Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. PT Forsyth said that it is the duty of every man to find not his freedom But his master. We all serve. The question is who will we choose to serve?
In Deuteronomy twenty eight, God presents the people with two choices to follow and serve the Lord their God, and find life and peace, or to find their master in something else. in which death and misery would find them. Let's listen as Pastor Ridge unpacks the Mosaic Covenant in this message titled, I have set before you to-day life and good. Death and Evil. This is part two of a message first preached on october twentieth, twenty twenty four.
If you obey, if you keep my commands, verse one, verse two, verse nine, verse thirteen, verse fourteen. Listen to me clearly. This is not an unconditional covenant. This is a conditional covenant. And here's the condition.
They're flourishing as a people. And the longevity in the land is contingent upon their obedience. It is contingent upon their obedience. Verse 14, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. Why on earth would a people do that?
Well, that's a good question we can ask ourselves now, isn't it? If you will not obey, now look what he says at verse 15. If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God, remember the title of the message. I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. You've got two choices here.
It's pretty simple. You've got two choices. If you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God, in other words, you are going after other gods to serve them. And you might be thinking, you know. Other gods don't even exist.
It's a god of their imagination. Yes, that's the whole point. You're trusting something that you have crafted and imagined. Doesn't make any sense, does it? But people do it all the time.
And even we can be guilty of that.
some degree.
Okay. He says, if you have forsaken me, look at verse 20, the Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds because you have forsaken me. Let me just begin with this illustration right here. I've used it all the time, right? This is the history of humanity.
Israel is no different than any other people in this way. Let this tree represent God. the Creator of all that is. And he created us so we're like a branch that grows out from the tree. And this branch is utterly dependent upon this tree.
It draws life from the tree. And C.S. Lewis used this illustration too. He says, this branch wishing the demise of the tree. secured their own destruction.
If this branch is cut off from the tree, there's only one thing that branch can do. What is it? Die. Die a slow death of thirst. That's the history of humanity.
And God says that's your propensity as human beings, as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. That's your propensity. Because there's something that's going to be luring you, something that's going to be trying to get you to believe. That you're going to find more security and satisfaction somewhere other than God. Yeah.
And he's telling Israel here to the point we're getting into, the part we're getting into of chapter 28 now, he's telling Israel: if you do that. And you insist on that long enough. I will step aside and second the motion. And tell me how that's going to work out for you. And human history bears that out pretty clearly, doesn't it?
We wonder where all the brokenness and the intrigue and the conflict comes from. It is because man thinks he knows better than God. Man has separated himself from God. And so, if we are to forsake ourselves, Israel, if they are to forsake God, He will remove his hand of protection and privilege that they have enjoyed as his elect people. History in Israel in historical context here, okay?
And here's what it looks like. There's a lot in here. There's a lot in here. I'm going to summarize it for you, okay? We already talked in verse 27, we already talked about some curses, 12 curses specifically in eight categories, okay?
But curses means disaster. If you do these things, you are headed for disaster. It's like the tree saying to the branch, if you sever yourself from me, you will die of thirst. There's no other option for you. You will die of thirst.
So here's what he's saying, and I'm going to abbreviate all of it, what he says in this chapter of what will happen to them if they forsake God. First of all, look at verse 20 with me. Again. The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do.
So we're gonna call it confusion, confusion, frustration, and disaster. Confusion is a lack of order and direction. You sever yourself from God. you're not going to have a clear aim. a worthwhile aim.
lack of order and direction. Frustration, you sever yourself from God, and you will have your life will be one of unrealized expectations. And he says specifically, it'll come with your wife. A young man will marry a bride and somebody will come and take her away and have his way with her. And it's a pretty brutal word that's used in the text here.
And I'm j not using it just simply because of the company we have, Younger Minds in here this morning. This is none of none of the listen, none of this is said. With delight. Your frustration will be realized in your kids. Your kids will be taken away into slavery.
Your lands will not produce. You will plant all kinds of seed, and you won't get much anything from it.
So frustration. Unrealized expectations, and then disaster. And that's the word curses, right? Disaster. If a curse is pronounced over.
You have forsaken me, it will end up in a curse. That means you're headed for disaster. Kursk, and this comes in four different categories. There's the social-familial, the breakdown of the family and the social order. Listen.
It's pretty graphic in here, okay? It gets so bad. And when enemies come to siege, and how do they, what does a siege mean? You have walled cities, and an enemy will come. And they will surround the city, and there's nothing you can do.
You can't go in or out, no supplies coming in. And they will stay there long enough to where you starve to death. And he says, you're going to be. to the point where you are eating your loved ones. Cannibalism.
All of you listen, all that Because they have forsaken God. He has removed his hand of protection and privilege on his elect people because they've forsaken him.
So the social familiar disaster, the economic disaster, crops will fail, flocks will fail, they will not reproduce. You will become dependent on other nations, having to borrow from them just to survive. And there will also be political disaster, corruption, oppression, slavery. Because you have forsaken me. There will also be physical and psychological disaster.
There will be disease, fatigue. And look what he says in verse 28. Look with me over to verse 28. And the Lord will strike you with madness and blindness and confusion of mind. Madness, blindness, and confusion of mind.
That's disastrous. Moses presents a pretty cringeworthy. psychologically graphic description of the disaster that would follow. Should Israel forsake Jehovah? There's no hiding it in the text.
In fact, they would endure what Jehovah had inflicted upon Egypt. Remember, around the. The Exodus And the ten plagues, Israel would endure that. And more. And ironically, Ironically, their abandonment of God would land them back in Egypt where they were before they were liberated.
Look at the last verse of the chapter. Skip down to the last verse in the chapter. Yeah. And the Lord will bring you back in ships to Egypt, a journey that I promised that you should never make again. And there you shall offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there ye will be no buyer.
It's a pretty bleak picture, isn't it? All that just to say, the branch that severs itself from the tree will die. A lonely, very thirsty, disastrous death. in the middle of the chapter.
Now, some of you may rich is already in the last verse of the chapter. He's done. No. In the middle of the chapter. Yeah, I know I did that last week, didn't I?
Had some of you going. In the middle of the chat, look at verse 47 with me. Look at verse 46. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever, because, verse 47, because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart. Here's the key.
because of the abundance of all things. You want. An extremely relevant verse for us comfortable, prosperous Americans today. Here it is. We don't need God.
That's how most Americans live. We don't need God. Yeah. There's a whole slew of highly intelligent academicians out there who are saying that belief in God is foolish. childish and irrelevant.
We don't need God. I have my bank account. I have my 401k, I have my insurance company, I have my lawyers. I have my doctor, I have my psychologist. We don't need God.
I'm not those things are not wrong. But they're not God. We don't need God. Here's the heart of the matter. In verse 47, Israel Israel would get distracted away from God's gracious care by a false security and satisfaction.
in things. That's a human problem. That's not unique to Israel. That's a human problem. Thanks for joining us here at Delight in Grace.
You've been listening to Rich Powell, the lead pastor at Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. The Delight in Grace Mission. Is to help you know that God designed you to realize your highest good. and your deepest satisfaction in Him. the one who is infinitely good.
We hope you'll join us again on weekdays at 10 a.m. Uh
