Deuteronomy Part 19

Copied from the sermon notes of Pastor Don Elmore

May 13, 2018

Scripture Reading:  Deuteronomy 11:1-7

1. “Therefore, thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep His charge, and His statutes, and His ordinances, and His commandments, always,
2. And know ye this day (for I speak not with your children who have not known, and who have not seen the chastisement of the LORD your God) His greatness, His mighty hand, and His outstretched arm,
3. And His miracles, and His acts, which He did in the midst of Egypt unto Pharaoh, the king of Egypt and unto all His land;
4. And what He did unto the army of Egypt, unto their horses, and to their chariots, how He made the water of the Red Sea to overflow them as they pursued after you, and how the LORD hath destroyed them unto this day;
5. And what He did unto you in the wilderness, until ye came into this place;
6. And what He did unto Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, the son of Reuben—how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and their tents, and all the substance that was in their possession, in the midst of all Israel.
7. But your eyes have seen all the great acts of the LORD which He did.”

What an opening introduction of verses! How can anyone read these verses and still believe that the Bible teaches that all races are of an equal standing? There is no difference in God between the races? There are differences even between the same race! Moses is talking to the older generation rather than the younger.

Let’s look at a couple of things that the first verse tells us.

1. The first verse repeats that we [Israel] are to love the LORD our God, and are to “keep His charge, and His statutes, and His ordinances, and His commandments, _ _ _ _ _ _ .” What word in missing? What word should go in the blanks? The missing six-letter word is:

   A L W A Y S. We are to always keep the Word of our God. There should never be a time when we don’t keep any of our God’s laws. In fact, that is the challenge of this life; which laws will we serve—the laws of our God or the laws of gods of the other races, especially the Canaanite nations.

   Our God has given His people laws that they are to keep. What did God’s Word give as the government for Israel in the olden days? Ancient Israel had a:

   1. Theocracy, followed by a
   2. Family-oriented Monarchy, and then after they split into two kingdoms,
   3. One kingdom had a diverse Monarchy.

   Ancient Israel didn’t have any Republics, Democracies, Socialism or Communism as their governments.

2. Who was told that Israel was to keep God’s laws? There is not a Bible Commentary that I know of that would say that Moses told the Negroid, Oriental or Brown races any of the laws of God. Moses, who was 120 years old, was telling his own people, the covenant people of God, that they were to obey the LORD their God.

   He was on the eastern side of the Jordan River, reviewing Israel’s history and giving his farewell address to them. It is his farewell speech. He dies immediately after he finished giving his speech. In our last lesson (Deuteronomy, Part 18) we had the death of his brother—Aaron—who was 123 years old. He died and was buried on Mount Hor.

3. Notice, the Bible does not say: “We are to love the LORD our God, or we are to keep His charge, and His statutes, and His ordinances, and His commandments, always.”

   Moses is telling Israel that to love their God, they must be obedient to His commands. That is why he used the word “and” instead of the word “or”. The word “or” means that only one of the two things must be done, while the word “and” means that both must be done or the person fails to keep what had been told him.

   This is still true today. Israel must still be obedient to their God. If you love God, you must keep His commandments. If you keep His commandments, you must love God. You can’t do just one. You can’t love God and not keep His commandments. If you don’t keep the commandments of God, you can’t love Him.

But let us study American History for a second. Who was the first president of the United States? It wasn’t George Washington; it was John Hanson. Why is that? Because the united states of America had, for eight years, another constitution besides the one we have now. And there were presidents under that form of government.

What was the first constitution that our country had? It was from 1781-1789 and it was called the Articles of Confederation. After this eight-year government, we were given by the founding fathers in the united states of America another constitution?? Was this constitution for a ... ?

1. Dictatorship,
2. Republic,
3. Monarchy,
4. Democracy, or
5. Communism

It was a Republic, not a Democracy. We repeat this fact every time we say the pledge of allegiance: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to Republic for which it stands…”

Then why did President Woodrow Wilson say that we had to fight World War I to make “the world safe for democracy” when we were not a democracy? Or had our government changed to one?

Did ancient Israel start out with any of these forms of government? Was ancient Israel a dictatorship, republic, monarchy, democracy or a communist nation? What was the fundamental difference between the people of ancient Israel and every other race of the ancient world? The main difference was that Israel alone trusted and followed the one true God and He was their king! The LORD God was the king of Israel. No other race ever trusted Him and He wasn’t their king, either.

When God brought the children of Israel into the promised land, they had no man who was their king. They were the only nation that ever had God as their king. The Canaanites never had God as their king; nor did any African nation, nor any Oriental nation, nor any Pacific Island nation, nor any North and South American nation. The covenant people were the people of God and God was their king.

