Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can learn a lot about the character of God. Through what he does. In this message titled, You Have Lacked Nothing, Pastor Rich unpacks Deuteronomy two, shedding light on the narrative with Biblical history.
We can see God's necessary justice and His abundant goodness. This is part three of the message. It was first preached on April twenty first, twenty twenty four. And this idea, this word devoted to destruction, it's actually a Hebrew word, cherem. And we find it in probably an Old Testament story that we're much more familiar with in Joshua chapter 7.
Now, this is later on, so I'm going to appeal to history that hasn't happened yet to help us understand what's going on here. Joshua chapter 7, you remember the story of Achan? Go like this if you remember.
Okay, if you have ever been to Sunday school, you've heard about Aiken. Aiken stole the bacon. One's supposed to have it, right? And so this is what Joshua chat, this is to understand the word, the concept, cherem. Therefore, this is Joshua chapter 7.
Therefore, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies because Joshua had sinned. God said, take nothing, take nothing. Take what? Nothing. Aiken didn't listen to that.
He says, I'm going to take some for myself. Right. And so Israel started to get experience defeat. in their battles that God Sent them to. Therefore, the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies.
They turn their backs before their enemies because they have become devoted for destruction. Whoa, he's even saying that. of the people of Israel. I will be with you no more unless you destroy the devoted things from among you. Get up, consecrate the people and say, Consecrate yourselves tomorrow, for thus says the Lord, God of Israel: There are devoted things in your midst, O Israel.
You cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the devoted things from among you. The devoted things. It's this word. And so the idea of this word, this concept, is to put under a ban. You cannot have this.
You cannot interact with this. It's the idea of something being set apart, devoted.
Something set apart and in this sense devoted to destruction.
So in other words, it is ultimately given to God. The God who is a consuming fire. And the reason why this was necessary is because, as it's pointed out here, particularly in Joshua, no one is to profit from this campaign. This is not a campaign for personal profit. That's not why you're going in for this.
You cannot take a servant. You cannot take one of the women to become either a servant or a wife. They will have a negative effect. This is a judgment of the wicked. And so this is what God had pronounced on the Amorites, the Amorite people.
So As the Amorite people, as a people, had been devoted to destruction. I want to give us six things today for us to contemplate to understand this. And I think it's very important that we begin in this plate, number one. Number one is God's sovereignty. God's sovereignty.
To understand this idea of a people being devoted to destruction. God is the beginning point. to our understanding You might say rich duh. No, not duh. Because you know why?
Because we as a self-preeminent people tend to view God beginning where? With us. That is idolatry. We think God is like us. And we're so prone to make him in our image.
We must begin with God. He is God. He is free. to do what he deems Right. Genesis 18.
25, far be it from you to do such a thing. This is Abraham, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be that from you, shall not the judge of all the earth do what is just. Answer. Yeah.
The judge of all the earth. We'll do what is just. There is no injustice. In God. He is the creator.
Who himself defines the very concept of good, and he defines the very concept of evil, and all. All. How much? All right. is accountable to him.
All is and are, in case you think I was really messing up grammatically there, okay? There is no part of the creation that is not accountable to the Creator. He is a sovereign God. Number two. the holiness of God.
The holiness of God. He is described in Scripture as God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. That is a statement about his absolute perfection and purity. Absolute. Man's wickedness, all of it.
Mm-hmm. is an affront. to holy God. And man's wickedness demands his hope. Holy necessary Raph.
Romans 1.18, we know the verse well. The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress. The truth. The holiness of God. Number three.
God's Justice. God's justice. Holiness demands Justice. Justice is necessary. And in this case, because of the Amorites.
Their wickedness, the justice. Meeted. Against them was because of their two reasons, specifically their implacable resistance. There was a persistent hatred. of God.
We're going to have more on this a little bit later. But they were violently and steadfastly opposed to his work, to God's work. And remember, what is God's purpose here? God's not just randomly moving history along. He's got a purpose.
Ultimately, what is his purpose with the people of Israel? Who's going to come through Israel? Messiah. The one who will take away the sin of the world, the one who will reconcile man to God, the one who will make all things new. And the Amorites were violently and steadfastly opposed.
to Israel. to God's purpose through them. They were opposed to redemption. They were opposed to human flourishing. They were opposed to those who were God's objects of loving concern.
But not only Was it their opposition, but it was their abominable wickedness? their abominable wickedness. Studies of The Amorites and their religion, their literature and archaeological studies reveal that they were the most morally depraved culture on earth. Rape and child sacrifice were elements of their worship. They were completely corrupt and absolutely barbaric.
And by the way, if we're concerned about and we're thinking about how can how can this be, how can God ordain something like this, let's not forget the flood of Noah. How much of Earth was destroyed? How many people were destroyed in the flood of Noah? All but eight. Let's not forget.
Sodom and Gomorrah. Fire raining down from heaven, destroying these cities because of their abject wickedness. In Leviticus chapter 8, when God is telling his people, I'm going to take you into the land, I'm going to give this land to you, I'm going to take the people. Here's what he says about the people of the land. He says, The land will vomit out the people.
That's pretty graphic, isn't it? Why does your body vomit something? Rich, I never thought you'd ask that question in church. Because your body is rejecting something, is something that is harmful to the digestive system. And your body will vomit it out.
And so it is with these. wicked, barbaric people in the land. God says the land is going to vomit them out. And it's a culture of people where. Even their descendants would be the same.
I cannot forget, you hear of people who grow up under the influences of groups like Hamas. Over in the Middle East. And they grow up from tiny infants learning to hate. The Jews. Just because they're Jews.
It's common. And so it would be with these, you know, and if they were to leave some of the women, and their women then would become servants, or even some of them would become their wives, because we know men are weak. We know that. And they would influence the men. And some of the children who would grow up to be vengeful.
of their people. And exact vengeance on Israel. We find that in the story of Esther, where Haman, you remember Haman who hated Mordecai? Heyman was An agagite, and Agag king Agag was of the Amalekites, and they were a people that God said. They need to be gone.
And because they were not. and Israel disobeyed. Here is Haman. Years centuries later, hating the Jews and planning as a powerful man planning the extermination of the Jews. This is why.
So it is God's justice. Against an unimaginably wicked people. You've been listening to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. To hear this message and others, check out www.delightingrace.com. To discover how to live by grace, tune in with us on weekdays at 10 a.m.
