Deuteronomy 30:1-10 Circumcision Repentance and Forgiveness

Transcription

1 Deuteronomy 30:1-10 Circumcision Repentance and Forgiveness Why is God pleading with Israel? (It is clear to the Lord that Israel will, in time, break the covenant which will result in Israel s being driven into exile. The Lord never wishes to do evil to Israel and demonstrates great patience with them as they follow after false gods. The Lord wants to do good to Israel.) What does God promise Israel? (He will gather them all together from exile). What is circumcision of the heart and what will it do? (Circumcision is a rite of initiation in the covenant with God. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. [Gen. 17:9 ESV] Circumcision of the heart is a symbolic turning or surrendering of the heart to God. In this case he will restore fortunes; have compassion on them, and gather them from all the peoples where he had scattered them. He will make them more prosperous and numerous. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. [v. 6] Surely the greatest benefit of circumcising the heart is that the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers. [v. 9]) Deuteronomy 30:11-10 Choose Life vv. 30:11-14 Why are there no excuses for not circumcising the heart? (The commandment is not too hard; not far off; not in heaven so that they needed someone to go get it for them; not across the sea requiring someone to go get it; but rather the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. [v. 14]) vv. 30:15-20 See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. v. 15. What constitutes life and good? What constitutes death and evil? So life and good result when we walk in his ways and keep his commandments. But if your heart turns away and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordon to enter and possess. [v. 18]) Deuteronomy 31:30-32:14 The Song of Moses Deut. 31:19-20 Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. [ESV Notes: p. 376 Deut. 31:19 write this song The anticipation is that Israel will disobey and that the song will therefore be a witness to Israel s disobedience.] v. 32:1 Give ear let the earth hear... Pay attention: let him who has ears to hear let him hear. Israel has been accused of being dull of hearing. So hearing becomes an important activity. v. 2 May my teaching drop as rain, my speech distill as the dew. Like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. Drop as rain; distill as dew means to let it sink in ; there is no idea of anything being forced here. Gentle rain; showers the earth slowly absorbing the rain (i.e., truth). v. 3 Explains itself. Writing Group June 7, 2011 Page 1

2 v. 4 Rock is perfect which equates with God of faithfulness ; perfect and without iniquity ; the Rock all his ways are justice and just and upright is he [God]. The two lines are parallel images used to underscore each other. Christians easily see Jesus as the Rock as Paul tell us For they drank from that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ 1 Cor. 10:4. Other NT inferences point to Jesus as the Rock. Peter s confession in Matthew 16 is perhaps the most controversial: He said to them, But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus an him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. [Matt. 16:15-18] Roman Catholics use this as a proof text that establishes the papacy. Rather convincing. My take is that Jesus is referring to the declaration that Peter makes: You are the Christ which is the cornerstone of the faith. Here Christ and rock have equivalence. v.5 This verse points to the chronic heart issue which plagues the Israelites (indeed, all of us) throughout God s checkered relationship with them. This verse may be seen as both history and prophecy. v. 6 Here Moses asks a couple of rhetorical questions which actually seek to establish what the relationship between God and his people is supposed to be. v. 7 Tells the people to remember. What is the point of this command? (The point is that knowledge of God is to be passed from one generation to another. You shall tell your son on that day, It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt. And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. [Ex. 13:8-9]. vv. 8-9 gave to the nations their inheritance For example, Edom, Moab and Ammon in 2:1-23, as well as Israel throughout the book. According to the number of the sons of God may suggest that certain angels ( sons of God see Job 1:6) are responsible for specific nations, whereas the Lord himself cares for Israel. the Lord s portion A term of special affection. [ESV Notes p. 377] v. 10 He found him He led him about He instructed him He kept him Him: i.e., Jacob. Emphasis on him marked by Fig[ure of speech] Epistrophe, by which each clause ends with the same word. Here (in Heb.) him. The imagery of a father to his son can be easily seen here. [The Companion Bible p. 283] What does this verse tell of God s relationship to us? What is our response? v. 11 Like an eagle The imagery here is one of strength and protection; of nurturing and caring. This recalls Exodus 19:4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Why is there a constant reference to Egypt? What are the people supposed to remember? What about Egypt do the people remember? (They remember the wrong thing. They remember a full belly and stability, but no reliance upon God. The point of the wilderness exercise is to recognize our constant and necessary dependence on God. vv Note the use of him (Jacob or Israel) as in verse 10. The Lord guided (led) them (Israel) and provided for them ( he ate the produce of the field ). The rock makes two appearances here; one of provision ( rock ) and one of protection ( flinty rock ); and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor. 10:4). Why Writing Group June 7, 2011 Page 2

