Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20020925.htm

DEUTERONOMY: GETTING OTHERS TO BE VICTORS, NOT CASUALTIES
Part X: Motivating Others To Heed God By Showing The Personable Ways He Interacts With Them
(Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32)
  1. Introduction
    1. The Bible tells us Moses knew God face-to-face as a friend, Deuteronomy 34:10 and Exodus 33:11a.
    2. This personable God is a delight with Whom to relate, and that FACT can be used to motivate a disciple to heed the Lord as Moses, who knew God face-to-face, exampled for us in Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32:
  2. Motivating Others To Heed God By Showing The Personable Ways He Interacts With Them.
    1. While addressing the Israel before his death, Moses sought to motivate the people to heed the Lord so God could bless them in accord with the Mosaic Covenant, cf. Deuteronomy 1:1-5.
    2. In the process, he sought to show how personable was God, his Friend whom he knew face-to-face, as motivation in a positive way for Israel to heed Him (as follows), Deuteronomy 10:12-11:32:
      1. Moses claimed God expected Israel to respect Him so as to walk in all His ways, and to LOVE Him and serve Him as subjects with all of their heart and soul so He could bless them, Deut. 10:12-13. This command shows God was not neutral about His relationship with Israel, but was a personable God who EXPECTED interaction to the fullest degree with His people so He could BLESS them!
      2. To "sell" Israel on the fact that God was so personable this way toward them, Moses described six major factors of God's relating to Israel as follows, Deuteronomy 10:14-11:32:
        1. First, Moses told how though owning the entire universe, and the earth full of its millions of human inhabitants, God had chosen Israel alone with whom to relate, 10:14-15. Hence, the people of Israel were obliged to return God's gracious attentiveness to them and heed Him, Deut. 10:16!
        2. Second, Moses said God was objective in his dealings though He gave Israel His special attention: that meant she had to be honest in relating to God and actually obey Him to be blessed, 10:17-11:1.
        3. Third, Moses reminded Israel how fully God had demonstrated His tangible blessings and judgments in their history, showing He was a God who meant what He said in His commitments to them, Deuteronomy 11:2-9. Having witnessed such commitments in God's relationships with them, the people of Israel were motivated to take God seriously for blessing!
        4. Fourth, Moses reported how God's blessing or discipline upon Israel was going to be an immediate experience unlike what the Egyptians had known: where how hard the Egyptians worked to use the Nile's waters for crops, Israel in Canaan would be totally dependent on the Lord's rainfall for her agricultural survival as there was no such river there, Deuteronomy 11:10-12, 13-22. This hand-to-mouth existence meant Israel needed to be motivated to relate well with God or else!
        5. Fifth, Moses relayed how God would even arrange for Israel's relationships with other nations to reflect her relationship with Him: the closer she obeyed Him, the greater peace He would arrange with her Gentile nations, Deuteronomy 11:23-25 (Proverbs 16:7). That news was designed to motivate Israel to heed the Lord fervently for the sake of her immediate national security!
        6. Sixth, Moses shared how God wanted Israel to practice a theatrical presentation to gain appreciation for how seriously He wanted them to heed His Word: the nation was to position itself on the hills of Gerizim and Ebal with half the tribes saying the Law's cursings for disobedience on Mount Ebal and half the blessings of the law on Mount Gerizim, Deut. 11:26-32. With every Hebrew of every gender and age involved in this theatrical presentation, everyone would feel how concerned was God that he himself decide to experience God's blessing by obeying His Law!
Lesson: Moses told Israel how PERSONABLE was God in relating to her as a nation for motivation to take relating to God as seriously as HE took His relating to THEM, and that to obey Him for blessing!

Application: In discipling a subordinate, like Moses, it is important to reveal (a) God's FAVOR of him, (b) how OBJECTIVE God is in relating with them, (c) how SERIOUSLY God takes His relationship with them to be, (d) how IMMEDIATELY God will relate with their either sinning or obeying Him, (c) how deeply their relationships with others will be affected by relating to God and (d) how much God wants even their EMOTIONS to be involved in taking Him SERIOUSLY for obedience and blessing!