Right. Well, we continue in our survey of the entire Bible titled Route 66. And for the next one to two years on Sunday evenings, we're going to be surveying each individual Bible book so as to gain a panoramic perspective of that. We come this evening to the fifth book in God's word, as well as the fifth book in the Pentateuch. the book of Deuteronomy. I'm going to jump right in. If you'll make your way to the book of Deuteronomy, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the fifth book, the last book of Moses, and we'll get started. If you need an outline, hold up your hand, or better yet, if you need an outline, just go back to the back and get one, because you'll want that. And as you're turning the book of Deuteronomy, parenthetically, I just learned this afternoon that thanks to Adam Claxton, Mark Saylor, and others, Bob Malloy, I think, and the sound guys, now we are really able to expeditiously get messages on the webpage. In fact, this morning's message is already ready to be listened to on the web page. And Ray Beeson has been a huge part of that as well over the last few months and year or two, but lots of folks involved. And I understand also, Brother Claxton, that all of the series of Route 66 has now been loaded on there. And so you can tell family and friends and especially our missionaries, young people away at school or in the military, that they can now go and it's going to be a fresh, just a recycling of, not recycling, but posting, I guess is the best word, of current messages. Now, there's going to be a number of messages that are going to stay on there forever, stay on there permanently, things that are very specific. The message I had on abortion a couple of years ago, the message of little ones who die and are in the presence of the Lord, various messages that are topical, that are very poignant in nature. Those will remain indefinitely, I presume, but just so thankful that we are just continuing to be on the cutting edge. All right, the book of Deuteronomy. First of all, an overview, of course, God the Spirit is one who writes every book, but he uses the human agency. And so very much like the Son of God is both divine and human, the Word of God is both divine and human. There is a major component in both. God did not passed by the human agency, but he superintended the writing of Scripture using the human agency. Who wrote the book of Deuteronomy? I'm not going to repeat the reasons why that I've already given in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but of course Moses is the writer of all of the Pentateuch, all of the books of the law. The five books is what Pentateuch means. And he wrote Deuteronomy when he was about 120 years old, very near the time, shortly before the time of his death. And the very last chapter of Deuteronomy, of course, records the death of Moses in chapter 34. So therefore, obviously, he could not have written that book. In fact, just the last few verses. And so it is generally believed, since Joshua was his right-hand man, Joshua went on to write the book of Joshua, that it is very reasonable that Joshua put the final signature, as it were, on the book of Deuteronomy. No problem with that. God the Spirit breathed through Joshua just as much as he did through Moses. In fact, chapter 1 and verse 1, these are the words which Moses spake unto all Israel, on the side of the Jordan in the wilderness on the east side of the Jordan and so the text itself is in fact some 40 times in the book of Deuteronomy credit is given to Moses as the one it's attributed to Moses as the one who wrote it in many places in the New Testament say it says in the law of Moses which refers, if you did the referencing, refers to the Book of Deuteronomy. So it's an open, it's a slam door case. There's no question about it, although the theological liberals and so-called scholars would want to throw water on that because of ulterior motives of denying miracles. and all the rest for whatever reason. I presume someone who denies the authority and the inspiration of Scripture, I'm not even sure how someone can be saved with that unless they've just simply received poor instruction. So, Moses wrote it. When was it written? The book is a series of farewell messages, and we'll get into that in the outline, a series of farewell messages to the younger generation. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but practically every scholar I read phrased it this way. The Book of Deuteronomy is written to and for all of those who would be going into the promised land because they were the ones who grew up in the wilderness and were alive, and none of those who were around when the 12 spies went in, and in other words, at Kadesh Barnea, and they voted 10 to 2, no, we're not going to go in. None of those went in. Now, am I reading Scripture wrong, or aren't those who were under 20 years old and younger, didn't they go in? I'm asking that. Do you understand what question I'm asking? So I think all these commentators that I read there, something is wrong, or I'm missing it. I'm not sure, for absolutely sure, but I believe everyone who was younger than 20, in fact, and who lived in the wilderness, and went for those 40 years, which would then have made them approaching 60, some of them, that in fact they went in with all of those also who were born during the wilderness time. Do you appreciate the point I'm making? The scholars aren't seeing it that way. They're saying no one, the commentators, no one went in and I thought the discipline, the curse, if you will, was that anyone 20 or older would die in the wilderness. And so whatever that's worth, Those who were in the wilderness and