Deuteronomy 31

We're going to turn our attention to Deuteronomy 31 today. There are only 34 chapters in the book.

I may mention I'm not going to go through every chapter in the book. My intentions are to go through chapter 31 today, and then we'll go through one more sermon, probably hitting the next several chapters a little bit from each chapter. But only this sermon and one more sermon will be done with Deuteronomy. Then I've got to start thinking about preparing you as a congregation for the fall holy days. And then when we get back from the feast, I want to start a series on the book of Daniel. We'll be going verse by verse through the book of Daniel. The book of Daniel and the book of Revelation are bookend-type books in terms of the way they look at prophecy. The book of Daniel has a very detailed look at what we would call history. But back in the days when it was written, those things were prophetic. Very deep in terms of what happened in ancient times, the beginning of empires. And as you get closer to the end of the age, you get less and less material in the book of Daniel. The book of Revelation is just the opposite. The further back you go, the less information you have. But then as you get closer to the end of the age, that widens out. So they make a very nice complimentary pair of books to study. We have gone through years ago. I may do this again, but years ago we went through the book of Revelation verse by verse. I don't know how many years ago that was, eight or ten years ago, but a while. But we want to start with the book of Daniel, so you can start reading ahead on that. But here we are toward the very tail end of the book of Deuteronomy. And we're about to say goodbye to one of the greatest men who ever lived.

Now when I say one of the greatest men, this is not just in the estimation of mankind or the nation of Israel. This is in the eye of God Himself. In the eyes of God Himself, Moses was one of the greatest men who ever lived. He had his issues. He had his failings. We're going to talk about that some today. But by and large, as the Bible said, he was the meekest of men on the earth when he walked the earth. And truly, a mountain of a figure in terms of Old Testament history. He's not going to die in a chapter that we're going to read, but he knows that God has told him he no longer has years to live. He no longer has months to live. He no longer has weeks to live. He's going to die in a few days. Now, you think about that for a moment. If you went home from service today and God's sitting on your sofa, he says, pull up a chair. This time next week, you're not going to be around. You think about your family. You think about all sorts of things.

And it wasn't like as though Moses was a sickly person. We'll get into that in just a moment. But he was full of life, full of vigor. He had great eyesight. There was nothing wrong with this health whatsoever. But it was time for Israel to go into the Promised Land, and he wasn't going. And God wasn't going to keep the whole nation back on account of one man. So, as I've done in the past, just a little bit of a brief background, the book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons that Moses gave as he was preparing the second generation of Israelites to enter, conquer, and possess the Promised Land. And I've given this series, brethren, and it's taken a couple years to do this, because you and I are heading for our Promised Land. We call that the Kingdom of God.

We realize that when Christ returns at a second coming, he establishes the millennium, and then we go on from there. And so, in that sense, that is our Promised Land.

The book has historical purposes. Moses is discussing with the second generation the failings of their parents and grandparents, and why they had to die in the wilderness. He doesn't want them to repeat those mistakes. And certainly, there are spiritual purposes behind the book. God wanted to teach the people of Israel through Moses how to live victorious lives. Brethren, you and I as Christians, we want to live victorious lives. Satan is out there.

Just, you know, I didn't know about this. Brian Pelkey sent me a news clipping from the Free Press. I sent it out to all of you, where today in Detroit, they were going to unveil this nice statue of Satan. And there was going to be a public ceremony to honor this monument.

Now, I've been told that that has since been scrubbed. They're going to have a private showing someplace, probably at their temple. And, you know, the in-crowd will be invited to go for the unveiling of the Satanic Idol. Satan is out there. He's alive and well. After I sent that out, one of the congregants here in Detroit sent me an interesting little news clip. You know, our entertainment industry is rife with this sort of thing. Beyoncé has a ring on her finger. And on that ring is that image of Satan. Madonna, continually in her concerts, has symbolism of the same thing. And you can look at a number of different entertainers who think they're being so sly, but through subtle means, subliminal means, in the pictures that they're showing, that they're flashing at people, tattoos on their body, jewelry they're wearing. There's a lot of satanic activity, and most people simply aren't aware of that. Back in the 1960s, I read a book called Subliminal Subduction. I think I probably still have a copy of that back at home. And it was an interesting book because they were saying that before laws were passed in this country, you can watch a TV program. And as you're well aware, you know, you've got so many clips, so many slides per second being thrown at your eyes. And the way you process this, the way you consciously process this, you see motion. But your mind is able to pick up every last little detail, even though you consciously may not know that. Subconsciously, you pick it up. And what advertisers are doing is, every so many frames, they throw a picture of a bottle of Coke. Or, if there were so many frames, they throw a picture of a Hershey bar.

