Your Choice

An expository sermon from Deuteronomy 11:1-28 on how our present choices impact our future.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

If you have your Bible with you, would you open it to Deuteronomy chapter 11? We're going to cover the entire chapter, but we'll read verses 1 through 7, and then we'll drop down to verse 26 to get the gist of it. And the title I've given to this chapter is Your Choice. Your choice. Beginning in verse 1, it says, Therefore thou shalt love the Lord thy God, keep his charge and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments always. And know ye this day, for I speak not with your children, which have not known, and which have not seen the chastisement of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched out arm, and his miracles, and his acts which he did in the midst of Egypt, unto Pharaoh the king of Egypt, and unto all his land, and what he did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord hath destroyed them unto this day, and what he did unto you in the wilderness, until you came into this place, and what he did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben, how the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households and their tents, and all their substance that was in their possession in the midst of all Israel. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the Lord, which he did. Verse twenty six. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God. But turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods which you have not known.

unknown 1:52

Let's pray.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

Dear Heavenly Father, it is our privilege to come into your presence this evening to hear your voice through your word. We delight in it, Lord, and we invite you to do a work in our hearts and our lives. Father, I pray and ask that you would help us to learn lessons from the Israelites that we can apply to our lives today. And may we realize that so much of it pivots on the choices we make in regards to your word. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. In this chapter, Moses calls the people of Israel to make a conscious decision. Sometimes decisions we make aren't so conscious. We just kind of go with the flow. But Moses is actually calling them to make a conscious decision, a thought-out decision. And as I thought about that, it reminded me that people tend to put off making a choice until they have to. And I think it's a consequence of our intelligence. Animals are instinctual, and so they go by instinct, but you and I are intelligent. God created us with natural intelligence. And because we are intelligent, we know that there are consequences to our decision. And so when we're faced with a decision and we say, well, consequences? If I do decide to do this, I'm going to have that and that and that. And because we're intelligent enough to know that there are probably some consequences that we can't foresee. Well, if I make this decision now, I don't know what that's going to lead to. And so we oftentimes have this tendency to put off making that decision until we have to make it because we are contemplating what the consequences will be. Moses knows that. I would say that Moses is an astute observer of human nature. He has been dealing with these people for 40 plus years. He doesn't have his degree in psychology, but I would say he could get an honorary doctorate in it. He knows what it's about. And so he knows that he's not going to be around much longer. And he knows that they are going to have some challenges in the future. And he's trying to ensure that the people of Israel do the right things in order to inherit the land and inhabit the promised land. They got up to this point once before, and they fell short. And so Moses is trying to ensure that they inherit the land and that they inhabit the land. And so throughout this entire book of Deuteronomy, which is almost one address that Moses is making to the people, at certain points throughout this long address, Moses calls on the people to make a collective decision. He calls on them to decide as a group, as the whole group that he is addressing. And he will take these moments and he'll say, Here's a choice that's set before you. And in this chapter, he says, Look, I'm setting before you a blessing and a curse. If you choose obedience, you choose the blessing. If you choose the disobedience, you choose the curse. And so he does this intermittently throughout this address. Chapter 11 is one such point. And so Moses first points back to the past. And so he says, Hey, look back at what God has done. And then he paints a picture of the future. Here's what God will do for you. And he emphasizes that it all pivots on the choices that they make in the present. You can look back and see what God's done in the past. And we know the promises that God said he would give us in the future, but it's all hinging on what you do in the present. The choices you make today will determine the future that you get tomorrow. And so, really, that's the outline I want to follow as it flows through this chapter. Number one, the performance of God in the past. We read that in verses one