born, and I believe up until age 40, went in with Joshua and Caleb. Except for Joshua and Caleb, I failed to say that. Of course, they went in, and in fact, they led the driving out of the enemy. Moses, though, did not go in, for he was disciplined of the Lord. He was not allowed to go into the Promised Land because of what happened. Well, what happened? Well, in Exodus chapter 17, you don't need to turn to it, God told Moses to strike the rock with the rod of God because the people were going to be dying of thirst. They didn't have any water. So God said, strike the rock and life-giving water, life-sustaining water is going to come from that. Moses struck the rock and in fact the water came out and the people lived. Then in Numbers chapter 20, people were without water again. Moses appealed to the Lord. God said, Speak to the rock. Very clear instructions. Speak to the rock. What did Moses do? He struck the rock again. And because of that willful disobedience, God said, Moses... and he gave water, by the way. And so even when God's leader does not do what God says, That does not necessarily mean that the Lord will not be gracious. And in fact, he was very merciful to the people. He gave water, but he disciplined Moses for that act of rebellion. Now, what's the big deal? Well, at least three things. disobedience to a clear command of scripture, a clear command of God, and in this case, a direct command from the Lord. Disobedience will always bring the disciplining hand of the Lord. It must because he is the perfect father and whom the Lord loves, he chastens. Hebrews chapter 12, and he did with Moses. Secondly, it was an example of self-willed presumption, thinking he knew better, and he was the leader, and the people were going to see what the leader did, and so God was not going to have any of that, so he disciplined him. And most importantly, it seems, and the text does not explicitly say this, but it implicitly seems to say, that Moses broke the picture that God wanted to establish of Christ being the rock. Now, let me explain. 1 Corinthians 10.4 says that Christ was that rock in the wilderness. Christ was the rock. It clearly says that. And so to strike the rock the first time, which God told Moses to do, is a picture of what? Christ being struck, that is, He was crucified. But to strike the rock a second time, which God did not say to do, in fact, He said to speak to the rock, is a picture of the need for Christ to go to the cross again. In other words, the first striking was not sufficient. Where in fact, the Lord said, speak to the rock, and so that is a picture of the intimacy of our relationship. He only needed to be offered one time. Again, this illustration is not exclusively taught or stated, but it seems to be implied by virtue of 1 Corinthians 10 saying, Christ was that rock. You're to strike him the first time, and that was sufficient. And then from then on, you speak to him as his people go to him in prayer. If you accuse me of spiritualizing that a bit, possibly so. I'm not going to fight you over it. I might arm wrestle you, but I'm not going to fight you over it. We'll move on. Now, in chapter 1 in verse 3, continuing on with when was it written. In chapter 1 in verse 3 of Deuteronomy, it says on the first day of the 11th month. And then 70 days later, according to Joshua 419, it says on the 10th day of the first month, Israel crossed over the Jordan. And so you take away the 30 days of mourning for Moses, which is recorded in chapter 34 and verse 8, and you have 40 days of preaching by Moses bringing these sermons to close out the 40 years of wilderness wanderings. It is amazing how many times you see the number 40 in Scripture. You just see it over and over again. They went in and spied out the land for 40 days. They came back and brought an evil report. Because of that, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. And for 40 days, just as they're closing that out, just days before they go into the Promised Land, Moses is delivering this message in the book of Deuteronomy. Now the word, the Hebrew word for Deuteronomy. taken from verse 1 of chapter 1, means the words. That's the Hebrew rendering of it. But the title was given, taken from the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and it's from the Greek word Deuteros, which is second, and Namos, which you're familiar with the term autonomous, self-rule, or self-law. And so, namas is law. And so, Deuteronomy gets its name from the Greek translation of the Old Testament, and it means the second law. But it's not the second law in that This is now a new and different law. Better stated, it is the restating or the expanding on the original law. And so it's the second stating of the same law and expanding on it or elaborating It on the book of Deuteronomy unlike Leviticus Deuteronomy is primarily directed to the people whereas the book of Leviticus Primarily directed to the priest, but it is very much about the law although there's a different wrinkle in Deuteronomy that just has has Jazzed me more than any of the books so far that we've looked at it's a brand new discovery that I've had on just it Pouring over this book in the last many days, and I'll be sharing that with you in in just a moment, so Leviticus and Deuteronomy covered about a month, maybe 30 to 40 days of actual time. Leviticus, a year or so after they came out of Egypt, and before they really even got much into their wilderness wanderings. And then the book of Numbers covered 39 plus years of actual time. And then Deuteronomy closing up the wilderness wanderings for about a month's worth of time or so. And so you have a month of elapsed time in Leviticus and 39 