Hearing Gods Grace: Our Awesome God

Deuteronomy chapter 7, page 186.

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons.

For they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods.

And the Lord's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

This is what you are to do to them. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire.

For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.

The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.

The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples.

For you were the fewest of all peoples.

But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers.

That he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God.

He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.

But those who hate him, he will repay to their face by destruction.

He will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him.

Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today.

If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you as he swore to your forefathers.

He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers.

He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land, your grain, new wine and oil, the calves of your herd and the lambs of your flocks in the lands that he swore to your forefathers to give you.

You will be blessed more than any other people.

None of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young.

The Lord will keep you free from every disease.

He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.

You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives over to you.

Do not look on them with pity and do not serve their gods, for that will be a snare to you.

You may say to yourself, these nations are stronger than we are.

How can we drive them out?

But do not be afraid of them.

Remember well what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt.

You saw with your own eyes the great trials and the miraculous signs and wonders, the mighty hand and outstretched arm with which the Lord your God brought you out.

The Lord your God will do the same to all the peoples you now fear.

Moreover, the Lord your God will send the hornet among them until even the survivors who hide from you have perished.

Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God who is among you is a great and awesome God.

The Lord your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.

You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.

But the Lord your God will deliver them over to you, throwing them into great confusion until they are destroyed.

He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their names from under heaven.

No one will be able to stand up against you.

You will destroy them.

The images of their gods you are to burn in the fire.

Do not covet the silver and gold on them, and do not take it for yourselves, or you will be ensnared by it, for it is detestable to the Lord your God.

Do not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.

Do not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction.

Do not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction.

Do not bring a detestable thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction.

Thanks very much, Ralph, for leading.

Thanks there, Simon, for reading.

A long section.

So keep your Bibles open, please, at Deuteronomy chapter 7 and chapter 8.

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

Those are the two sections we're going to be looking at this morning.

Again, if there are questions that we come up against that you want to be able to talk through or ask, then please do that afterwards.

And as you're turning to the section there in Deuteronomy, just to remind you about the missions conference, which is happening next weekend.

Friday evening is for younger people.

Saturday morning, for all ages, there's a children and a creche programme as well.

And then Saturday evening, again for all ages and college-age students as well.

So do come along.

It will be a great occasion meeting with other people from other churches,

those who are concerned about seeing the good news of Christ go to all the world.

And so try and be there if you can.

Let's pray together and ask for God's help.

For the Lord, your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.

Father, our desire is that we get to know you better, the awesome God.

As we read your word, as we seek to understand it, that we would meet with you and hear from you.

And we pray that everything that you are would shape us and transform us.

That we would not try and fit you into our own box or understanding.

But that we would be people who love you and follow you.

As the great and awesome God that you are.

So please help us this morning.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, if there was one section of the Bible that I could rip out and throw away,

this would be it.

In fact, I would say it's the most controversial issue that has caused so many people to question

and ultimately reject Christianity.

So what is the big issue?

Well, if you listen carefully to the reading, you'll see it is all about the destruction of the nations.

And the difficulty is God commands it.

Look at chapter 7, verse 2.

And when the Lord your God has delivered them, that's the nations over to you,

and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally.

Make no treaty with them and show them no mercy.

Or look at verse 16.

You must destroy all the peoples the Lord your God gives to you.

Do not look on them with pity.

But not only does God command it,

He actually threatens it.

So look at chapter 8, verse 19.

Chapter 8, verse 19.

If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them,

I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.

Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you,

so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

If you don't do what I say,

I'm going to destroy you.

Now this, it seems, is nothing less than what we would call ethnic cleansing.

Now according to the UN,

here's the definition of what ethnic cleansing is.

It is the process of eliminating unwanted ethnic or religious groups

by deportation,

forcible displacement,

mass murder,

with the intent of creating a territory

inhabited by a people of pure ethnicity,

religion,

and culture.

It is the most horrible

and evil of crimes.

It's the sort of thing that was attached to the Holocaust.

So what is God doing,

commanding,

and threatening

the total destruction

of these nations?

Richard Dawkins,

the popular atheist,

writer of the God delusion,

came to this conclusion.

He says,

God is a vindictive,

bloodthirsty,

ethnic cleanser,

a capriciously malevolent bully.

Now in the light of what we have just read,

we can understand why somebody like that would come to a conclusion.

