Introduction:
1. Segway
Presbyterian pastor named
William Pierson Merrill, 1867 to 1954.
In 1911, Merrill, who was active in the 'Brotherhood Movement' of the Presbyterian Church to encourage men to become more involved in religious activities,
Nolan R. Best, then editor of The Continent, happened to say to me that there was urgent need of a brother hood hymn…The suggest ion lingered in my mind, and just about that time I came up on an article by Gerald Stanley Lee, entitled “The Church of the Strong Men.” I was on one of the Lake Michigan steamers going back to Chicago
Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.
Rise up, O men of God! The kingdom tarries long.Bring in the day of brotherhood And end the night of wrong.
Rise up, O men of God! The church for you doth wait,Her strength unequal to her task; Rise up and make her great!
Lift high the cross of Christ! Tread where His feet have trod.As brothers of the Son of Man, Rise up, O men of God!
lavistachurchofchrist.org/.../PostCivilWarAmericanHymns.html
B. Setting:
Author/Recipients/Setting
“These are the words which
Moses spoke
to all Israel
on this side of the Jordan
Deut. 1.1
p The “Big Picture” of Deuteronomy
1. Historical Background (1-4)
2. General Principles (5-10)
Begins with 10 commands and ends talking about the second set of stone tablets
3. Specific Rules (11-26)
4. Blessings and Cursings (27-30)
5. Moses’ Last Acts (31-34)
C. Review:
6:1-9
The Greatest Command
1. The purpose of …
observe, fear the Lord, and be blessed
2. The Content of
To believe—“The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
To do—“Love the Lord…”
3. The reach of …
Your descendants, everywhere you go, everything you think and do
(God wants us to be thoroughly saturated with who He is.)
6.10-19
The admonitions
When you are full…
1. Don’t Forget the Lord
2. Don’t Test the Lord
(Beware! Lest you get full and forget the LORD.)
D. Preview:
Big Idea—————————
This passage calls for a radical commitment to the Lord and His way of life.
Big Idea: God wants us to be wholly holy.
Outline————————
This passage has a two sided focus on the principle that the Israelites were supposed to be separate from the nations around them and live in a distinct way for the Lord.
I. Holy from Idolatry (7.1-5)
II. Holy to the Lord (7.6-11)
Deuteronomy 7.1-5 I would like to divide our Scripture reading into two parts today. Let’s read the first section of this passage together.
1 "When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and has cast out many nations before you,
the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you,
2 and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you,
you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods;
so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
5 But thus you shall deal with them: you …
shall destroy their altars, and
break down their sacred pillars, and
cut down their wooden images, and
burn their carved images with fire.
I. Holy from Idolatry (7.1-5)
A. What God would do. (1-2a)
1 "When the Lord your God brings you into the land which you go to possess,
and has cast out many nations before you,
the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites,
seven nations greater and mightier than you,
2 and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you, …
1. When the Lord your God brings you into the land
They had already tried in their own strength in Numbers 14 without God’s help and had failed miserably to establish even a toe hold in the land that had be promised for generations.
2. and has cast out many nations
seven nations greater and mightier than you
“This is an ideal number in the OT, one symbolizing fullness or completeness. Therefore, the intent of the text here is not to be precise and list all of Israel ’s enemies but simply state that Israel
The lists vary in number
(Ex. 3.8; 13.5; 23.23, 28; 33.2; 34.11; Deut 20.17; Josh 3.10, 9.1; 24.11)
Hittites: The center of Hittite power was in central modern Turkey
This alludes to the outposts and colonies that were in the Promised Land.
