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All right, you can turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6, our focus tonight will be verses 10 to 25, but I'll read beginning in verse 1, read the chapter, set it in its context, and then we'll look at those particular things in verses 10 to 25.

So chapter 6, "'Now this is the commandment, "'and these are the statutes and judgments "'which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, "'that you may observe them in the land "'which you are crossing over to possess, "'that you may fear the Lord your God, "'to keep all his statutes and his commandments, "'which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, "'all the days of your life, "'and that your days may be prolonged.

"'Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, "'that it may be well with you, "'and that you may multiply greatly "'as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you, "'a land flowing with milk and honey. "'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

"'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, "'with all your soul, and with all your strength, And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. So it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities, which you did not build, houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn out wells, which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you did not plant.

When you have eaten and are full, then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God and serve him, and shall take oaths in his name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you. For the Lord your God is a jealous God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted Him in Nasa.

You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies and His statutes which He has commanded you. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord, that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers, to cast out all your enemies from before you as the Lord has spoken. when your son asks you in time to come, saying, what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?

Then you shall say to your son, we were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. Then he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord, our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day. Then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord, our God, as he has commanded us.

Amen. We'll remember the second generation of Old Covenant Israel is getting ready to enter into the Promised Land. They're on the plains of Moab and they receive a series of exhortations from Moses. The first is in chapters 1 to 5. It's a historical review where they had been in terms of bondage in Egypt and how God had delivered them.

And then the longest exhortation is in chapters 6 to 27, 26 rather, and essentially what we have there is an emphasis on covenant loyalty. Actually it's 6 to 28. Covenant loyalty, so the people of God as they enter into the land must be faithful to God, and if they are they'll reap the benefits associated with covenant keeping, but if they are disobedient they will received the curses for disobedience to the covenant. And then the last couple of exhortations are summary and conclusion, and then there's succession by Joshua, and then the death of Moses. So, here specifically in chapter 6, we see the internal logic.

So chapter 5 is foundational to covenant loyalty. It's the moral law of God. The Ten Commandments, the Ten Words, the Decalogue, whatever it is that we want to refer to it as, that is the sum and substance of old covenant religion. They are to be faithful with reference to that keeping of the law.

So in chapter 6, it is reiterated that these commandments must be near and dear to their heart. They must as well diligently teach these things to their children. They must not only internalize them for themselves, Deuteronomy 6, 6, but they must diligently teach them to their children, according to verses 7 and 8.

And then that ends in verse 9, saying, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. The gates were the place of adjudication in the city, which indicates that it's not just the family and the individual, but all of society is to be shaped by the law word of God most high.

Now here at the end of chapter 6 in verses 10 to 25, what God through Moses does is he points out first potential dangers facing Israel in verses 10 to 16. In other words, you're going to receive the land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When you go into that land, there's a few things you ought to be aware of in terms of potential dangers. and then the necessary precautions to guard Israel in verses 17 to 25. So as I said, second generation is poised on the plains of Moab, getting ready to enter into the promised land. Deuteronomy chapter 7 will spell out the program for conquest. It goes into holy war and how they're supposed to go into the land and utterly dispossess the land of the Canaanites.

So we see that internal logic. You need to see what's going on in terms of your inheritance of the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But when you get into that land, you need to take heed. You need to be careful. You need to be cautious. There is that reality that you are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that you love.

That wouldn't be hard to prove at this point because already after the giving of the law originally in Exodus chapter 20, by the time we get to Exodus 32, they're dancing around a golden calf saying it was the one that led them out of bondage in Egypt.

So the dangers are indicated, verses 10 to 16, and then the precautions in verses 17 to 25. So the first danger is the danger of forgetting God because of prosperity. the danger of forgetting God because of prosperity. You see that in verses 10 to 13. Notice there's a reminder of the promise in verse 10.

So it shall be when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All the way back in the book of Genesis, God had made this promise, and now the people of God are poised to receive that in terms of the actual inheritance of the promised land. From there, a reminder of the promise itself, he then gets into a description as to how good the land is going to be. It's been called a land flowing with milk and honey. It's a land that's rich in produce and benefits. It's going to be able to sustain them. And then notice specifically how it's described in verse 10 and 11.