Israel had a unique form of government. It was called a theocracy. It was the best form of government which God always intended for His people. He sat in the inner sanctuary, called the Holy of Holies, in the western part of the Holy Place. The Holy of Holies was covered by a veil, and no one was allowed to enter except the High Priest, and even he could only enter once a year on the Day of Atonement, to offer the blood of sacrifice and incense before the mercy seat.

The Bible reports that in the wilderness, on the day that the tabernacle was first raised up, the cloud of the LORD covered the tabernacle.

Exodus 40:33-34:

33) “And he [Moses] reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate. So Moses finished the work.

34) Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.”

There are other times that this was recorded, and instructions were given that the Lord would appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat, and at that time the priests should not enter the tabernacle.

Leviticus 16:2:

2) “And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron, thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark, that he die not; for I [the LORD God] will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”

According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant which had a representation of the two Cherubim who were in the garden guarding the tree of life. Upon completion of the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Voice of God spoke to Moses “from between the Cherubim.”

Numbers 7:89:

89) “And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with Him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubim: and He spoke unto him.”

Look at this picture of the tabernacle that was present when Israel was in the wilderness, where do you think that the LORD God was?

Name another race that had God as their king. Name another race that had the tabernacle that God instructed Israel to build. Name another race that had the Temple of God that was built in Jerusalem. Name another race where God dwelt with them and talked with their leaders while He was the king who ruled over them. God told Israel that “they were His people and He was their God.” Notice that in the first verse, Moses instructed His people “to love the LORD thy God.” Were any other races instructed to love the LORD, who was Israel’s God? 

How long did Israel have a theocracy?  From the time of Moses to the time of King Saul—about 400 years! How long have we been the United States? A few years more than 240 years. We (the United States) have prided itself on its Constitution; how much more should Israel have humbled itself on being a theocracy.

Let’s stop a second and think about this. If there was only one nation ever on the earth that had the creator of the universe as its king, what would you say about its place in the world? Would that nation be superior over all the other races of the earth? And if you answered yes, why would that be? Would it be because the people would be the strongest and wisest people or would it be because they were the people of God?

And how could any other race of people ever defeat them? There is only one answer: Make them not keep the laws that their God had given them, i.e. make them sin. And the anger of their God would erupt in a rage and He would be required to chastise them.

And who are the people of today who had the LORD God as their king? Most Christians of today would give the wrong answer—it would not be the jewish people. To say something that disagrees with most people on a subject that is forbidden in theological circles, unless one’s approach is on the popular side of the “Christian” Zionists. There is so much emphasis within Dispensational/Futurist circles placed on the jewish people and their Zionist state in the Middle East. The religious and political influence of such rabid evangelical Zionists such as John Hagee and other wealthy outspoken advocates of Zionism, that it is now determining our United States foreign policy.

Recently, President Trump, no doubt through the influence of his jewish son-in-law, Jared Kurtsner, and his “pastor”, Paula White-Cain, declared to the approval of the Zionist Israeli government and the chagrin of the native Palestinians, to move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This move would recognize Jerusalem as the official capital of the Zionist state to the ecstatic delight of the American “Christian” Zionists.

The Lord declared:

Zechariah 12:2-3:

2) “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

3) And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the nations of the earth be gathered together against it.”

Even though this prophecy saw its fulfillment in the destruction of the city in 70 AD, It is still true today. Surely, modern Jerusalem has become a “cup of trembling” and a “burdensome stone.” The prophet said: “all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces.” In other words, there will be dire consequences to President Trump’s decision. The worst trouble is yet to come, not only in the Middle East, but in shedding American blood and increasing our national debt.

In their twisted theology and foolish notions, the “Christian” Zionist wants some nation, (even the United States) to initiate the Battle of Armageddon so that they may be raptured and the jews can then rule the world for 1,000 years from Jerusalem. When will this religious madness stop?

Moses lets his audience know that he is not talking to the children but to the adults who have been with him in the journey from the exodus to the present time (verse 2-7). He addresses them as being people who have been eyewitnesses of God’s greatness. They saw first-hand their God’s:

• Miracles,
• His acts that He performed in Egypt,
• What He did to the army of Egypt,
• What He did in the wilderness, and
• What he did to the grandsons of Reuben.

They witnessed all the great acts of the LORD which he did.

One of the great acts of the LORD that these adults had witnessed is repeated in Psalms 106.

Psalms 106:17:

17) “The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram.”

Are you aware of what happened? The incident is recorded in the Bible in the book of Numbers, chapter 16. Who were the people that were the ringleaders of this rebellion?

Numbers 16:1-2:

1. “Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the son of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men.
2. And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown.”

