Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / February 25, 2024 | Deuteronomy - Finding Love through the Law

Transcript

February 25, 2024 | Deuteronomy - Finding Love through the Law · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I was uh I was buying popcorn this week from Walmart.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: It was a special kind of popcorn I had ordered online and um I had to enter a password uh to make an account to order popcorn from Walmart, and I got way more frustrated about that than I should have.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it it sort of followed a trend that I've sort of been feeling.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you feel this way, that I'm really tired of making up new passwords for every single thing.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and it's funny, that comment got more exclamation, both services, than anything about the Bible.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we might need to work on how we feel about popcorn and Jesus a little bit, okay?
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, but anyhow, we'll work on it, we'll work on it.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Anyhow, think passwords, frustrating.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, because you you type, first of all, you have to make sure you're not a robot, right?
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you gotta find every park bench or every like stop sign, and then it's like it has to be eight characters, it has to, you know, uh have special numbers and symbols, and it can't be a known word, and it can't be a previous password, and you gotta do it like every six weeks, and so there's all these different things, right?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm I'm just trying to buy popcorn.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's all I'm trying to do.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: And so it reminds me that I mean, and obviously, this is a thing that we share, it's just kind of our world right now where either we all have passwords that are way too easy, they're all the exact same, or we can't even remember them.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: But all of these rules, though, okay, there's a part of this that reminds us at times, or at least reminds me, of an attitude that I've had, and I've heard others have, about the Old Testament, and specifically when we're reading about God's law and instruction, that sometimes people look back at all of those rules and regulations, and you know, this is how many bulls at what time and what to do, and this is what you do with the scarlet yarn and all that stuff, and they go like, what's the point?
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Why do we have to sort of jump through all of these hoops here?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: What's the big deal?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes we can look back on that Old Testament and we can see the covenant that God has with his people and just sort of set it aside.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because, well, that's not the situation that we have now, and so they just had a lot of rules and we don't, apparently, and we can just sort of be a little flippant, we can be overly simplistic about what was going on.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: But what I want to show you this morning out of the book of Deuteronomy, chapter four, is where we'll be, first eight verses, is that Moses is going to share with the nation of Israel.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um, he's gonna turn his attention away from, remember last week we were going through all the stories of history, right?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses is recounting the wilderness generation and all the things that happened, chapters one, two, and three, and drawing out these lessons from it so that the nation would not make this, the current nation, the children of that previous generation would not make the same mistakes.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, now he's turning his attention to those before him in the plains of Moab, right?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: The children of the wilderness generation who are going to enter into the promised land.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And he's gonna talk about obedience, but he's also going to frame it in two different ways.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: One way is gonna be the way that most of us have heard and think of and understand, and that is, you know, Israel, if you are faithful to God, he will help you and you will find success in all of your battles and all of these things.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: That's how oftentimes we can think of God's law as it was sort of this give and take.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was this agreement.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: And there are parts of that that are certainly true.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: But in the second half, though, I want to show you Moses is going to reveal to Israel that their obedience, if done properly, as a reflection of their appreciation for God's love, that it would actually be a testament to the nations around them and a way that others would come to know God.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that my submission is basically to you that there's much more going on here, both back then and today, when we consider our obedience to God, it's not just about jumping hoops or following rules.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's overly simplistic.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: What it really is, is a plan that God has instituted for all time, that his people, when they're obedient to him, would draw in others.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this is where we're going to look at in Deuteronomy chapter four, verse one.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Israel, Moses says, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am teaching you to follow, so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land the Lord, the God of your ancestors, is giving you.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: You must not add anything to what I command you or take anything away from it, so that you may keep the commands of the Lord your God I am giving you.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Your eyes have seen what the Lord did at Baal Paal Peor, for the Lord your God destroyed every one of you who followed Baal of Paor.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you have remained faithful to the Lord your God.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: You who have remained faithful to the Lord your God are all alive today.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so Moses, right, he begins, now Israel, and there's this great transition in the text from what has happened before.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And you can almost picture him sort of, you know, moving in his in his speech to them, and he's like, Okay, now you, it's all of you that we're talking about.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's not your parents anymore.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: We've learned our lessons from them, we learned what not to do, and we've drawn conclusions from that, but now it's now it's your turn, it's your opportunity to sort of live out this faithfulness to God.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so he says, now, Israel, listen to these statutes and ordinances, right?
