Amen so Deuteronomy chapter 33. We're closing in real closer to the end
This will actually be the last midweek service for the book of Deuteronomy. I'm gonna finish up
The last chapter on Sunday night, so hopefully you don't use that as an excuse to stay away
So I already know what he's preaching more of that Deuteronomy stuff. I'm just gonna slit this one out
It's been a great book. I've already got my next book picked out
I'm really excited to preach that
But I'm not giving it away if you want to know what it is you're gonna have to show up next Thursday
So, I mean, I guess maybe unless you really grease my palm well enough I'm kidding I'm totally kidding
I shouldn't joke like that. But that is that is the case. But anyway Deuteronomy chapter 33. This is a great passage, of course
Moses's last words, you know, these are really significant and he's here
You know giving out a blessing and if we want to just jump right into it
We'll look in at verse 1 it says and this is the blessing
Wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death
He said and he said the Lord came from Sinai and rose up from Seir unto them
He shined forth from Mount Peran and he came with ten thousands of saints
From his right hand went a fiery law for them. I love how it describes
The law that he gave as fiery, you know, it wasn't this
Smooth comfortable law that was just gonna you know, make them feel good. It was a fiery law, you know
It burned it had some heat. It had some power
That's just you know, that is the Word of God
That's not a point. I'm really gonna develop here. It goes on to verse 3. He says yay
He loved the people all his saints are in thine hand and they sat down at thy feet. Everyone shall receive of thy words
Moses commanded us a law even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob and
He was king in Jeshurun when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together
So it says there in verse 5 that when they were coming together receiving the word
You know the heads of the people of the tribe of the tribes of Israel meaning the the people that were considered the rulers
You know the 70 that were appointed
When they came together that he was king in Jeshurun now, what does it mean that it was king now?
Obviously, we know it doesn't mean king in the sense that you know
They put a crown upon his head and a scepter in his hand and that he ruled as a king in the sense that we
Would think of it, but he ruled as a king in a sense that he was the one in charge
You know, he was the ruler at that time
You have to remember during Moses's time, you know, they'd come out of Egypt
But it was before the system of the judges had been instituted
Which is what they were going to go into once they got over into the Promised Land that they would be under God's
System of rule which would have been the judges but prior to that, you know, they had really established
You know a governance a way of governing themselves and Moses, you know and during that time
Temporarily filled in as you know a type of king as it calls them here a king in Jeshurun
Doesn't mean that he was you know of some
You know
Monarchical that's even a word. He wasn't a monarch, you know of some
What's the word I'm looking for of some lineage, you know?
but in the sense that he stood he stood as a king would you know as someone who was an authority as somebody who was
in charge during that time and
What that she really and I kind of want to focus it on this part because that's interesting that it refers to him as a king
You know and that's something that as we're seeing Moses pass off the scene here
You know to remind ourselves of who Moses was and what Moses what was Moses, you know, he was a ruler
You know and he was somebody that was in charge, you know, he was somebody that had
authority and what that should show us is that
What we could learn from Deuteronomy one of the many things we can learn is that you know
Somebody has to be in charge in order for things to run smoothly in order for God's work to go forward in order for his
Will to be accomplished
Somebody's got to be in charge
You know had they've just left it up to the people of Israel if they had said, okay Egypt or Israel
Go ahead. You decide what you want to do here very early on they would have they would have turned back to Egypt
I mean how many times do we see him as we were reading through the book of Deuteronomy?
You know longing for the leaks and the onions and the cucumbers of Egypt how many times they talked about turning back and stoning Moses
And had gotten disgruntled and been out of shape
You know if the people had been in charge
They would have turned back, you know, and they probably wouldn't have made it
God probably would have just destroyed him at that point
But what that shows us is that somebody has to be in charge
When there's a body there when there's a group of people that have a goal that God wants to accomplish
somebody has to step up somebody has to be the leader and
You know even you know and people have a problem with that, you know, that's something that's not really a popular message a lot of times
But that's just the fact of the matter. I mean think about that in any other
You know situation, you know, every company has leaders
They have supervisors and managers and you know district managers and and CEOs and so on and so forth
There's people that make decisions who have authority over other people, you know, that's the way it goes in the world the business world
You know we could think about in many other settings, you know in schools and institutions of learning
I mean, there's people that you know, if they're gonna get something done
Someone's got to be the one that draws the line in the sand and says this is the way it's going to be
And you know that that's the same way it is in the church to today in the local church
You know the local church has to have
Somebody in charge to say this is the way it's going to be here
And of course that person has to you know rule based upon this book, you know, they're not free to just make up
Whatever they want. They're not free to do as the Pharisees did teach for doctorate teach for commandments
You know the traditions of men they have to of course be in line. This is the ultimate authority
We all understand that but somebody has to stand up and say well, here's the authority
Let's go to it and we're gonna make our decision based on what it says
Somebody's got to be in charge. Somebody's got to lead somebody's got a rule
Otherwise, you know things go to pot really quick and a lot of people they don't like that today
You know a lot of people want to sit out of church
They don't like the idea they you know, they don't they like they don't like the idea of somebody having
Authority over them now, obviously within the church that authority only extends so far
It only extends as far as you know, the church is concerned
You know, the church leadership can't come over to your house and you know inspect you and say hey, we're gonna take a quick walk
I mean, this is you know, it's not like that
Obviously there's a limit
Okay, but as far as what takes place in the church house how things are gonna be how are things are gonna be run
What's gonna be allowed what's not gonna be allowed?
Somebody's got to stand up and and you know be the leader and of course
That's that's the the elder or the pastor, you know
or the bishop is what the Bible uses these terms interchangeably and
if you would go over to Hebrews chapter 13 because I do want to talk about this for a minute because this is something I
Think that we need to be reminded of
That there is an authority in the local church, you know, and there's a way we should treat
Authority in the local church. There's a way we should conduct ourselves toward it
You know specifically, you know how we'll get in here well, we'll get in here in a minute
But let's just look at Hebrews chapter 13
In Hebrews chapter 13. It says in verse 7
Remember them which have the rule over you
Who has spoken unto you the Word of God? So who does that sound like somebody who's speaking to you the Word of God?
It's you know, it sounds like a pastor. It sounds like a bishop sounds like an elder
You know somebody who's speaking to the Word of God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversations
Remember them jump down to verse 17. He says obey them that have the rule over you
And submit yourselves for they watch for your souls now who's the type who's the person in your life?
