We, really I think we're at a good place in 1 Peter for kind of a breaking point there until I return from China. So we're gonna actually be doing what we've been doing on our Sunday night series. For those of you that haven't been present for that, we're doing a series entitled From 30,000 Feet. And what we're doing is giving a single sermon summary of each of the books of the Bible. Now obviously it's impossible to do justice to any book of the Bible in a single sermon. Especially one like Deuteronomy that has 34 chapters. So you understand obviously we're doing quite a bit of summarizing. But we're trying to give you a taste in the hopes that you'll get a big picture of what God is doing throughout the scriptures. and hopefully pique your interest to get into these books yourself, and to do your own study, and look into some of these things in greater detail. Deuteronomy 30 is where we are this morning. That's at least our starting point, and of course, we'll be trying to survey the entirety of this book. It's a very important book, by the way. It's quoted I think about 70 some times in the New Testament. Maybe a book that some of us are not as familiar with, but certainly one that is important for our growth in Christ. So let's begin with Deuteronomy chapter 30. We'll read the first 10 verses here as we begin. Deuteronomy 30 and verse 1. And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee. and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice, according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart and with all thy soul, that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee. and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee. And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it. And He will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee, and thou shalt return and obey the voice of the Lord and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the Lord thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land for good. For the Lord will again rejoice over thee for good as he rejoiced over thy fathers. if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou return to the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul. Dear Father, we pray for grace as we examine this precious book of our Old Testament. Give me skill, give me clarity as I explain We pray that the Spirit would open eyes, and especially those that are without Christ, that they would see their need for the Savior this morning. And we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. The heart of the matter is a matter of the heart, or so the saying goes. And isn't that what Scripture teaches us? Proverbs 4.23, keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Now it's against that backdrop that I want us to consider the book of Deuteronomy. The word Deuteronomy literally means second law. And this book was given in the context of the wilderness generation. Now we know that the Exodus generation had been present as Moses had received the law on Mount Sinai. But now, of course, the Exodus generation has died off. And there is a new generation, what we call the wilderness generation, those that were under 20 when the law was originally given and those that had been born since. Now this generation would be the ones who would go and enter the promised land. And so they needed a fresh telling of the law. They needed a fresh expounding on the contents of the law that God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai. Really this book constitutes Moses' final sermons to the nation of Israel to encourage their obedience to God's commands. Now I say final because incidentally in this book we do read about the death of Moses. We know of course that Moses was forbidden from entering the promised land because of his refusal to sanctify the Lord at the waters of Meribah. And so it's noteworthy really that Moses' final public acts involved preaching sermons that expounded the law of God. And boy, I'd love to go out of this world in much the same way. Obedience to the law was absolutely critical for Israel's blessing in the land. Let me give you a few passages that explain this for us. Deuteronomy 4 and verse 40. Thou shalt therefore keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee forever. So you see there the need to keep God's statutes, God's commands, and then a promise that if they do so, it's going to go well with them. Deuteronomy 5.33, ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. 12.28 in Deuteronomy, observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee forever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God. So you see obedience that leads to blessing. Now Deuteronomy is filled with laws. We see two types of law in Deuteronomy. There's case law and there's absolute law. Case law is built on if-then statements. If you will do this, this is the consequence that's going to follow. Absolute law is not phrased like that. It's just given as absolute statements. Sometimes those statements can be positive. Honor thy father and thy mother. Sometimes they're negative. Thou shalt not kill. And so Deuteronomy is filled with laws. The Jewish rabbis believe that there are 613 distinct commandments in the Old Testament law. And it appears that about 199 of those are in the book of Deuteronomy. Now it would be tempting for us to look at Deuteronomy in that light and conclude that this is an extremely harsh and legalistic type of book. But this book, perhaps more than any other, points to the necessity of a changed heart in order to obey God's law. In fact, the Hebrew word for heart appears 46 times in the book. And we saw that emphasis in the passage we just read, did we not? Deuteronomy 