Route 66: Deuteronomy - The Bible's Theological Backbone

Thanks, micah.

Well, good evening everyone, welcome.

Well, let's take our Bible and go over to the book of Deuteronomy Deuteronomy for those of you that are visiting with us or just coming in to Sunday evenings, we're doing a series that we've entitled Route 66.

There's 66 books in the Bible and we're going from Genesis to Revelation with one message per book of the Bible.

So we're going to travel along Route 66, not from Chicago to LA, but we're going to travel from Genesis to Revelation and we're kind of early on in our journey.

Here we're in the book of Deuteronomy.

We're kind of early on in our journey.

Here we're in the book of Deuteronomy.

The first commentary I ever bought on the book of Deuteronomy and there's not a lot of them out there, sadly was a Banner of Truth edition of the sermons of John Calvin on the book of Deuteronomy, and it's a huge book.

It's kind of a facsimile of an old maybe 1500s, maybe early 1600s English printing of Calvin's sermons into English and it's still written in the old typeface and everything.

So it's a difficult read unless you know how to sort of decipher the typeface.

But then it's a difficult read too because it's the book of Deuteronomy.

That's not an easy book for a lot of people to get through.

A lot of us, when we read the Old Testament, get attracted to narrative literature.

Not so much the book of Deuteronomy, because it's often filled with chapter after chapter after chapter of laws, and a lot of them pertain particularly to the nation of Israel and seem to be somewhat distant from us in a lot of different ways.

In fact, some of them just seem just completely counterintuitive to how we live our lives these days.

However, deuteronomy is much, much more than just a collection of laws, and even those things, I think, need to be given a lot of attention.

They have a lot of applicability for us in a lot of different ways.

Yes, deuteronomy contains a lot of what we would call legislative material, but it really forms the backbone, the theological backbone of the whole Bible, certainly of the Old Testament, and gives us a jump into the New Testament and understanding of who we are as the covenant people of God.

Deuteronomy is that important of a book.

Deuteronomy refers back to Genesis, exodus, leviticus and Numbers over 250 times.

That's a lot.

And the rest of the Old Testament looks back to Deuteronomy about 350 times.

So that's a lot of cross-referencing going on there.

And then when you get into the New Testament.

That's a lot of cross-referencing going on there.

And then when you get into the New Testament, deuteronomy is quoted in the New Testament more than any other books other than Isaiah and Psalms.

Between 80 and 100 times the New Testament references the book of Deuteronomy.

So that gives you a little bit of a flavor just how important the Scriptures see this book in relationship to itself over the course of the history of Israel and on into the New Testament.

So we call it Deuteronomy.

The Hebrews would call it the words, but we call it Deuteronomy.

What does Deuteronomy mean?

Anybody know what's that?

Second law, second law, yep.

So what does that mean?

That needs a little bit of an explanation, doesn't it?

Because you might think is it like the first one wasn't any good and the second one had to happen, or there's two of them and we need to obey both of them, or what does it mean by second law?

Well, let's establish that it is law.

Deuteronomy 17, verse 18, talks about this book being law.

Deuteronomy 17:18

There Moses lays down the stipulation that, should a king arise in the nation of Israel, that they were to copy out this book and he says so that they would fear.

The Lord is God to observe all the words of this instruction and do these statutes.

So there's a very strict law focus there of obeying these things, not simply suggestions or proverbial statements or any of that sort of thing, morality tales or all that.

These are laws.

Secondly, it talks about all the facets of life, about how to live life for the people of Israel Chapters 5 to 26, largely of that section, and we'll get into that in a little bit and Moses characterized it directly in chapter 31 and several times as the book of the law.

So he uses that phrase directly.

But what about this second word, the deutero, the second law statement?

Well, it comes from the fact that the first generation, the Exodus generation, is largely gone and the conquest generation is stationed near the Jordan River, on the east side of it, about to enter in.

And so Moses is speaking to the people who were not there for the first giving of the law but who are there now to go into the land that was talked about.