That's gonna be watching for your soul
Who's gonna be caring about your spiritual needs that's gonna be your pastor. It's gonna be your church leadership
That's what that's the role that they're gonna fulfill and the Bible saying here that you got to remember them and you ought to obey
them
He says for they watch for your souls as they that must give account
That they may do it with joy and not with grief for that isn't profitable for you
So, you know, you can't really read this passage without pointing that out
Every time you read it is that you know, he's saying obey them that have the rule over you
But notice there at the end
He says you the reason why you need to obey
And so that they can give an account that they may do with joy and not with grief for that. It's unprofitable for
You right we get this idea that you know
If we just buck against the church and we rebel and we you know, we tell the pastor off and you know
And we're just we're gonna you know, we're not gonna obey. We're not gonna submit. We're not gonna let them rule over us
That somehow, you know, we're gonna come out on top and they're the ones that are gonna suffer
But that's not what the Bible says
The Bible says if we develop that kind of an attitude, we're the ones that are gonna suffer
You know, we're the ones that are not going to profit
You know, the church will continue the church will go on the pastor will be just fine
You know, he'll still you know his because his spirituality doesn't depend on your depend upon, you know, our obedience
You know, he has his own walk with God that he's accountable for
But if we buck against the church if we you know scoff at what's being taught us from the Word of God
You know, we're the ones that are gonna suffer not the church
You know we and that's that's that is the truth
I mean I could we could sit I could get up here and tell you, you know, we might even know people
You know, you're not to be in church real long to know people that just get out of church get backslidden
They they don't they don't care about the things of God
I mean do does that do them any good are they profiting from that we would go?
No, they're not doing it. In fact, things are getting worse for them. But did the church suffer?
I mean, obviously, you know the body suffers in the sense that the work of God, you know
That person is no longer there to do the work that they could do
But it's not like the church has to close its doors
It's not like you know
The pastor just all of a sudden doesn't know what to preach anymore and the Holy Spirit was talking to him because somebody got disgruntled
Okay
The only person that suffers is the person who's not willing to obey the word person is not willing to remember
And notice here at the end. This is kind of the point. I want to
Focus in here in a minute in verse 24
It says salute all them that have the rule rule over you and all the Saints they have Italy salute you now
I don't think he means literally like, you know salute all of them, you know, I probably didn't even do it, right
I wasn't in the military, but that's not what he's talking about. Like a military salute a salute is like a hail a greeting, right?
Now, I think it's beyond just your casual, you know, what were we doing? Whenever ever coming like
All right. I think if that's your attitude towards your passage like I get when we're joking around stuff
but like if you were to just constantly come in and just
You know, that's not that's not what it's talking about it's like hey, how are you doing pastor, you know, how you doing brother?
You know, it's a it's a respectful greeting, you know, it's an acknowledging of them and the position that they hold
Okay, which is something we should do for everybody
I mean, that's why he says they are there at the end. They have Italy salute you, you know, it's not just for the pastor
But it needs to be there for the pastor. Okay, so it's interesting here
And really this is a whole sermon we could preach these three points
Remember obey salute, you know, those are three things. We should remember when it comes to church authority
So first of all, you know remember
Remember then which had the rule over you. That's the first that's where it starts
You know, we need to remember that there is an authority in the local church. Don't forget that there's somebody in charge
Don't forget that the church don't think that the church is, you know a free-for-all that it's like an anything-goes situation
And that I could just do whatever I want and there's not too many consequences
I can teach whatever I want and get involved in whatever sin, however, I want I
Could treat people however, I want and there's not gonna be consequences
No, there is an authority that's gonna hold us accountable to the things that we do say teach whatever. Okay?
It's not a free-for-all. It's not an anything-goes situation in the church. So he says remember that you know, that's a good
Just keep that in mind
And he goes on and says obey
If you would keep something Hebrews, I'm just telling you ahead of time. We're gonna come back later
But he says obey them that have the rule over you
And submit yourself. So, you know, it's not enough just to acknowledge, you know, remember and say oh, yeah, there's an authority here
That's great. But that's just the first step
now we have to go to the next step which is to actually obey that authority and again that authority has its limits as
As lined out in the scripture, okay, they're not to be lords over God's heritage, but in samples to the flock, okay
so but that authority does exist it's still there and
And what that authority decides, you know, that's not up for debate it's not up for
You know to to you know squabble about you know, when Church Authority makes a decision
It's expected that it's you know, it's it's obeyed
You don't necessarily even have to agree with it, but he at least respect the decisions that the local church makes
Yeah
And really one of the major things that this would apply in is
What we were talking about over the last several Sundays that series about get right or get out
You know that there's certain sins that people can get kicked out of a church for and you know
That's one area that people need to obey church leadership in that if church the church leadership decides this person is worthy of
According to 1st Corinthians 5 and other passages of being kicked out of local church, you know
We should obey the authority
By and obey the Bible by not having fellowship with that person so that they can feel the full weight of
What the consequences of what they've done so that they would repent and get right? Okay
We would admonish them as a brother right? And what is that admonishment? We talked about this already
It's it's enforcing that distance that of saying hey, I'm not sorry
I can't have fellowship with you while you're in sin when you get right and come back
You know when you repent we can be friends again. That's the admonishment. It's not oh, I feel so sorry for you
You're right pastors such a jerk. I can't that's not what it's talking about
You know, just go over to my place, you know, I'll tell you what's going on. Let's get some coffee
That's not admonishing him as a brother and I've already preached that I'm not gonna go off on it
So anyway, but I want to look at here though. And here's the thing if you don't obey the authority how then isn't it authority?
How do you say? Oh, yeah, it's an authority, but it doesn't pray to pertain to me
But I'm above that authority then it's not really an authority is it?
What makes it an authority is the fact that it's obeyed? Okay
But the part I want I would just kind of focus in on here because I know there's a whole lot more else we could be
Talking about tonight but is is the part where it says salute all them that have the rule over you
And I think this is an important thing and this is something that you know
I've never struggled with as a lay person if somebody was a member of the church not in leadership
But you know, this is something that I've struggled with, you know having become the deacon. Okay, and that's you know acknowledging
people in authority
Properly and with respect. Okay, what I mean, I struggle with that is that when I first got ordained deacon, you know
people started addressing me differently most people and
And at first I was like, hey, you know what?
You don't have to call me that you don't have to call me deacon or whatever and some people insisted but since then I've learned
You know what? No you you do need to
You need to call me deacon. You need to call me brother. You know, you need to you need to put
you know, you need to put some kind of a
Calling me by my first name is
Not giving me the level of respect that I believe I deserve as the deacon not because of who I am
But because of the position that I've been given as a deacon as a ruler in the church
As somebody who's speaking under the Word of God watching for your soul so on and so forth, you know
And this isn't really something I struggle
That goes on down here. I really don't worry about it has happened elsewhere, you know, and even outside the context of church
You know people that should know to do it don't and I'm not you know
Trying to just get it off my chest or anything, but I think it's something that we need to we need to keep in mind
Okay, now here's the thing it's something some people they they do it they don't even realize they're doing it they say hey Corbin
How's it going?
