1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,640 If you haven't been here. We've been studying the book of 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:09,840 Deuteronomy, which is amazing. We've got to see over these last 3 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:13,080 few weeks some of the mountaintop passages of the 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:16,000 Bible, these legendary passages of Deuteronomy 5. 5 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,720 We got to see the the rehearsing of the 10 commandments for the 6 00:00:18,720 --> 00:00:21,640 next generation. How glorious that was on Easter 7 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:22,880 morning. And then we got to go to 8 00:00:23,240 --> 00:00:27,080 Deuteronomy 6 with the Shema. Here, O Israel, the the Lord 9 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,240 your God, the Lord is 1. You shall love the Lord your God 10 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:33,800 with all your heart, with all your, and with all your. 11 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,520 Mind, we got to see that legendary passage about passing 12 00:00:38,520 --> 00:00:42,280 on this faith to the next generation, and I want you to 13 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,520 see that This is why we go. Book by book, if we were just to 14 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,200 topically address these, we might miss these subtle themes 15 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:50,280 that that run through this. As we've gone through 16 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:53,720 Deuteronomy 4 and 5:00 and 6:00, there's been a theme and as I 17 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,160 read to you these verses, you're going to perceive it for 18 00:00:56,160 --> 00:00:57,520 yourself. We saw as we came into 19 00:00:57,520 --> 00:01:01,960 Deuteronomy 4, stepping into the next sermon of Moses, he said, 20 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,240 for the Lord your God is a consuming fire, and he says a 21 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:09,800 jealous God. We came into Deuteronomy 5 and 22 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,680 he said in verse 9, you shall not bow down to other gods or 23 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,560 serve them. For I the Lord your God, am a 24 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:18,640 jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of the 25 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,400 fathers on the children to the third and 4th generation of 26 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:26,800 those who hate me, we came into Deuteronomy 6, the Shema, he 27 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:28,920 said in verse 15. For the Lord your God in your 28 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:33,160 midst is a jealous God. Lest the anger of the Lord be 29 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,080 kindled against. You and he destroy you from the 30 00:01:36,080 --> 00:01:38,600 face of the earth. So here you see the theme 31 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,720 clearly progressing and it it's helpful to see as God declares 32 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:47,160 who he is, as he reveals himself and names himself, that when God 33 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,480 speaks in the Scriptures, it's a weighty thing. 34 00:01:51,120 --> 00:01:54,440 When God reveals himself to his church and to his people and to 35 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:59,320 the world, it's a weighty thing. There's a we, we would call her, 36 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:02,840 I would call it an elocutionary force in God's words. 37 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:06,800 When God as creator speaks, we're we're bound to those words 38 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:11,080 that it demands something of us. He speaks and we respond. 39 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,680 We're bound by what we hear. God as creator speaks and we are 40 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,600 obligated to his words. And so when God says something 41 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:23,800 like I am the King of glory, Jesus is Lord, His kingship is 42 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,160 not a suggestion. He doesn't say that. 43 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,280 So you can file it away and say yes Jesus is King, sure Jesus is 44 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:33,480 Lord, and then we go and live however we want illocutionary. 45 00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,760 Force to his words as. King, this is what it means that 46 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,880 he's going to exercise his sovereignty in the world, and he 47 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:44,640 does it continually by his Providence. 48 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:46,920 There's consequences to his revelation. 49 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:49,520 And like any king, if you follow his leadership, there will be 50 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:51,600 consequences. If you don't follow his 51 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:53,680 leadership, there will be consequences. 52 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:59,320 And when God names himself, he's not offering sentiment or 53 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,240 suggestion. He says things in Scripture. 54 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:05,120 He reveals himself as the Lord of hosts. 55 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,680 And that's not information for you to catalog in your mind 56 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:13,200 saying, OK, God is the God of 10,000 * 10,000 burning seraphim 57 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:16,520 and they're armed and trained for war. 58 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:21,040 He's saying when he says that and I'm in command of them and I 59 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,080 have used them and I will use them. 60 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,840 As they're trained and armed for war, he's their commander. 61 00:03:27,360 --> 00:03:29,520 And so again, there's elocutionary force to his words 62 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:33,000 when God says. He is king, it means he's going 63 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,160 to exercise his lordship, and when he says he is holy, it 64 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,880 means he is going to set himself against your sin and the 65 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,480 wickedness of the world. And when he says he's the Lord 66 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,560 of hosts, it means he's going to mobilize his Seraphim. 67 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:53,160 Deuteronomy 456 God says he is a consuming fire and he names 68 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:57,440 himself as a jealous God and helpfulness. 69 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,120 It's the original word. And in Hebrew envy and jealousy 70 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:02,840 are the same word, but they're two very different concepts even 71 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:04,800 in the Old Testament. This isn't envy. 72 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:11,000 This isn't petty jealousy. God is saying he's jealous for 73 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:13,440 exclusive relationship with his people. 74 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:17,800 He's jealous like a a marriage relationship, like a husband is 75 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:22,320 jealous for his wife, for that purity, so he is jealous for us. 76 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:26,280 Ji Packer, holy righteous love. I love this. 77 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:31,840 Holy righteous love without jealousy is an oxymoron, he 78 00:04:31,840 --> 00:04:34,800 says. It's preservation of what is 79 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:38,600 valuable and beautiful, and so God names himself, and so we're 80 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:40,840 obligated. There's no clear statement on 81 00:04:40,840 --> 00:04:42,480 this doctrine of the jealousy of God. 82 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:46,040 Then Exodus 34 write this down. Exodus 3414. 83 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,760 The Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God. 84 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,240 He names himself. The Lord's name is jealous. 85 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:56,520 It's not sentiment. God is jealous. 86 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,200 For his people, God is jealous for his name, He's jealous for 87 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:02,640 his glory, and he's jealous for your good. 88 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,880 And so when he says this. If you turn in your Bible to 89 00:05:06,880 --> 00:05:10,560 Deuteronomy 7, you can, you can have kind of a concrete case for 90 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:12,280 the implications of what that means. 91 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:14,880 This isn't to be filed away. There's implications in this 92 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:18,160 world for God's jealousy. And we get to see it as a test 93 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:21,360 case here, what God's jealousy means for his people and what 94 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:23,480 God's jealousy means for his enemies. 95 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,680 And when you come to Deuteronomy 7, it's it's famous if you've 96 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,600 studied it, if you've read it, it's famous for three reasons. 97 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,040 Because there's three themes that are kind of legendary 98 00:05:33,040 --> 00:05:38,120 themes that run through the book #1 It's famous because it has 99 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:40,080 one of the most explicit statements in all the Old 100 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,160 Testament on the election of. Israel as God's people. 101 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:48,080 So Deuteronomy 76, God says. For you are a people holy to the 102 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:51,080 Lord your God. For the Lord your God has chosen 103 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:54,320 you to be a people for His treasured possession out of all 104 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,480 the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 105 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:00,600 The election of his people. And that's even more nuanced 106 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:02,960 because when you come to the New Testament, Peter. 