PURSUING The ROCK Of AGES--II—Deuteronomy 32:3-4, 15, 18
VBS Theme: Gold Rush—Searching for the Rock of Ages!
Attention:
The value of Gold today’s commodities market.
Yesterday Gold commodities were worth $1,566.90 per troy ounce or ~31.1g which = ~1.1oz.
*As a young teenager I wanted to find quartz crystals in their natural habitat.
I bought UGS maps of mining areas where they had been discovered. I traveled to some of the areas on the map but I never found much of anything.
I hadn’t put put forth a real effort. I supposed they would be lying all over the ground just waiting for me!
I hadn’t truly pursued the Rock I needed.
If we are to pursue the Rock of Ages, then we must make our every effort to do so...until He is found!
Mt 13:44—““Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found & hid; & for joy over it he goes & sells all that he has & buys that field.”
Need:
Moses revealed Israel’s need to seek/pursue the Rock of Ages.
God’s word encourages our need to seek/pursue the Rock of Ages.
Who searches for the Rock of Ages?
OR
How do we pursue the Rock of Ages?
3 considerations in your pursuit of the Rock of Ages.
We discovered this morning that a pursuit of the Rock of Ages considers...
1. His NAME(:3)
2. His CHARACTER(:4)
Further we find that...
3— A pursuit of the Rock of Ages considers...
His PURPOSE(:15, 18)
Explanation: (:15, 18)Jeshurun, Savior & Father
:15—““But Jeshurun grew fat & kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, You are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
Jeshurun is the intended Israel of God’s desire. She is likewise to be upright & straight in all their dealings, as is their God, YaHWeH.
“Jeshurun”—Nwrvy yesh-oo-roon'—Yeshurun = "Upright one"—1) A symbolic name for Israel describing her ideal character.
From—rvy yaw-shar'— a primitive root; To be straight or even; figuratively--To be (causatively--To make) right, pleasant, prosperous.
JESHURUN—Upright/Straight/Right
the image of God
Gen. 6:9—“This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.”
Job 1:1—“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; & that man was blameless & upright, & one who feared God & shunned evil.”
Gen. 17:1-6—“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram & said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me & be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me & you, & will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, & God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, & you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.””
—In our verses we are looking at a people about to enter the promised land as their own nation. They are still in need of rebuke/chastisement.
1Chron. 29:17—““I[King David] know also, my God, that You test the heart & have pleasure in uprightness. As for me, in the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things; & now with joy I have seen Your people, who are present here to offer willingly to You.”
Ps. 7:8-11—“The LORD shall judge the peoples; Judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, And according to my integrity within me. Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, But establish the just; For the righteous God tests the hearts & minds. My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart. God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.”
Titus 2:11-14—“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness & worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, & godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope & glorious appearing of our great God & Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed & purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
Fat—Thick—Obese
Though Israel received privileged treatment as the apple of God’s eye, she fattened herself & bucked against God as does a horse fighting a saddle.
“Scornfully esteemed” brings home the idea of a foolish shrinking away from God as described in Hebrews 10:38-39.
Heb 10:38-39—“Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”
Privileged Israel Forsook & Scornfully esteemed God:
Ps. 119:69-71—“The proud have forged a lie against me, But I will keep Your precepts with my whole heart. Their heart is as fat as grease, But I delight in Your law. It is good for me that I have been afflicted, That I may learn Your statutes.”
—Note the contrast with “pride” vs. “affliction”
1Sam. 2:27-30—“Then a man of God came to Eli & said to him, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? ‘Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, & to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? ‘Why do you kick at My sacrifice & My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, & honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ “Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house & the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the LORD says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, & those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.”
“Kicked”—jeb baw-at'—1) To kick, kick at. Strong—a primitive root; To trample down, i.e. figuratively--Despise. Used 2X.
“grew Thick”—hbe aw-baw'—1) To be thick, be fat, be gross. Strong—a primitive root; To be dense. Used 3X.
“Obese”—hsk kaw-saw'—1)(Qal) To become sated, be gorged with food. Strong—a primitive root; To grow fat (i.e. be covered with flesh). Used 1X.
“Forsook”—vjn naw-tash'—Qal Imperfect—1) To leave, permit, forsake, cast off or away, reject, suffer, join, spread out or abroad, be loosed, cease, abandon, quit, hang loose, cast down, make a raid, lie fallow, let fall, forgo, draw. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To pound, i.e. Smite; by implication(as if beating out, & thus expanding)--To disperse; also--To thrust off, down, out or upon(inclusively, reject, let alone, permit, remit, etc.).
