A. Gigantic obstacles must be overcome across the river.
1. Gigantic nations (1)
2. Gigantic cities with walls reaching to the heavens.
3. Gigantic people – the Anakims (2).
B. God will be a consuming fire to the enemies of Israel. (3)
II. Moses warns the Children of Israel about self-righteousness.
A. First, watch what you think in your heart. (4)
1. Beware of victories
2. Beware of saying: “God is blessing me because of my righteousness. (4)
B. Secondly, godly people benefit when the ungodly are punished.
1. The wickedness of the nations caused God to destroy them. (4)
2. This is repeated in verse 5.
3. The land is being given to the Children of Israel for two main reasons:
- The Abrahamic Covenant
- The sins of the Godless in the land.
4. The Children of Israel must simply live for God to inherit the victories.
5. Moses reminds the people that historically they are a “stiffnecked people.” (6)
III. The Children of Israel are to remember the past as examples of preventive maintenance.
A. Remember where past rebellion led. (7-8)
B. Remember how God spoke to me (Moses) about the commandments. (9-11)
1. Moses went alone to receive the Word of God. (9)
2. Moses heard from God after a time of fasting and concentrating on God. (9)
3. God wrote the Law on stone. (10)
4. Every day that Moses was the on the mountain receiving the Law was a year the Children
of Israel spent in the wilderness. (11)
IV. God sees the wickedness of a nation in more detail than we do. (12-15).
A. Notice that God saw the wickedness before Moses did. (12)
Observation #1 – We look at our country and are shocked at the wickedness that we see; but God sees what we see plus what we do not see, and the wickedness in the hearts of everyone. (12)
Observation # 2 - God knows what is happening, and He knows why it is happening. (13)
B. God determines to judge the sins of the people. (14)
1. Moses descends the mountain while God determines to judge the people.
2. This is the position of people today; we’re seeing what God is determining to judge.
3. It is vital to our own welfare that we see the wickedness around us as God sees it.
Next Sunday: We will see what Moses did in response to the sins of the people, and the coming judgment of God.