Deuteronomy 32-34

We're going to be finishing up today the book of Deuteronomy. I was toying with the idea of just discontinuing the series. People said, Oh no, Mr. D! Please keep on going through the whole thing. We've been all these years. I took a look, I took a peek back. We started this series back in June of 2011. And my goal was to hit 10 chapters in a year.

Basically one chapter in a sermon per month. If we would have done that for 34 chapters, it would be roughly three years. Well, it's taken us about four years. There have been some other things that have come up I've needed to take care of and we've not always been there once a month. But we will finish up today. Today we're going to go through the last three chapters.

And obviously doing that means we're not going to go verse by verse. It's going to be more of a survey of those chapters. Then starting next month, we want to go through the Book of Daniel. I don't know how much I'll probably know more than a chapter a day. Once a month. Daniel is interesting.

It is the bookend to the Book of Revelation. Daniel has a lot of prophecy that deals with things that happened at the beginning of mankind's history and prophetic history. The closer you get to the end of the age, the less you see in the Book of Daniel. Whereas the Book of Revelation is just the opposite. The further back you go in Revelation, the less you see. But the closer you get to the end of the age, the more you see. So the two of them combined are really good bookends. We have gone through the Book of Revelation in years past, verse by verse.

And now we're going to go through the Book of Daniel starting next month. One last time to go through a little bit of the background of the book of Deuteronomy. The Book of Deuteronomy is a series of sermons, basically three large sermons, preached to the children of Israel by Moses. He was preparing them to enter the Promised Land, to enter the conqueror and possess the Promised Land.

The book takes place at the end of their 40 years' wilderness wanderings. They are just poised to now go into the Promised Land. And two major reasons that Moses was inspired by God to write the book is, one, to teach God's people how to live victorious lives. That's one of the main reasons I wanted to go through this book. It's not some dusty old Old Testament book that has no relevance for us today. It has a tremendous amount of relevance to us today.

As a matter of fact, I want to show something to you. I had not really thought of this until I was reviewing my notes. I don't think I ever brought that forward. Let's take a look at Matthew 4. We are talking about the book being written so we can live successful lives. All of us would heartily agree that Jesus Christ lived a very successful spiritual life.

As he was in the flesh to come to be our Savior. Matthew 4 has an interesting narrative here where we see Christ going into the wilderness. I believe this was a proactive thing where he was going to hunt Satan down and take care of him.

And he did. There was a tremendous spiritual battle that takes place here between Jesus Christ and Satan. Chapter 4, verse 1. Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness. When we look at that first verse, you see that it wasn't that Christ was just doing his own business that Satan attacked him. It says the Spirit led Christ into the wilderness. This was something that God and Jesus Christ were looking to do. This was kind of like an old western high-noon meeting sitting there in the middle of the road. Verse 2. When he had passed 40 days and 40 nights afterwards, he was hungry.

Physically, Jesus Christ was weakened. So Satan felt, I've got an opportunity here. Verse 3. When a tempter came to him, he said, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread. But he answered and said, It is written.

What does Jesus Christ quote? He quotes from the book of Deuteronomy. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that recieves from the mouth of God. He quoted Deuteronomy 8. We continue on in the story. Then the Devil took him up into the holy city, set upon the pinnacle of the temple, said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.

For as written, you shall give his angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bury you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. Jesus said to him, It is written. Where is it written? It is written in the book of Deuteronomy. It is written, again, You shall not tempt the Lord your God. That's from Deuteronomy 6, verse 16. Again, the third time the Devil took him up into an exceedingly high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory.

And he said to him, All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written. Again, where is it written? The book of Deuteronomy. You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. Deuteronomy 6, verse 13. So, if Jesus Christ can use this book as a tremendous tool to defeat Satan the Devil, why can't we? Why can't we? Also, the second reason, besides the first reason, teaching us how to live a victorious life, the second reason that God inspired this book to be written was to stir people to rededicate their lives to God, to renew our commitment to obey God.

Let's go over to chapter 30 of the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 30, starting here in verse 15, where it says, See, I have set before you today life, and good, death, and evil, and that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, to keep his commandments, the statutes, and his judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord your God will bless you in a land which you go into possess. So God says, Christ, God says through Moses here, look at what you've got in terms of the teachings that I'm giving you.

These teachings are your life. Dedicate yourself to these teachings. Dedicate yourself to the true God. Going down to verse 19, I call heaven and earth as a witness to you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice, that you may cling to him, for he is your life in the length of your days, that you go and dwell in a land which the Lord your, swore to your fathers to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give them.