Right and I give a lot of grace and this is you know
This is something I thought should I talk about this and then this kind of came up in the scripture
I'm like, well now it's time to talk about it. So
Here's the thing people that just call me my first name a lot of times are just doing it because they don't know any better
They're not doing it out of disrespect. They're not doing it out of
They it's not because they don't respect me. It's just that they've never been taught. They'd never learned
They've never picked up on it. They hey, you should address church leadership as deacon Corbin, you know brother Corbin
Or if you if you like my last name as much as I do brother Russell
I mean, I don't know why that hasn't caught on that's a cool last name if you ask me
Everyone likes Corbin not quite as cool. Okay, but Russell I think it's pretty good. But whatever as long as there's a brother
Deacon something like that, you know, I think that needs to be there
You know, that's what he's saying here, you know salute all them that have the rule over you acknowledge them now
You know remember them show them the respect that they're worthy of not just you know at this this
You know casual first name basis. I
Don't think that's appropriate. You know, I've never called any of my pastors by their first name
You know, even after being ordained deacon, I don't call I don't walk up to pastor Anderson. Hey Steve. How you doing? I
Mean that seems so foreign to me even just saying it here, you know as a as a an example
You know, I feel I feel weird about it, you know, I always call him pastor, you know
I think that's important because here's the thing
some people they they'll just call people by their first name kind of unknowingly just because they haven't learned and if there's no
Disrespect intended. I believe that
But some people they leave off that they'll leave it off on purpose
It's like a passive-aggressive jab where they'll just be like, hey Steve hey Corbin
You know, they'll make a point of not addressing you as brother as pastor as deacon
Because they don't want to acknowledge the fact that you have a certain level of authority to some degree
so
You know
That's just something I thought I'd point out there because of the fact that it refers to Moses as a king that he was a ruler
That if there's any body of people
You know when a body comes together the people of God
They're gonna do something somebody's got to be in charge and there has to in order for that person to be in charge
The body has to acknowledge that person to some degree. I'm not saying you have to call me king, you know
You don't have to put a crown on me and all hail, you know long live the king Corbin
It's you know, but hey, could you throw the brother on there?
You know, just throw the deacon even if you feel at deacon always seems odd to me
But I guess that's just because I've never heard it
But you know one of those
Now here's the thing
You know that what this should show us is that you know
Authority is something that demands humility in the person who's leading
Because of the fact that when you're put in a position of leadership and I'm not and even not just the position as you know
A deacon or a pastor, you know, everybody in this room is a leader to some degree in some area
There's a lot in their lives, you know, well, there's fathers in here. There's mothers in here
There's older siblings in here that are an example that are leaders. And those are all important positions. I mean very important and
We all have to understand that as leaders
Humility is absolutely
Necessity and necessary because here's the thing if you start maybe I start to like, you know
You call and be deacon a little too much, you know, maybe I just start to say, you know
What don't you drop the brother? It's deacon wrestle from here on out and and
You know, it's dressed me as sir deacon wrestles, you know, I could let that go to my head
You know that and this could get me puffed up, you know
And that's why being an authority demands humility. And of course, why was Moses such a great leader?
I mean, we'll see here in a little bit when Moses died
The Bible says there rose not a prophet like him in all of Israel
I mean, I that's gonna be a long line in heaven to shake that man's hand
I mean that guy was a great man of God when you're when you're coming back in the transfigure on the Mount of Transfiguration
In Christ in the New Testament and you're appearing alongside Elijah and the Lord Jesus Christ. You're somebody I mean you rank in heaven
Alright now, how did he get there?
Because of his humility the Bible also says that he was the meekest man of all the men on the earth
There wasn't a meeker man than him
So that's something we have to keep in mind if we're going to be
Good leaders if we're going to lead is we have to be humble people. We can't let it go to our heads
and
The other kind of the last couple things I kind of close this thought out on is that you know
We don't have to love leadership
You know, it's great if we do, you know, I know I do
We don't have to love them. We don't even have to really like
Leadership, you know, we don't have to be their best friend people that are in charge
You know, but here's the thing we have to respect them, you know, not everybody had to love Moses
Not everybody had to send Moses, you know a box of chocolates on Valentine's Day or whatever just to show how much they loved him
But they had to respect him. They had to respect the position that he had. Maybe they didn't like his personality
Maybe Moses rubbed them the wrong way
Maybe they didn't really appreciate the way he did things but they respected the decisions that he made and that's another thing
We need to learn about leadership as well
And here's the thing we'll learn to respect leadership the way we should when we understand the purpose of leadership
Specifically in the local church and you could apply this even in the home
You know parent, you know children will have a lot more respect for their parents when they understand something
Just like you know a church will have respect for the man of God
When they understand that they're there for their own benefit, you know, they're there for their good
They're there to what watch for their souls
And I think you could apply that to any parent any parent worth their salt is gonna be watching for the soul of their children
They're gonna be caring about whether or not that child understands the gospel that they're saved that they know about the things of God
That they're gonna live a clean and pure and holy life as much as is possible
That they're you know, not that they're gonna be perfect, but that they're gonna be pleasing to God. That's their number one priority
We'll respect leadership more when we understand that's what they're there for
They're not there to just you know, because I like the sound of their own voice or they like, you know
Having everybody's attention or whatever
They're there because they're trying to do what the Bible says which is to watch for their souls that they may give an account with joy
That they're there to what to to to
Be an example to the flock
It says there to remember them considering the end of their conversation whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation
Considering the end of the conversation what direction are they heading in life?
What is their purpose and manner of life last Timothy said or Paul said to Timothy that was both know my manner and purpose of life
You know what I'm about, you know what we're here to do
And that's when we'll start to really respect the leadership the way we should we understand that what they're there to do is to guide
Us to lead us and to edify the body of Christ
So just kind of closing thought on this because we got a lot more to get into is that you know Moses under the inspiration
You say well, that's pretty puffed up a Moses to sit there, you know, cuz again Moses wrote this, you know
Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost referred to himself as a king and he was king in Jeshurun
You know, he wrote that you say well, that's really it's real puffed up. You need to insist that people call you brother deacon
You know, no, it's not it's it's just me asking for the the the title
That you know the respect that I feel that I'm entitled to you know
So I don't I'm not a doormat that people can just walk all over
Now I could take it if people want to it's happened it's gonna happen again people are just gonna refer to me
They're not they're just gonna disregard me and just say hey Corbin, you know, and I'll be fine with it
It's no it's no skin off my my back. I'm like, all right. Well
Now I know where you're at, you know, and again if people do it just out of habit, you know in disrespect
that's not a big deal either but
Moses didn't write that because he's puffed up, you know, he wrote that and he referred himself as
King now, why did he do that?
