Deuteronomy 3

 

1 Then we turned and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 And the LORD said to me, Do not fear him: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you will do to him as you did unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.

 

  • God tells us not to fear our enemies. He will deliver them into our hand.
  • Matthew 10:28 And do not fear them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og, the king of Bashan, and all his people: we struck him until none was left remaining to him. 4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city that we did not take from them, 60 cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside a great many unwalled towns. 6 We utterly destroyed them like we did Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children of every city. 7 But we took as plunder to ourselves all the livestock and the spoil of the cities. 8 At that time we took out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites the land that was on this side Jordan, from the river of Arnon unto mount Hermon; 9 (Which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion; and the Amorites call it Shenir;) 10 All the cities of the plain, all Gilead, all Bashan, unto Salchah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

 

God defeats giants for us

 

11 For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the rest of giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbath of the children of Ammon? It was more than 13 feet long and six feet wide by the measure of a man. 12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead and its cities, I gave to the Reubenites and to the Gadites. 13 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants. 14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the country of Argob unto the coasts of Geshuri and Maachathi and called them after his own name, Bashan-havoth-jair, to this day.

 

  • Og was twice the size of most men.
  • Our God who fills heaven and earth is bigger than any giant.
  • 1Samuel 17:47 And all this assembly will know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hands.

 

15 And I gave Gilead to Machir. 16 And to the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead to the river Arnon, half the valley, and the border to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17 The plain also, and Jordan its coast, from Chinnereth/Galilee to the sea of the plain, the salt sea, under Ashdoth-pisgah eastward. 18 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God has given you this land to possess it: and you are to pass over armed before your brothers the children of Israel, all that are fit for the war. 19 But your wives, your little ones, and your animals, (I know that you have much livestock,) will remain in your cities that I have given you; 20 Until the LORD has given rest to your brothers, as well as to you: until they also possess the land that the LORD your God has given them beyond Jordan: and then you will return every man to his possession, that I have given you.

 

  • God gives rest.
  • Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you that labor and are loaded down, I will give you rest.

 

21 And I commanded Joshua at that time saying, Your eyes have seen all that the LORD your God has done to these two kings: that is what the LORD will do to all the kingdoms where you pass. 22 You are not to fear them: for the LORD your God, he will fight for you. 23 And I sought the LORD at that time saying, 24 O Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do anything like your works, and according to your power? 25 I beg you, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, this good hill-country, and Lebanon.

 

  • Psalm. 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

 

26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said to me, Let it be enough for you; speak no more to me of this matter. 27 Get up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see it with your eyes: for you will not go over Jordan. 28 But charge Joshua, encourage him, and strengthen him: for he will go over before this people, and he will cause them to inherit the land that you see. 29 So we stayed in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

 

  • God was angry at Moses’ failure to show God’s grace.
  • When the people were thirsty and grumbling Moses yelled at them instead of showing them God’s glory.
  •  Numbers 20:8 Take the rod, and gather the assembly together, you, and Aaron your brother, and speak unto the rock before their eyes; and it will give forth his water, and you will bring forth to them water out of the rock: so you will give the congregation and their beasts drink. 12 And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, Because you did not believe me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you will not bring this congregation into the land that I have given them.

 

                                          Deuteronomy 4

 

1 Therefore listen, O Israel, to the statutes and judgments that I teach you, to do them, that you may live, and go in and possess the land that the LORD God of your fathers gives you. 2 You are not to add to the word that I command you or take away any from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. 3 Your eyes saw what the LORD did because of Baal-peor: for all the men that followed Baal-peor, the LORD your God has destroyed them from among you. 4 But you that clung to the LORD your God every one of you are alive this day. 5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, as the LORD my God commanded me, to do them in the land where you go to possess it. 6 Keep them and do them; this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which will hear all these statutes and say, Certainly this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

 

  • Baal-peor was the false god that Israel worshipped after the sexual seduction in Numbers 25:1-9. Twenty-four thousand died.
  • This same seduction is widespread today through the entertainment media, teaching the world that sex is happiness.
  • God destroyed those who were lured into sexual immorality.
  • God’s rules are infinitely wise.
  • People are able to see that.
  • God gives us all the same choice that He gave Adam in Eden— to live by the words that He has spoken.
  • Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it, dying, you will die.
  • Matthew 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

 

God is near us

 

7  For what nation is so great, who has God so near them, as the LORD our God is near in all things that we call upon him for? 8 And what nation is so great, that has statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? 9 Watch out for yourself, guard your soul diligently, that you do not forget the things that your eyes have seen. Do not let them depart from your heart all the days of your life: but teach them your sons, and your sons’ sons; 10 Specially the day that you stood before the LORD your God in Horeb, when the LORD said to me, Gather the people together to me, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they teach their children.

 

  • The One who made all things is always with us.
  • His statutes and judgments are right.
  • If the nations of earth followed the statutes and judgments of God, the world would be paradise today because God could bless man as He has desires to bless.

 

11 You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire up to the heart of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.

12 And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire: you heard the voice of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice. 13 He declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, ten commandments; and he wrote them on two tables of stone. 14 And at that time the LORD commanded me to teach you statutes and judgments so that you might do them in the land you go over to possess.

