This morning's text is Deuteronomy 33 chapters 1 through 5. Please follow along as I read aloud. Now this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said, The Lord came from Sinai and dawned on them from Seir. He shone forth from Mount Paran and he came with ten thousands of saints. From his right hand came a fiery law for them. Yes, he loves the people. All his saints are in your hand. They sit down at your feet. Everyone receives your words. Moses commanded a law for us, a heritage of the congregation of Jacob. And he was king in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your holy scripture. that is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. We ask you to be now with Scott as he comes to exposit on this section of scripture. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness to us. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, for two years we've been on a journey that took Moses to walk one month. Deuteronomy was written in the last month of Moses' life. And we've been in the section here that has encompassed the last day of his life. So, what happened in this last day of his life, which we're in today, will be next week and the following week, began after Moses had completed writing the law. And then God calls Moses and Joshua before him, before the tabernacle, at the door of the tabernacle. And in a dramatic scene, God commands Moses to write a song. And so he writes the song right away. And then they sing the song. And God tells Moses that he is going to die that day. And He tells him where he's going to die, which is about a 4,000 foot walk up to Mount Pisgah. He's 120 years old. Imagine a 120 year old man You know, getting up in the morning, having the, you know, the pillar of fire above the door of the tabernacle and Moses and Joshua standing there. God tells him to write a song. He writes a song. They sing the song. And now Moses is told that he's going to walk to the top of Mount Pisgah. He knows where that is. But he's a strong man at 120. And so, you know, this is the scene here in the last day. of Moses' life. In the song of Moses, we were exhorted, consider your latter end. And Moses here is in his latter end. Imagine a day, what a day, the last day of Moses' life. I was thinking about it early this morning and I thought, you know, what happened with Moses really is kind of a prototype of what God calls all of His people to do. He calls His people to meet with Him in the tabernacle, and the tabernacle is the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Moses did right after they sang the song, he commanded the children of Israel to keep The Word of God, because it was their life and to teach it to their children. We have that same responsibility in every single day of our life. And in many ways, Moses' last day of his life is kind of a prototype for everybody's last day of everybody's day of their lives. They meet with God. They consider the Word of God. They teach their children and then they go about and do their business in the day. So it's a very dramatic scene and we're taking, you know, when you're in one day of someone's life and string it out, you know, to, you know, seven or eight sermons, it's hard to get context. But I just want us to understand that we've been talking about Moses last day for quite a while and we're going to talk about it some more in the next three or four weeks. So these these verses here contain Moses last words that were recorded and. They really are very unusual among last words. I don't know if you've ever gone out and looked at people's last words. Their dying breath, you know, what they've called out in the last minutes of their life. And some people say things that are crazy and some very profound. But Moses' last words are really unusual. He was not tired. His body functions were not, you know, failing him. His mental capacities were as sharp as they ever were. In 34, we know that his eyes were not dim, nor was his natural vigor diminished. So, when Moses dies, he's dying at full bore, right? Just like as if I was standing right here, if anyone could call this full bore, and I just died. Well, that's kind of how Moses is going to die. With full capacity, with full strength. So, these last words are really very amazing in terms of last words. Imagine that. Wouldn't that be a great way to go? You know, you're going along and you say your last words and bam, there you go, you're gone. Well, that's what is going to happen to Moses. Moses died, as the scripture says, according to the word of the Lord. And that's how all of us die. Whether we die lacking strength or mental capacity, we will die according to the word of the Lord. God's the author and the finisher of our faith. We're exhorted to learn how to number our days. At the same time, our days are numbered by Almighty God. That should give us so much hope and encouragement that God is the One who stands in authority over our days. God is good. All His ways are perfect. All His ways are justice. Righteous and upright is He, and He will determine your days. What a blessing that is. This passage of Scripture is so full of blessing, and every verse is a breathing of thankfulness for the love of God, the mercy of God, the power of God. And here in these verses that we'll consider today, the five, and then later as we continue on, you notice that that Moses, he takes up the role of a father, of a spiritual father, speaking to those that he has walked with for many, many years. And he gives them a message of permanence. He's really