Revering the Word
Deuteronomy 2 and 3. God has been faithful.
Good morning everyone Yesterday we started the book of Deuteronomy and in chapter one God was reminding Israel of their unfaithfulness primarily when they were in the desert to Show them that it didn't work well when they didn't trust God because they're about to enter into the promised land And God has given them going to give them victory But he wants them to remember to follow him and honor him when they get into the promised land And that is the main theme of the book of Deuteronomy the second reading of the law before they enter the promised land They've been waiting 40 years to go and he's desiring and longing that when they get there They would not forget about him, but that they would honor him and follow him and The examples of chapter one were there as a reminder remember Your past remember how sin didn't work remember how Falling away didn't work stick with me in the future and and now in chapter two and three which we're going to cover in brief today God is now Gonna remind them of his faithfulness Because over the past four years they have had many challenges Many obstacles many nations around them that interfered with their wanderings in the desert as they even head towards the Jordan River to eventually enter the promised land and God is reminding them of all the things that God has done for 40 years because It's gonna be a courageous thing It's gonna be a scary thing to enter the promised land and have to defeat the enemies that are there and God's wanting them to see Look, I was faithful to you I helped you everything went the way that I had intended and I'm gonna be with you when you enter the promised land So even despite the waywardness of the things we've talked about in chapter one that you did Remember how I've been faithful to you and now go for I will be with you again Even despite your past waywardness. I'm gonna be with you to give you victory. They needed Strength they needed courage. They needed to be able to trust in God I want to give you some samples of what happens in chapter two and three Again looking back at the past, you know of the 40 years. That's where we're at. So At one time in verse pick it up in verse For the second half there it says you will pass through the territory of your brothers the sons of Esau Who live in Sarah and they will be afraid of you So be careful very very careful. Do not provoke them for I will not give you any of their land Even as a little as a footstep Because I have given Mount Seer to Esau as a possession You shall buy food from them with money So that you may eat and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink for the Lord your God has blessed you And all that you have done He has known your wanderings through this great wilderness these 40 years the Lord your God has been with you and you have lacked You have not lacked a thing and it's reminding them listen when you did water I gave you water when you needed bread. I gave you bread from the sky when you did food I gave you quail you have not lacked a thing for 40 years although you lived in a desert think about that You lived in a desert and I still was able to provide for you But he's also telling them, you know what I gave Esau this portion of the land not the promised land But this this portion where they were now and he's saying, you know what don't don't you don't need their land I give it to him and remember I have provided for you this entire time moving forward to verse 14 of Deuteronomy He refers to another time when they were at Kaddish bernia He says now the time that I it took for us to come from Kaddish bernia until we crossed over the brook zared was 38 years you mentioned, you know that whole time In this specific region here you were there 30 years until all the generation of the men of war perished From within the camp as the lord had sworn to them Moreover the hand of the lord was against them to destroy Them from within the camp until they all perished So it came about verse 16 when all the men of war had finally perished from among the people That the lord spoke to me saying today you shall cross Overair the border of moab So he's he's saying you know what I intentionally You know Let you guys be there for 38 years because you guys were unfaithful and even after the spies went out and I And I told you you're gonna wait for for you know 40 years in this desert And they said now they took matters into their own hands You might recall that from previous parts of the story and he said no we'll go fight now And God's like i'm not with you to fight right now. I told you you're gonna have to wait in the desert because of your unfaithfulness I'm gonna take your children over when they grow up. That's the generation that i'm gonna take into the promise land But the people wouldn't listen and they went on their own merit And the lord allowed them to be defeated And what he's what he's showing them here in this reminder of that past event He's saying listen when I told you that what I was doing you didn't go then you went on your own and it didn't work out trust me trust me now because I'm telling you you can go you are now going to enter the promise land and this time I'm with you and i'm telling you to go and you've seen all that i've done you can trust me Don't do your own thing but but follow the lord your god and he will give you victory He's reminding them of his faithfulness in verse 36 Of chapter two he says from eror which is on the edge of the valley of arnon from the city which is in the valley even to gilead There was no city that was too high for us the lord ar god delivered all over to us Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of amen along the river jabak and the cities of the hill country and wherever the lord Our god had commanded us He's reminding them again of another victory that where god delivered them And he's also reminding them there's an area where he told them not to go And if you just would go where the lord god has commanded you in the past in that past 40 years If you would do and when you did what the lord commanded and i've provided for you and when you didn't then you were destroyed or you had Problems and now i'm telling you that