Life in His Presence
Notes
Transcript
Movement 1: Intro
Movement 1: Intro
Good morning, you can turn in you Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 12
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
The 5th book of the Bible in the section of the O.T. that Jesus and the N.T. writers refer to as the Law, the Book of the Law, and the Law of Moses
(If you’re following along with us in our Route 66 reading plan, we just finished up with Deuteronomy, and we are heading into Joshua, so it’s a great place to jump back in or start up.)
We are going to look at verse 1 of Deuteronomy 12 to start, I’ll read it and it will also be on the screens behind me
“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth.
So, in review, the Promise was foundational to the Rescue, God rescues His people because He made promises a long time ago to their forefathers.
The Rescue is foundational to the Law, last week we saw God reference His Rescue of the people as the reason why He has the right to give the law and the reason why the people should obey.
And God spoke all these words, saying,
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
We clearly see Rescue here, and then He precedes to give the 10 commandments and another 603 other “laws” or guidelines
In ancient times this was a blood debt, God has saved them, rescued them, redeemed them, purchased them, and now they belong to Him.
The rescued individual, Israel, would pledge their allegiance, their life in service to their “savior” to the death.
We must see that God has freed them from one cruel king and certain death and is now setting them up to live with Him, the only good King and have life.
In the giving of the Law, the statutes, the guidelines by which they must live, God is setting them up to live a good life, the best life??????
Why, because God is good, His way is the best way
I talked about this the last time I preached, but God gave Adam and Eve one command, one restriction in order for them to have the life He created them for.
They had no idea of the chaos that would ensue upon their disobeying this one command.
They went from Eden, the realm created for them to live with God and flourish as human beings, to being cast out into the world of pain, suffering, chaos, futility, shame, regret, etc. the list goes on
So, the commands of God are good, they are for our good, the problem is us, and it always has been.
Ever since Adam and Eve, mankind has proven incapable of completely obeying the commands of God,
the law is good, we are not.
Back to Deuteronomy 12
“These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do in the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way.
God is giving Israel land, the Promised Land, it is for them to possess, all the days they live on the earth.
Like Eden, this was dependent upon man, if they are careful to do all that the Lord has commanded, they’ll be good.
But here we see something interesting, verses 2-3
You shall surely destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. You shall tear down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and burn their Asherim with fire. You shall chop down the carved images of their gods and destroy their name out of that place.
This is reminiscent of the first 2 commandments
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Israel must purify the land, destroy the places dedicated to the worship of these false gods, tear down their symbols, chop down their images, destroy their name out of that place.
Why? Because our God is a jealous God, not that He can’t handle competition, but He is jealous for our good, for our best, and wants nothing to get in the way.
His desire is to show steadfast love to thousands of generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments.
Israel, you shall not, you must not worship Me, the way these pagans worship these false god, completely remove that option.
Why? Because if we have another option we will be curious about that option. We will think about that option, we will explore that option, we will eventually choose that option. (See verses 29-31)
Can anyone relate to that?
I’ll talk more on this in a minute, but good intentions will only get you so far, eventually they will fall??????
But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go, and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
God as King, as our redeemer, has the right to dictate how and where we worship and offer sacrifices of appreciation and forgiveness, part of this was given in those 613 commands
But I want us to see 3 things in these verses that are repeated throughout this chapter
1.First, verse 1, These are the statutes and rules that you shall be careful to do.
verse 11, there you shall bring all that I command you
verse 14, there you shall do all that I am commanding you.
verse 28 Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.
In fact this whole chapter is loaded with you shall’s, 20 if I counted correctly, and 7 you shall not’s, not to mention the take heeds, and take cares, you may not’s, then you may’s,
This whole chapter is God telling them what is good and what is not in His eyes.
My point
Clearly all of what follows is contingent upon the obedience of the people according to what God has told them they can or can’t do.
2. Second verse 7, There you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
There you shall eat and rejoice in all you do and how the Lord has blessed them.
The worship of the Lord is festive, joyous, with gratitude and thanksgiving.
Being in the Presence of God and worshipping Him isn’t supposed to be an obligation, a burden, a drag, it’s meant to be joyous.