saying, when I die, don't worry. God is faithful. God is with you. He speaks of the importance of the law given on Mount Sinai, that it's a treasure, that it's your life, that it's your heritage. And then he also takes on the mantle of a prophet, and he's actually prophesying about their lives. But he's invoking God's favor toward the people. He's an intercessor. So let me give you just a simple outline of chapter 33 so you can see it in your mind's eye. The first five verses, Moses speaks of God as the source of all blessings. And then from verses 6 through 25, there are particular blessings bestowed upon his people, upon Israel, upon the tribes of Israel. We'll deal with that section next week. And then finally, he ends from verses 26 to the end, there's just another declaration of the goodness of God. The theme of this whole chapter, I think, can be capsulized by looking at two verses in the chapter. First, verse 3, For He loves His people. For He loves His people. And, verse 26, There is no one like the God of Jeshurun. who rides the heavens to help you, and in His Excellency on the clouds. The Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Isn't it interesting that the book of Deuteronomy begins with a declaration that God carries His people like a father carries his son? And he ends, Moses' last words, he can't get it out of his mind that God carries His people in everlasting arms. This is one of the tenderest passages of Scripture and I'm so grateful for it. This also is a A line of change because today Moses is their leader. Tomorrow, Joshua is their leader. So there's a dramatic change. And just the last thing I'd like to point out before we move in and work our way through this. is that this is a report by an eyewitness, by a scribe, someone who is writing, who is taking notes on Moses' words and reporting about it and the context of it. The author writes like a Gospel writer, like Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, who write of Jesus. And this writer here is carefully recording the last words of Moses. And you would expect for Moses' last words to be many. And they are. So, this is a very blessed chapter. And I've struggled with how to move through it. I began with considering about just handling it all in one message. And then I thought, no, actually it should be in two messages. But then, this week, I determined that it would actually be in three messages. Who knows what will happen next week. So, first of all, we see, if you have an outline in front of you, blessings from the man of God. Now, this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death. And I'd like to just point out a number of things about this one verse. And first of all, in this phrase, now this is the blessing, is such a beautiful reminder of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Moses proves himself to be like Christ. And He does what the Lord Jesus does. Before He is taken from the earth, He blesses His people. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did for His people. In Luke 24, verse 50, we read, And He led them out as far as Bethany, And He lifted up His hands and He blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them and was carried up into heaven. That's how the Lord Jesus left. He blessed His disciples and was carried up, ascending into heaven. And He returned and then the people, they worshipped. Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they were continually in the temple. And what were they doing? They were blessing God. So, what's happening here with Moses in blessing His children is exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ did before His ascension. And this is what men of God do. They are full of blessing. And Moses proves himself that kind of man. The term man of God is used here. And let's don't just throw that that phrase away and keep on moving. I think I want to pause on it and consider this term man of God. This is the first occurrence of this word. in all of Scripture. The phrase is used one time in the Pentateuch. It's used 65 times in the Prophets, 12 times in other books, and only twice in the New Testament. In the New Testament, you probably are thinking where it might be, that the man of God might be thoroughly equipped for every good work. And so the one writing this is recognizing that Moses is a man of God. And we know that Moses had a very special and close relationship with God, which helps us understand what it means to be a man of God. And don't be confused here. When I say man of God, I also am implying that every woman here can be a woman of God in the same way that Moses was a man of God. He was male, but this is something that God has called His people to be. Moses is called the friend of God in Exodus 33, 11 because he spoke face to face as a man speaks to his friend. That was the kind of relationship that Moses had with God. It was like a friendship. where there was communication and there was a sense of physical space together with that friend. And this should teach us something about our whole relationship with God. It's a relationship as like a friend. And I'm just praying that God would help us all together as a church to learn more of what that means to be men and women of God, friends of God. We know from Numbers chapter 12 that Moses was more humble than all the men who were ever on the face of the earth. His humble disposition gave him a way before God that was a blessing to him and all the people. He was an example of a man of God. Now, if you look at Moses' life, you