3 does the Lord go to all the trouble? Is there so much grace out there that we cannot see it anymore? v. 14 As if to underscore vv ; the abundance continues. Ecclesiastes 11:1-8 Cast your bread upon the waters v. 1 To cast bread upon the waters is a metaphor without any contemporary parallels, so interpreters are uncertain about its meaning. Three suggestions re most common: (1) It refers to maritime commerce. (2) It refers to taking steps to spread out one s financial resources in multiple directions [i.e., don t put all your eggs in one basket j.t]. (3) In older Jewish and Christian interpretation, it was taken to refer to giving to the poor, in which case finding it again represents others being kind in return. [ESV Notes p. 1208] As stated elsewhere in Scripture: Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. (Proverbs 19:17) What is Jesus exhortation regarding the poor? (Actually there are two. The typical one being that we should be generous to the poor [ Jesus said to him, If you would be perfect, go sell what you posses and give to the poor Matt. 19:21 ESV] and the second, more ominous: For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. [Matt. 26:11 ESV] v. 3 I could find no deeper meaning from this verse than what it says. In modern parlance: It is what it is. v. 4 He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. Notes from Life Application Bible [KJV] p. 973 : Waiting for perfect conditions can produce inactivity. This practical insight is especially applicable to our spiritual lives. If we wait for the perfect time and place for personal Bible reading, we will never begin. If we wait for a perfect church, we will never join. If we wait for the perfect ministry, we will never serve. Take steps now to grow spiritually. Don t wait for conditions that may never exist. v. 5 As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything. [ESV] How does this verse speak to our arrogance? How can we remedy arrogance? v. 6 This sounds something like Make hay while the sun shines., or Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Growth can only happen if seed is sown. v. 7 Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. [ESV] One doesn t need too many rainy days to appreciate the truth of that statement. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, ands the darkness has not overcome it. [John 1:4-5 ESV] Am I making connections where they do not exist? Light and darkness = life and death. v. 8 What does verse 8 say about today s obsession with youth and everlasting life? Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8 Youth and what to do with it. v. 11:9 Apart from advising the youth to enjoy their youth, what else is Solomon saying? Do the words God will bring you into judgment frighten you? If one is brought up properly then walking in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes will bring one to the place God want one to be. Writing Group June 7, 2011 Page 3