And so he's giving afresh, after all the 40 years of wilderness, wandering the new generation, some understanding of what it means to live before God in the land that they're about to go into.

They've missed the first giving and so they need to hear this afresh.

So it's not a new law as though it's a replacement of the first one, and it's not a new law as though it's additions to the second one.

Nor is it a repeat of the first law, as though it was just simply copied out and restated.

There are essential elements of it.

Some of the key themes and essential contents of the revelation of the law are sort of condensed and crystallized and formulated and given.

So it's a little more of a compact, concentrated focus.

So who's the author of this book?

Anybody dare guess Moses, right?

Yep, moses.

The document claims many different times that Moses is the author.

Deuteronomy 31, verse 9,.

Deuteronomy 31:9

Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the Lord's covenant into all the elders of Israel.

So there in Deuteronomy 31, verse 9, in verse 11, he tells the people, when all the Israel assemblies in the presence of the Lord are at the place he chooses, you are to read this law aloud before all Israel.

Deuteronomy 31:9

Okay, so Moses has written this down, he's given it to the people and it's to carry beyond him into the future generations, him into the future generations.

Deuteronomy 31, verse 24 repeats some of that, when Moses had finished writing down on a scroll every single word in this book.

Deuteronomy 31:24

Moses has written the bulk of this, but there are some statements in there which show that there's been some editorial comments added when we don't know exactly, could have been very soon to the life of Moses and Joshua.

But there are some indications that even further down the road that there were some statements made.

Let me give you some understanding of that.

Let's go to Deuteronomy 34.

In verse 6, verse 5 says Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab.

According to the Lord's work, I don't think Moses wrote prior to his death about his own death.

Right, he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth Peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.

And you see that phrase to this day.

Obviously somebody's writing, looking back and saying we haven't discovered his grave yet.

So obviously there's an editorial comment made there, made there.

Moses, in Deuteronomy 18, made a very important statement.

He said that the Lord will raise up for them a prophet like you.

So the Lord's talking to Moses from among their brothers.

I will put my words in his mouth and he will tell them everything.

I command him so they're to look for a person like Moses who is going to have the words of God in his mouth, and that the people are to listen to him, right?

So that's Deuteronomy 18.

Look at Deuteronomy 34, verse 9.

Deuteronomy 34:9

Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him.

So the Israelites obeyed him and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.

So that's a kind of a comment of going into the book of Joshua and how the people of Israel related to Joshua.

But it goes even further than that, verse 10.

No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.

So you can see that this is going generationally, even beyond Joshua, to talk about the history of Israel, that this prophecy in Deuteronomy 18 is yet to be fulfilled.

It's still an expectation of that.

Now keep following Deuteronomy.

Let me go to chapter 3,.

For instance, moses is making a description here of some things that are going to happen.

But we have a comment made here, verse 13,.

Deuteronomy 3.13.

I gave to half the tribe of Manasseh the rest of Gilead and all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, the entire region of Argab, the whole territory of Bashan used to be called the land of the Rephim Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took over the entire region of Argab as far as the border of the Girgashites and the Makathites.

He called Bashan by his own name, j Villages, as it is today.

So is that a comment about some continuing place?

You know, some change of a place name?

So, anyway, there's some editorial comments that are put in there.

Some people think that perhaps even all the way up to the point in time of Ezra, some of these comments might have gone.

So you're talking about quite a long history of the people of Israel still finding some statements to be made in the book of Deuteronomy about what happened in that very last time that Moses spoke to the people of God before they came into the land.

And that leads us to the next question, which I've just answered when?

Where does all of this happen?

Well, it's Moses giving his final word on the east side of the Jordan, right Near Beth Peor, close to where he's buried.

And when you read his comments, he talks about the other side of the Jordan and he talks about it as beyond the Jordan.

So here he is on the east side, the river dividing where he's at with the land of promise, and he's talking about that place on the other side of the Jordan.

A number of places where you could read that.

Let me give you just one Deuteronomy 3.20.

The Lord will give you rest to your brothers as he is to you, and they will take possession of the land that the Lord, your God, is giving them across the Jordan, and each of you may return to his possession that I've given you.