This gets repeated in verse 12,
12 And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God,
again in verse 18,
And you shall rejoice before the Lord your God in all that you undertake.
3. Lastly Verse 5, You shall seek the place that the Lord you God will choose to put His name and make His habitation.
God’s desire is to set up and make His habitation, His dwelling with His people, do you see that?
This gets repeated in verses 11,
11 then to the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell there
It is repeated again in verse 14,
14 but at the place that the Lord will choose in one of your tribes
again in verse 18,
18 but you shall eat them before the Lord your God in the place that the Lord your God will choose
The point here,
The Rescue and the Law are foundational for the people to Live in the Land with God, joyously in His Presence once again.
Movement 2: The History of His Presence
Movement 2: The History of His Presence
Some of you already know this but my wife and I recently drove across the country back in May
A roughly 2400 mile trip, that takes around 34 to 36 driving hours, depending on the route, from Peoria Arizona to Hockessin Delaware, or vice versa
We’ve done this before, in fact this was our 6th time.
Here’s how I view long distance driving,
It’s getting from point A to point B as fast as you can, maximizing every stop so no time is wasted. The trip becomes a mission that I must execute effectively and efficiently.
Anybody relate to that??
Get up early, get breakfast and gas, then drive for as long as possible, preferably for 4 hours or so,
get just at or slightly below 1/4 tank, then get gas again, go to the bathroom, at the same time as gassing up, grab a quick bite for lunch, then get back on the highway.
Unfortunately, that isn’t how Nicole views long distance driving
She would rather sleep in, have a good breakfast at say Cracker Barrel, maybe get an Ice-T to go, use the bathroom at Cracker Barrel, then we get gas and she goes to the bathroom again, smart, I’m good with that.
But then around 2 hours in, still got plenty of gas, half of her tea gone, she says something like, “You’re gonna kill me, but I need to use the bathroom.”
As soon as she starts I know it’s coming, and yet I still respond with surprise and frustration, but I pull it together.
We negotiate, how long can you hold it I ask?
She says maybe like 20 mins.
I look at the gas tank, check apple maps on what exits are coming up, look at the clock and try to see if maybe an early lunch is in order, which it’s not.
then I counter, how about 30?
Hoping to maybe miss an exit and help her push the limits of bladder control?
In the back of my head, I’m thinking, why do you get the tea, you know it makes you have to use the restroom.
Who am I kidding, that’s come out of my mouth,
mini argument ensues.
Ok, this is not going to kill us, we pull off at a truck stop right off the highway, we just use the bathroom and go knowing we’ll have to stop again in another two hours, hopefully.
But then it’s lunch time, no problem, I usually need gas, so now we can combo, gas, lunch and bathroom, perfect, only one problem,
Nicole isn’t eating Carl’s Jr or at the Flying J, oh no, she wants Panera, “I’m in the mood for Panera”, she says, like that should have anything to do with what we eat.
I’m sure you’re aware of this but
very rarely is there a Panera, or a Chick-fil-A, or a Chipotle, right off the highway, those are the other one’s she’s usually in the mood for.
But she ain’t having it. I’m not winning this one, so I just give in, bottle it up, all that frustration, just shove it down,
nah, she’s killing my drive time, we were making good time, so I let her know.
mini argument ensues
Hitting one of those places is like a 45 minute to an hour delay to the trip,
15 mins off the highway, another 20 mins to order and eat, in the restaurant, then we gotta get gas and use the bathroom twice.
Did I forget to mention she gets another tea for the road,
But seriously, we’ve really grown to enjoy that time, out in the middle of nowhere, together. We actually do like each other. It’s true
Being with each other, out of the chaos, out of the hustle and bustle, free from all the distractions, appointments, just with each other, we realize that we’ve needed this trip, it’s good for us.
We’ve also grown to appreciate God’s vast and diverse creation, how the landscape changes on this drive, from desert vistas, to mountainous areas, barren wastelands to lush green forests. We’ve seen sunrises and sunsets, thunderstorms and rainbows.
We talk and pray, we do crosswords, listen to podcasts or sermons, sometimes we each put on head phones and do our own thing, or just sit in silence, but we’ve got it down pretty good.