To give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill, hewn out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. So all that the Canaanites had built, all that the Canaanites had labored for, all that the Canaanites had amassed in terms of their personal wealth, God says to the Israelites, go in and take it from them. Now, believe it or not, some people think that's very unfair. Some people think that that is so unrighteous that these innocent, law-abiding, happy-go-lucky Canaanites had done the hard work of subduing the land of digging out, you know, wells and vineyards and planting and building and all these things, and God just says to Israel, go in and utterly dispossess the land of the Canaanites? Again, outside the church, and I suspect that sometimes within the church, people scratch their heads a little bit and say, well, that doesn't seem right.

Well, the first thing we need to remember is God's absolute sovereignty and divine ownership of everything. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. Psalm 24, 1. No one truly owns anything. God owns absolutely everything. And when he gives it to us, he gives it to us to function as stewards, to exercise responsible dominion over it so that we can bring glory and honor and praise to him. So let us never forget the earth is God's and the fullness thereof and whoever God determines to have a particular land or whoever God determines to have a particular vineyard, it's up to God ultimately. But I would suggest secondly that the Canaanites were not an innocent, happy-go-lucky people. They were not functioning in a judicially innocent capacity, but rather they were vile sinners against a holy God. In fact, you can turn back to the book of Leviticus in Leviticus chapter 18.

So if it wells up in our minds or hearts, and we deal with some heathen that says, it doesn't seem right or fair that God would take these Israelites, send them into the land of the Canaanites, and tell them to take everything that the Canaanites worked hard for and built, it just doesn't seem right. Well, again, God owns everything. But it was an act of judgment on the part of God against the Canaanites.

And notice in Leviticus 18.24.

Do not defile yourselves with any of these things, for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled, therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, either any of your own nation or any stranger who dwells among you. For all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled. Lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it as it vomited out the nations that were before you. For whoever commits any of these abominations, the persons who commit them shall be cut off from among their people. So what is God saying there?

It's not that this is a happy-go-lucky band of innocent Canaanites. They're vicious and vile. The preceding context deals with sexual sin. To the degree of homosexuality, bestiality, all manner of wickedness and evil, God says, I'm raising up not altogether righteous Israel as a means of judgment upon less righteous Canaanites.

But be reminded that Deuteronomy 27 and 28 end with the promise to Old Covenant Israel that if you go in the land and you function the way the Canaanites did, then you're going to be vomited out of the land too. You're going to be judged as severely and that's precisely what the rest of the Old Testament indicates.

In the book of Joshua, it's positive in terms of conquest. They go in, they dispossess the land of the Canaanites, but not altogether so. By the time you get to the book of Judges, you see a less favorable view of the conquest, and you see more Canaanization taking place amongst the Israelites that leads then to a monarchy that's corrupt, that leads then to an ultimate destruction in 722 BC of the northern tribes, and then in 586 of the southern tribes.

So it's not capricious or arbitrary for God to raise up Israel to judge the Canaanites, just like it's not capricious or arbitrary for God to raise up Assyria or Babylon to judge the wicked Israelites. There's not two standards of judgment, there's one standard of judgment, and the Canaanites had filled up the cup of God's wrath, and he's using Israel to go in and to cast them out.

But as well, with reference to our text in Deuteronomy 6, 10, and 11, we ought to appreciate the abundant graciousness of God. Yes, everything is His to give, and He does so according to His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yes, the retributive justice of God seen in Leviticus 18 in terms of the judgment against these godless Canaanites, but the accent falls on grace to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, houses full of all good things which you did not fill. hewn out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant. It underscores, exacerbates, shows, and amplifies the goodness and the graciousness of God to His old covenant people.

In fact, one commentator, Harmon, says, they are reminded that their possession of the land and its contents was all of grace. And the adjectives used, large, flourishing, emphasize the bounty of God to His people. So what was told to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is taking shape here on the plains of Moab in terms of when you get into this new land, most of the work is done for you.