So he's talking about the tribes that were going to reside on the east side, but they were going to go to the west side and help out the other tribes and then they could come back.

This editor of Deuteronomy speaks about the Jordan from the other perspective.

So you've got these comments of Moses talking about the Jordan and the land on that side.

But there are a few comments where it sounds like someone's talking about the Jordan and the land on that side, right, for instance, deuteronomy 1.1.

These are the words Moses spoke to all Israel across the Jordan in the wilderness.

So it looks like there's two geographical perspectives being spoken, and that's just one example.

The setting, like I said, the setting of this is the Exodus generation is nearly all passed away.

Who's left to the Exodus generation is nearly all passed away.

Who's left of the Exodus generation?

Caleb, joshua and Moses?

Not many people.

And the new generation, which we'll call the conquest generation, is poised to enter the border or cross the border into the land.

Before they do, the one who's led the nation for these many years, moses, addresses them and he lays down the principles and he lays down the standards that will govern their life when they cross over into that land.

So Deuteronomy presents itself in this sort of farewell address or farewell addresses, I should say, because it's a collection of three sermons, some divided up into four, but many people divided up into three sermons Chapters 1 to 5, 5 to 29, 29 to 32.

Kind of like that, three major sermons Intermingled with that would be a song of warning, the Moses song of chapter 32.

The prophet's deathbed, blessings upon the tribes, chapter 33.

All of this is sort of what the occasion is of what's happening here.

So when you read Deuteronomy, it reads a lot more like a sermon than it reads like a law book, even though it contains a lot of legislative material.

Even though it contains a lot of legislative material, it's really more sermons than it is legal code.

Strictly, because when you read these things you sort of move in and out of the dialogue of what Moses is giving.

He has the address, he has the stipulations, he has the ordinances, he has the stipulations, he has the ordinances, he has the legislative material.

But then he has his sort of pastoral care and concern for the people, his sort of urgings to them and his exhortations to them and his warnings to them and his encouragements to them, as he tries to tell them don't forget the Lord when you go.

So it's an address that he's providing them and he's calling them to live a life that honors their covenant father, the Lord, who's brought them out and made them his own.

Brought them out and made them his own.

Just listen to some of these words that sound like a sermon.

Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength.

These are the words that I'm giving you today.

They're to be in your heart, deuteronomy 14,.

You are the sons of the Lord, your God.

Don't cut yourselves or make bald spots on your head or on behalf of the dead, for you're a holy people belonging to the Lord, your God.

The Lord has chosen you to be his possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

Can you feel the pastoral urgency and care there?

I can.

Deuteronomy 32, his people have acted in.

Here it becomes sort of a pastoral sort of exhortation, in a very kind of corrective way.

His people have acted corruptly toward him.

This is their defect.

They're not his children, but a devious and crooked generation.

Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people?

Isn't he your father and creator?

Didn't he make you and he sustained you?

That sort of sharp words that sometimes we get from pastors.

And, like I said, the structure of it is sort of an introduction.

In the first part we're introduced to moses, we're introduced to israel, we're introduced to god, and then those three sermons that are, provided that the first one sort of talks about the history of the people, kind of a preamble to the legislative material that's in the next sermon, which covers the bulk of the book, and then there is that sort of movement to blessings and cursings on the back end and the song of Moses and the blessings on the people, and then finally the transfer of leadership to Joshua and then death of Moses and the effect of Moses as a kind of a review of his life.

I could give you more details about that, but that kind of gives you the idea.

I want to move to something else that I started with, and that is the effect of Deuteronomy on the rest of the scripture.

Like I said, deuteronomy gives us the principles and standards that God is calling his covenant people, israel, to follow as they live in the land of promise.

So Deuteronomy tells us who God is, how he relates to Israel, who they are, how they should live and why.

This is the framework of the rest of the Old Testament.

The ideas that frame Deuteronomy structure the rest of the Scriptures.

Deuteronomy influences a lot of other books, chiefly Joshua and Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings, and all of the things that I just said are said over and over and over again in those books about Deuteronomy.

