DEUTERONOMY 1-8 THE BEGINNING OF MOSES FAREWELL2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Deuteronomy 1-8 The Beginning Of Moses Farewell

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2012.

And so we are going to be giving you the Word of God this evening through video, and I'll be sharing with you the chapters that we looked at this week in Deuteronomy chapters 1 through 8. So looking forward to this time together with you in the Word, and looking forward to seeing what God will do as we study His Word together.

Well, as we start out with the book of Deuteronomy, we are going to begin, of course, with the context and the background to the book of Deuteronomy to make sure that we understand what it is that we're looking at as we study this book. The name Deuteronomy means second law because this book is recounting for the nation of Israel the

All of the laws that God has given to his people as he's brought them out of Egypt and they were camped at Mount Sinai. He gave them the law, the feasts, the sacrifices, and all of those things. And those things are going to be recounted now to the nation of Israel. Now an important aspect of this is Moses is delivering this second telling of the law to a new generation.

The previous generation, because of their unbelief, refused to enter into the promised land. And so they died in the wilderness as they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years. But now the next generation has been raised up and they're at the Jordan River about to cross over into the promised land. And before they do, God uses Moses to deliver this second telling, this reminder of the law and the things that God had declared.

And so this book is written by Moses somewhere around 1446 to 1406 BC. It's during that time in the wilderness. It's coming to an end and they're about to enter into the promised land. The theme of the book of Deuteronomy is a call to commitment because as they're about to enter in, Moses is calling them to be committed to obey the Lord, to walk with him and to not stray or disobey him.

Well, as we look at the timeline of the books of Moses, we started, of course, in Genesis, and we covered a lot of history in Genesis, and we slowed down somewhat in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and now Deuteronomy. We're looking at this last portion of Israel's history here in the books of Moses, where they're spending their time in the wilderness.

They were brought out of Egypt miraculously by God, and now they've been in the wilderness. It was meant to be only for a year or so, but they've been in the wilderness now for 40 years as a result of their unbelief. But they're at the tail end of that in Deuteronomy. And as you can see here on this slide in their time in the wilderness, Deuteronomy begins there in Deuteronomy 1, chapter 1, verse 3, in the 40th year of Israel's departure from Egypt.

So 40 years have already happened. They've been out of Egypt for 40 years. And the end of the book in 34 verse 5 is Moses' death. And that also takes place in the 40th year. And so this book actually records for us these words of Moses during this couple month portion of time in the 40th year of Israel's departure from Egypt. And so it's a short time span. It's the tail end of their time in the wilderness.

And God at this time has already told Moses that he is going to die and he's not going to enter into the promised land. And so as you look at the book of Deuteronomy, you can understand this is somewhat of a farewell address of Moses to the nation as he calls them to remember the commandments that God has delivered to them.

Well, as we look at the geography here of the book of Deuteronomy, if you start there on the left, you have the land of Egypt where Israel was. God brought them out. They went out across the Red Sea. Then they went down to Sinai where God gave them the law, which we'll be reminded of here in Deuteronomy. He also gave them the tabernacle, the sacrifices, and all of the things that go along with the Jewish law.

the religious system, the old covenant that God made with them there at Sinai. Then they went from Sinai up to Kadesh Barnea. Hi.

With the intention of entering into the land of Canaan. But there they did not believe. And so they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And now as we have seen. We saw at the end of the book of Numbers. And we'll see in the first few chapters of Deuteronomy. Here on this next map. We have Israel camped at Moab. And so they went up around Edom.

They went through Moab, they dealt with the Amorites, they dealt with the area of Bashan and conquered that area. And now they're camped there next to the Jordan River in the plains of Moab, across from Jericho, and they're about to enter into the Promised Land. And that's physically where they're at as Moses is delivering the words that we'll be studying in the book of Deuteronomy for the next coming weeks.

Well, that brings us now to our portions. We'll start out with chapter 1 of Deuteronomy. So, Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 3 is the key verse. It says this, Now it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them.

So here as we begin Deuteronomy in chapter 1, we have first of all the verses 1 through 8 with the command to enter Canaan.

Now this is reminding Israel of their history, reminding this generation of what God did with the previous generation. Some of them saw it because they maybe were teenagers or young children, but he's reminding them now as they're adults and about to enter into the promised land, what God did with the nation as he was leading them into the promised land.

