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The Bible is the most important book in the world.
It not only takes us through the whole history of the universe from beginning to end, but it can also speak clearly to us about daily life:
Why are we here?
Is there really a God who has shown up in human history?
How should we live?
Book by Book explores the Bible's answers to the deepest questions.
Book by Book
Deuteronomy Episode 9 - Meeting Jesus in Deuteronomy
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Moses stands at the edge of the Promised Land, delivering his final messages to a new generation of Israelites. What could possibly be so urgent that this dying leader needs to emphasize it with his last breaths? The answer transforms how we understand not just Deuteronomy, but the entire purpose of God's law.
The revolutionary truth Moses reveals is that fulfilling the law was never about perfect rule-following. It was always about relationship with God through faith. As Paul Blackham explains, "The law is not hard when we realize that it's calling us to trust in Jesus." This profound insight illuminates how the Old Testament consistently points to Christ centuries before his birth.
When Moses addresses this new generation as if they personally witnessed the Exodus from Egypt, he teaches us something vital about Scripture—these ancient stories aren't distant history but living narratives we're meant to personally engage with. "Until you can say, 'Yes, I was there at the cross,' you haven't actually been saved," notes Dr. Blackham. The Bible invites us to recognize ourselves in its pages, understanding that the same human tendencies that drove Israel to rebel against God exist within our own hearts.
What about those who have wandered far from God? Moses offers astonishing hope. Even for those scattered to "the most distant land under heaven," the path back isn't a long, arduous journey—it's as simple as calling out to God for rescue. "You don't need to find your way back to Him; He will find you," reminds Blackham. Like the thief on the cross who simply said "Remember me," our smallest cry for help reaches God's ears.
Perhaps most remarkably, we discover that Joshua—the leader who would bring God's people into their inheritance—bears the Hebrew name that in Greek becomes "Jesus." This isn't coincidence but divine design. Just as Joshua led Israel across the Jordan into the Promised Land, Jesus leads us from slavery to sin into our eternal inheritance with God.
How might your relationship with Scripture change if you approached it looking for Jesus on every page? What freedom might you find in realizing that keeping God's law is ultimately about trusting in Christ? Join us as we continue to discover the joy of meeting Jesus in all the Scriptures, book by book.
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Welcome to Book by Book
Speaker 1Hello and welcome to Book by Book , the joy of meeting Jesus in all the scriptures . My name is Steve Nicholls and it's great to have you with us for study number nine in the book of Deuteronomy . Why did Moses teach the Israelites the law ? Why do we read it today ? What's the purpose of the law ? That's what we're going to be thinking about , and to help us do that , as always , is Dr Sunil Raheja , psychiatrist , author and coach , and also Dr Paul Blackham , church planter , church minister and theologian . Well , if you have a Bible there , please do pick it up and turn to Deuteronomy , chapter 30 , and I'll read a few verses for us together . Deuteronomy , chapter 30 , and we'll pick it up at verse 11 . No , the word is very near you , it is in your mouth and in your heart , so you may obey it . We'll come to that in a moment . But , paul , can we go back a little bit to chapter 29 ? At the start of chapter 29 , moses says that the new generation had seen what had happened to the older generation in Egypt . How is that possible ?
Speaker 2Yeah , because the whole of this is about the fact that this is a totally different set of people than the people who came out of Egypt . But he says your eyes have seen all that the Lord did in Egypt to Pharaoh and he goes no , that isn't true . With your own eyes you saw the trials and that's not true , like they weren't . But I think it's making this deep point that comes up over and over again in the Bible , like in Psalm 95 that we've touched on sometimes , because we read Psalm 95 every day in the Church of England in the morning prayer thing . And it's like today , if you hear his voice , harden not your heart as you did at Massa and Meribah , and I'm like I wasn't at Massa and Meribah and then . But the Bible's like , yeah , you were like that same rebellion , the quarreling and testing that there was a Lord . You need to . When you read that story , you , you , you .
Speaker 2And that's the amazing thing about the bible , that in a way , these stories , oh , this happened like one , uh , three and a half thousand years ago , but this incredibly powerful way that , as we are reading it , by the power of the spirit , we can go no , I wasn't messer and mirabar , I have let the lord down . And so moses speaks to that new generation as if they'd experienced the exodus for themselves . And he goes you know what it was like to be delivered from Egypt and see the Lord's hands ? And they were there . And it's like , yeah , like because of that same experience of like , oh , I haven't really left Egypt behind and I should be with the Lord . And he's speaking to them as if what was true for that earlier generation , they've got to have that same sense of exodus and commitment to the Lord . And then he's like where he says this day , the Lord has not given you a mind that understands . Arise that Syria .
