Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20130303.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Deuteronomy: Moses' Great Appeal For Israel To Obey God For Blessing
Part III: The Great Historical Prologue, Deuteronomy 1:5-4:43
D. Call To Heed The Law And Avoid Idolatry, Deuteronomy 4:1-43
3. Mimicking God's Both Righteousness And His Love To Heed Him Well
(Deuteronomy 4:25-43)
    Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

    A great need exists in Christendom to discern if one should emphasize God's righteousness or His love, a fact we can illustrate:

    (1) A Protestant church once split over whether to say "forgive us our debts" or "forgive us our sins" in the Lord's Prayer. One faction left to build a church across the street, with the town newspaper adding that one church was left with its debts and the other with its sins!

    Actually, the Matthew 6:9-13 record of the prayer has "debts" (opheilema, Arndt & Gingrich, A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., 1967, p. 603) while the Luke 11:2-4 record has "sins" (hamartia, Ibid., p. 42-43; U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966, p. 256), meaning Jesus taught this prayer on more than one occasion with slight variations because He meant it to be a pattern for prayer, not a ritual! Nevertheless, many war over such issues in the name of righteousness at the cost of love!

    (2) Conversely, others tout love over righteousness: in a letter in the February 25, 2013 Republican-American, p. 4A, Peter F. Fox held that the new pope should advance Pope John Paul II's ecumenism.

    However, in calling for unity in Christendom, Mr. Fox saw a big hurdle exists, observing: "The Catholic Church places emphasis on Scripture and tradition; Pentecostal Christians turn to the experience of the Holy Spirit; Bible Baptists rely on Scripture; Unitarians include reason in their decision-making process." Regardless, to heal the disunity, Mr. Fox admonished, "But all people are loved by an infinitely loving and forgiving God. Real Christians love and respect, not condemn, those with differing views." (Ibid.)

    The problem Peter F. Fox did not address in his letter is the fact that the Scripture Bible Baptists use at Ephesians 2:8-9 counters the Catholic Church's tradition that one is saved by faith plus works; the Scripture Bible Baptists use at Deuteronomy 13:1-4 counters the Pentecostal view that experience is on par with Scripture for defining God's truth and the Scripture Bible Baptists use at Luke 2:11 counters the Unitarian view that Jesus "was adopted as divine at His baptism" (Charles C. Ryrie, A Survey Of Bible Doctrine , 1972, p. 57), for on the day of His birth, Jesus was "Christ the Lord"! Thus, there is no basis for a RIGHTEOUS unity throughout Christendom if its various parts can not logically agree on what constitutes the final authority for truth!

    So we ask, "Should we emphasize righteousness or love?"

    Need: "To heed God well, are we to focus on righteousness or love?!"