And so the command to enter Canaan takes them back to the time when Israel was camped at Mount Sinai and God gave them the tabernacle, the sacrifices, the law, and then he said, okay, now it's time, enter into the land of Canaan. And he took them to Kadesh Barnea where they went and sent spies to check out the land. So God gives them the command there in verses 1-8. In verses 9-18 we see the

leaders of Israel being set up and established. And this is something we've seen a couple times already in Exodus chapter 18. We saw a reference to something like this in Numbers chapter 11. We saw a reference to this, and some of these are probably parallels. For sure it's a parallel with Numbers 11, but possibly Exodus chapter 18 as well. And you can check those out for that information.

But the leaders now are to help Moses minister to the people, deal with the rivalries, the questions, the judgments, the things that need to be done. And so they're helping him to lead the people as they make their way now to the promised land. Well, then in verses 19 through 33, you see Israel's rebellion at Kadesh. Now, this rebellion was a rebellion of unbelief.

they had sent 12 spies into the land of Canaan to check out the land, to bring back some of the fruit, and to also prepare them for the battles that they would face, to find out what kind of people are there, what kind of cities are there. Do they have strong defenses, or are they like cities without walls? What's it like? And so the 12 spies go into the land, they come back, and 10 of them

Say, you know what? There's giants. The cities are strong. We can't do this. But two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said, no, God is with us. Yes, there's giants. Yes, the cities are strong. But God is with us and we are able. Let's go and conquer this land that God has given to us.

But the nation of Israel listened to the ten spies, and so they refused to enter into the promised land. You can read all about this in Numbers chapter 14, where there's a little bit more detail. This happening at Kadesh Barnea by the nation of Israel, their unbelief is what then caused the next part, the sentence, to wander the wilderness for the next 40 years. And that was given in verses 34 through 46.

Because they would not be obedient, believe God, and enter in, now God said, you're going to wander in the wilderness. Those who are 20 years old and above are going to die in the wilderness, and it's the next generation that I will bring into the promised land.

There's a good lesson for us to learn here as we get to those places in our life that are like the Kadesh Barnea, where we have something in front of us that God has called us onto, and yet we're fearful because of the battles that lie ahead, and we're overwhelmed by what lies ahead. And I like what Warren Wiersbe says about that. He says, when you come to those Kadesh Barnea places in your pilgrimage,

Don't look around at the problems and dangers. Look up to the God who is leading you and walk by faith. We can, as Christians, many times be in the wilderness because we're not willing to enter in

to what God has called us to do. We're not willing to take the steps of faith that He's called us to take, to either remove ourselves from things He's called us out of, or to go into new areas, new territories, new works for Him, new direction from Him, whatever the case may be. We need to not look at the circumstances and think how difficult it's going to be or how big those problems are. But we need to look up at God and believe God and go forward in faith in those things that He's called us to.

Well, that brings us now to Deuteronomy chapter 2. Deuteronomy chapter 2, the key verse is verse 14. It says, And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the valley of Zered was 38 years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp, just as the Lord had sworn to them.

So now Moses is reminding this new generation of how the older generation died in the wilderness as a result of their unbelief. And so verses 1 through 25 deal with that time in the wilderness where

where they're wandering, where the generation is dying off, and then as they're done wandering, they begin their journey to Canaan. And so they go down by Mount Hor where Aaron dies, they go up through Edom, or actually around Edom through Moab, and then they'll be dealing with the Moabites. And that's what we find in verses 26 through 37, where King Sihon of the Amorites is defeated.

Here on this map you have the journey of the children of Israel as they came back to Kadesh Barnea

Then God said, okay, now's the time. We're going to head back into the land with this new generation. And so they go around Mount Hor. They go around Edom. They go through Moab. And they go up to the Amorites. And the Amorites, at first they say, hey, would you let us just pass through your land? We're just passing through. We don't want any quarrel with you. But King Sihon of the Amorites said, no way. He came out against them. And verse 31 says,

God says to Moses, see, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to possess it that you may inherit his land. And so God tells Moses, all right, they want a war. Go to battle. Defeat them. I'm giving you their land. And so that's where they are. They're along the Jordan River dealing with the Amorites and God gives them victory.

