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least you can turn in your Bibles 
to Deuteronomy chapter 10. Last week we took up chapter 
9 all the way through chapter 10 verse 11. So it was a large 
section but it was a section that most certainly went together. Remember the specific danger, 
the specific warning of chapter 9 was that they were not to think 
in their heart, verse 4, after the Lord your God has cast them 
out before you saying, because of my righteousness the Lord 
has brought me in to possess this land. Verse 5, it's repeated, 
it is not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart 
that you go in to possess their land. And then again, verse 6, 
therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you 
this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you 
are a stiff-necked people. And then God does set forth the 
truth of that reality. It is not because of their righteousness 
they've come into the land or they were going. to go into the 
land, but rather it was solely and alone the grace and the mercy 
of Almighty God. Moses highlights the situation 
in Exodus 32 where the people bowed to the golden calf. He 
also mentions Tabra and Massa and Kibroth Hadovah, all these 
places where the people of Israel showed themselves rebellious 
against the Lord God Almighty. So the fact that they were going 
into the land, the fact that they were going to possess the 
land was not a testimony on their righteousness, rather it was 
a testimony to the graciousness and the mercy of God. In fact, 
if you look at chapter 10, we see a bit of a summary statement 
there in verses 10 and 11. As at the first time I stayed 
in the mountain 40 days and 40 nights, the Lord also heard me 
at that time, and the Lord chose not to destroy you. Then the 
Lord said to me, arise, begin your journey before the people 
that they may go in and possess the land which I swore to their 
fathers to give them. Christopher Wright said, in the 
light of all that has come between the beginning and the end of 
this section, this should be a chastened people about to move 
into the land. A people with every confidence 
in their God, but with no illusions about themselves. So that's the 
point, chapter 9, verse 1, all the way to chapter 10, verse 
11. It's not because of Israel's 
righteousness that they entered into the land, any more than 
it was because of their great number. Remember the Lord said 
in Deuteronomy 7, 7 and 8, it's not because you are more numerous 
than the other nations, you are least of all. but rather God 
loved them because God loved them. So there are certain cautions 
and dangers that were peculiar to the people of Israel that 
Moses is warning them against, and self-righteousness was certainly 
a big one. So let's just pick up reading 
in chapter 10 at verse 12, read to the end of the chapter, and 
then we'll look at this section tonight. And now, Israel, what 
does the Lord your God require of you but to fear the Lord your 
God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the 
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to 
keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes, which 
I command you today, for your good. Indeed, heaven and the 
highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth 
with all that is in it. The Lord delighted only in your 
fathers, to love them, and he chose their descendants after 
them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. Therefore, 
circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no 
longer. For the Lord your God is God 
of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, 
who shows no partiality nor takes a bride. He administers justice 
for the fatherless and the widow and loves the stranger, giving 
him food and clothing. Therefore, love the stranger, 
for you are strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear 
the Lord your God. You shall serve him, and to him 
you shall hold fast and take oaths in his name. He is your 
praise, and he is your God, who has done for you these great 
and awesome things which your eyes have seen. Your fathers 
went down to Egypt with 70 persons, and now the Lord your God has 
made you as the stars of heaven in multitude. Well, when we look 
at verse 12, specifically the question, what does the Lord 
your God require of you? It more than likely reminds you 
of a very familiar passage of scripture in the Old Testament. If we weren't having a recording 
session here and I could bear with a bit of pause, I would 
ask, what text does that remind you of? Anybody real quick? Micah chapter 6, verse 8. Micah chapter 6, verse 8. Most 
of us are familiar with it, whether we knew that it was Micah 6, 
8, or whether we simply knew the idea behind the passage. Micah 6, 8, we read, He has shown 
you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require 
of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
your God? Proverbs 21.3 also says, To do 
righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than 
sacrifice. Hosea 12.6 So you, by the help 
of your God, return, observe mercy and justice, and wait on 
