In the first sermon of Moses, one phrase is repeated over
and over again. This portion is the end of the first sermon of Moses. The Lord
underscores again and again for his people to be careful and watch themselves
so that they do follow the laws and decrees of God. It is the only way for them
to live in the land the Lord gave them to possess. So, the Lord warned the
people of Israel first and foremost of all that they shall not worship the
idols of the Canaanites and Amorites. God did not show any form but spoke the
sounds of words out of fire, only a voice. The Lord declared his covenant with
his people, the Ten Commandments, which he commanded them to obey and follow,
and wrote down on two stone tablets (Deuteronomy 4:12-13).
“You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you
at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore, watch yourselves very carefully, so that
you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any
shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any
bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or
any fish in the waters below. And when you look up to the sky and see the sun,
the moon and the stars—all the heavenly array—do not be enticed into bowing
down to them and worshiping things the Lord your God has apportioned to all the
nations under heaven. But as for you, the Lord took you and brought you out of
the iron-smelting furnace, out of Egypt, to be the people of his inheritance,
as you now are.” (Deuteronomy 4:15-20)
God did not show any form but only spoke to his people out
of fire because no image can be replaced with the Lord who made all things. So,
the Lord God forbid to make an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like
man, animal, bird, any creature, and fish which God made. The Lord also forbid
to bow down and worship the heavenly beings like the sun, the moon, and the
stars which he apportioned to all the nations under heaven. These are all but
the creatures and creation of the Lord. But the Lord took his people and
brought them out of the iron-smelting furnace, Egypt, to be the people of his
inheritance. God called his people to be his heir of all the vast inheritance
in Christ Jesus. They were once the slaves of the world, Egypt where they were
bounded and shackled by the power of darkness and evil. God broke the iron grip
of slavery by the power of the blood of the Son Jesus Christ and set them free.
God set them free from the bondage of slavery in order to
make them his treasured possession (Exodus 19:5). They were made for God’s
inheritance and became the heir of the Lord God. Apostle Paul in the Epistle to
the Romans reveals the truth that we’re God’s children and so we are his
heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ and God’s heirs share in his glory
as well as share in his sufferings (Romans 8:17). We were the slaves of the
prince of the dark world but have been liberated by the blood of Jesus Christ
to be the children of light. That’s the reason God strictly forbid worshiping
the idols which is the same as going back to the slavery of the devil.
“The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly
swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your
God is giving you as your inheritance. I will die in this land; I will not
cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that
good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he
made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the
Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a
jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:21-24)
Moses was chosen for the deliverance of the Israelites and demonstrated
the wonders and signs before King Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. He was known
as the humblest man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). He faithfully
obeyed the Lord God and delivered all the instructions and decrees for the
people to follow. He bore the weaknesses and shortcomings of the people and
interceded to the Lord God on behalf of the stiff-necked people throughout the
wilderness journey. But when he disobeyed the Lord by striking the rock though
he was told to speak to it, God would not allow him to enter the land. When he
pleaded with God for permission to go over and see the good land, God would not
listen to him. That’s how our God acts now and forevermore. There is no
partiality for him. He is forever good and unbending in any circumstance. If
anyone obeys him he shall be blessed and prosperous. If anyone does not obey
him he shall be cursed and destroyed. Our God is a consuming fire, a jealous
God. Prophet Zephaniah prophesied in an awesome language regarding the jealous
God.
“In the fire of his jealousy the whole earth will be
consumed, for he will make a sudden end of all who live on the earth.”
(Zephaniah 1:18b)
God’s jealousy and wrath is being revealed all but because
he is love. “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the
godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their
wickedness,” says the Scripture (Romans 1:18). Our loving and compassionate God
cannot let his people go after the idols because it is a so dangerous practices
for them to invite the sudden and imminent destruction and collapse. Our God
punishes and disciplines those who do not obey him, so that they may turn back
and repent from the disobedience of idol worship and run to the Lord, asking
for mercy and pity.
“After you have had children and grandchildren and have
lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of
idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, I
call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will
quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You
will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed. The Lord will scatter
you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to
which the Lord will drive you. There you will worship man-made gods of wood and
stone, which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. But if from there you seek the
Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with
all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to
you, then in later days you will return to the Lord your God and obey him. For
the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget
the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath.”
(Deuteronomy 4:25-31)
Why does God call the heavens and the earth as witnesses
against his people? It’s because the heavens and the earth are faithfully
obeying the Lord of glory from the beginning. Though the universe is complex
and vast and hardly fathom what is in it, it works orderly without an iota of
rebellion, according to the course marked out by the hand of the Almighty God. Not
just the sun, the moon, and the earth but the billions of billions of galaxies
and stars in the universe have been obeying so faithfully thousands upon
thousands years.