can see how this plays out all throughout his life. He was a man of God all through his life. Yet with stumblings and sin and sinful behavior from time to time, you know, when you think about Moses life, it's I think it's helpful to to recognize, you know, Acts Acts chapter seven seems to suggest that Moses life falls into three 40-year periods. And, you know, the first 40 years, he was in Egypt, in Pharaoh's house. And then the second 40 years, from age 41 to age 80, he was in the Midianite desert. And then from age 80 to 120, he was discipled by the trials and the tribulations in the wilderness, in the wilderness wanderings. And D.L. Moody says something very interesting about Moses' life, the various phases. of his life as a man of God. I just want to ask us to consider our own lives. Where are you? How old are you? What phase of life are you in now? And whatever phase you are in is the season of being a man or a woman of God. But D.L. Moody says that Moses spent the first 40 years of his life thinking he was somebody. He spent the second 40 years of his life learning that he was a nobody. And he spent the third 40 years of his life learning what God can do with a nobody. And you see Moses in this 120 year footprint of time that God gave him. What a blessed life. He lived. We're living off the fruits of his labors even today. My family does every day of its life. And so, there were so many fruits from this man of God. You know, during this first period of his life, when he was in Pharaoh's house, he was first of all nursed by his mother, and then raised by Pharaoh's daughter, educated in the ways of the Egyptians. And Hebrews 11 says he was a beautiful child, and so perhaps that was one reason why Pharaoh's daughter was interested. There are legends that Pharaoh had no son. And whether that's true or not, I don't know. But what we do know is that Moses was born into a family who trusted God. But in a very difficult time in history, Pharaoh had become afraid of the Hebrews because they were multiplying so greatly. And it caused him to desire to destroy the Hebrew man-children. So he wanted them to be drowned. And so he had the midwives drowned them. You know, one of the great joys of this week was the revelation that three of my daughters, one daughter-in-law, are now pregnant, which means that my grandchildren are going to go from three in 2010 to six in 2011, which will go to 12, which actually, we could take over Wake County, I think, with that kind of multiplication, you know, within just like a few years or something like that. But that's what was happening in Egypt. And the children of Israel were multiplying so greatly, Pharaoh said, drown the baby boys. That was the context within which Moses was born. And at that time, his mother, of course, tried to save him. She called his name Moses because she drew him out of the water. And I think that there's figurative meaning to that. He was saved at a critical time in history to rescue the people of Israel. And you know, all of us are born into a particular season of history. Every season of history is critical. We live in one right now. We can talk for a long time about the things that are happening in our culture and what the implications might be for the people of God. How then should we live in a season like that we live in now today? We here in our church have recognized that we have gone astray in our personal lives, in our family lives, in the way we've conducted our church life, and we're trying to make our way back. and to try to be in living in faithfulness to the things that God has said, because it seems that not only the world, but even evangelicalism has lost its way and has become disconnected, broken fellowship, really, with the clear statements of the Word of God. So we live in a very critical time in the church, in family life, and in civil life. And what will we do? How will we live? Moses lived in a time like that. And God planted within his soul an urgency for justice and for love to be existing in the world. And so what happened was that he saw two of his, he saw injustice being meted out and he became a murderer as he killed an Egyptian. And he buried him in the sand. And so there was a non-Jew who was abusing a Jew. And it was so disturbing to him, he tried to stop it. And he ended up killing the man and became a murderer. He became implicated in the laws that God would deliver to him in the Ten Commandments. He would become that murderer that he would be speaking of later on in his life. And then the next day, he saw two Hebrews abusing one another. And he tried to stop them. And one of them said, well, you're going to kill me like you killed that other Egyptian? And then he became a marked man as a result of that. We realize, though, in this first period of Moses' life, in ages 1-40, are you in that period? Are you in age 1-40? I know we don't. We have somebody from 80 to 120 in this room. Only one person. But we do have a lot who are in this season of ages 1-40. Here's what happened to Moses when he was in that season of life. And it's so instructive. And I pray that it will help us together, particularly those who are young in their forties. Hebrews 11.24 says, So Moses was a man of faith at this time in his season of ages 1 through 40. When he came of age, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked to the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, For he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned. Moses, in his first forty years, was a man of faith. And he chose