Deuteronomy - Lesson Twenty-two - Outline 

I.   A Holy People.  God's plan for His people was that they should live in the Promised Land as His holy, chosen, secure and victorious people.  "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God." (7:6)  According to R. C. Sproul, "The Holiness of God":  

A.   The primary meaning of the word is "separate." 

B.   When we read in Scripture that God is holy, it means primarily that God is transcendentally separate.  The word "holy" also includes the sense of God's absolute purity.

C.   When the word "holy" is applied to earthly things, it means they are set apart, separated from the rest, to be used in a pure way.  Only God can make something holy. 

D.   Human beings were created by God to bear witness to the holiness of God, to bear His image.

E.   When we call something holy that is not holy, then we commit the sin of idolatry.   

II.  An unholy people.  God made clear to the Israelites in Deut. 9:4 that their conquest of the people of Canaan was to be an explicit expression of His righteous judgment on wicked nations.  He also made clear that the Israelites were not innocent.  To the Canaanites God poured out justice.  To the Israelites God poured out grace and mercy.  Why?  Because God chose Israel to be His special treasure.   

A.   According to Dr. Sproul, the holiness of God is at the heart of the issue of the conquest of Canaan.  On the one hand He moved to punish the insult to His holiness that was perpetuated continuously by the Canaanite people.  On the other hand He was preparing a land and a nation for a holy purpose. 

B.   God commanded that the Israelites destroy the inhabitants of the Promised Land totally and that no mercy be shown toward them.  The Israelites were to destroy everything connected with their pagan worship.  "Any time the unholy is mixed with the holy, God will remove His blessing."   (John C. Maxwell - The Preacher's Commentary: Deuteronomy)  They were not to tolerate or show any interest in the pagan religions of the land for that would be a snare to them. (Deut.7:2-5, 16).   

"God did not choose Israel because Israel was already holy.  He chose them to make them holy.  Israel was called to be holy in two senses of the word.  She was called to be different; to be set apart as a vehicle of God's plan of redemption.  She was also called to be holy in the sense of being purified.  Pagan practices were to be absent from her midst.  She was to be sanctified by drawing near to God.  Salvation for the nations was to come out of Israel.  The Promised Land was to be the breeding ground for the coming Messiah.  There was no room for pagan shrines and pagan rites.  God ordained a scorched-earth policy to purge the land for future salvation."  (R. C. Sproul)   

III.     Called to be Holy.      

A.   Christians in the early church were called saints.  The word means simply "holy one."  The Bible calls us "holy ones" for two reasons: 

1.     We have been consecrated to God.  Romans 12:1-2.   Warren Wiersbe: true biblical separation is "contact without contamination."      

2.     We are in a vital process of sanctification. We are to be purified daily in the growing pursuit of holiness.   

"God calls us to be holy.  Christ sets the priority of the Christian life: 'Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.'  The goal is righteousness."  (R. C. Sproul) 

3.     How can we know if we are making real progress in our call to be holy?  Dr. Sproul reminds us that the righteous person is known by his or her fruits.  

"To yield the fruit of the Spirit, we must practice the fruit of the Spirit.  The Spirit is at work within us to assist us in the practice of the fruit, but we are called to strive with all our might to produce this fruit."  (R. C. Sproul) 

IV.     Israel's Responsibility.  God chose His people because He loved them and because He was determined to keep His promise to their forefathers (7:7-9).  Israel's responsibility was to love God and to listen to His word, remember it and obey it (7:9-12).     

A.   Remembrance.  Remembering is a key theme in the book of Deuteronomy.  Thirteen times in the book Moses asks the people to remember, four times in these chapters alone (8:2, 18; 9:7, 27), and four times in these chapters he tells them not to forget (8:11, 14, 19; 9:7).       

B.   Obedience.  While God chose Israel for His blessings, her future depended upon how she responded to her covenant promises.  God's response to Israel's obedience will be overwhelming.  God will love them (7:13), bless them by multiplying human, animal and plant life (VV 13-14), heal them of present diseases (V. 15), protect them from future disease (V. 15) and give them victory in their battles (V. 16) 

C.   Choice.  Toward the end of Moses' farewell address to the people, he says that he has set before them life and death, blessing and cursing, and urges them to choose life, so that they and their descendants may live (30:19).  The appeal to choose between life and death is common in the Old Testament (e.g., Joshua 24:14-24; Jeremiah 8:3; 21:8; Proverbs 8:35-36; 11:19; 12:28; 13:14).  Israel's full enjoyment of life is dependant upon their obedience to God's word.   

V.     God's Strategy for Victory (7:17-26).  I am indebted to John Maxwell for outlining these strategies. 

A.   Focus on the greatness of God, not on the strength of the enemy (7:21).

1.     Remember past victories. 

2.     Claim future promises.    

B.   Focus on the problems (VV 16, 22, 23).  God was going to drive out the nations before Israel but Israel had to face and fight her enemies.     

C.   Realize that God will allow only what we can handle (v. 22).  God would drive out the nations little by little.   

D.   Recognize the power of attitude (V. 17).  Moses tells the people not to be afraid of their enemies.  Moses prepares his people by reminding them of God's greatness; God prepares the enemy by giving them a spirit of fear and dread.     

E.   Expect total victory (VV 23-24).  God will deliver the enemies into Israel's hands but Israel is the one who must destroy them, including their leaders.   

F.   Remove all temptations that would cause us to be defeated (VV 25-26).  It was essential that Israel get rid of everything that would turn her away from her total commitment to God.  What "snares" do you have in your life? 

VI.     Changing of the Guard.  The imminent death of Moses is a recurring theme in the closing chapters of Deuteronomy.   

A.   In answer to Moses' prayer for a leader to succeed him, God appointed Joshua and Moses commissioned him before all the people (34:18-23).   

VII.     Moses.   

A.   Moses would end his ministry by leaving the people under the leadership of Joshua and climbing Mount Nebo alone where God would give him the ability to view the whole of the Promised Land.  While Moses did not step foot in the Promised Land at this time, he arrived in the Holy Land centuries later when he and Elijah joined Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-3; Luke 9:28-31).  After viewing the land, Moses died and the Lord and the Archangel Michael (Jude 9) buried him on Mount Nebo in a grave that no one could ever locate.  

B.   Verses 10-12 of Chapter 34 contain a brief obituary of Moses. 

1.     Moses holds a unique position among the prophets in that he was a spiritual pioneer.  He was the first to proclaim the attributes of God, to identify love as the reason for obedience (5:9; 6:5), to give us God's law and to emphasize educating children in the ways of God.   

2.     These verses point out that he enjoyed a unique intimate fellowship with God.  They emphasize again that God knew him face to face. 

C.   In spite of some very human weaknesses, Moses was a faithful servant.  In the matter of faithfulness, Moses is even compared with Christ (Heb. 3:1-6). 

1.     Moses was faithful to walk with God. 

2.     Moses was devoted to his people.

3.     Moses was a faithful intercessor. 

4.     Moses was a Christ-like person.