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: All these rules I am teaching you to follow so that you may live, enter, and take possession of the land.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: So what is immediately before them is something we're familiar with, right?
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Is that this nation needs to go into the promised land.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: They're a tiny nation, small military.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: They shouldn't be able to do it, but by God's power they will.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Talked about that a little bit last week.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so immediately before them is a strong connection between obedience and conquering the promised land.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Again, these are things that we're probably familiar with if you've been walking with us through this series, right?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is not unusual to us.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Moses does say, right, that these commands specifically, the laws and rules, that they come from God.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: They're not from Moses, though Moses is the mouthpiece really speaking here.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses, he says that he is going to teach them, right, the commands.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: They are still the ones that the God of your ancestors are giving to you.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so Moses says, right, God has given to us these laws and the commands, and really they're laws and commands that were given at Mount Sinai.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses is going to now, almost like a pastor or a teacher, he would probably use, we would use the word even prophet, that he, as the prophet of the Lord, he is now going to communicate these things, the law of God, the Torah, to the Israelites so that they can follow it.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: And throughout the book, he's going to apply it in ways that are specific to them.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: But there's also this kind of reference he makes.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's probably the section in this passage that you might have not been familiar with firsthand.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Back to Numbers 25, there's an incident at Baal of Paor.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's a location that kind of got its name because of a terrible thing that happened there.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Numbers 25, it says, While Israel was staying in the Acacia grove, the people began to prostitute themselves with the women of Moab.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: The women invited them to the sacrifices for their gods, and the people ate and bowed in worship to their gods.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: So Israel aligned itself with Baal of Paor, and the Lord's anger burned against Israel.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: The Lord said to Moses, Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that his burning anger may turn away from Israel.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: So Moses told Israel's judges, kill each of the men who align themselves with Baal of Paor.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: So Baal is a foreign, I mean it's a fake god, right?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: All of these other gods are fake.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: There's demonic forces behind them, but they're just some sort of false thing made of wood or stone or metal.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the nation of Moab, back in the book of Numbers, right, is sends this sort of shaman type individual to try and curse the nation of Israel.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: His name was Balaam, he's unsuccessful.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, one of the things they do when they're unsuccessful cursing them is they send all of their women who had very specific jobs at the temple that you can probably imagine.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: They sent them into the nation of Israel to try and seduce the men and draw them back.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And they were very successful.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so you say, well, okay, timeline, right?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: Where are we at?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we're in Deuteronomy right now.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the reference that Moses makes to this situation happening was less than a year earlier.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody who's there with Moses has both experienced the success.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: Remember last week we talked about the war with the Amorite nations and King Og of Bashan and all of those guys, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: That they've experienced great success when they're following the Lord's commands and they're obedient to him.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: And also within very recent memory, they have seen some of their fellow warriors and countrymen fall down as a righteous judgment for worshiping false gods.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So this aspect of life and death that is presented in the book of Deuteronomy in many different places is something that Moses kind of just references here, right?
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: Because just saying the all of Pa'or would be a reference to the people who are standing before them.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: They'd be like, ah yes, we we know what that's like.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: But as we come to the end of this passage, though, right, as we come to the end, rather, the Deuteronomy 4 passage, it sounds very similar to the things that we've heard before, right?