plus years of elapsed time, 39 and a half years or more, in Numbers and now another month. in the book of Deuteronomy of actual elapsed time before they begin entering into the promised land. Now that is just the overview of Deuteronomy. Now for the outline, and I find this to be interesting. I put all this together from a variety of sources and checked references and did a lot of reading and studying. The book very naturally divides into three sections and I want you to take this outline that you've received from me. I've done the heavy lifting and I want you to take it and then read through the book of Deuteronomy and you will just be thrilled. You say, thrilled with Deuteronomy? Your heart will be just lit up. Your mind will be enlightened. Your spirit will be edified. You'll be jazzed, just like I have been. And so I highly commend this book. for your immediate reading in a fresh and a new way with new insights. It's interesting how the Old Testament and New Testament will parallel one another. The Old Testament begins with the five books of Moses. It deals with creation and the national people of God. The five books in the first five books in the New Testament deals with regeneration and the people of God, that is, the church. And each in both of those cases, the fifth book. is the transitional book. You have the first four books establishing who God is and the law. And then the fifth book, Deuteronomy, transitioning into the promised land. And in the New Testament, the first four books, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are establishing the doctrine of regeneration, that is, coming to know Christ by faith. And then the book of Acts is the transitional book before the actual instruction of the epistles. It's just interesting how those two testaments parallel one another in that way. Now, if you'll look at chapter 6, and this is important that you look at chapter 6, every Bible, looking at chapter 6, you people that use Bibles, do this so I'll know that you have a Bible there. You others are just kind of doing that digitally, and I can't help you at all. You're already too far gone, I guess, so I don't know what to do. I can't listen to your fingers pressing on that. 623. I just have fun with that. You know I'm an old thuddy duddy. 623. is the thematic verse for Deuteronomy and it gives us the outline of the book of Deuteronomy. And he brought us out from there, of course he's just referencing Egypt and Pharaoh in verse 22. He brought us out from there that he might bring us in to give us the land which he swore to give unto our fathers. When he swore to give the land of Palestine to, and I gave you a hint right there, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and he repeated and repeated, that is called what covenant? Palestinian covenant. I'm not sure if that's what you said. The people of God, the Abrahamic covenant, the people of God will have a land, a mass. They will have a geographical place. And this is once again stated here. So let me give you the outline of the book. Chapters 1 and verse 1 to chapter 4 and verse 43 is Moses' first sermon. At least, it doesn't say that in the text. But that's what we surmise, and it's pretty easy. It's pretty easily divisible in these three sermons. And what the focus is, is remembering what God has done. That's the first part of chapter 6 and verse 23. That is, He brought us out. Thence, from there, He brought us out of Egypt. And it is causing them to remember the great things that God has done for them. And folks, make no doubt about it, it was miracle after miracle after miracle. Maybe not in any stretch of time, in such a short amount of time, do you see the ten plagues visited upon Pharaoh and the people of Egypt. and how they gave the goodies, gave the booty to the Jews to take with them as they were leaving. Fine, take all this gold, take our wealth with you. And then they leave, and of course Pharaoh Says I'll not have this they're making a laughingstock out of me and he chases after them and the Red Sea Swallows them of course the parting of the Red Sea and then the swallowing up the receipt and just miracle after miracle the things God has done For them no longer are they under the cruel whip of the Egyptian slave master no longer? Groveling on their hands and knees looking for straw in order to make bricks for another kingdom They were brought out they were delivered and And folks, we who believe have been brought out of the kingdom of darkness and delivered unto the kingdom of his dear son. Scripture tells us, Romans 8, 2 says, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death. Guys, I didn't know that I had that up there. Kill that page, would you? I said, don't kill it, let me shoot past it. How did I leave that up there? You know what I think happened? I think you guys, I'm gonna blame it on them, you guys took this from, yeah, that's what happened. Sorry folks, you grabbed it too soon. And I got it up there too late. So we let me just continue on and I'll try to See if you can reload Reload that right now because I I loaded it after you all thought I did see You can't you can't What is it I say to you Ed? On the tennis court don't I tell Ed don't you dare try to anticipate me? When well he think he thinks I'm gonna hit a lob and I'll hit a smash right back and vice versa And he does the same to me so they were anticipating me Okay, let me see where for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus had made me free from the law of sin and death Romans 8 to we have been delivered from into the promised land, if you will, and in fact, we're seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Thank you so