“Girgashites are little know, though they are attested in the Ugaritic texts.” --IVP Bible Backgound Commentary
Amorites – The term can be used to refer to a geographical area (“Westerners’) or to an ethnic group. --IVP Bible Backgound Commentary
Canaanites –A
Perizzites – There is some debate as to whether the term Perizzites is ethnic or sociological (those living in unwalled settlements). Gen. 13.7
Hivites – ...believed by some scholars to have been the same as the Hurrians. If so, they apprear to hae ben the people indigenous to Seir (later Edom
Jebusites controlled Jerusalem
3. When the Lord your God delivers
2 and when the Lord your God delivers them over to you,
The first two cities to be conquered, Jericho and Ai, were illustrations of how it was God delivering the inhabitants over and not the shrewdness of Israel
B. What Israel
2. …you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
3 Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son.
4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods;
so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
5 But thus you shall deal with them:
you shall destroy their altars, and
break down their sacred pillars, and
cut down their wooden images, and
burn their carved images with fire.
God laid out four things that were Israel
1. Conquer completely
2. …you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them.
conquer Strong's H5221 - nakah nä·kä'
c) (Hiphil)
1) to smite, strike, beat, scourge, clap, applaud, give a thrust
2) to smite, kill, slay (man or beast)
3) to smite, attack, attack and destroy, conquer, subjugate, ravage
4) to smite, chastise, send judgment upon, punish, destroy
Destroy Strong's H2763 – charam khä·ram'
a) (Hiphil)
1) to prohibit (for common use), ban
2) to consecrate, devote, dedicate for destruction
3) to exterminate, completely destroy
kjv, nasb, nkjv--utterly destroy them; niv—destroy them totally;
nlt—completely destroy them
ylt—utterly devote them; esv—devote them to complete destruction;
This is a word that is full of connotations that don’t translate well into English. It has the idea of something that has been set apart for destruction. This was both a decree of God and a practical consequence of years and years of wickedness and rejecting God.
2. Make no covenant
You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them.
This was an issue in Joshua 9 when the Gibeonites came pretending to be from a far country and made a treaty with the Israelites.
show mercy Strong's H2603 - chanan khä·nan'
1) to be gracious, show favour, pity
a) (Qal) to show favour, be gracious
( 2) to be loathsome )
ylt, nasb—favor; kjv, nkjv, esv, niv, nlt--mercy
3. Make no marriages
3 Nor shall you make marriages with them.
You shall not give your daughter to their son,
nor take their daughter for your son.
4 For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods;
so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.
Note the special attention that the text gives to this and
the reasons attached to this:
will turn
trong's H5493 - cuwr sür
c) (Hiphil)
1) to cause to turn aside, cause to depart, remove, take away, put away, depose
2) to put aside, leave undone, retract, reject, abolish
to serve Strong's H5647 - `abad ä·vad'
1) to work, serve
a) (Qal)
1) to labour, work, do work
2) to work for another, serve another by labour
3) to serve as subjects
4) to serve (God)
5) to serve (with Levitical service)
If you would say that you will not be swayed, consider Solomon. If a man of his wisdom and understanding was turned by his wives, who do you think that you are that you will do better?
——————————————->
& 1 Kings 11
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter--Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, "You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods." Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.
This principle is reinforced in the New Testament. Note it has nothing to do with race or ethnic background, but the spiritual condition of someone.
2 Corinthians 6
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God
4. Destroy their altars, etc.
5 But thus you shall deal with them:
you shall destroy their altars, and
break down their sacred pillars, and
cut down their wooden images, and
burn their carved images with fire.
The idea here is that the Israelites would wipe out anything that could be a temptation to lead them away from serving God.
Romans 13:14
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.