through seven. Moses begins this chapter by going back and giving a review of things that have happened. He highlights God's greatness, his mighty hand, and his stretched-out arm in verse two. What does he mean by that? You've seen the greatness of God, his outstretched arm and his mighty hand. Well, Moses reminds them that over the past 40 years, that God has revealed his greatness to them in a way he has never revealed himself to anybody previously. I mean, we can go all the way back to Genesis and we see some encounters that Adam has with God. We see some encounters that Noah has with God. Abraham gets some interaction. Joseph knows that the hand of God is on his life, but nobody in history has experienced or had revealed to them the greatness of God the way these people have. Literally, God has been with them for forty plus years every single day. Remember, when they leave Egypt, he is guiding them in the pillar of fire by night and the cloud by day, and every day he is there, and that presence is sitting on the tabernacle, and he has done miraculous things in their sight. No people in history have seen God revealed as these people have. This reference to his outstretched arm is a reference to how God has reached out to them, that it was he that made the initiative, not them. It is like what Jesus said when I quoted this morning, you have not chosen me, I have chosen you. And so the same way they didn't initiate it, it wasn't because they were such righteous people. It wasn't because they made so many sacrifices and sent up so many prayers and called down the presence of God. No, no, no. It's because God initiated. God reached out to them. And his mighty hand refers to how God intervened in their affairs in a supernatural way. And you just see it at every turn. There's God's hand in Egypt, there's God's hand at the Red Sea, there's God's hand at Mara, there's God's hand at Sinai, there's God's hand with the Moabites, there's God's hand with the Amalekites, there's God's hand here with the entrance in the land. Every point we find that God has revealed his greatness through his outstretched arm and his mighty hand. These people, right? Moses says to them, I'm not talking to you children who hasn't seen this. I'm talking to you. And so there is this adult generation that would have been in those late teenage years during the time that they left Egypt, and then when that first generation, that generation was 20 years old and older, failed to enter the land, they were the ones that were condemned to death. And so you now, 40 years later, have people that are primarily 60 years old and younger. And those older ones are ones who saw it with their eyes. They weren't born in the last 40 years, they were living through the entire episode. He goes on in verse number three to point out God's miracles and acts in Egypt. This is a direct reference to the plagues in Egypt. So he's just reminding them, remember what you have seen in the past. You were there when you saw God send ten miraculous plagues into Egypt and devastated them. Things that could not be explained away, things that could not be replicated. And on top of that, not only did you see those plagues he sent on Egypt, but you also experienced how God protected the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Remember, back during those plagues, there was this unseen line of delineation. And there was darkness in Egypt and there was light in Goshen. And there was invasion of locusts in Egypt, but not in Goshen. And so God had preserved them. And that's the reference he's making when he says, you've seen the miracles of God. You've seen his acts in Egypt. In verse 4, he talks about how God defeated the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. And again, as you relive that moment, you have to remember that when they got there, they make their escape from Egypt. And then the next day, Pharaoh decides to pursue. They get to the Red Sea. The army is closing in behind them. They have nowhere to go. And it says that they were just kind of frantically running around. And so God has through Moses told them, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Stand still. It's interesting that he had to say that. Why? Because they're running around with chickens like their head cut off, because they they don't know what they're going to do. They're hopeless. Man, this is going to be a slaughter. It's going to be a bloodbath. This is where we're all going to die here on the banks of the Red Sea. And then in one miraculous moment, God eliminated their greatest threat. They had no greater threat than the enraged Egyptian army. They had no defense against the Egyptian army. They're slaves, they don't have weapons, and yet in one miraculous moment, God eliminates it. I mean, they cross the Red Sea, the waters are parted, the Egyptians start in, and God just closes the waters, and they're gone. All gone in one moment. And Moses says, You saw it. You might have been young, but you saw it. You saw God's deliverance. In verse 5, God's care of you in the wilderness is referenced. You understand that as you look at that 40 years in the world, the wilderness was not designed to be inhabited. That's why it's called