One, Korah, was a priest who was descended from the tribe of Levi, which was the only tribe that priests could come from, and the other two were men who were descended from the tribe of Reuben. Besides these three important men of Israel there were 250 princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation. They led a revolt against Moses and Aaron. So, it was 253 leaders in the revolt against Moses and Aaron; 253 versus 2!

They blamed Moses and Aaron for the following harmful conditions:

1. They take too much upon themselves, exercising more authority than they have the right.
2. They think they are the only holy ones, but all in the congregation are holy.
3. They lift themselves up above the congregation of the LORD.
4. They have brought us out of Egypt, the real land of milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness.
5. They make themselves a prince over us.
6. They have not brought us into the promised land of milk and honey.
7. They have failed to give us the inheritance of fields and vineyards as they have promised.
8. They blind the eyes of the people to the fact that they keep none of their promises.

What would your reaction be if you were Moses or Aaron? To be a leader in Israel there is usually periods of unappreciation! But I think this is extreme. Would you act as a dictator or would you let the people vote and decide? What would you do? What did they do? Israel was in the wilderness, they had not yet entered the promised land. If was a crucial time for Israel. But Moses and Aaron knew that their small nation was neither a dictatorship nor a democracy, but the LORD God was king over Israel. It was He who had chosen both himself and his brother to lead His covenant people.

So, they decided to let the LORD God reveal who He had chosen to lead His people. Moses, therefore, plainly set forth the test that would prove God’s choice. Korah accepted the challenge knowing that he had the congregation in favor of him. He thought God would go along with the people’s choice, but in this he was wrong. God made the choices, not the people; and He was to teach them that this must always be the case. Israel was not a democracy, it was a theocracy!

Each person in the rebellion were seeking leadership in Israel. They all denied Moses and Aaron as being their leaders. Korah wanted the office of that Aaron held—high priest. So, Aaron was the recipient of many of the murmurs cast against him. Everyone who followed Korah were told to bring a censor and have it burning with incense. Aaron was to bring his burning censor, too. God would choose who He wanted to be His high priest and who He wanted to be in His priesthood.

Moses was so angry that he cast himself down to the ground. He did this, casting himself to the ground, six different times of this rebellion. But the rebels were bold and confident believing the whole congregation was with them and thinking their cause was just. Because of being so popular they perhaps did not consider it possible that God would take such a drastic stand against them.

But God used this occasion to teach Israel a great lesson that popularity meant nothing to Him, and that His law must be obeyed and His will be done even if thousands perish. God had to take such action for the good of Israel herself at that time, as well as for the good of coming generations.

They all gathered at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with their burning censers. And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron telling them to separate from the congregation that He may consume all of them in a moment. Moses and Aaron immediately fell upon their faces and prayed for mercy and for Israel to be spared from their immediate, threatened destruction. Once again, we see Moses, and this time Aaron, praying for the forgiveness to spare the people of God.

God then instructed them to remove themselves from the tents of Korah and the two sons of Reuben, Dathan and Abiram. They must have had their tents close by, as they were positioned on the southern portion of the tabernacle. So, the congregation of the LORD moved away from their tents. As the rebels defied Moses and Aaron, they stood by the door of their tents, along with their wives and children who joined in their rebellion. The earth opened and swallowed them, and they departed to the unseen world as no one else has ever done.

After the unique event happened, God instructed Moses to tell Eleazar, the son of Aaron, to gather the 250 censors of the princes of Israel who were killed by fire. They were not killed by the opening of the earth, but were killed by fire only, so their censers were still able to be recovered. He was then instructed to make plates from them to cover the brazen altar as a sign to Israel regarding the rebellion and to warn all that no person other than the seed of Aaron shall come near to offer incense before the LORD.

But that is not all. There is more. The next day the congregation accused Moses and Aaron of murdering God’s people. They failed to learn that it was not Moses and Aaron, but God who was punishing them.

But when the congregation saw the cloud covering the tabernacle then they knew that it was the LORD God who was the one who was administering the punishment on them. After hearing the complaints of the people, Moses and Aaron fell on their faces and then Moses told Aaron to take a censer and put fire therein from off the altar and put on incense, and go quickly into the congregation, and make an atonement for them; for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague had begun. The death toll was more than the day before. Counting the 253 that perish the previous day, the total was 14,953 besides some women and children from Korah, Dathan and Abiram.

Numbers 16:50:

50) “And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.”

Who says that there is no God? Moses was talking to His people who were eyewitnesses to all these acts of God. God constantly talked to His chosen leaders, who after hearing what they were told, usually followed His instructions.

Deuteronomy 11:8-9:

8) “Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it;

9) And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.”