1. shall destroy their altars, and
2. break down their sacred pillars, and
“Standing stones or masseboth were apparently a common feature of Canaanite religion and also appear as memorials in a number of Israelite covenantal contexts (see Ex 24:3–8; Josh 24:25–27). Their association with Asherah, Baal and other Canaanite deities is the basis for their being condemned as rivals and a threat to Yahweh worship.” —The IVP Biblical Background Commentary
The “sacred Stones” represented the male procreative aspect of the Cannanite fertility religion; and the Asherah, the female. Asherah was also the name of the mother goddess of the Canaanite pantheon, the deity responsible for fertility and the productivity of soil, animals, and humankind. She was represented by either an evergreen tree or by a pole that also spoke of perpetual life. —H. Ringren in Religions of the Ancient Near East
3. cut down their wooden images, and
wooden images Strong's H842 - 'asherah
Ashera(h) = "groves (for idol worship)"
1) a Babylonian (Astarte)-Canaanite goddess (of fortune and happiness), the supposed consort of Baal, her images
a) the goddess, goddesses
b) her images
c) sacred trees or poles set up near an altar
ylt—shrines; kjv—groves;
nasb, esv, niv—Asherim; nlt—Asherah poles;
Asherah was a popular fertility goddess. She was believed to be the consort of the chief god, El. —The IVP Biblical Background Commentary
4. burn their carved images with fire.
——————————————
The sad postscript to the conquest in Judges is that Israel
Judges 2
1 Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt Israel
APPLICATION:
Have no fellowship with the works of darkness.
“Whoever … wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” 1 John 4:4
Eph 5 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.
James 4
1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?
Trans. Expression:
The passage now turns from the warning against idolatry and focuses on what God had separated them to.
Let’s read this next section together
Deuteronomy 7.6-11
6 "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God;
the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 but because the Lord loves you, and
because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt
9 Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God,
the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I [Moses] command you today, to observe them.
II. Holy to the Lord (6-11)
There are two parts to this section. Each contains a statement about Israel
A. Their Position (6-8)
6 "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God;
the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 but because the Lord loves you, and
because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt
1. You are a holy people. (6a)
holy Strong's H6918 - qadowsh kä·dōshe' sacred, holy, Holy One, saint, set apart
The root form of this word is used in...
Genesis 2 first use in reference to time—a day of the week
1 Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
The root form of this word is also used in...
Exodus 3 second use is in reference to ground—a location
4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see , God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said , Moses, Moses. And he said , Here am I. 5 And he said , Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
The primary concept here is that they were separated from the nations. They were devoted to a special use by God.
The secondary core concept has to do with one’s conduct. Holiness involved moral purity. God’s children will resemble Him.
1 Peter 1.15-16
13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy."
The position or standing as holy was based on God’s action. The passage goes on to explain what God had done to show that they had been separated out to Him.
2. The Lord your God has chosen you (6b-8)
the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.
chosen Strong's H977 - bachar bä·khar' — to choose
a) His purposes (6b)
1. to be a people for Himself
The stress is again on Israel
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
8 but because the Lord loves you, and
because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt
2. To be a special treasure above all the peoples
This word was used for the private treasure of a king, who owned everything else as well, but valued his personal possessions particularly. —C. Wright
b) His Reasons (7-8)
7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples;
not because you were more
We must not entertain thoughts that we are a “solid addition to God’s team.”
because the Lord loves
because the Lord loves you
Strong's H2836 - chashaq khä·shak' Qal) to love, be attached to, long for
Properly to join together, to cleave
Duet 10.14-15
12 "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? 14 Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it. 15 The Lord delighted only in your fathers, to love them; and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.
In addition to the strongly elective verb bāhar (“choose”) in v. 6 stands the equally evocative covenant verb ‘āhēb (“love”) in v. 8. In covenant contexts these verbs are synonymous, for the Lord chooses those He loves and loves those he chooses. Those He hates, therefore, are those whom he had rejected as covenant partners (Mal. 1:2; cf. Rom 9:13). In this sense love and hate are not emotive terms but technical language to speak of divine election for salvation and service. —E Merrill
This word is also used to express a strong desire for something or someone.
because the Lord would keep the oath
because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers,
he would keep Strong's H8104 - shamar shä·mar'
1) to keep, guard, observe, give heed
a) (Qal)
1) to keep, have charge of
2) to keep, guard, keep watch and ward, protect, save life
a) watch, watchman (participle)
3) to watch for, wait for
4) to watch, observe
5) to keep, retain, treasure up (in memory)
6) to keep (within bounds), restrain
7) to observe, celebrate, keep (sabbath or covenant or commands), perform (vow)
8) to keep, preserve, protect
9) to keep, reserve
Beginning with Abraham and often repeated.