Deuteronomy chapter 3, verse 8 is the key verse. It says, And at that time we took the land from the hand of the two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan, from the river Arnon to Mount Hermon.

What we see here in verses 1 through 11 is King Og is defeated and he was a little bit farther north than King Sihon and we'll look at a map of that in just a second. We also see the land being divided on the east side of the Jordan. And so as they're conquering these different kings, the land is going to be divided between three tribes and we'll see that in just a second.

And then finally in chapter 3 we have Moses being prevented from entering the land of Canaan, the promised land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses, it says in verse 23 through 29, is not allowed to enter in. And that's as a result of his disobedience and striking the rock when God instructed him to speak to it.

And so here on this next slide we have King Og being defeated. So here on this map it's a continuation of what we saw a moment ago. Israel going from Kadesh Barnea up around Edom through Moab dealing with the Amorites and then they go farther north to Bashan which is where King Og is and

Again, King Og comes out against them. And so Israel, led by the Lord, conquers King Og and all of their cities, which also were strong and fortified. But they conquered them all by the power of God. And then they're going to be able to inhabit those cities and divide up the land.

Here you have a map of the division of the land of Israel. Now on the left side where you see all the different tribes, we're not really dealing with those here in Deuteronomy. We'll look at those more in the book of Joshua. But we're talking about here in chapter 3, it's mentioned Manasseh, Gad, and Reuben. It's their lands that we're looking at on the east side of the Jordan River.

It's on the right side of the map there. And so you have the Sea of Galilee there up at the top, the Jordan River that goes down, the Salt Sea or the Dead Sea at the bottom. And that's the area on the right side of the Jordan that Israel conquered by conquering the Amorites, by conquering King Og and Bashan. And so that land is now divided between Manasseh on the north, Gad in the middle, and then Reuben on the south.

And there's a little bit more detail about that in Numbers chapter 32 if you want to check that out. Now technically, these lands are not considered part of the Promised Land. And as we saw when we looked at Numbers 32, it probably was not the best decision for them to settle on that side of the Jordan River because they are the first lands to go into captivity whenever they rebel against the Lord. And so they quickly rebel against the Lord and they don't last as long as the rest of Israel.

Now here on this map we have the last part of chapter 3, which is Moses getting the opportunity to view the promised land. He was pleading with God, Lord, please let me go into the promised land. I'm really sorry that I misrepresented you. God said, enough, I don't want to hear about that again, but I'll let you see the promised land. And so he tells him to go to the top of Mount Pisgah.

Now that is located across from Jericho there and it's indicated there on the map. And so he's going to be going up there to see the promised land. And we'll see this again in Deuteronomy chapter 34 with a lot more detail as God will supernaturally be showing him all the different lands there.

that he's given to the children of Israel there in the land of Canaan. Now Mount Pisgah is about 2,680 feet above sea level, so it's not super high, but God is supernaturally going to be showing Moses the territory that he's given to his people. Well that brings us now to Deuteronomy chapter 4. The key verse is verse 1. It says, Now O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I teach you to observe.

So as we continue on now in chapter 4...

Moses is reminding them and calling them to obey God and reminding them of the things that God had spoken to them. So verses 1 through 14, we have the command to obey. He says, make sure you obey the Lord. Make sure that you follow him and that you don't wander away from his commands. We also have the warning against idolatry in verses 15 through 40.

In verse 15, he says, take careful heed. This is something that he's going to be stressing to the people, that they do not engage in the worship of these false gods. And specifically in verse 14, he said, take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Moses is reminding them about Mount Sinai, also known as Horeb,

And he says, when God spoke to you from the Mount Sinai, the mountain of the Lord, and he spoke to you forth from the midst of the fire, you didn't see a form. And so it's not appropriate, it's never okay to make out some kind of form, to carve out some kind of form and say, this is God.

You saw no form, Moses says, so you should not worship things that have form. As Jesus will declare later on in the New Testament, that God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. And so it's this warning against idolatry, which was a common practice for the land of Egypt from where they came,

Also, as they were going into Canaan, idolatry was a common practice there. There was many different gods and forms that the people would worship. But then also, we've seen it already in Israel's history, as they were at Mount Sinai, and Moses was up on the mountain with God, and they thought, well, he's been there for a while, so they fashioned for themselves a golden calf to worship.