Because and this is something everybody that's in a leadership position or one day will be say well
I'm not a leader one day you might be though one day you might be the the supervisor
You might be the manager. You might be the pastor. You might be the deacon. You might be the dad
You might be the mom
You might be the older sibling, you know
You will be in a position of being a leader of being an example to somebody else of you know
Being you know, trying to care and watch over somebody else
And what we need to understand is that you need to you need to demand that respect because of the fact that
You need to demand that that's what I'm trying to say. You need to demand that respect from those that you're
You're you're you're leading you should insist upon it
Say hey, no, it's it's it's brother. It's pastor
you know that and nobody in this room has a struggle but
You know, it's probably more for the internet, you know a real good way to not get your email read or your voicemail listened to
You know is when you start out with tell Steve
And you say does that happen all the time people want you know, the pastor's attention, you know, they want to talk to them about something
But they can't even they don't even have enough respect to just address them as the type with this proper title pastor
Now again, some people do it out of just habit or whatever. They don't know any better. It's not a big deal
But other times, you know when you read that you could just kind of hold your breath
You're like, oh here it comes and sure enough, you know next couple sentences. Just turn it
You know, yeah, that's what I thought. Okay
But leaders need to demand respect, you know to be treated with respect for by those that they're leading
For for their for the leaders sake and also for theirs, okay
But let's move on from that point. Let's go over to back to Deuteronomy chapter 33
We'll get into the specific blessing right now doesn't this blessing, you know
Don't you think this blessing carried more weight with these people because it was coming from Moses?
Because it was coming from a leader that they respected that a man who had authority in their life
You know, they didn't the Lord didn't just pull some bum off the street and say bless my people. I mean what?
Who's this guy, you know, who cares what he thinks about us?
but when they have this man that's been leading them and and and imploring them and
dealing with them and loving on them and being patient with them and
Everything that's gone along with Moses leading them through the wilderness and
His last words he stands up and starts to give them a blessing
Don't you think that carried some weight with these people it had to of course it did
And says in verse 8 and of Levi he said
Let thy thumb in thy Urim be with thy Holy One whom thou didst prove at Mesa and with whom thou didst
Strive at the waters of Meribah those are that's referring to the same incidents where they talked about
How they brought him out of the desert to die of thirst and he had to smite the rock and waters came out
It's Mesa in that area of Meribah. It's talking about that or that's probably backwards, but it's the same area
It's like a region and then a place
anyway
He says in verse 9 who said unto his father and to his mother
I have not seen him neither did he acknowledge his brethren
Nor knew his own children for they have observed thy word and kept thy covenant
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law
Of course, that was what Levi did that was their job was to teach the Word of God to preach the Word of God unto them
They should put incense before thee and hold birth sacrifice upon thine altar. We understand that that was their job for the Lord
He said in verse 11 blessed Lord his substance and accept the work of his hands
Smite through the loins of them that rise against him and of them that hate them that they raise
Rise not again. So again, I think this kind of gets back into this idea of
respecting
leadership because again the Levites
They were the spiritual leaders in Israel
You know
they're there when they're responsible for setting up the tabernacle breaking it down accepting the
Sacrifices the people offering them before the altar maintaining the house of God
I mean they were the spiritual leaders in Israel after Moses, right?
And it says there that when he's giving up this blessing, you know part of it is at the end there
He says smite through the loins of them that rise against him
And he's like it's this is a blessing unto his unto Levites
But a curse under those that would rise against him and of them that hate him
So he says through he says there smite through their loins and that's talking about, you know your lap area
That's your that's your loins, you know from your hip to your knee
It's kind of you know, that thigh area your lap area that's talking about your loins. Okay, and he's saying smite through their loins
them that rise up against them those that would rise up against Levi and
And challenge him or hate on him or seek to destroy him or do him harm
Let them let them be let's smite through their loins Lord. That's what he's praying and
That's a you know, that's a real heavy
You know, you didn't say smack him on the wrist or you know beat him on I'd rather have somebody
You know shove a stick in my eye practically then then be thrust through that area, right?
But that's what he's saying. This is a very severe punishment
And you know
what, you know, I want to kind of apply this spiritually here obviously, but
Well, I was thinking about this
Like how could we apply this because we read these things and you we want to make application to our own life
And the thing I thought of is the fact that sometimes people, you know, they get a bad attitude towards their pastor
You know mom or dad and I you know
And I've seen this and in the past to be perfectly honest before I got to pay for it
I had to check this in my own self. In fact, this is a big reason why I got out of the church
I was in because I was having a hard time
Respecting the pastor and I was saying man. I don't want to turn on these guys
That's gonna you know, get in the car after church and just start bad-mouthing the pastor in front of my kids
You know what I mean?
And here's the thing people do that they get they get in the car or they're at home and you know
You're just talking to your spouse and you just start bad-mouthing the preacher. You're bad-mouthing the leadership
You know what you're doing you're smiting through your loins
Your kids are hearing that, you know, the ones that have come from your loins in a spiritual sense. You're being smitten and
There's and there and then you wonder why those same kids
You know rebel in their teenage years why they don't show any respect for the pastor
Because there's thing as children, you know, they kids learn how to play the part
They know how to how to how to look the part and and get ever and fool everyone and I've seen it and they're in
Inwardly, they look perfect on the outside. They got everything right dialed in but inwardly they're just counting down the days
How much longer time 18? I'm out of here. I've seen it. Okay
And we don't want that
That's why we ought to check ourselves how we talk about and our attitudes towards that we that we have towards leadership
especially in front of our children
Because here's the thing our bitterness and our resentment
Towards the man of God that could lead to our children's full-on rebellion later in life
So that you know, I'm just trying to make applications and go through here
I'm just thinking about these things I've seen and heard and he says smite them through the loins that they rise not again
And I think this is a good point for those that are in leadership to understand
Is that they if you let the Lord do it if you let the Lord fight your battles
They will not rise again
The Bible says the man of God must not the servant of Lord must not strive would be gentle all men apt to teach
Patients apt to teach he's not to strive
You should let God do the smiting he should let God take care of business
Because God when God smites there's no getting back from that when God runs somebody through that's it. They're done. They will not rise again
And that's what wise leadership will do. They'll let God deal with rebels
You know these guys that go out they get kicked out of these churches and then they just spend the rest of their life
Making YouTube videos attacking pastors and
Then you and then we go. Well, why aren't the pastors defending themselves? Well one because they're complete bozos
Anybody with with two brain cells to put together can figure out who's right who's wrong in these situations?