“Scornfully Esteemed/Lightly esteemed/Scorned/Rejected”—lbn naw-bale'—1) To be senseless, be foolish; 2) To sink or drop down, languish, wither & fall, fade. Strong—a primitive root; To wilt; generally--To fall away, fail, faint; figuratively--To be foolish or (morally) wicked; causatively--To despise, disgrace.
:15b—“...Then he forsook God who made him, And scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.”
SAVIOR
Rom. 11:25-27—“For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.””
Mat. 20:28—““...the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, & to give His life a ransom for many.””
Mat. 1:20-21—“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, & you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.””
1Thes. 5:8-10—“But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith & love, & as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.”
Lk. 19:10—““...the Son of Man has come to seek & to save that which was lost.””
Jn. 3:16-18—““For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
God’s purpose in Christ is to save the world, but it is individually appropriated.
“Salvation”—hewvy yesh-oo'-aw—1) Salvation, deliverance—1a) Welfare, prosperity, 1b) Deliverance, 1c) Salvation (by God), 1d) Victory. Strong—Something saved, i.e. abstractly--Deliverance; hence, Aid, victory, prosperity.
:18—“Of the Rock who begot you, you are unmindful, And have forgotten the God who fathered you.”
FATHER:
Deut. 7:6-8—““For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the LORD loves you, & because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, & redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
Titus 2:11-14—“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness & worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, & godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope & glorious appearing of our great God & Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed & purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
1Pet. 2:9-10—“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”
Rom. 8:14-17—“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, & if children, then heirs--heirs of God & joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”
Gal. 4:4-7—“But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, & if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
Ezek. 16:14-22—““Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you,” says the Lord GOD. “But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, & poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. You took some of your garments & adorned multicolored high places for yourself, & played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be. You have also taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold & My silver, which I had given you, & made for yourself male images & played the harlot with them. You took your embroidered garments & covered them, & you set My oil & My incense before them. Also My food which I gave you--the pastry of fine flour, oil, & honey which I fed you--you set it before them as sweet incense; & so it was,” says the Lord GOD. “Moreover you took your sons & your daughters, whom you bore to Me, & these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small matter, that you have slain My children & offered them up to them by causing them to pass through the fire? And in all your abominations & acts of harlotry you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked & bare, struggling in your blood.”
“Unmindful”—hyv shaw-yaw'—1) (Qal) To forget, deprive. Strong—a primitive root; To keep in memory. Used 1X.
“Forgotten”—xkv shaw-kakh'—1) To forget, ignore, wither—1a) (Qal)—1a1) To forget, 1a2) To cease to care. Strong— a primitive root; To mislay, i.e. To be oblivious of, from want of memory or attention.
“Fathered”—lwx chuwl—1) To twist, whirl, dance, writhe, fear, tremble, travail, be in anguish, be pained. Strong—a primitive root; properly--To twist or whirl(in a circular or spiral manner), i.e. specifically--To dance, to writhe in pain(especially of parturition) or fear; figuratively--To wait, to pervert.
Argumentation:
Jn. 6:51—““I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; & the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.””
Jn. 10:15—““As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; & I lay down My life for the sheep.”
Gal. 1:3-5—“Grace to you & peace from God the Father & our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God & Father, to whom be glory forever & ever. Amen.”
Gal. 3:13-14—“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Heb. 9:13-14—“For if the blood of bulls & goats & the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
1Pet. 3:18—“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God...”
Eph. 4:21-5:2—“if indeed you have heard Him & have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, & be renewed in the spirit of your mind, & that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness & holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. “Be angry, & do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, & evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us & given Himself for us, an offering & a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
Illustration:
Recently our son brought home an older puppy which he rescued from starvation/Her name is Lilly/Lilly is a sweet puppy/She has learned to ‘sit’ & is learning to ‘wait’ & to ‘come’/But the most troublesome thing for her is to NOT urinate or poop inside the house!/Our purpose for her would be to remain in our family where she would be loved as a pet/But her refusal is met with disdain/His PURPOSE
Application:
?Have you considered the PURPOSEs of the Rock of Ages?
?Have you sought the Rock of Ages?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
My ineffective search for quartz crystals
Action:
A pursuit of the Rock of Ages considers...
3. His PURPOSE(:15, 18)
1. His NAME(:3)
2. His CHARACTER(:4)
Presented 06/24/2012pm to:
Needmore Baptist Church
1620 Mt. Vernon Rd.
Woodleaf, NC 27054