rather to suffer affliction with his people. That's one thing that he did. He refused to become identified with Egypt. And he recognized the sinfulness of sin. And he saw God gave him wisdom to see. And I pray that every young person here in the sound of my voice this morning can see what Moses saw. Little girls and little boys, please see what Moses saw. He saw that the passing pleasures of sin were not worth it at all. That's what he saw. He saw sin for what it was. He saw that it would destroy you. He saw that the devil came to kill and steal and destroy. He knew that in his heart. And I pray that God would give that. Oh God, I pray that You would. Would You rest on those who are in this season of 1 through 40 and show them so poignantly, oh Lord, so unmistakably of the sinfulness of sin. Oh God, I pray You would do it. So that we would be a people turning away from sin. Moses was a man of God and a mark of this Godward focus of his life was that he refused to become identified with Egypt. He recognized the devastation of sin and turned from it. And he threw his lot completely in with the people of God and would rather suffer with them than to have all the splendor and all of the privileges of Egypt. Imagine what that was. Egypt was at its shining glory. And Moses was there to receive all of that glory. And he could have had it if he had only not had faith. So that's what happened to Moses. You know, we often think that to deny something like Moses did is to be deprived of something. But the truth is that when you deny the passing pleasures of sin, you're denying something that not only is unimportant, but it's also destructive. Worldly honor is, like Jeremiah Burroughs said, it's like an hourglass. It just will slip away. So, the first 40 years, Moses was a man of God. Are you in your first 40 years? Let it be so of you as well. And then ages 40 through 80, because... Now, how many of you are between 40 and 80 now? There are a few of you. Not quite as many as there are under 40. We're way overweight and under 40. And we have a little bit more in 40 to 80. And we're really skinny on 80 plus here in this room. In these years of ages 40 to 80, Moses was reaping the consequences of his faith. He was a man on the run, and he went out into the desert. And as he flees into the desert, he encounters – for a 40-year-old guy, this wouldn't be such a bad encounter – he encounters seven daughters of a Midianite priest. And I just would love to have been in Moses's brain as he came around the corner and saw these seven daughters of this Midianite priest by the name of, what's his name? Everybody knows his name. Jethro's his name, that's right. Rules, as he's also known. But he finds that these shepherdesses are being afflicted, being abused by some other Midianite shepherds. And so, he defends them and he ends up marrying one of them, Zipporah. And so here now, In contrast to his first 40 years where he's nursed by his mother, raised by Pharaoh's daughter, and yet by faith rejecting it all, now Moses is being really nursed by the solitude of the desert and educated By marriage and various other things like that, for 40 years we hear almost nothing from Moses. He's in the desert. Often, often it is that people enter a period of the desert. You might be in one of those periods where you feel like you're in the desert. God has you there. God has you there because He has plans far beyond your own wisdom. You never would have put yourself in the desert, but God is willing to. because He loves you. Because He loves His people. And so, in the desert, we find a dramatic event that comes to Moses, the burning bush. And now, there's a new phase of life that Moses moves in from age 80 to 120. And Moses is called out of the desert by a burning bush. And he's called to say to Pharaoh, let my people go. And then there are the ten plagues that belittle all the gods of Egypt. There's the Red Sea that Moses will encounter where the armies of Pharaoh are pounding the pavement to come and kill them. And they're back up against the Red Sea, between the devil and the deep blue sea, really. And there God says to Moses what He says a number of times to other people in Scripture, the Lord will fight for you. The Lord will fight for you. In that season, in that season of life from 40 to 80, here's one thing you need to know. The Lord will fight for you. The Lord will fight for you. Do you believe that with all of your heart? Have you rested in that? Are you still grinding away, so fearful? If you're a fearful soul in your 40s to your 80s, let me just suggest that your joy, your productivity, your usefulness will be diminished. God was teaching Moses, the Lord will fight for you during that season. He was a man of God. And there seems to be so much evidence that Moses did believe this with all of his heart. He was a humble man. He was meek. He wanted to be under God's authority, even though there were times he wanted God to kill him because of the complaints of the children of Israel. If you think you have problems in your 40s to 80s, think again. Moses has over two million people wanting to kill him. When was the last time that happened to you? The Lord will fight for you. Moses saw that. Moses saw that. And so the tabernacle was built in the wilderness and there would be guidance by the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. And God led the children of Israel to Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, where they would actually sin grievously. There would be 12 spies that would go out to