And we too can understand why we would begin to think

that God could be charged with ethnic cleansing.

So what are we to make of this God who commands

and threatens the destruction

of peoples,

men and women

and children?

Well, first of all,

God's terrible judgment.

This is not about God

who has lost his temper

and who has it in for a particular people group.

This is about God's just,

fair,

controlled,

and settled response

to all sin

and evil.

So let's try and unpack that

under three things.

First,

a place without sin.

From the very beginning,

God had promised his people

a place,

a land

that would be good

and beautiful.

We're told what that land

is going to be like

in chapter 7,

verse 12.

He says,

if you pay attention to these laws

and are careful to follow them,

then the Lord your God

will keep his covenant,

the promise of love with you

as he swore to your forefathers.

He will love you

and bless you

and increase your numbers.

He will bless the fruit of your womb,

the crops of your land,

your grain,

new wine and oil,

the calves of your herds

and the lambs of your flocks

in the land that he swore

to your forefathers to give you.

You will be blessed

more than any other people.

None of your men or women

will be childless,

nor any of your livestock

without young.

The Lord will keep you free

from every disease.

He will not inflict on you

the horrible diseases

you knew in Egypt,

but he will inflict on them,

he will inflict them

on all who hate you.

This is the most,

if you like,

perfect place to live.

It's described as a land of blessing,

without sickness or disease,

a place where they are protected

from their enemies,

where their borders are secure

and where they enjoy

a full and prosperous life.

It's the kind of land and home

that we would want.

It's a place without sin,

without harm or danger,

without evil or crime.

It's a beautiful and a good land.

It's all about protection

and blessing.

Look at chapter 8, verse 7.

For the Lord your God

is bringing you into a good land,

a land with streams

and pools of water,

with springs flowing

in the valleys and hills,

a land with wheat and barley,

vines and fig trees,

pomegranates,

olive oil and honey,

a land where bread

will not be scarce

and you will lack nothing.

A land where the rocks are iron

and you can dig copper

out of the hills.

This land that is being described here

is a kind of paradise.

It's not unlike the Garden of Eden

before the curse.

And this is what we all long for.

And this is what God had promised

to his people,

a place without sin or evil.

But to make this land a reality,

God must first deal with sin.

You see, the place that God's people

were to live in

was occupied by nations

that were utterly sinful.

Look at chapter 7, verse 1.

He says to them,

look, when the Lord your God

brings you into this land,

remember this good land,

that you are entering to possess,

and he drives out before you

the many nations,

the Hittites,

the Girgashites,

the Amorites,

Canaanites,

Perizzites,

Hivites,

and Jebusites,

the seven nations

that are larger

and stronger than you.

These were nations

that for centuries

had lived in rebellion

against God,

had destroyed other people,

had ruined people.

Keep your finger there

in Deuteronomy 7

and flick back to

Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

Genesis chapter 15.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

In Genesis 15,

we read about God's

initial promise

to his people

about the good land,

the promised land,

the beautiful land

that they were going to go to.

But before they get into

this good land,

there's going to be

a long,

long delay.

And we're given the reason

for that delay.

Chapter 15,

verse 16.

God says,

in the fourth generation,

your descendants

will come back here.

That's back to the promised land.

But the reason why

it's going to take so long,

we're told,

is for the sin

of the Amorites

has not yet reached

its full measure.

Go back to Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7.

You see,

God is displaying

incredible patience

with the Amorites

and it's implied

with all these

other nations too.

God was giving them

four generations.

That's over 400 years

to sort themselves out.

But now the time

has come

and their lives

are no different.

So God punishes them

for their continued

and their persistent sin.

He commands

their complete destruction.

Look at Deuteronomy 7,

Deuteronomy 7:2

verse 2.

He says,

when the Lord your God

has delivered them

over to you

and when you have

defeated them,

then you must

destroy them

totally.

You see,

sin

is very destructive.

It wrecks

what God

has made beautiful.

It ruins lives

and it breaks

all that is good.

So God

in His response

deals

with these

sinful nations

by destroying them.

and to be sure,

the only way

to be sure

that you have

dealt with sin

is to destroy

the sinner.

Otherwise,

it just keeps

coming back

again and again

and again.

So what God

is doing here

is He's removing

the sinful nations

from the land

so that His people

can live

in a place

that is full

of peace

and prosperity.

In fact,

it must go

further than just that.