the wilderness. It is the wilderness because it is uninhabited land. It is thousands of miles of sand and sandstone, and it is not a place where you can plant and grow. They're not growing any crops during this time. Water is a scarcity. And yet, for 40 years, these people have seen God provide food, water, provision, protection. I mean, they are seeing the daily miracle of manna every morning appearing on the ground six days a week. When the sun comes up, it melts away, and it comes again the next day. And this has been day after day after day for 40 years. They have seen water flowing out of a rock. Moses went up and hit a rock, and man, millions of gallons of water begin flowing out of it. And he Moses reminding them, you saw this. You saw God provide for you in this wilderness over the last 40 years. Not one person died of starvation. Not one person died of starvation in that 40 years. Not one person died of dehydration in those 40 years. I mean, God cared for them in an undeniable way during those 40 years. And then the last thing that Moses reminds them about the past is in verse 6 when he talks about God's judgment on Dathan and Abiram. You remember the judgment on Dathan and Abiram, he says. How God opened up the earth and swallowed them up and their tents and all their families. This just reminds me that it's not all unicorns and rainbows. Moses reminds them of God's judgment on the rebellious. Hey, when you're looking back at the past with God, yes, you understand God does great and mighty acts. God's arm has outstretched you. God's mighty hand is intervening in your daily affairs. God's loving care has cared for you. But also remember in the past that God judges the rebellious. And Moses could have cited any number of examples, but he cited this one. Dathan and Abiram did not die of disputable causes. There's nobody who could look at that and say, well, I don't know, maybe they were sick, right? Maybe they ate something wrong. No, the ground literally opened up, swallowed only them, their tents, their families, their possessions, close back up, and they're gone. And so it is a reminder that God did not tolerate sin in the past. And so as he's reminding them about their interaction with God, not only does God provide, but listen, God doesn't tolerate sin. He didn't tolerate it in the past. He's not going to tolerate it in the future. Number two, the promise of God in the future is found in verses 8 through 17. Verse 8 is a reference to the land, the land that they're going to get. The promised land is central to the future of Israel. Without it, there is no future for Israel. There's no future in Egypt. They can't go back there. There's no future in this wilderness. You cannot build a nation in this. There's no way to get the infrastructure that you need. And so God's promise for the future, Moses is paying for him is there's a land. God has selected a land for you. God has cared for that land. God has preserved that land. Your future is in that land. That land is central to Israel's future. Verse 9, he talks about their longevity, that God will preserve them and prolong their days. The promised land is the place where they can put down roots and grow. They can't do that in Egypt. They can't do that in the wilderness. But in the promised land, man, they can start to build houses. They can plant vineyards and olive yards and they can generate crops. And then they can pass it from generation to generation to generation. You know, historically, oftentimes that is how a family survived. We live in a very different culture today, and we buy and sell houses and we liquidate things and we move on from other pla from our place of birth to other places. But you have to understand, back then in that time, people didn't really low relocate, especially when they were given specific portions of land according to the tribes. And and the benefit of this is that one generation can build a house, and the next generation doesn't have to worry about building the house. They can work on building something else, and they can cultivate the soil, and they can do all those things, and it gets passed on, and it really gives them an opportunity for the future that they didn't have anywhere else. They didn't have that in Egypt, they didn't have that in the wilderness, but they have it in the promise in the future. Verses 10 through 12, Moses says, The future is better than the past. The future is better than the past. Do you remember early on the people kept wanting to go back to Egypt? Do you remember that? Why don't we go back to Egypt? Well, let's elect us a leader who will take us back to Egypt. As a matter of fact, they said that 40 years ago when they failed to enter the land, and when they accepted the negative report, and Moses confronts them, they're like, well, let's do away with this Moses guy, and let's get somebody who will take us back to Egypt. Why did they want to go back to Egypt? Because Egypt was better than the wilderness. Right? Egypt was better than the wilderness. Sure, they were in bondage, but they had houses. Sure, they were in bondage, but they had a solid supply of water. They had a water source. Sure, they were in bondage, but they could grow crops