So two very important things for us to keep in mind about this book of Deuteronomy, that it teaches us how to live successfully. When it comes to the Scriptures, the book of Deuteronomy is one of the most quoted books in the entirety of the New Testament. The only books that are quoted more are Isaiah and the Psalms.

Take a look at chapter 31 of Deuteronomy, verse 19. This is going to get us into where we need to start today. Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 19. I'm reading from the New King James. This is, Now therefore write down this song for yourselves, and tease 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 Moses was commanded to write a song. We've got some folks in the room here, our songwriters. Moses was commanded, was inspired by God, to write a very special song. Notice here in the New King James it says that this song would be a witness against the children of Israel. Now, I want to quote that same verse, Deuteronomy 31, verse 19, from a good news translation.

And many times we can really fully, more fully appreciate a text. We are just looking at other translations. Those of you who have the Internet, you may not be wealthy enough to go out and buy all sorts of physical books. But on the Internet, there are sites that just have Bibles. There are sites that have dozens and dozens of Bibles, free of charge. Not only English Bibles, foreign language Bibles for your use.

But here in Deuteronomy 41, verse 19, the good news translation says this. Now, write down this song, teach it to the people of Israel, so that it will stand as evidence against them. As evidence, the living Bible quotes that same verse. Now, write down the words of this song and teach it to the people of Israel as my warning to them.

So, when you take a look at the New King James, the good news translation, the living Bible translation, Moses is told to write a song. And this song is to be taught to the children of Israel all through their history. This song is to be a witness. It is to be evidence. It is to be a warning to them. So, as we take a look now at Deuteronomy 32, we have the song that is written here. Now, I'm not going to take the time to go verse by verse through Deuteronomy 32.

Again, this is going to be more of a survey today. Chapter 32 records the song that Moses was commanded to write. But let me give you an outline of the song. If you will, I'll give you the different stances. Verses 1 through 3 is a prelude.

I'm just going to give you the outline. Then when I go back, it puts some meat on the bones. Verses 4 through 14, first stanza.

Verses 15 through 27, second stanza. Verses 28 through 33, stanza number 3. The last stanza, part 4, is verses 34 through 47. Let's take a look at verses 1 through 3. I call this the prelude. Basically, what you have here... We'll just read the first three verses because it's so simple to read. Chapter 32, verse 1.

So here we have in this prelude the idea of teachings, of special teachings that come from God. This is doctrine. If we're going to live successful Christian lives, we have to know doctrine.

Now, doctrine isn't so many times so exciting to go through. I remember back in the early 1990s when we were with our former association, we in the ministry were told, you know, the brethren just don't... We've been teaching the brethren doctrine for generations. They don't need much more in terms of teaching of doctrine. Leave it be. Just give them Christian living.

I always thought that was just plain weird, to use a very scientific term. But why was that in the early 1990s? Because there was a game plan afoot that just a few years down the road, a doctrine was going to be attacked. Our doctrine was going to be stripped away from the church we came into and loved. And you know something? Unfortunately, because doctrine hadn't been properly taught for a while, people fell victim. Because they didn't have a thorough understanding, a tremendous undergirding and foundation of doctrine.

Brethren, if you don't know what you believe, if you're weak on why you believe, how do you... How do I... It can happen to any of us. How do any of us stand the onslaughts that Satan is going to throw at us at the end of the age? When people may simply come to you and say, just like what's happening today in the world. A Muslim comes up to you, are you a Christian? They've got a gun to your head. You say, yeah, I'm a Christian. You're dead right there. You don't think that sort of thing's not going to happen to those of us in this room. If Christ comes in our day, you better believe that it will. And we need to have the strength of knowing what we believe. Take a look. Put a marker here in Deuteronomy 32. Let's go over to 2 John chapter 1. There's only one chapter there. 2 John.

Here you've got an apostle who is living in the 90s A.D. He's the only one of the original apostles left alive. He has seen tremendous persecution upon the church in his years. He has seen the development of the great false church arise in his years. He's seen a lot of apostasy. In the late 90s, probably 98 A.D., the apostle John writes, starting here in 2 John verse 9, he says, Whatever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, whosoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God, He who abides in the doctrine of Christ, as both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house, nor greet him. Not exactly a politically correct strategy here, is it?

But it's the truth. If we don't have the truth, we will walk away from God. How many people have you known over the years, brethren, who used to attend with us, and you knew as a brother or a sister in a faith, and they would keep the Sabbath in the Holy Days? Then they leave the church, and maybe you see them five, ten years down the road, fifteen years down the road, and they see you in a restaurant, and they start talking about things. It's so obvious that they no longer keep the Sabbath. It's obvious they no longer keep the Holy Days, just by what they're saying and what they're doing, because they didn't have the right doctrine, and they left God.