Speaker 2So it's this way in which the Lord , we need the Lord to give us that understanding so that what happened in Eden , what happened in the Exodus , what happened in the exile , what happened at Easter , all these events , we need him to give us eyes and understanding so that we go . Those stories involve me . They're not ancient history , it's about me . So that's like , like , were you there when they crucified my lord ? And it's like , well , you have to be able to go . Yeah , I was . And until you can say , yes , I was there at the cross , you haven't actually been you are , you're not saved yes so it's the seeds the same attitude , the same motivations , the same inclinations .
Speaker 3They're all , they're within , they're within us all yeah , and it's this history .
Speaker 2It's funny , like this history of israel , like I'm like I'm british person . I know far more about the ancient history of israel than I do about the ancient history of britain . It's like what was happening in britain in 1500 bc . I don't know and I don't really care , you know , whereas I do care , because it's as if they're saying , saying this is your real history .
Speaker 3Once you're part of my people , Because the psychology and the mindset it's all in here .
Speaker 1So , if I can come to you , in chapter 29 still verses 16 to 18 , the Lord rejects the detestable things of the pagan world , in their case idols and images . Why does he use such extreme ?
Speaker 3language . It is strong language , isn't it Detestable ? God is a jealous God .
Speaker 3I think if we think about marriage and we think about the love between a husband and a wife and again I've seen it you know when there's adultery and the pain that that causes , when there's the break of a marriage because a third person has come in , and the heartbreak , the anguish , the fury , what God is saying is that I love you . He's saying to his people I love you , like a husband loves his bride . I've given everything to you and you've gone off and you've committed adultery . Think of a marriage breakup , think of the pain that that causes , and you've got a small picture of the love that God has for us and how much he has given himself completely to us and how we've spurned that for other lovers . And you know they're talking about idols of stone and silver and you know and we've had that reference before when they made that golden calf .
Speaker 3You know all the story about and they were there in terms of God , in terms of Moses speaking to the Pharaoh , and the plagues and all that they went through and God rescued them from hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt . Takes them out , takes them , crosses the Jordan , the Jordan crosses , you know , opens up . They go through Pharaoh's soldiers and everything is destroyed and they are on the verge of the promised land and they say , oh , this golden calf rescued us . I mean , that's a slap in the face to God , it's a complete slap For all his love . That's why it's detestable . You can't mince your words on this . Wow , wow .
Speaker 1Yeah , thank you . Yeah , that's very , very helpful , paul , if we can look at verse 19 of this chapter . When such a person hears the words of this oath , he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks I will be safe , even though I persist in going my own way . This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry . Why does that lead , why does that warning lead , to a judgment like that on Sodom as it's described in verse 23 ?
Speaker 2Yeah , it's crazy , isn't it ? Because you're like and gamora , they're really evil , the lord hates them . But the lord's like saying , yeah , but yeah , sodom and gamora , but it wasn't the fact that they did just lots of evil things . The real problem at the heart of it is that the pride and that they were like we don't need to be saved by god . And then , and then you realize , oh no , the that that in the Lord's like saying , if you think I'm okay , I don't need to be saved , that puts you in a worse .
Speaker 2You know , you're Sodom and Gomorrah , all the worst things in the Bible . Because people are like , oh well , sodom and Gomorrah , at least I'm not like Sodom and Gomorrah , yeah , you are If you don't cry out to the Lord to be saved and you think you can save yourself or fix your own mess , sodom and Gomorrah . So it's just telling us like , don't get moralistic and judgmental about these behaviours . The ultimate sin is this kind of pride I don't need to be saved , I'm OK , and the Lord's really . He can't give us a stronger warning than that .
Speaker 2Call out to him to be saved yeah .
Speaker 1And if we can follow on from that , Paul ? Yeah , and if we
The Path Back from Wandering
Speaker 1can follow on from that , Paul . Deuteronomy 30 begins with the path back to the Lord . Oh yeah , when we have wandered away from him , what's the key to returning to the Lord ?
