King James Bible Study – [And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. – Mark 8:34]
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Chapters: Deuteronomy Chapters 3-4
Message: The Eternal Life Covenant
Hello My Friend,
Did you ever wonder why out of all the people in the world God chose Abraham to start a nation of people known to worship Him? Did you ever wonder why out of the billions of people that have come and gone since God created the earth only a few worship Him? We might draw the conclusion that they just did not know God existed, but there was no excuse after the flood of Noah. Well, while the number of people to worship God will always be far less than the majority, there were many who did, they were just not aware of the Law and worshiped Him as their heart guided them. That is why God chose one man to start a nation and eventually give His Law to his children.
[Hebrews 10:1-2,12,15-17 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.]
A covenant is a mutual agreement or contract agreed upon between two people, the covenant of eternal life through ones faith in Christ is an agreement made between the sinner who confesses their faith in Christ and Christ Himself, [Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.]. The covenant of reconciliation is the mutual agreement between the Father and the Son, respecting the redemption of sinners faith in Christ, [2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;]
The covenant that God had made with Abraham was not one that promised eternal life, but it did promise that he would have as many children as there are grains of sand upon the earth. That is where Isaac, then Jacob, amd then his twelve sons would come it, known as the Israelites. The land of Canaan while Abraham never possessed any of it except for land purchased for a burial ground was about to be given to them by God Himself. As we continue in the reading of Deuteronomy, Moses, recalls when they defeated King Og.
[Deuteronomy 3:1-3,12-13 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 unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. 3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. 12 And this land, which we possessed at that time, from Aroer, which is by the river Arnon, and half mount Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites. 13 And the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, being the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, with all Bashan, which was called the land of giants.]
[So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also,] King Og, was very powerful but he did not heed to the warning of not messing with the Israelites given by the ruin of Sihon. He trusted his own strength to defeat them, and that is what led to his destruction. Our nations either get on Israel’s side and win the battle or become enemies and be defeated. Moses, also reminds them of the agreement the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh made in helping the other Israelites take possession of their land with the promise that God will be there with them.
[Deuteronomy 3:18-22 And I commanded you at that time, saying, The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it: ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all that are meet for the war. 19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle, (for I know that ye have much cattle,) shall abide in your cities which I have given you; 20 Until the LORD have given rest unto your brethren, as well as unto you, and until they also possess the land which the LORD your God hath given them beyond Jordan: and then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you. 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings: so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou passest. 22 Ye shall not fear them: for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.]
[for the LORD your God he shall fight for you.] If there is anyone that you want fighting for you it is God. As long as we know Christ as our Saviour, God is always on our side, even if we mess up a time or two. Jesus said this when asked how many times someone should be forgiven, [Matthew 18:21-22 Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? 22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.]
I do not know if I superseded that number, but it sure feels like it, and yet, God is just as faithful to me and merciful as He was the day that I accepted His Son as my Saviour. We are promised eternal life and forgiveness of our sins through our faith in Christ alone, but that does not mean that we do not lose out on some things because of sin. When Moses got so angry that he hit the rock instead of speak to it when the people complained to him about having no water to drink, God forbade Moses to go into the promised land. Now, he recalls asking God repeatedly to go, but was told that He was done hearing that request.
[Deuteronomy 3:24-27 O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? 25 I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon. 26 But the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and would not hear me: and the LORD said unto me, Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter. 27 Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold it with thine eyes: for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.]
[Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto me of this matter.] When God closes the door on something there is nothing that we can do to change His mind. This is why it is important to one; make sure that we are saved before we take our last breath, and two; understand that being denied something on earth is better than being denied eternal life, [2 Timothy 2:11-13 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.]
Since God handed over the reins to Joshua, Moses could have just given everything over to him and left, but he still obeyed God and continued serving Him until God said that it was time for him to come home, Moses, even encourages them to do the same.
[Deuteronomy 4:1-4,7 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers giveth you. 2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you. 4 But ye that did cleave unto the LORD your God are alive every one of you this day. 7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?]
[as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?] The most important thing to remember is that while God does intervene more than we think, unless we call upon Him there is no salvation. Let me tell you, we are not alive today because of our own righteousness, nor are were because every decision we make is wise, we are here because of the covenant that God made with us when we called upon His Son as our Saviour, [Romans 10:12-13 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.]