Going back to Deuteronomy 32, let's take a look now at verses 4-14, what I call the first stanza. What we have here is an emphasis on God and His perfection. God and His perfection. That's what's emphasized in this portion of the chapter.

Let's just take a look at a couple of verses here. Verse 9, For the Lord's portion is His people. Jacob, Israel, is the place of His inheritance. So we're taking a look very specifically at a certain group of people. Verse 13, He made him, He made him, He made Jacob, He made Israel, ride in the heights of the earth. He might eat the produce of the fields. He made him draw honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock. So even in areas which would seem to defy explanation as to why it could produce something, God gave tremendous bounty, plenty. Certainly that speaks to what God has done for us physically and spiritually as a nation.

Again, put a finger here. Let's take a look at John 6, verse 44. John 6, verse 44.

Just as Deuteronomy 32, verses 4-14 talk about God and His perfection, God and His justice, how God has been there for Israel, He's been there for our New Testament church, as well as New Testament Israel. John 6, verse 44, No one can come to me, to Christ, unless the Father who sent me draws him, now raise him up at the last day.

How inspiring is it to know that you are in this room because the Father wanted you in this room? With all that He does, He's not too busy to tap you on the shoulder. You know, sometimes we think we're busy. Well, God, what are you doing? Oh, I'm running the universe. I'm keeping everybody's heart moving. I'm keeping all my laws going. I'm keeping everything in orbit. Nothing is flying where it shouldn't be flying. Everything is where I want it to be. I've named all the stars. I think I'm kind of busy. But I tapped you on the shoulder. I want you a part of my team.

Now, I guess we can get big heads about that until God tells us what He calls the week of the world.

Verse 45, It is written in the prophets, and they all should be taught by God. That Father who loves us, who is able to do all these things at one time and not even breathe hard. You know, this last week in my cardiac rehab class, it was kind of an interesting little thing. One of the nurses came up to me and said, What happened to you on Wednesday? I said, I don't know what happened to me on Wednesday. He said, Well, you know, you had that monitor on, you got your electrodes on, and we noticed that you really had a spike in your heart activity. I said, Oh, that's easy to explain. Well, please explain it. I said, Well, do you think I was going to drop over a dead or something? Oh, no. But, you know, there was a big spike. I said, Well, I decided I was going to push myself harder. And so I was on the treadmill, and I gave myself X number of percentage of incline. I made myself go almost to running, and I stayed on that thing for 25 minutes doing that. We noticed when you were on that thing, it kind of went high. Then you did the elliptical, then you did your weight training. I said, Well, yeah, I want to push myself. I said, Okay, as long as we know.

So it's interesting that people can notice those things. God noticed us. God noticed us and said, You know, I want to call that person. I love everybody. Now it's this person's time. Now it's this person's time. You put your name in a blank. Now it's your time for God to work in your life, to call you, to educate you, to work with you.

Okay, moving on to chapter 32 of Deuteronomy. We've got verses 15 through 27.

Here we see where Israel begins to take God for granted. They begin to forsake God, forget God. They're leaving their favor. They had really a true first love. They're leaving it. I guess we can argue whether they had a first love or not. They certainly had a love of leaving Egypt. Whether they had a love of God, I guess we can debate and argue. But for sure, at this point, this is one of the reasons why God says, I'm warning you. I've got evidence against you. I have a witness against you. Because in your future, here's what's going to take place. The children of Israel are supposed to be singing in this song. They're supposed to know this song by heart and repound it to one another. God says, as time goes along, here's what's going to happen. And surely it did happen. Take a look at verse 16. Deuteronomy 32. They provoked him to jealousy with foreign gods, with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons, not to God. To God they did not know. To new gods, new arrivals that your fathers did not fear.

Verse 23. Back down there, verse 23. I will heap disasters on them. I will skew my arrows on them. We drop down to verse 26. I would have said, I will dash them in pieces. I will make the memory of them to cease from among men.