And after watching the show, people say, boy, you know, I could use a Coke.

Better yet, I could use a Coke in a Hershey bar. And that was perfectly legal. Now, who knows what's taking place in the country today? Who knows if that, you know, is supposed to be outlawed, but do you trust anybody in Washington, Republican or Democrat? I sure don't.

In print media, in the book, they gave an example of, even in print, they were trying to sell this particular alcoholic beverage. And so they had a photo of this glass. And it really looked attractive. But then they told you what to look at in that glass. And then you saw it. In the glass, you've got the nice color of the alcohol. You have these ice tubes in the glass. And it really looks inviting. But then when you take a look at the way the shadows are, when you look at the whole picture, you kind of stand back and look at it, you see the word sex. A lot of people want that drink.

Sex. Why do they want the Hershey bar? Why do they want the Coke?

Brethren, the enemy we fight is very sly. Very sly. And he wants to destroy us. And so, if you were Moses, and you know you only had a few days to live, what would you say? Put yourself in this situation yourself. If you knew you only had two or three or four days to live, what would you say to the people you love the most? I mean, you're going to be in earnest about whatever it is you're going to say. You know, you're going to try to get some point across that you feel is really needful for your loved ones. And that's how Moses felt about the people he was about to leave.

He had been with Israel for 40 years. They murmured against him. They lied about him. They tried to backstab him. They tried to get rid of him. He knew all of that. He knew their faults and weaknesses. They knew his faults and weaknesses. And yet, there still was a tremendous love affair between Moses and the people and vice versa.

So Moses has a lot of things to accomplish between what God is telling him and what his end is going to be. So with that as background, let's take a look over here at chapter 31 of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 31 verse 1. Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel, to the whole nation. It wasn't just a gathering of a few select people. He said to them, I am 120 years old today. I can no longer go out and come in. Also the Lord has said to me, you shall not cross over this Jordan. Now, when he says he can no longer go out and come in, he's not saying because he's in a wheelchair or something like that. Put a finger here. Let's go over to the very last chapter, chapter 34. Deuteronomy chapter 34 and verse 7. Notice what it says here. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.

He was still a great specimen of a man. But when you go back to chapter 31, he says they can no longer go out and come in. He knows that God has got on a very strict time frame. God is saying, you know, you've done what you need to do. And I'm about to take your life. Verse 3. Moses is then talking to the people of Israel. He says, quoting God, he says, the Lord your God himself crosses over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you just as the Lord has said. So here, you know, Moses is wanting to encourage the people. They're going to be led by a great figure in his own right, Joshua. Again, one of the greatest men who's ever lived. But, you know, brethren, I would have to think that as Moses is even saying these words, his heart is breaking. He wants to be there with the people. He wants to go in and enjoy the victories with them. He wants to sit by the campfires because he realizes they're about to now partake of the blessings that were given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It's almost that time and he can't be there. Now, as I was preparing my remarks for the sermon today, I got to thinking that you and I probably can relate to this. How many times in your life have you been on your knees or you're driving down the highway and you're praying to God or thinking you're talking to God and you're saying, you know, God, I have done this and I've done that and I've done the other in your service. I've done all these things for all these years and all I ask is you do this for me.

And sometimes we can think, you know, it's just not fair. It's just not right.

Brethren, Moses worked for 40 years, one of the great men of God, and yet he wasn't going over to the promised land. And there's a tremendous lesson there for us to learn. Our God is a loving God. Our God is a forgiving God. Our God is a merciful God. But our God is also a God that allows consequences to play out.

