Sketched XI Day 14 Unpopular Justice: Digging Deeper
July 6, 2023
Discover the original intent of Scripture. Make good application to our everyday lives.
Become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Deuteronomy 32:1-9
5 His people have acted corruptly toward Him; this is their defect-they are not His children but a devious and crooked generation. 6 Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Isn't He your Father and Creator? Didn't He make you and sustain you? 7 Remember the days of old; consider the years long past. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance and divided the human race, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the people of Israel. 9 But the Lord's portion is His people, Jacob, His own inheritance.”
The Original Intent
1) What does God’s continual interaction with Moses reveal about His character? (verses 1-4)
As his time on earth was ending, Moses obediently arranged for his departure. (Exodus 33:17-23) Commonly called “The Song of Moses,” its lyrics were given by God to Moses (Deuteronomy 31:19-22, 30) for the people to sing as a reminder of their God-authored history. It was a song delivered in the presence of all creation (verses 1-2) to remind the people of God’s continued faithful ways in contrast to their continued rebellious ways. (Isaiah 25:1)
Moses’ own sin resulted in him coming only to the border of the Promised Land. (Deuteronomy 34:4) His unrestrained frustration had revealed a deficiency in his reverence for God’s holiness and justice. Even as a man of great faith, Moses had demonstrated a lack of trust in God’s revealed character. (Exodus 34:5-10, Numbers 27:12-14) Though it had been a learning process for him, Moses now vividly sees that the name of the Lord should be honored. God’s name represents His essence! (verses 3-4)
Earlier in his life as a shepherd, Moses had been tending his flock when he guided them toward Mount Horeb (Sinai) and met the LORD there. (Exodus 3:1-8) This location would take a prominent place in Israel’s history. (Psalm 68, Judges 5:1-5, 1 Kings 8:9, 1 Kings 9:8-12, Acts 7:29-38) From then on, Moses would come into the Lord’s presence and learn the significance of the Lord’s name.
After he received “The Ten Words”, Moses came down from the presence of God only to find the people had rebelled, breaking the first and second commandments. In anger, he smashed the tablets the Lord had given, but God again showed His compassionate character by declaring His great name to Moses. (Exodus 33:17-23)
So as it is, Moses has now learned to fully and sincerely sing, “The Lord’s name is great … perfect … just … faithful … righteous and true!” (verses 3-4) This is who He is!
The Everyday Application
1) What does God’s continual interaction with Moses reveal about His character? (verses 1-4)
There are at least two more songs Moses wrote. One is recorded in Exodus 15:1-21 after the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and the other is found in Psalm 90. I imagine whenever Moses rehearsed his own story, he went way back to that day. (Exodus 3:4-6)
Surely he recalled the fear he experienced in that unexpected moment as he was simply tending sheep. But Friend, I believe he also remembered the awe and wonder he felt. The God of the universe had come to Moses.
The Israelites usually missed the value of God’s nearness, responding instead by complaining or rebelling. They refused to believe God by trusting His character. They rejected His mercy, believing they didn’t need Him. Oh Sister, I feel their pain! I tend to trust what I perceive or assume instead of what God has clearly revealed about Himself. HE IS our salvation and hope!
At Mt Sinai (Mt Horeb), God gave the Law with its guidelines and promises. Moses would not understand how God, in Christ, would Himself one day suffer the consequences of His laws being broken. Though Moses had wrongly struck the rock in anger, it is our God – the Rock – who would strike death, and Himself be stung in the process. (Isaiah 53:1-6)
The Son was struck not by the rod of Moses, but by the Father’s rod of wrath concerning sin. It is our unchanging Rock who perfectly completed the work of redemption and satisfied the justice of God. (Romans 9:30-33, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19)
Sweet Sister, as a result of this, we have been given, not the promised land of Israel but a promised life with God! God’s love lasts forever!!
The Original Intent
2) How had God’s children, the nation of Israel, acted in the wilderness toward God? (verses 5-6)
God’s instruction to Moses and His people had repeatedly pointed to a God who was close and interactive! “The Lord God spoke to us…”. (Exodus 19:9-11) But Moses and the Israelite people underestimated the consequences of allowing themselves to tolerate a rebellious and critical spirit.
At the rock where they received water (Exodus 17:1-7, Numbers 20:3-13, Psalm 95:8-9), the people demonstrated their distrust of God by complaining about their circumstances and criticizing God. Then Moses demonstrated his distrust of God by misrepresenting Him, choosing instead to unnecessarily lecture the people with harshness.