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: God gives the law because of the covenant, right, which is the relationship between God and his people.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: And if they are obedient, he will do certain things, and if they are disobedient, other things will happen, right?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: And so we this tracks with what we know.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Israel, if you want to take the promised land, you need to be obedient to God.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: But that's where a lot of us sort of stop in our understanding of God's law and its purposes.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's just this thing that they were supposed to do.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: It was these hoops that they needed to jump through.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And it was the sections of the Bible when we're reading that we normally skip over because we get bored, okay?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so nobody, that's okay.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's most people, when we're going through the Bible, Leviticus, we're like, oh, we'll skip over this section.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know, we don't always read those parts because we don't understand the meaning behind them.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I'm submitting to you is that there's a much greater meaning behind all of this.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And that is what Moses reveals in the next section.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Deuteronomy 4, verses 5 through 8.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Look, I have taught you statutes and ordinances as the Lord my God has commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to possess.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: For what great nation is there that has a God near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call to him?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: And second question, what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: So notice, first of all, how we're moving into the future now.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: The first section, Moses is saying, Listen, be obedient and you will enter and take possession of the land.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: And now Moses is saying, when you're in the land, right, when you're already there, when you have been faithful to God and he has been faithful to you because you fulfilled the covenant, right?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: When you're already in the promised land, you must continue to be faithful.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Be obedient to God.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Moses is warning them, and we'll actually get into this in a couple weeks here, but one of the grave dangers that the nation of Israel is facing is that as they go into the promised land, there will be an even higher challenge to them to worship God alone.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because maybe this is no surprise to you, it is actually prosperity and not difficulty that pulls people away from God because they realize they don't have as much use for Him.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so as the nation is going to go into Israel and find all of the blessings and all of the wealth and all of the wonderful things that are present there that they did not have to do, and God delivered to them as a faithfulness to their ancestors, right?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Moses is saying, you're going to be challenged in so many different ways, not only through that, but by all the nations that surround you who are worshiping false gods and are trying to get you to do the same.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: But he says, if you are faithful, if you continue to follow the law that I am revealing to you, the nations will look upon you and will be moved.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: And they will say two things.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: They will say, You are wise and you are an understanding people.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, they will say, have two questions for you, because they will say, You are a great nation, and you are a great nation, not because you're strong.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: You're actually the one of the weakest nations in the area.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: God has delivered a group of former slaves out to be into this beautiful land that they do not deserve.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so you are a weak nation, actually.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And also it's not because of your wealth.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: All the nations around you are at least as wealthy as you are, if not more.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: Why are you a great nation?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Because the God that you worship is near to you and close to you and answers your prayers.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: And second of all, you are a great nation because your laws are different than the laws of the nations that surround you.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: They are not made by some maniacal king or some weird council that thinks this is right or is sort of serving their own interests.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: That if you are obedient to God's law, when you get into the nation, into the promised land, if you are distinct, right, because this is what God's law does, is it sets them apart from the nations.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: They are different.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: There are some laws that are similar, but many of them, especially how they interact with the culture, right?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, like not eating pigs, okay?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, hey, we love good pulled pork, okay?
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're close to the barbecue country, right?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: But back then everybody ate pigs, and so one of the ways that they would set themselves apart from the other nations, is they're like, we're not eating the same foods they are.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna act the way that they do, right?
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: We're not gonna dress the same way, we're not gonna worship the same way.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly we're not gonna worship their gods, we're gonna be distinct.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: If they're able to do that, these two things would be revealed to them.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it's also very important to understand, right, that uh the context here is every nation has their own God.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: When we read the Old Testament, especially early on in the Old Testament, when we're talking about why the nation of Israel is to worship one God and one only.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there are aspects of it, certainly, that are like he has redeemed them, he has rescued them, uh, they should follow after him, like he is righteous and he is the only God.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: There are all of those things that are true.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: But sometimes what is kind of happening in the background when we see all these foreign gods popping up is that the victories and defeats of a nation reflect back upon their God.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so when you see this little nation of Israel, right, coming along and defeating these nations far stronger than they are, far wealthier than they are, in fortified cities, it's flowing back to this idea that the God that they worship is different and more powerful than these fake gods that are sprinkled around.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: You can think of it a little bit like if you've ever seen a horse race, right?
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you've got these huge, beautiful, you know, thoroughbred race horses strong and might, just thundering along the track, right?
