Underneath

UNDERNEATH

TEXT: Deuteronomy 33:27

Deuteronomy 33:27 KJV The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.

l. INTRODUCTION – THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY & MOSES

-If you read carefully, if you bend and listen closely, you can almost here the stirring words of an old man. This is not just any old man but this is a man whom God has used mightily throughout his lifetime and now he has some parting words for the people that he has walked closely with for the last forty years.

-Deuteronomy pours out of Moses as the ripest and most choice fruit that comes from a lifetime of communion and service with God. This book called Deuteronomy is his song. . . . . . Moses’ Song. The text that I read comes as a crescendo full of spiritual feeling and purpose closing out the song. He is leaving behind some things that Israel needs to hear.

A. Moses’ Life

-Obviously some of his experiences in life color the words that the Lord impresses on him to write. His life had been marked by some times that were up and some times that were down. He had been prepared in the finest schools of the world at the time and then all of the great aspirations that the Egyptians fell apart for him.

-Partly because of a mistake on the part of Moses and partly because of the plan of God for his life. His mistake was murdering an Egyptian slave-driver. The slave-driver probably deserved all he got but still the lynch law of Moses should not have been factored into the picture.

-Yet generally speaking most of the men of this world never plan on mistakes and failure. There probably are some things that lead them down the path but most likely none would ever dream that this would be their lot in life.

-But all in all, Moses mistake became God’s blueprint. It would be a blueprint that God would draft out the construction and character of the man named Moses.

Hebrews 11:24-27 KJV By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; [25] Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; [26] Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. [27] By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

-His great education appears to languish in the desert for forty years before God found him at a burning bush. It appears that a murder is going to cause him to have to flee for the rest of his life. He is forced into a dead end or so it appears.

B. The Lessons from the Desert

-There are some lessons that we learn from this difficult spot in the life of Moses and these points also overflow into the children of Israel:

Hard times do not erase God’s promises.

Harsh treatment does not escape God’s notice.

Heavy tests do not eclipse God’s concern.

-Moses’ failure turned him into a servant. The desert helped Moses to discover himself. That is often what happens to men who allow the desert to shape them. It forces us to see things within that we are not accustomed to dealing with.

-Our responses to the desert often determine the success or failure of the future for us. There are generally three ways that we respond to the desert:

I don’t need it!

I’m tired of it!

I accept it! (This is more than just a resignation to the facts but an embracing of destiny that God has for us.)

-There are some who understand the great value of a forty-year tenure of the desert. Consider your own “desert” and reflect on what has happened with that “desert”:

Those years reduced and subdued our temper.

Those years weaned us from the shams and setups and supposed sweetness of this world.

Those years gifted us with eyes and hearts to suffer the loss of this world to trade for a greater reward in heaven.

C. Other Circumstances in Moses’ Life

-Not only did the desert seem to attempt to choke the life out of Moses but there were other circumstances that he had to endure throughout his life.

-He went to the mountain and met with God. Not only would he meet with God, he would return a changed man. But personal revival does not always secure local nor national revival and this he found when he returned and found Israel dancing around a golden calf.