3. The Lord has brought you out
the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand,
brought you out Strong's H3318 - yatsa' yä·tsä'
1) to go out, come out, exit, go forth
b) (Hiphil)
1) to cause to go or come out, bring out, lead out
2) to bring out of
3) to lead out
4) to deliver
Deuteronomy 5
6 'I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt
We, as they, are totally unable to escape the dominion, bondage, and blindness of the prince of this world, Satan.
4. (The Lord) redeemed you
and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt
redeemed Strong's H6299 - padah pä·dä'
1) to ransom, redeem, rescue, deliver
a) (Qal) to ransom
Gesenious’s Lex. To loose (pr. By cutting)
B. Their Practice (9-10)
9 Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God,
the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I [Moses] command you today, to observe them.
1. Based on God’s character
a) He is God
B) keeps covenant
the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments;
mercy Strong's H2617 - checed kheh'·sed 1) In a good sense zeal toward demonstrated here by God’s grace, favour, and mercy toward men.
The terminology used here of love, loyalty and obedience are common to the international treaties of this time. Hittite, Akkadian, Ugaritic and Aramaic examples all show that the positive action of the suzerain toward the vassal is expressed as love, kindness and graciousness, and in return the vassal is expected to respond with obedience and loyalty.
They take on a special significance when applied to God’s relationship with his people.
In our minds we try to separate loving God and obeying God in a way completely foreign to Scripture.
John 14.15
"If you love Me, keep My commandments.
C) repays
10 and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face.
hate
“Those who hate God are therefore those who disobey and reject God’s word and hinder the fulfillment of God’s covenant purposes. The verse allows no middle ground, no apathetic shrug. You either love God or hate God.” —C Wright
slack Strong's H309 - 'achar ä·khar' — (Piel) to delay, wait, stay behind (but not in hope)
ylt—delayeth not; kjv, nkjv, esv—not be slack; nasb—will not delay; niv—will not be slow; nlt—does not hesitate
2. You shall keep the commandment
11 Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I [Moses] command you today, to observe them.
commandment (singular) Strong's H4687 - mitsvah mits·vä'
statutes Strong's H2706 - choq khōke — an appointed portion; a defined limit, a bound; an appointed law, statute, or ordinance
judgments Strong's H4941 - mishpat mish·pät' — ordinance;
decision (in law)
What do you do if you believe that God is the faithful covenant keeping God who repays those who hate Him?
APPLICATION:
Your true theology
is revealed in your actions.
You believe that there
is one God. You do well.
Even the demons believe…
James 1:22
18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe--and tremble!20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
Our church hymnal, The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration, alters the original wording to broaden its application to men and women alike. The message applies to us all
Rise up, O Church of God
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.
Prayer that we will take time to spend with the Lord to develop a heart and desire to be holy to Him.
Take Time to Be Holy
Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Abide in Him always, and feed on His Word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.
Take time to be holy, let Him be thy Guide;
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
And run not before Him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
And, looking to Jesus, still trust in His Word.
Take time to be holy, be calm in thy soul,
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
Each thought and each motive beneath His control.
Thus led by His Spirit to fountains of love,
Thou soon shalt be fitted for service above.
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace."
Numbers 6.24-25
May you bear testimony to His covenant and mercy on you as you love Him and keep His commandments.
The IVP Biblical Background Commentary
Earl S. Kalland in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary Vol. 3
Peter C. Craigie in The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary of the Old Testament)
Christopher Wright in Deuteronomy (New International Biblical Commentary)
J. A . Thompson in Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary ( Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries)
Eugene H. Merrill in Deuteronomy (The New American Commentary: An Exegetical the Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture)
Patrick Miller in Deuteronomy (Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching)
Jack E. Deere in The Bible Knowledge Commentary
D. A. Carson in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged
NET Bible Translation Notes
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