chart out the land, you know, And then they were disobedient, and God judged them for their lack of faith. Caleb was a man of faith, and yet the lack of faith that surrounded him caused judgment and difficulty for the children of Israel. During the wilderness wanderings, though Moses is a man of God, he still is a sinner. We find him at the rock of Rephidim, of the waters of Meribah, where the people are out of water. And God tells Moses to speak to the rock. But Moses in his flesh is angry. He's angry at the people. And so, he strikes the rock as if he would be the one to bring water to the people. As if he and his strength could do the deed. And so, God punishes Moses for this. You know, in your 40s to 80s, there are sins that you commit that have implications for many, many years. And it should be a warning to all of us to sanctify every moment by being filled with the Holy Spirit. Every moment. Because there are things that we do in those times that have implications. Moses so desired to go into the Promised Land. Finally, after Moses was begging God over and over to let him go in, God said, stop it. He said, basically, shut up. Lay this aside. And it matters what you do in your 40s to your 80s, because it will have enormous implications. Moses is a man of God. Think about those words for a minute. Man of God. Man of God. It's a man who lives his life out of God. not out of his own creativity, not out of his own inclinations or his knee-jerk reactions that we're so susceptible to, to just fire back rather than to live out of, out of God. You know, there's this whole principle of life, that out of His innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. That's the kind of life that God has called us to. But Moses is living out his life from God. He's not creating it on his own, but rather Christ is his life. You know, there are men of God elsewhere in Scripture. Shemaiah was called the man of God in 1 Kings 12, verse 22. He spoke to Rehoboam and he said, Don't go fight against your brethren. He was speaking out of God. There was a man from Judah, we don't even know his name, who came in 1 Kings 13. He prophesied against Jeroboam while he was sacrificing, crying out, O altar, altar, the altar will be split apart. The prophet said that and Jeroboam waved his hand and said, Arrest him. He was a man of God. He was willing to speak out of God. His mouth was under the authority of God. And how often it is that our mouths are under our authority and we say whatever we want to say. But Moses was a man of God. He was operating out of the resources of God. Others that were called men of God, Elijah, Elisha, David, Nehemiah, And then we even read that the only one in the New Testament called the man of God was Timothy. In 2 Timothy 3.17, that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped. That's what the Word of God is for, is to build a man of God. And Moses was that kind of man. Moses played his role as a man of God. If you've named the name of Christ, that you have a role to play in this world. If you're ages 1-40, or 40-80, or 80-120, God has bequeathed upon you a role to play. And that role is to live life out of God and not out of yourself. And to live it out of God means to live it out of the Word, the revealed Word of God. Let me just make a comment. I'm confident here this morning there are a number of you who have some sense that God is calling you to the office of elder someday. And I just want us to hearken to the example of Moses in this passage. He was a man of God. And so there's a lesson here for all of us. First of all, this way of living that Moses demonstrated, living his life out of God. Notice the fatherly nature of his disposition. His very last dying words to the children of Israel are words of tenderness, and mercy, and they breathe the love of Jesus Christ, which is what elders should be doing. They should be breathing the love of God that's in Christ Jesus. If an elder doesn't feel the love of God in his heart, how can he possibly really be an elder? But here, Moses is a wonderful prototype for all those who would be called to the office of elder. Look at what he did. He walked with the children of Israel. He interceded for the children of Israel. Even when they had sinned grievously, He begged God not to kill them. He begged God to have mercy on His people. There was this moment at Meribah when He was angry. But generally, Moses was crying out for mercy. His emotions seemed to be very tender for his people. And every phrase in this passage that we're in today just breathes of the mercy of God. And this should be an example for all who desire the office of an elder. Moses is a good example for us in this whole matter. So so this first verse, we're still on verse one, by the way. These are what comes now are the blessings of this man of God, this he he's now going to. enumerate the blessings. And, you know, men must play their part in the areas that God gives them. And this was Moses part here. So not only are there blessings from the man of God here, but there are also blessings from the law. That's verse two. Look at verse two with me. And he said, now this is Moses. The Lord came from Sinai and dawned on them from Seir. He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came with ten thousands of saints. From His right hand came a fiery law for them." So, first of all, we notice here is that Moses is making it very clear that God is a God who acts And He speaks and He leads. He makes Himself known here on Sinai, coming from Sinai, dawning from