Now here comes the problem or the potential danger. Notice in verse 11b, when you have eaten and are full, Then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. This is always a temptation or a tendency when God blesses us and prospers us. In fact, you can turn to the book of Proverbs in Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30, there's a corresponding emphasis in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 30, specifically verses seven to nine.

Two things I request of you, deprive me not before I die, remove falsehood and lies far from me, and give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food allotted to me, lest I be full and deny you and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. See, there's problems if I'm poor, Lord. If I'm poor, I'll be tempted to go out and steal, and that's a denial and a rejection of the eighth commandment. But if you give me more than my allotment, if I am full, then I may be tempted to deny God and say, who is the Lord?

And so Israel is being cautioned about this very thing with reference to entry into the promised land. In fact, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 28, Deuteronomy chapter 28, kind of summarizing the curses, but not altogether because more curses and more amplification come. But if you look specifically at verse 45, moreover, all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you until you are destroyed because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder and on your descendants forever. because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything. Therefore, you shall serve your enemies.

What's God saying? When you go into the land, what should characterize you is joy and gladness of heart in the service of God because he's blessed you with all of these possessions. So in Deuteronomy 6, the potential danger is you're going to forget God. The potential danger is you're going to go get all these vineyards, all these cities, all these houses, all of these wells, and in that abundance and in that prosperity, you're going to forget all about God.

You may even start ascribing it to the idols of the pagan gods that are still inhabiting the land. In fact, Meredith Klein reads it that way. He says, such is human perversity that Israel, satisfied with the material plenty of a plundered culture, would be inclined to honor the vain claims of their victims' idols and to forget the claims of their own god who had saved them from Egypt and given them victory in Canaan. And Christopher Wright says, fullness can lead to forgetfulness, especially forgetfulness of where they came from and what God had rescued them from, the land of slavery. It's a real potential. It's a real caution that is given by God through Moses to these people. And I think a moment's reflection, if you've read, oh, say, beyond the book of Deuteronomy, you see they're all too prone to do that.

You see, they're all too prone to go a whoring from the living and true God and go after the gods of the peoples around them. This is bad policy. This is idolatry. And part of it comes because of their lack of appreciation for the giver of the prosperity. The problem isn't the prosperity. The problem is the reception of that prosperity with a heart of gladness, a heart of joy, a heart of gratitude, and a willingness and desire to serve the Lord who had benefited them with all that.

There's a New Testament emphasis in the same direction. You can turn to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6, a passage I know that we've looked at several times in this Bible study, but one I think speaks to this particular issue. Paul tells Timothy, I want you to gather up the rich people in the church and have a Bible study with them. The subject matter in the Bible study isn't tell them to get rid of all their riches.

That's oftentimes what we think, because after all, in the previous section, notice in 6.6, now godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out, and having food and clothing with these, we shall be content.

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. That's true. The love of money is a snare. But God's blessing upon somebody isn't a snare.

Do you see a man who excels in his work? Solomon asked the question. He shall stand before kings, right? Whatever your hand finds to do, Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, do it with your might. Typically when that happens, you prosper. I don't know, in God's natural order, you work hard and you typically do well in life. It's kind of an interesting thing. I think it was Ronald Reagan. He said, the harder I work, the luckier I've been. Get it? You just do what you're supposed to do.

This ain't the final word on having riches. And even so, it's not condemnatory. It condemns the idea of the love of money. It condemns the idea of desiring to be rich. No, I work hard to glorify God. If in that there's prosperity and benefit, praise God, I can use that for the glory of God, the good of the family, the good of the church, whatever it may be. But then notice in 617, have everybody together, all the rich guys, and have this Bible study. Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God who gives us richly all things to enjoy. Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. So the problem is not the prosperity. The problem is receiving the prosperity to the neglect of the giver of the prosperity, and that's what they're cautioned about in Deuteronomy 6, specifically at verses 11 and 12.

You need to be aware or beware rather, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage. The proper response so that you don't fall into this potential danger is verse 13, you shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve Him and you shall take oaths in His name. That's the corrective. The potential danger is forgetting Him? Well, here's the specific corrective.

