one of the Jews and the father-in-law of one of the Jewesses. These Jews had done the forbidden and inter-married with the unbelievers from the land, which God gave them as their Promised Land. These “spies” were pouring oil on the fire against Nehemiah and Tobiah sent letters to frighten him (6:19).

After the walls were rebuilt, Nehemiah took a census of the first returned exiles along with their offerings and gifts. Their city’s walls were strong. The people were saved by Yahweh. Ezra, the high priest began the rebuilt life of the citizens with a reading of the Law. People’s eyes were opened. They stood to hear the reading with their hands raised high, their heads bowed to the ground, and said “Amen, Amen” (8:6). The Levitical priests explained the law to the people so they understood the reading. Nehemiah declared the day holy, a great festival was called for, and the Feast of Booths was restored as a part of the people’s religious calendar. This revival among the Israelites continued into public confession of their sins and resulted with a new covenant being made with God and each other, which was written and signed by the leaders of the temple and tribes, including their governor, Nehemiah. The obligations of their covenant with God required returning to Him His portion in offerings of grain, animals, and sons. It also included keeping God’s commandments, statutes, and ordinances, and not marrying people from other nations. This latter was commanded by God before He gave them the Promised Land and was reiterated because the Amorites and Moabites tried to hire a prophet, Balaam, to curse God’s people as they were entering the Promised Land (see Exodus 34:16 and Deuteronomy 7:3).The people were in a good place. They had their safe walls back. They had their honor back. They had their homes back. They were strong in the faith. These things take us to chapter 12 where the wall was dedicated and hymns of thanksgiving were sung. The Levites were assigned their duties in the temple and for God’s service. The people seemed to be living up to their side of the covenant.

Knowing the Israelites as we do in hindsight, we know their faith and obedience will falter. We see the beginnings of it even before the worship and reading of the Law in chapter 8. The people have begun to inter-marry with people of other nations. We have seen in three places where Nehemiah had to bolster their faith to give them courage or conviction to step forward for the Lord. They are like all humanity, each of us make wrong choices and fail God and ourselves. What the people began to do with just Tobiah’s family became a big thing. Many people were intermarrying with unbelievers. The Jews who married into these unbelieving families were being persuaded to consider other gods and ways of life.

This all came to a head in chapter 13. Nehemiah, after 20 years as Governor in Jerusalem, returned to King Artexerxes for a time. We do not know the length of his stay with the king, but it appears not to have been long. Upon his return to Jerusalem, he found that Tobiah the Ammonite had been given a suite of rooms for a living abode within the temple of God in Jerusalem. Eliashib had become a family member of Tobiah’s through marriage. This was most grieving because Eliashib was a high priest and because a non-Israelite was living in God’s house a place in which only a few priests were allowed to live. Nehemiah’s righteous anger in this next part of chapter 13 reminds us of Jesus’ righteous anger when He cleansed the temple in John 2:13-22. The man after Yahweh’s heart, one who is not even a priest, was the one who became God’s beacon for the people of Jerusalem. As we read in 13:4-9, Tobiah and all his belongings were thrown out of the temple. Tobiah was sent packing. The rooms were cleansed and all the utensils of the house of God along with the grain offerings and frankincense were returned to the rooms. Previously Nehemiah appealed to them to honor God and stand up with faith in the face of fear. In this passage, Nehemiah showed them what honoring God meant. It meant not desecrating His house and His people with non-believers. Nehemiah’s fury was a small taste of God’s fury at His command being disobeyed. We read in the book of Ezra that during this time a very severe practice occurred to cleanse the Jewish line. As is said in Ezra 10:3, the people had to “put away all their wives and children according to the counsel of the Lord” [NASB]. All the people of Judah who had married from other nations had to report to Jerusalem within three days or lose all his possessions and the right to assemble with the exiles. Basically, the Jew, if he or she did not divorce their unbelieving spouse, was not given the benefit of being one of the chosen people of God any longer (Ezra 10:7-8). This, cleansing was severe.

Nehemiah returned to the task of getting the people and priests to set things right again in relation to God, His worship, and His house. The tithes were restored. The Sabbath day was restored. Mixed marriages were forbidden. Who was Nehemiah that he had this ability to know God’s heart, inspire man’s faith, know man’s heart, ignore ridicule and slander of his honor, and unite and harmonize a lost and scared people? He was not a priest. He was a faithful chosen child of Yahweh. He was cup bearer to the king, Artexerxes and Yahweh. He knew and was known by King Artexerxes. He also knew and was known by Yahweh. The Heavenly Father/Ruler inspired Nehemiah and gave him a heart for God and His ways. The earthly ruler, Artexerxes, trusted him and gave him from his own physical stores.

Nehemiah did not have some person with a large amount of faith inspiring him and spurring him on for Yahweh like he became for the Israelites in Jerusalem. Nehemiah had an active and committed faith. His faith and love of God made him act, speak, and have the attitude needed for the job to which God called him. His spirit knew God and obeyed in love and reverence for the One True God. Nehemiah was the man for God’s job at that time. The only one inspiring and leading him was God. He had a heart for God and was obedient. With his free will, he chose God.

We go back to our original question: What is it about humans that, when we do not have someone whom we acknowledge has an impassioned view of God in our midst watching over us, we start walking away from the path of God? Do you require someone to watch over you to keep you walking in obedience to God? Maybe it is time to take a walk down your history with God and down His history for you to remember just who He is, faithful and all-powerful God. He is our great and marvelous God who calls us to return and follow Him. Remember His promise, “I will be their God and they will be My people.” The implied promise is He will take care of you for now and forever. It is time to turn/return to our wondrous God. This is the crux of the matter for us.