November 19, 2001
Explore the Bible Series for Dec. 2
New beginnings are necessary to grow in faith
___Deuteronomy 2:1-3,14-15,32-33; 3:3-4
___By Pete Freeman
___First Baptist Church, The Woodlands
___Most of us are average students. We generally vacillate between high scores and low scores. Some interpret that to mean that average students either score well on tests or daily assignments but seldom on both. I can relate to that pattern. Therefore, in high school, I always looked forward to a "new six weeks." It meant the possibility of a new beginning.
___Deuteronomy is a book about a new beginning for the people of Israel. Their leader, Moses, preached three sermons to prepare them for the Promised Land experience. This is sort of like a retiring pastor who helps prepare his people for new leadership. Moses' sermons could be titled "What a Faithful and Merciful God We Serve," "The Role of God's Word in Our Lives" and "Renewing a Faith Covenant with God."
___The first two lessons for December come from his first sermon. Although the details related to these sermons are different from today, the principles remain the same.
___In order to better understand chapters 2 and 3, it is important to take a brief journey back in time. Chapter 1 records Moses' historical review of God's deliverance of the Israelites out of the land of Egypt. The first sermon begins in verse 6 and traces the response of the people to an opportunity of conquest almost 40 years earlier.
___You remember the story of how they sent out spies into the Promised Land. A majority report said it was impossible to take the land. A minority report assured the land could be taken because the Lord would bring victory. The majority report prevailed. The Israelites took things in their hands and ended up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years. Just goes to show a majority report is not always the right report.
___Once again. the faithful and merciful God steps onto the scene. He has a purpose and a plan for these "much of the time inconsistent people." He has a plan of redemption for humankind through their relationship with himself. God is faithful to the promises he made to their forefathers. Here, at the sunset of his ministry, God speaks clearly through the prophet. It is time to get on with the matter of conquering the Promised Land!
___Deuteronomy 2:3 sums it up well: "You have made your way around this hill country long enough; now turn north." At the time, the Israelites were encamped south of the Promised Land. In order to be where God intended them to enter the Promised Land, they needed to move in a northerly direction. He gave them very specific directions about who they were to encounter and who they were to avoid encountering. The important matter for them was to "decide to turn north." They could further rebel against God's leadership and suffer the consequences or they could decide to trust God's leadership. They had a choice.
___What a lesson for both individual Christians and churches. When we take a personal inventory of our own lives, we too probably will find those times when we have chosen our own path instead of God's way. We wandered in our own wilderness for a while. Then one day, we were awakened spiritually. Although we were ashamed of our rebellion, we discovered the Lord was giving us another opportunity to turn north.
___Churches have found themselves in the same situation. The Israelites didn't have a monopoly on rebellion. Most of the rebellion of churches has been of a subtle nature. They have drifted over the years far from their spiritual moorings. Many have forgotten what they were called to do; to be a witness for the Lord and an instrument of blessing to all.
___The history of the church is strewn with the remains of churches gone by, but it is not too late. As with Israel, the Lord will raise up those dead bones and give them life. There is nothing as beautiful and inspiring as a church that finds itself in the center of God's will.
___We find in verses 14-15 a reminder that the Lord will "fulfill his purposes according to his conditions and timing." These verses remind us that during the years of wandering, all the fighting men except Caleb and Joshua perished. God's judgment of their unbelief was fulfilled. Let us be reminded of three things: God is sovereign, not a single one of God's servants is indispensable, and his timetable is better than ours.
___In 2:34 and 3:6, we find some disturbing words, especially in the context of Sept. 11th. Here we find something commonly referred to today as "jihad." These two passages refer to "completely destroying" and later the "killing of men, women and children." In the Hebrew, it means "the giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them." The word is sometimes translated "destroyed or devoted."
___We must be honest and admit that in these passages the Lord does not give a direct command to kill women and children. He does in other passages (Deuteronomy 20:16-18; Joshua 20:21). Total destruction was not the norm for Old Testament warfare.
___We ask, "Why in certain cases?" In the two cases above, it apparently was for reasons of divine judgment and protection of God's people from idolatrous influences. It certainly wasn't because of the righteousness of the Israelites (Deuteronomy 9:1-6). We can certainly conclude that jihad is unethical for Christians today.
___Questions for discussion
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