111: Peter Heavyside - Deuteronomy, By Grace We Have Been Saved

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

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   Welcome to the Good Christadelphian Talks podcast. I'm Levi. And I'm Chris. Thank you so much for joining us this week. On this podcast, we select one talk a week to help each one of us get the Bible in our daily news feed. We post at the start of each week for you to listen with a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you're about to hear. And now let's hear more about this week's talk. This class is by brother Peter Heaviside, who's from the UK. I know he spent some time in Hong Kong, but I don't know where this class was given. This is on the Christadelphian vault. So there's no details on when the class was presented. Really enjoyed this class. It is a clearly a one-off class, an overall look at Deuteronomy and just some really special parts of the book, why it kind of repeats the three books prior. And then, you know, very clearly, specifically how grace is detailed in Deuteronomy. I really enjoyed this study. I think a tough part in picking classes is a verse that often rings in my ears is the concept of itching ears. And I always wanted to hear something new. And I think there's a balance that can be struck between itching ears, you know, wanting to hear something new, and also just the, you know, the joy of being seen, being shown a study of something that you had not heard of before. It doesn't, that doesn't mean that, you know, that this is now in any way a compromised class. It's just that my education, you know, was missing the

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   points that brother Heaviside shared here. I think this class is that great balance of being really interesting, having great study points, but also being very uplifting. So excited to share it with everybody. I guess, I don't know, I wouldn't do that explainer. It's just always because when I say, oh, there's some great points I hadn't heard before, that is not, you know, what specifically makes a great talk. But it's a, but definitely true in this case. So this is, by grace, you shall be saved in Deuteronomy by brother Peter Heaviside.

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   The question, I think, that must arise in our minds when we read through Deuteronomy is, well, what's the purpose of this book? Deuteronomy seems just to reiterate history, seems to be in large part just a statement of statute and rules that the people of Israel to follow, of which the copious record already made in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers.

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   So what's the purpose of Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy? Deuteronomy? Well, after the testing wilderness wanderings of forty years, all Israel, and when I say all Israel, I mean also, as we're going to see as we make progress, that included the sojourners amongst Gentiles. So all Israel, including Gentiles, stood beyond the Jordan at the threshold of the land of promise.

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   And the land of promise was the substance of their hope and desire. And as we've just read, and as repeated later in Deuteronomy, they were as numerous as the stars of heaven. And yet, there were only three men among them that day, who were eighteen or older. At the time, they were redeemed out of Egypt by the Lord's outstretched house.

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   All other men of that generation had died in the wilderness. But before they entered the land, even one of the three survivors would die. Prohibited from going in with all those he had led throughout forty years of wandering in the wilderness. So what was it that had brought them to such challenging circumstances?

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   And here's a remarkable thing about this situation. It would soon become shockingly clear that those who were about to enter God's kingdom had exhibited the same kind of rebellion that had resulted in the fallen carcasses of the generation condemned to that end by God. So how could this new generation possibly hope to benefit where the rebellious fathers had not?

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   They too had rebelled. And the principal purpose of Deuteronomy is to answer these questions. And it is this that forms the main focus of what we're now going to work through together. Well Deuteronomy opens with a seemingly pedantic description of its geographic setting. We read those words in verse one. Beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Araba, opposite Suf, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazaroth and Dezahab.

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   It seems pedantic in its detail. But it has a precision, doesn't it, in its description, which immediately evidences the historicity of this book. It's clearly set in reality. Unexpectedly, it's these mundane details about the geographic location of where they stood that begin answering our queries about Israel's circumstances. How is that so? Well, in a second mention of the geography, a geography which is then set as the scene for Moses' explanation of the law revealed in Deuteronomy.

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    The narrative tells us that Israel were beyond Jordan in the land of Moab. We see that in verse five. Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moab is undertook to explain this law. And it's the expression in the land of Moab that catches our attention. Because this is an expression which features again in Deuteronomy's final chapter.

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    And that forms for us a book length, what's called a literary inclusio. Think of an inclusio like bookends. So the land of Moab in chapter one, and then the land of Moab in chapter four, like bookends, that form a framework for this book. Have a look in Deuteronomy chapter 34. We'll read from verse five.

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    So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. But no one knows the place of his burial to this day.

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    Sorry, let me read that again. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor. But no one knows the place of his burial to this day. That dual use of the land of Moab kind of distracted me from missing out some final words in verse five.