As much as we’ve grown to really enjoy that time together, in each others presence, it’s hard to not think about where we’re going, what’s waiting for us.
How good it’s going to be once we get there, the things we’re going to do, people we’ll see, always a growing anxiousness to get there,
In fact, being with each other, isn’t as important, all that other stuff is, we become distracted.
We have to be intentional, carve out time, remember how good that time is, how good it is for our relationship, and how badly we need it.
so, that being said
This is what God is warning the people about,
He wants them to embrace and enjoy living in His presence, but knows how easily it will be for them to get distracted.
So let’s take a trip down memory lane in regards to God’s presence and I’m not going to belabor each one, but there is something to see here.
God and Adam in creation, sitting on a log together as Adam names the animals, at least that’s how I envision it.
What are you going to call that one, white and black stripes, big head? I was thinking Zebra, I love it!!
How about that one with the long neck, small head, and tan body and brown spots, I going with a giraffe, that’s great
This work was done with God, a form of worship
Or God and Adam and Eve walking together in the cool of the day, just enjoying each other and His creation.
Noah “walked” in close “fellowship” with God Gen. 6:9, same Hebrew word, “halack”, walking and have close fellowship, a deep knowing. Noah’s response? He builds an ark, then an altar 8:30
Later on we see God’s interaction with Abram, soon to be called Abraham
First He speaks to him, tells him to go, and Abam obeys
Then God appears to him, he builds an altar, and then another and another, all to worship God.
We come to a point where The Lord speaks to Abram in a vision and he speaks back, he questions God, tells God how he sees it, and then the Lord takes him for a walk to look at the stars.
It then tells us that Abram believed and it was credited it to him as righteousness, being right with God.
Later Abram asks God for evidence, proof that what God is telling him is going to come to pass.
This is when God cuts a covenant with Abram, God appears in a flaming torch and a smoking pot
God then tells Abram to circumcise himself and others, he doesn’t question,
Then God promises him a son, it says that Abraham falls on his face and laughs, questions the absurdity of it, pleads for Ishmael, God says no, then Abraham obeys, circumcises.
Then the Lord appears in human form, 3 men, Abraham calls him the all caps LORD, they talk, eat, then the LORD let’s Abraham in on His plans in regards to Sodom and Gomorrah
Abraham negotiates with God, it says Abraham stands before God, approaches Him, oh how this relationship has grown.
The next altar Abraham will build is the one he will plan on sacrificing Isaac on, until the Lord intervenes.
God reaffirms His promises to Abraham, to make him a nation, to give him a land, the promises that God is fulfilling to the Israelites in this sermon series, but he reaffirms them because Abraham obeyed God’s voice it says.
This progressively deepening of relationship and exposure to God’s plan and presence was dependent on Abrahams obedience.
Fast forward, the Exodus, this is what God does, this is what you must do if you want to be my people.
They obey, God leads them out.
God leading them by a pillar of fire and a cloud.
This not just to free them, to set them loose to live on their own, oh no
God dwelling with them in the tabernacle, it the middle of their camp, we read about this in the first two chapters of Numbers
In fact, if we had a drone, this is what we would’ve seen in regards to their camp
Tell me that’s not awesome. A cross, with God at the center, because the cross was always the center of His plan
This takes me to Jesus, You shall call His name Emmanuel
John would say that Jesus came and tabernacled with us, made His dwelling among us, God with us.
He leaves, and sends the Holy Spirit to now dwell within us
God’s presence was with Adam and Eve in Eden, it was with Israel in the wilderness and the Promised Land
He came again to dwell with His people, Jesus and then the Holy Spirit.
We have His presence, can access His presence at any time. Are never not in His presence.
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
Movement 3: The Problems and The Answers
Movement 3: The Problems and The Answers
Ok, so for Israel, the problem was going to be their failure to fully obey God instructions
They never fully eradicated the land of the people and their pagan practices.
Therefore, they became a distraction, a stumbling block, the sin that caused their demise.
Their eyes and their hearts were drawn to Ba’al and Molech, and Asherah and