For instance, just one little phrase that's quoted in Deuteronomy as Yahweh being the one who has brought you up out of Egypt, which is quoted in Deuteronomy 20 in verse 1 to 4.

The Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, is repeated Joshua 24, verse 17,.

Joshua 24:17

The Lord, your God, brought us and our ancestors out of the land of Egypt.

Joshua, judges, chapter 2,.

Judges 2 · chapter mention

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim and said I brought you out of Egypt.

1 Samuel 10, verse 18, said to the Israelites this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says I brought you out of Egypt.

1 Samuel 10:18

2 Kings 17,.

This disaster happened because the people of Israel sinned against the Lord, the God who had brought them out of Egypt.

All of those are referring back to Deuteronomy 20.

In that short little phrase there's also a phrase that the people did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, quoted in Judges and Samuel and Kings.

1st and 2nd Kings is a quote again from Deuteronomy.

So all of these authors, these biblical authors, are drawing out statements and principles and ideas and theological themes and calls and commands and warnings and exhortations out of Deuteronomy, bringing this into their generation and exhortations out of Deuteronomy and bringing this into their generation.

It offers the whole framework for Joshua, deuteronomy 27.

You have Moses talking about them going into the land and there's a place where there's a really deep and narrow valley with two peaks on both sides, mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, and half of the tribes were to be facing one mountain, the other half facing the other mountain, and Moses, or Joshua, when he got there, was to read out the law and to read out the blessings of obedience and the curses of disobedience, and half of the people would say amen to the blessings and they would say amen to the curses.

When you get to Joshua, chapter 8, joshua records this At that time, joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to the Lord, the God of Israel, just as Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded the Israelites.

Joshua 8 · chapter mention

He built it according to what was written in the book of the law of Moses.

And then it goes on and it says in verse 32, there, on the stones, joshua copied the law of Moses which he had written in the presence of the Israelites, the book of Deuteronomy.

All Israel resident aliens, citizens alike, with their elders, officers and judges, stood on either side of the Ark of the Lord's Covenant, facing the Levitical priest who carried it.

Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half were in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses, the Lord's servant, had commanded earlier concerning blessing the people of Israel.

Afterwards, joshua read aloud all the words of the law, the blessings as well as the curses, according to all that's written in the book of the law.

There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded, that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the dependents and the resident aliens who lived among them.

How vital is the book of Deuteronomy?

It's the very structure, backbone of the life of the people of Israel.

You would think it would stay important to the people, but we come into the book of 2 Kings and we discover that for an extended period of time the book of Deuteronomy was utterly forgotten by the people.

We don't even realize this or discover this until we get to the reign of King Josiah.

This until we get to the reign of King Josiah.

King Josiah arises and he has a heart of trying to restore the nation to God.

They had had a history of trouble bad kings, bad people, bad priests, bad prophets and he's raising up and he wants to bring the Lord back into the center of the nation of Israel and he's king for a while.

And then this happens Second Kings 22.

The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan I have found a book of the law in the Lord's temple.

Like it's a surprise, saw in the Lord's temple.

Like it's a surprise, like look at this.

And he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

And then the court secretary Shaphan went to the king and reported your servants emptied out all the silver that was found in the temple and that had been given it to do to those doing the work, those who oversee the Lord's temple.

And then the court secretary Shaphan told the king the priest Hilkiah gave me a book and Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.

And when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes Like all of a sudden they're now confronted with a forgotten book.

Josiah was horrified to discover just how far the people had been removed from the things that were written there, and one of the reasons why he was shocked is because that book talked about him as a king, right.

Because that book talked about him as a king right.

Deuteronomy 17,.

Moses said these words.

Now remember, they haven't even gone into the land yet.

He says you're going to ask for a king when you get over there and when he's seated on his royal throne, he's to write out a copy of this instruction for himself on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priest, and it is to remain with him and he's to read from it all the days of his life so that he may learn to fear.

The Lord is God, to observe all the words of this instruction and to do the statutes.

Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.