30 in verse 6, and the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart and the heart of thy seed to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul that thou mayest live. It's a work of God in the heart. And perhaps fittingly in these lines, Deuteronomy places a premium on delighting and rejoicing as one obeys the commands of God. Sometimes we perhaps think of those as pretty distinct, that rejoicing would be inconsistent with obedience. But Deuteronomy brings these two together. Listen to verses 47 and 48 of chapter 28. You know, when I was a student in Bible college, I saw many students who outwardly followed the rules, but who were inwardly grumbling and very rebellious. And so, for a time, you might conclude, if you were just observing their outward behaviors, that they were walking the straight and narrow, so to speak, during their college days. But then, once they left college, their lives totally abandoned sound doctrine and sound living. It was a matter of the heart. They didn't have hearts that were really delighting in the word of God. And so their lives ultimately became shipwrecks. And so, Deuteronomy emphasizes a transformed heart as a prerequisite to obey the law of God. A heart that delights in the Lord. This was Israel's great need to have hearts devoted to Jehovah so that they could render full obedience to Him and enjoy blessing in the land that He had promised them. Now this gives us the real purpose behind the book of Deuteronomy. God's chosen people must give heartfelt obedience to His commands in order to enjoy His blessing. God's chosen people must give heartfelt obedience to His commands in order to enjoy His blessing. Now, when we think about Deuteronomy and its overall structure, we have been aided tremendously by the findings of archaeology. Archaeologists have uncovered ancient treaties from around the time that Deuteronomy was written. And what you find, very interestingly, is that Deuteronomy is structured very similarly to those ancient treaties that scholars refer to as Caesarean vassal treaties. And so we can divide this book into six parts, and we'll run through these. First of all, there is the preamble. The preamble. Now, that sounds like a fancy term, but you probably are aware of the fact that our U.S. Constitution begins with a preamble that really gives the background and the underlying purpose for the document. And so the preamble of Deuteronomy is found in the first five verses. You can turn back there a moment. Really, the major purpose here is given in a statement in verse 3. If you look at verse 3, if you look at the end of the verse, notice, And so everything that follows, these are things that Jehovah had given to Moses to declare to the children of Israel. You also know that there's a brief explanation of the historical background for the book of Deuteronomy. Look at verse two. There are 11 days journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh Barnea. And it came to pass in the 40th year in the 11th month on the first day of the month. Now, if you're reading there, you're struck by something. Moses refers here to an 11 day journey from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea. And yet, in verse 3, we read about 40 years. 11 days, 40 years. Wow, that's quite an extended journey. Something that should have taken a few weeks turned into 40 years. Now how did that happen? Well, that gets us to the next section of the book of Deuteronomy. Chapter 1 and verse 6 to the end of chapter 4 gives us a history lesson, if you want to put it in simple terms. And the history lesson summarizes for us much of what we read about in the book of Numbers. It begins in chapter 1 with the journey from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea, where the spies were sent to explore the promised land. And despite these glowing reports that were given that there was this land flowing with milk and honey, the people refused to believe the promises of God. They refused to take the land. And so all of that generation, with two exceptions, Joshua and Caleb, were doomed to die in the wilderness. Of course Joshua and Caleb were clinging to the promises of God. Even Moses would not enter the promised land. We read about his disobedience at Meribah. And so ultimately Joshua and Caleb would be the only two from that generation to go into the land. Much of chapters 2 and 3 give us an overview of Israel's military victories leading, of course, ultimately to the conquest of Canaan that we will see in Joshua. The end of chapter 3 records for us a prayer of Moses. He actually begs God to allow him to go into the promised land. But God tells him that he could go up to Mount Pisgah where he would see the promised land, but he would not enter. And God actually told Moses, don't talk to me again about this matter. Of course, God kept his word. Chapter 4 serves as a segue that introduces for us God's covenant with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai. And this prepares the way for the third section which constitutes the covenant expectations. Covenant expectations are discussed for us in chapters 5 through 26. This is the largest section of the book. Of course these are all expectations that are placed on the nation of Israel because of their covenant relationship with Jehovah. These are commands that they are expected to follow if they are to enjoy God's blessing in the land. And failure to obey these commands will bring God's curse. And so we begin first of all with the expectations identified in chapter 5. In chapter 5 you will find a re-listing of the 10 commandments that were given in Exodus chapter number 20. And so it also records in chapter 5 that when the nation