you're going to be able to go to this promise land And i'm going to be with you and just like i was with you in the past. I'll be with you again chapter three This says then we turn these are all just are a recount of what happened the past then we turned and went up the road to bashan And an ag king of bashan with all his people came out to meet us in the battle of edgry So a big battle that they had while they were wandering in the desert But the lord said to me do not fear him king aug or his people Bri have delivered him and all his people and his land into your hand And you shall do to him just as you did to saihan king of the amorites who lived Haschban so the lord our god delivered ag also king of bashan with all his people into our hand And there again God is reminding them of how he provided them when someone came out to battle against them And then in verse 21 of chapter three it says this i commanded joshua at that time saying Your eyes have seen all that the lord your god has done to these two kings so The lord shall do to all the kingdoms into which you are about to cross Do not fear them for the lord your god is the one fighting for you hallelujah. What a word You've seen what i've done Do not fear what i'm asking you to do now and going into the promise land for the lord your god is the one fighting for you hallelujah You know we're not being asked right now to In this season in this church age to conquer our enemies through military battles We're not being asked to take someone's land Uh, god is working in a different way now. He said you shall be My witnesses in um, Jerusalem judeus samaria and to the ends of the earth go make disciples of all nations We're not doing what god was doing in the old testament now We're trying to win the world to jesus And the lord our god is with us in the thing like listen When god wanted them to have victory they had victory when god wanted them to be punished for their waywardness They were punished for their waywardness What that means is god's going to do what he's going to do and the plans that he has for us in the future the plans to uh Come back and reign for a millennium The plans to bring a new heaven and a new earth down out of heaven for his people i'm going to prepare a place for you and i will come again to take you to the place That i prepared for you, you know, john 14 one through three Do not let your hearts be troubled trust in god trust all so in me God's going to do what he said he's going to do he's going to be faithful to us If you're a believer in the lord jesus He has heaven awaiting for you. He has future Kingdoms for us to reign in and you can trust god And when things go bad just wait on the lord trust in him even amidst the valley even amidst the storm Because the lord our god is going to do what he said he was going to do He did it all through the old the old testament and he's going to do it for us too That doesn't mean that we're not going to face difficult times as that doesn't mean that there's not going to be Times in history where it's like you know what it doesn't seem like god is in this moment doing what we would like or He's not quite yet fulfilling his divine destiny for the future And there can be seasons where we're waiting on god to do what he's going to do but in the end God is going to bring about what he's promised in the scripture Do not fear for the lord your god is the one fighting for you These chapters end with something interesting because you know moses Because he was part of this group of people and even Problems that sometimes moses had moses was not going to get to enter the promise land josh away It was the one that was going to lead People in and listen here moses even pleaded Because he wanted he wanted to go he wanted to see the promise land. So this is how chapter three ends I moses also pleaded with the lord at that time saying oh lord god You have begun to show your servant your greatness and your strong hand For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours Let me I pray cross over and see the fair land that is beyond the jordan that good hill country in lebanon But the lord was angry with me on your account And would not listen to me and the lord said to me enough Speak to me. No more of this matter Go up to the top of pizga and lift up your eyes to the west He's going to let him have a mountain view of the promise land To the west and the north and the south and the east and see it with your eyes For you shall not cross over this jordan But charge joshua and encourage him and strengthen him For he shall grow across at the head of his people and he will give them As an inheritance to land which you will see So we remain in the valley opposite Beth pure isn't that interesting? so moses Was allowed to go up and get a mountain view But he was a he was supposed to just trust god even though he wasn't going to be able to go and he was supposed to encourage and Help joshua to be prepared to lead the people into the promise land Isn't that interesting one of god's greatest followers one of god's greatest leaders and Even him Was not able to go into the promise land, but you know what Moses accepted that and moses is going to die on this side of the jordan river But god was still faithful to moses And you know sometimes life doesn't always turn out exactly how you would want or how i would want But yet god is still god And he's still doing and going to get done what he said he was going to do And we got to trust him with our lives and with our eternal life Even when this life might not go or turn out or Things that we desired in this life may not happen the way that we thought But nonetheless he is god and nonetheless he had promises for moses promises for joshua And promises for us And you know what god doesn't need to do any more here on earth for me to believe in him He's already done enough May we may i trust in god all the way to the end No matter what my lot here in this life is And in the end hallelujah he'll be faithful In the heavenly places and ages to come hallelujah God has done so much in the past we can trust him And even when we don't see What god is doing sometimes moment by moment? We can trust him for the plans for the future. God bless you all