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    So there's that dual mention of the land of Moab. And as I say, that structurally creates a literary setting, an inclusio, for an overarching and principal purpose of the book of Deuteronomy. How is that so? Well first, the closure in chapter 34, using this expression twice, in the land of Moab, addresses the seeming impossibility of all but Joshua and Caleb entering the land of promise.

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    During his first historical review, Moses had explained that, against his own pleading otherwise with God, he would not be allowed by God to go into his good land. Go back to chapter 3 and you'll see that.

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    Deuteronomy chapter 3. Look at verse 23. I plead you with the Lord at that time, saying, O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what good God is there in heaven or on earth, who can do such works and mighty acts as yours?

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    Please, let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country in Lebanon. But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, Enough from you! Do not speak to me again of this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward and northward, and southward and eastward.

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    And look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. And we learn elsewhere, that it was around the same time as this, that the Lord had reiterated to his servant, why this was so. Why he would be prohibited from entering the land. We see that in Numbers in chapter 27.

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    If you look at the details there, they're in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor, which is the words that we've just read in Deuteronomy chapter 34. So it's around this same time. And in Numbers 27, the Lord explained, he reiterated to Moses, why he would not be allowed to enter into the land of promise.

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    Have a look at verse 14. Because, the Lord said to Moses, because you rebelled against my words in the wilderness of sin, when the congregation quarrelled, failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes. So it was because Moses had rebelled, that he was prohibited from going into the land.

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    And likewise, the generation whose carcasses had fallen in the wilderness, suffered that judgement, because they had rebelled at Kadesh Barnea. And we read that in Deuteronomy 1. Let's reiterate that by turning to Deuteronomy chapter 1 again. Deuteronomy chapter 1, verse 26. Having been encouraged to go into the land, Moses reiterating this history in his historical review.

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    Yet, you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. It's the same word that is used in Numbers 27. Moses, you rebelled, therefore you will not enter the land. The generation whose carcasses fell in the wilderness, they rebelled. And that is why they would not go into the land.

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    And yet, as Moses declared repeatedly to this new generation, those who stood before him in that day, in the land of Moab, had also been rebellious throughout the time he had known them, even to that present day. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 9, you will find the first mention of that specifically in relation to this generation.

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    It's not the only time he says this. Deuteronomy chapter 9, verse 7. Remember, and do not forget how you provoked the Lord your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day you came out of the land of Egypt, until you came to this place, so that this people stood there before Moses in the land of Moab, To this day you have been rebellious.

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    Same word. You have been rebellious against the Lord. So given this, and given the carcasses of the fallen generation, the evil generation who had rebelled, given the closure of Deuteronomy in chapter 34, that Moses died there in the land of Moab, because he had rebelled, How could this generation stood before him who had likewise rebelled, enter the land on whose threshold they stood?

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    Was that not impossible? The second observation that arises from the inclusio, is that Moses' death and burial in the land of Moab, provided a very clear portrayal to all Israel, that it would not be. It would not be on the basis of the law and covenant, which had been established at Horeb, through which they would enter God's kingdom.

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    Not even the one, that's Moses, not even the one through whom this law was given, could go in under its provisions. How much less the generation who had multiple times been rebellious. In fact, when Moses had finished his first historical review, by which he explained this law, he underlined a seeming impossibility that the generation who stood before him could enter the land.

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    Have a look at chapter 5. We read there in verse 1. And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the rules that I speak in your hearing today, and you shall learn them and be careful to do them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

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    Not with our fathers did the Lord make this covenant, but with us, who are all of us here alive today. This new generation could not legitimately claim that they were not party to the law and covenant under which their rebellious fathers had been prevented from entrance into the land of promise. This was a national covenant, as we learn in Exodus 19.

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    And even those still in the loins of their rebellious fathers were among those with whom the Lord spoke face to face at Mount Horeb. So again, the issue confronts us. How then could they enjoy the fruits of the good land, flowering with milk and honey? These clear observations which arise from the literary inclusio provoke an essential enquiry, don't they?

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    What would be the basis then upon which the seemingly impossible could be made possible? How could they enter the land as Moses repeatedly said to them they would? Well, there are several distinctive features of Deuteronomy which combine to show that what was impossible because of the weakness of the flesh would be accomplished by Israel's God.

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    We'll have a look at some of those distinctive features now in Deuteronomy. The first of these is an emphasis seen in the book that the law revealed that Horeb and the statutes and the rules added to these in the land of Moab, which are recorded in Deuteronomy, were to be performed in the land.