Don't forget Him, but rather fear Him and take oaths in His name. Oaths are an act of religious worship. Again, Klein, swearing by God's name was in effect a renewal of the oath of allegiance which ratified the covenant. It invoked God as the oath deity who avenged untrustworthiness. So by doing this, you are acknowledging Him and bringing glory and honor to Him. So the first potential danger is forgetting God because of prosperity. Note the second one in verses 14 and 15, the danger of forsaking God because of idolatry.

Now, Deuteronomy 7, when we get there, God willing, next week, is hardcore. I'm not going to mince words. God's taking their stuff. You know, the demand of holy war, and specifically chapter 7, verses 1 to 5, is pretty comprehensive. It's pretty total in terms of commitment.

You go dispossess the land of the Canaanites. Remember, they're not innocent, happy-go-lucky, God-fearing folk that just got the short end of this divine stick. No, they're wicked. They polluted the land. They're vile. They're lawbreakers. They're engaged in all manner of sexual wickedness. So Israel, go in, utterly dispossess them from the land. So as I said, Joshua portrays a pretty favorable picture of the conquest. Judges, does not. So what was the problem when they didn't dispossess the land?

All those pesky idols were still there. All those dunghill deities were still there. All the gods of the peoples were still there. So in Deuteronomy chapter 7, they're to make no political alliances, no social alliances, and certainly no religious alliances. So that they failed in holy war was one of the problems why the land of Canaan remained populated with not only Canaanites, but with their false gods. And so they're going into this environment. They're going to rub shoulders with Canaanites. It's going to rain. And a Canaanite neighbor is going to say, praise Baal, from whom all rain flows. And the wavering Israelite might think, okay, Baal has something to offer here.

See, I don't think most of the time in Old Covenant Israel it was a complete and utter denial of Yahweh. I think it was more syncretism where they had Yahweh and Baal, Yahweh and Asherah, Yahweh and Molech. So you live next to a Canaanite, he prays to Baal, and it happens to rain. And so the Israelite prayed to Yahweh a week ago, and it didn't rain. So he's thinking, maybe this Baal does offer a little bit. So I'll have Yahweh and Baal, kind of cover all my divine bases, and I'll just invoke whatever God it is that I need at the time. That's probably what idolatry looked like, not, you know, always, but to a large degree in Old Covenant Israel.

And so the prohibition in verses 14 and 15, the danger of forsaking God because of idolatry. Verse 14, you shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you. For the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. So the prohibition is very clear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you.

Remember in Deuteronomy 5, the first commandment, you shall have no other gods what? Before me, besides me, in addition to me. other, you know, rejecting me. So the first commandment is, you know, absolutely crucial in terms of old covenant Israel's life in the promised land.

If they get into that promised land, they don't dispossess the land of the Canaanites, then they aren't going to dispossess the land of the Canaanites gods. And so they're going to be bowing to those gods. They're going to be going after those gods, seeing if they can get some benefit from those gods. And what's the rationale? Again, it's the same that you see in the first and second commandment.

It's the reality that God is jealous. Now, our experience with jealousy is oftentimes petty, vindictive, and founded on ego. And that's not what it means when applied to God. When you think of jealousy in terms of God, you got to remember it's analogical or it's an improper predication. I don't want to get too bogged down in the theology of it all, but jealousy suggests change from one state to another. God is immutable and impassable. There's no emotional changes with God. He doesn't say, wow, I can't believe Jim's going down that road. Boy, am I really upset. No, God does not change.

The scripture accommodates language for our benefit. For instance, sometimes the Bible speaks of the right arm of God. Or the Bible speaks of the eyes of Yahweh are in every place. Well, God's a spirit. He doesn't have eyes. He doesn't have an arm. God is spirit. Those are anthropomorphisms.

In other words, the specifying human parts about God to teach us something true about God. So when it speaks of His mighty right arm, His power. When it speaks of his eyes running to and fro throughout all the earth, it speaks of his omniscience, his omnipresence, the reality that he knows everything. Well, the Bible does that with passions as well.

There's no change in God. He doesn't move from one state to another. But when you hear jealousy predicated or said about God, think in terms of covenant. covenant loyalty, right? It's good for a husband to be jealous, not petty, vindictive, built on ego.

