SS-617-07.

STUDY THEME: PUTTING PASSION IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

“REMEMBER THE LORD IS GOD.” DEUTERONOMY 8:1-14, 17-18.

DEUTERONOMY 8: 1-5, 6-10, 11-14, 17-18.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO DEUTERONOMY 6.

Few people living today remember first hand the Great Depression of 1929. Born in 1916 I was 13 years old when the stock market crashed and many banks closed causing depositors to lose their money. My uncle was one of them. He had saved and deposited in a Savings and Loan Co. $9,000 toward purchasing a farm near Lubbock, Texas. When his savings were taken away from him, he lost faith in all financial institutions, including banks.

Those were tough days. Some good things came out of that panic, though I had to become older to recognize them. For one, I learned the value of money. I also learned how to do without things I had taken for granted.

Christmas of 1930 stands etched in my memory as the toughest one of my life. The greatest lesson the Depression taught me was God takes care of His own. My father and mother kept my brother and me in Sunday School and church. I was saved in 1928 in a revival at Fox, Oklahoma, which was only a few miles from Cannon, Ok., where we lived. Having Christ as my Savior made a difference in my acceptance of the Depression.

The Life Impact and Learning Goal for today’s lesson are designed to help us develop a passionate devotion to God by describing evidence that shows we are loyal to God and by expressing praise for God’s discipline as well as for His bountiful provision.

Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 is part of the background passage in Deut. 6: 1-11:32 for today’s lesson.

1. TEACHER READ DEAUTERONOMY 6: 4-5.

These verses are the key to the Book of Deuteronomy and indeed the whole law. The first Hebrew word of Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 is transliterated “Shema” and means “listen.” Some versions render it “hear,” but in my judgment “listen” is a better rendering.

The verb has within it the idea of hearing with an intent to consider carefully and further with an intent to obey.

Vs. 4-9 have been and still are the essential creed and duty of Israel. This section is known as the Shema. Along with 11:13-21 and Numbers 15:37-41, traditionally it has been the first words in the Bible Jewish children have learned to say from memory. It has also formed the confession of faith for all the brotherhood of Judaism. Later law, dating back to the Septuagint, required adult Jews to recite it twice a day.

The Shema is also valued by Christians because Jesus cited this as the greatest commandment in Matt. 22:34-39; Mark 12:28-31; and Luke 10:25-28. The Shema is a strong statement about who God is and what He expects from His people. It speaks of loving God with our total being. This is in response to His love for us.

The O.T. more often uses other words for our response to God---words such as fear, trust, and praise. The word love emphasizes our personal and passionate relationship with the Lord. PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO DEUTERONOMY 8.

2. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 8: 1-5.

Beginning with Deut. 6: 1 and continuing through 11:32, Moses proceeded with his discourse. Having restated what we call the Ten Commandments in 5:6-21, he was ready to enlarge on the further requirement for conduct in the new land. He began by renewing two motives for obeying these requirements:

First, the oneness of God. Second, the benefits to be derived from obeying His commands.

Vs. 1 reminds us that Moses was trying to again prepare the people for entering the Promised Land. Like many verses in Deuteronomy, vs. 1 repeats the need to obey the laws given them by the Lord. This was necessary if they were to live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land.

The words this day refer to what was the present time for the Israelites. From that perspective God asked them in vs. 2-5 to look back and remember the past, and to look toward the future in vs. 6-18.

The word remember is a key word in Deuteronomy. The Hebrew word sakar is found in most of the books of the O.T., especially Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Isaiah. Occasionally, the word was used in a prayer to God, as in Psalms 89:50: more often, it was used of the need of people to remember.

It appears twice in Deuteronomy 8 (vv. 2, 18). The same point is made negatively using the words forget not in vv. 11 and 14. These words refer to more than mentally recalling past events. The contexts in which the word is used refer to a response in the present and future based on what God has done or has promised to do.

In vs. 2 the word was a call to remember the wilderness experiences and what lessons they had learned through those experiences. Many of them had experienced all 40 years in the wilderness because they were children or youth when their parents refused to enter the land. Others had been born during the 40 years. All of them had memories of what happened in the wilderness.