Speaker 2Yeah , it's so lovely because it's again he imagines sometimes in Deuteronomy several times , where it's like if you wander away from me and you might wander so far away , you're scattered , incredibly distant and in that sense geographically , but it's spiritually , that sense where we can feel , oh , I've wandered so far away from the Lord . And I've spoken to people who said no , no , I remember inviting someone to church and they said I can't go to church because I've wandered so far from the Lord . If I go back to church there'll be a lightning bolt to kill me . And they were totally sure that's what would happen . But it's like here he says listen , even if you wander to the most distant places in the whole , that banished to the most distant land verse four under the heavens , from there , the lord , your god , can gather you and bring you back . What do you have to do ? You just verse you
When Ancient Stories Become Personal
Speaker 2know , return to the Lord , your God , and obey him and call out to him for rescue . And this is the point , always like getting back .
Speaker 2You might say I've wandered so far and it's taken years . I've wandered away so it will take years to get back . No , the Lord can reach anybody anywhere . Again , it's that sense that he's already been to the deepest depths of lostness and God-forsaken darkness In order that anyone who calls to him . So I say to a person you maybe even listen now and they'll think I've wandered a very long way from the Lord . How am I ever going to find my way back ? You don't need to , he will find you . All you need to do is say Lord , god , I don't know if you can hear me in my lostness . Can you rescue me ? Or just say the word help . It's the best prayer we can ever pray and he will get you and bring you back yeah , so a thief on the cross , isn't it ?
Speaker 1remember me . He's got nothing to offer the world , nothing to offer the lord . His life is at an end , but he just says remember me , and that's enough , isn't it for the lord just to reach out and grab him and say you'll be with me today in paradise , beautiful .
Speaker 3It's wonderful , isn't it ?
Speaker 1It's amazing . So the changes that we maybe often try to make are so superficial . Often we talk about you know , you've got to be the best version of yourself and all this sort of self-improvement stuff , but Deuteronomy 30 , verse 6 , talks about a change which is far deeper than that . Can you unpack that for a little bit ?
Speaker 3Yes , I'll just read it out . It says the Lord , your God , will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul and live . And you're right it's talking about . It's not just about not doing wrong things or external behaviour , but it's a complete transformation from the inside out , which or external behaviour , but it's a complete transformation from the inside out , which ultimately is just saying only God can bring . But it comes from realising and we've been talking about this really is that all the sins that the Israelites are doing here , the seeds of all that , are within me . And I think it's Jack Miller who has this quote .
Speaker 3It says cheer up , you're much worse than you think you are , but you're also much loved than you realise as well and so we've got to hold the two intention in the sense , yes , I confess that I'm a sinner , but also his love is so much greater now I've used that phrase , you know uh , um , our sins are so many , but his mercy is more , and that's the tension that we've really got to hold . But it's the circumcision of the heart , it's that change which only God can bring . But , as you said , as we call out and trust him and we ask him to change , that he's able to , as it were , bring about that change , so that I'm not living for myself , I'm living for him . I'm no longer on the throne because you know people , as you exactly say .
Speaker 3People say , oh , you don't know the stuff I've done . There's no way that god could well . Actually , he does know the stuff you , I don't may not know , but he knows the stuff that you've done and nothing is too far for his reach . Except if you and your pride say this can't be forgiven . That's your pride holding you back . That's the one sin that can't be forgiven . That's your pride holding you back . That's the one sin that can't be forgiven . That I don't need you .
Speaker 1I remember being in a Bible study years ago with a young lady who'd come over from China to study English and she was reading Mark's Gospel and she came to the part where Jesus says if your right hand causes you to sin , cut it off or your eye to pull it out . She said , when I sin , I find it's not my , my eye or my hand that makes me sin it's my heart .
Speaker 2Can jesus give me a new heart ? That's exactly what he promised to do .
Speaker 1Yeah , the problem is so deep . Yeah , only he can fix it .
Speaker 3You need a new heart , circumcised heart , that's right , yeah and that's that's the key thing , because we can do the external behaviors , but you know who were the ones who crucified jesus ? They , they were the were the Pharisees , who were considered the most righteous people around . But it was all about external behaviour . But I think that's the wonderful thing about the Gospel and I think one of the things that brought me to Christ was realising it's God looks at the heart .
Speaker 3He's not interested in just an external conformity . And what do people say ? Oh , I don't murder , I don't commit adultery , I don't steal , I pay my taxes . I recycle I recycle , all well and good , you do , yeah , yeah . But what about the heart ?
