Introduction
Deuteronomy was a repeating of God’s
laws. It was Moses’ sermon to the
Israelites before they enter the Promised Land.
Moses wanted to put God’s Words in their hearts and also renewing their
Covenants with God before they enter the Promise Land. Only by the Israelites commitments that God
was going to let them posses the Promised Land, gave them peace and prosperity.
There were two phrases we heard often:
a)
“Hear, Oh Israel”
b)
“be care to do what I
instructed”
This was almost a farewell sermon by Moses
because he knew that he was going to die.
The Israelites wondered in the desert for 40 years, in the process they
learnt a lot and also the older generations died. Only the new generations were allowed into
the Promised Land.
Most of the Israelites rebelled against
Moses and against God. We can see that
in Numbers 13 Kadesh rebelled, 16, Korah rebelled and 33, idolatry and immorality
set in.
There were many stories of the tendency of
the Israelites to go away from God. By
this time Aaron has already died. Moses
must be heart broken, because Aaron was his companion and helper.
Moses pleaded with God three times to allow
him to enter the Promised Land, but God refused to accept him. Partly this was because of the sins of the
Israelites as well as Moses’ own disobedience.
Instead of speaking to the rocks to allow water to flow, instead he
struck the rock with his staff. God did
not forgive him. God only allowed Moses
to go to Mt. Nebo to have a glance of the Promise Land.
There are six lessons to Deuteronomy
chapter 4:
1.
Vs 1-8 the purpose of the law
2.
Vs 9-14 the purpose of
experience at Horeb
3.
Vs 15-24 prohibition against
idolatry
4.
Vs 25-32 prophesy of the
dispersion of the Israelites
5.
Vs 32-40 acknowledge that the
Lord alone is God
6.
Vs 41-43 cities of refuge
1.
The Purpose of the law
The people were to obey and observe the
law. They were not to add or subtract
from the law. ( Revelation 22:18-19).
God reminded them of the incident in Baal-Peor ( Numbers 25 ). There are numerous benefits in obeying God’s
laws. The benefit in obeying God was
that their morality and spirituality was unique amongst the nations. There was no nation like Israel. God’s define success as faithfulness to
God. It is not like the definition of
the secular world.
2.
The Purpose of experience at
Horeb
Horeb also referred to Mt. Sinai. The old generations had died and new
generations had arrived. The new
generations needed to be reminded of the laws before they enter the Promised
Land. The tendency from history was that
often the Israelites turned against God.
We are also the same, so it is good to remind ourselves of the goodness
of God too. In our current context, it
is the parents who are to remind the children of God’s goodness and not the
responsibility of the Church.
3.
Prohibition against idolatry
We should not make any image to represent
God. Moses reminded the people how God
has delivered them from their difficulties like delivering them from
Egypt. Israel belongs to God.
4.
Prophesy of the dispersion of
the Israelites
As the Israelites disobeyed God, they were
dispersed among the nations. The
Israelites were held captives of the Assyrians and also the Babylonians. They were held in Babylon for 70 years. Moses told them to repent and God will not
abandon them.
5.
Acknowledge that the Lord alone
is God
God reminded them of Creation, of God
promised to Abraham and the deliverance from Egypt. Also God reminded them of the Mt. Sinai
experiences, the parting of the Red sea, the pillar of fire in the desert, and
God feeding them with manna.
6.
Cities of refuge
Moses dedicated three cities, Golan,
Ramoth, and Bezer as cities of refuge.
These were for people who committed murders unintentionally where they
could stay to avoid being punished.
Summary
Israelites were redeemed people. They will
prosper if they obey God. But they had short memories and they continued to
disobey God. We are the same. We need to be reminded from time to time to
repent and come back to God. God give us
freedom, but there are consequences of our actions. It seems that many western nations are in
turmoil because they have forgot God in things they do. In a sense, they disobey God. In earlier times, many western nations
prospered as they followed God.
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