And so this is a tendency that they leaned towards, and it's something that God is warning them against because they saw no form. They were not to make some kind of image or something to worship. They were to worship God without that.

Well, then in verses 41 through 43, we have the naming of the cities of refuge on the east side of the Jordan River. And we'll look at those in just a second. And then the location of Moses' message is described for us in verses 44 through 49. And we'll see that here on this next map.

So the cities of refuge are named here in Deuteronomy chapter 4. The instruction for the cities of refuge is found in Numbers 35. We looked at it last week.

This was the place where people could flee to if they accidentally killed somebody. And there they could go, they could have a fair trial. If they were innocent, it was not intentional, then they would be safe in the city of refuge, but they would have to stay there in the city of refuge for the remainder of their life or until the remainder of the high priest's life. And so it was the protection that they had within these cities.

And the idea was they were to be spread out so that for wherever you were within Israel, you could run to this city and it wouldn't be too far away. I think it was more than a day's journey was too long. So you had to be able to reach it within a day.

And so the cities are named here in the far north there in the area that was given to Manasseh you have the city of Golan and that was the first city of refuge and then there in Gad you had Ramoth Gilead which was the city of refuge there and then Bezer there in the area that was given to Reuben was the city of refuge there.

Also, as Moses is delivering this here in chapter 4, he gives the description of where they're at. And again, they're right there at the Jordan River. And if you're looking here at this map, it's right there, that borderline between Reuben and Gad. That's right about where the children of Israel are, right next to the Jordan River, about to cross over into the Promised Land. And that brings us to Deuteronomy chapter 5.

The key verse is verse 5. He says, Here we have, in verses 1 through 22, the Ten Commandments.

Now again, this is Moses repeating the law to a new generation. This isn't the first time we've seen the Ten Commandments. We saw it first of all in Exodus chapter 20. And so this is the repetition of that to this new generation that they would know the laws of God.

Warren Wiersbe says that God's people have three responsibilities when it comes to his commandments. Number one, you have to hear his commandments. Number two, you have to learn his commandments. And then number three, you have to do his commandments. And you see those three things mentioned there in verse one of Deuteronomy 5, where he says that you have to hear them, learn them, and observe them.

You and I as believers in Jesus, this is our responsibility too. Remember the great commission in Matthew chapter 28? Jesus said we're to go and to make disciples and to teach them to observe all that he's commanded us.

And so you and I as believers in Jesus have a responsibility to hear his commands, to hear and listen to what Jesus has said, and then to learn his commands. We need to know what he has declared, what he has commanded us. And then ultimately, of course, it's foolish to hear them, to learn them, and not practice them.

James tells us, don't be hearers of the word only and deceive yourselves, but be a doer of the word. And so we need to hear Jesus' commands, hear what God has declared, learn them. We need to know God's word and know what he said, and then we need to live it out and put it into practice.

Well, here we have the Ten Commandments. They're quite famous. Again, we saw them in Exodus chapter 20, but we'll run through them very quickly. The first commandment is to have no other gods before him. He is the one true God. We're to worship him only. So that's found in verse 7.

No carved images, verses 8 through 10. This echoes what we just talked about a moment ago. There was no form of God when he appeared and revealed himself to them. And so they were not to worship any type of carved image or form.

Verse 11, the command to not take God's name in vain. That's not to use it loosely, but to honor and reverence the name of God. Verses 12 through 15, we have the command to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy. And God had set apart Saturday, the seventh day, the Sabbath, for them to honor Him and to rest from their work. And so they were to keep that throughout their generations.

Those four commands are considered the commands that relate to God. The next six commands deal with our relationship with one another. And so verse 16, the command is to honor your parents, honor your father and mother. Verse 17, the command, you shall not murder. Verse 18, you shall not commit adultery.

Verse 19, you shall not steal. Verse 20, you shall not bear false witness. And finally, verse 21, you shall not covet.

And so these are the Ten Commandments that God put upon the tablets and delivered to the people. These were the laws that they were to follow. Of course, there was much more detail behind these things, and that's what we studied in Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers. But these are kind of the summary of God's law and God's commands to the people.