They must go

a step further

because God

knows

what a danger

it will be

if the people

are remain,

if the people

are allowed

to stay in the land.

So,

they must

cleanse the land

from those

who persistently

rebel against God.

Look at verse 3

of chapter 7.

He says,

do not intermarry

with them.

Do not give

your daughters

to their sons

or take their daughters

for your sons.

Why?

Verse 4,

for they will

turn your sons

away from following

me to serve

other gods.

In fact,

He tells them

they are to

cleanse the whole

land of anything

that will pull

them away from God.

Verse 5,

this is what

you are to do.

You are to break

down the altars,

smash their sacred

stones,

cut down the

Asherah poles

and burn their

idols in the fire.

For you are a people

holy to the Lord

your God.

You've been rescued

by God.

You now belong

to God.

You've been set

apart for God

to love Him,

to enjoy Him,

to obey Him.

So you must

remove

every possible

thing

that is going

to pull you

away from God.

verse 16,

He says,

you must destroy

all the peoples

the Lord your God

gives over to you.

Do not look on

them with pity

and do not

serve their gods

for that will

be a snare

to you.

They could

entice you

away.

Verse 25,

the images

of their gods

you are to

burn in the fire.

Do not covet

the silver and

gold on them

and do not

take it

for yourselves

or you

will be

ensnared

by it

for it is

detestable

to the Lord

your God.

To leave

any hint

of sin

would be

dangerous.

Like a deadly

cancer,

it would only

grow back

again

and it

would take

over,

ruining

and destroying

and breaking

everything

in its path.

you see,

this is not

about a

God who,

as Dawkins

claims,

is a vindictive,

bloodthirsty,

ethnic cleanser.

This is a

God who

is fair

and just

and is

rightly

angry with

all the

sin

that causes

so much

pain and

damage in

our world.

Let's try

and think

about something

that's been

fresh in our

news this

week.

I'm sure

you've all

heard about

Fiona Doyle,

now an

older lady.

But when she

was a very

young girl,

for ten

consistent

years,

she was

raped and

abused by

her father.

now when

you saw

that item

on the

news,

how did

it make

you feel

when that

happened?

He got

twelve

years,

nine years

of that

was suspended,

another three

years he was

let off on

bail.

Okay,

they went

back to it

and now he's

back,

but still

it doesn't

fit the

crime,

does it?

What does

it make you

feel when

you see

something like

that?

it made

me very

angry and

I'm sure

it made

you very

angry.

You're

wanting

justice,

you want

the innocent

to live

without fear

in peace

and safety

and security

and you

want the

guilty

punished.

Now if

that one

event could

make us

angry,

multiply that

the world

over,

of all the

crimes,

of all the

wars and

all the

violence and

of all the

damage

that is

done to

so many

children and

of all the

injustices that

there are in

the world

and God

sees and

he feels

every single

bit of pain

and now we

can only

begin to

sense

what God

feels

with the

brokenness

and the

hurt and

the damage

that people

do to

one another.

But you

see,

let's not

just be

looking at

other people.

take a

magnifying

glass and

pass it

across your

own heart

and across

our own

lives.

Because we

too have

done and

said things

to people

that has

caused hurt

and damage.

We've broken

relationships.

We've done

things we

shouldn't have

done.

and God

is rightfully

angry at

the things

that we

have done.

You see,

God longs

that we

would all

live in

peace and

prosperity.

God desires

that we

would all

live in a

beautiful and

good land,

a land without

disease and

sickness, a

place where

there's no

evil and

no crime

and no

injustice.

And so

he must

remove all

those who

are intent

on causing

harm.

And he

must remove

all those

who are set

in opposition

to him.

He must

cleanse the

world of

sin.

And the

only way to

get rid of

sin is to

destroy the

sinner.

Now, what

God does

here in

Deuteronomy

is very

specific and

very unique.

It is not

an example

for us or

for anybody

else to go

and do

likewise.

However, this

does show

us that God

takes all

sin seriously

and that just

as he judged

sin then,

so a day

is going to

come when

Jesus Christ

will return

and he

will judge

the whole

world.

Every person

and every

nation,

including you

and me,

will stand

before God

and we'll

be judged.

You see,

the real

question is

not,

why did

God do

this to

the nations?

But why

has God

not done

this to

me?

Because the

reality is

we have all

caused hurt

and upset

to other

people.