I mean half their videos are just full-on, you know half baked
accusations with no merit
But here's the thing wise leadership will just say you know what go ahead make your videos get in your private chat groups
Get together with the other rebels and badmouth and spend the rest of your life doing that if that's what you want to do
I'll let God deal with it and when God sees fit
He'll smite because when God's done with you you're done, and I won't ever have to deal with you again
God's much better at it than we are
You know that's why God said vengeance is mine. I will repay
You know let leave it in the hands of the Lord. That's what wise leadership would do
Let's move on here in our in our sermon. He says in verse 12 and of Benjamin
He said the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him and the Lord shall cover him all the day long
And he shall dwell between his shoulders
Now sometimes the shorter blessings are the sweetest. I mean you know Levi here just got what like three or four verses
You know Judah got some in there Benjamin gets just this real quick one right and other ones are short too, but man
Out of all the blessings you can I I think we could apply every one of these to ourselves and that you know that take
all night to do that but
Specifically Benjamin you read that you're like that's the one I want
The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him. I mean, that's me and you you know we're loved of God
You know we're God's children, and we'll dwell in safely in safety by him. You know if we're doing right. We're living light
We're walking with the Lord we can be free from the fear of all evil
You know the peace of God will keep our hearts and mind through Christ Jesus our Lord
Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them
We started getting offended we start to get fret we start to worry
When we get started getting away from this book the farther away we get from God and his word
That's when the the the cares of this world start to creep in and choke out our hearts
But the beloved the Lord shall dwell safely by him and the Lord shall cover him all the day long
He shall dwell between his shoulders, and it's the picturing of him just carrying Benjamin between his shoulders. Just covering it keeping him safe
It's a beautiful picture of God's love towards us and the protection that he offers us first 13
He says and of Joseph. He said blessed be the Lord
Blessed be of the Lord excuse me blessed of the Lord be his land for the precious things of heaven
For the dew and for the deep that coucheth beneath now the deep that coucheth
It's talking about I believe what we refer to as you know groundwater
And say is that really that important. Oh, yeah
That's very important
Especially out here in a desert
You know we're I think most places around here are pumping in water from
You know surface lakes other you know miles and miles and miles away
And everyone's always like well, what about the sustainability of the southwest you can't keep going growing out there in the water
But what they don't realize is that the city of Tempe I've heard this I probably should have fact-checked it
I'm kind of shooting off the from the hip right now
But I was told that the city of Tempe is sitting on one of the biggest underground aquifers in the state
You know so everyone's freaking out, and then Tempe is just biding their time like don't worry when that water gets scarce
we got a plan you know and it's gonna cost a little bit, but
But it just goes to show you that you know having groundwater is a huge blessing
There's the things that we take for granted. You know we just go over
Get a glass of water
Well, hopefully you're not doing that get a glass of water you drink
I mean Tucson might not be so bad because they don't fluoridate, but I mean up in where I live
It's like is that milk
Is that skim milk coming out of my sink right now I
Haven't drink it. I don't think I've had a single drop of tap water on purpose
You know and we always go to the store, but I don't know why I'm even bringing that up
but he's saying here look you know bless him bless the even the water that's underneath his feet and
Well, I like verse 14. I thought this was interesting. He says and for the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun
He's saying bless his vineyards and his orchards
you know let him have lots of citrus and bananas and and
Dates and all the vet you know all the vegetables and fruits that would grow from these plants
he says the precious fruits brought forth by the Sun right and
For the precious things put forth by the moon
He's saying well the things I brought forth by the moon. You know what's what's this referring to?
Well, you know he's saying you know
There's the things that come from the Sun and things the precious things by the moon
You know there's a lot of beautiful flowers that only bloom at night
You know I looked this up. I was like that's interesting. I looked it up. I said I typed in like
Plants that grow by moonlight, and there was like just 20 of these just rare plants
Just these beautiful flowers and things like that
And some of them not so rare that bloom at night that grow by by the moonlight
Which is again just the reflection of the Sun I?
Thought that was very interesting and God's saying bless that too
Yeah
So what's interesting about that is that a lot when I was reading up about
These plants that grow by night by moonlight now. I was thinking you know there are a lot of them
We're just flowers now our flowers are what's the word that's going around right now our flowers?
Essential
Our flower is an essential plant no of course not I mean they aren't for pollination and things like that right we understand that
You know different vegetables that they put flowers. They pollinate yeah
But you know there's some of them that we could probably they could just go extinct tomorrow and everything would just carry on
Right what I thought about was the lilac you know I don't who knows about like who's ever smelled lilacs
Anyone who's kind of lit do they have them down here in Arizona?
I don't think I've seen them
But up in Michigan they had these just we had one in our front yard and my mom's house just a huge bush
just full it would and it only come out for a couple weeks during the spring and
Then the whole alleyway was just full of them and man you'd go out during a certain time of year
And just the fragrance that filled the air. It was just it was great. It was beautiful
It smelled so much better than the corners of 48th and Southern
You know what I mean in Phoenix. I mean there's some places in certain cities where it's like give me a clothespin man
I don't need to smell it. You know what I mean, so when you smell these beautiful aromas, man
That's it's it's just great that God's given us these things
So I mean what's that showing us is that you know God when he blesses us
He not only does he just give us the things that we need
But he also gives us things that we would just enjoy things that aren't necessarily you know essential or necessary
But things that are just precious in the sense that you know they're not always around
They're just nice. It's like a privilege to get to smell that or to enjoy that I thought that was interesting
That you know God gives us more than just what we need you know God could just be like
You know crust of bread glass of water and say thank you
Right and he'd be right to do that. I mean if God never did another thing for us
He's done more. I mean he's already that'd be fine because he's already done so much
I mean God saves you he doesn't I mean what he doesn't have to do anything for you
And you're still blent beyond measure
Well, then he kind of adds to it and says I'll give you the fruit and how about some flowers, too?
So
I thought that was that was really something let's go on here in verse 15
He says and for the chief things of the ancient mountains of the precious things the lasting hills and for the precious things of the earth
and the fullness thereof and
For the goodwill of him that dwelt in the bush
Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph upon the top of the head so Joseph. I mean
You know Benjamin got a nice one here, but got he's really laying on thick here with Joseph
And he's like bless this thing give him this precious thing and this precious thing
The hills and the water and the flowers the fruit just give it all Joseph. Just bless him bless him bless him
Why is that look here at the end he says?
Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren
You know he I feel like he's paying him back for everything that Joseph went through and of course
We know the story of Joseph that Joseph was sold into slavery by his very brethren
For no good reason at all other than they despised him and the love that his father had towards
And they despised him because he was Joseph. He was his favorite of his father
You know had the coat of many colors they threw him in the pit
They sold him into bondage, and he took it and now you know his his progenitors later not as progenitors
But his his seat after him
They're being blessed on his behalf
He's saying look bless him with all these things that upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren
Look the tribe of you know of Manasseh and Ephraim
They were not separated from their brother from their brethren Joseph
The person was the individual the man Joseph was the only one that was separated from his brethren
And what that shows us is that you know God rewards those that suffer on his behalf and
Even Joseph at the end of his life understood that his the suffering he went through
Was ordained of the Lord that God let it happen. I'll remind us of what he said in Genesis 50 when his brethren came to him
after
Israel had died and they were scared they were afraid of what was going to happen
What how Joseph was gonna react and he's any calm them he put him at ease and he said
For God is not unrighteous to forget your work or excuse me. I'm getting ahead of myself
You're still in Hebrews go to Hebrews 6
Genesis he didn't say that he said this but as for you ye thought evil against me
He's saying look you did mean it for evil. You were trying to do something bad
You know what you did was wicked. I did suffer. I was in jail. I was falsely accused of different things
You know, I wasn't in my familiar land. I was a stranger
You know, he did suffer greatly
I mean, I can't imagine the heartache that that Joseph went through in those early years and you know throughout his whole life
He said you thought evil against me but God meant it unto good to bring to pass as it is this day to save much
people alive
He was he was able to go through that suffering and look back and not get bitter about it
But to say you see the silver lining and see the purpose behind it
And the late and what's showing us is that God blesses those that are willing to go through that
That our latter end will be blessed if we're willing to suffer
You know, maybe we'll be separated from from some people in our life for the cause of Christ, you know
We might lose some friends, you know, we might lose some family members. You might have people not want anything to do with us anymore
You know and it might hurt
And they might understand there might be confusing of them. They might not get it and
We might suffer maybe you know, we take a stand for Christ. It could cost us a job
It can cost us a promotion II I mean, you know all they that will live godly Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution
I don't know what form it's going to come
But if you're living godly in Christ Jesus
You can mark it down that you are going to suffer persecution to some degree or another and some in some way shape or form
It's coming and if we're willing to go through with it for God's sake he will bless us
Just like he did Joseph
Look in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 10 for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love
You know if we if we work and labor for the Lord God's not gonna forget that
God looked down at Joseph many, you know his his
You know many generations later Moses is praying a blessing upon him for this for Joseph's sake and God said, you know
What I will do it for Joseph's sake I will do all these things that he's asking
I will give them all these blessings
Because I'm not unrighteous to forget all the work and the labor of love that Joseph's did on my behalf
Let's move on here in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy will get start back up in verse 17
He's going on here about Joseph's amore
He says his glory is like the first thing of his bullock and his horns are like the horns of unicorns
With them he shall push the people together to the ends of their earth
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim and they are the thousands of Manasseh and of Zebulun
He said rejoice Zebulun in thy going out at Issachar in thy tents
They shall call the people under the mountain and there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness
they shall suck of the abundance of the seas and the treasures that are hidden the sand and
Of Gad he said blessed be he that enlargeth Gad
He dwelleth as a lion and tereth the arm with the crown of the head
He provided the first part for himself because there is no portion of the lawgiver for he
Was excuse me was he seated and he came with the heads of the people
He executed justice of the Lord and his judgments with Israel and of Dan
He said Dan is a lion's whelp. He shall leap from Bashan now when you first read the one about Dan
You think is he kind of taking a jab at Dan there and calling him a whelp, you know, he's talking like he's a lion's cub
right now
What's more frightening a lion or a lion's cub a lion's whelp we look at the lion's wealth we go
You know, we want to pick we want to take it home with us
You know, we forget that's gonna grow up and be turned into a man-eater, right?
You know that I mean the little baby tigers
You know and then you spend you get on YouTube and you see that the tiger coming out of the gym who saw that video
The guy chasing the two guys on the motorcycle. I mean good night
We we've got upset because of deer jumps out in front of us
You know, we hit a possum or something on the way home
We still have tigers jumping out of the woods and chasing you, you know at 20 to 30 miles an hour
Trying to eat your flesh
right
But that's how he's not taking a jab at Dan
He's like we taught him a whelp for you know, but yet he's saying he shall leap from Bashan
Right and Bashan if you remember like og king of Bashan was one of the the kings that they defeated on the other side Jordan
So when he's saying about Dan it is he's going to leap from Bashan like a lion's whelp
You know like leaping like pouncing you would think
So he's coming from the east into Canaan over Jordan, right?
so what it's picturing is that because again, you know this the same terminology was used by
Joseph back in Genesis 49
You know or excuse me Jacob when he was when he was giving out the blessings upon Israel then
And he said Judah is a lion's whelp
From my from the prey my son thou are gone up
He stooped down he couched as a lion as an old lion who shall rouse him up
So he's talking about the power that he was gonna have, you know militarily and he's gonna be very powerful
That's what he's saying about Dan. He's going to come out of the East
Into the promised land like a lion's whelp meaning once he gets in there
He's gonna grow strong into a full, you know, full bred animal. So that's the picture there of Dan
He's you know, it's not because when I first read that I'm kind of like
Man, it sounds like you're kind of call him a Nancy or something, you know, like
Caught him weak. No, it's the exact opposite
He's saying he's gonna he's starting out weak, you know or small but he's gonna go
He's gonna grow very big when he goes over there in verse 23. He says and of Naphtali. He said Oh Naphtali
Satisfied with flavor and the full and full with blessing of the Lord
Possessed thou the West and the South now obviously I don't have time to go through every one of these blessings and you know
That would be a whole series in of itself
So I'm just kind of reading through some of these, you know, and obviously each one of these are specific, you know
Literal blessings that Moses prayed upon these specific people and we could take the time to really, you know
spiritualize these and apply them to
ourselves today
We'll just touch on a few here and he says an end of Asher let Asher be blessed with children
Let him be acceptable to his brethren. So again, there's another great verse that shows you that
Having children is the blessing of the Lord
Which is a countercultural statement today
You want to stand out and be unique and be different from everybody around you have kids
You'll stand out
You know people will notice you at the grocery store and it doesn't take very many
You know, I mean, I know several families that have you know
six plus kids and they're always they were always telling me the stories about
People making comments and I thought man that's got to be kind of awkward
But I remember when I had my third people started making comments. I'm like man. I'm only two three
I felt unworthy, you know, it's like I haven't even suffered enough to receive these, you know, all the dumb comments
We will close the let's get a TV
Yeah, it's like good one buddy. Yeah, I haven't heard that a hundred times
But here's the thing, you know having kids is not a burden having kids is not a curse
You know having kids is a blessing. That's what he prayed on Asher. He said let Asher be blessed with 1.8 children
You know as many as he can afford
You know, you know, there's some have enough to you know, just replace themselves
Then he said let him be blessed with children meaning let them multiply. Let him be acceptable to his brethren and
Let him dip his foot in oil
Thy shoes shall be bright iron and brass as thy days so shall they'll strengthen
Yeah, you need iron and brass shoes when you have that many kids, you know, cuz you're always
anyway
That's right. That's a dumb joke
So anyway, the blessing here, what are we talking about tonight? Well, what are we what are we looking at here in Deuteronomy chapter 33?