And it was that last phrase that probably struck his heart the most, because the people of Israel thought God said there'd be a king on the throne from the line of David.

It doesn't matter what we do, we always got a king.

We're going to have a king all the time.

But then there's that phrase.

There's that phrase there.

What does it say?

So that he and his sons will continue reigning?

They will only continue reigning.

If they're paying attention to the book it's not a given he realizes that, instead of having this presumption of God's presence and blessing and continuation of the nation, that their continuation as a nation included the call of heeding the word of God.

And he knew that up until this point in time even he didn't know the Bible at all.

So in 2 Kings 23, verse 3, josiah pledged that he and his people would again observe the covenant.

2 Kings 23:3

The king stood by the pillar, made a covenant in the Lord's presence to follow the Lord.

So you can see over the course of the history of Israel.

The foundational focus this book is to give the people, and what happens when they forget it and neglect it.

Remember we called Moses a prophet right Deuteronomy 18.

He's a prophet.

He speaks forward of the time of the kings, but he speaks forward also of the time of judgment upon the people, of the exile of the people, of the return of the people and a promise of some future restoration of the people, future restoration of the people.

You think of those words judgment, exile, return, restoration and just cast your mind over the rest of the Old Testament that we haven't even talked about All the minor prophets, all the other major prophets, all the rest of the historical books, everything there is summed up in those themes that Moses talks about in the book of Deuteronomy.

And there is that promise in Deuteronomy 18, where the Lord said to Moses I'm going to raise up a prophet like you and I'm going to put my words in his mouth like I've done you, and the people will listen to him.

Remember the editorial comment near the end of the Deuteronomy Not yet, not yet.

When, then, when?

Well, that brings us into the New Testament.

Deuteronomy has Moses speaking to the people as they are on the threshold of a new era, of being in a land of promise.

He speaks about all Israel being there to hear these words.

When you get to the gospel of Matthew, we're introduced to Jesus, and Jesus' first public declaration is to sit down and give a sermon, a sermon in which he talks about the characteristics of the kingdom, the call to the life in a new kingdom, what it means to be a member of the kingdom, and he lays down, in Moses-like framework, these things which explain the heart of the law and the life in the new era.

What are we introduced to?

The fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18.

Moses is screaming at us, don't you see it?

This is exactly what God promised Moses in Deuteronomy 18.

He's here and the people are gathering to hear him, and God's words are coming out of his mouth, and he's greater than Moses.

You've heard it said, but I say to you Moses spoke from God.

The words that Moses was given to share shaped the life of Israel.

Jesus speaks as God's voice and shapes the life of God's people.

All Israel, as they read these words, could in a sense feel themselves historically there listening to the final words of Moses.

The Gospels are not just historical accounts of a person in history called Jesus.

When we read the Gospels, we, as the people of God, are transported generationally back to the feet of Jesus to hear him speak and to watch him act in mercy and love and care and warnings and statements of judgment.

Deuteronomy was the place of transport for the people, so the gospels take us back to hear the words and to experience the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Jesus himself quotes Deuteronomy a lot.

In fact, his first three scripture quotes come from where Deuteronomy a lot, in fact, his first three scripture quotes come from where Deuteronomy, as he answers the temptations of the evil one, he quotes Deuteronomy three times.

You get to the New Testament, moving past the gospels, moving past the life and ministry of Jesus, the words of Jesus, his quoting of Deuteronomy, and you get into the New Testament and there are, like I said, over 80, upwards of 100 references to Deuteronomy in the New Testament.

Let me just give you a little bit of a flavor of this.

Here's Deuteronomy 6.5.

Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind and all your strength.

Where's that found?

You'll find out in a few weeks.

Matthew 22.

We're in 21 still, so give you a pass.

Deuteronomy 18.

The Lord, your God, will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers.

You must listen to him.

Where's that quoted?

Acts, chapter 3.

Acts 3 · chapter mention

Moses said the Lord, your God, will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.

You must listen to everything he tells you.

Acts, chapter 7.

Acts 7 · chapter mention

This is the Moses who said to the Israelites God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers.