You know, brethren, we wonder at times, why is this happening in this country? You know why this is happening in this country? Because this country will not even talk about God in his classes anymore. Do we really have to wonder why these things are happening in America and around the world? Where, you know, you have young, precious minds that go to the university, and when they're there they've got all these liberal teachers, where if you believe in God, you're put down, you're laughed at, you're viewed as, you know, something's wrong with you. You know, God's basically saying, you know, you've forgotten me, then you're going to pay the price. You want to live in a godless land, you're going to pay the price. And that's the price that we're paying right now as a nation. Certainly, you and I as individuals in the Church of God, we don't want to be there. Again, put a marker here. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 3. Hebrews chapter 3. I think I may have mentioned over the years that many years ago, this is back when we were all still with the worldwide Church of God, somebody commissioned a study as to how many people have come into the Church and left the Church. And at that particular time, and this is, again, this was many years ago, as far as they could estimate, and I don't know how accurate this was, but as far as they could estimate, two out of every three people who ever started attending Church dropped by the wayside. Two out of three. Frankly, I think that number would be higher after what we've gone through in the last number of years since the 1990s.

Take a look here at Hebrews chapter 3, verse 12. Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.

We don't want to have a heart that allows us to depart from the living God. And it starts subtly. You might have a bad attitude to this person in Church, or your pastor, or that person in Church, or you may have your own pet teaching that you have come to believe. All Satan needs is a little bit of a toehold. And he'll make that larger and larger and larger to the place, well, you know, I don't need to be with this group of people. Chapter 6 of Hebrews. Hebrews is written to a group of people who were old-time people of the Church culture. They were the Jewish people. They came into Christianity. But now they're thinking of going back to Judaism. They're thinking of leaving. And Paul's writing this book to keep the people in place. But notice what he says here in Chapter 6 starting in Verse 4. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened.

When talking about people who were once enlightened, it's talking about people who were enlightened by God's Holy Spirit.

It is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift. Indication there that they were baptized, received God's Holy Spirit. And it became partakers of the Holy Spirit. There you have it. And it tasted the good word of God. Because of God's Holy Spirit, they're able to understand the Scriptures and the powers of the age to come. We understand and have experienced the power of God's Holy Spirit. If they fall away to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame.

Now, a number of people looked at that and said, boy, I hope that's not me. I hope that's not the unpardonable sin. Is this talking to you? If you want to repent, if you want to draw close to God, if you want to be in His Kingdom, this is not talking to you. This is talking to people that says if they fall away to renew them again to repentance, why? Because they don't want to repent. They don't want to keep the Sabbath anymore. They don't want to keep the Holy Days anymore. They don't want to tithe anymore. They don't want to watch what they eat anymore. They don't want to have this way of life. They would spit on the sacrifice of Christ. I mean, you and I would just shudder at the thought of that. I ain't saying the words. But they wouldn't care about something like that. Now, it's those kinds of people who fall away that can't be renewed. And that, brethren, I know, as I know all of you that I'm looking at, that's none of you in this room.

But unfortunately, there is going to be a third resurrection. There is going to be a lake of fire. This description will fit some people. And we don't want it to fit us. Moving on in chapter 32 of Deuteronomy.

We've got verses 28 through 33.

Let's just look at a couple of verses here. verses 28 and 29. Chapter 32 verses 28 and 29. For they are a nation void of counsel, nor is there any understanding in them, oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.

Brethren, do we have wise people in Washington, D.C.? I don't care what political persuasion you are. A Republican or Democrat. I don't care. Independent. Do we have wise people in Washington, D.C.? Do we have statesmen who know what they're talking about? Do we have people like we had at the beginning of the founding of this nation, where they would have real prayer before a session, and they believed in God? Oh, no, we've got to kick God out of everything.

And we wonder why we don't understand. We wonder why we can't find peace.

So God here in verses 28 through 33, God warns the people of this. And then lastly, verses 34 through 47, the very last stanza here, we see that God's justice will prevail.

God's justice will prevail. His sovereignty will be over all. He's going to establish His kingdom. The sinner will be punished who doesn't repent, and the sinner who does repent will be rewarded.

Revelation 6.

Revelation 6, starting in verse 9. And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. Fifth seal.

Great tribulation. And they cry with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? When will we get justice, Father? Then a white robe was given to each one of them, showing that they have made God's kingdom. And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were it was completed. That's a prophecy for the future for the Church of God. Not all of us will go to a place of safety. Not all of us will be spared. Some of us will be martyred. We need to prepare for that.

So moving now away from chapter 32. Before we leave, though, an overarching lesson to be learned in Deuteronomy chapter 32 is that the goodness of God is to be remembered and praised. The goodness of God is to be remembered and praised. He has saved us as a people. We are His very special. And, of course, we talk about this from a spiritual perspective. God has saved us as His people spiritually. We are His special spiritual possession, His special treasured possession. We are to be His witnesses upon the earth. We are to joyfully be able to discuss our tremendous God to those around us. Over the years, you've known, I've known, perhaps you are a person like this, where you are not hesitant because you have great love for a friend, maybe your spouse. I'm hoping your spouse. And you'll go to somebody and say, well, you know, my spouse is such a great person, they do this, this, and this, and this. Or, my friend here. My friend has got all these wonderful qualities.