You and I can do all sorts of things that are sinful, as Moses did, and we can ask for forgiveness and we can be forgiven. But that doesn't mean God takes away the consequences, because the consequences teach us valuable lessons. Moses was a mighty public figure. Moses sinned in a public way. God had to demonstrate, well, since you're such a public figure and this was done openly there at that rock, you took credit for giving people water.

It was me that gained the water, not you. Moses was upset. Of course, that rock was Christ, by analogy. So by analogy, Moses is angry at God himself. And God says, well, you know, Moses, unfortunately, I can't let that bad example keep on going forward. We're going to do something about that.

Now, does that make God an old meaning? No. Our Father is a loving Father, but He's also a God who teaches us lessons. And there's a very important lesson there for all of us, and that is, yes, God does forgive, but there may be consequences down the road for your bad actions of today. Your actions, my actions. So now that God is mean, Moses was the one who decided to take that approach. Whatever you and I have done, you and I were the ones who decided to do X, Y, or Z that have given us certain consequences.

God didn't put a gun to our head. No, we did that on our own. So something to think about. But here in verse 3, God says to all the nation, look, I'm about to present a new leader to you, but I want you to remember, God says here, I'm the one who's going before you. I'm going to give you able leaders. As human beings, you want somebody to look to. I'm going to give you somebody to look to. His name is Joshua.

You know him. But you need to remember that I am the one who opens the doors. I am the God of the open door. Verse 4, and the Lord will do to them as He did to Sion and Og, the kings of the Amorites and their land when He destroyed them. So God gives them a concrete set of examples. Two vicious kings who wanted to make a meal of the Israelites as they were coming through their territory, and God had them taken care of.

No ifs, ands, or buts. Brethren, as you and I are making our march to the Kingdom of God, are we putting our life in God's hands? Are we remembering that all the various challenges that we're going to face are challenges that God is more than equal to the task? He will take care of us. He will give us victory. This whole book is a book about victory. But we need to be close to God and following the will of God to enjoy that victory.

Verse 5, the Lord will give them over to you that you may do to them according to every commandment which I have commanded you. So they were going to be an instrument in God's hands to spank these various nations.

And they needed spanking. Were they worse than the Israelites? I really doubt it. Sin is sin. One sin is as bad as another sin. One sin gets us into the lake of fire. But God will work with these people in a later time. Verse 6, Be strong and of good courage, do not fear, nor be afraid of them. For the Lord your God, He is the one who goes with you.

He will not leave you, nor forsake you. That sound familiar? He will not leave you, nor forsake you. Brethren, that's a promise that God gives His people from one end of the Bible to the other end of the Bible.

So looking at those first six verses, there's a lesson to be learned for us as Christians, as believers, that God wants us to be strong. He wants us to be courageous.

He wants us to be strong and courageous in Him, not in our strength, in His strength.

We must not fear. We must not be terrified, no matter what we face in life.

And here's a man who's about to die. Here's a man who's got good health, a leader of a nation, a mighty man. When he was in Egypt, he was a renowned general, a commander. He was part of the mighty family of Pharaoh. I mean, here's a man who really lived life, who still had great health, a sharp mind, a keen mind, but his life is going to come to an end. And so here's that man talking about not fearing. So we're not talking about somebody who's talking theory here. We're talking about somebody who's saying things from his heart, and he knows he's just a few heartbeats away from the grave. I want to quote a couple of scriptures here. I'm not going to turn to them. These are all going to be from the New Living Translation. You might want to note them in your notes. 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13, in the New Living, it says, this, Be on guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. You know, with all that's being thrown at us today, brethren, and more and more, and I just think that, you know, we're just living in an insane world.

Almost every week now, you hear about some person who goes into a movie theater or a shopping mall or some crowded area with a weapon, and they'll start murdering people. And the last thing to do is take and turn the weapon on themselves. You think that can't happen here? You think that can't happen in God's church? Do I need to remind you what happened just a few years ago in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where somebody walked into the church during services, was in a back row, shot the pastor, I think he shot the pastor's wife and a few other people, killed them, in a church, a living church or God's service in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It could happen to any of us at any time. It's not that God doesn't love us. It isn't that God refuses to protect us. It is that God says, you know, we are human beings, and we need to realize just how bad this world and really love the coming of the new world to come. And it's these things here that want us to, that God wants us to see and wants us to embrace with every fire of our being God's kingdom. Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2 Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus.

