Deuteronomy Series

April 03, 2021

My Favorite Thing About Deuteronomy can be summed up in one word = REMEMBER.

• Ellen White {PP 292-293} - God had promised to be their God, to take them to Himself as a people, and to lead them to a large and good land; but they were ready to faint at every obstacle encountered in the way to that land. In a marvelous manner He had brought them out from their bondage in Egypt, that He might elevate and ennoble them and make them a praise in the earth. But it was necessary for them to encounter difficulties and to endure privations. God was bringing them from a state of degradation and fitting them to occupy an honorable place among the nations and to receive important and sacred trusts. Had they possessed faith in Him, in view of all that He had wrought for them, they would cheerfully have borne inconvenience, privation, and even real suffering; but they were unwilling to trust the Lord any further than they could witness the continual evidences of His power. They forgot their bitter service in Egypt. They forgot the goodness and power of God displayed in their behalf in their deliverance from bondage. They forgot how their children had been spared when the destroying angel slew all the first-born of Egypt. They forgot the grand exhibition of divine power at the Red Sea. They forgot that while they had crossed safely in the path that had been opened for them, the armies of their enemies, attempting to follow them, had been overwhelmed by the waters of the sea. They saw and felt only their present inconveniences and trials; and instead of saying, "God has done great things for us; whereas we were slaves, He is making of us a great nation," they talked of the hardness of the way, and wondered when their weary pilgrimage would end.

George Santayana - “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

After taking an 11-day journey {Deut. 1:2} and turning into a 40-year odyssey, Israel was once again on the eastern bank of the Jordan.

Moses was old {120 years} and his work was done. He was about to die, but before he walked off into the sunset, he had some things to say….

Review of the past 40 years:

First, he spent some time reminding Israel of it’s past:

• Spy gate

• The desert years

• Defeat of King Sihon

In spite of all your rebellion, the LORD has blessed you. He has watched over your journey and for 40 years He has been with you and you lacked nothing. {2:7}

• Defeat of King Og

• Division of the land east of the Jordan

• Moses forbidden from entering the land

Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6 - Listen to the decrees and laws I am about to teach you. Follow them so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land that the LORD is giving you. Do not add to it and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you….. Follow them when you enter the Land. Keep them because they will be your wisdom and understanding to the surrounding nations.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 - Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. Remember the day you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, when he said to me, "Assemble the people before me to hear my words so that they may learn to revere me as long as they live in the land and may teach them to their children."

Deuteronomy 4:23 - Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.

A Review of the Law:

After the lengthy history lesson, Moses restated The Ten Commandments and reminded the people to walk in all God’s ways and then he gave them what would become the center of their daily worship – The Shema {Deuteronomy 6:4-9}:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates…..