Isn't God our number one friend? Shouldn't we be able to go to people and talk about our great friend God? Especially in a nation today that just, you know, in some ways, now forget the people in academia, but there's a longing, there's a hunger, there's a thirst for the truth of God and people wanting to know what's what. We're living in a crazy upside-down world, and people want to know our great God. Let's take an opportunity to introduce Him to the world.

Okay, we move on to chapter 33 of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy chapter 33.

What we have here are the last words of Moses. These words are a great assurance, they're a great comfort, because in this chapter, every one of the tribes is going to be receiving a blessing, a discussion about what's going to befall them in the latter days and so forth. So, largely, this discussion here is positive in nature. But understand something. God is telling Moses to go up on top of the mountain.

Moses knows when he gets up there, he's going to be able to see a glimpse of the Promised Land. After services today over in Ann Arbor, I had one lady who's been there. She said, I've been on the Mount. She said, on a clear day, you can see forever, and you can see a great deal of the nation of Israel. No question about it. Moses, so many things going through his mind, he's probably so angry in some ways at himself, because he loved the people of Israel.

And yet, because of his impetuousness, because of his anger, got the best of him, he lashed out, sinned. And of course, God being a God of justice says, well, you know, you're very high profile, Moses, because you did what you did in front of all these people. I've got to take action. And you're not going to be able to go into the Holy Land. After all 40 years of dealing with people who are calling you names, saying things behind your back, undermining your authority, questioning your motives. 40 years of that! You think you've had it tough in your life?

I think I've had it tough in my life? How many pity parties have we thrown? We probably got party favors back at home. Time to throw a pity party. Moses probably did some of that. He was human. But he also realized that he loved those people, knew that they were going to face a lot of hardship as they went across the Jordan River.

So desperately wanted to be with him, but he knew he couldn't. So in one sense, he's going up on that mountain, he's heartbroken. But he's also excited. He wants to see the Holy Land. But also this. He realized he was going to die up on that mountain. His life only consisted of a matter of so many more minutes, maybe so many more hours. And then he was going to perish.

He was perfectly healthy, robust, vital, wasn't sickly, strong, good in mind. But he was going to die up there by himself. He'll be in God's presence, but he'll be by himself. He'll die. Wife's not going to be with him. Kid's not going to be with him. Brother and sister, they're not going to be with him by himself.

So an interesting portrait here in Deuteronomy 33 of a very great man. When you think, you know, if we take Christ away for a moment, and don't look at him as a personality, if you take a look at just the other people of the Bible, how many more people are there as great as Moses? Would you have Paul, Peter, David? I mean, Moses is right up there in terms of one of the great people of all time. Let's take a look at just a few verses here, and then we want to conclude by going through chapter 34, the last chapter. It only has 12 verses, but we want to go through that verse by verse. Chapter 33, verse 1.

Now this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. Now he's simply relating the blessing. The blessing's coming from God. He's simply relating the blessing. Verse 2, when he said, So one of the great blessings that Moses says to the people that they need to appreciate and remember is they are blessed with God's presence. Brethren, you are blessed with God's presence. You're very special. God has tapped you on the shoulder. He has called you.

He's given you his knowledge. Every time you want to get on your knees, or if you don't have an opportunity to be on your knees, maybe you're driving a car and you just want to praise God's name, or you want to talk with God, or sing to God, or whatever. You have God's presence with you at all times. The rest of the world does not have that. You do. Verse 3, Yes, he loves the people. All the saints are in your hand.

They sit down at your feet. Everyone receives your words. So another blessing is God's love, God's care. Now, you may be going through a trial, and a number of people, a couple of people, I should say, in the last little while, said, you know, Mr.

Delosandro, it kind of got away from me for a while. I'm going through a very hard trial, and I was mad at God. I told God, I was mad at you. Why did you allow me to go through this? And this isn't true. The person was going through some really difficult things in their life.

But again, did Jesus Christ go through difficult things in his life? Did the early apostles go through difficult things in their life? The people of Hebrews 11, did they go through difficult things in their life? Is there some reason why you and I should get a free pass? I don't know. I get up in the morning, and my hair is all funny. I've got to take a shower, otherwise you don't want to be around me.