Moses hoped that many of his audience on that day had learned some important lessons during their wilderness years, for he knew that how we live today is influenced by what we remember of yesterday and by how we anticipate living tomorrow.

Moses spelled out some lessons of Israel’s years in the wilderness. He hoped they had learned to be humble. Part of God’s purpose in those years was to teach the Israelites humility. People are by nature proud, and this is a hard lesson to learn. But 40 years of privation forced them to consciously rely on the Lord. God also wanted to test what was in their hearts, whether they had learned to keep His commandments.

One way of doing this was to allow them to experience hunger. Then the Lord sent them manna for their food. It was a white bread like substance that they harvested each morning except the Sabbath. It lasted only one day except on the day before the Sabbath, when it lasted two days. The manna continued during the time they were in the wilderness.

This manna taught them several lessons. One was that God provides for the needs of His people. Another lesson was that we are dependent on God for daily bread: we should pray for daily bread. ‘we need bread to stay alive, but even more important, we need the bread of God, His Word. Christians are familiar with vs. 3 because Jesus cited it when Satan Tempted Him to turn stones into bread in Matt 4: 4. and Luke 4:4. Food is essential for physical life; spiritual food is essential for spiritual life.

Not only did God feed the Israelites in the wilderness, but also He caused their clothes to last throughout the 40 years and He prevented their feet from swelling. In other words, He helped them during the hard times of the wilderness years.

God wanted them to remember those hard times and how God had helped them. Moses compared God to a father disciplining his children. His purpose in allowing the hard times was intended to accomplish that purpose.

Times of suffering or discipline should be an occasion for turning to the Lord, seeking His help, and relying on Him. As you remember the hard times, how do you respond? Maybe you are in some wilderness experience of your life: how are you responding?

Remembering the hard time in life and the lessons you learned may be painful, but if you draw closer to God, you can be grateful—not for the painful experience but for the lesson of learning to rely more on the Lord., This is easier to say when all is well, but when we are looking at desperate needs or great pain in our own lives, that is when the test becomes personal.

People who have had it tough in their youth respond in different ways. Some possess sufficient insight to realize God as God sends adversities to humble you and test you to know what was in your heart. He was preparing the “growing up” generation for life in a new land. They needed to know hardships so they might be prepared for the difficulties awaiting them and develop physical strength. The greater need, however, was spiritual. They needed to realize man does not live on bread alone. The true source of life is every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

At this point, we need to remember the difference between punishment and discipline. It is emphasized clearly in the N.T. A young mother once asked her pastor a question that was bothering her greatly. “Pastor, I know I’m saved. Of course, I don’t do everything I should, but I know I’m a Christians. I have so many problems with my children. If God is punishing me, it seems unfair.

My neighbor makes no claim to be a Christian, but never seems to have trouble with her children. Can you explain?” Her pastor replied, “You are saved. This means you are a born again child of God. You have a special relationship with your Heavenly Father. Your neighbor doesn’t.

Now whose children do you discipline? Your children or your neighbor’s children?” As the pastor started to make the application, she said, “Oh, I see. You don’t need to explain. God, through the law of sin and retribution, punishes the lost person, but He disciplines or chastises His own so that they can be purified for service.”

The application? God punished the older generation for lack of faith. They died in the wilderness. The younger generation would enter the Promised Land, but they had to be disciplined so they could be faithful to God when they entered and lived in Canaan.

3. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 8: 6-10.

God had a plan for Israel in Moses’ day. He wanted to bless them so they could bless the world. Certain conditions, however, were attached if they were to fulfill His goal for them.

The land into which Israel was about to enter abounded with natural resources. God had reserved it for His people with whom He had made a covenant. In this land, the people would lack nothing. Such prospects brought great anticipation and expectation to these travel weary wanderers and buoyed them on with a desire to move into their new home. This was the only home they had ever looked forward to possessing. The promises made to their Fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were about to be fulfilled.

As Moses spoke to the people gathered on the plains of Moab near Jericho, God was ready to lead them toward His eventual goal for them. The question was, “Would they trust the Lord’s purpose for their lives?” What about you? Will you trust your life to what you believe is God’s plan for it? You will be happy if you do? You cannot afford to refuse and reject it.