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: And they're sort of going back and forth and back and forth, and you don't know which one's gonna win.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, this little tiny Shetland pony comes along, okay, and everyone's like, where did they come from?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden it starts just lapping the horses, okay?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: And everyone's like, what is going on?
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: This should not be this is Israel.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Israel is like a little Shetland pony, okay?
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And nothing about the nation explains the way that they are having success and thriving and growing and conquering and all of these things.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so the purpose of Israel, one of the reasons God sort of draws them out of Egypt, this tiny minor nation that are just baking bricks all day long and being whipped by the Egyptians.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: God draws them out and saves them and then attaches himself to him, makes them his covenant people, and then as they go into the promised land, right, taking land that is fertile and beautiful and everybody wants to be in it, and they take it.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if they are faithful to God and they reflect him, then it will be a sign unto the nations around them of who they worship.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: They are so special, not because of their power or wealth or things like that, but because of those two questions.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: It is obvious and apparent to those who are watching closely that when Israel follows after their God, they have one who is can be heard and seen and worshipped, which is far different than the nations around them.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: And they have laws that, again, unlike the nations around them, are particularly helpful to the weak and vulnerable, to women, children, immigrants, uh, people who have lost the poor.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's a whole welfare system in the nation of Israel.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: They have a system of laws that are righteous and focused on justice, and yes, there is mercy, but also not letting the criminals escape and providing for the innocent.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: Like there are all of these different things that when you look at them in contrast to the world around them, you say, obviously, they are coming from the one on high.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: They are clear and understanding, and they are good laws.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: So this idea that Israel is coming along here and is also jockeying back and forth with these other greater nations.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, one of the things that I already mentioned that they're going to look upon is we we realize from texts outside of the Bible, and I'll share one with you here in a second, that the nations around Israel were jealous of the fact that uh that nation had a God that they could connect with.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to, there's this uh this really it's a library, about 30,000 uh clay tablets that were recovered from Assyria and uh this king named Ashurbanapal.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and one of them is a prayer to the unknown God.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna read like a fourth of it to you because it's pretty long.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: But I want you to get a sense of what it was like to be a part of a nation where all of your hopes and dreams were resting on what you didn't realize was a false God, this thing, this sort of figure of wood and stone and metal that really had no power at all, that had none of the ability or strength of the true God, but was actually just a facade for some sort of demonic influence.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, you would feel that you had transgressed this great, mighty God, goddess, one, two, female, male, we don't know.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: And then, furthermore, you wanted to sort of like fix this situation.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so you were trying through uh cause and effect and trial and error to figure out what kind of sacrifices or things that you could do in some place in some way to make this unknown God pleased with you again.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I want you to hear that as you see the longings of this Assyrian individual praying to any God.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: It says, May my Lord's angry heart be reconciled.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: May the God I do not know be reconciled, may the goddess I do not know be reconciled.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: May the God, whoever he is, be reconciled.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: May the goddess, whoever she is, be reconciled.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Continues on.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have perpetrated, I have done unwittingly an abomination to my God.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: I have unwittingly violated a taboo of my goddess.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: O Goddess, wherever you are, many are my wrongs, great my sins.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: I do not know what wrong I have done.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: When I wept, you did not draw near.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: When I would make a complaint, no one would listen.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: O God, wherever you are, turn towards me, I beg of you.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: O Goddess, wherever you are, turn towards me, I beg of you.
• 21:06
  SPEAKER_00: How long, O God, whosoever you are, until your angry heart is calmed at the very end, absolve my wrongs, fix things.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let me sound your praises.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want to worship you as if you were my real mother, let your heart be reconciled, as if you were my real mother, my real father.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so this passage ends, right?
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: And we're talking about this person who thinks they've done something wrong.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: They probably have, but they don't know who to talk to, how to talk to them, and furthermore, how to get back in that God's good graces.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so now you compare that to the nation of Israel.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where that simple understanding of the law falls short.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: Because we look back on the law and we're like, man, all of these rules and restrictions, it's like, yes.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: The nation of Israel, separate from other nations, unique to them, had a God's That not only loved them and rescued them and could be seen and talked to and heard and met at the tabernacle and later the temple.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Not only that, but they had a God who told them exactly what was appropriate, what was inappropriate, what to do with them when they messed up, and how they could return to Him in a proper relationship.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_00: These are the things that the nations around them do not have because their gods are not real.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so Israel, if they go into the promised land, if they are faithful and maintain their faithfulness, it becomes a sign to the nations around them that their obedience, right?