Be strong through the grace. Paul said in the book of Romans, it was in this grace in which we stand.

But it's not your wisdom, it's not your brain power, it's not your physical attributes, it's the spiritual grace of God that's going to get all of us through to the time of the second coming of Jesus Christ. And then, of course, Paul wrote to the Hebrews, don't love money. This is Hebrews 13 verses 5 and 6. Don't love money. Be satisfied with what you have.

Now, there is a sermon all to itself. Be satisfied with what you have. How many people are satisfied with what they have? The other day, somebody, I forget who told me this. I think I was maybe talking to one of the brethren, but they made mention about a sermon they had heard.

And the essence of the sermon was, what if God only gave you today what you thanked him for this past week? Think about that for a moment. Would we all be sitting here naked?

Would we be really hungry? Would we not have a house to go back to? Would we not have a car in the parking lot? If God only gave us today what we thanked him for, and I think the sermon was, what do you thank him for the previous day? Well, let's extend it out for a week. If God only gave us today what we thanked him for this last week, what would we have? What would we have? How content are we with what God has given us? Don't love money, Paul wrote to the Hebrews. Be satisfied with what you have, for God has said, I will never leave you. I will never abandon you.

Or as we say here in Deuteronomy 31.6, he will not leave you nor forsake you.

So he writes it here in Deuteronomy. He writes it in the book of Hebrews.

Let's get back into the chapter here, because now we're going to see something very interesting.

Verse 7 and 8, we see the commissioning of a great man of God. Joshua now, and because people are what they are, people, you know, they wanted in some ways, even though they back bit Moses and murmured against him, they wanted somebody to look at. They wanted a physical leader. Well, he's going to die, he can't go into the promised land, so God is now going to give them Joshua. And here we're going to see Joshua being commissioned. Verse 7, then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel. Now we're going to see there are two different commissionings here. One is a public one. This is the public one. Later on, there's going to be a private commissioning. And said to him in the sight of all Israel, be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it. And the Lord, he is the one who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you, do not fear nor be dismayed. So here's another time God is saying, very specifically from Moses to Joshua here, you know, I will be with you. Why do you think God is saying this to Moses?

I want you to think back or think right now to where you're currently working.

If you're currently working, some of you are retired. But think back to the days if you're retired now when you were working, have you ever had to follow a world beater? Have you ever had to follow you? You get a new job, you come to the first day of work, and people say, oh, so you're the replacement. And they look at you like as though, oh, what a mini person you are. You know, this person here, they were bright, they were accomplished, they got things done. Everybody loved them. Everything is just better and better and better. And you're getting smaller and smaller and smaller on your own site. Now, I've been fortunate. Every place I've ever had the pastor, there's always been some world-class pastor in front of me. And so I know the feeling. Oh, man, this guy, he gave all these sermons that the feast, he did all these things. I thought, poor people, I just have to pray harder because they've got me.

You know, but how does Joshua feel here? He's replacing one of the mightiest men who's ever walked the earth. And so God is saying, look, just like I was with the other guy, I'm going to be with you. Don't worry about that. All the things he was able to do, you'll do all those things. You'll probably do more things because I will be there, I will be your strength. So don't worry about that. Now, a lot of responsibility on Joshua's shoulders.

A lot of responsibility. He had to lead the people into the Promised Land. And think about this for a moment. I may have mentioned this earlier today in a sermon, but God promised this land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As great a man as Moses was, he's not leading them into the Promised Land.

He's not the one to be with them as they're now starting to take hold of the very promises God gave to the fathers. No, it's Joshua. Joshua is the one who's got the responsibility to cross over that River Jordan. And the first thing that's in their sight is the citadel of the fortified city of Jericho. It was tremendous responsibility that he had. God was going to inspire him about how the tribes would be, how the land was going to be divided for the tribes. God was going to inspire him. But can you imagine that as the human being, he was the lightning rod?