We're looking at the last words of
Probably one of the most powerful if not the most powerful prophet in all the Word of God other than the Lord Jesus Christ
And that's what we just read tonight
These are Moses's last words. I'm not I'm sure I'm not I'm sure there's other things
He said to other people privately but recorded in Scripture. This is what we have from Moses
Him pouring, you know giving out this blessing
you know and it's great because
You know if we recall last week
He gave him that song and we went into that song on Sunday when we talked about it and that was just like a long
face ripping
And he said that song would be a witness and a record against them
Remember how we talked about how he said, you know, the Lord is right
The Lord is just Lord is perfect and you're all a bunch of wicked people and you're all gonna turn into a bunch of wicked people
I mean the song was just this long just scathing rebuke, but here Moses's last words
You know, he of course they're both considered his last words
But the the last of his last words are him pouring out this blessing him giving these positive statements
Not him just calling him a bunch of rebels and reminding all the bad things are gonna happen
He's praying a blessing over him. He wants them to succeed
You know, God wants him to succeed. He's just he just knows the beginning from the end. He knows what's gonna happen
And again, we cut we went into detail on that last Sunday night
So after he gives him that, you know face ripping in chapter 32, he gives out, you know, this it's more gentler kinder, you know
blessing here in the last chapter
You know and this really I think that just shows the fact that Moses, you know, he had a great deal of humility
You know and he didn't because think about it Moses, you know, we knows what's gonna happen to Moses in 34
He's gonna go die and God's already told him, you know, you can go look at the land
but then that's it your it's time for you to go up on the mount and die like your brother and be buried and
Moses could have just you know ended it in verse 32 and just come out the mountain there like from there
That's all I got to see you guys because remember
You know, obviously Moses sinned but the people are kind of part they kind of provoked Moses
You know, they were kind of partly to blame for what's gonna happen to Moses
you know when they're when they're grumbling and moaning complaining and being faithless yet again, and he's getting frustrated and he
Makes a mistake, you know
Obviously Moses should have known better
But they they kind of provoked him to that and Moses, you know
He could have just come off the mount gave him the song and been like, yeah, how do you like that?
You know and just let him go to the promised land, you know ended on a sour note with them
But he doesn't you know, he goes and he praised this blessing
He gives them this blessing and I think that really shows Moses humility and it shows the fact that he has a real heart for
God's people
you know that he would rather than trying to vindicate himself or kind of
You know have the last word or whatever. He was more interested in and then being blessed
You know what he understood that whatever was gonna happen him was gonna happen then he couldn't change that and
Rather than getting bitter about it or angry or just holding a grudge
You know, he praised this blessing and he goes out on a very positive. He gives a very, you know, very positive last
set of statements
And I think that shows us an important principle what you know is that
You know being ending things on a positive note, you know that always that that's gonna win you more flies is the saying goes
right, you win more flies with honey than vinegar and
if you would
Actually just stay where you are. We'll wrap it up here. But I just kind of want to end it with this thought
Because Moses was kind of like a father to these people
I mean in a lot of ways, you know, he carried like he even referred to in that sense
He said I carried you in my bosom, you know
that he made other statements where he kind of likened himself unto like a
spiritual father to these people because he was because he was a leader and
What he's showing us here by going out on this positive note is that if you want to really make a good impression people and
Help them to excel and to do what they need to do, you know positive reinforcement has its place
I mean, I'm not gonna discredit negative reinforcement. There's a time and a place for that. You know, we need to have that
But sometimes I think we can't we can't just be all one-sided and you know
This really applies most of all in the area. I think of child rearing
You know those that are rearing child their children according the Bible they understand that you know the
You know shall beat him with the rod right now
So deliver his soul from hell, you know
He that hateth his child spare at the rod is talking about a beating and we're not talking about like what we think of a beating
Today we're like beating somebody up. It's talking about a spanking, you know
Applying the rod of instruction to the seat of learning. Okay, it's talking about the posterior anatomy
You know the soft cushiony area of the body full of nerve endings
Okay, that can keep you could you know, very strongly persuade children to do the right thing using that
Right, we all understand that but here's the thing. We don't want to get so one-sided. That's all we're about
To where all we are is just just about the negative discipline that has to have its place
It needs to be there and it's important and don't you can't go the other direction either
Be like, well, it's just I'm just gonna be all honey and no vinegar. No, you got to have both
But the point I'm trying to make here is
That let's not be negligent of the fact that there's a place to be for positive reinforcement
That's what Moses I think is showing us by going going passing off the scene
Not being bitter and angry about what's gonna happen to him
But trying to encourage the people that are about to go over the people that he loves and cares for
To go on and succeed and he does it by being positive
Because you know, especially in we get in this the stripe of churches and we love hard preaching I love hard preaching
And we love the the heart, you know race-ripping sermons. That's great
We need that but there's also a place for the positive sermon like you say hey, I want to preach a positive sermon
I was like, oh, you know
Positive preaching the problem is when it's positive only preaching. Okay, that's positive. Preaching is not the problem
Preaching is not the problem. It's when it's all positive and I mean understand the Bible is a negative book and there's probably more if you
For my my impression. There's probably more negative than positive and when we read about the examples of man and so forth and so forth
That's not to say that, you know, having a positive message is a bad thing
so
You know the blessings he's giving here and especially, you know the blessings so far
I mean, it's all positive but when you read these last verses as we're about to in a minute
You know verses 26 on to the end as some of the most just positive preaching you'll ever hear in the Bible. I
Mean, he's just giving this huge blessing
Right. He says there is none like unto the God of Jeshurun who writeth upon heaven in thy help and in the excellent and in
His excellent on the skies the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms
Is this Joel Osteen? No, it's Moses. It's a positive message
And he shall trust thrust out the enemy before thee and shall destroy and shall say destroy them Israel shall dwell a safety alone
The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine
Also as heaven shall drop down do happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee O people saved by the Lord
It's a very positive message. He's giving here and what we can learn from this is that
You know, there's a negative reinforcement has its place but so does positive and
Here and I guess this is the way I want to apply this because I'm always trying to think away
How can we apply this to our lives today? How can we how what can we do with the sermon?