down there. And so when you think about that, they realized that there were some things that were better in their past than were in their present. But Moses says, listen, the future is far better than the past. Your future in the promised land exceeds anything that you had back in Egypt. And one of the examples that is cited there in verse 12 is he reminds them of how they had to irrigate the soil in Egypt to grow the crops. He said, You had to walk it, you had to water it, you didn't have it. He says, but in the promised land, God waters the land. He's going to send the early rain, and he's going to send the latter rain. You're not going to have to carry pots of water. You're not going to have to dig irrigation ditches. God will water it for you. And that's just one example that he cites there. And then in verses 13 through 17, he tells them that the blessings of the future are contingent on obedience. And this promise of the future is not to prosper them in sinfulness. God doesn't ever make that promise. He doesn't ever promise to make you prosperous in sin. It is a promise of prosperity in righteousness. Because the reality is to prosper in sin is to prosper in death. Sin equals death. If God allows you to prosper in sin, he is allowing you to prosper in death. And God only prospers things that give life. That's where God's prosperity is. You remember what John wrote to Gaius in 3 John? He prayed that he would prosper as his soul was prospering in the Lord. And God prospers in those things that give life. And so this promise of prosperity is not in sinfulness, but only in righteousness. And so this is an alert to them. When the blessings stop, if the blessings in the future ever stop coming, it is because you have wandered from God. It's not just a punishment. And that's what's interesting, what he says here. When the blessings stop, it's because you've wandered from God, and it's not just a punishment, it's a warning light on your dash. It's a canary in the coal mine. It is saying, Listen, you are wandering into dangerous territory. You are heading towards death. That's why the blessings have stopped. God doesn't prosper you in sin. And so it is meant to be a warning. But what I think is interesting is that God even made a provision for that in the future. Well, what what what happens if we do want? Away from God. What happens if the blessings stop coming? God said in Second Chronicles 7 12 that the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and he said unto him, I have heard thy prayer and have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. Listen to this statement. Now that's the exact promise God made here in Deuteronomy 11. I'm going to send the rain. I'm going to send the early rain, I'm going to send the latter rain. That's the promise of the future. When you're walking in righteousness, I send the rain. And then in 2 Chronicles, he says, listen, if I shut up the heavens and I don't send the rain, or if I command the locusts to come and devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people, we get to then that famous verse. And turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Not only did God promise them these blessings in the future, but he also provided a way for them that if they ever lost them because of sin, how they could get them back. Third, the power of God's word in the present is highlighted in verses 18 through 25. Basically, in these verses, we find that the word of God is essential to their success. He tells them to lay it up in their heart. Lay my words up in your heart in verse 18. That means have a personal commitment to the Word of God. That means that you hunger and thirst after the Word of God. You read and study, you interact with it. You are laying it up in your heart. It is not just an accessory. And then in verse 19, he says, teach it to your children. First, you have to have it in your heart, but then you need to teach it to your children. It is the responsibility of those who know it to pass it on to those who don't. And what Moses is teaching the people of Israel is that a failure to teach their children the Word of God is a curse on the future. It doesn't matter how many blessings you have going in, if you don't teach your children the Word of God, if you don't teach them to know God and the ways of God, you are going to curse the future because those blessings only come as they walk in this covenant with me. And then verse 20, they are to make it the fabric of their culture. Make it the fabric of, make the word of God the fabric of your culture. He tells them to write it on their doorposts and on their gates. And the idea of that is that the Word of God would actually become part of the culture of Israel. You know, it is interesting, we have had debates and court cases over the posting of the Ten Commandments in schools and courthouses. But if you go to Washington, D.C., you will find the Word of God inscribed in stones. What is the architectural meaning of that? Well, according to the Founding Fathers, it was that it would be part of the fabric of our culture. That is why we can lay any claim that we can to being a Christian nation, because that was part of the fabric of the culture, and