107 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,520 Filters that and he says through the blood of Jesus Christ you 108 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,720 have been bought and he now he quotes Deuteronomy 76 in that 109 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,560 context saying now. You, the Church or His treasured 110 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:16,360 possession, His people. The second theme that you'll see 111 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,240 kind of worked out here is it's famous because it elaborates on 112 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:22,520 the theme of harem. I want you to say it with me. 113 00:06:22,520 --> 00:06:24,560 I want to use this word as it go through, say harem. 114 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,480 Haram is the Hebrew word for complete destruction, total 115 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,200 destruction of the enemies of God. 116 00:06:32,200 --> 00:06:35,160 This comes in Deuteronomy 72. If we ever go through the book 117 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:38,240 of Joshua, you'll see it much more clearly and thoroughly. 118 00:06:38,240 --> 00:06:41,360 But he says, And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, 119 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:45,120 and you defeat them. Then you must devote them to 120 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:48,480 harem, devote them to complete destruction. 121 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:49,640 And he clarifies what that means. 122 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,360 He says you go to their places of child sacrifice, you go to 123 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:54,760 their altars, they're disgusting pillars. 124 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,640 And he says and you break them, you dash them, you chop them and 125 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,760 you burn them. And then he says, and you will 126 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:03,840 consume the peoples with the sword. 127 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,880 The third theme, Deuteronomy 7, is famous for its unqualified 128 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:12,400 statements of prosperity for God's people. 129 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,440 And so every time we talk about biblical prosperity. 130 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,280 Because of the cultural moment we live in, we think prosperity 131 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,200 goes to the prosperity gospel. 17% of all confessing 132 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,920 evangelicals are part of this Word of Faith theology. 133 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,800 And we're right here by Tulsa where there's all these major 134 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,680 denominations and, and we're, we're so quick to qualify where 135 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:34,280 we say, yes, God wants to prosper his people, but you 136 00:07:34,280 --> 00:07:37,320 know, don't forget about Job, don't forget about the trials. 137 00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:40,000 You know, it's a general prosperity, but don't you know, 138 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:43,080 sometimes there's exceptions. There are no exceptions in 139 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,440 Deuteronomy 7. The focus is on the unqualified 140 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,800 prosperity of God's people and you see it all come together. 141 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,560 Let's read verses 1 to 16. I want you to see these themes 142 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,440 working out as we read the text together. 143 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:02,400 Kind of a long portion, Chapter 7, verse one, when the Lord your 144 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:04,600 God brings you into the land that you're entering to take 145 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:09,440 possession of it and clears away many nations before you, the 146 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,200 Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the 147 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,240 Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 7 nations more 148 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,360 numerous and mightier than you. And when the Lord your God gives 149 00:08:20,360 --> 00:08:23,680 them over to you and you defeat them, then you must devote them 150 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:26,720 to harem. You shall make no covenant with 151 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,640 them and show no mercy to them. You shall not intermarry with 152 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:32,360 them, giving your daughters to their sons, or taking away your 153 00:08:32,360 --> 00:08:35,600 sons or their daughters for your sons. 154 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,480 For they would turn away your sons from following Me to serve 155 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:40,840 other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would 156 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:43,600 be kindled against you when He would destroy you quickly. 157 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,840 Verse 5 Then you shall thus you shall deal with them. 158 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,400 You shall break down their altars, dash in pieces their 159 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:52,720 pillars, chop down their ashram, and burn their carved images 160 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:55,400 with fire. For you are a people holy to the 161 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,760 Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you 162 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,720 to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the 163 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:02,160 peoples who are on the face of the earth. 164 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,960 It was not because you were more in number than any other people 165 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,480 that the Lord has set His love on you and chose you. 166 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,560 For you are the fewest of all peoples, that is all peoples in 167 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:12,680 Canaan. But it is because the Lord loves 168 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:15,360 you, and is keeping the oath that He swore to your Father's, 169 00:09:15,560 --> 00:09:18,080 that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and 170 00:09:18,080 --> 00:09:19,800 redeemed you from the House of slavery. 171 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:21,800 From the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 172 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,440 Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God the faithful 173 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,640 God. Who keeps covenant and steadfast 174 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:31,560 love with those who love him and keep his commandments to 1000 175 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:35,520 generations and repays to their face those who hate him by 176 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:38,280 destroying them? He will not be slack with one 177 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:40,800 who hates him. He will repay him to his face. 178 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,560 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the 179 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:46,080 statutes and the rules that I command to you today. 180 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,440 And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the 181 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,200 Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast 182 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,800 love that He swore to your Father's, and He will love you, 183 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,120 bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of 184 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,560 your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine 185 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,280 and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your 186 00:10:03,280 --> 00:10:06,120 flock, and the land that He swore to your Father's to give 187 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:07,800 you. You shall be blessed above all 188 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:09,920 peoples. There shall not be male or 189 00:10:09,920 --> 00:10:12,160 female bearing among you or among your livestock. 190 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,120 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness, and none of 191 00:10:15,120 --> 00:10:18,040 the evil diseases of Egypt which you knew will He inflict on you, 192 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:19,920 but He will lay them on all those who. 193 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:22,200 Hate you and. You shall consume all the 194 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,320 peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. 195 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:27,680 Your eyes shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their 196 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:30,120 gods, for that would be a snare to you. 197 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:35,360 So we said 3 themes running through Deuteronomy, election, 198 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,680 harem and prosperity and I want to visit these one by one. 199 00:10:38,920 --> 00:10:41,840 Then I want to do it by asking simple question of each of these 200 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:44,280 concepts. The the simple question why? 201 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:47,400 Why prosperity? Why harem? 202 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,560 Why election? And I want to. 203 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:54,160 Answer all of them through this doctrine of God's jealousy, and 204 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,000 we'll start with this this first theme. 205 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,680 Why election? The answer is because God is 206 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:03,560 jealous. For his people, Samuel Wells 207 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:05,320 said beautifully and devotionally. 208 00:11:05,560 --> 00:11:08,000 A jealous God is part of the wonder of grace. 209 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,360 God doesn't want 100 other things, He wants us. 210 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,320 That's so beautiful and so devotional. 