Speaker 1Yeah , I know , so let's press on a little bit . Yeah
The Circumcision of the Heart
Speaker 1, yeah . So many people are lost in addictions and obsessions in this world , this broken world . What hope does the Lord offer when we can't escape from our own prison ?
Speaker 3That's right . We create these prisons , don't we ? And you're right . I mean addictions to alcohol , to drugs , to pornography , to shopping , to TV , to Netflix , all sorts of things , to food .
Speaker 3Ultimately , we have a God-shaped hole , and that God-shaped hole we try to fill with all sorts of things and again our secular world says don't think about it , doesn't matter , this life is all there is . The tragedy is nothing can fill that great god-shaped hole , nothing except god . Augustine said it was it several hundred years ago . Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee . And the only a no . Feel like if you were told to two grades . Come on , it's love God with all your heart , mind , soul and strength , and love your neighbor as you love yourself . The first one love the Lord , your God , with all your heart , mind , soul and strength , all your passion , intelligence , everything you've got . We feel like that's an addiction , but it's the only addiction that is safe .
Speaker 3Any other addiction ? Because our hearts , they're idol factories , and the Israelites' problem was idolatry . We say in the West oh , we don't bow down to statues . We know we don't bow down to statues , but we're always creating idols . There's always something that's more important to me than God and I get addicted to it because I keep thinking oh you know , I'll give you one of the tragedies . I had a guy this is a number of years ago . His arm was just covered in slashes , just self-harm . He says every time my favourite football team loses , I cut myself . Wow , and his arm was just covered in slashes . And I mean that's a graphic example that we put all our hope and expectation into something . It might not be a football team , but in my family , in my wealth , anything . And it doesn't satisfy . And God is saying I'm the only one who can satisfy . He's calling out to us in love .
Speaker 1So , thank you . And these addictions are often coping things for a deeper problem , aren't they ? The Lord is the answer to you .
Speaker 3Yes , and was it CS Lewis who says that ? He says that we're like children playing with mud pies in a slum while the parents are saying don't play in the mud pie , I want to take you to the beach and to the seaside . I want to play in my mud pie . I want to take you to to the beach and to the seaside . Oh no , I'm too . I don't want to play my , I'm in my mud pie .
Speaker 3He's got something so much glorious , so much more wonderful for us , and but we need the eyes of faith . The problem is we're too much governed by what we see in front of us . That's our problem . And you know the lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh , those things because we can see them . The the treasures are by the eyes of faith . Like the Israelites , you know , they had to have the faith to go into the Promised Land . They had to trust that , they had to defeat the giants that we were talking about earlier on . But these giants of addictions , of pornography , of money , of materialism . They seem so big , but God has so much more to give us , so much better things to give us .
Speaker 1Thank you very much , paul
God's Jealousy and Detestable Idols
Speaker 1. Let's turn then to Deuteronomy 30 , verses 11 to 20 , these words which are quoted in Romans 10 in the New Testament
The Word Is Near You
Speaker 1. What's going on in these verses , and why does Paul quote it ?
Speaker 2Yeah , I love it . This might be my favourite bit in Deuteronomy , because it's like when people often read all these laws and moses is summarizing all that was in excess on the videos and he's like here it all is and some people are , oh , the law is so difficult to fulfill the law , how am I supposed to do what the law ? And so moses is at the end of his life and it's almost maybe he's getting like I can't mess about anymore , like I've only got like a couple of days before I die . So he's like listen , what I'm commanding you , what the law is asking of you , is not difficult , it's really easy , it's not beyond your reach . And then he says it's not up in heaven . And it's the thing . He says it , it , it's this word , that kind of means . It just means like the word , the thing , this thing that I'm offering to you , it's not something up in heaven , so you have to ascend into heaven to get your savior . Like that , christ the savior , moses is saying don't you , don't have to go to heaven to get the saviour , he will come down from heaven to get you .
Speaker 2Neither would you have to like when it says the sea . The sea represents death in the Bible and it's all the way through . And when they crossed the Jordan River , you know , when I crossed the verge of the Jordan and it's that hymn by William Williams and we know , oh , it's when you die , that's when you cross the Jordan . That idea of going through the waters is death . So here , when he says we don't have to go , who's going to go into the sea ? Now , moses , he understands the symbolism and he's saying you don't have to because we've thought I need a new me , me has to die . But then how am I going to get a new me out of death and resurrect a new me ? I can't do that . And it's like saying you don't need to , you don't need to go and get Christ , the saviour , from death and you resurrect him . He will be resurrected from death without your help . So he's like saying , no , this word , jesus is the word , the word verse 14 is very near you , in your mouth and in your heart , so you may obey him and speak him . So he's like saying , look , it's really easy to fulfill the law . All you gotta do is trust Jesus . And you might say , no , that isn't what Moses is saying . Yeah , it , it is .