  1. In the Deuteronomy 1:5-4:43 Historical Prologue of the suzerain treaty format of Deuteronomy that, typical of such treaty formats, tells of the suzerain's goodness to the vassal, that is, of God's goodness to Israel, Moses in Deuteronomy 4:25-28 noted that were Israel to sin, a RIGHTEOUS God would SEVERELY PUNISH her:
    1. Moses predicted that were Israel to turn to idols after settling in the Promised Land, God would destroy many of her people in war and send her into captivity in pagan nations, Deut. 4:25-27. There she would serve pagan gods set up by her pagan captors, Deut. 4:28.
    2. This prediction was fulfilled when Israel was taken into Assyrian and Babylonian captivity for idolatry, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 270.
  2. However, Moses noted God was ALSO LOVING and GRACIOUS, ready to FORGIVE and RESTORE Israel were she to REPENT after even GREAT SINFUL FAILURE, Deuteronomy 4:29-39:
    1. Moses stated that after Israel had been scattered among the nations, if she then truly repented, God would restore her, Deut. 4:29. This prediction was fulfilled in Israel's return from captivity in Assyria and Babylon. (Daniel 9:1-25 and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah)
    2. Indeed, Moses predicted that in the "latter days" when Israel was in "tribulation," a prediction ultimately fulfilled at Christ's Second Coming when Israel will be in the Great Tribulation Period, if she turned to God, He would still keep His covenant with her forefathers to bless her, Deuteronomy 4:30-31; Ibid. This 1410 B. C. prediction by Moses shows the Abrahamic Covenant is UNCONDITIONAL due to God's faithfulness to Israel regardless of her past apostasy, and thus that the Abrahamic Covenant is STILL to be implemented in its fullest form, the premillennial stance long held at Nepaug Bible Church. (J. Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come, 1972, p. 65-94) This stance holds that in spite of Israel's rejection of Christ in His earthly life, she will YET be saved as a nation by faith in Him at His Second Coming and the literal Messianic Kingdom will be set up by grace as OPPOSED to the amillennial and postmillennial views that the Church replaces Israel in God's plan since she rejected Christ, and that the Church then goes through the 7 year Great Tribulation Period!
    3. Moses explained the reason for God's future forgiveness after all of Israel's great future sin would be due to His mercy, His rahum, Ibid., Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 270-271. This word "refers to the tender compassion of a mother toward her helpless infant," Ibid., p. 271.
    4. Moses noted this rahum was evident in past ages, Deut. 4:32-39:
      1. Since the creation of the universe, no nation had ever heard God's voice speaking to her out of the midst of the fire like Israel had heard at Mount Sinai and lived to tell about it, Deut . 4:32-33.
      2. Also, since the creation, no nation had ever been delivered from the midst of another nation by great miraculous deeds by God as Israel had been delivered out of Egypt by Him, Deut eronomy 4:34.
      3. Thus, Israel's redemption as a nation from Egypt had occurred that she might know God was the only true God (Deut. 4:35) and truly loved her forefathers so as to bless her by powerfully delivering her and causing her to conquer nations far her superior, Deut. 4:36-39.
  3. Thus, Moses urged Israel to OBEY this RIGHTEOUS but ALSO COMPASSIONATE God to be BLESSED, Deuteronomy 4:40.
  4. Finally, Moses set aside three cities of refuge in the Transjordan that were to show ISRAEL LIVED as BOTH RIGHTEOUS AND LOVING in REFLECTION of her LORD, Deuteronomy 4:41-43:
    1. God had called for 6 cities of refuge, 3 on either side of the Jordan River, to be set aside for those who accidentally slew another person to use as havens from avengers until they were tried, Num. 35:9-14.
    2. If they were found guilty of murder, they were to be executed, but if found innocent, they were to live safely in the city of refuge to which they had fled until the death of the high priest, Num bers 35:25. After that, they could return home to live safely there, Numbers 35:28b.
    3. This arrangement differed greatly from the unjust pagan world where shrines were set up so "criminals could seek safety, and could not be apprehended for their crimes," Zon. Pict. Ency. Bib., v. One, p. 869.
    4. So, God's righteousness and love are BOTH seen in the provision of the cities of refuge in accord with the Deuteronomy 4:25-40 teaching!
Application: May we (1) trust in God's loving provision of Christ as personal Savior to be saved from His judgment in hell unto eternal life, John 3:16. (2) Then, relying on the Holy Spirit's power (Gal. 5:16-23), may we reflect our Lord's righteousness AND His lov e.

Conclusion: (To illustrate the message . . . )

 We apply this sermon lesson to a huge Bible translation issue:

(1) The Revised Standard Version at Isaiah 7:14 states "a young woman" will conceive and bear a son, a reading fundamentalists reject as they claim it counters the Virgin Birth of Christ since Matthew 1:23-25 cites Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled in the virgin birth of Christ!

(2) However, the Hebrew word for "woman" in Isaiah 7:14 is alma, "a young woman," NOT betula, the technical term for "virgin," cf. H. A. W., T. W. O. T., 1980 (Moody Bible Institute), v. II, p. 672; Kittel, Bib. Heb., p. 618. Technically then, the RSV translators claim to be more right than fundamentalist Christians on Isaiah 7:14!

(3) However, in light of history, that is a very misleading claim!

The RSV translators were influenced by Liberal Theology that denied the divine inspiration of Scripture, so they tried to "purge" the Old Testament translation of the New Testament writers' use of it. Thus, the motive behind the RSV is skewed by unrighteous lovelessness, and the RSV can mislead readers with Isaiah 7:14 being an example: the word alma in Old Testament usage ALWAYS refers to "a young woman, one of whose characteristics is virginity," Ibid., T. W. O. T. [emphases ours] Matthew 1 then correctly claims Mary's virgin conception and birth of Jesus fulfilled Isaiah 7:14 since the "young woman" there by definition was also necessarily a "virgin." For the RSV to read "young woman" and not clarify it to today's readers in view of the wide influence of Liberal Theology can mislead readers to doubt the New Testament record of the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ!

(4) So, to reflect God's righteousness AND His love, I teach Isaiah 7:14 refers to a "maiden: a young woman who is also a virgin":

(a) Yes, I know the KJV, NIV, NASB and ESV all read "virgin" at Isaiah 7:14 in not yielding to Liberal Theology. However, I as a pastor am concerned that a Liberal Theology scholar might tell my listener that the technical word for virgin, betula, does not appear in Isaiah 7:14, possibly sabotaging my listener's faith, and I would be neither righteous nor loving to let that occur needlessly!

(b) Thus, I teach that alma in Isaiah 7:14 means "maiden: a young woman who is also a virgin" so my reader can answer a Liberal Theologian and STAY doctrinally correct!

May we live so as to reflect God's righteousness AND love!