Sermon Tone Analysis

Rarely is a mistake truly fatal.

Last week we left the children of Israel at Kadesh Barnea as an epidemic of fear is spreading through the camp like fire sweeping over a pasture during a spring burn.

The fear that consumed them was more than paralyzing, it was prompting retreat.

Have you ever experienced that level of fear?

When was the time that you uttered, “When dad finds out about this, he is going to kill me!” Based on the observation that you are hear this morning, I guess he didn’t kill you after all.

There are 3 times that I know of when our kids got themselves into this type of a jam and were afraid of how we as parents would react. 1 was a single-vehicle car accident, 1 was an encounter with campus police, and 1 was an unplanned pregnancy.

While we (well mostly me) made plenty of mistakes in our parenting, I can honestly say that none of the above incidents created an impenetrable wall between parent and child and our kids would now admit that we walked with them through all of the outcomes of these events.

In my own youthful indiscretion, I never had a “he’s going to kill me” moment, but there were a few “they would be so disappointed if they ever found out” experiences.

Today’s text will display that while God became disappointed by the fear of the Hebrews, this fearful unfaithfulness never threatened the covenant relationship God had unilaterally established with the descendants of Abraham.

Of all the 40 years between Kadesh Barnea and the battle of Jericho, why did I pick this chapter?

This chapter is the pinnacle of the pyramid that is laid out from Deuteronomy 4 – 11.

All 8 of these chapters address the obedience that would be required of God’s people if they wanted to get past their history of fear and move on toward the promises of God.

Exhortation to obey Yahweh (Deuteronomy 4–11)

alessons from Yahweh’s awesome acts at Mount Sinai (4:1–40)

blessons from the first giving of the tablets (4:41–5:33)

cdon’t forget!

lessons from Yahweh’s past and future care (6:1–25)

dCENTER: completely destroy the Canaanites! promise of victory; warning against following their ways (7:1–26)

c′don’t forget!

lessons from Yahweh’s past and future care (8:1–20)

b′lessons from the second giving of the tablets (9:1–10:11)

a′lessons from Yahweh’s awesome acts in Egypt and wilderness (10:12–11:32)We, as those who according to Romans 11 have been grafted into the root of promise, also find that we are peculiar, preferred, protected, and provisioned.

Transition: Even after we experience fear and rebellion, we find that…

The People of God are Pre-warned (7:1-5)

Explanation

1. Seven nations – representative of all the peoples.

7 is a number that generally refers to wholeness or completion.

E.g.

All that was created, was created in 7 days.

warned

2. NOT ethnic cleansing!

According to Webster’s dictionary, ethnic cleansing is done by a majority population for the purpose of ethnic sameness.

According to 7:1, the Hebrews were a smaller and less powerful people & the purpose was not ethic sameness, but Religious purification.

a.

The English phrase “devote them to complete destruction” (“utterly destroy” in NASB, “completely destroy” in CSB, or “destroy them totally” in NIV) is a 2x occurrence of “charem”.

b.

Hebrew charem is similar to the middle-eastern idea of a harem – an exclusive group set apart for a specific purpose.

The occupants of the land were designated for removal.

c.

This word charem appears most in Joshua and 2nd most in Deuteronomy.

This makes sense because Joshua is when the people set out to actually do what they were instructed in Deuteronomy.

d.

Next week we will look at the story of Jericho and we will see that the people and belongings were charem, there was to be no plundering of the goods or people, because they were “set apart for removal”.

3.

Because of charem…

a.

There were to be no deals and no mercy

b.

There were to be no weddings (v.4 states the danger was in being led astray from devotion to God).

Chronologically the books of Ezra & Nehemiah describe the last scene of the OT before 400 years of silence and then the events of the NT.

It is interesting that the final chapter of Ezra and the final chapter of Nehemiah both describe how intermarrying with foreigners had caused problems.

c.

Their altars, pillars, Asherim & carved images were all marked for destruction.

You know what your temptation is, and you know what your boundaries should be.

Application

1.

The person who struggles with drunkenness shouldn’t hang around the bar.

2. The person who struggles with gambling should visit the casino (even if the buffet is a good deal)

3. The person who struggles with gossip may need to find a new barbershop or nail salon.

4. The person who spends too much may need to stay off of Amazon and block the shopping channels.

5. God tells his covenantal partners, the place where you are going is rife with all sorts of temptation so I’m telling you in advance to purge the invitation.

Transition: The peoples of Canaan would be a snare, because…

The People of God are Preferred (7:6-11)

Explanation

1.

Why do verses 6-7 say that God chooses?

I wish the text said that He chooses all, but that is not what it says.

2. John 6:44 Jesus states that the Father chooses to draw some to the Son and apart from His drawing, not a single one of us would choose Christ on our own.

Acts 13 at the end of Paul’s sermon we read that those who had been chosen believed (not that those who believed were chosen).

The teaching of Scripture is not that Jesus came to make good people better or bad people good; He came to make dead people alive.

And that is the pre-salvation work of the Holy Spirit to make us alive in order to respond to His call (1 Pet 3:18).

3. Apart from the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, in our natural state, if we were given 100,000 opportunities to choose self or Christ – every single time we would choose self.

4. V.7 of today’s text clear states that God’s people are NOT chosen because they are better in any way.

V.6 says “you are treasured because you were chosen” not “you were chosen because you were treasured.”

Illustration

1.

The pages of Scripture are full of teaching that not one of us was chosen because we are better than anybody else.

The only reason that any of us can be saved, adopted into God’s family, and destined for eternity with Him is ONLY due to God’s grace, and nothing within us.

It is a gift of God lest anyone should boast.

2. Just because I don’t know “why He chooses some but not others” does not mean that there is no reason, it only means that He hasn’t chosen to reveal that reason.

Application

1. God only tells you about you.

It isn’t your responsibility to figure out everybody else.

We simply tell them as if they are chosen, and prayerfully they will respond in repentance and faith.

2. I believe there is a hint (but it is only a hint) as to why God chooses some and not others.

3. Remember what we learned in our study in the beatitudes.

It all starts with the first ring.

4. Those who are poor are the ones who inherit the kingdom.

5. God chooses some, not because they are better, but because the poor common people are the ones who respond by accepting the free gift.

6.

The doctrine of election or choice does not lead to arrogance, it leads to humility.

Transition: The text goes on to say that not only are God’s people pre-warned and preferred, but also that…

The People of God are Protected (7:12-16)

Explanation (Ex 23:25-26)

1. Vv.13-14 families, crops and herds would experience abundance.

2. V.15 health would be upon God’s people even if the unbelievers fell to the diseases they had seen in Egypt.

3. V.16 military victory would proceed them.

4. The Hebrew words that Moses chooses to describe these protections are connected with Canaanite gods of Dagon (the grain god), Tirshu/Tirash (wine god), Yishar (god of olive oil), Shaggar/Sheger (cattle), Ishtar/Astarte (fertility).

Transition: Finally we find a 4th quality of God’s people who are forgiven and moving forward.

The People of God are Provisioned (7:17-26)

Explanation

1. God’s greatest provision is forgiveness.

As I read this chapter several times this week I found that God describes who He is, what He has done and what He will do.

On the other side of the relationship, He describes who the Hebrews are and what they would do, but He never mentions their past deeds.

2. In v.17 Moses recalls how fear terrorized the parents and grandparents of his current audience so he gets out in front of it by proposing a hypothetical question.