Thru the Bible - #158-Deuteronomy 7- Warnings/Promises og God

Transcript

Welcome And Today’s Focus

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Welcome to Barin's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible chapter by chapter and verse by verse. Wherever you are in the world, thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee, or tea, and let's get into today's lesson. Welcome back and thank you all for joining me. Open your Bible to Deuteronomy chapter 7. The title of today's lesson is Warnings and Promises of God. Deuteronomy chapter 7, and let's read.

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Deuteronomy 7. When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and drives out before you many nations, the Hittites, Gergeshites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations, larger and stronger than you. And when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you, and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons, or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord's anger will burn against you, and will quickly destroy you. This is what you are to do to them: break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down the asherah poles, and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you, and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God. He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands, but those who hate him, he will repay to their face by destruction. He will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees, and laws I give you today. If you pay attention to these laws, and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you, and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land, your grain, new wine and oil, the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. You will be blessed more than any other people. None of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you. You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you. Do not look on them with pity, and do not serve their gods, for they will be a snare to you. You may say to yourselves, These nations are stronger than we are. How can we drive them out? But do not be afraid of them. Remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. You saw with your own eyes the great trials, the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm with which the Lord your God brought you out. The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished. Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God who is among you is a great and awesome God. The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little. You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you. But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed. He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven. No one will be able to stand up against you. You will destroy them. The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire. Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God. Do not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction.