Seir, and shining forth from Mount Paran. God is dramatically making Himself known by this great light in the giving of the law. That's what I think it was here. that there was just an illumination of Mount Sinai, and it was shining forth. Remember Moses' face was shining. Lots of things were shining when Mount Sinai was all lit up. This is the God who's shining His glory out by His power, and actually through light, He's making His power known. It dawned on them. It shone forth. from Mount Paran. These are geographical regions that indicate that there was light shining. Whether it's figurative light, it may be figurative, but it's also quite possible that the shining brilliance that Mount Sinai was emitting Shown over the whole region and it actually illuminated the mountains around. That's quite possibly what he's talking about. Habakkuk actually prays for a similar demonstration of an outpouring of the grace of God. Habakkuk says, Oh God, restore us in the midst of our years. And then he says this, God came from Timon, the Holy One from Mount Pera. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. His brightness was like the light, and He had rays flashing from His hand." Now, Habakkuk may be reporting what actually was known through Revelation by him as to what was happening on Mount Sinai. That there was this bright light and flashing that was going on in the giving of the law. And it was incredibly dramatic. So it was a fiery law that came forth, as he says. It was a fiery law that was also a law summed up in one word, love. But here there's this blessing of a God who speaks and leads, who makes Himself known. And then, secondly, He's the God who delivers His law by angels. Now, it says he came with 10,000 of saints. He came with 10,000 of saints. The word is 10,000 is like multitudes. Saints is often translated angels. Now, it's quite possible that he's reporting that the law was actually given through angels in Acts chapter seven, verse 53. Stephen says this. You who receive the law as ordained by angels. In Galatians 3.19 it reads that the law was ordained by angels. In Hebrews 2.1 and 2, it was the word spoken through angels and it proved unalterable. So is it possible that he's talking about the law being given by angels? The only place that Stephen and Acts or Paul and Galatians or the writer of Hebrews can go back to is really Deuteronomy 33. It's the only really clear way to go there or Habakkuk himself. He comes, he dawns, he shines, he is radiant. By the way, just as a sidelight, the Muslims regard this as a prophecy for Mohammed leading 10,000 from Medina to Mecca. And they say this is a prophecy of Mohammed. There are a few problems. One is that it refers to something that happened in the past, while Mohammed's pilgrimage happened later on. And the word means multitude, not 10,000. It's more than 10,000. It was a lot of angels or people, however you take it. But God delivers His law by His angels. And then thirdly, that the law comes from His right hand. It comes from His right hand and it's a fiery law. Much like the way that Habakkuk said it, that his brightness was like the light he had rays flashing from his hand. And maybe that's how he wrote on the rock. I don't know. But there's some just very interesting sort of geographical you know, environmental kind of issues that are played here that have to do with, you know, particular geographical, you know, pinpoints and also things that were happening around that time. But it was a fiery law. that came from His right hand. Matthew Henry speaks of this so wonderfully. I'll just read it to you. He says that the law, it is melting, warming, purifying, and burns up the dross of corruption. If it is rejected, it hardens, sears, torments, and destroys. The law does two things. Either cause you to repent, and times of refreshing come in, and you are blessed, your soul is made fat by the grace of God, or it hardens you, and it's a curse to you, and it will ultimately lead to your being cast into everlasting damnation. The law does that. It divides. It either melts and warms and purifies, or it destroys. And it comes from His right hand, indicating that it is strong. And we read in Matthew 5 that the law continues on, that it will not be destroyed. And then thirdly, there are the blessings of love here, if you're following along in the outline, verses 3 through 5. Yes, he loves the people. Yes, he loves the people. I take that to mean that It's not only a comprehensive statement about God's general disposition toward His people, that He loves His people. He loves His people. But that His law is an expression of His love for His people. Consider that both of those things are in play when He says, yes, He loves His people. Because it comes right after the statement about His fiery law from His right hand. Yes, He loves His people. And we know God loves His people. But there are particular ways that He loves His people. He loves His people in a lot of different ways. Those whom He loves, He disciplines. Those whom He loves, He gives His law. There are various ways that God loves His people. These are the blessings of love. The giving of the law is an act of love. The whole law, as we know, is summed up by one word. And that means that every word of Scripture is a reflection of pure love. Because every word of Scripture is a law of God and a law of love. Notice the blessing here of possessiveness. He speaks of the people and he's talking about his people who are his own possession. And He sets aside a people to be holy