your God continually. Zechariah chapter 7 and verse 
9, thus says the Lord of hosts, execute true justice, show mercy 
and compassion everyone to his brother. And then Matthew 23, 
23, the Lord Jesus says, you pay tithe of mint and anise and 
cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, 
justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done 
without leaving the others undone. So if you've ever wondered where 
or why Micah says, he has shown you, O man, and where these other 
passages get these concepts, it's right here in Deuteronomy 
chapter 10, verses 12 to 22. Remember, the prophet's role 
in Israel was to go and to call the people of God back to repentance 
and faith in the Lord God Almighty. They served as a prosecuting 
attorney. They would go to the nation, 
and they would set the law before the people, show them their unfaithfulness, 
and show them their need for repentance, and show them their 
need for the graciousness of God Almighty. Well, they didn't 
come with some manufactured ideas. They came with this particular 
word. They came with the law of God, 
most comprehensively summarized here in the book of Deuteronomy. So Micah 6.8 certainly reflects 
Deuteronomy 10.12, as I believe these other passages in the Proverbs, 
Hosea, Zechariah, and Matthew do also. This is God's way. Love to Him and love to our fellow 
man. We have duties toward God. We have duties toward man. And again, you see those twin 
concepts set forth here in Deuteronomy chapter 10. I want to look at 
three things this evening. First, the Lord's design, verses 
12 to 16. And again, much of this is repetitious. You need to remember the particular 
context in the setting. There's a lot of repetition, 
a lot of emphasis, a lot of call to obedience and faithfulness 
here on the plains of Moab, so that when they get into the promised 
land, they'll function in the manner that God the Lord has 
demanded of them. So the Lord's design, verses 
12 to 16, the Lord's character in verses 17 and 18. So Moses 
not only wants them to function in a certain way, but he sets 
forth the character of God as a hope, as a help rather, and 
as a motivation. to why the people of God ought 
to do as he says. And then thirdly, there's just 
some practical application, some practical matters fleshed out 
in verses 19 to 22. So there's theory, concept, doctrine, 
and then these latter portions give us specifically how we are, 
or how the people of God are to function with reference to 
God and others. But note first The Lord's design, 
His requirement is set forth there in verses 12 and the beginning 
of verse 13. Again, nothing new thus far in 
the book of Deuteronomy. And now Israel, it's almost a 
Pauline and now. You know, after you get through 
the doctrinal sections and the Paulian epistles, Paul then goes 
on with a therefore. He goes on with practical application. He goes on with implication. 
Therefore, by the mercies of God, I beseech you, present your 
bodies as a living sacrifice. In light of the gospel, in light 
of the truth, this then is how you ought to live. The same idea 
is here. And now, Israel, what does the 
Lord your God require of you? but to fear the Lord your God, 
to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your 
God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the 
statutes of the Lord and His statutes, the commandments of 
the Lord and His statutes which I command you today." So the 
requirement is fivefold. And again, things we've already 
seen up to this point. The first is to fear God. We 
need to revere Him. We need to honor Him. We need 
to recognize who God is and what He's about. We need to also recognize 
who we are in light of God. That is a great help to promote 
the fear of the Lord in our hearts. This has already been stated, 
chapter 5, verse 29, and again at chapter 6 and verse 24. The second issue, the second 
element in the Lord's requirement is that we walk in all His ways. Again, chapter 5, verse 33, chapter 
8, verse 6. We are to walk in all His ways. 
In other words, the law of God is not for us to pick and choose. 
We don't simply say, well, I like this law that refers to, you 
know, property rights and not stealing from my neighbor. But 
I don't particularly like this aspect, so I'm going to go ahead 
and violate it. The law of God is not a buffet. We don't sort of pick and choose 
what it is that we want. It is a whole. It is comprehensive. And what God says through his 
man Moses is that we are to walk in all his ways. We are to adopt 
a godly mindset. We are to revere the Lord, we 
are to fear the Lord, and thus we are to follow the Lord. The 
fear of God is not something that does not flesh itself out. When we have the fear of God, 
the necessary implication is that we will then walk in all 
His ways. This is the purpose for which 
we are saved, is so that we could be godly, so that we can be Christ-like, 
so that we can indeed go where the Savior bids us. This is a 
mark, an indicator of the Lamb's army in Revelation chapter 14. It says they follow the Lamb 
wherever He goes. That's what a disciple does. 