much, guys. Now, did you all, did we have it up there? Did you all get this, was that point up there? That point was that that's important, because that's Moses' first sermon, and it's remembering, it's retrospective, it's going back, what has God done? Now, secondly, the second point in his sermon, or the second sermon, I should say, is chapters four verse 44 through 1132, and that is Moses' second servant, and it is introspective, and we're to reflect on what he is, that he might bring us in. He brought us out for a reason, so that ultimately he might bring us in. Now, because of their sinful unbelief, They lingered for 40 years. They wandered for 40 years. And God used that to train them. And so his second sermon was telling them about that. The 40 years in the wilderness would forever be a reminder that God disciplines sinful unbelief, but he did not forsake his own. He took care of them. When the fiery serpents were there, he said, look upon that serpent on the brazen altar and live. When they didn't have water, strike the rock. Speak to the rock. A man, every morning, laying on the ground, taking care of them, and so he had not, even though he was disciplining them, he did not forsake them. Some of you, maybe all of you, disciplined your children, or you did when they were in your home, and you did so, but you did not cast them away. You did not send them out and say, you're no longer mine. You disciplined them in a remedial way. You wanted there to be a remedy for the sin, and so you lovingly disciplined them with that in mind. So, introspecting. Now, in a detailed way, if I may, The first part, chapter 4, and verse 44 through 11, 32, is a reflection on the Ten Commandments. It's even a restating of the Ten Commandments, and then expanding on that, and Moses exhorting them. And then in chapter 12 through the middle of chapter 16, it deals with ceremonial laws. halfway through chapter 16, through chapter 20, it deals with civil laws, and then chapters 21 through the end of chapter 26, still on the second sermon, Moses deals with social laws. And so, he just is going from one topic to another, almost like in an outline form, And you will see, roughly, you'll see that. Now, some other things are inserted here and there, but generally speaking, it follows this pattern, and so it's very easy to gain an understanding if you'll notice as you read through with this outline that you have in front of you, read through Deuteronomy, and it will come alive, and you'll say to yourself, Oh, okay, now I see the order, now I see the thinking. See, God uses a human instrument in the writing of Scripture, and it includes the personality of the writer, the experiences of the writer, the vocabulary of the writer, the style, the flavor, and you will see that as you study through Deuteronomy. And then the third sermon. in the book of Deuteronomy is chapters 27 to 34, and it is prospective. That is, what's the prospect for tomorrow? Rejoicing in what God will do. And again, it's the third point of the thematic verse, chapter 6 and verse 23, C, letter C, to give us the land which He swore unto our fathers. And so, it's very easily outlined. It follows chapter 6 and verse 23, the first, second, and third sermon, what God had done, what He is doing, and now what He will do. We're just about ready. We're on the threshold. You all are going in. Moses must be thinking, I'm not going in. God's already told me I'm not going in. And yet he was cheering them on as they were going to be entering the land. Hebrews 11 verse Verses 8 and 10 refers to Abraham and what his understanding of that was. It says, By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, he obeyed and he went out, not knowing where he went or where he would go. By faith, he sojourned or he traveled in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And Abraham is the father of faith. And he obeyed by faith. God says, get up from where you are, head on out. I'm not telling you where you're going, but I have a future for you and for your people. Because he was already how old when Isaac was born. A hundred, right? Or ninety. He was way up there. And so he wasn't going to be living that much longer. And yet he knew that God was going to make of him a nation that would be like the stars in the sky, the sand on the beach for multitude. OK, there's the outline. Now, the exciting part. The objective. The objective. What's the why behind this? Well, staying faithful to God once you enter the promised land is a huge component in the book of Deuteronomy. And the way you do that is not take your blessings for granted. Look at chapter 8. Don't take your blessings for granted. Israel is what God told him look at chapter 8 if you would of Deuteronomy and I want to read very quickly the entire chapter It's not all that long all the commandments which I give thee this day shall you observe to do that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give unto your fathers and thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these 40 years in the wilderness and to humble thee, to test thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments or not. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not." In other words, you didn't know where it came from. "...neither did thy fathers know, that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." Well, we read that in Matthew 4.4. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy here and attributed it to Moses. Thy clothing grew not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell these forty years. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord thy God hath chastened you. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God to walk in his ways to fear him for the Lord thy God Bringeth thee into a good land a land of brooks of water fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills a land of wheat and barley and vines fig trees and pomegranates the land of olive oil and honey a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without Scarceness thou shalt not lack anything in it land whose stones are iron that of whose hills thou may dig bronze when thou hast and here here's the exhortation When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God for the good land which he hath given thee. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God in not keeping his commandments or his ordinances and statutes which I command thee this day, lest that when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses and dwelt therein, and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold are multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, Then thine heart is lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, Egypt from the house of bondage, who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water, who brought forth water out of the rock of Flint, who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, that he might test thee to to do the good at thy latter end. And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand have gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he who gives thee power to get wealth. Young adults, God is the one who will give you power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he swore unto thy fathers. As it is this day, and it shall be, if thou do at all forget the Lord thy God and walk after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish as the nations which the Lord destroyed before your face. So shall you perish because you would not be obedient in the voice of the Lord your God. And so the objective of Deuteronomy is to to not take his blessings for granted, but to be humbly grateful. And chapter eight is the quintessence that is the greatest example of that message in the book of Deuteronomy. We read the word hear, H-E-A-R, some 50 times. We read the words do or keep or observe some nearly 200 to nearly 180 times that phrase. And so, hear and do and follow and observe and obey. Scores and scores of times, multiple times in every chapter, you hear the exhortation to do just that. And that was very practical for Israel. In fact, look, if you would, at chapter 18. Look at chapter 18. And very practical for Israel. And it gives detail in chapter 18 in verse 9. Now, chapter 18 in verse 9 is getting into, it's getting into, this is what's going on now. If you're going back to the outline, this is what's going on now. And Moses said in chapter 18 in verse 9, when thou art coming to the land, see, it's all preparatory. They're just about ready to cross over the Jordan River. And when you do, to the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. In other words, don't follow the world. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, that is, astrology, Ouija boards, that kind of a thing, uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter of mediums, or a wizard, or a necromancer, for all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord. because these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee. Thou shalt be perfect, that is, holy, with the Lord thy God. Upright, sincere, really is the idea. For these nations whom thou shalt possess, hearken unto the observer of times and unto diviners, but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not permitted thee to do so. In other words, don't be like the pagans when you go into the land. Verse 15. The Lord thy God... They consulted false prophets and mediums and that sort of thing. And now, Moses, through the Spirit of God, gives the polar opposite, the stark contrast in verse 15. The Lord thy God will raise up though unto you a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, that is, he's going to be a Jew, like unto me, like unto Moses, and the me there is questionable. Is it like unto me meaning God or like unto me meaning Moses? Unto him you shall hearken. According to all that thou desirest of the Lord thy God, in Horeb, in the day of the assemblage, saying... Now, this is when the fiery presence of the Lord had given the Ten Commandments. This is what is being referenced here. And they said, let me not hear again the voice of the Lord thy God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not. In other words, the people were fearful and they said, we don't want to encounter God like this. anymore, for his glory is too much. Even the glory of the Lord on the face of Moses, the people made him hide his face because they could not handle it. And then verse 17, and the Lord said, they have well spoken that which they have spoken. In other words, that's a good idea. You ought not try to encounter me face to face. I will raise them up a prophet. So again, he says, but let me tell you what I am going to do. You're not to consult mediums. You're not going to see me again, like Moses did on the Ten Commandments, but I'm going to tell you what I am going to do. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth. He shall speak unto them all that I shall command him, and it shall come to pass that whoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." In other words, if you do not listen to the Lord Jesus, Who is the fulfillment of this prophecy? Then, in fact, that will be required of you. Who said he is the fulfillment of this prophecy? Well, it just so happens, the Spirit of God, through Peter, said that. For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me. Him shall you hear in all things. Whatsoever he shall say unto you, and it shall come to pass, that every soul which will not hear that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel, and those that followed after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of those days. You are the children of the prophets, and the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying, And Abraham, and in thy seed shall all kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first, God, having raised up his Son Jesus, send him to bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." Folks, Scripture interprets Scripture. And we see in this passage in the book of Acts that Moses is given direct credit for writing that text, and in fact, Peter said that this has been fulfilled in and through the life of the Lord Jesus. And so, the book of Deuteronomy is just It's just replete with this kind of information of, this is who I am, this is who you are to me. God is saying, follow me, observe all that I have said unto you, for I'm going to be sending a prophet and he is to be followed. Well, what happened? Israel wasn't faithful. In fact, they pushed the Romans, ultimately, to execute the Messiah who was sent to them. And what happened? Well, Leviticus 26.33 says He's going to scatter them among the heathen, He's going to draw out a sword after them, their land's going to be desolate, and their cities are going to be waste. Well, what happened? A few hundred years later, Assyria swooped down on the northern ten tribes and took Israel. And 115 years after that, Babylon swooped in on the southern two tribes and took Judah. 26, 2700 years, the Jews were scattered. Their land was inhabited. There was no longer a Star of David that you could raise. Until what year, folks? 1948. Until 1948, when Israel became a nation again. Practically in our generation. Could that be the fulfillment of The prophecy of the budding, the re-budding of the fig tree. It very well could be. For we have seen it roughly in our lifetime, if you are of any age at all. And we see that Israel is again the focus of attack and the focus of hatred in these last days. In fact, chapter 4 of Deuteronomy, in chapter 4 of Deuteronomy, and this is relevant, If you look at chapter 4, verses 27 to 31, I want you to see something very significant, very specific. And the Lord shall scatter you among the nations, and you shall be left few in number among the nations where the Lord shall lead you. Did that happen? Absolutely it happened. There are not hundreds of millions of Jews alive at any given time. There are a few million Jews throughout history. Six million taken in half a decade in the middle of the 20th century. And that is a huge number of Jews to lose in a very short amount of time. I'm going to scatter you. Continue on in verse 28. And there you shall serve God and the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. What did the Jews do about sacrifice? There hasn't been a temple for nearly a couple of thousand years. What has Israel been doing? I asked when I worked in the operating room 30 years ago, I stopped being a surgeon's assistant, and shortly before I stopped doing that, when God had called me to preach, I asked a Jewish surgeon one time, I said, You are a practicing Jew. What do you do about sacrifice? What do you do about atonement, about the nature of your sin, which was practiced from the book of Exodus all the way through the Old Testament and was still being practiced by believing Jews in the New Testament? What are you doing about it? And he hung his head and very woefully said, we just try to approach God on our own. And of course, that was the open door. Well, I have a savior who is a Jew and he has made a way of escape. Well, continuing on, they serve other things. But if from there thou shalt, in that situation, if you will seek the Lord thy God, verse 29, thou shalt find him, if thou wilt seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. For when thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, listen, even in the latter days, If thou turn to the Lord thy God and shall be obedient to his voice, for the Lord thy God is a merciful God, he'll not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers, which he swore unto thee. There can still be a new day even after. Two and a half millennia there can be a new day, and in fact, that's exactly what Jeremiah prophesied in chapter 31. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which by covenant they broke, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this covenant, but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I'll be their God. They shall be my people, and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord. They'll stop saying that. They'll stop saying, Know the Lord. For they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, say the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. Has that happened yet? Absolutely not. We are certainly not living in the kingdom age. But there is a kingdom age coming. in which soon, Romans 11, 26, soon how much of Israel shall be saved? Soon all Israel shall be saved and this prophecy will be fulfilled. And so folks, Deuteronomy is just loaded with information about the work of God. Now, I think that is the last thing I had on this outline. It is. because I was a bad boy and didn't have time to complete it. But let me give you the so what. And you have that on your outline. So what? Why study Deuteronomy? Well, for all of the reasons that I gave you, but for one very surprising point. Because Deuteronomy means second law, and it's all about the law of