Well, why does Manasseh get that part? And why does Ephraim get that part? And why does Ashwin get over here? And why does Dan get this? And Benjamin should have more land than this.

Benjamin should have some land. You know? All sorts of things he had to go through. A lot of responsibility. But God said, I will be with you every step of the way. What responsibility do you have right now?

You've got the responsibility as a husband. You've got the responsibility as a wife. You maybe have the responsibility as a father, grandfather, grandmother, mother. Responsibility to be a light to the world as a Christian. There's a lot of responsibilities that we all have.

And we need to make sure that we're taking care of those responsibilities.

And we can do all those things, you know, as God leads us.

Okay, let's continue on with the chapter here in verse 9.

So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Now, I don't know if you've noticed this before, but here Moses gives the law not just to the Levites. He also wants the political leaders of the day to be fully conversant with and know the law of God. He wants all the people who are leading the nation of Israel to be lawyers in that sense, lawyers of God's law, to understand the truth. Verse 10. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years of the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in a place which he chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

So here we have a very important thing. This is something else that God wanted for the nation to do. It was a tremendous teaching opportunity. You know, your average Israelite did not have a copy of the law of God. And so these public meetings where the law would be orally disseminated were very important. Not only were these opportunities to rededicate oneself, renew a commitment as they listened to those things, but it was an opportunity just to be educated. What does God's law say? What does it say?

You know, years ago, before the invention of the printing press, we've got some historical records that show that when God's church was in the Middle Ages, before the printing was generally available to people, you know, to the rich, you at first, the rich were able to get copies of various things. But your average man on the street was not.

But for a while, for a long while, ministers in God's church had to know at least two languages.

Generally, there was an older man and a younger man. The younger man was a tutor. He was an apprentice. And both of them, if they were caught with any kind of written word of God, the Catholic church would dispatch and take care of them, kill them. And so they had to memorize vast portions of Scripture, at least bilingual. And they would go to their various people's homes, and they'd have Bible recitals. And that carried on to this day.

Many of you back at your home, you may have a copy of Haley's Bible Handbook.

Haley, in his early years, memorized vast portions of Scripture. He can go through whole books of the Bible by memory. You and I would think that's virtually impossible. He did it. He would go and have Bible recitals where he would just start talking and go through the whole book of John.

He had that kind of a mind. I can remember my phone number. But, you know, tremendous opportunities for these people. And so here you have a situation where God says, I want you to bring the people together. I want you to teach them, educate them, have these recitals, let them listen, understand. And now it's verse 13. Well, verse 12. Gather the people together, men and women, little ones.

Make sure the little ones are there. Because we want to make sure they're taught from the earliest ages. And the stranger is within your gates that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law. And that your children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land which you cross over the Jordan of his ass. The Lord said to most behold, the days are approaching when you must die. We'll pause here at verse 13, get back to 14 in a moment. But you know, it's interesting that God makes such a point about talking about the little ones. Today over in Ann Arbor we had another session of Growing Kids God's Way where we have Brian and Laurie McGuire, elder and elder's wife. They're teaching the class. Every class there's a video that is shown for a half hour or so, maybe more. I don't know how long all these videos are. But then every week there's homework that's assigned to the couples. You know, how do you do this? How do you do that? And they discuss things one with another. And this is certainly something that God wanted. He wanted the little ones to realize, hey, we're a part of this community. When everybody gets together, we're all going to get together to learn the law of God, even us little kids. So from the various early stages in their life they would grasp the thought that they were a part of this whole assembly.

And they realized, God realized, he taught Moses, Moses taught the people of the power of the Word of God. I'm going to quote here Romans chapter 1 and verse 16 in New Living Translation, Romans 1, 16.

Paul writing to the Romans, Romans knew something about power. They knew something about handling of power. And since Paul knew that, and he was going to be all things to all people, notice what he says there to the Romans. And this is the purpose statement for the book of Romans, Romans chapter 1 and verse 16. For I am not ashamed of this good news about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes, the Jew first and also the Gentile.

The power of God at work.