That's not good. You know, the guy that puts a tracker on his wife's purse so that he always knows every step and every move. I mean, if that's having to happen in a marriage, there's some big fish to fry to sort of fix that marriage. But there is a petty and a vindictive and an ego-grounded jealousy. That's not what it is.

Covenant loyalty. What does jealousy bespeak? Love. It bespeaks protection. It speaks honor with reference to that covenant relationship. So that's the rationale as to why you are not to be faithless as covenant partner. As covenant partner, God who is faithful is jealous for the relationship, the integrity and the preservation of it.

That's what we need to understand when it comes to the jealousy of God, but as well, the wrath of God. The wrath of God in verse 15, after saying, the Lord your God is a jealous God among you, lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

This will be amplified. Deuteronomy 27 and 28, it's like a house of horrors. It's a walk through all of the problems that if you engage in covenant unfaithfulness, you are going to reap. That's what Deuteronomy 28 is. It's not for the fainthearted. By the time we get there, you'll see that, wow, God meant business in terms of this covenant relationship. So already foreshadowing this, if you go whoring from God, and the prophets use this language, they speak of harlotry, they speak of spiritual adultery, that's what they refer to idolatry as. In fact, the prophet Ezekiel has some language that that I think only the New American Standard translates it literally, that's offensive. I mean, again, it's not for the faint of heart, the way God describes idolatry. In fact, he indicts the nation, the southern tribes of Judah, because by the time Ezekiel was here, the northern tribes had already been judged.

But he says, you know, most men pay harlots. Your relationship is different. You're the harlot that's actually paying the men. That's how bad it is. That's how wretched it is. And then, again, New American Standard translates it. I don't want to offend anybody. I cited the verse. This was before I was a pastor. I was preaching in our church back in Palmdale. I just quoted the verse, but I happen to be using the New American Standard. And a guy got so upset, he went to complain to Pastor Barcelos, and I can't believe he just said that in the pulpit. I said, it says it right here. I think it's Ezekiel 16,

25. Everybody's gonna go to their Bible program tonight and look it up in the New American Standard. It's hardcore, I'm not gonna lie to you. But the prophets referred to it as spiritual adultery. They referred to it as harlotry. They said it was a going a whoring from God. And that's what the Lord is condemning here. And then the third one, we may just get to this tonight and then we'll pick up the precautions next week.

But notice the third one. Verse 16, and this again, if you're thinking with me, If you're thinking, you know, New Testament-ish or New Covenant-ish, these are not unique to Old Covenant Israel poised on the plains of Moab getting ready to enter the Promised Land. I mean, I think the potential's there for us to forget God because of prosperity. I think we're cautioned against that by Jesus in Matthew 6,

24. You can't love God and mammon. You just can't do it. You'll be, you know, disloyal to God. The danger of forsaking God because of idolatry. When I mention, you know, John the Apostle, what suggests itself? The beloved disciple. The author of John's Gospel, the prologue, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The epistle of 1 John, what's 1 John? John's Gospel is, I write so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that believing in Him you may have eternal life. Well, then in 1 John chapter 5, I write so that those of you who do believe can continue to persevere and know the joy and benefit of everlasting life. So he emphasizes truth, he emphasizes obedience, he emphasizes righteousness, he emphasizes what it would look like for believers in Christ to look like.

How does he end? My little children, keep yourselves from idols. You ever think of that? Psalm 119 ends on that kind of a note as well. Turn to Psalm 119. At least I got a few years to figure out how that applies specifically to our Lord. But notice in Psalm 119, a celebration of the law and the word of God. And look at how it ends,

176. I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. Actually, I know exactly how that applies to our Lord. But I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I do not forget your commandments. You know, we sing that hymn, prone to wander, prone to leave the God that we love. So there is a danger of forgetting God because of prosperity. There is a danger of forsaking God because of idolatry. The third one is a danger of testing God because of difficulty. Look at verse 16, you shall not tempt or test the Lord your God as you tempted him in Massa.