He follows the Lord Jesus. He doesn't ask questions. He 
doesn't, you know, try to argue with Him. He submits. He prays 
for the heart of grace, or he prays for that heart disposition 
that he would want to serve and glorify him in all that he says. So to fear God, secondly, to 
walk in all his ways, thirdly, to love him. Remember, that was 
at the heart and soul of that confession of faith. Hear, O 
Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. and you shall love 
the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and 
with all your strength." Love to God. This isn't a servile 
fear. This isn't a hiding under the 
table sort of a fear. It is a fear mingled and mixed 
with love. The love that we have for God 
is reverent. The reverence that we have for 
God is loving. It's not this hiding from Him, 
it's rather the love that drives us to Him. That's what's in view 
here with reference to love the Lord your God. And then notice, 
fourthly, we are to serve Him. We are to serve the Lord your 
God. And it's not just to be partially. We are to serve the Lord our 
God with all our heart and with all our soul. We're to give Him 
everything. Again, the New Testament application 
of this is so clear. If you turn for just a moment 
to Romans chapter 12, I've already alluded to it, but a couple of 
passages that help us to see this application in a new covenant 
setting. to see this application of service 
to God with reference to a new covenant application. Romans 
chapter 12. We don't just drop in to Romans 
chapter 12. A lot has happened in chapters 
1 to 11. In chapters 1 to 11, the apostle 
has opened up and explained the great gospel of God himself. He's opened up the doctrine of 
justification by faith alone. He's talked about what we call 
federal theology, the first Adam and the second Adam of Romans 
5. He deals with justification and how it affects our lives 
with reference to sanctification. He deals with all these elements 
involved in gospel truth And then in chapter 12 verse 1 he 
says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God 
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable 
to God, which is your reasonable service. Just like what we learn 
in the passage in Deuteronomy 10. To serve the Lord your God 
with all your heart and with all your soul. Now, when we consider 
this, Paul says it is our reasonable service. When we give God everything, 
it's not like we're better than those other Christians who hold 
something back. When we give God everything, 
that's the design of God's gospel. We have been saved by grace alone. through faith alone and Christ 
alone. As a result, we are to present 
our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which 
is our reasonable service. It is reasonable. It is rational. It is right. It is consistent. It flows naturally from what 
God in Christ has done for us that we give him ourselves. That 
is a legitimate application of the truth of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 
chapter 6, verse 18, flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a 
man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality 
sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your 
body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you 
have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought 
at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your 
body and in your spirit, which are God's." So you see the emphasis. Our service to the Lord our God 
must be with all our heart and with all our soul. If you turn 
to one more passage, look at Jeremiah 32. Jeremiah chapter 
32. We've looked at our response 
as the people of God. On the plains of Moab, they are 
instructed to serve the Lord their God with all their heart, 
with all their soul. We see in the New Testament, 
the New Covenant application, Romans 12.1, 1 Corinthians chapter 
6. This is consistent biblical Christianity. that we give ourselves wholly 
to the one who gave himself wholly to us. Here in Jeremiah 32, there's 
an indicator, an incentive rather, a motivation or at least rather 
a pattern of how God serves his people. In Jeremiah 32 at verse 
40, it says, and I will make an everlasting covenant with 
them that I will not turn away from doing them good, but I will 
put my fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from 
me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will 
assuredly plant them in this land, notice, with all my heart 
and with all my soul. So the consistent teaching of 
scripture is that God, gives us everything with all his heart 
and with all his soul. So it is logical, it is a legitimate 
application that for the people of God we are to serve him with 
all our heart and with all our soul. Meredith Klein comments 
on love and service. He says, true fear, I'm sorry, 
fear and love. He says, true fear and true love 
are complementary and inseparable. They are the response of a true 
heart to God's majesty and goodness respectively. And together they 
are productive of wholehearted service in obedience to all God's 
good pleasure. So you see what he says, true 
fear, true love are complementary and inseparable. They are the 
response of a true heart to who God is. And together, this fear 
and love are productive of this whole soul service to God that 
the Bible demands. So you see, that's the flow of 
thought here in the plains of Moab. And then the fifth aspect 
with reference to the Lord's requirement is to keep his commandments. Verse 13, keep the commandments 
of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today. It 
was to be personal, entire, exact, and perpetual. Now obviously 
Israel doesn't do this. Obviously none of us does this. Ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ 
does it on behalf of His people. Personal, entire, exact, and 
perpetual obedience to the law of God. We can praise the Lord 
Jesus that he is in fact the true Israel that does what was 
commanded here in Deuteronomy 10. So that's the Lord's requirement, 
but notice the Lord's purpose. The end of verse 13. It's for 
your good. Isn't that beautiful? You're to fear God, you're to 
walk in His ways, you're to love Him, you're to serve Him, you're 
to keep His commandments, not because He hates you, not because 
he wants to harm you, not because he wants to ruin your happy life, 
not because he wants you to be miserable in the land that he 
is giving, but rather, he says, I want you to engage in this 
sort of covenant faithfulness, this sort of fidelity to the 
obligations, it is for your good. Remember, much of the old covenant 
is conditional. When they go into the land of 
Canaan, If they obey, they get blessed. If they disobey, they 
get cursed. In fact, the latter chapters 
in the book of Deuteronomy, the latter chapters in the book of 
Leviticus spell that out in great detail. Curses for disobedience, 
blessings for obedience. So God is telling his people, 
do these things and it is for your good. Obedience to God brings 
blessing. Obedience is a wonderful thing. You are able to relate to this 
because you've told your children, I want you to do such and such, 
it is for your good. Not I want you to do such and 
such because I really delight in watching you be miserable. 
