Deuteronomy 1:1 - 3:22
July 25th, 2020
Pastor Curtis Taylor
The Greek translators called this Book of Deuteronomy the "second law"
Review to the second generation the history of the last 40 years.
Obedience, Idolatry, Ten Words.
Shema, Loving God will All your heart
Kosher, Shmitah, the Feasts, Criteria for a king,
War, Tithing, Blessings, Curses, prosperity, Joshua.
One of its most significant verses is Deuteronomy 6:4, the Shema Yisrael, which has become the definitive statement of Jewish identity: "Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one." Verses 6:4–5 were also quoted by Yeshua in Mark 12:28–34 as part of the Great Commandment.
Torah means Teaching and Instructions!!
Devarim means “WORD”. Messiah, Yeshua is the WORD.
John 1:1-5,14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with Elohim, and the Word was Elohim. He was in the beginning with Elohim. All came to be through Him, and without Him not even one came to be that came to be. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent among us, and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favour and truth.
One day there was a man named Naaman and he had leprosy. He went to Elijah and said, “I’m a very famous man but I’ve got leprosy.
What do I do?” and Elijah said, “I’ll tell you what. Just to show your faith, God wants you to go down to the Jordan river and dunk yourself under it seven times.” DIRECTIONS!!
Naaman says, “You’ve got to be kidding. It’s a dirty river and humiliating.” Elijah says, “Yes, it’s humbling yourself before God.” So He FOLLOWED DIRECTIONS, it didn’t make sene, but he obey the DIRECTION OF YAHWEH. On the last time he comes up and he was cured of his leprosy.
Was there special power in the water?
Absolutely not.
It was because he was obedient to God. He had faith. And he obeyed God completely.
The greatest faith. Why? Because faith and obedience are interlocked.
When you trust someone you do what they say. If you don’t do what someone tells you to do it means you don’t trust them.
God has linked faith and obedience together so that all of the promises of God are conditioned upon you following the directions that He gives you.
DIRECTIONS!!
IF--THEN
Notice Deuteronomy 5:33 “Walk in all the way or Follow all the Instructions YAHWEH has given you. Then life will go well for you.”
God has made some incredible promises in His word about obedience. And He gets very, very specific.
In fact, there were so many promises about obedience in God’s word I couldn’t list them all.
Notice what God promises if we obey Him.
God blesses those who obey Him.
God saves those who obey Him.
God watches over those who obey Him.
YAHWEH takes care of those who obey Him.
You will be helped – God helps those who obey Him. T
he Bible says if you obey and follow God’s instructions you will live in perfect freedom.
You will have greater wisdom.
You will dwell in security and peace.
God often gives us rules and commands in His word they’re not suggestions; they’re commands – but He doesn’t ALWAYS explain why.
He wants you to do them OUT of faith.
Sometimes they sound unfair.
They sound like they’re meant to cramp your style, that God is some kind of kill joy, that He’s limiting you.
For instance, the Bible is very clear, the Bible says when somebody hurts you, you are to forgive them. The Bible says you’re to take the first ten-percent and tithe it back to God.
The Bible says when people do evil to you, do good back to them.
A lot of these commands, they don’t make sense from a human standpoint.
But God says do it. It’s a matter of trust-based obedience!!
Obedience is a demonstration of faith.
Obedience unlocks the key to all of God’s blessings in life.
God promises to reward you if you’ll just follow His Directions.
How to Receive God’s Promises
When you know what God wants you to do, when you know what the will of God is, you do four things.
Obey God right away. You don’t delay. You don’t wait. You don’t procrastinate. You don’t put it off. You don’t make excuses. You don’t drag your feet. Just do it. You do it now. You don’t do it later. You do it now.
The ten spies, the people delayed and were a massive failure.
Do it!! FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!!
Psalm 119:32 “I will quickly obey Your commands. ... Without delay I hurry to obey Your commands.”
If there’s any time in life you really ought to hurry it’s when God tells you to do something. Don’t delay on that. You hurry. You obey God immediately whether you feel like it or not. Whether you understand it or not. Just do it immediately.
Delayed obedience is disobedience.
If you want all the blessings of God in your life, you must also ...
Obey Him all the way. Not just instantly or immediately but completely.
You don’t say, “I’ll take this one and not that one... I like this command but I don’t like that one... I’m going to follow this one but I’m not going to follow that one.”
I can’t be partially obedient, but totally obedient.
Psalm 119 says, “YAHWEH, You gave Your orders to be obeyed completely.”
In order to do this, to obey God completely, you need to understand two very important truths.God’s standard of right and wrong has never changed. Repeat: It never has. It never will.
If something was wrong 6000 years ago it’s still wrong today. If it was right 6,000 years ago, it’s still right today.
Lying was wrong in the Ten Commandments. It’s still wrong today.
Truth doesn’t change.