211 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,320 This needs to stay with us, so I'm going to read it again. 212 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,280 A jealous God is part of the wonder of grace. 213 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,800 God doesn't want 100 other things, He wants us. 214 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,440 You can see it. I'm going to read again verses 6 215 00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,120 to 9 with that in mind. He says this, for you are a 216 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:31,720 people holy to the Lord your God. 217 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,120 The Lord your God has. Chosen you to be a people. 218 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,040 For His treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on 219 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:39,360 the face of the earth, not because you were more in number 220 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,640 than other people. That He set his love on you and 221 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:43,680 chose you. For you were the fewest of all 222 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:45,960 the peoples. But it's because he loves you 223 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:48,520 and is keeping the oath that he swore to your father's, that the 224 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,280 Lord has brought to you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you 225 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,960 from the House of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of 226 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:55,800 Egypt. Know, therefore, that the Lord 227 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,000 your God is God the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast 228 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:01,960 love with those who. Love him and keep his 229 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,880 commandments to 1000 generations. 230 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:07,880 Just teaching you. God says that you are his 231 00:12:07,880 --> 00:12:11,320 treasured possession. His people are his treasured 232 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:12,960 possession. I read three times in those 233 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,880 verses that he loves you and he says that he he looks you in the 234 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,680 face and says I love you, I love you, I love you. 235 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,720 And so because of that, he has set his exclusive covenantal 236 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:28,520 love on them, and he doesn't share them with other gods and 237 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:30,520 so all. Lines begin with a point. 238 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,560 That's what this election passage is about. 239 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:35,920 All lines begin with a point. And here's the point, He enters 240 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:41,800 into this exclusive particular electing love and relationship 241 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,320 and he says to these people that he made, that he chose, that he 242 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,080 redeemed. He says verse 6, I have chosen 243 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:53,280 you to be my people out of all the people in verse 7, he got us 244 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,120 so gracious and loving. He doesn't just say I chose you, 245 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:57,880 he tells you why he chose you. And he says it wasn't because 246 00:12:57,880 --> 00:13:00,360 you were more in number than all the rest of the people. 247 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:02,360 It's not that. Because you were particularly 248 00:13:02,360 --> 00:13:04,920 beautiful or particularly talented or particularly 249 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:09,080 handsome, which praise God, you chose them because they were 250 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,200 none of those things. They were the fewest in number. 251 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,160 And so this is contrary to all the Pagan religions, you could 252 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:18,560 say even contrary to a lot of the evangelical religions today 253 00:13:18,560 --> 00:13:22,080 where the they're geared toward the senator and the 254 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:25,880 representative and the wealthy and the powerful, because they 255 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:30,840 have the means of creating the more beautiful temples and more 256 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:34,360 comfortable sanctuaries. And we say, praise God, He's not 257 00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:36,960 interested in those things. He doesn't want the thousand 258 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:38,760 other things. He wants you. 259 00:13:39,000 --> 00:13:41,960 He wants your heart. He wants your allegiance. 260 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,280 Why did he elect his people verse 8 we continue this line of 261 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:50,600 thought it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the 262 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:53,760 oath that he. Swore to your father's and this 263 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:55,640 kind of language we read about it in the Bible. 264 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:59,520 God showers this language on us so much that we kind of lose the 265 00:13:59,760 --> 00:14:02,840 the force that it. Has but how off putting is it if 266 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,280 you as a husband to your wife or a wife to your husband were to 267 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:09,680 take their hand and and look him in the eye and say you above all 268 00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:13,320 people in this world. God has given to me and I 269 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:17,800 cherish you and I love you. We would our eyes would look 270 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:19,960 away and we make a joke, right? We diminish it. 271 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:22,960 That's what God's doing here. It's it's off putting, it's 272 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:25,760 uncomfortable when he looks you, he says I've chosen you above 273 00:14:25,760 --> 00:14:27,440 all people. I've put you in this 274 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:28,960 relationship. I love you. 275 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,560 And the marriage relationship is the metaphor used of God's 276 00:14:34,560 --> 00:14:37,520 jealousy because he's he uses this above all. 277 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,080 This is the only covenant relationship we're given on the 278 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:41,880 earth. And so it's a picture of God's 279 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,640 love, and it's also a picture of this healthy jealousy, this 280 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:47,640 exclusive. Relationship. 281 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:50,680 There's a healthy jealousy, even in marriage, that says I don't 282 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:52,280 have to. Compete with other things or 283 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:56,080 other people in this relationship, and God's name is 284 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,760 jealous. And that perfection, that 285 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,400 attribute matters. Because he's saying don't. 286 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,160 Make me compete for your loyalty. 287 00:15:04,480 --> 00:15:07,280 Don't make me compete with other things or other people for your 288 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,040 love. It's covenant loyalty. 289 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:13,280 Springing out of a covenant to love and his election is 290 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,480 manifesting his nature. That God is love. 291 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:19,800 And now Israel is this beautiful living proof that there's a God 292 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:21,200 in heaven and he loves his people. 293 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:23,400 So how would they know that without Israel? 294 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:25,000 How would they know that if God had no people? 295 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,280 And the same is true of you today. 296 00:15:26,800 --> 00:15:29,400 God has set his love on you and you're there's going to be this 297 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:31,600 blessing and there's going to be this peace and this joy and this 298 00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:33,840 holiness so that when the world looks at you, they can say 299 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:36,360 there's a God in heaven and he loves his people. 300 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,760 And he's also using this theme, as you can see here in in 301 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,280 Deuteronomy 7, to remove any pride from their hearts. 302 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,560 That's why he says I didn't. Choose you because you were 303 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,480 somebody, he actually says. I chose you because you were the 304 00:15:48,480 --> 00:15:51,600 least of the nations. And Canaan and he, he lists here 305 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,960 seven of them, like the Gurgashites and the Hittites and 306 00:15:53,960 --> 00:15:56,160 the Termites and the Stalactites, and he goes through 307 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,440 all of them and. He says you are the you are the 308 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:02,920 least of all of them. It's purely an expression of 309 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,040 love. Verse 9. 310 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,720 Know, therefore, that the Lord your God is God, the faithful 311 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:10,360 God who keeps covenant and steadfast. 312 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:13,240 Love with those who loves him and keeps his commandments again 313 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:16,320 to 1000 generations. How do you enter the covenant? 314 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,200 You enter the covenant. Israel entered the covenant by 315 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:23,120 election, he chose them and shortly following. 