of Israel had heard these words on Mount Sinai, they said, all these things we will do. They agreed to enter this covenant relationship with Jehovah. They placed themselves under the authority of this covenant arrangement at Sinai. And so Moses reminds this new generation that their life, their prosperity in the promised land depends on their obedience to his law. And that brings us to the next section, subsection in this idea of the covenant expectations, the expectations explained in chapter 6 through 26. Now, the casual reader going through all these chapters might be tempted to think that these laws given in all these chapters are arranged haphazardly. That it's just here a law, there a law. There doesn't seem initially to be any particular strand that brings everything together. But in recent years, scholars have concluded, and rightly I think, that there is a distinct pattern to the laws that are given in chapter six through 26. And really what it follows is the successive order of the 10 commandments. What Moses is seeking to do is to explain and apply each of the Ten Commandments to specific situations that Israel will face in the Promised Land. What he does is somewhat similar to what you see in the Sermon on the Mount. If you go over quickly to Matthew chapter 5, And you have this section in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 where Jesus says, you have heard that it was said, but I say. You have heard that it was said, but I say. Over and over again you see Jesus saying this. Notice, for instance, verse 21 of chapter 5. Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Now, the initial glance at this passage, you might be tempted to think that Jesus is casting a spursion on the Old Testament law. Well, the law said, thou shalt not kill. But I'm up in the ante. I'm going to be even stricter. But the careful reader notices what Jesus says in the preceding verses. If you go back to verse 17, Jesus says, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. And he goes on to explain the divine authority in even the smallest particles of the Old Testament law. Jesus is not doing away with the law. He's not casting it aside. He's fulfilling it. And what we find in Matthew chapter 5 is really Jesus is explaining the underlying morality of the Old Testament law. He's expounding on it. He's applying it. He's giving the proper application. You see, some people, when they heard thou shalt not kill, they restricted that to simply the formal act of murder. As long as I'm not taking some kind of weapon and taking someone else's life, I'm good. But what Jesus indicates is that when God gave this law, there was a greater underlying purpose. And what you find in Jesus' explanation here is that the giving of this law was intended to safeguard life. even being unjustly angry with your brother or giving these rather cruel insults to one's brother. These are things that could potentially lead to murder. And so Jesus is actually giving the underlying morality of the Ten Commandments. And we see Moses doing much the same thing when we come to Deuteronomy. He's not just giving the commandments, he's explaining the underlying morality and he's explaining how each of them applies to real life situations. So, let's consider briefly how Moses expounds on the Ten Commandments here in Deuteronomy. Of course, with this many chapters we can't do this justice, but we can give you a taste. The first commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. This commandment is expounded in chapters 6 through 11. Now if you go back to Deuteronomy 6, you'll find what is one of the most famous statements in the Old Testament, one that is still important to the Jewish faith today. Deuteronomy 6, verses 4 and 5. That word translated here is a key word in Deuteronomy. It appears some 91 times in the book. And it's a word that refers to more than just information passing through your ear gate. In fact, on some occasions the King James translates this word, obey. The people of Israel, they needed to listen to, they needed to give utmost heed to a critical truth. The Lord our God is one Lord. It's a statement that points to the exclusivity of Jehovah as an object of worship. This is why Christians have been so persecuted down throughout history. It is not simply that we worship Jesus, but that we worship him exclusively. We give that confession that Jesus is Lord and that he has no competitors. That's the Christians in the ancient Roman Empire. They could not burn that incense to Caesar and declare that Caesar is Lord because for them, there was one king, one Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the exclusivity of Jehovah as an object of worship leads to the logical consequence that we are to love Jehovah, our God, with all our heart, soul, and might. He's worthy of the supreme love. Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 22 that this is the first and greatest commandment. If we could obey that commandment, and none of us here has by the way, But if we could perfectly obey that commandment, all the other commands of God's word would fall into place. That's why Jesus says it's the greatest one. Now notice what is said further here if you go to verse six. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart. So you start there. But you don't stop there. Notice verse 7. If you keep reading through chapter 6, you find that Moses has a deep burden. that once the nation enters the promised land and they experience all these blessings, that they would actually get to the point where they would forget the one who gave them all the blessings. And so what Moses indicates is that it's absolutely critical, not just that those words are in their own hearts, the words of the generation he's speaking to, but that they would then take those words and they would teach them to their children. It would get passed down from generation to generation. Incidentally, that's why we were so concerned here with our Sunday school curriculum. And even the thought that we were going to be paying more for a curriculum, in my thinking, we should be paying whatever price we have to pay to give our children the very best biblical instruction. Because this is not just something that is for adults, it is something that must be passed to the next generation. There's a rigor involved. We're to do this diligently. And Moses envisioned that this is going to take place throughout all the different circumstances of life. When you rise up, when you sit down, when you go to bed, you're always communicating these precious truths. The fact that God alone, Jehovah alone is worthy of worship has significant implications for how Israel is to deal with the Canaanites. Chapter 7 warns that the Canaanites are to be completely destroyed, what scholars have called the ban. The people of Israel, they weren't to intermarry with the Canaanites, they weren't to enter into any kind of covenant with them, because such alliances would ultimately lead the nation into idolatry. There are further warnings about forgetting Jehovah when you come to chapter 8. And there's a further history lesson when you get to chapters 9 and 10 as Moses reminds the people of their rebellion with the golden calf incident in Exodus chapter 32. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it, so the saying goes. And so the nation needed to be reminded of what had taken place in the past so that they wouldn't fall into the same sins in the future. And so that section expounding on this command to love Jehovah supremely concludes with further exhortations to love, fear and serve Jehovah in order to keep his commands. So we come then to the second commandment. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image. This command is explained for us in chapter 12. Now for the nation of Israel the construction of graven images was often connected with syncretism. The idea was that they would still claim to worship Jehovah, but they would do so in the same way as the surrounding pagan nations. Listen to verse 30 of chapter 12. You can look there, actually. Deuteronomy 12 and verse 30, take heed to thyself, that thou be not snared by following them, after that they be destroyed from before thee, and that thou inquire not after their gods, saying, how did these nations, the Canaanite nations in other words, how did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. Isn't that the same question that modern day evangelicals are asking? How do unsaved people worship their gods? What kind of music do they use? What kind of entertainment? What kind of marketing? What kind of gimmicks do they use to worship their gods? Let's do likewise. It does a lot to attract a crowd. But of course, it's expressly forbidden in scripture for a god that demands that his people be holy and that their worship be distinctive. And so from that, we move to the third command, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. This is explained for us in chapter 13 in verse one, all the way to chapter 14 in verse 21. There are several warnings here about those that would entice the nation of Israel to worship other gods. Sometimes these would be prophets, those that claim that they had special insight into the future, and they would lead the nation astray. Sometimes these might even be people that are close relatives. Family members. And the words are quite harsh. Moses says, if it's somebody that's close to you, a close relative, and they tell you, hey, let's go, let's worship these other gods, that person needs to be put to death, and the family member needs to be the first one to cast a stone. But again, all of this designed to preserve the purity of the nation's worship so that the name of the Lord would be sanctified as it ought to be sanctified. From there, you go to commandment number four. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. This comes to us at the end of chapter 14, verse 22, all the way to chapter 16 and verse 17. And the command to remember the Sabbath day, according to Moses, it entails more than just that specific day. There are all kinds of observances that the people of Israel were responsible to engage in to remember their obligations to Jehovah. There was instruction in chapter 14 regarding tithing. Chapter 15 gives instructions regarding the Sabbath year. At chapter 16, there are instructions regarding the observance of the Passover, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Now, up to this point, Moses has dealt with the so-called first table of the law. These are our obligations in our relationship with God, the first four of the Ten Commandments. From here, Moses goes on to explain the second table of the law, Commandments 5 through 10, those that deal with our relationships with others. And so we have commandment five, honor thy father and thy mother. Again, broader intent than just honoring one's biological parents. Chapter 16 verse 18 to chapter 18 verse 22, all of this gives us various individuals that are worthy of honor. We learn of judges and officers that were to be appointed by the people that would reside over cases and determine who was at fault. The end of chapter 17 envisions a time when Israel would appoint a king just like all the nations around them. But this king was to be a native Israelite. He was to be responsible to actually write the words of the law so that he would have a personal copy to read on