When we accept Christ as our Saviour He sticks to us like glue, and because we are stuck to Him like glue our souls are alive through Him. Without Christ there is no life! We do ourselves and those we are leading a disservice when we are faithful to Him, yet do not live our lives through Him. Moses, reiterates the importance of their being both faithful and obedient to God’s command.
[Deuteronomy 4:9-10,13 Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons’ sons; 10 Specially the day that thou stoodest before the LORD thy God in Horeb, when the LORD said unto me, Gather me the people together, and I will make them hear my words, that they may learn to fear me all the days that they shall live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children. 13 And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.]
[which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments;] God’s commandments are not grievous and all of them as Jesus said can be summed up with two, [Mark 12:30-31 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.]
No one shows us more love than ourselves, we pamper ourselves after a hard days work, we give ourselves the very best that the money we do make can buy so why not treat others that way. There is not one thing that God will deny us that is in His will for us. We may not agree on what that is, but God always knows what is best for us. All we have to do to realize that is to remember what Christ did for us. Moses, reminds the Israelites that it was God who brought them out of the iron furnace.
[Deuteronomy 4:20-24 But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day. 21 Furthermore the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, and sware that I should not go over Jordan, and that I should not go in unto that good land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance: 22 But I must die in this land, I must not go over Jordan: but ye shall go over, and possess that good land. 23 Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. 24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.]
[But the LORD hath taken you…out of the iron furnace,] That iron furnace is like a one way ticket to hell, one that no one can escape, but through their faith in the LORD, Jesus Christ. When we accept Christ as our Saviour, He is the one who pulls us out of the iron furnace and takes us as one of His very own. Our salvation has nothing to do with our own righteousness, and everything to do with God’s promise to save us through our faith in His Son, [Titus 3:5-7 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.]
There is something that we must understand. We are not perfect! We will mess up. We will get out of His will sometimes and we will sin, no matter how much we try to avoid it. While most of us who are faithful will learn from our mistakes, some Christians have fallen so far into sin that they are worse than they ever were in the world. The biggest threat on our Christianity is idolatry, and this does not have to be some statue that we worship, it could be anything that takes first place over God. And since God is a jealous God, He will place judgment on those who choose an idol over Him. Moses, warns the Israelites against idolatry, and what God will do to them when they fall into it.
[Deuteronomy 4:25-26,29-31 When thou shalt beget children, and children’s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. 29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.]
[I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day,] Wow! Should they be guilty of such a sin, even the heaven and the earth were called upon as witnesses of the law being set before them. Since they were strongly and publicly cautioned against it, they would only have themselves to blame if earth swallowed them up so to speak. All you hear about today is “climate change” and “living green” to try and save the planet when they are the ones to are to blame. In case you have not noticed, the true Church is scattered all over the world, and is getting fewer by the number each year, and that is what makes our job all the more important to reach the lost with the Gospel, [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.]
There is no greater blessing that we could even receive than to be one of God’s people, He delights in it because He loves us so much, and truly does want us to live an abundantly blessed life. Yes, we hinder Him at times, and we even anger Him at times to the point that He will flat out deny us things, yet, He never fails us because He made a promise to us. Moses, does warn the Israelites that they will fail and sin against God and because He is a jealous God He will place judgment on all who sin. However, He is a merciful God.
[Deuteronomy 4:33-35,39-40 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live? 34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? 35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. 39 Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else. 40 Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, for ever.]
[that the LORD he is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.] There is no other name by which we can be saved, and that is Jesus Christ. Jesus did for us what we could not do for ourselves and that was give His life as the payment for our sin debt, [Acts 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11 This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.]
Jesus Christ Revealed/Magnified: [Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.]
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You for the great sacrifice that You made to save my soul. You did for me what I could never have been able to do on my own and that was to save myself from death and hell. To even say that I could save myself sounds foolish and quite arrogant as there is not enough sacrifices nor amount of commands that I could obey that would save me. I will always come short because I am a sinner. You saved me by grace the second I asked You to save me. Now I live the rest of my life serving You. At least, that is what I want to do. Lord, Do for me what I cannot do for myself, give me Your power, mercy, grace, compassion, and the love that You have so that I might be able to lead some souls to the promise land. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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