That's usually not our disposition. That's usually not our disposition. Hopefully it's never our disposition. Just testing to see if everybody's 
awake here. God does the same thing. He commands 
his children on the plains of Moab, go into the land, obey, 
honor, serve, and love me, and this will be for your good. And 
then notice, inserted here in verses 15 and 16. He's going 
to develop this in more detail in verses 17 and 18, but there 
is a reason here given to them as to why they are to maintain 
faithfulness to this covenant. Notice in verse 15, the Lord 
delighted only in your fathers to love them. I'm sorry, verse 
14, indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your 
God also the earth with all that is in it. The Lord delighted 
only in your fathers to love them, and he chose their descendants 
after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day." So to help 
with reference to obedience, To focus with reference to Obedius, 
we need to consider God. First of all, His sovereignty, 
and second of all, His mercy. Verse 14 is a wonderful description 
of the sovereignty of God. Heaven and the highest heavens 
belong to the Lord your God. Also the earth with all that 
is in it. You see, by virtue of the fact 
that God is creator, that he is transcendent, that he is over 
all and supreme, by virtue of that fact alone, his creatures 
owe him fear, walking in his ways, love, service, and obedience. You see, God made us. We are 
his image bearers. He is overall and supreme, and 
by virtue of that reality alone, we ought to engage in this five-fold 
response with reference to what the Lord requires. We should 
never say, well, why in the world would we ever serve God? Why 
in the world would we ever love God? Why in the world would we 
ever keep His commandments? Because He's sovereign. He made 
this world. If it wasn't for Him, you wouldn't 
be here. If it wasn't for Him, you wouldn't 
know the joy of being married or having coffee or engaged in, 
you know, the blessings of life. We owe God this response by virtue 
of His sovereignty. But not only by virtue of His 
sovereignty, by virtue of His mercy. That's what verse 15 highlights. The Lord delighted only in your 
fathers to love them. And He chose their descendants 
after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day. So the covenant 
obligations are necessitated by the sovereignty and supremacy 
of God, but additionally, these obligations are necessitated 
by redemptive truths. The Lord loved your fathers. 
He set his affection upon that. Do you ever ask the question, 
why should I do these five things God requires? Because he called 
Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans. because he confirmed this covenant 
with Isaac and with Jacob. He kept the people alive in Egypt. He ultimately brought them out 
through the hand of Moses. He brought them into this particular 
land. He is giving you every good and 
blessed thing because he has promised and because he is faithful. 