So yes, God wanted the little months to know. Now we go back to Deuteronomy chapter 3, 1, verse 14. Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, the days approach, not the weeks, not the months, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tabernacle of meaning that I may inaugurate him, that I may commission him, that I may ordain him. So here we've got this private session now. We had a public one before all Israel there in verse 7. Now in verse 14, here's a private session. So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in a tabernacle of meaning. And now the Lord appeared at the tabernacle in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood above the door of the tabernacle. Now the children of Israel saw Moses and Joshua go in that building. Then they knew very much what this pillar of cloud was all about. They knew that represented God. He was over there. So it was the three of them, God, Moses, and Joshua.

And now comes the section, brethren, that is really interesting. Really interesting. Verse 16, And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, you will rest with your fathers, and this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they may go be among them, and they will forsake me and break my covenant, which I have made with them. Then my anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, that they may be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them. So they will say, And that they have not these evils come upon us, because God is not among us. And I will surely hide my face in that day, because of all the evil which they have done, and that they have turned to other gods. Now, at that point, Moses and Josh weren't saying anything. And they're probably thinking, Thanks, God! That really was encouraging. I'm about to die. All this work I've done, and now you're saying, as soon as I'm gone, these people are going to be toast.

Why did God do that? Look at it from Joshua's perspective. Here I'm following this mighty man of God. And here's what's going to happen on my watch. Was God trying to encourage them? Was God trying to discourage them? Would you take this approach? Well, you're not God. I'm not God. What did God have in mind here? I was asking myself that. I don't presume. There's no discussion here as to why God did this. But, you know, as I was thinking about it here, here's some supposition. This is not Scripture. This is Randy Delisandro, so you can take that for what it's worth. I'm thinking that God wanted both of these men to realize that the task that was before them was greater than any human being could ever accomplish.

As great a man as Moses was, as a greater man as Joshua was at that point, he'll become even greater. The job ahead of them was too great for any man, anybody who was flesh.

They really needed a spiritual leader like Jesus Christ. I really think God was trying to point them to the fact that as good a men as they were, trusted and true, dedicated to God, zealous, it just wasn't going to be enough. And I think that God also wanted both Moses and Joshua to appreciate, look, fellas, it's not you, it's them. You're going to do everything you can to be there for them, but you can't live their lives for them. And they're going to make decisions, and then they make some pretty bad ones. And if they make bad decisions, that's no reflection on you, because I know that you two men will go to the wall with them, you two men will do everything you possibly can do. But here is what's going to happen. So this is not going to be some cakewalk. You both better... Moses, you've done everything you can do, and I appreciate it. Joshua, you've got your hand, you've got your work cut out for you, so don't think you can be resting on your any laurels here. But I think God, and he was looking down toward the future.

Continuing on, verse 19, Now therefore write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel. Put it in their mouths that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. So here we have another song that Moses is to write. Moses, you know, several years ago, two or three years ago, I gave a sermon on either the first or last day of Unleavened Bread. Last day of Unleavened Bread, I think it was. Where after Israel went through the Red Sea, in Exodus chapter 15, you've got the very first song in the Bible. Exodus 15 is a song of victory. And we went through that song on one of the holy days, during the days of Unleavened Bread.

Here is a second song. It's almost a national anthem. Music's very important to people. They listen to it. They comprehend it. They understand it. It moves people. So here's a song that Moses is going to write. And God wants the people to really memorize the verses to this song. Because it's a song that teaches lessons. Verse 20. When I brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them. And they'll provoke me to break my covenant. And then it shall be that when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness. They learn this song as little kids.

Now, again, why is God doing this?

Brethren, you know and I know that the Bible says prophecy can fail.

Right? Remember when Jonah went to the people of Nineveh and said, hey folks, this is it.

And what did the people of Nineveh do? They fasted, they prayed, they repented, they even made their animals fast. And when God saw that, God said, hey, I'm going to stand back from that prophecy. So in that sense, that prophecy failed. Now, later on, though, the prophecy would come true later on down the road. But at that particular point in history, because of the people and their repentance, that prophecy failed. This could have been a prophecy that could have failed.