unto Himself. And that's part of His love. He gathers the flock in His arms. He carries them in His bosom. He feeds and leads those who are with young. He cares for them through the relationships in the body of Christ, through their families. through the civil government, through the giving of His law. He loves His precious possession. And we are the people of God. We are His precious possession. And we know that His love toward us is not deserved because of some virtue that we have. Moses made that really clear in Deuteronomy 7. He said, the Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you are more in number than any other people. For you are the least of all peoples, but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep His oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Therefore, know that the Lord your God He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments. And so, He expresses His love through this possession of His people. It's a possessive love. We are His people. And then there are many blessings that are spoken of. There's the blessing of being held in His hand. All His saints are in your hand. Now, this language, I hope, is so wonderful to you and so real to you this morning, that He holds you as His saints in His hand. You know, He is the potter and we are the clay. It's His hands that are forming us on the potter's wheel as we spin about through life and He moves and shapes us. Sometimes He jabs us and pulls us. Sometimes He takes the lump and changes it. But it is His hands that are forming His clay, His saints, all His saints. are in your hand. The Bible says that our names are written on His hand. And that none can pluck out of His hand. Moses was so aware of this principle of being carried and held in the hands of God. You remember that song when you were little. You know, he's got the whole world in his hands. You know, he's got the little tiny baby in his hands. You know, he holds his saints in his hands. You know, every time we gather together, It's always true that there are some in the church who are carrying great burdens. Sometimes nobody knows about those burdens. You know, you should share your burdens with your brothers and sisters. But sometimes, you know, you walk in here and you're carrying a private burden and it's just driving you. It's hurting you. It's discouraging you. But one thing I always pray is that God would somehow so show us who owns us, who cares for us, who carries us, who it is who holds us in the palm of His hands. Do you know that? I just pray that you do. Please don't leave this place. If you don't somehow resonate with that, Go to a corner and fall on your face and say, Oh God, don't let me leave this place without recognizing that I am in your hands. and that I'm at peace in your hands. Isaiah 46.3 speaks of how God carries His people. My son-in-law sent this to me last night. He was reading Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, and it was on Psalm Isaiah 46.3, which goes like this, Listen to me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel who have been upheld by Me from birth." Who have been upheld by Me from birth. Who have been carried from the womb. Even to your old age, I am He. And even to gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear, even I will carry and deliver you." That's why Moses says, it was then that I carried you as a father carries his son, repeating the words of God. There's the blessing of being held in His hand. You know, even the whole outline of Deuteronomy bears witness to this whole thing. Chapters 1-4, what's the theme? I carried you. Chapters 5-31, what's the theme? I taught you. I gave you my law. What's the theme of chapter 32? I sang to you. What's the theme of chapter 34? Verse 33, I blessed you. And what's the theme of chapter 34? I provided a leader for you. This is the way that God deals with His children. He's always dealt that way. You know, when I am often in conversations, particularly with men who think it's all over for them. Finally, all their options have run out. There's nowhere to go. They're at the end of their rope. God cannot bless them. They've lost their business. This has happened. Whatever. And they think it's absolutely all over for them because they've run out of money or they're in debt. I look at them and I think, you know, God's been taking care of you for 47 years. Don't you think that's enough evidence that He's going to keep on doing it? And then I'll think that and I'll look around the room and I'll say, if you just added up all the years of the people in this room, you know, it's hundreds and hundreds of years of God sustaining His people. That should be evidence enough. Here, Moses is saying, all His saints are in your hand. All His saints are in your hand. Be comforted by that, please. And then thirdly, the blessings of sitting at His feet. They sit down at your feet. Everyone receives your words. This is a picture of a humble child of God sitting at the feet of Jesus. The word actually means stuck to the feet. Stuck to, like you just can't let go. It's like Mary Magdalene. She went out quickly from the tomb with fear and joy and she ran to bring the disciples to tell them. She went and told the disciples and Jesus met them saying, rejoice. And then the women just held him by his feet and worshiped him. They were just stuck to his feet. They just wanted to be there. There's nowhere else to be. This wonderful grace that God has given to us to actually sit at His feet is such a wonderful thing. We can be