03 Deu 2.1-3.11

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MarkA.CollingridgeNovember4,2012#3intheSeriesonDeuteronomy

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Seeing Gods True Promises and Blessings

Deuteronomy 2:1-3:11

I. IntroductionA. There are a number of possible confusions about the Christian life, the life of faith.1. I will make the case in a moment, its not unique to us but is part of who we are as

creatures in Gods world and His relationship to us.

2. But this morning we are going to see this comes to us in a particular way.3. So I want to begin by asking this simple question:

a. How do you conceive of Gods blessings?b. What are the content of Gods promises to you?c. Let me get a little more personal here:

v Why are you a believer?

v Why are you a Christian?

4. I hope you realize not everyone answers that question the same way.B. Possible Answers

1. Acceptancea. Finally, somebody loves me for me and accepts me as I am!b. Its a boost to my self-esteem.

2. Resolution of lifes problemsa. Ive made a lot of mistakes and I need to God to get me through.b. I have a terrible marriage and I need God to get me through.c. I had an atrocious family life and God helps me with my mommy and daddy issues.d. I lack meaning and significance and God gives it to me.e. God is my therapist, my psychologist.

3. Inner peace and tranquilitya. Some see God as a means of inner peace and tranquilityb. Im tightly wound.

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c. Im a raging inferno.d. God settles me down.e. God centers me.f. God gives me peace and happiness.

4. Whats difficult is that some of these things are true and good.a. We certainly look to Christ for most of these things.b. But none of these things are supposed to form the basis of why we are Christians

and why we put our faith and hope in Christ.

C. Turn It Just a Bit1. God gives these things to others without faith in Christ.

a.

Others find these things without Christ at all.

b. You can find acceptance and self-esteem without Christ.c. There are other ways to resolve the difficulties of life.d. There are lots of happy, well-adjusted, successful people in this world and they are

not all Christians.

2. Or, let me turn it one more direction:a. What happens if you dont get the blessings you want from God?b. What happens if he doesnt solve all your problems?c. What happens if you dont feel accepted?d. What happens if your self-esteem doesnt go through the roof?e. What happens if you have struggles, problems, disappointments the very things

you believe God is supposed to take away?

f. What then?g. Do you then discard God for something better?h. Do you then looks someplace else?i. Do you set you mind and heart of other things?

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3. God blesses people in this world with all sorts of blessings and benefits but it is only thebeliever, only the one who looks to Christ in faith and hope who it truly blessed. It isonly those who put their faith and hope in the Lord who have eternal, lasting blessings.

D. These are the sorts of things we find in Deuteronomy 2 and 3.1.

Its a large section we are tackling today but this is the message we need to hear.

2. The Lord is speaking to us through our fathers.3. While this new generation receives many blessings from the Lord, they are being

disciplined to discern the true blessings of the Lord and to lay hold of those by faith.

4. They need to cling to the Benefactor rather than the benefits.5. Whether they are in the wilderness, right on the border of the Promised Land or even

in the Promised Land, true blessings only come through faith in the mercy and gracious

promises of the Lord.

II. Esau, Moab, AmmonA. The first thing we encounter in this section of Deuteronomy is a series of three short

stories that all sound alike.1. The sons of Esau, Moab and Ammon.2. In each case, the Israelites are specifically told to leave them alone.

a. Do not provoke them.b. Do not take advantage of them.c. Do not trouble or harass them.d. Pay for what you get.e. Dont leave the roads but peacefully pass through their lands.

B. The Lords Relationship to Them1. What is the most surprising thing about these three nations isnt necessarily how Israel

is supposed to treat them.a. Far and away, whats surprising is the way the Lord treats them.b. He has given them their own land as an inheritance.c. He is protecting them and watching over them.

2. The Lords Provisionsa. He took these three nations and brought them into a land of their own.b. Did you notice the details?