Israel is once again warned to keep the laws of their God and to obey their God. And a promise that was given to them, that if they kept them, they would prolong their days in the land which the LORD had sworn to their fathers.

Deuteronomy 11:10-12:

10) “For the land, to which thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from where ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs;

11) But the land, to which ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven,

12) A land which the LORD thy God careth for. The eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.”

The Promised Land is not the same as the land that they lived in while they were in Egypt. It is better. The LORD thy God’s eyes are always upon this land.

Deuteronomy 11:13-15:

13) “And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.

14) That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy grain, and thy wine, and thine oil.

15) And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.”

Israel would receive blessings of good weather if they would keep the commandments that the LORD their God gave them. Doesn’t it kind of make you wonder about the strange weather situations that the United States have suffered in the past few years? Tornadoes, floods, drought, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanos, artic wind streams, periods of extreme heat and extreme cold, sink holes, violent storms, etc. How can our God bless us when we don’t keep His commandments?

Deuteronomy 11:16-20:

16) “Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them.

17) And the Lord’s wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit: and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

18) Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes.

19) And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

20) And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates.”

Parents of Israel were to teach their children the Word of God in all places and at all times so that it might become instilled within their hearts. The responsibility was not given to any others, but to the parents. They were to teach their children the Word of God, i.e. His laws. That was how children were to learn to obey and love their God.

Deuteronomy 11:21-25:

21) “That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

22) For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto Him;

23) Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.

24) Every place where on the soles of your feet shall trend shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall our coast be.

25) There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.”

What does verse 25 say? Who does it apply to? Why shall no man be able to stand before Israel? Why would there be fear of Israel and dread of Israel upon all the land that Israel shall treat upon? The LORD their God, who was their king, would make the fear and dread be placed on all their enemies.

CONCLUSION

I received this email on Tuesday, May 8, 2018 from Christians United For Israel:

“Today, President Trump announced his decision to scrap the 2016 Iran Deal due to Iran’s proven lies and violations of the deal’s terms. This was the right decision, and we believe it will lead to a much stronger, more effective deal in the future as Iran is forced to reckon with the consequences of their lies. 

This announcement comes after President Trump declined to certify the Iran Deal in October 2017.  At the time, the President cited multiple violations by Iran to show that the Iranian regime was not in compliance with their end of the deal. This evaluation was recently confirmed and further proven by the revelation of over 100,000 top secret Iranian nuclear files obtained by Israel[i]. President Trump told Congress in October that they would have six months to fix the many flaws in the Iran Deal negotiated under President Obama or he would unilaterally scrap the deal, and today marks the end of that six-month grace period. 

The flawed Iran nuclear deal contained loopholes that allowed Iran to avoid international inspections of their nuclear facilities and openly continue working on intercontinental ballistic missiles while fully funding their international terror campaign, all of which rendered the 2016 Iran Deal inert and worthless anyway. The Iranian regime made a mockery of the United States and the five other signatories to the JCPOA agreement, knowing that the agreement was based on blatant lies and unenforceable terms.

The Iran Deal negotiated under President Obama and John Kerry [skull and bones member] should never have been signed. If, as former members of the Obama Administration now admit, they knew all along that Iran was lying and hiding its nuclear weapons program, there was no basis upon which this deal could have ever been successful. All it did was give Iran relief from crushing international sanctions that were putting pressure on the regime to give up its support for terror and the pursuit of nuclear weapons, in exchange for hundreds of billions in new revenue and the freedom to continue working towards obtaining a nuclear weapons arsenal when the deal expired. 

Today President Trump took the first step toward making the United States, Israel[i], and the entire world safer by scrapping the hopelessly flawed Iran Deal. By withdrawing from the deal and starting over, President Trump showed he is committed to stopping Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon. Now it is up to Congress to rise to the challenge of working with the White House to take all necessary measures to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

May God Bless You and Those That You Love, Pastor John Hagee, Founder and Chairman” 

Does Jesus bless those who bless His enemies? Does America, founded on Jesus the Christ & Christianity bless Judaism, the antitheses of Christianity which hates Jesus the Christ who is the source of all blessings? In 1948, most of the jewish people who went to the Jewish State were non-Hebrew people. They have no fundamental blood-descent from ancient Israel, and in some respect, they are nearer to Karl Marx than to Moses in their ideology, including Rabbis in their midst, whose outlook is materialistic. We are being used by our enemy, the Edomite/Canaanite/Ashkenazi/jews to fight wars for them so that they may rule the world. Who wants them to rule the world?

And who and where are the Ten Tribes of the Northern Kingdom? Who does the Bible say they are and where they were located? That is the question that most Christians have never even thought of. That is a key to the mystery of the kingdom. But the Bible gives us the answer.

Blessed be the LORD God of Israel.

To be continued.