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Their obedience draws these other nations into Israel, into God's kingdom, because now they may also participate and be a part in that same God's kingdom.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: They also can have a relationship with a God who knows them and loves them, and they can also follow righteous laws.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_00: The other thing, though, that we must understand is that this obedience, right, is presented in the Bible as an appropriate response to what God has done for them.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, if you're tracking with me, right, there are layers to this.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: On that sort of first layer, you have what could seem to be walking through hoops, jumping through hoops, so that their wars would be successful.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: But we dig deeper, we say there's way more to it than that.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, God has this plan for the nation that they would be a light and it would spread out, that Israel would not just be this self-contained little thing, but that actually God's kingdom would grow because they are obedient to him.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then you go even one step lower than that, and you say, and at the foundation of it all, at the base of it all, is this people who are supposed to be responding to God's love, which he initiated to them, right, before they ever did a single thing in obedience.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: He responded in love, and actually acted in love to them, drew them out, right, called their ancestors, all the things we've talked about.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: But as a response to God's love, this obedience is supposed to be something that defines their relationship with Him.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: Think about, for instance, if you were given your dream job, whatever that might be, and you start your dream job, but there's no, there's nobody to train you.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's no manual, there's no feedback, there's no apprenticeship, right?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's no there's no sort of mentor that's gonna walk with you.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then at the very end of the year, you get your performance review back and it says that you did a poor job and you failed.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the end of it.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: There's no instructions about what you could do better to improve, right?
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: How you might change your behavior.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see that uh the law that God has given to his people is something that they don't see as a burden.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: They rejoice in it.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: It is a privilege for them, it is a prize thing for the nation of Israel, that they have a God that loves them so much that he communicated his expectations to them.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Unlike all these other nations where their fake gods do nothing.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to how King David says this.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_00: Just one example.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_00: Psalm 19.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: The instruction of the Lord is perfect, renewing one's life.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy, making the inexperienced wise.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: The precepts of the Lord are right, making the heart glad.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: The command of the Lord is radiant, making the eyes light up.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: The ordinances of the Lord are reliable and altogether righteous.
• 25:47
  SPEAKER_00: They are more desirable than gold, than an abundance of pure gold, and sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: In addition, your servant is warned by them, and in keeping them there is an abundant reward.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Does that sound like somebody who is burdened by the law?
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: No, it does not.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds like somebody who rejoices in the law and looks back over on the sections of our Bible that we often skip and say, Those things give life to me.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: Those things show me that my God cares for me.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because actually, the sort of numerous accounts and all the specific things that need to be done show me that God cares that even in the details, I would understand what it means to follow him and to know him and to be with him.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_00: And when I separate myself, how I can return to him.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is the pride of the nation of Israel.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so God's law is not a set of hoops to jump through.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, it's a revelation of his grace to them.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, it is different than the grace that comes later with Jesus Christ, right?
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_00: These are two different things.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the law, as the book of Hebrews tells us in the New Testament, it did reveal other things.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: It does, as we go through it and read it, it does reveal to us the sinfulness of our hearts and helps us understand more than we have before that there's nothing, there's not a single one of us that has ever perfectly followed God's law except for Christ.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it does reveal these things to us.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: But as we look at Deuteronomy and we hear the nation that is responding to Moses, and Moses says, Yes, follow God's law so that you can go up into the land.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: But also, when you're there, know that obedience to the law is also a tool for the nation so that you can draw them in.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_00: This is not just for you, it is for the whole world.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: When we look to the New Testament, we see that Jesus, when he comes along, shares this exact same view.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's not something that we lose moving from the old covenant to the new covenant.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: But rather, when Jesus is speaking to his disciples, that they also, or he also, has the expectation that out of a reflection of God's love for us, we are obedient to him.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to what he says in John chapter 14.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you love me, you will keep my commands.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: The one who doesn't love me will not keep my words.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening here is Jesus is speaking to the disciples after the Last Supper.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_00: And understandably, they are struggling with the fact that he is about to leave them.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: They don't understand exactly how it's going to happen yet, but they know that he's going to leave.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're asking him all these questions about Lord, how can we follow you?
