Question
The Things Revealed Belong to Us
Deuteronomy 29:1-29
Key Verse 29:29
Read verse 1. Think about the two covenants (the one made at Horeb in Exodus 19 and the one made in Moab in Deuteronomy 29). What is the time gap between the two covenants? (Exodus 19:1; Deuteronomy 1:1-5; 29:5) What can we learn about the Lord who desires to get into a covenant (relationship) again and again?
Read verses 2-3. What did they see (with their own eyes)?
Read verse 4 and compare it with verses 2-3. What does it mean to have “a mind that understands”, “the eyes that see” or “the ears that hear”? Why is it that the Lord has not given them any of these? (Romans 1:18-22; Mark 4:9; Psalm 14:2; John 12:37-40; Isaiah 42:20)
Read verses 5-6. Can you think of any sandals or clothes that do not wear out even though you have worn them for forty long years? Can you imagine anyone eating no bread for this long and yet remain healthy? What does “I did this so that you may know that I am the LORD your God” mean to you?
Read verses 7-8 and compare this passage with the difficulties the Israelites had as they journeyed to Moab (read Numbers 21). How did the Lord help them? In what respect is the victory over the two kings (Sihon and Og) significant? (8b)
Read verses 9-15. What is the point of the covenant they were called to make with the Lord (sealed with an oath)? Why is it important for them to remain faithful to the covenant (16-28)?
Read verse 29. What does “secrets things belong to our God” mean? What does “things revealed belong to us” mean? Why did God reveal these things to them?
** What lesson(s) can we learn from the passage for our walk in the Lord?
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Message
Revealed Things Belong to Us
Deuteronomy 29:1-29
Key Verse 29:29
“Secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”
The title of the message is, “Revealed Things Belong to Us.” Here the things “revealed” refer to the revelations the Lord gave through Moses, particularly, the revelation of the way of blessings and of the way of curses. At the heart of these revelations is our relationship with the Lord. We thrive on our relationship with the Lord. When we do well in our relationship with the Lord, we will do well in all other aspects of life. By the same token, when our relationship with the Lord suffers, we end up suffering in all other areas of life. But the relationship does not prosper by itself. The parties involved in the relationship must work on it. How does the relationship with the Lord thrive? Based on today’s passage, there are 5 points to consider:
First, a loving heart (1)
Look at verse 1. “These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.” In this passage we see two covenants: the one made at Horeb and the one to be made in Moab. In between the two there is a time gap. How long? Forty years! During this period of time the Israelites wandered around the desert. Now, they are in Moab, ready to cross the Jordan River and enter the Promised Land.
It was at this critical juncture that the Lord asked Moses to make a new covenant with the Israelites. Why? The answer is obvious. It was to remind them of the relationship they were in. About forty years prior, when the Lord God wooed them to get into a marriage relationship with him, they all said, “Yes. You proved yourself worthy of our undivided love. And we all love you. We will obey you fully.” God was pleased. He came down to the Mount Sinai, and went through the wedding ceremony with them. In this way a nation whose God is their husband was born. Since then forty years passed. Finally, they were ready to enter the Promised Land. At this moment the Lord God commanded Moses to make a covenant with them, in addition to the covenant made at Horeb. God did this to help the Israelites reconfirm their love for the Lord.
[For further background information on the reason why God asked Moses to make a new covenant with them please consider: 1) the terrible incident when the Israelites made and worshiped a golden calf, and thereby broke their faith with the Lord; and 2) the ten tribal leaders who spied out the land made a bad reports saying, “No, we cannot take possession of the land; we look like a bunch of grass hoppers in the eyes of our enemies,” causing the whole community to commit the sin of mistrust, and thereby broke faith with the Lord. These terribly sad events necessitated the Israelites to make a new covenant with the Lord.]
In the same way the Lord God wants us to reconfirm our love and devotion to him each and every day. God wants us to love him and obey him fully, not because he is in need of our love, but because we are in need of his love. How can we fully enjoy his love if our hearts are divided? How can we thrive in our relationship with him, if we break our relationship with him and indulge ourselves in someone or something else?
Second, a thankful heart (2-8)
The second point of revelation on the secret for a harmonious relationship with the Lord is to ensure that we give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances.
Let us look at verses 2-4. “Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land. With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those miraculous signs and great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.”
This passage raises a question in our mind. Why has the Lord not given them a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear? If the Lord did not want to give them a mind that understands, or the eyes that see, why did he show the Israelites wonders and miracles?
We can find an answer to this question in Romans 1:18-24. Romans 1:21 reads, “Although they knew God they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened…” [Here “glorify” means “to give adoration and thanksgiving to God.” So the expression, “they neither glorified him as God,” and the expression, “nor gave thanks to him,” means the same thing: an unthankful heart.] This passage indicates that even after they experienced miracle after miracle they did not thank God for all the wonders and miracles, and so their hardened hearts became foolish. They became spiritually blind. Their minds became dull.