So in Massa, they didn't have any water. They needed water. Right? I mean, gotta have water. You can live not long without air. You can, you know, push it for some time without food. But what's the best estimate in water? Three days? Probably assuming you're a rather fit individual and, you know, you're in, you know, optimum conditions. Let's just say three days. They had to have water. You know, they're in the wilderness, they're panicking.

Well, look at what God says through Moses, you shall not test the Lord your God as you tempted or tested him in Massa. So basically what happens in Exodus 17, one to seven, the problem is seen especially in verse seven, is the Lord among us or not? So when difficulties or trials or afflictions or hardships come, and they will, what is our response? Where's God? Why is God letting this happen? How come He's abandoned me? How come He's forsaken me?

Do we place demands on God or do we believe God and His promises? Well of course we're supposed to believe God and His promises and as long as everything's going well, for the most part we do. But man, if we need water, if we need some sort of solution, I don't know God, you better pony up and you better meet my particular needs. As well, placing conditions on God rather than submitting to his rule.

Now, you'll remember that this passage is cited by our Lord in the wilderness in Matthew chapter 4. So after Jesus passes through the waters of baptism, like Old Covenant Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, after the Old Covenant Israel passed through those waters of the Red Sea into the wilderness, well, so did Jesus. The Spirit led him out into the wilderness, and there he was tempted by the devil for 40 days and 40 nights. And what happened? The devil says throw yourself down.

God, you know, promises in Psalm 91 He's going to protect you. And what does Jesus say? You're not supposed to tempt the Lord your God. You're not supposed to put demands or conditions upon Him without which you're not going to believe. See, that's the problem at Massah there. Wright says the Hebrew word does not mean to tempt someone by trying to entice them to do what is wrong, but rather to test or prove whether someone will really do what they say. This is precisely the nuance of the people's challenge at Massa. This God Yahweh, can He do what He promised? Is He really competent? Is He really with us? Such testing of Yahweh flows from a lack of belief in Yahweh's Word and comes despite the fact that this people has witnessed His previous faithfulness.

This kind of hardship is commonly induced by need and hardship, and this warning comes because life will not always be as idyllic and effortless as pictured in verse 11. And here he means verse 11, you're going to get these great houses you didn't build, you're going to get these cities you didn't build, you're going to get these vineyards you didn't plant, you're going to get these wells you didn't dig. Yeah, you're going to get that, but you're also going to face trial. You're also going to face hardship. You're also going to face difficulty. And when that crunch time comes, is it demand? Is it conditions?

Is it God must perform and God must do or else we're not going to respond with any faithfulness whatsoever? I think the dangers facing Israel in the old covenant are every bit as valid and real and upon us as the new covenant Israel, those united savingly to Jesus Christ by grace through faith, prosperity, idolatry, and difficulty. Each of those things present unique situations that could be temptations for us as God's people and I think that it's good for us to take God's Not recommendation or advice, but command and fear Him, and understand that He's a jealous God, and understand that even the difficulties we face are ultimately for our good. Isn't that why there's a Romans 8, verse 28? We know that God causes all things to work together for good. As many times as we recite that, as many times as we rehearse that, as many times as we write that down, we put it on our refrigerator, for some reason, it's one of those texts that when bad things happen, we immediately conclude that God has forsaken us, that God is done with us. Wait a minute, that's when you need a Romans 8 28. That's when you need to rely on the promises. And that's when you need to rely on the proven faithfulness of God and what he's already accomplished. In fact, look real quick. Actually, let's just finish it up. We got five minutes, ten minutes. I don't want to tax anybody, but let's just finish. Notice the necessary precautions to guard Israel.

Verses 17 to 25. 17 to 19, obey. Obey, do what you're supposed to do. I know that that's an outlandish concept, but yeah, right? What's the pathway in this old covenant setting with reference to a long tenure in the land? Obedience, right? Do what God says. You obey and you'll be blessed. So the necessary precautions is obedience.

Notice that emphasis in verse 17. You shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God, His testimonies and His statutes, which He has commanded you. And then notice as well the promise of blessing, verses 18 and 19. And you shall do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord. that it may be well with you and that you may go in and possess the good land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to cast out all your enemies from before you as the Lord has spoken. So their prosperity under God, their possession of the land and the punishment of their enemies, all great benefits.