316 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,480 You can draw a circle around verse 1111 is the hinge that 317 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:27,800 this whole. Passage turns on. 318 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:29,920 You'll see that soon. It's the focus of the whole 319 00:16:29,920 --> 00:16:30,760 chapter. It says. 320 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,520 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the 321 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:35,120 statutes that I command you today. 322 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,240 And about that? Woods. 323 00:16:37,440 --> 00:16:40,560 The commentator points out obedience to the law is not the 324 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,120 means of gaining the covenant, listen, but the means of 325 00:16:44,120 --> 00:16:46,800 maintaining and enjoying the covenant. 326 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:50,040 The Lord your God will keep His covenant with you. 327 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,120 You can even test your own heart subconsciously. 328 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:54,680 Am I? Am I being obedient to God and 329 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:56,560 His commandments? Am I doing all the things? 330 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,320 To try and earn God's favor? Or am I doing it to enjoy the 331 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:03,960 relationship that He's established with me and there's 332 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:08,319 a rest and there's an easy yoke that Jesus puts on us. 333 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,880 We enjoy God's relationship. We enjoy the covenant by 334 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:16,839 participating in His will. And even when you go back to the 335 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:20,359 covenant of Abraham. It had a negative side to it 336 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:25,400 where he says if you. If you follow and you're, then 337 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,440 he promises this blessing, but he also promises curses to 338 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:32,520 everyone who. Would despise Israel and you see 339 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:36,480 this working out RJ and John preached Deuteronomy one to 340 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:38,680 three that first sermon that showed you know they've kind of 341 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,400 come around if I guess I'm near they've come around to the. 342 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,840 East side of of the Jordan River, and they're kind of camp 343 00:17:44,840 --> 00:17:47,040 there and they're waiting to go into the promised land, but 344 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,480 there's a little bit of land there. 2 1/2 of the tribes, that 345 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:52,120 was where their inheritance was. And they've already seen some 346 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:54,840 measure of success as God's given them. 347 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,960 Sihan and Ogg into their hand because they oppose God. 348 00:17:58,120 --> 00:18:01,480 And what happened? Except they were conquered, and 349 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:04,040 that's what's going to happen. To the rest of the promised 350 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:06,880 land, there's this negative side and this negative side brings us 351 00:18:06,880 --> 00:18:09,240 to the second question that we have to ask of. 352 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:12,960 Deuteronomy 7 The second theme is why harem? 353 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:16,680 Why complete and total destruction? 354 00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:21,680 And the answer is because God is jealous for his name. 355 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:24,760 He originally his election. The theme of election is because 356 00:18:24,760 --> 00:18:28,160 God is jealous for his people. Harem is because God is jealous 357 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:31,080 for his name. Read with me verses 2 to 5 again 358 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:35,080 and you'll see this concept. He says. 359 00:18:35,080 --> 00:18:37,200 And when the Lord your God gives them over to you, when you 360 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,200 defeat them, then you must devote them to complete 361 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,680 destruction. You shall make no covenant with 362 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:45,600 them and show no mercy to them. You shall not enter, marry with 363 00:18:45,600 --> 00:18:47,800 them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their 364 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:50,160 daughters for your sons. For they would turn away your 365 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:52,280 sons from following Me to serve other gods. 366 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,280 Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he 367 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:58,040 would destroy you quickly. But thus you shall deal with 368 00:18:58,040 --> 00:18:59,040 them. You shall break down their 369 00:18:59,040 --> 00:19:02,600 altars, dash in pieces their pillars, chop down their ashram, 370 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,120 and burn their carved images with fire. 371 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,240 If you skip down to verse 16, he says it again. 372 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:10,720 And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God 373 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:13,240 will give over to you. Your eyes shall not pity them, 374 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:15,840 neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be. 375 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,240 A snare to you. He's he's making a contrast here 376 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:22,280 again, the the wickedness and the judgment and the prosperity 377 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,760 of of these two groups, we'll call the first group Canaan and 378 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,680 company. For them comes suffering and 379 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:33,040 judgment and harem. And for the other group, we'll 380 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,680 call it Israel and company, because it's not all Israel. 381 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:37,640 God will bring others into their midst. 382 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,160 To them come joy and blessing and prosperity. 383 00:19:41,160 --> 00:19:44,120 And God wants to. He separates prosperity and 384 00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,560 judgment with one verse, verse 11. 385 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,960 And so he's doing that because he wants to make this contrast. 386 00:19:50,360 --> 00:19:52,560 And I think he's, he's also trying to paint a picture for 387 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,200 you saying that God is sovereign and God dispenses both. 388 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:00,280 He dispenses judgment and he dispenses mercy. 389 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,600 He dispenses suffering and he dispenses prosperity. 390 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:08,640 And we have to ask, could can any of the Canaanites enjoy the 391 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:12,000 prosperity of God? And on the other side, could any 392 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,440 of the Israelites experience the judgment of God? 393 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,000 And the answer is yes. This is not an an ethnic issue. 394 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,120 It's an ethical issue. And the dividing line between 395 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:27,960 the two is allegiance. It's the line of allegiance to 396 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:30,160 the heart. That's what verse 11 is about. 397 00:20:30,160 --> 00:20:32,040 And so the the warning we have to say. 398 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:34,400 Is as as bluntly as he puts it here. 399 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:37,760 The warning to the Canaanites has an exception, and the 400 00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,880 warning to the Israelites has an exception. 401 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:43,600 The blessing and the judgment were conditional. 402 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:46,360 And what is the condition we've already seen in Deuteronomy 6? 403 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:48,360 It's the Shema. You shall love the Lord your God 404 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:50,960 with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, 405 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:53,920 and with all your strength. And anybody who aligns 406 00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:56,840 themselves with Jesus Christ or with Yahweh and His 407 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:01,200 righteousness will experience His blessing and His peace. 408 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:04,200 And this is evidenced. This is why verse 11 is 409 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:06,960 important. That alignment of the heart is 410 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:10,680 evidenced in verse 11 by the keeping of His commandments over 411 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:14,200 and over and over. John 14, John 15, Deuteronomy 6. 412 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,680 If you love God, you will keep His commandments. 413 00:21:16,840 --> 00:21:19,640 If His, if you've had a supernatural regeneration and 414 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,480 His Holy Spirit has come on you, it will manifest itself. 415 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:24,680 There's consequences to these doctrines. 416 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,680 It will be seen in your life and as you read the the history of 417 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,960 the Bible story and in time and in history. 418 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,680 It teaches us that the Canaanites who feared the Lord 419 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,320 were grafted. Into his salvation. 420 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:41,320 And the Canaanites would would. Share in the blessing by faith. 421 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:45,280 And so we see that Karam was against the wicked culture in 422 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:48,920 the Pagan practices, not individual repentance sinners. 