What then did they not understand? Look at verses 5-6. “During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.” This passage describes what the Israelites did not understand. What did they not understand? Look at what the Lord said: “I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.” They failed to understand that the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob is their personal God. What kind of God is he? We already know the answer. Look at verses 5-6 again. “During the forty years that I led you through the desert, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet. You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.” Let us pause for a moment and think about what the Lord did. What did he do? He did this: during the forty long years of journeying through the desert, he took care of the Israelites so well that even their clothes and their sandals did not wear out. My Toyota RAV4 has only 9,000 miles on it. And yet it screams out that it needs maintenance. A Toyota should be a lot more durable than a pair of sandals. Yet as the Lord was with them, miracles happened. In the Sinai desert there were no Payless Shoes stores. So Joshua’s case, for example, from the day he got out of Egypt until the day he entered the Promised Land, he was wearing the same pair of sandals. Yet his sandals did not wear out. A miracle?! Yes, indeed!
Why did God perform these miracles? He did this only to prove that there is no god like him; he is the God who can do what no one can do; he is the God with whom nothing is impossible. Most amazingly, he wants to be your God and my God. Yet the Israelites did not get the message. Why? We already know the answer.
For this reason the Apostle Paul says to us: “Give thanks [to God] in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1Th 5:18)
Third, a caring heart (9-15)
When we study the Bible we quickly realize that God relates himself with his children, not only on an individual level, but also as a community of peoples. In a way, God’s relationship with his children is like our relationship with our fingers. Take a look at us. We have two hands. Each hand comes with five fingers. And all ten fingers are connected together. And we love all of our ten fingers equally. This means that in order for us to see our relationship with the Lord prosper, we must build our relationship with the Lord not only as an individual but as a community of people.
Look at verses 10-11: “All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel, together with your children and your wives, and the aliens living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.” Notice the word “all.” Take note of the word “together,” as well. These words tell us that God treats the Israelites not only individually but also collectively, for we are not only individuals but also a community of people.
Verses 12-15 go one step further. “You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God but also with those who are not here today.” By the time God commanded Moses to make a covenant with the Israelites, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were no longer with them. Yet, to God they were and are now still alive. Furthermore, God says, “those who are not here today,” which includes those who are yet to be born. And God is concerned about them just as much as he is concerned about those who are here today. Why? It is because we are all connected together.
Awareness of this connectedness indicates that we all must love one another and pray for each other. We need to pray for not only my fellowship or my own church in Downey, but also for other fellowships, other chapters, and other church organizations. We need to respect and pray for those who are above us. At the same time we need to serve those who are yet to rise to leadership positions. We need to preserve and respect the good spiritual heritage our forefathers left for us, such as Dr. Samuel Lee’s spiritual heritage. We need to learn the good examples left by our spiritual parents such as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We also must be mindful of and pray for the members of CBF, JBF, and HBF. We also need to pray for all who are yet to come, so we must have a solid plan for the generations to come. In so doing, we should not be near-sighted: we must have a long term plan for the next ten, twenty, thirty years and beyond.
Fourth, a pure heart (16-18)
Look at verses 16-18. “You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here. You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold. Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.”
This passage concerns the first Four Commandments. God gave us these commandments so that his children would worship him and him alone, so that his children might rise from an animal or sub-animal level to God’s level. In other words, God wants his children to grow without a limit, and thereby remain dominant over his creation, rather than to be dominated by God’s creation.
“Make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison,” says the Lord. Here “bitter poison” refers to the fruit that comes out of idol worship, for idol worship contaminates man’s heart, causing bitter roots to grow.
So it is important for us to keep our hearts pure. This is important because God is pure, so that only the pure in heart can see God as Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God.” In fact in order to keep our hearts pure, God sent Jesus who in turn took away the sins of the world. For those who believe in Jesus, God pours in their hearts the Holy Spirit, who upon our sincere request, cleanses us of any hints of impurity, so we would have a joyful fellowship with God the Father daily.
Fifth, a prudent heart (19-28)
Look at verse 19a. “When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, ‘I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way.’” Once upon a time Frank Sinatra sang a song entitled “My Way.” In that song he repeatedly says, “I did it my way.” Doing it your way is good if you mean doing it creatively as God inspires you. But if it means going your own way, which is not consistent with the way the Lord goes, you are in trouble. Going your way is an open invitation to troubles. But not all people take the warning seriously. So Moses issues warnings which I call, “seven-fold warnings”:
This will bring disaster on the watered land
As well as the dry.
The LORD will never be willing to forgive him [this statement should not surprise us, for although God sent Jesus to take away the sins of the world; when one chooses not to believe in Jesus and go on his own way, how can God save him?]
His wrath and zeal will burn against that man.
All the curses written in this book will fall upon him,
And the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.
The LORD will single him out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.
This is going to be true not only at an individual level, but also collectively, for if a community of people goes idolatrous, rendering them good for nothing but destruction, God will rain down from heaven fires of judgment that they would all perish like the people of the Sodom and Gomorrah. In short, the seven-fold warnings show us that it is a man with a prudent heart that learns to love the Lord and obey the Lord.
Conclusion (29)
Let us read verse 29. “Secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” Here “secret things” can also mean “hidden things” (or things that are yet to be known or made visible to our physical eyes). “The things revealed” refers to the blessed instructions the Lord God gave to the Israelites. For us who live in the 21st century, the expression embraces the truths revealed in the Bible, especially, Jesus and his gospel. Moses says that these revelations belong to us and to our children, indicating that we must cherish them and ensure that we, as well as our children, live according to these revelations.
One word: the things revealed belong to us
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