4 v. 10 Can you draw a connection between Remove vexation from your heart, and put away pain from your body and Do not be anxious about your life nor about your body [Matt 6:25]? What does vanity mean to you? vv. 12:1-8 Remember also your Creator is the days of your youth [ESV] and what follows is a litany worthy of Prozac. This is not for the faint of heart. The vessels of life are broken (the pitcher, the bowl, and the cistern). Of all this, what is the point to keep in mind? V. 8 covers that: Vanity of vanities, say the Preacher; all is vanity. [ESV] vv Final conclusion and Epilogue. The Preacher restates his claim that all is vanity (v. 8; cf. 1:2). The epilogue affirms the wisdom of the Preacher by pointing out the care which he took in writing (12:9-10), summons the reader to pay careful attention to the words of the wise (vv ), and summarizes the overall message of the book (vv ). [ESV Notes p. 1209] v. 11 The words of the wise are like goads, i.e., they help guide one along the proper path. (A goad is a long, pointed stick used for prodding and guiding oxen while plowing.) Moreover, the words of the wise provide moral and intellectual stability like nails firmly fixed. Ultimately, such wisdom is given by one Shepherd, God. [ESV Notes p. 1209] vv The preacher has already pointed out the need to fear God and to keep his commandments (cf. 5:4-6; 7:17-18.) The whole duty of man thus involves genuine faith in God, as well as works, which are the inevitable result of true faith (cf. James 2:14, 17, 26). God will bring every deed into judgment (cf. Eccles. 11:9), thus the importance of obeying his commands. [ESV Notes p. 1209] Numbers 3:1-13 This chapter opens with a genealogy of Aaron. These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed priests, whom he ordained to serve as priests. [Nu. 3:2-3 ESV] Aaron and his sons were invested with the priesthood for all of Israel. Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Then Moses said to Aaron, This is what the Lord has said, Among those who are near me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified. And Aaron held his peace. And the Lord spoke to Aaron saying, Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. [Leviticus 10:1-3; 8-9 ESV] Originally, Aaron had four sons but, it is intimated, two of them got drunk one day and decided to offer incense to the Lord. As you may imagine, the Lord was not too happy about that; the insult that one would have to be drunk to worship! That little venture cost Nadab and Abihu their lives and provided an object lesson to the rest of the Levites (and Israel) regarding proper behavior before God. (j.t.) 3:1-4:49 Two Censuses of the Levites. The two censuses count different groups of Levites: the first (3:1-51) counts every male Levite over one month old, whereas the second (4:1-49) counts those between 30 and 50 years of age. The male Levites took the place of the firstborn males of the other tribes in order to serve the Lord, so the first census ensures that the number of the former matches the number Writing Group June 7, 2011 Page 4

5 of the latter. Transporting the tabernacle requires strength, so the second census aims to find if there are enough able-bodied male Levites for the task. [ESV Notes p. 268] 3:1-4 The Sons of Aaron. This census begins with the priests, the most holy family of the Levites. The priests were descended from Aaron, who belonged to the Kohathite clan within the tribe of Levi (Ex. 6:16-25 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari ). Because of their high status, they camped to the east of the tabernacle, guarding its entrance (Nu. 3:38 Those who were to camp before the tabernacle on the east, before the tent of meeting toward the sunrise, were Moses and Aaron and his sons, guarding the sanctuary itself, to protect the people of Israel. And any outsider who came near was to be put to death. ) [ESV]; the tribe of Judah camped farther out (2:3). Despite their privileges, two sons of Aaron died as a result of giving unauthorized incense offering (3:4; see Lev. 10:1-20 [cited to some degree above j.t.]) [ESV Notes p. 268] Numbers 6: The Priestly Blessing This benediction has become one of the most familiar to us, but it is v. 27 which sets the blessing apart: So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them. [ESV] 6:22-27 The Priestly Blessing. Placed here, this famous blessing shows that God s will is to bless every Israelite, not just the Nazarites. But God s blessing is mediated by the priests. The earliest archaeological discovery containing the covenantal name of God (Yahweh) in Jerusalem is a silver amulet containing this priestly blessing. It was found in a Judean tomb dating to the seventh or sixth century B.C. 6:24 The Lord bless you. God blesses by giving good harvests, peace, children, and his own presence (Lev. 26:3-13). keep. That is guard and protect. 6:25 his face to shine upon you. God s presence is like sunshine (Ps. 19:1-11). A shining face is a smiling face, a pledge of God s good favor (Ps. 80:3, 7, 19). 6:26 The countenance is the face or the expression of one s face. For God to lift up his countenance involves taking notice of and treating his people with favor. Peace (Hb. shalom) involves more than the English sense of lack of war ; it means total well-being. [ESV Notes p. 275] Writing Group June 7, 2011 Page 5