That's why you're supposed to respond in the way that is specified 
here in verses 12 and 13. You see, the Bible not only commands 
us, but it gives us reasons. And here we are given the reasons 
for this five-fold response to God by virtue of who He is in 
terms of His transcendent majesty, in terms of His Godhood. but 
as well in terms of his covenant lordship, the fact that he has 
not only loved Israel, but he chose their descendants after 
them, you above all peoples as it is this day. So you see what 
Moses is saying? Calvinism ought to promote these 
five responses. Now, Moses wouldn't have called 
it Calvinism. He would have called it Yahwism, 
Yahwehism, right? Sovereignty. graciousness, election, 
predestination, mercy, kindness, love. Those things are for us, 
yes, to bring us out of darkness into marvelous light, yes, to 
bring us justification by faith alone. But in the life of sanctification, 
as the blood-bought children of God Most High, we are to fear 
Him, to walk in His ways, to love Him, to serve Him, to keep 
His commandments, And if we ever falter, we're ever curious as 
to why, we look at his sovereignty, we look at Ephesians 1. Just 
as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world that 
we should be holy and blameless. In love, having predestinated 
us unto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ. Those truths are calculated 
to promote heartfelt worship, praise, and adoration. That is 
precisely Moses' point here on the plains of Moab. Christopher 
Wright said this verse, verse 15, with reference to God's election 
of Israel, and this verse echoes 7, 6 through 8. in expressing 
the wonder of Israel's election. Remember in 7, 6 through 8. I 
didn't choose you because you were more numerous. Hopefully 
these things are setting in. Yeah, I didn't choose you because 
you were more numerous, you were least among the nations. So Christopher 
Wright says this verse, verse 15, echoes 7, 6 to 8 in expressing 
the wonder of Israel's election. There, the surprise was that 
God should have chosen Israel though they were so small. Right? That's the surprise in chapter 
7. I didn't choose you because you 
were more numerous. If it's only a majority report, 
then I would have chosen this other nation and these other 
nations because they were much more. The surprising fact is, 
is that God chose Israel though they were so small. He says here, 
the surprise is because God is so great. Don't divorce verses 
14 from 15. The Lord, indeed heaven, and 
the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth 
with all that is in it. This sovereign, majestic, transcendent, 
glorious God chose Israel. That's the surprise in this section. He says, in both cases, the message 
is that Israel's election was based on nothing in themselves 
that had evoked God's favoritism, but solely in the character and 
action of this amazing God. So amazing grace ought to promote 
in us fear, walking in his ways, loving him, serving him, and 
keeping his commandments. Jesus said, if you love me, you 
will keep my commandments. This is the natural outflow of 
the redeemed heart, of the justified by faith alone man or woman. And then notice this call to 
repentance, or this call rather, or this necessity stipulated 
in verse 16. Therefore circumcise the foreskin 
of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer. It is essentially 
a call for internal religion. Not even the Old Covenant. God 
wasn't satisfied with simply a merely external approach to 
Old Covenant religion. It wasn't just supposed to be 
some rote observance in order to appease God. You cannot rightly 
fear God, walk in His ways, love Him, serve Him, and keep His 
commandments in a merely external fashion. If you're going to respond 
with this five-fold thing, it must be from the heart. And that's 
what God is saying here in verse 16. Therefore, circumcise the 
foreskin of your heart and be stiff-necked no longer." The 
emphasis here is on the necessity for internal religion. External 
compliance was never acceptable. The fulfillment of covenant obligations 
flow from the heart. What we find in verses 12 to 
13 cannot flow from a heart of granite. It must flow from a 
regenerate heart, a circumcised heart. But as well, what we find 
here in verse 16 is not a command to regenerate oneself. This is 
not a command that God is saying to the people, you have the ability 
to circumcise your own heart. You have the ability to be born 
again. You're the one who makes this 
happen. I don't believe that's what's 
in view here at all. Rather, it is an exhortation 
to take heed to the word of God and to internalize it. It's a 
bit of a phrase that perhaps we wouldn't always use, But circumcision 
also applied to ears in the Old Testament. The idea being, cut 
off the dead mass so that the word can penetrate. I think that's 
the emphasis here in verse 16. Coupled with the latter half 
of the verse, be stiff-necked no longer. Don't be recalcitrant. Don't be hardened. Don't be stubborn. Don't be like you were back in 
Exodus 32. Rather, circumcise the foreskin 
of your heart. Receive the word of truth. Understand 
the word of God. Let it find its mark in your 
heart. The actual power behind heart 
circumcision lies solely and alone with God. You can turn 
to chapter 30 and verse 6 for just a moment. Incidentally, 
chapter 10, verse 16, it's not a command. The tense of the verb 
or the form of the verb is not an imperative. Rather, it is 
the ideal state, the way things ought to be. A circumcised heart 
means that you're ready and receptive to receive the Word of God internally 