423 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,280 That's so important to understand the premier example 424 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:57,200 left for us. Was Rahab, which shows that the 425 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,440 dividing line between right judgement and blessing was not 426 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:06,640 ethnic because Rahab was an A Canaanite and it wasn't about 427 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:09,920 good works because she was a prostitute. 428 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,640 You can compare Abraham to Rahab. 429 00:22:14,360 --> 00:22:18,560 This is what James does in James. 2 verses 21 to 25, and I 430 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:20,680 encourage you to do this in your own quiet time if you ever need 431 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:23,760 to lead a devotional, if you ever want a devotional activity 432 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,600 to do in your own bed as you're getting ready for bed. 433 00:22:25,600 --> 00:22:27,280 This is it. James makes this contrast 434 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:31,800 because he says Abraham is a rich, faithful Jewish man, and 435 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:34,200 then in the very next verse he compares. 436 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:38,800 To Rahab, and it says of her that she's a poor foreign woman 437 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,240 and a prostitute. And the fruit of that study is 438 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:45,520 to recognize they both inherit the same covenant and the same 439 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:47,760 blessing. It's a beautiful thought. 440 00:22:48,040 --> 00:22:50,320 And the the. Dividing line is the line of 441 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:53,680 allegiance. And verse 11 is where our our 442 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:56,680 text takes a breath from all of the judgment and all of the 443 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:01,560 harem and it it points out that God is jealous for your 444 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,680 undivided loyalty and the rest of the Torah, the rest of the 445 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:07,920 Old Testament, this or this, these five books of the Old 446 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:11,120 Testament, kind of. Brings the context for why God's 447 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:13,640 so severe. Why why complete destruction of 448 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:18,320 these nations and he makes it clear he kind of there's this 449 00:23:18,320 --> 00:23:20,920 apologetic for it. The answer is because their. 450 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,880 Wickedness is legendary. The whole world knew of the 451 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:27,680 wickedness of the Canaanites, and he's patient with them for 452 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:29,520 so long. The New Testament says that 453 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,040 God's kindness is meant to lead us toward repentance. 454 00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:34,520 And so God is kind to them, and he's patient toward them, and 455 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:36,760 he's gracious toward them. And they they never turn. 456 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:39,920 Actually, the Old Testament says that their iniquities is filling 457 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:41,760 up. And as they're sinning and 458 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:43,960 sinning and sinning, God is there and he's long-suffering 459 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,640 and he's patient. And the Scripture says their 460 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:50,200 iniquity is not yet complete. And then the Bible. 461 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:52,440 Teaches us what they were doing while God waited. 462 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:57,200 Deuteronomy teaches us 12/31. It says every abominable thing 463 00:23:57,200 --> 00:24:00,520 that the Lord hates they have done in service to their gods. 464 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,120 And the same verse goes on to say they're sacrificing their 465 00:24:04,120 --> 00:24:07,520 children to Molech for they even burn their sons and their 466 00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,320 daughters and the. Fire to their gods is what it 467 00:24:10,320 --> 00:24:13,800 says. Deuteronomy 18 calls it passing 468 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:18,520 children through the fire. And you come to Leviticus and it 469 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:23,520 says that sexual immorality was rampant homosexuality. 470 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,960 And bestiality. Jeremiah 19 Four. 471 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,480 They filled the places with the blood of the innocent. 472 00:24:31,120 --> 00:24:33,320 Unless we start with to feel compassion for him and we say, 473 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:34,880 oh, they're, they're just ignorant. 474 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:37,800 They're just lost in their sin. That's not what it says. 475 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,680 It says that they hated God, they knew of Yahweh and they 476 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,600 hated him. Our passage, verse 10 says that. 477 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,840 And so harem is not just arbitrary judgment. 478 00:24:47,840 --> 00:24:49,520 It's not just a clearing out of the way. 479 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,280 So that these people can move into this promised land. 480 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:57,000 This is a time when God's patience had reached its end. 481 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:00,960 And it's significant because this is a type of the final 482 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,320 judgement where God's. Patience will reach its end. 483 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,680 His kindness is here and His mercy is available now and we're 484 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:11,480 filling up iniquity and the day is coming where His patience. 485 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:13,040 Will come to an end and final judgement. 486 00:25:13,120 --> 00:25:16,680 Will come, Eugene Merrill says of this of this text. 487 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,640 And this time, he says, this drastic action was taken as a 488 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,280 form of immediate divine judgement upon those who had. 489 00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:26,760 Send away their day of grace. Leviticus 1825 puts it this way. 490 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:30,360 The land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the 491 00:25:30,360 --> 00:25:32,880 land vomited out. Its own inhabitants. 492 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:37,360 So remember, this is a foretaste of divine judgment. 493 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:39,720 He devotes Canaan to destruction. 494 00:25:39,720 --> 00:25:42,440 The seven nations. Verse 5 he gives the marching 495 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,440 orders to Israel. What are they to do when they 496 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:48,120 come into the land? He says break, dash, chop and 497 00:25:48,120 --> 00:25:52,760 burn all of the all of the the. Ashram the altars they're 498 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,640 disgusting sexual devices that were were phallic and their 499 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,400 nature 1 was fertility gods of the women and and of the men and 500 00:26:01,400 --> 00:26:04,720 he says you're you're the of the instruments for child sacrifice. 501 00:26:04,720 --> 00:26:07,560 He says there's there's going to be nothing left, burn it and 502 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,280 then in. Verse 16 consume them. 503 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:13,640 This is God's judgment for his people doesn't continue to 504 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:14,760 today. This is a once. 505 00:26:15,120 --> 00:26:18,360 For all act that God gave to the Israelites. 506 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:23,080 And we ask of it did did God show no grace to any Canaanite 507 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:24,280 as they were coming into the land? 508 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:27,280 No, no, by no means. What if? 509 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,440 What if a Molech worshipper repented? 510 00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:33,680 What if a foreign Pagan prostitute repented? 511 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:39,120 Scripture says God welcomed. Them in And we ask again, did 512 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:41,480 God show no judgment? To the Israelites when they fell 513 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:47,280 into the sexual practices of the pagans, this was such a timely 514 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:50,360 verse because you remember just a few weeks before was that 515 00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,520 disgusting passage we read in, in Numbers 25 just a few weeks 516 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:58,120 ago where 24,000 Israelites go and they they participate in all 517 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:01,080 this Pagan practice and they go and serve foreign gods and God 518 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,720 brings a plague on them and he kills Israel. 519 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,160 It's not an ethnic issue, it's an allegiance issue. 520 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:12,040 It says God is a jealous God and that means something. 521 00:27:12,600 --> 00:27:14,240 It's not just a theoretical doctrine. 522 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:15,960 The line is the line of allegiance. 523 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:19,240 He judges the sexually immoral of Israel, and he spares the 524 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:22,800 Pagan Rahab. And another important note to 525 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:24,080 see if you. Skip all the way down to verse 526 00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:25,800 22. We didn't read it, but I want 527 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:28,600 you to to see it. God doesn't bring judgment on 528 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,280 them all at once. He doesn't just conquer Canaan 529 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:34,000 in a second it. Says that he does it little by 530 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,240 little. There's kind of a a teachers or 531 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:38,920 something about God that there's a progression. 