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you going, right?
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: We want to be with you.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_00: We don't want you to go.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where we get those fantastic passages where Jesus says, like, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: Or another passage earlier in John 14, when Jesus says, My Father has made many rooms, and if you would follow me, you can see and experience those rooms that he has made for you, right?
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_00: But also in this section, this longer teaching of Jesus, he impresses upon them the fact that those who are going to the rooms, right, those who are following Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life, they are people who love God.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: And people who love God are obedient to God.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's no tension in the command of Jesus here.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes we introduce sort of a tension between faith and obedience.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: And Jesus isn't talking about salvation here, but he does say, hey, those who love the Lord like I do, they are people who follow after him with obedience.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_00: Same thing as in Deuteronomy.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: But look at how he finishes this passage in John 14.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler of the world is coming.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: He has no power over me.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_00: Notice the themes that we've been talking about, right?
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: Carried out in that last sentence, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so what we have here from Jesus is he says, so that people might know that I love God, I am obedient to him, right?
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: As so notice that, so that they may know that I love him, I'm obedient to him, and as I'm obedient to him and faithful to him, it becomes a sign to the world around me that I love God.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then ultimately they are drawn into that as well.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, what he's talking about here, what is the thing he is about to be faithful to do and obedient towards?
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's going to the cross.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: He's about to be crucified.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is what he's talking about.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so it is the love of God given to us, a reflection upon that, right?
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: So we are obedient.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_00: And for Jesus, it is an obedience that ultimately leads him to his death.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, I do this so that the world may know that I love the Father.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_00: Obedience is our response to God's love.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: When people see our obedience, they learn about God's love too.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_00: See, this is what is going on in the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 4, verses 1 through 8.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Israel, you must be obedient to the Lord your God.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_00: You must follow after him.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: His statutes and ordinances that I give to you, you must follow them as closely as you can.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is a part of your covenant with the Lord.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: That when you follow these statutes and ordinances, you will find success.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Your land will grow, your crops will flourish, right?
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Your herds will grow in size, you will have many children, you will take the all of these things will happen, yes.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: But also, the deeper truth is that if you maintain your identity as unique, set apart, distinguished people who know and love the Lord your God, Yahweh, the one who has made you his covenant people and nobody else, if you maintain your faithfulness to him, push back against the pressures of the culture and the nations around you that you will find when you enter the promised land, right?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you maintain that fidelity, the nations around you will look upon you and say, You are wise and you are understanding.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_00: What nation is there around us that has a God like yours?
• 32:28
  SPEAKER_00: What nation around us has laws like yours?
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then they will come in.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sadly, this is not something that really ends up happening very often with the nation of Israel, that they are faithful enough for God's plan here to be carried out to its fullest extent.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you could say there's kind of a fatal flaw in this plan, which is that God's message to the nations hinges upon the nation of Israel's obedience to him.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is true for us as well.
• 33:03
  SPEAKER_00: I want to kind of break this down.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_00: I want to share it in just one more way.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you think of God's love, and you think of all the ways that that is given to us, ways that we don't deserve, things that we have we have not done anything to receive, primarily shown through Christ's death on the cross, the thing he was obedient to, right?
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: That being the only one who has actually followed God's will and lived a perfect life, being God Himself, Jesus goes to the cross, takes the punishment that we deserve, and anybody who trusts in him as their savior will have eternal life, have the forgiveness of their sins, right?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is an act of love that God extends to us.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's a gift, as the book of Romans explains, okay?
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: And from that gift, from this act of love, from the treasure of the relationship that God desires to have with us, the way that we are supposed to respond is in obedience.