and act upon it. Remember that Deuteronomy 30 
points to the New Covenant. Deuteronomy 30 essentially is 
saying, you're going to leave here, or you're going to go on 
the land, you're going to fail, you're going to sin, and God 
is going to make a new covenant with you. And notice in Deuteronomy 
30 in verse 6, and the Lord your God will circumcise your heart, 
and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with 
all your heart, and with all, excuse me, your soul that you 
may live. In Colossians 2.11, when the 
apostle sort of talks about baptism and circumcision. He refers to 
regeneration as a circumcision made without hands. And so what 
we find in the Bible is that heart circumcision or regeneration 
is solely and alone the work of God Most High. At times in 
the Old Testament, a couple places, the word is used in a way that 
means, I think this is what the view is here, in verse 16, that 
you're to internalize these things, you're to receive it from the 
heart. You're not to let it just get 
in the head, roll around and forget about it, but rather it 
is a call, a necessity to take heed to the Word, to bring it 
deep into your heart. And John Gill actually speaks 
this way. He says, content not yourselves 
with, nor put your confidence in outward circumcision of the 
flesh, but be concerned for the circumcision of your heart. For 
removing from that whatever is disagreeable to the Lord, even 
all carnality, sensuality, hypocrisy, and superfluity of naughtiness, 
and for having that put there which is well-pleasing in his 
sight. and which, though it is the work of God, and He only 
can do it and has promised it, yet such an exhortation is made 
to bring men to a sense of their need of it, and of the importance 
of it, and to show how agreeable it is to the Lord, and so to 
stir them up to seek unto Him for it. So there's some of that 
as well, the idea being you need a power, you need the spiritual 
power of God, but also more fundamentally, verse 16, coupled with the latter 
part, just means take this to heart. Don't let it fall on deaf 
ears. It might be akin to a preacher, 
you know, preaching on a Sunday saying, look, pay attention, 
receive this, don't harden your heart. Don't stiffen your neck. Don't get stubborn or upset about 
this truth, but rather receive it. It's probably more in that 
phrase of an exhortation for them to take in the Word of God, 
to think through it, to put it into practice, in their own lives. So that's the Lord's design, 
verses 12 to 16. Let's look quickly at the Lord's 
character. To inspire fear and love, Moses 
directs Israel to consider God's sovereignty and His grace. It's 
a beautiful thing. To inspire fear and love, Moses 
directs Israel to consider God's sovereignty and His grace, just 
like he already did in verses 14 and 15. He does the same thing 
here again in verses 17 and 18. You see how much of our practice 
is connected to our doctrine. You have to appreciate that. 
Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, verses 12 and 13. Here's 
why. Behold your God, verses 14 and 
15. Circumcise your heart, the foreskin 
of your heart. Do not stiffen your neck. Here's 
why. Behold your God. So much of Christianity 
or the believer's life is connected firmly to doctrine. In other words, we live a particular 
way because of the truth we believe concerning God. We saw something 
of that in our last time in Matthew chapter 6. What is one of Jesus' 
arguments as to why we are not to worry? Not just the birds 
and not just the lilies, but also the Gentiles. He says, don't 
be like the Gentiles. For all these things the Gentiles 
seek. They earnestly seek after them. 
They are carnally anxious. They are fretful and worrisome. They are that way because they 
have no sovereign God. They have no Heavenly Father. 
They don't have providence. They don't have a Bible. They 
don't have that rock-solid confidence that the child of God does. So 
you see, Jesus says the Gentiles function in a particular way 
based on their doctrine or lack thereof. Conversely, the child 
of God acts a particular way because of his doctrine, because 
of what he knows concerning God. That's what Moses is doing. He's 
enjoining upon them fear and love. He gives them motives, 
or he gives them arguments, or he gives them a theology lesson 
to inculcate in them this fear and love. And he does that again 
in verses 17 and 18 with the supremacy of God and with the 
grace of God. Notice in verse 17. For the Lord 
your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty 
and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bride. This is the 
sovereign God of heaven and earth. This is the glorious maker of 
all things, seen and unseen. This is the God of absolute and 
unrivaled majesty and glory. Therefore, you should fear him. 
Therefore, you should love Him. Therefore, you should honor Him. 
Theology proper, the doctrine of God, who He is, affects how 
we live. If we have low thoughts of God, 
if we're Pelagian in our approach, if we're even semi-Arminian in 
our approach, or semi-Pelagian, which is Arminian, we're going 
to reduce God. We're going to have a lower view 
of God. which conversely, or by implication, 
teaches us that Calvinists, or Reformed people, who have a proper 
understanding of who God is, ought to be those who love God 
the most. Fear God. Walk in all of His 
ways. If we really understand who He 
is, It ought to be fleshed out in the way that we conduct ourselves. I mean, when the Gentile lives 
in panic, it's obvious. He doesn't have a sovereign God. 