Responsibilities After Victory

Why Obedience Matters To God

Blessings That Follow Obedience

Final Warnings Plus Practical Steps

Prayer Requests And Closing

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Now, let me start with something real. When someone truly comes to know God, one of the first things that starts to change is who and what they surround themselves with. Now, you don't always need someone to tell you the Spirit of God begins to move in you and he begins to move in a different direction, it begins to move you in a different direction than you once went. Things you used to be comfortable with, people you used to run with, they just don't you know fit the same anymore, just or it doesn't even hit the same anymore. That's something that's exactly what we see here in Deuteronomy chapter 7. God is preparing his people to step into victory and blessings, but he makes something very clear. If you want my blessings, you must be willing to separate from what is against me. That is a lesson for all of us. Now, I know this has to do with Israel, but this is a lesson that all of us can learn from and should take in, is that when you begin to move in a direction with the Lord, you do have to start to separate yourself from people, from things you used to do. You remember, we're supposed to be in the world, but not of the world. You know, the things you used to laugh at, you can't laugh at those things anymore. The things you used to look at and think was okay, you can't look at those things anymore. You can still have your life, you can still uh you know be a fun person because being a believer is fun, contrary to how people make you think. But there are things that you don't do anymore and you have to move away from, and that is the main principle. If God's people obey him, he will give them victory and blessings. But that obedience requires removing godless influences from your lives. Now we will break this uh chapter down into parts. The first part is responsibilities after victory, and we see this in verses two to five. God tells Israel, I'm going to give you the land, I'm going to defeat your enemies, but then he says, When I do, here's what you must do. And he gives them some responsibilities. Responsibility number one, completely remove what opposes God. Look at verse uh look at verse one. When the Lord your God shall bring you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and shall clear away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Gergeshites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, and when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you listen, God completely removes uh opposition in your way. Now, I'm going to give you this land, and the Lord says this wasn't just for partial obedience. God wanted a complete break from what was against him because those influences were not neutral, they were dangerous. The next responsibility is don't make compromises. Verse 2. And you shall defeat them. No agreements, no middle ground. You must walk with God and make deals and do what pulls you away from him. You know what I'm saying? You don't want to do the things that pulls you away from him. The third responsibility is don't show favor to what dishonors God. We were just talking about that also in verse 2. And you shall defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. God didn't want his people softening towards things that were clearly against him. Sometimes what feels like kindness is actually compromise. What I mean by that is that sometimes when you think that you are being kind to a person or you know, you're chuckling or laughing at something you shouldn't, or are being settled in with them, what you're really doing is that you're you're compromising. That's something the Lord did not want them to do, which brings us to the fourth responsibility. Don't mix your life with opposing influences. Notice verses three and four. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them, you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will quickly destroy you. This is about relationships. Uh, the wrong connections can slowly pull you away from God, and uh we shall see that today as we're looking through these verses. God wasn't just thinking about them, he was thinking about their children because what you allow now can affect your future generations. This is why he talked about marrying. You are not to give your sons to them. Why did he say it? Because they will pull you away from the Lord your God. That is something very important for us parents to think about. Be very careful of who your kids align themselves with for the long term as regarding marriage. Which brings us to the sixth responsibility: destroy idolatrous influences. Look at verse 5. But thus you shall do to them, you shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and hew down their asherine and burn their graven images with fire. God didn't say manage it, he said remove it completely. Some things cannot stay in your life if you want to walk with God, and that's a lesson for us. You have to get rid of certain things, idolatrous things, in your life to walk with the Lord. Don't try to manage it, don't try to say, Well, you know, I'm gonna kind of temper away from it. You have to completely destroy these things. Which brings us to the second part why obedience matters. Now God explains uh uh why he expects this level of obedience. And we see this in verses six through eleven, and the Lord gives us reasons for this. The first one is you are set apart. Look at verse 6 for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. God says, You are holy, you belong to me. That's not about perfection, it's about identity, and your identity should reshape your behavior. Remember, God didn't call us to be perfect, he called us to be obedient. Remember what it was said about uh about Noah. Noah wasn't perfect, but uh Noah was righteous. The second reasoning, you are chosen, still in verse 6. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession. Out of everyone, God chose them, and that should create a desire to obey, not out of pressure, but out of purpose that the Lord chose them. You see, uh also continuing in verse six, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth, he chose them. Reason number three, you are loved. Look at verses seven and eight. The Lord did not set his love on you nor chose you because you were more in number than any other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God didn't choose them because they were impressive, he chose them because of his love and his promise. Same principle today, God uh God's love isn't based on performance, it's based on the fact that he wants you. Which brings us to reason number four. You are redeemed. Notice verse 8. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which he swore to your forefathers, God brought them out of bondage, he changed their situation completely. When God rescues you, it should change how you live. Now, the Lord has brought a lot of us out of different things. I don't know what the Lord has brought you out of, but there are lots of things that the Lord has definitely delivered me from. And that deliverance is supposed to bring a change in your life. You're supposed to look back and remember how the Lord rescued you, and that is supposed to make you stay on that narrow path and obey the Lord, which brings us to the fifth reason. God shows mercy to those who obey. Verse 9 says, Know therefore that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps his covenant and his loving kindness to a thousandth generation with those who love him and keep his commandments. God promises ongoing mercy, health, and faithfulness to those who walk with him. And that is the beauty of walking with the Lord. Excuse me. I had to get a drink. God does keep his promise, but you have to walk with the Lord. Trust me, if you walk with the Lord, you will see him deliver on all of these promises. Which brings us to reason number six. God judges disobedience. Verse 10 says, but repays those who hate him to their faces to destroy them. He will not delay with him who hates him, he will repay him to his face. Now, this is the part that people don't like, but it's true. God takes disobedience serious. We talk about how God is a God of love, but we forget that He's a just God and He does pay disobedience. But the beauty of that is, is that He also forgives and He also brings you out of it. And then in verse 11, the conclusion of verse 11 is, Therefore you shall keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments, which I am commanding you today to do them. So God says, obey my word, that's the foundation of everything, which is the conclusion of verse 11. Now that moves us on to part three. Verses 12 through 26, blessings of obedience. Now we talked a lot about disobedience, but now we're gonna move to the blessings of obedience. Uh and there are several blessings I want to point out. Blessing number one, continued love. Verse 13 says, He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your herd and the young of your flock in the land which he swore to your forefathers to give you. God's relationship with you deepens as you walk with him. Trust me, keep walking in that. The second blessing is tangible blessing. God provides in real practical ways. We talked about that in verse 13 that we just read. You know, he blesses their grain and their wine and their oil. God, you know, will bless your finances, he will bless your health, he will bless your spiritual walk, he will uplift you and keep you. Blessing number three, God expands what you have. As I mentioned, he will multiply those things that you have. Blessing number four, family blessings. That obedience impacts your home. What the Lord does in your home, he will uh He will bless your children, you know, your young, He will bless uh the things you have in your home. Blessing number five, provisions and success. God blesses your work and your resources. You know, sometimes the Lord will bless you with a promotion, He will bless you with a better position or a better or a better area. Blessing number six, you will also get his favor. We see this in verse 14. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall be no male or female bearing among you or among your kettle. God sets his people apart in a unique way. Now, a lot of us, some of you may have kettle, but a lot of us don't have kettle, but we do have children, and we want to have children, and having those children, uh that you know that is absolutely a blessing, and the Lord will give you favor there. Blessing number seven, protection from suffering. Notice verse 15 and the Lord will remove from you all sickness, and he will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but he will lay them on all who hate you. See, God shields his people from certain judgments. When you walk in right with the Lord, he will the people who set a trap later on the Bible. It says uh in Psalm that, Lord, there are those who set a trap for me. Allow them to fall into the trap that they set for me. That is part of what this is talking about here. God will protect you and he will put those on the people who are trying to trap you up. Blessing number eight, freedom from judgment. We also know it is that in verse 15, and the Lord will remove from you all sickness, and he will not put on you any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but he will lay them on all who hate you. God removes consequences that could have come. Now, there are things that the Lord knows that he could have put on you, but when you turn and walk with him, he can remove those and will remove those consequences. Blessing number nine. Victory over your enemies. Notice verse 16. And you shall consume all the peoples whom the Lord your God will deliver to you. Your eyes shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you. If you should say in your heart, These nations are greater than I, how can I dispossess them? You shall not be afraid of them. You shall you shall well remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. He's telling them, Remember those things, the great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs and the wonders, and the mighty hand and the outstretched arm by which the Lord your God brought you out. So shall the Lord your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornets against them, and to those who are left and hide themselves from you perish. You shall not dread them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God, and the Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You will not be able to put an end to them quickly, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. But the Lord your God shall deliver them before you and will throw them into great uh confusion until they are destroyed, and he will deliver their kings into your hands so that you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No man will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. The graven images of your of the excuse me of their gods you are to burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold is on them, excuse me, that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be sneered by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God, and you shall not bring an abomination into your house, and like it come under the band, you shall utterly detest it, you shall utterly abhor it, for it is something banned. Now, let's talk about some final uh admonitions here. God closes with reminders. Don't compromise, don't fear enemies. Remember what God has already done. Trust uh that God is with you. Now, the Lord is talking to Israel, but we know that these things are obtainable and these things do uh reflect in our life. Remember what God has already done. Now, He's now what's happening here is He's reminding Israel remember what happened when I brought your forefathers out of the land of Egypt. And that is something for us too. There are things in our life that God has brought us from. God has brought us back from the brink of death, some of us. He has brought whether it was sickness, whether you were out in the streets and the Lord protected you, whether something else serious happened, it could have been a storm that the Lord saved you from. You need to remember those things and you need to trust that God is with you. Also, understand that growth happens little by little. Sometimes we think that we change instantly, but you have to remember that growth happens little by little. Sometimes it takes a while for the Lord to reshape those things and remove anything that dishonors God. Start there. Remove things that dishonors God. If you have things on your phone that dishonor the Lord, erase those things and get rid of those things. If there are things on your computer, if there are things on your TV, put blockers on it and get those things out of your life. This is a lifelong process, not instant perfection. Remember, this is not something that happens instantly, but it's a daily walk with the Lord. And it starts with your morning prayers. You ask the Lord to uh walk you on a straight line. And when you find yourself in in trouble, you know, put on some hymns, put on some things that are good to your spirit around you, and begin and cry out and call out the Jesus and ask him to deliver you through it. Which brings us to you know the final applications I would like to make about this lesson. If you want victory, stability, blessings, you know, it's not complicated, but it's not easy either, if that makes sense. Uh, like I just mentioned, cry out to the Lord and ask the Lord to save you and guide you and protect you. But the Lord didn't say that this walk was gonna be easy. This is something that I absolutely uh talk to my kids about all the time. The Lord never said it was gonna be easy, he just said that it's gonna be worth it. Now remember, you also cannot hold on to things that pull you away from God. You know what those things are in your life. I know what they are in my life. I can't speak for you, but I can speak for myself, and I know what those things are. You you don't want to hold on to those things. And you also have to expect to walk fully in his blessings once you are away from those things. Now it comes to a point where you have to choose. All right, that brings us to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 7. I hope as always that you got something out of this lesson. I hope that this lesson blessed you. I hope that it encouraged you. As always, I ask you to pray for me. I do need your prayers. I ask that you pray that I stay strong and steadfast in the scriptures. I pray, uh I want you to pray for me that I stay on that short and narrow path. I don't want to be here teaching you these things and I'm not doing these things. So pray that I stay on that path. I need those prayers. I'm nowhere near perfect. Uh, I'm not even near righteous as Noah was, but every day I am walking to be on that path. And wherever you are in the world, I am praying for you as well. It means a great deal to me that you uh take time out of your morning, afternoon, and evening to uh follow me and go through the scriptures with me. I am I am praying that you also stay on that narrow path. That brings us to the end of Deuteronomy chapter 7. That is all for now. God bless. Thank you for listening to Berean's Corner. We appreciate you joining us as we dive into God's word and seek biblical truth together. If this episode encouraged or challenged you, be sure to subscribe, share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. You can find Berean's Corner on BuzzSprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon Music, and more. Let's stay connected. 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