 

  • God spoke from the midst of the fire. Exodus 19:18 records this event.
  • He commands that we teach His statutes and judgments.
  • Deuteronomy 4:24 the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
  • Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatever I have commanded you: and look, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

God forbids making any images of Him because we don’t know what He looks like

 

15  So watch yourselves; for you did not see any form on the day that the LORD spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire: 16 So that you not corrupt yourselves, and make a carved image, the likeness of any figure, the likeness of male or female, 17 The likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, 18 The likeness of any thing that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the waters beneath the earth: 19 So that you not lift up your eyes to heaven when you see the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the host of heaven, and be driven to worship them and serve them, which the LORD your God has divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

 

  • God’s likeness is described in Ezekiel 1:26-28, the fiery amber gemstone form of a man flashing forth rainbows.
  • No image made by man can compare to it.
  • All are wrong and therefore blasphemy.
  • The principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world are the driving force behind wrong things (Ephesians 6:12).
  • God gave the sun, moon, and stars for light to the world, not to be worshipped.

 

20 But the LORD has taken you, and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people for his inheritance, as you are this day. 21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I could not go over Jordan, that I would not go in to that good land that the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance: 22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but you will go over and possess that good land.

 

  • God deals more strictly with His leaders.
  • When one person is wrong it harms them and those around them.
  • When the leaders are wrong it harms the whole nation.
  • The ‘iron furnace’ was used for purifying metals.
  • The metal melted and the impurities floated to the top so they could be removed.
  • This made the metal very strong.
  • The false things in our lives weaken our faith.
  • When God allows suffering, our weaknesses are exposed so they can be removed, making our trust in God stronger with each suffering.

 

23 So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, or the likeness of anything, which the LORD your God has forbidden you. 24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

 

  • Verse 15, makes this clear. ‘You saw no likeness.’
  • Therefore you don’t know what God looks like so don’t make any images.
  • His fire is jealousy burning because of His infinite love for us.
  • “Fire is the resistless energy of God that either cleanses and purifies or destroys, depending on the substance of that it touches.” (?)

 

25 When you beget children, and grandchildren, and have remained long in the land, and corrupt yourselves, by making a carved image, or the likeness of anything, and do evil in the sight of the LORD your God, to provoke him to anger: 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: you will soon utterly perish from off the land you go over Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days upon it, but will utterly be destroyed. 27 And the LORD will scatter you among the heathen, and you will be left few in number among the heathen, where the LORD leads you. 28 And there you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, that do not see, or hear, or eat, or smell.

 

  • Notice that it was God who led them even as He was scattering them in judgment.
  • The ‘heathen’ are nations that have turned their backs on God, their Maker.

 

29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him, if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in tribulation, and all these things have come upon you, in the latter days, if you turn to the LORD your God, and will be obedient to his voice; 31 (For the LORD your God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake you, or destroy you, or forget the covenant of your fathers that he swore to them. 32 Ask now about the days that are past, which were before you, since the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven to the other, whether there has been any thing like this great thing, or has anything been heard like it? 33 Did people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live? 34 Has any other god taken one nation for himself by rescuing it from another by means of trials, miraculous signs, wonders, war, awesome power, and terrifying acts? Yet that is what the LORD your God did for you in Egypt, right before your very eyes.

 

  • The word ‘seek’ is piel imperfect which means intensive, an intense act that goes on and on.
  • Man can only think one thought at a time.
  • Either your mind is seeking God or something else.
  • He is merciful. He will not forsake us. He will not forget His covenant and He honored with unique blessings.

 

He is God; there is none beside Him

 

35 It was shown to you, that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. 36 Out of heaven he made you to hear his voice, that he might instruct you: and on earth he showed you his great fire; and you heard his words out of the midst of the fire. 37 And because he loved your fathers, therefore he chose their seed after them, and brought you out of Egypt in his sight with his mighty power; 38 To drive out nations from before you that are greater and mightier than you are, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is this day. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.

 

  • Psalm 96:5 For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens.

 

40 You are to keep his statutes and his commandments that I command you this day, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days on the earth, which the LORD your God gives you, forever. 41 Then Moses set apart three cities on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 42 That the manslayer might flee there, who killed his neighbor accidentally, and did not hate him before; and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites. 44 And this is the law that Moses set before the children of Israel: 45 These are the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, after they came out of Egypt, 46 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 struck down, after they came out of Egypt: 47 And they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were on this side Jordan toward the sunrising; 48 From Aroer, which is by the bank of the river Arnon, tto mount Sion, which is Hermon, 49 And all the plain on this side Jordan eastward, to the sea of the plain, under the springs of Pisgah.

 

  • Revelation 21:7 He who overcomes will inherit all things and I will be His Father and He will be my Son.
  • Revelation 3:21 To him that overcomes I will grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 

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SUMMARY: Deuteronomy 3, 4

 

  • The LORD delivers our enemies into our hands
  • He gives us rest
  • He defeates giants for us
  • He gives us a wonderful promised land
  • He fights for us
  • He is near us
  • He forbids making images of Him because they would be inaccurate
  • He alone is God; there is no god but Him