a daily basis and obey the commands found therein. We also find that worthy of honor are true prophets of Jehovah. And these true prophets would climax with the ultimate prophet. You see it over at chapter 18 if you turn there. Chapter 18 and verse 15, the Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me. unto him shall ye hearken." You notice in your King James the word prophet is capitalized and the translators, rightly so I believe, are interpreting this as a prophecy of the coming Christ, that ultimate prophet. Incidentally, all three of these offices that are expounded on here, you also find information concerning the priests, but prophet, priest, and king, these are all offices of Christ. They find their ultimate fulfillment in Him. We move then to the sixth commandment. Thou shalt not kill. Chapter 19 verse 1 to chapter 22 in verse 4. Chapter 19 lays out the need for the cities of refuge to distinguish between manslaughter and murder. We've already found instruction concerning that in the book of Numbers. Chapter 20 lays out safeguards concerning the practice of going to war. Chapter 21 discusses what to do if there's a body that's found and it can't be determined who killed this person. There was a sacrifice that was to be offered. Then in chapter 22, we really learn the opposite of taking life is to preserve life. When you see that your brother has a need, he's got an animal that has fallen down, you do everything you can. You don't just look the other way, you help your brother. The seventh commandment then, thou shalt not commit adultery. This section begins in a way that's rather apropos for our cultural moment. Chapter 22 and verse 5, the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment, for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. And several commandments follow that are all related to sexual purity. We find sexual purity is of such importance that eunuchs, illegitimate children, and descendants of ungodly people groups are forbidden from entering the congregation of the Lord. And so this section extends to chapter 23 verse 14 until we get into the eighth commandment. Thou shalt not steal. Chapter 23, verse 15 to chapter 24, verse 7. You find here guidelines about the treatment of escaped slaves, the need to fulfill one's vows to the Lord, a prohibition of kidnapping. The ninth commandment, thou shalt not bear false witness. Chapter 24, verse 8 to 25 and verse 4. Assorted commands related to honesty and judgment and caring for the afflicted. And then finally, Thou shalt not covet, chapter 25, verse 5 to 26 and verse 19. And guidelines here given for the kinsmen redeemer. There's warnings against having diverse weights and measures. There has to be utmost honesty in that practice. And there are commands to give God one's first fruits. Now, with all of the exposition of the Ten Commandments complete, we move then into the fourth section, the blessings and curses. These are contained in chapters 27 and 28. Now we've seen that language in Genesis, haven't we? And we see it specifically in the Abrahamic Covenant. There is this promise that God will bless those who bless Abraham and he will curse those who curse Abraham. But what we see here are blessings and curses that are specifically promised to the nation and it's all contingent upon their response to the law of God. If the people are faithful and obeying the law of God, they are promised that the land is going to be fruitful. They are promised that they're going to live a long and prosperous life, that they're going to have all of these earthly blessings. But if they are disobedient, there are curses that are going to follow. The land is not going to be fruitful. There's going to be drought. There's going to be famine. And ultimately, the people are actually going to be banished from the land in exile. Now these chapters, we have to be very careful how we interpret these because this has proved to be a pitfall to many when they come to these chapters. These are promises specifically given to the nation of Israel in their covenant arrangement at Sinai. We are the church of Jesus Christ if we belong to Christ. And so I believe it is not appropriate to take these as one-to-one correspondences between where we are as the church and where the nation of Israel was in its covenant relationship at Sinai. Here at Grace Baptist Church, we are dispensationalists, which means, in summary, that the church and Israel are distinct in God's program. Now having said all of that, we still must acknowledge that there are blessings that come to those who are obedient. We certainly may not enjoy the same earthly blessings that are described in these chapters, but we will certainly enjoy the blessings of God's guidance, the blessing of God's presence in our lives. We can enjoy the type of blessing envisioned by the psalmist. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. And so we come then to the fifth section in this book, the covenant summary. There's a summary given of the covenant in these chapters that is described in the book of Deuteronomy. And really, in so doing, Moses gives a very pessimistic picture of the people of Israel. under divine inspiration he predicts that these people are going to forsake Jehovah and ultimately that they are going to be uprooted from this land that God has promised them. But even when Israel has disobeyed and has been cast out of the land In the passage we read a moment ago, what did we find? God's going to be compassionate. He's going to bring them back to the land that He has promised and He's going to circumcise their hearts so that they can render to Him the obedience that He rightly deserves. This promise of circumcising the