532 00:27:38,920 --> 00:27:41,560 To his will. He doesn't sanctify you all at 533 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:42,400 once, right? There's. 534 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,560 He does his work little by little. 535 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:47,160 It says, The Lord your God will clear away these nations before 536 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:50,440 you little by little. You may not make an end of them 537 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,960 all at once. What does this mean in US 538 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:54,800 accomplishing the will of God, except that there will be 539 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,800 progress, And to do that it's going to require prayer and 540 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:04,760 faith and fear and dependence and strategy on behalf of God's 541 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,960 people. To accomplish the will of the. 542 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,640 Lord, so remember Jesus says the Kingdom of God is going to 543 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,520 expand like a mustard seed. This is going to be this little 544 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:15,560 tiny thing and it's going to grow and it's going to grow into 545 00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:17,640 this great tree. He says in the same way the 546 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:20,160 Kingdom of God is going to advance like like 11, there's 547 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:22,600 just this little bit of leaven and it's going to work its way 548 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:24,280 out into. The the whole earth. 549 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:26,720 He says the same thing of your sanctification. 550 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:29,080 As much as we want it to happen. A new believer comes into the 551 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:31,000 church and we say, why aren't you sanctified? 552 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,120 All at once? They could look at you and say, 553 00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:35,080 why aren't you sanctified? All at once. 554 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,480 Right, this these things. Take time. 555 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,720 It's the slow and often imperceptible growth of 556 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,960 sanctification as counselors come and discipleship comes and 557 00:28:43,960 --> 00:28:45,800 the preaching of the word does it's perfect work. 558 00:28:45,800 --> 00:28:48,280 And sometimes we go backwards before we go forwards. 559 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:50,800 And there's dry seasons and there's prayer and there's 560 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:54,280 strategy. And when you read the book of 561 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,680 Joshua, you see that it takes years to fully enter the 562 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:00,680 promised land, Actually takes centuries for Israel to fully 563 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:02,400 enter the promised land. And that little tiny bit of 564 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,200 distance, just a few miles between Jericho and Jerusalem, 565 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,160 from Jericho to conquering. When David conquers the 566 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:11,840 Jebusites, it's centuries for them to go those few miles. 567 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,560 But we say the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some 568 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:19,960 count slowness. He's sovereign, so he's jealous 569 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,480 for the glory of his name. He commands harem. 570 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:27,200 But says that it's. He gives some reasons why he 571 00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:31,360 commands this. This is #1 comes in verse 4. 572 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:34,200 He says he commands. Harem to keep the hearts of his 573 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:37,120 people from turning away. This is part of the reason he 574 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,520 does this is to clear out all the rivals, to remove all 575 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,800 temptations, so that the world can see his pure holy. 576 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:48,000 People he has another argument in verse 10 he says his intent 577 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:49,800 is to. Destroy those who hate. 578 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:54,280 Him and we can see that even in this picture of coming into 579 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:57,080 Canaan. And another kind of a third 580 00:29:57,080 --> 00:30:00,400 reason that he commands harem is to bring a just end. 581 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,160 To the horrible things that they've been doing in the land 582 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:06,360 God is is merciful on these children. 583 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:08,760 You say the same thing. Some people look back at history 584 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:14,400 and they say of Bloody Mary Mary Tudor she was only 155515561557 585 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,240 and 1558 a four year reign. You know what? 586 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,120 Why did she die so quickly? You know it. 587 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:21,720 Her death, any death, is a travesty. 588 00:30:21,720 --> 00:30:24,680 But some would look at that and say it was a mercy as she. 589 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,800 Burned men, women and children at the stake. 590 00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,280 Over 400 Christians. She was burning. 591 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,720 And you say her reign came to an end quickly because because 592 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,400 God's merciful. You could just say the same of 593 00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,760 Canaan, that he put an end to these horrible things and so he 594 00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:44,680 says of the to the Israelites, of the Canaanites politically. 595 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:49,160 Don't make any treaties with them and socially don't 596 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:52,720 intermarry with them. And religiously break down their 597 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,840 altars. What's the implication for you 598 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,760 all these years later? You got to turn away from 599 00:30:57,760 --> 00:30:59,480 anything that would provoke him to jealousy. 600 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,560 Create that separation of what draws your heart away from God. 601 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:07,560 He doesn't compete and his his love and his commitment to you 602 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,520 that we're about to read about ought to fuel your commitment to 603 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:11,160 him. He. 604 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:15,320 Loved you, He chose you, He bought you, and so your life 605 00:31:15,320 --> 00:31:19,560 should now be enraptured by this desire to please him. 606 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,480 And you should be passionately committed to. 607 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:26,040 Him And finally now we come to verse 11 and all the 608 00:31:26,040 --> 00:31:28,200 commentators say after all that you get to catch your breath. 609 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,160 We can do that. Just take a breath. 610 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:33,840 After all the judgment and all the harem that we've seen. 611 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:38,880 And there's a transition in verse 12 to the prosperity of 612 00:31:38,880 --> 00:31:41,560 God's people. And remember, they're both 613 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,320 sovereignly dispensed by God. He's the author of prosperity. 614 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,760 He's the author of Calamity. And we ask now this third 615 00:31:47,760 --> 00:31:50,920 question of our text, this third theme, Why prosperity? 616 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,880 The answer here is because God is jealous. 617 00:31:55,040 --> 00:32:00,120 For his glory and for your good. And so we could say that this 618 00:32:00,120 --> 00:32:02,840 one is a positive consequence of his jealousy. 619 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,120 And the positive consequence? Is. 620 00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,960 Prosperity, there's a a flourishing that comes when you 621 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:12,960 are loyal to God. When you put away all of all of 622 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,080 those idols, you can sit, look up your life and say there's no 623 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:18,080 gambling addiction and there's no sexual addiction and there's 624 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:19,680 no there's. Nothing. 625 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:21,440 And then you add to that the positive. 626 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,280 I'm taking care of my marriage and I'm taking care of my 627 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:26,960 health, taking care of my body. Then you say this is human 628 00:32:26,960 --> 00:32:30,840 flourishing, this is life as it was meant to be lived, this is 629 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:34,680 life as God designed for us, and there's a certain prosperity 630 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,080 that comes from this. You can read it in verses 12 to 631 00:32:37,080 --> 00:32:39,320 15. Remind yourself of these verses 632 00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,320 with me after the transition verse. 