• 34:04
  SPEAKER_00: This is something we sometimes shirk away from, or we think it's only an Old Testament deal, that obedience is part of our walk with God.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_00: But it's still the thing that God expects from us, right?
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, there's a whole path, new pathway built upon the systems of the old covenant, for how when we fail, right, we can draw close to God.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Again, now it's through the blood of Christ instead of the blood of a bull.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, God has still given us and revealed to us in the same way that he did to the nation of Israel, what is appropriate, what is inappropriate, what to do when we mess up, and how we can return to him, ultimately for eternal life.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: And so the revelation of God is still something that we're supposed to follow.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: And if we do, if, then it is revealed to the world.
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: How is it revealed to the world?
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because if we are truly being obedient to God, we look different than the world around us.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_00: We look specifically like Jesus Christ.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: And you say, who is captivating, who draws people in, who even people who aren't Christians think Jesus is awesome.
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_00: Because of all that He is, He is God personified, He is God in flesh, right?
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_00: He is the visible of the invisible.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ, being God Himself, if we could act like Him and be obedient to Him and make our lives look like Him, it will look different than the world around us, just like it would have with the nation of Israel, though some of the rules were different.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_00: And from that, the world around us says, there's something different about them.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: They don't look the same as us, but because of the way that they're acting, we want to be like them.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't always sound like the way it works right now.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it sounds like they look different, they sound different, and we don't want to be like them.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: And part of the difficulty there, there are many things, but part of the difficulty is that we're struggling to act like Christ.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_00: But if we are obedient to God, you have to see that is the key to this.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: If we're obedient to God, that is what leads to the world finding out then about God's love.
• 36:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then they're drawing back in, and then this cycle repeats itself.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Then they are people who are drawn to God and they see his love and they hear about his love far before they're ever obedient.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: They respond to that in faith, and then they, as a reflection of that, then become obedient as well, and we continue on here.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a critical part to this cycle that we can't overlook, which is that just as the nation of Israel, they were not given the message like, hey, here are like six things that you should do your best on, right?
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_00: The nation of Israel was given books.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_00: They were given, I mean, they were given a lot of laws and regulations and rules and ordinances that they needed to follow.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because it ultimately reflected the character of their God, who is perfect.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so, as a part of that law that was revealed to them, there weren't sections of the law where they went to Moses and they go, hey Moses, we don't really like this.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's fine.
• 37:20
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about that.
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like Moses, nobody wants to eat lizards anyway.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why is this one of the rules that we have?
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, I don't even know.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just strike it from the book.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: People should, they'll figure it out for themselves, right?
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: There's no laws that we look back on, and even if they don't always make sense to us, or they don't sound good to our ears, actually, right?
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because we don't understand what God was always working out through it or what he was trying to impress upon them.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: There's certain things like, you know, don't have moldy houses.
• 37:48
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, makes sense, Lord, yes.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: But then there are other things where it's just about them being different.
• 37:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's just about them being different than the other nations, being drawn into a relationship with a holy God.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_00: So now you look to today and you say, well, how does that translate?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Because we aren't under the law anymore.
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_00: We're under a covenant of grace.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have to, we can eat pigs, okay?
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's a great thing.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: But what is the difference today?
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: The difference today is that we are under a somewhat different set of instructions.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_00: We aren't under the law, we're under the covenant of grace.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: But what isn't different is that God has still revealed to us his truth.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: And that truth, in all of its aspects, and his revealed word, and what's in the Bible, is the thing that we are supposed to be obedient to.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: In other words, that at the center of this cycle, both in Deuteronomy and in 2024, is the fact that in order for the nation to continue this sort of revelation and to draw in the nations around them, they had to respond to God's truth and not bury it.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: And so for us today, when we read the Bible, and there are sections there that it's like, you know, turn the other cheek, be kind to your enemy, pray for your leaders, right?
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: Be the good neighbor, um, sacrifice yourself, all these things that we're like, oh man, that doesn't really sound like the life that I want to live.