Now, some people think that they can keep the Ten Commandments, and they think, well, as long as I keep the Ten Commandments, I'll be fine. And that's actually true. If you can keep the Ten Commandments, then you're perfect, and you don't need a Savior. But I would challenge you, if you think that you can keep these,

then you should read Jesus' commentary on the Ten Commandments in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. There, on the Sermon on the Mount, He challenges us. He says, look, it's not just about the outward keeping of these things. You shall not murder, because if you've hated...

your brother in your heart, then you're guilty of murder. You're guilty of breaking this commandment. And so the real issue is the heart. You know, you might say, I'm a good person. I've never killed anybody. But if you've hated anybody, then you've broken this commandment. And so these are the commandments that God gave. It's not just the outward appearance that he's dealing with, but he's addressing the heart. Well, that brings us to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6, the key verse is verse 5. It says, Here we have the greatest commandment according to Jesus. In Matthew chapter 22 verses 36 through 40 says,

He's asked by a scribe, what is the greatest commandment? And Jesus declares, this is the greatest commandment. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Jesus went on to say, the second greatest commandment is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. And he said, on those two commands, all of the law is fulfilled.

And as we saw there in the Ten Commandments, there was the first four devoted to the things of God, and the last six devoted to the things of relationships between mankind, and

loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then loving your neighbor as yourself, fulfills all of those commandments. And so this is the greatest commandment. If you love God, then you will not worship carved images. You will not take his name in vain. If you love your neighbor as yourself, then you will not murder. You will not covet, and so on and so forth.

Verses 1 through 9 here in Deuteronomy chapter 6 give us the instruction to fear the Lord and keep his commands. So Moses is calling them to honor the Lord, to fear him, to recognize that they must obey him.

Here in verses 4 through 9 of chapter 6, we have a very important portion of scripture. It's known as the Shema to the Jewish people. A devout Jew will recite this several times a day to affirm his faith in God. Verse 4 is like the famous part of this verse and this prayer. It's, Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

And then that goes on into verse 5, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Well then verses 10 through 25, we have the warning, beware lest you forget the Lord. Watch out, beware. Verse 12 says, beware lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage.

Moses is going to be constantly reminding them about what God has done and also warning them about forgetting what God has done. The nation of Israel is about to enter into a time of blessing. There's going to be a season of battle as they enter into the promised land. But as they fight those battles, he says, look, you're going to go into towns and cities that you didn't have to build.

Because you conquered the people, you're going to be able to go right in and begin to inhabit those towns and cities. And you're going to have vineyards which you didn't plant. You're going to have all these incredible blessings from God. And you're just going to walk in and they're going to be all there for you. But he says, don't forget when things are going so good, when you have all these great blessings, don't forget God. Don't forget what God has done. Don't forget how he has delivered you.

Teach these things to your children and follow me is what the Lord is saying. Well, that brings us to Deuteronomy chapter 7. Verse 6 is the key verse. It says, 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.

Here in verses 1 through 11, we have Moses' declaration, You are a holy people. The word holy, it means to be set apart, to be devoted to or dedicated to the things of God. And so he says, look, you are a different people. You're a unique people. You are to be devoted to God. Now that meant something as they were heading into the promised land. In verse 2, he explains that,

as you enter in amongst those other nations that are there in the land of Canaan, that you are to utterly destroy them. Because you're holy, because you are to be set apart and separate for the things of God, as you come amongst those other nations, you are not to be neighbors with them. You're not to live with them side by side. You're not to put up with them, but you are to utterly destroy them.

Now this can seem a little bit hard and harsh and sometimes people have a difficulty with this. In fact, we get lots of questions about that because earlier as they were dealing with King Sihon and King Og, it makes mention that they destroyed all the inhabitants, even the women and the children.

creates a conflict. You know, how could God command and call them to, you know, put even women and children to death in these battles? But what we need to understand is the basis for this is they are a holy people. They're to be set apart to God. And God is bringing judgment for sin upon these nations that are living in the land of Canaan. He's using Israel as His instrument to accomplish this judgment.

In Genesis chapter 15 verse 16, God is speaking to Abraham and he's telling him about his plan and how he's going to bring Abraham's descendants into the land of Canaan. But he tells him it's going to take some time. And so verse 15, I'm sorry, chapter 15 verse 16 of Genesis says, "...but in the fourth generation," so this is some time is going to pass, "...they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."