633 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,320 He says, And because you listen to these rules and keep and do 634 00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:48,200 them, the Lord will. God will keep with you the 635 00:32:48,200 --> 00:32:51,200 covenant and the steadfast love that He swore to your Father's. 636 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,520 He will love you, bless you, multiply you. 637 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:56,880 You will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your 638 00:32:56,880 --> 00:32:59,920 ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of 639 00:32:59,920 --> 00:33:02,520 your herds and the young of your flock, and the land that He 640 00:33:02,520 --> 00:33:04,160 swore to your Father's to give you. 641 00:33:04,520 --> 00:33:06,360 You shall be blessed above all peoples. 642 00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:08,840 There shall not be male or female, barren among you or 643 00:33:08,840 --> 00:33:11,200 among your livestock. And the Lord will take away from 644 00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,520 you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt which 645 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:19,880 you knew will He inflict on you. So this passage is famous for 646 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:24,960 its unqualified prosperity and Doctor Tremper Longman the third 647 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,960 that famous rhetorical critic. Of the New Testament says that 648 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,640 this is a dramatic passage in its extravagance and in the 649 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:33,840 absence of. All. 650 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:38,560 Qualification or limitation So again, we want to to qualify the 651 00:33:38,560 --> 00:33:40,120 excesses of the prosperity gospel. 652 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:43,600 So we hear, we hear passages like this about prosperity and 653 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:44,480 we. Minimize it. 654 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,920 We're at risk of minimizing it to try and, you know, curb the 655 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:52,040 excesses of that movement. And so you see passages like 656 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:54,600 this one that bring into this doctrine the doctrine of 657 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,880 blessing and of flourishing and of prosperity and of 658 00:33:57,880 --> 00:34:00,280 stewardship. And so we are quick to add the 659 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,160 exceptions where he says I'm going to prosper you. 660 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:04,960 And we're like, yes, but don't forget Job, right? 661 00:34:04,960 --> 00:34:07,080 You know he might. He might bring Job. 662 00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:10,880 'S suffering on you or? We say yes, he'll prosper you, 663 00:34:10,880 --> 00:34:12,960 but. There's exception sometimes 664 00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:15,600 there's trials and there's tribulations and there's sin and 665 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,639 there's infirmity or or we'll say you know, he prospers you 666 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,159 generally, generally speaking, God. 667 00:34:21,159 --> 00:34:23,760 Will prosper you, but you know sometimes he doesn't. 668 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,960 He can curb those in specific circumstances. 669 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:31,239 But the context here is your covenant faithfulness to God, 670 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:33,040 your exclusive allegiance to Him. 671 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:35,480 Deuteronomy 6 loving the Lord with all your heart, with all 672 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,120 your soul. And there is here no 673 00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,800 qualification to the blessings that follow, none in Deuteronomy 674 00:34:41,800 --> 00:34:44,800 7. I think that what Moses is 675 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,760 doing. Is emphasizing prosperity. 676 00:34:49,199 --> 00:34:53,840 He's setting up an expectation of his people in God's 677 00:34:53,840 --> 00:34:56,280 disposition. Toward his people saying a good 678 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,840 and righteous. King wants his people to 679 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:01,760 prosper. True, a good and righteous 680 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:06,360 father wants his family and his children to prosper. 681 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:08,680 God knows how to give good gifts to his children. 682 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:10,720 Which one? Asking for a piece of bread? 683 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:14,440 Will they give a scorpion? God wants or will you say what? 684 00:35:14,600 --> 00:35:17,320 Husband doesn't want his wife to prosper? 685 00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:22,240 And so a husband knows how to prepare a wedding feast for his 686 00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:24,560 bride. And God knows how to give good 687 00:35:24,560 --> 00:35:27,160 gifts to his children and he knows how to prosper his people 688 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:29,200 as their king. You can look at verse 13. 689 00:35:30,120 --> 00:35:34,720 He will love you, He will bless you, He will multiply you. 690 00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:37,640 If you want to know a blessing looks like go down to the kids 691 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:39,640 area. I think 90% of our church is 692 00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:41,960 children at this point. There's the whole. 693 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:46,480 Generation of kids in there. And Longman gets again at what 694 00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:49,120 the hearts of being with the heart of what's being 695 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:51,240 communicated. He says in the most literal 696 00:35:51,240 --> 00:35:54,320 sense, these words, the promise of blessing for covenant 697 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,960 faithfulness, are true. They're true in the most literal 698 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,080 sense. The fact of the matter is, as a 699 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:03,520 general rule, those who live godly lives by a living faith in 700 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:06,560 the Lord and by careful and scrupulous obedience to His 701 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:09,960 commandments, do prosper in the kinds of ways that are mentioned 702 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:13,760 here in Deuteronomy. 7 And he goes on most amazingly. 703 00:36:14,360 --> 00:36:17,000 A faithful member of God's covenant community who has, by 704 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,160 the grace of God, come to trust the Lord and commit himself to 705 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:22,480 the Word of God. We'll be an honest and hard 706 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,320 working man, a kind and generous man, and a man who sees life as 707 00:36:26,320 --> 00:36:29,120 rich with opportunity and possibility because it is under 708 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:30,520 the role of his Father in heaven. 709 00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,080 Such a man does well in the world and finds great reward in 710 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:38,080 it. So God's prosperity does require 711 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:40,040 limitation. We know that the the Bible does 712 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:42,400 bring limitation on prosperity, but not here. 713 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:47,000 Deuteronomy shows that the exceptions are not the emphasis. 714 00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:48,960 The emphasis is that God loves you. 715 00:36:49,160 --> 00:36:52,920 And he's jealous for your good. And so a life aligned with God's 716 00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:57,400 will tends toward real, observable, literal blessings 717 00:36:57,400 --> 00:36:58,960 that set us apart from the world. 718 00:36:59,840 --> 00:37:02,760 And in Scripture, there's a link between your faithfulness and 719 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:05,800 God's blessing, and one of the greatest places that you see it 720 00:37:05,920 --> 00:37:10,680 is in verses 11 and 12 and 13. And you see the verses 11 and 12 721 00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:14,160 talk about our faithfulness, and then verse 13 begins to yield 722 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:16,680 all of the blessings. It's right there, unqualified 723 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:20,200 before your eyes. And so just briefly, I wanted to 724 00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:22,920 share with you, there are tenants of prosperity to guard 725 00:37:22,920 --> 00:37:25,280 against the excesses. There are some tenants 726 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:27,440 theologically in Scripture of prosperity. 727 00:37:27,440 --> 00:37:31,720 I'll give them to you briefly. Number one, in a theology of 728 00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:35,200 prosperity, you have to remember that God is sovereign over all 729 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,840 prosperity. He's also sovereign over all 730 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:40,880 calamity, but he's sovereign over all prosperity. 731 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:45,160 First Samuel 27, the Lord makes poor and the Lord makes rich. 732 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,920 He brings low and he exalts. That's the first one because 733 00:37:48,920 --> 00:37:53,320 it's the most important. Another second, prosperity is 734 00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:57,000 primarily spiritual. There is material prosperity. 735 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:01,040 We'll come to that, but. It's it's spiritual union with 736 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:06,560 Christ justification. Sanctification, assurance of 737 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:11,160 your salvation, the hope of eternal life, peace with God are 738 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:16,720 those blessings blessing in my at the forefront of a definition 739 00:38:16,720 --> 00:38:18,480 of God's blessing in in my mind is that. 740 00:38:18,800 --> 00:38:22,560 You get to live a life knowing that you are fully pleasing to 741 00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,840 God in all your actions and everything you do. 742 00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,440 You are a treasured possession of Yahweh and. 743 00:38:28,120 --> 00:38:29,680 You get to live. That's what Blessing is. 744 00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:31,760 When you're obedient to His commands, you put off all your 745 00:38:31,760 --> 00:38:33,240 vices. You put on the new man. 746 00:38:33,720 --> 00:38:36,160 You live your life knowing that you are pleasing. 