that was embedded in having the word of God. And for a a an a negative example of that, just look at how that sort of thing is used for evil means, like the propaganda of Nazi Germany. You know how much money Adolf Hitler spent on posters and murals and paintings and flyers that were all designed to program the young ones to think to buy in to what he was selling. And it was so successful that he convinced them to wage war on the world. And so we need to understand that the Word of God was meant to be part of the fabric of their culture. It wasn't just something they visited on Saturdays, it was something that was carved into the doorpost of their house. It was scribed on the gates of the city. It was part of the fabric of their culture. And then in verse 22, he gives them this staccato list, guard it, do it, walk in it, cleave to it. And that really is how the Word of God must always be treated in the present. We have to guard it because there is an enemy who wants to come take it away. He wants to eradicate it, but he can't eradicate it. He wants to corrupt it. He wants to water it down. He wants to steal it away. He wants to cloud the field. I mean, he wants to do whatever he can. And so every generation who receives the word of God has to keep it. They have to guard it. They have to make sure that they are protecting it from enemy attacks. But not only are you to guard it, he says, do it. Live it. Don't just hear it. Just don't protect it, but actually live those words that God gives to you. Walk in it. Let it be the light for your path. Let it color the way that you think. Let it inform how you view the world. And he says, cleave to it. That's an interesting word. It's the same word that's used with Adam and Eve. Thou shalt leave father and mother and cleave to one another. It is the idea of being fused together so tightly that you can't be separated. The illustration I heard of that one time was like plywood. And you may not be super familiar with ply plywood, but plywood is just what it means. It is this layer of wood that's been glued together. And so to come up with those four by eight sheets, they'll have a very thin layer, eighth inch or so, coated in glue, another layer, another layer, and then they press it together under pressure until it bonds together to get to the thickness that you want. It's on the walls of your house, it's on the ceiling, it's on the floor, underneath the carpet. I mean, we use plywood for everything. I've done my share of carpentry work and I've had to tear up plywood. And here's what I know about plywood. You cannot separate those layers once they've been glued together. I mean, you might be able to chunk a piece off here or there, but that bond is so tight and strong you literally cannot separate it. And that's the idea of cleaving in the Bible. We're supposed to cleave to the Word of God. We ought to hold it so closely to our heart that nothing can come in between it. And then fourth, we find the prerogative of God's people in verses 26 through 28. The choice is yours, is what Moses says. And here I think it's interesting because we we catch a glimpse of the intersection between the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. Does God have a sovereign plan for Israel? You bet. He sure does. I mean, he revealed it to Abraham. I have a plan. I'm going to make a nation out of you. I'm going to multiply you as the stars of the skies, the sand of the sea. I'm going to bless the nations through you. I have a sovereign plan for you. Yeah, God has a sovereign plan for Israel. But he also has delegated the right to choose to them, has he not? There's a right to choose. He delegated that. They could not have it if God had not decreed it. You and I cannot impose our will on God. The only exercise of our will that we have is what God has delegated to us. And so he's delegated to them this free will to choose in these areas. Why? Because God wants their relationship to be mutual. He doesn't want it to be forced. He doesn't want it to be coerced. He doesn't want it to be bondage. He has chosen them and he wants them to choose him back. And so, yes, he has a sovereign plan for Israel. He wants to bless them, he wants to multiply them. He wants to make them that city on the hill in perpetuity. But he also has delegated them the right to choose. And every person and every generation must make that choice. In full disclosure, God reveals to them the consequences of their choices. Yes, you have the right to choose. You have different options to choose from, but know this, not every choice gets the same results. If you choose obedience, then you'll get blessing, and if you choose disobedience, you'll get cursing. But the choice is ultimately up to you. Fast forward in your mind, if you would, to Joshua's final address. This is Moses' final address, but Joshua, his successor, also made a final address in the last chapter in the book bearing his name. And listen to what he said. He says almost the same thing. Joshua 24, 14, now therefore, fear the Lord, serve him in sincerity and truth. Put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood and down in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve. Whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell, but