God says the iniquity of the people here in the land of Canaan, it's not yet complete. It hasn't reached its max. And so what God is doing with the people in the land of Canaan is he gives them 400 years to repent.

And it's 400 years now later, they've not repented. They've not turned to God. They've not responded as He has reached out to them. And so now God is in a position where He is forced to deal with their iniquity, with their rebellion against Him. The reality is the scriptures declare that the wages of sin is death. And the unfortunate part about that is innocent people are often affected.

That your sin, my sin, doesn't just affect me or just affect you. That others are affected and impacted by our sin. And so the wages of sin is death, and that's what we see happening here. God is using Israel as his instrument to bring the wages of sin to this people that have been living in rebellion against him. I would ask you to consider it this way.

If God wanted to deal with this in a different way, and he was to rain down fire and brimstone upon these nations in the land of Canaan, like he did at Sodom and Gomorrah, the same result would have taken place. The women and the children would also have been killed in that judgment that God brought out upon them.

But instead of raining down fire and brimstone, God is using the nation of Israel to accomplish this judgment. And so that is the reason why God says you must utterly destroy them. Because you're a holy people. You're to be set apart. And I'm going to be dealing with this sin of these people. Well, verse 3, he tells them that you're not to have any kind of marriages with them. Again, you're not to put up with them. You're not to be neighbors. You're to remove them completely. God is making sure. Now,

This has led to some confusion throughout history to think that God doesn't like interracial marriages and things like that. God's not concerned about the race. He's concerned about their relationship with Him. And so the principle still stands, even as believers today, that

Christians are not to marry those who will potentially lead them away from a relationship with God. Because those who are in rebellion to God don't have in common really anything with those who are devoted to God, those who are a holy people who are set apart to God.

And so as a believer, as a Christian, we really cannot be united together in marriage with those who are not believers. Paul also deals with that in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 as he talks about not being unequally yoked with unbelievers. As he talks about being a holy people, he also makes point though in verse 7 to point out

Hey, you're chosen by God, not because you're so great, not because you're so wonderful. It's by God's sovereign choice that he chose you. You weren't a big people. You weren't a mighty people. God chose you, but it wasn't because you're so wonderful. So you're a holy people. You're his chosen people. He chose you. You don't really have to figure out why. Just know that he did, but it wasn't because of you being so great.

Well then in verses 12 through 16 he gives the declaration that they will be blessed. They're going to be blessed. As they enter into the promised land, God is going to bless them.

Now I think it's important to consider that this is a conditional promise. In verse 12 he says, because you listen to these judgments and keep them and do them, that the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the mercy which he swore to your fathers. But it's this condition, because you listen to these judgments and keep them and do them.

And so some of the promises that we see in the scriptures do have conditions. God's love is unconditional, but his working in the nation of Israel and even in our lives sometimes is conditioned upon our obedience, our listening to his instruction, and our following of it. Well, that brings us finally to Deuteronomy chapter 8.

Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 18 is the key verse. It says, And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers as it is this day. And chapter 8 verses 1 through 20, it's really all about remembering the Lord your God. Remembering God is so important.

He calls them to remember how God delivered them. Remember how God brought them out of Egypt. Remember how God provided for you, how He gave you manna in the wilderness. He met your needs. He protected you so that your sandals didn't wear out, that you had provision, you had everything that you needed. He's calling them to remember how much they need God. Now, we've already seen

Similar language, similar instruction in the book of Deuteronomy. Why do you think that God had to remind the people so much? Well, it's very simple. We're so quick to forget. We quickly forget, especially as we come into a time of comfort, a time of blessing, where there's not the urgent need, there's not the major illness, and so often we forget everything.

That it's God who enabled us to have these blessings. We might think, hey, I work hard and I obtained this money. I bought this house. I got this car. I did these things by working so hard because of this that I did. But even if that's the case, there in verse 18 you see it. It is He who gives you power to get wealth.

It's God who's working in your life from beginning to end. Any good thing that you have, any blessing that you have, it's by God. God is the one who delivered you. He's the one who brought you out of bondage. He's the one who provides for you and meets your needs. Remember how much you need God. Well, as we finish up our time together this evening,

in Moses' farewell address, as he's calling the people to remember and to make sure that they don't forget. I want to end our time together by looking at a couple verses back in Deuteronomy chapter 7. Would you look with me please at Deuteronomy chapter 7 verses 22 and 23. It says this, "...and the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little."

