Moses' Second Speech Begins

Hey, hey, good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions this morning We're at Deuteronomy chapter 4 verses 44 through 49. So glad to be with you We're gonna be looking at a major division point a major turning point in the book of Deuteronomy where Moses starts his second speech So the introduction to the law or the second speech of Moses in Deuteronomy, let's have some coffee.
We'll pray. I'm getting into God's Word Let's pray Lord, we thank you so much for this day. What a blessing it is to get to read your word. Father, we pray that we would not squander this opportunity. We pray that your spirit would be working in our hearts. That as your word is before us, it might be a lamp to our feet.
Lord, we pray that you would enlighten our minds, open our ears, teach our hearts in Jesus's name. Amen. All right. Deuteronomy chapter four, beginning of verse 44. Here we go. Now this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt. On this side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt, And they took possession of his land and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, who were on this side of the Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from Aror which is on the bank of the river Arnon, even to Mount Sion, that is Hermon, and all the plain on the east side of the Jordan as far as the sea of Arabah below the slopes of Pisgah. Well, we need to ask ourselves our three questions.
A. What is this about?
B. What's the best verse to summarize this? C. What are we called to do in response to these words? So, A. What is this about? Well, again, like I said in the intro, this is the beginning of Moses' second speech. Notice something changes here. Now, this is the law which Moses set before the children of Israel. It's going to set the tone for what's coming next all the way until chapter 27. Right? So through chapter 26 and then chapter 27, we'll start his third speech.
And so Moses is giving this speech on the other side of the Jordan river and this, and he's giving them the testimonies, the statutes and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt. And then it tells him where right on in the trans Jordan, right?
This is, this is giving a historical point. So, let's just kind of recap where we were. We've gone through kind of the historical prologue or prelogue of the covenant, right? Here's all the stuff that God has done. Here's kind of the redemption that he's provided. How have they gotten here? And now it's the reading of the law itself.
Now it's Moses is going to speak to them all the various different things. Now, this isn't comprehensive, but Moses is going to die. He's not allowed to enter the promised land. And this is almost like his farewell speech, his goodbye to the people of Israel.
And so he's telling them in the Transjordan, in that area where God had given them victory over They're enemies, right? This is why it's what the Lord said here. On the other side of the Jordan, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, in the land of Sihon, king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, who Moses and the children of Israel defeated after they came out of Egypt. This is that whole land that God had given them. The Lord had defeated his enemies. And this is where Moses is giving this historical speech, right?
This is a momentous occasion in the life of the people. I guess in a way it'd be very similar to when Winston Churchill maybe gave his last radio address on the BBC during World War II. Or we might think of one of the last fireside chats that FDR gave to the people. There's many times where a great leader has risen up. And I'm not asking you to give your political viewpoints here. I'm just saying there are certain times in the life of a nation where a leader raises up to prominence at a specific time and makes a final address to his people.
That's what's happening here. And now Moses is really going to lay the foundation for what is it that this nation stands for. He's talked about their God. Now, what is it as their law that they are to live by to show that they follow the God who had redeemed them out of Egypt? But we're going to get into the substance of it over the next, you know, 22 chapters or something like that. So, all right. Well, that's what this is really about is setting the scene for this amazing speech that Moses is going to give. Well, let's talk about calling. See, calling, what are we called to do? Well, these are historical stories.
A historical leader, Moses. Moses was a real man. This is a historical place. This is right on the other side of the Jordan River. This happened. So many times people will come to even these first five books of the Bible and they'll forget that this isn't just religious literature. This is historical narrative. This is history that is written down and preserved for us. This actually happened. It's not some fable, it's not some myth, right?
There's many critical scholars who will say that, and many type of just unbelieving people who just cast it out, right? But as somebody who loves ancient history, these are primary source documents. This is what happened. It is how we know what the ancient Near East was like, because we pick up documents like this and we're able to go, yeah, that's that place. Yeah, those people were there. It seems like this is what happened.
And so, For me, when I think about this with calling, is to remember the historicity of God's redemption of his people out of Egypt, his raising up a flawed leader like Moses to lead his people out of the promised land and to leave them with these words of the covenant.
And my question is, do I believe that about the rest of scripture as well? When I read through the primary source material of ancient Jewish history, when I read through the ancient documents of the early church, i.e. the New Testament, do I believe the historical truth that Jesus Christ was born of a Virgin Mary? suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried, and rose again on the third day do I believe the historical claims of the scriptures.
That's something only the Holy Spirit can eventually do, right? We could intellectually assent to that, but to cling on to it is something that I think the Holy Spirit does. But that doesn't mean that faith is devoid of intellect. No, no, no. We understand that these things are historical narrative and we believe in our hearts that they're true.
So I think this helps us have a firm anchor as we start getting into Moses' speech about what are the general principles of this covenant and what are the specific laws of this covenant. That covenant was rooted in historical truth because we find this story rooted in a real God, really redeemed his people. And that gives me hope because God is real. My Savior is real. My Lord is real. And I can follow Him intellectually and by faith.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you that you have given us a firm foundation, a sure foundation for our hope and our faith. Lord, we thank you that we do not follow some fables that were just created. But Lord, you have given us such a firm hope in Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that we would follow after you and love you all of our lives. Thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your love in Jesus's name. Amen. Well, may God bless you. May you walk in the joy and peace that comes from and through Jesus Christ. I'll see you next time. Bye.