as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. And I would say to you that like them, we have the evidence of God's work in the past. We can look back and say, Boy, I've seen God work in my life. I know that he showed me grace and mercy. I know that he convicted me and he called me and he brought me to that place of repentance and he saved me when I called out to Christ. I know the evidence of his work. And after I got saved, I see God's hand in my life and how he has intervened in different ways. We also have the promises of God for our future. We know that we have a future to look forward to. We're looking for that blessed hope and the glorious return of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. We're looking forward to eternity in heaven. We have the promises of that future, but it all pivots on the choice we make about God's word in the presence. And so I would ask you this, since this is the focus of this chapter. Do you recognize God's word as your highest authority in life? We all recognize authorities. And we all choose who or what will be the highest authority. Sometimes we make ourselves our own highest authority. I'm my own man, I'm my own woman, I make my own decisions, I'm the captain of my own fate, I'll do what I want to do. I'll take your suggestions into advisement, but ultimately I am my own highest authority. Not so for a Christian. Not so for a Christian. The word of God must be our highest authority. And here's where it gets a little bit tricky because sometimes this is our conviction. Right? I doubt that there's anybody in this room that would disagree with me, that would object. No, Justin, I don't think that God's word ought to be the highest authority in my life. I think convictionally we would all say, yes, I believe that. But is it your practice? You see, in other words, it does no practical good to say that God's word is your authority if you never actually read it, to learn what it tells you to do. Am I wrong? Yes, God's word is the highest authority. I mean it rules over my, it tells me what to do. Well, when's the last time you read it? When's the last time you applied yourself to learn what it actually says so it can be authoritative in your life? It really does you no good to have this theoretical conviction that I believe God's word is the highest authority, but I don't know what it told me to do. Because I haven't cared enough to read it, to listen to it, to study it. You see, no one's gonna force you to do it. Moses didn't force these folks. God didn't force them. The choice is up to you. But I would say to you, this is not a choice that we can put off. This is not one of those decisions where we say, well, I know I need to make a decision, but what if I make a commitment to read God's Word every day? That means I'm gonna have to make time tomorrow to read it. And then Tuesday, and I don't know, and what if, you know, how's this gonna work in my life? I'm gonna think about that tomorrow. That's how we operate. But I like what Joshua said. Choose you this day. Today's the day. Today's the day that we make the choice, that we make sure that God's word is our highest authority, not just not just in theory, but in practice. We read it so we can obey it. Were you bad with me? There is absolutely nothing wrong with letting the Bible be your guide. You will never go wrong if you obey what God's word says. But there is a force that works against us, from within and from without that does not want to be told what to do. We want to filter it through our own sensibilities. But that's not how this works. The way it works is we accept God's word as our supreme and highest authority, and we allow it to govern our lives. But if we're not reading it, if we're not spending time in it, we're not really letting it be our authority. And so if you have procrastinated in your Bible reading, maybe you haven't kept up with it like you used to, today would be a good day to make that choice, to elevate its prominence in your life, and to adjust your schedule to make sure that you are reading and consuming some of God's word every day. Dear Lord, I thank you so much for your word. We are so spoiled with the availability of your word in our day and time that sometimes we lose our appreciation for it. I think about the accounts that I have read of people where the Word of God was scarce, where the Word of God was banned, where they only owned portions of it, and how dear it was to them when they could not have it. Oh God, may that not be the route that we Americans have to go through before we appreciate what we have in your word. May we not be spoiled by the prosperity of your blessings on our lives so that we neglect the key element that brings the blessings. Father, I just pray that you would draw us to this point of decision today, and that we would choose you, that we would choose your word, that we would choose your way, that we would guard it, that we would keep it, that we would do it, that we would hold it tight, and that we would teach it to others. Oh God, may this book may this book mark our lives in an unmistakable way, I pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.