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    Several times in Deuteronomy, Moses says these are the laws which you shall keep in the land. Have a look at the first instance of that in chapter 4. Verse 14. And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and rules that you might do them in the land that you are going over to possess.

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    He repeats that expression in chapter 5, again in chapter 6, again in chapter 12. And this is a distinctive feature of Deuteronomy. And the distinctiveness of it is stressed by the fact that mention of performance in the land of the covenant and law which was enacted at Horeb is completely absent from Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.

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    It's only in Deuteronomy that this feature is found. These are the statutes and the law. This law which you shall do in the land. And such an emphasis and its significance is further reinforced by the fact that it was only when Israel were in the land, this new generation were in the land, that they were to ratify their obedience to this law.

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    How do we know that? Well in Deuteronomy chapter 27 there is a whole set of arrangements laid out by Moses in which they were to, when they were in the land, declare their obedience to this law. They were to ratify it. We haven't got time to read the whole of Deuteronomy chapter 27 but there we read of several provisions by which when they were in the land and only when they were in the land were they to declare their obedience to this law.

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    They were to do this by recording it on large stones, by offering and sacrifice and by performing the blessings and cursings on Mount Gerizim and on Mount Ebal. And by laying out such an arrangement Moses made clear to Israel that they could not enter God's kingdom by the works of this law. Rather, to have affirmed their obedience to the law in the land of Moab would have entailed their exclusion from the land just as he was being excluded, just as their fathers had been excluded with their carcasses having fallen in the wilderness.

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    In fact, we learn in Deuteronomy 29 that once they were in the land the terms of this law by them ratified by them having entered the land would result in God's judgments against them so that they would be cast out into another land. Have a look at Deuteronomy 29. Have a look at Deuteronomy 29.

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    You see there, having been uprooted from the land, this is how the thing is reported. Verse 27. The anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, bringing upon it all the curses written in this book. And the Lord rooted them from their land in anger and fury and greatly off and cast them into another land as they are this day.

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    Because they had by then had ratified the law and their disobedience to it would result in them being excluded from the land and cast out. And so it was then that Moses assured the people that were stood before him in the land of Moab that they could enter into God's kingdom because in part their obligations to the law that would have prevented them from doing so, those obligations were to be deferred until after their crossing of the Jordan.

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    Rather than the people affirming their obedience to this law in the land of Moab, the Lord made a different covenant with them there by which they could enter into his kingdom. The beginning of chapter 29 there's this hope for us. These, in verse 1, these are the words of the covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel in the land of Moab.

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    Besides the covenant that he made with them at Horeb. So it's not the covenant and the law made at Horeb by which they were able to enter the land. It was this covenant that the Lord commanded Moses to make with the people of Israel there in the land of Moab.

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    An indicative of how much better this covenant was is that it also encompassed the Gentiles among them. Have a look at that in verse 10 onwards. Verse 13. That he may establish you today as his people. And that he may be your God. That's straight from Genesis 17. As he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.

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    It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant. But with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God. And with whoever is not here with us today. And so this better covenant was a reiteration of that which the Lord had sworn to their fathers. To Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.

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    It's the covenant by which both Jews and Gentiles could be established as his people. And that he would be their God. And God would do this because as it says in this statement of the covenant. God is merciful and forgiving. This is the covenant which is confirmed by circumcision of the heart. Have a look at that in chapter 30 and verse 6.

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    And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart. And the heart of your offspring. So that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. And that you may live. In fact, a noteworthy feature of Deuteronomy. Especially given the extent to which the law that was enacted at Horeb.

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    And the additional statutes and provisions of that law in Deuteronomy. The extent to which that is reviewed in Deuteronomy. Not once is circumcision of the flesh mentioned in Deuteronomy. The only circumcision that is mentioned in Deuteronomy is circumcision of the heart. Here in chapter 30 and before that in chapter 10. And that emphasis tells us that it would only be those who are Jews inwardly.

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    That would enter God's kingdom. And this situation in which God accomplished for his people. That which they could not do for themselves under the law. Is underlined by another highly distinctive feature of Deuteronomy. In this book, mention of the law's covenant promise with Abraham. With Isaac and with Jacob is prolific. Especially when compared with Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.

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    Here is just a sample of the language of the covenant. It's not all of the language of the covenant. It's just a sample. There's mention of the oath to the fathers. Twice in Exodus. Zero times in Leviticus. Twice in Numbers. 24 times in Deuteronomy. And I'm only counting this where it occurs in a single verse.

