Moses reminds Israel that they were chosen for a purpose. This is the same purpose we have today as Christians – to bring the Lord glory.
Deuteronomy 7: A Chosen People
1 "When the LORD your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and mightier than yourselves,
2 and when the LORD your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them, then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.
3 You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons,
4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the LORD would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
5 But thus shall you deal with them: you shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire.
6 "For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples,
8 but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
10 and repays to their face those who hate him, by destroying them. He will not be slack with one who hates him. He will repay him to his face.
11 You shall therefore be careful to do the commandment and the statutes and the rules that I command you today.
12 "And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the LORD your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that he swore to your fathers.
13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you.
14 You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or among your livestock.
15 And the LORD will take away from you all sickness, and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you knew, will he inflict on you, but he will lay them on all who hate you.
16 And you shall consume all the peoples that the LORD your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
17 "If you say in your heart, 'These nations are greater than I. How can I dispossess them?'
18 you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt,
19 the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. So will the LORD your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
20 Moreover, the LORD your God will send hornets among them, until those who are left and hide themselves from you are destroyed.
21 You shall not be in dread of them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.
22 The LORD your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you.
23 But the LORD your God will give them over to you and throw them into great confusion, until they are destroyed.
24 And he will give their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under heaven. No one shall be able to stand against you until you have destroyed them.
25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the LORD your God.
26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
Deuteronomy 8: Remember the LORD Your God
1 "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers.
2 And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
4 Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years.
5 Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the LORD your God disciplines you.
6 So you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.
7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills,
8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey,
9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.
10 And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land he has given you.
11 "Take care lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today,
12 lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them,
13 and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied,
14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery,
15 who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock,
16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.
17 Beware lest you say in your heart, 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.'
18 You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
19 And if you forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish.
20 Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.
Things to think about…
1. Deuteronomy 7 speaks about the promises for Israel as they enter the land of Canaan. They will be blessed and the Canaanites cursed. The Israelites would grow and increase, their crops and wombs would be blessed. The Lord would destroy all the kings of Canaan etc because the Lord had devoted these seven Canaanite nations to destruction. When in Israel you hear of some of the history of the Canaanite influence upon the Israelites in what is called the Valley of Hinnom - Ben Hinnom– or Gehenna. We pictorially refer to it as hades or hell. Horrible child sacrifices to the God of Molech – fires that would not go out. Israel would be destroyed as a result. Modern day Israel is hard against the word of God. Jesus called them hypocrites and a brood of vipers. His words would be no different for modern day Israel. Why? Because they reject the truth and Messiah. They keep the old formalism and letter of the Mosaic law and do not recognise the spirit of the law. The beatitudes sermon in Mt 5-7 explains the spirit of the law. In what ways do you think Christianity has failed to ‘take the land’ with the influence of Christ? In what ways are we sinning like the Israelites of old?
2. What is the immovable object in your life. In Dt 7:20 the promise is for the Lord to remove the enemy by stirring up hornets to make them move. While this is quite graphic, we have a very active devil and those motivated by him are often only chased away by such means.
3. Moses in Dt 8 reminds the Israelites that they were looked after in the wilderness. They had manna, water and their clothes did not wear out. Now the Lord was giving them a permanent homeland. If they did not keep the law of God in this new land the Lord says that they and these provisions too will perish Dt 8:17-20. Pride is a hideous spiritual cancer that can eat up anyone who is not aware of its influence. The western church has a lot of wealth and influence. Much of this sadly depends on natural rather than supernatural power. We commit the very sin that the Lord said the Israelites would commit in Dt 8:17. How do we stop this from happening personally and in the church? Exercising the gift of faith is the great conqueror, by trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. Do you think modern day Israel still has a mandate to remove the modern non-Jewish inhabitants (the Palestinians) out of the land? Are the OT prophesies about Israel to be fulfilled by their own military might or by the might of the Messiah? Jesus would not conquer in the might of the flesh when He had the chance. The same is true today. Israel and all its inhabitants need Christ as their Saviour, not the military. How do we facilitate these promises? Our Mission statement as a church is a good place to start. Pray the Lord blesses our ministry in Israel to the Jew and the Gentile alike. Pray for the ministry we support – One for Israel.
5. Dt 8:18 reaffirms that any blessings we have and the work that we do, if profitable, are from the Lord’s hand. The world runs and labours in its own strength and yet it is the Lord that allows anything to prosper. Praise Him regardless of the season, because He is always the Lord of all and the blesser or otherwise within the season.
6. The Lord reminds Israel that the nations they are about to remove from the land were removed because the land is holy to the Lord, Dt 8:20. If Israel practices and believes the things the nations do that Israel are removing, they also will be removed from the land. We are only blessed in our marriages and our witness as churches in the community when we follow the Lord and commit our ways to Him. Pray He continues to keep us by His grace.
Vision statement for CBC
CBC’s Vision :- To be a growing biblical church community, significantly influencing our city and beyond, through intentional outreach, fulfilling our mission.
Cell groups are encouraged to do alpha at church on Wednesday night 6:30pm at church. Be encouraged and join us.
Prayer Points
1. Pray for Tad and family as they continue life after Andy. The comfort is they know where he is.
2. Pray for the Kids Klub starting Fri 28th July.
3. Pray for alpha course starting 26th July Wed 6:30pm at Church. Invite non-Christians.
4. Pray about Sunday’s message that it would change lives.
5. That those who are new to the church are encouraged and settle in well into the church.
6. That we be bold in our witnessing for Christ. Pray for a heart to see those around you saved.
7. Pray for Kids@church.
8. Growth, conversions, joy in the Word and Spirit to remain and increase.
Praise Points
1. Wonderful start to the alpha course last night. Pray the Lord continues to bless these nights.
2. Praise God for new life! Jennifer has been blessed with 2 more grandchildren. Twin girls – Aurelia Rose Blackwood and Callista Lily Blackwood – 2kg each. Both healthy and mum as well. Praise the name of the Lord!
3. Andrew has gone to be with the Lord. He is free from pain and rejoicing with His Saviour around the throne.
4. Give thanks for Sally who has consistently been able to come to church with Richard.
5. Some encouraging signs of those wanting to consider who Jesus was. People asking about baptism.
6. Joy, peace and grace we see at CBC. Thankyou Lord
Announcements
1. Alpha Course starting on Wed 26th July – 6:30pm – invite non Christians to this course.
2. Friday afternoon Kids Klub – starting third term Fri 28th July – 3pm (3:30pm start) - 5:30pm.
3. Church bank details bsb:- 704 913 and Acc number:- 4000 4388 1
4. Tune in again this week on our youtube page. Subscribe to the CBC channel Chuwar Baptist YouTube channel.
Catechism questions for July...
Q. 10. Where is God? A. God is everywhere.
Psalm 139:7-12; Acts 17:27-28; Jeremiah 23:23-24.
“Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known” Jer 33:3
