Message Notes

INTRODUCTION

1. We have begun a new pulpit series on the everlasting love of God

2. The study of Deuteronomy 7: God makes a Declaration of His love to Israel

3. Today’s reading from Deuteronomy 8

a. God not only Declares His love

b. He also Demonstrates it

THE DYNAMIC OF FATHER AND CHILD: HOW GOD RELATES TO US

You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the LORD your God chastens you.

Deuteronomy 8:5

1. The significance of a father-child dynamic

a. God uses such imagery to demonstrate how He loves us

b. It also helps us understand His actions to and for us

2. This dynamic was already expressed earlier in Deuteronomy 1:30-31

The LORD your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place.

3. God as Father

a. His heart is for us

b. He loves and cares for us

c. He knows best what we need

THE DISCIPLINE OF GOD

2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.

Deuteronomy 8:2-4

1. We often have many mistaken ideas of love

2. God shows us what true love is: part of His love for us involves His discipline (chastening)

a. On one hand, He will not fail to do His part to protect and provide

b. But on the other, He will discipline  (Cf. Hebrews 12:5-11)

c. To do us good in the end  (Deuteronomy 8:16)

3. God’s discipline of Israel

a. He led them through 40 years in the wilderness

i. To humble them

ii. To test them

iii. To know what was in their heart, whether they would keep His commandments

b. He allowed them to hunger

c. He then fed them with manna

i. That they might know that man does not live by bread alone

ii. But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD

d. Through it all, He made every provision for them

THE DIRECTIVE OF GOD

11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, 12 lest—when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; 14 when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage…
18 … And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

Deuteronomy 8:11-14, 18

1. Another way that God demonstrates His love as a father is to give us clear directives

a. “Beware that you do not forget”

b. “You shall remember the LORD your God”

2. He seeks to forewarn us of dangers

3. The very real danger of forgetting

a. To forget the LORD is not merely a lapse in memory but an issue of the heart

b. What causes us to forget the LORD – when our heart is lifted up

i. The heart is in danger of being lifted up because of the prosperity God has given

ii. We credit ourselves instead of God

iii. God is set aside

iv. Finally, He is forgotten

4. The deadly consequence of forgetting

19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 8:19-20

a. When the LORD is forgotten in the heart, other things will surely take His place

b. Israel was warned against other gods

i. Following them

ii. Serving them

iii. Worshipping them

c. They would surely perish, just like the other nations

d. To forget the LORD is a deadly problem – it will surely lead to destruction

LET US DETERMINE TO REMEMBER THE LORD

1. We must make every effort to remember the LORD

2. Remembering the LORD is meant to be very intentional and active

3. How we can remember the LORD

a. By always giving thanks to Him  (Deuteronomy 8:10)

b. By keeping His commandments

For we forget the LORD by not keeping His commandments  (Deuteronomy 8:11)

c. By not presuming we are already “established” before the LORD  (Deuteronomy 8:18)

i. Israel had to learn that entering the Promised Land did not mean they were established before God

ii. God was still doing a work of establishing them through His covenant

iii. They still had to submit to the LORD in obedience and remain faithful to Him