Meanwhile they were still outside Canaan, and these promises were part of their hopes for the future. Just as remembering should have affected how they thought and lived in the present, so should have their vision of the future motivated them to do God’s will.

We live and act only in the present, but we are influenced by our view of the future. Many people who have a pessimistic view of the future have a bleak view of the present.

We often have noted that Christians are pilgrims of faith who are motivated by hope. Christian hope focuses on the return of Christ and the coming of the full glory of God’s kingdom. This hope inspires and empowers believers to live in faithfulness and obedience.

Skeptics question the reality of the Christian hope. It is not surprising that people who have no real hope do not trust in the goodness of God. Even when we pass through the wilderness of life, we can learn to trust that God knows and cares and that He has a bright future for those who claim His promises. This trust sustains us in our darkest hours.

4. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 8:11-14.

Vs. 1-10 focus on remembering the lessons learned it the wilderness years. Vs. 11-20 focus on the dangers of forgetting the source of success in the Promised Land. The key word in vs. 2 is remember, and the key words in vs. 11 are forget not.

The Israelites were told not to forget the Lord thy God. Vs. 11 goes on to define how people show they have forgotten God. The evidence against the Israelites was that they did not obey His commandments.

This is an important point.” ”That is, forgetfulness is not simply a state of mind, or something akin to absent mindedness. Facts may still be remembered, in a literal sense, but they have ceased to be part of a living memory of the reality of God.”

Let me share with you a story from my school days. Our Physics professor in O.B.U usually rode the trolly to and from his home to the college. On occasion he would drive his car. At the end of the day he would get on the trolly and ride home, only to call back to ask if his car was still parked in front of the school.

We are what we remember. Some of the most dreaded diseases are those that rob people of their memories. However, as tragic as this is, forgetting God is worse. We still remember facts about God and His dealings with us, but we live without evidence that we learned what He was trying to teach us.

Remembering means remembering the lessons God taught us in good times and bad, and showing that we remember by doing God’s will. Forgetting means that we are living as if we never learned the lessons God was trying to teach us.

Most Christian virtues grow out of remembering: many sins grow out of forgetting. Remembering leads to trust, obedience, gratitude, humility, and love. Forgetting results in doubt, disobedience, ingratitude, pride, and selfishness.

As Moses faced his fellow Israelites, he knew a great danger confronted them. The land’s abundance would present them with a dangerous temptation. Complacency and self-sufficiency would lurk in the shadows to lull them into spiritual amnesia.

The test of whether they remembered or forgot was prosperity and success.
Do you remember how the crowd chanted about David and upset King Saul? They sang in 1 Sam. 18:7, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Someone gave us a spin-off of that refrain,, “Adversity has slain its thousands, but prosperity has slain its tens of thousands.

Moses knew about the military dangers that awaited the people. He was aware of the strongly fortified city of Jericho, the first step in the invasion.

No problem, a few blasts on the trumpets and God would shake the walls till they fell. What then? Would they relax and disobey God? They did, and suffered defeat at Ai. Would this be a pattern? Would the blessings and abundance of Canaan lull the Israelites into complacency?

Would they be so vain as to take for granted their victories over the Canaanites, Amorites, and others?

God knew the chief danger was that in the pride of conquest, they would forget the sacred story of their election and redemption. They would no longer remember that God had bought them out of Egyptian slavery and led them through the trackless desert. The fact God had given them food and water supernaturally would be buried in the tomb of time.

They would claim credit for their successes as they though they had managed to become prosperous by their own wisdom and strength.

You say, “but how could Israel not humbly thank such a God who did all things for them?” Vs. 14 is a strong warning not to let their hearts be lifted up and forget the Lord. He was the source of all their blessings. They were slaves in he land of Egypt and the Lord brought them out. They had been in a hopeless situation and God delivered them.

Vs. 15 makes the same point in recalling the wilderness years. How could they forget how God sustained them in the wilderness, where they faced hunger and thirst, scorpions and other dangers, but God supplied their needs. He allowed those afflictions to humble them.

