1. Deuteronomy OT Series Sermon 14 Gabe Orea XICF – July 29, 2018.
Deuteronomy, the fifth and last book in the Torah, begins with the children of Israel temporarily settled in the plains of Moab, opposite Jericho and on the threshold of entering the promised land. Moses addresses the people in what he knows will be his final words. He reminds them of their recent history and of all that God has done for them in delivering them from Egypt and bringing them this far across the wilderness.
The book is also often quoted by Christ and by nt writers. In all, the nt contains more than eighty references to this book, signaling its importance.
OT Series Sermon 14
Gabe Orea XICF – July 29, 2018.

2. * The NT says the OT was written for our instruction.
* Jesus character is our standard to read the OT.

3. Deuteronomy
10 Concepts
10 Commandments

4. 1 “Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules—that the LORD your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the LORD your God, you and your son and your son’s son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. 3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deut. 6 presents a great summary of the theology of this book.

5. 4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one
4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

6. Basic Concepts 1 Total allegiance to God 6:5
Jehovah is not one more god among others. He is not one more option. He is not your gene that you can go to when you want to be pamper and satisfy your desires. He is the only God that demands undivided allegiance. The model is that of a King, and absolute ruler. Modern Christians tend to relate to God in completely different way. Deuteronomy is a correction for that.
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (6:5)
Basic Concepts
6:5

7. Basic Concepts 1 Total allegiance to God enjoy peace and prosperity
his demand for obedience is rooted in the love and mercy he has shown Israel. In response, he wishes the Israelites to love, obey, worship and serve only him. In return for their obedience, Israel will enjoy peace and prosperity in the land God is giving it, (28:1–14). Or as the nt puts it, Israel is to love God, because God has first loved her.
Basic Concepts

8. Basic Concepts 1 Total allegiance to God enjoy peace and prosperity
2 Worship of other gods is not tolerated
Polytheism was the norm, but the people of God ought to be different.
Basic Concepts

9. Basic Concepts 1 Total allegiance to God enjoy peace and prosperity
2 Worship of other gods is not tolerated
3 Obedience is based on historical deliverance
The historical information remind us that Israel’s relationship with God was not rooted in mythology or mysticism or in philosophical arguments. Rather, Israel knows God because of his specific historical acts.
Basic Concepts

10. In my life, there are also historic acts of salvation
In my life, there are also historic acts of salvation. That is why sometimes a cross hangs from my neck, as a reminder and as a testimony that the Lord saved my life when I was dying in the hospital and doctors could not cure me.

11. Basic Concepts 1 Total allegiance to God enjoy peace and prosperity
2 Worship of other gods is not tolerated
3 Obedience is based on historical deliverance
4 Primary loyalty is to God, not to the leader
There are many similarities between the structure of this book, and of individual sections within it, and the structure of treaties in the ancient Near East, such as the Assyrian vassal treaties of Esarhaddon. Such treaties were common when there was a change in leadership, as when retiring king Esarhaddon demanded that the people swear an oath of allegiance to his successor, Assurbanipal. Associated with a change of leadership, it is a book that marks the transfer of power from the elderly Moses, aware that his time is short, to his successor, Joshua (3:23–29, 31:1–8). However, in this case the people are called to swear allegiance not to Joshua, but to God. Where political treaties demanded exclusive loyalty to one king, Deuteronomy demands exclusive loyalty to one God.
Basic Concepts

12. Basic Concepts 5 Moses addressed all Israel 1:1b
The idea of God and his people is not democracy; it is a theocracy. Moses, led by God, did not ask his people, so what do you think, should we go out of Egypt? Should we worship one God? Or, you feel free to decide which god to follow and we nevertheless will be one nation, Israel. No way.
There is really no room for individual thought. Deuteronomy presents more of a collective thought. There is no separation between religious and secular life. All life has one aspect, and that is obedience, together as people, to their God.
In modern days we cannot have a “Christian nation;” we can only have a “Christian church.” Every time you hear the expression such and such are Christian nations, or they were Christian nations, or were founded on Christian principles, that is a fallacy. It is totally fake. There has never been such thing as a Christian nation, if you care about what the Bible teaches on what Christian life is about. All nations I have heard as described as “Christian” were rather founded and sustained by greed and violence, the exact opposite of the true Christian principles. But we still have hope within the social unit of the church.
Just as Moses addressed all Israel, God has expectations from all his church, not only from individuals.
Basic Concepts
1:1b