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c. Those lands were fortified.d. They had their giants and might men.

v The Emim or the Rephaim or the Zamzummin

v They were the tall and mighty warriors.

v They were like the Anakim the giants who terrified the Israelites (2:20-23)

v How big were they?o Thats the point of 3:11.o King Og is the last remaining Rephaim.o The gigantic stature is illustrated in the size of the bed he had.o It had to be made of iron and was nearly 16 feet long and 7 feet across.o Thats a big guy.

v These are the kinds of people who used to live in the lands before Esau, Moaband Ammon arrived.

e. The Lord wiped them out for the sons of Esau, Moab and Ammon so they couldsettle there.

3. Finally, we read that staggering verse.a. 2:12, The Horites formerly lived in Seir, but the sons of Esau dispossessed them

and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, just as Israel didto the land of their possession which the LORD gave to them.)

b. The Lord has done the same thing for the sons of Esau, Moab and Ammon as Hedid for Israel.v What!

v Are you kidding me!

4. Doesnt this create an immediate tension?a. Isnt Israel Gods special nation?b. Arent they the blessed of the Lord?c. Arent they the ones with special privileges?d. Isnt God their God in a unique way?

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e. And yet, here is Moses telling Israel that the Lord is doing the same things withthese other nations.

C. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob1. If I have set before you an obvious tension in the text, I want to temper that tension

with explaining why these nations are blessed in this particular way.a. This doesnt in any sense minimize the intended meaning.b. In fact, in the end it will heighten what the Lord is trying to communicate.

2. It is clear that these three nations are blessed because they are related to Abraham,Isaac and Jacob.a. These patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are the one whom the promises were

given.

b. God promised to bless them.c. God promised to bless other nations through them.d. This is evidence and fruit of those promises.

3. Cluesa. There are certain clues which makes this clear.b. Look at 2:4.

v Notice how the Lord refers to the Edomites.o They are your brothers.o They are the sons of Esau.

v He doesnt call them Edomites but the sons of Esau.

v Its impossible to read that without thinking about Jacob and Esau.

v Jacob and Esau meet again here in Deuteronomy.o Esau blessed Jacob in their first meeting.o The Lord now blesses Esau in this second meeting.

c. Now look at 2:9v The Moabites are Moabites.

v They are the sons of Lot.

v Lot is the Nephew of Abraham whom the Lord rescued from Sodom andGomorrah.

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v Now the Lord blesses them because of their relation to Abraham.

d. And finally, 2:19.v The Lord says the same thing about the Ammonites.

vThey are the sons of Lot like the Moabites.

v They are related to Abraham and are thusly blessed.

D. Israel is Too!1. This new generation is faced with the reality that they too are blessed because of

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.a. Over and over again, the Lord has already reiterated those promises to them.b. 1:8c.

1:11

d. 1:21e. 1:35f. Over and over again the Lord speaks of the land promised to the fathers.

2. They are faced with the stark reality of what exactly the Lord desires them to see andbelieve.

3. So, whats the point? Whats the message ringing out?III. The Point!

A. Confidence in the Lord1. If this is what he did for Esau, Moab and Ammon how much more will He do for

Israel, His people.a. The Lord has already torn down nations.b. He has already displaced great cities and fortresses.c. He has even triumphed over mighty men and giants.

2. How will He not also do this for Israel.3. It this is what the Lord does for those related to Abraham what will He do for the

true heirs of those promises.

4. This is designed to provide hope, confidence and assurance in what the Lord will do forHis unique and special people.a. To walk forward.

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b. To walk in faith in Gods promises unlike those of the previous generation.5. Without minimizing this message of confidence and hope to Israel, it also comes as a

discipline to them.

a.

They are being forced to see things correctly.

b. They are being forced to perceive things according to faith and not by sight.B. True Blessing

1. And now we are back where we started this morning.2. They are being forced to see the true blessings of God.

a. Not land.b. Not military victories.c. Not fruitful vineyards.d. Not earthly security.e. You see these are things the Lord has given to Esau, Moab and Ammon just

like He did for Israel (2:12)!v Israel cannot see these things as her true inheritance.

v These are not Gods true blessings.