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    Mention of the covenant of promise with the fathers. Zero. In Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Three times in Deuteronomy. God's love for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Zero times in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. Twice in Deuteronomy. The fact that they are as many as the stars of heaven in number. Once in Exodus. Zero in Leviticus and Numbers.

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    Three times in Deuteronomy. The fact that God had multiplied them. Four times in Exodus. Once in Leviticus. Zero times in Numbers. Ten times in Deuteronomy. The fact that Israel is a great nation as promised to Abraham. Once in Exodus. Zero in Leviticus. Once in Numbers. Four in Deuteronomy. And the fact that the land on whose threshold they stood was going to be given to them.

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    Not that they were going to earn it. It was a gift of God. It's a land of promise. Seven times in Exodus. Five times in Leviticus. Fourteen times in Numbers. Fifty-four times in Deuteronomy. If you add all those up. Fifteen in Exodus. Six in Leviticus. Seventeen in Numbers. One hundred times in Deuteronomy.

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    It's absolutely filled with the language of the covenant promise. given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It dominates Deuteronomy. And that underlines the fact that this is the covenant by which Israel, all Israel, including the Gentiles among them, were to enter the land of promise. In fact, it's by reference to God's love for the patriarchs and to the promises he made to them.

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    That Moses made it unmistakably clear that they were not privileged with fellowship with God because of their fleshly attributes or, therefore, by the works of the law. However, I'll look at the clearest image of that in Deuteronomy and chapter 7. Verse 7. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you.

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    For you were the fewest of all peoples. But, it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and he has redeemed you from the house of slavery and from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

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    It's because of God's love that these things have taken place. There's yet another distinctive feature of Deuteronomy we should mention. We've already referred to it in passing several times. This is an aspect of the book's form.

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    And actually, this aspect establishes a scriptural precedent for highlighting a significant liminal event in God's dealings with his people. Deuteronomy introduced the practice of historical review. Several times in Deuteronomy, we read the introduction of this in chapter 1. Moses reviews the history of the people. And that's distinct from Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, where it's just straight historical narration.

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    It's not historical review. It's not Moses looking back and saying, this is what God did with us. Historical review. First time ever occurs in Deuteronomy. And later scriptures that take up from Deuteronomy, this literary form, plainly illustrate for it's liminal function. For example, once Israel had become settled in the land, and before his departure from them through death, Joshua employed a historical review in order to establish the covenant he made with the people about choosing service to the Lord.

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    We see that in Joshua 24. Much later still, in Nehemiah chapter 9, after the return from exile, the Levites undertook a historical review to introduce the covenant which rededicated the people to the book of the law. Moving time to the apostles. In Acts chapter 7. With a historical review that began with God's dealings with Abraham, Stephen signalled the end of the temple and the law in which his opponents misplaced their trust.

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    Further on into the apostolic age. In Acts chapter 13. The apostle Paul announced God's gracious turn to the Gentiles. How? Through a historical review presented to the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia. Evidently, Moses' historical reviews on the threshold of the land of promise set the scene for the change of approach by God for his people so that they could enter his kingdom.

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    The previous 40 years under the law and covenant established at Horeb had, to borrow some words from Paul's letter to the Romans, demonstrated their sinfulness beyond measure. That was the function of the law. That was the function of the law we learn in Romans. And that's precisely what had been accomplished. Israel could not enter God's good land under that law because through the weakness of the flesh the law could not do this.

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    Rather, God accomplished what the law could not. Through his covenant of promise to the fathers. And we are forcefully reminded of these things in our walk in Christ. Lest we be mistaken in our efforts on behalf of Christ that we think of those as an earning of our place in God's kingdom. That is not true.

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    baptism of repentance. The same place where Moses had taught the things that we have considered. We read in John's Gospel three times. The first of them worded this way. These things took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan.

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    Where John was baptising. Our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed still more these truths. By, in his preaching, enlightening not just Israel according to the flesh. By preaching to them the kingdom of heaven. But he included in his preaching of the kingdom of heaven. Those beyond the Jordan. Those beyond the Jordan. Reminding us, again, of these fundamental truths that Deuteronomy teaches us.

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    And so Deuteronomy's purpose can be seen to have direct relevance for us. This book speaks of the truth of the new covenant. That it is by grace that we are saved. Both Jews and Gentiles. It's not a result of works. So that no man may boast. Any of our works must be seen as thankfulness to our God.

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    For this gracious gift that he has given to us in the law of Jesus Christ. Our good works are God's workmanship in us. Through the circumcision of Christ.

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