Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel calls to mind God's active and intentional provision for them. Deuteronomy three recounts the mighty victory He gave Israel over the king of Bashan, and the way that God provided for his people a land.
You too can trust God with a steely confidence by calling to mind his character. revealed through his working on behalf of his people. Let's listen in. Good morning. If you would please turn or scroll to Deuteronomy 3.
And I'll be reading verses 18 through 29. And I'm reading from the ESV Scripture Journal. It is a great resource. This is the first time that I bought one and I've loved it. And I commanded you at that time, saying, The Lord your God has given you this land to possess.
All your men of valor shall cross over armed before your brothers, the people of Israel. Only your wives, your little ones, and your livestock, I know that you have much livestock, shall remain in the cities that I have given you, until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as to you. And they also occupy the land that the LORD your God gives them, beyond the Jordan. Then each of you may return to his possession which I have given you. And I commanded Joshua at that time, Your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done to these two kings.
So will the Lord do to all the kingdoms into which you are crossing. You shall not fear them. For it is the Lord your God who fights for you. And I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord God, how do you know? Have you only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand?
For what God is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country in Lebanon. But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and would not listen to me. And the LORD said to me, Enough from you. Do not speak to me of this matter again.
Go up to the top of Pisca, and lift up your eyes westward and northward, and southward, and eastward, and look at it with your eyes for you shall not go over this Jordan. But charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in his possession. in possession of the land that you shall see.
So we remained in the valley opposite Beth Peor. Let's pray. O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what God is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours. Lord, these words that I read from Deuteronomy are So great, describing your great greatness in your mighty hand, Lord.
Lord, I pray that we would remember these things this morning. as we worship you and listen to your word. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, Daniel.
Good morning, church. Got your copy of the scriptures open to the book of Deuteronomy. We need to quote scripture together. Right? You're memorizing The Shema, right?
Deuteronomy six. Stand with me, please. Deuteronomy 6. Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
With all of your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. Think about that. These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. What does that mean?
They are the words that shape My affections and my attitudes. Please be seated. Your eyes have seen. We're in chapter 3 today. Your eyes have seen.
all that the Lord Your God. has done. We're in the first section of Deuteronomy, the first three chapters, and the section, section one is how we got here, and today we're in chapter three.
So, as we continue, Moses is moving the children of Israel forward. Deuteronomy, you remember what Deuteronomy means? What does Deuteronomy mean? Second law. He is going over the law a second time.
For the new generation of the people of Israel, because the first generation rebelled against God at Kadesh Barnea. Yes, it's a beautiful land that the Lord our God is giving us, but We can't do this. People are too tall? They're giants. They're city walls too tall.
We can't do this. Never mind that the Lord brought us out of Egypt, conquered Pharaoh's army, brought us through the Red Sea. Never mind all that, we can't do this. That just kind of shows you what the human heart is like. And we're no different than they are.
We have a real tendency to forget what God has done, which is why the Lord constantly calls us to remember what the Lord has done. And so as Moses will be saying to Joshua today, your eyes have seen all that the Lord your God has done. He is moving this next generation of Israelites toward the promised land.
So we're in chapter three today, and we're going to be looking at, first of all, museum relics. I titled the first 11 verses there, King Og of Bashen. Uh if you if you were to Yeah. All of the land of Israel, and you see the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, the Dead Sea. Over here is the Mediterranean.
All right, over on the east side of the Jordan, that's the land that Israel is in right now. There's Edom down by the Red Sea, and then Gilead, all up here, is where Og, king of Bashan, is. Here's another king that was defeated. Listen, OG. It's a good name, isn't it?
Og could have responded like Rahab. You remember the story of Rahab? Jericho could have responded. She heard about Israel and she knew that Jehovah, the God of Israel, was God alone worthy to be worshipped and feared.
So what did she do? She worshipped and feared. And she Og could have responded like her. But instead he chose to resist. He chose to resist.
the purposes of Jehovah, the God of Israel. He probably thought he had really good reason to resist. Because Aug himself was a Very large man. A very large way. He was a giant.
Remember Goliath, David and Goliath? This is a lot of years later, but David and Goliath was a giant. Og was the same kind of guy. He was big. It gives the dimensions of his bed here later on.
So that's why we know he was big. Not only was he a giant, but his cities had very high walls. There was very strong defense. And so Ag was saying, like, okay, bring it on. Come on, let's go.
Let's see what your God can do. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? And God looks from heaven and what? Laughs. The God who created the universe, the God who measures the universe with the span of his hand, and you see pictures from Voyager.
What, 85 billion miles from Earth now? And pictures of the tiny, tiny little planet in this little solar system, in this one galaxy, among these trillions of galaxies, and these puny little humans. think they can withstand God. And God laughs. And he tells his people: it is the Lord your God who fights for you.
I heard one apologist once say, God is like a tank. You might not like the tank, you might not like what it stands for. You can go up and you can kick the tank, but guess who gets hurt? It ain't the tank. I like to add to that the gospel story: the only way to be safe from the tank is where.
In the tank. In Christ. In Christ. Isaiah 46 verses 8 through 11. Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind.
You transgressors, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times, things not yet done, saying what? My counsel shall stand. I will accomplish all my purpose. I have spoken and I will bring it to pass.
I have purposed and I will do it. That is the God we worship. He is the God that is. He is the Creator. And His purpose, His counsel will stand.
And so In chapter 2, as we studied last time, and now in chapter 3, King Og is defeated. Enemy resistance is Vanquished and Og's bed, his giant bed. is now an artifact in an Ammonite museum. His bed was About 13 feet long by 6 feet wide. That's how big Og was.
13 feet long. You see that in verse 11. Aim. Uh I like Proverbs 21.30. No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord.
Remember that.
So that's the record that we have in the first 11 verses. And then we come to verses 12 to 17, and we talk about boundaries.
Now, God is starting to allot the land for the tribes of Israel in verses 12 to 17. Verse 12, and we took possession of this land at that time. I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory beginning at Eror, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon and half the hill country of Gilead with its cities.
So again, this is the east side of the Jordan. They have not crossed over the Jordan yet. That was going to be a very significant event when that happened. It's coming soon, but it has not happened yet. But God is establishing boundaries, and there are three, there are two and a half tribes.
Of Israel that will stay on the east side of the Jordan. 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.delightandgrace.com. To discover how to live by grace, tune in with us on weekdays at 10 a.m. Yeah.