Speaker 2It's in Romans , paul literally does a Bible study . So on this , literally , I just cheated , because everything I just said , you might say , no , you got all that out of it . No , well , it is all there . But Paul does all the hard work for it . He does the Bible study for us in Romans , chapter 10 , and he says that's what it's about . And then he says what does it say ? Romans 10 , verse 8 , the word is near you , in your mouth and in your heart . That is the message of faith that we proclaim . If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead , you will be saved . And Moses is saying that's what I'm saying , that's all I'm saying . To fulfil the law , you don't have to do tons and tons and tons of righteous or religious or ritual things . Really , to fulfil the law , you just go Jesus , you're the Lord , god , you rescue me , you can bring life from death , and I can't . Yes , Paul .
Speaker 1That's wonderful . That's so , so helpful as we read the whole law to have that in our minds . Our time has almost gone . So , in chapter 31 of Deuteronomy , what's the significance of a man called Joshua leading the ancient church into their inheritance in
Joshua Points to Jesus
Speaker 1the Promised Land ?
Speaker 3It is amazing , isn't it ? I mean , joshua is the Hebrew , jesus is the Hebrew , jesus is the Greek . Yeah , and it's almost like an open secret in a sense , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3But here is something the same word for Jesus is here in Deuteronomy , 1,400 years before he was born . And as Joshua led them across into the promised land , jesus leads us across to our promised land to be with God forever , to be with God , the Father , in eternity . I mean , I think it's one of those things you just wish you got the whole world to know and see that how the Scripture is just , how God has written the scriptures so beautifully and how this amazing truth that he's planned it since the beginning of time . You know he's talking about the Exodus . And then they're coming and they're on the verge of the promised land . We are , you know again , we are on our Exodus journey . You know we've been in slavery to sin and to addictions and all sorts of things . He has rescued us from the giants and now he's saying come with me , just call on me , I will give you a new heart and I will take you across the Jordan .
Speaker 2And it's wonderful when we do actually finish the book of Jeremiah , you flip over the page . There's a whole book just called Jesus Jesus , that's right , and that's what Joshua is the name page . There's a whole book just called Jesus Jesus , that's right , and that's what Joshua is the name Jesus , that's what you're saying . So when people go , oh , is Jesus really in the Old Testament Book of Jesus , the book of Jesus , and there's a whole book about a guy called Jesus who does all that you just said , I mean wow , wow .
Speaker 3It's mind-blowing .
Speaker 1Last question , paul , as we come , then , to an end today , the great legacy of Moses in the rest of chapter 31 is the law , the first five books of our Bible . How important is it for us to read the Bible regularly ourselves ?
Speaker 2I know it's lovely , isn't it ? He finishes writing it there at the end of 31 and he's like put that next to the Ark of the Covenant . The Ark of the Covenant , it's the throne of God in heaven . He's like , yep , that's where the Bible needs to be kind of thing . And he started writing the Bible . It's just that sense that the Bible is how we hear the voice of God and meet God . We came to encounter Jesus in the pages of Scripture .
Speaker 1What a great place to end the joy of meeting Jesus in all the Scriptures . That's what we're about with Book by Book , isn't it ? Yeah , absolutely so . Now , paul , thank you again , as always , for our study together . It's been great , thank you .
Speaker 1What's the key truth from these chapters today ? I think it's this the law is not hard when we realise that it's calling us to trust in Jesus . The very first Easter Sunday in Luke , chapter 24 , jesus and two companions were walking to a town called Emmaus and the two friends with Jesus didn't realize that he had risen . They were kept from recognizing him . We're told and Luke tells us in verse 27 , that , beginning with Moses and the prophets
Closing Thoughts
Speaker 1, jesus explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself . The law is the signpost and Jesus is the destination . It's all about him To do what the law required really to keep the law was to trust in him . So next time you're reading the Old Testament , ask yourself this question what does this passage tell me about Jesus Christ , who he is , what he was coming to do , what it means to follow him ? Jesus is the great subject of the whole Bible . He always has been , until next time . God bless you and goodbye .