5. PLEASE READ DEUTERONOMY 8: 17-18,

Vs. 17 expresses Moses’ fear for the Israelites after they entered and settled the Promised Land. Many of them had failed the test in the wilderness; he feared they would fail the test in the Promised Land. Many of those who had been unfaithful in the wilderness had perished in the wilderness. They had failed the test of adversity. Those who entered Canaan would face a new test—prosperity and success. Moses feared that they would say, “My power and my own ability have gained this wealth for me.” Thus the people who complained in adversity would be arrogant and ungrateful in times of prosperity.

That is, they blamed God for their troubles and they would take credit for their successes.

As a person becomes more successful materially, his or her character is apt to deteriorate. Absorption in the bountiful blessings we receive causes us to forget the Giver.

We can be so concerned about the pastoral benefits that we forge the Good Shepherd who made them possible.

This forgetfulness of our Heavenly Father may be found not only in our life style, but in our religious habits and practices. Often, the more economically secure we become, the more formal and listless our worship also becomes. We desire shorter sermons and find more and more reasons for “calling off” a service.

This forgetting doesn’t come all at once. It passes through stages and exists in various degrees. Dr. George Truett, beloved pastor at First Baptist Church, Dallas, for many years, told of a note brought to him one Sunday morning before the regular pastoral prayer. It read, “Pray for a young man who is becoming rich.” That’s usually the way forgetting God begins.

Moses showed confidence God would bring prosperity to the people. He spoke of beautiful houses to live in. He assured them their herds and flocks would grow large. In addition, he took for granted their silver and gold would multiply. In conclusion, Moses spoke of when everything else you have increases. The way Moses spoke assured he knew God would give them victory over the inhabitants of the land.

What a wonderful encouragement for the people. What, however, would they do when their aspirations became realities? Would success spoil them?

Successful people often feel---though they do not vocalize it---that much of their progress has been their own ingenuity and hard work. This attitude contains an element of truth. The Book of Proverbs, in many places, teaches that God rewards hard work and clean living.

In the early 1950’s two young men, both with limited formal education but uncanny natural ability as carpenters, came to a fairly large city. Both had previously been active in their home churches and had been ordained as deacons. Both men began bidding small jobs. Eventually, they joined the same Baptist church. For a while, both were active and dedicated and taught boys in Sunday School classes. They even formed a business partnership and bid jobs together.

After a while things changed. One of them began to socialize with more worldly business acquaintances and forsook his Christian priorities. He adopted habits in his social life that conflicted with his church friends. His life took a plunge downward and he lost all interest in spiritual matters. His wife “stuck with him,” but his two sons followed their father’s lifestyle.

Both his wife and daughter died, the former from an accident, and the later with cancer. His moral life deteriorated further, and his life ended in shambles. Casino gambling,

sexual immorality, and alcoholic beverages characterized his latter years.

What about the other man? He never forgot his Lord. He stayed faithful to his church and godly standards. His two children remained active in church life.

How does one explain the difference between the men? One remembered that the Lord God gave him power to gain wealth. The other forgot. How can we be sure we will remain faithful to the Lord? The answer is to maintain a vital relation with God. We do this by maintaining a passionate fellowship with Him. In times of trouble, remember God’s love and care and be faithful to Him. In times of prosperity, “remember that the Lord your God gives you the power to gain wealth.”

God doesn’t just hand out blessings. We have our own parts to play. Farmers must work to have good crops. Merchants must work to get and sell their wares. But in every case it is not we who bring success in any endeavor. It is the Lord.

Among the writings of Charles Spurgeon this statement was found: “I have one passion. It is He. He alone.” Whether an Israelite on the Plains of Moab or a Christian in the 21^st century, remember the Lord is God---of the good times as well as the bad time. I love the song that says, “The God of the mountain is also the God of the valley. The God of the good times is also the God of the bad times.”

I pray that each of you may develop a love for God that becomes a passion for a meaningful relationship with Him. Never let it die or even flicker!

NEXT WEEK FROM DEUTERONOMY 29 AND 30 “WHAT MUST WE DO TO RENEW OUR DEVOTION TO GOD?” PLEASE READ THE BACKGROUND PASSAGE IN DEUTERONOMY 27:1-34: 12. A.V. DAUGHERTY <altav@swbell.net>