Why will they quickly perish from the land? It’s because
they follow the idols which cannot see or hear or eat or smell. Death has
various forms in addition to the cessation of the breath of air. Jesus came and
died in our place in order to give eternal life to those who believe in him. So,
death is the absence of eternal life. For example, emptiness, barrenness,
boredom, meaninglessness, nothingness, dullness in the midst are all the forms
of death. Fear, anxiety, panic, depression, worry are also the elements of
death. If we do not obey the Lord in Christ, we cannot avoid the consequence of
disobedience, all kinds of death. There is no hesitation or delay for the wrath
of God to be revealed so that we immediately experience all forms of forceful
death. The wrath of God is quickly being revealed for those who are wickedly
disobey him because he is forever love.
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all
the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their
wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has
made it plain to them.” (Romans 1:18-19)
Why does our God not hesitate to reveal his anger and wrath
against us? It’s because he wants us to seek and obey him with our heart and
with our soul all the days of our lives, even in time of distress and agony.
Our God is the God of hope and mercy. He waits for his children to return back
to him anytime and welcomes them no matter what because the blood of Christ
Jesus has cleansed and washed away all the transgressions and stains and
because he made the covenant with the forefathers of faith. God will not
abandon or destroy us in Christ the Son because he promised to our ancestors by
oath if we come and ask for his pity and mercy even after falling into the idol
worhsip.
“Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from
the day God created human beings on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens
to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like
it ever been heard of? Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out
of fire, as you have, and lived? Has any god ever tried to take for himself one
nation out of another nation, by testings, by signs and wonders, by war, by a
mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all
the things the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? You
were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides
him there is no other. From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you.
On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the
fire. Because he loved your ancestors and chose their descendants after them,
he brought you out of Egypt by his Presence and his great strength, to drive
out before you nations greater and stronger than you and to bring you into
their land to give it to you for your inheritance, as it is today. Acknowledge
and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the
earth below. There is no other. Keep his decrees and commands, which I am
giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you
and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all
time.” (Deuteronomy 4:32-40)
God has demonstrated his awesome power and strength by signs
and wonders, by war, by testings, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, by
great and awesome deeds which are not found from one end of the heavens to the
other. What’s for? God has shown these things so that we might know that the
Lord is God, besides him there is no other. He is the only security,
protection, shelter, refuge, and the shield for all humanity, especially for
those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Son. Since the Lord is God and
there is no other who can show such a power and strength from one end of
heavens to the other, we can confidently trust and take rest in him. Is it not
faith what the ancients were commended for?
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance
about what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)
Since we have such an awesome and compassionate and merciful
God the Lord of covenant, we shall live by faith in the Son Jesus Christ who is
the perfecter and author of our faith. There is no other way for the children
of God to live than by faith in Christ. God chose and called us today and made
us his inheritance, so acknowledge and take to heart every day that the Lord is
God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other. Every moment,
moment by moment, now and forevermore, keep his decrees and commands, so that
we may go well and live long in the land the Lord our God gave us for all time.
That’s the new identity for all Christians. We’ve been
delivered and made righteous and holy before God through the redeeming blood of
Christ Jesus, so that we in confidence and boldness can stand before the throne
of grace in heavenly places and may drink the living water in full. We’ve been
provided everything we need for living a godly life even in the midst of trials
and temptations for what God has done in Christ through the faith is
irrevocable and irreversible. Apostle Peter assures us, saying “His divine
power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of
him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us
his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate
in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil
desires.” (2 Peter 1:3-4)
The Lord commanded Moses to set aside three cities east of
Jordan to protect those who unintentionally killed a neighbor without malice
aforethought (Deuteronomy 4:41-43). After defeating the two kings in the east
of the Jordan, the Lord commanded Moses to set the stipulations, decrees, and
laws before the Israelites which had been given the second time. The first time
the law of God was given in the mount of Saini which is recorded in the Book of
Exodus Chapter 20 (Deuteronomy 4:44-48).
Prayer: Our compassionate and merciful Father, thank you for
the truth that the Lord is God and there is no other. So, we shall obey him, following
every decree, stipulation, and law given through Moses, and remembering how
awesome and powerful God he is. There is no other who can demonstrate the signs
and wonders from one end of the heavens to the other. Thank you Lord for making
us your inheritance and you are our inheritance in Christ Jesus the Lord. In
Christ’s name. Amen.
May
4, 2016
© 2015-2016 David
Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.
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