heart would be elaborated on later prophets. You would see, for instance, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, who would refer to a new covenant that God would make with the nation of Israel. It would be unlike the covenant at Sinai, which they broke. It would be an enduring covenant that would ensure that their hearts would be consecrated to God, with God's law written on there, with His Spirit indwelling them. This section gives us an earnest call, it concludes really with an earnest call from Moses. If you look in chapter 30 verses 19 and 20, notice how Moses ends this covenant summary. He says, I call heaven and earth to record this day against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore choose life that both thou and thy seed may live. Thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him. For he is thy life, and the length of thy days, that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord swear unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them. Now this call is very similar to other ancient treaties where they would call for witnesses to the treaty. But what was different in those other treaties, they would call on the gods as witnesses. Of course, we know for the nation of Israel there would be no other gods besides Jehovah. And so rather than calling on the gods, what Moses calls upon here are heaven and earth, the creation. As Israel looked at the creation, they would be reminded of the Creator and their obligation to render Him full obedience. And so that's a choice that they're confronted with. Moses urges them to choose life, to choose blessing by obeying the commands of the Lord. The book concludes with a few appendices. You see those appendixes, appendices at the end of a book, right? They kind of have assorted things that don't fit neatly on the other chapters. So in chapter 31, you find Moses passing the torch of leadership to Joshua. so that Joshua would then lead the people into the promised land. Chapter 32 gives Moses' final song, praising God's awesome power and decrying the rebellion of the people. Chapter 33, Moses gives his final blessings to the 12 tribes of Israel. And then in chapter 34, we read that Moses is able to go up to Mount Pisgah where he can see the promised land. And there Moses dies and interestingly we read that God himself buries Moses in a location that was undisclosed to the children of Israel. So what's the point of all of this? Why do we have the book of Deuteronomy in our Bibles? Why is the message of this book enduring not just for Israel under its covenant arrangement with God but for us as New Testament believers? I think the point of all this is given to us very succinctly in chapter 5 and verse 29. Let me read it to you. You see, friends, what is required to obey God's commands is more than sheer willpower. It is more than simply the threats of punishment. What is required is a transformed heart. In the words of Jesus, ye must be born again. Have you been born again? You know, when you come to the book of Deuteronomy and you read it correctly, you come away with a sense of your own utter depravity and unworthiness before God. Who among us has ever loved the Lord our God with all our heart, soul and might? Who among us has perfectly avoided these pagan efforts to syncretize our faith with the culture around us? Who among us has perfectly observed the Lord's day? We could go on and on with the types of demands that are given in these chapters. We've failed, haven't we? We have failed royally. at obeying God's commands. And that's why, friends, we needed, and as we think of the Lord's Supper today, it's fitting for us to consider, we needed someone to keep those commands in our place. Jesus Christ, the righteous. You see, Jesus obeyed God's law perfectly in our place. What theologians call his active obedience. Jesus also suffered and died in our place, what theologians call his passive obedience. But both the active obedience and the passive obedience are credited to us the moment that we believe in Christ. God looks on Jesus on the cross as if he lived the life that you lived, and all your sins are placed on him. And then God looks at you and me who have believed on Jesus Christ, he looks at us as if we lived the life that Jesus lived. That's justification. The article Luther said on which the church stands or falls. Deuteronomy brings that into full focus because we recognize as we come to these laws, friends, we can't do it. You could spend your whole life trying to muster up the willpower to perfectly obey the law of God. You wouldn't be able to do it for more than five minutes. That's why we are utterly dependent upon the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what Christ does in salvation, we are not only declared righteous before God, but we are regenerated. That is, we are given new hearts. We are given hearts that long to obey the law of God. And then we can do what we could never do in the power of our own human flesh. We can render to God the heartfelt obedience that he deserves. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this precious time that we've spent in the scriptures this morning. Lord, I come with the realization that even my efforts to explain this I'm sure have fallen so short of the perfection of your word. But I pray that you would override my imperfections, my weakness, that you would take your word, you would open it to each person standing before me this morning. And especially, Father, for that one or those multiple people who are here without Christ, Lord, we pray that they would turn in saving faith to him this morning. And we ask this, dear Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.