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DEUTERONOMY
CHAPTER 29

1 These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

God had made a covenant with Israel in Horeb, in which He described how people were to live. He is now giving them another covenant in addition.
This new covenant is based on the old and provides blessings upon obedience to the old covenant. Through this additional covenant God speaks prophetically about what will happen if the old covenant is not followed.

2 And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them, Ye have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; 3 The great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles:

The other covenant was given by grace (unmerited and undeserved favor). It was bestowed by God upon the people of Israel. They didn't seek that covenant, neither did they do anything to deserve it.

4 Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.

But this new covenant will apply only if they seek the Lord and are obedient to His Word. God has saved them from Egypt and slavery. But the blessings He wants to give them will depend upon them seeking Him in a close relationship.
Spiritual perception is a gift to those who seek God and determine to live by His Word.
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6)

5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot. 6 Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink: that ye might know that I am the LORD your God. 7 And when ye came unto this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us unto battle, and we smote them: 8 And we took their land, and gave it for an inheritance unto the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to the half tribe of Manasseh.

Look at how God blessed them! They didn't have to buy or make shoes or clothes! They had not eaten rich foods, yet they were strong! When enemies came against them, God helped them to win!
Now, God calls them to "stand to" this additional covenant.
Because of what God has already done for us in His covenant of salvation, we should seek Him and be desirous to enter His covenant of WORKS.

9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.

God says that if they keep this covenant they will be "blessed."

Now, let's pause a moment and see how this applies to you and me today. Remember, ALL of God's Word is applicable today in some manner.
When we wer lost, "...without Christ..having no hope, and without God in the world.." (Ephesians 2:12), then God caused us to hear the gospel and be drawn to Him for salvation. He forgave us and cleansed us even though we didn't deserve it.
And now God calls us to live "holy lives" by following His Word and glorifying Jesus.
"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (2Corinthians 6:17-18)
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:" (1Peter 2:9)
God's promise is that when we are saved, we are called to WORK! And if we do that, through a daily personal relationship with Him, He will be with us and bless us.

10 Ye stand this day all of you before the LORD your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel, 11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water: 12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the LORD thy God, and into his oath, which the LORD thy God maketh with thee this day: 13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.

When we come to church, we come before God and attest to the goodness of His covenant with us. The elders, fathers, and motherse should first come (verse 10), and bring with them: women, children and strangers (verse 11).
This covenant God Himself makes with us, and promises to provide all we need if we'll just seek Him (verse 12)
God WANTS to establish His people (verse 13).
"For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him."(2Chronicles 16:9)

14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; 15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day: 16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by; 17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:) 18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; 19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: 20 The LORD will not spare him, but then the anger of the LORD and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven.

This covenant is not only for the JEWS, but for ANY of these described in verses 15-17. God will accept them if they will come to Him.
It is this way with the Christian church today.
"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) However, if a person hears the gospel and turns away then he will be eternally separated from God on judgment day (verses 19-20).

21 And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law: 22 So that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sicknesses which the LORD hath laid upon it; 23 And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the LORD overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath: 24 Even all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?

Also, when an Israelite turned away from the truth, God saw to it that he was chastened. And if the nation of Israel turned away from God, He would chastise the whole nation. This chastisement included sickness, disease (verse 22) and agricultural failure (verse 23).
God treats the Christian and the Christian church the same way today.
"For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"(1Peter 4:17)

25 Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt: 26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them: 27 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book: 28 And the LORD rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.

People knew when God chastised Israel and they lost the land He gave them. God made sure people knew.
And I believe that God makes sure people know when He is chastising His church for laxness today.
Let me reiterate: God WANTS to establish His church as a strong entity in the world today. But when we are lax in the WORK He has given us to do, then God chastises us and we are not established with STRENGTH.

29 The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

When is Christ going to return? We don't know. It is a "secret" thing of God. He hasn't revealed it to us.
When will the rapture come and we be taken away? We don't know. It is a "secret" thing of God. He hasn't revealed it to us.
Why does God allow some to be tremendously blessed, while otherse suffer hardship and heartache? We don't know. It is a "secret" thing of God. He hasn't revealed it to us.
But ONE THING we DO know! When we are called to be saved, we are also called to WORK!
THIS is revealed to us and our children for ever by God's Holy Word to us.
And God calls us to "stand to" the covenant of salvation and works.

One word I believe needs to be stated here. Works ALONE won't save anyone. But when a person is called to be saved, he is also called to WORK. The first is a covenant given by grace and mercy. The second is also given by grace and mercy, and IT IS GIVEN to all those who are called to the first!

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