When the Arminian is fretful and worrisome and, you know, 
not really altogether there in his service to the Lord, not 
that we're justifying it, but we can sort of understand it. 
He's got a smaller version of God. But when the Calvinist or 
the Bible believer, the Reformed Christian knows his God, how 
much more are we to be the verse 12 and 13 types of people? You see, what we know about God 
ought to be fleshed out in our lives. What we know affects how 
we live. That's the emphasis here on the 
planes of Moab. This is, you know, great stuff 
here. He wants to show us continually 
that our practice is connected to our theory and to our doctrine. 
So then verse 17 highlights the sovereignty. Verse 18 highlights 
his graciousness. He administers justice for the 
fatherless and the widow. And he loves the stranger, giving 
him food and clothing. Isn't that a wonderful display 
of the graciousness of God? Isn't that just majestic? Christopher 
Wright makes this observation. And I trust what he's saying 
here. I'm not as schooled in the ancient 
Near Eastern texts as he is. But he says, in some ancient 
Near Eastern royal texts, you've got to remember, the ancient 
Near East, there was covenant treaties and documents all over 
the place. It wasn't just Israel that had 
covenants. It wasn't just Israel. who had a king who made a covenant 
with his subjects. There were other nations that 
had these sorts of things. But he said in some ancient Near 
Eastern royal texts, the exaltation of national gods is commonly 
followed by the derivative exaltation of the royal household. See what 
he says? When you were a Hittite and the 
Hittite god was exalted, the Hittite leaders benefited, right? If the god had a good day, the 
leader would have a good day. He goes on to say, it was human 
kings who basked in the reflected glory of the ruling gods. But who, in this wonderful doxological 
definition, are the beneficiaries of Yahweh's supreme lordship? The fatherless and the widow 
and the alien. Nothing could be more characteristic 
of Israel's countercultural faith. You have this statement of his 
transcendent majesty, God of gods, Lord of lords. Who does 
he come to bless? He bypasses the rulers, he bypasses 
the families, I mean all the people that have it together. 
He finds the fatherless, he finds the orphan, and he finds the 
alien, and he blesses them. That's the God of Holy Scripture. He goes on to say, the majestic 
monotheistic superlatives of verses 14 and 17 are harnessed, 
not to the glory and power of the wealthy and strong, but to 
the needs of the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable. And then 
he goes on to make this statement, granted all the redemptive covenantal 
uniqueness of Yahweh's actions on Israel's behalf, it remains 
true that what Yahweh, I'm sorry, granted all the redemptive covenantal 
uniqueness of Yahweh's actions on Israel's behalf, They enjoyed 
many benefits, many blessings, many good things. He says, it 
remains true that what Yahweh did for them was, quite simply, 
typical for him. Isn't that beautiful? He does this for the fatherless 
and the widow and the alien. This is what he's about. This 
is his character. So know his being, sovereign 
God of gods, Lord of lords. Know his character, his compassion, 
his kindness, his love. He not only humbles himself to 
look upon this creation, Psalm 113, but he actually raises up 
the widow. He actually blesses those who 
are in the ashy. He actually comes to the aid 
of the fatherless and the widow and the alien. Behold your God. Let that fester in your heart 
and be that proper motivation for your love, your fear, your 
worship, your reverence, your adoration, every response that 
is due to Him because of who He is and what He does. So intertwined 
between these practical implications of obeying God, what we have 
is heavy theology calculated to promote that in God's people. And then thirdly and finally, 
the practical application, verses 19 to 22. Notice, because of 
how God is, that ought to affect the way we are with reference 
to the stranger. Verse 19. Therefore, love the 
stranger, for you are strangers in the land of Egypt." The covenant 
fidelity and view not only included Israel's love to God, but also 
Israel's love to man. Now, that's going to be fleshed 
out in a lot more detail. In fact, in Deuteronomy 24, 17, 
it gets specifically into this whole idea of dealing with the 
aliens, dealing with those within the land. But interestingly, 
the connection here, again, is because of how God is, this is 
how we are to be toward other people. The statement in Micah 
chapter 6 verse 8 comprehends man's duty to man and to God, 
and this section in Deuteronomy 10 does the exact same thing. 