I brush my teeth and take, you know, whatever, a Listerine or something, so that when I'm speaking to you, don't move further back than you already are. You know, we're human beings. We're human beings. And yet God loves us. He's the best friend you and I will ever have, because human beings will leave us, they'll forsake us, they'll disappoint us. God doesn't do any of those things. He won't leave us, He won't forsake us, He won't disappoint us. He'll be there with us through thick and thin. And even afterward dead, He will resurrect us.

Verse 4, Moses commanded a law for us, a heritage for the congregation of Israel. When you add verses 3 and verse 4, it talks about receiving the words and commandment and the congregation. You see in verse 3 and 4, one of the blessings that God gives us is the blessing of worship. Worshiping the true God. And I've said this on a number of occasions over the years. You know, people want to make fun of what we believe, and then you find out what they believe? Please.

The lady Mary was working with who honestly believed that she took this little statue and buried it upside down in her front yard, that somehow God would allow her to sell her house more quickly. And we're weird? Please. God has given us the words of truth, not superstition, not goofiness, the words of truth that are the bedrock of our life.

Verse 5, And he was king and jesserim, when the leaders of the people were gathered, and all the tribes of Israel together. The blessing of God's leadership, the blessing of God's kingship.

So you take a look at this chapter, and it goes on then to start going into the various tribes. That's another story. But you see the blessings we have from God, the blessing of His presence, of His loving care, of proper worship and instruction, of Him reigning over us. Do we take those things for granted? Boy, we shouldn't. We shouldn't take those things for granted. Lastly, we've got chapter 34, last chapter of the book. We will go through this verse by verse.

Deuteronomy 34, verse 1, The Moses went up from the mountains of Moab to Mount Nebo to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho, and the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan. What do we see here? We see a number of things here. There's so much in the Old Testament. I'm astounded that people want to just throw this part of the Bible away. But when you take a look at verse 1, we see Moses ending his career, much like he started his career. He went up to see the burning bush. He was by himself. He's going up to see the promised land by himself. But he's not by himself. He's with God. He was with God with the burning bush. He's with God here to see the promised land. The bottom line is, it shows that Moses had a tremendous individual relationship with his God. It wasn't dependent upon his husband or his wife. It wasn't dependent upon his kids or grandkids. It wasn't dependent upon some other person. It was his personal relationship with God.

One on one.

Matthew 7. Let's go over there for a moment. Matthew 7.

Verses 24-27. Matthew 7.24. Therefore, whoever hears these things of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. So you, as an individual, me, as an individual, if we hear and then do what Christ says, what God says, we are spiritually wise and we're building our house on the rock, and that rock is Christ. The rain descended, the floods came, Verses 25, the winds blew and beat on the house. In other words, the trials of life assail us. But because we're built on Christ, it says here, it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

But everyone who hears these things of mine and does not do them, again, is there something we have to do? Some people would say, all we've got to do is believe and confess with our mouth. Is that what the whole story is? Yes, we need to believe. We need to have faith. We need to confess with our mouth. That part is true, but it goes beyond that. There are things we must do.

But everyone who hears these things of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, in other words, those trials of life, and beat on the house, and it fell, and great was its fall. It didn't have a proper foundation.

I made the comment earlier today in the end of our congregation, and I make it to you as well. If you feel you need to have a sit-down with me regarding your spiritual foundation, I'll be more than happy. If you've got questions, I know there are a couple of people who said, Mr. D., let's you and I sit down and let's have a cup of coffee. So I've got questions whether I've got a really good foundation or not. If you don't have that foundation, if I don't have that foundation, you know who knows that? Satan the Devil knows that.

And at the worst possible time for you, he'll take a spiritual sledgehammer to your foundation, and you will crumble. I can confess to you that there have been too many times in my past where I have been going through— and this is not all the time, but too many times that I want to recall— going through a particular issue. And Satan realized my weakness, and perhaps I didn't know the weakness was as bad as it was. But as I went through the trial, it was really pointed out to me, you know, you are weak here. That's one of the reasons why God gave me the trial. So, Delcendre, you're not up to snuff here. I want to show you something because I want you to be in my kingdom. I want you to be strong when, you know, maybe at the end of your life, when you—it's all or nothing. So, God gives us those opportunities along the way to shore up what is—you know, if we've got a crumbling wall, He wants us to shore that up. If we've got a foundation that's made out of cottage cheese, He wants us to know that.

