Welcome to Delight in Grace. The Teaching Ministry of Rich Powell. Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. In Deuteronomy 33, Moses gives the people his final words before his death. These departing words are full of blessings and encouragement for the people of Israel.
Though Moses would not lead them into the promised land, the great warrior, protector, and provider, Jehovah God, had been their leader all along. and he would go before them. In this message, titled, Who is Like You, a People Saved by the Lord? Pastor Rich breaks Moses' blessings on the people into five categories. each of which has a clear parallel in the New Testament.
These New Testament blessings Are not for Israel alone. but for any who has entrusted himself to Jesus the Saviour. Let's listen in. Morning, church. If you would, if you have a copy of the scripture in your hands, please turn to Deuteronomy chapter 33.
We'll be reading verses 26 through 29. If, as Pastor Dwight, or Elder Dwight now always says, you don't have a copy of the scripture, feel free to look under your chair and there will be one there that you can use. Deuteronomy chapter 33, verse 26. There is none like God. Oh, just sure run.
who rides through the heavens to your help. Through the skies in its majesty. The eternal God is your dwelling place. and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he thrust out the enemy before you, and said, Destroy.
So Israel lived in safety. Jacob lived alone. in a land of grain and wine whose heavens drop down dew. Happy are you, O Israel. Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
the shield of your help, and the sword of your triumph. your enemies shall come fawning to you, and you shall tread upon their backs. Let's pray. Oh God. You are unlike any other.
And how excellent is your name in all the earth? Lord, we know in this passage and throughout the Scriptures, That your might and your power and your majesty and your mercy. And your mini. Mini aspects of greatness are attested to. Lord, we pray this morning that you would bless the reading of that word, that you would bless the message on that word, that you would help us to understand.
know you better. Lord, that you would give us the things that we have need of. the knowledge that we have need of. the wisdom that we have need of out of your word. where we pray for the many, many concerns.
throughout this church for the physical concerns for the mental concerns, for the spiritual concerns, Lord. those that may not be as obvious, that we may not know, but that you know all about and can help. Lord, we pray that you would put your might to those concerns in a way that only you can do. Board. We pray.
once again that you would bless the reading and the hearing of your word. And that we would be open and attentive to it so that we can hear from you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Thank you, Nathan.
Mm. The words that were just read. were the last words of Moses to the people of Israel. It is his farewell. And so the title of today's message is a statement that Moses makes: Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord?
Second to the last chapter, next week we will conclude our study through Deuteronomy. I have been told that today is Groundhog Day, so if I see my shadow today, there will be six more series, sermons in this series. But then we'd have to add chapters to Deuteronomy, wouldn't we? Moses has brought the people of Israel out of Egypt. Over 40 years ago now.
And now they're about to go into the promised land, but they came out of Egypt gloriously, powerfully. Following God. Took them across the Red Sea, took them to Mount Sinai, delivered them from the powerful, mighty army of Egypt. From the Pharaoh who said, Who is the Lord that I should obey him? And God showed him.
And then they were about to go into the promised land. And Israel said, The majority, shall I say, said We can't do it. We can't do it. Were they right? Yes, they were right.
They can't do it. But they forgot who was with them. They forgot that they were God's people.
So God said Let's wonder for a little bit, and we'll let you think about that. The next generation rises up.
Now it's forty years later. And now Moses has to give them the law again. Same law, give it to them again. This is the younger generation now, and they're about to go into the promised land.
So second law, Deuteronomas, Deuteronomy. And now we're coming to the end of that. Moses has already given that to them, and then he's given them the promises of blessing. He's given them the warnings, too, of curses. If they don't follow God, if they don't hold to him.
It's not going to go well for them. We have to remember that what we are studying here is a conditional covenant. But there is so much truth in there. that parallels to what we now experience. Under the new covenant.
the blessings that we have from God. The words that we're going to study this morning in chapter 33 is where Moses bids farewell to the people of Israel, and in bidding farewell to them, he invokes God's blessing upon Israel. And he's going to mention each tribe, with the exception of one.
Now we will find that chapter 33 is a bit warmer than chapter 32. Chapter 32 is rough. Because God in His transcendent understanding, what do I mean by that? God doesn't look down. Through history Everything that there is to know.
everything that has ever happened, everything that ever will happen. including your very thoughts. God knows all of it. Completely, absolutely, perfectly. Right here.
That's the god we worship. Past, present, and future don't exist for him. We exist within the time-space continuum. He does not. And so, with that perfect understanding and knowledge, and knowing the hearts of his people.
He knew and he communicated through Moses: you will abandon me, God says to them. And Psalm 32 is a witness to that. that the people of Israel were to learn. But now we come to chapter 33, and this is. Moses' farewell and blessing, invoking God's blessing upon the people of Israel.
And it says in verse 1: This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed. the people of Israel before his death. Moses, the man of God, what does that mean? That means he's God's mouthpiece. That speaks of The people receiving divine revelation through human agency.
Divine revelation through human agency.
Okay. And so that's why what we have in front of us, we call. Scripture. It is part of the canon of scripture because it is recognized to be the word of God. But Moses said that, and Moses wrote that, yes.
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is divine revelation through human agency. Moses, the man of God. And then we come to verse 2. I love this.
The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Sair upon us. He shone forth from the Mount Puran, and he came from the ten thousands of holy ones with flaming fire at his right hand. What is the imagery that he's portraying there? He's giving us a portrait of God as a divine warrior leading his army. Moses just painted this beautiful, this amazing portrait of God as this divine warrior leading the hosts of his army.
And what is the significance there? It takes us all the way back to the beginning. Because here in, this is a key element in fulfilling the promise of Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15, which is the first time we see God's promise to remedy the sinfulness and brokenness of man. And he speaks to the serpent, the deceiver, the accuser. The father of lies.
And he speaks to him, says, Of the seed of the woman you will bruise his heel, but he will what? Crush your head. That's a death blow. John 3, 8 says it very clearly. That he is the one who will destroy the one who had the power of death, and that's Jesus Christ.
Now, why is this significant? Because it is through the people of Israel in the land of Israel that this Messiah would come.
So, God is carrying out his purpose. Of redemption. This is a key element of the history of redemption. And that's why we look through all of the timeline. of creation and we see God at work.
carrying out his purpose. And who are the people then? Verses 3 to 5, they are the people that are loved. They are loved. They are the objects of his Tender care.
Verse 3, they are loved. And then under his leadership.
So they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you. They're his people following him. And he gives them a law. He says in verse 4: When Moses commanded us a law as a possession for the assembly of Jacob, the law was like the charter for the people of Israel. You are my people.
This law reflects my character. Live this way. And then lastly, verse five: Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun. When the heads of the people were gathered and all the tribes of Israel together. That is, There he is their Lord.
Your king, your sovereign ruler. All of this adds up. That, what we are looking here, what he's pointing out here in verses 3 to 5 is: you are the people of God. You are the people of God. We can say the same thing of these four things.
They are true about us. That we are loved, that we follow his leadership. We follow in the steps of Christ because He is the one who takes us to the Father. And we have the law of Christ. Under the grace of God.
And he is our Lord because he is our king. He is our sovereign. All of that can be said of us. We are today the people of God. 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.delightinggrace.com. To discover how to live by grace, tune in with us on weekdays at 10 a.m. Yeah.