And you know when I think of that we could apply this to parents, you know
Parents that are properly disciplining their children, you know have and have secured the obedience of their children
They don't need to fly off the handle over every transgression
Every time a kid does something wrong or doesn't do things something right or is slow to respond
You know, we as parents don't have to immediately just go to that place of rah
And just get frustrated and a lot of times that's all it is
It's not that we you know, we it's just it's just frustration in our own personal frustration coming out and it's not us
You know trying to help the child discipline them teach them right from wrong
Help them to grow to learn to do the right thing a lot of times, you know, they they do something wrong or whatever
They're not even doing it maliciously and it's like
You know you little go get the you're gonna it's gonna be you know, and we just get mad with them
But here's the thing if we've been properly training our children and
They are obedient. I mean, you know when your kids are obedient
When you can tell your children come here and they come
You know, and that's that's one of the great tests. I think
Early on it with as a parent when a child learns to walk and you know, they've
They know they can exercise their own will they can go where they want
You want to test whether or not you have their their obedience say come here
You know and something you and you teach them early on know when I say come here can you come here?
Well, why is that so important because when they're outside?
Running for the road and I say stop come here. Don't run into traffic. I want him to listen, okay?
Anyway, I'm what I'm saying is once we've once when we know we have the obedience of our children when we've secured it when it's it's
there
We don't have to fly off the handle all the time over every little thing
You know a child who has a tender heart, you know, he's going to obey and he'll he'll obey out of out of you know
In hopes of a blessing as much as they would have hopes of not getting a spanking does that make sense
And the Bible says in Proverbs 25 a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold and pictures of silver a
Word fitly spoken, you know word, you know, we can reprove our children and correct them without without an angry tone
Without just being just furious at them over every little thing
Being some say hey, did you see what you did wrong here?
Do you understand why this is wrong and an obedient children will acknowledge it and there might not even be need
For physical discipline they get it. It's there
Now if they persist obviously we more drastic measures have to be taken
But the Bible goes on and says as an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold. So is a wise reprover
Upon an obedient ear. It's Proverbs 25 verse 11
He says an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold so is a wise reprover somebody who knows how to reprove correctly
Who knows how to say the right thing in the right tone at the right way?
You know, that's like an earring of gold an ornament of fine gold upon an obedient ear somebody who's already learned discipline
Somebody's already learned obedience
somebody already has a tender heart and
and understands, you know right from you know, the
Possibility of a more negative or severe consequences for disobedience that person doesn't need to always be just
Beat down verbally or whatever. We can always just express our frustrations in a in a kinder way. Okay be more of a blessing
You know we can and I'll say this we should and can and we should
Correct our children in a calm demeanor when appropriate
You know, sometimes kids do something and they need to be corrected but that doesn't mean we have to
You know puff up and let get our fur up and you know, turn red and just like slow
I'm gonna come after you now
And it doesn't have to be that way we can correct our children in a very calm demeanor
And here's the thing if we find ourselves just always just
You know puppy just getting frustrated and angry with our children all the time
You know, we have to ask ourselves are we really upset at them are really upset what they're doing
Are we just taking out our frustrations on them?
You know, and this is something every parent I believe has to deal with. I know it's something I have to deal with
You know, the kids are being noisy. They're running around there being kids
You know and you want peace and quiet over next thing, you know, you're just yelling
You know rather than getting up and calmly taking them aside
And giving them, you know the appropriate discipline that they need we're just
Just yelling from the other room. Shut up. Be quiet
You know, we're are we really mad at is that the way to do it are we just venting our own personal frustration
So, I don't know where I was going
You know, I just that's what I got out of this text with Moses, you know
Coming out, you know coming down from this mount and what's the last thing he does he gives him this beautiful blessing
You know, he wants them to obey. He wants them to do the right thing
He wants them to go on and succeed in the Promised Land just like we want our children succeed in life
But he does it with positive reinforcement now the negative was there. I mean go back one chapter
It was certainly there go read the history of the children of Israel and all the things God did to him
You know, they had learned along the way, you know that especially the generation that we're dealing with here in this chapter
They're about to cross over Joshua and younger. They saw everything that happened
They saw all the negative things. They've got I believe these people they have a tender heart and
You know, they prove it because of the fact that this generation goes over and for the most part does well, I
Mean they make mistakes. Nobody's perfect. They went over but by and large they did a good job
And I know if things fall apart quickly, we'll read about that later. Maybe sometime with with Joshua having to remind them. Hey
Choose you this day whom you will serve, you know
So, you know things weren't great forever
But I believe that Moses here is just trying to encourage these people with pot
You know by giving them a positive blessing by saying hey
It doesn't have to be all you know, just it can be there can be some sweetness and light here
It doesn't have to be all just anger and frustration and you're gonna get it and you better straighten up or you you know
This negative reinforcement. He also tries to give some of this positive
That's what he ends here I'm saying verse 29 happy art thou O Israel who is like unto thee Oh
people saved by the Lord
You know, what a privilege to be God's people
the shield of thy help and who is the sword of thy excellency and
Thine enemy shall be found liars unto thee and thou shalt tread upon their high places
And he said this is a positive sermon that he's giving here at the end
and he's reminding them of the privilege that they have of being God's people the the
Surety they have of victory through the Lord, you know, we have that today
You know spiritually we're not gonna do this physically
We're never gonna conquer some land but spiritually, you know, what one day our enemy shall be found liars unto us
Every railing accusation every you know, the accuser of our brethren that stands before the throne day and night, you know accusing our brethren falsely
the devil
You know one day he's gonna be brought before the throne before our feet and be found a liar
We shall judge angels the Bible says
Thou shalt tread upon their high places
And that's the probe, you know, the people that are experienced that are the people that are God's people
They're the ones that have that privilege
That's what Moses reminding them here before he sends them off. His last words are don't forget who you are
Don't forget the privilege that you have of being God's people and that's the way we should feel too
We should read that and we could apply all this to us. Happy are we?
Who is like unto us we are the peculiar people we are, you know a royal priesthood a
Chosen generation. We are a people saved by the Lord
God is our shield. He is our help. He is the sword of our excellency and our enemy shall be found liars
You know, it's a real privilege to be God's people
That's what Moses wanted to remind us of these people and that's what I want to remind us of tonight before we go
Let's go ahead and pray