Okay, we go back to chapter 34 of Deuteronomy. We see in verse 2 and verse 3 that He's seeing all this area of the Holy Land. I'm not going to read all of that. The time is starting to run out. But what do we see? We look at those three verses where God is allowing Moses to see the Holy Land very clearly. We're seeing that God, as He disciplines Moses, is also compassionate toward Him. God is also compassionate. And there are times in our life, brethren, when we may need to use discipline for a friend, for a family member. We may need to give them a kind of a straight from the shoulder discussion. But it should always be tempered with mercy. It should always be tempered with compassion. It should always be tempered with the love of God. If it's done that way, we talk many times about proper child-grewing technique.

If you're going to spank your child, and I fully believe in spanking, I know that for some people that's a bad thing. It wasn't a bad thing for me. I got plenty of them as I was growing up. I'm not a hardened criminal. And I don't curse my parents because they spanked me. I bless my parents because they spanked me. And bless their hearts, they probably wore their hands out spanking me.

But they also would sit down and let me know how much they loved me and why they were doing what they were doing. And even though the tears were flowing, I knew they loved me. No doubt in my mind. My parents made plenty of mistakes. They were human. But there was never a doubt in my mind. I felt I was a well-adjusted kid. Why? Because I knew my parents loved me. I knew my parents. There was no doubt in my mind. First day of school, I don't know what first day of school was like for you, but in my class, half the people were crying. I'm looking around, what are they all crying for? It's like as though they've been abandoned by their mama and papa. Well, I knew I wasn't abandoned by my mama and papa. My mom was a stay-at-home mom. Dad was out working hard. I enjoyed that. I enjoyed knowing that they were there for me. God is here for Moses. 3. Then the Lord said to him, This is the land of which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will give it to your descendants. I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there. There's a little bit of bite in that verse. The Bible says, Make sure your sins find you out. As great a man as Moses was, all he put up with, and yet he had a moment of weakness, and sometimes that moment can ruin a life. Now, Moses' life was not ruined, but it ruined his opportunity to walk into the Promised Land. So, Brother, you and I need to be aware that sometimes we can make a bad decision, and the consequences of our bad decision will follow us. It will follow us. God can forgive us. Moses is going to be in the kingdom of God. But sin has its consequences. And if you right now, or if I'm right now, or we're going through things as a result of our sin, we're asking God, Why? Don't do that. You sinned. I sinned. Sin has consequences. For Moses, there were consequences. Great a man as he was. Verses 5 and 6, Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Pior. But no one knows his grave to this day. Of course, God himself buried Moses. Human beings, being what they are, if they knew where the man was buried, they would have probably dug him up and made some sort of an altar to him or something. They would have probably worshipped his body. We see in the Scriptures where even Satan and Michael, the archangel, fought over the body of Moses. And of course, obviously God is going to win that one. God is going to give Michael the power to win that one. But it shows us something. All of us as people, we shouldn't be worshipping anybody else. Respect them, yes. Honor them, yes. Admire them, fine. But worship them, no. Worship them, no. But again, as God was disciplining Moses, notice the love that God himself took him out and buried him.

I don't know if you've ever been... Down south, this is more prevalent. I don't think I've ever seen anything like this up here in the north. But it wasn't uncommon when I lived in the south where somebody died and you would go over to the home. And the home was where the person was. They were laid out in one of their rooms. And remember Uncle Joe, there in North Carolina, won't use his last name, but Uncle Joe had died and they had dug a hole in his front yard. Because that's where they had a family plot. He was way out in the country. And we buried Uncle Joe there, one time in Tennessee. They had a place where they wanted to have a hole dug. And after I had performed the funeral service, all the men folks started taking their coats off. I said, well, yeah, it's pretty hot out here. I was totally unaware it was about to take place. The guys take their coats off. I left mine on. But then they started digging the hole. They started digging the hole for the deceased. And everyone took their turn digging down six feet and making a place for him. And boom, we put them down there. That took a while.

But that was an act of love. And when God buried Moses, it was an act of love. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eyes were not dim, nor his natural vigor diminished. He wasn't riddled with cancer. He wasn't feeble. He wasn't nearly blind and deaf. He wasn't without teeth.

He was a man who was vigorous, who was still in one sense in his prime. But what does this verse tell us? This verse tells us, when God says it's time to go, it's time to go.