We've all

ruined and

wrecked the

good things

that God

has given

us.

So the

question is

not,

why did

God destroy

the nations?

But why

does he not

destroy you

and me?

That's the

real question.

God destroy

some people

is because

some people

are better

than other

people.

Well,

no,

that's the

wrong answer.

Because the

big surprise

in this

chapter is

God's

people are

actually no

different from

the other

nations.

Let's just

have a look

through verses

7 through

to 8 here.

First,

they were

specially

chosen.

Verse 6,

he says to

them,

for you are

a holy

people to

the Lord

your God.

The Lord

your God

has chosen

you out

of all the

peoples on

the face

of the

earth to

be his

people,

his treasured

possession.

Now,

God could

have chosen

another

nation.

He could

have chosen

the Hivites

or the

Perizzites

instead.

He could

have chosen

more than

one nation.

But God

says,

no,

I choose

you.

Out of

all the

peoples on

the face

of the

earth,

I have

chosen

you to

be my

treasured

possession.

They have

become to

God like

a king's

personal

treasure.

the greatest

possession

that he

has,

that is

beyond

value.

That is

what these

people are

like to

God.

But again,

we ask,

if God

chose them,

then he

must have

seen something

in them

that made

them stand

out as

better and

greater than

all the

rest of

the people.

No.

God does

not choose

us because

of who

we are.

Verse 7,

the Lord

did not

set his

affection on

you and

choose you

because you

were more

numerous than

other peoples.

For you

were the

fewest of

all peoples.

You know,

the way to

assess a

nation's

value in

those times

was by its

size.

The bigger

you were,

the more

powerful you

were,

and the

more respect

you had.

These are

the kinds

of nations

that hold

status and

privilege.

But that

is not

the basis

of his

choice.

He tells

them the

end of

verse 7,

he says,

you were

the fewest

of all

peoples.

In other

words,

you were

a nothing,

you were

a nobody,

in the

world's

eyes you

were

completely

insignificant.

God

does not

choose you

because of

who you

are.

Third,

God chooses

you because

of who

he is.

Verse 8,

but it

was because

the Lord

loved you

and kept

the oath

he swore

to your

forefathers

that he

brought you

out with

a mighty

hand and

redeemed you

from the

land of

slavery,

from the

power of

Pharaoh,

king of

Egypt.

God set

his affection

on you.

The Lord

chose you

and he

made you

his treasured

possession

for the

simple

reason

that he

loved you.

God

loved you

not because

of who

you are

but because

of who

he is.

If we

thought of

it in

this way,

if we

thought of

all the

nations

kind of

lined up

before God

in some

kind of

talent

competition

and they

all did

their party

piece

and God

had to

pick the

best one

to be

his

treasured

possession,

well there

was

nothing

that

made

them

better

or

superior

or

greater.

They were

no less

sinful

than the

other

nations.

They were

no different

to the

other

nations.

In fact

as we

read through

the Bible

we'll see

we could

actually make

the claim

that they

were worse

than the

other

nations.

They

didn't

earn

God's

love.

They

didn't

deserve

God's

love.

the

big

surprise

is that

God

even

bothered

to

love

them.

They

deserve

to be

treated

like the

rest of

the

nations.

And the

only

reason

why

they

are

not

destroyed

like

the

other

nations

is

because

God

chose

to

make

them

his

treasured

possession.

Do you

see what

God is

saying

here?

the

only

way

to

escape

being

destroyed,

the

only

way

to

be

a

part

of

the

good

and

beautiful

land

that

I

want

to

give

you

is

if

you

experience

my

grace.

Don't

ever

think

that you

can

escape

God's

judgment

because

you

are

better

or

greater

or

superior.

If

you

think

for

one

moment

that

you

earn

God's

love

or

that

you

deserve

God's

love

because

of

something

that

you've

done

because

of

your

heritage

or

your

background

you

have

not

understood

God.