Culture changes, popular opinion changes. Lots of things change but truth does not change.
And what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. Regardless of what the popular opinion polls say.
God has a bigger perspective than you. He sees things you can’t see.
You trying to see from God’s perspective would be like an ant trying to see from your perspective.
“Your job is not to decide whether God’s law is right or wrong, but to obey it.”
“I know the Bible says don’t do this. But did God really say... Is it really for me?
Faith is trusting God in the DIRECTIONS AND DETAILS of life.
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don’t try to figure out everything on your own.”
Yeshua says if you trust Me in the details of life, if you are faithful in the little things, it means you trust Me and I will reward you with bigger things in heaven.
Incomplete obedience, partial obedience is not only disobedience. It’s a lack of trust.
Obey God immediately and completely.
You must obey God Happily. Psalm 100:2
Psalm 119:16 “I enjoy obeying Your commands.”
Psalm 119:47 “I find pleasure in obeying Your commands.”
How was it enjoyable to do what God tells you to do? To follow the instructions, to obey His commands. How is that enjoyable?
Three reasons:
Because I’ll have fewer problems. If I follow the instruction manual for life that God the creator laid out it’s going to have a whole lot more benefit and fewer problems in my life. When you’re putting together a bicycle does it help to follow the instructions? Yes.
So you’ll have fewer problems in life, that makes it enjoyable.
I know I’m going to be rewarded in heaven and I can see all those promises that God has made.
It’s enjoyable because I love God. I know what He’s done for me so I love Him and I want to obey Him.
In marriage, the longer you live together, the more you know what offends and grieves your partner – your husband or wife.
You don’t know that when you first get married but the longer you’re married the more you figure out what will offend that person.
Like blowing your nose at the dinner table or picking your nose or leaving the seat up.
You learn what offends your partner. But if you love that person, the longer you’re married the less you do those things because you don’t want to offend them.
You love them. You don’t want to grieve them.
When you walk with YAHWEH through many years the more you realize what God has done for you, how good He’s been to you, the less you want to offend God.
You enjoy doing the right thing. You enjoy keeping His commands. You do it because you love God.
If you want the blessings of God in your life you obey Him immediately, completely, joyfully and...
Obey Him always. Life is not a 50-yard dash. It’s a marathon. You obey God not sporadically. Not hit and miss!!
My whole life. Psalm 119:112 “I am determined to obey You until I die.”
Have you made that choice? I have.
I have made the choice that I am determined to obey God until I die.
“Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it, Abba Father, Yahweh. As long as I live I’ll wholeheartedly obey.” Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it – make that your prayer.
You say, “Why doesn’t God tell me what to do? I’ve been praying what to do in this situation.”
I’ll tell you why He hasn’t told you. Because you’re not already doing what He’s already told you to do. God does not play games where you say, “God, tell me what to do and then I’ll decide whether to do it or not.” He’s not going to tell you that way.
No, you say, “In advance, I’m telling You I’m going to do whatever You tell me to do.” That’s faith.
Then He’ll tell you. Why should God tell you what to do in this circumstance that you’re worried about when you’re not already doing the things you already know to be the will of God and you ought to have done and haven’t.
Why haven’t you already done it?
Why is He going to give you further revelation if you have not acted on the truth He’s told you?
What we’re talking about this morning is the most basic fundamental thing of Christianity.
Not everybody who claims to be a Christian is one. Not everybody who claims to know Jesus/Yeshua is going to heaven.
It’s an issue of obedience a HEART issue of wanting and doing directions.
Matthew 7:21 “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to Me as Lord but they still won’t enter heaven. (This is Yeshua talking.)
The decisive issue is whether I obey My Father.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens.
“Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’
“And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!
Group Discussion!!
Have each person read a passage and as a group discussion explain how this relates to Obedience and Following Instructions!
John 15:10 If you guard My commands, you shall stay in My love, even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love.
Proverbs 13:10 By pride comes only strife, But wisdom is with those who take advice.
Proverbs 13:13 He who despises the Word is destroyed, But he who fears the command is rewarded.
note: “Word” and “command” are synonyms.
Luke 6:46 But why do you call Me ‘Master, Master,’ and do not do what I say?
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he turns not away from it.
Proverbs 22:10 Cast out the scoffer and strife goes out, And contention and shame cease.
Proverbs 7:1 My son, guard my words, And treasure up my commands with you.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness that the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work.
Proverbs 11:13 A slanderer is a revealer of secrets, But one with a trustworthy spirit conceals a matter.
Proverbs 11:14 Without guidance the people fall, But in a great counsellor there is safety.
Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. You have received without paying, give without being paid.
Malachi 3:8 Would a man rob Elohim? Yet you are robbing Me! But you said, ‘In what have we robbed You?’ In the tithe and the offering!
Subscribe to Our Podcast