3. The promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are not exhausted when Israel goesinto the Promised Land.a. Israel must not think they have arrived.b. They must not think thats the goal.c. They must see the true blessings. Their faith must be directed in the right place.

4. In God Himselfa. Not the Landb. Not the military victoriesc. Not the fruitd. Gods presencee. God is their inheritancef. Not things God can give, as good as they can be, but God Himselfg. Not the benefits but the benefactorh. Exodus 33

v And the Lord said, My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest. ThenMoses said to Him, If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that I have found favor in Your sight, I and Your people?

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Is it not by Your going with us, so that we, I and Your people, may be distinguished from

all the other people who are upon the face of the earth? (1416).

v Israel needs to see this very thing.

i.

We need this!v Its not the blessings we get from Jesus but Jesus Himself.v He is our very great reward.v Not the things we think Jesus gives to us but Jesus gives Himself to us.

C. Heavenly1. Israel must also learn that her truest blessing is in heavenly things.2. Guess where the Moabite, the Ammonite and other are forbidden from going?

a. Into the temple.b. Into the sacred assembly.c.

Deut. 23d. The temple is the picture of heaven, heaven on earth, it is the throne room of God.

3. These are the highest blessings Israel has.a. Its not the land.b. Its not the prosperity.c. Its not political and military fortitude.d. It is God. It is the heavenly things seen in the blessings given to Israel.

4. In fact, those things can prove to be idols, replacements for God and His true blessings.D. I like how one author puts it: Deuteronomy is going to teach us that, obedience is learning

to let go of the gifts God has given. Disobedience is grasping and clinging to God's gifts,making them into idolatrous objects of alternate allegiance, desire, and trust (Olson, pg.67).

IV. The WarningA. But there is a flip side to this section.

1. There are two other nations in this section2. The other two kings and nations.

a. Ogb. Sihon

3. These serve as gigantic (literally) warnings of Gods relationship to the nations andeven to Israel.

B. Og1. Is offered peace (2:26)2. Let Israel pass through.

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a. We wont harm you.b. We wont trouble you.c. We will pay for our necessities.d. Just like Esaue. Just like Moabf.

Just like Ammong. Deut. 2:293. But God is up to something.4. Og is obstinate and refuses to let Israel pass through.

a. His heart is hard. He doesnt listen. He doesnt heed.b. He refuses to submit to the Lords will and purpose.c. He is obstinate and stiff-necked.d. And the Lord destroys Him.e. He refused the peace of the Lord and clung to the land and to the earthly blessings.f. The Lord destroyed him.

C. Guess what one of the primary warnings in Deuteronomy is:1. Do not harden your hearts. Do not be obstinate.2. Moses even goes so far as to say remember Og, remember Sihon3. Do not harden your hearts.4. Gods warning: the one who, when he hears the words of this covenant, blesses

himself in his heart, saying, I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart(29:19).

5. Og and Sihon testify thats not true and such thoughts of safety are an illusion.D. The Lord is setting before You true blessings

1. Himself2. A lasting inheritance, a heavenly inheritance3. He is giving things that cannot be found in this world4. They can only be received by faith in His promises.5. They can only be received through Jesus Christ who died and rose again in order to

secure for you that inheritance.6. Set your mind on things above.7. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great

mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of JesusChrist from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and

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will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power ofGod through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this yougreatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have beendistressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious thangold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise

and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:37).

E. Do not harden your hearts. Do not allow the things of this world to distort the vision youhave of Gods true blessings in Christ.1. Stand in faith.2. Stand firm in the promises of the Lord.3. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.4. Do not fear or be dismayed.5. God is with you both now and forever more.

03 Deu 2.1-3.11

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