In fact, Wright says, there are not many dimensions of Old Testament 
theology that are not directly expressed or indirectly echoed 
in this mini symphony of faith and life. We are to love the 
stranger. That's an application of what's 
already gone before. We are to walk in all his ways, 
and God loves the stranger, doesn't it follow then that when somebody 
comes into the nation, we love them too, we give them a fair 
shot, we don't discriminate against them, but rather we love them 
in the manner in which God has displayed his kindness toward 
the stranger. So the duty toward man is in 
verse 19, our duty toward God, Again, these are practical applications, 
summarizing, summing up what has gone before in verses 20 
to 22. To fear the Lord, we've already 
seen that. To serve the Lord, we've already 
seen that. New dimension here, to hold fast 
to the Lord. To hold fast to the Lord. It's 
an interesting verb. It's the same verb used in Genesis 
2.24, where it says that Adam would cleave to his wife. He would hold fast to his wife, 
a verb used of marital intimacy. That's the sort of relationship 
that Israel was to bear with their God. They were to hold 
fast, cleave to him, and not let go of him. Hold fast, take 
oaths in his name. That's repeated from Deuteronomy 
6.13. The idea is probably a renewal of the oath of allegiance. And then notice in verse 21, 
this newer dimension, to worship the Lord, verse 21, He is your 
praise. You see, the context of this 
covenantal response was not one of raw determination, but rather 
a delightful worship in their living and true God. The duties that we have based 
on the covenant are motivated by the character and the goodness 
and the mercy of God. Find their application and their 
fleshing out in our worship of God. He is your praise. delight in Him, revere Him, worship 
Him, honor Him, speak well of Him, speak well to others concerning 
Him. He is your praise, He is your 
God, and He has done for you these great and awesome things 
which your eyes have seen. Based on that truth, you have 
seen these great and awesome things. Therefore, praise Him, 
worship Him, honor Him, and glorify Him. And remember, He is faithful 
to His covenantal promise. That's what verse 22 highlights. Your fathers went down to Egypt 
with 70 persons, And now the Lord your God has made you as 
the stars of heaven in multitude. Isn't this the promise to Abraham? 
Look at those stars. I'll make your descendants more 
numerous than that. So here, in Deuteronomy 10, verses 
12 to 22, we are given those basic obligations associated 
with covenant religion. It's not just the old, but when 
we go to the new, we see the same things hold true. We are 
to fear God, 2 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 1. We are to walk in 
His ways every call to obedience in the Christian life. We are 
to love Him. When Jesus was asked, what is 
the first and the foremost commandment? You shall love the Lord your 
God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and 
all your strength. We are to serve Him, Hebrews 
chapter 12, worship, acceptable, with reverence and awe. We are 
to serve Him, Romans chapter 12, present your bodies as a 
living sacrifice, which is your rational service. And we are 
to keep His commandments according to the scriptures in the New 
Testament. So though the covenant is different, we're in the New 
Covenant, what we find here on the plains of Moab is essentially 
the same. When God brings a sinner out 
of darkness into marvelous light, when he justifies him freely 
by his grace, the life of sanctification is to look like this. Fear, obedience, 
love, service. That is what we need to take 
away from this passage. And one more thing, we need to 
take away from this passage that Jesus feared, walked in obedience, 
loved, served, and did everything perfectly. And it's based on 
that reality. We have an imputed righteousness, 
but that does not invalidate the requirement in terms of sanctification 
to pursue these things in a manner that is well-pleasing to the 
Lord God. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for this, your word. We thank you for all of your 
mercy and your grace. We thank you for the cross and 
for the Lord Jesus Christ, for all that we have in him. And 
God, help us to hear the apostle Paul, that we are to present 
our bodies as a living sacrifice unto you. Help us to hear this 
man of God, Moses, what he speaks here in Deuteronomy 10. Help 
us to see that this is legitimate. This is right. This is the natural 
outflow of the redeemed heart. We just pray that you would forgive 
us, God, that we often come so far short. We thank you that 
there is forgiveness with you, that we do have an advocate with 
the Father. We thank you that ultimately, 
God, we know that Israel hardly made it out of the plains of 
Moab before they continued in sin and rebellion and rejection 
of you. And it's because of that you 
sent your son to do what man could never do. And we praise 
you for him. We ask that we would go in his 
name now. We pray through Christ. Amen.