You will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you and will inflict defeat upon them until they are destroyed. This is such an incredible picture and example for us. Really important lessons for us to learn here.

Because God said, when you go into the land, you're to utterly destroy the inhabitants that are there. But what we learn here in chapter 7, verse 22 and 23 is, it's not going to happen overnight. It's not going to be one big battle, and then boom, it's done. There's no more of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Jebusites, all those guys. It's not going to happen in one battle. It's not going to happen overnight.

He says, you will be unable to destroy them at once. Instead, he says, the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little. As believers in Jesus, this is a great picture for us. It's a great encouragement for us. Because as believers in Jesus, we've turned to him and by faith we've been forgiven of sin. We've been saved.

created as new creations, right? 2 Corinthians 5.17, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. All things have passed, behold, all things become new. How exciting. And yet we have this conflict because, well, like Paul, we learn, well, there's still sin. I still stumble. I still struggle. There's still sin that I wrestle with in my life.

And this is the reality that we experience, which is pictured here in Deuteronomy 7, verse 22 and 23. Look, you've been delivered, and God promises ultimate victory over sin. But the victory in your life happens little by little. God will drive out those things that are not of Him in your life little by little. The battles that you face are not all won overnight.

There will be major victories, there will be minor victories, and they will be happening. God uses the process of time. He uses the events and the circumstances that take place. He uses the lessons that we learn along the way, and all of those things together is this process by which God drives out those things that are not of Him little by little. You know, so often we get discouraged, and we think, man, why?

I've been a Christian for this amount of time. Why do I still struggle with this? How come I still have this addiction? How come I can't break free from that? How is it that I'm able to still fall into those things so terribly? And we get discouraged. We get beat down. And the enemy, of course, will jump on that opportunity and beat us down as well. But be encouraged. God will drive out those things. He will drive.

Be faithful to complete the work that he began in you, little by little. And you and I, our responsibility is to continue to walk with God and keep on fighting. That's really the point. Keep fighting. Don't give up. The children of Israel, though, didn't do that.

When they went into the Promised Land, they had some major victories. They weren't able to drive them out altogether, just as God declared. But instead of continuing to press on and little by little driving out the inhabitants of the land, they began to compromise. They began to make deals. They began to say, hey, we're not going to drive you out. We're not going to fight you. Just be our servants. And so they decided to become neighbors.

They decided, well, just be our servants and we'll put you to work. But we're not going to do the battle that God commanded us to do. You'll find that in Judges 1, verse 28. It says, And so they disobeyed God. God said, I'm going to drive them out. It's going to be little by little. You got to keep on fighting.

But they didn't do it. Instead, they started to make some deals. And this is what I want to end with, encouraging you, challenging you. Listen, don't put up with the flesh. Don't make deals with it. Well, I guess this is how it's going to be. You know, I'm just going to have to live with this addiction. I'm just going to have to live with this, you know...

this habit. I'm going to have to live with this temper. I'm just going to have to live with this condition. I'm going to have to live with this, you know, style of living. Listen, don't make deals. Don't decide, well, this is it. You know, I'm just going to have to make it work the best I can. No, keep fighting. Keep taking it to the Lord. Keep crying out to the Lord to change you, to work, to give you strength and to give you victory. Keep on fighting. Don't get discouraged. Don't make those deals.

Because it will wind up being, well, as God said, if you don't drive out those nations, if you don't drive out those lands, it's going to be a thorn to your flesh. It's going to drive you crazy. It's going to be irritating. It's going to be a constant discouragement to you.

So don't give up. Don't compromise. Don't continue on and just make those deals and just figure this is how it's going to be. But fight. Repent of sin. Turn from it over and over and over again. Keep on turning from it. Keep on repenting of it. Keep on turning it over to the Lord. Keep on fighting. And little by little, trust Him. Trust God. He will drive those things out.

Well, that's our time together. Deuteronomy chapters 1 through 8. Love you guys. Miss you. Sorry I couldn't be there, but pray that you are encouraged by the word. God bless. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.