Deuteronomy 19.

One witness cannot establish any iniquity or sin against a person, whatever that person has done.

The fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Where's that quoted?

Several places, actually, but one of them is 2 Corinthians 13, where Paul says to the church this is the third time I'm coming to you Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 21.

You're not to leave his corpse on a tree overnight, but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse.

You must not defile the land of the Lord, your God, who has given you as an inheritance.

Does that sound familiar?

Hanging on a tree being cursed?

Do you know where that's at Galatians, chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law becoming a curse for us because it is written I'm quoting Galatians here cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.

The purpose, the next verse, was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised spirit through faith, because the curses of the law are fulfilled in the one who hung on the tree for us, jesus.

Deuteronomy 25, do not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.

Deuteronomy 25, do not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.

1 Corinthians, yep, exactly 1 Corinthians 9.

It's written in the law of Moses do not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.

Is God really concerned about the oxen?

Isn't he really saying it for our sakes?

Yes, it was written for our sakes, because he who plows ought to plow in hope and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop.

It's also quoted in 1 Timothy the elders who are good leaders are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

For the scripture says do not muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain.

While it's treading out the grain, deuteronomy 32.

Vengeance belongs to me, I will repay.

Where's that quoted?

Romans, chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Friends, do not avenge yourselves.

Instead, leave room for God's wrath, because it is written vengeance belongs to me, I will repay, says the Lord.

And then one more Deuteronomy, chapter 30.

Deuteronomy 30 · chapter mention

So, right near the very end, right here's the sermon of Moses.

This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.

It's not in heaven so that you would ask well, who's going to go up to heaven and get it for us and proclaim it so that we may follow it?

I mean, moses is like I'm here, I'm telling you this, right.

And it's not across the sea so that you have to ask who will cross the sea and get it for us and proclaim it to us so that we could follow it.

The message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

See, today I've set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.

Moses' final sermon Where's that quoted?

Romans, chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

But the righteousness that comes from faith speaks like this Do not say in your heart who will go up to heaven that is to bring Christ down.

Or who will go down to the abyss that is to bring Christ up from the dead, as though we needed to have.

I'm not going to listen to God unless he shows up to me.

Oh, you should, because there's the voice of God speaking in something.

On the contrary, what does it say?

The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.

This is the message of faith.

It's the gospel.

Is God speaking verbally to the world?

Yes, he is.

Every time one of his people speak, the gospel.

He's speaking face to face with unbelieving people.

And he's speaking face to face with his people to assure them of the promises of the gospel.

And just like Moses said, I'm here and I'm setting before you life and prosperity.

Believe and you will live.

Before you life and prosperity.

Believe and you will live.

I'm setting before you death.

Don't believe the gospel and judgment.

This is why Paul said in 2 Corinthians we are a saver of life to those who believe and a savor of death to those who perish.

The gospel proclamation from every single one of us is the very voice of God speaking to our generation.

That's what Paul is saying about the gospel by quoting the book of Deuteronomy.

There's a lot more to say, a whole lot more to say, but I hope you've gotten a feel anyway this evening of just how important Deuteronomy is and why I called it the theological backbone of the Bible, because it really is what gives it structure and shape and strength, as the rest of it is built around, all the themes and ideas and even the very words that are there.

Let's pray, father.

We thank you for your word and, lord, as we finished by recognizing just how vital and alive the gospel is as the message of Christ, we pray, father, that we would listen carefully to it, for you tell us that if they were judged who did not listen to the oracles provided from the angels, how much sore punishment would those receive if they neglect the voice of the Son?

And so, father, we pray that this message of faith that we proclaim that if a person confesses with their mouth Jesus as Lord and believes in their heart that you've raised Jesus from the dead, that, lord, you would be pleased to use it to save many.

As we've prayed for Kevin and Sarah and Matt and Sharina, lord, we pray that you would speak through our beloved brothers and sisters that the gospel might carry forth with power in Indonesia.

The word truly is right in front of them and we pray this in Christ's name, amen.