“Moses misrepresented God by acting as if God needed him to provide water for the people … angrily striking the rock twice, instead of just speaking to the rock as God had, told him to.” (enduringword.com) In verses 5-6, however, we notice that Moses has gained a little perspective. He knows God is loyal and true while so many of the people are not. (Deuteronomy 7:7-12)
The Hebrew for “defect” in verse 5 indicates “Israel’s major fault was its failure to act like God’s people; in fact, they acted quite the contrary.” (bible.org) Knowing what he knows, and what they know, Moses calls into question their rebellion and foolishness. (verse 6)
Did they not remember who made them? (Isaiah 45:18) It had been about 400 years since Joseph’s brothers promised to bury his bones in the Promised Land. Had they not heard how God had been faithful to Joseph and would be faithful to them? (Joshua 24:31-32)
Had not all the people been together to see the mighty works of God in how He had delivered them, provided for them, guided them and been so patient with them? (Acts 7:17-45) Moses is appalled at their continued unbelief!
The Everyday Application
2) How had God’s children, the nation of Israel, acted in the wilderness toward God? (verses 5-6)
Simply put, the people had forgotten. Remembering God is an essential disciplined practice of our faith! The Old Testament uses a form of the word “remember” over 200 times. (blueletterbible.org) The prophet Jeremiah summarized the condition of the defiant Israelites, “My people have forgotten Me.” (Jeremiah 18:13-23)
What an indictment on those to whom the Lord has revealed Himself. Maybe you are like me, friend, and the ‘sin of forgetfulness’ creeps up on you. By God’s grace, let’s strive to be like the saints of old mentioned in Hebrews 11 who had come to know Yahweh’s character by believing Him.
Jesus told His disciples to “remember” His sacrifice, and Paul urged his fellow believers toward that practice of remembering. (Luke 22:14-20, 1 Corinthians 11:17-26) Sister, we can discover the character of God as we remember the triumph of grace (Romans 5:18-21) through His perfect justice, and as we revere the Lord’s name as the great I AM who created you and me.
He loves us and wants to rescue us from the consequence of our sin, which is eternal death. (Colossians 1:13-20) Let’s heed the warning and remember God’s mercy. Let’s sing it together!
You’re our creator, our life sustainer –
deliverer, our comfort, our joy.
Throughout the ages, You’ve been our shelter – our peace in the midst of the storm.
With signs and wonders,
You’ve shown Your power.
With precious blood,
You showed us Your grace.
You’ve been our helper, our liberator –
the giver of life with no end.
When we walk through life’s darkest valleys, we will look back at all You have done.
And we will shout, our God is good, and He is the faithful One!
We will remember, we will remember, we will remember the works of Your hands.
We will stop and give you praise, for great is Thy faithfulness!
(We Will Remember by Tommy Walker)
The Original Intent
3) What does Moses call the people to do as a response to his testimony about God? (verses 7-9)
Moses makes one last appeal to the people before his death in verses 7-9. He calls on the people to REMEMBER! In verse 6, Moses questioned how they could forget what they had seen and heard. The love of God had always been on display for His people. In verse 7, Moses refers them to their parents and grandparents if they couldn’t come up with the answers.
If it was anything at all, God’s love was a proven love! His faithful love was evidenced by the many times God had repeated it to the wilderness-wandering children of Israel. I emphasize again: God IS love! (Exodus 34:6-7) God is abounding in faithful love. He is daily maintaining faithful love. God’s love is FOREVER lasting. God had centered the Law around this reality of love. (Exodus 20:3-6)
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said of His people, “I have loved you with an everlasting love”. (Jeremiah 31:2-3) The Lord’s portion in verse 9 refers to His beloved people, those He most highly values. We find the same thought in Exodus 19:4-6, “Now if you will carefully listen to Me and keep My covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples.”
The New King James Version translates the phrase as “His peculiar treasure.” The Hebrew noun segullah, which means a special possession, conveyed how Israel was to stand in a place of privilege simply because God picked them. It wasn’t for anything they’d ever do, that’s for sure!
This scene in Deuteronomy 31:28-30 is stunning and Moses can’t help but remember it. He also realizes he only has a little time left on earth to convince them to remember the two most important things 1) Whose they are as the Lord’s portion and 2) What they have; an inheritance! (verse 9)
The Everyday Application
3) What does Moses call the people to do as a response to his testimony about God? (verses 7-9)
Sister, how should we respond to the challenge from Moses to remember? Let’s do so by reflecting on Peter’s words to those “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit.” If you’re a true believer in Jesus, that’s you and me, the “chosen” ones!
I can’t improve on Peter’s encouragement and invitation, let’s read and reflect on it together, allowing it to remind us to remember the Lord!
“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but He was chosen by God for great honor.
And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are His holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. As the Scriptures say, ‘I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in Him will never be disgraced.’
Yes, you who trust Him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject Him … they stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.
Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” (1 Peter 2:1-10, NLT)
Let’s all practice remembering the truth of who God is!
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