So if these are the potential dangers, the necessary precautions are just obey. Just keep your side of the covenant. Again, there's reasons why this, there's pedagogy, there's pointing forward to, there's emphasis on the coming Messiah that's going to be the true Israel of God that actually does everything stipulated here. But basic question, how do we avoid these problems?

Well, basic answer, Do what God says. But then the second is the succession of the covenant community, verses 20 to 25. We kind of dealt with that last week in that emphasis on passing these things on to your children. But if you look at verses 20 to 24, when your son asks you in time to come saying, what is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you? I don't think the son is asking, you know, just to rehearse it, just to tell me, what is it? What's the origin? What's the meaning? What's the interpretation? What's the purpose? What's the significance behind this, Dad? If you skip verses 21 to 23 and you just went to verse 24, it makes perfect sense. So verse 20, what is the meaning? Verse 24, the Lord commanded us to observe. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? So why 21 to 23?

To tell us about the God who's commanding, to tell us the nature of this God. He is a God that is committed to this covenant and to blessing his people with provision and good things. In fact, verse 21, then you shall say to your son, again, son says, why do we do this? Verse 24, because God said so. Perfectly acceptable. but he wants to get the conscience and heart of his son, it's this God who has said so. So, verse 21, Then you shall say to your son, We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. So, that right there, you know, why dad? Because we were slaves in Egypt.

It was grace that taught our hearts to fear. We were in bondage. We were slaves. We were beaten. We were imprisoned. We were harnessed for our strength to, you know, prosper another country that hates our God. And our God comes powerfully there, and He delivers us from that mess. Verse 22, And the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household.

We watched them have to battle with frogs. And son, we're not talking two or three frogs in a pond. We're talking frogs everywhere. They went to bake a pie and there were frogs in their pie pans. They went to bed and there were frogs in their beds. Everything was frogs for them. And it all culminated in the most severe, the 10th plague.

You know that, son, we walked with boldness out of that land while the Egyptians were busy burying the firstborn whom the Lord our God killed. You see? Why, Dad? Just do it. That's perfect, but why, Dad? Do it because this is the God who delivered, this is the God who avenged, this is the God who showed signs, and then verse 23, this is the God who brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land of which he swore to our fathers.

So covenant succession, passing these things on, that's a great help, a great guard, so that you don't go out and forget God because of your prosperity, so that you don't forsake God in idolatry, and so that you don't test God in times of difficulty. You've got children you need to bring up in the covenant, and you've got children that are going to ask legitimate questions, and you've got a gracious, glorious God to teach them about. That's a great help. When we embrace that as parents, we've got responsibilities Godward. We've got them in terms of husband and wife, and we've got them with these little eyes and these little hearts that are in our homes that we are called upon to bring up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

And then it concludes in verse 25, then it will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God as He has commanded us. So I think the plains of Moab and the dangers facing Israel are certainly dangers facing us as the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The helps or guards, yeah, walk in obedience. Jesus says, if you love me you'll keep my commandments. We don't do it in our own strength, we're blood-bought children of God, we have the Holy Spirit, He moves in us, He works in us, we know His operations and His power, and we now have that law not as a means of our justification, but as a pattern of our sanctification. And then that idea of covenant succession, passage things on, training, admonition of the Lord. Yeah, we can just tell them knuckle under and do what God says. But knuckle under and do what God says. But let me tell you about this God.

He delivers. He shows signs and wonders. And He did so to bring us to this land and heap upon us all these benefits. Beautiful. Good helps, I think, for New Covenant Christians. Well, let me close in prayer. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word, and thank you for what we learn on the plains of Moab. I pray that you would cause us to reflect upon these things as New Covenant Christians, cause us to know the blessed power of the Holy Spirit at work in us, to know the joy of being found in Jesus, to having our sins forgiven, and having that righteousness which brings acceptance with God. We ask that you would go with us. We pray for all our brothers and sisters in our local church, that you would look with favor upon them, and may you be glorified in the preaching of the word and the ministry of the gospel, not just here, but throughout this nation as there are such needs in this land. And we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.