Lesson notes from Sunday November 7, 2021
Background information: It took the Israelites 40 years to walk through the desert when it could have taken only 1-2 weeks. They were distracted, getting into sin, grumbling and complaining and forgetting that God was among them. “Deuteronomy” means “the second law” which actually is translated as: this is the second time the law was being given to the Jews. The Jews at this time were the children of the disobedient original group that came out of Egypt.
Read Deuteronomy 6: 1-3
- God expected the Children of Israel to obey his word so that:
- They would fear the Lord
- They would enjoy Long Life
- It would go well with them
- They would increase greatly
- Remember, God’s laws were given to us for our own benefit
Read Deuteronomy 6: 4-9
- Remember to stay in God’s word, surround yourself with it
- Know it, read it and teach it to your children
Read Deuteronomy 6: 10-12
- Remember that God is faithful and he keeps his promises through several generations
- Our blessings come from God, not our own hard work, this is easy to forget
Read Deuteronomy 6: 13-19
- God reminds us to avoid idolatry
- Our whole life should be lived out based on God’s word
Read Deuteronomy 6: 20-25
- When we obey God’s word we will be known as righteous
- We need to remind the next generation that our blessings come from God
- Moses reminded the Children of Israel that they were all slaves in Egypt and that God set them free
- We need to pass on this living memory to our children from generation to generation
- This is similar to the passage in Romans where we shared in Jesus’s death and rose by God’s power to a new life, this is for every generation
Read Deuteronomy 8:1-5
- God lead the Hebrews for 40 years in the wilderness to humble and test them to make sure they were certified and would do what is right in the future
- God took care of the Israelites for 40 years and was in their presence yet they still had a hard time believing and trusting in him. Even Moses missed out because he did not trust God.
- They were being tested because they were not ready to go into the promised land.
Read Deuteronomy 8: 6-20
- These passages remind us to trust God
- We only need his word to survive
Read Psalm 91
- God is our refuge and we should trust in Him, without fearing
- This Psalm is about God taking care of Jesus when he was at the lowest point in his life
Read Matthew 4:1-4
- When Jesus was being tested by God and tempted by Satan, he quoted God’s word to make it through the tough challenge
- Jesus too was being tested, like the Hebrews, to certify him and to make sure he would trust God in the future
- The Children of Israel were in the desert for 40 years, eating and drinking food provided by God and when they were tested they did not do too well.
- Unlike the Israelites, Jesus had not eaten for 40 days and was tested and passed
- Jesus was prepared to pass the test, he had been spending time with God and knew his word.
How will you do when you are tested by God? Will you know which scriptures to turn to in order to pass the test?
- In Matthew verses 5-11: Jesus uses scripture from Deuteronomy 6 to refute Satan’s temptation
- The same thing happened in Matthew vs 8-11
- Look closely, Satan was using scriptures out of context to tempt Jesus. We have to know our scriptures well enough and in context to refute Satan’s tricks.
Read James 1: 13-15
God does not tempt us, we are tempted by our own evil desires. Satan uses what is already in our heart to draw us away from God. Be sure to keep your heart right before God and know His words in order to recognize Satan and his tricks when he shows up on the scenes in your life.
For further study and deeper insight: Study John Chapter 5-6 with Deuteronomy in mind!