God. But in chapter, you don't have to turn to it, but in chapter, I want you to write this down though, on the so what. In chapter 4, verses 35 to 39, it says God's going to bless Israel. Why does he bless Israel? It says because of God's love. That's the only reason. Because I love you, is what he says. And in chapter 7, verses 6-8, and I want you to turn to that. In chapter 7, verses 6-8, about God's choosing. Why did God elect anyone? Why did He choose you? Why did He elect Israel? Look at chapter 7, verses 6-8. For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all the people upon the face of the earth. Now, that could not be more clear. God chose Israel as his ethnic people. That's just the flat fact of the matter. Verse 7. The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people. You were the fewest. Because they were intelligent? No. Because they were righteous? No. Because they were the greatest? Absolutely not. None of those reasons. Verse 8, but because the Lord loved you and he would keep his oath which he swore unto your fathers. Folks, why were you chosen? Why are you saved? It says in Ephesians chapter 1 that it was only because of the good pleasure of his will. God wanted to save you. That's why. That's the only reason. That's the only reason I'm saved. I am elect and chosen from the foundation of the earth so that I might be conformed to His image. Why? Is it because you knew that I would get in line and follow you? No. In fact, He loved me while I was a yet a sinner. Romans 5.8. And He chose me. He chose you, if you're a believer, from eternity past simply because He loves you. And He determined to love you. Isn't that amazing that God loves you? I just find that to be amazing. Do you know that God knows everything you've ever done or thought or said? Everything. Do you want anyone else to know everything you've said or done or thought? Anybody here want to put your life on display and make it like a parade and just showcase it in front of everyone? You certainly do not want to yet. God knows it. and yet loves you anyway. I tell you, I'm just jazzed about that. I really am. That is a hoot. How can that be? Because that's who God is. And that's who he was with Israel. Now, chapter 6 in verse 4. In chapter 6 in verse 4, if you'll notice, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength. Now, we've been told in this passage, in this book, that God loved Israel. And now they're commanded to love him with everything. And yet, Jesus taught in Mark chapter 12, and I preached on this, Mark chapter 12, verses 29 and 30, repeating this text, that you can't do that. You cannot keep the law. In fact, Hebrews 7, 19 says, the law made no man perfect. You cannot keep it. Thomas Watson, the Puritan, said, no mere man since the fall is able to, in this life, to perfectly keep the commandments of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed. And James 2, 10 says, whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of the entire weight of the law. So what are you to do? You're commanded. And if the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, And you don't do that, doesn't that mean that you've been guilty of breaking the greatest commandment? You are the worst sinner because you've broken the greatest commandment, as have I. And in fact, not only broken it, I can't keep it in my own self, nor can you. So what does that do? Why are we given that point of frustration? So it'll drive us to the cross. So it'll cause us to turn and say, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I can't keep the great commandment, which is to love you with all my being. And yet you died for me anyway. John McCarthy wrote, not until a person smashes himself against the demands of the law and accusations of conscience. Does he recognize his helplessness and see his need for a savior? It's only when you see your futile effort in the face of the law and you're accusing conscience. Will you ever be driven to the Lord for his forgiveness? And that's exactly the way he wanted it on your best day with your best effort. You can't keep the law. And yet he did. And in Christ, the righteousness of the law has been completely fulfilled. I close with this. I thought about this today, about how to glory fit. Regarding the work of Christ, grace is what it is. It's what happened. Mercy is how it is. But love is why it is. Did you get that? You see, grace can be offered giving you something you don't deserve. It can be offered from a non-passionate heart. I'll give you $100. I don't know you. I don't really care. Just take it. You don't deserve it, but I'll give it to you. $100. Mercy Could even be the same way. A judge says, you deserve 20 years. I'm going to give you a suspended sentence. And do so dispassionately. But you cannot love dispassionately. And so, not only did God grace us and was merciful towards us, He was motivated by love. He wanted to save you. He wanted you to be His own. And so, He made sure that the debt was paid. and that in the course of time he quickened you or made you alive so that you could see your need and your inability to keep the law and turn to him. Martin Luther said the law must be laid upon those who are to be justified that they may be shut up in the prison thereof until the righteousness of faith come that when they are cast down and humbled by the law they would fly to Christ. That happened for me at age 20. If that hasn't happened in your life, may even tonight be the point of salvation for you. The book of Deuteronomy, I wholeheartedly commend it to you. Fanny Crosby wrote and sang, love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong, and it'll rescue you.