Look at

chapter 8

verse 17

you

may

say

to

yourself

full

of

pride

as

it

were

my

power

and

the

strength

of

my

hands

have

produced

this

wealth

for

me

look

at

what

I

did

no

verse

18

but

remember

the

Lord

your

God

for

it

is

he

who

gives

you

the

ability

to

produce

wealth

and

so

confirms

his

covenant

which

he

swore

to

your

forefathers

as

it

is

today

God's

people

only

get

what

they

get

because

God

loved

them

because

he

promised

things

to

them

because

he

was

committed

to

them

and

it's

absolutely

no

different

for

us

today

God

deals

with

us

in

exactly

the

same

way

now

as

he

did

with

his

people

then

have

a

look

at

this

quote

here

it

comes

from

1st

Corinthians

chapter

1

Paul

is

writing

to

the

church

in

Corinth

and

he's

getting

them

to

think

back

so

he

starts

off

he

says

brothers

and

sisters

think

of

what

you

were

when

you

were

called

just

stop

for

a

minute

there

think

about

it

when

God

chose

to

love

you

when

he

put

his

affection

on

you

what

were

you

like

well

he

goes

on

not

many

of

you

were

wise

by

human

standards

not

many

of

you

were

influential

not

many

of you

were

noble

birth

in other

words

you were

nobody's

you were

nothing's

you were

insignificant

there was

nothing in

you that

attracted me

to you

but

God

chose

the

foolish

things

of

the

world

to

shame

the

wise

God

chose

the

weak

things

of

the

world

to

shame

the

strong

God

chose

the

lowly

things

of

this

world

and

the

despised

things

and the

things

that

are

not

to

nullify

the

things

that

are

so

that

no

one

may

boast

before

him

the

only

reason

God

would

set

his

love

upon

us

is

because

we're

foolish

because

we're

weak

because

we're

despised

because

we're

nothing

you see

the real

question

in all

of this

as well

is

it's

not

why

did

God

choose

this

nation

over

that

nation

we get

our

minds

bogged

with

that

one

why

did

God

choose

this

one

and

not

that

one

here's

the

real

question

why

would

God

bother

to

choose

you

or

me

there

is

nothing

in

us

to

attract

us

to

God

he

simply

loves

us

because

he

loves

us

and

he

wants

to

shower

us

with

his

blessings

it's

unconditional

it's

based

on

who

he

is

not

what

I

am

so

third

then

what's

what's

it

going

to

be

for

us

is

it

going

to

be

God's

terrible

judgment

or

is

it

going

to

be

God's

incredible

grace

well look

at chapter

7

verse 9

know

therefore

that the

Lord

your

God

is

God

he

is

a

faithful

God

keeping

his

covenant

of

love

to

a

thousand

generations

of

those

who

love

him

and

keep

his

commands

but

those

who

hate

him

he

will

repay

to

their

face

by

destruction

he

will

not

be

slow

to

repay

to

their

face

those

who

hate

him

now

where

does

that

put

us

the

point

is

we

all

deserve

the

judgment

we

all

deserve

to

be

destroyed

not

one

of

us

manages

to

keep

his

commandments

and

love

him

wholeheartedly

the

reality

is

we

all

need

his

grace

and

we

all

long

for

this

promised

good

land

that

is

beautiful

and

good

without

evil

and

injustice

and

sin

and

crime

so

how

is

it

possible

for

us

to

know

God's

grace

day

to

day

but

not

his

judgment

well

two

things

first

we

must

run

to

Christ

you

see

as we

follow

the

story

through

we

come

to

this

climax

where

God

would

put

his

judgment

and

his

grace

side

by

side

on

display

for

the

world

to

see

before

the

nations

and

before

all

the

people

God

would

demonstrate

his

terrible

judgment

and

his

incredible

grace

all

in

one

combined

concise

moment

take a

look at

the cross

in your

mind's

eye

Jesus

and his

death

what do

we see

going on

on the

cross

we see a

man being

beaten

we see

somebody being

spat on

somebody being

punched

whipped

and scourged

we see a

man being

torn

his back

lacerated

ripped apart

we see

somebody being

nailed

to a

cross

we see

someone with

a spear

being thrust

up into

their side

what's going

on with this

violent

image

Jesus

is being

destroyed

physically

and

spiritually

for us

the

judgment

of God

that should

rain down

on all

the nations

and on

all people

the judgment

of God

that should

be for

my sin

and your

sin

is falling

on God

himself

and so

the cross

stands before

all nations

of the world

today

before all

peoples

no matter

what nation

what people

group

what tribe

what language

it is

the cross

stands before

it all

to say

look

God took

the terrible

judgment

that we

all deserve

for himself

why

why would

he do

it

so that

we might

experience

his

incredible

grace

Jesus

didn't

die for

you

because

there

was

something

beautiful

or good

about