• 39:19
  SPEAKER_00: We go, well, you know what?
• 39:20
  SPEAKER_00: This is part of what obedience looks like.
• 39:23
  SPEAKER_00: And furthermore, when we're trying to tell people about the stakes at play, when we're sharing the gospel with them, some people say, Well, don't talk about heaven, don't talk about hell.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 39:35
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is part of what people need to understand, along with acting like Christ.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, in sum, what's true for Israel 3,400 years ago is true for us today.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's true for us today because this has been God's plan since the beginning, that he would call a people, that they would be set apart, that they would look and sound and act different in response to his love, and it would draw people in.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: It wouldn't draw people in because they were kicking out others or telling them they couldn't come in, but rather that it was a captivating environment where people looked upon it and said, You are a great nation because of what you're doing.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_00: And today they should look at us.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like I want us to be a church where people go, man, they're obedient to God's word.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_00: There are people who love the Lord so much that they're gonna follow what the Bible says and do what it calls them to do because they love God and they want other people to love him as well.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: And they're even doing the parts of the Bible that the pastor doesn't like talking about.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're hard and they're uncomfortable.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: But even then, it's this is the things that set us apart.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: Final point.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_00: When we lose that identity, when Israel, which they did, spoiler alert, they fail to remain obedient to God and they begin to worship the false gods around them.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: They lose what makes them special.
• 41:11
  SPEAKER_00: They no longer worship the God of their ancestors, they no longer follow the law, and in fact they look just like everybody else.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when they look just like everybody else, they're like that Shetland pony, and they're like, there's nothing about them that's really special.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_00: Why would we want to do what they're doing?
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_00: But for us today, if we lose our identity, as we lose our identity by taking in all of the practices of the world around us and everything that they're saying that we should do that is up against what God's word says, we're gonna lose our identity as well.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not about necessarily uh sort of trying to make some statement, as much as it is being faithful to God and allowing that faithfulness to be the thing that others witness and see.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: That the first thing they will notice is they are different.
• 42:00
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes there's uncomfortability with that.
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: But the second thing they notice is that if we are following after Christ, they say, Yeah, but that's something different, is something I want to be a part of.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_00: Because they're a community of love and grace and kindness and compassion.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: They're a community of fairness and justice as well.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: They're a community that reflects the Lord their God, and like that second question in Deuteronomy, they're a community that has a God that knows them and loves them.
• 42:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because otherwise, why would he give them all of these laws?
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, it's so that we can connect and know our God and have a relationship with him, and then others might as well.
• 42:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Heavenly Father, we thank you for today.
• 42:44
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you have shown love to us before we had ever done anything, God, in response to you.
• 42:53
  SPEAKER_00: You initiated the relationship.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you have drawn us to you.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: God, out of your compassion and your mercy and your kindness, you have told us what we should do.
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, you are not uh like the Assyrian praying to some unknown God, but rather we are people who can say, we know your expectations of us and we're thankful for that.
• 43:15
  SPEAKER_00: But Lord, we also recognize that we continually fall short of those expectations.
• 43:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, we thank you for Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, so that we might return and be in fellowship with you.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: And God, I pray that as a reflection on that, we would be an obedient people.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_00: We would be an obedient church, we would be a people who are known for our love for you, through our faithfulness to you.
• 43:43
  SPEAKER_00: And God, finally, that these things, that your plan, your mission for us to be on for thousands of years would be something that is happening here and elsewhere.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, that they would recognize that we are different, but rather, Lord, that that is something, a community of fellowship and love reflecting on Christ that they want to be a part of.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: God, please help us to do this.
• 44:07
  SPEAKER_00: Please help me as I fall short in so many different ways, to be somebody who walks in obedience to you and therefore maligns the image that I am supposed to be projecting to the world and make them think differently about Christ than they should.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_00: God, forgive me for that.
• 44:25
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, forgive us for that.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: And help us, God, to walk by your spirit so that others may know you and see you and love you.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for being with us.
• 44:39
  SPEAKER_00: Love you.
• 44:40
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.