13. Basic Concepts 5 Moses addressed all Israel 6 Moses explains the Law
Moses is determined that they will hear and understand everything about the law that God revealed to him for them (1:3c). This is a goal that we should share with Moses when we preach. Like Moses, we must proclaim his word to our people with a knowledge of their background and of what God has done for them, and a burning desire to see them apply God’s word in their daily lives.
Basic Concepts
1:5b

14. Basic Concepts 5 Moses addressed all Israel 6 Moses explains the Law
7 Israel has to do some effort
Although God assured them of success, he did not deliver the land to them without any effort on their part. His instruction to engage the Amorites in battle (2:24b) clearly indicated that he expected them to take action and fight the enemy. This principle still holds true today. God has given us many promises in his word, but we cannot simply sit back and wait to receive them. We need to work to gain possession of what God has promised us. Yet we will not be fighting alone.
Basic Concepts
2:24-25

15. Basic Concepts 5 Moses addressed all Israel 6 Moses explains the Law
7 Israel has to do some effort
8 God does not always say “Yes”
Moses now turns to God and begs permission to enter the promised land. Yet even Moses did not always get the answers he longed for. God’s reply to him can be paraphrased as ‘Enough of that! Never speak to me about this again!’ (3:26b). Like Jeremiah and others, Moses was asked to accept that God will accomplish his purposes, even if he himself does not see this happen.
Basic Concepts
3:26

16. Basic Concepts 5 Moses addressed all Israel 6 Moses explains the Law
7 Israel has to do some effort
8 God does not always say “Yes”
9 Follow rules, yes, but from the heart
The Shema starts with a statement of the unity of God, which is followed by a commandment that Jesus himself refers to as the first and great commandment (6:5; Matt 22:36–38). This command insists that obedience to the law of God involves more than just conforming to an external system of rules; it also involves the attitudes of our hearts and minds (6:6). The test of whether we love God is whether we keep his commandments (John 14:21). If we truly love him, we will also pass his commandments on to our children, so that this attitude of love and obedience will be passed on from age to age (6:7).
Basic Concepts
6:6-7

17. Basic Concepts 5 Moses addressed all Israel 6 Moses explains the Law
7 Israel has to do some effort
8 God does not always say “Yes”
9 Follow rules, yes, but from the heart
Remembrance of God’s past mercies and delivering acts is fundamental to biblical faith. Thus the people of Israel are first exhorted not to forget what the Lord has done for them (6:10–12) and are then commanded to pass these memories on to their children (6:20–25).
Forgetting about God is particularly easy when things are going well.
When explaining the need to obey the commandments to future generations of children, the Israelites must tell them of God’s amazing delivery of their ancestors from Egypt and of his bringing them to the promised land. The story is an exciting one that even a child can understand and makes the point that God is active in human affairs.
10 The importance of remembering
Basic Concepts
6:10-12; 20-25

18. I am Yahweh your God. There shall not be for you other gods besides me.
You shall not make for yourself a divine image of any type. You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them.
Chaps
Ten Commandments

19. You shall not take up the name of Yahweh your God for a worthless purpose.
Observe the Sabbath day to make it holy. Six days you shall work, and you shall do all of your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto Yahweh your God; you shall not do any work.
Chaps
Ten Commandments

20. Ten Commandments You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
Chaps
Ten Commandments

21. You shall not falsely bear evidence against your neighbor.
You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Chaps
Ten Commandments