747 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:40,480 To God the Father, what a blessing your eternity secure 748 00:38:41,800 --> 00:38:44,200 the third tenet. Generosity must follow 749 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:47,960 prosperity. If God has made you prosperous, 750 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:53,040 the consequences Generosity. You are a blessing to others. 751 00:38:53,040 --> 00:38:56,320 2nd Corinthians 9 Whoever sow sparingly will reap sparingly. 752 00:38:56,320 --> 00:38:58,920 Whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully. 753 00:38:58,920 --> 00:39:01,680 We say it this way, You are blessed to be a blessing. 754 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:07,920 Fourthly, bringing in this idea of stewardship, you are a 755 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:12,880 steward of God's prosperity. He brings us in Deuteronomy. 756 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:16,000 Your treasure is really God's, and it's meant to be a means to 757 00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:18,280 bless others and support Kingdom work. 758 00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:21,240 You are a steward of resources. He has brought His resources 759 00:39:21,240 --> 00:39:24,600 from His heavenly treasury into your bank and you are required 760 00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:27,320 to use them wisely. They are his and not your own. 761 00:39:28,160 --> 00:39:32,200 And 5th And finally, this is the one that is so controversial, 762 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,320 but it need not be. If you follow God's design, it 763 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:38,600 will typically lead to monetary blessing. 764 00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:42,840 Psalm 112. Speaking to the man who fears 765 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:44,920 the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the 766 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:46,800 Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. 767 00:39:46,880 --> 00:39:50,320 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness 768 00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:52,880 endures forever To the woman who fears the Lord. 769 00:39:52,880 --> 00:39:55,720 Proverbs 31. She's clothed in fine linen and 770 00:39:55,720 --> 00:39:59,160 purple, her household is clothed in scarlet, and she has no lack 771 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:02,920 of gain. Proverbs 1322 A good man leaves 772 00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:04,120 an inheritance to his children's. 773 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,920 Children, but the sinner's wealth is laid up for the 774 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:10,440 righteous. Proverbs 39 to 10 Honor the Lord 775 00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:13,920 with your wealth and your barns. Will be filled with plenty. 776 00:40:14,640 --> 00:40:17,600 It will generally lead to monetary increase when you 777 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:21,600 follow the guidebook of scripture in life. 778 00:40:22,360 --> 00:40:26,320 So we say finally, praise God that his Bible is an honest book 779 00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:28,360 that tells how the world really is. 780 00:40:28,360 --> 00:40:31,600 That it it's got before verse 11, It's got after verse 11. 781 00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:35,600 This is a real book, a sobering book, an honest book. 782 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:40,160 Deuteronomy 15 says that. If you strictly obey the voice 783 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:41,280 of the Lord your God and do all his. 784 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:44,160 Commandments there's going to be no poor in the land and then a 785 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:46,400 few verses later he says there's always going to be poor in the 786 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:48,960 land because we're never going to follow it perfectly. 787 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:51,840 This is a real and honest book. Says the same thing and. 788 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:54,360 Moses just taught about the responsibility. 789 00:40:54,360 --> 00:40:57,600 To to faithfully proclaim the gospel to the next generation so 790 00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:58,880 that they can live out this faith. 791 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,520 And then he says in the chapters that come the the the future 792 00:41:02,520 --> 00:41:03,880 generations are going to fall away and. 793 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,760 It's it's honest about that. There's going to be an exile. 794 00:41:08,320 --> 00:41:10,120 There's blessing for the righteous, but there's also 795 00:41:10,120 --> 00:41:12,360 destruction for the wicked. It's honest about that. 796 00:41:13,080 --> 00:41:15,600 And there's rulers in the world, like Pharaoh, whose rule is 797 00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,920 harsh and cruel, but. Scriptures also say. 798 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:20,920 There's a ruler over all the earth. 799 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,960 Who is a savior when he says, take my yoke upon you and learn 800 00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:27,800 from me, for I'm gentle and lowly in heart, and you will 801 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:31,640 find rest for your souls. Remember what Jesus says in the 802 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:34,200 New Testament, that if you seek first the Kingdom of God and his 803 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,080 righteousness, all these things will be added to you. 804 00:41:38,400 --> 00:41:41,560 So Christ's. Rule against Pharaoh's is one of 805 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,760 peace and prosperity. This is the very passage of of 806 00:41:46,040 --> 00:41:47,520 First Peter 2. We already read it. 807 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,920 He quotes Deuteronomy 7-6, and that's so significant because he 808 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:53,760 takes Israel as God's elect nation. 809 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:56,240 Remembering that it was it was once an ethnicity. 810 00:41:56,240 --> 00:41:58,680 It was once a. People, we've transcended now 811 00:41:58,680 --> 00:42:02,120 ethic ethnic boundaries and salvation has come to every 812 00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:04,240 tribe, tongue and nation. We've been bought by Jesus 813 00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:06,040 Christ. He takes this Old Testament 814 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:07,840 verse. He puts it and qualifies it 815 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:09,840 through Christ in this New Testament context. 816 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:12,320 Now he says, you, Heritage Church, are his treasured 817 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:16,120 possession. Because of Jesus Christ and he 818 00:42:16,120 --> 00:42:19,840 tells us how to live after understanding this chapter and 819 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:23,840 and and Peter, he says, so that you may proclaim the 820 00:42:23,840 --> 00:42:26,320 excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his 821 00:42:26,440 --> 00:42:30,080 marvelous light. And because God is jealous, he 822 00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,880 says, I urge you. To abstain from the passions of 823 00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:34,960 the flesh which wage war against your soul. 824 00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:37,720 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so when they 825 00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:40,640 speak against you as evil doers, they may see your good deeds and 826 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:44,280 glorify God. He made you, He loved you, He 827 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,520 chose you. He's a jealous God. 828 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:49,720 He's jealous for his people, He's jealous for his name, He's 829 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:53,120 jealous for his glory. He's also jealous for your good. 830 00:42:53,560 --> 00:42:55,760 And let's pray in response to that. 831 00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:04,600 Lord God, your name is jealous. And we are floored by passages 832 00:43:04,600 --> 00:43:07,520 like Deuteronomy 7. There are no words to say that 833 00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:11,360 we were like the Canaanites, following after whatever our 834 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:15,680 heart desired, lost. And sick in mind and God, you 835 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:19,760 redeemed us and you brought us. You gave us a new nature, a new 836 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:22,080 heart, a new mind. And now you say that we are a 837 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:23,160 treasured. Possession. 838 00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:24,800 And there's nothing we can say, Lord. 839 00:43:24,800 --> 00:43:28,000 But thank you, we align our hearts so far as we are able, 840 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:30,600 Lord, we need your help to align our hearts so that there would 841 00:43:30,600 --> 00:43:32,960 be nothing competing with your jealousy. 842 00:43:32,960 --> 00:43:36,200 Lord I, I asked, even as we sing the song of response, that You 843 00:43:36,200 --> 00:43:39,560 would help us to search our own souls, to find any competing 844 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:42,800 idols and to resolve in this moment to put them away. 845 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:45,680 And if we need to, Lord, to come into the green room and to 846 00:43:45,680 --> 00:43:48,880 respond and to say I need the church's help and accountability 847 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:52,000 to help me so that we can be. Pleasing to you, we can 848 00:43:52,000 --> 00:43:54,000 experience your prosperity and your joy and your. 849 00:43:54,000 --> 00:43:57,040 Peace and participation and your covenant, Lord, and we can 850 00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:59,440 experience and enjoy you through obedience. 851 00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:01,240 God be with us now. Help us to purge this 852 00:44:01,240 --> 00:44:02,920 wickedness. From our heart, thank you for 853 00:44:02,920 --> 00:44:05,280 this Bible which is honest about our estate. 854 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:07,360 We love you. Thank you for Christ. 855 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:08,920 In his name we pray. Amen. 856 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:13,600 Thanks for listening. To learn more about Heritage 857 00:44:13,600 --> 00:44:16,600 Church or if you'd like to respond to this sermon, visit 858 00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:21,080 our website at www.heritageshawnee.org.