It was a warning to the people of Israel. That didn't have to go this way. But God, of course, knowing... Let's continue reading here in verse 21. Let me start over again here. It shall be that when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness, for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior, even before I brought them to the land of which I swore to them, to give them. God knows the tendencies we have. Therefore, Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the children of Israel. Then he inaugurated, or he commissioned Joshua the son of Nana and said, Be strong and of good courage, for you shall bring the children of Israel into the land which I swore to them that I might be with you. So, here, again, another discussion about Joshua and the strength of Joshua. Now, let's close out the chapter here, verse 24. So it was, and Moses had completed writing the words of the law in a book, when they were finished, that Moses commanded to Levites who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you. Put it beside the ark, not in the ark, beside the ark. Why? Once again, I add my supposition to this. There's not a thus sayeth the Lord, so I want it to be perfectly labeled as my supposition. We know what was in the ark.

There were three things in the ark. You had the actual writing of the ten, the tablets of stone. They were in the ark. But you also had the pot of manna, and you had Aaron's rod that budded.

And a separate compartment on the side, you had the law, the law of the covenant, not the ten commandments. I'm wondering, brethren, if God wanted the people to realize there was a difference between what was in the ark and what was on the side of the ark. The ark represented the throne of God, the seat of God. The mercy seat was the very top portion of that ark, between the two caribans. So you've got the ten commandments, which are eternal in nature. They're in the ark.

See, Mr. Del Sandra, but you've got these physical things. You've got this pot and this rod.

That's true. But the tablets were also physical. But the tablets represented something spiritual and eternal. Did the pot of manna and the rod that budded, did they represent something eternal? Well, what was the pot of manna? It was something that was to be, it was the miraculous feeding of the people of God. Brethren, that's something that's eternal. There's going to come a day when there's going to be no longer any flesh anywhere. We'll all be spirit beings, being a family of God. God will always be our Father. Jesus Christ will always be our elder brother. God the Father and Jesus Christ will always feed us, teach us, tutor us, mentor us.

That's going to be something eternal in nature. And the same thing is true for the rod. What did the rod represent? It represents God's power. It represents God's will being done.

God's power and God's will will be done through all eternity.

I think that's why those things were in that ark. Now, the law on the side, very important, it's on the side of the ark. It's not in the ark. We realize, brethren, that was the old covenant. We realize the old covenant was done away. We are now in new covenant times. So I think there's a differentiation God wanted us to see between what was in the ark, the law of God, which is eternal, versus something that would talk about goats and all those sorts of things. My supposition. Let's get back to the chapter here.

Take this, verse 26, take this book of the law and put it beside the ark of the covenant to the Lord your God that it may be there as a witness against you. For I know your rebellion, I know your stiff neck. If today while I am yet alive with you, you have been rebellious against the Lord. How much more? After my death, gather to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers that I may speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to witness against them.

So again, here you not only have the Levites being called together, but also the political types, the town elders and so forth. For now that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and turn aside from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days because you will be evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands. The Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, which they until they were ended. Chapter 32 is the song. I don't know if next time we're going to go through this or not. I rather doubt it, but I don't know. But the next time we get together and talk about Deuteronomy, we'll cover the rest of the book and we'll be done.

But I'm hoping that as you and I look at what God has for us here in this tremendous book, we realize we've got our work cut out for us. We're living in some very difficult times. We need to walk with God as never before. When you see what the Supreme Court is doing, the rulings they're making, when you're seeing what they're doing in the land, they're in Oregon.

I've been gone so much I forget which stories I tell you which stories I haven't told you. But they're in Oregon. You can't get a driver's license. You can't get a tattoo if you're 15 years of age in Oregon. But in Oregon, if you're 15 years old, the state law is that you can go and have a sex change operation. And you don't have to get parental support or permission.

And the state of Oregon will pick up the tab. That's the kind of world we're living in.

That's the kind of world we're living in. Bypass mom and dad. Bypass the family. The state says, it's okay. We'll pay for things. How horribly sad of the time we're living in. So, brother, let's take these admonishments that we see in the book of Deuteronomy as something that we need to really pay close attention to. We need to be the lights of a very dark world.