When he wants to lovingly take a hold of your heart and stop it, that's what's going to take place. You know, when we pray, your kingdom come, your will be done. And there's going to come a time, brethren, where it's going to be God's will, where you're going to get sick or something's going to happen to you and you're not going to survive, and I'm not going to survive. Now, there are probably any number of times where you and I have been sick and we've survived, close to death and we've survived. There's going to come a point where God says, you know, just as it was time for Moses to go, it's time, time, Deimos andros, time for you to go. Or you put your name in the blank. Verse 8, And the children of Israel wept for Moses and the plains of Moab thirty days. Now, typically, during a death, they would mourn for seven days. But with Moses, thirty days. So the days that we'd be mourning for Moses ended. You know, like they said there in the book of Ecclesiastes 2, Everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born, a time to die. It was time for Moses to die. It was time for Joshua to take over. God had a plan. Verse 9, Now Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom. For Moses had laid his hands on him, so the children of Israel heeded him, and it as the Lord had commanded Moses. So with God, there's always order. There's an orderly transition here from the great leader Moses to another great leader, Joshua. A smooth transition. Joshua had been ordained in the sight of all Israel by Moses. There was a public ordaining. There was a private ordaining. We've gone through that in the past. Very much, you know, God was working with Joshua, another one of the great men of God. Okay, the last three verses, verses 10, 11, and 12, most scholars don't think Moses wrote this. As a matter of fact, a lot of scholars don't believe Moses wrote the last chapter at all. Some scholars believe that Ezra wrote chapter 34. Some people believe, some scholars believe Joshua wrote chapter 34. Some believe that 70 elders wrote chapter 34. We don't know. We know it's inspired. But most scholars would think that Moses did not write these last three verses simply because they speak so glowingly of him that we would think a man who was so humble, so meek, would not write that about himself. Verse 10, But since then there has not arisen an Israelite prophet like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face. How do you know if you have a solid spiritual foundation? Well, verse 10 gives you a thing to think about. It gives me a thing to think about. Do we know God face to face through our prayer life, through our study life, through our fasting life, through our meditations? Or, as God can someday say to you or me, well, you know, you came to church every Sabbath, you went to the Holy Days, you paid your tithe checks, you ate the right things, and didn't eat the others. But you know what? You never shared your life with me. You never came to me in prayer. You didn't really open the book, the Bible, other than in church. You went through all the mechanics. You were really good at the mechanics, but you just didn't really have a face to face relationship with me.

Verse 11, In all the signs and wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, before Pharaoh, before all of his servants, and in all of his land. Another thing for us to meditate on, if we've got a proper foundation before God, we see here in verse 11. Moses was a tool in the hands of the Almighty. Have you been a tool in the hands of the Almighty? I mean a good tool. I don't mean a broken tool. I don't mean a tool that is dull. I don't mean a tool that doesn't really function like it should. God didn't design you and I to be a broken tool or a tool that doesn't function properly. If you're a screwdriver, you're a screwdriver. If you're a shovel, you're a shovel. And you should be doing the work of a screwdriver or a shovel. God has put every one of us in his body as it has pleased him. He's given us all the opportunity we need, all the help we need. But if you and I are like that person who took his one talent and buried it, then we have not allowed ourselves to be a tool in God's hands. God gets really upset with that. Remember what God said to the person who went and buried his talent? Take him and throw him into the fire.

Verse 12, And by all the mighty power and all the great terror which Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. So here we see that Moses was a leader. You might not think you're a leader, but you can lead. We need to lead ourselves.

Make sure that we are doing God's bidding, God's will. And if God has given us an opportunity to lead a husband or to lead a wife or to lead children, and even, you know, I don't care what gender we are, we can lead our mate. We can inspire our mate. We can inspire our children.

We can inspire people in the congregation. Some of the greatest inspirational people, I can't even remember, some of the people in the congregation. I can think of their faces right now, but I remember years ago, as the church was going through various trials, just people that were in the congregation, you know, back when we used to have four or five hundred people in the congregation. And you didn't know everybody real well. I remember people saying, boy, you know, here's what I was thinking as they took over the offices there in Pasadena. Remember that back in 1979? Came over and just took the state of California, took over our headquarters. Boy, that was a low point for me. You know? But one of the prayer, again, this one fellow came up and said, well, here's how I view this. And it was so solid, spiritually speaking. Yeah! That's right! You know, it was encouraging. I was down. He said something encouraging. I just kind of, yeah, you know, give me something like that. That's what we should be doing, one for another. So right here, we just finished these last three chapters, chapter 32, showing us a wholehearted commitment to God in His ways. Chapter 33, showing that God in all the pertains them, brings great blessings. In chapter 34, we see the very end of a great man of God. And we want to follow the example through Christ that He set for us. We always follow Christ, but there's so many lessons we can learn through watching the example of Moses. Let's learn from this. It lets you and I be the kind of people who have a strong, intimate, face-to-face relationship with our God.