at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ in a moment of time. You know, like like the Gatorade and the Maniac. He was clothed and he was in his right mind, sitting at Jesus' feet. You know, really, to be at the feet of Jesus is a matchless blessing in life. Actually, it's really part of our whole mission in life. The Great Commission is to teach everything that Christ commanded. To fulfill the Great Commission means that you're drawing as many as you can to sit at Jesus' feet. That's our whole purpose in life, is not only to sit at His feet, but to bring people to sit at His feet too. And there's such tragedy of refusing to sit at His feet. Jesus said, whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous generation, him, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father and His holy angels. Or the blessing of sitting at His feet that Jesus spoke of in John 15, if you abide in Me and My words abide in you. You know, Moses is reminding the children of Israel of this great blessing to sit at the feet of God and then the blessings of a heritage. Verse four, Moses commanded a law for us. The heritage of the congregation of Jacob. Now, just to sort of get our coordinates here for a minute. I mean, remember, Moses is just pouring out one blessing after another, right? There's a big list. You know, every phrase is a new blessing. And now the blessings of the heritage. It was it was this heritage called the law, the law was their inheritance. and distinguish them from the nations. That's why Moses could say, you know, what nation is there like like this nation? That's because this law, this nation has good laws. And the inheritance was treasure. It was it was their true treasure. It's the best inheritance anybody can ever give. You know, Think of Charles Spurgeon. He died with just very little money, just what he had in his pocket, but he gave a heritage. He gave his children a rich heritage and they took it and they multiplied it. It's the greatest heritage you can give your children. You can wear yourself out to get an earthly inheritance, but let me tell you, it doesn't compare. Often men, while they're toiling to make an earthly inheritance for their children, they waste their lives and they end up with nothing to give. Nothing that lasts. Nothing that is of eternal value. There is true treasure in an inheritance and it's not money. And I'm not trying to rage against the principle that a godly man gives an inheritance to his children. But there is an inheritance that you must give to your children. And it doesn't have anything to do with material wealth. A man is rich when the Word of Christ dwells richly in him, and then he delivers it to his children, and then his children deliver it to his children's children, and so forth. This is what we ought to be about. This is why when Moses finished giving the law, and he finished singing the song, the first thing he said was, Obey the commandments for they are your life, and teach your children. Those are the two things he told them to do. It's the best inheritance you can give. And then the blessings of a king, verse 5, and he was king in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together. He is the king. We have a king. We have a leader. We have one who is capable of leading us. through this life. Imagine to be without a king in the world. Well, you're not without a king in the world. You have one. It's King Jesus. And I was helped by Joe Moorcraft who said that this claim of kingship comes from five premises. First, God claims Israel as his own, a people of God's own possession. Second, that God established a covenant with his people. Third, that he delivered Israel from bondage. Fourth, he gave them a law. Fifth, he gave them a promise of victory in the promised land. That forms the structure of his qualification as king. We're blessed with a king. We have a king. Nobody in this room ever has to say, oh, I don't know what to do with my life. You have a king. And he communicates. He communicates to you this way. Every person here has enough to do for today. And doesn't have to worry about the future. What is your ministry? What's your life? It's the next person you meet. It's what God's called you to do today. Come and celebrate the goodness of God on the Sabbath. That's what you should do today. Don't do anything else. Be satisfied with that. And then tomorrow will dawn and and get up and do fulfill the word of God in however many hours he gives you and wherever he gives them to you. And then finally. The blessings of togetherness, first five. When the leaders of the people were gathered. all the tribes of Israel together. God has ordered and has always ordered that His people come together to dedicate themselves to Him for the purposes that He has commanded. So here we are, Moses' farewell blessings. We're in the first five verses of these blessings. We saw the blessing of the man of God. Would you be that man? We saw the blessing of the law. Would you love that law? We saw the blessings of love. Would you apply those laws of love? And so, we're in this section of blessing. I'm so grateful for this chapter. It's a wonderful chapter. And we'll continue on next week with dealing with the way that God, through Moses, is blessing the tribes of Israel. Would you pray with me? Lord, we thank you for giving us such good leaders and judges and kings in Scripture, like Moses, to instruct us in the ways in which we should go and the ways that we should feel regarding these great things which you have done. Amen.